A storm of emotions raged within June, warring with one another. Desire clashed with shame. His devotion and loyalty to Natalie outweighed his feelings of love and lust for Reyah. He hated the fact that these feelings existed, knowing full well where they came from.
He sighed and stepped forward, putting everything aside, as Hivengel sneered at them. "Are you so arrogant as to believe you can take on all my Thralls by yourself?"
June's brows raised upon hearing Hivengel's question. "I did once already. Why not again?"
Hivengel's face warped into an ugly frown. "What are you on about?"
"Let's just say Agana and her hunting party, as well as your nephew Vern, won't be joining you for dinner anymore," June said, before he launched an attack using Kinetic Essence.
In the blink of an eye, June's attack had crushed all of Hivengel's Thralls, turning them into nothing more than puddles of viscera and gore. All except Keyvarah. She stood there beside Hivengel, stunned.
He then encased her in his Kinetic Essence and dragged her over to him as he cleansed the throne with Fire Essence. Once finished, he sat down on the throne with Keyvarah standing beside him. She struggled with all her might to break free, but it was a futile attempt.
Reyah stepped forward with a savage smile on her face. "Looks like it's just you and me, Hivengel."
Hivengel snarled before his body blurred, charging at June. He was fast, but when compared to June, he was as slow as a tortoise. Reyah moved just as fast and intercepted him just before he reached June. A shockwave blasted through the hall as Reyah deflected Hivengel's spear thrust with her blades, knocking it to the ground where it buried itself to the shaft.
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Reyah smirked at Hivengel. His attack was powerful, but lacked any sort of grace. Anyone with any modicum of training at his level could deal with him easily. Lucky for her, the best sword masters in Kallimvor trained her.
Hivengel leapt back, pulling his spear out. But Reyah stepped in time with him, staying within striking range. Doing so prevented him from fully attacking her with his spear, allowing her to go on the offensive. She swung the sword in her left hand in a wide sweeping arc, aiming for his midsection.
However, Hivengel was ready, bringing the shaft of his spear up to block it. Reyah's lips curled into a smile, betraying her emotions. He had fallen for her feint. She slashed at him with her other sword, infusing it with her Soul Energy to empower her attack. The sword glowed red, blurring with speed and power. She aimed to decapitate him, but he returned her smirk and summoned a blood barrier to block her attack.
But to their surprise, her sword sliced right through his spell. Hivengel's eyes widened in horror, and he tilted his head back, avoiding decapitation. But her sword had cleanly sliced through his neck, leaving a gnarly gash across his throat.
Blood sprayed everywhere as Hivengel leapt back. Reyah didn't follow, still stunned with the weapon in her hand. It had cut its way through his spell as if it were nothing. There was only one explanation as to why that was the case. It was a Thermatine blade, crafted from Thermatite, a metal that suppressed the effects of Soul Essences when infused with Soul Energy. The perfect counter to Cultivators who followed the path of the Mage.
However, Thermatine weapons typically had a distinct hue, crystalline white with a slight sheen. These weapons, on the other hand, were dark gray. Almost like the—her eyes widened with realization.
Adrastite was an onyx-black metal that suppressed the effects of Soul Energy when infused with Soul Essence. When combined, they formed a rare metal known as Callastrum, which was the primary component used in crafting Soul-Binding Shackles, and only that because anyone who tried to wield a weapon forged from Callastrum would only end up crippling themselves.
But somehow, the man behind her had figured out a way to forge a weapon made from Callastrum that ignored that drawback.
Hivengel's eyes narrowed as he gazed at her, or rather, her swords, having come to the same conclusion as she had. He tried to speak, but only blood bubbled and gurgled in his throat, his wound not fully healed yet. His face fell as panic and fear set in.
Reyah's smile widened, her pearlescent fangs on full display. She rushed forward, a burst of Soul Energy coursing through her, enhancing her speed. In a mere moment, she appeared before him with a high overhand strike with the sword in her right hand, aiming to bisect him from shoulder to navel.
Hivengel tried to dodge her attack, but the effects from her Callastrum blades still affected him, leaving him weakened. However, that didn't mean he was helpless. A crimson spike of blood shot out from his chest, formed from the blood flowing down from the wound on his neck.
She brought her other sword around, blocking the spike with the flat of her blade. As it struck her sword, the Essence that solidified the blood dissipated, nullified by her blade, and the blood splattered wetly on her and the ground. But the force behind his attack remained, and it pushed her back a step as her downward strike missed by a hair's breadth.
Hivengel took advantage of the opportunity and thrust his spear at her head. However, he was still in a weakened state, so his attack lagged, slower than usual. Reyah effortlessly dodged the incoming spear by ducking slightly to the side, bringing up the sword she used to block his blood spike to guide and push the spear out of the way. At the same time, she stepped forward, her other sword leading the charge aimed at his chest.
A blood-gurgled roar escaped Hivengel's throat as he released his Aura, knocking her back. She rolled across the stone-hard ground for several paces before she found her footing beneath her again. Her feet dug shallow rivulets into the stone slabs below her before she came to a stop on all fours. Her hips rose high above her shoulders, her back arched in a sensual display, yet poised like a Strygian hellcat ready to pounce.
The castle shook slightly as Hivengel's Aura hummed in the air for a moment before vanishing. She rose, her piercing eyes meeting his before flashing forward once again. Hivengel also charged forward in one final desperate attempt to end her, summoning multiple blood spikes out from the ground.
Reyah danced around them gracefully, the crimson sheen of the spikes glinting off her white negligee. Hivengel followed with his spear poised to impale her. But he missed as she flipped into the air and landed on the shaft of his spear. Before he could attempt to knock her off, she jumped over him, spinning mid-air, and slashed at his exposed nape.
In one fell swoop, she decapitated him. His head fell from his shoulders and rolled a short distance before coming to a stop. A fountain of blood spurted from Hivengel's headless body before it fell over as Reyah landed nimbly on her feet.
She sneered at his still-twitching body. "Pathetic."
She walked over his body and toward the man on the throne. His eyes were downcast, lost in thought. The sight of him evoked the taste of his blood, as sweet as the sweets baked by her maids back home. It roused something within her. A desire for more, for him.
Yet she fought it. Her life was her own; never again would she surrender it to another. She steeled herself, wrapping her heart in a coat of armor as she approached the throne and the man sitting upon it.