Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 676: With Might and Main

Argrave had long been imagining what might actually happen when he came to fight Gerechtigkeit. The last thing that he’d expected to be would be a simple man, dressed to impress. He did look very much like the family that he was a part of—he could see traces of both Sophia and Norman on his features. And staring upon him, Argrave could conjure no half-hearted echoes from his distant past. He was only Argrave, in this moment—an S-rank spellcaster, one who had consumed the Fruit of Being, and most importantly to him the other half of Anneliese.

Griffin’s eyes flashed gold, and a spectral Gilderwatcher bridged the air between them faster than Argrave could blink. It coiled around thought itself, paralyzing him. Griffin threw a spear of flame, then leapt after it. Moments before it reached, Argrave shattered the paralysis, swapping places with a blood echo above. The spear changed directions startlingly accurately, and Argrave conjured the black staff Artur had crafted to channel a blade of blood strong enough to bat it aside. A burst of flame blocked his vision, only for Griffin to erupt forth swinging a red sword.

Argrave barely received the blow, pushed back against the towering golden tree. He brought the back of the staff up, hoping to use the Resonant Pillar’s ability to counter to land a solid hit on Griffin. His foe appeared to try and block it with his sword, but moments before it hit, released the blade. All the force of the impact rebounded on the blade alone, and it shot off into the sky, piercing a cloud with such force a great hole opened in it. Griffin slammed his elbow into Argrave’s face, sending him tumbling down through countless golden branches in a shower of leaves.

“Have you come so far to be stricken dumb? Fight!” Griffin’s voice thundered. “Nothing remains for the one who does not give himself whole to this battle. Time itself flows with every blow we exchange. Have you come unprepared?”

Argrave caught a branch, looking up at Griffin above. They locked eyes again, and that spectral snake lunged out to stun him again. Argrave grabbed out with his hand, catching the snake. It bit at his face, hissing, but he pulled fiercely. Griffin was pulled by his eyes forward with it, and Argrave thrust forth his staff like a spear. Griffin seemed well-prepared to block, yet from behind, Argrave had a blood echo send out a lance of blood. The spell struck him in the back, unbalancing him, and Argrave impaled his foe. Argrave tossed the body aside as it faded, then began climbing furiously. His objective was the two blinding lights far above.

“Griffin!” Argrave called out, scrabbling up branches and teleporting with his echoes intermittently. “This fight, our struggle—we don’t need anyone else to interfere. If we’re ever to have an ending to this cycle, we have to agree to block out the Heralds. Refuse them, totally. No deals, no bargains.”

As Argrave grabbed a branch, he heard a whistle pass just by his ear before a knife pierced through his hand, impaling him to the tree. He grimaced, pulling the knife out in time to avoid four more. Griffin stood on the edge of a distant branch, far above, throwing knives with tremendous force.

“You bargain for me to accept death, willingly, should it come for me,” he said dismissively as his knives sought Argrave’s flesh one after another. He scrambled like a squirrel to avoid them. “Honor is not an anodyne for defeat—in fact, it makes the meal taste all the more bitter. None can find solace in honor as they choke on their blood and bile, knowing their dreams are to be killed and their efforts to be stolen. If you stare perdition in the eyes, and the Heralds offer you a trough of disgusting slop… you will eat, Argrave. Such is your nature as a child of the world.”

“And Sophia?” Argrave pressed, gaining confidence enough to catch a dagger in his hand as he hung from a branch. “Is she just caught in the middle?! Your sister, trapped in that prison with Good King Norman for all eternity. Is that your ‘perdition?’ I don’t intend on bestowing such a fate on Sophia. Because either of us—we can give her a way out, if we cooperate and shut out the Heralds.”

move your limbs, Argrave, only one body responds. When you think, only one soul hears it. You are one body inhabiting one soul. Your world is filled with prevaricators and plunderers, and if the Heralds reach out to those dormant forces, they will break rank and break you. If you should jeopardize the cycle of judgment, the Heralds will ensure today’s allies will be tomorrow’s rapists. If neither of us take their deal, they will find another party. The Heralds will grant another the Elysium they offer you, and as payment, they will ask only that your wife, your sister, and all your friends meet gruesome

the branch Griffin stood upon. It broke off from the tree, and as it fell, Argrave began to climb up again. “We’ve

cowed only because you are strong, and they are weak.

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climbed upward with tremendous ferocity, seeking the two stars burning above. When he looked to his left, a great blaze of fire sought him out, roaring from Griffin’s hands. Though he might drop down, he did something unorthodox—he crossed to Griffin’s boundary, enduring

best, you will become as Lorena did; a slave tortured so harshly that she became a proponent of her own misery,” Griffin said as if it were pitiable. “At worst, those you love will be stolen from you, and you’ll be made to watch for all

and he sought refuge atop a large branch, clinging to the trunk of the tree. “You’re describing your life!” He shouted. “Sophia, trapped in Sandelabara—you’re already enduring that punishment. So why do you persist? Why can’t you accept your fate, and give your sister freedom, give us freedom? Is it so terrible to give

“The Heralds will allow neither of us true freedom. Our stewards envision countless ways to keep us spinning. Your world is endlessly complex, with constituents uncountable to call upon and mastermind. They stab our frailties with heartless calculation. If we empty ourselves of weakness, we empty ourselves of strength. My sister is my weakness, and my strength. You possess many such endowments, too. Anneliese, Elenore, Galamon, Durran… many more, and

to know some way to cut them out. There’s got to be

crouched on a higher branch, and Argrave flinched away, expecting an

much with this man.

Lorena’s work on your back. Use the body of the silver knight to do more than free mortals from my influence—use it to exert your own will upon them. Eliminate the possibility of all interference, of all meddling,

in his throat. Griffin suggested not

possess, and steal the souls of mortalkind for yourself. When your world stands fully united in opposition to me, we can be

what he suggested. He and all of his companions had struggled desperately toward such unity, and now, his sworn enemy suggested that he need but reach out