Marden hadn't even seen Adam perform any of the spell components. Yet, the youth had already teleported before him like a ghost, his mysterious black staff crashing down on him.
The cultist crossed his arms, coating them with mana, then raised them in front of him to block the attack. At the same time, he could see Adam's visage more clearly.
And what he saw… caused a chill to crawl down his spine.
Adam's face was a ruin, corroded so badly by acid that parts of his flesh had melted away. His right cheek was eaten through, exposing the line of his teeth beneath. Whole patches of hair were gone, leaving him half-scalped, as though he wore the charred remains of a human skin mask.
Yet, worse than his mutilated appearance… were his eyes. The whites were bloodshot, and the pupils were so cloudy and dilated that they seemed inhuman. And deep within, a faint gleam of divine light flickered. It was something so otherworldly it made Marden shudder to his core.
