Return of the Legendary Runesmith-Chapter 540 - 539- Against Elana

Last night, Elana could not sleep.

Each time she closed her eyes, fragments of a distant past surfaced. Faces of people kneeling in worship. Others dying in her name. Some trembling in fear at the mere thought of her presence. Yet deep down, she knew they were not bowing to her.

They were revering the one whose memories she was witnessing.

She could not tell where she was or even what she truly was in those visions. But the mind she had intruded upon belonged to someone with overwhelming influence among the Acolytes, at least that was the closest term she could find to describe them.

All night, she watched them perish.

Golden light rained from the heavens like shards of judgment, descending upon the Acolytes and erasing them without mercy. Their bodies dissolved. Their existence was wiped away as if they had never been born.

And through it all, she sat high above the chaos, observing the destruction with an unflinching gaze.

She was nothing more than an observer, even though those people were clearly fighting in her name.

She had never experienced anything like that before. Ever since discovering her connection to Nytharos, she had forced herself to prepare mentally for the unknown. But this... this was beyond anything she had imagined.

Despite her strength and the reputation that followed her, she was still just a young girl who had never witnessed a real war with her own eyes.

Watching one unfold through someone else’s memories, and from such a close vantage point, left her deeply shaken.

She did not show it in front of Adrian this morning. She maintained her composure, spoke normally, and carried herself as she always did. But the dream clung to her mind like a shadow that refused to fade.

It was only because of his presence that she managed to stay grounded. Yet at one moment, when she lost sight of him, she felt herself slipping, sinking once again into those memories.

And the next thing she saw was her own hand wrapped tightly around her beloved’s neck.

...

"Ghk... E-Elana?!" Adrian stumbled backward, but she followed without hesitation. Her fingers tightened around his throat, her grip crushing, her eyes brimming with unmistakable bloodlust.

She tilted her head slightly.

"You have been in the way for far too long," she said.

But that voice was not hers.

It carried an ancient weight, something cold and detached. "A manipulative bastard... someone who can even force a deity to change their mind, hm?"

Adrian’s vision began to blur. Without wasting another second, he activated teleportation and vanished from her grasp.

Her fingers closed around empty air.

Elana snarled and slowly turned her head, searching.

"Trying to run?" she asked calmly as Adrian reappeared near the door.

"Locking us in," he replied.

He pressed an artifact against the door. Instantly, glowing runes spread across its surface, weaving into a complex seal that locked the entire room.

He could not allow her to leave.

Not until he brought Elana back.

As he watched her chuckle, her posture loose, her smile twisted, ancient engravings flickering faintly across her skin, he understood the situation.

’Nytharos is using her to kill me.’

[It cannot be confirmed, Host, that the Fallen God is directly controlling her. However, there is undeniably a divine presence surrounding the subject.]

Adrian teleported again just as Elana hurled a barrage of ice lances at him. They tore through the space he had occupied and pierced deep into the walls, leaving jagged craters behind.

She did not pause for even a breath.

Her heel slammed against the ground.

The moment Adrian reappeared, ice spikes erupted around him in a violent bloom. Three of them drove cleanly through his thighs and calf, pinning him in place.

A sharp breath escaped him.

’She is tracing my mana... I cannot keep teleporting like this.’

He forced another teleport despite the pain. Elana moved the instant he did, as though she were tethered to his very presence.

Her hand rose calmly.

The moment he materialized, a storm of frozen projectiles shot toward him.

This time, Adrian was ready.

THAK

He fired a single bullet.

It collided with the incoming barrage and detonated, the explosion swallowing the ice in a burst of heat and force, vaporizing the projectiles before they could reach him.

The observation table split down the middle, and loose notes scattered across it caught fire in the aftermath of the blast.

Using the thick smoke as cover, Adrian steadied his breathing and asked inwardly, ’How do I bring her back?’

[The host already knows the answer.]

He clicked his tongue, whether at the system’s cryptic reply or the attack forming ahead of him, even he did not know.

Three massive ice blooms erupted around him without warning. He had no choice but to teleport again.

A fraction of a second later, the blooms detonated outward like a crashing tide. The workshop trembled violently under the impact, and the back wall partially collapsed, chunks of stone and debris raining down as frost swallowed the fractured remains.

"Heh... you are quite slippery. But how long will you keep running when I kill your favorite student right in front of you?"

Adrian’s eyes widened as her silhouette sharpened through the thinning smoke.

Elana stood there, a sharp ice spike forming in her hand. She raised it before her chest, a menacing grin spreading across her face.

For a split second, his mind went blank.

The possibility became reality in his head.

He moved.

He teleported directly in front of her.

The silver-haired girl grinned wider, as if she had anticipated this exact reaction. In one swift motion, she twisted her wrist and drove the spike forward.

"Caught you."

A muffled groan escaped Adrian’s lips as the ice spike pierced through his chest, striking straight toward his heart.

Blood surged up his throat as he clamped his hand around her wrist, stopping the spike from driving any deeper into his chest.

For a brief second, their eyes locked.

Her irises were shifting in color, something divine yet malicious stirring within them. The glowing marks etched across her skin burned brighter, pulsing with a will that was not her own.

With a sharp burst of strength, Adrian twisted her wrist until it snapped, then wrenched her hand away in one swift motion.

Elana, or whatever was controlling her, narrowed its eyes.

But before it could react, Adrian moved again.

He grabbed her and crashed his lips against hers.

Her eyes flew wide open.

The glowing engravings across her face began to scorch and peel away as if seared by invisible flames. Her body trembled violently under the surge of conflicting forces tearing through her.

It was the roughest kiss of his life, desperate and unrestrained.

But it was necessary.

He forced her back against the wall, gripping both her wrists and pinning them above her head as he kissed her again, leaving no space for distance between them.

At first, her body resisted, tense and unstable. But slowly, the color in her eyes began to return to normal. Her breathing turned uneven, no longer from rage, but from the storm of sensations overwhelming her. The ancient marks faded bit by bit until they disappeared completely.

The strength drained from her limbs.

She sagged against him, relying entirely on his hold to remain standing.

Through half-lidded eyes, she saw him. The familiar face. The unfamiliar warmth of his lips against hers.

Adrian pulled back slightly, studying her gaze with intense focus. When he saw clarity fully return, relief flickered across his expression, and he began to withdraw, his hands releasing her arms.

But then her fingers tightened weakly against his shirt.

"Not enough," Elana whispered.

She leaned forward and pulled him back into another heated kiss, this one desperate, grounding, and undeniably her own.

She had waited for this for so long, to become one with the person she loved. She had imagined this moment countless times. Now that it was finally happening, no matter the circumstances that led to it, she did not want it to end so quickly.

Adrian let out a quiet breath and did not pull away.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, allowing her easier access, letting her take the lead.

She was clumsy and inexperienced, but the raw emotion behind her kiss reached him clearly.

He did not fully return her feelings, yet he did not reject them either.

When their lips finally parted, her eyes were moist.

She rested her forehead against his chest, her breathing still uneven.

Adrian gently stroked her hair and asked softly, "How do you feel now?"

Elana took a deep breath before answering honestly. "Relieved. Excited. And... so many other emotions I cannot even name."

He nodded. "I understand. Do you still feel their presence?"

She blinked. "The strange voice in my head? No. It is gone."

Adrian breathed out in relief, "Glad to hear that."

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A/N:- Thanks for reading. Drop a comment.