It was hot.

H o t.

Good thing Arras had an on demand breeze! His cohorts apparently seemed to agree, because they stuck reeeeal close. At least, as reasonably close as they could get to a noble. And by cohorts, Arras of course meant the few dozen individuals surrounding him, Eric, Illia, Lissine, Zerris, Milatim, and the two other noble's names, plus the two familiars, who he hadn't quite caught yet. Speaking of Illia, if not for her he wasn't sure if he'd be able to even keep this spell up and running, so, he was pretty grateful for that.

He supposed it worked out for everybody. The people crowding around him got a cool breeze in the middle of this debilitating heat, Illia got extra practice with the heightened volume of emotion, and Arras kept getting to improve his wind magic! Real good deal.

"Excuse me." Eric cleared his throat and turned his gaze to Illia.

"Are you fine with me linking him in?"

"Of course."

A moment later, his voice rung out in Arras's mind. "Will you not wear yourself thin with this excessive use of magic? I understand that you have three tails, but surely this is a little wasteful, is it not?"

"No. It's not. This is barely taxing at all. I like to keep my magic efficient. If I was being inefficient, you would realize."

"...What does he mean by that?" Eric turned his attention to Illia. The two of them had started talking a bit once Arras had properly introduced himself, and well, they hadn't exactly hit it off, but it wasn't like they disliked each other.

"Exactly what he says. If Arras threw efficiency out of the proverbial window, this wind right now? Well... Let's just say he has a whole lot of magic at his disposal. He could probably wipe a good chunk of this army off the face of the desert if he just poured his everything into a sudden surprise attack."

"...What rank is his pool of magic?"

"...He hasn't measured it."

"Then, an estimation?"

"Probably around six."

"...Good lord. And he works for one of the most backwater Barony's in the entirety of the kingdom? Where did this individual come from?"

"Don't pry into it too much."

"I'm not sure I appreciate being talked about, as if I'm not here." Arras frowned and redirected a bit of extra wind towards the two of them. The puff of force lightly smacking into them. Blowing Eric's hair around and puffing out Illia's feathers respectively.

"My apologies Sir Arras. Please, feel free to keep the spell active if you are fine. I certainly don't mind."

"What he said, minus the sir." Illia shook her head and reoriented her feathers.

...

The march continued for a while longer, it was difficult to see all that far ahead of himself, given the hundreds of people blocking the view and the heat mirages across the desert... But eventually, Arras could've sworn he saw something off in the distance. Something large, very large. Much larger than the fort he'd just been in, much larger than even the city that the noble gathering had taken place in. It was a little daunting, to be honest. He very much hoped that he wouldn't have to go inside of it.

"HOLD!"

"Stop walking, in normal terms." Illia helpfully added on.

Almost everybody present simultaneously stopped their advance. By now, the sun had started to fall once again. It was currently the second day, and by technicality it would soon be the third. Arras sighed to himself.

"Damnit."

"...? What's wrong?"

"I was just hoping that I wouldn't have to go inside, but I figure that's the capital of Efimarus?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so? Mission objective, target, all that good stuff. Why, are you worried about it?"

"No, it's just big... I suppose that's better than being told I'd have to go into a place like fort Waoakua though."

It was starting to get a little chilly, actually. So Arras stopped circulating the wind and let the now cooling air propagate naturally. He, and literally anybody else who looked even somewhat important (it was really easy to tell who you could consider a "noble") weren't considered in this, but almost the entirety of the army was now up and about, carrying things back and forth. It was a whole lot of stuff that Arras didn't recognize, but it all seemed somewhat important.

It had to be, right? It wouldn't make sense for them to have lugged all this stuff out into the desert for over a day straight if it didn't matter. That would be absolutely ridiculous. There had to be a limit to how stupid some of the stuff that colonial life did could be. And, after another few minutes, which Arras passed by doing a light bit of exercise with his fire magic, he was proven right.

"What are those?"

"Tents, I heard they're used as temporary shelters? I wouldn't know, I've never been out in a place like this. Or well, until now."

"...Huh, doesn't sound that bad." Arras mused. Temporary housing that was far less restrictive? Sounded good to him.

"Well, I'm sure you'll change your mind soon enough."

...

He did, in fact, not change his mind. This was pretty nice. It was a little cramped, but without actually feeling the negative effects of his anxiety, Arras could tell that most of it came from having other people besides Illia around him, and not the small space. It felt flimsier, easy to break out of if need be. Granted, the desert still made his alarms ring without pause with its lack of cover and what not, but this wasn't awful.

"Rest well, you'll all be woken in three hours time. Steel yourselves for your mission." Another faceless person informed the group of seven, before leaving them to their own devices.

Arras wanted to talk with Illia, and maybe Eric for a bit, perhaps a few other nobles if they were open to such a thing, but apparently most of them just collapsed on the spot and went to sleep. Must've been rather tired.

"Disabling the spell." Arras mumbled over the link as he closed his eyes, a moment later he flopped over and his metamorphosis spell gave way. Illia landed gently on top of him.

"So uh, gonna sleep?"

"It's what everybody else is doing, seems like the right thing to do in this situation."

"O-kay! Never thought I"d see the day. Senses really is something huh...?"

"I still appreciate you by the way, just so we're clear. You have... Well, you do have an idea of how much I appreciate you, you can feel it... But, you have no idea how much I appreciate what you're doing for me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

"Y-yeah, you're welcome..."

He settled into a more comfortable position without another word. Only a questioning head tilt towards Illia. She glanced around a little nervously, for some reason, but puffed up her chest and laid down next to Arras, draping a wing over him as usual.

"...Hm."

Illia twitched, Arras wasn't quite sure why. Eric had only grunted, rather quietly at that.

Odd.

...

Arras certainly wasn't nervous, he was more than ready to do what he had been told to do, but he'd be lying if he said that the demeanor of the other people around him was reassuring... They were fidgety, antsy. Just like what Arras would be like if Illia didn't have his anxiety in a stranglehold. Now that he thought about it, he really couldn't fault any of them, so instead of worrying about meager things like that, he continued to contribute to his part of the illusion.

Under the cover of night, and also a healthy amount of well obscured magic, Arras as well as all other nine individuals were weaving a practical tapestry of magic. Arras was having a good bit of fun with this, as he hadn't even realized it was possible to work magic with others on a scale like this. It was a fun challenge, and an interesting exercise. His enjoyment of it was a little marred, given he'd been told their lives depended on how well they could hold this, but Arras wasn't one to dwell on such things.

It was also cold out, but it didn't particularly matter, not much anyways. Sure, he was a little cold, but Illia's mobility was low on the ground, and she couldn't exactly perch on Arras if he didn't have his metamorphosis spell active, so he was perfectly willing to suffer through it. That also wouldn't be an issue if he could use fire magic, but, well, for obvious reasons he couldn't.

With every passing second, they got closer and closer to the walls of the "enemy nation". There were lights on, and in the far, far distance Arras swore he could hear the occasional bit of laughter or banter. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He didn't really talk with many people, but those who he did, they all at least had some sort of personality to them. They all had their own personalities, their own existences. And well, he wasn't an idiot. From what he heard of war, it obviously involved deaths. Now, Arras wouldn't cry over a few lives, but to callously waste hundreds of them? That just seemed... Wrong, to him. But at the end of the day, did it really matter all that much? He couldn't be sure, but it wasn't as if he knew any of these people, and none of them knew him. There was no relation, and no reason for him to try and preserve their lives.

They were enemies.

Arras knew what he did with his enemies, and his plans for that hadn't changed, even if his enemies were similar to him. Their lives are their lives, his life is his life. He would value his own above any others, besides, maybe Illia. And if his life would be made significantly easier through another life's suffering? Well, that didn't sit the best with him, but if it was what he had to do it was what he had to do. Besides, it wasn't like he would be doing much of the killing himself, and if he completed his task as best he could, suffering would actually be minimized, or so he'd been told. Illia corroborated when he'd been told that as well, so he had even more reason to believe it.

Arras breathed in and centered his thoughts again, whatever feelings he had about it didn't matter at this point. If he had wanted to run away and do something else with his life the time for it had long passed by now. All that was left for him was to carry out his orders as best he could. Speaking of that, they finally reached the wall.

"It may be late to ask now, but you all understand what you are to do, yes?" Masseia questioned over a mind link. Masseia being one of the nobles who's name he had learned shortly before this whole event.

"Of course."

"Certainly."

"Yes."

Were the general responses, with Arras and a few others simply nodding.

"Very well, break."

And the illusion shattered, into seven different pieces, as all seven mages scattered.

"Well, here goes."

"...Yup." Illia mumbled back. "I'm going to focus on keeping the spell active. You'll need it soon enough."

"My thanks." He nodded to himself and breathed in again, he'd need to keep this spell active, but he was given this role for a reason.

Arras began to walk up the wall, no, not literally up it, but instead he created a staircase for himself out of force magic, extremely well managed force magic. Over the past few days, Arras had finally managed to do it. The thing he'd been working at for weeks and weeks, the efficiency of his force magic. He'd been on the verge of it for so long, but after a quick conversation with Eric, he'd finally managed to find the core of the issue. Arras was putting far more effort into his spells than what was actually necessary. The entirety of his force magic was filled, whereas most other mages would use it hollowed out.

That had solved his efficiency issues, real fast. Whereas a usage of force magic would take a solid chunk of his magic before, maybe a fiftieth or so, it was now barely anything. Maybe a tenth of his previous magic usage, if even that. Filling force magic in entirely still had its uses, like using it as a shield, or trying to give it a little more permanence, but for quick uses that only needed to be there for a moment? This method was so superior that they couldn't even really be compared. It was to the point that Arras felt like he'd been actively handicapping himself before now. He also felt rather stupid for not having figured it out until that point.

It also had the added benefit of being much easier to mask, for obvious reasons. There was just way less magic to deal with. If there was somebody on Arras's level, it would be almost impossible to sense his magic if they were paying attention, and Arras had been repeatedly told he was well above the average. He was pretty confident that nobody would be able to spot, or sense him coming. He rose higher and higher, the cold night air began to warm as he got closer and closer to the light, and he could also start to hear the people on the walls.

"-ya think they're gonna move in any time soon? I can't imagine they marched all the way out here just to be intimidating..."

Ironic.

"Probably, is it weird that a part of me just wishes they'd come in already? Just get it over with at this point, and what not."

Arras began to put even more effort into masking his magic, the closer they were to the wall, presumably the more artifacts and magic users there would be. He absolutely could not afford to fuck this up. He was NOT a straight combatant, if he was caught out in the middle of the open like that his defenses could be overwhelmed fairly quickly. So even if every step up took a minute, and by extension drained his magic more than he likely needed to, he didn't care. Errors would not be allowed.

"Neil, I'd rather not deal with the strongest nation this side of the forest for as long as I can. If they're going to stall out the conflict, I'm perfectly happy to wait."

The, what Arras now recognized as beastkin, up on the wall, continued to chatter away. It was good that they weren't on guard, it would up his chances. At a certain point, he stopped listening in on their conversations and focused entirely on his own magic. A few minutes later, Arras finally reached the top, and quietly allowed his force magic to dissipate. He was now running his illusion magic at absolute peak efficiency, in literally all senses of the word. He walked right past the soldiers up on top of the wall, and they were none the wiser.

"Do you see that building down on the ground, inside of the city?" Illia asked slowly.

"Yes, that's it isn't it? Much larger than anything else around it, and it's exactly where I was told it would be."

"Should be. Alright, remember, get in, get out. Once you've finished your orders, you get away as fast as you can. That's all you've been asked to do."

"I know, I'm well aware. For both of our sakes."

"...Just be careful, alright?"

"A little late for that, don't you think?" Arras noted dryly as he began to descend the stairs after a Beastkin finished walking up them.

"...Yeah, you're right. But... Please?"

"Of course."

...

"The plan is a multi stage operation which has been kept to only the highest ranks of the military, and now by extension, you seven. Your abilities are precisely what we need for this assault. We could not leak sensitive information in fear of our plans being leaked, so reinforcements were requested from the nearby nobles, given the average quality of the Arbre Kingdom's noble servants. It was done in the hopes of sourcing forces capable of what we required, and it worked spectacularly."

Arras simply nodded slightly. He did find it odd how familiars weren't counted in the group of seven, It didn't sit right with him that Illia was being treated as lesser than him... But there wasn't exactly much to do about it. Instead of dwelling on that, Arras instead contemplated what exactly he was being told. The whole, drafting thing? That was apparently a covert way of getting the people that they needed. Honestly? He could sort of respect the plan. It seemed a little bit overkill, but from what little he understood of all of this war business, from having picked up on some stuff, Illia's words, the like... War was just as much of a mental battle as it was physical.

It was a conflict on a scale en masse, a battle consisting of hundreds of dozens of individuals. And just like your strategy and planning would matter in a one on one fight, it mattered all the same, correction, far MORE in a battle of this scale. Preventing your enemy from learning of your plans would be the difference between winning or losing. So, to cover up your plan by inconveniencing the high people of your nation? That was certainly an interesting plan... Though Arras had to wonder, why did they need to cover it up? Who was going to tell this nation of Efiramus that Arbre was going to sneak into their capital city if they hadn't bothered to hide their proverbial tracks?

Regardless, it was an interesting plan. If Arras were to visualize this in more of a one on one fight... Assuming that Efiramus knew what Arbre was doing recruitment wise, then they would know Arbre had put an immense fighting power on its front lines by acquiring the assistance of dozens of individuals under noble employment. Like... If they were using magic, this would be equivalent to them getting ready to use a big spell in the form of an attack. Obviously, that would put Efiramus on guard against that spell, because they'd be dead if they risked otherwise. But, this group of seven?

Well, in simple terms, it would be like if Arbre, on top of using that huge spell, had quietly manifested a second spell behind Efimarus. And that huge first spell had covered up the second one. Then after hitting Efiramus with the smaller spell and momentarily stunning them... The huge one would solidly hit, and kill Efiramus. It was a good plan, not exactly something that Arras would fall for, if you were still putting things in the terms of a fight, but certainly a solid feint. And if Efiramus was a weaker combatant, a solid feint like that would work. At least, Arras thought so.

"Lord Veile, you understand that I must confirm your claims, yes?"

Arras blinked as his attention was brought back to the present conversation, he... Hadn't really been paying attention to the minutia, more so just the actual plan itself.

"Pardon?"

"My apologies, allow me to reiterate. If what you claim is true, your abilities will be perfect for our opening assault. However, you understand that we must make sure."

"Ah, of course, of course. What do you need?"

"A simple demonstration shall do, please follow along with my instructions."

Arras nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. He hoped this wouldn't take too long, his artifact had been a bit low on magic since he'd woken up, and by now it had maybe an hour left in it. He hated having to keep his spell active manually, because the improvement he'd already made in the span of a few weeks made him cringe every time he forced himself to work with the thing. It was just so... Bad. And his inability to update it freely did not please him.

He opened his eyes again, it was time to give a demonstration.

...

Arras ruminated over his memories as he continued to make his way through the dark city. He was fairly certain that he knew where he was going, but he wanted to be absolutely certain. Errors could, and would, be fatal. So, he thought over the entirety of the second briefing. His thoughts during it, the conversations he'd picked up on, the exercises they'd had him do, and lastly, the memories he'd been shown. Interesting use of mind magic, he would do well to learn that in the future. But, that was besides the point.

He'd been shown a picture of the city from far, far up in the air. A birds eye view looking down on the land beneath. And in that memory, a specific place had been marked. The very place he was currently moving towards. He couldn't be wrong, he just couldn't. His nerves, even repressed, demanded that he wasn't. He double, triple, and quadruple checked, every few seconds.

The city streets were quiet, very quiet. It was the kind of quiet that would otherwise put Arras on guard. In almost all circumstances, such a quiet would be awful. However, in this one circumstance? It was probably the best possible condition Arras could've possibly asked for. Most colonial races weren't nocturnal, if it was dead quiet, that meant almost nobody was up. Logically, he did know that, but the more instinctual half of his brain wouldn't shut up about it. As previously mentioned oh so many times however, it currently had no sway over his actions.

Well, it at least found some solace in weaving around the streets through dead of night. Being able to at least move as if he was defending himself from an enemy scratched that itch pretty well. Not for long though, his destination hadn't been too far. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to make his way back through the city and could just up and carry himself out of the city via force magic after all was said and done with, but that was only if he didn't have any attention on himself after the fact. It would be pretty difficult to hold his magic up well enough under pressure, and under his own weight. It had already been difficult to make his way into the city to begin with, and he had a solid object to attach his force magic to in that instance.

...He wasn't holding out hope for the simplest solution, suffice to say. But well, maybe the world would surprise him.

Another breath, another few steps, and Arras was there. A huge building, maybe thrice the size of the housing around it. And also his target. The doors were locked... But, that wasn't much of a problem. It wasn't like they were magically locked or anything, so Arras just sort of... Little bit of force magic here, little bit of illusion magic there, boom! Popped that lock right open from the inside out, and also completely muffled it.

He slipped inside of the building a moment later, and almost immediately realized he'd made a mistake.

It was faint, almost unnoticeable really, if Arras was just a little worse, maybe if he didn't constantly sense literally everything in his surroundings magic related, he might've missed it. But he didn't, he was that good.

"...Nine tails damn it."

"...What? What's wrong?"

Arras dropped any attempts at illusion magic, that was an alarm. One he had very much triggered. His tails started to thrash agitatedly as they rose through the air, the air started to shimmer with heat at their ends.

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"Change of plans. Illia, stay on guard, stop using your magic. I want to be alert."

"Wh-huh? What are you talking about-"

"I triggered some sort of alarm, whoever guards this place, they know we're here. So stop, questioning me, and do it, please."

Flames started to blaze into existence at the tips of Arras's tails, each growing rapidly, and heating by the second. Orange fire starting to transition into a deep blue. This is what he came here to do. It would be quick, it would be easy, nobody was here yet. One good use of magic, and he should be able to leave.

A wave of anxiety slapped into Arras again, ah, what fun. But it was needed at the moment, and he had literally asked for it. No room for complaints. He breathed in again, and waved his arms.

Flames splashed against the walls and caught on with startling speed, smoke began to rise within moments as the blue flames gradually dissipated, leaving natural fire licking up and down the wooden beams of the building. There was no time to dwell on it though, Arras wanted out, IMMEDIATELY. He turned for the door and sprinted as fast as he could, which, wasn't all that fast in comparison to most people, but he was doing his best.

"If need be, I may have to cut off my transformation magic. You need to be ready to fly, do you understand?"

"But-"

"Do you understand!?"

"No, literally listen to me! It's very likely that they have defenses against airborne attacks or creatures, most cities do, and I don't think this one is any different! Even IF I was willing to up and abandon you, my illusion magic isn't up to par with yours, so I might just get SHOT DOWN."

"I-sorry, sorry." He frowned as he made his way outside of the burning building, there were shouts of alarm and confusion, but he made his way out mostly unnoticed. Admittedly, it might've been a bit hasty to abandon his illusion magic entirely, so he cloaked himself once again. Though... Something felt wrong, he couldn't quite put his finger on it...

"Don't be sorry, I don't want sorry right now! It doesn't matter, we need to make our way back out as quickly as possible, I know you're good at magic, but you're not good enough to fight an entire city on your own, almost nobody is. Keep your illusion magic going, if the siege starts before you're out, or if you start to get too nervous, tell me immediately, do you understand?"

"Right, apologies or whatever after we're safe." Arras steeled himself and began to dart through the very same alleyways he had just come from minutes ago. At least he hadn't used too much of his overall magic quite yet. Maybe a little less than a tenth so far, and most of it had come from making his way up the wall. Making it down should be significantly easier. If all went well, he should be out of the city and safe with Illia in minutes.

...Well, the world certainly had surprises for him in store today.

Arras felt every hair on his body tingle all at once, a warning, a threat of impending doom. He stopped short and leaped backwards as he activated a pulse of physical strengthening from his artifact. It was minor, but it was helpful. Maybe even life saving. On top of that, given Arras was not a risk taker, he raised a wall of earth between him and the attack he felt was impending. The ground rapidly contorted upwards as Arras safely glided away.

Lightning crashed down cracking and scorching the earth Arras would've been over if he hadn't reacted almost instantly. He flinched as his head snapped away from the blinding light and deafening noise, his body screaming at him to run, but he took hold of his gut with an iron grip and turned his head back towards the impact point. That wasn't just senseless noise, he shouldn't be afraid of it. He knew what it was, saw what it was, and registered what happened.

He needed to focus, he needed to focus... He needed to overcome it.

Arras forced his eyes open as the earth began to fall. Where had the attack come from? How had he been found? Was there even a point in keeping his illusion magic active? Or would he just be found again? His eyes scanned the alleyway he was in as his tails waved in a circle, producing a wall of force magic all around himself. He stood at the ready, at attention for any possible incoming attacks. But... Nobody was near him? That couldn't be right, couldn't be right at all.

Was it an illusion?

Arras felt his heart leap in his chest, and immediately put his all into sensing the magic around him, nearby him, hell, inside him. If there was anything at all wrong, he wanted to-

Arras paused, what the hell was that?

There was a foreign sense of magic in his arm, and with extreme prejudice Arras forced all of his magic into circulation. He laid out his aura at a moments notice, and instantly blew the foreign presence away. Consequently, he felt Illia shiver, but it was alright. He didn't keep it active, it was only a quick burst of magic. He disabled his aura immediately after the fact. He also let his illusion magic fade away again. There was absolutely no way that anybody didn't know where he was after that.

Had that been what was getting him attacked? It was certainly an odd form of magic, but-

"How odd."

Arras whipped around in the direction of the voice. It had been just outside the range of his detection, but now it was within his line of sight.

A lone beastkin stood with their hand on the hilt of a blade. Scratch that, not alone, there were at least a few dozen other beastkin behind him. They weren't in line of sight, but Arras had extended the range of his detection and he caught a whole lot of magic that way. He cursed to himself. Illia did as well.

"You must be one of the Nobles, or perhaps a Knight? An odd choice for Arbre to send its own people to die."

He didn't respond, but his tails did start to drift through the air.

"...Ah, you didn't come alone, did you?"

A preemptive attack would be his best bet. And the best of those attacks always came unseen. Keeping his magic under wraps, just as he had been doing, was essential. Unfortunately, he hadn't quite been expecting an overpowering sense of magic to come flooding forth.

It wasn't significantly more than what Arras had displayed a moment earlier, barely higher at all really. If that was the Beastkin's full capacity, then they had a little bit less than Arras himself, however, it had been sudden and surprising. Enough to make him lose his grasp over his magic for a short moment, enough for it to become noticeable. It was only for an instant before Arras corrected himself, but an instant would be more than enough if this person had the skills to match the amount of magic they had.

"Interesting, I doubt Arbre would send one as capable as you to your certain doom... Perhaps they had a plan? Ah... Of course."

...So he had noticed it?

"MEN! I'll deal with this intruder myself, secure the other warehouses as quickly as possible, we cannot afford to lose our supplies!"

Arras really had no obligation to interrupt their plans, but he did however want to get the best sneak attack possible. If he had already been noticed, what better time than when his enemies were distracting themselves? He thrusted an arm outward, and a cloud of ash and fire spewed forth, an orb of magic released into the open air. Immediately afterwards? Arras turned tail and ran.

He didn't need to kill them to survive, he just needed to get away. If he could get them off of him? That would be good enough. He immediately began to weave another illusion spell as he ran, but he felt that same premonition of doom run across his back and ducked down at the last moment. Illia was practically digging her talons into Arras's shoulder, so she came right down with him.

A blast of lightning crackled it's way through the ash, cleaving a straight line through it and dispersing the smokescreen in an instant. It would seem Arras wasn't escaping any time soon.

He shot back up to his feet, and just in time. Charging through the cloud was that same beastkin, with their sword aimed straight for him. Time seemed to slow down, ever so slightly, as Arras began to work his magic yet again.

The blade met with a screen of force magic, carving through it with ease. Though the few moments it took to make its way through the defenses bought Arras a valuable few moments, and with a burst of earth magic he began to rise, carried upwards by the earth beneath his feet. He almost buckled against the upwards force, but he held fast as it pushed him towards a nearby roof.

As the pillar continued to rise, Arras stared down at his adversary, they stared right back up and crouched low to the ground. Arras's tails twitched in anticipation, but before he he could do anything, he felt another source of magic, right on his shoulder.

"Just focus on getting away, I'll try and delay them the best I can!"

"Are you sure?"

"No shit I'm sure! Just trust me!"

"I have no doubts."

And that magic burst, dozens of balls of flame appeared in the air around the pillar of earth. Obstructing the way to it in no insignificant manner. Yet, that didn't seem to deter their enemy whatsoever.

With a spine tingling CRCK the earth trembled beneath the Beastkin's feet. And in the next moment, they launched themselves into the air with a thunderous boom. It wasn't even lightning, they'd just pushed off of the ground with that much force.. Arras's initial thought was, are they insane? But another instant later, and that thought was quickly dislodged. A shield of lightning appeared around their arm as they practically flew upwards, the electricity lashed out ferociously at any nearby flames, and within moments they were upon the pair.

Arras's eyes widened in shock as his tails thrashed forwards, a concentrated force barrier forming in moments between himself and their aggressor. He could've sworn he saw their eyes narrow, but he didn't have much longer to think about it when their sword smashed into his barrier an instant later. It was a fully filled in force construct, not weak in the slightest, but regardless it cracked through and through. If that Beastkin had been falling, instead of rising? He wasn't sure if it would've held for even a moment.

His own barrier slammed into himself as it was pushed back, though he reflexively shifted backward to spare Illia from the blunt force trauma that would've otherwise gone straight to her beak. That unfortunately, did not spare him from the blunt force trauma.

Arras grunted as the construct slammed into him, the blow had been dulled, incredibly so, but it was still... So... HEAVY... It sent him flying off of his pillar and into the open air, but luckily enough, he had gotten close enough to the roof at this point. As the Beastkin fell back to the ground, propelled by the recoil of their own attack, Arras soared through the air and barely managed to right himself. In, not quite a crash, Arras shakily landed on the nearby roof. He grunted in pain as his legs absorbed the shock, but he was otherwise alright, if not sore.

"Oh my god-are you alright!?"

"I'm fine, just a little... Nevermind, I'm fine." It felt as if his legs would split in two, and his chest hurt almost as bad as it had when his ribs had been broken... But, he didn't think anything was broken, this time. "We need to go, now. Can you use some of your magic on me? Just a little bit, I'm not sure how I'll react if I hear thunder again."

Without another word, Arras once again began to weave his illusion magic, and Illia her senses magic. He was out of sight, for the moment, so if there was a time to do it now was it. And of course, he also began to run. Most of the roof tops in this city were close together, he should be able to make a jump with a platform from his force magic with relative ease. He just needed to escape, that was all he needed to do.

It should take him mere minutes to reach the wall, and from there he just had to make his way up and he was home free after the fact. Unless he was chased outside of the city, but hopefully they would be too preoccupied with other matters to do that, like say, the incoming siege. It wouldn't be long now... Arras sneaked a quick glance backwards, definitely wouldn't be long. The smoke was billowing.

BOOM

Arras flinched again, but that hadn't been thunder. It was about time though, that fire had been burning for awhile. He'd been told they had something explosive, and against a larger military force, that had been their most threatening weapon. Most of it was stored in that warehouse, and so Arras, with his exceptional skills with illusion and force magic, had been tasked to be the first infiltrator. Well, fat load of good his illusion skills did him.

BOOM

That was really starting to grate on Arras's nerves. Unfortunately, this time, it was thunder. As he leaped from one roof to another, Arras snuck another glance backwards. That Beastkin came rocketing up, and landed evenly on the roof, catching themselves in a dignified manner. Arras's next breath caught in his throat as he continued to perfectly maintain his spell, he hoped against hope that it would continue to hold... And he kept running.

One jump, another jump cleared, it seemed as if they couldn't see him. He breathed a silent sigh of relief, but apparently Arras was destined to have a bad day today.

BOOM

A third thunderclap, at this point, he was starting to grow desensitized. That was a total lie, no he wasn't. He still felt like molting out of his skin with every other spell. But, he was getting used to the feeling. Speaking of a feeling Arras was getting used to, time seemed to slow down. His foot practically froze midair as his hair rose again. He didn't have the time, but he still somehow reacted. He wasn't able to make any motions, wave an arm or a tail, or even look in the right direction, but Arras manifested a force barrier directly behind him.

The lightning crashed into it and exploded against it, knocking Arras down flat on his stomach, and sending Illia sliding across the ground.

"ILLIA!"

"I'm fine-get up and-ARRAS!"

He flipped himself over and to the side instead of pushing himself straight up, which was yet another life saving decision. The Beastkin's sword plunged into the roof with enough force to create a shockwave, sending Arras careening way over to the ledge of the roof from the wind force. He almost went over, but the ledge caught him and stopped his momentum with a dull thud.

He wasn't down for the count though, and immediately afterwards his tails were thrashing with fervor, weaving multiple layers of force barriers between himself and his opponent.

So caught up in the effort was he, that he didn't notice the Beastkin's head turning towards Illia who was still pushing herself off the ground. He didn't notice until their blade was already pointed towards her, and their legs tensed.

"MOVE!"

They dashed.

Arras got inefficient.

With zero regard for wastefulness, or any concern besides Illia's survival, Arras worked the fastest magic he had ever used in his life. A dozen different spells all converged on the Beastkin's location. Mid thrust their sword lodged into a small force barrier, they tried to pull it away in that split moment, but leaped backwards without the weapon when they felt an incoming block of force magic, unfortunately for them, they leaped straight back into yet another force magic spell, with their trajectory having already been predicted. They tried to rise to their feet as quickly as possible after being smacked down to the ground, lightning crackling around their finger tips, but they were forced right back down as yet more force magic crushed them to the ground. While they were pinned, multiple fireballs rapidly converged around them, followed by a large bubble of force magic trapping them with the explosion.

If this had been, maybe, five seconds earlier? Arras would've disengaged right there and kept running. But whoever this person was? They just crossed a line.

"Illia, get over here, RIGHT NOW!"

He pushed himself to his feet as he shouted over the mind link, with Illia having been pushed so far away, her senses magic had been completely turned off. He was feeling just about everything at full force right now, and he was feeling a whole assortment of negativity. Unfortunately for the Beastkin, not enough to make him slip up with his spell casting, but just enough for him to make it as nasty as possible.

All three of his tails angrily thrashed from side to side as they slung spell after spell towards the still obscured pile that was the Beastkin. Smoke rose around them as explosion after explosion impacted into them, fireball, after fireball, all the while Arras continued to charge up one final spell, having drained well over half of his reserves with this assault alone by this point.

As soon as Illia perched on his shoulder once more, Arras unleashed his final attack and fired a veritable beam of explosive fire straight towards the collapsed heap that was the Beastkin. He could tell they were still alive, their magic was still moving, in fact they'd even started using their aura again during this particular assault, but he really hoped that this would kill them.

The roof cracked as the attack made contact, and in an explosion of debris, dust, and smoke, it broke open and swallowed up the Beastkin. There were screams and shouts below, but Arras really didn't care. What he did care about now, was getting away. He hoped that the Beastkin was dead, but he didn't have the time to waste on making certain of it. He also hadn't realized that he was practically panting, as he started to walk towards the crater, Arras centered his breathing once more and took stock of his magic.

That assault had taken a lot out of him, he had maybe a third of his magic left, if even that. But there was no more movement below, he breathed out a sigh of relief... But the breath caught in his throat when he felt yet another pulse of magic from below.

It was weakened, significantly, but they were still alive.

He started running.

Arras wasn't sure if he'd ever felt this scared in his life before. This wasn't simply fear for his own life, that previous moment had put things into perspective. He wasn't the only one at risk if he messed up, Illia was here too. They would both be killed without hesitation. Sure, he'd been afraid of something before, or so anxious that he couldn't bring himself to move, but this fear was different. It wasn't as debilitating, on the contrary, he ran even faster, but... His heart wouldn't stop trembling, he couldn't stop shaking.

Soon, he reached the wall. He'd already reactivated his illusion magic for the fourth time, but it was starting to get a little difficult. With only a fourth or so of his magic, it became more difficult to work with it. Like trying to wring more and more water from a towel. But, he had to succeed. The consequences of failure were unthinkable. With a level of zen unbecoming of the overpowering terror he currently felt, Arras managed his magic to a T. It became even easier once Illia actually thought to keep helping Arras out via senses magic.

Every movement of his magic felt simple, easier than they had before. A thought occurred to him, and he looked at his tails, but no, he still only had three. If he had been a bit more clear headed, he might've also wondered what exactly he would do with his artifact if he had a fourth tail. Would it even really work?

Regardless of that, his magic still felt more easy to work with, easier to mold. If, before, it was like say... Having to learn a new spell within a day, and it was a very difficult spell, now it was more like... Having to learn that same spell, but within three days instead. Much easier. The world just felt slower, easier to move in, and he felt so much... Faster.

It was odd, on one hand, he felt profound terror unlike anything else he'd ever felt in his entire life, and on the other it was like he was having a breakthrough that he'd been striving towards for months. Regardless of that though... He continued to make his way out. Arras ran up the stairs following after a beastkin who was none the wiser, by some miracle, it seemed as if he had managed to make it out... Mostly unscathed. He was still sore all over, but that was a far better alternative to dying.

It would be difficult, but he would be able to make it. He had made it up with maybe a twentieth of his magic, he could make it out with a fourth. Arras leaped, and caught himself with a barrier. He leaped again, another barrier.

"STOP HIM!"

That same voice from earlier, they'd already recovered this quickly?

Arras snuck a glance back at them, they were beyond singed, perhaps even a little roasted. Their skin marred and burnt, their clothes ruined and burnt just the same, but slowly recovering much like he was told his own would. And oh boy, did they glare, but it didn't matter. He was already far away and gaining distance, unless they chased him out of the city and towards the army, which was only a short walk away, he was home free.

He turned back towards the desert, and kept running, ever so slowly descending towards the ground with each barrier. His heart trembled, but internally he rejoiced, Illia shared in that triumph, if not a little shakily. As he touched the ground, Arras considered something. His legs felt weak, his arms were trembling, and every other part of him hurt, including his head from how he'd overworked his magic, but he still had a tiny piece of his magic left in him.

Arras turned back one last time, and glared up at the forces still far up on the wall. They were preparing something magical, he could tell that, but there was no way they'd be able to stop Arras at this point. Well... Maybe they could, but he wouldn't go down easily after all of that.

He had wanted to be petty, so, so badly... To lob one last fireball up at them... But, it wasn't worth it. It really just wasn't. He wanted to be safe, he wanted Illia to be safe. So he turned around again, and he kept running. Arras had done his part, he'd done what had been asked of him.

He was done.