'Please let her be fine.' Mason prayed in his head as he moved to Evelyn's location. His heart was racing with the fear of seeing the worst. Being Class S hunters and a higher form of life than the others did not take their mortality away. It just made them difficult to kill.
When he reached the area, he quickly scanned around and found pieces of Evelyn's armour and body parts. His heart skipped a beat when he saw those. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and continued searching for her. He had forgotten he could use his divine sense to locate her.
Maybe it was the fear of seeing something he didn't want to see or he just honestly forgot, but Mason continued searching with his eyes. He finally found a figure floating a short distance away. The floating figure was among the various debris and blood leaked out of various parts.
"Oh God"
He slowly moved towards her and what he saw momentarily froze him in place. Evelyn had almost half of her body missing. From her right shoulder to her right leg, everything was gone. Her body was twitching from time to time due to the severity of her injuries.
Mason quickly came out of his reverie and approached. "Evelyn…?" He called out softly, but there was no reply. Her head and heart were mostly unharmed. He could see her heartbeat, but it was very slow. From what he could tell, she was out cold, but not dead.
"Zol, Charlotte… I found Evelyn. But she doesn't look so good." Mason said to his companions. He immediately got a reply from Zol.
[Secure her and return to your ship. The creature has been dealt with and we'll be joining you shortly.]
"Confirmed." Mason acknowledged and used his barrier magic to create a containment unit, making sure to not disturb her injuries. He then looked around and collected the bits and pieces of her their healers might need, just in case.
"Don't worry, Evelyn. You'll be fine in no time." He said, mostly reassuring himself and travelling in the direction of his ship, already sending a communique to determine their location. Luckily, they stayed in their spot and didn't come close to the fighting area, otherwise, they would have been dead too.
...…..
Once Zol replied to Mason, he turned his attention to the only being left. The stranger from who knows where. He was in no shape to continue fighting, but he couldn't sit this one out either. They needed to confirm whether she was a threat or a friendly. And with the communication barrier, there wasn't much they do.
What they could do, however, was bring her in. He also understood that the being might not come quietly. He would have had reservations too if he were in her place. That's just how it was…
"Charlotte, you'd have to take the lead on this one," Zol said as he looked over to Charlotte. "I know…" she replied, already forming another arrow from her abilities. "But how are we going to do that? We both know she's stronger than us combined." She expressed her fears.
They ignored the forming core of the void creature they just destroyed. Even before it completely formed, the energy coming off of that thing was off the charts. From time to time, Zol and Charlotte would look over to the core.
The catkin observed the actions of the two and understood their fears and did not take any offence. She knew their strength from what she observed from the past day, but she was also not in a position to fight either.
With the creature now destroyed, whatever that was keeping her standing was beginning to fade away. Honestly, she was entirely spent. It took a miracle to hold on this long. She wished to no longer fight and just wanted to rest. But with the communication barrier being an issue, they'd have to come up with something.
But she doubted if that thing would be ready any time soon. 'I should get rest first. Anything else can come later,' she thought to herself and released a bit of her aura. Instantly, Zol and Charlotte distanced themselves. Just like before, the aura she let out was like that of the void creature's and veil tears.
The aura wasn't felt by just these two. The ships in the distance that were able to survive getting blasted into oblivion felt the heaviness in the void and turned to the site of origin. Those with good eyesight could see the being in question as well as the readiness of Zol and Charlotte for a fight.
Charlotte had already drawn her bow, ready to release it at a moment's notice. Zol's outstretched hand pointed his remaining weapons that survived the blast at her.
"Mason, return as fast as you can once you're done," Zol said in his comms, hoping Mason made it back quickly before the being decided to attack them. Her aura alone had created a massive distance between them, but it meant little in the face of beings like them.
[Roger. I'm on my way.] Mason replied as soon as he received the message, rushing back to the group. Zol and Charlotte narrowed their eyes as they studied the movements of the woman. If she made any moves they deemed an attack, they'd unleash everything they had on her, even if it did nothing.
The woman observed silently and slowly began to raise her remaining right arm in surrender. Initially, Zol and Charlotte thought she was about to attack and were ready to defend themselves. However, due to the slowness of her movement, they decided to observe first.
"Is she surrendering?" Charlotte asked, unsure of what she was seeing. Her guard was still up and her bow at the ready.
"I'm not sure. Just be ready for anything." Zol responded, not taking his eyes off the woman.
The woman's right hand was up as she looked at Zol and Charlotte. She was slowly losing conciseness, 'My aura should at least keep them away from me until I recover. Hopefully, their walker isn't ready yet.' She noticed how all this time, their most powerful being had not made an appearance yet.
Zol and Charlotte observed as she slowly closed her eyes, and her figure began to be enclosed in a block of dense ice, starting from her feet to her head.
"…"
Zol and Charlotte exchanged confused glances.