“Stop,” they commanded.
“No,” Emriss countered.
The weight of her age held off their authority long enough as the oldest Monarch protected Lindon.
“He will not finish the Dreadgod,” Emriss told them. “He knows better. Let him weaken it while it cannot call for help.”
Finish the Dreadgod, she said privately to Lindon.
[I like her,] Dross said. [Lots of eyes.]
Lindon had to wrestle his arm to get it to release the neck of the Dreadgod, then he leaped into the air.
When he was over the Dreadgod, he gathered all his remaining power into dragon’s breath. Soulfire, madra, and authority coalesced as one.
A bar of Blackflame pierced the center of the Silent King’s halo, drilling straight through its skull.
Lindon landed behind it before the wills of two Monarchs seized him. Their fury threatened to crush him, but he was swollen to bursting with power from the Dreadgod. He pushed back.
Their anger was unbreakable.
Northstrider drifted down to Lindon’s right, and his black-scaled hands shone with blood and hunger. “We will burn you for this.”
To Lindon’s left, Malice joined him, and her wrath was cold as night. “Traitor.”
Even Emriss took human form, that of a dark-haired woman carrying a staff. He was sure her anger and sorrow were feigned, but they felt real. “What have you done?”
Lindon remained steady even as they threatened to tear him apart.
“You allowed this,” Lindon said quietly.
Malice sneered at him. “Do you know how much stronger the other three will become now that another has fallen? You cannot fathom—”
“Four,” Lindon corrected. He raised his right hand in a fist. “The other four.”
Power exploded from the Silent King’s corpse. Hunger aura. It flashed to every corner of the world, empowering the other Dreadgods.
All four of them.
Searing heat passed through Lindon’s body as his madra channels burned into his flesh, transforming into part of his body. His cores condensed like a spirit, becoming more real. His eyes blazed and froze, like he was channeling Blackflame and pure madra at the same time.
Hunger madra devoured his right arm. From the elbow up to his shoulder, white flesh ate its way up second by second.
If not for his firm will, it wouldn’t have stopped at the shoulder.
Malice and Northstrider commanded him down with their authority, but his power warped the very space around them. His capacity was growing as his body and spirit were reforged in the power of the Dreadgod.
Finally, Northstrider tired of the indirect battle. He sped for Lindon, his fist trailing blood aura. He slammed a punch into Lindon, his attack layered with the same Enforcer technique he would use against a Dreadgod.
Lindon met it with an Empty Palm.
Blue light flashed against red, and Lindon was shoved back. The violent power of the Silent King was settling into him now, his transformation—or his advancement, whichever it was—calming down.
But Lindon was not the same as he had been only moments before.
Dross appeared by his side, and the spirit wore a purple-white halo. [Oooh, this looked like fun! Uh, don’t take this too hard, all right?]
Illusory copies of Lindon appeared all over as Dross used the Silent King’s illusion technique. All of Lindon’s copies tore holes in space.
The Monarchs could shut them all down, but not instantly. And only one of them was real.
Before they found him, Lindon was already gone.
Northstrider crushed another copy of Lindon and watched it bleed away to dream essence. He had known it wasn’t the real one, but he needed something to vent this fury.
He turned it on Emriss.
“You let him get away with a dream technique? Right in front of you?”
She gave him a sorrowful look that he wanted to claw right off her face. “I believe the primary technique he used was hunger, wasn’t it?”
“We need to tell the others,” Malice said.
Northstrider slammed his heel into the ground and created a new canyon. “Did anyone else notice the corpse is gone?”
Emriss shook her head regretfully. She tapped her staff on the ground and the diamond at its top flashed blue-green.
Her intentions stretched all over the world as she hosted another meeting between the Monarchs.
The illusory space she constructed was turquoise and serene, like it took place inside her gemstone. Malice and Northstrider were swallowed along immediately, of course, but he was surprised to see the others show up so quickly.
Good. At least they understood how serious this was.