– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 84 –
Devon’s warning and Saul’s command traveled through the defense forces. They slowly pulled back inside the range of the barrier.
Sigille appeared next to Terry. “You should go to either Ying or Saul. Once the barrier is set, this will become primarily a battle between dimensional mages.”
“Can’t we do anything about that Ava woman?” asked Terry.
“Dimensional mages are a pain to deal with and an even bigger pain to catch.” Sigille shrugged. “Saul and Ying largely counter her, but they can’t afford to focus entirely on one person.”
“Matteo and I have some items prepared for such cases, but those are onetime use and as long as Ava is countered, it is not worth it yet.” Sigille smacked her lips. “Besides, in some way, Ava is helping us without realizing it.”
“Huh?” Terry blurted out.
“Ava we can deal with somehow, but her mother would be a different matter.” Sigille frowned subconsciously. “Worst-case scenario here is that Ava ropes in her mother to assist her with the imperial army.”
Sigille glanced towards a skeletal warrior that was approaching them. “While it is making Ying nervous, I am personally quite happy that Ava is doing her part to destabilize space around here. That rules out the possibility of someone opening another long-distance dimensional gate anytime soon.”
“Lady Sigille, Saul has asked if you could help out at the eastern front,” said a skeletal warrior.
Terry had to do a double-take at the voice.
Sigille nodded and turned to Terry. “Remember, stay close to our dimensional mages.” Afterwards, her inscriptions flared up, and she darted away.
“Logan?” asked Terry.
The skeletal warrior scratched his skull where a cheek used to be. “One cultist exploded after death. No chance for me to get away in time.”
Good thing you haven’t run into one of those. Yet another problem you need to be prepared for.
Don’t take out your notebook.
“Ah well,” exclaimed Logan. “No helping it. While I can’t swing as hard as before, I’ll catch up to my past self in no time.” The cyan flames in his eye sockets flickered determinedly. “With all the deaths in the area, the Light is speeding up our growth.”
“Still…” muttered Terry with clenched fists.
“On the bright side, I don’t have to play lifefolk representative for Syn City anymore. Next time, someone strange pops up near the city, I can lay back while one of the skinbags has to deal with it.” Logan laughed.
***
Sigille dodged a translucent green palm that came flying at her from the right. Inscriptions on her boots flared up, and she jumped back to evade a rain of blades from a different opponent.
“Hmph.” Sigille glared at the two enemy commanders that had made their way inside the range of the barrier. She wanted to kick them out before the barrier was activated.
“You’re a stubborn bunch,” grumbled Sigille and swung her axe. Not far from her, a divine hammer manifested and followed the trajectory of Sigille’s axe.
“Right back at you, dwarf,” said a silver giant whose whole body was covered in blades that could move in spirals to drill into his opponents.
The silver giant clenched a fist, and the white crystals on his knuckles glowed brightly. He punched at the divine hammer and the mana shattered into pieces.
Sigille scowled at the repeating phenomenon. These white crystals were embedded at the man’s knuckles, knees, and elbows. They seemed to carry an anti-magic property.
“No matter how strong you are, you are just one person,” said the second commander. “Today will be your end.” Both of his emerald eyes contained twin pupils, and he leered at Sigille.
The emerald-eyed commander smashed his open palms forward in a trained pattern. Translucent green palms were flying forward and enlarged to attack Sigille.
Sigille activated two inscriptions at once to summon a barrier in front of her and to attack the emerald-eyed commander. She wanted to charge at the man but had to pull back when the silver giant lunged at her with blades rotating around his arms.
“Hmph.” Sigille glared at the pair. “Where did the Preacher even find you? Shouldn’t cultists at your level be known already?”
Sigille raised her chin at the emerald-eyed commander. “It’s obvious that you’re a follower of the Bodhi Tree, but you…” She turned to the silver giant. “I haven’t even heard of a cult that is granting abilities similar to yours.”
“Cult, huh?” The emerald-eyed follower of the Bodhi Tree glared at Sigille. “Many like us had to hide our faith because of the bigotry promoted by those like you.”
“I represent the Vigilant and the Virtuous,” said the silver giant proudly.
Sigille rolled her eyes and groaned.
“Minister Kipkoi was the first to make a credible promise that we could finally profess our faith out in the open without fear of persecution,” said the emerald-eyed commander.
“What you call professing faith, I call selling your soul,” retorted Sigille. She looked at the silver giant. “And I don’t see any virtue in assaulting innocent people in their homes.”
“Improving the situation of my fellow faithful is my duty,” said the silver giant. “For that, I have given an oath to follow Minister Kipkoi for Tiv. Keeping promises is a virtue.”
“It’s blasphemy that someone like you is allowed a nickname like the Divine Hammer,” snarled the emerald-eyed man.
“Not like I picked it for myself, you know.” Sigille shrugged unconcernedly. “Go complain to the mana crafter that chose the name for my favorite inscription.”
“People speak of you as if you were a legend. It is only fitting that you will be crushed by those following true divinity. Once the likes of you have fallen to us, people will know the true strength of the devout.”
“Feel free to try.” Sigille’s lips curved into a grin. “But I think you’re out of time for now.”
Inscriptions lit up on Sigille’s equipment. She charged at the emerald-eyed man and summoned a divine hammer for a second line of attack.
The silver giant pulled back his fist, and the crystals glowed brightly. He punched at the translucent golden hammer that was assaulting his comrade.
Before the anti-magic fist could reach the divine hammer, a purple lightning dragon crashed into the silver giant.
“ARGH!” The silver giant howled in pain.
After the lightning dragon came Matteo with Soul Fury in his right hand. From his left hand, Matteo shot an unending barrage of blue lightning at the silver giant.
With one opponent blocked, Sigille closed in on the emerald-eyed commander. The man used a defensive technique that propelled several green palms in all directions.
Sigille did not directly attack him. Instead, Sigille activated another inscription, and a strong repulsion field was generated with her at the center. The enemy commander was flung far away.
Matteo stomped his foot on the ground and the earth in front of him turned into a wave that carried the silver giant outside the barrier’s range.
Matteo put his left hand on the hilt of his heart-seeker dagger. “How much time is left?”
“Should be right up,” replied Sigille. “Your timing was impeccable. Well done.”
“The tall one seemed to have some annoying abilities, but I know that you could have handled them by yourself.”
Sigille shrugged. “As long as it’s just those two, yes. A few more like them and I would have to go all out and right now, that’s not a good move. Better to have them preserve some of their strength or they won’t be much use in cleaning up the mess they have caused.”
“What’s Devon’s current estimate?” asked Matteo.
“To quote: ‘A thousand Captains’,” replied Sigille, and grinned. “A peculiar scout. Even ignoring his talent for scaring people shitless.” She shook her head slightly. “Abyssal aspects and a vessel that is practically immortal and undying. I wouldn’t blame a lich king for weeing her knickers when Devon creates scenes like today.”
“Yeah…” Matteo became pensive. “First time I’ve seen him come close to losing it in person.”
Finally, Syn’s barrier activated in front of the two.
The enemy commanders that were rushing back towards them had to come to an abrupt stop to avoid colliding with the barrier.
“Looks reasonably stable to me,” remarked Matteo. “Think the anti-magic ability will pose a threat to the barrier?”
“Probably not.” Sigille shook her head slightly. “There is a difference in power between personal items and large-scale constructions. That silver guy’s ability is limited in scope. Amelia or Dargones could probably open up a larger hole, but even that would be closed quickly with the next pulse.”
Matteo nodded.
The two enemy commanders walked up to the barrier and glared at Matteo and Sigille.
“Thanks for abandoning your defensive towers,” said the silver giant. “That will save many innocent lives.”
Sigille snorted.
“Have you turned into cowards?” sneered the emerald-eyed commander.
Terry had been waiting nearby and lowered himself with a roped ring.
Shortly afterwards, Saul appeared out of thin air.
Sigille nodded towards them and then returned her attention back to the enemy commanders behind the barrier.
Sigille clicked her tongue. “Alright, my groping tree-hugger.” She raised her chin at the emerald-eyed commander. “And sparkly villain.” She raised her chin at the silver giant.
The silver giant frowned unhappily at being called a villain.
Sigille did not care about his displeasure. “Let me give you one piece of friendly advice – from one Tiv citizen to another: Bugger off while you still can.”
“In your dreams, you piece of shit.” The emerald-eyed commander displayed a snarl. “Your attitude is reason enough to crush you into a pulp, but today I’ve seen you kill my subordinates, my comrades, my fellow worshippers, and my friends. No matter what, I won’t let you go. This feud has become irreconcilable. We’ll fight until one of us dies!”
“Fine then,” retorted Sigille nonchalantly. “We’ll fight until you die. Got it.”
The emerald-eyed commander’s face contorted into a grimace. His eyelid twitched at being so casually dismissed.
Terry had to suppress a snort at his aunt’s ability to tick people off.
Matteo grinned and returned Soul Fury back to its sheath.
“I hope you don’t expect the rest of us to avoid killing him so that you can settle this personally?” asked Saul.
“Oh no,” replied Sigille casually. “The groping tree-hugger isn’t worth that much attention.”
While a vein pulsated on the forehead of the enemy commander, the group of Syn defenders distanced themselves from the barrier.
Terry stumbled and his heart skipped a beat when his mana sense finally told him why Syn had activated the barrier. He stared at the horizon.
That must be tens of thousands of death signatures...
“Is this?” Terry felt like vomiting again, but his stomach was already empty.
“The big one?” Sigille looked at Terry. “Yes. Today will be a long day.”
Megumi descended from the sky with a grave expression. “Arrival is imminent. Best plan would be to create a united front against the horde, but…”
Sigille shook her head. “From a military perspective, yeah, but that would presuppose that everyone present was sane and reasonable. We still need to safeguard Syn’s citizens, even after the horde has been dealt with. On that account, I don’t trust the words of the Preacher’s folks for a second.”
“I know, but still…” Megumi sighed. “As it stands, we have three major objectives to focus on and every single one is critical. Ensure that the barrier holds. Overpower the enemies’ death aura so that corpses can be claimed by Syn. Maintain control of the dimensional space. That last one unfortunately competes with the first two, because it requires attention from Ying and Saul.”
“I have an idea,” said Sigille. “But it will be annoying. We need to capture Ava, then we can make an attempt for a political safeguard.”
Megumi raised an eyebrow skeptically. “From what Lizzy told me, Ava is not exactly…”
“That’s why we will not negotiate with Ava. Instead, I intend to escalate this over her head. Two heads up actually.”
Realization dawned on Megumi. She rubbed her eyes tiredly.
“However, for that to work, we need to capture Ava first,” said Sigille.
“I don’t like postponing the call for assistance from the Wasteguard for politics.” Megumi’s words sounded like a long sigh.
“Welcome to the club,” said Sigille. She threw a grim glance at the army outside the barrier. “They made a really poor choice.”
***
The blood drained from Ava’s face when she spotted the flood of undead approaching. The runners had already started charging at her army.
Her features contorted in hapless fury and she searched for the mana signatures of the Tiv Guardians.
It did not take long, because both Sigille’s and Megumi’s groups were waiting together with Ying in the middle of Syn City’s park. Saul had taken over watching the Heart.
“What is the meaning of this?!” demanded Ava. “Have you called for the assistance of even more undead?!”
Sigille rolled her eyes.
“Ignorant fool,” spat Lizzy.
“Hold your tongue if you do not know what you are talking about,” said Megumi. “Every Wasteguard could have told you that this is a risk of large-scale battles in the Wastes. If you had consulted with any local Wasteguard, they would have told you that this large horde is roaming in the area. Why didn’t you do so before marching your wasted army here?”
“Wasteguard…” Hope and desperation mixed in Ava’s eyes. “Where is the Wasteguard then? Eradicating such a horde is their duty…”
“The Wasteguard is engaging the Wastes at the Wasteborder,” replied Megumi. “Not out here. As I have explained to you before, there are tremendous risks in fighting on this side of the Bulwark. No Wasteguard would do so without a very good reason.”
Megumi paused and swallowed the rising anger inside of her. “Me and my fellow Guardians could give them a reason by calling them here, but why should they bear the brunt of the trouble that you have invited?”
Stolen story; please report.
“You dare! You have repeatedly sabotaged the Tiv Empire today, but it’s no wonder.” Ava’s eyes were bloodshot. “I’ve already noticed that you are colluding with Tiv’s enemies.”
Megumi furrowed her brow and tilted her head.
“Don’t try to pretend otherwise! I’ve seen the monster over there in his crimson uniform!” Ava pointed at Devon. “Thanatos! An empire that is at war with Tiv!”
Lizzy slapped her own forehead in disbelief.
Devon tentatively opened his mouth, but no shattering sound appeared.
“Devon is my fellow Deathguard, and a valued companion with whom I have worked together for more than a decade,” said Megumi with cold eyes. “That is another thing you could have figured out before coming here. Devon was wearing a salvaged uniform from a Thanatos soldier that had tried to ambush us before. Our group has killed that enemy of the Tiv Empire.”
Ava scoffed and then pointed at Terry. “That man is wearing the crest of Arcana. Another enemy of the Tiv Empire!”
“What a load of pus!” interjected Lizzy. “We are not at war with Arcana.”
“Terry is my nephew,” said Sigille firmly. “During his visit here, he has already earned quite a number of contribution points with the Tiv Guardians. He has supported the fight against the Wastes and thereby protected the Tiv Empire. I don’t think that qualifies as the behavior of an enemy.”
“Great,” spat Ava. “Just great. So now you will follow Arcana’s stupid example?! Hide yourself underneath a barrier and let everyone else deal with the problem of the Wastes?”
“Have you forgotten that you were the first ones to attack this place?” retorted Sigille coldly. “The fact that I am not out there for a pincer attack on your crappy army is already pushing my magnanimous nature.”
Cadence, who was standing behind Sigille, gulped. A direct threat to the disciple’s daughter was too much for Cadence’s own nerves and Sigille had spoken it as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
“You…” Ava’s blood boiled in rage. “Stupid… Selfish…” Ava growled through gritted teeth. “Deserters… Traitors…”
“Surrender and hand yourself over to our custody,” said Sigille. “We will seal your mana. We will contact your mother and have her request a guarantee from the Mage Supreme. Then, we can all join the fight together. Only then.”
Ava nearly choked on her breath when she heard her mother brought up. Her face repeatedly switched colors.
“You dare demand concessions from Tiv?!”
“I dare a lot of things,” replied Sigille nonchalantly. “Not to belittle the Preacher’s hobby project too much, but your Devout Division doesn’t seem all that experienced. I doubt they ever had to fight a horde with high-rank undead before. In that kind of horde, even the runners can pose a significant threat. All of them are properly coordinated by the death whisperers.”
“The Devout Division can put up a fight, but they alone won’t be enough to crush this horde,” added Megumi.
Ava glared and shook her head. She spoke with determined eyes: “Then that is our duty. We will not shrink back from dying for the Tiv Empire. Unlike you, we won’t abandon our duty.”
Lizzy groaned, Megumi sighed, and Sigille clicked her tongue.
“Now, you can listen to my counter-offer,” sneered Ava. “Stop colluding with the undead and join the fight, or I will tear this place apart until you deactivate the barrier. I have shown restraint so that the deserters have a chance to discover some sense and change their minds. If you don’t surrender now – if the deserters won’t move their asses back to Tiv – then everything inside this barrier is a valid target from now on.”
“Is it just me or did you just threaten us with a war crime?” retorted Sigille.
Lizzy glanced towards the location of the shelter.
Fury ignited in Megumi’s eyes and she cracked her knuckles.
“Deserters deserve their fate,” growled Ava. “Treason is punishable by death.”
“Not just me then,” exclaimed Sigille and drew her axe. She scratched her nose with the pinky of her free hand. “Last I checked the actual laws, desertion was limited to those sworn into military service and emigration was not considered treason. But I always forget those unwritten laws that only exist in the heads of insane zealots.”
“Bah!” spat Ava and teleported away.
“Alright, let’s play catch the dimensional mage,” said Sigille. “A frustrating game, but it has to be played. The quicker the better.”
Matteo and Megumi soared into the sky to look for Ava.
“I’ll coordinate with Saul,” said Ying. “We still need to make sure that she can’t transfer her army inside the barrier.”
Ying turned to Devon. “It would be great if you could help us out with your life sense again.”
“Of course,” said Devon.
“I’ll get back to the shelter,” said Lizzy. “I feel Ava has lost it. Who knows what she will do in that state?”
“Please take Terry with you,” said Sigille before she turned to Terry. “It would be better for you to join the others in the shelter. You’re not equipped to waltz into a battle between raging dimensional mages, but your mana sense could be of use in defending the shelter.”
Terry nodded.
“I’ll bring Devon to Saul and then I’ll come by the shelter,” said Ying.
Afterwards, everyone split up for their own tasks, and Terry followed Lizzy.
***
“How are you holding up?” Lizzy asked Terry. “This has become much worse than any mission you should have been a part of.”
You could show her your vomit puddle. The smell is worth a thousand words.
“I don’t know,” said Terry. “This all seems so…”
“Pointless?” suggested Lizzy. “Frustrating? Yeah. Folks don’t need to wait for the Wastes to create hell on earth. Sometimes, I wonder how we kept a semblance of civilization for this long. Seems like we are always at most two steps away from war and total mayhem.”
They turned a corner and Terry saw the shelter for non-combatants.
In front of the shelter, Ethel and a bunch of death knights were standing guard.
On the shelter’s roof, Romana and a squad of archers – both dead and alive – were observing the surroundings.
Above the shelter, Olivienne and two other high-level death mages were flying in the air.
“You can wait inside until it’s over,” said Lizzy.
Ying appeared in front of them. “Alright, I’ll create a spatial lock to cover the inside of the shelter so that the enemy cannot transfer into the place.”
“Uhh…” Terry blinked.
“What?” asked Lizzy.
“Maybe I should stay outside?” muttered Terry.
“Hmm, more grit than I gave you credit for,” said Lizzy with raised eyebrows.
Not exactly.
“I don’t think I should go into the sealed area,” said Terry. “I believe my oscillating mana somehow interferes with space magic.”
Ying turned his head to Terry. “What do you mean?”
Terry quickly explained his experience with the rainbow fishie, as well as his suspicion regarding the throwing needle that had been aspected with oscillating mana.
Ying opened his palm in front of Terry’s face. “Show me.”
Terry could see a small mana distortion on top of Ying’s palm that resembled what he had sensed with the rainbow fishie, only a lot smaller.
Terry burst his mana and then poked his finger at the sealed area.
While Terry heard a quiet shattering sound, Ying’s eyes opened wide.
“I… I’ve never heard of anything like that before,” said Ying.
Terry drew his lips back in a helpless expression. “I’ll just wait outside. Make myself useful if I can.”
Ying nodded and then created the spatial lock to protect the shelter.
“Nice of you to keep me company.” Lizzy put a hand on Terry’s shoulder. “Tell me if you sense anything.”
Terry knew she was trying to cheer him up, and he appreciated it.
Terry took a deep breath and looked around. He glanced at Ethel in her skeletal body. “Uhm, will the barrier keep ethereal creatures out?”
“Huh? It should, yes. Ahh..” Lizzy realized the reason for the question. “If you are thinking of the incident with Thanatos, that was different. Large-scale mana-crafted barriers are more advanced than simple spellwork. They don’t just carry a mixture of aspects, but also pulse with individual aspects.”
Makes sense. Otherwise, Arcana would have had to deal with ethereal creatures, too.
High-level spellwork barriers should display similar effects…
Terry nodded to himself.
“Alright done,” said Ying. “I’ll go—”
Ying stopped mid-sentence and focused on the information arriving from his soul spirit. Fury flashed through his eyes and a purple aura emanated from him.
“Ying?” asked Lizzy.
“That woman is transferring explosives into the barrier.”
*BOOM!* As if to prove Ying’s statement, a loud explosion reverberated through the area.
“Saul transferred most of them out again, but that woman has started to time her transfers so that they explode right after her transfer, which makes it hard to—” Ying stopped and shook his head. “I need to move.” He looked at Lizzy and the others. “Stay safe.”
Ying teleported away to join Saul.
“Crazy bitch,” growled Lizzy. “Dimensional mages are such a pain.”
The earth quaked, but this time, it was not because of an explosion but because of the horrifying battle that welled up outside the barrier.
“Is your mana sense still working?” asked Lizzy.
“Huh?” Terry realized that the area was slowly being drowned in mana – blood abominations, and who knows what else, were releasing large quantities of mana outside the barrier. “Yeah, I can tune out the noise.”
“A Charlie Foxtrot alright.” Lizzy muttered to herself and shook her head.
“A what?” asked Terry.
“Apparently, that’s military slang for clusterf— Uhh, for kerfuffle. It’s been years since I heard the Captain use that phrase, but today it feels warranted.”
“Above!” shouted Terry when he sensed a mana distortion. Shortly afterwards, several objects fell from the sky.
“Everyone cuddle up!” shouted Lizzy and prepared a metal-aspected barrier.
Ethel and the death knights ran to Lizzy. Olivienne and the death mages descended onto the roof.
Lizzy activated her barrier.
Several small bombs impacted on the barrier and then exploded.
“That crazy bitch!” growled Lizzy. “She transfers dispersal mechanisms so that she only has to transfer in one object while Saul or Ying would have to transfer each bomb individually.”
“There seems to be mana mixed into the explosion,” said Terry.
Lizzy’s eyes narrowed. “Shit.” She quickened another casting for a barrier right underneath the first one.
Not a moment too soon, because an explosion that carried the water- and lightning-aspects destroyed her first barrier.
Before the second barrier was broken, Olivienne raised an empowered earthen wall to block the explosive force.
“If she fights like that, then this will be an incredible drain on mana,” said Lizzy. “If they don’t catch her quickly, this will make it even harder to deal with the horde afterwards.”
Terry tilted his head. He looked at Olivienne. Her mana signature that was dual-aspected with earth and ice reminded Terry of one of his earliest experiments with the Immovable Object spell.
“Olivienne, can you raise an ice dome?” asked Terry. “Not just condensed ice-aspected mana, but real ice?”
Olivienne flew over the roof’s edge and descended next to Terry. “Yes, why?”
***
“Like this?” Olivienne guided several thin strips of ice from the ice dome covering the area around the shelter towards Terry, who was sitting cross-legged a few meters away from the dome itself.
“Yes,” said Terry. “Now, try to wrap it around these.”
Terry held out his old bracers.
“What’s the idea here?” asked Lizzy.
“Mana-osmotic material,” replied Terry. “I’ll place the casting center into the ice between them so that the only exposed direction is towards me. It shouldn’t be so easy to disrupt the spell then.”
Lizzy nodded in approval. “In a close call, I’m still here.”
“Area below the ground is now also covered,” said Olivienne.
After Olivienne had finished her work, Terry activated his empowered Immovable Object spell to turn the ice dome indestructible.
Terry continuously inserted additional mana with one hand. His other hand was holding onto one of his stockpiled mana containers. Due to the decay of stored mana, it was better to use up the supply earlier and keep his own mana pool full if possible.
New bombs rained down from the sky and everyone watched their impact with bated breath to see how the ice dome would hold up.
The earth rumbled from the explosion, but the ice dome stood immovable.
“Looks like it is working,” said Lizzy. “But without your spell, the dome will start melting. So either you or Olivienne will have to use mana and you will need to do that periodically, as opposed to only when attacks are incoming.”
“It’s fine,” said Terry. “I couldn’t do anything else, anyway. It’s fine for me to use mana. Also, transfixing the dome does not cost me more than transfixing my equipment.”
“Really?” Lizzy raised an eyebrow. “That’s convenient.”
Would be more convenient if I could use ice magic myself though…
“Then what’s the point of the container?” asked Lizzy.
“Empowering the spell further to extend its duration and use the stored mana before it decays.”
“How long can you keep this up?”
“Longer than this Ava person can keep up her continuous transfers, I think,” said Terry.
You say think. I say hope.
“Good to hear,” said Lizzy. She put a hand on Terry’s shoulder. “But don’t push yourself.”
Terry looked up. Through the translucent ice, he could see Ava appearing and disappearing again while being chased by Sigille.
***
“Stupid scum.” Ava cursed to herself.
The battle raging outside did not have any strong soldiers to spare for her to transport inside. Especially not if Syn’s dimensional mages interfered.
This had given Ava the idea of switching from transferring soldiers to transferring explosives. At first, it seemed to work well. Ava was able to cause large-scale destruction and scatter the attention of the defense force.
The idea worked even better once Ava had realized that she could transfer a container of objects and then immediately disperse the objects inside after the transfer.
Unfortunately for Ava, the defenders had not taken long to adapt. They had accepted the damage to the city and only focused on defending a few locations.
One of these locations was the Heart of Syn that Ava aimed to destroy above all. However, with so many capable defenders gathered and supported by a dimensional mage of their own, Ava did not see an opening.
Ava had hoped that she could keep the defenders scattered, but that hope had vanished. Now, most folks were gathered in a few locations and the only individuals moving were chasing Ava around.
“AHHHHHHRG!” Ava screamed in frustration.
Ava glared with fury at the dwarf that was already approaching through the sky. Ava was forced to teleport again.
No matter where Ava went, she barely had a few seconds to act or catch a breath before someone was already after her.
Ava noticed that inside the barrier, there were only two smaller areas where the space had been sealed. One was the location of the Heart. The other…
Ava teleported again and recognized an ice dome she had seen before.
“How is it still standing?” Ava wondered out loud. She had definitely bombarded the dome not long ago. Several of the explosives had been prepared to release fire-aspected mana.
Ava traced the mana flow and then glanced at the blurry shape of Terry, who was visible through the translucent layer of ice.
“Nephew, huh?” Ava narrowed her eyes coldly. “I wonder if that’s true. If so…”
Ava teleported away to not give any hints that the location had drawn her interest. She sensed for the mana signatures of her pursuers and lured them further away from the ice dome.
Then Ava returned to the ice dome and immediately cast an unanchored transfer on Terry.
*Ting* Inside the ice dome, Terry’s oscillating needle fell to the ground.
“What?” Terry fell face first on the ground in front of Ava.
“HAH!” Ava was delighted to find that Terry did not seem to carry any items to protect him against unanchored transfers.
Olivienne and the death mages quickly cast Rock Spear and Death Spear spells to attack Ava.
Ava opened small dimensional gates to redirect the attacks back towards the attackers and their allies.
Lizzy rushed to disrupt the active Immovable Object spell on the ice dome and enlarged a metal hammer to break the ice dome apart.
Terry controlled his breathing and hurried to stand up.
Run? Funny idea against a dimensional mage.
Although maybe if I burst? Wait, does she have other spells?
Thoughts raced through Terry’s mind…
Really? Everyone is trying to catch her, and you are trying to run from her? How about, instead of clinging to your notebook sessions, you try something NOW?!
Terry sensed a small hole in the ice dome thanks to Lizzy’s hammering. He used his glove to attract the oscillating throwing needle that had been left inside into his hand. With his other hand, he grabbed an octavum needle.
In a rapid succession, Terry threw the octavum needle at Ava, threw his oscillating needle at her, burst his mana, then he charged at her while summoning a barrier spear.
Terry thought he could hear someone shouting his name, but he did not stop.
Ava sneered inwardly. She summoned small dimensional gates to block the thrown weapons.
An octavum needle entered the dimensional gate and then reappeared close to and directed at Terry. Shortly after the octavum needle left the redirecting gate, it transfixed in the air and posed no threat to him.
Terry’s oscillating needle met another dimensional gate right in front of Ava’s neck.
“AHRGH! A pained scream escaped from Ava, and blood entered her throat. She grabbed the side of her neck that was bleeding intensely. Her disbelieving eyes looked to her side.
“H-how…?” Ava stammered between bloody gurgles.
The bloody, oscillating needle laid on the ground next to Ava. It had moved through the dimensional gate as if it did not exist, and it had left a gash on her neck.
A silver light enveloped Ava and started curing her wound while her face turned livid.
Ava cast an unanchored transfer spell to throw Terry towards the undead horde…
Terry continued bursting towards her, and Ava felt a slight pang in her hand.
Terry had arrived and tackled Ava to the ground.
In front of Ava’s shocked eyes, Terry had let go of the spear and started rapidly touching pieces of her equipment while straddling her below himself.
“You!” Ava wanted to curse at Terry, but then her attention was drawn towards other mana signatures.
Thoughts continued to race through Terry’s mind.
If these immovable items aren’t enough, then any more won’t help either.
Terry retrieved a mana container in his left hand and dumped the mana into the area around Ava.
A poor cultivator’s attempt to crowd out the free mana with your own naturalized mana? May buy you half a second. You should really learn to do disruption discharges.
Simultaneously, Terry used his right hand to draw the inscribed dagger in reverse grip and placed it at Ava’s throat.
Ava ignored Terry to focus on her own spell casting. She could not afford a spell failure this time. She needed to teleport before her real pursuers arrived.
“WHAT?!” Ava’s face became ashen when she felt the pang in her hand.
Ying sealed the space to obstruct any further teleportation attempts.
Sigille clicked two handcuffs with a long chain between them around Ava’s hands. These cuffs sealed Ava’s mana. Sigille kept a hold of the chain while patting Ava down for items to confiscate.
By now, most of Terry’s quickened spells on Ava’s equipment had deactivated again.
“Huh,” exclaimed Sigille eventually. She looked appraisingly at Terry. “Well done! I did not expect you to be the one to catch the zealot, much less do it so quickly. I believe I ought to prepare another gift.”
Sigille grinned at Terry, but her grin was quickly replaced with a warm expression and concerned eyes.
“It’s alright now,” said Sigille in a softer voice and patted Terry’s back.
Terry was still gripping his inscribed dagger tightly. He could still hear the blood rushing in his ears. He could still feel the adrenaline. He stood in a daze and breathed shakingly.
“It’s alright,” repeated Sigille. “You did well. The rest is on us. Take a break.”
***