BXBX NOVEL Chapter 224: Why Would I Say No?
The Glow of Sanctity!
The energy they gave off melted away the tendrils and freed them all and without missing a beat, the Cardinals charged the spells that had been interrupted and shot it all toward the Wraith King.
"Useless," Agenon said as he called forth Beasts of the Abyss to once again intercept an attack aimed at his life and even they shattered into Eldritch mist from the impact, even more arose. Equalling the numbers of the Cardinals in seconds and outnumbering them in a minute before charging at them all with bounds that shook the Party hall.
"Since you won\'t wait your turn," Agenon said, "I\'ll just bring it forward!"
"Nghh," the Cardinals groaned as one. All were powerful experts in their own right but the environment was not in their favor.
They were up against a creature whose Eldritch Energy seemed so close to rivaling theirs and had taken the preemptive step of steeping the hall in the energy of its natural Habitat.
For as long as the Party Hall was surrounded by the darkness of the Abyss, Agenon the Wraith King would only get stronger while every wielder of Spiritual energy would feel a continuous drop in strength and overall capabilities.
Meanwhile, now that Evian had freed his Knight Colleagues and ascertained that they would not again fall prey, he cast his eyes around and quickly found Daria wrapped tight in a red restraining spell which she raged against while still driven by the Eldritch energy that had corrupted her.
Evian dashed toward her— Even using Phasing to push through the agitated crowd and no one noticed because they were too busy trying to fend off rabid Arcanists.
Those who had been corrupted far outnumbered the few Priests/Priestesses who had managed to resist and with the environment causing steady weakness, they had no upper hand against the horde they were battling.
Anyway, Evian got to Daria in seconds. Arleen\'s eyes widened when he was suddenly a foot away. She seemed most surprised that he had not gotten corrupted like the others. She refused to believe he was so Spiritually inclined, like people such as herself, to have resisted on his own merit.
"Stygian, what are you doing here?" Arleen asked.
"Let her go," Evian said.
"What?" Arleen asked like she couldn\'t believe the words coming out of Evian\'s mouth, "She\'s a danger to herself."
"Let her go, and I promise you she\'ll be fine," Evian told her. He couldn\'t risk \'healing\' Daria so close to Arleen. There was no way she would not sense the Eldritch Authority he planned to use or the Eldritch energy he would require to brand her protégée with a temporary seal.
"Your promise means nothing to me, boy. Now off with you," Arleen said.
Evian groaned with exasperation and right then, Sir Armin pushed through the crowd of battling Arcanists and, probably for the first time ever, Evian was happy the Knight liked to stick close to him.
"Young Master Evian…" Armin started.
"Perfect timing. Fight her," Evian immediately ordered.
"What?" Armin asked, surprised.
"What?" Arleen asked as though stunned by Evian\'s audacity.
"Fight her!" Evian repeated his order.
"Why?" Armin asked.
"What does the \'why\' matter? She\'s stubborn, she\'s annoying… Fight her."
Armin paused and then realized he had been rude to even ask for clarification. He had received an order from the Proxy of the Golden Child and even if it killed him, he had to comply.
"As you wish," he said and drew his sword from his Spatial ring, charged Spiritual energy into it, and struck out at Arleen who frowned while casting a shield spell to parry the blade.
Sir Armin did not relent. He was only just starting and with a spinning move that harnessed his weakening Spiritual energy reserves he struck out at Arleen multiple times. Creating apparitions of his sword blade, all of which stabbed toward Arleen at once.
The High Priestess repelled it all and retaliated with a concussive blast of Spiritual energy tinted with her Signature red but with a graceful move, Armin moved out of the way, causing the attack to strike an unsuspecting corrupted Arcanist whose eyes turned over to them before he charged forward to join the fray.
Evian smiled. Things were going even better than he had expected and having to fend off Armin while battling the weakening effect of the Abyss\' energies was weakening Arleen\'s hold of Daria\'s body.
Daria was still straining against it so when Evian struck it with his Spear charged with just enough Eldritch energy to escape the High Priestess\' sharp senses, the bonds broke and the Witch was freed.
Still under the influence, Daria made to immediately turn her sights to a Priest and Evian picked her up in his arms before dashing away through the thick crowd of battling Arcanists towards one end of the Party hall where he and his Lover would not be disturbed.
With Eldritch Authority, Evian freed Daria from the corruption but right when she was getting back to her senses, he began the process of bestowing her his true Seal. Evian considered a temporary branding as he had done for his knight Colleagues but quickly changed his mind.
Daria was his first and if there was anyone who deserved to enjoy the potential boons of being a part of his family and cultivating the Decadent and Pure Revolution Act, it was her.
Their environment changed as Daria found herself in Evian\'s valley with his face shrouded by his Reaper robe.
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"Hey," he told her gently.
"Hey," Daria answered him while looking around to get a gauge on where she was.
"I\'m sorry we don\'t have more time. I would have liked this to be more extensive but I\'ll have to speed things up," Evian said.
"Speed what up?" Daria asked but she soon felt a nudge on her mind as Evian asked for permission to deliver the required information directly into her head.
Daria accepted without a second thought and she was introduced to the truth of Evian\'s Seal and how he desired to bring her into his fold.
"Oh," Daria said.
"It\'s up to you," Evian said, "Say no and I\'ll give you the temporary brand so we can return to the outside and deal with the current predicament."
"Why would I say no?" Daria asked him incredulously before smiling and crossing the distance between them in the Valley, "You know I met another Wraith after you."
"You mean the one on the outside with a twisted take on entertainment?" Evian asked.
Daria chuckled at the tone he had spoken with and shook her head,
"No, not him. Another," she said.
"Oh."
"And when I met that Wraith, I didn\'t hate him because he was a Wraith, I hated him because of what he did. I don\'t care what you are… I know WHO you are and I\'ll do anything you ask of me."
"You don\'t care what I do too? You must know or at least have guessed how I get stronger. Am I that much different from that Wraith you met?" Evian asked.
Daria was now in front of him, her hands on his Black-robed shoulders and she grimaced at the memory of that night before shaking her head,
"No, you\'re different from that monster. But Yes, I know how you get stronger and I\'ve never felt disgusted… Never detested it. Maybe that makes me a bit of a hypocrite…"
"Maybe," Evian said with a chuckle.
"But I don\'t mind," Daria said, "Now, We have a serious matter to deal with outside and our bodies and very prone to attacks so brand me already.
Make me yours in the only other way you haven\'t already."
Daria drew closer then, her face starting to pull under the darkness cast by the hood over Evian\'s face but it was then that he seared her with his unique Seal.
With a groan at the feeling and with her very Soul tied to Evian\'s, Daria\'s lips stretched into a grin as she moved to close the rest of the distance between Evian and herself only for them to exit the valley right then. Even so, Daria refused to be at a loss, and with her hand grabbing Evian\'s shirt, she pulled him close to seal their lips together.
Not too far away, Aren Vorden looked over while fending off a corrupted Arcanist. She frowned at the sight and glared at the snogging pair before she was pulled back to reality when the attack from a corrupted Arcanist almost proved fatal.
*BANG!*
Following the sound of an explosive impact, Evian pulled free of Daria\'s lips to look over and saw Armin blasted away and sailing toward his side of the Party hall where he made impactful contact with the wall.
"STYGIAN!" Arleen yelled with her red eyes glowing with malice.
"Priestess!" Daria called out in an instinctive move to defend Evian from attack.
"You—" Arleen paused when she saw the Darkness of corruption absent from Daria\'s eyes, "You\'re back to your senses."
"So I am," Daria said with a smile.
"I told you she\'ll be fine," Evian said.
Arleen drew closer looking into Daria\'s eyes,
"Indeed you did. But how?" She asked pointedly.
Evian acted like he hadn\'t heard her,
"Armin?" He called.
"I\'ll live," The Knight called out as he stood to his feet.
"Good," Evian said while surveying the hall, "\'cause there\'s still work to do."