The Extra's Rise

Chapter 267: Bishop Vale (6)

Chapter 267: Bishop Vale (6)

With Soul Vision and Seraphim's Embrace, I could see every movement in excruciating detail. The way his staff twisted, leaving trails of crimson energy in its wake. The complex sigils he wove with his free hand, blood magic condensing into formations of staggering complexity. The shift in his stance, weight transferring from back foot to front in a motion too fluid to be entirely human.

I saw it all. But seeing wasn't enough.

I parried the first strike, barely, my sword screaming in protest as cracks spread further along its length. The second blow I dodged, contorting my body in ways that should have been impossible, the edge of his staff missing my throat by millimeters.

The third hit home.

A spike of crystallized blood, conjured from thin air, pierced my shoulder, driving through muscle and bone with horrific ease. Pain exploded across my senses, white-hot and all-consuming. I staggered, blood flooding my mouth as the spike's magic spread through my system, attempting to corrupt my very essence.

I ripped myself away, tearing tissue in the process, but better that than allowing his magic to take root within me. The wound bled profusely, a steady stream of crimson staining the already-ruined floor.

The Bishop pressed forward, sensing weakness, his attacks increasing in both speed and ferocity. I was on the defensive now, retreating step by step, each movement more desperate than the last. His blood magic filled the air, a storm of crimson death that left no avenue of escape.

And beneath it all, a deeper pain was building.

The borrowed power from Reika's Gift was fading rapidly now, the black symbols on my skin dissolving one by one, returning to their rightful owner. With each symbol that vanished, a wave of agony crashed through me, as if my very cells were being torn apart and reassembled incorrectly.