Chapter 53
Zeth strode toward Garon, his enemy backing fearfully away from him.
“C’mon,” Zeth called out to him, “aren’t you confident in yourself? Can’t you beat me? Come at me—show off some of your Blood Mage powers.”
Astrys stood by him, ready to fend off any attackers. But none had come so far. The sound of footsteps had begun echoing out from deeper in the tunnels ever since Garon had broken that crystal around his neck and all the lights turned red, but nothing else happened yet. Seemed like they weren’t quite prepared for an attack.
Zeth drew out one of the five scraps of cloth with his Hellfire Rituals painted onto them and pulled a vial of blood from his belt, taking off the cap and tipping it upside down, dousing the circle as he walked. Once it ran out, the circle glowed to life.
Garon’s eyes grew wide as he watched what Zeth did. “W-what? But you can’t…”
“There’s a lot of things you don’t know,” Zeth said. “But at this point, you should at least know one thing. Your time left alive is extremely, extremely limited.”
With his weapon prepared, Zeth moved from a simple walk toward his foe to an all-out sprint, putting his newly-gained Dexterity to the test. His boots thudded against the wooden floor as he tore forth.
Garon, too, turned and began running away, apparently unwilling to do battle with Zeth. Honestly, Zeth found that a little strange; surely, with as advanced as this place was, he should’ve had plenty of countermeasures against a potential intruder? Or even just a few combat-oriented Skills of his own. Maybe he was leading Zeth into a trap, though—he reminded himself to stay cautious, no matter how excited he was.
“H-hurry…up!” Garon shouted down the hall as he ran. He was already breathing heavily, forced to take deep gulps of air after each word. “We’re…we’re under attack, dammit! Get help over here fast!”