Arcane Era-Chapter 56: Deadly Drawbacks

"U-uh...?"

The Head Intermediary’s eyes bulged in shock, and soon enough sheer agony followed.

The blade had burned through his flesh, easily melting everything in his way—even the bones—until its sharp end emerged from behind.

Such pain could not be described, as even the Head Intermediary couldn’t scream from the immense suffering he endured in that moment. He fell to his knees, gagging and gasping, his body paralyzed as his hands attempted to hold the blade.

However, they only burned the closer they got to the warbling saber of light.

A light thud echoed in the hall, caused by the fall of his water-type Armament from his grip to the ground. Not long after, it was followed by his body falling and creating a much louder reverberation.

Theo watched this without a hint of mercy of pity in his eyes—which had now reverted to their plain brown complexion. Using a mental command, he deactivated the saber of light, returning it to its normal sword state. Only then did he approach the fallen Head Inquisitor to retrieve his blade and also rob the dead man of all the Armaments he had on him.

’I was fortunate...’ A sigh echoed in his heart. ’Not only did my enemy not know the true name of his Armaments, but it seems he was already running out Ne’sh for most of them, reducing their effectiveness.’

More than that, though, was the fact that his Armament hard countered the only Regal Grade Armament that his opponent possessed. If that hadn’t been the case, he would have struggled a lot more—Apotheosis or not.

At this point, Theo looked at his body and recognized the mild burn marks that appeared on his skin. ’I barely used it for a minute, and it burned me to this extent. It’s a powerful weapon, but it also has such a destructive drawback...’

Theo was drenched in water during his Armament’s Apotheosis, yet he was burned within a minute. In normal conditions, he estimated burn marks would begin to appear after only thirty to forty-five seconds.

’I doubt I’ll be able to last for three minutes if that’s the case...’ He looked at the blade and sighed, shaking his head before sheathing it.

Then, he looked at the fallen figure beneath him.

Theo considered stealing the attire from the Head Intermediary’s corpse so he could use it as a disguise, but instantly realized everything was too large for him. It also had a gaping hole in the chest that would definitely raise questions among anyone who saw him if he chose to wear it, so that option was instantly eliminated.

’I managed to win somehow, but at what cost?’ Slowly dipping his hands into his pocket, he brought out a box and sighed while staring at it.

This was the medicinal box containing the pills that Liyah told him about.

They were what caused her to make a quick recovery, and every use shaved off a certain portion of the user’s lifespan—the subtraction increasing drastically for every use.

’She lied to me.’ Theo sighed slowly. ’She made it seem like a single dose was enough to heal her completely, when all that does is heal one injury. She had several, which meant she had to use a lot...’

Back when she told him, he had a feeling her words were too good to be true.

Healing-type Arcane Instruments were the rarest kinds of Armaments, and the higher the Grade, the higher the rarity. How could such a potent consumable Healing Armament be used so freely in a clinic within the Outer Court?

There had to be considerable downsides, or Liyah overestimated its effectiveness.

It turned out to be the latter.

’Just how many did she have to take?’ Theo could make an educated guess, since he also took quite a lot to recover from the beating he initially received from the Head Intermediary.

Without the miraculous effects of the consumable healing-type Armament, he wouldn’t have been able to recover from all those injuries so quickly. He practically took all of the pills left over in the box, and there were at least a dozen.

’The first time only takes a day away, the second takes a week. Third is a month...’ Theo clutched his chest and frowned. ’How many years of my life has been shaved off already?’

He had no idea.

’But it had to be done.’ A sigh escaped his lips. ’If I hadn’t asked Liyah for more details regarding the Armament and got lucky enough to see it as soon as I entered the clinic, I would have been dead already.’

Everything seemed to have worked out well, though, so he quickly shrugged aside any fear or hesitation in his heart. Instead, he thought about his friends for a moment.

’I wonder how they’re doing.’

Once he had his brief moment of rest, and was able to comfort himself with pleasant thoughts, he pulled himself up and hardened his heart. His expression turned completely serious as he kept his gaze on the exit of the clinic.

’Beyond this is the corridor, and beyond that is the Arena...’

If he took such a direct route, he would easily be caught by the Mercenary King, who was undoubtedly waiting on the central stage.

’Which means I’ll have to take another route. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything like that in this building.’ Theo thought silently, gripping his blade as he looked above him. ’If there isn’t any other path, I just have to make one.’

Back when he escaped Fae and Damon, he was able to retrieve some very random Armaments, so he hoped at least one of them would be able to help him do so. However, even if they couldn’t be of any help, he could simply slice through the ceiling and make room for himself using his blade.

"Alright... I don’t have much time left." Theo muttered. With all the dangers involved in the current phase of his mission etched into his mind, and the thought of repaying his benefactor—Shen Ak’ashi—driving him forward, Theo brandished his blade and prepared himself for what he assumed was the last act.

He could only hope that would be the case.

************

"It’s almost time..."

The Mercenary King’s grin remained plastered on his hideous face as he looked up to see Shen powerlessly seated on his chair within his elevated chamber.

Before, this symbolized glory and power for the Supreme Lord of Tyranny, but now it was nothing but a hollow shell—a cage that revealed a pathetic man and his band of ignorant followers. The purple hue that shrouded the cage was glowing ever so bright—illuminating the entire hall with its radiance.

"A few more hours, and your life ends, Shen." Gerald said. "Any last words you wanna get off your—?"

"I’m hungry..."

"What?" Arching a brow, the taunting Gerald felt taken aback by Shen’s lazy and lackadaisical response.

"We’ve been here for almost an entire day." Shen Ak’ashi sighed, his cheeks resting softly on one of his hands as he looked more bored than afraid. "I’m starving..."

"Hehe... is that so? Well, just wait a few more hours and you won’t be hungry any more."

After all, he would be dead.

"I don’t think I can wait that long." Shen replied with a yawn, then softly spoke under his breath as his expression turned a little more serious.

"So hurry it up, Theo... I’m waiting for you."