Inverted Deck

Inverted Deck (Chapter 25)

Chapter 25

"BUT YOUR ARM!!" I yell out.

"Wh-what... about my arm?" My father grunts as several large black tendrils shroud his broken arm completely in darkness.

I stare in awe as he holds up his firmly broken arm, now covered in black Aether up to his fingertips, moving it around as if it were never broken in the first place.

"See, good as new, Eh?" Father says, wearing a grimace smile upon his face as if this were a game to him, while wiggling his fingers around.

"Tch, so the rumors about the Shroud Scale possessing healing capabilities are true huh? Pfft, no matter, that just means I don't have to hold back on you anymore." Ronti says as grinning. "I can fully enjoy this little play date of ours."

"Hold back? Oh, so that's what you been doing up to this point... could've fooled me." My father says as he tries to hold back laughter. "Because from my perspective... all you've been doing so far is attacking sluggishly and wild, just like all of you Orcs did in the war..."

Ronti clenches his face upon hearing this.

"I mean... so far you've only been able to land one blow on me, and as you can see even that didn't work. So what now? Thunderlord??" My father continues.

"You just had to go and make this personal by bringing the war up, didn't you?" Ronti replies.

"You already made this personal by attacking my home, my family. And all for what, some Valor? Respect? Or... is it revenge, you seek?" My father replies.

"Revenge? Hahaha, c'mon Wolf, you must've known your sins would catch up to you one day, didn't you? You must know that what's happening right now isn't just a consequence of today, more so a coincidence. What's happening right now, stems from what sprouted on that battlefield out there some 40 years ago. Me and my brethren haven't forgotten about you, The Right Red Eyed Wolf of Rosenthorn, Sau'el Atlas, the Orc-Slayer, your mother, Lux Atlas, The Jotunn-Killer, and your father-!"

"Speak another word, and I'll remind you of why and how I got that name... personally." My father aggressively interjects as the black tendrils continue to shroud his body but by bit and that black, Smokey Aether stems from his shoulders carrying red embers.

Similar to the Smokey Aether, Quinx had sprouting from his body, but this... this Aether coming from my father is far more thick and furious, his Aether Signature appears like a churning bowl of hot smoldering lava and melting tar.

"Oh yes I want you to. I want you at your best... so when I finish the Atlas bloodline off for good it can be that much more satisfying to my fallen brethren, and maybe, just maybe, the blood on your hands will-!"

"All this talk and no action, if you said you're gonna do it, THEN DO IT!! You bore me with your talk of sins and you're fallen brethren, I've lost people too... people dear to me... the fact of the matter is, is that you lost the war. So either accept and move passed it... or let's go ahead and get this over with so I can rebuild my house you set ablaze."

Ronti Sneers.

"Fine then, if death is what you wish... Environmental Aether: Lightning Sprout!" Ronti roars as he crashes his pulsating gauntlets into the broken up brick ground.

First, silence clears the air and the sound that remains is the cracking of the fire consuming the diner.

Then suddenly, blue sparks of electricity begin to dance around my father's feet. Upon seeing this, he lunges to the right, leaving a trail of embers and black smoke, before a large and bright bolt of the lightning, shoots up from underneath the ground, hurling chunks of rock and brick everywhere.