Yerin had always thought of the Blood Sage as a crimson skeleton, and that was almost exactly what his Remnant resembled. There was only one difference: the eyes.
Red Faith’s Remnant had no eyes in its face. Instead, eyes floated up all around him, separated but still part of the spirit. They looked in every direction, observing. Watching. Learning.
Yerin had been prepared to fight again, but she didn’t sense hostility from this Remnant. Only endless, hungry curiosity.
She opened her void key.
“Strike you a deal,” she said. “Squeeze in there, pack yourself up, and I’ll use you to finish off your research.”
The skeleton tilted its head. All the eyes swiveled for her.
“The Void Sage has a way to take me up so I’m stabbing Dreadgods. Could use your techniques. Stick with me, and you’ll start up a new generation of Monarchs.”
The Remnant considered her deal.
Then it slid into Yerin’s void key on its own.
When Jai Long swept out with his spear, his first strike should have destroyed Jai Chen, Kelsa, and most of the street.
Kelsa used her Foxfire to attack him, but attacking this Dreadgod’s halo—the Silent King, Lindon had called it—with dream techniques was like attacking a flood with a watering can.
Living snakes of madra flew at her, and she was sure the last thing she was going to see was a set of shining white fangs.
A locket hanging behind Kelsa’s badge cracked open.
Dross’ voice flashed through her head at the speed of thought.
[Is that hostile madra I sense? Then the time has come for…protection.] The spirit’s laugh was disturbing.
Destruction madra erupted from her locket like tendrils of black mist. They dissolved Jai Long’s techniques in an instant. All of them.
The white light hit the shadow of destruction and died.
“Dross?” Kelsa asked.
[If you find yourself stuck in a mire of confusion, know that this is only a recording. Remember that I am not truly here with you and despair.]
The controlled Jai Long tilted his head in confusion, then white lines crawled all over his skin. He crouched and braced himself to attack.
Jai Chen steadied her feet and stretched out both hands. “Fingerling!”
She and the dragon unleashed a basic Striker technique: a stream of madra that resembled Lindon’s dragon’s breath. Jai Long used his spear to hold off one technique and slipped around the other, but Jai Chen’s madra had strange properties. The pink energy crawled up his spear and followed him, seeking his spirit.
Until he blew it apart and rushed at Kelsa in a blur of speed.
Technique was only a match for raw power up to a point.
Kelsa used the Foxtail Enforcer technique, distorting the appearance of her body to throw off his aim as she ducked and threw a punch at his midsection. It wouldn’t work, but she had faith in the protection Lindon had left her. And she had to try something.
At her belt, another construct activated.
It was a burst of force and wind that Jai Long back several paces, which also meant Kelsa’s punch didn’t connect. Dross’ voice filled her mind again.
[An Underlord, is it? I wonder which Underlord messed up so badly to have earned this punishment.]
Kelsa felt a pulse of madra running from her locket, activating a distant script.
She felt a sudden sense of foreboding.
[I bet it was Jai Long,] Dross whispered.
Another nest of snakes rushed at Jai Chen, but Kelsa threw herself in front. The cloud of destruction madra devoured these serpents as well, though her construct had become noticeably weaker. Without more madra to fuel it, it would have been devouring itself every time it activated.
Kelsa grabbed Jai Chen’s hand and pulled her away.
Jai Long could run them down in a moment, but he didn’t. Soon, she realized it was because he didn’t have to.
Sacred artists emerged from doors and windows, shining with white halos. They raised palms and pointed in her direction.
Kelsa moved in front of Jai Chen, standing over her, and Forged the Fox Mirror. It was her weakest technique, and she could only potentially throw off the aim of these enemies with a fake wall, but the wall itself would have no substance.
Her hands and spirit trembled. Deep down, she knew she was going to die. If Lindon was here, he could save her, but there was only so much he could do from far away.
[Brace for arrival of Underlord Countermeasure Number One,] Dross said. [I call her The Fleshripper.]
Techniques erupted all up and down the street. The limbs of destruction madra protected Kelsa, and some fell for her Fox Mirror.