Bound Evil

Two orbs of blood rotated above Emily’s palm as she watched the approaching Frostborn—another magic user they had been struggling with since arriving on this floor.

Alex, Oscar, and Kael were dealing with the two Juggernauts at the end of the room so that Emily and Nox could take care of the rest.

Nox had already let loose several crossbow bolts but most were blocked with a wall of ice that moved into place just in time before reforming and forcing Cupcake back.

Emily used the distraction to increase the speed of the blood orbs in her hand and pushed their destructive nature to their maximum.

With Emily’s gifts moving into the intermediate stage, she had far more room to manipulate her blood. She only needed a single life's worth to make two blood bolts. This meant that if she was able to kill this creature with one attack she would make a net profit of a life.

Accelerating the blood, Emily spun them faster and faster until they were just a blur. Making it look like she had a ring of crimson in her hand.

When the technique had reached a fixed speed, Emily slammed them together and released all the force she had been building up behind it. The projectiles flew ahead, guided by the screaming wizz through the air.

The Frostborn turned and created a wall of reflective ice between itself and Emily. However, that was what she had been hoping for. Because the moment it put up a shield, she merged the two projectiles and shaped the bolt into that of a drill.

When the projectile hit, there was a thundering sound of ice cracking and then the specter's neck exploding.

At the same time, Emily felt the two Juggernauts behind her die and the three specters' life force merged with her own.

Breathing out Emily could see a plume of frost coming from her mouth as it was made visible in the stifling room.

The battle quietened as they cleared yet another room but Kael came over with a dismayed look.

“Emily, couldn’t you have tried to save the title stone? You're literally burning money here.”

She grunted and looked at the man with a wry expression.

“Look, as long as we keep moving I’m happy. I don’t want to fight with my hands tied behind my back because of a fancy rock. Besides you have plenty of those by now.”

Emily wasn't exaggerating, they had been moving through the third floor at a decent rate and come across close to thirty specters.

Unfortunately, when Emily had to fight Juggernauts they always required a couple of hits to take down. Robbing Emily of most of the energy she made from the kill.

The magic users were the most profitable for her, and as of yet, she'd managed to store around ten more lives than when she started. Plus the ones from this room made for a decent buffer against her threshold.

Kael and Emily continued to argue but Alex suddenly looked around and spoke.

“If things continue at this rate I think we should be reaching the stairs soon. We managed to bypass it because of the trap on the last floor but you should know there will probably be an obstacle blocking our way to the fourth floor.”

Kael suddenly got serious, his head turning to look at Alex.

“You have any idea what we are going to face?”

Alex didn’t pause and instead came right out with it.

“Actually, yes. There is a high chance that the next room will contain a powerful group of specters. The thing is, if we can get past them we should be in the clear. The fourth floor should be comparatively smaller, allowing us to get in and out. That’s only if we can evade the protector of the tomb, but one problem at a time.”

“Any idea what kind of title we’ll be running into.”

Alex nodded again.

“I’m not sure exactly but I can guess. From the way this place is set up, it will probably be something on the cusp of nobility or even half royalty. There shouldn’t be any religious titles as the empire didn’t seem to have any love for faith.”

Everyone fell silent as Emily rubbed Cupcake's rough fur. She had already experienced a taste of what a noble title could offer. She could only imagine the kind of power it held higher up the totem pole.

“We’ll take a look and see what we can do. We’ve come this far and quite honestly our people are counting on me to bring them home. So failure was never an option.”

Oscar muttered something under his breath but Emily couldn’t make it out. Nox just looked terrified, he said he’d recovered enough to use a small amount of power so they’d ben saving it in case they needed it. The Rime wolves were in good condition but quite frankly they were out of their element down here.

Alex looked the most ready out of everyone, in fact, he looked impatient. Emily on the other hand was quite content with the current situation, she only needed to continue amassing power down here. As every fight got her closer to her previous power.

To be honest, in her old world, it had taken her years to get to the level she was right now. The conditions had never been so favorable to her, and she could only steal power where she could find it. But here, it was like an all-you-could-eat buffet, who knew what height she could reach in this environment?

They explored the next couple of rooms carefully but found no obstacles. No traps whatsoever and not even any specters.

They when they arrived at a door of sorts.

Strangely enough, it opened on its own when they got in proximity. Alex had noticed the wards and triple-checked them before they proceeded, but it was almost as though the tomb was welcoming them to challenge it.

When the door had slid away to reveal a set of stairs Emily had looked at Alex, yet the man never relaxed his tense posture. It was only once they had traveled the hallway down the staircase and came into a large open hall that Emily could make out what was in store for them.

The room was a large rectangle that had another set of stairs leading the remainder of the way down. The problem was that in these vaulted and decorated halls, there was but one coffin here, and it was already opened.

The specter stood nearby, waiting in the room as still as a statute. Though it was different all that came before it. There the others had been made from bone and ice. This corpse had been buried with a large set of shining armor. Even now it reflected the bluish light in this room, years of neglect unable to dull its sheen.

The walls were carved from stone, each detail crafted with a spectacular eye, bringing the room to life with images of battle and death. Wars raged in the stone carvings, and as they descended the final step, an ominous air settled over the room. Emily spotted a small plaque protruding from the wall meant to be for anyone entering the room to read.

Emily took her time, but what was on there was simple.

“I am my Prince’s blade. I fought in life, and I will fight in death.

There is no way forward but through me.

Come, fall to my blade.

Duke of Crows and Slaughter.”

Oscar cursed and looked at Kael.

“You have to be kidding me. A Duke and it's got two monikers? We can’t handle that! Let alone whatever is beyond this room.”

Emily now noticed the birds weaved in through all the surrounding motifs and narrowed her eyes at them.

Emily had learned from Alex that when one advanced a title enough it became more focused and powerful. Depending on one's actions, they could shift their abilities in a particular direction.

This specter must have killed so many people in life that it got tied into its title. The thing was, Alex had said that the process took hundreds of ranks to begin splitting from the mold.

Granted, the specter wasn’t even half as good at its living counterpart but if it got ahold of them it could very possibly rip them to pieces.

Kael signed.

“We don’t have much of a choice. Going back at this stage is impossible.”

“So we should just throw our lives away. Because that's what you're asking me to do right now. I don’t know if I can follow this order.”

Kael glared at Oscar.

“Your other option is to stay here and starve to death.”

Oscar started but Alex interrupted him.

“Both are bad options, but there might be a third one.”

Oscar stopped and glared at Alex.

“Seeing as the specter is out in the open and is refusing to advance I might be able to give us an opening. All we need to do is get past this thing and when I get to the control ward I should be able to weaken it enough for us to deal with it.”

Kael looked on at the creature.

“What would you do?”

“Just another ward, only this time I’ll use it to make a distraction. One big enough that we can get by.”

“How certain are you that it won’t follow us?”

Alex pursed his lips.

“It definitely will, but if I’m right, the fourth floor should be tiny and allow us to make it to the control rune. At the very least I can slow the creature down.”

Kael rubbed his forehead and then shrugged.

“Good enough for me. What about you Oscar?”

Oscar looked at the immobile specter and then back at Alex.

“Fine but once this is over I want double pay.”

Kael laughed.

“That’s the spirit! What do you need Alexander?”

It turned out that Alex didn’t need regents as he had everything else on hand. The source chalk was the only thing Nox had to pull for him.

Alex didn’t bother explaining how this ward worked, instead, he drew the lines precisely and double-checked everything. As a finishing touch, he added the unrefined source stone into the center to act as a battery.

“If we don’t use all of it then we can retrieve it later.”

When everything was done they got ready to run. Emily hopped up on Cupcake and Nox joined her. Kale would run alone, while Alex and Oscar would ride Mist.

The moment Alex set off the ward they tore into the room. In response, the specter looked up for the first time since they spotted it. It reached behind itself and drew the largest greatsword Emily had ever seen. The edge was still sharp, flaring out at the blade's tip, making it terrible for stabbing but adding an extra terrifying arc for slashing.

Their small group charged into the room at full speed, and with that, the activation of the ward took hold. Light burst into the room from behind them, sending rays of multicolored reflections across the walls.

All at once, their small party was surrounded by copies of themselves. Emily saw another Emily riding Cupcake pull up next to her, then accelerate. The projection moved faster than any of them and leaped at the specter, who, to Emily’s surprise, reacted in time by turning to cut it out of the air. The moment it did, chains burst from its body and wrapped around the sword. Suddenly, the specter’s movements slowed as another image of Kael arrived and exploded into chains. With each apparition, the specter's speed slowed further, and it began to struggle to keep up. They weren’t even a third of the way into the room when Emily sensed movement in the walls around them. She’d missed it before, but now small life signs began clawing their way into existence.

All hell broke loose a second later as the stone birds from the walls began to crawl out of the murals, taking flight around them.

The air was suddenly filled with the sounds of hundreds of fluttering wings as a cloud of black feathers swirled through the room.

Blood points: 123