Chapter 570: Faith
The blinding ocean of light receded to a mere trickle, revealing an enormous crater where the initial impact had struck. Secondary explosions and shockwaves continued to erupt, sending dazzling waves of light outwards and vaporizing demons left and right, but my eyes remained fixed on the crater’s center. Luke was... gone.
The Apostle of Curses had vanished without a trace. Tears welled up, blurring my vision, and my shoulders shook with the force of my sobs.
"No way," R’lissea breathed, her voice filled with disbelief.
"How is that even possible?" Elise echoed.
I turned, about to bury my face in R’lissea’s shoulder, when the nuances of their voices registered. It wasn’t fear or sorrow but disbelief. Slowly, barely daring to hope, I raised my head and blinked away the tears, peering anew through the lingering ribbons of light at the scene before us.
The bottom of the crater glowed with molten rock, faint wisps of light still dissipating from the devastating attack. The entire area pulsed with residual mana, nearly as blinding to my sensitive eyes as the initial Solar Flare had been. There was still no sign of Luke or anything for that matter—just a glassy crater.
"On the wall," Elise said in a choked voice.
My gaze darted to where the mage stood atop the battlement. There were two figures there now: the plainly robed mage and... Luke!
The apostle stood tall and confident, sword held out to the side, motionless at the end of a swift, decisive cut. The mage stood frozen in place, eyes bulging, mouth agape. Ribbons of darkness trailed from the mage’s chest to the edge of Luke’s sword. A thin black line wrapped around his chest.
No, not a line. A cut.
Time stood still for a heartbeat as I stared at the scene. Tears continued to trickle down my face, unnoticed, as I struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Luke was whole, unharmed. Not even the edges of his cloak were singed.