Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 19, Ch. 20]

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.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 19]



There wasn't much more time to think as a black beam rushed in toward me. I got Crocea Mors up in time.

Agony.

I slammed back into and through a wall, smoking and choking for air. Why? Why hadn't it blocked the attack? Crocea Mors was still glowing, but she'd done nothing to protect me. I groaned and pushed up on one arm, looking out the wall as Salem prepared another blast with my name on it.

Rune. Seal. Container. I slapped my free hand down onto the blade, over the Rune, and pointed it up at the oncoming attack.

"Purify!"

I felt it deep inside me. A subtle tug and a release – a miasma of black oozing out Crocea Mors and forming a fine mist mere seconds before the beam struck. Purify Object, which removed Demonic Taint from an object, had pushed her previous spell from the `Seal` Rune. The fresh attack struck but this time buckled and warped around Crocea Mors again. I was able to wrench and push it to the side, deflecting it as I had the first.

A third was oncoming.

"Purify!"

The Seal was emptied. Purified. I stood and lunged into the third blast, absorbing it in a matter of seconds and dashing through.

"Purify!"

A fourth, I swung into, cutting it down.

"Purify!"

It was the same as what I'd done in Vacuo. I hadn't destroyed Salem's attack as I first thought; I'd purified the illusion spell contained within the `Seal` Rune on my amulet, making it empty. Salem's attack had been absorbed into the amulet, saving me. It must also have been why she was so insistent on destroying the amulet after that – because she knew she couldn't leave that kind of power in our hands.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 20]