Fyrwal and Tessa fell to the ground, their eyes watery, but they managed not to shed a single tear.
Once the last Demon was summoned and they mustered the strength to look up, only Lith and Vastor were still standing.
One because he was used to dealing with pain and anger. They had plagued Lith since he had memory on Earth until the day Elysia was born. He welcomed the feelings of the Demons like old friends, embracing them instead of fighting back.
The other because he was too stubborn to fall and because he considered the souls' grievances but a drop of water compared to the ocean of his crimes.
"Is this the best you can do?" Vastor snarled, knowing that his victims had suffered much worse than any of the Demons he was conjuring. "Stop being angry at me, you losers. Come and get me if you can!"
The Master weathered the suffering and hatred like he was the one who had killed the souls' original body. For all he knew, it wasn't a farfetched possibility. Even if he was wrong and was in no way involved in their deaths, he still took responsibility.
Vastor wasn't proud of his crimes but wasn't ashamed of them either. He had done what he had to and was ready to pay for it once his goal was achieved, not one second sooner.
The Titania, the Hydra, and Orion knew nothing of this and only felt their respect and admiration for the old Professor grow. He stood where even old heroes of legend had fallen.
"I would beware what you wish for, my boy." A frozen, clawed hand gripped Vastor's shoulder so hard that he felt the grip through the Davross of his Dominator armor.
"Grandmaster Paax!" Vastor turned in horror, his face twisted in guilt and regret behind the visor of his full helm. "I'm so sorry. I-" ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Don't." Edrahg Paax, the late Grandmaster of the Kingdom's Highmaster Order and Vastor's mentor cut him short. "You've done plenty of bad things, my boy, but my death is not one of them.
"I had become old, bitter, and stupid. I knew what was going to happen when I stepped out of line, I just didn't care." Grandmaster Paax sighed.
In his shadow form, he looked like a man in his late fifties with a perfectly trimmed goatee white with Decay. Even in death, his face had more wrinkles than parchment paper. The deep ages lines had been carved by decades of shame and regrets.
Paax's whole body was covered in heavy chains that would have crushed a mortal man with their bare weight.
"I've never resented you, my boy. Quite the contrary, I was relieved when I learned they had sent you to 'retire' me. Spending my final moments with a friend was a blessing I didn't dare pray for."
'Retire?' Locrias inwardly echoed, remembering where he had heard the name Paax. 'He was a Professor in the light magic department of the Black Griffon, a complete nobody famous only for the way he had died.'
On paper, Archmage Edrahg Paax had died of a heart attack over thirty years ago, a few days after announcing his retirement. Dying so suddenly for such a trivial reason was unusual for an Archmage who had access to the best treatments in the Kingdom.
He had been an esteemed Professor for a long time but after receiving the title of Archmage his talent seemed to have disappeared. After that day, Paax had accomplished so little in the field of magic that aside from his students very few people knew his name.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Supreme Magus