Chapter 50

Judgment of the Gods

  Pain. That was the word that could be used to describe Lykan’s world now. Pain and agony.

  He had taken a dark Qi energy bolt to the chest. While he had managed to deflect a good portion of the blast, the remainder was more than enough to shut down his nervous system. Normally this would just mean that one would collapse, fall to the floor and barring anything dangerous like falling on his face he would be fine. The only problem was he had been flying. Flying while wielding a deadly weapon.

  Fortunately, the sheer jolting pain coursing through his body caused all his muscles to spasm, causing him to grip his blade tighter. Unfortunately, the same reaction now caused his body to plummet to the ground. He had been in a semi-prone position, meaning that he was now falling with his body being roughly parallel to the ground.

  Still despite the pain Lykan knew that he had to stay conscious. That he had to fight through the pain if he was to win. A part of him realized that he could accept defeat and still be relatively fine. Either way, win or lose, he got peace for the kingdom of Sidhertha. That said, if he lost, he had no doubts in his mind that in two years’ time he would be forced to come through Sidhertha and strike at the very Academy he had just graduated from. He couldn’t do that, and wouldn’t do that, so long as he still had a chance.

  As he fell, many things flashed through his mind.

  He saw all the choices he made, all the happy accidents that led to his current predicament. In a way he wondered what would have happened had he not been blessed with Magic Immunity to begin with in Tython. What if he was never forced to leave his home village while Smet happened to be nesting nearby at the exact same time. So many what ifs all flashed before his mind. He saw every choice he made, then he saw how they all inevitably led to this moment.

  Focus! He screamed to himself mentally as he slowly felt the arching pain in his body subside long enough for him to regain minor control over his body. With that he began the process of trying to circulate his internal energy, only to find it slow and sludgy. The energy that was normally crisp and clean felt like it was now punching through tar.

  Righting himself slightly, he remembered the steps he had made and honed into his crew for landing with a parachute. Then at the last minute he realized he like all the members of his crew wore such a parachute.

  Moving quickly, he pulled the string, feeling a slight uplift behind him as his parachute deployed catching wind. The only problem was he was too close, the resistance caused by the parachute did little to nothing.

  Thud.

  The Azani warrior priestess fell. No sooner did Lykan have a chance to realize that then.

  Thud.

  OOF.

  Four points of contact were made. Or at least tried to be made, the chute grabbed the wind at the wrong time and pulled him forward violently. He landed painfully. It felt like he broke his legs. Worse the wind that had been blowing all morning threatened to pull him away. Realizing this, moved on instinct.

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  With the swipe of his arm half of the support cords were sliced away.

  Then with a second swipe the remaining support cords were also sliced away.

  Lykan fell over onto his back once the awkward pulling of his chute ended and the cloth began blowing away looking like a giant jellyfish that somehow managed to transcend the realm of water and take to the heavens.

  Pain was all Lykan knew now. Pain from the blast, pain in his legs. Still his Focused mind allowed him to move beyond the pain. To Focus to and through the pain, so he could keep his mind on the true objective.

  He turned to see the woman lying flat on the ground.

  She looked so peaceful.

  Moving close enough to deliver a killing blow he finally got a good look at the butcher of Dunthir. She was pretty, her tan skin and Azani black hair with purple streaks spoke of her internal power. To every one of Lykans senses the woman before him screamed of power and radiance.

  Still, she was passed out, and he was conscious, at least for now. The battle should have ended. He turned to look at the glowing golden eye, the judge of this whole match.

  The eye for its part just looked amused by the whole situation. Looking from the eye to the prone woman, then back Lykan thought he was missing something.

  Then an idea hit him, moving slowly. He hobbled; each step he took felt bones grinding against each other as he was certain he had broken something. Still, he pressed on, even going so far as to finally circulate the energy within his body enough to help lift his body off of the ground. That was a major help as it meant he no longer needed to worry about the weight he placed on his broken and shattered legs.

  Hovering he glided towards the downed woman, then with his sword still in hand he placed it against the woman’s neck. The blade so sharp that even the slightest of touches caused a faint trickle of blood to appear.

  With that Lykan paused, not wanting to kill a defenseless warrior. Regardless of their crimes.

  He turned to the eye.

  As if that was some type of cue the eye had been looking for it blinked.

  Rejoice: The duel of the Heavens has ended. The champion of Sidhertha has won.

  The words rung out in the minds of everyone. The golden threads that had bound the eye to everyone in Sidhertha and Azani once again glowed as the message was transmitted mentally. Instantly everyone knew that the victor was the kingdom of Sidhertha. There were a few more lines detailing the agreements made by both parties.

  Two years of peace between the nations.

  Nayali Northstar will be considered spoils of war to Lykan Vita.

  Any further actions between these two nations or acts of retaliation will be met with harsh punishments from the Gods. The war of the two nations is now over, enjoy your time of peace while you can.

  With that a wave of exhaustion flooded Lykan’s mind. He removed the sword from the warrior woman’s neck. As he did, he felt a surge of energy infuse his body.

  Blessing Bestowed: Chosen Warrior.

  Chosen Warrior (Rare): You were chosen to be a nation’s representative in war of the heavens. Through your actions and sacrifice hundreds of lives were saved. The gods have seen your sacrifice and have rewarded you thusly. Reward: Enhanced Class Evolution. Class: Wanderer has now advanced to Valiant Wanderer.

  All who see you, will instantly recognize your good deed that has been recorded by the Heavens.

  With that his mind had been through too much, had seen too much. The world began to spin as his mind could only handle so much. He had too much going through him now, pain from his multiple wounds. Energy from the gods that were filling him, and the exhaustion of having battled a much stronger opponent and won.

  While Lykan had been more skilled, it was clear that the woman before him was a monster in flesh, she had nearly limitless power and potential available to her.

  Still, he had done all he could. He turned his body, and fell away, trying to make sure his sword was far away from him before he collapsed, letting the sweet embrace of darkness take him.