Chapter 392: Darkness And Magic
Elian;
I stand frozen as I watch Asa and this thing fight like their sole intention is to put an end to each other.
The creature doesn’t stop. It just keeps attacking, and I can see the exhaustion already building on Asa’s face, like she’s gone up against something with just a bit of difference in strength between them.
I remember the fight that night. The fight at Gravemaw.
That woman was this strong. But then, she fought to kill me. If... if this is really her... then... why is she fighting to save me now?
Are we truly friends, or was... was she trying to get close to me so she would hurt me when the time is right??
My hands worriedly rest against the barrier as I watch her strength begin to fade...
She lifts her hand, and a spear made entirely of purple mana forms before shooting through the air toward the entity.
The creature catches it with one hand and crushes it like one would crush a mosquito.
Cold terror crawls down my spine at the sight.
Even Asa freezes for half a second.
...And that half second costs her.
The entity lunges, and its claws slam into her side hard enough to tear through even a brick wall.
Blood splashes across the flowers below, and a scream rips out of me before I can stop it.
"ASA!"
She stumbles to the ground with a sharp gasp— one hand flying to her side as blood immediately begins pouring between her fingers.
No!
No no no no no!!!
The smell of blood floods my nose instantly. It’s so much that I know the injury she just acquired is not good!
The entity turns toward me again, as it moves towards me, Asa shoots to her feet.
Even wounded, even bleeding... She still rushes in front of me.
My vision burns instantly, because why is she still protecting me!??
"Asa, stop! You’re hurt!" I cry desperately.
"It’s just a scratch." She groans, and that makes more tears gather in my eyes.
"You’re lying. I can help! Step aside." I scold as I push against the barrier, but she throws a blast of magic at the creature, and it sends it tumbling across the garden before she turns to me with stern, wide eyes.
"Whatever happens, you will NOT step out of this barrier. I know what you are capable of, Elian. But this thing is far more dangerous than you know. I will not have you risk—" She gasps all of a sudden, and I hear a squelch, but I see nothing.
My eyes widen when I see a trail of blood begin to spill from the side of her lips, and my heart freezes over.
"A-Asa?"
She turns around slowly, and my hands fly to my mouth when I see blood pooling at the back of her dress, turning it dreadfully dark.
What happened!??
The creature hovers in the air just a distance away, and just then and ominous voice that sounds like multiple demons speaking at once rings through the air as it points at me.
"The redeemer is ours!!!"
I take a frightened step back while Asa once again stands fully in front of me.
She lifts both hands, and the shadows around the garden suddenly burst with purple flames.
The ground beneath the entity explodes upward, and massive thorn-like spikes burst from the earth, impaling straight through the creature’s torso.
I stare frozen as more tears fall from my eyes. The thing hangs there for one horrifying second.
And just when I think the thing may actually be dead.... Slowly, it moves. The spikes turn black and break away like ash in the wind.
Then it dawns on me. It doesn’t feel pain. It can’t feel pain!!
I look at Asa, and I can see it in her face. She knows she can’t kill this thing.
She can only slow it down— buy us time before someone comes to save us.
Black smoke pours from its wounds, and it looks at me again. Straight at me, like Asa is nothing but an obstacle standing between it and what it truly wants.
Icy dread floods every part of me.
Without any prior warning, the creature rushes toward the barrier. Asa intercepts it instantly.
She slams both palms against its chest, and a pulse of magic detonates from her body so violently that it knocks me off my feet inside the barrier.
I hit the ground hard with a gasp.
By the time I look up again, the garden is almost unrecognisable.
Trees are burning purple, the stone paths are cracked apart. The flowers are crushed beneath rubble and blood.
And Asa— She’s breathing hard now.
Blood runs steadily down her side and back, and another trail slides down her arm. And still... She refuses to move aside.
I shut my eyes tightly as I hold on to my stomach.
"Koda, where are you!?" I scream in fear, and A violent rush of energy flows through me.
My eyes snap open, and I find Asa and the entity, frozen and staring at me.
I look down and see a blue light glowing faintly in my stomach. It suddenly bursts brighter, and I’m forced to shield my eyes.
My baby...
The light glows for a few more seconds and then dies down, and I pause.
What... what just happened? Was... Was that? Did she call Koda??
The entity suddenly lifts a hand, as if filled with new urgency to get this over with.
Darkness erupts outward from its body in violent tentacles, and Asa reacts instantly, throwing up a shield before us.
The shadows slam into it, and the shield shatters.
The impact sends Asa flying backwards so hard that she slams into a broken tree, and a pained scream rips through her.
I freeze when I see that a broken branch on the tree has impaled her thigh.
I scream.
Actually scream.
The entity begins walking toward her again.
