Dross’ madra blazed through Lindon and Yerin at the same time, and the world slowed for both of them.
A copy of the spirit appeared beside each of their heads, and Dross squinted in Malice’s direction.
[You know, it’s strange. She’s starting to look a lot like Harmony.]
Yerin, Lindon thought. Are you ready? Dross conveyed his mental voice, and it was brittle with the cold of the Void.
Yerin’s response, by contrast, burned with fury. You crack her out of that armor, and then you can watch me gut her like a fish.
Dross will show you. In thirty seconds, you’ll have a sword at her throat.
A Monarch might have any number of unknown life-saving mechanisms that Lindon had no way of knowing about.
But he was going to make her use them.
His black flames, his cleansing tide of pure madra, and his Dreadgod arm all harmonized with his will of destruction. The Void Icon sang, closer than ever.
And Yerin blazed with such anger that the fabric of reality warped around her.
The Monarch’s colossal foot swept at Mercy, but it slammed to a halt against a tiny speck that shone with silver-and-red power. A tide of wind blasted over the land, reaching as far back as Moongrave, but Yerin didn’t budge an inch.
Yerin didn’t have a full-body Enforcer technique, but with the more-than-physical strength of the Steelborn Iron body, she didn’t need one. She gathered all her power into her shining sword.
Malice focused on her, but Lindon had already moved.
His right hand pressed against the back of her neck. Shadow rushed over him, and dominating will.
Lindon Consumed it all.
Her bloodline armor began to dissolve into his arm. It was made of shadow, force, and a vow to protect so powerful that it had engraved itself into the souls of generations. Akura Malice’s bloodline legacy.
It was all food for the arm of the Slumbering Wraith.
Shadow madra Forged into blades and swept at him, but he weakened them with the Hollow Domain. Then he allowed them to land.
They cut his body and his spirit together, but he healed as fast as she damaged him. Malice’s stolen power now ran through his Bloodforged Iron body.
Then Yerin struck with her full strength and every single technique she had.
She hit Malice like a Dreadgod.
The Monarch flew backwards for miles, landing on a stretch of hills that somehow hadn’t been despoiled by battle already.
Malice abandoned her armor and Lindon was waiting for her. He watched himself reach out with a pale right hand and Malice swipe through him with her staff.
The illusion faded into Silent King madra, and Lindon grabbed the back of her neck through her phantom-like hair.
“Begone!” Malice commanded.
The authority shook him…but not for long.
He Consumed that too.
Black and violet scales dropped from his left hand as power flowed into his right. The Heart of Twin Stars couldn’t purify her madra as fast as he could absorb it.
And this madra didn’t belong to him anyway.
A construct exploded from her soulspace, shoving against him with the force of one of her blows. He endured it and kept Consuming.
Yerin appeared and put the black tip of her sword against Malice’s eye.
“Try something else,” Yerin said. “Try one more thing.”
Malice’s lips twisted into a smile, and she did.
Another construct activated from her soulspace, and this time it distorted space. Shadows twisted around her, dragging her away. Yerin shoved her sword forward, but Malice herself had warped into darkness.
Lindon punched his left fist into the Way and seized her wrist, but her authority wrestled with his. Thanks to the construct she’d prepared, she was growing further and further away. If he continued holding on, he would be pulled in with her.
He let go, and Malice escaped.
As one, Lindon and Yerin disappeared and reappeared at Mercy’s side. Charity had already taken her back to Moongrave, but it didn’t matter. Lindon and Yerin could follow her anywhere.
They were in Mercy’s office, where she’d been laid on a bed. Archlords loomed over Mercy’s unconscious form, and Charity stood with hands folded in front of her. Even Pride was at her side.
Lindon looked over them all and fully unveiled his spirit. He cycled his madra freely, so they could feel how much madra he still had left. With his will, he pressed down on the Archlords and Charity.
The knees of the Archlords buckled, and that was before Yerin joined him.
“Get moving,” Yerin said, “or get moved.”
Charity managed to stay standing, but she dipped her head to them. “Please. She needs treatment.”