Chapter 39: Quasi Domain
Han’s exploration of Hanna’s mouth went so well that she ended up on his lap. He held her close and kissed her lips, face, and neck. His lips grazed her warm skin, his nose flared at her scent, and his hands kept roaming her body. He didn’t care about place, time, or situation. Not when she tasted like this.
Waves of immense mana pressure washed over him. Han didn’t stop enjoying Hanna. Beside him, Denver’s hands shook on the reins. He already smelled blood and wondered how Han could make out with his maid here.
Above them, Xena and Bellatrix watched the battle. Tenaxis and Dark Practitioners didn’t worry them. The spilled blood did. How hard had both sides gone? How many pointless deaths?
It was easy to tell which thought belonged to whom.
Soon the horses wheezed, loud enough to draw Han’s eye. There, he saw a man clutching the stump on his left side where his arm should have been. He bled and sweated, drained by wounds and mana loss. He scowled and looked toward the horses, then the driver’s seat.
One glance told him countless lives hid behind Han and the others.
"A slave merchant, huh? Let’s make a deal, dude! I’ll give you a piece of my essence, and you give me five lives so I can heal myself! Deal?" the man asked.
Han rolled his eyes at Denver. "Dude, your carriage is easy to see through. Couldn’t you have done something to keep your secret from getting out?"
"Young—Han, I’ve been cutting costs this month. The competition in this business is fierce," Denver explained, quickly correcting how he addressed Han. "And he’s no mere Dark Practitioner if he can sense lives from that far, through us and the carriage. He’s dangerous."
"I can tell," Han replied. His deal reeks, too. If he heals, he’ll just kill Denver and take back his essence.
His mana pressure wasn’t as strong as others’. He was probably testing his luck. He’d taken a bad wound from someone stronger and run from the battlefield. That didn’t mean Han’s group could simply kill him.
"Xena, test him," Han said.
Above him, Xena nodded, lips curling. She leaped over him and landed on a horse’s back, making the poor animal wheeze. She hopped down and walked toward the wounded man. In her plain robes and with a blindfold covering her eyes, she cut an odd figure.
In a flash, she conjured a fan of needles and chucked them at the wounded man. They shot faster than bullets but met a wall of raw magic circles. The needles bounced off and clattered to the ground before fading.
Xena tilted her head, scowling. "You dare use a mere Adept trick to defend against me?"
Han narrowed his eyes. Adept? So he’s two ranks above me, and I’ve been an Initiate for only a day. Yeah, he’s much stronger than me. Is the trick she’s talking about just a magic circle wall? Is that really something Adepts can only pull off?
As the enemy revealed something new, Xena did too. She fanned her needles again and sent them. All but one bounced off. The lone remaining needle carried all her mana and the spell’s force, piercing the magic-circle wall and lodging in the man’s chest.
The man vomited a mouthful of blood and dropped to one knee. "Damn bitch... don’t think you can kill me just because you have better control over mana and essence!"
He roared, "Quasi Domain!"
A circle the size of two carriages flared crimson from his feet. From this circle, eight totems rose, each bearing a crucified spirit. Despite being spirits, blood trickled from their hollow eyes, noses, and lips. The scene turned horrifying in an instant.
He clutched his chest, swallowing the blood rising in his throat. Then chains on four spirits snapped. They dropped and evaporated. The shock hit hard, and he vomited another mouthful of blood.
Xena sneered. "Domain is advanced. It demands sacrifice. You’re wounded, and what you paid just hurt you more. And you used a fucking Quasi Domain. Ha. Let me show you a real Domain!"
Bellatrix screamed. "Han! Stop her! I know this essence. Using a Domain against his Quasi Domain is too dangerous!"
Han shouted, "Back off, Xena!"
Against her wishes, Xena turned, clicked her tongue, and came back to his side. Bellatrix stepped in. The wounded man now faced the former Sun Champion. Han’s order was simple—kill him.
Bellatrix prayed under her breath. "I will kill you quickly. Three Suns."
Already in her monk stance, she summoned three miniature suns to orbit her, turning her black robes orange with a golden aura. Her presence melted the chains and freed the remaining spirits.
Without any spirits, the man’s Quasi Domain evaporated.
"Why is... someone this holy here?" he muttered before the backlash hit him.
A severe backlash ruptured his chest. Blood poured from every orifice. He dropped. Bellatrix obeyed, shoving one sun into his skull and vaporizing his head.
She prayed for him as he died.
Han nodded with satisfaction. She’s not holding back. Good.
He turned to Xena. "Quasi Domain at Adept rank means this man was quite a talent, right?"
"Yeah," Xena said.
Denver added, "No wonder he dared venture to Tenaxis alone. He bit off more than he could chew, though."
Han didn’t care about the dead. "Roden couldn’t use Domain?"
Xena sneered. "He was more reliant on summons than you think. You broke his summons. That was the final nail in his coffin, so I didn’t even bother using Domain against him. I want to know why this holy whore stopped me from using my Domain."
"She said she knows the essence. It was probably a counter to Domains, which is why he could use a Quasi Domain. Well, I’m still a newbie, but I’ve already learned a lot. I like this journey. Hanna, get me that man’s body. I want his anti-Domain essence."
"Understood, Master," Hanna said, leaping off the driver’s seat and going for the corpse.
Another maid followed to help. Both carried the man to the slave carriage and threw him inside. In a cold voice, Hanna told the slaves not to touch the corpse.
Han’s Obsidian Cauldron then began devouring the man’s essence.
When Bellatrix returned, Xena glared at her. "What was that essence?"
"It was a Quasi Domain developed from Twelve Crucified Spirits Essence. Those chained spirits were full of woe and torment. They could break your control over your Domain and even steal it. I fought against the Dark Practitioner who used the full version. It was a difficult battle, even with my essence countering it."
Xena scoffed. "A mere Quasi Domain would never steal my Domain."
Han chimed in. "Just thank her, bitch, for her help."
"Huh? Why would I thank her?!" Xena snapped at Han.
"Because I say so," Han sneered back at her. "Do it like a proper noble maiden would."
Xena folded her hands over her stomach and bowed, one gentle step back. She looked proper even in her black robes.
Han burst out laughing. "Your expression must have been priceless. Ha!"
Go fuck yourself, Han! Fucking bastard perving on old maids!