CHAPTER 64: AWAKEN

"Zephyr Venturi, I can give you everything in the world. Come, join me in greatness."

"The world needs to know of your talent. Those who scorned you should realise what they have lost. Let me give you the power you deserve."

The necromancer’s master controlled the necromancer’s body and spoke.

Zephyr silently stayed within the grasp of the mana tentacle. A while later, he shook his head.

"No thanks." He rejected the offer with an even tone. "Any power that is given can be taken away. I do not wish to be someone else’s bitch to gain power." Zephyr shook his head.

The reply made the man pause for a few seconds. He was surprised that someone rejected his offer, but still he nodded twice and said.

"I understand. You are one of those...Anyways, you never had a choice."

The statement displayed the total disregard for Zephyr’s opinion.

"You will do exactly what I want you to do." He added before releasing Zephyr from the grasp of the tentacle.

"I will allow you to leave today, despite your interference with the villagers. I must admit, for a mere beginner, you have surprised me. I still cannot fathom how you bypassed the restrictions of that broken core of yours. You shattered every physical ceiling I thought you had... How interesting."

He thought for a second and asked.

"Did your trait help?"

"..."

Zephyr stayed silent.

"Ah! This is really interesting...I will come find you some other day, young man." The necromancer’s master said and turned to look at the altar.

"Leave." He said and flew towards the altar alone.

As he flew, the baleful aura surrounding the man grew exponentially. Zephyr suffocated under the pressure exuded by the mana.

Despite receiving freedom, he failed to take a step away.

He gritted his teeth and pinched his thigh. The pain momentarily helped him regain control over his body.

Whatever the damned man was doing spelled danger. Standing there in the temple was dangerous. He had to leave. His mind screamed.

All the grandiose thoughts he had about defeating fate, killing the necromancer, and all had to be forgotten under the influence of absolute power. The most realistic choice was to leave.

And yet, something deep within him awakened, preventing him from leaving.

His foot stayed grounded to the floor, gazing at the back of the man flying towards the Altar.

Was it ego?

Was it his arrogance?

Was it something else?

Gritting his teeth, he walked towards the Altar.

"I don’t need someone else’s charity to survive."

Death was scary, but it couldn’t stop him from walking forward, against the powerful aura.

"HEY!" He shouted after walking closer to the altar.

"Either kill me or watch me kill you," he said to the man standing near the altar.

The man turned back to look at Zephyr. His brows were furrowed into a deep frown.

He couldn’t understand what was going through the young mage’s mind.

The overwhelming strength he displayed should have been enough to dissuade anyone from approaching him. And yet, the young mage didn’t seem to care about all that.

"You are going to kill me?" The man was amused.

"How?" He asked.

Zephyr shrugged his shoulders. "If not today, some other day. Either way, only one of us is going to survive in the end."

"Ha ha ha..." The necromancer’s master laughed as if it were the funniest joke he had heard.

"Challenge accepted. Let’s see if you can do that." He ignored and went back to looking at the altar.

In it, a pool of life essence was slowly flowing in a circle. But it was not enough to open the temple and release the godspawn.

If the villagers were around, he could have used them to supplement the life essence. But they were great swimmers and swam away the moment they were released.

Not even one stayed behind to help the person who freed them. Such were the normal people.

They would not care about others when their own lives were at stake. They will either run away in fear or surrender to power.

People like Zephyr, who would run towards danger, were few.

*Sigh*

The man controlling the necromancer sighed and turned to look at Zephyr.

"We will meet again." He muttered, raising his hand.

Then he plunged his hand into his chest, pulling out the heart in one smooth motion.

Immediately, the menacing aura around the man collapsed. Everything seemed to have sucked back into the pulsating heart in his hand.

The dark blood splurted out of it as he threw it into the altar.

Then a flood of dark blood essence flowed out like a river into the altar.

The necromancer fell back onto the cold floor of the temple. He was dead.

Zephyr watched everything with wide eyes.

He was preparing to destroy his mana cores and throw one last spell at the necromancer to satisfy his ego. But before he could do that, the man killed himself.

"Damn it."

The life essence stored in the heart was tremendous. It flowed, sending red pulses into the pyramidal structure behind it.

Zephyr was once again frozen solid by the new aura that appeared.

The surrounding air thickened, temporarily freezing even the rain and clouds.

As the water droplets floated around him, Zephyr watched in shock as popping and cracking sounds exploded out of the pyramid.

Something that tightly bound the outer layers of the pyramid was breaking. Cracks as wide as a person were forming all around it.

’Was it his backup plan? Using his own heart?’

’The necromancer shouldn’t have known about it. His master must have kept it as a backup.’

’Damn it.’

It was too late to think about it.

’It seems like I broke away from the fate of being captured. Instead, I am going to die today.’

’Well, I was prepared to die the moment I came here on a whim. So, it’s not that surprising.’

’We won’t meet again, shit head.’ He said in his mind and prepared for the pyramid to crumble from the inside.

Blinding red light and a baleful aura were flying out of the cracks. Any second now, the creature within would awaken, killing everything that’s nearby.

’Dying to a boss was nothing to be ashamed of.’ Zephyr said to himself and waited.

He was interested to know what kind of Godspawn would emerge from the pyramid.