Chapter 223 - In Her Element (1/2)

Chapter 223: In Her Element

ARTHUR LEYWIN

‘Arthur. Take a look.’

Sylvie’s voice resounded in my head, pulling me away from the memories of my previous life that only seemed to get more vivid.

The sun had set, enveloping the undeveloped lands of the Beast Glades in a blanket of darkness. However, even from the tens of miles we were away from the Wall, we could clearly see the battle that was currently ensuing.

But it wasn’t the fierce battle that had the two of us perturbed—it was the location of where the battle was being fought.

They didn’t collapse the underground tunnel or even let the beast horde get close to the Wall. I gnashed my teeth in frustration.

Sylvie beat her powerful wings once more as we slowly descended towards the Wall.

Despite how thickly the moon was covered behind the clouds, it was easy to tell where the battle was going on. With magic involved, there were always spells lighting up the vicinity. It may have been a fierce and blood-filled battle from the ground, but from up in the sky, it was a beautiful—if not a little chaotic—show of colors.

I did my best to swallow and contain the rage building up inside me. After all, the plan I had set in motion was a suggestion that had been accepted by the captains.

But my decision to leave the beast horde and help Tessia was based on the fact that my suggestion would be implemented. It should’ve been implemented. Even before I left, the plan was already being implemented.

Ellie’s note was vague but it felt rushed, and urgent—desperate, almost. I took deep breaths, doing my best to submerge the rage that was beginning to evolve into a threat. The words ‘if anything happens to my family’ was on the tip of my tongue, itching to be said aloud to whoever was responsible for this deviation.

‘Arthur, we’re almost there,’ Sylvie’s voice sounded, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I gave her a mental confirmation as I activated Realmheart once more. Using it shortly after my fight with Cylrit sent sharp waves through my veins but I ignored it. The dark evening’s muted colors were washed away, replaced by motes of colors. Some of these wisps and specks were floating freely while others were being absorbed and clustered in preparation for a spell to manifest.

Homing in on the Wall, I scanned the top line where rows of archers and conjurers were stationed in search for Ellie’s distinct form of magic. This was the fastest way to find her in all of the chaos that came with large-scale battles.

I could only hope that my sister hadn’t run off somewhere.

We hovered high above the Wall enough for us not to be potentially shot at by alarmed soldiers, but it didn’t take long for me to find my sister. Not many mages were able to shoot such well-structured arrows of pure mana like she could, making the mana fluctuations around her fairly distinguishable.

There , I indicated to my bond, directing her to a battlement situated near the left edge by the conjoining mountain. I released Realmheart as we approached where Ellie was stationed.

Bolts of fire and ice drew arcs in the air as they rained down on the battlefield a few hundred feet further away from where the ground was supposed to collapse from under the beast horde. Alongside the the various spells and mana enhanced arrows were streaks of pale light shot out by my sister.

Sylvie quickly shifted into her human form as we neared our destination as I continued to take deep breaths in a losing fight against the anger building up in me.

It helped that my sister was still able enough to be consistently firing spells from her bow, but that couldn’t be the same for the rest of my family and the Twin Horns, who were hopefully somewhere behind the protection of this enormous fortress.

The two of us landed softly but still managed to alarm the soldiers around us, including my sister.

The soldiers, however, were all capable mages—mages that were able to clearly sense when they were outclassed. None bothered to raise their weapons, only barely able to slink away from the two intruders that fell from the sky.

It was only when I stepped closer to a nearby illuminating artifact that Ellie ran into my arms.

“You scared the hell out of us!” my sister said in a strange mixture of annoyance and relief. “The plan that was supposed to happen with the ground and the explosives—it didn’t happen! At first I thought that they were delaying the plan in order to draw more beasts toward the area where we set up the trap, but the soldiers that were sent out aren’t coming back.”

I pried my sister away, partly to talk to her face to face, partly to not let her hear my heart beating against my chest. “Ellie. Where are the others? Do you know who’s out there?”

Before my sister could answer, though, an officer in charge of this section came running toward me. With a salute, he hastily showed his respects. “G-Good evening, General Arthur. My apologies that we weren’t able to give you a proper welcoming. I am Officer Mandir, if there’s anything I can—”

“I’m fine, Officer Mandir.” While I didn’t mean to be rude, cutting him off along with the impatient expression made him flinch and shuffle away.

I turned my attention back to my sister. Sylvie had a consoling hand on my sister’s shoulder, calming her down enough to give us some solid answers.

“We’re required to stay in our positions but Helen, who was watching over me, was able to leave. She never came back, but before the beast horde arrived, I saw Mom in the medic camp set up on the ground level. Durden and Dad…I haven’t seen either of them,” my sister sputtered.

“It’s okay, Ellie. Don’t worry, your brother will handle the rest,” I comforted, forcing a reassuring smile.

“W-What should I do? How can I help?” Ellie replied.

I shook my head. “Stay here. You’re a soldier now and this is your post. You wanted experience in a real battle, right?”

“Okay.” My sister’s gaze hardened. After giving Sylvie a quick hug, she bolted off back to her station.

“Is it safe for her to stay here?” my bond asked, unable to pry her gaze from my sister.

“If they’ve decided to forgo my plan, it means that they’re trying to keep the Wall as intact as possible. That means it’ll be safer for the soldiers on this side of the battle.”

I leaped off the edge, ignoring the surprised shouts of soldiers and workers around us. The two of us landed deftly on the ground level behind the fortress and made our way towards the medical tents.

***

I pushed aside a tent flap for the fourth time before I was finally able to spot my mother inside one. She had her hands hovered over a patient, brows knitted in determination. She barked out orders to some of the other medics nearby to have the patient moved and properly taken care of before another gurney rolled in front of her with another injured soldier.

Her expression, her presence, her demeanor made me freeze in my tracks. The mother I knew and grew up with was gone, replaced by a strong and level-headed medic carrying the weight of the countless injured and dying brought to her.

I thought back to the words she had said the last time we met… and fought. She mentioned her duties here and the people that needed her help. Then I looked at the countless patients slowly recovering thanks to her abilities and imagined how many of those would be dead already if it wasn’t for her.

“Are you okay, Arthur?” Sylvie asked, concern laced in her voice as she stayed by my side.