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The king sighed, “This outburst has now turned your month-long containment into a far longer sentence. I recommend that you surrender before reinforcements arrive.”

Leo felt his heart start to pound. He knew that attacking the guards was a dumb move, but the king had backed him up into a corner. Yet, as he looked into the king’s eyes, a worrying thought ran through his mind. What if this wasn’t the king? Whether infected previously or now, there is a chance that he is currently being controlled by Cordylia.

Leo knew that fighting a hivemind would be a task far beyond him alone. But the fact that there was going to be no certainty on who was infected had him worried. The only solace he had was that Cordylia seemed to struggle getting the finer details right, so he felt confident that the Marem he knew was real. If he couldn’t trust her, then who could he trust?

“If you would have just listened to us, then he wouldn’t have to fight back!” shouted Marem.

She glared at the king, who seemed to barely acknowledge her. He seemed far more relaxed than he was just a moment ago, but Leo couldn’t tell why. Sure, he didn’t have plans to attack the king, but why did the king seem so confident?

Suddenly, the shadows on the ground seemed to stretch as if the lights in the room had started to change. The darkness converged next to the golden throne, where a violent swirling of shadow began to rise from the ground. Leo moved closer to Marem, uncertain of what was happening in front of them.

Right as the violent crux of void seemed to lose control, it stopped almost as soon as it started. The shadows melted down in a way reminiscent of fat melting off meat. There was only an old man left behind. His dark gray robes hung loosely on him, and his skull adorned staff was being used to support his weight.

Leo wasn’t certain who was there before them, but he heard a gasp from Marem. All it took was a glance to see her standing there, slack jawed. The man was almost familiar, but he couldn’t place it. This strange man had to be some form of wizard, and the skull on his staff seemed to be a bad omen.

“Take these two in. Be wary about the man, he can pose a threat,” ordered the king.

The old man looked back at the ruler. “The girl too? Is that not John’s daughter?”

“Those who pose a risk to the kingdom, let alone actively defy it, must be dealt with. This is an order.”

Leo looked between the two arguing seniors, until his eyes wandered to one of the golden statues that stood behind them. The man in that statue was far younger, but the flowing robes and skullmarked staff were dead giveaways. This was a living legend, one of the strongest heroes in Kalpania.

Leo turned to face down the man, who seemed to be staring back. His weathered face had a resigned look, as if he was just going through the motions. Leo didn’t want to make the first move. Not only was he unaware of his opponent’s abilities, but he felt a bit hesitant to strike an old man.

Hesitation is the father of failure, and the old man capitalized off of Leo’s inaction. His eyes glowed a deep black, they tinted his face so heavily that the white’s of his eyes were now gone. His raised staff shot forth a burst of energy that Leo couldn’t dodge in time. The shot collided into his chest, knocking him to the ground.

Leo had braced himself, but he found that there was no pain. While the blast had carried a strong force, it seemed to lose all of its energy in an instant. Leo moved to get back up, but that is when the attack hit him.

He felt a bursting pain rip through his back, agony tackled him to the ground. Leo barely managed to turn his head to see the horrors that were unfolding over his body. Tentacles of shadow burst through his back, and they were now whipping through the air violently.

Leo’s cries of agony were only stopped by his dry heaving. He tried to fight through the pain, but it only worsened when he tried to stand up. His lifted head was smacked back to the ground by one of his sprouted tentacles, blocking him from seeing his surroundings.

The tentacles beat down on his head and limbs, with each movement they made feeling as if his skin was tearing apart. He had no idea what this guy had cast on him, but it was kicking his ass. While physical attacks could usually be brushed off, even the strikes from these tentacles stung.

Leo hadn’t experienced true pain in far too long. While Philips’ blasts hurt, it was only for a passing moment. Even the fight against David wasn’t as brutal, adrenaline had dulled most of the pain from the blast. He had forgotten just how much it sucked to have your ass kicked.

Leo was near ready to give up fighting, each movement he made was answered with an increased intensity of beatings. That was until he heard Marem’s screams echo through the room. He forced his head up, suffering through the lashings to the back of his head.

He saw Marem knocked to the floor, her staff slid across the room. Arms made of shadow had burst from the floor, and they fought to keep her on the ground. The old man, a living legend, slowly walked towards her, his staff raised towards her head.

Leo wasn’t certain what he was about to do, but he wouldn’t allow this man to attack Marem. He felt anger and adrenaline surge through him, as he thrashed onto his feet. The force of his struggle had shattered the floor of the throne room, and it drew the attention of the living legend.

A tentacle went to smash against Leo’s face, but he caught it before it made contact. With an agonizing pull, Leo ripped the tentacle out of his back and threw it to the ground. He made eye contact with the shocked man.

“Fuck you,” he spat out.