Chapter 52: THE THIRD ARTIFACT
The confrontation at the breach had been brutal and mercifully brief. When the dust settled and the tear in reality sealed, Lord Nihilum remained standing opposite Reed in the scorched wasteland that had once been the northeastern defensive perimeter of Goblin’s Hollow. Between them lay the still-twitching remains of something ancient and terrible—a mass of writhing appendages and eyes that were already dissolving into fetid ichor.
"Impressive," Lord Nihilum said, his voice simultaneously present in Reed’s ears and inside his mind. "Few could have contained an Abyssal Harbinger so efficiently."
Reed’s obsidian skin rippled with barely contained power, silver veins pulsing like lightning beneath storm clouds. "You breached a Netherlock in my domain as a test." It wasn’t a question.
"The Council required proof of your capabilities." Lord Nihilum’s form seemed to absorb the ambient light around him. "They debate endlessly. I prefer direct evidence."
Reed gestured at the devastation. Dozens of evolved goblins lay dead or wounded. A section of his meticulously constructed walls had been reduced to rubble. "Your ’evidence’ cost lives."
"A small price for what comes next." Lord Nihilum moved closer, his movement more like a shadow’s shifting than physical locomotion. "The awakening accelerates. Your two fragments are strong, but insufficient."
"Three," Reed corrected coldly.
Lord Nihilum’s pinprick eyes flared briefly. "Two active fragments. The third remains dormant within you—unlocked but unutilized."
For the first time, uncertainty flickered across Reed’s features. Before he could respond, Shia approached, her copper skin bearing new scars from the battle, runes shifting restlessly across her transformed flesh.
"The wounded are being tended to," she reported, eyeing Lord Nihilum with naked hostility. "Thirty-seven dead. The breach is sealed, but the residual energy will corrupt this section for weeks."
Reed nodded grimly. "Quarantine the area. No one enters without direct authorization."