Chapter 994: End The Debt
Chapter 994 – End The Debt
The first elf’s face tightened.
Then the shrine roared.
The final defense awakened.
A defense mechanism buried beneath the Root-Oath Preservation Seal, hidden behind the very condition of release.
If the debtor was freed without permission...
Kill the thief.
Kill the debtor.
End the debt by ending the vessel.
The entire shrine convulsed.
Roots exploded from the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the tree itself. Vines thick as serpents snapped awake. The water channels turned white and violent. The air became pressure, sovereign-level and merciless.
Lux’s eyes widened.
[Warning]
[Final Defense Mechanism Activated]
[Type: Sovereign-Level Oath Termination Protocol]
[Targets: Unauthorized Liberator / Debt Vessel]
[Objective: Erasure]
[Threat Level: Critical]
"Of course," Lux hissed.
Ely rushed forward, both hands glowing. "Barrier!"
Lux reacted at the same time.
[Infernal Barrier Activated]
Demonic force bloomed around him and the first elf.
Ely’s barrier layered over it.
Two shields overlapped, Greed and healing, demon and elf, sharp and soft.
The first wave hit.
The barriers cracked immediately.
Lullaby stepped forward, both hands on her pillow-hammer.
"Slow."
Sloth power spilled outward, wrapping the incoming roots in heavy drowsiness.
For one second, the attack slowed.
Only one.
Then the sovereign-level defense burned through the delay.
Lullaby staggered, eyes widening. "Too strong..."
Yue moved.
Her spear flew from her hand like a dragon’s judgment. It pierced through three roots in a straight line, pinning them to the far wall. The impact shook the chamber.
Gula threw her fork-spear a heartbeat later.
The black prongs spun through the air and hooked a mass of vines, dragging them sideways before they could strike Lux’s exposed flank.
Sira crossed both claws and slashed.
A demonic Pride arc tore forward, elegant and violent, cutting a crescent through the root storm.
It was not enough.
The defense kept coming.
More roots.
More vines.
Lux adjusted his grip around the first elf, pulling her closer against his chest.
His barrier cracked again.
Ely screamed as her own shield splintered under the pressure, but she poured more healing mana into it, face pale, knees trembling.
"Hold!" Yue shouted.
Lux tried to move.
Not fast enough.
He still hadn’t recovered from absorbing the fraudulent claim in one pull. His core screamed with every breath. His system was still processing. His body shook under the backlash.
[Warning: Core Stabilization Incomplete]
[Warning: Barrier Output Reduced]
[Warning: Evasion Compromised While Protecting Subject]
A root spear shot through the broken gap.
Lux twisted to slice it.
Voracitas flashed into his hand, cutting one.
Euphoria cut the second.
Third.
Fourth.
Too many.
The barrier shattered.
The first elf saw only fragments.
White light breaking.
Dark shield collapsing.
Sira shouting.
Gula lunging.
Yue reaching for another strike.
Lullaby’s aura spreading desperately.
Then a root pierced Lux’s abdomen.
The impact drove through him with a wet, brutal sound.
His body jerked.
The first elf’s breath caught.
For the first time in centuries, something raw broke across her face.
Lux did not drop her.
He didn’t even let her body jolt from the force.
He hunched over her instead, covering her with himself as more roots slammed into his back, shoulders, and wings. He sliced two apart with one hand, but his other arm stayed locked around her. His body became the shield because every barrier had failed.
Another impact struck his side.
Another scraped across his ribs.
He gritted his teeth, pale now beneath ash and blood, and forced his wings around her like a torn black shelter.
The first elf finally opened her eyes.
Not fully.
Just enough to see him.
Lux’s face above her was drained of color. His jaw was clenched. Blood darkened his torn shirt around the root embedded in his abdomen. His eyes still glowed, but the light flickered.
She stared at him.
This robber.
This thing that took what did not want to belong to him.
He had taken her from the tree.
And now he was taking the punishment meant for both of them.
The shrine shook again.
A root struck his back.
Lux’s body dipped, but he held her tighter.
The first elf’s voice came out faint.
Confused.
Almost childlike.
"Why..."
Lux looked down at her.
His breathing was uneven.
She could feel the tremor in his body through the arm holding her.
"Why did you do it?"
Lux looked down at her.
For once, his expression did not look clever.
No teasing curve at the mouth. No smugness. No "I calculated sixteen routes and all of them end with me winning" glitter in his eyes.
His face had gone pale beneath the streaks of ash, black water, and blood. The glow of his battle form flickered weakly around his horns. His wings, half-curled around her, trembled from the impacts that had landed across his back.
The root in his abdomen pulsed.
His breathing hitched.
Then he smiled.
Small.
Weak.
So unfairly gentle that the first elf, who had spent centuries convincing herself that demons only smiled before taking, did not know what to do with it.
"I want you to see the truth," Lux said.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
The shrine continued to shake.
Roots thrashed against something behind him, but from where she was cradled in his arms, she could only see his face. Too close. Too pale. Too alive and too close to not being alive.
"You said... I’m a robber."
His lips twitched faintly.
"You’re right."
Blood ran down from the corner of his mouth.
"I steal things. Assets. Claims. Opportunities. Bad ideas from worse people." He swallowed, and the movement made him flinch. "But sometimes... I rob prisons."
The first elf stared at him.
Something inside her chest twisted.
It was strange.
She knew grief. In concept. She had watched her kin burn. She had understood loss as information, duty as structure, debt as repayment. But sadness moved through her now like a thing she had no defense against.
It hurt in a way that was not useful.
That made it worse.
Behind Lux, Ely screamed his name. "Lux!"
Her voice cracked in the shrine, sharp and terrified.