Chapter 32 – Chronicles of Suo: Closure
Loki clapped his hands, and a gigantic serpent of shadow… instantly dissipated. All this time, the village had actually been inside that serpent—an illusion conjured by Loki.
Suo's ragged breathing barely steadied as the monstrous silhouette vanished. His dark eyes fixed on the village left behind, unchanged.
— "So… it was just one of your tricks to shatter my perception?" Suo spat, his hand clenched tight around his sword.
Loki chuckled, his arrogant smile unwavering:
— "Exactly. That beast allowed me to implant the illusion and give life to this false village. But now that it no longer affects you… it has no purpose. You can boast of having broken my art."
The creature faded like black smoke swept away by the wind. A heavy silence fell, broken by a grave, sarcastic voice.
— "Loki… Why haven't you finished off this hunter yet?"
Suo raised his head. On the roof of a cracked house stood a skeletal silhouette. Draped in a tattered robe, a staff topped with a greenish gem in hand, his face was nothing but a bare skull with two pale flames burning in the sockets.
Loki sighed irritably, clicking his tongue:
— "Tchh… so you finally decide to show yourself, Skulls?"
— "I hate fighting, you know that. My power would've been useless against an opponent like him," the necromancer hissed.
Suo narrowed his eyes, intrigued.
— "Skulls… so it's you. The necromancer he spoke of…"
Loki shrugged, annoyed:
— "Everything went wrong because of you. Your corpses were too unstable, too bizarre… they disrupted my illusions!"
Skulls replied coldly:
— "Our deal was clear. I animated the villagers with my necromancy. You trapped him in the illusion to make him believe everything was normal. And despite that… he survived, even poisoned. It's not my fault this hunter is an anomaly."
— "Yeah…" Loki sneered. "Everything was fine until he found a way to resist. He's getting on my nerves."
At that moment, Suo vanished in a gust of air. He reappeared behind Skulls, his blade already descending. The strike sliced the body clean in half.
But instead of blood, a swarm of dark particles scattered before slowly reforming the necromancer's figure.
— "What the…?!" Suo gasped. "He can decompose?!"
Skulls shook his skull, amused:
— "So rude, hunter. I barely utter a word and you're already trying to execute me. But rest assured: I'm not here to fight. My power is useless against you."
Suo stepped back, pupils narrowing, ready to strike again.
— "Answer me… What have you done to this continent?"
A suffocating silence fell. Then Loki answered in an icy tone:
— "We merely brought… the finishing touch."
— "…The finishing touch?" Suo repeated through clenched teeth. "So it's true… You're not from here. You're Illuminati."
And suddenly, the very air seemed to crack. A colossal energy swept across the ruins. Far more crushing than Loki and Skulls combined. A suffocating, devastating presence.
Suo shuddered, sweat dripping down his neck.
— "A third one…? You've got to be kidding me…"
A calm voice rose behind him:
— "I didn't think you'd last this long."
Loki frowned, clearly surprised:
— "Of all people… I didn't expect you here, Ivar."
A man stepped forward slowly. His dark skin contrasted with his black garments. His long black hair fell in waves over his shoulders. On his right eye burned a crimson inscription: Orguei, etched in demonic tongue.
Ivar locked his abyssal gaze on Suo.
— "You are Suo, the hunter… if I'm not mistaken."
Suo didn't answer. He vanished in a burst of speed, shattering the ground beneath his feet. His sword slashed through the air in a blinding arc, aiming at Ivar point-blank. His body became a storm.
Not ten strikes. Not a hundred. Fifteen hundred strikes per second.
His arms were a thunderstorm, his blades a hurricane. The air shattered into shards, walls exploded under the barrage. Each strike roared like a falling comet, every impact vibrating like the end of a world.
The clash resounded like thunder. But the blade stopped cold against an invisible barrier, as if it had struck a wall of diamond. The shockwave blasted backward, demolishing several houses.
Ivar didn't flinch.
— "Fast…"
Suo growled and pressed on. He leapt, slashing in a circular arc before striking diagonally. His sword cloaked in shadows unleashed a black wave that ripped across the ground.
Ivar lifted a single finger. The wave twisted, distorted by an unseen force, and crashed aside.
— "Gravitational distortion. Every attack you launch… I can shift its center of gravity and alter its trajectory. You're fighting the very force that holds the universe. Against that, you are nothing."
Suo panted, but his eyes burned with defiance.
— "I won't bow! Even if the Devil himself stood before me!"
He lunged again, unleashing a flurry. Over a thousand strikes in mere seconds. His blows came so fast he seemed to vanish, slicing the air from every angle, almost invisible.
Skulls murmured, entranced:
— "Unbelievable… his speed, his precision… it's almost mesmerizing…"
But every strike failed. His sword clashed again and again against the same invisible resistance, as if Ivar was surrounded by a sphere of gravity. Then, with a simple gesture, Ivar inverted gravity.
Suo was crushed to the ground, his knee cracking under the pressure. The stone pavement split deep, his veins bulged, his body trembling.
— "Hhhrrghh…!"
Ivar advanced, relentless.
— "You are strong, Suo. Far stronger than I imagined. But your strength carries no weight against mine."
In a final desperate effort, Suo shattered into fragments of shadow, reappearing behind Ivar. His sword roared with energy. He struck with everything he had.
Without even turning, Ivar flicked his hand. Gravity collapsed once more. Suo was slammed into the ground, his energy dissipated, his sword broken. The shockwave razed an entire street. Gravity bore down on Suo like a dead star, gouging a massive crater.
Coughing blood, Suo lifted trembling eyes toward him:
— "Wh… what are you?"
— "The one who crushes you," Ivar answered coldly.
The ground bent around Suo, trapping his limbs. Even his shadows lay inert, smothered by the crushing gravity.
— "The Master ordered me to bring you back alive. I don't know why. But I don't question orders."
Loki scowled, frustrated:
— "What?! The mission was to eliminate him! Why change it now?"
— "Because the Chief commanded it. And you—be silent," Ivar cut him off.
Exhausted, Suo tried one last time to resist. But Loki snapped his fingers. A wave of hypnosis crashed over him. His eyelids grew heavy. Darkness consumed him.
His body collapsed, defeated, unable to rise again.
— "Think he'll stay down for long?" asked Ivar.
— "Oh yes…" Loki smirked. "My sleep hypnosis far surpasses my ordinary illusions. He won't wake up."
— "Perfect. Then we go," Skulls concluded.
Ivar slung Suo over his shoulder. Loki summoned a giant griffon. The three mounted the beast, leaving the ruined village behind.
And as a grim omen, the rain began to fall.
In the shattered inn, the corpse of Natalie, Suo's friend, was brushed by a raindrop. Like a silent tear, symbol of the affection she had borne for the hunter.
To be continued…