Chapter 496: Plans Awry
"It’s not possible!" the inquisitor said with a gasp, his eyes growing wide. The other priests and Church soldiers stiffened, equally shocked. Fear flickered in their eyes and across their faces, their expressions growing dark.
"Damn it! Where is she?" another soldier cried, his voice trilling with fear. "Why did she leave?"
"Kill them," I said softly, stumbling over the words. "We can’t leave anyone behind."
The Star Guard had no such hesitation, lunging forward with weapons bright with mana. I flinched as the first screams rose, and the inquisitor fell, impaled on two of Kahlen’s swords. The rest of the soldiers and priests followed soon after, until the last lay in a pile of his own blood, the light fading from his eyes.
There was no time to waste, nor could I regret our actions. Every second was another chance for another one of the souls in my Nexus to go dark. They’d survived the curse as we had, but the battle outside must have been growing fiercer because I felt a few slipping away into death. My tail curled around my leg, my fingers tightening around Fable’s fur, but I couldn’t let them die.
In just a few seconds, the violent battle was over. Fable trotted up to the Shard, and I slipped from his back, avoiding looking at the pools of blood, my stomach twisting at the soft squelch beneath my boots. I reached up and laid a hand on the Shard, closing my eyes as I let its presence wash over me—swift and decisive, like an unruly current.
I waited a moment before committing my mana to see if the god within the Shard was present. When I felt nothing, my fingers curled into a half-fist pressed against the Shard, and I took a deep breath.
"Dispel magic," I whispered.
Immediately, the entire Shard shuddered. The device was deeply embedded in it, tendrils of mana extending to its very core. It was a massive endeavor that dwarfed any of the Heart Crest crystals I’d encountered until now. This one was clearly designed for permanency, no longer a test but a finished product. And had I not seen the vision, we would have lost our entire army to it.
It didn’t take me long to find the critical weaknesses scattered throughout the formation and attack them with my mana, tearing them apart. The small crystal pylons and chains around the Shard shattered one by one as the mana ran out of control. Fragments of crystals and steel filled the air but were stopped dead before they could touch us, blocked by my wards.
"Is it done?" Luxxa asked, standing beside me.