"You dare look at me like that, slave?!"
I willed my Aegis crystals that were ineffectively swallowing Mara to dig deep into the ground. She wasn't fazed by it and ignored my Aegis crystals altogether. With a wide grin, she proceeded to drag me underground using her Phasing specialty.
"Master Gheele!" shouted Amaryllis from the surface. She kept calling my name until I couldn't hear her voice anymore. All I could see was rocks and dirt, and it felt like I was being pulled by a strong vacuum.
My body basically 'phased' through any stone or dirt as Mara dragged me further down. Even though I couldn't see anything else, it doesn't mean that I couldn't counter Mara in my current state. Slowly, I focused my mind on my Aegis particles above the ground.
"Hah! You don't have your Aegis particles underground, don't you? If I leave you here like this, surely you will die from being buried alive!" said Mara as she continued to drag me using her right hand. Only that part of her body was visible to me. After all, we were surrounded by rocks in every direction.
'She can also 'phase' her voice?' I thought.
Not a moment too soon, my body stopped being dragged by her. I heard nothing after that so I assumed she had gone back to the surface. About ten seconds passed, then fifteen seconds, when suddenly, my body was pressured as if all the rocks were crushing me.
"Aaaargh!"
The effect of her 'Phasing' disappeared, so the stone and dirt surrounding me instantly crushed my very being. Of course, I didn't intend to let my death be so stupid. More so since I had been manipulating my Aegis particles on the surface ever since Mara started to drag me underground. I gritted my teeth.
The pain of being crushed from every side was too much. It felt like I was about to faint at that very moment, my body desperately trying to heal me. But stopping there was not an option.
"Aaargh!"
I willed the mass of orange Aegis crystals I had manifested on the surface to crash down.
With a crack, the ground split itself wide enough that a faint ray of sunlight managed to reach me. I quickly climbed back to the garden's surface and gasped in relief. The pain of being crushed alive had dissipated to a mere lingering sensation.
Once my entire body had popped back up on the surface, I fell down on two knees, taking in as much air as possible.
"Damn that woman!"
I lifted my head up and took in the sight of the orange garden. Everything around me was covered with orange Aegis crystals, its surface glinted under the cloudless sky.
"M-Master Gheele!" cried Amaryllis as she ran over to my side.
I looked around and saw two figures fighting in close combat.
Sofeea was fighting with Mara; where each time Mara's metallic black crystals were about to hit, Sofeea teleported herself behind Mara and swiftly countered with a bright green Aegis blade. Mara didn't manage to dodge in time and blade sliced her back.
"Aack! T-That hurts! How dare you?!" she cried.
"I knew that your specialty is currently on its cooldown since you decided to pop back on the surface," said Sofeea smoothly as Mara put up a distance between each other. "Therefore, your specialty is disabled for the time being. My attacks will not phase through your body from here on out."
Mara took a few steps back and glared at her.
At that time, I didn't notice it, but one of the escaped User, Everhart had used his Light Manipulation Aegis to amass a concentrated ray of sunlight right above me. A moment later, a deafening noise filled the area as the beam shot down from the sky.
I took my time dodging it. A few seconds after I had clearly stepped out of the beam's range, the ground exploded. However, only a small hole five meters in length had been burned into the ground.
I expected a destructive force at a much larger scale, but I was disappointed in the end.
"Is this the extent of your Aegis? No wonder Caesar didn't even give his best when fighting you back then at the prison in Germany," I said to the furious Everhart at the edge of the garden.
"How dare you dodge my--"
Orange shards pierced every inch of his body, and the same happened to Reinhart who was about to strike me from my rear.
"Pathetic," I said with a sigh.
Mara, who had her specialty on cooldown, desperately tried to injure Sofeea but it was to no avail. After all, just when Mara's attack was about to connect, Sofeea instantly teleported behind her and countered. Bit by bit, Sofeea was able to bring down Mara to her knees.
"H-How can you teleport behind me every time?" asked Mara after she coughed up blood.
"It's simple. Since I already marked this area with my Aegis crystals, I can teleport from anywhere around the world to this garden. I merely adjusted my landing point so that I will always teleport behind you," said Sofeea.
"Tsk . . ." Mara looked at a green Aegis crystal the size of a basketball near the glass door. "I see . . . This whole garden is your playground."
"It's Master Gheele's playground." Sofeea pointed the Aegis blade sprouting from her right arm at Mara's neck.
Mara was unable to move. Without her Aegis's specialty, she couldn't phase her body like she always did.
Then, Sofeea slit Mara's throat in one quick motion. She proceeded to cut Mara's body into several pieces with her green Aegis blade. Not satisfied with that, she crouched and stabbed at the remaining flesh repeatedly, before I intervened.
"I think this is enough," I said to her. "Do you have something against that woman?"
Sofeea didn't answer. Her green Aegis blade disintegrated into thin air.
"You reminded me of that poor child," I mumbled.
"Mer Ava?" Her eyes opened wide as she looked at me. "Yes, perhaps I got this . . . Peculiar bloodlust from her." She closed her eyes. "After all, I spent most of my time here with her."
"I see."
It made sense. That child and Sofeea were somewhat close to each other. When Sofeea first volunteered to join Lutalo, I rejected her. But she didn't stop there and kept coming back, asking if she could undergo the Aegis Implant process. Back then, I wanted to use the Aegis containers that we had kept hidden. So, I reached out for some people that I had personally selected to undergo the Aegis Implant process.
But after the first one among them died along the way, the rest didn't dare to do it. Not until that Sofeea sought my help to have the Aegis container implanted inside her.
Of course, the existence of the Aegis containers wasn't revealed to the citizens of Neo Africa. But she knew about it somehow. She repeatedly said that her only reason was to pay her debt to Ava for helping her family. In the end, I accepted her and she underwent the Aegis Implant without any problem. Even Klaus was surprised since the one before Sofeea died even though his success rate was quite high.
"Hmm."
"Master Gheeeeele!" Amaryllis was bawling on the ground. "I thought I was going to die!"
"This is not the first time the palace got attacked . . . And if you don't stop crying right now, I will sell you in an auction."
She quickly wiped her tears and smiled awkwardly at me. "I-I'm fine right now, Master Gheele."
"Hmm. Good to hear."
I shot a glance at Mara's mutilated body, when--
"Sofeea, get back!" I yelled.
She didn't hesitate and leaped to my side just as Mara was about to grab her. Mara's body had regenerated from being cut into pieces so quickly. No Aegis User in existence had done such a thing in the past.
"Graagh." Mara's overcoat was tattered when she stared at us. For a moment, it seemed like she didn't believe it herself; the fact that she was still alive after Sofeea murdered her in cold blood.
"I guess . . . Aegis Förena that we Pillars have . . . They all exhibit this kind of regeneration power," Mara said with a soft voice. "Huh . . ."
She grinned after realizing that she, as a Pillar, wouldn't die from being mutilated unlike the previous generation of Aegis Users. Perhaps no one knew about it since, among the Pillars, no one had been injured in such a way before.
"Tsk!" I wasted no time in attacking her with my Aegis crystal shards.
"It's no use . . . My ability is not on cooldown anymore," she said when the shards phased through her body. "Still . . . I can't hope to bring you down when that teleporting girl is here. I will take my leave now."
"Wait!" said Sofeea.
Mara's figure immediately plunged downwards into a ripple that appeared underneath her.
She had escaped just like that, right in front of us.
"Damn it! She won't come back any time soon without bringing in reinforcements," I said. "Aside from herself, I can't see anyone else that has the ability to penetrate through my Aegis dome."
"Master Gheele. It might be too late for us to catch Mara. Still, I want to return back to the northern front and help our forces there," commented Sofeea.
"Make sure to rest first in the fortress once you get there. The enemy is still trying to penetrate my barrier, so take them down slowly."
"Understood."
Sofeea bowed once again before she teleported away from the area.
I bit my lip. "Now, I need to go back to the eastern front." After taking a few steps towards the glass door leading into the palace, I realized one crucial thing.
"Um, Master Gheele."
I looked at Amaryllis and she whimpered. "T-Th-There's no way you can get back to Nepal since Sofeea already teleported herself without bringing you with her."
"Ah . . ."
I felt stupid for once in my life. Ah, wait--there was also that one time when I mistakenly took Amaryllis for another servant that looked just like her.
"I could call Sofeea to come back. But, I know how much toll her specialty has on her body. Each teleportation is precious, so that's why I asked her to rest after that battle with Mara. Though . . . I don't mind not returning to the eastern front for now."
"Ehh? But why?" asked Amaryllis.
"The C.U can't penetrate my barrier. Even if I'm not there, nothing will change. Putting that aside, I'm tired."
"Ah, I will bring you your grape juice, Master Gheele."
"Good. After that, you can do whatever you want."
I waved my Aegis Gear: Ruler's Blade in front of me. It was not simply a gesture, but a command for my Aegis particles I had dispersed previously in Rome to propagate. For all that was worth, a bunch of the C.U's armored vehicles was destroyed from that.