Page 3409

That was beyond strange. Even Axiolis could not recall an instance of a servant being able to manipulate the flow of ardor in such a way. To be channeling it through themselves with so much intensity? And have it be blending with or even amplifying their own soul power?

This was unprece--

No.

Axiolis did remember now. In the ancient past, there indeed was a certain type of person who could do such a thing.

Person... or creature, perhaps.

It was a vague memory. Blurry and distorted. Which was itself an incredibly odd thing. Reaper memories were never like that, normally. Only very recently had it even resurfaced into his mind at all, as though it had been suppressed for eons before.

And Axiolis had not thought that was a coincidence. Given how muddy and uncertain the matter was in his mind, he’d been reluctant to broach the subject at all, even with Zeff. But he’d first noticed it after learning about the existence of Sparrows.

Or re-learning about them, perhaps.

The reaper had an uneasy feeling that he’d encountered such creatures before--and not in an amicable context.

And now, here, witnessing what Graves was doing, Axiolis’ memories were giving him that same uneasy feeling again. Only much stronger, this time.

Enough so that Zeff could feel Axiolis wanting to intervene. In favor of Gohvis. A dreaded, irrational impulse to aid Emiliana’s kidnapper, of all people.

But Zeff kept them steady. He had to. He’d never felt this kind of fear from Axiolis before. Even the reaper didn’t seem to know the full source of it.

The struggle before them continued for an uncomfortably long time. The cages kept squeezing Gohvis and Vanderberk, digging slowly deeper into their flesh. Zeff couldn’t understand what exactly was happening here. It seemed to him that Vanderberk, at least, should have been toast long ago, what with him already being on the verge of death, but maybe it wasn’t the simple.

Then the lines of Vanderberk’s cage began to glow more prominently than that of Gohvis.

And the light spread.

The soul power and ardor spread.

Across Vanderberk’s flesh.

Into Vanderberk’s flesh.

Until Vanderberk himself was glowing as bright as the cage.

And then, suddenly, Vanderberk just... popped.

Out of existence.

Gone. Leaving only fleeting specks of light and soul power behind.

And that disquieted feeling in Axiolis’ mind grew stronger than ever before. The ancient memory that it was tied to grew abruptly clearer.