Chapter 292: You Have No Choice But To Die

Sol threw his head back and laughed.

Lukas blinked, not having expected that.

The sound was loud and long, ringing off the walls of the cavern. The cultists behind him stood where they were, their dark red cloaks hanging motionless around their feet.

When Sol finally stopped, he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and looked at Lukas, eyes hining in amusement.

"You think this is a negotiation?" He sneered. "Whether you want to or not, you don’t have a choice. It doesn’t matter if you say no. You’re leaving the Crystal Caves as a corpse."

Then he blurred forward.

He crossed the distance faster than normal sight could track.

If Lukas hadn’t possessed the upgraded stats that came with summoning his two wives, the attack would’ve taken his head off before he could flinch.

He reacted on pure instinct, activating [Wing Fortress].

Four golden wings erupted from his back, folding forward in a tight shell around his body.

But before the feathers could fully enclose around him, Sol arrived. His fist slammed into the wings and there was a loud crack.

The force hit like a falling boulder. The golden feathers shattered on impact, and the wings snapped completely.

The skill forcefully ended and the wings disappeared, sending a violent shockwave ripping through Lukas’ ribs.

Lukas flew backwards through the air, screaming in agony as his breath was torn from his lungs.

His back slammed hard into the solid crystal wall, fracturing the stone behind him.

Sol was already in the air above him, raising an arm wreathed in roaring golden fire. A giant blade of flame materialized in his grasp, plunging downwards to pin Lukas to the rock.

Lukas did not wait. He activated [Void Step].

Reality turned grey as he slipped into the void.

The flaming blade pierced the crystal wall where his chest had been half a second prior, melting the crystal into liquid slag.

In that same instant, as if they’d received a signal beforehand, the remaining six cultists charged.

They split into three pairs, two rushing Akira, two targeting Melody, and two sprinting straight at Karrakas.

Karrakas drew his bow to his cheek and loosed three arrows in rapid bursts. The first two shafts hit a cultist’s shoulder, but the pair didn’t even slow down.

Both cultists reached him together, their weapons blazing with dark energy.

Boom!

A brutal blast of concentrated power struck Karrakas dead center. The force tore through his chest, blasting his body into chunks of flesh and bone that sprayed across the stone.

To the side, Melody threw up as many [Hex Shields] as she could.

The second pair of cultists slammed their heavy swords against the barriers with full strength.

The [Hex Shields] shattered into black sparks, and the shockwave blasted Melody through the air.

Her body slammed hard into the wall, fracturing the crystal and sending bits of the ceiling raining down over her. She hit the ground, her vision spinning as she coughed up a spray of blood.

Akira stood her ground against the last two cultists.

She dismissed her flail into her spatial ring and pulled [Temptation] into her grip.

She parried the first man’s slash, sparks flying from the bluish steel, then pivoted to dodge a thrust from the second.

Her combat experience kept her alive as the first man’s sword leapt out of his hands, headed straight for her heart.

She twisted, the sword missing her by a hairsbreath.

As it passed, the cold aura from the sword seeped into her bones, slowing the speed of her joints. Her mana flared inside her, banishing as much of it as she could, but even a miniscule drop in speed was enough to decide her life and death.

The second man’s sword flashed towards her torso, and as she shifted to counter, the first cultist’s sword flashed back from behind her.

The steel severed her right arm at the elbow, sending her forearm and [Temptation] tumbling to the ground.

Akira grunted in pain, stumbling back.

The second cultist’s mouth was wide as he grinned, his blade descending to deal the final blow.

Behind him, reality tore open as Lukas slipped out of the void.

His poleaxe was already moving before he’d even materialized, the blade already an inch from the cultist’s neck.

The man tried to twist his body away, but it was too late.

Lukas’ axe head descended over the man’s shoulder blade, cutting down through armor, bone, and organs, bisecting the man in a single strike.

[You have killed a C-rank Tiefling.]

He slipped back into the void before the notification could even register and crossed the grey expanse in a flash, appearing from the first cultist’s blind spot.

But unlike his friend, the man was ready. He spun on his heel, his frost sword slicing through the air to meet Lukas’ neck.

Lukas twisted out of the path of the blade before slipping back into the void, but the steel had grazed his collarbone.

Cold bit into his flesh, the chill trying to freeze his blood and lock his muscles. Lukas pushed his mana into the wound, forcing the frost out of his skin.

He stepped out of the void beside Akira.

Akira stood with her teeth clenched, cradling her severed right forearm against her chest, while her left hand held [Temptation].

"Lukas," Sol’s voice called out.

Lukas and Akira snapped their heads towards the sound.

Sol stood near the cavern wall, holding the unconscious Melody by her dark hair. Her head hung forward, limp in his grip. Two cultists flanked him with curved blades drawn.

Lukas froze. Akira stopped breathing beside him.

Sol chuckled at their expressions.

"Look at you two," he said, shaking his head. "I told you before. Today, you don’t have a choice. You’re going to die here. Dodging around with spatial tricks won’t change the outcome."

Lukas lowered his poleaxe by a fraction. "Sol, wait. Stop. Don’t touch her. We can talk about—"

Sol didn’t let him finish.

A giant blade of golden fire formed above them and plunged downwards.

Lukas found himself moving before his brain could even catch up with his decision.

He activated [Void Step], vanishing into the void and dashing forward at full speed.

He burst out of the void, throwing his arms forward to catch Melody as she fell. His boots hit the stone, his hands catching her shoulders.

But nobody was there.

Sol and the two cultists were gone, along with the attack.

Lukas turned back towards the cavern center, just in time to see Sol standing directly behind Akira, driving a massive blade of golden fire straight through her back.

The roaring energy tore through her armor, punching a gaping hole out through her chest.

Sol held Lukas’ gaze through the flames, a dark grin spreading across his face.

A sudden, tearing pain flashed through Lukas’s chest.

"AKIRA!" He roared.