Chapter 37 Like a switch
"Stop him," Mael said, looking at Vandal. Vandal nodded, moved swiftly, and struck the back of Kieran's head. Kieran collapsed, unconscious. Vandal lifted him with ease, as though he weighed nothing.
"Eat this!" Hutrar tried to conjure a flaming ball of fire from his echo to hurl at the creatures, but it stuttered weakly and a line of blood trickled down his mouth.
"Shit, I still haven’t recovered to 100 percent."
Hutrar was drained from using his flames earlier and was still weak from the arena fight. He noticed something strange: every attempt to recover had failed, as if something opposed the healing. His recovery remained incomplete, and that deepened his fear of Vandal. He decided not to provoke him again.
Sabine's chest tightened as Lydia's body was dragged farther back, her heels scraping against the stone floor. The creature did not slow. Its movements stayed frantic and hungry, tearing into flesh with violence that sprayed dark streaks across the crystalline walls. Another beast joined it, clawing into Lydia's midsection as her voice broke into something unrecognizable, dissolving into choking silence far too quickly.
Jaclyn saw it too, and for a brief moment her expression faltered, her usual cold focus cracking under the immediacy of the scene. Then her gaze hardened again as she turned toward the tunnel entrance.
"We block it now," she said, her voice low but urgent.
Sabine did not hesitate. She planted her feet just inside the tunnel and twisted her wrist as the familiar pulse of her echo surged outward. A translucent barrier unfolded from her arm, curving into existence with a shimmering hum that thickened the air in front of them. The shield expanded rapidly, sealing the narrow entrance with a firm, glowing surface that rippled as something slammed into it from the other side. The impact shuddered through her bones.
Outside, the creatures had already finished with Lydia. What remained of her was barely recognizable, dragged aside as more of the harbinger corpse eaters crowded toward the exit, drawn by movement, by breath, by anything still alive. One of them collided with Sabine's shield, its distorted face pressing against the barrier as its jaw worked uselessly, smearing dark residue across the glowing surface.
"Not enough," Jaclyn muttered.
She stepped forward, dropping to one knee as her palm struck the ground. The stone beneath them responded almost instantly, a deep vibration rolling outward as her earth echo sank into the floor. Cracks spread from her hand, thin at first, then widening as the ground groaned in protest. Dust and fragments lifted, swirling around her as if pulled by an unseen force.
"Hold it steady," she said, her voice strained now.
Sabine gritted her teeth and pushed more of her energy into the shield as another impact struck, then another. The barrier flickered but held, its surface bending inward slightly under the repeated blows. Through it, she could see more of the creatures gathering, their movements erratic, their bodies pressing over one another in a frenzy to reach them.
Behind the shield, the tunnel trembled.
Jaclyn exhaled sharply as the stone answered her call. The floor at the entrance began to rise, first as a bulge, then as a jagged mass forcing its way upward. The sound of grinding rock filled the space, loud enough to drown out the shrieks beyond the barrier. A massive boulder took shape, its surface rough and uneven, pushing forward until it pressed against Sabine's shield.
"Move," Jaclyn said.
Sabine released the shield in a controlled burst and stepped back just as the boulder slammed fully into place. The sudden absence of the barrier allowed the creatures to lunge forward, but they met solid stone instead. The impact echoed, dull and heavy, followed by furious scratching and pounding from the other side.
For a moment, no one spoke.
The tunnel filled with the sound of their breathing, uneven and strained, mingling with the distant, muffled frenzy behind the newly formed barrier. Sabine's hands trembled as she lowered them, the residual glow of her echo fading slowly.
Ophelia pointed at Jaeden. "This is your fault," she said.
"No, it isn’t. She was not fast enough, and those things react to sound," Jaeden spoke quickly.
"I saw you snatching a necklace from the neck of one of those things," Ophelia said.
"No, I didn’t. You are imagining things. I don’t know what you are talking about," Jaeden said, his expression feigning confusion.
Ophelia’s anger flared. "You selfish bastard! I have seen your true colors today. You sacrificed Lydia for a useless trinket and have the audacity to act oblivious."
By now the argument had drawn the attention of Mael and the others. Kieran was already coming to. Jaeden, noticing the eyes on him, tried to de-escalate.
"Look, I get you are upset. I am upset too. She was our childhood friend, and I wish she hadn’t died. I will take responsibility for reporting her death so it will be seen as an unexpected accident," Jaeden said loudly.
"You still call this an accident?" Ophelia’s rage boiled over. Her palm shot forward, landing a loud slap across Jaeden’s face. Her breathing came heavy with fury.
"You should have been the one to die! You killed her!" Ophelia screamed, as if no one existed except her and Jaeden.
"She’s telling the truth about the necklace. It’s in his pocket," Vandal said. He had despised Jaeden since the day he tried to harass Sabine, and he believed Ophelia concerning Lydia’s death.
"You stay out of this!" Jaeden shouted at Vandal, hatred thick in his eyes. But the damage was done. Kieran’s breathing quickened, his gaze locked on Jaeden like a predator sighting prey.
"You… so you did this…"
It happened in a split second. A blade of ice lashed out, slicing through Jaeden’s throat like it was cutting butter. Before anyone could react, the blade had passed through and withdrawn.
"Agghh… blugggh…" Jaeden clutched his throat, but his head dropped forward, eyes wide with shock. He had never imagined dying this way, nor by Kieran’s hand. His visions of glory, of ruling the Unseeing Faith Sect, of marrying four beautiful women and being adored by dozens, bled out with him on the stone floor.
"Lydia, wait for me, your death is avenged," Kieran said. His words sank in for Chan, who was the closest in proximity to him. Chan immediately realized and tried to hold his blade, but it was too late. The ice blade had plunged itself deep into Kieran’s chest before Chan could stop him.
"Shit! We were supposed to keep the holy fathers’ descendants safe. This was meant to help them gain combat experience. Shit, three are already dead… ah… shit." Chan felt like he was in hell. He didn’t even know if they could return as enforcers after what had happened.
"We failed our mission woefully…" Mael bowed his head, his face in his palms. Yazmeen and Jaclyn sat on the ground, looking at the ground like it was the only thing they could look at.
"It is finished…" Mael said again.
Vandal looked at all their hopeless faces. In a split second, Ophelia was the only descendant of a holy father. He looked at their faces, all full of defeat, confusion, fear. The feeling he felt when he came to this world.
"This is not the end. We can still complete the mission. It is not our fault they all died. They endangered their own lives, and this mission was too dangerous to begin with. Sending their precious descendants to gain experience through a very dangerous mission with a lot of unknown variables is just throwing them to die in the lion’s den."
"Stop feeling hopeless. It’s not our fault. We will explain ourselves. Lady Ophelia will speak for us, won’t you? You saw all that happened," Vandal said as he looked deep into Ophelia’s eyes for any sign of compliance. You better speak up for us.
"I… I… don’t know… I don’t know, leave me alone!" Ophelia burst into tears as she collapsed to the floor, crying hysterically. She was just coming to the realization that she had lost all of her childhood friends in one day. Her eyes twitched crazily as she kept crying and then started laughing at the same time.
"Vandal, what do we do?" Sabine looked at Vandal as if somehow hoping he held all the answers.
"Ophelia, please calm down, calm down." Vandal tried to calm her, but her eyes had taken on a crazy sheen. She no longer cried but laughed long and hard, to the point the laughter took a maniacal turn. Mael touched her, trying to keep her calm. He tried to give her a comforting hug, but—
Shink.
"You are all gonna die here, hehehehehehehe!" Ophelia kept laughing as she twisted the blade deeper into Mael’s stomach. Then her teeth lengthened into canines as she bit into Mael’s neck, crunching on his jugular.
"No! Damn it!" Jaclyn leapt and launched an earth\-powered echo leg blast, which shot concise pieces of stone straight at Ophelia’s head. But before they could hit her, she leapt back and ran farther into the dark, laughter ringing wildly as it faded away.
"Hehehehehehehehe… You are all gonna die! Die! Die…"