“AAAGHHHHR.” The four humans groaned, their opponents moved away to avoid any last desperate attack.

Their bodies shriveled at an alarming rate, the light of their eyes extinguished. The elves watched in concern at the sudden death of their rivals.

Something squished on their chest, sounds of drinking resounded in the air.

Finally, with a high-pitched cry, a fat slug emerged from the corpses of each of the humans. The vitality of the corpses was extracted so thoroughly that the bodies turned into dust a moment later.

They flew into the hands of the priest.

“Sigh, you left me with no choice.” Caden said with sadness, gently caressing the restless slugs.

A vast premonition of impending doom constricted the chest of the elves.

“We have to impede him no matter what!” Lady Allyna shouted. She threw her shield, it floated in front of them creating a golden barrier that protected them from any harm.

A spherical mark appeared on her forehead,

it had two interlaced patterns of complex lines that depicted a shield crossed by a sword. It shone in the same golden color as the barrier.

Pyria-Rex growled, its body doubling in size. It created trees that supported the barrier, on its barks different kinds of beasts were sketched.

Priest Caden opened his mouth wide and brought the fidgety slugs to it.

Galather emerald armor turned into a dull color. He summoned a liquid bow made of compressed energy and stretched the invisible string, a blood-red arrow humming in power materialized. Galather let the string go.

The two imperials, Melora and Nyvorlas, didn't want to be left behind.

Melora summoned an ice dragon the size of Rex, it was then encased by lighting by Nyvorlas. It rapidly shot to the Priest.

The Priest reverently consumed the offering. The attacks reached him an instant later.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The world turned into a blaze of colors, the spiritual energy in the air went into disarray. For entire kilometers, only a haze of red, blue, and yellow remained in the sky.

The stranded ship on the coast shook, the elven army observing the battle from afar was shocked, they didn’t think twice about running in the opposite direction. Some were flown away, others ducked onto the ground seeking refuge.

The energy haze dispersed, revealing a grotesque serpent inside. He had three wings made of revolting flesh, his forked tongue tasted the air experiencing new feelings. His body was like a stump, short and unnaturally wide.

He had some bleeding wounds due to the explosion, it didn't leave him unharmed.

“The divine form! This is it! This is what it feels to be closer to the Caretaker!” He hissed in maniacal joy. “I only need to eliminate some pests that are tainting the divine mandate.”

The former priest focused his four eyes on the elves. A pressure descended on their souls, making it hard to move.

“Middle D-grade.” Lady Allyna murmured. A downcast expression appeared on the rest.

They linked their spiritual messages to have a fast conversation.

‘We have low chances of winning against that.’ Melora said, Nyvorlas agreed with her.

‘We need to make a last stand. Someone has to warn the Capital.’ Galather said.

‘Galather, you should do it.’ Lady Allyna proposed.

‘Out of the question. I am a Warden, if this monster wants to harm the Forest, it will have to be over my dead body.’ Galather vehemently refused. ‘Pyria is the fastest of us, she should do it.’

‘I won’t let you die while I escape!’ Pyria shouted.

‘I can do it if nobody wants.’ Nyvorlas suggested.

‘Don’t even dream about it. You don’t want the Marshal to know that you escaped like a rat from the battlefield, leaving thousands of defenseless elves behind.’ Lady Allyna warned him.

‘One has to do it anyway, it’s best if the one to escape is from the Imperial Family. I can support Nyvorlas on our return, increasing our chances.’ Melora said.

‘I am the leader of this operation. One more word from you and I’ll consider it treason.’ Lady Allyna conveyed her feelings of resolution. Both elves flinched and looked at her with unwillingness.

‘Grand Elder Pyria. It is your duty to watch over our clan. It is the reason why my brother chose you as his successor.’ Galather conveyed a staunch feeling of warmth through the link.

‘It’s decided then. Good luck little Pyria.’ Lady Allyna didn’t want to lose more time and closed the conversation.

Pyria wanted to say more, but looking at the expression of everyone present, she resigned herself. She turned back and ran in her clan's direction.

“Don’t even think about dying!” Pyria-Rex growl sounded in the distance. Rex silently accepted her choice. Sometimes, not fighting was the hardest decision.

‘Hmph, it’s just a deformed serpent. Even if he is stronger than us, we have three high elves with us. We’ll teach him a lesson.’ Nyvorlas said while gritting his teeth.

‘This is like the old times, Galath. We are alone against insurmountable odds.’ Lady Allyna sent strong feelings of remembrance and love.

Galather eyes were focused on their enemy, looking for any weakness.

‘Tch, boring.’ Allyna added.

‘We are still here in case you have forgotten!’ Melora said with indignation.

Only two seconds had passed since the conversation started. The Serpent hadn’t been idle waiting for them, he was attacking the barrier with a cloud of poison. The barrier was resisting, but it won’t last for much longer.

High elves were a proud race, that’s why the two factions didn’t fight that much.

Escaping will leave a tainted scar on their pride, something unthinkable to them while they still had a chance of winning. They prepared strong attacks while waiting for the barrier to get destroyed.

The Serpent had moved away, anticipating the attacks of the elves. He won’t underestimate them.

The barrier shattered. The Serpent was welcomed with the radiant gaze of four elves. A spherical mark with complex patterns shining on their foreheads.

Galather was above a venus flytrap that he had conjured. It was as high as a skyscraper, its teeth-filled maw opened into an abyss, its roots swatted in the direction of the former priest.

Allyna thrust with a lance the size of a train. Each attack was slow, but it carried an indomitable force behind.

The Serpent's fleshy wings blazed in holy fire obliterating everything on its path. It melted the tip of the lance, its fire extending to the plant.

Melora covered the flytrap in ice to stop it, it only delayed the inevitable. Galather slashed the compromised roots before it was too late, they dropped onto the ground with a loud thump.

The fire didn’t extinguish, it continued burning everything in its wake, transforming the whole coast into a golden inferno.

“Useless, stay still and accept the holy water.” The Serpent hissed.

He opened his jaw, a white liquid dripped from his fangs.

Nyvorlas was finally ready, his mark shone in the brightest blue neon. The outline of an elf was formed in the sky, soon reaching the size of the flytrap.

“Descent of the Lighting God!” Nyvorlas shouted, his mark getting even brighter.

“Protection of the Warden.” Galather said. The flytrap crawled into the Lighting God, covering it like full plate armor, its maw wrapping the head.

“Lance of the Guardian.” Allyna passed her constructed lance, her radiant mark in full display on the handle.

“Domain of the Frozen Hells!” Melora shouted, the air in dozens of kilometers around turned frigid, they fought against the fire in the ground in a battle of dominance. It gave mobility to the Lighting God, also taking it away to the Serpent.

The Lighting God darted against the Serpent, he thrust his lance against its belly. The Serpent evaded it and bit the body of the lance.

The white liquid was injected, the lance seemed to come alive with the liquid extending like throbbing veins across the body. Allyna grunted in pain, she resolutely pushed more energy into the lance. Her mark burned in light, and the lance returned to its original state.

“I won’t endure much more hits like that!” Allyna shouted.

Everyone burned their marks more, giving more power to the Lighting God.

The Serpent and the Avatar exchanged innumerable hits in the span of a second. The sky trembled with each hit.

Their fighting illuminated their surroundings under the attentive gaze of the Moon.

Streams of blood continuously fell from the sky, the Avatar also dispersing bit by bit as the battle continued. They were in a stalemate.

The elves' concern grew along with their exhaustion, if it continued like this, they'd lose.

They threw every talisman that they possessed, adding wounds to the former priest.

The Serpent wasn’t on his strongest state either. He was the lowest of the low in terms of middle D-grade because of him forcing the breakthrough, and he wasn’t used to his current power.

“ENOUGH!” He hissed.

His body was enveloped in golden fire. He hissed and ejected a golden fire breath.

The maw of the flytrap opened in response, devouring any traces of fire. The armor resisted, but some parts turned into ashes.

Galather threw up yellow blood that evaporated in contact with the air.

The Serpent was about to repeat the same attack when he noticed an elf flying in their direction from far away. He had black feathered wings and was atop the wolf that ran away earlier.

Both exchanged a glance.

Mind-boggling rage and madness threatened the mind of the Serpent, consuming the last vestige of his sanity.

***

Moments before this, Rydel watched in horror and fascination the fight between the D-grade beings. The amount of power made his hairs stand on an end, and also made him want to reach those levels. To be in the same stage as them.

Pyria-Rex came running on the air like a storm.

“We need to evacuate, it isn’t safe here! Divide yourself between the four Elders and follow them.” Pyria-Rex growled.

Everyone rushed to obey her, and they soon marched away. However, Rydel kept looking back as the battle intensified, he grew worried as he saw the chances of the elves winning dwindling each second.

He gritted his teeth and went looking for Elder Roshia. She was on the back, distributing healing pills to those that had run out of them.

“I want to help Galather!” Rydel said with determination.

“Rydel, this isn’t a good time for nonsense.” Elder Roshia kept working while responding to him.

“I have a plan that might help them. I won’t even be in much danger. Please, I don’t want to lose Galather.” He begged her.

“Rydel, this isn’t a game. How sure are you about this plan of yours?” Elder Roshia strictly eyed him.

“Very sure, my parents can put a word for me.”

Thalia and Edyrm had seen him running back and followed him.

“What are you planning to do?” Thalia asked.

“I want to use the Gate of Lunacy.”

They looked at each other with concern.

“That’s pure madness.” Edyrm finally responded.

“Indeed, that’s the plan.” Rydel gently smiled.

“Trust me, please.”

Edyrm was about to respond, but Thalia put a hand on his shoulder.

“Promise me that you will come back if it doesn’t work.” Thalia had misty eyes but understood her son's feelings.

“You have my word.”

Both parents nodded at Roshia, she turned to Rydel.

“Whatever you’re planning to do, I won’t allow you to go there alone. We’ll talk to Pyria first.” Roshia said with reluctance.

They soon reached her and asked for her permission.

“No.” A flat refusal.

“Please! Gate of Lunacy even affected Galather when I first used it, and I’ve grown a lot since then.”

“No.”

“Don’t you want to see Galather again?” Rydel pleadingly asked.

Pyria-Rex gazed intently at him.

‘Pyria, you are going to regret it. Galather is the last member of your family, any chance to rescue him is heaven sent.’ Rex's soft voice sounded on her head.

‘Galather asked me to protect the clan. I can’t. I truly can’t.’ Rex sensed Pyria’s feelings of desolation.

‘My instincts tell me to trust the kid. Are you doubting my judgment too?’ Rex pushed against her resistance.

Pyria didn’t like it one bit. Rex was her companion, she had taken care of him since he was a pup. Both had gone through thick and thin, and his instincts had saved them more times than she could remember.

Even then, she didn’t want to cling to her last hope for it to turn into desperation. Her wavering resolve slowly turned into determination.

‘Never, my old friend.’ Pyria whispered in their mind.