The footsteps stop outside the storage-room door.
Everyone in the inn has gone silent.
Even through the wall, I can sense Lord Malrec's presence. His mana presses against the building like an approaching storm.
Mara reaches beneath one of the wine barrels and pulls a metal ring hidden in the floor.
"There's a tunnel beneath the cellar," she whispers. "It leads outside the eastern wall."
Elara looks toward me.
"We should go."
Lord Malrec's voice comes from the other side of the door.
"Princess Elara."
The binding seal around her neck flashes.
Her illusion disappears instantly.
Silver hair spills from beneath her hood as the borrowed face melts away.
Elara grips the mark and falls against a stack of crates.
"He can control the seal," Mara says.
The storage-room door opens.
Lord Malrec stands on the other side.
He is taller than I expected, with a thin but powerful build. His white hair falls over one shoulder, and the black mark across his forehead glows like a crack in his skin.
A long sword hangs at his side.
The weapon is still inside its sheath, but the pressure coming from it is stronger than the magic used by Varek's entire unit.
Malrec's dark eyes move across the room.
First Mara.
Then Elara.
Finally, me.
"So," he says. "The rumors were true."
I rest my scythe against my shoulder.
"Which rumors?"
"That the foreign mage travels with the princess."
"People also think I eat soldiers."
His expression doesn't change.
"Do you?"
"No."
"Disappointing."
That wasn't the response I expected.
Lord Malrec steps into the room.
Mara moves in front of Elara and raises her dagger.
Malrec barely glances at her.
"Move."
"No."
"You served Queen Selene faithfully. I would prefer not to kill you."
Mara's grip tightens.
"You serve the men who murdered her."
The temperature in the room seems to drop.
Elara looks toward Mara.
"What did you say?"
Mara's face becomes pale.
The binding seal around Elara's neck glows brighter.
She gasps and presses both hands against it.
Malrec raises one finger.
The mark tightens.
Elara falls to her knees.
I move before I think.
Death energy gathers around my scythe as I swing toward Malrec's arm.
His sword leaves its sheath.
I don't see him draw it.
The next thing I feel is an impact against my chest.
I fly backward through a shelf.
Wooden boards and glass bottles break around me.
My scythe disappears from my hand.
For a moment, I can't breathe.
A deep cut runs across my chest, slicing through the night elk coat as if it were ordinary cloth.
Malrec stands where he was before.
His sword is already back inside its sheath.
He looks at the mark my body left in the wall.
"You survived."
I force myself upright.
"That sounded like a question."
"It was an observation."
Blood runs down my chest.
The wound is deep enough that I can see bone beneath it.
Death energy moves toward the injury, but the edges refuse to close.
A thin layer of black light remains inside the cut.
His magic is preventing me from healing.
Malrec notices me examining it.
"My sword severs mana," he says. "Your strange magic will not repair that wound while my energy remains inside it."
"That's useful."
"It usually is."
Elara tries to stand.
"Malrec, stop."
He turns toward her.
"Your Highness, I have been ordered to return you to the capital."
"My brothers have no authority over me."
"Prince Lucien is acting regent while the king remains ill."
"My father would never approve of this."
"Your father no longer approves of anything."
Elara becomes still.
"What does that mean?"
The binding seal glows before Malrec can answer.
Pain twists across her face.
He watches her struggle without emotion.
"The seal exists to protect the kingdom's secrets," he says. "Do not force it to punish you."
I pull myself away from the broken shelf.
The wound across my chest continues bleeding.
"You talk about protection a lot for someone threatening a wounded woman."
Malrec's attention returns to me.
"You misunderstand the situation."
"I understand enough."
"No. You arrived in Asteria yesterday and immediately interfered in matters that have existed for years."
"I didn't like the way your men treated her."
"You killed one of them."
"He tried to kill her."
"He was following orders."
"So was the man who executed me."
Malrec pauses.
For the first time, his expression changes slightly.
"You were executed?"
"For something I didn't do."
"And now you serve Death."
"That's the simple version."
Malrec studies me more carefully.
The black mark across his forehead grows brighter.
I feel something brush against my mind.
It is cold and sharp, like a blade searching for a weakness.
The Mark of Dread reacts.
Black energy spreads through my chest and pushes the presence away.
Malrec's eyes narrow.
"You truly have no mana core."
"I don't know what that means."
"All living beings in this world possess one."
"I'm not from this world."
"So the princess claims."
"It's the truth."
Malrec looks toward the scythe lying among the broken bottles.
Black smoke rises from the weapon.
"A soul-bound object," he says. "Decay magic that does not use mana. A body capable of resisting dusk venom."
His hand settles on the hilt of his sword.
"You may be more dangerous than the reports suggested."
Fear rises from the soldiers waiting in the main room.
They can hear him.
If one of the Seven Royal Blades considers me dangerous, the rumor will grow much faster.
Dread received through rumor: 8
Dread received through rumor: 6
Dread received through rumor: 9
Malrec's gaze shifts as though he senses something.
"Your power increased."
"You can tell?"
"Barely."
"That means I need more."
I hold out my hand.
The scythe dissolves into smoke and reforms in my grip.
Malrec draws his sword again.
This time, I see the movement.
Barely.
The blade is long and narrow, made from metal so dark that it reflects no light. Thin white symbols run along its edge.
"Leave the princess," he says. "Come with me, and the townspeople will not be harmed."
Elara looks at him.
"You threatened to execute anyone sheltering us."
"A necessary warning."
"You would kill innocent people?"
"If their deaths preserve order."
I tighten my grip on the scythe.
Malrec notices.
"You disagree?"
"I don't care about your kingdom's order."
"That is obvious."
"But threatening an entire town because you can't capture two people seems pathetic."
A small amount of anger enters his expression.
More importantly, fear spreads through the main room.
The people outside this room realize they are trapped between us.
Dread received: 4
Dread received: 3
Dread received: 5
Malrec raises his sword.
"You believe provoking me will help you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"The more afraid people become, the stronger I get."
Mara looks at me.
Elara closes her eyes as if she's tired of hearing me admit that.
Malrec remains silent.
Then he smiles.
It is a small, cold expression.
"At least you are honest."
He disappears.
I cross my scythe in front of my body.
His sword strikes the handle.
The impact breaks the floor beneath my feet.
A wave of pressure tears through the storage room.
Crates explode.
Barrels roll across the floor.
Mara pulls Elara behind an overturned table.
Malrec attacks again.
His blade moves toward my throat.
I lean backward.
The edge passes close enough to cut several strands of hair.
I swing low.
He steps over the scythe and kicks me in the stomach.
My body leaves the ground.
I crash through the storage-room door and land in the center of the inn.
Tables overturn as people run toward the walls.
Royal soldiers surround the room.
There are more than twenty of them.
Every weapon is pointed toward me.
I slowly stand.
The cut across my chest burns.
Malrec walks through the broken doorway.
"Your technique is poor," he says.
"I've been using a scythe for two weeks."
"That explains it."
"You're still talking more than I expected from an executioner."
"I prefer my targets to understand why they are dying."
"So you enjoy explaining things."
"It is a professional courtesy."
The inn's customers stare at us.
Fear rises from every corner of the room.
Some fear Malrec.
Some fear the soldiers.
More and more of them are beginning to fear me.
The Mark continues absorbing it.
Dread received: 6
Dread received: 5
Dread received: 7
Dread received: 4
Malrec raises his sword.
"Last opportunity. Surrender."
"No."
He swings.
A thin black line travels through the air.
Fear Sense reacts before the attack reaches me.
Every instinct tells me to move.
I throw myself to the floor.
The line passes over my head.
The entire front wall of the inn separates from the building.
Stone and wood slide outward before collapsing into the street.
People scream.
Sunlight floods the room.
Dust covers everything.
Malrec lowers his sword.
"That was meant to miss."
"I assumed."
"The next will not."
I glance toward the storage room.
Elara and Mara remain hidden behind the overturned table.
The trapdoor is only a few feet away from them.
Mara understands what I'm thinking.
She reaches toward the metal ring.
Malrec's eyes move in her direction.
I launch a sphere of death energy toward his face.
He turns and cuts through it.
The black energy separates around his blade and dissolves.
I rush forward before he can look back.
My scythe strikes his sword.
He blocks with one hand.
I push harder.
Death energy spreads from my weapon toward his.
The white symbols along his blade flicker.
Malrec's expression changes.
He forces me away and examines the metal.
A small section near the edge has turned gray.
"You damaged Nightfall."
"Is that the sword's name?"
"Yes."
"My weapon still doesn't have one."
"Perhaps it has not earned one."
The Reaper said the same thing.
I dislike how similar they sound.
Malrec moves forward.
Instead of attacking my body, he aims directly for the scythe.
Our weapons collide again.
White light travels along his blade.
The energy enters my soul weapon.
Pain tears through my arm.
It feels as though he cut directly into my hand, even though his sword never touched my skin.
I release the scythe.
It strikes the floor.
Malrec kicks it away.
"If the weapon is connected to your soul," he says, "then damaging it damages you."
"I figured that out."
He places his sword against my throat.
The soldiers around us relax slightly.
Malrec looks toward the customers hiding against the walls.
"Witnesses will remember that the World Raider was defeated in less than a minute."
Their fear changes.
Some of it weakens.
That is a problem.
If the people stop viewing me as a threat, I lose the advantage the rumors created.
Malrec understands more about fear than I expected.
Perhaps not the magic itself, but the power of reputation.
"You came here to destroy my name," I say.
"I came here to prevent it from growing."
"So you are afraid of it."
The sword presses closer to my skin.
"I do not fear you."
The Mark remains still.
He is telling the truth.
I smile.
"Not yet."
Death energy erupts from my chest.
The black light inside my wound is pushed outward.
Blood and dark mist burst across Malrec's coat.
He steps back.
The cut finally begins to close.
I summon the scythe again.
It dissolves from the floor and reforms in my hand.
Malrec's sword moves toward my neck.
I block.
This time, I don't try to overpower him.
I allow the impact to turn my body and use the movement to swing the other end of the scythe toward his ribs.
He catches the handle with his free hand.
I release the weapon.
His balance shifts as the resistance disappears.
My fist strikes the black mark on his forehead.
A wave of death energy leaves my knuckles.
Malrec flies backward.
He crashes through two tables before driving his sword into the floor to stop himself.
The room becomes silent again.
Blood runs from the corner of his mouth.
The black mark across his forehead is cracked.
The soldiers stare at him.
For the first time, fear rises from some of them because of what I did, not simply because of what I might do.
Dread received: 11
Dread received: 9
Dread received: 13
Dread received: 8
Malrec wipes the blood away.
"You struck me."
"That usually happens in a fight."
"No one below the rank of Royal Blade has landed a direct hit on me in eight years."
"Then the people you fight must be weak."
The fear in the room strengthens.
Malrec's eyes become colder.
His mana explodes outward.
The remaining windows shatter.
Every person in the inn is forced to the floor.
Even the royal soldiers struggle to remain standing.
I grip my scythe with both hands.
The pressure is overwhelming.
My knees bend.
The floor cracks beneath me.
Elara's voice comes from the storage room.
"Shin!"
Silver light spreads across the inn.
A barrier forms around me, weakening Malrec's pressure.
He turns toward her.
The binding seal glows.
Elara screams.
The silver barrier disappears.
Malrec raises his hand toward her.
"Enough."
The seal tightens like a burning chain around her neck.
Her body collapses.
I feel anger again.
Stronger this time.
Death energy pours from the Mark.
The gray streams of fear filling the inn become clearer.
I can sense every frightened breath.
Every panicked heartbeat.
Every thought focused on the destruction around us.
The energy flows into me.
Dread: 642/1,000
Not enough.
Malrec is still stronger.
Even if I use everything I have, I doubt I can defeat him here.
That does not mean I need to win.
I only need to survive.
Mara pulls open the trapdoor.
A stone staircase is revealed beneath the floor.
She grabs Elara beneath the arms and begins dragging her toward it.
Malrec sees them.
I swing my scythe.
"Death Arc."
A curved wave of black energy tears through the inn.
Malrec cuts it apart.
The two halves continue past him and strike the ceiling.
Wooden supports decay instantly.
The roof begins collapsing.
People scream and run through the missing front wall.
Soldiers scatter.
Mara pulls Elara into the tunnel.
Malrec moves toward them.
I launch another Death Arc.
He blocks it, but the attack forces him back one step.
"That technique will not defeat me," he says.
"It doesn't need to."
The ceiling falls between us.
Heavy beams crash into the room.
Dust and broken tiles fill the air.
I run toward the trapdoor.
A black line cuts through the debris.
It strikes my left shoulder.
My arm falls numb.
Blood sprays across the floor.
I stumble but keep moving.
Malrec steps through the dust.
His coat is torn, but he appears almost unharmed.
"You cannot escape me."
"People keep saying that."
I jump into the tunnel.
Malrec swings again.
The attack follows me through the opening.
I twist in the air.
The black line passes across my side and cuts into the stone wall.
I land hard on the staircase.
Mara slams the trapdoor closed above me.
A moment later, Malrec's sword pierces through the wood.
The blade stops inches from my face.
Mara backs away.
"That door won't hold him."
"I know."
The tunnel is narrow and dark.
Elara is unconscious in Mara's arms.
Silver light flickers around her neck as the binding seal continues tightening.
I place one hand over the mark.
Mara grabs my wrist.
"What are you doing?"
"Stopping it."
"You don't know how."
"I know it's connected to Malrec."
The floor above us shakes.
The trapdoor splits.
I send death energy into the golden seal.
Elara's body arches.
Black and gold energy collide across her skin.
The mark resists me.
It feels rooted deep inside her soul.
I can't remove it.
Not yet.
But I don't need to remove it.
I focus on the connection leading away from her.
A thin golden thread stretches upward through the ceiling.
Toward Malrec.
I grab it with death energy.
Then I pull.
The thread snaps.
A flash of golden light fills the tunnel.
Elara gasps.
The seal goes dark.
Malrec's sword stops moving above us.
For a moment, everything is silent.
Then the trapdoor explodes.
Malrec drops into the tunnel.
The black mark across his forehead is bleeding.
"You severed my control."
"I'm learning."
He raises his sword.
The narrow tunnel gives him almost no room to swing.
That may be the only advantage I have.
I push Mara and Elara farther down the passage.
"Run."
Mara hesitates.
"Go!"
She carries Elara into the darkness.
Malrec thrusts his sword forward.
I move to the side.
The blade pierces my coat and scrapes across my ribs.
I trap the weapon beneath the curved blade of my scythe.
Death energy spreads along both weapons.
Malrec tries to pull his sword free.
The tunnel walls prevent him from changing his angle.
I kick his knee.
He shifts slightly.
That is enough.
I twist the scythe and tear Nightfall from his hand.
The sword spins through the tunnel and lands behind me.
Malrec punches me in the face.
The impact sends me into the wall.
Stone cracks around my head.
Before I can recover, his hand closes around my throat.
He lifts me from the ground.
"You rely too heavily on your weapon," he says.
"So do you."
I dismiss my scythe.
Black smoke flows into my palm.
Then I summon it behind Malrec.
The weapon forms above Nightfall and hooks the sword with its blade.
I pull my arm back.
The scythe and the stolen sword fly toward me.
Malrec turns.
I catch Nightfall by its handle.
Pain burns through my hand.
White symbols immediately spread across my skin, cutting into my soul.
The weapon rejects me.
I don't need to hold it for long.
I drive the sword into the tunnel wall.
Death energy pours from my palm and into the blade.
The dark metal begins turning gray.
Malrec releases my throat.
He reaches for Nightfall.
I increase the energy.
A crack appears along the sword's edge.
For the first time, real fear comes from him.
It is faint.
But it exists.
Dread received: 18
I smile.
"There it is."
Malrec freezes.
"You can sense it."
"Yes."
The sword cracks again.
His fear strengthens.
Dread received: 21
"Release Nightfall," he says.
"Move away from the tunnel."
"You cannot destroy that sword without destroying your own hand."
He is right.
The symbols have already reached my wrist.
My fingers are beginning to split.
"I only need one hand."
Malrec stares at me.
For several seconds, neither of us moves.
Then he steps backward.
"Return the sword."
"After you leave."
"You are in no position to give orders."
I force more death energy into Nightfall.
Another crack spreads across the blade.
Malrec's fear rises sharply.
Dread received: 27
He raises both hands and continues backing away.
"You have made your point."
"Keep moving."
He climbs the stairs toward the ruined inn.
I follow while holding Nightfall.
The pain becomes nearly unbearable.
Each step sends white energy deeper into my arm.
At the top of the staircase, Malrec stops.
Royal soldiers wait among the ruins.
Several aim bows toward me.
I press death energy into the sword again.
Malrec raises one hand.
"Lower your weapons."
The soldiers obey.
Outside, hundreds of townspeople have gathered in the street.
They stare at the destroyed inn.
They stare at Malrec.
Then they see me emerge from the tunnel carrying the Royal Blade's sword.
Fear spreads through the crowd.
Not fear based on a rumor.
Fear based on what they can see.
Dread received: 12
Dread received: 9
Dread received: 14
Dread received: 11
Dread received: 8
The notifications continue.
My total rises rapidly.
Malrec looks toward the crowd.
He understands what is happening.
Every second he allows me to stand here strengthens my reputation.
"You planned this," he says.
"No."
That answer seems to disturb him more.
I pull Nightfall from the wall and throw it toward him.
Malrec catches it.
The moment the sword leaves my hand, the white symbols disappear.
The damage remains.
Two of my fingers hang at unnatural angles.
Blood drips from my palm.
Malrec examines the cracks along his blade.
"You could have destroyed it."
"Probably."
"Why didn't you?"
"You were more useful afraid."
The crowd hears me.
Their fear intensifies.
Dread: 817/1,000
Malrec's expression becomes unreadable.
He slides Nightfall into its sheath.
"You cannot remain in Briarwood."
"I wasn't planning to."
"I will find you again."
"I'm counting on it."
He looks toward the destroyed inn.
"People died because of this fight."
I use Fear Sense.
Several townspeople are injured.
Some are trapped beneath broken wood.
But I sense no fear fading into the emptiness I associate with death.
"No one died," I say.
Malrec glances toward the ruins.
He can probably sense it too.
"That was luck."
"Perhaps."
"You will not always be so fortunate."
"Neither will you."
Malrec turns toward his soldiers.
"Search the tunnel."
They begin moving toward the opening.
I summon my scythe.
The soldiers stop.
Malrec looks back at me.
"The princess is no longer here."
"I know."
"Then why remain?"
"Because you threatened everyone who helped us."
The townspeople become silent.
I step farther into the street.
Black mist rolls across the ground around my boots.
"You came here under Prince Caelan's orders," I say loudly. "You destroyed their homes and threatened to execute them because your prince failed to keep his own sister imprisoned."
Malrec's eyes narrow.
"You know nothing about the situation."
"Then explain it."
He says nothing.
People in the crowd begin whispering.
Their fear shifts.
Some is still directed toward me.
More of it begins turning toward the royal soldiers.
Toward Prince Caelan.
Malrec recognizes the change.
"You are attempting to turn the town against the Crown."
"I'm telling them what happened."
"The princess was taken by a dangerous foreigner."
"Elara walked into this town willingly."
"You have corrupted her."
"Then why did your men poison her before I arrived?"
More whispers move through the crowd.
Malrec's expression hardens.
The soldiers look uncomfortable.
He cannot answer without admitting the truth.
He also cannot kill everyone listening.
Not without proving my accusations.
Mara was right.
The royal family needs this handled quietly.
I raise my voice.
"Tell Prince Caelan that sending an executioner wasn't enough."
The black mist around me thickens.
"Tell Prince Lucien that the princess knows what they are hiding."
Fear surges through the soldiers.
Several townspeople repeat the princes' names.
The rumor is changing.
This is no longer only a story about a foreign mage abducting a princess.
It is becoming a story about the royal family hunting one of its own.
Malrec places his hand on Nightfall.
"You are creating a conflict you do not understand."
"That's why I'm going to find someone who can explain it."
His eyes shift.
A small reaction.
He knows about Aldric.
Fear Sense catches a thread of concern directed north.
Toward the mountains.
That confirms Mara's information.
I smile.
Malrec realizes his mistake.
"You won't reach him," he says.
"Now I know there is someone to reach."
His hand tightens around the sword.
I step backward toward an alley.
The townspeople move away from me.
No one tries to stop me.
Malrec could attack again.
But not without risking his damaged sword, the town, and the story spreading around us.
He remains still.
"You will regret this," he says.
"I've already died once."
I dismiss the scythe.
"There isn't much left to threaten me with."
I turn and enter the alley.
The soldiers do not follow.
By the time I reach the eastern edge of town, bells are ringing again.
Not warning bells.
Signal bells.
Riders are already leaving Briarwood.
Some carry official messages.
Others are merchants and travelers who witnessed the fight.
Each one will carry a different version of what happened.
The World Raider fought a Royal Blade.
The World Raider survived Nightfall.
The World Raider stole the executioner's sword.
The World Raider exposed a secret involving the royal princess.
The details will grow with every telling.
Notifications fill my vision.
Dread received through rumor: 9
Dread received through rumor: 12
Dread received through rumor: 8
Dread received through rumor: 14
I open my status while walking.
World Raider
Name: Shin Sasaki
Race: Human
Rank: Unawakened
Dread: 872/1,000
Worlds Raided: 1
Soul Weapon: Unnamed Scythe
Abilities:
Death Energy — Level 3
Soul Weapon Summoning — Level 2
World Translation — Level 1
Dread Collection — Level 2
Fear Sense — Level 1
Techniques:
Death Arc — Level 1
Only one hundred and twenty-eight more.
The Mark is close to awakening.
My injured hand is already beginning to repair itself, although the damage caused by Nightfall heals slowly.
I find Mara and Elara waiting beyond the eastern wall near a narrow stream.
The tunnel exits beneath a fallen tree.
Mara has placed Elara against a rock.
She is awake again.
The binding seal remains dark.
Elara looks toward my chest and damaged hand.
"You survived."
"You sound surprised."
"I watched Malrec throw you through a wall."
"He did that more than once."
Mara stares at the ruined town in the distance.
"You fought him in front of everyone."
"He came into the inn."
"You could have escaped immediately."
"I needed people to see that he couldn't capture me."
Elara looks at my hand.
"And was it worth that?"
"Probably."
"You nearly lost your fingers."
"They're growing back."
"That is not normal."
"I've noticed."
Mara hands me the folded map.
"We need to move. Malrec will send riders toward Saint Orin's monastery."
"He already knows where Aldric is," I say.
Mara's face changes.
"How?"
"He reacted when I mentioned finding someone who could explain the seal."
"That doesn't mean—"
"His fear was directed north."
Elara looks toward me.
"You can sense direction through fear?"
"Apparently."
Mara stares at the mountains.
"If Malrec knows Aldric is alive, then the monastery may already be watched."
"Good."
Elara closes her eyes.
"Please don't say that."
"The people watching it will know how to find him."
"They will also try to kill us."
"That is normally how this works."
Mara gathers the supplies.
"We can reach the eastern road before noon. From there, it will take two days to reach the monastery."
"Less," Elara says. "Shin walks too quickly."
I look back toward Briarwood.
Even from this distance, I can sense fear spreading through the town.
A final notification appears.
The World Raider has challenged a Royal Blade and survived.
Your reputation has evolved.
Current title effect: Minor Dread generation within western Asteria.
The title is beginning to produce fear on its own.
Soon, I won't need to be present for the Mark to grow.
Prince Caelan sent Malrec to erase my reputation.
Instead, he strengthened it.
I turn toward the northern mountains.
Somewhere among them is a man who may be able to remove Elara's seal and reveal what the princes are planning.
Between us and him are royal patrols, bandits, and perhaps another trap.
My Dread is close to one thousand.
The Mark is close to awakening.
For the first time since entering Elaris, I feel as though the entire kingdom is beginning to notice me.
I smile.
"Let's find the seal master."
END OF CHAPTER 7