The bridge was to turn into a war zone. As Cecile charged at me. I responded by throwing half a dozen magic orbs at her. Which she made no attempt to dodge. Some of the orbs missed and the ones that did not, she tanked with Catharsis. As the orbs popped on her sword, they broke down into smaller orbs. The orbs were bright enough to blind her. But that didn''t stop her from closing the gap between us.


    "Dodge this!" She yelled. Swinging her sword half a second too early. It was poor footwork.


    "I swear, you are lucky to have that swor-"


    The impact of her sword made my body crumble into dust. Cecile stood there dumfounded.


    "huh!?" She said. Poking my "corpse."


    Cecile had fallen into my trap. I quickly regained form. My menacing shadow towering behind her. I blasted her with a soul blast.


    It was a direct hit, She landed flat on her face. Breaking her nose. As she attempted to stand up, blood started dripping from her face. I blasted her again, with such a violent force that her dented helmet made its way to Norman.


    Pathetic but predictable. Catharsis might produce unlimited mana. But mana has no alliance. Her inability to use it meant that I could cast high level spells without sigils.


    It was time to end this farce. I materialized an ice spear on my hands and made my way to Cecile, who at this point laid half dead. Norman must''ve noticed that I meant to prickle her heart. He attempted to be a hero and ran towards her.


    "No Norman, don''t!", I yelled. Dashing towards him.


    He didn''t understand. There was no way for him to do so. He reached Cecile first.


    "Macer, you can''t do that" He said. "Let''s just go."


    As soon as he stood between me and Cecile. The flow of mana arced then imploded. Catharsis was awake. Cecile raised up less like a phoenix and more like an undead. Her left arm seemed loose. Her body could barely stand. But her eyes glowed with murderous intent. She knocked Norman cold with the back of her hilt.


    "Catharsis" I said. "after all this years, you still look pretty as ever."


    She responded by throwing a blast at me. "You always been a creep."


    "Hey, it''s been years." I said, dodging the long distance attack. "Do I not at least get a ''how are you?'' or perhaps a ''How are the kids?''"


    Catharsis smiled briefly, "You look like shit, getting old?" She said. "Stop moving and you''ll get your well earned rest."


    She intensified the amount of blasts. The ones that I didn''t dodge, I tanked with a reactive mana armor.


    "Yes, my well earned rest." I said. Pulling my robe enough to show my chest. "I still carry your lovely scar."


    "If you don''t have a death wish, then how come you are not attacking back?" She asked. "Could it be that you care about this boy?" She said, then kicked Norman. "I wonder what face you''ll make if I stomp him to death."


    Catharsis started laughing. Then at that moment, the mana in the air started being drained away. This wasn''t her doing. She probably could feel it too. A creature was arriving at a surreal speed.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Awww Macer" She said. "Why that face? Rejoice!"


    Catharsis was a bad liar. I am sure that if she was human she would choose death over dishonor. But as the sword of a hero, she was dutybound by oath to always protect her master.


    I charged at her. Empty handed.


    "Huh!?" The notion that a spellcaster was charging her made her completely freeze.


    Then upon getting closer, I blasted her with bright orbs. Which she naturally repelled. "That trick won''t work twice." She said. Having inherited all of Cecile''s combat memories.


    A brief second before coming within range of her sword I cried my battle cry. "YOU''RE GETTING OLD."


    Catharsis glared at me with hatred. But when she did, I clapped two magic orbs against each other. The explosion blinded her. She swung her ''sword'' with full force.


    I threw myself at the floor. Had I been hit, my remains would''ve scattered up to ten miles away. The sigils which I had placed before the fight started immediately activated. The middle section of the bridge imploded. This sudden force tilted the bridge inward.


    In the blink of an eye, Catharsis was sent nose diving into the river. It made me chuckle. When we all fell into the freezing water, the bridge collapsed under its own weight.


    As predicted. Once we fell to the river, Catharsis relinquish control of Cecile. Which meant that It was up to me to drag everyone out of the river. This heroic deed took a considerable amount of mana, which Catharsis was still not willing to produce. After casting a set of utility spells to prevent hypothermia. I left the two kids, to take care of a bigger problem.


    Neither Norman nor Cecile held any significant amount of mana. That meant that only Catharsis and I were targets. I plunged once again into the river to recover the cursed sword and made my way deep into the forest. At first, the sword cooperated. But once Catharsis, became aware that her owner was safe from danger. She resumed her vendetta. Throwing mental attacks at me. When that didn''t work, she increased and decreased the mana flow. An act which was sure to induce nausea to any spellcaster in the area. I was exhausted. My mana was near depleted. I kept walking, keeping myself from collapsing. The creature did not cease his advance.


    Upon walking a considerable distance, I allowed myself to rest on a tree. Should the creature arrive, the great Macer would be ready, or so I thought. I soon collapsed vomiting blood.


    When I woke up, I was greeted by the creature. Its voice, inhuman. The language that it spoke was abstract, magnificent, and authoritative. I understood every word, despite not ever hearing the language before. But no spell was casted. The creature had no human features, and yet carried a list. Sins they said. They read from the list. Judgment they say. They looked at me, with hundreds of eyes. They had a single body, of symmetrical form. Two rings of sorts. One ring overlapped the other, perpendicular to each other like a cross. This give them the appearance of an empty sphere. The rings had eyes on the rim. They had a nucleus of sorts. The inner center of the sphere had a even bigger eye. Perhaps they had a hierarchy. But they were only interested in one thing, me, or so the angel said.


    The surrounded area around me, was engulfed in an ever expanding and imploding red. I was no longer in a snowy forest, but floating. Everywhere and nowhere at the same time. When judgment started. All the eyes looked directly at me. My past and present. But before they could agree on a judgment, hundreds of souls left my body. All the eyes that not long ago had stared at me, started having a spasm, like worms that had been dug out. "GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY INNOCENT GUILTY GUILTY INNOCENT GUILTYYYYYYYYYY." They say. My surroundings started shaking violently, yet I was standing in no ground. I was neither failing nor ascending.


    Then I heard it, "MACER" a voice yelled. It was Catharsis, in human form.


    "What do you want? I said, "Don''t you see I am too busy dying?"


    She slapped me.


    When I woke up, I was having a spasms on a pool of my own blood. The angel was floating above me, its eyes going amok, and all the souls that I collected in the cemetery were taken slowly being taken away from my body.


    I stood up, with whatever little force I had left. I could feel Catharsis allowing me to tap her unlimited mana supply. I don''t know what she saw, but right now I knew it wasn''t the time to ask. I pooled all of my force into one swing, Catharsis being lovely for once, unleashed a mana cyclone. The blast, followed by the huge bang, was probably seen all the way to the city of Pike. The sky went up in flames.


    "I spread that fucker good" I thought. That was my last thought before my knees gave away.