Chapter 35: Wraith

Chapter 35: Wraith The wind picked up significantly, howling into his ears. Run as fast as you can. His scattered blonde hair fluttered over his eyes, but he never relied on them much. He fixed his eyes on Peter Cross, activating both [Targeting] and [Reading]. The man was painfully thin and horribly scarred, burnt, and even flayed. But his previously tiny flame of mana was surging, and his black, dead eyes grew madder by the second. Behind Lucen, Aya raised her Arcia staff. Her shiny black hair whipped behind her, and she met Lucen’s gaze for a second before her mana flared. Lucen shot towards Peter in a burst, his spear and body low to the ground. Peter swung his body and golden spear in a deadly arc. Lucen launched himself over the spear and let his spear stab at Peter’s throat. The man lurched out of the way, half-stumbling. Lucen landed and attacked again. He deflected Peter’s wide attacks and ripped his spear up in a rising slash. Peter fought like a man possessed, falling over to dodge attacks and blocking at the last moment. "Are you sure you don’t want to let go of the spear?" Lucen questioned as he landed a hard kick into the man’s midriff. "Not sure how you can even hold it." Peter’s hands were burnt and blackened like he were holding a lightning bolt, and the pain and madness in his eyes only grew. "Is that not a sign that god has blessed me?" Peter said, ducking under Lucen’s jab and swinging his spear at the boy like a club. Lucen wasn’t quite sure of that, given that Peter stole the spear. He used [Sinking Sand] in front of him as he retreated. With [Traveller’s Aid], he could walk over these traps, and his opponents would be oblivious to the danger. Aya had finished casting her Fireball spell, and a crackling mass of flames was flying towards Peter Cross, whose feet sank into the sand trap, holding him in place. Lucen was about to sigh; it had been a simple fight after all. But Peter’s mana exploded once again. This time, its light was golden. As the fireball crashed into him, Peter’s body turned to light, vanishing. Lucen’s eyes widened. He searched the area for him but couldn’t find a trace of the man. "He escap—" His senses flared as Peter returned. Lucen threw himself out of the way as a beam of light streaked at him from the sky. Peter’s descent split the ground, and the force picked Lucen off the ground and sent him tumbling through the air. He controlled his rough landing and sprang to his feet as Peter now attacked even faster. Each blow seared the air and his skin. The golden light of Cross’ spear burned him even without touching. The blackened burns crawled over Cross’ arms, however, and his fingers resembled strips of charcoal. Lucen parried and tried to sneak in an attack, but his speed and strength seemed to grow by the second. Each time he used the sand trap against the ragged man, he would simply turn to light. He went somewhere high above them, Lucen guessed, because he couldn’t sense Peter coming down till he was too close. The attack was fast, and a single blow from it would be devastating. It was textbook Divine magic. How could Cross wield Divine mana without a channelling technique? How is he using spells he never learnt? It had to be the stupid spear. It cut through defenses like paper and weakened its enemies. But Lucen didn’t understand how he could use its power without the right mana and high Dominance. Windy said he was a damn clerk, Lucen thought as one of Peter’s heavy blows sent him crashing into a tree. He rolled away as the follow-up blow blasted the tree off its roots. He didn’t have any mid-range spells like Set’s greatsword, so he couldn’t punish Cross for attacking so recklessly. He cursed internally, dodging a lightning-quick chain of attacks from Peter. On the last attack, he jumped backward and then kicked off a tree to attack Peter after his wild swing. Peter fell backward like a puppet and turned to slash Aya’s fireball out of the air. Lucen stayed back to avoid being burnt, but Cross didn’t even seem to notice as the flames licked his arms. Peter thrust his spear into the ground, releasing a shockwave that smothered the flames and shattered the earth. Then he walked out of them slowly, those empty black eyes boring into Lucen. Lucen watched the Divine mana that Cross forced into his body rage through him. He wondered how the man was still standing as he acquired more and more injuries. "You’re going to die, even if you kill me here," Lucen said, confused. "You understand that, right?" Peter stopped. Silence hung heavy, broken by the acrid stench and sizzle of Peter’s burning flesh. The restless wind blew the smoke and steam around Peter. He resembled a wraith. Something long dead, crawling from its grave for vengeance. "Justice—" Peter choked, coughs racking through his body. "Is worth more than the life of a pitiful sinner." Lucen’s eyes grew colder. "Fine, then." He shot towards Peter in a sudden flash, using the built-up energy of [Surging Flames], and slammed his spear into Peter’s defense, pushing him back. The air split with a bang, and time seemed to pause as Lucen let go of his spear, allowing it to dissolve into his soul. Aya’s eyes widened, and she immediately started casting. Peter’s scarred face scrunched up in confusion, giving Lucen the second he needed. He opened his palm, revealing a piece of Cruncher bone that he had collected. They worked well with the new skill he had gained—[Bone Spear]. The bone shard expanded and shot right through Peter Cross’ heart in a split second. Lucen stepped back as Peter looked down at his pierced heart. "I do hope your justice arrives one day. I’m not Chester’s biggest fan. But I warned you." Peter staggered, blood pouring from his mutilated mouth and the spear in his heart. "I’ve seen my heart pierced before, by another who looked just like you," Peter said blankly. "I’ve seen my fingers eaten to the bone by rats, rods of hot metal piercing my eyes..." He grabbed the bone spear firmly, staring Lucen down, and ripped it from his heart. "Those moments were not suffering, just like this isn’t." The wound began to close as Peter staggered closer, a permanent smile carved on his face. His Life mana surged in Lucen’s eyes, and he briefly remembered why the Cross had been arrested. Illegal Life magic. "My pain I could endure, but her pain," Peter snarled, launching himself at Lucen, "Chester will pay for her pain in blood!"