Beastforged Bond

B4 Chapter 51 - Interlude

Merlin knew what awaited him. He had always known, but hope was a nasty thing. It made him wonder what would happen in the future even when he knew that he would never have one.Evolving Dirk into a dragon had been a welcome, and certainly surprising, turn of events, but it gave him the worst of all feelings–hope. Merlin began to imagine a future in which they survived. A future where the Ruler of Fire was no more. A future without Sera…

The future eluded him no matter how much he thought about it. And maybe, just maybe, that was for the best. It didn’t matter either way.

It didn’t work out. His nephew’s little friend had said it already: death was coming for them. There was no way around it, no matter how much he wanted to believe otherwise. But no matter how much he wanted to accept that they were going to die, Merlin prepared for it, and so had the Agency Head.

Now that Raffael Torch had pierced his heart, Merlin finally understood what the Agency Head had wanted from him. He was to die so that the Ruler of Fire would too. He was merely part of their scheme, one of the cogs in their grand plan, and that was okay. Merlin could accept that, because the Agency gave him what he desired most.

Raffael.

A pang of guilt ravaged his failing heart as an image of his family flashed before his eyes. Merlin was sorry to his family, but even more so to his Soulkins.

We expected this, did we not?

Dirk rumbled in his head, followed shortly by his other Soulkins–those who stayed with Merlin even after he told them about his contingency plan.

The corners of his lips curled upward. Or they would have if he still had lips. Pain was no longer a thing. All that prevailed was darkness. It came to him, cold and unbidden.

But before the darkness consumed Merlin, a flash of clarity engulfed him.

A woman, unchanged by the course of time, materialized before him. She was as beautiful as ever, dimples sprinkled across her small, pink cheeks, a smile that melted even the harshest blizzards.

Sera. She stood before him, her bright eyes meeting his as her small hands reached out for him. Merlin’s throat tightened as he too reached out for the love of his life. Logic told him that this was not supposed to be possible, but rationality be damned.

The darkness spread out once more as his coarse, but no longer burning, hand reached Sera’s. She pulled him toward the light as the darkness encroached.

It was almost upon him when familiar sounds rang out all around him. Dirk appeared beside him, and so did his other Soulkins. He was still sorry for them, but they looked so happy. As happy as he felt at this moment.

A moment later, his life flickered out, the smile on his lips eternal.

***

Everything went according to plan. The Agency was curious about Merlin’s fate, but the death of the Ruler of Fire was more pressing. They trusted Merlin and were certain that the young Ruler knew the importance of their mission; however, that never meant the Agency left everything to Merlin and a young Blessed who hadn’t even realized what kind of power he wielded.

Preparations had been done and triple-checked. Several formations had been installed, isolating the Ruler of Fire from the rest of Razarn. No one could interrupt the fight even if they wanted to. At the same time, fail-safes were active and would kill all those within the isolated space in seconds if necessary–all those who were not Rulers. Adam would die if Merlin failed. He had to, for he was bound to the very beast Raffael Torch desired.

If their plan failed and the Ruler of Fire survived, the least the Agency could do was stall his advancement to the next Rank. They would postpone his growth until they could raise their own Emperor to fight Raffael and his party.

Space rippled as the fight between Merlin and the Ruler of Fire reached the next stage, but the formations kept the energy in place. No one could step through the formation, whether it was to leave or to enter.

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That included the Old Man and his cohort as they emerged from a portal. The Agency’s Rulers and their strongest Grandmasters emerged near the Old Man, their Soulkins summoned and their weapons brandished.

It was no surprise that the Old Man came to rescue the Ruler of Fire. He was the spawn’s father, after all. Unsurprisingly, he was enraged, screaming and shouting about how yet another party could stoop low enough to attack “Humanity’s Savior.”

The Agency’s agent snorted, which only seemed to enrage the Old Man further.

“This is an honorable fight between Rulers. One who seeks vengeance and another who desires to bind the former disciple’s Soulkin. We honor their fight and allow them to fight to the death as a solution to their discrepancies.” The Agency Head stepped forward, her voice controlled and measured. Not even the slightest ounce of emotion rang through the vicinity. “We could have attacked your son, killing him with our numbers, but we did not. And you know why.”

The reason was simple: humanity’s strongest forces could not afford to fight one another if they wanted mankind to survive. Hence, an ‘honorable’ fight had been called upon. No matter how much effort the Agency had placed into manipulating the final result, the battle itself was still fair. After all, it was none other than the Ruler of Fire who pursued Adam to break his World open and steal his Soulkin, thus breaking one of mankind’s most sacred rules.

The Old Man would have to acknowledge the situation for what it was, even if he did not want to.

Just as the Old Man was about to say something, an explosion ripped through the surroundings. The first protective formation shattered instantly, and the second and third followed shortly after, leaving everyone stunned.

Not even the Agency Head could keep her face neutral. She spun around to stare at a pristine-white miniature sun that destroyed everything. That, for one, had not been one of the outcomes she had anticipated. No matter how many variables she had added, the destruction of an entire region was not accounted for.

But that was what happened. That day, an entire region ceased to be. So did all those caught up in the destruction. Not even their corpses remained.

***

Volix never thought Adam would make it this far. Not this quickly.

The day Adam stepped into the pond of liquefied ether, the essence of his very being stirred. He sensed something but could not identify what exactly it was or what it truly meant. All the Elemental Phoenix could tell was that it was something special.

A connection formed when the young Blessed human returned to the pond. It was a nebulous link that could have been severed without any real effort. But instead of terminating the frail connection, Volix tapped into it. He reached out to Adam’s World and learned more about him.

As young as Adam may be, his existence attracted the Elemental Phoenix’s attention. He grew curious, which only increased when he realized what was happening inside him.

Volix acted purely based on his instincts when the Ruler of Fire attacked him. The Solar Orb, a creation born from a fight of the Fire Spirit and Ice Spirit millennia ago, was not something he could fight easily.

How mankind acquired something like that, Volix could still not understand. It made even less sense that Merlin carried a Solar Orb containing traces of the Fire Spirit’s essence. That was not something Volca would have shared willingly with anyone. If he had known about this, he would have broken the Pact himself to retrieve what rightfully belonged to him.

But he did not.

It really did not matter. Volix bonded with Adam as a safety measure, but also because his instincts pushed him toward the young Blessed. And he did not regret it for a minute.

The Elemental Phoenix confirmed his suspicion in their time together. Adam was naive, to a troublesome degree at some point. But this was his first life, and it was fine to make mistakes, as long as he learned from them. And as much as he had to learn, Adam had what it took.

His World was growing a Spirit. One that had fallen a long time ago. Volix could feel the change as well, for he, too, was changing. He noticed it, and he knew exactly what it meant.

Now, however, Volix had to make a decision. He had to protect Adam, not only for what his existence meant, but because the young Blessed had become the Elemental Phoenix’s family. More so than his real family.

He unleashed immense power, using the authority granted by Adam. It didn’t last long, but Volix wielded a fragment of the power the oldest existences once carried, using the Insignia of the new Primal Heir.

Volix absorbed the flames of the Magma Dragon, as well as the Essence of the Fire Spirit, using that power, and he moved on to drain the fire of the Ruler’s blazing World as well. But neither of those actions came without a steep price.

The Elemental Phoenix burned through his life. He extended his control of the Primal Heir’s Insignia and burned through the soulshare as well, embracing the backlash even if it could potentially shatter his soul. As long as he could ensure Adam’s survival, he would be fine.

Then, as the soulshare was severed, Volix released all the power he had momentarily consumed at once.

That day, the Elemental Phoenix died for the 19th time ever since he came to be. This time, however, his soul was severely damaged, but also imbued with something that should have never come to be.