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“Where’s Aedan?” Erin asked when Lyra and the rest caught up to her and Amyra on their horses.

“Playing the hero,” Lyra answered curtly.

Erin cursed silently. “Put me down, Amyra.”

Amyra laid Erin gently down on her feet. “What are you intending to do?” questioned the Augur.

“What I should be doing. That idiot is going to get himself killed.”

“About that… Aedan had a message for you,” Nivia said.

“Which is?”

“Pot, kettle.”

“Fucking unbelievable,” Erin scoffed. “Even if he’s not here, he still managed to be vexing.”

“He’s not wrong, Mistress,” Siv said.

“Now you know how we all felt whenever you plunged yourself into danger,” Lyra chimed in.

“I’m surrounded by traitors…” Erin grumbled.

“Ladies, I don’t believe it’s wise for us to stop and chat,” Lilian said.

Just then, a loud screech resounded across the sky and the appearance of two huge silhouettes followed.

“Wyverns!” Nivia shouted, pointing towards the sky.

“Do we f-fight or r-run?” Aera asked with a stammer.

Erin stared at the two approaching Wyverns with a scowl. “We have too little foothold beneath our feet. We have to run.”

“Then let us be off!” Amyra said with her voice raised.

The group continued with their pace forward just as the Wyverns dove towards them.

“Don’t stop!” Amyra yelled and did the opposite of what she just cried out.

While everyone else was running ahead of her, Amyra brandished her cleaver-sword and set the blade alight with flames. She then swung her sword at the Wyverns, sending waves of fire aura projectiles at the pale imitations of dragons.

The Wyvern at the forefront rolled out of the fire auras’ way but the second Wyvern received the full brunt of the blazing assault. It shrieked in pain as the fire projectiles seared the parts of its body that weren't protected by armour.

However, it did not stop the Wyvern. It shrugged off its pain and continued in its approach.

Amyra was about to throw another attack but Erin, who came back, dragged the Augur away by her left wrist as Erin made a dash along their narrow path.

“Milady? What are you doing? I can—”

“Shut it,” Erin snapped. “We are running. No one gets to be the hero unless I say so.”

“Lady Erin, that’s just—”

An attack from the Wyvern, in the form of a green energy projectile, interrupted Amyra’s protest. Fortunately,

“Someone has to stay and fight the Wyverns. We can’t possibly outrun them.”

“One wrong move and one well-placed attack from the Wyverns, and you’re going down the edges.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“We are being careful by running.”

Then, the weather began to worsen and the rain began pouring heavier than before. Lightning roared and thunder clapped.

“Ah… shit. Now the rain has become too heavy for my fire spells.”

The Wyverns screeched, preparing to launch another attack.

Erin smirked. “The rain has become just right for me.”

After they dodged another attack from the Wyverns, Erin shot a bolt of lightning into the thunderclouds above.

“What was that?”

“Just you watch.”

The lightning began to rage even fiercer after Erin shot a lightning bolt into the clouds. The lightning became so fierce that it started striking the two Wyverns, almost as if it was deliberately unleashing its fury on the two flying creatures.

“Are you controlling the lightning?”

“Not directly or explicitly.”

“But how? I have never heard of that.”

“I combined my Lightning Magic with Spirit Magic.”

“You sent Spirits into the thunderclouds? That’s brilliant. I didn’t know that could be done.”

“Neither did I.”

The lightning eventually struck one of the Wyverns down and it fell into the chasm between the hills. The remaining Wyvern was also hurt badly by the furious thunder but it survived the fury as the lightning strikes receded.

“Now what?”

“The Wyvern’s hurt. That should slow it down, enough for us to outrun it.”

The Wyvern roared in anger and accelerated its haste.

“Milady, you may have only made it faster.”

“Bollocks!”

“Look. Straight ahead. The path’s widening.”

“But it's a descending slope. A steep one.” Erin then frowned and squinted her eyes through the heavily pouring rain. “Wait, where’s Lyra and the others? I don’t see them.”

The two hurried to the edge of the slope and looked down. There, they found trails and tracks of their companions across the slope but it wasn’t at all reassuring.

“They… slid down,” Amyra muttered grimly. “And it doesn’t look like it went well going by the erratic tracks they left behind.”

“I don’t see them at the bottom…” Erin sighed in relief. “That means they’re not… dead or badly hurt.”

The Wyvern screeched, reminding the two of their pursuers.

“Milady, we have a large enough ground here, don’t we?”

Erin nodded. “We sure do.” She sighed once more. “We’ll catch up to Lyra and the others after we get rid of our tail.”

“Very much agree, milady.”

Once the Wyvern was close enough, it closed its wings and dove straight at the two.

“There’s someone on the back of the Wyvern, milady.”

“Then, it’s his funeral too, along with his mount.” Erin brandished her sword out of thin air and assumed a half-crouching and drawing stance. “Amyra, you might have to carry me after this.”

“It will be my honour, milady. Just gut that bastard apart.”

Erin imbued her blade with Mystic Blade and Spatial Magic, Rend. Once the Wyvern dove into her reach, she unleashed a wide upward slash, slicing the Wyvern vertically into half. The two halves of the Wyvern flew past her and crashed into the trees below.

The rider hopped off the Wyvern just before he was about to be cut apart along with his mount. He tumbled onto the ground. He hastily climbed to his feet but he fell back onto the ground again after he felt a sharp pain below his knees and above his ankles. Then, he felt nothing below his knees.

When he looked down, he realised his legs had been cut and an Augur stood just beside him, looking down at him with a wide grin.

“How’s the view?” Amyra sneered.

“Fucking heretics!” the rider hissed and pulled out a small sack pouch from his vest pocket.

Amyra frowned. “Let me guess? Grey Spores?”

“For Aerys!” the rider screamed and ignited the pouch with a spell of Fire Magic, Spark. Though the rain was heavy, Grey Spores were much too volatile. A split second of contact with extreme heat was all it needed for it to bloom into a blaze.

Instead of retreating to safety immediately, Amyra chuckled and reached out her hand towards the pouch just as the contents spilt out. The contents were slightly reddish Grey Spores and the pouch was still burning.

An explosion ensued and it consumed the rider and Amyra.

Erin witnessed the whole scene transpiring but she was not panicking in the least.

When the flames of the explosion died down, the rider had turned into a charred corpse but Amyra was only lightly singed with some faint scalded marks.

“Ouch…” the Augur winced lightly. “Well, that hurts.”

Erin smiled weakly. “You’re in… one piece,” she said with some struggle. Her last attack had taken quite a toll on her.

“But it still hurts.” Amyra winced once more before peering at the charred remains of the rider. “They blow themselves up while screaming for their god’s name now? I know zealots are… intense but these ones are just… they set a whole new standard.”

“We can contemplate their extreme fanaticism later,” Erin said curtly and walked towards the slope with a meek gait.

Out of nowhere, a Lindwurm appeared from the slope. It was riddled with arrows and a few cuts. It was bleeding profusely. Shock ran through Erin’s mind but only for a split second before she recomposed herself and ended the Lindwurm’s life with a flash of silver streak.

She fell to her knees as the Lindwurm’s head rolled down the slope.

Damn it. That was close. The heavy downpour is inhibiting my senses.

“Are you alright, milady?” Amyra asked.

“I’m fine,” Erin responded and sluggishly pushed herself to her feet.

“Did you see the state of the lizard, milady? It was already heavily wounded before you ended its miserable life. It was running away.” Amyra snickered. “And it ran right into you, its death.”

Erin took one look at the arrows stuck on the Lindwurm’s carcass. “These are Lyra’s arrows and the cuts… they are made by Nivia’s swords. The wounds are made by steady hands and good aim. Looks like they are doing fine, relatively.”

“Can’t say the same about us, milady,” Amyra said, her gaze scouring the path they came from. “I’m sensing a lot of presence approaching us and they’re fast.”

“Well, here goes nothing,” Erin muttered and slid down the slope with her sword in hand.

Amyra followed suit without much hesitation.

The slope wasn’t long but it wasn’t exactly levelled. Her back suffered some soreness but she was largely fine thanks to her Arcane Armour. Amyra, on the other hand, was perfectly fine even without the use of any skills or spells as her skin was naturally tough being an Augur.

“Milady, watch out!” Amyra screamed just as the lightning flashed.

Erin didn’t smell or hear anything out of place due to the heavy rain but her Sixth Sense was still in effect. In addition to Amyra’s warning cry, despite her debilitated state, Erin was at least able to parry the blow that came for her head and managed a thrust in retaliation.

However, her thrust was slower than usual and the assailant dodged her riposte.

Amyra immediately came to her aid in the next second, kicking the assailant across the mud with a dash. “Nice riposte, milady.”

“I missed.”

“Still a good move, milady, given your state.” After showering her mistress with praise, Amyra turned her focus to the assailant, who turned out to be a knightly individual but only in appearance.

The markings and tattoos all over the knight’s armour were enough indication of his affiliation; he was an Aerysian. His eyes were visible through the visor gap and madness could be seen in his gaze.

“Aerys be praised!” the Aerysian shouted and lunged at the pair.

Amyra stepped forward and received the zealot’s blow with her oversized sword that fit her convenience just fine.

Although the zealot was a tad smaller than Amyra, in terms of physique, his physical strength was no less than hers. The lack of disparity became evident when their swords clashed once more and both deflected each other’s blow.

Due to the rain, Amyra couldn't draw out her full potential in this fight and this placed her at a great disadvantage. Nevertheless, the impediment did not mean her defeat. She was more than just her Fire Magic.

Amyra traded blows after blows with the zealot and their swordplay came to a stalemate until the zealot began uttering the name of his god.

“Aerys! Blessed be the strong! Slay my foes and blood shall be spilt in your glory!” the zealot shouted to the sky.

“You’re noisy,” Amyra scoffed and swung down her sword at the zealot—

—but a thin layer of red ethereal film covered his body and repelled her blow right off.

“What in the name—”

“For Aerys!” the zealot cried and pounced at Amyra with a gaze that held more madness than before.

Amyra tried deflecting the zealot’s attack but she was barely able to block it.

“The strong thrives! The weak perish!” the zealot continued to shout as he pressed his attacks on Amyra.

With every strike the zealot unleashed after the red glow laced its body, the stronger he became until Amyra’s sword was knocked out of her grip.

“You’re weak!” the zealot yelled and thrust with his whole body.

“And you’re an idiot,” Amyra retorted and snapped her fingers. She created a fireball but it only lasted for one second before the heavy rain instantly doused it. However, a huge puff of steam burst out as a result and the steam flowed the zealot’s way.

The zealot closed his eyes instinctively as the steam closed in on his face and suddenly, he felt himself lunging forward more than he had intended. When the steam cleared, he saw a fist coming for his face. He swiftly dodged the fist but he ended up moving right into the pointy end of a blade, which was Erin’s sword.

The blade went right through his heart and not even the grace of his Divine was a match for Erin’s Mystic Blade. It was his end… but he would not allow such a one-sided end.

“Aerys be praised!” the zealot cried out one more time as his whole body was consumed by an intense red glow.

“Are you fucking serious!?” Amyra shouted and darted towards Erin. “Milady!”

And then the explosion ensued.