Grey Regen 11

The soulfire aura around Cadell flared as he dove, expanding behind him like giant wings. Fiery claws extended outward from his hands. His figure, flames and all, dimmed, turning to shadow as the Decay-based fire ate away at the light itself.

Arthur shifted, his legs separating, his hands clenching into fists. Again, the bright blade of aether shimmered into existence.

The two vanished in a nebulous cloud of black-purple fire and lightning.

The crowds screamed as the shields keeping them from being vaporized by the aftershock trembled and flickered.

Behind me, I heard the rustling of Kiros’s robes as he inched forward on his throne.

Arthur reappeared first.

My jaw clenched and my fingers sank into the decorative railing, twisting the metal until it sheared in my grip.

His uniform had been ripped from his stomach up to his ribs. Soulfire danced along the wound, burning into him. It would keep going, igniting his blood and scorching his mana channels until it reached his core. Eventually, it would consume his life force, killing him from the inside out.

As the combusting cloud of mana and aether fizzled out, I caught sight of Cadell on the other side of the arena, hovering thirty feet in the air. One hand was pressed to his neck, and blood was oozing from between his fingers. He grimaced with pain, but there was a vindictive gleam in his eyes. Already, I could see the purple-tinged black flames licking at his wound, healing it.

But Cadell wasn’t the only one healing. The soulfire burning in Arthur’s side dimmed as waves of purple light washed over it, dousing it bit by bit until the flames were quenched. Then, as if the wound had been nothing but a line drawn in sand, the same waves wiped it away, leaving Arthur’s flesh clean and unblemished.