"Bul-Kathos, kill me."
He watched her in silence. He looked into her eyes and walked forward. That crossbow was no legendary weapon; it was a toy in the eyes of a king. But it was a toy he had helped her carve and assemble from mountain shrubs during their journey.
Leah had kept it all this time. Even during Adria's ritual, she had gripped it tight. It was her source of courage, her way of facing the world.
Bul-Kathos kept walking until the metal tip of the bolt pricked the muscle of his chest. He positioned his very heart against the arrow.
"Leah!"
A rare flash of agonizing grief crossed his eyes. He reached out, his massive hands gripping her shoulders. But he still didn't strike.
Leah, her eyes brimming with tears, pulled the trigger!
Snap!
The crossbow—the companion of her hardest days, her symbol of courage—shattered. The bolt did not pierce him. Against his iron-like muscles, the toy finally gave way, breaking into splinters.
"Bul-Kathos! KILL ME!"
Leah screamed, pounding his chest with the broken remnants of the wood. Her fists flew wildly, striking his wounds and staining her hands with his blood. The red splattered across her face, mixing with grime and tears until she looked like a child who had been rolling in the mud.
"Kill me while I can still remember that I love you! Kill me while my will is still my own! Let me die as Leah, not as Diablo's puppet!"
Her strength failed her. Leah had never been strong. She began to sob, her body weakening as she sank toward the ground.
Bul-Kathos stepped forward and swept her into his arms.
"Leah..."
His massive frame enveloped her like a heavy shroud, shielding her from the world.
"Child... trust me. It won't hurt. It will be like waking from a dream."
He held her gently. To him, she was his own. He had watched her walk a path of thorns because she was the only one who could. He had seen her dig through ancient scrolls until she collapsed from exhaustion at her desk, the candles burning down to nothing.
"Bul-Kathos protects you," he whispered, his power beginning to resonate with the Cube and the Holy Mountain.
"Bul-Kathos!"
The voice of Woruske rang out! He didn't manifest his form—it wasn't time—but he felt the shift in Bul-Kathos's emotions. He feared the King was about to do something reckless.
Like using Kanai's power.
Kanai's power could heal anything, but it was the Barbarians' final insurance policy. It was the guarantee that Bul-Kathos would have enough time to finish the fight with Diablo.
To give it to Leah? Woruske would never allow it.
"Leah... I cannot give you what others have gifted to me, even if I wish to save your soul," Bul-Kathos said, ignoring the voice of the Ancestor. He squeezed her small frame.
"Bul-Kathos... kill me... set me free..." Leah sobbed, her small arms unable to wrap around his massive torso. Light began to pulse from her soul.
Bul-Kathos would not give away a gift meant for him. He could not diminish his own power; he was the hope of the Barbarian race, the flag that could not fall.
But he could carry more. No matter how many burdens, no matter how much fate was piled upon him, his body would not break.
"Leah... do you want to become strong? As my child?"
He whispered it into her ear. The blood dripping from his body began to pulse and dance.
Bul-Kathos was going to do the impossible. Leah's soul contained Diablo's power, but it also contained the power of the Nephalem.
"Kill me! Bul-Kathos!" Leah wasn't listening; she just repeated her plea, her grief echoing through the air. Only Bul-Kathos and Woruske could hear her soul's cry.
"Leah, I am going to rend your soul. And within my body, we shall forge a covenant that can never be broken."
Slowly, the part of Leah's soul tainted by Diablo began to merge into Bul-Kathos's own body.
He was gambling. His internal powers were in a delicate balance. By swallowing the essence of Diablo within Leah, he would become vulnerable to Fear. No one thought Bul-Kathos could lose a fight, but the risk was now real.
"Bul-Kathos! Kill me!" Leah's voice broke into a hoarse wail.
"Leah... I HAVE REDEEMED YOU!"
Bul-Kathos's roar was thunderous, shaking the very foundations of their isolated space.
"Kill me! Kill me!"
Leah felt the agony of her soul being torn apart—but within that pain, she felt a sudden, miraculous lightness. Her tragic fate, her identity as the child of Diablo... it was all being consumed by Bul-Kathos.
"But... who will redeem you, Bul-Kathos?!" she shrieked.
Her arms slid down, clutching his waist. Bul-Kathos's body temperature skyrocketed. Integrating a foreign essence into one's soul caused horrific damage, even for a body as vast as his.
"I shall be the Immortal King! And the Immortal King needs no redemption!"
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