The Wordless Mage
Chapter 50: Before The Hammer Falls

Chapter 50: Before The Hammer Falls

"Pope Tharos, wait!"

The voice was desperate, the person behind it reaching their hand out in pursuit of his figure.

He was floating in the air, the staff in his hand bright with a blazing illumination. Its light was unlike anything that it’d been before, reaching far past himself to engulf the entire area in white.

On the other hand, the demon’s very skin sizzled at each prod of the light, reeling back from the sickness that bled into its very being.

"Please, reconsider!"

The voice rung again, this time more pleading. It was the king, Viral, holding someone in their arms.

The person groaned, scratching at the side of their neck. He looked up, switching his attention between the pope and the king more carefully.

"Uh... king...?"

"Corien, just stay where you are. I understand the strain you vanguard members feel once your commandment rune acts out."

Corien’s hands almost peeled away his skin, the bright, red rune beneath it glowing without a single pause in its hue. It was burning the very air, white smoke rising from it but not damaging his skin.

Air whisked through Corien’s teeth, thoughts of removing the rune crossing his mind. But he persevered, understanding the major ramifications if he were to go against the very church.

"King, you will stay right where you are along with Sir Corien. If not for the people’s love for you, I would discard the both of you to exile."

The staff in the pope’s hand grew in luminosity, its light screening out into a rectangular prism.

The sentient radiance slithered to surround the demon-Rowan who’d been defending itself from the previous burst of light, burning his clothes as its walls caved in to form a prison.

"Stay put where you are, wretched fiend," Tharos said, turning in complete dismissal to the black ruminating in the demon’s joints.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Viral? Make it quick, otherwise we risk giving the demon proper time to recover."

"Who do you think you are, turning away from me in the middle of battle?"

The demon’s voice struck them through the air, a deep tremble clattering through all present.

The black aura surrounding it had spread out more than it’d already been, grabbing onto the unconscious heroes whom laid on the ground, weapons to their slumped sides.

"You know, I could kill the heroes right now if I really wished for it." The demon laughed, raising its hand in the direction of the pope. "After all, since you activated that rune that took down Mr. Strongest, there, it’s been a real cake walk dealing with the weaklings scattered across this battlefield. And plus, can’t you sense it?"

The staff shook at the demon’s words, trying its hardest to jump from Tharos’ grip. He didn’t allow for it, although he too felt a growing unease pit his chest.

"Yes, Pope, it’s what I was hinting at," the king added, dropping Corien down gently to best keep himself from aggravating the burning in his neck, "his movements--they’ve been rather slow. At least in comparison to the ones prior, like he were reserved. You can’t honestly fail to see what’s happening, right?"

Tharos swayed with rage, swinging his staff back to point at the king.

"Silence, you! You think I can’t tell? They’re fighting in the beast’s mind, trying to escape. I’ve been able to tell this entire time. Both Liora and Rowan are alive in there."

With furrowed brows, he turned back to the demon, puffing from the rage enveloping his limbs. He didn’t appreciate the condescension being shared by the two, but a deeper irritation formed outside of just a slight against his pride.

"Then why?" King Viral threw his arms forward with open palms, stepping up to inch towards the pope. "Why do you keep throwing attacks that could keep the beast? You know the heroes are alive in there, so why not give them a moment to escape?"

"Solely for that reason."

One cheek raised on Viral’s face, mirroring the deeper emotions that welled up inside him.

"What?"

"I mean exactly what I said. I must eliminate the beast now before the two heroes return, otherwise, I risk allowing two heathens coming back and disrupting the church."

"Kuhkuhhh! Well, isn’t that something? To think the pope could be so fickle!"

The king was at a loss of words, stepping back to bask in the oddity of the pope’s change in tone.

"What do you mean?"

"Stop asking me these dumb questions." The pope’s body lit up once more, causing the demon to stammer for a response to his new arcana. "Rowan is now a wraith, an enemy of the church, and Liora is a perpetrator that has conspired with this same person. They are both unworthy of life, dictated by the gods."

The light’s overwhelming presence choked the life and hatred from the demon’s limbs and aether respectively, dropping it to its knees.

"With that, I believe it’s time for divine retribution to make its mark. I no longer have the patience for games with this beast, especially given the urgency of protecting the three other heroes. They are still viable, and far more important assets than the two traitors we have before us."

The demon’s hands gripping into the ground from both the pain and weight on its shoulders from the holy light, its eyes dipping in red from the growing hatred broiling its insides and calling for it to destroy.

It laughed.

"Kuhhkuhhkuhh! Hilarious, and quite the entertainment! You know, if I were free of the trouble the two were providing me, I’d maul you to the point that you would only wish for death. You’re lucky, you. But watch out, I’ll haunt you even if this body is destroyed, you best believe it."

"Empty threats from an even emptier existence. I share no words for you in your final moment, now perish."

The surrounding light intermingled with itself, dancing upon the air with no immediate haste. Yet, the strength behind each movement preceded this.

Its energy surging without even a shadow of restraint, it amalgamated into one, single point, its power so great that the heat alone was enough to make the air bubble from excitement, the earth cindering to ash even given the distance.

"Pope, please, don’t do this," Viral yelled as loud he could, running forward with his palm stretched out.

Deaf ears, and ones unwilling to hear what went on within the demon.

"Kuhhh, give me all ya’ got!"