2024-08-08 22:59:44
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Chapter 702
The massive black hand of the Ash Warden fell from the sky. It blocked out the stars. It was the size of a continent, made of thick, heavy, dark gray ash. It came down to crush Caster Spellbound, Archmage Lysane, Sikoa, and young Kira into dust. Caster did not move. He stood on the edge of the cliff. He opened his arms wide. He did not build a shield. He did not throw a fireball. His eyes glowed with a pure, brilliant golden light. "I forgive you," Caster whispered into the roaring wind. The giant hand crashed down. Sikoa squeezed her one good eye shut. She prepared to die. But the crushing weight never came. Instead of a loud, terrible explosion of breaking bones and shattered rock, there was only a soft, quiet whoosh. Sikoa slowly opened her eye. The giant black hand had hit Caster’s golden light. The moment the violent, angry magic of the dark god touched Caster’s absolute, peaceful surrender, the magic broke. It could not hurt what it could not fight. The solid, heavy ash
Chapter 701
Caster Spellbound dropped his wooden stick. It clattered loudly onto the stone floor. He stood perfectly still. He opened his arms wide, exposing his unprotected chest to the incoming, deadly strike. He refused to fight. "Caster, no!" Lysane screamed from the ground. Elias’s sharp red claw swung toward Caster’s throat. Caster closed his eyes. He reached deep, deep down into the very bottom of his soul. He found the tiny, humming golden seed. He did not wake the seed up to use it as a weapon. He did not turn it into a wall of gravity. He did not use it to blast his enemy away. He just let the golden light fill his heart with absolute, unconditional peace. He accepted his friend. He accepted the anger. He accepted his own death. The golden magic flared. But it did not explode outward. It glowed softly, warmly, radiating from Caster’s skin like a gentle, morning sunrise. Elias’s sharp red claw hit Caster’s chest. But the claws did not pierce the flesh. The moment the chaotic, ang
Chapter 700
Caster frowned deeply. He looked down at his own chest. Deep, deep inside his dark, empty soul, the tiny golden seed was sleeping. The hum was very faint. The golden magic was a strange, unknown power. It was born from the collision of human sacrifice and cosmic consequence. It was not the magic of destruction. It was the magic of absolute truth. "If conflict feeds it," Caster whispered to himself, "what starves it?"He thought about the phantom of young Jace in his soul-scape. When Caster had fought the ghost, the ghost had grown stronger. But when Caster had stood up, dropped his defenses, and accepted the ghost's anger... the ghost had vanished. You do not defeat a burning fire by throwing dry wood onto it. You defeat a fire by taking the wood away. You defeat consequence by accepting it. You defeat hatred with absolute, unconditional peace. "Surrender," Caster breathed. His eyes widened. "Complete, total surrender."It went against every instinct he had. He was a soldier. He
Chapter 699
Caster pointed to the red beams shooting across the valley. "Every time a soldier pulls a trigger, they create chaotic energy," Caster said. "Every time a man hates his enemy, he creates heavy, dark emotion. The Ash Warden eats that energy. Conflict is its food. War is its fuel."Sikoa gasped. She looked down at the heavy, stolen rifle lying in the dust near her boots. "If we shoot it..." Sikoa whispered in horror. "If we shoot it, we feed it," Caster confirmed. "If we throw a bomb at it, we give it more mass. If we hate it, we make it heavier. The harder we fight, the faster it grows."The entire concept of the war was completely backwards. Archmage Vane had built the purple necrotic batteries to destroy his enemies. Elias Thorpe had built the red soul-engines to conquer the world. They thought their massive weapons would make them kings. But their massive weapons had just set the table for a monster. By fighting the biggest, bloodiest, most magical war in history, the two armi
Chapter 698
Caster Spellbound knelt in the thick, dry gray dust. He looked up. He did not see the sky. He did not see the clouds. He saw a monster. The Ash Warden had risen from the earth. But it was not just a thirty-foot-tall beast anymore. The dark god had consumed the massive magical energy of the war. It had eaten the screaming red blood magic of the Crimson Alliance. It had eaten the cold, dead purple magic of the Glassview cannons. Now, the Ash Warden was as tall as a mountain range. Its dark, pitch-black body blocked out the horizon. Its broad shoulders brushed against the edge of the atmosphere. The heavy Crown of Cinders spinning above its faceless head looked like a ring of dead, burning moons. Its two pale gray eyes were the size of entire cities, glowing with a cold, uncaring light in the dark sky. "Light save us," Sikoa whispered. The brave, strong rogue fell to her knees next to Caster. She dropped her heavy rifle into the dust. Her one good eye was wide with absolute, pure ter
Chapter 697
"Elias, no!" Caster yelled, taking a step forward. Before Thorpe could reach the ash-woman, two more ash-soldiers stepped out of the smoke. They grabbed Thorpe’s arms. Their heavy, freezing gray hands locked around his wrists like iron chains. Thorpe struggled wildly, kicking and screaming. But he could not break free. The faceless woman slowly raised her hand toward Thorpe’s face. A sharp steel dagger flew through the air. The dagger sank deeply into the ash-woman’s outstretched arm. Sikoa lowered her throwing arm. She stood ten feet away, breathing heavily. "Caster, we have to go!" Sikoa yelled. "We cannot save him! The room is collapsing!"Caster looked at Elias. His old friend was screaming, struggling against the silent, cold monsters. Caster wanted to save him. He wanted to pull Elias away from the dark. But Caster had no magic left. He was completely empty. And the roof of the sanctuary was literally falling down around them in massive, heavy chunks. "Grab Lysane!" Cast
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