A child dropped right next to Mila and resumed crying. Up on the wall, his mother followed. Mila took a step forward, using Isabel and Silinth as pillars to support her small stature.
They moved deeper into the Temple’s territory. There were ruined flower beds and various plant arrangements all around. In addition, there were statues thrown about the gardens.
There were no tall or large buildings here. The place likely looked quite idyllic when it wasn’t consumed by helpless, bleeding refugees.
As they reached one of the buildings and pushed away a group of people who rested there, Mila finally found a moment to speak with Isabel, unbothered by the surrounding chaos.
Mila pulled Isabel lower to whisper in her ear. “You can’t come with me for the next step. We agreed on that.” She sent a pointed look at her girlfriend.
Isabel bit her lip, unhappy, but nodded. “Fine.”
“Don’t be angry.” Mila soothed her girlfriend and landed a gentle kiss on her cheek. It pained her to leave Isabel here as well. The girl was likely going through terrible inner turmoil. The surroundings were not something that an eighteen-year-old girl could accept easily.
But Mila didn’t want Isabel to see what she was going to do next. Munny was innocent.
And that was the issue Mila realised. She didn’t want to show this side of her to Isabel.
It meant Mila was doing something wrong. If it was something she didn’t want her loved one to see, it was not something she should do. It was something she should be ashamed of.
Perhaps it wasn’t that simple. There always were reasons to do bad things. But now, Mila understood one of the problems. This was not something Isabel should see and learn from.
Mila didn’t want Isabel to take this as a lesson. “I’ll be back soon.” She whispered, leaving Isabel behind with Viola joining her.
They started to slip between the cracks between the people. Mila spread her senses, noticing a response here and there. Nothing major. Not until they came close to the building that contained her target.
Viola’s comrades surrounded the single-floor wooden building, which looked like a large shed with several windows.
Mila felt what was likely Munny and a couple of other mana signatures inside the building. Likely, those were her guards. They weren't that impressive. She looked back to see Silinth pushing through the ever-growing horde of people. He wasn’t coming closer, choosing to scan the surroundings for threats while guarding them from the distance.
Isabel was even further back, outside of Mila’s view. She threw her girlfriend out of her head. It was time to kill. Her hand slipped beneath her cloak and grabbed one of the daggers - the one not prepared for Silinth.
That is not to say this dagger didn’t carry poison because it did, as were her throwing knives. But Mila knew that her weapons would see use, and the poison on them would diminish.
After joining Viola, Mila stole a look through the closest window. There were several people inside, likely the Temple’s staff. They were gathered in a dark room only illuminated by a couple of candles.
The people surrounding the building eyed it with envy. They wanted it. They would feel safer inside.
And it was something Mila thought they could use. She nudged Viola’s side and rose on her toes to get closer. “Get your team to spread talks about the guards hiding inside. Get them to rile these people up even more. Tell them to make them mad.”
Viola nodded and left. Mila waited while ignoring the prayers that rose here and there. The muttering begging was drowned by the mayhem that surrounded them.
Outside of the Temple premises, the fighting continued. There still was the roaring of the woman above them and various sounds of destruction travelling through the air. The battle over the safety of the city grew only fiercer.
After another minute, Viola returned. And just as she did, the people around them started to talk about the Temple not taking this seriously, about their responsibility and how they just hid away while they had to die.
The rilled up started to bang on the doors and windows. The anger spread, and the demand for the Temple personnel to act grew incessant.
When one of the windows broke, Mila prepared herself to enter the building and take the life she aimed for.
“Silence.”
A sudden, weak, but seemingly ever-present old voice whispered in all their ears.
“Don’t disturb my sleep.” It continued petering out, taking all of the heightened emotions with it.
Mila shuddered. There was a tinge of mana in these whispers. Whoever that had been, he had tried to manipulate all their mindsets with just words.
While it would not succeed against anyone who had mana of their own, the spell worked on the common folk. Even outside the Temple, the shouting seemed to lessen.
Not that it vanished, but people lost much of their hate and anger. But now that the seeds were sown, it was only a question of time before they would sprout again.
Unfortunately, once again, Mila’s eyes found the figure clad in the Pillar of Eternity’s robe standing on the walls. He wasn’t looking at them, but there was a problem.
Silinth saw the man as well.
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Before Mila could move, Silnth already did. She cursed under her breath. The fool had finally lost his mind. He didn’t even consider a sneak attack.
No, Silinth flashed with various spells that boosted him, and then invisible wind blades formed around him, followed by icicles. He pulled out his sword and jumped in the air, aiming at the man on the walls. He even roared in rage as he did.
The wind seemed to carry Silinth as he raised his hands above his head to chop down at his enemy while the projectiles around him shot out to maim him. Mila also felt several other spells flash around her unpleasant comrade.
But there was no way such a straightforward attack would work. Especially since Silinth did everything to make himself noticeable.
The Inquisitor reacted immediately. Even before seeing who was attacking, he was already shooting back, deeper into the Temple. Electric arcs formed on the man’s body, raising his speed even further.
Silinth still struck first. As his blades of wind whiffed and icicles crashed somewhere in the city, he followed up with a wide-ranging fireball that flew against the Inquisitor, killing dozens of people in the vicinity and burning dozens more that happened to be nearby.
“Settle down.” An elderly voice whispered, focusing on Silinth’s violence, not having much of an effect on the raging man, but the burning people found solace as the flames retreated.
Mila gritted her teeth and tried to shrink even smaller. As the battle grew in fierceness, it became clear that besides the visible Inquisitor, there was another. While he didn’t show himself, she felt he should be somewhere where her target lay.
Which left Munny an easy target.
With a decision made, Mila moved swiftly. People started to push and grind, trying to get away from the devastating battle that had just begun.
But the flow of the bodies was still slow. These people were still in shock, unable to parse the deadly fight in front of them. Only when a few more stray spells decimated more of them did they start to move in force.
There! Mila saw Munny just for a moment. She pushed a man in her way, making him trip and use it as a chance to leap in a small gap, advancing towards the building. Slipping between a group of scared children, she soon reached the window.
Some poor souls were grabbing at the window sills, begging for help. But at this point, those inside were in danger as well and tried to get out and away from the shockwaves coming from the battle between Silinth and the Inquisitors.
It did make Mila’s job harder. She sensed the surroundings and pinpointed Munny. The girl was trying to get out on the other side.
Mila pressed herself against the wall and started to round the building, not daring to climb on the roof and attract attention from their enemies, even if Silinth was currently hogging all of it.
“Sleep.” A voice whispered. Mila felt Silinth waver but power through. He was gaining ground quickly, proving just how dangerous he was.
With more people in the way, Mila started to grow rougher. She punched some, pushed others, pulled another, gaining on Munny’s retreat. Her steps did not falter, and she used all of her expertise to keep herself unnoticeable.
And while Viola tried to follow, she soon moved to the side to help her teammate, who was thrown against a wall after a spell deflected by Silinth landed near him.
“Munny!” Someone called out for the girl.
Mila had to hurry. There was someone else coming. She was just a short distance away, but the constant ebb of people trying to get away from the battle made it impossible for her to see the target.
The elderly voice whispered again. “Astra,” It called. “We cannot hold.”
In the distance, the overpowering woman roared. But her rage didn’t mean she could extract herself from the battle right away.
The voice that called for Mila’s target grew more frantic.
But Mila was finally there. She cleared her mind to feel any changes that could occur. The target struggled just like everyone else to stay standing. The two guards tried their best to keep the people away from their ward.
And during that moment, a blinding light came into the range of her sense, followed by another. But Mila was already in motion. Her dagger extended through the gap between the two stumbling women and punctured Munny’s hand.
It was not perfect. But Mila could not risk anything else. The two so similar mana pools were almost upon her. The poison had to do the rest.
The girl whimpered as the wound was made, looking down in surprise where the bleeding started. She grabbed the hole in her arm and tried to stop the bleeding.
Her two guards exclaimed, but that was not what grabbed Mila’s attention. She tried to assess the situation and was left stunned.
“AN ASSASSIN!” A blonde boy, not older than eighteen, perhaps less, roared with all his strength. “MUNNY!” He lashed out with the sword, striking at Mila’s position.
Mila tried to retreat from the piercing stab, the bodies surrounding her preventing her from slipping away. She succeeded, as the man behind her was skewered instead.
But the next blow already followed. The boy with the mana pool, oh so similar to Andrew’s and Isabel’s before their abilities manifested, screamed for help while continuing to attack.
However, dodging a single blow was all Mila needed. The boy’s admittedly masterful stab was blown away by Isabel, who landed between them with her silvery shield in hand.
“YOU DOG!” Isabel raged. Her own sword flashed and chopped through one of the guards who stepped up to help the boy with overwhelming force. She proved just how superior she was at empowering herself and eviscerated the other guard just a moment later.
Mila felt a warning come from inside her. There was danger here. She grabbed Isabel’s cloak and pulled her back just in time.
A deep wound appeared on the ground where Isabel had been just a moment ago, made by pure mana.
“GET BACK OSCAR!”
Above them, Astra ran through the sky, stepping on mana plates that formed below her feet. She pointed at Mila and Isabel, and a bombardment started. But the woman was wounded as well. Just a stubble of her left arm was present, cauterised by flame. Many cuts had ravaged her body as well, making her look savage and unrestrained.
There was nothing flashy about it. Mila knew that apart from her and perhaps Silinth, people could not understand what the woman was doing.
Invisible mana bolts rained from the sky. Not far from Mila - Silinth’s voice mocked these Inquisitors, and countless flashing water arrows flew through the air, trying to intercept Astra’s efforts.
But not all of them could be countered. Isabel once more covered Mila and used her barrier at full strength, protecting them from sure death.
The mana bolts landed heavily against Isabel’s barrier, but it held. Mila pulled her girl’s arm, and they ducked behind a building before a new wave of bolts decimated more civilians.
“MUNNY!” Oscar screamed.
Mila felt two things. One, Oscar went through a similar process as Isabel when she formed her ability.
And two, a new portion of mana was added to her growing pool. Mila felt it was smaller than she had gotten before.
And in addition, there was good news. Mila examined her condition. There was only mana. There were no traces of anything divine.
With this, Silinth’s fate was sealed.