CHAPTER 97: CHAPTER 96. THE ONE WHO CAN’T HEAR THE SPIRITS

de Borgia Envoy, Ancient Forest

"There’s one type of monster that will not listen to the demands of the spirits we’ll pass through," Terranova said suddenly. The envoy fell quiet, their footsteps echoing faintly against the damp soil. "They don’t exist in great numbers, but when they appear, the land itself shudders. Once you kill half of them, the rest will withdraw. They always do."

Vivianne frowned, hand resting on the hilt of her blade. "What are they?"

"A corrupted guardian," Terranova replied.

Afrit scoffed softly, the corner of his mouth lifting. "Nothing we can’t fight."

Still, all of the king spirits’ assurance that they can fight it easily didn’t make Roxanne feel any better. Their presence pressed heavy on her shoulders, like unseen eyes tracing every step she took. Something in the air felt wrong—too quiet, too watchful.

And as the first shadow of the forest loomed ahead, she couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever waited there had once been something noble, and sacred, now twisted beyond redemption.

The trees thickened as the light dimmed, turning gold into gray and song into silence. Even the wind hesitated to pass through, and the air itself felt heavier, as though burdened by memory.

Roxanne rode beside the carriage, her black steed moving in steady rhythm with the wheels that carried Vivianne. The air is still thick with the scent of pine and damp moss, the endless stretch of forest whispering softly around them.

Ahead of the envoy, Maxim led the formation, his eyes sharp and senses heightened, scanning every shadow for movement. Mara guarded the rear, calm but vigilant, her spear gleaming faintly under the fractured sunlight.

High above, Marvessa perched atop the carriage like usual, her cloak rippling in the wind. Her eyes never stopped moving; she kept listening to the whisper of the spirits. Even the voices of the king spirits, which talk with her master.

Around them, a faint shimmer followed the convoy. Undine and Tempest had woven a barrier of protection that glowed faintly blue and silver whenever sunlight brushed its edge. The air within the barrier felt clean and light, untouched by the forest’s old corruption.

Terranova had connected her essence to Vivianne’s mind, sharing every pulse of life and tremor of the earth around them. Through her, she could feel the heartbeat of the forest, ancient roots buried deep, old creatures sleeping beneath the soil, and the faint movements of smaller spirits watching curiously as they passed.

Afrit rode in silence, hovering near Roxanne. His fiery aura is dimmed, but Roxanne could still feel it, coiled and ready, waiting for a reason to burn. For a week, the forest had been strangely quiet. Too quiet. Not a single monster had appeared to challenge them. Birds sang at dawn, the wind was kind, and even the rain fell soft and harmless. But Terranova’s voice never lost its edge of caution.

Roxanne listened. She didn’t need to hear it twice. Her instincts had already been on alert since the first day they entered this part of the forest. Every night, she checked the perimeter herself, her blade resting across her lap as she watched the shadows move. She didn’t gamble with her wife’s life or the tiny heartbeat growing inside Vivianne’s body.

When Vivianne slept, Roxanne would look at her through the open carriage window, her hand reaching out to brush stray strands of hair from her face. The sight of her breathing softly beneath the faint glow of Undine’s healing light was enough to remind her why she couldn’t afford even one mistake.

She had faced armies, monsters, and demons, but nothing terrified her more than the thought of losing what she loved. So when the wind shifted on the thirtieth night, cold, carrying the faint scent of iron and decay, Roxanne’s hand instinctively went to her sword.

The forest had changed. The air grew thick again, the whispers heavier, and even the horses began to stir uneasily.

Terranova’s voice came softly through Vivianne’s mind. "They are close." And the ground trembled.

Something vast moved between the trees, slow, deliberate, and heavy enough to shake the roots beneath their feet. When the mist parted, it emerged.

"Luthen. The corrupted guardian." Terranova said.

Three figures nearly seven meters tall, his shape barely resembling the guardian he once was. His body was made of blackened stone fused with patches of flesh that pulsed faintly, as though veins of molten decay still ran beneath his cracked armor.

His wings were broken, one half-torn and the other twisted inward, jagged like the bones of a forgotten god. His eyes burned faintly white, not with life, but with the memory of purpose. Around his chest, the faint carvings of ancient runes still glowed, a seal of the spirits long shattered.

The creature’s face might have once been noble, but now it was a grotesque mask. The jaw hung slightly crooked, and thick trails of corrupted mist poured from his mouth like steam from a dying furnace. The smell of iron and ash filled the air.

"That’s no beast," Maxim muttered, flames gathering in his palms. "That’s what happens when duty turns into madness."

Luthen raised his arm, a colossal limb of stone and sinew, and the forest itself seemed to react. Vines blackened, trees cracked, and the ground beneath them split with a sound like thunder. His voice followed, a hollow bellow that shook the air.

"You... should not be here." The words were not spoken but pressed directly into their minds, cold and ancient, layered with sorrow and rage.

Vivianne felt the echo tear through her body, her heart tightening with something she didn’t understand: pity. She could feel that Luthen had once guarded this forest, perhaps even served the spirits before corruption took him. Terranova’s light flickered beside her.

"His will has been bound by the darkness," the earth spirit said softly. "He cannot see what he protects anymore."

Roxanne stepped forward, her sword already drawn, the runes along its edge flaring red. "Then we’ll free him the only way we can."

Luthen’s head tilted toward her, and his cracked jaw split wider into something like a smile, jagged and hopeless. The air turned to heat and dust as he charged, the ground cratering under each step. Trees fell like matchsticks.

Roxanne met the rush head-on, her blade bursting with crimson light as Vivianne whispered a spell behind her, wrapping her in spirit wind. The corrupted guardian roared again, the sound a mix of grief and fury, and the forest erupted into battle.

Maxim and Mara reacted instantly, forming a perimeter around the carriage. Undine expanded the protective barrier, her voice rippling through the air like a song. The light shimmered as claws slammed against it, sending a shockwave that rattled the trees.

Tempest raised his hand, and a violent gale swept through the clearing. Blades of wind carved across Luthen’s chest, slicing through corrupted flesh with the sound of tearing metal. Black ichor spilled, but the wound knit itself shut in seconds, the flesh twisting back into place.

"Unholy regeneration," Afrit spat, his body igniting with golden flame.

He raised both hands, and fire rained down like meteors, striking the monster’s back and setting it ablaze. The guardian shrieked, flailing wildly, but even as its body burned, the fire began to die, snuffed out by some unseen force that seemed to pull the corruption tighter together.

Roxanne darted forward, her blade blazing red as she struck Luthen’s leg. The force of the blow shattered bone and sent the creature crashing into the dirt. For a heartbeat, silence. Then the monster’s arm shot out, catching her by the side and flinging her through a dead tree.

"Roxanne!" Vivianne cried from inside the carriage. Undine’s power pulsed through her hands as she tried to heal her wife’s bruises, but the energy in her veins trembled with something else, an echo of Luthen’s agony.

Vivianne gasped, clutching her chest as the corrupted guardian’s scream tore through her mind. It wasn’t rage; it was pain. Ancient, endless pain.

Terranova’s voice resonated through the air. "They were protectors once. Bound to the forest long before corruption took them. You must end their suffering quickly!"

Roxanne wiped the blood from her lips, her eyes blazing gold now. "Then we’ll end it."

She charged again. This time, Tempest’s wind wrapped around her blade, and Afrit’s flame coated its edge. Roxanne leapt high, slashing down through the center of Luthen’s chest. The corrupted guardian roared, the sound shaking the earth.

Vivianne’s power surged through the bond, flooding Roxanne with strength, but with each surge, Vivianne’s skin turned paler, her breathing shallow. Using all four king spirits’ power at once while pregnant really takes a toll on her body, but she will protect Roxanne. Even if it takes her own life.

The longer the fight went on, the more Vivianne could feel every wound Luthen took, every cry that echoed through the monster’s broken soul. The three Luthens aren’t stronger than Roxanne, but their instant regeneration makes them hard to kill.

Terranova’s vines rose from the earth, entangling the other two corrupted guardians, giving Roxanne a chance to drive her blade deep into Luthen’s chest. The monster screamed, a sound that was neither fury nor defiance but grief. Its body convulsed, light flickering through the cracks of its corrupted form.

When the three Luthens fell, the forest went silent, an eerie, hollow stillness that lingered only for a breath. Then, from the darkness between the trees, came the sound of heavy steps.

Branches snapped. The ground trembled. Four more corrupted guardians emerged from the shadows, their bodies crawling with black mist, their eyes burning with the same silver void as the fallen ones.

Vivianne’s chest heaved, pain twisting through her as if every heartbeat echoed the monsters’ sorrow. She clutched her chest, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "Stop! Back off, everyone!" Her voice cracked through the chaos, filled with something both commanding and desperate.

"No!" Roxanne shouted back, already moving forward, blade raised.

"Back off, wife! I know how to deal with them!" Vivianne’s tone turned sharp, her breath trembling, yet her eyes, glowing faintly with silver, were steady. "Hold my wife back," she ordered.

The four Spirit Kings moved at once. Undine’s water shimmered around Roxanne like liquid glass, sealing her in place. Tempest’s winds coiled into a barrier that forced her backward, while Afrit’s heat pressed down, keeping her from breaking through. Terranova’s vines rose from the ground, wrapping around her legs and arms.

For the first time in her life, Roxanne felt fear, not for herself, but for Vivianne. Her sword crashed against Undine’s shield again and again, sparks scattering with each strike. "Vivianne! Stop! You’ll die!" she screamed, but the sound of her voice barely reached her wife through the roar of the elements.

"Your wife is strong, and we cannot hold her long," Undine said, her voice soft but strained, turning to Vivianne. "Do it now."

Vivianne stepped forward, her legs trembling, her breath shallow. The four corrupted guardians watched her, their movements halting, uncertain, like beasts torn between rage and recognition.

She could feel their pain bleeding into her through the bond she had with the spirits of the forest. They were not born evil; they were once protectors, twisted and tormented.

Her hands glowed faintly as she whispered, "You’ve suffered enough."