Amidst the chaos and the clash of forces, Lily's mind latched onto a useless detail – the witch's striking appearance. With her sleek black hair cascading down a slender silhouette, the witch was the embodiment of dark elegance contradicting the tales of wizened crones every child grown up fearing. Her attire, both revealing and refined, seemed more befitting of a wealthy merchant than a user of the forbidden arts, its deep hues and intricate lacework accentuating her form with a troubling allure.

The unexpected revelation left Lily momentarily paralyzed, her expectations of malevolence clashing with the woman before her. The witch's life mana, as revealed through 'health sense,' presented an even greater anomaly. It was stagnant, segmented by dark energies into isolated pools that defied the natural mana flow seen in all living beings. This unnatural state, far more severe than what she had sensed in the old man, suggested a being who should be gravely ill, but outwardly, the witch radiated an inexplicable vitality.

The envoy's pained groan snapped Lily back to the grim development of the confrontation. Witnessing his struggle, she couldn't help but compare her abilities and the destructive power wielded by the witch. In a moment of self-doubt, she realized how fragile was her power in the face of someone who yielded the power of death.

However, surrendering to despair was not in Lily's nature. She reminded herself of her true strength – not in weapons or destructive spells, but in the nurturing power of healing, in the resilience of life itself. Her journey as a healer was just beginning, and though she might currently lack the means to confront such darkness head-on, the potential within her was untapped and her future abilities unknown.

With recovered determination, Lily stepped back, recognizing her role would play in the aftermath of the battle. The envoy’s fire would have to suffice against the deadly witch.

As the battle raged on, the imperial representative’s fire waned. The courage of the observing watchers – however faltering – pushed them forward, directly into the path of the dark mist onslaught.

“Fall back!” The envoy's order came too late; the death mana, as Lily guessed it, enveloped them, draining their strength and sapping their vitality. The immediate effect was devastating, falling those who were caught too close while weakening and disorienting the remaining, their life mana pattern so abruptly altered that Lily's 'health sense' struggled to adapt, marking the direness of their condition with ominous red and orange flags.

Shocked by the scene, Lily's mind raced through her options. The afflicted needed a swift boost to their vitality, a countermeasure to the death mana's crippling assault. She considered two immediate courses of action: administering 'minor vitality' concoctions or, given the urgency, opting for a vivacia green infusion – a strong and hurried remedy. Her healer's intuition suggested that a 'clean' spell might also mitigate the effects of the death mana, cleansing their bodies of its toxic influence.

Turning her attention from the melee, Lily assessed the bystanders. The watchers, gripped by fear, seemed on the verge of flight, while common people sought refuge behind whatever cover they could find. The mendicar student, the very person she needed, was also taking shelter, though luckily, he hadn't fled the scene.

"You!" she called out, directing her command at the student. In the heat of the moment, names were lost in her memories. "Prepare as many vivacia green infusions as you can, then bring... Actually, ask a watcher to bring it to me."

The student, momentarily distracted from the horror unfolding, nodded in understanding, his initial impulse to speak overridden by the urgency of Lily's request. He hurried to comply, leaving Lily to face the battlefield once more.

With determination propelling her forward, Lily moved towards one of the fallen watchers. Her boldness in the face of such danger drew incredulous stares from those around her, their silent rebukes echoing in her mind. However, the gravity of the situation left no room for hesitation. As a healer, her place was among the wounded, her skills needed to push off the encroaching shadow of death.

While others sighed at her foolish courage, Lily used ‘health sense’ to perceive and avoid the true extent of the witch's devastation. The watcher she targeted for rescue was not the closest but the one in direst need. With his life force dimming rapidly, she realized the need for immediate intervention, even though her reserves of mana might not be up to the task.

Midway, Lily stopped in her tracks. Inner turmoil surged as she questioned her own bravery. She should be conserving strength and planning her escape back to Draven. Although she wanted to trust his ability, the envoy was clearly on the losing end of the battle, weakening at every second passed under the witch's malevolence. However, the moment of doubt was brief; her healer's heart would not allow her to turn away from someone in need, not when she could help.

She knelt beside him, her resolve hardening as the fallen watcher's feeble plea urged her to flee. The emergency supplies in her hands, initially intended for the dying old traitor, now served a more pressing purpose. She worked quickly, her actions resembling normal mendicar procedures masking the healing magic. Her movements were trained, feigning routine care while she traced the pattern of the 'clean' spell, finishing with a silent incantation and focused effort to combat the attacking death mana.

However, the overwhelming presence of the dark energy forced her to adapt her plans. Recognizing she could not cleanse the entire body of its influence, Lily concentrated her efforts on the most vital areas – the chest and head. These regions seemed critical for sustaining life. The green effect of her mana weaved through them in an attempt to stave off the encroaching death.

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The cleaning energy collided with the corrupted emptiness but failed to cleanse it. Struggling to maintain the spell, her mana dwindling while death pushed back, Lily faced a critical decision. To continue pouring mana into the spell was to risk her ability to help others, yet to give up would mean losing the watcher.

Then, sparked by a brief intuition, Lily considered something that could only be described as ‘crazy’. Her 'health sense' allowed her a unique perspective on the interplay of forces at work, revealing a potential flaw in her method – the 'purity' concept of the spell, though strong, was ill-suited to fully counteract the corruption. It was a realization that pushed her towards uncharted territory, towards the idea of synthesizing her own concepts – worse yet, one that she barely understood.

Against her better judgment and any common sense, fuelled equally by desperation and inspiration, Lily started crafting a new pattern. She sought to blend concepts and effects that she used or experienced before: the repelling force of purity against corruption, the vivifying surge of vitality concoctions, and the personal connection to the target’s life mana established by the 'clear' spell.

Unlike clarity, the new pattern was not the result of meticulous study or deliberate design but a raw, intuitive leap. It was a gamble, drawing on the very essence of her short experience, an attempt to harness and redirect the body's inherent life force to combat the death mana directly.

Ignoring the battle between fire and darkness unfolding mere steps away, Lily poured her focus into the pattern. Time became a blur, stretching and contracting around her efforts. Against all odds, a pattern locked into place, leaving her momentarily stunned by the unexpected success.

Still overtaken by the magic and excitement, she voiced the incantation that felt as natural to her as breathing: "Energize!"

The spell, though rough and powered more by will than finesse, ignited a subtle speck of energy around the watcher's heart. This small flick of vitality, unlike anything she had conjured before, pulsated, empowering the life mana around the heart to fight against the invading deadly energy. What took the ‘clean’ spell a nice chunk of mana to make, the new one could surpass with only a small portion. The name 'Energize' seemed like a perfect fit, embodying the essence of the spell's intent – to invigorate the life mana.

It was only after witnessing the immediate effects of the spell that Lily's awareness snapped back to reality. She scanned her surroundings, half-expecting her actions to have drawn unwanted attention. However, the intense duel captured all eyes, allowing her moment of experimentation to slip by unnoticed.

Encouraged, she attempted to replicate the spell, her initial success escaping her as the pattern slipped through her fingers time and again. It took multiple tries before she could replicate it again, and a dozen more to harness it, each successful casting a delicate touch to the watcher's stressed heart. Despite the spell's wonderful effects, she knew it needed amplification to be truly effective.

With each iteration, she adjusted and refined the spell, her focus divided between the magic at her fingertips and the critical feedback 'health sense' provided. Miraculously, the drain on her mana was minimal, a small mercy that allowed her to continue her efforts without immediate exhaustion.

Finally, as her own reserves crossed the middle threshold, the spell intensified. She observed with a mixture of relief and pride as the effects began to manifest on the watcher’s complexion. His labored breathing eased, his eyes gleaming with a hint of returning vitality. Encouraged, she cast the spell once more, this time investing a significant portion of her diminishing mana into the effort.

The watcher's mana-colored heart, pulsed with renewed vigor, its rhythmic beats pushing waves of energy boost throughout his mana veins. The oppressive death mana, lacking a source to draw upon, receded under the strength of life-affirming energy. The red flags of critical distress in her magical vision began to fade, some even shifting toward the less dire orange.

Rising to attend to the others, Lily's determination was momentarily challenged by a wave of dizziness, a reminder of her own limits. She steadied herself, the urgency of her mission lending her strength. With cautious steps, she moved towards the next fallen watcher.

Her focus was momentarily broken by a gentle touch on her shoulder, turning to find a watcher offering her two vials of the vitality infusion. Grateful for the timely assistance, she estimated that combining the concoction and the new spell would be a sustainable approach. While ‘energize’ offered a direct boost, the concoction would provide a vital supplement, improving the treatment without overtaxing her own resources.

Taking the vials, Lily requested the delivery-watcher to wait and quickly knelt beside the patient. She administered a small sip of the infusion, discreetly coupling it with an 'energize' spell that depleted a fifth of her remaining mana.

Monitoring the patient's reaction and fine-tuning the spell's strength accordingly, she offered the lying woman another sip. After a brief five-second wait and observing a satisfactory response, Lily felt confident enough in the improvement to move on to the next patient in need.

"Give this to the first watcher I treated," she instructed, handing over an adjusted vial. "Ask the others to move those I've helped quickly before the mist worsens their condition again."

The words sounded firmer than she intended – time was working against them.

Lily moved on to the next in need, the urgency of the situation allowed no room for hesitation. She administered her dual treatment to the last immobilized watcher, blending the vitality infusion with the energizing cast to combat the insidious effects of the death mana. With the emergency cases completed, she turned her attention to those who had managed to retreat, though shaken and weakened by the mist. Her 'health sense' guided her, singling out those who couldn’t wait.

The plan, however, was abruptly interrupted by a chillingly playful taunt. "Well, well. Look if we don't have a feisty one here. Such a young and beautiful mendicar. I bet you taste just like flower tea." The voice, filled with amusement and malice, froze Lily in place.

Turning, the healer faced the scene she most feared: the witch was staring at her with predatory anticipation. Nearby, the envoy seemed on the brink of collapse, his strength disappearing under the relentless siege of the dark mist, his flames arranged in a protective circle flickering in a desperate struggle for survival.