Nyx stared at the golden strands around Kar and knew that her Nine Paths had failed to kill him. Her wrath was almost entirely gone. A single trip to the Lake of Serenity would cost her all the wrath she could muster. After she mastered the Paths, Nyx thought she would remain undefeated as long as she had time to gather enough wrath. Arthur Netherborne suffered from a disease of excessive wrath, like a sailor with a hole in his boat. Nyx was an old lady carrying one bucket at a time from the lake. The sailor had more water than her, but she was safer. She could use the water in her house to ensure she would live on. As for the sailor, he would drown.
Kar stood unharmed after she used her domain, Nyx stared helplessly, her sword covered with all the wrath she had left. As for Kar, he seemed to be getting stronger.
“I can smell the fear in your bones,” Kar said with a grin, tilting his head toward her. “Come on, Genius. Don’t tell me that was your strongest and only attack?”
Nyx refused to let him affect her decision. She knew their main priority was survival, not defeating the calamity before her. She was not ready to throw away her life just to prevent Kar from obtaining the amplifier, But how would they survive?
“Miss Rain!” Nyx shouted as she took a stance between Kar and Sapphire. “Please escape this place. Kar has obtained the blessing of Devaheim. We are no longer his match.”
“What a sad thing to admit, but I respect your self-awareness,” Kar said as he raised a hand and the golden strands gathered on his fingertips. The golden strands of mana formed a gauntlet around his hand, screaming with danger. “I will give you the choice of leaving, Nyx Netherborne.”
Nyx did not answer, but turned to Rain instead. The two shared a single glance that told them what the best-case scenario was. Sapphire, Rain, and Spade had lost. Nyx was soon to be next.
Rain could only hope to save herself at the moment, but she knew she wouldn’t do that. A life after losing her mother and friends was not a life worth living. She would not live for the sake of revenge, nor would she even be capable of it.
Arthur sent them after Kar because he believed in their ability to stop him, but what if he was wrong? What if Arthur had overestimated their abilities and underestimated Kar?
“You have five seconds to leave,” Kar reminded her. “After that, I will have your heart clutched in this gauntlet.”
The golden gauntlet let out an otherworldly aura as Kar unfolded his hand. Nyx knew the artifact was capable of achieving that result, so she had to move first. She bolted forward to give Rain and the rest a chance to escape.
09:33
Kar seemed disappointed with her choice, but still counted down from five to zero. With each number, the gauntlet shone with dangerous lights. Nyx gathered every bit of wrath she had and focused it on her sword.
Rain knew what was going to happen, but she didn’t have the heart to leave Valeria to die. Spade fell to the ground, coughing up blood. The strain of the spatial impact on his body was enough to kill him.
“She is right, Rain,” Spade said, staring at the blood in his hand. “We cannot defeat him. Not before, and not now either. Please, run away. If not, we’re going to get wiped out.” Rain had to make this choice, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Valeria breathed weakly in her arms as Rain’s mana kept her on the brink of death. Spade created another portal that would lead Rain elsewhere, but she remained in place.
Nyx attacked Kar, giving her the chance to escape. Kar caught the sword with his gauntlet, looking down at Nyx with disappointment. Then, his countdown ended. “Zero.”
Rain knew she had lost her chance to escape in that moment. Kar flung the wrath-filled sword away before grabbing Nyx’s throat in the next moment. The gauntlet shone with unbridled energy before exploding.
Boom!
Nyx was sent flying and slammed against the walls of the cave. The entire place came crashing down as Nyx fell next to Sapphire, her head and hair a bloody mess. Rain gasped as she saw the blood pooling beneath her.
Kar sighed as he turned toward Rain. Then, he snapped his fingers with the gauntlet and appeared in front of Spade and Rain. His hand reached toward the portal and shattered it like glass as the calamity looked down at them.
“This is the end,” Kar said, looking down at them. “I never expected such a loyal dog to turn against the calamities, but humans are complicated creatures.”
“There is a line that one cannot cross,” Spade answered as he rose from the ground, his hands a mangled mess. He raised them toward Kar, gathering another blast of spatial energy. “I refuse to kill the person who saved me.”
“I loathe what humans call honor,” Kar said as he stared at the disabled man forfeiting his life to create another spatial impact. “Honor is what kings use to give meaning to human sacrifice. But it’s a lie.”
“A calamity wouldn’t understand… what death means to us,” Spade said as his nose and ears began bleeding. “I guided you to this place but never intended for things to reach this far. This life of mine…”
Rain stared at the man’s back as it was shredded to pieces by the spatial energy. Kar sighed as Spade released his spatial impact. The entire cave shook again as Spade was torn apart by his own mana before it traveled toward Kar.
Boom!
In response, the calamity raised his gauntlet and absorbed the impact into the artifact. He remained standing without a scratch while Spade fell to the ground, life disappearing from his eyes.
Rain watched as Spade fell to the ground and sensed his life essence vanishing. Her eyes filled with tears as she turned toward Kar, who stared at her with a thin smile.
“Don’t hate me,” Kar said. “Hate the man who sent you here.”