The Innkeeper

Chapter 1188: Profanite

Giselle paused as she entered the chamber, and laid eyes on exactly what she had been searching for. The chamber lay in shadow, a sanctum untouched by time, it's very air laden with the whispers of ancient secrets. She stepped inside, and felt a shiver of awe and trepidation, her breath catching in her throat as she finally saw what she was searching for. Before her, suspended in the gloom, was the secret treasure of legend, the Sands of Time. It was a small loop, delicate and mesmerising, formed by a few grains of sand that seemed to defy gravity, eternally cascading in a hypnotic fall. The grains glowed with a soft, golden light, creating an aura both surreal and mythic. The power emanating from the Sands was palpable, an immeasurable force that tugged at the very fabric of reality, promising the unattainable, the incomprehensible.

Actually, she had no idea what the Sands did. Standing here now, she could even count how many grains there were, trapped in the eternal loop. There were a mere 13 grains. Yet for these 13 grains, someone had gone through great efforts, carefully orchestrating events billions of years apart.

The fact that someone wanted them hidden so badly told of how gravely powerful they were. It also explained why she had to go through so much effort to get it.

Her heart raced, a blend of exhilaration and dread, as she took a step closer, the pull of the Sands almost irresistible. She was almost there. As soon as she took the Sands, she could go back and end this time bubble herself. But she paused, and her eyes drifted from the sand to a dark corner of the room.

A tall, lean figure emerged from the shadows at the edge of the hall, his presence as stark and cold as death itself. His skin was so pale it seemed translucent, a ghostly white that contrasted sharply with the abyssal black of his eyes, eyes that bore no reflection, no hint of life. He was a wraith in human form, his intent unmistakable. He was there solely to stop her.

"Profanite scum," she said as she looked at one of the dedicated followers of a Defiler. While Deities had religious followers who worshipped a deity, and became a source of power for them Profanites were those who had been defiled by a Defiler. A Defiler was the source of power for his Profanites, which meant that each of them wielded Profane Energy.

They were similar, in a sense, to religious zealots who had been granted power by their deities.

"Now, now, that is no way for a lady to speak," the Profanite said and smiled, revealing his ebony teeth.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, though she knew the answer. They both circled around the Sands of time, maintaining a distance from one another.

"Why, Giselle, I am here to stop you from doing anything stupid, such as taking the Sands away from here."

"This time bubble is about to end. My partner is ending it as we speak. The Sands won't be hidden much longer either way."

"Oh dear, Giselle, you don't fool me," the Profinate said, chuckling. "Who would partner with you? Really, you should come up with a better lie."

Giselle kept her gaze locked on the Profanite. Well, it was too much to hope that he would just leave as soon as he learned that the Sands would be leaving here one way or another. But that meant she might not get enough time to fight him off and go and end the time bubble. She'd have to trust Lex with that.

For a moment, she considered if she could actually trust him with that. If he failed, then she would die, and all of this would be for nothing.

Then she recalled his resolve as he talked about those he needed to save. If nothing else, she could trust that was real. It was foolish, extremely foolish, but she decided to take a gamble.

Even if the Sands escaped the time bubble, they wouldn't end up with her, which meant she'd have to risk everything to get her hands on it now.

She summoned a sword, the sight of which caused the Profanite to grin, and suddenly the battle began.

"If you don't escape now, when the time elapses, you'll die," she said.

"One way or another, I am going to die anyway," the Profanite said with overflowing glee. "I might as well do it while completing the lord's task."

Giselle clicked her teeth and gave up talking. Profanite or not, using Profane energy or not, it was not so easy to stand in her way.

Even a fight of life and death seemed like an intricate dance when she did it. With her nimble manoeuvres and quick strikes, she avoided taking a single hit while slowly wearing down the Profanite, his black blood staining the otherwise immaculate hall.

The more she wounded him, the more frustrated the Profanite became. The most frustrated he was, the more aggressive he became. The more aggressive he became, the easier it was for her to dodge his attacks.

It became nothing more than a matter of time until the Profanite, for all his sacrilegious powers, was brought to his knees. Giselle wasted no time in decapitating him, and then grabbed the Sands, putting them in an appropriate container she had long prepared.

Then she ran. There were precious few minutes left for the time bubble, and if Lex hadn't succeeded yet then he might have run into a problem. At worst, there might have been a Profanite standing guard to block him.

Yet the flow of time was quick and incessant, and before she could reach the hall she felt it slipping away.

Just as she felt all hope was lost, and time was about to stand still, a mighty boom reverberated through the pyramid, its shockwave knocking her back. Before she could get up, and understand what had happened, the entire world began to shake.