Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons 267 CCLXVII. Powers In Contras

"No… Dag?! What do you want to do?!" Karl yelled, after seeing the way his friend had drawn up the weapons.

"I'm going to get that thing out of your neck, Freydis. At the cost of my own life. I just ask you to resist and fight against their control..." he continued, looking up at her with tears in his eyes, as his only purple eye began to shine again, as during the battle on Vaeren Island.

"Dag!" shouted Gridd, still close to Ellen and the others.

He turned back, looking at his sister, who was able to grasp the pain he was feeling at the time. 

"Don't die, brother" the Shieldmaiden replied, trying to convey courage to him.

"Without the warmth of love... what are you living for?" he replied, continuing to cry and then turning back to Freydis, ready to face her, while everyone else kept their distance, realizing that their intervention would be useless, considering the supernatural powers of their new adversary.

To those words, Gridd opened her eyes wide, which became lucid.

"These words... it was an expression Stein always used to say to us when we were kids..." she whispered, thinking aloud and recalling the phrase his brother had just uttered, which brought back many memories of the only father she ever had, who died trying unnecessarily to save his family.

As Dag turned to Freydis, the Giantbane's blade fire rekindled, as did Magni's hammer, which within seconds was surrounded by electric sparks.

The girl pointed a hand at him, in the same way she had done just before with Sivert, whose corpse was still there, ahead of the stairs, above the rune engraved on the ground.

Freydis's red hair began to float upwards as if attracted by a kind of static energy.

"I don't want to fight you, Freydis. Please don't make me do this..." Dag said, with tears streaming down his face, conscious that at that moment, his girlfriend was not in herself and posed a danger to everyone, who had backed down, waiting for his help.

Dark shards began to take shape around her arm as Dag's gaze became more and more resigned.

The girl's expression was serious and insensitive: her feet slowly rose from the ground, until she floated a few centimeters above the ground.

As his arm continued to create those fragments of sharp rock out of nowhere, the dark liquid began to gush out of Dag's back, ready to defend him, avoiding attacking first.

"F... Freydis..." he whispered once more, waiting for her to recognize him.

Regardless of his words, the young Shieldmaiden moved her arm forward, forcefully opening her hand and hurling the dark fragments, which traveled at great speed, towards Dag.

Dag tried to dodge the blow sideways, but the fragments moved with him, following his movements and forcing him to use his power.

The dark fluid, as if instinctively trying to protect his master, covered the open side of his body, letting itself be entangled by the sharp rocks, which remained wedged inside.

Freydis also moved the other arm, repeating the attack, but this time with twice the energy.

Dag's eyes continued to tear and he dodged the second attack, although the others around them could barely see the fragments, which flew at an impressive speed, sticking into the ground behind Dag. 

He snapped at her, pretending to load a hammer blow.

Freydis stood almost still, waiting to defend herself.

Dag identified the exact spot to hit: if to stop Inguz's curse it was necessary to cut the rune scar out of her neck, he would succeed at any cost.

The dark arms behind his back hardened at the extremities as he got closer to her.

While Freydis tried the same attack again, Dag fired a dark beam towards her neck and the blade at its top became so sharp that cut the air in front of him.

Just when he was convinced he could hit the scar, without hurting his girlfriend, something happened that left him and his companions speechless.

Dag paused.

Freydis, who had raised her arm just before, did not use it to attack, but to defend herself: she grabbed the dark blade from Dag's back, blocking its advance.

"What?! How did she do that?!" Gridd exclaimed, unable to hold back her astonishment.

Reidar lowered his bow, wide-opening his eyes and watching the scene.

Dag was still in an attacking position and his long dark arm was stretched out toward Freydis, who clutched it in her hands with ease.

"Did she block it?! What are those powers?! How did she stop me so easily?!" Dag thought, trying to pull his dark arm back, stuck in Freydis's grip, which pulled in turn.

He felt an incredible traction force, so strong that he was forced to break up the fluid of his arm, reducing it to gas, freeing himself from the girl's grip.

Meanwhile, the blood on Roar's neck had thickened and from the raw flesh of his neck, a bundle of nerves slowly hooked to his severed head and approached it, joining it to the trachea that had been shattered by Gridd's sword.

None of the warriors present noticed what was going on, and in just under a minute, Roar's head returned to its place, until he opened his eyes and breathed again.

The beast-man got down on his knees, without making any noise, despite his bulk and looked at Gridd, Ellen and Sander out of the corner of his eye, waiting for the right moment to get up and catch them by surprise.

While the three warriors who had managed to knock him down were focused on watching helplessly at their distressed companion, the goat demon dashed toward Freydis, beginning to run like a fury, on all fours.

Ellen was the first to notice the charge, but she didn't make enough to block Roar's advance, who within seconds had already reached the two challengers.

Chapter end