"Lady Marla!" Arlo cried out in panic, watching Marla get injured.
He was greatly alarmed. He couldn't understand what was happening. Marla wasn't weak, yet she seemed to be losing. If she died, he would be next!
Watching Stormborne chase after Marla, Arlo delayed no longer and charged straight toward the airship.
He grabbed his broadsword, which was always floating beside him, and raised it high above.
He was planning to directly slash the airship, which would cause it to malfunction so Stormborne's companions could no longer flee using the vessel. He would kill one or two Apprentice Ranks and take the rest as hostages.
Only when Arlo appeared above the airship did Kairos and the others notice him. All their faces turned pale and grim at the same time. They swiftly grabbed their weapons to retaliate as best they could.
Because they didn't want to become a distraction for Stormborne at such a critical moment in his battle, they didn't cry out.
Except for one.
"Ahhhhh! Captain, save us!" Thalia screamed at the top of her lungs.
She had no bad intentions. She simply knew that no Apprentice Rank could ever survive a Master Rank. It was an unbridgeable chasm; even a late-stage Rank 3 Mystical Knight couldn't survive if a Rank 4 attacked them directly.
She was certain that at least one of them would die from that attack, if not more. And if the airship became dysfunctional, they could only fall straight down, and before the ship could even crash, they would all be wiped out by the Bronze Elipseon.
Stormborne heard Thalia's panicked cry and whipped his head toward the airship. Upon noticing the situation, he grew so furious that he no longer held back and disappeared into thin air.
Marla, who was using the previous momentum of the impact to further distance herself from Stormborne, also heard the scream. When she saw the situation, she was speechless and infuriated.
It was obvious: she and Stormborne had never gone all out; if they had, the entire village would have been the first thing to disappear.
Marla had already given up on wiping out the village the moment Stormborne appeared. If she intentionally killed another mortal in front of him, she knew for certain that their current battle would turn even more violent. She wanted to avoid such a scenario if possible, as their current battle was pointless, and she also wanted to avoid facing an angered Stormborne; he wasn't called one of the strongest Rank 4s for nothing.
Both she and Stormborne knew this battle was meaningless since neither could kill the other. Their current clash was happening largely due to Stormborne's dissatisfaction over her and the Holy Palace's possible involvement within the Silvia Kingdom.
If they had truly fought a life-and-death battle, Stormborne would have long since sent his crew far away, as their clash would be deadly enough to kill any early-stage Rank 4 just by being present on the scene, much less a few Apprentice Ranks.
'Is Arlo stupid? Can't he see that even I have made sure not to knock down a single house while unleashing my attacks? How dare he attack a peak Rank 4's companions?! Does he even understand the huge gap between them? Even I would have failed to protect him if Stormborne had been targeting him from the beginning!'
Marla no longer had the time to express her frustration or even suppress her previous injury. She used everything she had to speed straight toward the airship.
If she was too slow, Arlo would die!
But unlike Stormborne, speed was not Marla's forte; her element was more aligned toward defense, strength, and control.
Marla knew there was no time to hesitate, so she used another of her trump cards. A complicated pattern flashed across her boots and long legs, covering them entirely, and her speed doubled, nearly matching Stormborne's pace.
"Stop!" she thundered; however, Stormborne didn't pause or hesitate.
Before anyone could understand what was happening, a long, wind-cutting slash echoed through the sky, as if someone had sliced through the air itself.
The people of Ringwood Town looked up, but they couldn't see what had just gone past.
By the time the two of them stopped, Marla was gripping Arlo's shoulder, gasping for breath, her expression hideous.
Stormborne calmly raised his hand, which was clutching Arlo's white hair.
He gazed at the bodiless head, which still wore its bronze mask, its mouth hanging wide open from losing the strength to close.
"When adults fight, children should stay still and quiet," Stormborne admonished Arlo, as an adult would a child.
Marla's expression was extremely ugly. "Stormborne, return his head to me, right now!" she demanded in a grim tone.
Stormborne glanced at Marla and asked back, "What have you guys come here for? What is your purpose in the Silvia Kingdom?"
Marla shut her mouth. There was nothing she could answer with—neither regarding the possible 'object' within this village nor their missions.
She stayed silent for a moment and then spoke in a solemn tone, "Stormborne, you should know what it means to kill an Elipseon. Does your Celestial Maelstrom no longer wish to exist?"
Stormborne frowned. After a moment, he tossed Arlo's head to Marla.
Marla grabbed Arlo's head and quickly placed it back onto its missing location over his bleeding neck. She held it together with her Mana and, with her other hand, summoned a decorated airship. It was only big enough to accommodate a few people, as it was built purely for speed.
She hopped onto the airship along with the barely connected, beheaded body.
When a Rank 4 suffered a life-threatening injury, they had about a minute to heal it enough to at least hold onto their life; beyond that, they would die.
Before Marla and Arlo took off, Stormborne warned, "I had better not see either of you in Sildargrade." His tone carried a clear warning to both of them.
Marla snorted without answering. She channeled her Mana into her airship, starting the engine, and soon the small vessel disappeared into the horizon.
Stormborne narrowed his eyes while gazing in the direction Marla had flown toward. It was north, which was also the direction toward Sildargrade.
'It seems Sildargrade will be far more chaotic. I may need to call someone as backup when the chaos truly descends.' It was not to save the Silvia royal family—as that was completely hopeless if the Holy Palace was truly targeting them—rather, it was to save himself and his team.
He had no plans to send his team back, as this was a perfect mission for them to gain experience. It was not a pure Master Rank battlefield, and he might also require their help during the mission. There was a limit to how much he as an individual could do and how many places he could be at once. Kairos and the others were very capable and smart enough to handle various tasks.
He also had no intention of backing off, though they would need to speak with their employer in Sildargrade to change the mission criteria a little; otherwise, this mission was a guaranteed failure.
He turned toward his pale-faced companions and smiled. He slowly landed on the ship's deck and asked, "Is anyone injured?"
Just as Kairos and the others were about to shake their heads in denial, a girl jumped forward, hugged Stormborne tightly, and started wailing.
"Captain, I was so scared! That blind fellow nearly killed us, waaaaa!" Thalia started sobbing while rubbing her tear-filled face against Stormborne's neat navy blue coat.
Stormborne's eyebrow twitched. He turned toward Jasper and instructed, "Land the ship."
Jasper nodded and controlled the airship, landing it near the empty field east of the town.
After landing, Stormborne and the others walked toward the town's gate, which was slowly getting crowded. Jasper was left alone to guard the ship.
Kairos asked while following behind Stormborne, "Captain, do we need to find the chief of this village?"
"No need." Stormborne shook his head. "Christine mentioned that she had put both girls into the town's orphanage. I have already found the place; it's not far from here." He paused, and then muttered, "...I still need to speak with this town's leader before leaving." He was very curious about what the Elipseons wanted from such an isolated town.
They arrived in front of the town's east gate; over it, "Ringwood Town" was written in the Celestia language.
They walked in while being surrounded by a crowd gawking at Stormborne; while most of them had worshipful looks, many even lay on the ground in reverence.
Stormborne and the others ignored all the folks and calmly headed toward the orphanage. It was not rare to see mortals worshiping Mana Wielders, especially in such isolated villages or towns.
Meanwhile, Town Mayor Jarvis knew that their savior had landed east of the town and wanted to rush out to show his gratitude, but before he could go, he received countless horrifying and tragic reports from his assistants.
Stormborne and the others arrived in front of the orphanage and were impressed. It was well-made and well taken care of; clearly, the owner was very wealthy by this town's financial standards.
The orphanage workers surrounded Stormborne with worshipful looks. They had watched the entire battle and were extremely shocked, just like everyone else in the town. They were highly honored by the 'god's' personal visit to their humble orphanage, completely oblivious to the fact that most of the kids within the building had already perished.
Stormborne didn't blame these people for their negligence, as they had to first save their own lives and understand the situation before they could take care of others. He also wouldn't be surprised if many parents hadn't even realized that the children right beside them had died.
He inquired in a gentle tone, "Who is the head of this orphanage?"
"Ah... I-it's me." A blonde-haired woman rushed into the hall where Stormborne and the others were waiting.
After watching the entire battle, Hannah had sat on the rooftop of the orphanage, completely forgetting her duties and daydreaming. Only when a worker spotted her and yelled did she come to her senses, rushing down to visit the town's hero who was entering the main hall.
Stormborne and the others were surprised that the leader of the orphanage was fairly young, as they were expecting an older person; not only that, she was also a mid-stage Rank 1. It was quite unexpected, as the entire town barely had any Mana Wielders.
Stormborne smiled kindly at Hannah. "I would like to ask..."
"Ahh..." Hannah suddenly yelped, interrupting Stormborne. "How rude of me! Please come into my office and have some tea. Would you all like to stay for the night? We have plenty of rooms available!"
In her panic, Hannah forgot she wasn't an inn owner. She truly didn't know how to receive such a powerful person along with multiple others whose Ranks she couldn't even gauge.
Stormborne was about to decline, but Thalia nodded and, with the attitude of a senior, said, "That's good; I was just thirsty. We will have some tea, though there's no need for rooms; we are in a hurry."
The rest of them smiled helplessly and agreed. They knew Thalia was a completely different person when she held the advantage over someone, suddenly acting like an all-knowing senior. It was just her desire to act older, since she was mostly teased for being the youngest of the group.
They all followed Hannah to her office while glancing around. Despite the poor condition of the town, the orphanage seemed very well built, almost as if a wealthy person hadn't hesitated to spend a large sum of money to construct it.
While climbing the stairs, Tiberius asked curiously, "Miss, were you the one who built this orphanage?"
Hannah looked back at the bald man with the thick mustache and shook her head slowly. "No, it was built by the previous House Mother, Bella Noll. She died not long ago, and I, who was previously just a worker, was made the new House Mother by her. Please call me Hannah."
They soon arrived at the office, and tea was served. They all sat or stood wherever they could, as there were not many chairs available.