Forged Destiny [Book 9: Chapter 19]

I pushed through a wall of smoke and into an opening between buildings, a flat expanse of grass that burned but not brightly, far away enough from any structures that those in the centre were safe. Or relatively so. Several Grimm rolled on the floor in agony while more burned to death where they stood, twitching and howling but unable to move thanks to Salem's ironclad control. They literally died on their feet.

In the centre of it all stood Salem, surrounded by Ursa and staring up at Beacon, her back turned toward me. I couldn't get close with all the Grimm still around her, but that didn't matter. I stepped forward, held my sword to the side and spread my arms wide.

"SALEM!" I roared.

The Grimm went silent. Fires burned around us. Timber cracked and splintered. A Beowolf under her control finally succumbed to the flames and slumped down, dead. It dissolved into black particles of smoke that cut across the distance between us. And through it all, I saw her shoulders rise and fall.

"No." Her arms fell slack to her sides. Her head dropped, shaking from side to side before she turned, black robes flowing behind her, pale skin revealed, eyes burning red. "No. No. No. I simply cannot believe it. I refuse to believe it. You are dead! Dead!"

I laughed.

"Do I look dead to you?"

"I tore open your armour. I peeled open your chest. I used on your heart magic that has torn downthe walls of your city." She seethed with dark energy, wisps of black smoke rising from her hands. "You. Are. Dead!"

"I was dead after Cinder killed me as well, dead enough to fulfil the terms of my wish to you."

I concentrated and felt the words above my head shift. Felt my very being shift, as an impossibility – a miracle – ran through me. It wasn't just my Stats. It wasn't just my Skills. My Swordmaster Class came into the fore not as an extension of my life as a Blacksmith, but as an anomaly. A mistake. Classes were given on birth, on the arrival of life. I had not been born anew, but I had returned death unto life. The words that changed above my head were proof of that.

"I was dead. And then… I wasn't."

Swordmaster burned above me. The pain in my head returned, not pain from the knowledge filtering in as I'd first thought, but pain from my own body rejecting me. I was quite literally fighting two identities at once, and like a body rejecting an organ, my soul was split. My eyes burned blue as my Resilience pushed me through it, allowing me to raise my sword up to point at her.

"If Cinder couldn't kill me. If Merlot couldn't kill me. If Tyrian couldn't kill me. If Watts couldn't kill me. If Roman, Raven, Neo and all the others you sent couldn't kill me." I smirked. "Then what made you think you could?"

Salem roared. Her hands linked above her and black light split into being between her palms. Not once stopping her furious scream, she brought her hands down, both pointed directly at me. A beam of purest black pierced forward.

Now or never. It occurred to me for a second my hypothesis hadn't really been tested.

Well, I wouldn't have to worry about it if I was wrong. Crocea Mors slid into a lunge, the tip aimed directly into the beam of dark light. I braced myself, one foot back bent, ready. At the last possible second, I yelled out and thrust into the attack.

It was like stabbing a tidal wave.

The attack forced me back and I would have fallen if not for my bracing. Ruby had been hurled back by the force of it and I couldn't allow that. Bracing with my shoulder, I growled and pushed into the attack, forcing my left foot to slide forward. My hands were shaking, sword wavering in the air before me.

No more. No more failing. I'd learned from my mistakes.

It was time to finish this.

Wrapping my fingers around those of my right hand, I twisted, turning Crocea Mors like a key – or like I was twisting a knife into someone. The blade became hot and heavy. With an angry "Rargh!" I swept it down and to the left. Salem's attack splashed into the building, destroying brick and mortar and at least twenty Grimm in its path.

I stood, panting, smoking, sword tipped down toward the ground.

Her attack was diverted.

Heaving, I brought Crocea Mors back up in front of me. The blade shimmered with dark light that stood out in the red glow from burning buildings. It flickered and warped, bursting with power just waiting to be unleashed.

"What are you?" Salem hissed. "You can't be human."

"Me?"

I smiled.

"Just your everyday Blacksmith."

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Chapter 19]