How is she doing this? I need to find out what she's doing before I can…, his thoughts trailed off the moment he risked his eyes to flick away from her toward the ground.
Several sickly green tendrils raced along the floor down into the earth beneath the gate, filling the dome with mana. Recognizing this, he immediately dispelled the barrier and created a second, thinner one at the center of their formation and expanded it. It pushed the Leech mana out of and away from the formation, allowing the Caegweni soldiers to breathe clean air again.
"Not bad. I thought that would have worked a lot better," Nevesh sighed with a shrug. "But no matter, I will complete my mission, and you know that just as well as I do," she teased, twirling her finger in a circular motion at the height of her nose. "Not this time," Erumon snarled, reaching for her neck once more to slam her into the ground, but his hand gripped nothing but the distorted image made with pure Leech mana.
As his eyes widened in confusion, she began to chuckle lightly as the image of Nevesh reformed and shook her head. "My, my. I never would have thought that would work on the ever-vigilant Anchor," she said through a bright smile. "You were so close, though I might recommend you go and check on Her Majesty. Maybe you'll get the chance to see me take what belongs to me," she spat the title wickedly, prompting him to glance over at the citadel.
In a flash of light, Erumon left behind another barrier for the guardsmen as he sped toward the Myrdinian palace. The world around him became a blur for only a moment, but when he crossed through the barrier at the main entrance, he saw the wake of what her handiwork could accomplish.
The main hall was in complete disarray. The shattered pillars and broken flooring pieces made it evident that a fierce battle had been fought here. Neko and Marte were unconscious on the floor with gaping wounds across their chest, faces, and arms. Both Anwil and Gwili were wounded as well, though Gwili was pouring his mana into his old master, shouting and shaking him with his good arm. Blood flicked from his mouth, and his left arm hung loosely at his side as he did so.
In the corner to the right of the throne was a severely wounded Trina, dragging Wien to lean against the wall with a hand to his side, nursing a handful of broken ribs, cuts, and a swollen jaw. Meanwhile, Ardrin, battered and bruised, stood between Nevesh and the queens with his arms spread widely.
"You cannot pass!" he shouted, slamming his hands together to form a barrier around them. Nevesh sneered, but as she raised her hand to strike at him, Erumon caught her wrist, her real wrist, and jerked it to where it bent unnaturally. She screeched in agony for a moment, but used the loosened skin of her wrist to twist and attempt to stab Erumon with a dagger of pure Leech mana.
Erumon deftly pulled at her broken bones and cast her into the far wall, placing individual healing spells over each final defender. "Thank you, Erumon," Ardrin breathed heavily as he slumped to his knees. Leona and Aurae rushed over to his aid, but when he waved them off, they moved to Anwill and the others who were severely wounded.
"Damn you, my love. I didn't think you'd make it in time," Nevesh snickered, digging herself out of the crater in the wall. With a wave of her good hand, she healed her broken wrist in seconds, making it appear like it had never broken in the first place.
"Like I said, Nevesh, this will be the first mission you fail," Erumon said, his eyes glowing much more intensely than before as his balled fist crackled with pure, golden lightning. "Perhaps I've failed today, but I promise you this: there are plenty of other days I can complete my mission. I always do, after all," she smiled wickedly, just before vanishing like a wisp of smoke before their eyes.
Erumon waited a few moments before releasing the spell he'd prepared, just in case she returned. When there was no longer any hint of her presence, he relented and turned to heal the others alongside Aurae and Leona.
"Who, or rather, what was that?" Leona asked, her keen blue eyes digging into Erumon's as he knelt across from her over Anwill. "She is the kind of warrior we'll be up against in the future. I'm glad that neither of you used your Wraithborn abilities, since it would be extremely unwise to reveal that hand now. Thank you, Aurae, for your prudence," he sighed and lowered his head deferentially.
"I'm just glad you arrived when you did; otherwise, I might not have had any choice," Aurae said distantly, weaving her mana into Neko's and Marte's chests to heal their wounds. "You mean to tell me there are more of them? By the Graces, how are we supposed to defend against that? She hardly even struggled against them, like they were mere children in her eyes," Leona said with no small amount of fear in her tone and features.
She looked at him, then to Gwili, who winced when his shoulder popped back into place. "Sorry, it's my first time," she said, but he put a consoling hand on hers and gave her a pained smile. "It's fine, but I have to agree with Leona here. We hardly stood a chance against her, and if she comes back any time soon…" he trailed off.
"I know, but she won't, now that she knows I'm helping you. As a result of her attack, we might need to consider more drastic measures to take to keep you all safe," Erumon said, already weighing his own words in his mind. "I-I see," Gwili said, wincing again while Leona worked on his arm.
Anwill's wounds healed, though there were still more than a few scars left behind on his chest and near his neck. Off to their right, under Aurae's talented hand, Marte coughed up a mouthful of drying blood and hardly managed to tilt her head to look at Neko, who was still being treated.
"N-Neko… will he, ugh… will he be alright?" she hardly managed to say, immediately reaching for his hand to take it in hers. "He'll live, but I'm sure his pride might be a little hurt," Aurae said in a calm and soothing voice. "Ah, good…" Marte smiled weakly before falling unconscious again. Gwili flinched to move toward her, but Aurae gave him a glance to stay where he was. As he shrank back into Leona's care, Aurae shifted her gaze back over to the warden, whose expression was, even now, hard to read.
"Erumon, what do you have in mind?" she asked in a tone that all but forced him to answer right then and there.