Chapter 319 (2/2)
Then the shadows shi+fted in thetall over most of the elvesHis entire body was cocooned in a thick layer of his mana, but even as I watched, theblades clinging to his hands
With Albold’s ar I could do but watch in horror as the growing blades closed over each other like scissors, aimed perfectly at the back of Kathyln’s neck
The ic had already split into individual beaainst the darknessThe elves closest had realized Bilal was there, but seemed frozen in terrorKathyln was entirely focused on the medallion…
All at once, Kathyln and the elves vanishedThe retainer’s blades cut harht, then the clearing was dark again
“You still have your medallion?” I asked Albold, my voice barely a whisper“Can you use it?”
He shook his head tiredly, but kept his feet when I pulled out froht
“I had to—”
“Doesn’tmy own medallion into his hands
If only Curtis and Kathyln hadn’t been carrying the extras…
The retainer had paused for aly!” I shouted, trying to keep
Bilal’s dark eyes cast a wary glance at Tessia, as fast approaching, before his gaze drifted towardaway fro elves and the retainer
He scoffed, his attention back on Albold and the group of elvesJagged shards of pale green mana manifested around the retainer’s raised hands as he prepared to kill all of us
da, I forced out a laughIt came out squeaky and unnatural but it did the trickBilal’s eyes were back on me
“You know, out of the two of you, I think your brother was the one that got the looks,” I croaked
Bilal’s eyes narrowed, his glowing hand lowering in hesitation“You’ve met Bivran, yet you’re still alive?”
I nodded“I can’t say the sa up the ree, I rested
Behind ht, and all the tension went out of my bodyWe’d done itThe last of the elves were safe
“You know, out of the two of you, I think your brother was the one that got the looks,” I croaked
Bilal’s eyes narrowed, his glowing hand lowering in hesitation“You’ve met Bivran, yet you’re still alive?”
I nodded“I can’t say the sa up the ree, I rested
Behind ht, and all the tension went out of my bodyWe’d done itThe last of the elves were safe
The retainer’s eyes ide at the sight of the jet black ring, and he lunged toward meBoo jumped forward to intercept him, but it was Tessia’s swordstaff that blocked his attack
Her bright ey pushed back his sickly mana as the swordstaff flashed faster than I could follow
Bilal’s swords were just as fast, though, and his ability to redirect his mana to attack or defend at need made it difficult for Tessia to wound himStill, the retainer’s black robes were stained dark with blood in a dozen different places, and it was clear she had the upper hand now that Bilal wasn’t running away
Tessia, on the other hand, seeaze locked on her target, and Bilal’s blades never touched her
I wanted to help, but wasn’t sure howMy h for a few arrows maybe, but I couldn’t see how that would make a difference
Then I had an idea
I don’t need h to form the arrow…
“If you don’t believe me…” I readied the shi+eld-arrow I had used on Boo and aimed it at Bilal“I’ll just have to show you”
The retainer’s dark eyes sharpened as I fired the arrow right at hi any chances, twisted away froolden arrow passed by where he had been and hit Tessia high in the stolow over her bodyShe jerked to a stop, gazing down at the spell in surprise
A smirk crept up on the retainer’s thin lips as he quickly took advantage of Tessia’s openingBilal flashed toward her and sunk one of his pale green blades into Tessia’s side and the other into her leg
“I knew Dicathians were ill-trained, but to shoot one of your own—” Bilal’s eyes bulged as Tessia’s swordstaff burst out of his back
His disbelieving gaze sank down in confusion, only to widen with realizationAlthough the two blades had h h Tessia’s aura as well
Bilal’s weapons faded away as the last of his mana leaked from his pierced mana core, and he stuainst the wound in his chest, trying uselessly to stop the blood, but it ran freely froround
“The Vritra chosehis lips“I will be a God around, his face sinking into the pool of blood beneath him
Several vines crawled up from the blood and wrapped themselves around the bodyThe retainer started to sink as the vines pulled his disappeared under the churned dirt, then most of his torso, and finally his faceThe last I saw of hione
The emerald vines faded as Tessia released her beast willInstead of basking in her defeat of the retainer—a feat only my brother had accomplished until now—Tessia seemed to shrink
Even fro as she let out a deep breath before turning around
“We should hurry back, Ell—”
Tessia’s eyes ide just as a strong hand pressed down on otten a lot stronger,” said a cool, strangely faht suddenly seemed to push down onthat happened next seeed at the man behind me, only to be encased in a prison of black spikes that manifested faster than I could even blink
My bond let out a thunderous roar as he started banging his paws at the shadowy spikes, but he couldn’t even dent them
Tessia started to move, but stopped as the hand on my shoulder crept toward my throat while the other ripped off the phoenix wyrm pendant aroundBivran and Bilal, I hadn’t felt like this…like no matter what I did, it wouldn’t matterWithout that pendant, he could easily kill ht back
“E-Elijah,” Tessia stammered, her face pale in horror
The mention of that name sent a sharp chill downas I tried to wrapMe Arthur’s last battle before he and Sylvie were killed flooded back to me
Elijah was the one that killed ht behind eance
“I would want you, of all people, to call me Nico,” the man said coolly
“Fine…Nico” Tessia raised a placating hand“Your fight is with ht? Just release Ellie”
“You slipped away from me last time, CeciliaI won’t take any chances this ti body, I looked backIt really was Elijah, the boy who used to live with us in Xyrus, except he wasn’t wearing glasses and had dark bags under his eyes behind locks of messy black hairSo as Cecilia?
Tessia stepped closer, one hand still gripped around the handle of her swordstaff“Elij—Nico…you’re not rip around htened
I clawed helplessly at his hand while trying to tell Tessia to run, but hs
“Drop your weapon and put these on” Elijah tossed a pair of thick em embedded in the middle and was etched with runes that I’d never seen before
Tessia’s hardened gaze fell into a look of defeat“And you’ll let Ellie go?”
“You’d try to kill yourself again if I didn’t, right?” Elijah chortledHis grip around my neck loosened, and I wanted to scream out to Tessia not to do it, but the look in her eyes told
Tessia smiled sadly at me as she dropped her swordstaff and locked the metal wristbands around her forearive rip on round, rowls turned into whirabbed hold of Tessia by the cuffsHe plucked thefro it on the ground in front ofpendant he had taken froot what I wantedConsider this as one last favor…for Grey”
My tre from it to the dark boy who used to be my brother’s closest friend
With a flick of his wrist, he released Boo
My bond immediately rushed to ed me awayI could only watch helplessly as Tessia and Elijah disappeared fro oniron
“The cost of those elves’ lives may be more than Virion cares to pay”