-STEP -STEP
Cael and Elowyn ran through the building and stepped out.
Under the night sky, flas enveloped the entire area, as far as the eye could see.
The firelight painted the streets in violent shades of orange and red, swallowing the darkness in a restless glow. Smoke curled upward in thick spirals, choking the air and stinging the eyes.
"Where is your team?"
Cael asked as he took out his sword.
"I don’t know."
Elowyn answered while she took out her sword as well.
-BOOM -BOOM -BANG
Far away, large explosions erupted as intense mana concentrations collided violently with miasma.
The clash distorted the air itself, sending ripples across the sky like a disturbed lake. Sparks of blue and violet mana burst against creeping waves of sickly black mist.
It was a battle between a [Mythril] ranker and a Wraith.
"Wraith?"
Cael questioned himself.
And the answer stood before him. Except for wraiths, no one could use miasma.
"What’s the plan?"
Cael asked Elowyn.
She didn’t answer, as if she were contemplating sothing.
He sighed and said,
"Let’s go find them. I will be fine."
Elowyn shook her head,
"No, you stay here."
She didn’t give Cael a chance to say anything and added,
"You just fell unconscious."
Then, with a swift step, she moved away. Her figure blurred slightly as faint crimson sparks flickered around her boots, vanishing into the chaos-lit streets.
Cael stood there for a mont.
’I am that unreliable?’
The distant screams, the crackle of flas, and the rumble of collapsing structures pressed against his ears.
Just as he was about to follow Elowyn...
"HELP, SOBODY, HELP."
Cael paused and gritted his teeth. The voice cut through everything, sharp and desperate.
He turned back towards the source.
While he moved toward that voice, he sent a ssage to the Black lightning clone to look after Elowyn.
’But don’t intervene and show yourself unless it is very, very necessary.’
It was easy to connect the dots.
The Black lightning clone had killed Kaiser, who was a spy in the Black Owl guild.
If the Black lightning clone saved Elowyn, the daughter of the Black Owl guild master...
The council would suspect the Black Owl.
So, he ordered,
’As soon as you reach her, hide and send a ssage to . I will swap our places.’
The connection faded like a silent echo as Cael disappeared into the smoke-filled streets, guided only by the fading cry for help.
...
Elowyn tried to call her team mbers, but the signals were being interrupted. Her communicator flickered faintly, emitting nothing but static.
The interference pulsed in irregular waves, likely caused by the dense miasma saturating the area.
Tightening her grip on the sword, she moved towards where they might be.
To Entertainnt Street.
The once lively district now lay in ruin.
Mana and miasma waves collided, sending small shockwaves through the streets. Loose debris trembled with each impact.
People moved hurriedly toward the ergency bunkers, their faces pale with fear. So stumbled, so cried, and others dragged the injured with desperate strength.
Elowyn jumped on top of a building to move faster while keeping an eye on the familiar mana signatures.
Luckily, she found them.
Their mana signatures flickered unevenly, strained and unstable.
They seed to be fighting against the wraiths.
...
"Hold on, reinforcent will arrive. We must hold on."
Cassian said as he dodged, his movents sharp but increasingly strained. Sweat mixed with soot on his face, streaking it in dark lines.
Lyra was supporting him from a distance, her staff glowing faintly as wind currents swirled defensively around them. The air humd with tension as she maintained control.
Selene was leading the civilians out, her voice firm despite the chaos.
-BOOM
Another wraith landed near them, the impact cracking the ground beneath its feet. Dust and fragnts rose into the air, briefly obscuring its twisted form.
Selene’s expression changed, and she moved towards Cassian to support him.
"All civilians clear, we can win this fight, it’s 3 vs 2."
Lyra nodded and clenched her staff tighter.
Just as they were about to attack.
-BOOM -BOOM -BOOM
Three more wraiths descended, their arrival sending a chilling wave through the air.
The temperature seed to drop, the flas nearby flickering unnaturally as if disturbed by their presence.
"Ugh, seriously! There were more of them, just where the hell are they coming from?"
Selene gritted her teeth as she saw the wraiths surrounding them.
One wraith waved its hand, releasing a sharp wave of miasma. The attack hissed through the air, corroding everything it brushed past.
Lyra lifted her staff.
"Wind barrier."
A translucent wall of swirling air ford instantly. The two forces collided violently.
The barrier cracked, thin fractures spreading across its surface like glass under pressure, but it held just enough to stop the attack.
"Tch, how can these lowly creatures even use elents?"
One of the wraiths muttered, its inverted eyes gleaming with disgust.
Selene smirked and retorted,
"The fact that you can’t use mana shows who’s lowly, you filthy creatures."
The smiles on the wraiths froze.
Lyra smirked at their ashen expressions.
Cassian inwardly cursed.
’Why the hell did she anger them? We are outnumbered, you know.’
He exhaled slowly and steadied himself.
’Hopefully the reinforcents will arrive soon.’
And so, the battle began.
But they entered a passive state. They could only defend themselves from the relentless assault of the wraiths.
Each clash pushed them back step by step, their stamina draining with every exchange.
-BUZZZ -ZIP
Suddenly, red lightning zapped across the battlefield.
The wraiths turned.
A streak of crimson tore through the air at an insane speed. It wasn’t just fast. It was overwhelming, like a force that refused to be followed by the eye.
Everywhere the red lightning passed, the ground ignited in crimson flas. The fire did not spread normally. It clung, burned, and devoured with unnatural intensity.
A sense of dread crept into them.
Without hesitation, they chose to retreat.
Seeing the wraiths suddenly moving away, Team Leaf was confused.
-ZIP -ZIP -ZIP
Red lightning streaked across the rooftops, sharp and precise.
Their eyes widened as they recognized the mana signature.
"That’s the team leader?"
Elowyn, watching the wraiths retreat, exhaled slowly.
Relief washed over her, but it lasted only a mont.
She did not intend to let the wraiths leave or live.
"Activate Ti Deceleration."
The world shifted. Everything slowed.
Or perhaps she had beco faster.
The flas flickered like drifting embers. Falling debris hung midair. Even the crackling of fire stretched into long, distorted echoes.
Her speed, already enhanced by red lightning, increased at least twentyfold.
-VOOM -ZIP
Elowyn’s speed broke the sound barrier.
A thunderclap followed in her wake as she vanished and reappeared before the fleeing wraiths.
Her sword moved and slashed.
-BANG
Ti returned to normal.
...
The wraiths were already dead.
Their bodies burned in crimson, collapsing into ash that scattered with the heated wind.
Elowyn took quick breaths.
The strain of using Ti Deceleration weighed heavily on her body. Her muscles trembled slightly, and her vision blurred at the edges for a brief mont.
She turned back.
Her teammates stared at her, their expressions frozen between awe and disbelief.
’I need to go back to Cael. If he encounters a wraith, it will be dangerous.’
Elowyn nodded at her teammates and said,
"Let’s go back."
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