The relatively calm atmosphere turned into chaos in an instant. The glass dome above us shattered, and ten Cerpeirs dropped down from above.
I looked around the hall.
We had had traitors among us the whole time.
Half the people in the room drew their weapons and pressed them to the throats of the others. The guards who had been standing around the table were already on the floor with their throats cut. The Cerpeirs moved in on the leaders and their deputies and held knives at their necks.
Weapons were pointed at Lasin and the others too.
Bruno rose slowly and confidently from the table. Ragnar and Mallory did the same.
So they were the traitors.
That was why the investigation had gone nowhere.
Honestly, I was not even surprised. Their behavior had been strange from the beginning.
The Cerpeir who had come down through the dome stepped over to Bruno.
"I have an offer for you," Bruno said calmly to the crowd. "Become my slaves, and I'll let you live."
One of the leaders turned toward him, even with a knife still held at his throat.
"You will sign a magical contract. Here and now."
The black haired leader stood up. Bruno motioned for the Cerpeir to let him go. The man walked right up to him and spat in his face.
Bruno slowly wiped the spit away, pure rage flashing in his eyes.
"You of all people, Zariel," he said quietly. "I thought you would be sensible."
Then he pounced.
He slammed him to the ground with deadly speed and began beating him savagely. Blow after blow crashed into his skull until blood sprayed across the marble floor. Still he did not stop. Only when Zariel's head had become a crushed ruin of blood and bone did Bruno finally rise.
The hall fell completely silent.
"Execute everyone from his district," he said coldly.
Many began begging for mercy. The Cerpeirs dragged Zariel's deputies by the hair and slit their throats. The hall echoed with choking gasps and wet gurgles. Some tried to use healing magic, but that only prolonged their suffering.
After a while, there was nothing left but silence and a heap of corpses.
Bruno slowly turned back to the others.
"So," he said calmly. "Who's next?"
Everything had gone to hell.
Apparently no one was paying attention to me, because no one had put a weapon to my throat.
Bruno walked over to Finra.
"Kneel," he ordered.
"Never," she snapped.
Bruno glanced at the two nearby Cerpeirs.
"Hold her."
They seized her and forced her down to her knees. Bruno bent toward her.
"You've spent all this time trying to destroy the Cult of Truth," he said quietly. "Too bad its true leader isn't here. He would have enjoyed watching you die."
He leaned in closer.
"You knew. No one believed you."
He smiled in triumph.
"A witness crossed our path just yesterday, but we got rid of her before she could say anything."
Tes.
So it was true. Tes really had seen someone absorbing magic.
Absorbing magic was forbidden. The only problem was that it left a trace on the person who used it.
I thought back.
Bruno had smelled strange from the very beginning.
So it was him.
Bruno smiled with satisfaction.
"A few months ago, I became leader of the district and started sending my people to undergo the ritual of magic absorption. Then they brought that power back to me."
He looked around the hall.
"There were more than enough people here who could have threatened me. So they had to be removed."
Finra struggled against the Cerpeirs.
"I've heard your magic is especially effective against Ming," Bruno went on.
Finra bared her teeth.
"I'll save you for later. So. Who wants to live?"
I stayed out of his line of sight.
We had expected something to happen, but not this. It could not end like this.
Bruno turned away from Finra and moved toward the last remaining leader.
I took my chance.
I launched myself forward like a bolt of lightning. I was not especially strong, but maybe it would be enough.
Lasin and Azi were tense as drawn strings. Jurian, meanwhile, was still leaning against the wall as if he hardly noticed the sword at his throat. He was watching me directly. Watching every move I made.
I appeared behind the Cerpeirs holding Finra, and with one swing I cut off one of their heads.
The other had already reacted. He raised his sword and stopped my strike.
I could not afford a long fight.
I feinted from the right. As our blades met, I turned the motion into a looping cut and slashed at his wrist. Blood sprayed. His hand, still clutching the sword, fell to the floor. With my next movement I cut diagonally across his chest. I felt the blade drive through his ribs.
The Cerpeir collapsed.
Bruno turned toward me.
I caught the sharp scent of magic.
I shoved Finra behind me.
Most of the cultists could not rush me because they were still holding hostages. Bruno stretched both hands out in front of him and spread his fingers.
He gathered magic.
There was nothing I could do. If I had been able to control magic myself, maybe I could have stopped it.
I tensed every muscle and raised my sword before me. In the next instant, a blinding orange light burst into existence. I took one last breath and braced for the impact.
Behind me, Finra tried to rise, but she did not have time.
The magic came straight at me.
In desperation, I slashed at that force.
I felt its power. It was enough to wipe a person off the face of the earth. The magic collided with my sword and, somehow, slowed. I held the blade up with everything I had. My hands felt as if they were heating from the inside, as if they were about to melt.
Death was right there.
I gathered the last of my strength and finished the cut.
The magic split.
It divided in two and veered away, weaker than before.
It made no sense, but I was still alive.
I lowered my sword.
Bruno looked horrified. The remnants of the spell crashed into the wall behind me.
I had no strength left to keep fighting.
Everyone in the hall stood frozen in shock.
With the last of my strength, I gave a victorious smile.
And then Jurian stood up.
In a single swift motion, he executed the traitors around him. The others saw their chance and began to fight back. Steel clashed, magic flashed through the air, and the hall erupted into bloody chaos.
A moment ago, we had been sitting through a meeting.
Now the room had become a battlefield.
Ten more heavily armed cultists burst in through the main entrance.
I raised my sword again.
Finra lifted a hand and conjured several blades of light. In the next instant she hurled them at the nearest Cerpeir. They flew like lightning. I barely saw the flashes before they were buried in the skulls of two of them.
The battle had begun to turn in our favor.