Chapter 80 - Mission Successful

  As the beast's massive body crashed onto the icy ground, a thunderous boom that sent tremors through the desote ndscape, Cillian stood atop the carcass, a solitary figure amidst a sea of frozeion and crimson-stained snow. His body trembled with bone-deep exhaustion, every muscle screaming in protest. His breath came in ragged gasps, each exhale a plume of white against the frigid air. Blood dripped from a myriad of cuts across his fad body, painting his bck attire in macabre shades of red and bck. He remaianding only by sheer force of will, his legs threatening to buckle beh him.

  Cillian stood huffing and puffing in the bloodied id. With a heavy sigh, Cillian gnce down at the wat his right wrist, a high-tech device that seemed ingruous with his a surroundings. The s flickered to life, dispying a series of statistics, starkly illuminated against the bleak ndscape:

  MISSION SUCCESSFUL

  7000 Frostmaws (10ft tall & 300m width)

  DEFEATED IN 3.5 HOURS

  A ghost of a smile pyed on his lips as he read the report, a fleeting moment of satisfa quickly repced by a wave of bone-deep weariness. He closed his eyes, allowing the cold to wash over him, a desperate attempt to numb the pain that wracked his body.

  Then, a voied from above, resonating through the icy wastend like a thundercp. It was a voimense power and a authority, a voice that anded resped obedience.

  "Your service has pleased me, son of Minsan. I trust this minor diversion did not unduly tax your siderable skills."

  Cillian bowed his head respectfully, his bck hair falling across his bloodied face. The words were not a request but a summons, and he dared not dey.

  "As always, Lord, I remain at your and."

  With that, Cillian turned and began his dest through the icy byrinth. He visualized the architecture from the 3rd image. The path was treacherous, a winding maze of jagged id hidden crevasses, leading towards a distant portal shrouded in shadows. He moved with a practiced grace, his steps sure and steady despite his exhaustion. The weight of his responsibilities pressed down upon him, a stant remihat his trials were far from over.

  As he reached a lower level, where there were stairs carved into the side of the icy cliff, he spotted two figures waiting for him. They were silhouetted against the dim light emanating from the ice walls, their features obscured.

  "Cillian."

  The voices were familiar, a mix of warmth and authority. It was Roxana, Luxana's mother, her bright e hair a bea in the gloom. Beside her stood the man who had forced Cillian into a tract with Minsan, his expression as unreadable as the a stohat prised their surroundings.

  Roxana nodded her head, a silent signal for Cillian to follow them. They turned and began to asd a series of stairs carved into the ice, their footsteps eg in the cavernous space.

  Following Roxana's silent invitation, Cillian navigated the remaining steps. The passage grew narrower, and the air became heavy with an unnatural stillness, as if all sound was absorbed by the cold, stone walls.

  "The Azones and Alizahs will csh in three days, near Romania's border," Roxana stated, her tone brisk and devoid of warmth. "The ret distortions plicated my e with you. firm: did you mark Luxana as pnned?"

  Cilliaated, a flicker of something that might have bee fshing across his face before he masked it. "My apologies, Master. I failed to secure her."

  Roxana's expression tightened, but she quickly regained trol. "Adequate. You have seventy-two hours to correct this deficy, the sequences for failing me are dire. reparations e my time. Richard, you will oversee his progress in my stead." She flicked her wrist in aowledgment to the unreadable figure beside her.

  Her electric blue eyes, so like Luxana’s yet colder, more calg, drilled into Cillian. "Do not assume my absence permits improvisation. Stay focused on what is required. As a Key, you must've already learo manipute the lock."

  Cillian lowered his gaze, his voice carefully ral. "Indeed, Master."

  “Excellent.” Roxana cluded. "The agreement we made stands. If the Alizahs gain victory, trigger the binding; sacrifice both yourself and Luxana to secure our ultimate triumph."

  Cillian straightehe fire in his eyes snuffed out, repced by an expression of dull resignation. “As you and, Master.”

  With a final, curt nod, Roxana turned and disappeared into the depths of the fortress. Cillian was left aloh Richard, the silence broken only by the soft hiss of the gcial wind.

  The air in the room hung thick with tension, a palpable force that seemed to press against Luxana's skin. Cillian's grip on her head was unyielding, his fiangled in her hair like roots seeking purchase iile soil. Their faces were so close that she could t the flecks of gold in his aquamarine eyes, could feel the warmth of his breath ghosting across her cheeks. The world had narrowed to this moment, this proximity, as if nothing else existed beyond the space between them.

  Luxana's body responded instinctively to the sudden shift in bance. Her right hand shot out, nding on Cillian's ihigh, the heat of his skin seeping through the fabric of his trousers. Her left hand remained ched in the bedsheet, knuckles white with the force of her grip. The silk was cool against her palm, a stark trast to the fire that seemed to burn where she touched Cillian.

  Then, without warning, the world tilted on its axis. Luxa herself being yanked from the depths of Cillian's vision, as if she were a fish being reeled in from the darkest depths of the o. A violent gasp tore from her lips, her body jerking as if struck by lightning. The sudden shift left her disoriented, her mind reeling as it tried to make sense of what had just happened.

  But there was no time to recover, no moment to catch her breath. Before she could even blink, Cillian's fingers dug into her scalp with a vicious, uing force. The ge in him was instantaneous and terrifying. His aquamarine eyes, once remi of calm tropical waters, now bled into a monstrous red, glowing with an unchecked aggression that sent chills down Luxana's spi was as if a switch had been flipped, transf the man before her into something feral and dangerous.

  A sharp, searing paied through her skull as his nails tore at her scalp. The sensation was so intense, so ued, that a strangled cry escaped her throat. It felt as if someone had set her head on fire, eaerve ending screaming in agony. Instinctively, her hands flew to his, fingers ing around his wrists in a desperate attempt to pry them away. The skin-on-skin tact was electric, charged with a potent mix of fear and adrenaline.

  But her efforts only seemed to make things worse. Cillian responded by digging deeper, his nails now breaking through skin with a siing ease. A warm trickle down her forehead made Luxana's stomach - blood, her own blood, seeping into her hair and painting macabre patterns on her skin. The coppery st filled her nostrils, mingling with the st of fear and sweat that permeated the air. A wave of nausea crashed through her, her body tremblih his uing grasp like a leaf in a storm.

  As the pain pulsed through her skull, Luxana's mind raced, desperately trying to make sense of the situation. 'This is all because of mara,' she realized, grittieeth against the agony. 'Why the hell does he bee so aggressive when mana is extracted from him? Others tend to faint or lose sciousness, yet he's pletely opposite and ends up killing the other person? This demon boy!'

  The pain was unbearable, like molten iron being poured directly onto her scalp. Her fiightened around his hands, her breaths ing in frantieven gasps. The world seemed to narrow, tunnel visioing in as her body focused all its energy on survival. Through the haze of pain, a thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. 'If extrag mana from him drives him insane, iing mana should calm him down, right?'

  Luxana didn't hesitate. With every ounce of willpower she had left, she unched herself backward, wreng out of his grip. The sudden moveme shockwaves of pain through her skull, but she pushed through it, driven by pure survival instinct. Air rushed into her lungs as she nded hard otress, her body boung slightly from the impact. She y there for a moment, panting heavily, her hands pressing against her pulsating head. The silk sheets beh her felt cool against her feverish skin, a small fort in the midst of chaos.

  'How am I supposed to i mana?' she thought frantically, her mind rag. 'I don't even know how exactly mana is trolled.' But her thoughts were cut short by the sight before her. Cillian, his blood-red eyes filled with nothing but violence, pounced like a predator on its prey.

  In an instant, her body was smmed into the bed, the forpaog the air from her lungs. Cillian's weight pressed her down, pinnio the mattress with terrifying strength. His fingers, strong and merciless, ed arouhroat, squeezing with a force that made spots dan her vision. Luxana's hands flew to his once more, her nails biting into his flesh in desperation. The world began to dim around the edges, panic rising in her chest like a tidal wave.

  'Should I unleash my fmes?' she wondered, her thoughts being hazy as oxygen deprivatio in. 'No, no, no, it won't do.' Just then, something within her clicked. Her body acted before her mind could catch up, driven by some primal instinct for survival.

  She ched his hands tighter, willing something—anything—to happen. And then, as if answering her silent plea, it did. A radiant reddish-white glow bloomed from where her hands met his, the light pulsing and flickering like a dying star. It spread across his fingers, his wrists, crawling up his veins like liquid fire. The sight was both beautiful and terrifying, a dance of light and shadow that seemed to defy the ws of nature.

  Slowly, miraculously, the pressure arouhroat loosehe suffog weight lifted, allowing precious air to rush into her lungs. Luxana gasped, drinking in the oxygen as if it were the sweetest ar. As the st of the glow faded, Cillian came into view, transformed once again.

  His breath was ragged, uneven, but different now—grounded, aware. The crimson in his eyes dulled, fading, retreating until they were once again the aquamarine she reized. His pupils dited as fusion flooded his features, repg the mindless aggression that had possessed him moments before.

  "Huh?" His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper, den with fusion and dawning horror. His head jerked from side to side, panic settling into his bones as he took in his surroundings. Then his gaze dropped—to where he sat atop Luxana, his hands still loosely cirg her throat.

  His entire body stiffened, as if turo stone. Horror dawned upon his face as realization struck like lightning, the full weight of his as crashing down upon him. He scrambled back so fast he nearly fell off the bed, his breath hitched, hands trembling violently.

  "I'm—I'm—I'm sorry," he stammered, voice breaking as tears welled up in his eyes. His body shook as he backed away, curling into himself at the er of the bed. His arms ed around his legs, his face burying into them as violent sobs wracked his body. He hid from her, from what he had done, shame and self-loathing radiating from every pore.

  And throughout it all, Luxana hadn't shed a siear. She y there, catg her breath, her mind whirling with questions aions. The pain in her scalp throbbed, a stant reminder of what had transpired. But as she watched Cillian break down, she felt something ued stir within her—not fear, not anger, but a plex mix of emotions she couldn't quite name.

  The moonlight filtering through the window cast ahereal glow over the room, bathing the spa a soft, silvery light. Long shadows stretched across the rumpled bedsheets, a sileament to the violent struggle that had unfolded moments before. The once pristine white sheets were now twisted and tangled, bearing the imprint of bodies locked in flict.

  Luxana y there, her chest rising and falling as her breath slowly steadied. Her mind was a maelstrom of questions aions, each thought crashing against the like waves in a storm. The throbbing pain in her scalp served as a stant, pulsing reminder of the enter. It echoed through her senses like a sinister heartbeat, each throb sending a fresh wave of disfort through her body.

  Her eyes, still wide with the lingering effects of adrenaline, fixed on Cillian's huddled form. He had retreated to the er of the bed, his body curled in on itself as if trying to disappear. His shoulders shook with each muffled sob, the sound barely audible but unmistakable iense silence of the room.

  As she watched him break down, an ued emotion stirred within Luxana. It wasn't fear er as one might expect after such a harrowing experience. Instead, it was a plex mix of feelings she couldn't quite name - a cocktail of empathy, amusement, and something darker that lurked beh the surface.

  The room was eerily quiet, save for the sound of Cillian's stifled cries and the distant, muffled hum of the night outside. The trast between the peaceful world beyond the window and the chaos within the room was stark and uling.

  Then, without warning, a sudden sound broke the tense sile started small, almost imperceptible, but grew quickly in volume and iy.

  *PFFT*

  *PFFTTT*

  The ued noises erupted from Luxana, starting as small, stifled sounds before exploding into full-blown ughter. "AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAA!" Her voice shattered the somber atmosphere, filling the room with a jarring cacophony of mirth.

  Luxana's body vulsed with ughter, her hands clutg at her stomach as she rolled from side to side on the bed. The mattress creaked and shifted under her movements, the sound mingling with her untrolled guffaws. Her face, moments ago a mask of shod pain, was now torted in an almost manic expression of hirity.

  The abrupt shift in mood was surreal, b on the absurd. Here, in a room still charged with the aftermath of violence, Luxana ughed as if she'd just heard the fu joke in the world. Blood still matted her hair, the metallic st lingering in the air, yet she howled with ughter, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  To be tinued...