Unbound

Chapter Eight Hundred And Ten – 810

“Felix!” The darkness burned, nearly blinding him as it melted into white-hot slag. Gray hands pulled it apart, unbothered by the heat, and Atar’s white hair hung down in front of his relieved smile. “You’re still alive.”

A gray hand reached down and clasped his blackened scales. Felix grunted as he stood, but far less than Atar, who groaned with strain. “Blind gods, you’re heavy.”

Felix smiled. He had expected pain, yet other than simple aches and scratches he felt fine, considering—

He stared at his legs. They were both completely whole and entirely fine, aside from a somewhat pinkish hue to the skin. Felix lifted his arms, twisting them before his eyes; they, too, were both whole.

Bonds Are Strength, Hunger said with a rumble from within. They Serve Us.

A Memory flashed through him, of the dark creature seizing the power of the silver Oaths he’d consumed and diverting them all into Sovereign of Flesh.

That explained the notifications.

Lay of the Unfallen is level 123!

Lay of the Unfallen is level 124!

Sovereign of Flesh is level 119!

...

Sovereign of Flesh is level 124!

Skein of Fate is level 96!

...

Skein of Fate is level 111!

Master Tier!

You Gain:

+100 ALA

+75 AFI

+75 FEL

Atar put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him as the rush of power ran through his core space. “Skill growth?”

“A bit.”

“I can imagine. I gained a dozen levels in my Skills. I’m damn near Master Tier, and all I did was beat up some Adept Tier mages. Not...this.”

Felix looked around. The topmost chamber of the Violet Tower was demolished. Glass desks and screens were shattered, the polished floors were charred beyond repair, the roof was open to the midday sky, and the walls... All that was left of them was a few slagged pillars of orichalcum, and even that was well on its way out.

“What happened?”

“You mean after you blew up the top of the Violet Tower?” Atar shrugged. “Nothing much.”

“Atar and Flame ate all the fire, even the one that spread from up here,” Alister said from across the room. He was sifting through the rubble. “Which was a lucky break. Atar nearly died.” �

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“I’ve never seen so much blood outside of a body.”

Atar held up his hands, forestalling his boyfriend. “Look, it was a close call. But I’m fine now.”

i fixed him.

“Yes, and I appreciate that, Flame. But seeing his skeleton again was a bit more than I expected.”

it is not my ideal form, either.

“I am right here.” Atar huffed a breath. “Anyway, after everything blew up, and I heroically stopped the Tower from burning down, we ascended the final floors.”

Felix frowned. “How? I still have the ward key.”

“All the wards got burned out,” Zara said. She stepped across the rubble, walking by the side of a bloody Vilas Tern. “It made things easier.”

"Could it?" Alister asked eagerly.

"I'm unsure. It is powerful, but it's not a weapon in the conventional sense. I can't sort out what are my thoughts and what were Siva's."

Tern shook his head. "I think not. But we have never tried. If it was a weapon that could take down the Ruin—if that was even my original purpose—I cannot recall. But it would be a worthy attempt.”

He patted the Theron’s upper arm. “I remember Elowen very well. You were a good student and a remarkably talented mage. I wanted to take her on as an apprentice, but Tiir wouldn't allow it. Not without an Oath to the Tower." He sighed. “The Tower Master and I convinced Elowen to swear upon the Girded Vow."

Elowen nodded slowly. "After that, things get more hazy. I...think Siva was meddling with my Mind more deeply than I thought.”

Felix held his chin, thinking. From her actions during their fight, he never got the impression that she was a Vessel of Siva. She hadn’t possessed anything close to Gabby’s blinding power—but she had definitely been infused with the Divine. A shadow of Siva had been guiding her. She admitted as much. She had been pushed toward discoveries that would benefit the gods. Not a weapon to wage war, but to break the chains of a Divine prison.

"That settles it," Felix declared, turning away from Elowen and the others.

Atar followed him, brow furrowed. "What?"

"I need to destroy the Girded Vows at all of the other towers. I can't let Siva keep her grip on this city."

"Alright, that's fair," Alister conceded. "But before we go herring off on another dangerous side mission, how about we finish this one?" He looked between them all. "We need to take her out of here and return to Elderthrone."

"Take me out of the city?" Elowen looked around at them, bewildered. "This is my home. The library in the Violet Tower alone is too valuable to leave."

"We won't have to leave it," Felix assured her. "I just need to find the Seat and Seal, and we can take the library wherever we go.”

“Really? That’s amazing—”

“But first,” he interrupted. “There's something I need to do."

He walked over to the Chthonic Star. The scaffolding around the weapon was entirely broken, and the thin plates of mithril and orichalcum were nothing more than melted splashes against the Crescian Bronze blocks. Several chunks of the ceiling had fallen on top of it, crushing part of it into the floor, but Felix couldn't see any deformation in the material itself. Crescian Bronze was far too strong for that.

He stopped a foot before the enormous weapon, and a shiver of fear snaked down his limbs. This thing had blown off his arm and leg with ease, and yet it looked so...useless. A bunch of simple metal blocks, tumbled out of alignment and carved with pretty symbols.

Felix laid a dark hand on the nearest segment. It was time to remove it from the board.

Empyrean Embrace.

The Skill roared to life in his chest, singing through the Mana Gate in his skull, before seizing the material before him—and was rebuffed. A Will not his own fought back against him...a Will that came from the Crescian Bronze itself.

It pushed at Felix, and as it did, a piece of its Intent flooded through. They weren't thoughts, but images that filtered through his senses, as if translating the sound of the wind into words and images.

Existence. Purpose.

Felix narrowed his eyes. What’s your purpose?

An image emerged of a massive boulder covered in moss. It was sheared perfectly in two, as if by the blow of some mighty being. The images became words in his Mind as it whirled through him. To find that which binds and to break it.

Hunger recoiled from the weapon, and Felix had a sudden understanding of why it had hurt him so much. It rolled through him alongside the Crescian Bronze's intent. The beam had dissolved parts of him at a fundamental level, tearing him apart where he was weakest. Only his Primordial Skills had allowed him to survive.

He stepped back, swallowing. "Guys, I don't think we can destroy this."

"It's too strong?" Atar asked.

"Crescian Bronze is notoriously difficult to destroy,” Zara explained. “Less than a handful of individuals have ever managed the feat, but they exist only in legend.”

"It's not that it's too strong, it's... It has a purpose."

"What?"

A sound struck through the world, vast and incomprehensibly deep. It traversed his spine, rippling across bone and sinew like a plucked string, before terminating at the center of his being.

The shadows flashed. Felix moved before he thought.

Stride of the King!

Inheritor's Will leapt to his hand, and he swung.

Emperor’s Vigilance is level 112!

Felix tensed his muscles and stopped the blow, his blade halting only a hair's breadth away from the neck of an armored woman.

His sister.