Chapter 639 (2/2)

It was clear that the strange energy that he had given Azriel access to gave him an almost fraudulent amount of Skills. But it seemed the large lava flume he had struck the Propagator with originally had taken a lot out of him.

Then it seemed that he was out of cards. Azriel wondered if she had anything that would be sufficiently powerful enough to help them here. Or perhaps they would die here.

Even though she had already experienced the moments when Randidly stole her thunder in the tournament, and the time where Azriel had resigned herself to the wound she had received while fighting at NIergem, the realization they might die here still hit her like a bolt of lightning.

Not that Azriel feared death, her life was worth almost nothing to her. It was a means to an end. And that end was accomplishing the dream of the being that had given her a future. Before that dream… this was nothing.

Azriel’s eyes hardened. Almost subconsciously, she raised her spear and looked around at the spears. As of yet, the Propagator had yet to show itself. But as soon as Azriel thought that, the thing was there, standing amongst the Crystal Spires.

Silo also noticed the Propagator at the same moment, and snorted. “Hmph, it was foolish of you to challenge us without the benefit of your minions. Let me collect the price of your arrogance. Defiant Light! Pinnacle…. Spear!”

A huge amount of golden energy gathered around Silo upon his usage of his first Skill. Then he rushed forward towards the Propagator, and as he did so all that energy around him coalesced into a giant golden spear, sliding towards the Propagator. In this form, she was a tall, willowy woman with red hair. But she exuded a danger that wasn’t there previously. From somewhere, the Propagator had found a short emerald dress that stopped about mid thigh for its host body.

Honestly, it reminded Azriel of Randidly’s eyes.

As the huge golden spear built up momentum, the Propagator just smiled. It was pretty.

“Sing… my children.”

Softly at first, but then with increasing volume, the crystal spires around them began to resonate a strange song. It rapidly rose in pitch and frequency until it was a keening wail that seemed to cut through Azriel’s brain and strike at some vital part of herself. The pain slowly built.

Just as Azriel began to grimace and tremble, the momentum of the giant golden spear shattered, and Silo rolled out of it and to a stop. He head his head and moaned. Still, the volume of the song rose higher. So high that all other noise was made irrelevant.

Azriel saw the Propagator opened its mouth to laugh, but it was just a picture without any meaning. The sound of the song was so loud now that everything seem to fracture around Azriel. She fell to her knees. Still, the song grew louder.

“It hurts,” Azriel whispered, or at least she thought she did. But the noise had no meaning. It was agony and that was it. It was honestly not so much different from her life before. Stifling, exhausting, a maze filled with soft faces and reaching hands.

But then a hand touched her shoulder. Surprisingly, as it did so, the sound receded somewhat, filling Azriel’s ears with the sound of her own beating and the quick beat of her heart. SHe looked up and Randidly stood their. His crown was shimmering, waves of black power spreading out to cover her.

As she watched, blurs rushed forward out of the corner of her eye. They were crystal shards, and they took Randidly in his chest. Instantly, his expression twisted into one filled agony. He took only a single a step back and his grip on her shoulder tightened. But in that moment, the song grew louder once more.

But now Azriel was filled with a numbness that seemed to shrug off the pain. With red eyes, she turned to look at the Progator. Around it, another spire broke into pieces and several shards floated up next to her host body, points aimed towards Randidly.

Ignoring the pain, Azriel rushed forward. As she pulled out of Randidly’s grip, the pain hit her like a physical weight. That first step seemed like an eternity. But with a huge effort of will, she took that second step. Then she was off, her spear raised, the crimson trails behind her. All the while, the Propagator didn’t even look at her. The host body was smiling and fixated on Randidly behind her.

It was infuriating. Time stretched, and Azriel's perception narrowed to the face of the Propagator, looking past her to another enemy.

Before Azriel could reach the Propagator, its expression twisted. The area around them flickered, and then the domain shattered. A sickly, yellow light rushed out and covered them all, followed by the billowing smoke of Platton. Instantly, a message arrived from Platton.

Grab Silo, I’ll get the Ghosthound. We need to get out of here.