Chapter 177: Book 3: Renewed Bonds
There's not much time to think about it, because the Concept-Bound is upon us in a moment, and it's only Guard's quick thinking that saves us. He steps in front of me and blazes with a Firmament shield strong enough that a shot I didn't notice just ricochets off, slamming into the tunnel walls and blasting a chunk into it.
Then and only then does the Concept-Bound emerge from the darkness of the tunnel. It's no surprise that it resembles a large, mutated scirix—it's on four legs instead of two, its lower body split in a grotesque imitation of something adjacent to a centaur. Its upper body could pass for a regular member of their society if not for its four arms and eyes.
And there's an intelligence in its eyes. His eyes?
He speaks. His voice is quiet and mournful; even his words ring with the Concept of Regret, and while it isn't as powerful as the Abstraction's aura, it still washes over us with enough force to make us stagger.
"I am Phylus," he says. "I would like to know the names of those I am to end."
Guard's Breath of Life flickers into being, shielding us from the brunt of its effect. Dark-blue Firmament batters against vibrant green—it's saturated with emotion. I think this might be the first time I've seen Firmament be completely visible from force of emotion alone; the density wouldn't normally be enough to make this Firmament shine, but combined with that emotion of regret...
It tinges the entirety of the tunnel. Guard's aura is the only source of light in what is otherwise an ocean of desaturation. This must be the reason the lights in the tunnel were flickering. Even now, I see the Firmament affecting them, waves of color making them dim to nothingness.
"I don't suppose you could just not end us?" I suggest warily. If he's capable of reason...
But Phylus shakes his head.