Chương 420: Chapter 415 - Forest bouts

Scarlett's gaze fixed on the grey haze spreading above the estate, a foreboding chill settling in her chest. Then the Loci reached out to her. Her eyes narrowed. She rose at once, mentally commanding the Loci to secure the Array Forge away as the [Eternal Flameweaver's Athame] appeared in her hand.

"Fynn," she said, looking to the youth who was already on his feet.

"We have intruders. You are coming with me." She turned to the others, gesturing towards Slate.

"The rest of you will stay here and keep her safe." Her attention settled last on Rosa.

"I will send for you if your help becomes necessary." Rosa watched her, the humour that usually coloured her expression gone, then nodded silently. Scarlett issued another command to the Loci. The air twisted, and an instant later she and Fynn stood beyond the estate walls among frost-hardened trees, their boots sinking into cold soil.

The [Crown of Flame's Benediction] shimmered to life above her head, and the [Sovereign's Veil (Divine)]—one of the artifacts recovered from Beld Thylelion—unfurled over her shoulders. The weightless mantle was nearly transparent, edged in faint silver trim that shimmered like quicksilver. As if in recognition of the Athame and Crown, veins of crimson light rippled through the fabric like living flame, trailing faintly behind her.

She slashed through the air with the Athame, and a portal of molten red fire split open before them. The Loci's alert had come from farther out. Fynn stepped up beside her, his hair lifting in an unseen wind as spectral claws formed over his knuckles. Scarlett drew out two wrist-sized coils of burnished bronze shaped like sleeping dragons and handed them to him. The [Thresher's Loop (Legendary)] was yet another of the artifacts recovered from Beld Thylelion. He fastened them around his wrists.

Arcs of crackling light flared between the dragons' open jaws, sparking like the first touch of a storm. Then they stepped through. The portal carried them deeper into the woods. Scarlett paused at the sight of two imperial soldiers sprawled on the ground a short distance away, blood darkening the forest floor. They were part of the pylon's guard detail. Around the bodies stood more than a dozen dark-robed figures, golden masks glinting, curved blades drawn. Cabal Ascendants. Every mask turned towards her and Fynn.

Scarlett drew a slow breath. So it was time. She would have preferred it come later, but this was what she had prepared for. The first Ascendant moved. Scarlett snapped her fingers. The forest blanketed itself in Aqua Mines, encircling the Ascendants. They detonated at once. A wave of steam and flame tore through the trees. Masks shattered as cloth blackened and enchantments failed beneath the combined onslaught of hydrokinesis and pyrokinesis. Most fell where they stood.

The few who remained screamed as flames enveloped them. Scarlett did not look away. A part of her had wondered if she could still do this now that Amy's influence was no longer buried, but this confirmed what she already knew. Amy had no issue at all — just like Scarlett. Her gaze shifted to two figures standing deeper among the trees, untouched by her magic. She had deliberately avoided targeting them. One was a giant clad in blackened armour, tatters hanging from his frame.

A cylindrical helm without slits concealed his face, and both hands rested on the hilt of a sword taller than Scarlett herself. Carnwedain. Knight of the Hallowed Cabal. It had been a while since she had seen him. The other figure was smaller, robed in white from head to toe, hood obscuring even their silhouette. Only a faint glint of bright hair showed beneath. Scarlett got a sense that they were a mage — and if they stood beside Carnwedain, they were probably one of the Cabal's stronger agents.

Possibly an arch mage. She searched her memories of the game. Jestit, then? The Cabal would already have lost one arch mage in Beld Thylelion. They didn't have those in an endless supply. Fynn growled low beside her, crouched and ready. For a moment, the four of them simply watched one another. Then Scarlett raised her hand. The white-robed mage lifted both of theirs in reply. That told Scarlett all she needed to know.

Even if they hadn't come with hostile intent, the still soldiers next to the Ascendants left her no room for restraint. She might have spared these two if they had shown a willingness to talk, but it seemed like they were prepared for battle. Light burst into existence around the mage as glowing runes spiralled upward. Flickering rents tore through the air between the trees, revealing glimpses of strange skies and warped horizons.

Shapes shifted beyond before forcing their way through — some dragging long, wormlike bodies slick with a translucent sheen, others crouched and lean yet almost regal. Four in total. Creatures native to the Wandering Realm. So this was indeed Jestit.

"Fynn," Scarlett said.

"I will leave the large one to you." He gave a sharp nod and vanished in a rush of displaced air. Carnwedain's massive gauntlets tightened around the hilt of his sword. He brought it up in a motion that looked ponderous but moved with deceptive speed, intercepting Fynn's first strike in an explosion of sparks. Fynn snarled and pressed in with another blow. The faceless knight merely loomed over him. Scarlett watched for only a heartbeat before turning her focus to Jestit. Could she handle an arch mage?

The only one she'd faced was Arlene, and she had been leagues beneath the woman's level then. She was a lot stronger now, though. And she doubted this person rivalled Arlene. Jestit glanced towards Carnwedain and Fynn as the knight's next swing sent a tremor rolling through the forest. Fynn was thrown back, carving a furrow through the frost before regaining his footing. Carnwedain advanced with steady steps. Then Jestit turned back to Scarlett. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road.

If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Scarlett conjured a spread of fire arrows that tore towards the summoned creatures. One—a grotesque, toad-like being with glistening skin—swelled grotesquely as it inhaled, then exhaled a torrent of mist that solidified into a glimmering bubble of water around Jestit and the creatures. Her arrows struck the barrier and hissed out. Two wormlike summons burst through the water, scuttling across the ground with disturbing speed.

One reached Scarlett, only to erupt in searing flame before touching her. The second suffered the same fate a moment later. The [Hartford Garnet Ring] flared on her finger, warning her just as a thin beam of cerulean energy lanced towards her from the remaining summon, resembling a mix between a wolf and a unicorn, with a gleaming horn dimming on its head. Her [Garments of Form] triggered, shifting her aside. She frowned and reached out with hydrokinesis, attempting to crush the barrier inward.

To her surprise, it resisted her pull completely. Was that… because of the frog creature? Annoying. She supposed she'd just rely on pyrokinesis, then. It was what she was best at anyway. Her grip tightened on the Athame. Fire surged along the blade, a thin band of incandescent heat hissing in the cold air. A vast sphere of flame coiled around the barrier in slow spirals. Heat shimmered. Bark blackened. Frost bled off the ground in bursts of steam. Beneath her flames, the watery dome trembled but did not yield.

She narrowed the sphere, compressing it further. Space tore open beside it. More runes appeared as another rift formed. A limb emerged first. It was thin and jointed, like a long white needle. It was followed by another, and a creature with a latticed body of bone-fine segments dragged itself through, eyes glowing like wet ink. It looked around, then pressed one hand to her flames. The creature caught fire — and did not flinch. Instead, it siphoned the inferno into itself like a starving leech.

The sphere collapsed, its energy drawn onto the creature's body while the water barrier remained intact. Scarlett stared, cutting the flow of mana. Any further flame she fed only seemed to go to it. Another rift opened. A massive shape forced its way through, jagged wings unfolding like stone blades veined with black mana. It looked like some monstrous cross between a bat and a gargoyle, releasing a piercing, metallic screech as it dove straight for her. Scarlett sent a vertical blade of fire to meet it.

The strike scorched its chest but barely slowed it. She clicked her tongue as she was forced to teleport away, and the bat smashed through trees in pursuit. She tried more fire. This time, she intensified the flames. A lot. The creature bellowed and charged through the blaze. The ground shuddered. Scarlett pushed harder, focusing her fire until the air warped and the surrounding forest threatened to ignite. Just before it reached her, its cry twisted into a crackling shriek. It crashed down, carving molten earth.

She held the flames a moment longer before letting them fade. The creature did not rise again. Scarlett suppressed the spreading fire. The ring on her finger flared again as another beam of cerulean energy seared towards her. This time, she didn't move. White-blue fire moved along the Athame. The blade intercepted the beam, and Itris' flames devoured it, stripping the underlying mana until nothing remained. Her gaze shifted to the burning, jointed creature beside the barrier.

It stood wreathed in stolen fire, guarding the watery dome where the frog-thing and wolf-creature crouched next to Jestit. Scarlett hadn't expected the Cabal to field someone capable of countering her this much. She adjusted her stance. The burning creature twitched as though in answer, its segmented spine lifting. The flames enveloping it guttered, then flared again, drawn towards its core, like it was preparing to absorb more of her magic. Fine. If it wanted her fire so badly, it could choke on the wrong kind.

More of Itris' flames rose along the Athame. She tore a rift open and stepped through, reappearing at the creature's flank. A limb snapped out almost impossibly fast — and stopped barely a hair's breadth from her chest, halted by an invisible boundary. A shimmer of silvery haze, traced with crimson light, glimmered in the air. The [Sovereign's Veil] did what it should. Thainnith wouldn't have once worn it without reason. Her tests had revealed that it had limits, but this much it could manage.

A second strike met the same unseen barrier. Scarlett stepped forward, driving the Athame into its arm. Itris' flames spiralled tight around the blade, collapsing inward as the creature tried to drink the power. Its body pulsed as the white-blue fire started consuming the crimson blaze it had absorbed. When the flames reached its core, the connection snapped. She felt its energy twist and vanish. The creature fell, curling in on itself before collapsing into burning fragments.

She turned immediately as another beam lanced towards her. The Athame intercepted it again, and her attention fixed once more on the watery dome. Inside, the frog swelled until its skin turned glossy with tension. The barrier thickened. Jestit's hands moved faster, finishing a chain of compact runes that flared in sequence. A new rift tore open behind them, widening until entire trees tilted into its depths. Clawed hands emerged — three-fingered, each tipped with hard facets that refracted the forest light.

Scarlett prepared to counter when a towering shape followed, sliding out of the rift as though gravity held no authority over it. Its body was almost humanoid but elongated, joints bending with unsettling fluidity. Pale plates layered its form in overlapping bone, and empty grooves ran along its arms, humming with stored mana. Scarlett recognised it this time. A Null-Carver. An enemy from the game that existed to absorb and redirect nearly any form of magic. The creature turned towards her.

Its arm rose, plates sliding apart as mana gathered, saturating the forest with a pressure that made the air thrum. Scarlett encased it in fire, but the Null-Carver was unaffected. Its plates brightened, drinking in the mana without resistance. She raised her Athame— The ground trembled violently behind her. Fynn. She turned just in time to see him skidding across the dirt, carving a trench through roots and frozen loam. Carnwedain followed in long, deliberate strides, blade resting over one shoulder.

The knight paused beside a cracked pine, helm turning briefly towards the Null-Carver. Fynn dragged himself upright, blood streaking his ribs. Wind stirred around his feet, leaves shifting as small arcs of lightning sparked at his wrists. He bared his teeth at the knight. Carnwedain's helm turned back to him, and the knight resumed his advance. Scarlett refocused as the Null-Carver finished drawing in mana. Then it released it. A pulse of warped force rippled outward, sending a discordant tremor through the trees.

Scarlett threw up a wall of flame, but it wavered under the impact. She planted her heel as the [Sovereign's Veil] rippled, strands of hazy silver weaving into a loose array before her to blunt the shockwave. It still hit her like a sledgehammer. But she didn't fall. Inside the dome, Jestit raised both hands. New summons burst into being around the clearing, smaller this time. Those wouldn't last long. Fire wrapped around Scarlett and collapsed into the earth.

The forest floor erupted beneath her feet, roots and soil incinerating in an instant, while a clear circle remained untouched around Fynn. The lesser summons vanished as quickly as they had formed. She thrust her hand forward. A narrow jet of whitening flame—compact and needle-thin, the same she'd shown Mistress—drove into the watery barrier. It wasn't a blast, but an incision. A thread of heat made to pry. The frog chirped sharply, choking on its own breath as it strained to reinforce the dome.

Jestit layered further defensive spells over it. Still, Scarlett's flame pressed inward. The barrier began to warp, stretching like a bubble pushed past its limits. The Null-Carver stepped between her and the dome with long, unnatural strides. It absorbed the jet of flame, plates brightening until their natural pallor nearly vanished. Scarlett felt it preparing to redirect the stolen power into another attack. She cut the flame. If the damn thing insisted on intervening, she would deal with it first.

She didn't completely trust the risk of it absorbing Itris' flames in case it could use them against her, so she decided to try another approach. She moved forward. The creature extended one humming arm towards her, inviting her closer. For just a brief instant, Scarlett summoned a sea of fire that rose behind her like a rippling cloak. Then she collapsed it all into her [Crown of Flame's Benediction]. Power flooded her body, sharp and searing.

She slashed open a burning rift with the [Eternal Flameweaver's Athame] and seized the creature's arm. Mana bled from her the moment they made contact, but she ignored the drain, drawing on every ounce of strength the Crown granted her to drag the Null-Carver through the portal. Its tall form tilted — and they both vanished together. They did not reappear in the forest, not within her estate, but beneath a vast horizon of grey ash and endless flame. A glimpse of Itris' realm.

The path between worlds which her Athame traversed. Normally, she bypassed the transit. Not this time. The Null-Carver stilled for the briefest fraction of a second upon arrival. That was enough. Scarlett's [Garments of Form] activated, and she teleported back through the closing rift before it could react. The portal sealed. It was cut off. Only Jestit and the remaining summons stood before her now. Scarlett met the mage's gaze through the barrier and saw a flicker of alarm beneath the hood.

Jestit began summoning again. The wolf-thing fired another beam. The frog strained to reinforce the barrier. Scarlett caught the beam on her Athame and refused to let them regain momentum. She poured every necessary shred of mana into ending that barrier. A brilliant bloom of white light washed over the forest as a second sun descended. Scarlett shielded her eyes while steam exploded outward in a violent surge. The barrier fought, trembling— She felt it break.

Through the churning steam, she sent two precise lances of flame. Then she snapped her fingers. The steam vanished. The frog and the wolf lay dead, heads pierced by thin, cauterised holes. Jestit stood alone, a storm of water spears and fire bolts orbiting her in tightening arcs.

"I would suggest you surrender," Scarlett said coldly, "and we will see whether I consider permitting it."