I could see spiritual shackles that bound the souls of all the wraiths we had fought previously. King may have been the wrong word; he was more akin to a warden. Before the warden could even react, I drew in more mana from the environment. The mana was tainted by the death affinity, so it felt like murky water that had remained stagnant for a thousand years. I could feel the mana attempting to poison my core, but my flames of judgement purified the majority of the mana that I absorbed. The remnants of death affinity mana that remained latched onto my core, like a blemish of corruption that sought to devour me.
The warden took this moment to dash forward, its needle-like claws aimed directly at my midsection. I used the power keeping me suspended in the air to drag myself backwards. But the warden was too fast; the tip of his black claws stabbed into my diaphragm. The blood where the claws touched turned black as the death affinity corrupted my flesh. A scream escaped my lips from the pain coursing through my body. Simon took this moment to dash forward; he had switched out to the aspect of the cheetah for increased speed. His spear was a blur as he attempted to stab into the warden. Once again, its speed was on full display as Simon's spear only stabbed into the empty rag of his robe. Through the corners of my vision saw the shackles on the warden's body flare right before he evaded Simon's attack.
"Simon, aim for the shackles!" My voice was hoarse as I screamed at him. Hopefully, he got the message.
Right after I finished yelling, the warden moved forward, black chains formed in his hands as they struck out towards me. The chains wrapped around my body; they sizzled when they came in contact with my flames. The chains grew tighter and tighter as they tried to squeeze the life out of me. But this technique took most of the warden's focus, so it did not notice Simon approaching from behind as he struck one of its spectral shackles, binding the souls of other wraiths to it. The chains lessened their grip as it screamed in indignation. The second that the chains slacked against my body, I created a shield surrounding me to push them further away. The warden's hateful gaze landed on Simon while he retreated. Fool, you never turn your back on the enemy.
My fire extended forward, latching onto the back of the warden as it began to feed off its power, giving another opening for Simon to strike. The warden may have the speed advantage, but he was facing two enemies, so he had to split his focus. A fact we exploited relentlessly. What should have been a battle of life and death played out more like a game of cat and mouse. Where either I or Simon would distract the warden so that the other could destroy one of the shackles, until there was no more to destroy. The warden had become noticeably slower with each shackle broken, and when they were all gone, its movements became a sluggish mess. Creating a large spear wreathed in fire, I sent it directly towards its misshapen head. The spear pierced the bone, protruding deep into its skull, as the fire began to consume it. The ragged flesh fused with death affinity mana burned away, and in its place stood the soul of a young boy. He smiled at me before he started to vanish.
Now that the battle was finally over, I drew in a deep breath. Right as I release the power coursing through my veins, a burst of mana reverberated through the rift as it was finally closed. I fell to the ground as the power that kept my body suspended in the air faded. The pain from my many wounds and the exhaustion of overexerting myself kicked in like a flood once the adrenaline faded. Black veins marred my body as the death affinity mana made it to my core and began to sow its seeds of corruption. My mind was starting to fade, as the pain was too much to bear. Before everything faded to darkness, I saw Simon's worried face as he crushed over me, and then it was only darkness that remained.
—-
Wu Qu was fuming. For the past 3 days, he had been caught in a blind rage. "Who does that bastard think he is?!" He screamed as he smashed his fist into a cupboard next to him. "Not only does he defile my Goddess, but he has the nerve to humiliate Me!" Wu had not been this angry in a very long time, but even thinking of that bastard's shit eating grin threw him over the edge. He was just about to smash a chair when his phone began to ring. "What?" He growled over the phone.
"Now, now, Prince Wu, there is no need for such aggression." Baron Liam's sly voice spoke over the phone.
"What do you want, Baron? I am a very busy man!" Wu could not rein in his temper as he spoke.
"I hear we have a common enemy." He spoke.
"And who would that be, Baron?" Wu was starting to calm down a bit as he spoke.
"Who else but Duke Whither, of course, I heard of how he humiliated you earlier. And wanted to extend my help in punishing him." The Baron's words intrigued Wu, so he graced him with the chance to speak.
"I am listening." The more Wu listened to the Baron's plan, the wider his grin became, until it looked like his face would split in two.
"Yes, Baron, I like this plan very much." That bastard would pay, and Verity would be all mine, he thought with a meniacle laugh.
—-
I was worried as I picked up Zeon in a princess carry. He had many wounds scattered across his body, and his blood had turned black as it flowed out of him like a river. Black veins marred his pale skin. This had been one of the most difficult rifts I had ever faced; my D-rank was barely enough for me to survive, yet Zeon surprised me with how he held his own in this oppressive place. The eclipsed suns gave barely enough light for me to see his suffering face as I left the rift. Soldiers ran towards us the second they saw us exit the rift; there was surprise and reverence in their eyes as they approached. "Medic! I need a medic," I screamed when they came closer. The soldier whisked him away for medical treatment while I took out my phone to call Xander so that he could send his extraction team just as Zeon would have wanted. When that was complete, I followed the soldiers as they brought Zeon into an ambulance heading directly for the best hospital in the city. The medical professionals did the best that they could, but they lacked the gift to purify the death mana corrupting his body.
Worry began to bubble in my chest as I saw the concern plain on their faces. I hoped that Zeon would be able to pull through; he has given me more than I ever could have asked for. He gave me freedom when I thought I would remain shackled forever. He gave me his trust, and he gave me a direction, a path forward in my life. That was something that I could never repay. The next few hours passed in a haze as Zeon was taken to a hospital, with various doctors performing surgery on him to close his internal bleeding and stitch up his wounds. When a doctor finally came out of the room, his tone was grim as he spoke. "We have done the best that we could. We stopped the bleeding, but the corruption continues to spread. He is currently in a comatose state; we can only hope that he wakes up. But until then, I would advise that you say your goodbyes." The doctor said while shaking his head.
His words crushed me like the weight of a mountain; the slightly open door allowed me to see the pipes and wires sticking out of his body as they tried to keep him alive. A numbness began to settle in Simon's heart as he looked at his cousin's face; if not for the black veins across his body, he would have seemed peaceful. That numbness grew to resolve as he thought of what still needed to be done. He had often spoken with Zeon about his goals for the future.
—-
My mind was in a haze; I knew not who I was, nor where I found myself. The world around me was dark and filled with a mist that surrounded me. The only thing visible was the path on which I stood. Looking back, I saw only nothingness, with nowhere to go but forward, I began to walk. I heard a silent beeping in the background, but it sounded so far away. So I just kept walking, and walking. My mind was everywhere and nowhere at once; only a single goal was present within, to reach the end of the path.
—-
It has been more than two weeks since Zeon entered his coma, and I felt overwhelmed. I had no idea how Zeon managed to balance all his goals while still finding the time to enjoy life. I was sitting in Xander's office, drinking strong coffee just to stay awake. The one thing I appreciated during this time was Xander's professionalism; he had been helping me every step of the way. We were currently going through the possible candidates for the guild I had established recently, and it was tiring work. But it needed to be done, so I took another sip and went back to reading the documents laid out in front of me. My mind wandered to the uncomfortable conversation I had with a woman called Verity two days after Zeon entered his coma. At first, she thought that it was some ploy on Zeon's part to get out of their date. She did not believe a word I said until I took her to his hospital room; she did not display any outward reaction to his state. Her calm surprised and unnerved me to this day. Her reactions reminded me of Zeon to some extent, and that was only a part of the uncomfortable interactions I have had in this time.
When my eyes began to feel heavy, and no amount of coffee could keep me awake, I finally called it a day. I said my goodbyes to Xander and gave a passionate kiss to Angelica before I left. My thoughts went back to my search for a cure, which has proven far more difficult than I previously thought. I initially believed that I only required finding someone with the healer gift to help, but that quickly turned out to be wrong. Most healers worked with the light, nature, or water affinity, all of which do not work very well against death. Their prognosis was that I needed to find someone with either the life or the light affinity to weaken and destroy the death coursing through his veins. This was a problem because not only are these extremely rare affinities, but I had to specifically find one with a healer's gift, which lessened the chances of finding one even further. The only light-affinity healer that I was aware of was the saintes from the holy empire of Rome; she was akin to a demigod for her people, so getting her help was next to impossible. A sigh escaped my lips as I entered the car and Elijah began taking me home. That was another peculiarity that I have noticed, Elijah does not seem the least bothered by his ward's state. He just went about his day as if it were only a matter of time before he woke up. Ugh, there is so much shit that has been happening that I often find my mind wandering. That was not even the worst of what I have faced in this time; the corporate sabotage was a headache in its own right.
I have had qualified assassins set traps for me when I exit rifts to get materials for the company. They hoped to catch me when I was already tired, but as of now, they have only sent weak grunts against me. But god knows how long that will last. They always seemed to know exactly when I was entering a rift, which led me to believe that there was a rat within my inner circle. So I had Xander keep tabs on the ins and outs of every single member of the company's inner circle. My fingers rubbed against the bridge of my nose in an attempt to rub the sleep from my eyes. I really needed to sleep. And sleep was exactly what I did; the second my head fell on the pillow, all consciousness left me in an instant.