Chapter 394: Battle Against The Clock

“Hcuaaaack… ack, what… was that…?”

“Haaahaah… ahhh… I almost didn’t make it in time.”

At that moment, in the middle of a dark forest full of fog, three people appeared.

It was Oryx, who had managed, at the last instant, to grab Noha and Mitrass and teleport away from that destructive attack.

All three looked shocked, each in their own way.

Even Mitrass. He understood that the situation could become dangerous because of his ability, but something so abrupt and of that magnitude was beyond any logical reasoning for him.

He did not understand what kind of being it was that he had encountered.

“She… it… whatever it was… was still in the sixth metamorphosis. But when she inserted the core, my skill could no longer understand her, and her rank seemed to skyrocket. Something of this level can only be a blessing; a blessing that somehow helps her use beast core as a source of mana.”

Even Noha was so shocked and trying to understand what happened, as well as pondering seriously.

He had been foolish and lax: not only did he lose one of his beasts, but also his hand. He understood more clearly than ever that Seraphina was not someone to be trifled with and that their lives were at stake.

“Yes, Imperial Highness. her aura became chaotic and characteristic of demons. Her physical appearance also changed to a demonic form. But I know of no divinity or blessing that can do such a thing.”

Mitrass also tried to understand, or at least decipher a bit what had just happened. He really felt overcome and wanted to rationalize, at least a little, what had happened.

“That’s neither human nor demonic. You twisted its neck, broke its hand and it still recovered like nothing. It must be incredibly powerful regeneration or healing skill, to the point that it seemed like a blessing or divine grace as well.”

Oryx also joined in, trying to understand and describe Seraphina.

“From the beginning, she was able to launch magical attacks that caused me damage, to such an extent that it almost seemed like a blessing or a divinam grace is that or she has more than one related powerful skill. Not to mention her power as a warrior. I was not using my full strength, but clearly her art was more powerful and complete than mine. I saw no artifact other than the spear, and yet she was terribly stable in all aspects. And little by little I felt her becoming more powerful. It is very similar to my blessing.”

“How many Skills does she have, why are they all so powerful? Because she seems to have more than four blessings.”

“And that accomplice too. He appeared out of nowhere and cut my hand; I didn’t feel anything and my automatic defense artifacts didn’t activate. shit! It’s like he had no harmful intent towards me, but something like that is impossible if he cut off my hand.”

Really, a lot happened in a short period of time and everyone shared their thoughts as if they unconsciously wanted, together, to try to understand her.

“It’s strange, as his imperial highness says. This one doesn’t seem as capable, but he shared much of his magic and arts. They both seem to be capable of both at a level that even I have not seen.”

“They both seemed very coordinated, and that appearance…why were they both the same? Do they both have the shapeshifting ability? Was it really Princess Silvercrest, is her accomplice some other kind of powerful ability?”

“Damn, now that you mention it, they both shared an almost identical mana signature. We’re fighting the same being. This is driving me nuts, is she some god’s favorite agent? That Silvercrest, was she from that family that had someone in the fourth soul conversion?”

But the more they thought about it, the more things didn’t make sense, and in the face of such an indescribable being, the oppression that was being born in them increased, even though they didn’t want to let it be seen.

“Yes, your imperial highness. Still, I doubt she’s the real thing, though I heard that the second generation of Avaloria is very competent; the best only make it to the fifth metamorphosis, and she’s not even among the best. Besides, she was in the city; she couldn’t possibly have moved faster than me.”

“… if it’s that thing… It seems capable of anything. Though it’s likely she’s using that appearance for something else. After all, it’s a complicated identity to deal with. It seems deliberate, considering how capable she was. She definitely guided all the events to get us to this point, as if she knew us; and her appearance must have been part of her plan. That’s why, from the beginning, I believed that—”

“Goddamn it, shut up, Mitrass. Fuck, I know. It was my fault for underestimating her. I understand that we should kill her when she was playing dead.”

“I’m not trying to blame you, your imperial highness. Even I could not comprehend the danger she poses. But I guess that doesn’t come without a price. She was clearly having difficulties, despite her burst of power. Perhaps, if we wait and return, we can eliminate her and her accomplice.”

“Ugh! I lost contact with my stony serpent… how the hell does she sever the connection we have? I really want to kill her. She killed three of my beasts… ugh. But we’d better back off. We didn’t come here to fight, and who knows what else that thing can do.”

“But, your royal highness, she has-”

“No. She doesn’t. Look.”

In Noha’s one hand appeared the ring Seraphina had “stolen”. He checked it: inside was still everything.

He really wanted to go back and make her pay for cutting off his hand, but even he began to feel something akin to fear.

The repertoire of what Seraphina showed seemed endless, and everything seemed to be in a higher order, to the point of forcing them to flee.

He wanted revenge, but he wasn’t about to foolishly throw himself into a fight where he could die.

“I understand… I too think it’s best to retreat.”

Looking at the ring, Mitrass also agreed.

He personally wanted to get rid of such an unknown risk factor, but Seraphina was so abnormal that he couldn’t have the slightest clue how it would all end, and the battle flow was at a neutral point.

Although she didn’t seem to be in good shape, who knows what else she was capable of.

“Oryx, take us to the camp.”

“I understand, your imperial highness. Just give me a moment; I need to build up mana to get there in a single-”

“-Vinculum Spatii”(- Space Bind)

“!!!” (x3)

Just at that moment a voice was heard that instinctively caused a shiver to run through the three present.

Again, what happened was not something expected by any of them, especially Oryx.

Space magic was something that was not supposed to exist on that continent, but in front of their eyes it appeared, along with the tip of a golden spear pointed directly at Oryx’s head.

But Oryx was not as easy to surprise as an ordinary mage. Thanks to his skill, he saw the attack clearly and managed to move quickly.

To begin with, mages already had quicker thinking than a warrior, but for him, at that moment, it was clearer than his peers: the spear heading towards him at a horrible speed he easily perceived it and could think many things at that instant.

He knew exactly what he had to do. He activated his affinity and tried to move immediately out of the spear’s path… but he could not.

He felt a kind of restriction, as if the space around him did not obey him. He, who had always had total control of his space, saw his authority restricted.

Still, it didn’t seem like a big deal; he felt he could regain control in a few seconds, but he didn’t have that time: the spear was a split second away from killing him. His affinity was not an option.

But he wasn’t an idiot. He switched methods and used his other ability.

’That… was close.’

This restriction did not seem to affect him, and he was able to teleport. Space Movement (S) was an Skill that allowed him to teleport anywhere his consciousness and vision could reach, without needing to spend as much mana.

She glanced in Seraphina’s direction, where she was still executing her actions as if she had taken into account that he was going to dodge it. She directed her next attack towards Noha.

Seeing this, Oryx was going to intervene again. If he wanted to keep his backup, he had to keep him safe at all costs.

Oryx could see, analyze and predict countless things in a single instant; as a space mage, his execution was just as swift.

But in the end, only his mind was fast. By the time he felt the pain, it was too late.

CHHK!

“!!!”

And the sound of something being pierced came after the pain.

He felt the cold danger of death. He could feel it, and he didn’t even want to understand the source.

He teleported as he had planned and immediately grabbed Noha, teleporting back.

’Tsk… she really is a tough cockroach to kill.’

The culprit was Seraphina, demonized, who only had one of her arms. it was the doppelgänger who had missed her attack whose target was Oryx’s life.

But, knowing his skills, she first made a non-harmful attack. Now Oryx had a purple arrow stuck in his abdomen.

But again, the Seraphinas knew that they were not in favor of time; they had to drag them immediately into their battle flow; they had to overwhelm them.

They could not allow full collaboration or any cooperation, they could not let them take control of the situation or it would be over for them.

This ambush was swift and decisive, and only the beginning of what was to come in this battle against the clock.

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