Chapter 37: The Blood Warlock

"Master... must stop."

Lyra’s weak voice came from behind Armando while the fight continued around him.

Several golden chains burst from the floor and swept across the chamber, forcing Leon and Atherion apart while Karl’s undead knight caught another across its shoulder and dragged it away from him.

Armando glanced toward the wall.

"Lyra, you have already disappointed me enough."

Golden blades formed around him almost immediately afterward and shot in every direction.

Leon knocked one aside with his axe while another pierced through two weaker undead before burying itself inside the wall.

Atherion used the opening and rushed forward.

His sword struck the golden barrier in front of Armando, but Mira appeared behind him almost at the same moment and forced Armando to turn the defence toward her.

Karl caught the movement this time.

"His barrier only covers one side!"

Atherion immediately shifted farther left.

"Then surround him."

Leon moved toward the opposite side while Mira continued shifting through the remaining shadows.

Karl stayed farther back with the Death Stick raised and sent his undead knight directly through the middle.

Armando turned toward the knight but Leon attacked from behind.

"Heavy Slash!"

His axe struck Armando across the shoulder before the barrier could return, tearing through the robe and leaving the first proper wound across his body.

Armando looked at the blood and smiled.

"Better."

Chains shot toward Leon from beneath the floor, but Seraphine raised the staff Karl had given her before they could reach him.

Golden threads wrapped around two chains while white frost spread along their length. Seraphine pulled once and both shattered across the floor.

She looked toward Armando with obvious disdain.

"Your control is acceptable but the magic is so crude."

Karl released Hellfire toward Armando.

"Can you criticise him after we kill him?"

"I can do both."

Another chain rushed toward her and Seraphine caught it with a thread, dragged it sideways and froze it before it could come any closer.

Atherion attacked again while Armando’s attention remained split.

Several golden blades appeared between them and forced Atherion away, but Mira emerged from Armando’s shadow and cut across his back before disappearing again.

Karl’s Hellfire reached him from the front.

Black flames spread across Armando’s robe until golden light burst from his body and pushed them away, leaving several burnt patches beneath.

Leon grinned as he moved back in.

"Now we’re getting somewhere."

Atherion passed beside him without slowing.

"Don’t get excited. He’s still fighting comfortably."

Armando heard him and gave a short laugh.

"At least one of you understands."

The floor lit up beneath everyone.

Golden spears erupted through the chamber while dozens of blades formed above them, forcing the entire group to move at once.

Karl sent two skeletal warriors into the nearest attacks while his undead knight continued toward Armando despite a spear piercing straight through its side.

Armando turned the barrier toward it.

Karl immediately swung the Death Stick and sent Death Severance toward his exposed right side.

The curved slash struck the barrier when Armando turned again, but Leon was already approaching from behind and buried his axe into Armando’s arm.

Atherion followed before the old man could recover.

Armando caught his sword between two fingers.

"Still impatient."

A golden blade formed beside Atherion’s head, forcing him to abandon the sword and duck while Mira appeared behind Armando again.

For the next several exchanges, Armando was forced to keep turning.

Whenever he blocked Leon, Atherion or Mira attacked from another direction, while Karl continued sending Hellfire and Death Severance through whatever opening remained.

They were finally landing attacks but Armando was still controlling the fight.

Another pulse came from the Divine Flame and golden light passed through everyone inside the chamber.

[Corruption Level increased.]

Karl checked his panel while moving around another blade.

[Corruption Level: 31.64%]

Almost a third of his right arm had become golden, and the stiffness spreading through his fingers was becoming difficult to ignore whenever he tightened them around the Death Stick.

Leon looked at his own hand while running.

"This shit is getting faster."

"The flame is right beside us."

Armando raised both hands again and chains spread across nearly half the chamber.

Seraphine’s threads moved between them, pulling several chains together before frost covered the entire group.

"Break."

The frozen bundle shattered.

Karl prepared another Death Severance when Lyra’s voice reached him again.

"Boy..."

He glanced toward the wall with obvious irritation.

Lyra was Armando’s disciple and one of the Beast Humans who had hidden among them from the beginning. Whatever she wanted now, Karl had no reason to trust her.

"Release me."

Karl turned back toward the fight.

"No."

"You cannot defeat him like this."

"You’re not exactly the person I’d trust for advice."

Lyra clenched her teeth.

"You don’t even know who you’re fighting."

Karl sent another slash toward Armando before looking back at her.

"Then talk."

Blood ran from the corner of her mouth.

"That man is the Blood Warlock."

He looked toward her properly this time.

"Don’t spout nonsense, Armando Scythi the blood Warlock disappeared nearly a hundred years ago, it’s just a name overlap."

A laugh came from the centre of the chamber.

Armando had heard them.

"Oh?"

Golden blades continued floating around him as he looked toward Lyra.

"My disciple is finally introducing me?"

Lyra immediately struggled against the rods.

"Master, please you need to stop, this isn’t what you—"

Armando moved two fingers and the rods bent against her body and forced her mouth closed again.

Karl’s attention remained on him until another fireball forced him behind the undead knight.

Armando Scythi...the blood Warlock

A century ago, the blood earlock had been one of the greatest human professionals of his generation before the Alliance accused him of conducting large-scale human experiments.

And then he disappeared.

Karl ducked beneath another blade and suddenly remembered the announcement from earlier.

First Pioneer.

That was what the Forgotten Cave had called Armando.

So he reached this place nearly a century ago.

Seraphine appeared beside Karl while redirecting another chain with her threads.

"He really is troublesome."

Karl glanced toward her.

"You only noticed now?"

"I noticed immediately."

She watched Armando block Leon and Atherion before forcing Mira away with another golden wave.

"He’s extremely experienced, even in my church, there weren’t many people who could fight several opponents this comfortably."

Karl raised the Death Stick again.

"Admire him later."

Seraphine smiled slightly.

"Fine."

Karl looked back toward Lyra, he still did not trust her, but she clearly knew more about Armando than any of them did.

Leaving her pinned there was pointless. He raised one hand and summoned two skeletal bears beside the wall.

"Pull the rods out."

Both bears grabbed the first iron rod and dragged backward.

Metal scraped against the golden wall and Armando noticed immediately.

"Stop."

Several chains rushed toward the bears, but Seraphine stepped between them and spread her fingers.

Golden threads wrapped around the chains while frost locked them in place.

Armando’s expression finally changed.

"Enough."

He spread both hands toward the Divine Flame.

"You continue these feeble struggles as though any of you are leaving this place."

Golden light erupted from the flame and a wave passed through the entire chamber.

Karl immediately felt his body become heavier.

[Corruption Level increased.]

[Corruption Level: 50.17%]

"Fuck."

Half of his right arm had turned completely golden, while the same colour had spread farther across his neck and chest.

Leon stared at his own hands while Mira touched the golden patch spreading across one side of her face.

"Fifty percent already?"

Atherion and the remaining Fitzalan members were no better and everyone’s movements had become noticeably slower.

Outside the tower, the beam above the Divine Flame had grown much brighter.

Most of the kneeling figures throughout the city had already disappeared, their bodies becoming streams of light that continued feeding the pillar.

A massive outline had started forming within it.

Even from inside the chamber, they could already make out part of a face in the sky.

Seraphine looked upward.

"It’s accelerating."

Karl turned back toward Armando.

"Then we finish this before it gets any farther."

Before anyone could attack again, the Divine Flame stretched toward Armando and connected directly to his body.

Golden fire flowed into him and next his cracked skin smoothed, grey hair darkened and his bent body straightened within seconds.

The hideous old man quickly became decades younger while the golden light inside his eyes continued growing stronger.

Armando touched his face and laughed.

"Yes..."

He turned toward Lyra.

"Look at me."

Her eyes widened.

"Your master is back."

Armando spread his arms while more golden fire entered his body.

"Every bastard who betrayed me... every fool who hunted me..."

His voice slowly deepened.

"I will show them who Armando Scythi is."

Another voice began mixing beneath his own.

"Who the Blood Warlock truly is."

"I will destroy humanity."

Seraphine made a disgusted face.

Karl glanced toward her.

"What?"

She stared at the golden fire running through Armando.

"This isn’t even proper divinity anymore, it’s just sludge."

Armando kicked against the floor and launched upward.

The ceiling shattered as he tore through it, and cracks immediately spread across the upper section of the tower.

Atherion looked up.

"Get out!"

Karl recalled the skeletal bears and rushed toward the nearest opening as pieces of the ceiling began falling around them.

Leon grabbed Balder and jumped through another side while Mira disappeared through Karl’s shadow.

Atherion forced his remaining teammates out just before the upper section collapsed.

Karl landed among the golden debris outside and quickly pushed himself upright.

Leon crawled from beneath a broken slab nearby, coughing dust from his mouth.

"Damn... this bastard really dropped the whole tower."

Karl barely paid attention, Armando was floating inside the enormous golden beam above the ruins, while the face behind him had become much clearer.

A notification appeared before everyone.

[Divine Descent initiated.]

[Descent Progress: 1%.]

Then a voice spread throughout the golden city.

"Armando Scythi."

The enormous face slowly opened its eyes and Armando raised his head toward it.

"You endured betrayal, exile and a century of suffering."

The beam around him brightened.

"You remained faithful when the world turned against you."

"You have proven yourself worthy."

The voice grew louder.

"Rejoice, my faithful one."

The golden eyes looked down upon him.

"Your Sovereign shall grant you the vengeance you desire."