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“By the Spirits…” Erin gasped in awe as she witnessed a gigantic splendour being erected in the distance. The gigantic splendour was that of a dome, moulded of ice. The ice dome gave a vibrant and striking gleam to all those who glanced at it. A drunkard would easily mistake the ice dome for a diamond and Erin came close to making that mistake due to the smoke that permeated the area as a result of Aera’s rampage.

“What is that?” Aera asked. She was wreaking havoc on her surroundings not a short while ago. The Demoids and Dregs were the only victims of her destructive tantrum. She had regained some semblance of her mind and rationality, enough for her to be dazed by the wonder that was the gigantic ice dome. She was currently sitting on a piece of debris, catching the breaths that she had unleashed feral upon her foes.

“Olivia’s magic,” Erin answered. Due to the magnitude of the spell, Erin was able to make out the identity of the castor even from this distance.

“For her to cast a spell of this scale… She must be facing an opponent at her level. Should we go and help?”

“You are aware of her true level, Aera, are you not? What can we do even if we go there? We will just be dragging her down.”

“But… will she be alright? What if she—”

“Aera, there’s nothing we can do. We will just be liabilities. We just need to believe in her.”

“...Alright, Erin. I will.”

“Good.” Erin nodded. She cast a long glance at her surroundings. It was the same destruction that riddled the city everywhere she looked. Grey dust was scattered throughout the area. The dust was none other than the ashes of the fallen Demoids and Dregs, reduced to this state by Aera’s flame of vengeance and fury, fuelled by her wrath. “Come on, let us head back. The camp might still be under attack.”

Just as the two were heading back to the camp, the ice dome exploded, followed by a tremendous shockwave that swept through the city.

Erin pulled Aera into her arms and cast Arcane Aegises around them. The shockwave battered and pelted the tattered streets and ruined buildings. Even with the protection spell, they were still pushed back slightly by the shockwave. The shockwave only let up after around a minute had passed and their surroundings were now beyond recognition of what it once was.

“Do you still think we are needed there?” Erin asked.

“Such power… Is it Olivia’s victory?”

“Regardless if it’s her loss or victory, there’s no room for us to intervene. Even from here, the ripple alone was enough to cause this much damage. Imagine if we were just anywhere close, we would have been turned into pieces by the shockwave alone.”

“The camp… will the camp still be standing?”

“We best hurry back to find out.”

The two rose to their feet and sprinted back to the camp. As the shockwave had cleared away a lot of the debris that was piling on the streets, the two were able to run straight in their path, forgoing any obstacles and turns that were once repetitive hindrances.

The two heaved a sigh of relief when they returned to the camp. The seemingly frail walls of the camp had withstood the shockwave and the assault from the Demoids and Dregs. The dark horde had been culled by the brave defenders on the ramparts and what remained of the horde was swept away by the shockwave.

“Erin!” cried Lyra, who was standing amidst the camp along with Lilian.

Nivia and Siv were also there but they lazily waved their hands as greetings in spite of their relatively long and worrying separation. Their tired eyes told a profound tale of their endeavours and hardships but their faint smiles revealed their contentment with the lives they had saved.

Lyra was the only one filled with vigour as she leapt into Erin’s embrace and they shared a deep and passionate kiss for all to see but only a few dared to linger their gaze for long.

“You’re… you’re well,” Lyra breathed in relief while fondling Erin’s body all over, checking for any wounds or bruises her lover might be concealing.

“I’m fine, Lyra. I truly am.”

“The hell you are. You were—”

“—a captive of our enemies. I know. But as you can see, they inflict no tremendous wounds on me.”

“Thank the divines,” Lyra said and planted another kiss on Erin’s lips.

“I am relieved by your safe return, mistress,” Siv greeted after Lyra had loosened her embrace on Erin.

“And I’m also relieved to see that all of you are unhurt,” Erin responded.

“Miraculously, we were not hurt in our charitable endeavours at rescuing survivors and culling the Demoids and Dregs,” Lilian said. “Truly a miracle. Oh, and welcome back, Erin.”

“The real miracle here is that Erin escaped the clutches of our foes, unharmed. How do you manage that?” Nivia asked.

“There was internal strife amongst our foes,” Erin answered.

“You took advantage of it and escaped?”

“No, I didn’t, but it did leave me unharmed because of their diverted attention. And while that was happening, the Venerers stumbled upon the hideout. Chaos ensued and that was when I took the opportunity to escape and that’s the short of it.”

“The Venerers? You had a run-in with them?” Lilian asked. “They saved you?”

“Not possible,” Siv said.

“They didn’t save me. They were even planning to apprehend me even though I was but a captive. Thankfully, we had a common foe and that common foe was strong enough to not let them spare the slightest focus on me.”

“How typical of these zealots,” Lilian scoffed. “Can’t say I know the bunch but we met one of them, didn’t we?”

“We did,” Nivia affirmed. “Unpleasant human girl. Obnoxious as one could expect from a zealous Ruvan. Amyra was there to take her off the pedestal she plopped herself on, thank the Spirits for that.”

“Well, they are an unpleasant bunch.” Erin shrugged. “But they worked efficiently in a group. It is their competency that allowed me to escape. Hopefully, should we come face to face with them next time, it will not be as enemies. We have enemies as it is.”

“We have only one enemy,” Nivia said. “But this enemy had a great deal of resources. I don’t like the Ruvans but we certainly don’t want them as enemies. Let us not provoke them should our paths cross the next time.”

Lyra snorted. “That’s easy to say. It’s hard to reason with these fanatics.”

“But we must,” Erin said. “We have to try. The city's in ruins. We don’t need another conflict. Speaking of which, what was the course of action the temples took?”

“The nobles have coveted most of the temples’ militia forces,” Aedan answered as he strode over to the group. “The ones who remained are only enough to defend the temples. They have no one to spare.”

“Aedan, is anyone hurt?”

“Nothing grave, thanks in a huge part to you, Erin. Your provocation of the Demoids and Dregs had lessened the brunt of the horde’s assault on the camp. The walls were sturdy enough to defend against the ones that remained.”

“Glad to know.”

“We’re fine too, you know,” Nivia muttered. “Thanks for asking.”

“I knew you would be.”

Nivia rolled her eyes.

“Aedan, you felt it too just now, didn’t you? Not just the shockwave but Olivia’s magic.”

“I did,” Aedan nodded with a grim expression. “She’s currently engaged with a powerful opponent… As powerful as Varus, I dare say.”

“Are you joking?” Lyra blurted out. “There’s another powerhouse like Varus? Shouldn’t we be helping Olivia then?”

“I’m planning to,” Aedan said. “I’ll go.”

“What?” Erin jumped into his path. “You will go? Alone?”

Aedan met Erin’s gaze that seemed to question his sanity. “Someone has to,” he answered.

“You do remember your powers are sealed and your level has been drastically reduced to a paltry amount, don’t you?”

“Levels aren’t everything, Erin. You should know that by now.”

“Only if the difference isn’t vast and the other individual isn’t in the upper realms of levels. You would not fare well against… whoever is out there.”

“Maybe but… Olivia… She's family. She believed in me when I doubted myself. Now, I need to be there for her.”

“That’s not my point, you idiot. My point being, what can you even do to help?”

Aedan grinned and drew out an item that was wrapped in cloth, outlining the contour of a sword in its scabbard

Lilian immediately took two steps backwards. “Spirits be damned,” she swore. “Pardon my language but this sword you just took out… I can feel a great promise of… dread from it.”

At the Dryad’s words, everyone stared intensely at the wrapped-up sword.

Erin widened her gaze at the item. “That’s the…”

“Yes, the Sunderer.”

“You intend to use it?”

“No.” Aedan shook his head. He then pushed the sword into Erin’s hands. “Olivia needs my help, probably, and Amyra needs yours.”

“What? Why? What happened to her?”

“I can no longer feel her presence in this city. She’s an Apostle. I can’t tell her whereabouts precisely but I can always roughly know whether she’s near or far. But now, I can feel her presence at all. Something has happened to her. You need to find her and save her. Caelan will tell you where to start.”

“What about the viceroy?”

“Let us hope he still draws breath when we’re done saving our own. If not, it won’t exactly be a loss for us.”

“Are we all going with Erin?” Nivia asked.

“Of course not,” Aedan said. “Some of you would have to stay and watch over the camp. But I’ll leave that decision to you ladies.” And he departed with haste after leaving those words behind. He had taken to the air and flew in the direction of Olivia.

“I thought his Arcane Arts were sealed,” Lyra muttered.

“They are sealed,” Lilian answered. “Most of them anyway, but that ability just now is a skill from the armour he’s wearing. He’s well-equipped and prepared, or so he seemed. Anyway, what’s that parting gift he gave you, dearie?”

“Something that I hope I would never need to use,” Erin said and tossed the sword into her Vault.

“A convenient spell that was, mistress,” Siv remarked.

“Very convenient.”

“Well, Erin, who will be staying and who will be following you?” Lyra asked.

All of their eyes were instantly on Erin and all held anticipation.

Erin sighed. “Now, this is a headache.”

****

“Wake up, Augur,” said a calming voice but his tone was every bit as threatening, as if promising pain if his words were not taken to heart.

Amyra stirred into wake upon hearing such a voice complemented by the imposing tone. Her first action was to move her arms but chains had bound her limbs. She was forced onto her knees with her arms splayed and dangling beside her. Her shuddering eyelids lifted heavily to reveal the fiery pupils underneath.

Her gaze immediately fell on her captor, a dark-skinned man with a hood covering half his face.

“You’re awake, good. You may now proceed to scream and cry for help.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Uvir.”

“Well, fuck you, Uvir. Now, let me out of these chains before I torch you into ashes.”

“Do it, then. If you can, that is.”

Amyra tutted. She could feel her Mana within her but she couldn’t let it out. Something was preventing her from casting any spells. The culprit was obvious and it took only a single glance at the chains that were binding her, runes glowing all over.

“Afraid?”

“Of what?”

The man chuckled. “You’re tough. I’ll give you that.”

“But how long will you last?”

“Why am I still alive?”

“As I said, scream and cry for help. That’s why you’re still alive.”

“I see… I’m bait for Erin.” It was Amyra’s turn to chuckle. “Sorry, but things won’t turn out the way you wanted. She may come for me but she will also come for your head, that is of course, if I haven’t already broken myself free from these chains and taken your head myself.”

“We shall see,” the man said and produced a blade by tearing out a piece of space itself. “I’m looking forward to this so much.”

“A Spatial Magic user…” Amyra gasped under her breath. “Oh, this is going to end so badly…”