Orpal unleashed his Blade Tier Spell, Shattered Moon, at the same moment Manohar released his own, Rogue Sun.
The silver blast from Thorn and the golden flash from Surgeon, Manohar’s blade, clashed in mid-air, releasing a pulse of light that was visible not only from kilometers away, but even from space.
“That’s interesting stuff, Nero.” Inxialot the Lich King said while looking at the source of the brilliance from the garden of his secret lab, located on the surface of the moon.
“Indeed.” The black cat spectated the fight through a telescope since he lacked his master’s uncanny sight.
“Ho, ho, ho! It must be the isolation, but sometimes I swear that your meowling almost sounds like words.” Inxialot laughed.
“Preposterous!” Nero laughed with him.
The Queen, however, didn’t find the phenomenon amusing. Quite the contrary, it sent shivers down her spine.
“That’s where Manohar is! Send him reinforcements, now!” Sylpha shouted orders in her communication amulet as she took the Saefel set, ready to join the fight.
“Calm down!” Meron stopped her with a heavy heart. “The set can never leave Valeron except that in times of war, that’s the law!”
“We are at war, you idiot!” She roared like a wounded tigress.
“A man is in danger, not the people of the Kingdom.” Meron shook his head. “Besides, do you really think you can get there in time? By the time the light fades Manohar will be either dead or victorious.”
“Then I’ll be able to either avenge him or to help him, now move!” Sylpha pushed him aside, yet he offered no resistance and darted right behind her.
“What do you think you are doing?”
“The right thing.” Meron left her both the Sword and the Armor of Saefel, conjuring a Royal Fortress armor and the Spell Hoarding Cube for himself. “I’m coming with you.”
What they were about to do went against all the laws of the Kingdom. The King and Queen leaving the capitol unprotected and taking the most powerful artifacts away was a crime that might force them to abdicate the throne, but neither of them cared.
“I love you.” Sylpha said while Spirit Warping to the nearest Gate.
“I love you more.” Meron replied.
Yet as the King had predicted, the fight had ended before the light disappeared and the natural blackness of the night returned.
The winner and the loser both coughed out a mouthful of blood, their bodies devastated by exhaustion. Yet only one of them still stood tall.
“This is not the end.” Manohar said. “As I told you, I’m the one who decides how I live or die.”
His battered body lay face down in the mud, yet he kept talking and moving through a construct made of light that contained every spark he had left of mana and all of his will.
The god of healing had been a powerful violet-cored mage, but a fake mage nonetheless. No matter how good his equipment was, he had only learned Blade Tier spells that used regular elements, whereas his opponent had cast Spirit Magic.
On top of that, Orpal was on Moonlight’s back, making Shattered Moon into a Tower tier Spirit Blade spell.
Yet none of it would have sufficed to kill the god of healing if the effort of facing the enemy’s Blade Spell hadn’t broken his focus on Second Skin. Manohar had dodged Shattered Moon at the cost of letting the Awakening process go awry, killing him on the spot.
What was left of Second Skin had kept his body from exploding, but he had died nonetheless.
As for Orpal, half of his body and head were destroyed. If not for the regenerative abilities of Night’s crystal, he would have been dead as well. This was the second time that it happened, the first during his fight with Tezka.
Vastor had never defeated him under the walls of Belius. It was just one of his Chosen that he had manipulated like a puppet while waiting for Mirim’s return in Derios.
After the battle, the Master had wondered why Night was the only Horseman who had fought without her steed, but had never found the answer. He had no idea that what had escaped the broken crystal armor was just her consciousness returning to the main body.
“As long as you die, I don’t care.” Orpal felt humiliated, yet he had to swallow his pride and revert to his human form for the next part of his plan.
He wore the deep blue Archmage cape that he had taken from Deirus, and took the items he had stolen from the Marchioness and Lark to confirm his identity. Then, he broadcast his message throughout the Kingdom via his communication amulet.
Members of the Undead Courts who had his rune projected the hologram of the Dead King in the sky above all the major cities. It was so big that people only had to look out the windows to see it.
“Good evening, citizens of the Griffon Kingdom. You know me as the new Balkor, but my real name is Orpal Verhen, the fallen member of the family of your so-called hero.” He said while giving them a bow.
“You have taken away everything from me. My life, my family, and even my name. I survived those nightmares that you call orphanages and joined the army to serve my country, but even then, the Griffon Kingdom has been ungrateful to me.
“I took the oath to defend this country in exchange for the army to take care of me, but they broke their word first! The officials treated me like trash, refusing to recognize my talent just to follow their political agenda and pander my little brother.
“That’s why I took out Count Trequill Lark first. He was the one who exiled me from my birthplace and made scorched earth around me wherever I went. Then, I took out Marchioness Mirim Distar, the woman who granted Lith the access to the White Griffon that he didn’t deserve.”
As he spoke, Orpal threw in front of the camera small objects that he had taken from his victims as souvenirs. Mirim’s cloaking hairpin and the silk string of Lark’s monocle.
Both had their respective initials and coat of arms engraved on their surface.
Sylpha and Meron stopped for a second to listen to the nonsense that resounded from the sky above Zeska before rushing to the sentinels above the city walls. They needed directions to resume their chase.
Brinja Distar looked at the sky of Derios, recognizing her mother’s hairpin. Warm tears streaked down her cheeks yet her face was twisted in a mask of fury and hate. Brinja clenched her hands so hard that her long nails made them bleed.
“And now, I’ve accomplished something that not even Balkor, the so-called god of death ever could. I’ve killed your beloved Krishna Manohar, the god of healing!” Orpal cut the head of the corpse off and lifted it in front of the amulet for everyone to see.
Sitri Manohar fainted on the spot, and death quickly followed. No matter how much trouble her son gave her, he was her heart and Orpal had just ripped it out of her chest.
“This bastard coddled my brother, giving him the highest honors in the Light Department even before he enrolled. Don’t call me a traitor, because you all betrayed me first.
“I’m just evening the field, taking away all the unfair advantages that the Kingdom gave my brother yet refused me.”
