Chapter92

The Underworld King's Bloodline
The golden light around Gazel surged again, washing over the blood on his armor until Didi could not tell where flesh ended anymore. When it settled, his body looked like a man carved from pure light, and the ground under him hissed from the heat rolling off his skin.
She stared at him with shaking hands, eyes wide and wet, then forgot to breathe when he took one slow step forward.
"Gazel...?"
The monster's grin dropped for a second, then came back wider than before as it watched him stand after a wound that should have ended him.
'This one keeps getting better,' it thought, lifting one hand. 'How many tricks did this guard hide?'
"You're full of surprises," it said, pointing one finger at his face.
A purple orb formed above that fingertip, small at first, then tighter and denser until the air around it started to bend.
"I had fun," the monster said in a calm voice, "but I'm done playing for today."
Its finger twitched, and the orb shot out in a straight line that Didi could barely follow. The impact punched through the center of Gazel's head, then burst behind him in a violent flash of purple light.
"GAZEL!"
Her scream tore through the clearing as she stumbled forward with both hands out while tears blurred her sight.
The monster clicked its tongue, turned to her, and moved before she could take a second step.
"That voice of yours is quite annoying." The back of its hand struck her neck in one clean hit, and she dropped where she stood, out cold before she touched the ground.
"Just lie there quietly and wait for me to be done with your knight," it said, looking back at Gazel, expecting him to fall this time, but he was still upright with steam pouring off his body in long golden trails.
The monster narrowed its eyes, then smiled again when it saw that steam rising from every new hole in his body.
"I see," it said, taking one slow step closer. "You're burning your soul."
Gazel said nothing, only tightened his grip on his glowing sword while his arm trembled from shoulder to wrist.
"What a fool," the monster said, tilting its head. "Burning your soul will end with you not entering the cycle of reincarnation."
Three purple orbs spun into existence above its claws, then another, and another, each one humming with enough pressure to shake loose dirt at their feet.