The battle raged on for several minutes. A huge amount of mana was expended by both sides.
Thus, at some point, the tables were turned in favour of the shadows. The five-tailed fox finally attacked.
Swaaaaah—!
A wave of gleaming blue fox fire rushed out from the five-tailed fox like a tsunami. It headed straight for the mage, who hastily constructed a shield with what remained of her mana.
"No!"
I heard the mage scream. Her barrier melted under the sweeping flames, pushing her back and enveloping her in blazing blues. The five-tailed fox stood aloof on the topmost floor of the centre building.
It looked down on the burning human figure.
Now, the reaper was lingering in the area.
And I could do nothing as I watched the mage slowly die. I could do nothing as the flames ate her alive.
As she approached death, I noticed her turn towards me. Slightly obscured by the flames, I met her despairing gaze.
I knew this face... I crafted it myself.
It was Mage Cheri, Rose's aunt.
Her eyes were so empty, so helpless, so... dead inside.
Void of all hope.
She had fought with all she could. With all her might. But she couldn't escape, no. The barrier lingering outside was restraining her, keeping her and her specifically, chained to this location.
It was as if it dictated that where she had been hiding was where she would meet her doom.
She could hide forever, as ashes on the ground.
Thud—!
Her body fell like a meteor, shining brightly in her final moments. It landed on the ground with great force, breaking all the bones that a person could break.
Dead.
Just like that, she was dead.
I was sure of it.
If I could write her end, I would probably have written it as follows,
[]=[]=[]
'What went wrong?' Cheri asked herself as she felt gravity finally act on her without mercy. 'What did I miss?'
She had missed a lot of things. From the subtle signs that had appeared over the days, months, and years that passed in Kyokto, to the fate-changing events that she could not have anticipated.
The coup d'etat of Kyokto was a plan hatched over the course of a decade. In fact, all the coup d'etats throughout the Northern Kingdoms were simply part of one big plan of unification.
A B ranker wanted to replicate the Mana Metropolis and use it as a catalyst for his advancement to A rank.
That was all there was to it.
So simple, yet so impossibly complex when one went into the details of things.
The situation was fragile. Cheri knew it. She was expecting her nieces to arrive at her doorstep bearing vital information, but they never came.
'They had probably encountered dangers along the way,' She could only sigh as she thought of this.
It was her greatest misfortune that all three of them did not make it. It would have been better if they had communicated through a different medium instead.
'I failed, sister,' Cheri wanted to cry, but the flames would dry her tears the moment they formed. 'I cannot avenge you and take back your kingdom...'
Her skin was melting, her flesh was being burned into nothingness, and her bones were cracking under the heat. All she could perceive was pain.
Pain, pain, pain. Nothing more, nothing less.
And yet somehow, after the first impact that had made her scream, she had grown numb to it all. A deep abyss of emptiness had consumed her heart.
For her life had been flashing before her eyes as she fell.
Thud—
She relived her entire life. A life of joy, sorrows, love, laughter, tears, hardships, accomplishments, and more. It was an amazing life, but it was cut short.
There was so much still waiting for her, but only one alteration of the timeline had brought about her downfall.
If King hadn't known about the princesses so early... If he hadn't saved Rose from her possible suffering... If Ambrosya did not make a deal with him...
Then things would have still been peaceful.
[]=[]=[]
Well, peaceful for a book of calamities.
Now, I had no idea when things were going to occur. I just knew that they were bound to do so eventually.
I pursed my lips as I lingered in my pool of blood. The sounds of battle had suddenly stopped. I strained my eyes to see what was happening, and just as I thought, the shadow summons were dissipating.
Their mission had been completed.
There was no more reason for them to stay and waste their summoner's energy.
But the damage had been done, and it was done magnificently. An entire organisation was massacred and slain.
I was injured and on the verge of death.
Rose and King were heavily bruised in their fight against the three-tailed fox. They looked beaten up and annoyed that they couldn't lock down the small yet terrifying creature.
A C rank mage was eliminated and taken out of the political and military picture, leaving the princesses to fend for themselves.
Just a bit more and the Kyokto kingdom would have no one left to bring it back to life. Its destiny was to fall.
I chuckled wryly.
"Guys, a little help," I spoke, and blood gurgled from the back of my throat. "A Superior Healing potion would be nice. I'm about to die,"
Startled by my voice, King snapped his head in my direction.
"Caelum! You're alive!" He exclaimed as he rushed towards me. With great familiarity, he took out a cylindrical bottle filled with a glowing red liquid. He then held my head and poured the liquid down my mouth.
I struggled to drink the potion given all the blood in my throat, but simply being in my body was enough for its effects to influence my dying body.
Coupled with my Mana Viscosity potion, the Superior Healing potion mended my wounds through the gooey mana that kept me alive. The rate at which my body healed was visible to the naked eye.
King was astonished, but he said nothing, which was a surprise. It seemed like he was quite shaken by the thought of my death.
At this point, my wounds were more or less healed. I stood up and glanced around. An ominous silence had once again descended. As if another battle would erupt out of nowhere once again.
Rose walked up to me with a limp. Her expression was sour.
King stood in front of me. He was pale and exhausted.
I sighed,
"You guys should head back first."