Right then, Drystan betrayed Enaricus. “Oh? Every last celestial gem you possess?” Jared lifted an eyebrow, allowing a thin smile to curl across his lips. “That’s almost convincing, I’ll grant you that. But tell me, why should I trust a man who changes allegiance as quickly as smoke changes shape?”
“I… I can escort you to the treasury,” Drystan stammered, palms up in surrender. “Everything is there. Once you’ve taken the gems, let me walk away. I swear I’ll cause no trouble.”
“Very well…” Jared murmured after a pause long enough for sweat to form on Drystan’s brow. “I’ll accept your offer this once. Betray me, and you won’t draw a second breath.”
“I-I wouldn’t dare! I’ll be perfectly obedient,” Drystan gushed, nodding so hard his jowls quivered.
Moments later, the desperate lord led Jared and Flaxseed through the skeletal corridors of the ruined Sixth Hall, its once proud arches reduced to jagged frames clawing at a sky veiled with ash.
Charred beams smoldered, cracked tiles hissed, and the stench of burnt stone hung thick as tar. Every footstep stirred flakes of soot that drifted like black snow in the poisonous air.
Drystan wove through collapsed corridors, left, right, then a sudden dip beneath a fallen lintel, until a half-buried iron door loomed ahead, its surface blistered but intact.
His hands shook so fiercely the hinges rattled before the latch even lifted, yet the door groaned open, exhaling a breath of cool, dust-laden air.
A flood of prismatic light surged outward, bathing their faces in shimmering bands of white, azure, and violet. Inside, crystalline mounds of celestial stones rose like miniature mountains, each facet pulsing with captive starlight.
“Jared, this is everything,” he whispered, eyes glassy with longing. “Take it, just keep your promise and release me.”
Jared’s smile cooled to ice. “Drystan, do you honestly believe I’d let a viper slither free just because it offers its scales? Strategy thrives on deceit, you of all people should recognize the lesson.”
“You… You treacherous cur!” Drystan’s face drained of color. “May you choke on your ill-gotten spoils!”
“Your crimes blackened entire realms, Drystan. Justice demands repayment.” Jared raised Dragonslayer, its edge singing. “The heavens need no jury, my blade will suffice…”
Silver fire arced from the weapon, a crescent of killing light that crossed the room faster than thought. The beam pierced the gold embroidery on Drystan’s robe and kept going.
Drystan’s eyes went wide with primal terror. He tried to sidestep, but destiny and sword-light were swifter than flesh.
The sword energy punched through his torso. A single, guttural scream burst from his throat before he collapsed, blood weaving dark patterns across the cracked floor, spreading beneath him like a crimson shadow.
“Jared, wasn’t that a touch… Excessive?” Flaxseed muttered, eyeing the corpse with uneasy fascination.
“Flaxseed, mercy toward an enemy is cruelty toward ourselves. Drystan bathed in innocent blood. Even had we spared him, he would have pursued us to the world’s edge for revenge. Ending him here was the only road to peace.”
“You’re right… I was thinking too simply. Now, what about all these celestial gems?” Flaxseed sighed.
“They’re invaluable to us. With this trove, we can fortify our cultivation. But this ruin won’t stay deserted for long. Gather everything, then we vanish.”
Working in practiced silence, Jared and Flaxseed swept the glittering hoard into their storage rings, then hurried from the blasted hall before fresh scavengers could smell blood.
They halted in a ravine hidden by scorched pines. Jared summoned the Pentacarna Tower, its bronze tiers glowing with runes that whispered of forgotten wars.
One by one, the celestial gems vanished into the tower’s swirling interior, their rainbow sheen folding into the tower’s hungry darkness.
“Flaxseed, let’s step inside. Time flows differently in there, we can sharpen our cultivation while the outside world barely blinks.”
