My first instinct when I saw the priest was to grab Kiran and Blink Step us both to safety.
Unfortunately, that instinct led us straight into an invisible barrier with enough force to knock the breath from my lungs. We stumbled backward, and I cursed under my breath as I realized what was happening.
Behind us, the priest had forced the peak Rank 1 Skybound's hand onto the activation rune. The chamber's ancient defenses had sealed us inside with our would-be executioner.
"Master," Azure's voice cut through my rising panic, "the Lightweaver... he's Rank 2."
That information should have been reassuring. After all, theoretically, a Rank 2 was much less threatening than the Rank 3 and 4 practitioners currently devastating the academy above. But something about the priest's serene smile made my blood run cold.
I didn't have any confidence in beating a Rank 2, but if the chamber wasn't sealed, I might have at least been able to escape. Now though...
"Kiran," I asked, keeping my voice low, "how long will the chamber stay sealed?"
He shook his head, eyes fixed on the priest. "There's a master rune outside. Only an elder with the corresponding key can deactivate it. The plan is usually for them to let us out when it's time to join the battle, but now..."
A rune flickered to life on the priest's hand – the one still gripping the peak Rank 1 Skybound's wrist. The marking was beautiful in a terrible way, resembling a blooming flower made of pure light.
The Skybound tried to pull away, but it was already too late. Light spread from the priest's hand like liquid fire, engulfing the student's body. The screaming started immediately – raw, animal sounds that made several initiates cover their ears.
I forced myself to watch as the "purification" consumed the Skybound. His flesh seemed to dissolve, breaking down into motes of light that scattered like dust in the wind. In seconds, there was nothing left but empty robes drifting to the ground.
The priest calmly wiped his hands, as if he'd just finished some minor household chore. "That's one who has returned to the beloved's embrace," he announced.
Looking around the chamber, I saw terror written across every face. These were Skybound initiates—people who had been trained since childhood to embrace violence, to revel in the red sun's madness.
But faced with such a methodical, almost peaceful form of execution, they looked like what they really were: scared children.
I couldn't blame them.
The red sun's influence might drive its followers toward violence and bloodshed, but at least that was a primal, understandable kind of madness. What I saw in the priest's eyes was something far worse—the absolute certainty of a true believer.
I turned to Kiran, who was staring at the empty robes with his mouth partially open. "We don't have a choice," I said quietly. "We need to fight."
"What's the point?" He gestured at the priest, who was now smiling benevolently at the terrified initiates. "We can't beat that thing."
I felt myself smile—probably not the most reassuring expression given the circumstances. "If we're going to die anyway, might as well try to take it down with us. What do you say?" I met his eyes. "Want to help me kill a Rank 2?"
Kiran stared at me for a long moment, then shook his head with a laugh. "You're right." The rune on his forehead flared to life, his eyes taking on that familiar crimson glow. "Might as well make it count."
I watched as bones began pushing through his skin, forming that disturbing but impressive armor. The transformation looked even more painful up close, but Kiran's smile only grew wider as madness crept into his expression.
Meanwhile, I looked around the chamber with growing frustration. No plants, not even a hint of moss in this underground room. I'd have to work with what I had. Activating my wood element rune, I generated three vine constructs, each one hiding a nasty surprise.
"Listen up!" I shouted at the other Skybound initiates. "You have two choices – fight or die! Which will it be?"
They hesitated, looking between each other uncertainly. Then I saw recognition flash across several faces as they noticed the elemental rune on my palm. Whispers spread through the group—
"Elemental runes?"
"Rank 2?"
"We might have a chance..."
I didn't bother correcting their assumption. If they wanted to believe a ‘senior’ was fighting alongside them, let them. It might give them the courage they needed to survive the next few minutes.
The first attack came from a muscular girl with tiger-like stripes burning across her skin. Her transformation rune blazed as she launched herself at the priest, moving fast enough to leave afterimages.
Three others followed her lead, their bodies warping in different ways—one growing crystalline armor, another extending blade-like claws, a third seemingly activating a bloodline rune to dissolve into a shadow.
The priest didn't move as they charged. He simply raised one hand, a rune on his palm flaring with golden light. A barrier materialized around him, catching all four attacks simultaneously. The initiates bounced off like insects hitting a window.
"Your conviction is admirable," he said, his voice still gentle. "But misplaced."
The rune on his palm pulsed once, and beams of light shot outward like spears. The tiger-striped girl managed to dodge, but the others weren't so lucky. The light pierced through their enhanced bodies like they were made of paper, leaving perfectly circular holes where vital organs should have been.
They didn't even have time to scream.
More initiates joined the fight, desperation driving them forward. A boy with metallic skin tried to grapple the priest while another with multiple arms attempted to strike his blind spots. A girl whose runes let her generate waves of force attacked from range while others used their enhanced speed to probe for weaknesses.
None of it mattered.
When the priest tapped the metallic boy on the forehead, a rune on his fingertips turned the student's own enhancement against him, transmuting his metal skin into pure light that scattered like dust.
The multi-armed initiate's extra limbs were severed by a casual gesture, cauterized instantly by the same light that cut them.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
I watched it all, analyzing his movements, looking for patterns. "Kiran," I said quietly, "I need you to make me an opening."
He nodded, his bone armor shifting as he took aim. Deadly projectiles shot from his body like arrows from a dozen bows, each one aimed at a different vital point.
The priest's barrier flickered into existence again, deflecting the bones with ease. But I noticed something—the barrier only appeared where it was needed, suggesting he couldn't maintain it constantly. Was he trying to conserve energy?
While Kiran kept up his barrage, I watched the priest continue his methodical execution of the other students. He caught one by the neck, lifting the struggling initiate with inhuman strength. The snap of breaking bones was lost amid the chaos of battle.
That's when I saw it—a microscopic delay between dropping his barrier and beginning his next attack. I didn't hesitate. My vines shot forward, wrapping around his limbs like serpents.
The priest's serene expression flickered for just a moment, showing genuine surprise as he glanced down at the plants restraining him. The vines constricted further, making him grunt as he tried to break free.
They wouldn't be able to hold him for long, but they didn't need to.
"Now!" I shouted.
Kiran didn't hesitate. He charged forward, a massive spear of bone extending from his right arm. The priest’s eyes widened as he tried to raise another barrier, but the vines restricted his movement just enough—
The bone spear punched through the priest's abdomen with a wet sound, emerging from his back in a spray of blood. For a moment, everything stopped. The remaining initiates held their breath, hoping...
Then the priest laughed.
His mouth opened impossibly wide, revealing a rune carved onto his tongue. It flared with a golden light, and before anyone could react, a beam of pure radiance struck Kiran directly in the chest.
The hole it left was perfectly circular, cauterized by the intense heat. Kiran stood there for a moment, mouth open in shock, before collapsing to the ground. His bone armor began crumbling away as the light faded from his eyes.
"No..." The word escaped me before I could stop it. We'd barely known each other, but seeing him fall... something inside me burned.
The priest casually ripped my vines away from his limbs, already opening his mouth to deliver another sermon—
That's when the explosive seeds I'd hidden inside the vines detonated.
The blast was impressive, even by my standards. The shockwave knocked several nearby initiates off their feet, and for a moment, the chamber was filled with smoke and flying debris.
My satisfaction lasted exactly as long as it took for the smoke to clear.
The priest stood there, his wounds rapidly knitting themselves closed with threads of light. He reached down and pulled the bone spear from his abdomen, tossing it almost casually. It struck another initiate in the chest, killing them instantly.
"A Rank 1 Skybound using elemental attacks," he said, his peaceful expression finally cracking into something closer to anger. "Just what kind of abomination are you?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but he vanished in a flash of golden light. One moment I was staring at empty air, the next I was looking directly into his eyes as he materialized inches from my face.
Pain exploded through my chest. I looked down to find his hand buried in my torso, glowing with that terrible light. Blood filled my mouth as I tried and failed to move.
The priest's smile returned, gentle as ever. "For you, I'll have to perform a more thorough cleansing."
The few remaining initiates tried to help, but a bubble of light expanded around us, cutting off any interference.
The vine hidden under my robe shot toward the priest's throat in a desperate attack. His free hand caught it easily, holding it as it writhed and struggled to break free.
"Oh?" He examined the vine with a look of interest. "You want to protect your master? How touching." His grip tightened. "Well, I suppose I'll have to purify you as well."
As the priest’s gaze fell back on me, the hand in my chest began to glow, and suddenly every nerve in my body was on fire. I tried to scream but couldn't—my muscles were locked in place by whatever power he was channeling into me. His other hand lit up as well, and I heard my vine's shriek of agony.
I could feel myself coming apart, my very essence being converted into that same golden light I'd seen claim so many others. The pain was beyond anything I could have imagined, even worse than I was transformed into a Sun-Touched.
My thoughts started to fragment, reality breaking down along with my body.
"Master!" Azure's voice cut through the haze of agony. "Focus!"
With the last of my concentration, I channeled every drop of Red Sun energy I had left into the explosive seed rune carved into my index finger. The priest seemed too caught up in his own speech to notice, his voice ringing through the chamber as he addressed the horrified audience.
"Watch closely, children of corruption," he proclaimed, that gentle smile still fixed on his face. "See how the Beloved's light cleanses even the most twisted souls. The red sun's taint runs deep in this one—a Rank 1 wielding elements, defying the natural order. But through sacred purification, all can be redeemed."
His free hand gestured at my dissolving body. "The pain you witness is merely the resistance of corrupted flesh. Soon, the Beloved's light will wash away all impurity, leaving only—"
Then he felt it. The surge of power was impossible to miss.
His eyes snapped down to meet mine, and despite the agony of being purified, I managed to force my dissolving lips into a smile.
"Boom," I whispered.
The explosion was nothing like the ones before. This was everything I had, every scrap of power, all compressed into a single point and then released. The light barrier containing us actually helped, focusing the blast inward instead of letting it dissipate.
The last thing I saw was the priest's expression of genuine fear before everything within the barrier was reduced to ash.
There would be no regeneration for him this time. No coming back. No body left to heal.