Three nights had past since Elios left the castle. Brad had left on the same day, so only Jeanne and Bony were there to protect their master's home.
Jeanne worked at a desk that was behind her master's couch in the room behind the throne. She had a study room for herself, but she liked working here whenever possible and her master had allowed it. Though she frequently checked up on Kaili and Lily, the two rarely needed her attention so she could focus on learning a new magic.
Since she was a pseudo-immortal, she didn't have to worry about not having enough time to pick up as many types of magic as she liked, but right now she wanted to learn a magic that could make her more useful to Elios as quickly as possible.
'With this I'll be able to protect master even better.'
Since awakening her unique skill, Jeanne seemed more calm but that was only on the surface. Now she no longer suppressed her powerful feelings of loyalty and admiration, only revealing them in the most subtle ways.
'Yes. This is all so that I-'
Suddenly, Jeanne stopped her studying and looked away from the desk with a frown.
"They're here."
In her impatience, Jeanne hurriedly stood up and teleported to the side of Bony who faced the barren plains from a balcony.
"What's our situation?"
"There's been an attack on the final protective barrier but the rest were untouched."
Four permanent barriers made using magic circles and catalysts which were set up with the castle at the centre, but the intruders had slipped past three of them before they were even aware of their presence.
"So they were able to get that close without triggering a barrier, must be a small group of elites. Do we know their number?"
"Not yet, but it's estimated to be less than one hundred."
"Hmm, depending on their skill I'm not sure I can be relieved about that number. How many skeleton knights are ready for battle?"
"We've been able to fully equip 300 of them, but there are 700 in total."
"Have them in position immediately. And what's the status on that item that master left behind?"
"I would have preferred another night but I should be able to force it awake."
"Good. Handle that as quickly as possible. There's no point to a strong card if we can't use when we want to."
Even without her input Bony would have carried out the same orders that she gave him, but both of them recognized that though they were familiars under the same master, Jeanne was the one with the higher status.
After that short discussion with Bony, Jeanne teleported to the library where Lily and Kaili were supposed to be studying, but found them holding hands instead.
"Hmm?"
"Big sister?! How long have you been-"
"It's begun, hasn't it?"
Unlike Kaili who was shaken by Jeanne's sudden appearance, Lily easily guessed the situation. This side of her truly resembled Lia, but Jeanne didn't have the leisure to continue that line of thought.
"That's right. I have no intention of letting them get this far, but if you start hearing sounds of battle, head to the throne room. Master personally created the barrier there so it should be the safest place in the castle."
"Got it. Good luck."
While Lily waved Jeanne goodbye before she teleported away, Kaili had a grave expression. This day had finally come. Though she saw it coming, she was still overcome by pessimistic thoughts as she trembled in place. Fortunately, Lily was there beside her.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. Trust in us."
With the warmth of her touch, Kaili felt a little comfort.
Meanwhile, a group of cloaked demons with similar builds pounded their weapons on one area of the blue transparent barrier that blocked their way. Thanks to these cloaks they managed to pass through the other barriers undetected, but this one was sensitive enough to catch them. However, it would only delay the inevitable.
Once they got past this barrier, one group would go after the original master of this territory while another would go after the follower of the rebel who posed as the true master. The majority would be stuck with undead duty and taking care of any additional guests.
With each clang, they sensed the barrier weakening and so they could keep attacking without a grumble, but many amongst them stopped swinging when they sensed something unexpected happening behind them.
The barriers that they had passed never activated so they couldn't see them, but now they could feel the mana that would fuel those barriers being sent into the ground. It should have been obvious from that but in their shock, they stayed in place and watched as the giant magic circle that they were standing on lit up.
"Retreat!"
Finally, they realized that they should escape, but it was too late. The four barriers always existed but it was Elios who asked for Lia's help to add another option to their defence.
In the case where the enemies could get past the barriers wouldn't being detected, the energy used to power the barriers that were bypassed would instead flow into this magic circle. Furthermore, at the edge of this magic circle was a new barrier to keep the intruders from escaping or teleporting away.
It took a lot of effort and funds to make the workers and the magic circle remain invisible while it was being constructed, so Jeanne didn't want this achievement of her master's to be wasted.
She aimed her staff at the trapped rats and activated the spell she had been preparing since their arrival.
"White Blaze: Tornado."
First, sparks of white drew a line around the cloaked group before suddenly igniting into a giant column of white fire which captured them.
"Aghhh!"
None among them were pushovers, but the fiery tornado stripped them of air and life all too quickly. Nonetheless, elites were still elites. Once they recognized the danger, majority of them were able to break out of the tornado with minimal wounds.
However, a frightening undead army waited for them. The barrier that blocked them was still up, but the undead force was able to reach them since the barrier was set to allow those without life to pass through it. Still, it was a risky addition that could easily be taken advantage of so the plan was to fix it as soon as this fight was over.
They planned to face the undead from the very beginning so the cloaked group wasn't surprised by their appearance. It was the timing that put them at a disadvantage.
They wanted time to re-adjust themselves after making it out of the burning tornado, but the undead rushed at them without any sympathy for their circumstances. As the cloaked group was pushed back by the undead, Jeanne watched as her pillar of fire rapidly got shorter until only ash and black marks remained as proof.
She could no longer use any big spells to support the undead on the battlefield, but she wasn't perturbed by this. She was sure that it would be better if she saved her mana for a direct battle.
And just as she feared, in the midst of the battle, three imposing attacks gave the cloaked group superiority. There was a vertical slash that cut through the undead army, a laser that shot through their rotten bodies and a shower of rocks and stones that fell with enough force to break bones.
The three who were responsible for these eye-catching attacks also served as the leaders for their groups so it was easy to spot them despite their identical cloaks. However, Jeanne didn't launch a counterattack just yet.
"I don't think they'll last much longer. Are you done yet?" Jeanne reached out to Bony for a response through telepathy.
"Not completely but the only thing left is for it to wake up."
"Good. Leave it and come help here. We can't allow these guys to make even a single scratch on master's castle."
"Obviously."
Once she got her message to Bony, Jeanne devoted her full attention on the battlefield so that she could find the best way to handle this with minimum casualties.
'With master gone. It's my job to protect his place to return to.'