The Wordless Mage
Chapter 31: Motion Without Violence

Chapter 31: Motion Without Violence

"Lady Liora, please, get back or else you risk getting caught in his crossfire!"

The voice was a thundering one, causing a sharp jolt to run through even the demon’s nerves, catching its breath and immediately changing the air.

Liora turned back, staring at the man who spoke.

It was Corien, his hand on her shoulder with his other grazing the long blade resting on his waist.

For a second, it looked like he tugged on it, but he closed his eyes and looked back down where the demon stood.

"Ah, more meatbags to disembowel," it said, their voice groggy and rasp. It found game in their presence, even knowing what they meant to Rowan.

Rowan’s eyes widened, banging his fists into the projection to call out for the demon.

"Hey, stop, don’t mess with them!"

If not for the violent flame engorging the distance between the two, his voice surely would’ve reached the demon, but again Rowan was made aware of the futility of his actions.

"Ah, quite the motley crew you’ve got there," another deep voice bellowed out in the distance, the crumbling of stone above them making clear that it was recovering from rubble.

The nightcrawler stood, brushing off the blood and dust that had splattered over its healed wounds, cracking its neck as if it were readying itself for another onslaught.

"You’ve got quite the pretentious one, there," it continued, turning toward the heroes, "to throw around a demon’s power like he does and talk of killing me. It’s ironic, really."

"A demon," other voices asked, mixed expressions settling in their faces as they stepped in from the background.

It was a number of robed men, each cresting a long emblem that held four symbols--a monster’s talon, a brain, a heart, and a two-faced mask.

It was the same one that the pope had wrapped around his neck, although they didn’t possess the same long staff that distinguished him for his status.

"A cursed one," one yelled, pointing his finger, "think about it. A wordless grimoire? Even his own grimoire rejects his existence. Plus, there’s mention of beings who work in cahoots with demons for power--the wraiths. This boy is corrupted, an enigma unworthy of life!"

The demon raised one eyebrow, staring up at the single church member. The flames within burned even greater, almost engulfing Rowan had there not been an almost invisible sphere of protection.

Raising one hand forward, it looked at the confused king and heroes, smiling back at them.

"Get back!"

Corien yelled, slamming both his hands behind him to produce a powerful gust of wind. The wind was strong enough to send everyone flying back a few feet, but still tame to the point that it didn’t incur injury.

It was a powerful display of control, especially since his rush for defense was unmatched.

His grimoire flung open with impossible haste, the pages spinning--hounding for the right spell.

Vwewrrrmmmmmmrrmm!

The surrounding space folded in on itself like the rippling of water, the pressure in the air slamming everybody in the area to the ground.

A black manifold of shapes gathered into one point, each one holding within it thousands of smaller fractals.

The nature of the power was otherworldly, drawing its power from places unbeknownst to even the demon.

All it knew was that the ensuing attack held within it the power to destroy all.

Yes, that was the only way to describe it. Destruction.

There wasn’t any sound--any pitch to its slam. Simply the desire to eat away at reality itself.

It pulsed, almost turning the space around it black from its power as the demon held his palm out even further, the ends of his mouth creaked so high that they reached the tips of his cheekbones.

And yet, Corien stood.

He’d held his hand out, a golden barrier donned with innumerable runes in its structure hanging in front of him to quiver against the blast.

Space churned to the utmost at the point of contact, the blast containing itself with its own mass--the density so great that the air turned blue, then white.

Eventually, the flow of the destruction began to dispel, the cold sweat along Corien’s cheek falling in light of the decreased pressure.

"Sovereign level Kaido..." the demon muttered to itself, wide-eyed, "who the hell are you, human?"

With the wave of his hand, Corien made his barrier disappear, grabbing onto his grimoire.

"I could ask you the same thing, releasing Nendo of such scale. Never before have I seen somebody tear space-time with a single blast, and especially not with such speed. You’re unorthodox, but I suppose you already know that."

The way the demon smiled almost made Rowan’s teeth seem serrated, although it might’ve just been an expression of his boundless malice.

No, but yet, it carried within it something that no words could possibly describe, the nature of its existence inexplicable to even Rowan despite the great mass of knowledge flooding his mind.

"Kuhhkuhhkuhhh, ignoring me, humans?" The nightcrawler pattered its legs against the ground, aether ruminating from somewhere beneath its sternum.

Without missing a beat, aether washed out from the nightcrawler, dying the entire area purple with its volume.

"You’re overconfident, human. The only reason you’ve knocked me around so profoundly was due to my aether being bounded by my form. This is my full strength, fully unleashed!"

Corien’s eyes narrowed, flicking his head back between the people behind him and the growing beast.

"A speaking nightcrawler," he asked to himself, rubbing his index finger and thumb against his chin, "interesting, an interesting byproduct of the Way’s instability. It’s almost with regret that I’ll have to kill you."

His hand brushed his waist for his blade, feeling for the hilt while waiting.

Waiting for what, the beast thought, feeling the aether coalesce in front of him.

It’d been a few moments before it called for the Way, deepening the color of the aether into a bright gold.

Beautiful flames danced ahead of it, flagging in the air with increasing potential energy. It was beautiful, but devastating, nonetheless.

"Not too heavy," Corien continued, not bothering to respond with his own attack but instead gripping onto his blade, "it seems you’re not all that strong."

The nightcrawler howled in fury, its flames jetting toward the humans. While not as destructive as the demon’s previous attack, it was still a valid threat to all standing behind him.

Fwip.

The flames dispersed into the air, their strength diminishing as fast as one could blink.

"Wh-what," cried the nightcrawler, looking around for another presence.

Its confusion wasn’t a result of the mysterious negation of his spell--although, certainly, that was a valid concern.

It’d felt a disturbance in the air, inconspicuous to the human eye. Despite its monster senses barely hanging on to the nagging sensation, it was too late, the result final.

With a violent sputter, gold flames burst through the nightcrawler’s skin from the inside like the popping of a balloon, its roars following gold laden in purple blood.

"Perfectly balanced," Corien continued, taking a single, light swipe at the air, "as all things should be."