Chapter 34 - Atonement

The courtyard shook as the golem’s first step shattered the cobbles. Dust and shards of stone sprayed outward, forcing Renji to pivot aside with Alina still on his back.

Neria handed Alina a potion. “Drink this, quick.”

Alina gulped down the bitter liquid, grimacing.

The construct’s eyes burned with a dull green glow, locked squarely on them.

“Move!” Neria barked, her chakrams flashing as she cut down a knight lunging from the flank. “Don’t get caught under that thing’s fists!”

Gromul’s roar answered as his axe cleaved through another corrupted warrior. “Aye, lass, easier said than done!”

The golem’s arm rose again, stone joints grinding, and came crashing down. The impact threw Renji off balance, but he steadied himself, tightening his grip on Alina.

“We don’t fight it head-on,” Renji growled. “We cut a path through and keep moving towards the gate.”

“Renji, I can walk.” She tapped his shoulder. “The potion helped.”

He let her down reluctantly. “Stay close.”

She nodded.

“Then let’s make that path!” Rikka’s voice rang from the wall above. Another arrow streaked down, exploding in a burst of light that tore through two knights.

Thorval’s laughter thundered across the courtyard. “Run all you like. You’ll find there’s no escape.” His staff flared, and the golem’s chest crystal pulsed brighter. Stone spines erupted from the ground, sealing off the gate.

“Cheating bastard,” Neria hissed, ducking under a knight’s blade before snapping both chakrams across his throat. Blood sprayed as she kicked the body aside. “Fine. We’ll just break it down.”

Renji’s eyes narrowed, the golden aura flickering back to life around him. “Stay close to me. No matter what.”

Alina’s voice, fragile yet steady, reached him. “Together… remember?”

He clenched his jaw, then dashed forward, cutting straight into the tightening ring of knights as the golem’s shadow loomed overhead.

The courtyard was chaos. Crystal shards clattered across the stone, sparks flashed from colliding weapons, and battle cries filled the air.

Rikka’s arrows rained down in steady rhythm, each shot blasting knights into bursts of blood and steel.
Neria’s chakrams carved arcs of silver, severing joints as she spun like a storm.
Gromul’s battleaxe split helms and shields, his laughter booming even as gore splattered across his beard.

And Renji—his golden aura flared brighter with each strike, carving a path toward the gate. Alina followed close behind, staff glowing faintly blue.

But for every knight they felled, more surged from the mansion halls. The red glow in their veins pulsed with unnatural life, their blank eyes unblinking.

“Even for dwarves, this is bloody endless!” Gromul bellowed, cleaving through two at once.

Alina staggered, then steadied herself. She unleashed a blast of frost, halting a trio of soldiers just long enough for Neria to cut them down. Her lips were pale. The potion had bought her strength, but not much.

Renji saw it in her face. She’s barely holding on.

The golem loomed overhead, each step shaking the ground. Thorval stood proudly on its shoulder, staff raised, his voice a booming snarl.

“You insects think to oppose me? The Labyrinth itself will bend to my will!”

Stone spears erupted from the ground, forcing the party to scatter. Renji grabbed Alina as he dove aside. The gate beyond remained sealed tight by a wall of stone.

“We’re boxed in,” Neria hissed.

“Then we break the box!” Rikka shouted, loosing another explosive arrow.

A mocking laugh slithered across the battlefield. Cold. Familiar.

“Still clinging to false hope, are we?”

Vaerina stepped into the courtyard, Verdant Sceptre in hand.

“No…” Alina’s breath caught.

Renji shifted to shield her. “Damn witch—”

Vines lashed out from the sceptre. Renji severed them with a flash of golden light, but more shot forward.

Rovan stumbled through the smoke behind Vaerina, staff in hand. His face was pale, eyes filled with years of regret.

“Rovan?!” Alina gasped.

He met her gaze for a fleeting second, apology written on his face, before turning to Vaerina. A volley of ice spears burst from his staff, forcing her to deflect with a wall of vines.

“You?” she spat. “I let you live, as you were once my pupil.”

“I won’t let you have her,” Rovan said hoarsely.

Vaerina’s smile sharpened. “Then you’ll die a traitor’s death.”

Her vines lashed forward, tangling around his arms and chest. He grimaced but slammed his staff into the ground, magic surging through the courtyard. He screamed as he drew on all his remaining essence. The jewel on his staff shattered, and frost burst outward in a white ring that froze everything it touched. The enhanced warriors’ legs locked in ice; even the stone golem’s feet were trapped.

“Alina, run!” Rovan yelled hoarsely. “I can’t hold this for long!”

Spear-tipped vines drove into Rovan’s chest, blood spraying across the frost.

“No!” Alina’s scream tore her throat raw. She lurched forward, arm outstretched. Her knees hit the cobbles, tears spilling as she tried to summon frost but she magic reserves were drained.

Neria caught his eye. “We have to move. Now!” Her tone was grim and urgent.

Renji’s hand clenched on his sword hilt, every muscle screaming to help him.

He forced his hand away from the hilt, seized Alina’s wrist instead, and dragged her forward. “Move!

The party surged forward, carving through the fractured line of knights as Vaerina’s laughter rose behind them.

Rovan, bound in vines and bleeding heavily, poured everything he had into one final spell. Bursts of frost erupted in jagged spikes across the courtyard, locking anything they touched in ice.

“This is as much as I can do.” Rovan dropped to the ground, blood pooling beneath him. “Live, Alina,” he muttered hoarsely.

“Rovan!” Alina cried.

“Magic of this level is nothing!” Thorval’s voice boomed from atop the golem.

The construct broke free of the ice, lumbering toward the party.

Spear-tipped vines shot forward, aimed to skewer them.

A massive wall of fire erupted from the ground, blocking off the vines and the golem. At the same time, fireballs blasted the stone barrier at the gate, shattering it.

Everyone froze—except Rikka. “You’re late!”

“The star always makes a grand entrance.” Celia winked. “I’d say I’m right on time.”

“Miss Celia!” Alina blurted out.

Celia flicked her wrist, and fire cyclones tore away from both ends of the wall. They swept through the mass of soldiers, clearing a blazing path toward the gate.

“Let’s go!” Neria urged.

The party broke into a run.

On the other side of the firewall, beads of sweat formed on Thorval’s forehead.

“Tch.” His jaw tightened. “Elves of Elaron.”

“Celia…” Vaerina muttered under her breath.

With fire hemming the enemy in, the party reached the gate. Celia and Renji raised their teleportation stones as the group gathered close.

Light engulfed them, and in a blinding flash, the party vanished.

The last thing Alina saw, burned into her mind as the world dissolved, was Rovan’s body hanging in Vaerina’s vines—limp, broken—while Thorval’s golem shattered free of the ice with a deafening roar.

The fire vanished with the party. Silence smothered the courtyard, broken only by the hiss of cooling stone. Charred streaks marked Celia’s magic, corpses and limbs strewn across the cobbles.

Thorval’s veins throbbed at his temples, fury twisting his face. “We’ll need to accelerate the plan.” His gaze never left the battlefield. “Elaron will fall. The World Tree will be ours.”

“How long until our forces recover?” he asked coldly.

Vaerina’s eyes gleamed. “We have subjects ready to be converted. A few days at most.”

Thorval’s stare shifted to Rovan’s lifeless form. “No more failures, Vaerina. I expected better of your pupil.”

Vaerina’s lips curled into a smile that hid a dagger’s edge. “Rest assured, my lord. Nothing will hinder us.”