Rise Of The Lesser-Blood

The clearing had gone quiet.

Thomas kept his eyes on Deacon Eider and Deacon Seth. Neither had made another move since Voss appeared, but the hostility coming from them had not lessened. Eider stood slightly ahead of Seth, his attention fixed on the woman behind Thomas. Seth’s gaze moved between Voss and the rest of the group, as though measuring the distance separating them.

Thomas shifted his weight. His body was still recovering from the fight with the Swamp Thallophyte, and the others were in no better condition. Ryan’s left arm hung uselessly at his side. Lina remained unconscious, and Mina was beside her, keeping her protected. Julian’s mana had been depleted by the battle and the rune spell he had used.

They were in no position to fight another group of powerful opponents.

That was why Thomas had called for Voss.

He had known she was nearby for some time. The Eye of Khepri had helped him notice the faint disturbance in the mana around the trees, although he had not been able to pinpoint her exact location. He had chosen not to mention it until the Church representatives made their intentions clear. If Voss was willing to help, this was the moment to find out.

Eider’s expression tightened when he looked past Thomas. ”So the rumours were true.”

Voss stepped out from behind the tree. She walked without hurry, her gaze moving briefly over Thomas and the others before settling on the two deacons. There was nothing particularly imposing about her appearance. She wore the same instructor’s clothes Thomas had seen before, and her posture was relaxed. Yet Eider had stopped advancing.

”Hellspawn,” he said. ”I’ve always wanted to witness that Talent with my own eyes.”

Thomas glanced at him. The recognition in the deacon’s voice was unmistakable. It was not the tone of someone who had merely heard a name in passing. Eider looked at Voss as though he had finally come face to face with something he had been warned about.

Seth’s expression had changed as well. His eyes narrowed, and the hand resting near his waist moved slightly.

”An instructor of the Academy,” he said. ”And a heretic.”

Voss did not answer.

Thomas looked at her. He knew she was one of the Four Horsemen’s senior instructors, and he had seen enough of her to understand that she was powerful. But the deacons’ reaction suggested there was more to her reputation than her position in the Academy. They were Church officials. They had come here believing they could force Thomas into accepting the Pope’s offer, yet neither seemed eager to approach her.

”Is that what the Church calls anyone it doesn’t understand?” Voss asked.

”Your Talent is an abomination,” Eider replied. ”It has no place in this kingdom.”

A faint smile touched Voss’s lips. ”You came all this way to tell me that?”

”We came for Thomas,” Seth said. ”You are simply standing in the way.”

Thomas almost laughed. They had threatened to kill him moments earlier, and now they were acting as though Voss was the one creating trouble. The Church had not even bothered to hide its intentions. They wanted him under their control, and if he refused, they were prepared to remove him.

He had already given them his answer.

”I’m not going with you,” Thomas said.

Eider’s gaze returned to him. ”You should be careful with the choices you make, boy. There are consequences for defying the Church.”

”Then you should have thought about that before threatening me.”

”Thomas,” Voss said.

He looked towards her.

”Move back with the others.”

Thomas hesitated for a moment. He did not like leaving someone else to deal with the Church while he stood aside, but he also knew that he and his companions were exhausted. There was little they could contribute in their current condition. If the fight began, they would only get in Voss’s way.

He stepped back. Mina remained beside Lina, keeping herself between her and the two deacons. Ryan and Julian moved further away from the centre of the clearing, and Thomas followed, staying close enough to watch.

Voss walked forward until she stood between them and the group.

”You’re interfering with a matter of the Church,” Seth said. ”Step aside, and we may overlook your involvement.”

”That’s generous.”

”Do not mistake our patience for weakness.”

Voss tilted her head. ”I wasn’t.”

Eider’s hand tightened. A faint current of mana gathered around his arm, and Thomas felt the pressure change. Seth’s fingers moved in a small pattern near his waist. The deacon was preparing something, though Thomas could not yet tell whether it was a Talent or one of the Church’s rune spells.

Voss looked at them both.

Thomas had expected the deacons to react when Voss revealed her Talent, but he had not expected the change to be so immediate. Eider had spoken with the confidence of someone who believed the Church’s authority was enough to settle the matter. Now he was studying her carefully, keeping his weight balanced and his hands ready. Seth had stopped looking at Thomas altogether.

That told Thomas more than their words had. Whatever the Church thought of Voss, they knew what she could do. Their hatred of her Talent had not made them careless enough to ignore the danger.

He tried to examine the markings again. The Eye of Khepri revealed traces of mana moving through them, but the pattern kept slipping from his focus. Each time he thought he had found a point where the energy gathered, the flow changed direction. It was almost as if the markings were connected to something deeper than her body’s ordinary mana pathways.

Thomas stopped trying to force an answer. He did not have enough information, and guessing would not help him understand what he was seeing. For now, he needed to watch the deacons. If they had come prepared to fight Voss, they might have brought something capable of countering her Talent.

”Don’t get involved,” Julian said quietly.

Thomas glanced at him. ”I wasn’t planning to.”

”Good. We are in no condition to support her.”

Thomas looked back at the clearing. He disliked the idea of standing aside, especially after Voss had answered his call, but Julian was right. Their mana reserves were low, and several of them were injured. If they rushed forward without knowing what the deacons could do, they would become liabilities.

Then Voss slowly whispered a single word.

”Hellspawn.”

The change began with the air.

Thomas felt the pressure in the clearing shift, as though something had descended over the trees. The mana around Voss recoiled. It did not disappear, but the currents that had been flowing through the area bent away from her, leaving an unsettling emptiness close to her body.

Black markings appeared across her skin.

They spread from her neck and wrists, branching over her arms and climbing towards her face. The marks were not ink or ordinary patterns. Thomas could see mana moving beneath them, following lines that seemed to form and reform as he watched.

Voss’s eyes changed next. Their colour deepened until her irises looked like narrow crimson slits. Two dark horns emerged from her head, curving upwards through her hair. At the same time, black plates formed over the backs of her hands and extended across her fingers.

A shadowy haze gathered around her.

It did not behave like smoke. It clung close to her body, shifting whenever she moved, and the mana within it seemed to resist the Eye of Khepri’s attempt to read its structure. Thomas focused on the markings, but the patterns were unlike anything he had encountered before.

He had seen strange transformations during the expedition. The Swamp Thallophyte itself had possessed a body that combined plant matter with mana circuits, and its internal structure had been difficult to understand. Voss’s transformation was different. It was not a change in shape alone. The mana around her had changed with her, and the effect was strong enough that Thomas could feel it from several steps away.

Eider took a step back.

It was small, almost imperceptible, but Thomas noticed it. The deacon’s earlier confidence had given way to caution. Seth had gone still, his attention fixed on the markings covering Voss’s skin.

”So it really is Hellspawn,” Eider muttered.

”You sound disappointed,” Voss said.

Eider’s jaw tightened. ”The Church was right to condemn you.”

”You’re Church condemns plenty of things.”

”Your existence is an insult to everything we stand for.”

Voss raised one hand. The dark plates covering her fingers caught the light, while the haze around her arm stirred. She still looked much the same as before, but Thomas could no longer mistake her relaxed posture for ordinary calm. The pressure surrounding her made the space between them feel heavier.

He glanced at Julian. The other boy was watching Voss with a guarded expression. Thomas could not tell whether Julian recognised the Talent or was simply judging the change in power. Either way, he had not taken his eyes off her.

”Is that really her Talent?” Ryan asked quietly.

Thomas nodded. ”That’s what they called it.”

”Hellspawn...” Mina repeated under her breath.

The name seemed to carry weight beyond the clearing. Eider had recognised it immediately, and even Seth, who had said little, was treating Voss as a serious threat. Thomas wondered how many people in the Kingdom knew that name, and how many had learned to fear it.

Voss lowered her hand.

”Are you finished talking?”

Eider’s expression hardened. ”I will purify you, heretic! Your corrupted existence and that evil Talent of yours will be cleansed by holy light!”

A golden glow began to form around his arm. Seth moved beside him, and runes flickered into existence near his fingers. Thomas felt the mana gathering again, more concentrated this time.

Voss looked at them without moving.

”Come, then.”

The shadowy haze around her stirred.

Eider advanced, and Seth followed.

Thomas tightened his fists as the two deacons closed in. He had seen enough to understand why the Church feared Voss, but he still did not know what Hellspawn was capable of. The transformation had changed her appearance and the pressure around her, yet it had not revealed the full extent of her Talent.

The deacons were about to find out for themselves.