The incomplete teleportation array lit up for merely a moment before it exploded. The sound of the explosion immediately caused the room to go silent.

Some of the Ayunas' went to investigate the sound, but before they could even move another explosion resounded and another and another, the first explosion caused a chain reaction without Lapsa needing to do anything.

Explosions were everywhere, and there was enough power in them to harm flawless five star Casters.

Without wasting any time, Lapsa immediately began running out of the manor, no one paid him any particular attention, they were all too busy.

However in the midst of all the chaos, there was one person who was strangely calm. Mistress Amethyst eyes darted from the roof to the exploding formations.

"So this was what covered all the walls, but what do they have to do with that energy shot into the sky?" There were people surrounding her, but no one could hear her muttering over the sounds of the explosions.

Ignoring everything around her, she began walking towards the direction the blast came from, she could sense it came from the inside of the residence, but not inside the manor, near the slave quarters.

Back at the quarters, Cronix and Cayden watched in horror as Ortan began Casting a spell.

Cronix hadn't seen many spells in his lifetime, but he could tell the spell Ortan was preparing contained power that someone in the Caster could only flee from.

All the fire elements around the two boys were being drawn by Ortan, and were being formed into a ball, Cayden and Cronix could only stay on their knees as they watched this happen.

Once the ball of fire reached a limit, it slowly condensed into a bell that floated above his palm.

Just as he was about to ring the bell, the sounds of explosions caught their attention. Ortan turned away from them and to the direction of the manor, his pupils abruptly shrunk.

"What did you do?!" The head butler's voice was stern, and medium in volume, but it sounded like a roar to Cronix and Cayden.

Neither of the boys answered him, and with no answer, Ortan stopped hesitating, the floating bell rung.

Once the bell began to ring, waves were produced, however it wasn't sound waves, but waves made of fire.

The heat of the flames were far more intense compared to any flame Cronix had encountered, and the two boys knew they had little chance to survive this if it hit them.

Cronix poured his mental energy into defending the two of them, his mental energy lowered the degrees by a smidge, but when the wave came closer, the heat only continued to rise.

He then gave up all his resistance against the pressure weighing down on them to pour the rest of his mental energy to their defense.

Frowning, Cayden tried to think of any way out, but these weren't the best circumstances to think in, and even if he could, it would still be extremely difficult to find a way out.

Just as the first wave of intense heat was about to hit them, a more powerful energy surrounded the two boys, and immediately dispelled the heat wave.

When the waves behind the first one arrived the same thing happened. Ortan frowned and looked behind him, he felt an aura that made him shiver.

His frown only deepened when he saw who it was. The crow's feathers were no longer on fire as she looked at the head butler with cold, beady eyes.

Ortan's heart slowly began accelerating, he didn't know why, but even though the crow looked exactly the same as before, her power seemed to have been boosted.

The pressure on the two boys' backs began lessening as Ortan's attention was drawn away from them.

"Why did her power increase?" Cayden asked, gathering magical energy.

"That doesn't matter, where's Lapsa? We have to leave now!" Cronix scrambled to the teleportation array, he spread out his remaining mental energy and the water elements he could gather to dispel the lingering fire elements.

Every one of the crow's attacks were basic, just like Cronix, she didn't know many spells, but her current power was shocking, and it made up for the lack of technique.

With her boost in strength, Ortan was slowly being overwhelmed, however she knew she had to be faster, she didn't know how long her boost would last.

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The look on the head butler's face was horrendous, mere moments ago, he could've killed this crow with little effort, but now, he not only was having trouble from this crow, he was slowly being suppressed by her.

Cronix and Cayden could see the fight was reaching a climax through the open room door. Ortan was already on the floor, about to be defeated, and once he was permanently taken care of, they would be able to leave.

The crow's next attack contained most of her power, she was going to finish him off with this final attack.

Ortan watched in horror as the attack grew, he struggled to get off the floor, but he knew he didn't have the time. He was weak, and he only needed a moment of rest before he could get back up again, but how could the crow allow that?

Her blast was ready, and without a moment of hesitation she launched it his way. Ortan's eyes were wide as the ball of energy rapidly approached, but an instant later they were cold. The half a core, and two stars in his magic expanse suddenly became unstable.

The energy in them was gushing out like a volcano about to erupt. This was his final stand, he was going to blow up his core to at least try and injure the bird.

But just as Ortan's core was about to explode, and the crow's attack was about to hit him, black flowers began to grow around them.

The crow immediately backed away when the flowers sprouted. One glance was all that was needed to tell these weren't real flowers, but ones made from black lightning.

The flowers immediately bloomed, revealing purple crystals at their center, but no one could appreciate these flowers' beauty, before pollen floated out of the crystals, and just like the flowers, they were also made of lightning.

Most gathered in front of Ortan, while the rest went on to attack the crow. This all happened so fast it seemed like an instant.

Once the pollen arrived in front of Ortan, it stayed put, and when the crow's blast arrived, it only managed to stall it for a few seconds, but a few seconds was what Ortan needed to escape, rolling away.

Breathing heavy, Ortan stood up, his heart was still beating hard, but his eyes turned away from the crow for a moment, and looked to the direction of the manor. The crow did the same.

They didn't do this for no reason, they knew someone arrived, someone they both dreaded, but to Ortan, she was his only hope in actually surviving this fight against the crow.

Mistress Amethyst's eyes were cold as she stared at the two of them, but if one looked at her face closely, they'll notice her eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

It was unknown what she was thinking, but the crow had a time limit on how long her strength would be increased, so she didn't wait for the headmistress to make the first move.

She flew towards the headmistress, a black trail began forming from the tips of her wings. The mistress's eyes lit up for a moment when she saw this.

The head butlers eyes narrowed, he didn't notice in his fight, but there was a weird strangeness to the crow's magic,

It's dark magic

It only took him a moment to realize this, even though he's never seen dark magic, just like Cayden and Lapsa, he somehow was able to instantly realize what magic this was.

The crow's attacks towards mistress Amethyst were quick, but the headmistress was quicker. Every attack the crow sent towards the headmistress, she narrowly dodged it, but the calmness in her eyes revealed that every moment she could do again effortlessly.

Mistress Amethyst wasn't doing any attacks of her own, but the pollen from the flowers were doing plenty. Every time the crow got close enough where her next attack might actually connect to her target, the pollen would arrive and mess everything up.

Lapsa was still running towards the room when he heard the commotion. His face turned pale, and he stopped in his tracks.

Why is there fighting in front of the room?!

Realizing how out in the open he was, Lapsa moved and hid behind one of the nearby buildings. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he sensed the magic auras of the crow, the headbutler, and the headmistress.

A shadow suddenly loomed over him, and a hand touched his shoulder. Lapsa jumped with the wind elements increasing his height, using the elements he sent a wind blade to his attacker.

The attacker only needed to stretch out their hand to completely resist the attack. When Lapsa saw this he was immediately shocked.

His body was already falling, and his feet were only three feet off the ground at the moment. He tried to collect the elements as soon as possible, but a hand grabbed his leg and pulled it down.

A small scream sounded out of Lapsa's mouth, but another hand clasped itself over it, and only now did Lapsa see his attacker's face.

His attacker had black hair, and tired, purple eyes. His hair was slightly deranged, but Lapsa easily recognized him, it was Riley.

There was something different about the young master though, although his eyes were slightly tired, they were also bright, like he found a new hope to grasp on.

Lapsa calmed down, Riley seeing that released the hand that was covering his mouth.

"What are you doing here?" Lapsa asked the moment the hand was removed from his face.

Riley glanced in the direction the sounds of fighting came from, "Well, it's a bit obvious one of you guys messed up, so I'm here to pick up after you, and to think I spent so much money on your body doubles."

Lapsa's eyebrows began to slightly furrow, maybe it was because he didn't know Riley well, but it seemed like Riley was acting pretty weird.

A loud explosion caught the two boys' attention.

Dark magic and lightning occupied the entire sky, as the headmistress and the crow fought. Mistress Amethyst had already started using more attacks than the pollen, and the crow had already found a way to deal with the pollen.

But even if that was the case, the crow was still in a more disadvantageous position.

"You're running out of time, you have what, half an hour until you're back at your initial Core Creation strength?" The headmistress said with a faint smile.

The crow knew she was right. Inside her body was a small core, and right now it was only the size of an avocado seed. This was the Star Core Magician's core she ate from the day they were captured.

It was the only thing increasing her strength, and once that was used up, they would all be goners, but the headmistress wasn't done talking.

"There's a reason I'm saying this, if you simply tell us who hired you to attack us, and get my son another bird, then you'll be free to go."

Before the crow could react to anything she said, another voice butted in, "Headmistress, this has nothing to do with any external forces, this is all because of young master Riley, and he's trying to help the servants escape."

Damn it, Ortan!

Riley silently screamed inside his head as he and Lapsa were peeking behind a building, his hands were shaking, but in the depths of his eyes, there was resolved and a hidden trace of excitement.