Chapter 36: Chapter 36 – Soul Search

Novus’ head went slack as he floated into the air. Then, Edna gently pressed her index finger against Novus’ forehead and chanted unintelligible words. The words were eerie and gentle simultaneously; if one listened for too long, they would be lulled into a trance.

After a few moments, a white fog drilled out from Edna’s finger, and she closed her eyes in concentration. The white fog ebbed and flowed as it covered Novus’ head and obscured his features.

Edna’s chanting got faster, but despite her concentrated attempts, it felt like she was searching an entire forest for a tiny bug’s soul.

Edna’s brows locked at the same time that Circe began to wonder what was taking Edna so long. Usually, she could casually find a commoner’s soul in less than a second.

“What’s wrong? You can’t connect to his soul?”

Edna shook her head and continued chanting even faster as the amount of white fog produced by her finger gradually consumed Novus’ figure. But, despite the increase of power in her spell, Edna felt like she was getting farther away from finding Novus’ soul.

Ack!

Edna’s chanting was interrupted as her index finger retreated from Novus’ forehead. Her monstrous regeneration quickly healed a trace of a burn mark, but the fact that Novus had subconsciously burned Edna shouldn’t be possible.

“He burned you?”

Circe’s concerned tone mimicked the incredibility of the action, but Edna stubbornly clenched her teeth. It was time for serious action as Edna skipped right to using both her hands and slipping back into the unintelligible chant.

The white fog rolled along Novus’ figure as it drifted down to the floorboards before gently dissipating.

Meanwhile, Circe was getting more concerned as the fountain of white fog drifting from Novus’ figure began scorching the wooden flooring.

“Listen, Edna, maybe we should—”

Gahhh!

Novus released a muffled scream through the white fog. Whatever he was going through inside seemed painful as he hardly let out a peep after being crushed into a wall. It was then that a concerned Goibhniu rushed out from the kitchen.

“What’s going on?”

A surge of heat flashed through the white fog as Edna’s chanting rose to greater speeds and volume.

AHHHH!!

The white fog couldn’t hide the screaming anymore as Novus’ voice rushed through the household.

Circe and Goibhniu both retreated a little farther away. Goibhniu’s tattoos glowed with near activation, and Circe readied her scythe and chain with a flash of her ring. Circe had a bad feeling, and her instincts were rarely wrong.

AHHHH—

…

Suddenly the scream was cut off. The heat brushing against their skin dissipated, and the white fog gathered around Novus gently rolled away.

Edna’s eyes opened, but it wasn’t in triumphant glee.

A feeling of fear that the trio hadn’t felt in a long time appeared. It was the kind of ecological fear a snake might have towards a dragon.

A pair of hands grasped out of the white fog before Edna could act and grabbed her arms. Then, a pair of azure eyes gently opened as Novus’ feet descended to the ground without a single noise. Finally, the last of the white fog rolled away to reveal Novus’ body being healed at unimaginable speeds.

Then, Novus looked at Edna.

Novus’ emotionless glance made Edna shiver. She was a revered powerhouse capable of levelling mountains, but even she felt tiny at this moment.

Tang!

Goibhniu’s runic hammer and Circe’s scythe rebounded off an invisible shield covering Novus. The rebound should have caused a wave of splintering powers that broke apart furniture and levelled the house. But, instead, whatever mysterious power Novus had activated wrapped around him and erased their powerful strikes with ease.

Clank.

Circe dropped her scythe as she rushed to pry off Novus’ hands from squeezing Edna’s arms. After a moment of activation, Goibhniu followed suit as his muscles swelled with his unique strengthening power. However, despite their combined efforts, Novus’ comparably dainty hands wrapped around Edna’s arms without easing off. If it wasn’t for Edna’s Victorian-styled armour sleeves, her arms might have directly broken from the strength squeezing them.

Edna seemed oblivious to it all as her eyes were entranced by the battling azure chains hidden deep within Novus’ pupils. Tints of crimson battled against the chains, and gradually, the chains were losing out.

A deep voice echoed in the trio’s ears.

“Relent.”

After speaking those words, Novus’ eyes closed, and the pressure that kept his hands on Edna’s arms slacked.

Crash!

The intense pressure diverted outwards, and the trio slammed into the semi-singed furniture. They raced back to their feet, only to see Novus slump to the ground, unmoving to the world.

…

…

“Is he dead?”

Blink. Blink.

Edna’s blank face was coloured with emotions again as her taunt nerves kept her ready for a second battle.

“No… he’s immortal. I think. He doesn’t die by normal methods. I’ve tried.”

Edna’s face suddenly winced as she desperately held back the feeling of pain in her arms. Even now, Edna’s natural regenerative powers fought hard to restore her arms, but the lingering power in the squeezed, burned hand marks refused to back down without a fight. To focus elsewhere, Edna began asking herself questions. The most prominent being one that nobody could answer, not even Novus.

What was that?

Edna’s memories flashed the azure-chained eyes, and she shook her head away from those thoughts.

Relent?

The pain overcame her thoughts for a moment as Edna lightly touched the grip marks on her arms.

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Did a god reincarnate? No, there was a trace of a god’s aura, but not enough. The draconic aura was also fighting against it, but he certainly isn’t one.

Edna thought back to the immortals she had faced outside at the obsidian platform.

Xavier told me they would be otherworldly, and he’s got the same distinct foreign soul presence as the other immortals. But there’s something else there that makes him dangerous.

A brief killing intent flared around Edna, but she forced herself to stay calm. But then, a question appeared that made her uncomfortable.

And how did he know about Gaius? When I agreed to protect the island, Xavier told me the immortals would be ignorant of this world.

“Hey, hold out your arms.”

A gentle hand touched Edna’s shoulder, and she nodded to her sister to go ahead and apply an opaque yellow ointment. Circe had already turned from battle mode to healer mode while Edna was in a daze like Goibhniu.

“Reminds me of the old days, doesn’t it?”

A flashing memory of two young girls fighting off neighbourhood bullies crossed Edna’s mind.

“They were a lot easier to deal with.”

Edna’s eyes suddenly focused on Circe’s hands as she applied ointment.

“Circe, your hands!”

The ointment was finally working against the burns on both Circe’s hands and Edna’s grip marks. Nevertheless, Circe was undisturbed as she hushed Edna.

“What are you worrying about me for? You’re the one with major burns on badly bruised skin. Thankfully it's not much worse than Goibhniu’s—Goibhniu! Stop!”

Edna watched as Circe rushed to stop Goibhniu’s hammer from descending on Novus’ head. However, only Circe’s pleading eyes prevented Goibhniu’s violent hammer from finishing the strike.

“We don’t know what happens if you do that! What if he wakes up again like that?”

Goibhniu’s eyes knit in conflict. Gradually, the hammer in his hand flowed back into a tattoo on his forearm. Circe brought down Goibhniu’s hands and began to apply the ointment again. Like Circe’s hands, Goibhniu’s hands were badly burned. All the while, Goibhniu stared deeply at Circe.

“Circe, I’m a smith. A smith that hasn’t been burned in a very long time. Whoever, whatever, he is, he’s a threat that must be erased.”

Edna cut in before Circe could say anything.

“I forcefully tried to interfere with his soul, and you saw how that ended up. I tried killing him physically, but he just regrows like a weed. I don’t dare try anything with his mind. Relent, remember?”

Goibhniu’s brows creased as he thought some unpleasant thoughts.

“I don’t know.”

Reluctantly, Goibhniu kept speaking.

“But we can’t let a Hidden Shadow Disciple live.”

Edna and Circe looked at Goibhniu with shock.

“You’re sure?”

Goibhniu fell with a light pat onto the ground. Memories flashed through his mind as the details around Novus’ appearance all clicked together for him.

“I’m almost entirely sure. He knows about the Covenant. He even said he was a part of it. And he knew all our codenames. The First Smith, the Poison Empress, and the Dragon Slayer.”

Circe revealed her shock while Edna confirmed Novus’ strange knowledge base.

“And he knew about Gaius.”

Goibhniu’s shined with the additional proof.

“See! How could anybody else besides a high-ranking member of the Hidden Shadow know that?”

However, Circe still seemed unconvinced and oddly opposed to the idea. Partly due to her intuition telling her that the affiliation didn’t sit right with her.

“But, none of the Hidden Shadow Disciples have died, and it's not like another member can simply take their place.”

“That’s true. The Hidden Shadow has been laying low for nearly a century now. If one of their members truly died, we would know about it.”

Goibhniu’s smile spread thin in thought as sweat began to perspire across his hairline. Eventually, he made an unhappy grunt.

“I don’t know! Maybe he is a trusted aide for a Hidden Shadow Disciple!”

Circe asked a question that made her instinct feel right. Like she was closer to the truth.

“What if he’s a new member of the Covenant of Light?”

However, Goibhniu shook his head.

“He doesn’t bear the mark. I checked.”

The trio looked towards Novus as Edna extended a finger to his body. White fog like the one that had encompassed Novus earlier drilled out of her finger but was ready to be disconnected from Edna at a moment’s notice. The white fog prodded Novus’ unconscious body as Edna gradually gained the courage to strip the chest armour off his body.

As Goibhniu said, the mark they were all expecting to find wasn’t there.

But that caused Circe to frown as she questioned her instinct for the first in a long time.

Was I wrong?

Nnggg.

A light groan put the trio on high alert as they watched Novus’ fingers twitch.

What Novus would be waking up to was one hell of a misunderstanding.

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