Night fell, and Nightfall Town slowly sank into silence.
Ian, clad in light gear, gradually melted into the darkness.
'He didn't know if Nolan would show up. It was an obvious trap.'
'He also wasn't sure if Malena and the others would arrive in time, so he had to be extremely careful.'
Ian stopped about two or three miles from Nightfall Town.
From the shadow of a dead tree ahead, a pool of shadow suddenly flowed out.
The moment it appeared, the Shadow sprang up from the ground, solidifying into a physical form and stamping a foot on the ground.
"Wither!"
A complex Spell was chanted in an instant. A gray, decaying ripple spread out from the Shadow, WHOOSH.
The stench of withered, rotting flesh filled Ian's nostrils. He quickly activated the Protective Ring Malena had given him, and a circular Shield enveloped his body.
He then stomped his foot—BANG!—and the earth exploded beneath him, propelling him rapidly backward.
The powerful gale made the translucent, circular Shield around him waver slightly.
"Ian, get back!" Malena had appeared from out of nowhere. Seeing that Ian was already a safe distance away, she breathed a sigh of relief.
A soft, fluorescent light emanated from her pale fingers as she pointed straight ahead.
"Purification."
When the fluorescent light met the decaying gray ripple, a constant SIZZLING sound arose, and the orb of light was quickly extinguished.
The plants on the ground withered and carbonized, shattering into fine dust in an instant.
"Watch out!" Harvey had arrived as well. He dashed forward, swiftly casting a Spell with a hand gesture. "Fire Wall!"
BOOM! A scorching orange Fire Wall erupted in front of Harvey, cutting off the decaying ripple.
By now, Ian was a good distance away and still retreating. His part in this was complete.
He dodged into the woods, watching as the roiling Fire Wall advanced, blocking his view of what was happening behind it.
"Darkness!" a whisper was heard.
A mass of viscous darkness swelled abruptly, swallowing the Fire Wall, swallowing the starlight.
'It didn't feel like night had fallen. It felt like the light itself had been devoured!'
Their vision was stolen, leaving only pure, absolute blackness.
Trapped within the darkness, Malena and Harvey felt their Spiritual Power and stamina slowly draining away.
Ian saw the sphere of darkness was still expanding; he had long since lost sight of Malena and Harvey within.
"Flash Technique!" Clayton roared. Shrouded in a brilliant light, he approached the black sphere, clearly intending to reunite with Malena.
But as soon as he drew near, the light was compressed until it clung to his skin.
"Don't split up," Kristen said, providing support. The two of them continuously cast Light Witchcraft, attempting to dispel the darkness.
"Vines," Malena's voice called from within the darkness.
RUSTLE RUSTLE! Innumerable tough Vines burst from the earth, writhing through the darkness, but they found no target.
Then, Nolan's soft laugh came from behind and to the side.
WHOOSH! The Vines leaped into the air and lashed out, but they hit nothing but air.
"Follow the Vines to me. Stay within the range of my Witchcraft. Keep casting Light Witchcraft to wear him down. He can't leave this darkness either right now."
Malena had seen the weakness in this powerful Witchcraft and directed the others to regroup.
"Heh!" With another soft chuckle, Nolan appeared directly in front of them. This time, Malena didn't attack blindly.
Under the constant bombardment of Witchcraft from Harvey and the others, the curtain of darkness began to waver.
Ian watched anxiously from a distance but didn't move forward.
'I'm their only backup; I can't act recklessly.'
'I'm waiting for an opening!'
"Life… Absorption."
Icy, slick ribbons of gray-white light snaked around the ankles of Malena and her companions.
The ribbons weren't solid, but were strands of Energy. The instant they coiled around them, the group thought they could hear a SLURPING, sizzling sound.
Clayton let out a muffled groan. His stamina draining rapidly, he was the first to collapse, falling to his knees.
The Energy tendrils were incredibly resilient. Without the right counter-Witchcraft, it was nearly impossible to break free quickly.
Next, Kristen also fell to her knees, all her strength to resist gone.
"Found you!"
At this critical moment, Harvey's roar thundered through the darkness.
"Flame Storm!"
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH! A searing gale erupted, swirling outward in all directions and tearing the viscous darkness to shreds.
It revealed Nolan's hazy figure, about thirty meters away to the right.
Gray-white ribbons of light were wrapped around his outstretched hands—the very tethers of the Life Absorption.
As the Flame Storm swept toward him, Nolan was forced to abort the Witchcraft.
He hastily took a few steps back, then clapped his hands together.
"Withering Touch!" A fine, gray-white thread shot into the heart of the Flame Storm.
HSSSSSST! A sickeningly sweet, rotten smell filled the air as clouds of white steam billowed up.
In the instant the two Witchcrafts were locked in a stalemate, Ian's form flickered several times, bringing him within forty meters of Nolan.
HISS…
Two deep-blue rays shot towards Nolan at high speed.
Nolan's heart clenched. An icy aura made the hairs on his arms stand on end, and he hastily activated a Witchcraft Shield.
'Was it his imagination, or had he not seen Ian chant a Spell at all?'
THUMP THUMP. His vision went white as a thick layer of ice encased him completely, blocking his vision.
Nolan now found himself in the most perilous situation imaginable. He dared not hold back his trump card any longer.
His lips parted, uttering four words as heavy as stone.
"Death… Demise… Mourning… Bell!"
There was no light, no wind. Only an invisible, heavy fluctuation that crushed outwards.
The air seemed to freeze. A moment of utter silence, followed by the tolling of a great, illusory bell!
DONG… DONG…
The layer of ice covering Nolan was the first to shatter. The ripple continued to spread, followed by four muffled groans.
THUD! Ian was thrown backward. The Shield around him held for a few moments before it, too, shattered.
A suffocating pressure washed over him. A sharp glint appeared in Ian's eyes. With a stagger, the power of his formidable Physique finally revealed itself as he shattered the ripple's force with his own body.
'This Shield is pretty pathetic. Good thing I'm tough.'
The instant the ripple shattered, Ian saw Nolan staring daggers at him. His heart leaped, and in a flash, he ducked into the forest and vanished from sight.
"Natural Fury!" Malena cried out, her voice straining, a clear sign she was giving it her all.
Three bloodthirsty, python-like thorned vines erupted from the earth, converging on Nolan from three directions to crush him.
"Yang Flame!" Blood trickled from the corner of Harvey's eye. He held his hands out as if cradling something, and a Fireball as brilliant as a miniature sun instantly took shape.
Harvey hurled it forward. The Fireball, carrying a heat that could purify anything, smashed down toward Nolan.
Nolan's pupils constricted. He had no time to think about chasing Ian. Just as he was about to transform into a Shadow and flee, the vines coiled around his ankles and waist. The Shadow he had begun to form was pinned, unable to escape.
Light flashed several times around his body as four or five Shields manifested one after another, encasing him completely.
KABOOM! The Yang Flame detonated right above his head!
The blinding light swallowed everything!
"AAAAH!!" A scream of agony tore from Nolan.
The sound of burning flesh followed, along with the incessant Gaga of the vines crushing his bones.
When the light faded, only a patch of scorched earth and a few wisps of quickly dissipating black smoke remained where Nolan had stood.
Staring at the empty ground, a chill crept into the hearts of the four survivors. They hadn't even seen a glimpse of the Silent Flower they had been so desperate to find.
"Nolan… he must be dead, right?" Harvey asked, uncertain. He was kneeling on the ground, a look of lingering fear on his face.
Malena looked at her exhausted teammates. A vibrant green light, brimming with life, quickly enveloped her hands as she began to heal them.
"We have to leave, now. We made too much noise."
Ignoring their injuries, the group beat a hasty retreat.
"Where's Ian? Did anyone see him?" Malena's heart grew anxious when she realized Ian hadn't joined them.
"He ran off long ago, back to Nightfall Town."
While lying on the ground, Clayton had seen Ian bolt and disappear in a flash.
Moments after they left, the first person arrived at the scene. More and more people began to gather, all of them High Level Apprentices.
"There are traces of Nolan's Witchcraft here. After them, quickly…"