Return of the Runebound Professor
Chapter 736: The only path

Noah slid down the tube of the transport cannon and landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs. He let out a pained groan. The inside of his skull pounded like someone had set a mariachi band loose within it. Thoughts twisted and intermingled with memories in a smoky haze. It wasn’t quite the headache or encroaching insanity of soul damage, but it definitely wasn’t normal.

“Noah?” Tim asked. The old man’s voice sounded distant, the concern within it a faded murmur. A rough hand fell on his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. “Are you okay?”

“Mm fine,” Noah slurred. Remaining focused was getting harder and harder now that his actual task had been accomplished. His soul pulsed with more energy than he’d ever held before. And, for some reason, he could have sworn that it was still somehow growing.

Reaching Rank 6 was far more than he’d ever imagined.

This wasn’t just incredible. It was ridiculous. There was so much that he couldn’t even try to harness it. The power welled within him and pressed on the walls of his soul to expand it. A muted part of him wondered how many other people had just shoved a bunch of extra Rank 6 Runes into their soul just a few minutes after forming their first one.

The number probably wasn’t particularly high.

“He looks afflicted,” Yoru’s voice came from somewhere behind him.

“Drunk, more like,” Tim said.

“Not drunk,” Noah said, forcing himself to speak clearly and still nearly swallowing his tongue on accident. He shook his head and bit the insides of his cheeks to wrench his attention back from the beckoning reaches of his mind. This wasn’t good. The extra runes were too much.

And the longer he waited to cut them out, the worse things would get. He’d eventually adapt to the new power if he left them in there long enough, which would make cutting the trash out of his soul far, far more difficult.

I need to move fast.

“Don’t let anyone bother me,” Noah said. He stumbled over every other word in the sentence but managed to stagger over to a wall and slump down against it. Conversation echoed above him. It was so distant that he couldn’t even make out the words.

And then there was only darkness and silence.

He was within his soul once more.

Power swelled. The call of sleep beckoned to him. He’d more than earned a good rest. It had been far too long since he’d really had a good night of relaxation. There wasn’t even a need for a bed. This was just fine. He could —

No. Not yet.

Noah’s jaw clenched. He couldn’t sleep yet. Not until the trash had been carved from his soul and he split his Rank 6 back apart. There was no way in hell he was going to leave such a terrible combination floating around within him. It had served its purpose.

I’ll rest when I’m done, and not a second before.

***

“What happened?” Tim muttered, kneeling behind Noah and sending a worried look at the exhausted professor. “Someone should send for Moxie. She’s going to want to know about this.”

“He doesn’t seem injured,” Aylin said. “Not sleeping either. We shouldn’t bother him. He must be inside his soul. I guess he accomplished whatever it was he was doing. I don’t imagine he would have come back if he hadn’t.”

Sticky rubbed at her nose. A small frown pulled at her lips. “He smells odd.”

“I think he smells even,” Torrick said.

“That’s not what she meant,” Violet said with a small laugh. She sniffed at the air, then shook her head. “Not that I can smell anything different at all. My nose was never that sensitive. Actually, since when was yours, Sticky?”

“Never,” Sticky replied. “It’s just him.”

“I am not picking up anything out of place.” Vrith tilted her head to the side. “What is it that you smell? There aren’t any apparent differences to his physiology since the last time he was here. Perhaps Lee would be able to tell better than me, but my senses aren’t anything to scoff at.”

“I also can’t sense anything,” Aylin said.

“I dunno how to describe it.” Sticky shook her head. “He just smells… odd. Someone should get Lee. She knows smells better than me.”

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“I’ll find her and Moxie,” Vrith volunteered. She rose, then paused for a moment as she looked back down at Noah. Her brow darkened. Her foot shifted an inch back, but she didn’t even seem to realize. The demoness swallowed. “Does everyone feel that?”

“The smell is getting stronger,” Sticky muttered.

Aylin’s eyes widened. “I feel it too. It’s like…”

“It’s like standing in the presence of Sievan,” Yoru breathed. “It’s raw power.”

“And it’s getting stronger.” Aylin stared at Noah in awe. “What did he do? What’s going on?”

***

Yule, the Head of the King Family, sat in a cold stone chair before a wide window. Sunshine bore down on her features as she let her gaze cast out over what was hers. Her tower was placed directly at the top of the King Family’s Estate, which had been built upon the side of a looming mountain.

This was the only place on the mountain that could witness the entirety of her family. There was no higher spot in the kingdom. Only by taking to the sky could someone attempt to look down upon her family — and nobody was foolish enough to try to fly above the King Family’s city.

The seat beneath her, cold and uncomfortable, had been her throne for the past three hundred years. There had been another one before it, and another before that. She’d outlasted them all.

Not many mages remembered as much as she did. Not many of them wanted to. Those that did made sure to stay as far away from one another as possible. Well, all but Jalen. He was an exception. The Linwick was a madman — and he’d gone missing again.

Perhaps he had the right idea.

The world was crumbling.

All the beauty that stretched out before her, the culmination of years upon years of fighting and cheating and clawing her way to victory, was nothing but a façade. It was a fleeting dream.

Now, it was only a matter of time. The other families crumbled. They split apart at the seams and turned rune against one another. Perhaps, had it been on a smaller scale, had she been a younger woman, this would have been the perfect opportunity to unify the Empire.

To claim her spot as Empress.

But she was not a younger woman, and this was not a smaller scale. The ropes binding the Empire together had been cut apart, and now everything was bursting free. Nobody could pack it back in. Not anymore.

It may be time to move on. To see if there really is something that still remains beyond the barrier that surrounds us. The last hundred years have been so… stale. Even the fight between the Linwicks and the Torrins was nothing more than a manufactured trimming of fat.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. Her ass ached something fierce, and a twinge in her lower spine reminded her of just how many years she had spent sitting in this throne. It had been too long… and yet, not nearly long enough.

An echoing knock rolled through the grand room behind her, slicing through her thoughts. She didn’t even bother turning around.

A moment later, the grand obsidian doors behind her swung open to admit a portly man in a suit that wrapped him like bread around a pie. He waddled up to stand before her, blocking her view of the window, and nervously adjusted his collar.

“What?” Yule asked irritably. “The Empire best be aflame, Ned. I told you that I didn’t want to be disturbed right now. I’m brooding.”

“Forgive me, Mistress Yule,” Ned said, inclining his head so the bald spot at the top of his head stared her in the eyes. “It is.”

“What?” Yule blinked. She leaned forward in her chair. Behind Ned, clouds drifted overhead to block out the sun. Their long shadows crawled over the King Estate to cover it completely. “What do you mean?”

“The Empire, Mistress,” Ned said. “It seems that the Torrins and the Herrons decided to put their plan into motion. The one for the Soul Master Rune.”

Yule blew out an exasperated breath and leaned back into her uncomfortable chair. “That does not count. We knew that would happen sooner or later. What, are the other families now gunning for them to try and claim the rune themselves?”

“No, Mistress.” Ned swallowed. “The joint strike force they sent to Arbitage went missing. And the heads of the families…”

He trailed off.

“Spit it out!” Yule barked. “What are you trying to say?”

“They’re dead, Mistress Yule,” Ned said. “Biya was found dead in her quarters. Split clean in two. Exal’s mansion was destroyed, as was the underground network of tunnels beneath it. He hasn’t been found, but I’m fairly certain he’s dead. He’d have resurfaced by now if he wasn’t.”

Yule’s blood ran cold.

Exal was young and brash. She could see him getting himself killed. But Biya — she was old, and she was far from weak.

“What?” Yule breathed. “How is that possible?”

“We don’t know,” Ned said with a shake of his head. “But… there’s only one common factor.”

“Spider,” Yule said. Her features turned grim. “This is a message.”

“That seems to be the most likely scenario,” Ned allowed. He swallowed nervously again.

“He killed two Family Heads who were hours away from each other. Biya has powerful spatial magic wards imbued around her estate. For Spider to have killed both of them in such a short span of time means he’s either strong enough to ignore those defenses or he has an ally as strong as a Family Head.”

Ned shifted uncomfortably the lack of an answer. Finally, he couldn’t wait any longer. He cleared his throat.

“What do we do?”

“Nothing,” Yule said. “Spider is too dangerous. The other houses will be rasher. Let them act first. He has challenged the entire empire… and nobody does that unless they’re completely confident they’re going to win.”

“Just like all demons. Arrogant,” Ned said with disgust.

Yule didn’t respond. She just looked past Ned to the shadow hanging over her city.

Arrogant?

No. I don’t think so.

The families are in chaos. The Inquisition is crumbling. Spider is a monster that cannot be reasoned with and an ally too dangerous to leave at your back.

He is nothing like any other demon at all. Spider can’t be controlled. He’s more like a natural disaster. I’ve seen things like him before. Back in my earliest memories, during the Long Night. The best way to deal with an existence like Spider…

It’s to stay out of his damned way.