Page 282 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I want to do it because he wants to do it, because if I didn’t, he might never look at me the same. The mere glimpse of disappointment in his gaze when I suggested we should leave was enough for me to realize how much this means to him.

Good, good male, as much as I am a bad female.

Perhaps it’s my age and the countless deaths I’ve seen; countless bloodsheds; countless wars. Perhaps it’s the fact that I know that death is not the end. Perhaps all of these have jaded me.

But he makes me care again. He makes me want to do better, want to be better.

If I break more rules in the process…

I take a deep breath.

So be it.

The area teems with lost souls and messengers. My senses become high on alert to the presence of demons, too. Closer and closer, a handful of warrior deities make their appearance.

Without giving my presence away, I scan the energy signatures around, noting they are all mostly novice deities, with the highest level I sense being a four. That means I should be able to shield myself from them.

As messengers disappear with their charges, demons start appearing in greater numbers to prey on the remaining souls.

I take a deep breath and spread my energy around. Rough estimates would put the casualties at around eight thousand. Maybe a little more. Considering that nearly ten percent of souls refuse to move on, though in the case of violent demises that number rises considerably, I am looking at almost a thousand lost souls.

I sense three deities. Two level threes and a level four. More worryingly, I sense at least five mid-level demons, with one that is certainly a high level; perhaps even a level eleven or twelve.

“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath. Those novice deities won’t be able to handle high-level demons. Even I have a hard time with them.

“You save the living. I’ll save the dead,” I shout over to Mine.

He stops and turns to me.

“Demons?”

I nod.

“Be careful,” he adds before getting back to his task.

From the corner of my eye, I keep an eye on him as he continues his rescue mission, but my attention is otherwise engaged to the demons approaching.

Extending my arms to my sides, I manifest my ice swords. A swirling fog envelops me as eternal ice builds all over my body in the shape of an armor.

A demon flashes herself in the middle of the square. There are some twenty souls roaming around. The period immediately after death is the worst because all souls are disoriented, with some being incredibly angry and confused.

The demon, whose current physical body is that of a woman in her mid-twenties, notices me right away. The souls move around her mechanically, not registering the danger they’re in.

She barely minds the souls, her attention solely on me.

Her eyes glow a deep red as shadows arise from her body like tendrils. In the blink of an eye, they reach for me.

Level eleven.

Damn it! Of course I’d have the luck of encountering a blasted level eleven exactly when I’m trying to keep a low profile. Why couldn’t I have met her before, when I was trying to rack up accomplishments and impress Commander Azerius?

The most I’ve fought has been a level eight, which is considered upper mid level. Eleven, though? These bastards are strong and vicious.

I may have not fought one myself, but I’ve seen my brother do it. Though their energy is not organic like that of a deity or a Son of Tenebreis, once they get past level ten, their abilities are on par with both.

Their power comes from the amount of souls they’ve consumed, but compared to born deities or Sons of Tenebreis, that energy is not naturally replenishing. Even if they reach ahigh level, they must constantly consume souls to maintain their power.

Of course those bastards Sons of Tenebreis would also rather consume souls to speed up the replenishment process. Rumor has it that they don’t even require food if they feed on souls.

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