Chương 65: The Brightest

Soryn stood up in front of them, a burning blue aura blazed off him. He was deliberate as he moved, as if trying to avoid aggravating an injury, but Grim couldn't see any damage on him. His eyes glowed a deep blue and were almost painful to look at as he seemed to take in every detail in front of him. His eyes were wide and distant, but Grim could tell there was almost nothing escaping his vision.

"Is this all that's left?" He asked. Power dripped off him as he spoke, almost making it hard to hear him over the Aura rolling over them like waves.

"Yeah. What about you? Did you manage to find… who you were looking for?" He looked down, ashamed, "Yes." Grim nodded, "Ah. Well, we're all about to charge that big horde of Petals over there and most likely die if you'd like to join us." The living mass of lightning turned, and his eyes grew wide as if noticing the Petals for the first time, he turned back to Grim and shook his head, "No."

"Worth a shot. Good luck then, big man, see you in hell. It's awful down there, trust me," Grim said as she went to walk forward, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"What are you doing?"

"No. None of you are dying. I'll take care of it," he said as he took his hand off her. Grim rolled her eyes, "Not even you can take that many, you remember last time? I won't be able to save you again." Soryn didn't seem to register her words as he grabbed the necklace that was dangling around his neck and ripped it off. It was a simple black chain with a purple crystalline structure dangling from it. He held it out until Grim grabbed it from him.

"Give this to my parents. They'll see that you're rewarded for helping me," Soryn said. Grim took it, but she wasn't sure what he was getting at, "What do you mean? Can't you give this to them yourself?" Soryn shook his head, "Tell my mother not to cry when you see her, please." She went to ask him what that meant when she felt his authority flex, freezing her in her tracks." A dying star burns the brightest."

Grim felt multiple concepts strike her at the same time, an uproarious bonfire, burning through its fuel faster than it could be replaced. A dying man's jubilation at the freedom from consequences. Untold strength from torn ligaments. Recognition of living in the best moment of your life. All of these feelings hit her, and it took her a moment to realize where she was. The power that he'd been giving off before had been strong, but now he was on another level.

While he'd been outputting a solid B-rank level aura before, now he was surely almost S-rank. The lightning cloak he'd been wearing before increased in size, and he seemed to glow internally as he took on an almost ethereal hue. [FRAGMENTATION WARD] [SILENT STEP] [AETHERIC SURGE] There was almost a lull as the world seemed to hold its breath, the breeze seemed to move as if it was centered on him. [THUNDER GOD] Storm clouds formed above them as the skies themselves quaked.

They froze in the air and almost dissipated as something tried to fight off the intruder that had appeared in its realm. Whatever it was, it seemed to give up control of the skies as Soryn crackled and lifted off the ground. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He kept flying higher, ten, twenty feet until he hovered far above everyone.

Soryn raised his hand and pointed it at a massed group of Petals, something triggered them into activating, but before they could do anything, the sky itself split apart. Thunder struck, and a chunk of the group was turned into glass Grim could only watch through blurred vision as Soryn was no longer in the sky but in the midst of the Petals, where the thunder had struck. The aura that surrounded him seemed to dim slightly before blazing again. She could only track him by the absences he left.

They tried to fight back, launching attacks or trying to trap him with Boons but they were too slow. Ranged attacks were deflected and turned into shrapnel, while any who got too close were broken before they could react or electrocuted by the cloak that surrounded him. Several Petals were stronger than the fodder most of them had fought, but at most they only took two or more strikes more than the others before they were struck down as well.

After he'd cleared out every enemy close to him, another bolt of thunder struck the ground and killed more in an instant, leaving Soryn in the middle of a new pack. It looked like he'd repeat the process until they were all dead until a new petal appeared and blocked one of his strikes. It was a tall woman who was clearly a Petal but her head wasn't burst open like the others. She was dressed in a black cloak that covered her body and left nothing visible besides her face.

Soryn dashed forward, wielding an arc of electricity like a blade towards her. She deflected the blow with her own sword and kicked him in the chest hard enough to send him flying. Before he could hit the ground, the sky split, and a ray of thunder crashed down on top of the cloaked woman. Her blade was raised above her, absorbing the lightning and blocking Soryn from cutting her down from above.

The lightning continued to come down, making a solid connection from the sky to her sword as Soryn wielded it like a blade. Her sword moved in a crescent line until she buried the tip into the ground, deflecting the thunder and sending Soryn away. He backed away, but she did not follow, only staring at him as she waited for his next move.

"What's happening?" Hazel asked.

"We're fucked. If we don't do anything he's gonna run out of energy, eventually. He's already starting to dim," Grim said.

"What can we do? Should I go in there?"

"I don't know. Just wait for now." Soryn slashed something to the side of him, Grim wasn't sure what. It hadn't looked like anything had been there. He seemed to notice something too as he bolted forward, but at the last moment before he contacted the woman, he rained down a bolt of thunder on the last group of Petals. There were still a few left scattered about, but with his last attack he'd wiped out most of those that were remaining.

The cloaked woman seemed to be enraged at being tricked, as instead of remaining on the defensive like she had been, she attacked. While Soryn was much faster than her, she seemed to keep up by always attacking where he was going to be. She pushed him onto his back feet, as every time he slowed, he was forced to speed up again to dodge a perfectly placed attack. He'd retaliate, but only half of his strikes were even aimed at her, while the others seemed to strike thin air.

A kick landed in the chaos, knocking the wind out of him while a slash with her sword left another small cut on his body. While he retaliated faster than he could be tracked, it seemed as if she was predicting every move he made. The result was that he was accumulating injuries while she hadn't even been hit yet. Something about this seemed wrong. There was something in her brain nagging at her. She was missing something.

Thunder crashed down, but the cloaked woman blocked it again, only for thunder to strike again and again. The skies themselves bore Soryn's frustration. He seemed to try to break the weapon underneath his power, but after the largest bolt of thunder came down, Soryn faltered. She knew it was gonna happen before it did. She saw his aura dim and a piece of his soul burn out. Instead of deflecting one of the woman's strikes like he did before, the blade pierced in between his ribs.

Grim's heart dropped as she felt a surge of memories hit her, she didn't know for sure if she was right or not, but the way Soryn looked at something that wasn't there was exactly how Chloe looked. She just didn't know if she'd be fast enough to make a difference. She sprinted forward as fast as she could, thankful for all the hours of running she'd forced herself through. The cloaked woman twisted the blade as Soryn grabbed it with both hands, trying to stop her from doing more damage to his internal organs.

The cloaked woman proved stronger as she ripped the blade out, pouring Soryn's blood on the ground. She pulled back her sword hand, preparing to sever his head.

"Petra!" Grim shouted at the woman.

"Wait." Petra's head twisted in surprise, Soryn momentarily forgotten. Grim watched her eyes shift in confusion as two warring personalities battled over her mind. The second of distraction was all Soryn needed as he called in a bolt of thunder so bright, the world went dark as it struck.