Tales of Revenants

Chapter 68 – Sacrifice

Anxiety and fear.

Hope vanished along with the courage to fight.

The valkyries truly desired to help their commander Eris, who's gravely wounded which might even lead to her approaching demise.

They may have lost hope along with the spirit to fight, but they have put all their faith to the man who willingly let the burning flames on his right arm to scorch her mortal form.

He carried the sword of the sinner using his right arm as if it weighs a thousand diamond dust pulling down his soul and physical body.

Little did they know it's the weight of the sin he committed after the Dark Wars ended. It accumulated to the point it manifested as the burning azure flames through his right arm.

The maverick stands at the peak of his threshold to commit yet another sin. Laken readied the stance of an undying swordsman.

Regret is not an option. He slowly takes a usual phase of steps towards his target. But those around him know his next strike shall lay waste upon the battlefield.

The second Laken gripped the hilt of his sword, his opponent didn't run nor resorted to cunning tactics. Instead, she immediately rushed towards Laken in the blink of an eye faster than one's perception.

Laken knew that even if she's a human who turned into an atrocious Dark Entity, she will remain a mindless beast who only seeks the destruction of all life.

"Die! I will... kill you all!" Her voice has echoed by layers of twisted personalities. It sounded as if she lost hope upon the world, but a mild layer of her call whispered a woeful request to be purified. It's the only reason why she reaches for Luciella.

Deep in her heart, she wanted to be freed of the curse that caused her to become a monster of the night that disturbs the harmony of the town.

The reason why Laken's azure flame burns so brightly was not because of his wrath towards the Dark Entities, but because he understood that the reason why anyone could succumb to the eternal pits of darkness was because of one's selfish wish.

The Dark Entity randomly fired the shotgun rifle where Laken holds the forth. He didn't waver nor be swayed against the volley of bullets coming at him.

His heightened senses as his Revenant Metamorphosis allowed him to see where the trajectory would traverse and lead.

He masterfully grasped his sword and perfectly intercepted all incoming bullets without breaking a sweat through skillful swordsmanship.

It happened in the blink of an eye. They were all astonished when he was still on his feet unscathed.

The Dark Entity repeatedly did the pattern where it shots a valley of bullets infused with dark magic.

Laken continually accepted her advance no matter what even if some of the bullets slip on his arm or legs.

When Xenon suddenly woke up who just finished repairing the damaged alloys on his frame and armor with the help of Eirisse's Mana Spring, he noticed a familiar magic signature crossed from his radar.

He jerked his arm to reveal a holographic representation of the Eagleborn displayed from photon-infused energy.

Above the western gate of the town, he detected an unidentified flying object darted faster than a laser beam. The light came like an eagle who's ready to pounce its target.

Laken was about to strike another fading blade to render the opponent's legs useless when Xenon noticed the unidentified object drastically changes altitude.

He looked at the sky and a massive beam of light came crashing directly at the Dark Entity's three-dimensional coordinates. Laken stepped behind so he won't be caught by the impact.

Everyone who was present witnessed an extensive spear of light that has forcefully hammered on the Dark Entity's face that caused her to be grounded on the pavement.

They behold a stunning valkyrie equipped with an arsenal of technomagic machinery.

Her sleek silver hair was being swayed by the gust of her spear upon the process of slaying the Dark Entity.

She had lifeless almond eyes as if she was a doll of some sort. Her majestic technomagic wings manifested through pure photons, making her look like she's an asrial herself.

The Dark Entity didn't let the fight be finished and strenuously fought back. She grabbed the pure starlight coming from the valkyrie's spear without a second thought.

She used the advantage of having a dark-enhanced physical strength to turn the tables around by performing an upside-down ninety-degree flip, a type of counter spear technique to use the opposite pole of the lance to knock the wielder in a surprise assault.

When they take a better glimpse of her armor, she had an emblem carved with a diamond that only Heavenly Hero could possess.

With her advanced machinery and weaponry, they recognize her as the first mechanoid defender who accepted the doctrine of becoming a valkyrie.

She's the eighth Heavenly Hero designed from the glorious Zargon Republic.

Now she represents the Archreverie as an illustrious and brave valkyrie who saved the Archreverie many times earning her heroic position.

"Tetra Sylvana!" Xenon uttered her very name.

Tetra was pushed back exceedingly when the Dark Entity used her photon spear to repel her advance. The opponent's right eye down to her mouth was completely ruined that her face can't be recognized anymore.

The Dark Entity began to writhe and twist her arms and legs in a direction that shouldn't be possible for a human body.

"Pulse Impact: Pierce Beyond!" Tetra pulled her spear with the force of her wing's thrusters to perform a sky-dive assault. She directly pierced the enemy's heart in a matter of seconds after its resistance.

Alisa would never let the chance escape and used her necromantic magic to bind their foe, "Arise, my demonic servant, Summon Undead: Skeletal Pit!"

The undead manifested from the soil grabbed the Dark Entity's legs before the skeletal's arms solidify into adhesive swamp permanently rooting its movement.

It's a type of necrotic magic that can greatly reduce one's strength by directly taking the life-force of the victim.

Eirisse also chanted her vampiric magic to secure Alisa's clever adhesive binding, "Blood be my mana, Chains of Epsilon!"

After her incantation, crawling blood flowed from below and formed a compact silver that strangled the enemy's overall condition from arms to the legs, posterior and anterior structure.

Xenon discerns the situation and threw a technomagic orb below the enemy. A strong force of gravitational pull draws the Dark Entity towards its center.

It's a kind of technomagic arsenal used to ensnare even an enormous monster towards the device with pure gravitational force. Xenon uses it only as his last-resort advantage but he deemed the case to be the perfect chance to utilize it.

Luciella sedulously continued showering Eris with her Light Blessing. She recovered most of the internal bleeding, especially from the respiratory tract.

Healing another isn't just simply chanting the magic, it's the art of visualizing the cause of one's wound and fully understand what parts of the body are damaged or injured.

It's a delicate process in which it puts the healer's mind and soul with extreme pressure. Luciella's confident that she's no longer her past that can't even heal a petty bruise.

She also secretly trained herself by asking her comrades about the way of magic; especially she learned the advanced form of recovery by simply observing Xenon's auto-repair mechanism and naturally was able to formulate her own way of healing.

"Bloodless Revenant! Strike now!" Tetra signaled and requested Laken for assistance. He won't let the perfect chance pass by and let their hard work be in vain.

He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter than before. The burning azure flames burst like a flare of discharge entirely engulfing his right arm.

Laken leaped through the air and accepted the strong gravitational pull in order to increase the downward strike.

"Through the star's wishes no prayers, bring forth the flames of the skies: Heaven's Fall!" He decisively severed the Dark Entity with a sword technique to deliver three-fold s***h from the foe's neck, abdomen, and legs.

Dark Entities are known for their ability to regenerate and function without the head. That's why Laken burned the enemy's entire nervous system with his azure flames to prevent the opponent from wreaking havoc and also saving her from further suffering.

The flames gradually permeated her entire being. Laken's flames burn not only the physical body but also the spiritual form in which it inhabits.

His blade has yet committed another sin and lets the blood of war absorbed by his sword again.

He thought that's how the world has deemed him to be, and his fate to cast life into the coldness of the death was his calling; not until Laken saw the countenance of the balakhian soldier he just slew.

"Thank you..." That was the voice of the one who became a Dark Entity after the azure flames scorched her body returning her to dust and smithereens.

Her smile was not someone who just been murdered, but the salvation of hope that one has been freed from the curse of the abyssal darkness.

Laken found the reason to grasp his sword once again. The unprecedented event they just encountered has taught them the world is further plunging into the annihilation and destruction.

It's the only reason what encourages Laken to move forward as if carrying the world as a whole.

He immediately went where Eris is resting to check her condition. She sacrificed herself for Luciella who's currently healing her wounds.

Laken hoped that it's not too late or else he'll forever regret his mistake until the last warmth of his azure flames fades away.