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Scores of servants were afoot, and he had each one’s attention now. Only moments ago, they’d been in the midst of training or en route to another part of the castle or simply standing guard atop the walls. The latter were the first ones to mobilize, but by then, Zeff had already summoned a tidal wave to clear a path to the gate.

And clear a path, it did. Broad enough to envelope the whole courtyard and taller than the highest tower, only a handful of servants managed to get out of the way. The raging waters consumed everyone else and smashed them against the castle’s unflinching walls. And before that was even done, Zeff loosed another wave behind him, just to give Lawrence something to do.

‘Can you escape underground?’ said Zeff.

‘I sense a soul net below us,’ said Ax, ‘but it only goes as far as the castle walls.’

And the reaper didn’t have to explain any further. The most efficient means of escape was to have Axiolis phase through the ground. At full speed, the reaper would be protected by a hundred meters of rock within seconds; and within a minute, he’d be completely out of Lawrence’s range, at which point, Zeff would be able to spear himself through the skull and be revived at Axiolis’ leisure.

This was the plan. He just had to get Axiolis to the other side of the wall first.

Zeff launched himself into the air with a sudden ice platform. He would have been able to clear the wall then and there if not for the gigantic radium dome that materialized to stop him. There would be no shoving this one out of his way. It covered the entirety of Rhein’s Keep, supplanting midday sunlight with a dim blue gleam.

But Zeff had expected as much. Anything less would have been downright lazy on the General’s part.

Still mid-flight, Zeff made a fist and half-extended his middle and index fingers. On its own, the hand gesture had no great meaning, but to Zeff, it was a code of muscle memory, a thing that had helped him develop, memorize, and train a particularly difficult usage of his power.