Chapter 32: The Lies We Tell Ourselves
"What was that," Lucien asked, his mouth agape in shock.
"Yeah... that was insane," Kaia added, twisting between the nightcrawler’s mutilated corpse and the blade Corien held in his hand, free of blood or any signs of attack.
The king strutted in front of them to touch his hand to both their shoulders, taking a moment to gather their attention.
"Perhaps I’ve been rather slow in informing you on the hierarchy of this world. There exists a military faction for our kingdom, composed only of the most capable knights in all of Laronia. The man before you is Corien, not only a member of the Vanguard--the five strongest magical knights in the force, but the strongest within them."
The two were taken aback at his words, turning back at Corien who stood unbothered, watching the demon occupying Rowan’s body carefully with his blade extended before him.
"Okay, but what just happened to the nightcrawler? One moment, insane amounts of aether were shooting out from his body, and the next, he got killed by his own arcana."
The one to speak was Elias, looking down at his own grimoire while speaking.
"Ah, you’re referring to my Ryudo. Once you’ve witnessed is but one quality of my ability, Nullpoint."
Corien spoke, still maintaining his gaze on Rowan.
"Nullpoint," asked Kaia.
"It’s a bit of a mouthful, but I’ll explain it to you as best I can," the king said, allowing Corien to pay attention ahead of him, "the same way water yearns for equilibrium, a river’s flow crashing through walls to balance itself, Corien exploits this concept, his Ryudo flipping concepts to reach equilibrium. In the same way the nightcrawler glared at us with ill-intent and attacked us with its full strength, Corien’s Nullpoint allows the nightcrawler to experience the same. He brings all things to Null, reverting it to its most balanced state."