The Runic Alchemist

"Broken Branch, I see you've come to play again..." Said the woman from under her shadowy hood, her voice somehow managing to sound both enchanting and menacing.

"Where is that devious bastard..?" Vidalia retorted.

"That just hurts, you know..? I came here specifically to see you on such a lovely night, and you want him over me..?" Moondancer said, her tone mocking as spikes sharp enough to kill a horse erupted from the ground in a 100-meter radius around the commander, with her at the center. The sudden attack sent Vidalia airborne, and more giant spears flew towards her.

Damian could sense the mana controlling the spikes, so he skillfully dodged or jumped high to avoid them until the onslaught ended. However, in doing so, Moondancer finally noticed him.

Lady Vidalia dodged the spears with ease, but it was just a distraction. Two enormous hands emerged from the shadows on the snowy mountain wall, reaching for Vidalia. With a swift motion, she conjured that massive blade again and sliced the hands into tiny pieces, which dripped down like black rain, each drop slithering back to the woman under the hood.

Despite forcing Moondancer back into the passage, far from the wall and the troops, their exchange of blows never ceased. Damian knew for certain that he couldn't even attempt one of those gigantic spells without passing out from mana depletion at his level, and he was pretty high in mana for a first-ranker.

He also had to keep pace with the commander, running back and forth as she fought the shadow-wielding woman. The hood on Moondancer's face remained still throughout the fight, and Damian had a sneaking suspicion that there was nothing behind it but a swirling abyss of darkness. The rest of her body...?

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Well, Damian couldn't tell if it was real or not—at least her hands looked like they were made of flesh and bone.

"What's this..? Did you buy yourself a bed warmer..? My, my... What would Alaric say if he knew of these shameful acts of you trying to calm your loins..? You'll break his heart, you know..." she taunted, her chuckle beneath the hood somehow both enchanting and terrifying.

As if greeting him, Moondancer sent ten massive spears hurtling toward Damian with a slight gesture of her hand. Damian couldn't dodge so many, so he quickly began forming two runic circles, muttering random Japanese words under his breath. A green runic circle originated from his center of gravity, creating high-speed rotating winds around his body that formed a shield of pure air—his Gale Barrier.

The spikes struck the barrier, which held firm, shredding the spikes into pieces that fell onto the snowy ground below. However, after three or four spears, Damian was nearing his limit. He couldn't sustain the spell much longer he was already low on mana, and Moondancer seemed to be enjoying herself, creating even more spikes. Damian hurriedly removed the blocker on the mental link.

'Commander..? A little help...'

'Just a second...'

She sent a large amount of mana his way, refilling his reserves to the brim. Damian continued to power the Gale Barrier as more spikes kept coming. Finally, Vidalia, casting another spell out of his sight, sent over twenty massive air blades matching in size with her spears, covering every possible retreat path for Moondancer.

At last, she left him alone and conjured a solid armor and shield around herself, dodging and absorbing the hits she couldn't avoid. The commander, meanwhile, was left exposed while chanting, so the massive spears that had been aimed at Damian were now coming her way.

Vidalia hastily dodged the spears and thwarted some with her large air blade, but one managed to hit her shoulder, and the pain was excruciating. Damian, fully immersed in the fight, felt the agony as if it were his own which somehow it was, despite not receiving the wound. It was either psychological pain or damage to his soul—in any case, it hurt like hell.

But in the next second, one of the runic earpieces Vidalia wore activated, healing her shoulder enough to bear the pain. Damian also felt the relief along with her.

Sounds of explosions in the distance...

Suddenly, the sounds of battle came from Ashenvale's side. Moondancer frowned, looked in that direction, then back at the commander.

"How did you find it..? What is going on here..?"

But no one answered her. Blocking all the attacks, Moondancer abruptly sprouted wings of abyssal swirling darkness—a shadow of some special kind—and took off into the air, heading toward the ongoing fight where their waygate and mages were.

The commander landed near Damian and once again grabbed him by the collar without warning. Damian was really offended now. Would it kill her to let him at least get a good hold before they went cruising through the air? People had no manners these days...

The commander followed behind the flying third-ranker Esper, throwing random spells at her and making her life difficult. Now that was good entertainment—Damian just wished he was on some hill far away, standing in a cool pose, watching the fight without being a part of it...

The team of five top-tier second-rankers—Aramis, Tristan, Esme, the guy who barely spoke a word, and Ashford—must have been engaged with the hidden second-rankers, taking so long to reach their escape path with the waygate. They reached the deeper part of the passage, where four second-ranker mages and two spellswords were defending against five of Eldoris with their lives on the line.

Moondancer immediately sent massive arrows of shadows towards the attacking five, but Vidalia increased her speed even further. Tossing Damian into the air above her, she performed some intricate hand movements while chanting at super speed, creating a giant earth wall with impressive thickness, shielding her subordinates from the attack and once again drawing the Esper's attention back to her.

Damian? Well, who cared about him..? He was still falling towards the cold, white snow when the commander grabbed him by the collar once again, flying like an F1 fighter jet...