The Runic Artist Chapter 54: Chapter 373 - Grand Sacrifices

Read chapter 54 of The Runic Artist by Ellake on NovelPedia.

Nate watched as Kiri placed herself between him and the growing fractures in space. The torrent of mana pouring out of the holes, ripped open through the death of the two Pillars, was strong enough that he could see Kiri slowly dissolving before them. Yet, for all the suffering his sister must’ve been experiencing as the pure mana of the Prime Reality blasted towards her, she refused to move an inch. Beyond his sister, Frick had transformed his shape back into the Solaris and appeared to be rounding up Nate’s family and friends. He avoided frowning at seeing Luc, Hildi, Morgane, Jorge, Aisling, and Evindal all included in that group. They should have been safe back on Galle. But it was hard to be angry at them when he was to blame for not checking what Frick had loaded onto the Solaris more carefully. Among them was Camilla, and he watched her for the longest period. While only a second in real-time, felt like forever. His wife was watching him back, fear in her eyes as she was clearly worried for him. Still, she made no move to stop him, and, for that, he was grateful. New Concepts continued to flow into his form, his Vessel now clear as day in the runic tattooed lines written in gold across his form like some kind of ancient god. They told the tale of every idea and pillar of Reality he had connected to so far, and, in those lines, were the cracks in his form. Still, he didn’t stop. Like his sister, he would fight until the very end. With that thought locked firmly in his mind, he whispered two words for Kiri to hear, then set about finishing the task they had started. ************* “Don’t lose.” The words echoed in Kiri’s ear. Though she couldn’t afford to turn and acknowledge her brother, they still gave her the fortitude to keep going. Mana washed over her skin like molten lava, her body, a Divine Vessel, melting under the pressure only to reform. She was Permanent, and she would not lose! But the cracks between Realities were growing bigger. Even she could see that. Soon enough they would wash this solar system clean. Then this universe. This wasn’t some controlled spigot like the Source of Mana, where a limited amount flowed through due to Kali’Terra’s association with the Lord of Constraint. This was a flood, and the dam was breaking. Divine Energy rippled through her form, reforming muscle and skin as fast as it was being scoured clean. The pain was unimaginable, but this was what she had been built for. She would always take the hits so others didn’t have to. In the distance she saw her father get scooped up by the Solaris, his eyes following her until the hatch closed. With his Hunter’s Sight, he could probably still see her. She had no need to hope he was proud of her. No need, because she already knew he was. He would cry if she fell here, as would her mother and Gwen. But that was just how it went. Some stood as the bulwark to defend what was good, and sometimes those defenders fell. A tear rolled down her cheek, not for the pain her body was experiencing, but for the worry in her heart at the suffering her loved ones would experience if she fell. So, she forged on. Unwilling to back down. As the cracks widened, more and more mana began to pour free. Like a tidal wave, it flowed towards her, ready to erase both her and Nate from existence. In the face of such pure destruction, Kiri did the only thing she could to survive it and save Nate. She finally called on her Pillar. Permanence descended all around her. Stars stopped twinkling. The mana flowed around her and Nate, unable to alter them. Though her skin cracked and bled, her Vessel barely able to contain this small mandate of Reality, she held on and, in doing so, bought Nate just a little more time. Her skin started flaking off after five seconds. At ten seconds, blood was weeping from her body like she was an open wound in Reality itself. At fifteen seconds, her organs started failing and she knew she was dying, but still she refused to release her control o