A flash of light flared in front of Seuvial, then it was immediately followed by a stream of electric energy that seemed to swerve as it blitzed towards Seuvial.
Having been briefly blinded by the light, Seuvial had taken a defensive stance before Darrel shot off his attack. However, she could sense the stream of electric energy approaching her at high speed, so instead of trying to evade the blast, she reinforced her stance and tanked the attack.
"[Equestria - Venerate Armament, Impervious Veil]." Seuvial uttered as the dust from the explosion settled.
Darrel seemed unsurprised to see Seuvial unharmed, and around her armor was a thick layer of aura that took the same shape as her armor. Muriel noticed that her cousin's magic resistance had risen to nearly twice its usual state.
'Well done Seu, but you will need to end this soon.'
Muriel looked over at Calestian who stood on the far end of the barrier, she could tell that he was nearly at his limit by the amount of mana he had remaining.
'I was hoping the outcome of this exchange would decide matters for me.'
Muriel grew concerned as Seuvial and Darrel prepared to clash once more. The two seemed to have reached a stalemate as Darrel's barrier prevented anyone from getting close and landing melee attacks, while his ranged magic attacks could do nothing against the heavily protected Seuvial.
Holy Knights were among the most powerful mortals in Morland, even the mortals that specialized in this class were chosen from the ones with the highest potential. The average Holy Knight was ranked in the Titanic Echelon, and they were capable of taking on behemoth class threats.
"What are you really Dar-rel?" Muriel muttered.
Darrel stood in the center of the barrier looking at his hand, the arm was swollen, blisters were scattered across it and the skin seemed to have darkened.
"Could that be a side effect of his previous attack?" Muriel pondered aloud, she was puzzled to see Darrel seem unfazed by the damage he had sustained after launching his attack.
"So this power does not belong to you, does it?" Seuvial concluded after seeing the effects the ability had on Darrel's arm.
Darrel stood there silently and looked at his scorched arm, the pain he had felt earlier seemed to have gone, but he could not feel anything from his burnt arm. However, as he gazed at the phenomenon sparks of shock magic perpetually discharged from his arm and hand.
The sparks developed further and enveloped his entire arm like a bandaid, Darrel felt a tingling sensation and as the sparks dissipated, everyone was shocked to see that his arm had been restored back to normal.
"Muriel..."
"Remarkable! How could he fashion healing magic from shock magic?" Muriel's interest only grew as she witnessed Darrel's feat. "You must not destroy his body Seu."
"Hahaha. hahaha! Hahaha! Look at me! I am more powerful than you, you, you! All of you!" Darrel exclaimed maniacally as he pointed toward the people that opposed him in the yard.
The atmosphere in the prison yard had grown glum, Darrel stood as the center of attraction as the prison guards retreated to barricade the exits. It had not been long since the Greyhearts staged an escape and succeeded, it would not be in their best interest if that were to happen again.
Calestan dropped to one knee, he had reached his limit and could not help Muriel hold the barrier any longer.
Muriel thanked the squire as a pair of prison guards helped move him away from the battle, she would have to carry the strain of containing all that aura on her own now. Darrel was a unique specimen and she did not want him to perish so needlessly, but he was pushing beyond her expectations and Muriel feared it might be too late to salvage him.
'This is beyond being mana drunk, there has to be something else causing this change.' Muriel contemplated.
Suddenly the barrier that had enclosed the two came down, and air mixed with heat and aura flowed outward across the yard. Seuvial quickly looked back at Muriel wondering what caused her to disable the barrier.
"I have a plan." Muriel quickly assured her cousin, then she walked up to her and whispered in her ear.
"It's not a bad plan." Seuvial appeared conflicted. "I shall allow it."
"Thank you, cousin."
After a heartfelt talk the two royals turned to Darrel once more, their resolve was solid and they intended to end Darrel's madness. Seuvial stepped forward and walked towards Darrel as Muriel stood back and began an incantation.
"[Coils of steel and iron grow from mana and thin air, a plague to casters and warriors alike, bind the strength and magic of my enemies in sight.]"
Muriel's words resounded in the yard, her incantation had been finished and immediately magic circles appeared from the ground beneath Darrel. Seeing them scattered across the ground, Darrel jumped away from their radius in order to avoid the magic that would ensue.
"[Mage's Bane - Mana Grasp]."
As she finished her incantation, Muriel crossed her arms in a horizontal pattern and then moved her hands with seizing motions as though she was clasping a rod in the air.
The magic circles activated and then bright translucent chains with a purple hue appeared from within the circle. With a slight movement of her hand, the chains instantly shot at Darrel and clasped around his arms and legs.
Darrel tried to fight the effulgent chain's grasp, but his resistance yielded no results. His maniacal grin curled downward as he began to realize his predicament.
"Struggle all you want Dar-rel." Muriel stated. "Those chains will only get tighter and drain more of your mana as you grow weaker."
"Gaaaah!! Unhand me!"
Darrel screamed with rage.
"Good work Muriel." Seuvial smiled at her then walked closer to the bound Darrel.
Seuvial's expression shifted when she stood face to face with Darrel, and as she gazed at his eyes she could see a storm brewing from within his pupils. Her recent observation of him had been true, as she could clearly sense a duality within him.
"It won't be long now, his mana will run out soon."
Muriel stated.
"You will not contain me-"
A sudden silence filled the air. Muriel and Seuvial appeared shocked at the sight of the blade that protruded from Darrel's chest.
"I won't allow it..."
Calestian stood a few feet from Darrel, his hilt was empty and his arm remained outstretched as Seuvial and Muriel looked on in unexpected horror. Darrel coughed heavily as blood flowed from his mouth, his gaze fell upon Muriel before his eyes closed.
"You fool!" Seuvial roared with anger.
"You killed him!"
Muriel's shriek filled the air and the chains binding Darrel unbound themselves from his body, before Seuvial could approach to calm her down, a flurry of effulgent chains shot out of the magic circles and instantly wrapped around Calestian.
Seuvial saw that these chains had a reddish hue to them and she quickly understood Muriel's intentions.
"Cease this foolishness at once!" Seuvial's fury now turned to Muriel, with her emotions out of control Seuvial feared for Calestian's life. However, before she could move and disable Muriel, more chains appeared from beneath her and wrapped around her legs and abdomen. "Muriel! Stop this now!"
Prison guards began pouring into the yard, Muriel saw their approach and in her fury called forth more chains to subdue the guards.
"No, wait! What are you doing?"
"Gaaah!"
When the commotion had settled, Muriel walked over to Darrel's body and placed her hand on his gaping chest.
"Enough!"
Seuvial suddenly broke free from the chains and lunged at Muriel, but before she could land a blunt strike on her cousin, Greyan quickly jumped between the two and blocked Seuvial's chop with a shield.
A shockwave ensued and Greyan's legs sunk into the ground, then Luca and Orimik appeared from Seuvial's blindspot and proceeded to barrage her with smoke bombs. While distracted by these three, Seuvial was quickly snared by Muriel's magic chains.
"This is treason, Muriel!"
Muriel looked back at her cousin as the air began to fill with smoke, a devilish grin flashed across her face before Seuvial was pulled away by the effulgent chains.
"Fool!" Seuvial inhaled then drew in her breath, a burst of aura flared around her and the magic chains shattered. She then charged back to where Muriel had been standing, but she was gone and so was everyone else. "This smoke... it's filled with natural aura."
Outsmarted, Seuvial tried hard to sense if she could pinpoint them, but it was impossible with the smokescreen interfering with her senses.
'There is only one exit in Oris.'
Seuvial drew her sword and immediately filled it with her aura, then she pointed the blade in the direction of the exit.