69 A Fate Decided

Looking down at the fog below me, I keep my distance. My regeneration has healed any wounds I had as my head feels heavy from the endless barrage of illusions thrown at me.

'I don't think he has any power to heal himself.' I think to myself as I touch my neck. The strong grip he held upon it was quite intense. He even managed to pull off some muscle tissue.

Seeing the fog below me, I dispel my blood-bound spear before summoning some dark magic to swallow the fog and all signs of life and mana inside it. Nothing appears to be in the fog as a faint presence could suddenly be felt behind me.

"Do you truly think I would fall for the same trick twice?" I ask out loud towards the presence behind me.

I turn around grabbing the glaive that's thrust towards me as the chains embedded in my sleeves lash out towards Aeron. He goes back to his ethereal form, the chains are incapable of binding him and his glaive no longer damages my left hand. The chains that are under my complete control, do not dissipate as they surround the ethereal wraith knight.

"You're quite the handful. Your glaive is capable of dispelling any attack created of mana, well at least the ones I create from a distance as for some reason it appears you can't dispel my spear. If I had to guess it might have to do with the fact that because it takes the form of a weapon it will also be considered a physical weapon, but that theory is for a later date." I say towards Aeron as the wound on my left hand heals, my tone is calmer and colder than before.

He does not answer and does not move from the spot he's flying in. The chains are completely under my control, after all, so he has to stay in his ethereal form to avoid getting bound by these chains. But in his ethereal form he's unable to stop any distance spell and since I'm floating right next to him, the chance of missing seems rather minimal.

"Why don't you drop your ethereal form, you can't be bound right?" I ask looking Aeron dead in the eyes.

"…."

He doesn't answer still looking at me with those disdainful eyes.

"Well, you're right the chains don't actually bind you in place. I was hoping that you would think so and drop your form. But you are indeed far more experienced than I am in dueling, so I guess you must have recognized the magic." I continue to speak to Aeron, not satisfied with the silence.

"These chains have multiple purposes you see, I can command them to bind someone, or I can command them to attack the soul. At the moment they're desperately searching for your soul and that might be problematic for you. You're bound to another after all so can you truly risk it even if I fail at annihilating your soul there is a high probability that I will damage both your souls." I say, pointing down to the crowd below.

"You're bound to the soul of your queen, right? What a shame, I probably wouldn't be able to attack her soul directly but if I use your soul then who knows." I say towards the loyal dog of the wraith queen. His eyes finally shake a little bit, seemingly shocked that he could be the reason that his queen might get hurt.

"What would happen if I devour your soul? Would I also devour a part of hers or would the link between you break?" I ask, not really wanting an answer. I just want to break him mentally before I kill him. Just like how he used my past to try to win, I will now use his loyalty towards Anima to torture him.

"Don't worry too much Aeron, I will personally make sure that you don't have any guilt when you pass. Because I don't want to just kill you, my dear Aeron." I say as I float closer to the ethereal wraith knight, I hold out my hands towards his cheeks. I'm not capable of truly grabbing them because of his ethereal form, but that doesn't matter.

"I don't want there to be an "after" for you at all. I make sure that your entire existence will never dirty another place again." I say towards him, my mood has improved tremendously looking at how his eyes filled with hatred and disdain are starting to break into those of fear and guilt.

"So why don't we make a deal, break the soul link with your queen down below and I will only completely devour your soul. What a fantastic deal, right?" I say, bringing my mouth closer and closer to his.

Aeron is clearly conflicted, he does not want to be the reason his mistress got hurt but the proposal of dying and being completely eradicated also doesn't seem very exciting. He does not regenerate thus the fight has already been won, and even if he refuses to leave his ethereal form. He will just be tortured until he's forced to drop it. The wraith knight can try to surrender, but I won't be accepting it, either way, so he's completely stuck.

"Well, what's it going to be, Aeron? Are you a good dog or a disobedient one?"

His ethereal form drops as a small snapping sound could be heard, the soul link is broken. My chains immediately attack Aeron.

"Good boy." I say whilst patting the wraith knight. I open my mouth wide agape as I start to devour the soul of the defeated wraith knight.

His spectral essence disperses, his soul doesn't really have a taste. It just felt like inhaling some fog.

'Even when you're dead you manage to annoy me,' I think whilst licking my lips, the wraith queen looks at me with a piercing gaze.

The crowd does not burst into cheers, probably shocked that I decided to eat the soul of my opponent which completely erases any chance of an afterlife he might have had.

Feeling satisfied with the outcome, I land on the ground and follow the priest who has to guide me out. Leaving the silent arena behind, I'm unable to control my laughter any longer.

A peal of maniacal laughter escapes me as an unfamiliar ecstasy courses through my body.