Killian’s red eyes narrowed at his surrendered body.

"Now, let us try again. Where is my sister?"

The tendril reacted to his emotions, slithering towards the object of his anger. Their range quickly shrunk, backing the surrendering orc leader to the wall.

The orc leader recoiled violently, tearing himself away, hands slamming against the ground as he crawled back. The tendrils followed him, not desperately, certain of the kill even as his breathing got heavier.

"I-I will talk." He stopped crawling, turning to Killian with raised hands. The tendrils halted at his knees, just an inch from climbing up his body and sentencing judgment.

"The boss has her at the temple. The priests will stop you but that’s the only way to get to the boss, through the temple." A strained smile crossed his face. "I can take you there—"

Killian turned away, as if it was already over. Behind him, the tendrils continued their advance, crashing on the orc leader who cursed loud as his limbs were wrapped and torn out of his body.

"I told you! I— Arggh!"

His mouth was filled with tendrils, shutting him up and ripping his mouth apart.

Killian calmly walked back to Thistle. "Do you enjoy these things?"

He asked, since her eyes were wide open watching the brutal consumption of the orc leader with a tinge of amusement.

She stepped down from the boulder she stood on to avoid the tendrils. "I am not on the receiving end, so yes."

It was sadistic but it made Killian smile faintly. She tapped the ground, digging her vines into the ground. Her head lifted.

"The temple isn’t close. We’d need to run..."

She trailed off when she was picked up by Killian. "Hold." He pushed his Void-Bat to her hands.

[Capacity: 150 → 165]

"Follow," he ordered the tendrils.

Without hesitation he planted his feet to the ground, and burst off in blinding speed.

He stared down at his boots occasionally, before increasing his pace. The tendrils under his legs bolstered each pace, springing him forward.

"Try again."

Thistle nodded, she flung her arm forward, digging her vines under it. Their speed cut the vines after a second but she got her reading.

"Further ahead is inhabited. Keep going!"

Killian’s speed increased again, with small craters being left on the surface as he moved. The tendrils followed like a pit of snakes and only slowed down to divert.

"Don’t eat them." The order came softly. "They are distractions."

The lunging four-legged beast was stabbed halfway and ripped apart in a second, before the tendrils continued on their path.

Yet their diversion happened more times as the guarding beasts charged at the moving threat only to be sliced without getting close. Killian slowed down and halted at the entrance.

His eyes swept the area, taking notes of the large foreign runes written on the walls that enclosed the entrance. He couldn’t make sense of them, but they looked like warnings.

Thistle dug the ground again, and nodded. "There’s a smaller temple further down. I believe the majority of the inhabitants are in this big temple, so we’d be seeing them soon."

’That means my sister is within the smaller temple.’

’The rest are just more distractions.’

"Or training. They wouldn’t give you enough thrill to unlock the series, but aren’t you curious to try the other skills?"

Killian sighed at the Voice’s remark. There was no thrill to do anything if it meant his most important family member faced an unknown threat. But growing stronger was necessary for saving her and protecting himself from more danger.

So this ’training’ was necessary.

Fire flared from his arms, stretching from his shoulders to the wrist. He stepped into the entrance, signalling his presence as the notes burnt up in dark flames.

His tendrils shrunk back under his feet. He wouldn’t need them for quick kills. He needed to make the effort. "Stay back. Find the particular place in the temple she is in."

Thistle stepped away from the entrance. She looked at the remains of the runes, then nodded once. "Priests and priestesses are as strong as a C-Rank Warden. I heard that once."

Killian’s eyes narrowed at nothing. That might be one of the reasons his sister was caught.

A group of orcs that were only a rank lower than her could weaken her enough for an angel to easily take her away.

"When this is over, tell me how you know so much." He caught the Void-Bat and dagger she threw at him. "Take care."

His flames extended to his Void-Bat, coating it with fire that morphed to black flames. Focusing his mana around his frame, three orbs of fire grew around his frame, swirling in steady circles in front of him.

He kicked the first gate open, and instantly locked eyes with a priest seated on a mat, meditating. A mass of fire grew on his palm, while he stared at the orc calmly seated.

His clothes were more detailed than the ones he had met earlier, and the orc had an upside-down flame necklace on his neck— the symbol of the Light Priesthood.

Killian walked past him, staring ahead at the next gate that opened to an even wider space than the temple. He looked around the temple. He heard the orc move.

"Would you just ignore me and go ahead, Scion of Darkness?"

The mass of fire charged at the priest but he side-stepped, looking at the path it moved with widened eyes.

"You have the Fire—" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

His words stuck in his throat when red eyes stared back closely at him, and the sharp pain of the dagger stabbed him.

He slammed Killian’s chest, making distance between them immediately. His eyes darted about, panicking as he wondered how Killian had closed the distance so noiselessly.

He narrowed his eyes at the spinning space of heat floating around Killian and color drained from his face.

Killian looked back at the next door, then turned his darkened eyes on the priest. "Do we keep going or this is enough for you?"

A soft chuckle left the priest, it grew more unhinged as he straightened his back and revealed the stab wound was healed.

Killian’s brows pulled inward. ’What is this? He can heal himself...?’