Chapter 98
A Madman
Derrek sat in silence, his mind adrift. There were voices that he kept at bay. Words that he purposefully shut out from his mind. His heart astir, he wanted to crawl into his bed, cover himself with a tidy blanket, and forget. Forget what he had just been told. Forget what he had just witnessed. Cracking his head forward, he saw Sylas stare at him quizzically. An ordinary-looking man. Who just informed him... he had created a Way. And not just...
2021-12-03 23:21:56 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 97
Birth of the Madness
You have died.
Save point ‘Death’ has been initialized.
Years passed on one by one, blending into a singular timeline that hardly changed. Sylas spent them in a homogeneous routine of simplicity, training and existing, splicing some moments of reprieve in-between--not unlike the one he was currently having. Ryne had promised him she'd make dinner and invited him to her little basement to witness, a...
2021-11-30 21:36:30 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 96
Struggle Begets Change
Sylas nibbled away at the piece of chicken viciously, causing Valen and Derrek to look at him oddly and even for Ryne to wonder what strange noises were. He was hungry. No, describing it as hunger was like saying that the Second World War was just a kerfuffle and nothing more. The hunger burned through him like fire, every inch of his body growling like a beast.
He'd already eaten enough for five people, yet was still nowhe...
2021-11-30 00:12:40 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 95
Long Road Begins With a Breath
“That’s it,” Derrek spoke out. “Just hold it--that’s right. Good. Let go. Once again. Let it channel through you. Don’t force it. What do you see?”
"..." Sylas had his eyes closed, listening carefully to the instructions. For the past six hours, he'd been restlessly driving traces of magic through his body--the Way worked by first enhancing the body and then using it as a conduit for magic, as though t...
2021-11-28 22:17:29 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 94
Cosmic Divinity
Weeks ticked on without much happening. At least not in Sylas’ version of life. Though the castle was still scarred and traumatized and in the initial process of recovery, as far as he was concerned, it was in a state of peace. After all, prior to this, something would be happening every couple of weeks. Now, at least, they were safe from the external pains, though internal were mountainous.
He spent his days mostly in ...
2021-11-27 22:08:46 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 93
The Whole World Will Know
You have died.
Save point ‘Death’ has been initialized.
“AAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!”
Sylas had talked with Tebek, or whatever his name may have been, almost fifty times now, dying over and over after the fact to redo it. He hadn't managed to squeeze much past their initial reaction but had gleaned enough new information to have warranted dedicating his time to it.
Namely, Tebek likely w...
2021-11-27 00:10:07 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 92
The Pen is Mightier Than a Sword
“AAAAAGGHHHH!” Tebek screamed in horror and agony as a knife found its way into his gut.
Sylas twisted it abruptly, causing yet another rollout of wails and howls rooted in infernal misery. He held it tightly with one hand while using the other to grab Tebek by his hair and yank the man’s head up, forcing the latter to look Sylas directly in the eyes. There seemed to be undisguised panic in that gaze, but Sy...
2021-11-25 23:03:29 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 91
Twice and Thrice
It was happening again, Sylas realized. The symptoms were all the same--and, unlike the previous times, they appeared even more aggressive. The castle had only been aware of it for the last few days, yet over twenty people had already been bedridden, with three even dying. Just like before, Master Audin attributed it all to the ‘winter chills’, but Sylas knew that he couldn’t ignore it anymore.
“It’s intentiona...
2021-11-24 23:55:24 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 90
Meeting of Blades
Sylas stopped walking, leaning into the dead, winter tree, gasping for breath. Glancing back, he saw a tunnel-like trail along the mountain of snow that he’d left behind in his trek. Were he in the mood for jokes, he might have even laughed if for nothing else but the nostalgic value of seeing a human-shaped imprint on the surface. But he wasn’t in the mood for jokes--he was tired.
He’d walked some five-six miles off the ...
2021-11-23 23:34:26 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 89
Standing Dreams
Sylas paused abruptly, his feet rooting to the ground. Just yesterday, the room was empty--now, however, there sat the Prince, his legs covered with a blanket, gaze focused out the window, nibbling away at some grapes. Sighing, Sylas gritted his teeth and pushed down the surge of emotions before approaching, pouring himself a cup of wine, and sitting opposite Valen.
Neither of the two spoke for a little while, both seemingly lost ...
2021-11-22 22:58:49 +0000 UTC
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2021-11-21 00:01:57 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 88
Sword Meant to Cut, Heart Meant to Bleed
Sylas remained in place rather than turning around and running away. It was pointless to run, after all. He'd have to reset the loop anyhow. Besides, he was curious--curious of the kinds of the dead that lived within the city.
He felt expectant rather than afraid. Eighty years of fighting the dead and wrestling with death... numbed him to many emotions, fear chief among them. At least fear of the things th...
2021-11-21 00:00:57 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 87
Their Story
The doe bent forward, looming over the corpse while the crow continued to stare at Sylas. White tendrils of light emerged from the doe’s abyss-like black eyes, brightening the entire forest and even blinding him due to the sheer intensity of light. A few moments later, when he opened his eyes, he saw that the doe was standing upright once more, but that the corpse was gone.
The two animals were looking at him, silent once more. Syla...
2021-11-19 23:35:39 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 86
Violence Is Holy
Under the crackling of the roaring campfire, Sylas bit into a piece of chicken, yanking a good chunk of it and chewing through it without savoring the taste. Right after, he helped himself to a jug of wine and continued intermittently doing so until the roasted chicken was gone--well, the half of it, anyway.
The shadows cast by the fire dimmed his face, turned him into a dark silhouette leaning against the tree, the shoulders sli...
2021-11-18 18:41:54 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 85
Ashes and Dust
Sylas stood on a terrace overlooking the castle's courtyard. It's been five days since the ruination, since the death and pain rampaged through. Hardly much has changed; there were still signs of a massive battle everywhere, from the toppled walls and chunks of the castle missing to the innumerable corpses--those of the people as well as the ghouls--forming morbid decorations.
The strangest thing of all, perhaps, was that it stoppe...
2021-11-18 01:45:00 +0000 UTC
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BOOK II
A PROPHET, A CRIPPLE, AND A KING
Chapter 84
Sounds of Silence
“AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!” how many times has he heard that scream now? Innumerable, he was certain. And it hurt just as much as every other time. It cut directly through his heart like a sword, causing tears to swell inside his eyes.
He tried to stop it from happening every time--tried to toss his body in front of hers... but h...
2021-11-16 19:17:27 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 83
Death
Sylas sat on the edge of a wall, his gaze vacant, sight hazy and blurred. He’d lean forth and back often like a drunk—largely because he was one, at the moment. A jug of wine hung in his hand, swaying alongside his body. He stared emptily at the snow, recalling the distant memories. Most of them have turned into blurs. He’d forgotten. Forgotten everything.
Taking a swing, he realized he finished the gourd, growling in anger before hea...
2021-11-16 00:05:19 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 82
Hellscape
Sylas groaned audibly as his eyes began to flicker. The pain quickly assailed his head in addition to the burning of his throat. Even still, opening his eyes completely was difficult—a gargantuan task for how groggy he was—not to mention that what awaited him was a hazy, blurry sight he couldn't make much sense of.
“Water…” he mumbled to the world and yet, to his shock, a hand helped him sit up and offered him a cup of water.<...
2021-11-14 22:27:21 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 81
Tears of a God
Snow kissed the gentle dirt repeatedly, snowflakes pooling into hills and mountains, and melting under the pressure of rotted feet and boots on the other end, forming rivers and ponds and streams. Wall stood like a barrier between two antithetical worlds, two opposites, two inevitabilities in the unending story of reality. The sky above remained ashen, and whether it was day or night, nary a ray of sun burned through. Dark, instead, reig...
2021-11-14 00:11:31 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 80
Winds Sing the Tales Long Forgotten
"I can't see!" Ryne exclaimed. "Get out of the way!" her tiny hand pressed against Sylas' side and tried to push him, but failed. The latter glanced down at her and smirked before stepping to the side, letting her come up to the railing and look over it. "Wow," her lips gaped in awe at the sight. Amidst the mountains of snow, a lane of clear, though wet dirt stretched flat from the castle to the wall. Twenty or so co...
2021-11-13 19:40:20 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 79
No Surprises
Valen paced back and forth, appearing angry, bitter, infuriated even. There was no rhythm of calm and collected man he appeared to be most of the time—his footsteps were frantic and quick and misaligned, and his eyebrows danced like worms, wiggling about, up and down. Sylas had just informed him of the newest ‘vision’—that there’d be another attack. As such, the latter understood the young Prince’s mood. Again and again, their ...
2021-11-12 23:36:00 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 78
Kindled Dreams
Snow had been falling relentlessly for two months now. Staring out, Sylas couldn't help but be awed—he saw a legitimate, ten-foot-tall wall of snow stretching out around the castle. Save for the immediate courtyard that was shoveled thrice a day, it was physically impossible to actually leave the castle. He'd never seen anything quite as awful as this, the kind of weather that would grind the entire city into an early apocalypse.
2021-11-11 22:36:50 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 77
Mirrors
There was only darkness-- not even the moon could be seen alighting the sky, clad instead beneath the layers of dark and gloomy clouds. Sheyra clutched the silken weave tightly abreast, her full, blood-red lips trembling, eyes of sapphire-blue blinking as they stared into the oblivion. Maerel’s Pit-- the maw of damnation, portal to inferno itself, where sinners were cast to suffer. Her trembling lips mumbled for Gods, but Gods were dead-- the...
2021-11-11 00:01:07 +0000 UTC
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another quick sketch vaguely depicting one of the earlier moments in the story
hope you guys enjoyed today's chapter :)
2021-11-09 21:56:48 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 76
Cradle of the Makers
Sylas sat in the quiet room, his head perched over a thick tome alight by the nearby candlelight. Ever since returning to the castle and, once more, ensuring that the Prince was the man of the hour, he had busied himself with reading. He’d gotten remarkably good at the language and was more than confident in fluently parsing the numerous tomes in the library.
Though he didn’t doubt Valen, Sylas still wanted to look for it...
2021-11-09 21:54:48 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 75
The Children
Sylas sighed, staring emptily into the darkness. Another thing—another thing was added to the ever-growing list of things that caused his head to hurt. And, like most things that made it onto that list, it wasn't the sort of thing that he could just ignore. It was a monumental, life-altering thing. After all, the young girl, unconsciously, blew up the entire castle into smithereens. Why?
"The fuck if I know…" he grunted, though w...
2021-11-09 00:37:50 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 74
When the Shadows Dance, Auburn Falls
A slew of emotions, fear chiefly among them, danced like framed silhouettes in Sylas’ eyes as he raced down the cold, dark corridors of the castle. The sound of his hurried footsteps and the flapping of the loose clothes were all drowned out by his gasping breath, and by the beating of his heart. Though he knew that Valen was on his wing, he hardly was aware of the man; in his mind, only an innocent smile hovered....
2021-11-07 19:26:24 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 73
Peace and Quie--
Walls decked out in precious decorations stretched out in a sharp curve, forming a winding, slightly upslope corridor illuminated by the embedded gems in the wall. Colors beyond count melded together in the canvas of unparalleled beauty, all a prelude to the exit which led into a garden—garden perched on top of a floating rock in the sky.
The garden wasn’t terribly large, nor was it terribly small—average in size, truly, bu...
2021-11-06 23:14:25 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 72
Parentage
One of Sylas' major headaches was resolved—he knew how to stop the invasion and save the castle. But with the disappearance of one, another came strolling right in—the boy. He never left Sylas' side, and the kid's gaze followed his back coldly everywhere. At least, that was Sylas' impression after the first two hours they spent together. While the castle was celebrating yet another victory and collectively wondering whether their Price wa...
2021-11-06 01:02:52 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 71
Cold Tears
He felt terror. As though the cold, emotionless claws of death itself were hanging above him, reaching out. As though the death’s maw was agape, ready to devour him. All around, he saw death, he saw terror, he saw cold. Invisible arms, hundreds of them, were grasping from the ground like roots, calling toward him, trying to drag him down, trying to bury him. But he wouldn’t let them. He would fight. He would fight cold with cold. He woul...
2021-11-04 20:22:50 +0000 UTC
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