The Wraith Sovereign Returns to Conquer - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 The villa's defenses did not last long. The Hellfire Titan tore through the front gate and the guards behind it in under a minute. I found Axel on the second floor, trying to climb out a window. I activated the Wraith Dominion, and the entire building became my territory. The walls pulsed with black light, the air thickened, and every shadow in the villa answered to me. With every step I took, the space behind me warped and twisted. Ahand made of pure resentment dragged Axel across the ground like a puppet and dropped him at my feet.

"Long time no see, Axel." I crouched down with a smile and patted his face, which was contorted with fear. "Ghost... you're a ghost..." His teeth chattered and the front of his pants had gone dark and warm. "No. I'm much worse than a ghost." I stood up and snapped my fingers. _Ablurred shadow drifted into view beside me. It was Shade Child, still deep in her dormant state, but recovering fast now that the Wraith Dominion was feeding her. "Let me introduce you to the first member of my family." Shade Child raised her head.

Her hollow eye sockets turned toward Axel and an overwhelming wave of psychic force slammed into his brain. Axel let out a bloodcurdling scream. Blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Images of the dead were being forced into his mind, one after another. He saw civilians he had ordered executed and teammates he had used as bait and left behind on missions. He saw women he had toyed with and thrown away, and he saw me, and the despair and hatred I had felt the moment they tossed me into the horde.

Every sin he had ever committed became the sharpest blade imaginable, and every one of them was carving their pain into his soul on repeat. "No... stop... make it stop!" He howled in agony, his sanity hanging by a thread. "That was just the appetizer." I raised my hand. The C-class Hundred-War Specter reassembled and reformed into a massive black greatsword that radiated death from every inch of its surface. "Wraith Armament. Blade of Judgment." I looked at him the way someone would look at a corpse that had not realized it was dead yet.

"Remember that S-class crystal-core ring on your hand?" I asked softly. "You said my ordinary crystal core was a joke compared to yours." Axel's eyes dropped to his own hand on reflex. The ring that had once filled him with so much pride, the ring that Sasha had lost her mind over, looked impossibly dull now. "So tell me, which one shines brighter, that ring or my sword?" I raised the Blade of Judgment. Across the surface of the blade, countless agonized faces flickered in and out of view, screaming without sound. Axel broke down completely. "Don't kill me! Nico, I was wrong!