Chapter 436: How Divine
FIA
Sothing in his expression hardened at that.
The air shifted again.
Magic moved fast, distorting the space around him, and then there were three of him, each one identical, each one watching
with the sa cold focus.
I didn’t hesitate.
The broken restraints lifted off the floor before I consciously reached for them, pulled by the sa force that had torn them apart. tal twisted in the air, with the sharp edges catching the light as they shot forward.
Faster than any throw.
They drove straight into the nearest one, punching through his chest with enough force to carry him back and pin him to the wall behind him.
For a second, he stayed there.
Then he dissolved.
Gone like he had never been real.
A fake.
The word settled in my head as the body on the wall disappeared, leaving nothing behind but the mark of impact and the quiet proof that I had wasted energy on sothing that was never real.
I didn’t get ti to sit with it.
The second one ca from my left, fast and silent. I felt the shift more than I saw it, the air moving just enough to warn . I turned into it on instinct, the motion pulling sothing sharp through my side, but I pushed past it and threw the force out before the pain could slow
down.
It hit him square in the chest.
I felt the connection for a split second, like my hand had actually touched him, and then he was gone from the ground, lifted clean off his feet. His back slamd into the ceiling with a crack that ran through the stone, dust breaking loose around him before he dropped.
He didn’t finish the fall.
He burned out before he could hit the floor, his form collapsing into ash that scattered and vanished before it could settle.
Another fake.
My heart was beating too fast now, hard enough that I could feel it in my throat, in my ears, in the spaces between my thoughts. I forced myself to look, to actually see the room instead of reacting to whatever moved first.
Three had beco two. Two had beco one.
Sowhere.
I turned slowly, ignoring the way my body protested, trying to pick through what was real and what wasn’t. The air still felt wrong, too full, like the magic hadn’t settled yet.
There.
In the corner.
Valentine crouched over Number Four’s body, his hands pressed to her arm. I could see the magic moving, flowing out of him and into her, steady and controlled, repairing the damage I had done like it was nothing more than a delay.
He chose her.
His ga had been to distract
and buy ti for himself to bring back his experint from the brink I had sent her, so I would not have to keep hurting her.
Sothing about that did not sit right with . The thought of him still thinking of using our bodies for his own gain.
It made sothing in
snap tight.
I didn’t think. I didn’t asure it. I didn’t hold anything back.
I reached for him with everything I had.
The force that answered felt different from before, not focused, not precise. It surged out of
wild and heavy, like I had cracked sothing open that didn’t know how to close again. I didn’t just want to stop him. I wanted to undo him, to break him down to sothing that had never existed.
He reacted faster than I expected.
Both hands ca up, and the shields ford together this ti, layered and curved, bending in on themselves instead of standing flat between us.
My attack hit.
For a second, it felt like it worked. The impact drove into the barrier, pushing hard enough that the air itself seed to warp around it.
Then it turned.
The curve caught it, redirected it, and before I could pull back or adjust, the force ca back at .
There was no ti to brace.
It hit
full on as I slamd into the stone wall.
The first thing to go was my spine.
I felt it compress and give, a deep, sickening collapse that sent everything else out of alignnt. The pain didn’t stay in one place. It spread instantly, sharp and blinding, tearing through
before I could even process it.
Then my skull.
Pressure built inside my head, crushing down from every side, like sothing invisible had wrapped around it and decided to squeeze. For a second, I thought it would burst, that I would just end there, reduced to nothing under my own power.
Blood filled my mouth.
It ca fast, thick, and warm, spilling over my tongue before I could swallow it. I tasted iron, choked on it, felt more of it push out of my nose, my ears, running down my face as my body gave out beneath .
I hit the ground hard, and everything tilted red.
I couldn’t see properly anymore. The world blurred into shapes and movent behind a veil of my own blood.
"No!"
His voice reached
like it had to travel through water first, distant and warped.
I forced my head to turn.
It felt like dragging sothing broken through sand, every inch resisting, but I managed just enough to see him again. Valentine had already shifted back to Number Four, pulling her closer, his hands still working, still trying to fix her.
He wasn’t going to let her die. I heard him say sothing as he slapped her awake. He wanted her to fix
since he had used most of what he had to give on her already.
It was cruel to witness, and it made
pity her. It also made
understand her perspective. Even if it was just a little bit.
A laugh forced its way out of .
It didn’t sound right. It was wet, uneven, and breaking apart as it left , but I couldn’t stop it. Blood bubbled up with it, spilling past my lips as my chest struggled to keep up with the movent.
My hand pressed against my stomach without
thinking about it.
The skin there was torn; I could feel it even through everything else. What I was most worried about was my baby. But the mont my palm made contact, sothing answered.
The humming ca back.
Not the sa as before.
This one moved faster, louder, not a steady pulse but sothing heavy and driving, like it had direction, like it was pushing forward whether I was ready or not. It was not coming from , though.
Still... it filled , and my body started to pull itself together.
There was no light this ti. No glow, no softness. Just movent. Flesh shifting, bone grinding back into place, organs rebuilding themselves in ways I could feel but not fully understand. It hurt, but not in the sa way as before. This was deeper, more controlled, like sothing inside , my... my baby... had taken over the process entirely.
I dragged in a breath that didn’t collapse halfway through.
Across the floor, Number Four moved.
She was crawling now, slow and uneven, her body still not fully hers, but responding to him anyway. I could feel it, the pull of his control wrapped around her, guiding her closer.
Closer to .
I didn’t let her get there.
I hated what I had to do, but I was going to do it regardless. I reached for her hands.
The force snapped out, sharp and focused this ti, and I closed it around both of them at once.
I didn’t just break.
I crushed.
The pressure built in a single instant and then released.
Her hands burst apart under it, skin splitting, bone shattering outward in a spray that hit
before I could turn away. Blood covered my face, my chest, warm and thick, mixing with my own.
She scread.
The sound cut through everything else, high and raw.
I pitied her so much that her pain could only make
laugh in a manic manner.
Sothing in my chest felt wrong, too light, too open, like whatever had been holding
back before had finally given up. The sound of it, the feel of it, it all fed into sothing I didn’t try to control.
I lifted my head.
My eyes found him.
Valentine was already looking at .
He knew.
I could see it in the way his stance shifted, in the way his hands moved before I even acted.
Three shields snapped into place in front of him.
I struck anyway.
The force hit them hard enough to shatter the first two almost instantly, the sound of it sharp and final. The third held for a fraction longer, just enough to slow the impact before it broke and sent him stumbling back.
He caught himself, but not cleanly.
For the first ti, his composure didn’t fully recover.
I rose.
Not by pushing myself up. Not by standing.
The force lifted , pulling
off the ground like weight had stopped mattering. My body followed it without resistance, though blood was still dripping, and my muscles were still settling back into place as I hovered there.
He stared at .
"What are you?" he asked, and there was sothing real in it now, sothing that hadn’t been there before.
I smiled.
I could feel the blood on my teeth when I did.
"What you wanted so badly to create and failed," I said, my voice steadier than it should have been. "A healer from the age of legend."
I didn’t wait after that.
I threw another attack.
This ti, he was ready.
Five shields ford behind him, layered tight, one behind the other, as he turned and started to move, putting distance between us while the barriers stacked up to take the hit.
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