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The sparks only increased, heating up the air to the point that Hector could feel his flesh searing. He tried to raise more spires, to make them taller and more robust, but the lightning was ripping into them as soon as they formed now, stunting their growth, making Hector’s iron accumulate irregularly, if at all.

‘You need more,’ said Garovel, somehow very calm. ‘C’mon, Hector. Do it.’

‘Shit!’ Hector’s muscles all tensed as the surges drew ever closer. He started coating himself in metal just so that the electricity would come for him and not Garovel.

But abruptly, the lightning ceased.

Hector’s eyes were too damaged to see what was happening. They would only need a few seconds to regenerate and restore his vision, but Garovel could still see just fine and so informed him immediately.

‘Roman’s back.’


Chapter Sixty-Four: ‘The crack of Thunder, the pulse of Fire...’
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Roman tore through the air like a missile, and Karkash was clearly prepared to receive him, no doubt having been warned by his reaper.

Roman didn’t need an introduction. Garovel had of course provided the details of Hector’s past encounters with this man, and ever since Roman heard that Karkash could also fly, he’d been expecting to end up in single combat with him.

They were both alteration users, and they were both highly mobile. The only thing left unclear was the degree to which Karkash could control his lightning. If Hector was able to divert it with the natural conductance of iron, then Karkash’s control couldn’t be too strong, but from Garovel’s account, Karkash could also hone his lightning well enough to even cut through flesh like a blade. This, combined with the knowledge that the man had recently achieved emergence as well, made Roman think this fight would not go as smoothly as the one against Hanjir.

Honestly, though, a part of him had been looking forward to this. He’d never been one much for battle, but recently, he’d found himself growing restless with his power.