Chapter 294: Certain Death

Lukas and Morgana dashed forward as one.

"Nic, fall back!" Morgana yelled.

Nic did not hesitate. Electricity flared around his boots, and he teleported across the cavern to help the Le Fay warriors against the remaining cultists.

Lukas and Morgana closed the distance in a fraction of a second.

Lukas swung his poleaxe in a high, crushing arc aimed at Sol’s head, while Morgana lunged low with her sword, targeting his ribs.

Sol threw his head back and laughed.

"Too slow!" He mocked, activating his spatial pressure to lock Lukas in place.

The invisible vise clamped down on Lukas’s limbs, freezing him in place.

Sol turned away from Lukas to deal with Morgana, raising his burning golden blade to cut her down.

Morgana did not try to block. She activated her innate skill, [Wraith].

Her body turned translucent like mist. Sol’s fiery blade passed straight through her chest without touching flesh. Passing through his strike, Morgana turned solid and thrust her sword straight at Sol’s heart.

Sol’s eyes widened. He threw his torso backwards, dodging the steel tip by a hairsbreadth.

He slid across the floor, chuckling as he caught his footing. "I didn’t expect to see a Le Fay princess down here."

Morgana didn’t waste breath talking. She dashed forward, her fist clenching as thick green vines erupted from the stone floor to entangle Sol’s legs.

Sol leapt into the air to evade the roots.

Morgana jumped right after him, bringing her sword down in a heavy, two-handed swing.

Sol laughed mid-air, raising his hand. "Freeze!"

His spatial lock clamped onto Morgana, halting her descent and freezing her in place above the floor.

Sol raised his fiery blade to strike her down, but in that exact moment, Lukas stepped out from reality right behind his back.

Lukas brought his poleaxe down with all his strength, the heavy axe head cleaving straight through Sol’s left shoulder blade.

Crack!

Sol twisted in mid-air with a shriek of pure agony as bone, muscle, and flesh were sheared clean through.

"H-How?!" He stammered in disbelief, crashing hard onto the bloody crystal floor.

He scrambled to his feet, but his left arm and shoulder were completely gone. Thick blood poured down his torso, soaking into his torn robes.

Lukas stood on one side of him with his poleaxe ready, while Morgana dropped to the floor on the other side with her sword raised, flanking him completely.

Lukas pointed the dripping axe head straight at Sol’s face.

"Don’t worry," he said, his voice flat and cold. "Your death is certain."

Then he lunged forward, swinging his poleaxe.

Sol was forced to leap back in a dodge. Just as he was about to activate his spatial lock, Morgana closed the distance instantly.

Sol knew he couldn’t leave her open, so he used the spatial lock on her instead, locking her in place before she could use [Wraith].

He raised his remaining arm, conjuring a flaming blade of golden fire to kill her as she was already frozen.

But in that moment, vines erupted from the ground between them, spearing towards him.

He leapt away, just in time for Lukas to dash in from his blind spot, the hammer face of his poleaxe slamming into Sol’s ribs.

There was a snapping sound as his ribs broke, and Sol stumbled sideways, gasping for breath.

Blood poured from his severed shoulder, his movements growing sluggish.

Morgana was already out of the spatial lock, striding towards him.

He couldn’t deny it now. He was completely outclassed, and there was no way out.

He began taking steps backwards, trying to get both of them in his sight line, his single remaining arm blazing with golden fire.

"Stay back!" He snarled, panic beginning to bleed into his face. "I am Young Master Sol of the Fated Brotherhood! You can’t touch me!"

Lukas didn’t say a word. He stepped forward, his boots crushing crystal shards beneath his heels. His eyes were cold, fixed entirely on the wounded cultist.

Beside him, Morgana didn’t hesitate. She lunged forward, her sword thrusting towards Sol’s exposed chest.

Sol activated his spatial lock, swinging his flaming right arm to block Morgana’s blade before she could use [Wraith].

Golden fire exploded against the steel, pushing Morgana back, but with only one arm, his balance was completely gone.

Lukas took advantage of the opening. He stepped into the void before Sol could lock him in place, then swung his poleaxe as he appeared, aiming for Sol’s waist.

Sol tried to leap away, but thick green vines suddenly shot up from the stone beneath him.

The roots wrapped around Sol’s boots, anchoring him to the ground.

Sol yelled in surprise and panic, pouring golden fire down to burn the vines away.

The plants burned to ash, but it was too late.

Morgana blurred forward, activating [Wraith].

Her body turned into pale mist, passing straight through Sol’s frantic burst of fire.

She solidified behind him and drove the pommel of her sword into the base of his skull.

The strike dazed Sol, sending him stumbling directly towards Lukas.

Sol looked up, his single arm trembling as he tried to raise another flaming blade. "Wait—"

Lukas didn’t give him the chance. He swung his poleaxe, and the man’s head flew from his shoulders, spraying blood across the floor before thudding against the stone.

His headless body went limp and collapsed into a pool of hot blood.

Ding!

[You have killed a C-rank Human.]

Morgana lowered her sword and stepped closer, looking down at Sol’s decapitated body.

"You shouldn’t have taken his head, Lukas," she sighed. "A live captive would’ve given us everything on the Brotherhood’s current movements in Salaria."

Lukas wiped the blood from his brow, his hands still gripping his poleaxe. "He killed Akira."

Morgana sighed, waving a hand towards the corpse. "Forget it. It doesn’t matter now. The Le Fay family has specialists who can pull memories straight from fresh brain tissue. We’ll still get what we need."

She turned her gaze to the rest of the cavern.

The Le Fay warriors stood over the remaining cultists, having completely subdued them.

Four of the Brotherhood members lay dead across the floor, while the other two were pinned down, heavily injured and bound in special chains.

Footsteps reached their ears as one of the healers walked up to them, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Lady Morgana, Sir Lukas," the healer said, bowing her head slightly to them both. "The drow woman is awake. She is asking to see Sir Lukas right away."