Soul Knight - Chapter 39 (Patreon)

The old lady stood back in front of Nick again, smiling. It seemed one of the wolfling girls had freed her, enabling her to return at this moment.

Smiling, the Bishop shook his head. “I’m afraid that won’t work this time, old one. It appears Lothar has left Nagduros.”

Nick could tell right away that the man was telling the truth, and shoved the old lady out of the way. Signalling through his Pact, Eirwen immediately placed her Omni Barrier over him, the clear aura covering his body.

He filled his soul blade with body essence, creating the blade of white light, and put up his guard just as the beam struck. It shoved Nick’s blade into his chest, and the beam slid up and cut into his shoulder, sending him flying.

His body crashed through several pews, sending shards of wood everywhere. He groaned as he tumbled, his body being battered.

“It seems you are connected to nearly all of these people here, Trial Taker. I wonder if I can steal this connection too? I see you are not protected, unlike the rogues from Havendale. A very peculiar thing, the Trial pitting you against me at such a low level. Just who, or what, are you? That blade of yours…”

Kaya had kept Rebecca at bay long enough, that she fought through the Bishop’s control. She covered her fist in divine essence, and punched out against a nearby shadow covering another priestess.

Nick got back up, and Eirwen ran over, sending Rejuvenation and shamanic healing into him. His bruising went down, allowing him to get back into the battle. He cut into a few more shadows, charging the essence in his blade as he moved back toward the bishop.

The Bishop chuckled, seemingly not worried that Nick was still able to fight still. “You are a sturdy fellow, but how many times can you make that barrier, I wonder?”

The orcs managed to finish off several shadows, many tainted monks defeated completely as they were tied up. The wolflings fought with fervor, and managed to restrain several of the priestesses until Rebecca could arrive, and remove the shadows from them. The battle was starting to turn, and Nick was feeling good about their chances.

The man was nearly out of his massive amount of essence, likely one spell remaining. However, the Bishop still had a smile on his face, a calm demeanor as he looked over the battle.

“It looks like you think you’ve won, but you shouldn’t look down on the second stratum. I may not have mastered my Concept, but I have begun walking down the path. That puts me far above you.”

Something in the room shifted, a strange weight on reality emanating from the Bishop. The soul within the man pulsed, and a wave of white light, followed by a wave of black light, was sent over the room.

Nick’s people were protected as he felt the strain of his new skill blocking it, but all the priests and priestesses were not. White essence began draining from Rebecca and the other priestesses, and black, tainted essence began drifting from the priests.

They all groaned as they were brought to their knees, the pain from their essence being stolen seeming to be too much for them to handle.

“Divine Usurpation, my Concept. Powered by the divine essence I’ve stolen, I can gather essence from stolen faith. You have ruined much of what I have built, killing my pawns and making it harder for me to trick the people outside. And, I will ultimately have to find new priestesses. You could have left here and simply killed the drakes, but now I will take everything from you, for causing me such an inconvenience.”

Nick charged forward, but a powerful shot built by the wicked Bishop. Eirwen was already on her last legs, only having enough for one more shield. But Jerome jumped in front of Nick, taking the beam of light with his shield, covered in red essence.

The explosion sent Jerome flying off to the side, the power of the blast sending him crashing into the wall so fast that he was killed nearly instantly, the soul returning to Nick.

Now, Nick was more than a little pissed. This guy was just toying with them, and it was only a matter of time before someone died.

Nick probed the Bishop’s core with his soul magic, once again finding he still could not reach it. The essence protecting it was merely replaced, and Nick was having trouble dealing with it.

The Bishop cast more shadows, the shadowy wraith enemies once again filling the room.

Nick blitzed through, killing the shadows, his expert enhancement filling his body. Monstrous blow triggered, and he cleaved one in half, gathering more essence into his blade.  Nick wasn’t the only one angered, and Kaya was swinging her blades with haste, cleaving into the shadows with her skills as she growled and roared in anger. Her ferality was starting to take over, her power increasing.

Cleave sent waves of red essence cutting into the shadows, and Andross fought next to her with his powerful stabs and slashes of his glaive. Other orc warriors shouted and fought with fervor, chaining their essence abilities one after another.

The wolflings howled together as they coordinated their spears stabbing, and Nick continued his assault with a shout, empowering all his allies.

Nick’s essence charged, he gathered more of his own within his soul blade. A bright white light built up, and the Bishop looked at it with a frown.

Gathering his white and black essence, the enemy covered himself with shadows even as his beam shot at Nick–just as he released Essence Burst.

The beam of white light blazed from Nick’s sword like a cannon of light, and it blasted right through the Bishop’s attack, and struck the shield of shadows with a large crack. Shadows billowed off of the Bishop until it exploded and he was knocked into the air, the power of the burst overwhelming.

Essence continued to stream toward the Bishop from the priests and priestesses as he lay on the ground and tried to get up, but as Nick’s soul magic wrapped around the man’s core like chains, he smiled.

His eyes were filled with white light, and Nick began to speak.

“Everyone in this room that is not my Pacter, I offer you a Soul Pact. If you are aligned with the Bishop, or even you, Bishop, I offer you redemption and salvation through penitence for your sins. For those on the side of good, should you become my followers, I will protect you as your Lord and enable you to continue to practice your faith with Seraphara, and save you from the Bishop’s clutches.”

While Nick was offering the pact, the Bishop had stood up, and gathered his black and white energy once more. “Don’t think I’ll let you–”

Sable, Fang, and Luna all leaped from around him with their spears, seemingly coming out of camouflage. While shadowy essence blocked the spears, this was a feint. All three let go of their spears and wrapped their mouths around his arms and legs, biting powerfully with their essence surrounding their jaws.

A wave of red energy crashed down into the Bishop as well, Kaya’s axes coming down toward the Bishop’s head. His beam was sent away into the ceiling, but he lashed out with his fist into Luna’s chest powerfully, sending her flying with a yelp.

Nick finished his pact, “In return, you will serve as my Followers, providing me and my people with healing and guidance, sharing your wisdom and aiding those in need, while following Archaen Law. Do you accept my Pact?”

The many priestesses instantly accepted, including Rebecca. Immediately, the essence drain from them ceased, and they stood up, praying and sending out healing energy to those wounded, including Luna who was quite hurt.

This left the tainted priests considering for a moment. Two of the many accepted, but otherwise, they ignored Nick’s offer for redemption.

The Bishop snarled, as he sent Fang and Sable away with his shadows. “I refuse. You have changed nothing! There is more than enough essence here to crush you all–”

A pulse rippled out from the soul contained within the Bishop, an acceptance of Nick’s Soul Pact. The soul began to struggle against the Bishop, causing the man to freeze.

Nick dashed forward and he arrived in front of the Bishop rapidly, where he couldn’t help but smile, as he began stirring his soul magic. His eyes grew white as he spoke, “You are beyond redemption, Bishop. To take everything from your wife and child, you are truly a sick, demented being, deserving Judgement for your terrible sins.”

Nick gave him a feral smile. “You like stealing things, so I am just going to have to show you how that feels. Your wife and daughter are mine now, along with everything you ever earned with your wickedness.”

The man’s face twisted in horror, as Nick cast Judgement.

Essence began to drain from the man as Nick’s soul burned his, depictions of the horrors the man committed appearing in front of everyone, including where he used the strange item on his loving wife–an angel.

He had given her a gift–a book, which when she opened, locked her in a terrible trap. Her body was then drained as he used his new concept, much like the Bishop’s body was at this moment.

Essence flowed into Nick, the amount of it shocking. Nick’s soul and body essence chains wrapped around everything being drawn in, as his soul purified the enemy’s many sins.

His core nearly cracked at the strain, but he held on with fierce determination as he drew in more and more essence. And–the soul inside of the Bishop, Rebecca’s mother, somehow helped, sending soothing energy into Nick’s soul core.

The Bishop stirred his essence, trying to fight off Nick with his Concept, trying to wrestle control back of the radiant soul. The immense weight of the man’s Concept over reality caused Nick to struggle, wrapping more chains as he fought over it.

“No! I refuse to lose to some child in the first stratum! I will take from–”

Kaya’s axe slashed into his back and Sable and Fang stabbed into his body with their spears, the man grunting as his essence was drained further.

Nick wanted to speak and tell him that he wasn’t beaten by just him, but by the idea that the Bishop used and stole, while Nick partnered and led–but Nick’s mouth was being filled with the man’s essence as it was drained from him.

The Bishop aged several years in a mere moment, as Nick’s core was filled to the brim, and the man expired as his soul was drawn into his chains.

Something else was drawn with the chains–the soul of Rebecca’s mother into Nick’s Soul Core. But that was not all–a sort of taint had come along with it. The piece of taint filled him with dread, and it was beyond Nick’s understanding.

It was like a giant rock was dropped inside of his soul core, the heaviness of it immense, disturbing his own flow of essence and straining his core once again.

He wrapped it with his body enhancement and soul chains, burning it with his purity and righteousness. He held on to his resolve to survive and be a hero, which was empowered by his Will of Frost, causing the taint to be further ground down, and burned by his chains.

The taint was being burned, but then, something within the cathedral shifted. A holy light washed over the room, and it filled Nick with a blinding radiance. A presence descended, and it was like Nick instantly knew who it was: Seraphara.

A hazy apparition appeared in front of Nick of a beautiful angel, that matched the one on the stained glass windows.

Her eyes were sharp and filled with intelligence, her face and body immaculate and giving off a glow of pure radiance. The angel’s body was voluptuous with a generous chest and flaring hips in her scholarly white robes, and her pristine white wings were wide open behind her.

By how nobody responded to her appearance except Eirwen and Rebecca gasping, he realized the show was just for him and his wife, and Rebecca who might have had a strong connection to her.

“Bringing the Bishop to justice, you have done me a great service, Nicholas Noblefrost. In return, I can aid you–it looks like there is a parasite from a malevolent entity, snuck into that bottled Concept. You are not ready for the being that will come for you, if you’re the one to destroy that–do you accept my payment for your aid?”

Nick couldn’t really tell if the apparition was lying, but the dread from what he was facing was enough for him to understand it was far above what he was capable of dealing with.

“I accept.”

She waved her hand, and divine essence entered Nick’s core. As it reached the tainted essence, it purified it, leaving…whatever it was, inside of him. The world seemed to shudder when that happened, a groan almost like when the Test was created and the weight of the world descended.

Seraphara smiled at him. “I thank you, Nicholas, with that, we’re even. Do take good care of my descendants and my people, and I will do my best to aid you should you require help once more. The wicked rule many shards, and Orion could use many more heroes like your family. Good fortune and wisdom to you, Prince of the Archaen.”

She disappeared, and Nick stumbled as the last of the essence was consumed. His core was full to the brim, but he was still not level ten, it seemed.

Tears drained down Rebecca’s eyes. “A bottled Concept. He ended up taking everything from her… It seemed she was having no trouble with her Concept, but he was stuck. He needed to have the power of a Concept for beyond the third stratum, and that led to this horrible evil.”

“We’ll talk later, Becca. For now, we have other problems.”

“W-What? O-Oh.” Her eyes glazed over, as she checked her notifications. “I’m now the head of Zura, so I can just surrender the Conflict–er, wait.”

Nick had received a notification as well.

[Trial of Leadership Update: You have defeated the evil that ruled over Zura, and the many priests and priestesses of Seraphara are now your Followers. Reward for Trial Closure has been increased.]
[The Conflict has been resolved, but the threat of the drakes set in motion prevent Trial Closure. Nicholas Noblefrost must keep his Pacts, the city and people of Nagduros are in danger.]

Nick groaned. “Nope. The Trial is happy as a peach that I beat the Bishop, but it wants me to go for a full clear.” He looked over the destruction in the room. Many people were wounded, and the priests and priestesses of Zura had already used much of their essence in the battle, or had it drained.

His wolflings looked ready to enter another battle, however, and Nick knew the orcs would be ready for another battle after resting on their horses.

He ordered, “Tie up those priests who sided with the Bishop, and lock them up in the cages beneath the cathedral. We will…deal with them later. Those able to fight, let’s get moving–we need to join up with Lothar and take on the drakes.”

Nick asked Rebecca, “Are you able to help us fight the drakes? It’s been a long day for you.”

“I…think I’ll manage. We have a few hours of a horse ride, right? I wouldn’t exactly call that relaxation, but I think my best clergy and I can come along and rest in the carriages as we prepare for battle. We have enough to carry much of us.”

Eirwen had some essence fruit left over in her backpack from the fourth floor, though she did her best to hoard the seeds from them. She handed them out to those coming with, along with some high-essence jerky.

As they got outside, Nick was somewhat shocked. A minor eruption from the volcano had occurred, and there was a massive plume of smoke above it. The sky was darkened, and ash rained down.

It didn’t seem the lava was heading in a dangerous direction, but if they didn’t hurry, they could get cut off, having to spend much time going around the oncoming lava.

The many orcs had similar meals prepared, and they got on their horses. Riding in a large group, the many horses and horse-drawn carriages moved out. Nick joined with the wolfling girls, Kaya, and Eirwen in a smaller carriage driven by the orc scouts.

Nick sat between Eirwen and Kaya, two wolfling girls were resting on the bench, their heads draped over the girl’s laps. Luna was on the floor in front of Nick, hugging Eirwen’s pack, which placed her head right in front of Nick’s legs, allowing him to scratch her ears and pat her head in reward for a job well done.

Near the end, Luna had taken a terrible blow. But it appeared she had blocked the damage well with her essence, and received healing by a waiting priestess.

“My Ordeal is really a jerk–just how could I have beaten this with leadership alone?” Nick grumbled.

Eirwen giggled. “If you came in with a full squad of prepared climbers, servants, skills and equipment, then I think your ability to rescue the hostages on the first day would have made a significant difference. It’d have been hard, sure, but not impossible–remember, just about everyone but the Bishop would have been level five, too. You’re just held to a higher standard, hubby. An epic class means epic challenges, though the evil enemy with a bottled Concept in the second stratum was more than a little much.”

“Man, that Concept was some new age bullshit, Divine Usurpation? Are all of them gonna be like that? Is the next bad guy just gonna wiggle his fingers at me and be like, my Concept is Fuck You. You are now fucked.”

Eirwen shook her head and giggled, and Kaya snorted a laugh. “You’re crazy, Nick. Maybe you just need to make that Concept first.”

“Pfft, That’s a good idea–I’m gonna. Those bad guys are not gonna know what hit ‘em. I’ll hit ‘em with that one, just after the bag of coins. They’ll never see either of them coming.”

Nick was still armored, but he wrapped his arms around Kaya and Eirwen. “Just a little bit left, girls. These drakes can’t be too bad, right? Lothar thought they were a big deal when we met him, but he didn’t know I was a big deal too, yet.”

Eirwen looked over at Nick with worry. “What’s the matter, hubby? You’re being awfully…talkative.”

Nick froze, and then chuckled tiredly. “I… It has been a long day. Seeing that old lady ready to throw down with the Bishop was really something, huh? These people are just trying to live their lives, and these bad guys are just ruining everything. Lothar’s people are good people, even if they’re muggers, and it’s the same for the people of Zura. They’re good people, even if they are maybe a little boring and stuck up.”

Eirwen laughed. “When you put it like that… I know the burden of being a hero is heavy, but only you are strong enough to do it, hubby. These people needed you, and you stood up for them, even when it wasn’t the easiest path. I believe in you, and, I will make sure you get your hero’s reward. If I caught the way Rebecca looked at you right, I think she’s a bit sweet on you, by the way. She looked a little disappointed when you introduced me as your wife, but she might just need a little talking to. What do you think of her?”

Nick snorted. “I’m not sure. That girl seems like she needs a year of dating before some dirty hand holding, but her pure soul is extra attractive to me, for some reason. Besides, I got her mom here with me, now.”

He patted his chest, and did his best to try to sense the mother. However, wherever it was her soul went, along with whomever he captured or burned away with his judgement, he wasn’t sure.

Kaya frowned. “Her mom? What’s this now?”

Eirwen giggled. “Hubby saved Rebecca’s momma! He’s a true hero. The soul pact Nick offered–he had offered it to everyone in the room, even the Bishop. He was really targeting the soul inside him. Apparently, he had trapped it or something, to feed off the divine essence in her, or to control it somehow.”

Kaya looked at him askance. “So, what’s the deal with that? You’re going to give her a body of someone’s corpse? That’s kinda gross and weird, I don’t think I’d like that unless I had to.”

Nick hummed. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t think I’d like to live in someone else’s body, but maybe temporary, like my other Soul Servants? I dunno, I wish we could talk to them, and see what it’s like? I know if she was my wife, I could make her a body using essence, given enough time. I’m not fully sure how that will work either, honestly. Let’s hope I never have to.”

Now that Rebecca was his follower, he supposed she would ultimately be coming with them to Havendale. When he got a chance, he would try to place her mother’s soul in a body, to at least have a talk with her.

Kaya’s tail wrapped around Nick’s waist, as she rested her head against Nick’s. She had a bit of a blush dusting her cheeks. “That’s amazing that you saved her, and beat that Bishop. I’m now a firm believer in Prince Hero, too. Today was hard, but I know we can count on you for even tougher battles.” She gave him a look of hunger. “We…have lots to look forward to, once we get out.”

Nick smiled. “Hell yeah, we do. I’m glad as hell I got you girls with me. You both kicked ass, today. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

Luna whimpered, and Nick groaned as he scratched her ears. “I didn’t forget about you girls, you kicked ass too.” He turned to Eirwen, “So, the drakes? They able to breathe fire?”

“These are young drakes, so they shouldn’t really be able to. There might be an alpha or similar that might, but that is usually the difference between an adult and a young drake. They should be like…giant lizards almost the size of this carriage, with very thick skin, comparable to plate armor. You’ll want to target their underbelly if you can, but targeting where others have damaged scales will be important.”

Nick leaned back, doing his best to get some rest, as he idly scratched Luna’s ears and patted her head. She had a happy canine smile on her face, her tongue sometimes lolling out in happiness.

The carriage bounced as the half-dozen large horses ran, taking them toward their final confrontation.