Page 162

Humans and demons alike shrieked, cowering away as the fire blazed hotter. Some fell to their knees before the fiery pillar and bowed in reverence.

While Knox’s cackle of glee and the terrified cries of the cult members rang behind him, Xen’s eyes were transfixed on the figure that lay just a few feet away from him, within the barrier of the Heavenly Spring Water.

The Hellfire could defy the divine water’s powers. But Xen couldn’t. All he could do was stare at Evan’s body lying so close, yet so far beyond his reach.

It was such a familiar scene. That same face, lying in the same crimson pooled around him.

For a moment, Xen froze.

A vision of bloody, lifeless eyes flashed through his mind, yanking him back three centuries.

“You said you’d wait for me…” Blood trickled from between pale fingers as they cupped an equally bloody face. A pair of brown eyes shone lifelessly in the flickering flame.

Those pale fingers traced that face, trembling. “Little Storm…”

Xen’s breath hitched. “No…”

He’d only whispered the word when the Hellfire crackled violently and began pelting out balls of flame.

Screams rang out. The huge army scattered like ants.

Several cult members and demons couldn’t dodge in time and were engulfed in the flames of hell, reduced to ash within seconds.

Within one blink and the next, the fire spread wildly, almost swallowing the entire Tomb in its jaws. And yet, not a speck of it grazed Evan who was lying just at the foot of the Tomb.

“What are you doing?” Knox clicked his tongue as he stared at Xen. “Control it! Don’t you see your beloved is still inside the circle? Do you wish to burn him alive too?”

Xen blinked slowly. “I can’t.”

Knox gritted his teeth. “Bullshit! You can’t or youwon’t?”

“Eternal fire can only be summoned, not controlled.”

“Stop lying!” Knox bellowed, his mask of ease finally shattering when he saw the uncontrollable flame roaring in delight as it pelted and ate away at humans and demons alike. A rare sight of uncertainty flashed in his face.

With a frosty glare at Xen, he turned back to the spirits who couldn’t feel the heat and were confused as to why everyone was running around, fire chasing their tails.

“It’s time, my friends!” Knox cried over the commotion, a maniac gleam in his eyes. He glanced at the group of fifteen men who were stumbling and huddling behind the tree to which they were bound. Because they were blindfolded, they couldn’t see what was happening. But the heat of the Hellfire drove them to take shelter behind the tree, their cries of help drowned by the screams and shrieks of Knox’s army.

“This was what we were waiting for. It’s time. Off you go into the flames of redemption,” Even in his frenzy, Knox easily manipulated his speech to sound favorable towards the spirits.Calling the flames of hell, flames of “redemption,” as if the spirits would really be sent to heaven after this.

The band of over two hundred resentful spirits charged towards the Hellfire, howling out their bliss. Knox waved a hand and the group of the fifteen men were yanked out from their shelter behind the tree. A purple binding wrapped around the group and dragged them towards the flames, readying the sacrifices.

“Rejoice! Your ashes shall become the foundation of a new age. A new era. A new world that I would create,” Knox smiled softly at the blindfolded, sobbing group of men like a father seeing off his sons to die in a battle. “Sacrifice your lives for the birth of this immortal.”

“Fuck you!” A ginger-haired man with snot and tears running down his face cried. Robbie. “When my brother finds you, you’re dead meat!”

Xen was still staring at Evan’s limp body when, with an abrupt jolt, he stumbled forward an inch. His vision—once filled with Evan—now held the gleam of a long, blood-slicked golden spear, driven straight through his chest.

Giving the weapon a cold glare, Xen turned his head, watching the army of resentful spirits, fifteen bound men, and Knox closing in.

He slowly turned around, the golden spear still embedded in his chest as he stared at Knox’s approaching form. Other than a look of forced restraint as he tried to control his fury, Xen didn’t react. “Let him out.”

With an amused smile, Knox tilted his head. “Who?”

Xen’s fiery eyes blazed. His forefinger twitched and the golden spear shot out of his chest, flying towards Knox. It struck the ground right at his foot.

Knox and his army stopped as the earth tremored, propelled by the force of that spear’s strike.