Chapter 232: Tether of Death
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The planet trembled as if the fabric of death itself anticipated what was about to come. Arthur floated there, a dark silhouette against the already cracked Black Central Battery. Hal Jordan hovered at his side, the glow of his white ring illuminating the darkness like a beacon that didn’t belong in this abyss. One shone with life, the other, shadow. Two forces born to oppose this abomination, finally side by side.
Arthur raised his hand, the Doomsday bone gauntlet, his right clenched into a fist wrapped in pulsing shadow. Hal mirrored him, the white ring glowing with each steady breath he drew.
Arthur’s voice was low, and calm. "Charge your will, Jordan. We will strike this harder."
Hal’s jaw tightened. He nodded in agreement. The white ring pulsed once, twice then blazed outward. The light it shed was warm yet searing, washing over the cracked ground and peeling the black rot from stone. Around them, shadows writhed in response, Arthur’s own ring answering the call, spilling tendrils of shadow violet light that carved through the air.
Nekron’s projection rippled, its scythe dragging along the air with a hollow scrape that set teeth on edge. "You think this matters? Light and shadow cannot undo what is eternal you fools!"
Neither man turned.
"On my mark," Arthur muttered, violet eyes flashing as the veins of power crawled up his neck.
The shadows around his hand condensed, coiling into a single massive sigil that beat like a heart of darkness. At his flank, Hal inhaled, his aura flaring, a storm of white lances forming behind him like wings of a phoenix.
Black Hand thrashed weakly in the grasp of Ring, his head jerking against the chains of shadow. "No... NO! I am Nekron’s herald! I will not.." Ring’s fingers clenched tighter, and the chains tightened, grinding into his ribs until a wet crack echoed. His voice broke into a rasping scream.
Arthur didn’t even glance his way. "Steady.."
That word, tossed like ash, made Nekron’s projection pulse with fury, the hollow sockets burning cold. "You dare ignore the embodiment of death?!"
"Jordan," Arthur snarled, cutting across the void, "now."
Their rings ignited.
A torrent of shadow erupted from Arthur’s Ring, a beam so dense and violet it warped the void around it, dragging streams of black lightning in its wake. Hal unleashed his own, a spear of living light that cleaved the abyss in two. The moment they met, white and black-violet swirled and clashed not against each other, but in concert, their resonance screaming like stars colliding.
The Black Central Battery trembled.
Cracks deepened along its surface, each fissure bleeding oily smoke and necrotic fire. Nekron’s voice boomed, "STOP!"but it was lost beneath the roar of their combined assault.
Arthur’s teeth bared in a snarl, sweat beading along his face, the glow in his eyes sharpening to a feral glow. "Hal..push harder! Pour it in! Drown the damned thing in power!"
Hal grit his teeth, every muscle taut, the white ring flaring until it hurt to look at. "That’s what I’m doing!"
Arthur’s free hand stretched out, and a surge of power cascaded forth like a tidal wave, wrapping the torrent and forcing it deeper into the Battery’s heart, Ruler’s Authority ignited. Hal’s light answered brighter, hotter until the two became one cataclysm of annihilation.
The Black Central Battery screamed.
A deafening crack split the void. The structure shuddered once, twice, and then shattered.
The explosion was apocalyptic. A shockwave of black shards and searing energy ripped outward, turning the surrounding terrain into powder. shattered like glass, rings, black flickered and died under the force. Hal was thrown like a comet, white light trailing from his body as he crashed into the distant dark. Arthur was flung the opposite way, shadow constructs coiling to shield him.
For a heartbeat, there was no sound but the dying of the black energy from the Battery’s remains, its pieces scattered like bones across a battlefield of nothingness.
Arthur floated in the aftermath, shoulders rising with a ragged breath, his gaze cutting through the smoke to the void where the Battery had stood. His lips twisted into a sharp, humorless smile. "About damn time."
Hal staggered upright in the distance, shaking his head as his ring recalibrated, a ghost of disbelief tugging at his mouth. "You weren’t kidding," he rasped. "About everything."
Behind them, Nekron’s projection writhed in silence, its form momentarily flickering as if its tether had been cut. Black Hand lay twitching.
The air still pulsed with the aftershock of the Battery’s destruction. Chunks of broken stone and shadow drifted through the dead skies of Ryut, glowing faintly with the residue of shadow and white light.
Arthur drifted slowly, cloak billowing, his violet eyes narrowing at the sight before him. Scar’s body lay still at last, collapsed into nothing more than a husk of rotting flesh. No regeneration. No rings seeking her corpse. Her existence had been severed clean.
But Black Hand...
Arthur hovered above him, frowning. William Hand was sprawled across the fractured ground, his flesh caved in where Ring had crushed him, his body twisted and broken. Yet his chest rose barely. His black ring still flickered, stuttering like a dying fire that refused to go out.
Arthur’s jaw tightened. ’How?’ His mind growled the question even before his lips gave it voice.
"...How is he still alive?"
Hal Jordan floated beside him, the white aura flickering he followed Arthur’s stare, his own expression dark with mistrust. "The Battery’s gone. Nekron’s projection is gone. This..." he gestured to the wreckage of Black Hand’s body with a bitter twist of his mouth, "...this should be it. We did what we came here for. We should get back to Earth. And make sure everything is fine."
Arthur didn’t move. His gaze was fixed entirely on Black Hand, his lips curling into something almost predatory. "No. I can’t take that risk. He isn’t just another corpse wearing a ring. He’s Nekron’s chosen, his herald. Battery or no battery, he is his tether afterall. If he lives, Nekron lives."
His voice dropped lower, colder. "And I don’t intend to leave loose ends."
Arthur descended, boots cracking the shattered ground, his hand raising as the Promethium blade appeared into his grip. His eyes locked on Black Hand’s ruined body. "It’s just you now, William. Let me put you out of your misery."
He lifted the blade...and then froze.
A voice, deep and resonant, thundered not from the void around him, but from inside his skull. A tone he had not heard in a while, one that hummed with power so absolute it pressed against his bones.
"Wait."
Arthur’s body stiffened, eyes widening as the violet glow flared within them. His lips parted as the voice filled him again, colder yet strangely calm.
"Touch his ring. And I shall do the rest."
Arthur blinked, his focus breaking for a moment. A slow, incredulous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "...Been a while since you decided to speak." His tone was dry, almost amused.
Hal shot him a sharp look. "What? Who the hell are you talking to?"
Arthur exhaled through his nose, the faintest of sighs, then tilted his head toward Black Hand’s trembling form. "Very well," he murmured, more to the unseen voice than to Hal. His cloak shifted as he crouched, bringing himself eye level with the broken herald.
Hal’s brow furrowed, his instincts twitching uneasily. "Arthur..."
Arthur ignored him. He reached forward, hand hovering for a beat over the flickering black ring on Black Hand’s finger. Then, with calm slowness, he pressed his finger against it.
The reaction was immediate.
A surge of energy tore through Arthur like a wave, exploding outward in a silent quake that rippled across the dead ground. His eyes flared so bright they burned violet-white then snapped shut. His body jerked once, violently, before his entire form slumped. He remained kneeling, unmoving, his head bowed and hand still pressed to the ring.
Hal’s heart skipped. "Arthur!" He dropped beside him instantly, grabbing his shoulder. Arthur’s body was warm, alive, too alive. The readings from his ring told him his vitals were steady, heart rate calm, breath slow and deep. But his mind... gone.
Jordan’s pulse quickened. He shook him once, harder. "Hey..Arthur. Snap out of it. Can you hear me?!"
Nothing.
Arthur’s expression was unnervingly calm, like a man lost in sleep. His chest rose and fell evenly, untroubled by the voices around him. It was as if the battlefield had ceased to exist for him.
Hal cursed under his breath, fear edging into his voice though he tried to smother it with frustration. "Damn it... he really passed out.. This Arthur..."
He looked at the black ring beneath Arthur’s finger, his teeth grinding. The thing pulsed faintly, its energy crawling like rot against the blinding white of Hal’s aura. Every instinct screamed at him to destroy it, to pull Arthur away but something warned him not to.
Hal Jordan who had faced Parallax itselt found himself hesitating.
"Perfect," he muttered. "We blow up a nightmare battery, took down a corpse of a Guardian, and now you decide nap time is a good idea."
He stood, giving Arthur’s limp form one last glance. The man didn’t so much as twitch. Hal exhaled sharply through his nose, shaking his head.
"You know what..." His lips twisted into a wry smirk, though his eyes stayed sharp. "...I’ll leave you to it. Whatever weird shadow-ghost-ring séance you’re having, don’t let me interrupt."
He floated a few feet up, ring already flaring with white fire as he turned toward the dark horizon.
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
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If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
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You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want