Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 268: CCLXVIII. The Blood-soaked Hands

He totally ignored Dag, that had turned his face slightly, ready to dodge an attack from behind and stopped in the rear of Freydis, pointing his hard hooves onto the ground to slow down.

"Roar! Come back here, we're not done with you yet!" Ellen yelled, afraid to get too close to the girl possessed by that dark power.

The beast-man rose again on two feet, standing behind Freydis as if he was her bodyguard, ready to sacrifice his own life in case of need.

"I did what you have asked me, eternal lords of the cosmos! I brought you to the boy who exterminated the inhabitants of the island, my only home... I'm up for anything to see him dead!" Roar said as she continued to keep that gloomy, inexpressive expression, her purple and black eyes staring at Dag, never looking away.

Before Dag could speak, Freydis, floating inches above the ground, quickly flew toward him, throwing a fist.

The shot was so fast that he could barely move the hammer, raising it forward to parry it.

Freydis's fist hit the head of the hammer, which on the impact, was pushed against Dag's chest, which was forced to back down to cushion the blow.

After the first punch, two more followed, so rapid that they were almost imperceptible.

They both scored, hitting Dag first on the side, then in the stomach and causing him to bend in two in pain, breathless.

Seeing his opponent kneel, Freydis hit him mercilessly again, kicking him in the chest, causing him to end up back on the ground, while the two dark arms managed to soften the impact.

She began to move again towards him, floating from the ground, arms open downwards.

Dag rose hard, trying to catch his breath after those extremely powerful blows.

On Freydis's right arm, the dark veins began to swell and solidify on her skin, turning into the same shiny, sharp rock that she just fired in the form of shards.

"Oh my goodness... Freydis, what did they do to you... " Ellen whispered, managing to see her student more closely, as the rock enveloped her arm taking the form of a huge blade, so long that it almost touched the ground.

Meanwhile, Reidar held out the Failnaught, loading an arrow and pointing it at Freydis: although his aim was impeccable, from that distance it was virtually impossible to hit the lower part of the girl's neck, on which the rune was engraved. 

Besides, her rapid and unpredictable movements made it even more difficult to execute the blow, and the archer knew that the slightest mistake would be fatal.

Similarly, Gridd looked at his brother and then Freydis, slowly retreating as the fight approached them, managing to feel the incredible strength of the girl, whose power was far beyond her abilities.

If she had stepped in to help Dag, she would probably have been just getting in his way.

Sander placed a hand on Ellen's shoulder, pulling her slightly backward, inviting her to move away from that position, too close to the two challengers, who in the next few minutes would start fighting again without controlling their strength.

On the other side of the arena, Karl was alone, with Sivert's corpse a few feet in front of him, immersed in his own blood, flowing inside the hollows of the soil dug by the shaman as he drew the rune. 

The young warrior narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the scene: it seemed that from under Sivert's corpse, a kind of yellowish glow rose from the ground, in the form of microscopic luminous particles floating up to the sky.

While Roar was enjoying the fight between Freydis and Dag, looking forward to the young Master's defeat, Karl slowly descended the temple stairs, trying not to be seen.

Freydis opened her arm with the large blade wrapped around it and tried to hit Dag with a slash, but this time he managed to parry it, deflecting it with the Giantbane, which skimmed that obsidian-like rock and emitted orange sparks.

The girl continued to hit Dag, who, due to the speed of her opponent's attacks, could only defend himself and step back, not wanting to counter Freydis, risking to kill her.

When Karl arrived near Sivert, he lowered towards him and slowly moved his corpse from the rune.

The glow coming from it increased, continuing to move with ascending motion, through the red blood and the earth moved by the impact of the shaman's body.

"Ansuz... must be a very powerful rune... how does it work? He talked about Odin, trying to plead for his help... the old man was right about the wound, I should have listened to him and cut it off before it infected my sister... Sivert, what's this rune for? Why did you draw it here just before you died? How the fuck can I activate it?!" Karl thought, trying not to panic and reason about the words spoken by the sorcerer just before he died.

As Dag and Freydis continued to struggle, hitting each other with slashes and lunges and moving at great speed, Karl knelt in front of the pool of blood covering the rune, mirroring himself inside. 

He sighed and, not knowing what else to do to help his companion and sister, plunged his hands into the Shaman's blood, hoping that something would happen, but to no avail.

The faint glow continued to move upwards through his hands, completely soaked in blood.

As he tried to concentrate, Karl was distracted by a violent noise, followed by a cloud of dust rising by the bottom of one of the walls of the Altar of the Raven's Square.

From the rubble sprang out of Dag, who did not have time to stand up and was struck again by Freydis, whose attacks were incessant and incredibly effective.

"Dag! I know what you're thinking! But right now, she's not who you think she is... they have control over Freydis, they have completely obscured her soul, look at her! You have to fight seriously brother, you are our only hope! Do it for us and all the innocent citizens of Skjegg, some of whom have already died trying to counter that bastard demon!" Gridd shouted, referring to Roar, who kept looking intently in that direction, with a grin painted on his face, during which he showed his sharp teeth covered in blood.

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