Chapter 189 - Nathan's Legendary Spell
Ricardo:
The boy advanced slowly toward Eliza, each step unleashing brutal wind blasts that tossed her around like a mere toy at the mercy of an uncontrolled force. Eliza was hurled through the air, bouncing across the water’s surface, each impact reverberating with a muffled thud and leaving a trail of agony in her expression.
With a fluid and precise movement, the boy summoned a water serpent that coiled around Eliza in a relentless whirlwind, dragging her back toward him. The water swirled around her like a living maelstrom until she was flung directly into his arms.
He held her cruelly, his fingers pressing against Eliza’s face with merciless force, nearly crushing her. His blue eyes, cold as ice, locked onto hers with a chilling indifference.
“What are your last words?” he asked, his voice filled with disdain.
Eliza tried to retaliate with a desperate headbutt, but she was too weak to make any impact.
“I don’t have a brother,” she whispered, laughing through the pain. “And I should have killed you during that date.”
The boy’s gaze remained steady as he brought his hand closer to her face, the air around them growing hotter and more suffocating.
“It was a good date, each of us playing our roles. Now, go to hell already feeling its heat.” With these words, flickering blue flames erupted from his hand, engulfing Eliza’s body. The flames were intense and unrelenting, burning mercilessly. Eliza struggled fiercely, her screams tearing through the air as she desperately tried to extinguish the fire, throwing herself into the water. But the flames persisted, dancing around her even while submerged. Each attempt to douse the fire only deepened her despair.
Finally, Eliza's body emerged from the water, completely charred and motionless. Her skin, once marked by determination, was now nothing more than a blackened, twisted mass, an unrecognizable burnt corpse.
“Eliza!” I screamed, but the word was swallowed by the howling wind, as terror seized me. My voice faltered, filled with a visceral fear. The boy, unaffected by Eliza's death, simply turned, his piercing blue eyes shining intensely as they fixed on me with an icy indifference that sent chills down my spine.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?” Desperation and helplessness poured from my voice, each word a plea. His presence was suffocating, crushing any remaining will to resist.
“I am something you should never have provoked!” he declared, his voice calm yet heavy with a final verdict.
He raised his hand toward the sky, a blue light radiating from his fingers, spreading with growing intensity. The wind began to blow from all directions, like a chorus of sinister whispers rising in volume. The surrounding trees swayed violently, as if trying to resist the storm, while the river trembled, almost as if it were attempting to flee from the impending horror.
Massive clouds gathered and darkened, swirling as if the sky itself were being consumed by an abyss.
“This is impossible! No power can bend a natural phenomenon to its will!” I shouted, disbelief mixed with horror as I witnessed the impossible unfolding before me.
“I am the natural phenomenon,” he replied, his voice calm at the eye of the storm, as if the entire world were under his command. With a single step toward me, the weight of the tempest increased, and I felt my body weaken, unable to resist the overwhelming force pressing down from all sides.
As he moved, the water around him seemed to react, alive and raging. The sky above us was dominated by an immense black cloud, swirling into a sinister vortex as if nature itself obeyed his command. Every lightning bolt that split the clouds cast violent flashes across the surrounding forest, briefly illuminating the horror of the scene.
This shouldn’t exist! I thought, as fear crept over me. What he was doing was beyond what any mage should be capable of.
He kept his hand raised, and the vortex in the sky responded, twisting in spirals of immeasurable power. The atmosphere was charged, the air vibrated, and an overwhelming aura of destruction loomed over us.
"There once was a man who aimed to kill a god…" he began to chant, his voice reverberating with an authority that struck deep into my soul. Lightning burst around us, dancing with deadly brilliance as the forest was consumed by the fury of the heavens. "And to do so, he became a god…" His words were like a decree, each syllable bearing the weight of centuries of hatred. The clouds above formed into a colossal circle, as if we were at the center of a forbidden ritual.
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"AHHH!" A scream of agony escaped my lips as a blade pierced my chest from behind. The searing metal felt like it was consuming my insides, spreading a corrosive fire that made me tremble in pain. It was as if every cell in my body was burning from within.
"Martha, what are you doing?" the boy asked, his expression showing a hint of confusion. He hadn’t expected this interruption.
"Young master, that spell is far too dangerous. Your aunt forbade its use." The feminine voice that responded was calm but carried an unyielding authority.
"I just wanted to have a little fun… you said you wouldn’t interfere," he replied, sounding somewhat petulant, like a child being scolded for mischief.
"You’ve had enough fun. Don’t forget that your aunt’s command is absolute. I cannot allow you to disobey her."
I tried to turn around to see the source of that commanding voice, but before I could move, a brutal impact sent me flying. My body was hurled violently, landing hard on the riverbank, the impact nearly making me black out from the pain.
"AHH!" I tried to scream, but all that came out was a desperate moan, interrupted by the torment of the blade driving deeper into my chest. The sword seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy, disrupting any attempt to channel my mana.
What is this!? Make it stop! I pleaded inwardly, but the agony continued relentlessly.
"This blade is causing you so much pain that even your mana channels are blocked," said a woman with a cold expression, dressed as a maid, approaching me with slow, calculated steps. "You can try to use your magic all you want… but as long as it’s inside you, it’s useless."
Her gaze was unwavering, her eyes gleaming with an icy ruthlessness, as if my suffering was merely a trivial detail to her.
The sky above suddenly cleared, as if the storm had never existed. The dark clouds that had threatened to consume the world vanished in an instant, leaving behind a haunting emptiness. The contrast to the hellish scene that had just unfolded was unsettling, as if reality itself were mocking my agony.
Before I could comprehend what was happening, a plant-like serpent leaped from the shadows, coiling around me with crushing force. Its tendrils were like living chains, firm and unyielding. I tried to summon my earth magic, searching for any remnants of power to expel the blade from my body, but the pain was incapacitating. The metal burned my insides, blocking any attempt to control my mana.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" A desperate scream tore from my throat, the pain so overwhelming it felt like it was consuming my very soul.
"You can struggle all you want," the boy said with terrifying calmness, his piercing blue eyes fixed on me like an executioner before his victim. "I’ve driven that blade into myself before, just to test it, and tried to force it out with magic. It doesn’t work. This metal is deeply cursed, even for me."
Then, from the depths of the forest, other women emerged slowly. I recognized their silhouettes instantly, and panic gripped me.
The three women stared at me.
The common mother… Chloe Evenhart… and that maid… the head maid of the family…
"The first thing this metal does is burn through your mana channels," the maid explained, a cold smile curving her lips. "Then it begins to burn your flesh, and finally, your mind. The pain is unbearable, dissolving your will to fight. You become immobilized, eternally trapped between life and death as the agony consumes you completely."
"Over the years, we've discovered that the damage from this metal isn't just physical," Nathan Evenhart continued, his voice devoid of any compassion. "It strikes the soul. Just touching it is enough to incapacitate us. There’s no escaping it."
They stared at me, cold and unmoved, like predators watching their desperate prey. My body trembled involuntarily, and my thoughts were consumed by a primal fear. I knew, at that moment, there was no escaping this hell.
"Are you the man who tried to harm my son?" the mother asked, as the plant serpent tightened its grip, intensifying my pain.
"I'll make him talk, Lady Katherine," the maid said, her eyes gleaming with sick satisfaction, her smile growing even more sadistic.
Chloe Evenhart, who had remained silent until then, suddenly spoke, her voice almost indifferent, yet filled with curiosity.
"I wonder who sent him?"
Her words were an insult to my dignity. They were toying with me, playing with my pain as if I were just another piece on their board.
Damn it! my mind screamed. Who are these people? They were always one step ahead of us!
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," I managed to mutter between groans of pain, my voice breaking under the torment. "I… will… not… reveal anything."
The maid slowly approached, her grin widening as if my defiance was a victory in itself.
"I was hoping you'd say that," she said, her voice brimming with a twisted sense of joy. "It'll make my job that much more fun."
"Your friend was quite clever," Nathan Evenhart said, his voice laced with a chilling calmness. "She realized that provoking me into killing her was a far less painful option than living with the certainty of being tortured in every imaginable way to extract information."
His eyes were fixed on me, the blue glow radiating a cold intensity. His composed demeanor only made his words more terrifying, as if death was a calculated decision rather than an emotional one.
"But don't worry," he continued, taking a step forward. "I never intended to capture her anyway. I definitely wouldn't capture someone capable of summoning a Soul Golem if they managed to break free from this sword."
Chloe Evenhart stepped forward, her gaze equally cold.
"You shouldn’t have messed with the Evenharts," she said, her voice icy and cutting.
She made a quick motion with her hand, and a wave of cold surged through my body. The frost spread cruelly, slowly encasing my skin, seeping into my flesh. I felt my limbs start to stiffen, my entire body freezing as if consumed from the inside out.
"Sweet dreams," Chloe whispered, her voice the last thing I heard before darkness completely swallowed me. "When you wake up, you will live a nightmare."
Those were the last words I heard before I was pulled into an abyss of darkness and cold, my body paralyzed, my mind descending into complete unconsciousness.