The abomination charged, its grotesque body lurching with unnatural speed. Its misshapen limbs ended in claws the size of swords, and its patchwork skin oozed black ichor with every movement.
"Stay back!" Veiss barked at Kaela, shoving her behind the wreckage of a broken stall.
The creature roared, its voice a deep, guttural bellow that reverberated through the ruins. Veiss didn't hesitate. He charged forward, Umbraclaw gleaming in the faint light of the Black Sun.
The creature's massive claw came down in a sweeping arc, aiming to cleave him in two. Veiss rolled beneath the strike, his blade slashing across the monster's side. The jagged edges tore through flesh and bone, but the wound barely slowed it.
"Lyris!" he shouted.
The assassin was already moving. She darted behind the creature, her twin blades slicing into the tendons of its legs. The monster let out a pained howl, staggering as its movement faltered.
"Go for the joints!" Lyris yelled, dodging a wild swing from the beast's arm.
Veiss didn't need to be told twice. He lunged forward, driving Umbraclaw into the creature's knee. The blade sank deep, and the monster's leg buckled beneath it.
It crashed to the ground, shaking the earth with the force of its fall.
"Finish it!" Veiss roared, pulling his blade free.
Lyris leaped onto the creature's back, her blades flashing as she stabbed repeatedly into its neck. The ichor sprayed like a geyser, coating her in its foul, sticky substance.
The creature thrashed violently, its claws tearing through the air in blind fury. One of its massive limbs caught Veiss across the chest, throwing him backward into a crumbling wall. The impact sent a shock of pain through his ribs, but he forced himself to stand.
Before the creature could recover, Veiss charged again. He drove Umbraclaw into its chest with all his strength, the blade plunging deep into its heart. The weapon pulsed, its dark surface glowing faintly as it drank in the monster's lifeblood.
The abomination let out one final, gurgling roar before collapsing, its massive body twitching spasmodically before going still.
Veiss staggered back, his chest heaving as he wiped the ichor from his face. Lyris hopped down from the creature's back, her movements swift and graceful despite the gore that covered her.
"Well," she said, catching her breath. "That was disgusting."
Veiss didn't reply. His gaze shifted to Kaela, who peeked out from behind the stall where he had left her. She looked small and terrified, her wide eyes fixed on the monster's corpse.
"You alright?" Veiss asked, his voice rough.
Kaela nodded, though she didn't move from her hiding place.
"Veiss," Lyris said, her tone sharp.
He turned to see her standing over a figure crawling from the shadows—a cultist, his mask shattered and his body covered in blood. Despite his injuries, the man's eyes burned with fervor.
"Leave him," Veiss said, his grip tightening on Umbraclaw.
The cultist coughed, blood dripping from his lips as he looked up at them. "You… cannot stop it," he rasped. "The Black Sun… rises."
Veiss stepped closer, his blade glinting ominously. "You should've stayed down."
The cultist laughed, the sound wet and choking. "The girl," he wheezed, his gaze shifting to Kaela. "She is the vessel. The Harbinger. You cannot fight what is already written."
Kaela flinched at his words, her small hands clutching at the edges of her cloak.
"Shut up," Veiss snarled, raising his blade.
The cultist ignored him, his gaze locked on Kaela. "You feel it, don't you, child? The pull of the Black Sun? It calls to you… You are its chosen—"
The jagged edge of Umbraclaw silenced him mid-sentence, the blade slicing cleanly through his neck. His head hit the ground with a dull thud, his blood pooling beneath him.
Kaela let out a small gasp, her trembling hands covering her mouth.
"Enough," Veiss said, his voice cold. He wiped the blade on the cultist's robes and turned away.
"Was that necessary?" Lyris asked, raising an eyebrow.
Veiss glared at her. "Yes."
Lyris shrugged, sheathing her blades. "Fair enough."
Kaela stepped out from behind the stall, her wide eyes still fixed on the cultist's lifeless body. "What… did he mean?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Nothing," Veiss said sharply.
Lyris shot him a pointed look but said nothing.
Kaela didn't argue, but the fear in her eyes deepened. She stayed close to Veiss as they moved deeper into the ruins, her small hands clutching at his cloak like a lifeline.
The prophet's words echoed in Veiss's mind, gnawing at him like a festering wound.
She is the vessel. The Harbinger.
He didn't believe in destiny. Not anymore. But the mark on Kaela's chest and the cult's obsession with her were undeniable.
If she truly was what the cult believed, then his mission had just become infinitely more complicated.