Goblins attacked in droves, their pupils rolled back in their eyes as if driven mad, foam forming at the edges of their mouth, spilling saliva as they attacked Celes's and Old Wheeler's groups.
Old Wheeler had fought a lot before but it was only single against opponents that were all together quite weak, he never experienced such heavy moments with the scent of death in the air, the nervousness forming sweat on his large palms.
Old Wheeler's molten blood churned as his gaze darted between his injured daughter and the fallen blue-haired leader. The battlefield was a symphony of chaos - gunfire, screams, and the sickening sound of metal meeting flesh.
His son-in-law lay bleeding but alive, protected by a circle of their companions who maintained a desperate defense with gunfire. The corpses of a few fallen caught his eyes, not along ago they were talking and laughing but now their blood ran cold
The priest loomed over Celes's prone form, its bone staff crackling with dark energy. It cast various spells at tricky angles, Old Wheeler watched in horror as it impaled dozens of its own clan and used their blood and bones to fuel its power.
Kueek!
The priest was smart, it realized she was fighting off its previous spell and would likely recover soon.
“Hakum, vladco, hakumm…”
Blood congealed into ominous tentacles and lashed out at Celes viciously. Blue Flames formed a thick barrier in an attempt to block but Sapphire still had to get close and use her feather and talons to fight off the numerous thick tentacles of blood.
"Father!" Natalie's scream cut through his thoughts. A group of goblins had broken through their defensive line, charging toward the wounded. Justin, the towering shield-bearer, immediately repositioned himself between the green-skinned horde and Wheeler's family. His massive frame boosted by an even larger shield became a wall of protection as he shouldered aside the first wave of attackers.
"I've got them!" Justin's deep voice boomed across the battlefield. "Do what you need to do!" He was still not used to Minnie’s abilities as a medium a d shouted out loud.
Priya provided covering fire from her new elevated position, her arrows finding their marks with deadly precision. Beside her, Xia's ice bow sang a frozen melody, each crystalline arrow leaving trails of frost in its wake. Priya shot pinpoint accurate arrows due to her Eagle Eye talent, Xia shot numerous arrows covering the ground and corpses with thick icy shells. Together, they created a deadly crossfire that prevented the team from being completely surrounded.
It did help that the goblin priest was also using some of the goblins as sacrifices.
Through their spiritual link, Minnie's voice rang clear in Wheeler's mind: "The priest is our priority! We need to get Giselle to Celes, but that thing's in the way!"
Wheeler's newly awakened power surged through him like a furnace fire. The massive battle axe in his hands began to glow brighter, responding to his burning blood. Its metal took on the color of sunset, then shifted to a dangerous white-hot brilliance that made nearby goblins shrink back in terror.
With a roar that scattered the closest enemies, Wheeler spun in place, his enhanced muscles coiling like springs. He instinctively activated his natal ability [Titan’s Far Reaching Arms], the axe left his hands like a meteor, its burning mass carving a path through the air toward the altar, it was so fast it left afterimages. The priest's eyes widened as the weapon approached, forced to leap back or be cleaved in two.
Sapphire felt her burden lessen as the blood tentacles became weaker but some goblins took the opportunity to attack Celes at the command of the priest.
The axe embedded itself in the ancient stone with a thunderous crack, its heat so intense that the sacrificial offerings around it began to smoke and char. More importantly, it had created the opening they needed.
"Now!" Minnie's command cracked through the spiritual link.
Giselle sprinted forward, her healer's robes fluttering behind her. Reid materialized from the shadows briefly to cut down two goblins that lunged for her, before disappearing back into the chaos of battle. The priest raised its staff to intercept her, but a barrage of ice arrows from Xia forced it to defend itself instead.
A goblin's claw caught Giselle's shoulder as she ran, drawing a line of blood, but she didn't slow. The young healer's eyes were fixed on her fallen leader, her Green Copper-grade [Two-Touch Lotus Healing] card already beginning to resonate with her determination.
She carefully approached Celes protected behind Sapphire’s powerful flames, Sapphire gently called out to her in worry, their connection was one of the soul so it could sense her inner turmoil. Giselle was worried at first but fortunately the flames avoided her, Sapphire had recognized her.
*
A bloody crimson cage of resentful souls weighed down on Celes’s spirit.
Celes was in a total daze, the effects of Blood Oath Prison spell were powerful yes but what truly caught of her off caught was something within herself, it reacted before the spell could swallow up her spirit and taint it with resentment.
Just then.
Something strange happened.
A white barrier protected her, even stranger…
She could sense her soul, covered in flames. Somehow, she could also see something deeper inside her soul body. A perfect silver orb with tinges of gold. Nestled in the embrace of what looked to be a baby sapphire.
Inside the orb, she saw a tower of silver blood mixed with blue flames.
She saw the shadow of a beautiful tree, it was just like any other tree, but its roots were piercing the sky itself, it was upside down yet still above the clouds, nestled atop the tree was a beautiful bird. It looked similar to Sapphire, but it was different. It had more wings and tails, it was also… smaller. Yet despite this she sensed a great power and nobility within the tiny creature.
In fact, Celes was caught off guard by the powerful soul attack, she was still too weak just a Tier Zero Card Apprentice, and unable to defend against a spell fueled by countless lives and resentful souls. However, she managed to avoid this dangerous spell.
And in a twist of fate, she was able to glimpse a hint of ‘something’, something that she wouldn’t have contacted normally. As this ‘thing’ protected her soul intuitively, she was able to hide from the effects of the Blood Oath Prison.
The golden crystal that sent her back in time had several other properties, unbeknownst to both time travelers, one of these was defying fate, another was tracing time. Both due to their differing circumstances and luck, had tapped into some of the remnant embers of the crystal’s power.
Strange, it looks like her but its completely different. Also, unlike what’s outside that is clearly Sapphire’s infant form, this one seems to be mature.
As Celes tried to peer closer onto the form of the strange bird with many similarities to her natal beast, the outside battle raged on.
*
Giselle reached Celes's side just as another wave of blood spilled from the leader's lips. Giselle's hands moved to Celes's temples, trembling slightly but sure in their purpose. Green energy began to flow from her fingertips, fighting against the dark corruption of the Blood Oath Prison that held Celes's mind captive.
"Please," Giselle whispered, as much a prayer as a plea. "Work!”
The healing energy from Giselle's hands pulsed in gentle waves, each one pushing back the darkness that clouded Celes's mind.
Time passed but Celes showed no signs of awakening until Sapphire used some of her flames to help out. Then she was dragged out of her daze.
Celes’s unfocused pupils quickly adjusted seeing the real world unfold before her.
No, wait… I’m still not sure what that is or why I’m here.
No longer needing to protect her soul’s origin, Celes felt herself being pushed out from her inner mind, first becoming transparent, then dissolving like smoke in a strong wind.
The terrifying spell the priest used was both a physical and spiritual one, her flames had destroyed the physical cage, but she didn’t expect the spiritual attack to be so fierce and filled with resentment. Even after destroying the cage, she was still injured.
She felt the stinging pain in her body.
As she was back to her senses, Celes realized how careless she had been. Swept up by curiosity she had allowed the spell to seep deeper into her body causing further injuries, she also neglected the battle outside despite being the leader.
‘Yet, what exactly was that.’
She thought back to weird inner vision. Even the lingering images tugged at her heartstrings. She couldn’t help but look towards Sapphire who was also looking at her with a worried gaze, she quickly comforted her then turned to Giselle.
‘There’s no time to be dazed. Lives are at stake.'
"Thank you," Celes managed, her voice rough with the blood she'd coughed up. She gripped her rapier tighter as strength returned to her limbs. "While sapphire’s flames have regenerative properties, using them now would drain too much of my card essence. I was careless, we don’t have time to waste let’s go."
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Sapphire continued her protective circle of flames, keeping the closest goblins at bay. The phoenix's screech echoed across the battlefield as she spotted a group of goblins attempting to flank their position.
Through the spiritual link, Minnie coordinated their defenses. "Justin, left side's breaking! Xia, cover him!"
Justin's massive frame moved with surprising agility as he charged through the goblin ranks. His shield became a battering ram, sending several of the creatures flying. A particularly large goblin managed to get behind him, but before it could strike, an ice arrow pierced its throat. The creature's flesh froze solid before it hit the ground.
"Got your back!" Xia called out, already nocking another arrow. Her ice bow hummed with power as she drew back the string, frost crystals forming in the air around her. Three goblins rushed Justin's position – three ice arrows found their marks in rapid succession, each shot precisely placed to protect the shield-bearer's blind spots.
Justin grunted his thanks, using his brief reprieve to help one of Wheeler's injured men to safety. "Stay behind me," he ordered, his shield already rising to block another wave of attacks. The man barely had time to nod before Justin was moving again, his defensive line never breaking despite the constant assault.
Justin felt a little worried having to protect so many people against the horde but Minnie sensed his attitude and helped ease his emotions through her ability. With renewed vigor, Justin’s eyes brightened as he continued his role as guardian.
From her elevated position, Xia had a clear view of the battlefield's flow. Her eyes narrowed as she tracked multiple threats, prioritizing targets that threatened to overwhelm their key defenders, she looked over to Priya who nodded in turn.
Another goblin tried to leap onto Justin's shield – her arrow caught it mid-jump, the ice spreading from the point of impact until the creature shattered on impact with the ground.
"Their numbers are still too many," Minnie's voice crackled through the spiritual link. "We need to-"
Her tactical assessment was cut short by a familiar battle cry. Jasmine had broken formation again, her massive sword [Crystalline Nature Fang] glowing with an ominous green light as she charged deeper into the goblin horde.
"Jasmine, maintain position!" Minnie commanded through the link, but the girl's mind was closed to the connection, focused only on proving herself through combat. Despite Minnie’s fevered attempts to ease her bullish emotions she failed to connect with her mind.
Celes rose to her feet, her blue eyes tracking her sister's reckless advance. The goblin priest had retreated to the edge of the battle, beginning another dark incantation. The Black Iron card still lay on the blood-soaked altar, its power calling to anyone sensitive enough to feel it. Celes faintly saw a giant eyeball depicted on it.
She looked over to the goblin priest who was once again keeping his distance while launching spells, Sapphire holding him off.
Celes gripped her rapier, her experienced eyes already analyzing the battlefield's shifting dynamics. The priest's retreat wasn't born of fear – it was positioning itself for something bigger. She had seen too many battles, lived through too many wars in her past life to miss such obvious tactics. As a priest it’s main skill set was biased towards tricky auxiliary, area of effect and curse type skills.
"Sapphire," she commanded, and the phoenix responded instantly, understanding her partner's intentions without need for further words. As they took to the air, Celes's rapier gleamed with a deadly purpose. She had no intention of letting the priest complete whatever ritual it was preparing, it was also weaker now having launched such a powerful spell but it might have other tricks.
It already proved it could use such a high-level technique like channeling the resentment of the fallen to strengthen its spells, that it used on her, who knew what else it was capable of.
In the back of her mind Celes found it suspicious, the size of this clan and the strength of the priest was very abnormal… could it be? No, that’s not possible.
Below, Jasmine's sword began to pulse with an intense light. The Crystalline Nature Fang was responding to its wielder's turbulent emotions, drawing deeply from her card essence reserves.
"That fool," Celes muttered, recognizing the signs of what her sister was about to attempt. "Minnie, pull back the forward line! Now!"
But Jasmine was already swinging her blade in a wide arc, channeling everything she had into the sword's ultimate ability. A massive verdant green phantom of a large deer materialized from the slash, its ethereal form towering over the battlefield. The goblin horde actually paused their assault, momentarily stunned by the manifestation.
The phantom's strike was devastating, crushing dozens of goblins beneath its ghostly blade. But the cost was immediate – Jasmine's legs buckled as her card essence drained to nearly nothing.
"Justin!" Minnie shouted through the link, already moving to reach Jasmine. "Cover our retreat!"
The shield-bearer responded immediately, but the goblins had also recognized their opportunity. They surged forward like a green tide, forcing him to defend multiple angles at once. Even with Xia's ice arrows creating frozen barriers to funnel the enemy movement, there were simply too many points of attack.
Minnie reached Jasmine first, grabbing her arm to pull her back. "You reckless-"
Her words cut off in a sharp cry as a goblin's blade found its mark, slicing deep into her side. The spiritual link carried her pain to every member of the team, a stark reminder of the cost of broken formation.
From above, Celes saw it all unfold. The priest was still her primary target – she knew better than anyone how dangerous it could become if allowed to complete any of its full-fledged magics. But Minnie's cry shifted something in her chest, memories of her friend's death in her past life overlapping with the present danger.
Her decision was made in an instant.
"Handle the priest," she commanded Sapphire, leaping from the phoenix's back. Her rapier became a blur as she fell, each precise strike finding a vital point on the goblins below. She landed in a graceful crouch beside Minnie and Jasmine, her blade never stopping its deadly dance.
Sensing her remaining card essence, Celes looked towards the goblin priest as she fought of the horde. She turned to Minnie.
“Are you okay?” She asked in concern.
“Tis but a flesh wound.” Minnie who looked a little pale, joked with a smile.
Celes furrowed her brows and looked over at Giselle who was healing Reid who had gotten injured in the fray. Then she looked at Xia and Priya who were looking at her, she gave them a look then lifted both her dainty arms and tossed both the unconscious Jasmine and the injured Minnie with a powerful throw towards Giselle.
“All yours!” She shouted then she activated a barrier card to keep away the ferocious goblins then sat cross legged. She called on Sapphire in her mind and was about to try and teach her how to use one of her more dangerous bloodline skills to end the battle as quickly as possible when she felt a strange attraction envelop her soul.
Sapphire’s avian form seemed to become transparent, and a thin thread connected their physical souls. At that moment, Celes felt herself inside Sapphire, their intuitive connection closer than ever before.
Scree? Sapphire also seemed to sense their connection deepening, and her beautiful, slanted eyes widened in shock feeling Celes inside her head.
“This…!” Celes felt her body, no, Sapphire’s body in shock.
A soul possession was possible?!
Celes had mastered both man-beast fusion and spectral summoning in the future but feeling her feathered body cloaked with flames gliding through the air was something she had never experienced.
Kweeeuk~!
At that moment, the screams of her comrades caught her attention.
Old Wheeler was struggling to contain some spear wielding goblins with his card essence running low, the rest of the team was in a similar situation, the battle had gone on for too long, they couldn’t take much more.
Celes felt the warm yet burning power of bloodline that Sapphire possessed, the spiritual energy thick in her flesh and feathers and made a decision, she immediately flew up high in the sky at breakneck speeds, surpassing the clouds.
“This should be high enough.”
She looked around as Sapphire, then she found a certain area down below then began to dive, she folded her feathers and enhanced the intensity of her flames, from far away she looked like a blazing ball of fire, halfway through she began to spin, soon she had build up enough momentum that her flames were forming clear circles around her like saturn’s rings.
On the ground, Minnie had just recovered from her wounds with Giselle’s help when she saw a flaming blue and yellow meteor pierce the clouds and head towards them.
Celes!
The heat from the flames began to burn those directly below it before it even hit the ground.
Keukk!?
The goblin priest finally saw that things weren’t looking good and attempted to escape but it was futile. The wind picked up wildly scattering dust and rocks.
With beautiful blinding light, the meteor adjusted its path to the goblin priest’s escape and with a low boom formed a shallow crater in the earth, burning everything in range.
The goblin priest was reduced to ash.
Celes felt her soul spasm in pain as she separated from Sapphire, even Sapphire was drained as she was forcibly returned to her card aperture.
“Ugh!” She felt a splitting migraine in her head, her body felt weighed down like lead soaking up water, but she couldn’t afford to rest, not just yet.
She grabbed her rapier and joined the ongoing battle, fortunately, without the goblin priest directing them the goblins were unorganized, her well trained team already took the advantage with her taking out the priest and dozens of surrounding goblins, as well as the priest using his men as recovery packs, the horde was thinned continuously.
With an extra push with Justin and Old Wheeler at the lead, they wiped out most of them before she could make it over and she could rest for a while.
She sat down behind the team and sat down cross legged and began to meditate to recover her card essence. Her aperture was as dry as a cracked pot as she needed desperately to fill it up once more.
“Don’t let up, don’t let any escape, kill them all.” Minnie commanded as she herself charged heroically into battle, she gave Celes a fleeting glance with Xia and Giselle who were running on fumes before cornering the remaining goblins and picking them off one by one.
The battle ended on an anti-climatic note, no one died amongst her own team but a few were severely injured. Old Wheeler on the other hand, had a few causalities.
Celes looked at the scattered corpses of goblins, a few of which had floating cards above them.
She walked past fallen bodies and made it to her team.
“Are you okay?” She asked Minnie thick with concern, she was bleeding once more.
“Yea, I’ll manage, It’s Giselle, Gilly and Reid you should worry about, their frontal combat ability isn’t that good and they’re not as tanky as Justin so they’re in pretty bad shape.” Minnie coughed a bit before pointing her chin over in the other direction where most were slumped covered in sweat and goblin blood.
“You all did well, I’m proud.” Celes patted her friend on the shoulder. Minnie smirked and poked her a few times trying to ease her tension, her old friend knew her well Celes swiped her pesky hands off with a smile. Her first in a while.
Celes then looked over to Old Wheeler who was caring for his daughter and their people in mourning.
“Old Wheeler, thank you for everything, you even risked the safety of your family. I promise you won’t regret this. Once Giselle is recovered, she’ll make sure to heal everyone compeltely until then, we have some backup medical supplies, help yourself.” Celes bowed in gratitude and directed him to supplies Minnie had summoned, obviously she was not careless enough to only rely on Giselle for healing so many people.
She herself had some first aid knowledge and began helping.
"I'm sorry they had to die because of me." Celes said in self blame, if she wasn't confused in the hint of battle perhaps some of this death could have been avoided.
She had been careless and complacent.
“No, no. It’s the right thing to do, we couldn’t allow those bastards to continue.” Old Wheeler shook his head, reassuring her. With his great power it wasn’t right if he didn’t do his best to protect those unable to fight for themselves. His daughter and the others knew this too.
They died noble deaths, it was clear the goblins were up to no food, if even to avenge the previous owners of the skulls on the altar, they died righteous deaths.
Celes felt a little touched at his words, such selfless displays were a rarity in the last days. She could see he was a little torn on the inside but truly meant what he was trying to express.
'Fortunately, none of his direct relatives died so his mind is still stabilize, mistakes like today.... Can never happen again!'
She felt largely responsible, she inwardly pledged to never do such a large scale battle again without her team having several cards they can activate without issue, even the weak Blue Stone healing cards she possessed would have made a world of difference if they could activate them.
“Is it over? Did we win?” At this moment, Jasmine finally woke up from her exhaustion and looked around confused at the aftermath of the battle.
“Jasmine!” Celes saw her waking sister and called out in surprise.
“Celes?” Jasmine couldn’t help but utter hearing her sister’s from behind her, as she turned around, she saw pale white hand approaching.
Slap!
The sound resounded on the quiet battlefield as Jasmine fell backward with a thud, landing heavily on the ground.