55

  The courtyard of Aurum still shook from Therson’s last strike when Hector stepped forward, cloak fluttering in the lingering shockwaves. His expression was calm, almost detached, as he raised his hand.

  A sphere of water—dense, spinning violently like a miniature storm—formed between his palms. With a flick of his wrist, it blasted toward Therson faster than an arrow.

  The Revenant knight reacted instantly. His body twisted, aura flaring. His greatsword flashed with the sharp hum of cleaving force. The water sphere split cleanly in half, crashing past him and exploding against the stone.

  Hector didn’t pause.

  Two more spheres spiraled into existence, larger and more concentrated. He fired them in quick succession.

  CLANG! CLANG!

  Each collided with Therson’s greatsword, ringing like metal hammered on metal. Droplets scattered into the air like sparks. Therson held firm, sliding back only an inch.

  Then Hector unleashed everything.

  Water spheres—half a dozen—swirled and shot forward in a wave, a barrage like magical artillery. The air whistled with their velocity.

  Therson planted his stance, aura bursting from him in a burst of pressure. With a sweeping arc of his blade he struck them—one, two, ten—each sphere ricocheting backward, spinning like reversed projectiles.

  Hector swung his arm sharply to the side.

  The spheres halted midair and collapsed harmlessly to the ground with a rushing splash.

  Therson had already moved.

  A blur of motion—earth cracking from the force of his leap—he soared toward Hector, greatsword raised overhead, cleaving arc descending straight for Hector’s skull.

  Hector murmured a short incantation.

  A boulder erupted from the ground beneath him, shooting upward like a cannon shot. It smashed into Therson’s torso, sending the Revenant hurtling backward through the dust.

  Therson rolled, pushed off the ground, and charged again. More boulders erupted in his path—jutting, shifting columns—but he cleaved through each with raw force, shards flying.

  He slammed his blade into the earth.

  CRRRRRAACK—!

  A deep chasm split beneath him—two men deep—and he fell inside. Instantly a torrent of pressurized water cascaded after him, forcing him deeper, drowning sound and light.

  Hector raised both hands. The ground sealed closed.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  Silence.

  The other Revenant didn’t move. Not a twitch. They watched Hector with the focused stillness of predators observing a threat, but none dared step forward.

  Hector exhaled—steady, measured.

  Then he felt it.

  A pulse beneath the earth. A tension, like breath before an explosion.

  BOOOOM—!

  The ground shattered upward. Stone fragments blasted out in a violent burst. From the dust, Therson rose—armor glowing with brilliant green lines, patterns alive with spiritual energy. From his chestplate, a green gem pulsed like a heartbeat, saturating him with Manta aura.

  The Ox Manta's blessing.

  Therson knelt, placed his greatsword before him, and whispered a prayer only he understood.

  Then he vanished.

  Hector’s eyes widened—barely in time.

  Therson appeared at his right, blade already swinging for the ribs. Hector conjured a circular barrier, the impact ringing like a gong. Sparks of Manta aura scattered into the air.

  Therson blurred again.

  Left—attack.

  Above—attack.

  Behind—attack.

  Each strike met Hector’s barrier just in time, but the mage’s arms trembled from the force. Therson’s speed was increasing—moment by moment, heartbeat by heartbeat.

  Then Therson appeared directly in front of him.

  The downward slash came with enough force to crush a bull. Hector braced his barrier—but the blow smashed through. The blunt side of the blade hammered Hector’s torso.

  Hector flew across the courtyard, slammed onto his back, and skidded across stone. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

  Therson rested his greatsword on his shoulder, grinning.

  “So…” Hector wiped the blood away and rose to one knee. “You bear the mark of a Manta, hm? A powerful one.”

  Therson gave no answer—only that unsettling grin.

  He leapt—and vanished again.

  Hector slammed his palm to the ground. Two vast circular patterns ignited beneath the courtyard tiles.

  with a rumble like mountains waking—

  Two stone golems rose: one dark gray, one pale blue, colossal as trees. Their single eyes glowed fiercely.

  Therson’s blade crashed into the gray golem’s arm—deflected with a metallic roar—and the force sent him briefly airborne.

  The blue golem raised its massive palms. A sphere of condensed water swirled between them—twice the size Hector’s had been—and the golem hurled it toward Therson like a shot from a siege weapon.

  But Terry, revived now with a furious snarl, intercepted it. He crashed into the sphere, absorbing its force with his body, and was blasted far outside the gates in a whirl of liquid and dust.

  Hop re-entered the fray, running with flickering steps like living shadows. She rebounded off debris, vanished in smoke, and reappeared atop the blue golem’s shoulder. She plunged her daggers—

  CLANG

  CLANG

  Her blades bounced off the golem's shell-like armor without leaving a mark.

  The blue golem seized her mid-dash. Its stone fingers enclosed around her torso—

  A green flash.

  Therson was there, slicing the golem’s arm clean through. Stone shattered. Hop dropped and rolled, instantly vanishing again in wisps of dark smoke.

  Therson pivoted, ducked a sweeping arm of the blue golem, and drove his sword upward. The golem split in two, its halves collapsing with a thunderous crash.

  He dashed for the gray golem.

  The greatsword flew from his hand—spinning, humming with aura—and struck the golem square in the chest. Though deflected, the impact staggered the stone giant backward.

  Therson vanished, reappearing beside its leg, and punched.

  The leg shattered.

  The gray golem toppled, its massive body falling toward him—

  Therson vanished again, appearing above it—

  A flying kick crushed the golem’s head, which rolled to a stop at Hector’s feet like an offering.

  Therson retrieved his sword from the cracked ground. He knelt. He prayed again.

  Then he vanished.

  Hector turned—too slow.

  Therson appeared behind him, blade already descending, gleaming with enough aura to carve through enchanted steel. Hector’s expression tightened—

  A blur.

  A foot slammed into Therson’s side with the sound of thunder.

  Therson was hurled across the courtyard, crashing through a column and skidding in a shower of debris.

  A figure stood between him and Hector.

  Cloaked in forest green. Hair tied loosely, eyes burning with calm fury.

  Durante.