The air was thick with the scent of blood and ozone, the remnants of lightning still crackling through the ruins.
Nero's chest heaved, pain lancing through every breath as he pressed his back against a shattered wall. His eyes swept the battlefield.
The beasts of the Shatterveil were monstrous.
They moved on all fours, limbs grotesquely elongated, bodies covered in ragged fur that dripped with acidic saliva. Their eyes gleamed a sickly yellow, slitted like a serpent's. The magic around them shimmered, unstable and flickering, as though reality itself rejected their presence.
The Black Talons fought desperately. Wands flared, fire roared, air split with shockwaves.
The ground shattered beneath detonations of raw magic.
They shouted orders, trying to hold formation. But it was collapsing.
A Talon screamed as claws tore through his chest, crumpling before he could even raise a shield. Another cast a volley of spells, only to be pounced on from behind, his final scream muffled by jagged teeth.
They were being slaughtered.
Some tried to flee. The beasts followed, bounding with unnatural speed.
Others stood their ground, spells growing frantic, wild with desperation.
Nero didn't wait. He fired curses as he moved, igniting the ground beneath the monsters' feet.
Flames surged upward, forcing them back.
His attacks were sharp, each second bought with precise calculation.
But the creatures came on.
They tore through the fire, pelts ablaze, snarling as they lunged.
Nero Apparated ten meters ahead, pivoted mid-step, and fired.
A cyclone of fire exploded behind him, swallowing the pack in a vortex of flame.
Their howls echoed like warped sirens, the ruins vibrating with rage.
But more were coming, drawn by blood, by magic.
He gritted his teeth. Staying here was death.
Nero ran, spells flying from his wand as beasts charged from all directions.
The fire did little now. They seemed to hunger for it, and for him.
A massive creature lifted its head, nostrils flaring.
Its gaze locked onto his fixated.
Then it roared, deep and thunderous, shaking the stones beneath his feet.
Others turned toward him. Yellow eyes gleaming.
Nero's grip tightened around his wand. Exhaustion pulled at his limbs.
His shoulder burned, blood seeping down his arm. But he refused to die here.
He raised his wand. "Glacius Maxima."
The air plummeted in temperature. A wave of frost surged outward, ice forming in jagged spikes. The lunging beasts froze mid-attack, locked in crystalline death.
Nero's eyes glinted. "Diffindo."
The ice shattered. Flesh and shards rained down.
A vortex of flame erupted around him, spiraling outward, scorching the ruins, and shielding him.
The beasts shrieked, recoiling from the inferno, yet still circling, waiting for an opening.
One lunged through the fire, fur ablaze.
Nero sidestepped, pain flaring as claws grazed his ribs. He countered with a slashing motion.
A spear of fire burst forward, piercing its chest.
The creature howled, igniting from within. It convulsed, then collapsed in flames.
And still, more circled. Watching. Waiting.
His vision blurred. He was slowing. The situation looked bleak, unless…
Overhead, his Shikigami eagle circled, paper wings shimmering through smoke.
Its view streamed into his mind.
A path.
A break in the ruins, a winding trail between broken pillars, leading deeper into the Shatterveil.
Away from the pack.
He didn't hesitate.
Nero Apparated, landing ten meters forward, stumbling but running again.
His body protested, legs heavy with pain.
The beasts howled. Shadows flickered. They gave chase, slipping through gaps, claws raking stone.
He didn't look back.
Another Apparition, farther.
Ahead, the path narrowed. Behind him, the monsters moved like nightmares, bodies twisting unnaturally, limbs stretching to chase.
He flicked his wand over his shoulder. Fire erupted, briefly halting their momentum.
But they leapt through the flames. Again.
Every breath was agony. His lungs burned. His shoulder throbbed.
But he ran.
His eagle shikigami guided him, showing each turn seconds before he reached it.
He ducked beneath a crumbling beam, boots skidding on shattered stone.
A shadow to his right.
Nero spun. A wall of flame burst upward, cutting off a lunging beast. It slammed into the fire, shrieking as its fur ignited, the stench of burning flesh heavy in the air.
Ash crumbled. But others came.
Apparition, again. Pain spiked through his wounded shoulder, but he didn't stop.
A narrow alley. He squeezed through, the stone pressing in on both sides. Behind him, the creatures tore at the wall, forcing themselves through cracks.
He stumbled into open ground. The path stretched ahead, twisting between broken monuments.
One step.
The earth erupted.
A massive creature burst forth, scales jagged, eyes burning crimson.
Six legs, each malformed. A tail like a whip lashed the air.
It stood tall, its mouth opened too wide. Terrifying spiraling rows of teeth glinted.
Nero's blood ran cold.
An apex predator of the Shatterveil. Nearly indestructible.
It lunged.
Nero Apparated. The ground where he stood exploded under clawed impact.
He reappeared behind it, wand already raised. Fire surged forward, only to vanish.
The flames were absorbed.
The creature turned, its crimson eyes gleaming.
It fed on fire.
It roared, and charged.
Nero ran.
He didn't look back as stone shattered, the beast tearing through the ruins like a living cataclysm.
His Shikigami eagle faltered above, its paper wings rippling under the shockwave tearing through the ruins.
The path narrowed again, an archway of crumbling stone.
One last Apparition.
Nero flickered through just as the beast lunged, his wand slashing back in one final motion.
The archway collapsed behind him, stone crashing down in a cascade of rubble, effectively sealing the passage.
Nero hit the ground, knees scraping rock,
The roars behind him faded, muffled by rubble.
His body trembled. Blood stained his robes.
His breath came in shallow gasps.
He had escaped.
For now.
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50 chapters ahead on Patreon (Suiijin): Chapter 205: The Black Vow - The Duel