Chapter 385: All The Strong People Are Here [Part 1]
Back in the heart of the inferno, Annette and Shade continued their deadly dance. Shade was bleeding from a dozen small burns, his clothes singed and smoking.
But he refused to back down, his attacks growing more desperate with each passing moment. Annette, for her part, seemed to grow stronger as the battle raged on.
The flames responded to her will, forming shields to block Shade's strikes and lashing out with deadly precision.
"Is this all you've got?" she taunted, her voice carrying over the roar of the fire. "I expected more from Afkon's personal guard."
"Shut up! I am not even strong enough to guard Afkon!"
Shade snarled in response, launching himself at her with reckless abandon.
His fist shot out towards Annette's face. For a moment, it seemed like the blow would connect.
But at the last second, Annette's hand came up, catching Shade's fist in a grip of iron. The fire swirled around their joined hands, and Shade's eyes widened in pain and shock. "My turn," Annette growled.
She twisted, using Shade's momentum against him. In one fluid motion, she hurled him across the yard.
He slammed into a wall of the castle with bone-crushing force, leaving a spider-web of cracks in the stone.
The battlefield was a chaos of fire and smoke, the clash of steel and the cries of the wounded filling the air.
Amidst it all, Ellis fought with a desperation born of fear and determination.
His dagger felt heavy in his inexperienced hands, but he swung it with all his might, felling one drifter after another.
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.
He spun around, barely in time to see a wall of twisted vines surging towards him.
Ellis stumbled backward, his eyes widening in shock as he recognized the figure controlling the plants.
"Braham," he gasped, raising his sword in a trembling defense.
The betrayer's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Hello, Ellis. It's been a while, hasn't it? Finally, we get to put our discord to bed."
Vines lashed out like whips, forcing Ellis to dodge and weave.
He slashed at them with his dagger, but for every vine he cut, a few more took its place. It was an endless tangle of green that threatened to overwhelm him.
"WHY?" Ellis shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. "Why are you even doing this?! What did I ever do to you?!! You've made your point already by making my life miserable already, why did you have to go so far?!!"
Braham's eyes hardened. "Huh? You still think this is about you?" He grinned, "No, Ellis, this is not about you, not at all, this was bound to happen. It's just sad that you don't have the white-haired junk to save you this time around."
A particularly vicious vine caught Ellis across the chest, sending him sprawling.
He rolled to his feet, gasping for breath, his armor dented.
Jeci and the mysterious lady continued to lunge at each other.
The lady had a cunning and annoying form, one that Jeci never imagined she'd be utterly vulnerable against.
The problem, however, was that fatigue had settled into her body and soul.
Aside from the effect of using her ability eating up her reserve of essence, she was already physically tired from before.
Usually, she wouldn't have had her defense broken so much, but the fight with Northern had taken a great toll on her.
But she was still fairly holding out, even though every miss, every dodge was by a hair's breadth.
Annette and Shade had met again, in a deafening and trembling clash:
Shade launched himself at Annette, his fists burning with purple smoky air.
She met his charge head-on, her own hands blazing with fire.
Their clash sent shockwaves rippling through the air, knocking nearby drifters off their feet.
"You can't win this," Shade growled, pressing his attack. "You're outnumbered, outgunned. Give up now, and maybe we'll show mercy."
Annette's response was a savage grin. "Mercy? From the likes of you? I'd rather burn."
She thrust her palm forward, unleashing a torrent of flame that forced Shade to leap backward.
The fire caught several unfortunate drifters, their screams cut short as they were reduced to ash in an instant.
But even as she fought, Annette's keen eyes took in the rest of the battlefield.
She saw Ellis, desperately fending off Braham's relentless vines. She saw Jeci, surrounded and slowly being overwhelmed.
A cold knot of fear formed in her stomach.
They were losing. All her power, all her rage, and still they were losing.
'No,' she thought fiercely. 'I won't let it end like this.'
With a roar of defiance, Annette unleashed her full power.
The flames around her exploded outward in a nova of heat and light, so intense that even Shade was forced to retreat.
"Ellis! Jeci!" she shouted, her voice carrying over the din of battle. "To me!"
Ellis, hearing her call, gathered his last reserves of strength. With a cry of desperation, he slashed through the vines holding him and sprinted towards Annette.
Braham's curses followed him, but the betrayer dared not venture too close to the inferno surrounding Annette.
Jeci, too, heard the call. With a burst of superhuman speed, she disengaged from her opponents and raced across the battlefield, her spear clearing a path through any who dared
stand in her way.
As they reached Annette, she grabbed them both, pulling them close.
The flames parted around them, forming a protective cocoon of fire.
"Hold on," Annette growled, her eyes blazing with determination. "This is going to be
rough." With a gesture that seemed to defy the very laws of nature, Annette called forth a pillar of fire so intense it burned blue-white. It engulfed them, and swirled around them in a vortex of
flame.
Zephyr from the balcony narrowed his eyes. Something in the depth of his blue eyes sparkled. He extended his hand forward and instantly, without shards of sparks, a mighty white bow
appeared in his hands.
This bow looked like a heavenly mantle. It looked like it had been forged with clouds.
He pulled its strings, as he did, the bow generated an arrow of light that grew brighter as he drew further back.
And just as the vortex of flames leaped off the ground, Zephyr released, firing off an arrow of light that streaked across the short distance with a screeching sound, like it was burning the
very air.
The arrow collided with the vortex of flames and caused a tremendous explosion that separated every plume of the flames and threw all three of them across the air in different
directions.
A grin formed on the corner of Zephyr's lips, "Think you can run away from me... hmph" However, before any of them could land, something fell from the sky.
He couldn't see it, as the speed was too quick to follow. Then the next fell and the next fell.
Such that the state of the three of them became the least of his worries.
Then one last of those things fell on the battlefield, and slowly rose to his feet.
His face was aged, beards full and connected with his brown hair with a couple of white
strands. His eyes were fiery and cold.
His physique was stoic and although his shirt and waistcoat had become so smeared with dirt that they had lost the right to be called that, he still represented an aura of formidable
strength.
Zephyr grabbed the balcony so hard that the cemented surface cracked and peeled away.
"Gilbert..."
Not just him-Zephyr turned his head around.
"Helena... too?"
All of the strong people are gathered here.