The Primeval Era-Chapter 117: Ambush II

She had assumed he was below her in cultivation. His Mana signature didn’t read as Sixth Circle. But this heartbeat told a different story. This was the heart of someone whose body had been transformed by power she didn’t understand.

And as she listened to his heart, she was really close to his body.

She could feel the rough fabric of the Dross rags he wore against her skin, the coarse weave that marked him as someone from the lowest social class. The material was poor quality, patched in places, worn thin by years of use. It should have felt beneath her station to be pressed against such common cloth.

It didn’t.

Her nose kept catching his scent.

She could smell a bit of sweat from the exertion of flight, and beneath that, an extremely enticing smell she recognized as pure Mana. Even the sweat seemed like a variation of Mana, saturated with power to such a degree that perspiration itself carried traces of cultivation. Why was the Tokoloshe so weird that even his sweat had a sweet scent of Mana?

She was asking herself so many questions.

She didn’t realize when they arrived.

"Help!"

The Tokoloshe shouted out, and she nearly failed to play her role of heavily injured.

She spread her Mana out to see what was happening around them!

A stopped vessel floated in the skies ahead.

Many eyes turned toward them in astonishment.

The vessel was massive, a platform of stone and metal suspended by concentrated Mana, crimson banners bearing the sigil of the Dominion of Crimson Stone flapping in the wind. Warriors in matching crimson armor stood across its deck, their formations breaking as they spotted the approaching figures.

She sensed Organ Sanctification Warriors among those gazes. Fifth Circle cultivators whose presence would have been overwhelming to most beings in the Lands of Stone. Their Mana signatures blazed with power refined across decades of cultivation.

And above them all, she sensed the gaze of that Imperator.

Vessel Completion.

Sixth Circle.

The same level Serala had just achieved.

---

Damian looked ahead while holding an expression of exhaustion.

He looked toward the vessel of Imperator Vienna with eyes carefully crafted to show desperation rather than the cold fury burning beneath his surface. On his back were his spear and Serala’s, both squeezed between the rags he wore, their sharp points sticking out in a cross

And he carried the Holy Daughter toward those who wanted her.

Serala was striking even while playing unconscious. Her abundant hair sprawled out over his arm and almost sparkled in the afternoon light. Her skin was far too smooth, almost shining beneath the traces of his blood he had spread across her form. He made sure to show her face as he approached, made sure they could see exactly who he was bringing them.

Imperator Vienna’s eyes in the distance opened wide with incredulity.

She recognized the Holy Daughter right away.

Damian continued forth toward the vessel, studying the Imperator as he flew closer.

She was beautiful in the way that predators were beautiful. Her crimson armor gleamed with Mana that made it seem almost alive, shifting subtly with her movements. And on her back, that bow of molten stone rested, its surface constantly churning with magma that never cooled.

This was the woman who had sworn an oath to protect the Vakochev Lineage.

This was the woman who had betrayed everything she claimed to believe.

Due to the sheer incredulity of the Holy Daughter coming toward them herself, Vienna and her guards watched with shining eyes as Damian stumbled onto their vessel. Blue Mana flickered beneath his feet as he heaved as if he had exerted himself too much.

He looked at the Organ Sanctification Warriors.

He looked at Imperator Vienna.

"Can you help?"

His voice cracked with carefully manufactured desperation.

"She’s not responding. I don’t... she might be dead!" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He wanted to keep things moving. He began walking toward the Imperator, trying not to give them a chance to think and ask too many questions. The moment they became logical and truly thought about this, it all fell apart.

A young man flying, carrying the Holy Daughter?

It was ridiculous in itself.

But many overcame an absurd situation when they were surprised enough. And seeing the Holy Daughter was a very big surprise.

He was heaving toward Imperator Vienna when a few of her Organ Sanctification guards came over and formed a line between him and her, their sense finally clicking in.

He looked between the gaps toward her with desperation, meeting those cold eyes that had once looked upon his father with gratitude.

"Can you please help? You seem the strongest here. She passed out a bit ago..."

He said this while holding the Holy Daughter in his hands as he even pushed her forward.

At this time, Imperator Vienna came forward.

She pushed her guards aside with incredulity, shoving past Fifth Circle Warriors as if they were children blocking her path. She approached Damian and looked at Serala again and again, her eyes scanning the Holy Daughter’s face and body for confirmation of what seemed impossible.

"What in the ancestors..."

Her voice was sharp with disbelief.

"What happened? Where did you find her?"

She came close.

Close enough to touch.

"Who are you?"

Around them, it was her and eight Organ Sanctification Warriors. Their defenses were down due to this surreal situation. Their weapons were sheathed. Their Mana was calm. They had gathered to witness a miracle rather than preparing for a battle.

And at such a time...

Damian felt the spears behind him.

He sent a silent jolt of Mana to Serala, a pulse that traveled through the connection his blood had formed with her body. Her limply hanging hand rose to his back and grasped a spear, fingers wrapping around the crimson-blue shaft.

For him, he had painted all the spears with his blood. He could control them as if they were his limbs.

So the spear behind him began to twitch, rising from its position between his rags, the tip orienting toward the Imperator who stood mere feet away.

He looked toward Imperator Vienna.

He met her eyes.

"I am the Tokoloshe."

His voice dropped all pretense of desperation.

"And I have come to kill."

ZIING!

A spear flashed.

"Persevere."

BOOM!

Billowing blue Mana exploded across the deck of the vessel. Sacred flames erupted around Damian and Serala in the same instant that radiant wings blazed into existence behind the Holy Daughter. She launched from his arms with speed that Vessel Completion granted, her spear driving towards all the nearest Organ Sanctification Warrior with ridiculous speed.

Damian’s spear shot toward Imperator Vienna with force that cracked the air itself, his hands also moving like spears!

A terrifying concentration of Mana erupted across that vessel, chilling light spreading outward in waves that sent weaker Warriors stumbling. From the raging storm of blue and white flames, limbs and bodies arose in violent motion.

A terrifying assault began!