Free Web NovelChapter 29: A Bite Of Desperation
A deafening howl erupted from the double-headed wolf’s throats, a sound of pure, unfiltered rage that shook the very ground beneath them. Its four red eyes blazed with fury as it lunged forward.
Seraphina’s expression became cold, so frightening it was like a devil. Her darling had been hurt.
Flames burned all over her body, raging and annihilative, golden fire that seemed to hunger for destruction.
Her eyes were cold, barely seething the rage she held within. She was planning on destroying this entire land.
She stretched her hands toward the charging double-headed wolf.
A large circular rune appeared above it, with two smaller circular runes at its sides. They began to rotate with blinding speed, spinning faster and faster, their golden light intensifying with each revolution.
Seraphina’s lips moved, her voice barely a whisper.
"Golden Ember Annihilation."
From the runes, golden spears of condensed fire erupted, raining down upon the double-headed wolf like a storm of divine judgment. Each spear pierced through its massive body, riddling it with holes, carving through flesh and bone as if they were nothing but paper.
The wolf howled in agony, its body convulsing as spear after spear tore through it. Its four red eyes flickered, dimming with each strike.
And then, it fell.
Its massive body crashed to the ground, riddled with countless holes, golden flames consuming its form from within.
Silence fell.
Seraphina lowered her hand, her expression still cold.
She looked at Lucien’s face, her heart aching. "Let’s go home."
She stretched her hands at the sky, planning to cut through the space for them to leave. But she dealt no damage. The space here was so stable that her power couldn’t even scratch it.
Her expression turned ugly. She tried communicating with her main body, but their connection had been severed.
Her expression darkened as she wondered what power might have brought Lucien into this place. She could feel how many beings had died here, the sheer weight of death pressing against her senses. This was a land of death.
Were they stuck here? How could she escape?
As she was thinking, she suddenly felt her power being withdrawn. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she realized something was trying to make her sleep, to force her dormant, back into the slumber she had been pulled from.
What was happening?
Before she could do anything, her figure burst into golden particles that flowed back into Lucien’s body like scattered embers returning to ash.
Lucien collapsed to the ground, unaware of these changes.
In the sky of Aethelgard, Seraphina was moving with insane speed, her figure flickering across the clouds as if she was teleporting. She was planning on going to Lucien’s clan, perhaps they might have a hand in this.
The Drax Clan, where she had met Lucien, was one of the spies they had placed. She was planning on going there to see if she could find out any news.
As she was moving, she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Her face turned pale, as if she felt her connection with her clone had been forcefully severed.
She panicked. It was because of the clone that she was still able to rest, that Lucien’s safety was somewhat reassured. But now the connection had been cut off.
Blurry scenes appeared in her mind. What she first saw was a red sun, a bloody, ferocious air. Other scenes were blurry, but she was able to fish out important details.
She compared it with her knowledge, but there was no place that matched such descriptions. She frowned. It seemed she would have to change her plans.
Where was Lucien? What place was that?
Such a bloody place, could her darling survive?
She changed her course and flew off, her figure disappearing into the horizon.
---
Lucien didn’t know how long he had been in this darkness. Time had lost all meaning, the void stretching endlessly around him like an ocean of nothing.
But a light suddenly appeared, like a glimmer of hope in the abyss.
He grasped it and finally got a hold of himself, pulling himself back from the edge of oblivion.
But what hit him next was a wave of weakness, crushing, suffocating, absolute. His lips were dry, cracked and bleeding. His bones ached with a deep, throbbing pain that seemed to radiate from his very core. His vision was still dark, just with a small light flickering at the edges like a dying candle.
He was like a bag of bones with nothing but skin stretched over them.
Suddenly, his nose caught the scent of something roasted, rich, warm, and carrying an energy that made his empty stomach twist with desperation. He couldn’t control his instinct, the hunger that clawed at him, demanding energy.
He forced his weak body to move closer to what he smelled, his trembling hands searching blindly in the darkness. When his fingers finally found it, he closed his grip and took a bite.
He had forgotten where he was, what had happened. All that consumed his mind was the hunger and the energy he desperately needed.
When he chewed it, he couldn’t even feel the taste. But a raging energy descended into his body, wild and chaotic, threatening to tear through him like a storm.
After a while, the raging energy calmed down under a certain power, becoming gentle as it began to seep into his battered body, mending and restoring.
Lucien lost all sense of awareness as he slipped back into unconsciousness. His body shut down, finally allowing itself to heal.
After a long time, Lucien finally woke up.
This time he was rejuvenated, energy circulating through his body like a river returning to life. He opened his eyes, his nose breathing in the ferocious and bloody air that clung to the land like a second skin.
His gaze settled on the red sun above him, its crimson light casting an eerie glow across the scarred earth. Then the scene of what happened flashed through his mind, the paw, the golden barrier, the familiar figure.
He stood up in shock and checked his body. His injuries were all healed. There was no relapse, no lingering pain. His bones no longer ached, his skin was whole.
He was surprised. He was still alive. His mind cheered in excitement, a small flame of hope flickering in his chest.
He finally checked his surroundings. How did he survive?
He saw the corpse of the two-headed wolf just a few breaths away from him. It was dead, its massive form lying motionless on the crimson soil. Its four red eyes were dim, lifeless.
He stood up in shock. What killed it?
He could still feel its powerful aura, a lingering pressure that even in death made his instincts scream. A figure flashed in his mind, golden hair, golden eyes, a cold voice that cut through the darkness like a blade.
Was she the one?
He checked the surroundings and saw the remnants of the battle. The ground was scarred with deep potholes, each one radiating a burnt aura. Golden embers still flickered in some of the craters, refusing to die, as if the flames themselves were too angry to fade. The earth was scorched black in places, as if a divine fire had descended from the heavens and carved its fury into the land.
The air was thick with the scent of ash and death, mixed with the faint, lingering warmth of golden flames.
He stood there, staring at the destruction, a single thought echoing in his mind.
Seraphina.
Had she come for him?
He looked around but couldn’t find her figure. No trace. No sign. Nothing but the aftermath of her fury. What happened?
As he was deep in thought, he noticed a bite mark on the body of the wolf. The roasted smell that rose from it was familiar, too familiar. The bite mark itself didn’t look volkoid-like. It was smaller, more precise, almost human.
A realisation burst into his mind, making him shake his head in denial.
Hell no.
There was no way. He refused to believe it.
The bite mark. The roasted scent. The hunger he had felt in his daze.
His stomach twisted.
