Luisa Thorpe let out a nervous breath as she floated beside her father, their plan had worked even though it felt like it wouldn't. It wasn't that Luisa didn't trust her father; it was herself she didn't trust while her father believed in her wholeheartedly. According to the plan, she was to wait in a corner in the castle while her father fought the enemy, her job was to stop whatever attack the proclaimed former prince would use in desperation.
The next series of events made Luisa greatly admire her father's foresightedness, although her heart did lurch when she saw Logan's desperation move.
Luisa herself couldn't be called a particularly powerful sorceress, at least not anymore, but she had a particular power that allowed her to assist her father in such a dangerous fight. A few days ago, Luisa had been blessed by an unknown god, and from then on, she stopped being a sorceress and became a Time Mage.
With the change came a decrease in her level as a sorceress, and she could no longer use other elements, but being a Time Mage brought her new and exciting possibilities. Even now she still couldn't find the limit of her new powers, which was understandable. The concept of time was a very complex subject, and channeling it elementally brought her a few headaches at first. Not even her father could help her in understanding the intricacies of Time Magic.
Even after a lot of pondering and wondering she was only able to vaguely understand the one skill she had unlocked; [Time Stop]. With the skill she was able to put any object in motion in stasis as long as her magical power held, but she was just level 2 so not very long. Her level was still low because she was determined to level up only with proficiency points alone, and although she could use the skills after unlocking them, she didn't want to use them superficially. Her scholarly heart wouldn't take that.
The other thing she given was directions to a place in the Forsaken Lands, but she didn't share this information with her father. The directions were given to her by a god, and unlike her Time Magic she didn't feel like it should be spread.
After using [Time Stop] on Logan her father had used his gravity magic to float her up to his side, "Perfect timing." He smiled, but he looked shaken.
Luisa understood his fear, after all if she was even a little bit slower, he would have died. She nervously glared down at Logan and kept her Clock Shield in front her. When she was blessed, she was also given an attire that was specifically made for Time Mages, she donned golden, tight-fitted light armor that protected her chest, arms and legs only, and wielded a Clock Shield.
The Clock Shield was a marvelous thing, and it was the Time Mages main means of attacking and defending. Most of the functions of the Clock Shield were directly connected with her skills, there are still some things she couldn't do with it until she unlocked the corresponding skills.
But what made the Clock Shield amazing was its ability to tell time. On the surface of the Clock Shield there were two needles, one shorter than the other, they moved slowly day and night but always pointed at the numbers that were kept around the Clock Shield. At first Luisa couldn't understand what their use was, but after speculating with her father they realized they were telling the hours of the day, 24 hours to be exact.
If she could understand how the Clock Shield was made, she would be able to bring a new way of time-telling to the kingdom, sundials would be a thing of the past.
As for the other functions of the Clock Shield, when Lusia uses [Time Stop] the needles would stop moving for as long as the skill was in use, after that they would speed up to the correct time.
She stared intently at Logan who was struggling to his feet, she might not be able to attack him but she wouldn't let him complete any of his spells.
…
Logan's eyes were bloodshot as he tried to steady his trembling legs, his head was pounding like crazy and the sunlight seemed too bright in his eyes. But even though he was feeling better than before he still stayed where he was and didn't try to attack, for the first time in a long time, he felt afraid.
He was not an idiot. Even though it had never been done he still realized what had happened to him when he saw the young lady. Time Magic! She possessed Time Magic!
That was impossible, or rather, should be impossible. Time was just a concept; it didn't actually exist. Or so he had thought.
He knew what his next move should be, even though it was eating his insides to even think about it. It was painful, frustrating, and humiliating for his plans to end this way, but his survival held the utmost importance.
He gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve, and began burning his soul again. This time it felt like his entire body was being gnawed on by countless fire ants, his flesh trembled uncontrollably and veins popped out on his sweat-covered forehead as he forced himself to concentrate. The necro-flame on the Skeleton Dragon blazed sharply – startling Luisa and Xavier – then quickly turned dark purple. Logan had used the enhancement once more, but this time he only applied it to the Skeleton Dragon.
Luisa and Xavier tensed up when Logan stared at them, Luisa even more as she stared at Logan without blinking. Just when they thought he was going to attack the Skeleton Dragon flapped its 'wings' and flew in the opposite direction.
Xavier and Luisa floated in a daze for a few seconds before they realized what had happened, Logan had chosen to run away!
Xavier stared at the rapidly disappearing Skeleton Dragon in reluctance. Logan had run away too suddenly, and although he could have chased after him, he couldn't forget that he was the reason why his daughter could stay in the air, and he couldn't take her along in a high-speed chase. Which meant he would have had to set her on the ground first, but at the speed Logan was fleeing he would still have not been able to catch up with him.
Logan fleeing didn't bring him relief, rather he felt regretful that he couldn't kill him. Him being alive meant that the danger that loomed over the Dragonstone Kingdom hadn't passed, and trying to look for him was useless, they didn't even discover a trace of his army until he decided to show them.
'All I can do now…' Xavier looked down at the dilapidated castle grounds, then he flew down to help them clear the remaining undead.
…
Logan chewed on his bottom lip until it peeled, his vision turned blurry as tears began to gather in his eyes. The frustration he felt had become unbearable, his failure brought him a great amount of shame. Years, he had used years to plan his attack. He had even imagined how it would be when he won, he had imagined torturing his brother in front of their father's grave and feeling great catharsis knowing the old man wouldn't be able to save him anymore.
Logan's fingers trembled, they were as white and lifeless as the bones that they gripped. The speed at which the Skeleton Dragon flew was very fast, he could barely breathe as the strong wind invaded his nose and mouth. He squinted his eyes and tried his best to see where he was going, thankfully there weren't any obstacles in the sky and any birds the Skeleton Dragon passed by would be shredded by the force of the wind.
Logan's mind drifted on the ride, he thought of the other necromancers he had tricked into a cult lifestyle and smirked a bit. He knew, of course, that they wouldn't be able to destroy the Dragonstone Kingdom no matter how many undead they gathered. Their purpose was to cause chaos and garner enough attention for themselves so no help would be sent to Roman until he could get the throne. Of course, he didn't expect to lose.
Anger swelled in his chest when he thought of his failure, most of his anger was directed at the lady with Time Magic who suddenly appeared and destroyed his hard work.
His face twisted with rage. He was going to get them, sooner or later, they wouldn't be able to escape him, this he vowed!
But first things first, he needed to find a place to lick his wounds. He directed the Skeleton Dragon west; he was going to the Forsaken Lands.
…
Belinda Romani stood within the crowd that had gathered in front of an inn in Sword Land, everyone around her had expressions of fear mixed with confusion, only she had a glint of expectation in her eyes.
Against her will, she had been brought to Sword Land by the Gatekeeper, Usman. Although with her Shrieker she could have easily incapacitated Usman, but she was scared of Logan, so she could only follow him begrudgingly. And she was lucky that she did, who knew that Logan would teach Usman how to utilize Soul Energy.
She had felt incomparable shock when she witnessed bones encasing the entire Sword Land, then she realized why Usman didn't bother watching her.
But it seemed that she was soon about to regain her freedom, some half-baked sorcerers had managed to pinpoint where Usman's magical fluctuation was coming from and lead some Swordspeople there. Now, all she had to do was wait.
…
Alexandra Lovegood stood arms-crossed beside her husband as they tried to make sense of what they were staring at. They had barged into the inn, ready to declare judgment on the person who caused so much damage to the Sword Land but were faced with a wide pillar of bones.
"What is this?" Alexandra asked the sorcerers that followed them.
One of them closed their eyes in concentration before nodding, "Yes, the magical fluctuation is coming from within that thick pillar. There is no mistake."
"So, you're saying the person who caused all this is hiding in there?" Alejandro asked.
"Hmph." Alexandra stepped forward, her Sixth Stage Aura exploded from her body creating cracks all over the wooden floor. She raised her sword and hacked down at the bone pillar with incredible force… and was instantly blasted backwards by the rebound.
She stumbled a bit before finding her balance, Alejandro walked up to her with a slight frown on his face.
"It's… different from the one outside." She answered his silent question. The bone pillar wasn't only more durable than the bone dome outside, it was also different appearance-wise; the bone pillar glowed slightly with a purple haze.
Alejandro slashed at the bone pillar twice, his attack didn't even leave a mark. He growled frustratingly, "You're telling me that even after finding the person who caged us in, we aren't able to do anything to them?"
"We should gather more people here to attack this thing, the entire inn might be destroyed in the process though…" Alexandra said. She turned to the sorcerers behind her, "You should help too, the more people we have attacking this thing, the faster it would break."
The sorcerers didn't respond immediately, instead they stared intently at the bone pillar. The one in front shook his head and chuckled lightly, "That won't be necessary, Madam Lovegood."
"And why not?"
"Because the person inside is already dying."
Everyone turned back to the bone pillar and, sure enough, the purple haze was fluctuating. It dimmed and brightened, almost following the same pattern as a heartbeat. And just like a dying heartbeat, the fluctuations became slower and slower, until they finally stopped and the purple haze disappeared.
Alexandra looked at the sorcerers with quiet enquiry and they nodded their heads, then she struck the bone pillar once more and this time it shattered. A deformed body flew out after the bones fell, its skin was grey and it looked like its entire blood and body fat had been sucked dry. Everyone in the room scrunched their face in disgust when they saw it.
"With this the bone dome..."
"It can now be brought down with ease." A sorcerer smiled at Alexandra in reassurance.
"Good."
Without taking another look at the body, she walked outside stoically. She didn't say anything but everyone knew what her intent was.
After an hour, the entire bone dome had been brought down.