Jinn BLADE
Chapter 99 | Virulence

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 | Virulence

*crunch...! *crunch...! *crunch...! *crunch...!

Several soldiers moved quickly, their boots crunching against the icy ground as they placed multiple black steel runes around the base of the towering monument.

Each rune was etched with strange markings and sharp-angled curves, spaced precisely as instructed, forming a ring that shimmered faintly in the cold light.

As they completed the circle, five tall rods were brought forward—each one taller than a man and covered in joints and ancient clamps.

The soldiers positioned them in a loose pentagon formation surrounding the monument, their tips angled slightly inward.

With a final grunt and a heave from the front-line pullers, the massive device—the same one they had dragged through the snow for hours—settled into place just a few meters from the monument’s base.

The snow beneath it compressed, and the sharp hiss of steam rising from its joints followed as its metal frame cooled under the open sky.

Berkolex didn’t waste time.

He stepped forward, his cloak billowing behind him as he raised his hand.

Golden strands of eidra began to wrap around his fingers, coiling like threads of living energy.

He pressed his palm flat against the surface of the machine, letting his eidra flow into it.

The device responded instantly.

*whirrr!!!

It whirred to life, low at first, then louder with each second as portions of its structure shifted.

Square-like protrusions emerged from the device’s frame, lining its edges.

Each segment began to pulse faintly with light, and Berkolex’s eidra reacted to the internal mechanism—melding with the ancient power source within.

Sparks of golden light danced along the metal surface, and the whole machine began to hum with energy.

"Looks good," Berkolex muttered, satisfied. He turned slightly and raised his hand again, signaling to the soldiers nearby.

"Connect the devices."

At his command, soldiers rushed forward with thick tubes coiled around their shoulders like serpents.

They moved fast, snapping each end of the tubes into sockets along the base of the rods and the central device.

*clack! *clack! *clack! *clack! *clack!

Metal clamped onto metal with loud clicks, and with each connection, the hum grew louder.

"All primers connected, sir!" one soldier shouted over the rising sound.

Berkolex gave a quick nod, then turned back toward the device.

His fingers glowed again, and he began to trace unfamiliar symbols onto its surface.

The golden eidra from his fingertips served as ink, searing each character into the cold metal with a sound like sizzling flame.

The runes he drew were not known to the common scholars of the empire—not even to a warrior like Zendrell.

Zendrell narrowed his eyes, watching silently as the symbols glowed brighter with each stroke.

He could feel the pressure in the air thickening, the ritual mechanism feeding off the energy being provided.

Each mark pulsed as if alive, the lines beginning to interlink and vibrate in sync.

With a final press of his finger, Berkolex completed the final sigil.

The entire device gave a sudden jolt, then surged with a wave of light.

Golden energy burst from the main body, streaming through the attached tubes and traveling quickly into the five rods surrounding the monument.

"All rods activating, sir!" came another voice.

Zendrell turned his attention to the rods.

Energy coursed through them, lighting each one with power.

The peaks of the rods cracked open, arcs of eidra sparking out and filling the cold air with a buzzing charge. A low, rising tone echoed outward like a choir of tuning bells.

"Activate each rod now!" Berkolex bellowed, his voice cutting through the droning hum of energy.

At once, the soldiers grabbed the large levers attached to each rod.

With synchronized movement, they yanked them down.

*crack!

The rods groaned in response, mechanisms inside beginning to turn. The tops of the rods shifted position, aligning themselves toward the monument’s central spire.

And then it happened.

*BANG!!

A loud surge burst from each rod—five beams of concentrated eidra energy shooting forward.

They collided with the monument all at once, striking its surface with violent precision.

Upon impact, the steel runes placed around the monument lit up, their carvings glowing with the same golden light that had come from the device.

The monument responded in kind.

Symbols began to appear at its base, slowly climbing upward.

They emerged like veins of fire beneath stone, ancient runes forming one after another in a cascading ascent.

They glowed the same shade of gold as the ones Berkolex had drawn on the machine.

Zendrell leaned in, transfixed and curious.

The spectacle unfolding before him was beyond any ritual he had ever witnessed.

But as he watched, something happened that shattered everything.

"ARGH!!!"

A cry of pain tore through the air, sharp and sudden.

Several soldiers stopped what they were doing and turned, startled by the sound.

Zendrell’s gaze whipped toward the source—and what he saw made his heart lurch in shock.

Berkolex stood still, eyes wide with confusion.

A blade had pierced through his back, the point protruding from his abdomen, dripping with fresh blood that sizzled upon touching the energized metal surface of the device.

And standing behind him—her hand on the hilt, her face still hidden beneath her hood—was Jirael.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Zendrell shouted, his voice breaking with disbelief.

"Yaargh!"

Jirael let out a scream, raw and furious, as she shoved the dagger deeper.

*Crack!

Blood spilled from Berkolex’s mouth, his body trembling. He tried to speak, but the words stuttered out, barely audible.

"W-What... are you d-doing... c-c-child..."

His knees gave out. His hand slipped from the machine’s surface, his body falling limp and lifeless into the snow, eyes still open as the light faded from them.

Then it happened.

*BANG!!! *HOWL!!!

A deafening bang exploded from Jirael’s hand—the amulet she held erupted with a burst of dark eidra, a violent force that cracked the ground beneath her.

Shadows surged outward in all directions. The light from the rods flickered briefly, momentarily disrupted by the sudden appearance of dark energy.

Without hesitation, Jirael dashed across the snow.

Her steps were swift and desperate.

She dropped to her knees beside Garian, who remained in pain but conscious, his breath shallow.

She pressed the amulet directly onto his chest.

"Sister...!" Vendrael’s voice cracked as he stepped forward, eyes wide in horror. "What are you doing...?!"

Jirael didn’t answer.

Garian’s fingers twitched. Then his hand closed over the amulet as if drawn by instinct.

"I... I SHALL HAVE MY VENGEANCE!!!" he roared, his voice no longer the weak rasp of a dying man but the howl of something ancient and enraged.

Dark eidra exploded outward, the force knocking several soldiers off their feet.

Mist as black as pitch spread into the air, thick and choking, wrapping the entire site in a swirling storm of shadows.

The rods flickered violently.

The energy pulsing through the tubes wavered.

And in the center of it all—where ritual and betrayal met.

Garian began to turn.