Chapter 60: The last Altar (2)

Grabbing the shaking Merency by her waist, he pulled her with him as he leaped through one of the windows.

He could feel her mana starting to boil as the surroundings started to ignite too.

"I have to get her away from the others before she accidentally kills one of them." He spoke to himself, already running towards the hut to the altar.

He could feel the mana of the other groups slowly calming down as the Merency spell seemed to have worked, turning them normal again.

As he could feel his hand starting to melt away, ignoring his protective barrier completely.

With a flick of his wrist, he pulled away the iron disk, throwing Merency inside.

As he followed her down just a moment later, she had already burned her way down towards the main chamber.

"Hey, you should stop that." He wanted to scold her, but his voice gave up as a giant slash nearly severed his head off.

Filling the blood flow down his throat, he stared down at the gruesome wound. ’’What the fuck are you? ’’ He asked, collapsing to the ground.

He could only watch Merency grab her head as if she were in pain, throwing herself against the walls.

As he could finally feel the slight burn of the mark on his stomach as the magic circle dissolved into a small light.

His head snapped right back in place, the wound disappearing as if nothing had happened, but even then he didn’t move.

Only observing Merency, who was tumbling towards the altar, staring down at the dark liquid in disgust. "You were the one trying to kill him, right? ’’ she yelled in a panic.

As a laugh echoed through the whole cave, coming from seemingly everywhere. "Me killing him? No, you were the one that sliced off his head. I needed him. ’’

It was the voice of the fourth finger, dead serious, as the possessed Merency turned towards Steven with worry, only seeing the masses of blood on the floor.

’’NOOOO!!’’

He was screaming as her hand started clawing away at her own face, drawing blood.

Steven instantly rose, wanting to warn her, but before she could, a single drop of her blood fell directly into the altar.

As the world turned entirely quiet, Merency’s body fell over directly on the marble stairs.

Her mana completely disappeared as the dark liquid started rising into the air, reforming instantly.

Steven finally understood what all of this was; it was a resurrection.

They had reborn the fourth finger.

A beast powerful enough to destroy people’s minds as just a ghost of her former self.

—

Lucy was staring at the ceiling, her head hurting as she could sense the smell of burned flesh in the air.

What had happened? Where was she? Her mind felt like it was melting, as she could feel somebody shaking her body.

Turning her head slightly, June was sitting next to her, her face filled with worry. "Lucy, are you fine? What were you trying to do?’’

Lucy could only stare at her. Right, what was she going to do? As a flash of painful memories hit her mind.

She was holding a magical cannon that was already torn to pieces; even then, she decide to fire it towards the poor girl.

She had killed the princess; as realization finally hit her, she jumped to her feet, staring where the princess should lie.

But there was nothing; only Edward and Lumiel were close by, looking just as confused as her.

Had she fallen victim to a mind hex? Impossible; after all, she was wearing a special ring against them.

But as she stared down at her finger, she was wearing nothing; the ring had disappeared completely.

Turning her head once more, she found her ring in June’s hand.

As she understood what had happened, the inexplicable June hadn’t worn her protective armor in the forest and had fallen under a mind hex.

And yesterday night, most likely when she was sleeping, did she pull her ring under possession and by that freeing himself from the spell but allowing something to enter the mind of Lucy?

"What happened to the princess? Where is she?" Lucy asked, confused about where the body could’ve gone.

’’I don’t know; I only saw Steven pick her up and leave through the window. "June’s voice was filled with concern towards Lucy.

Oh fuck, Steven, right? They had a plan, and it seemed to have failed miserably just because of her negligence.

"Then we have to go after them to help her." She spoke, already running towards the exit.

But Edward positioned himself in her way. "There is nothing you can do for her anymore; we should gather some information first before acting.

Something in her voice made her shiver as if he had anticipated all of this.

Stepping past his Edward grabber, her arm pulling her back, whispering to her ear. ’’Steven has a plan; I am sure of it.’’

As she stopped right in her tracks, staring at the blond man’s scarred face.

Taking a deep breath, she let herself fall to the ground like a sandsack.

Her own wounds were pretty bad too; especially this explosion seemed to have burned away some part of her face.

Already casting a healing spell on herself, her companions didn’t seem to be in much better condition.

Lumiel’s arm looked like it was taken straight from a corpse bleeding and being bent; it was a wonder it even held anymore.

Edward seemed in comparison much better, with only a few minor wounds, but his face showed an unimaginable strain.

June had it the worst, as she now realized why she hadn’t followed her.

Both of her legs had been cut off, lying only a few meters away from her.

"Edward, heal her." She spoke quietly, impressed at Jun’s endurance.

Edward gave her a nod, turning away.

Just as he started the healing process, the entire world seemed to freeze in place.

Darkness.

A pure, terrifying darkness filled the entire space around her.

As thousands of eyes opened in the air, staring into her mind.