Chapter 55: The Uncontrolled Spark
Wheels rattled against the roots and vines unevenly placed on the ground, the mist inside the Bone Orchards hindered the view of those leading in front.
Mad Dog, along with his lieutenant, carefully led the way, alert for any magical beast that might attack the caravan behind them.
The slaves trembled, their loud gulps and ragged breaths harmonized with the creak of the wagons... they didn’t know what was inside, they only knew its value was greater than their lives.
Even soldiers guarded the caravan with their lives, for failing to protect it would mean a fate worse than a quick death... a return to the chains and degradation of a slavish existence.
Lidien stared outside, nonchalant at the beasts’ cries he could hear now and then.
Then, as the sun set without their knowing, the mist was replaced by moonlight illuminating the dark and bloody path along the way.
Lidien could hear it, the sound of crying ghosts... the emerald Necrotic Essence atop the gnarled trees where scattered remains were stuck on their branches.
As his smile turned from ear to ear, Lidien meditated... releasing his verve to imagine a vortex that could greedily absorb Soul and Necrotic Essence.
But imagination alone was not creation. To manifest an ability, he also needed to understand the principle behind it and how it worked.
’I need to establish a standard for my absorption of Essences...’
While maintaining the vortex of verve suspended in front of his chest, Lidien tried to adjust its effect based on his understanding.
The last time he had successfully absorbed a Soul Essence using the Vortex was after the carnage of beastfolk among their kin... while the only way for him to absorb Necrotic Essence was to touch the corpse.
Though his Crimson Shard could absorb essences beyond the starry skies and purify them into verve... Lidien still did not understand the meaning behind it.
As he focused on creating his own ability, Lidien unconsciously released two hues of verve... a ghostly grey, and a miasmic emerald, mixing together and making his silhouette look ancient and ominous.
Slowly... he felt his arms tingling... replaced by a refreshing feeling... chilling his hands where the emerald-grey vortex was suspended down to his bones.
Lidien stared at it with his now Crimson Eyes... now, he could absorb Soul and Necrotic Essence near him without touching it.
As the sound of the ghost crying was gone, Lidien stopped his absorption and stared at the moon shining brightly, remembering Lily’s one last smile before he pulled her heart and placed it inside the Relic.
Now, as the thought of the Skinless Leopard’s ability to disguise depending on its skin surfaced, Lidien gripped his hands till his nails dug into his palms.
Then...
The caravan stopped...
Echoes of clashing swords and claws resounded from the front of the caravan, making the people behind alert and grip their swords tightly, looking at the gnarled branches with hundreds of eyes looking at them.
"Hold! Defend the Caravan!"
The shout was relayed from front till the end... as the fight from the front slowly grew bigger, spreading to the rear.
Lidien rested his elbow on the window, staring outside of the carriage... watching Xyon and Alva fight the magical beasts... while the caravan slowly advanced, using the corpses of the fallen soldiers and slaves as bait.
’So this is why the Blessed of Death resort to massacres... it’s the most direct path to power. It seems they, not the Demons, are the true architects of chaos in this world.’
Lidien once again activated his Absorption Vortex, greedily swallowing all the Soul Essence and freshly made Necrotic Essence that came from the corpses.
Hours passed, yet the beast horde attack still had no sign of stopping... everyone was tired, even some of the Slaves tried to fight back when they saw the soldiers protecting them were dying one after another.
Alva wasn’t well either... she was now bathing with blood every time her claws ripped a beast apart... even Xyon was bleeding, from some slashes he let himself be hit, scratching his flesh, instead of letting his vital organs be hit by fatal wounds.
Now, bored with watching... Lidien raised his hands, trying to pull out the verve deep within his lower abdomen.
However, Lidien felt his Sparkline refusing to let the verve from his lower abdomen flow... making it stuck in the Sparkline in his arms, unable to conjure what he was imagining.
Lidien contracted the muscles in his arms, trying to forcefully let out the verve that got stuck... however, it was his sparkline in his arms that felt burning... the same feeling of him overusing it.
’Why... why is it not coming out!?’
Panic streaked through Lidien, as the pain in his arms felt like it could explode at any moment.
’This is all or nothing!’
Lidien activated his Incite of Blood, and used its ability to think rapidly while staring at his blood flow, especially in the arm he wanted to conjure the verve ball.
Yet, he couldn’t see the verve... but only blood.
Basing everything on his senses, he relaxed his arms free from his contraction, then pointed his index finger outside of the carriage.
’I’ll just sacrifice one of my fingers... than have all of my arms explode from it.’
Then, as he felt another tingling sensation in his arms... he held it tightly with his other hand, constricting it, while simultaneously relaxing his index finger...
Like boiling water, the verve inside the Sparkline arms couldn’t hold it anymore... and tried to find the weakest wall it could destroy to set itself free.
Then...
A wet cracking sound came from Lidien’s finger, followed by a buzzing lightning that streaked toward the magical beasts, clearing its path with blood and fire.
Lidien’s index fingertip exploded down to the root of his nail, as if it had been splattered by a heavy object...
But, the explosion it brought upon the Bone Orchard was so massive that everyone stopped their battle, and only the awe of soldiers and cries of the escaping beasts could be heard.
’An uncontrolled power is so destructive... Tsk, Azer... that fucking demon didn’t tell me that I also need to adjust my sparkline to accommodate both kinds of verve.’