Evil Crowmorph swung its axe towards Carmella, fortunately, Ghostbuster barged in parrying, and Carmella was saved.
Isabella shouted, "Carmella, stay with me, don't run. Stay behind my back. Ghostbuster, use Illuminate multiple times."
Ghostbuster used it multiple times,the evil crowmorph bent down a little. Isabella used that opportunity to summon Nightember.
Isabella commanded, "Ghostbuster, use 'Reveal'(Uncovers hidden things or truths) and find out its weakness. Nightember, follow Ghostbuster and use Umbraburst the moment you find its weakness."
Ghostbuster pointed to the weakness; it was its navel. Nightember was ready with the mantra and released it as fast as Ghostbuster pointed.
The evil crowmorph took the hit, but still, it wasn't enough to take it down. It counter-attacked, swinging its axe. Unfortunately, Ghostbuster took the hit; it was too fast to be able to dodge. Ghostbuster's exp decreased to zero.
Isabella grumbled, "Ah, sheet. Nightember, use Eclipsion on its navel with full power." Carmella exclaimed, "Sister Isabella, order Nightember to get as close as it can get, and then attack." Isabella replied, "Okay, Roger that. Nightember, get as close as you can get, then attack."
The evil Crowmorph used "laser rays" to save itself, but Nightember approached faster and struck with Eclipsion. It drilled its stomach and killed it.
Carmella and Isabella jumped in joy after the win. Finally, they saw the deep-sea river. Carmella went ahead and got repelled. "Sister Isabella, what just happened?" Isabella touched it and felt like a barrier was protecting the deep sea river.
Isabella asked, "How are we supposed to enter the deep sea? This is so tiring." Carmella exclaimed, "Wait, sister, see there, the evil crowmorph turned into a potion!"
Isabella picked up the potion bottle. "Are we supposed to drink it, massage it, or just...?" Carmella exclaimed, "Hmm, I don't think it's drinkable." Isabella asked, "How do you know it's not drinkable?" Carmella pointed, "Look at the bottle's quality. It's easily breakable, and there wouldn't be any potion kept in an easily breakable one, right?"
Isabella mumbled, "Hmm, you're right. I think we should throw it on the barrier. It might work?"
Isabella threw the potion on the barrier. Fortunately, where the potion was thrown, there were gaps, and it was trespassable. Our heroes went inside, but the moment they stepped inside, the barrier closed.
Carmella asked, "Wait, why is the barrier closed? How are we going to go back?" Isabella exclaimed, "Let's get the Vitalium first; we can worry about it later." Carmella agreed.
They stood in front of the river. There was a board written, "WARNING! DIVE IN THE RIVER AT YOUR OWN RISK. VITALIUM IS AT ITS CORE. YOU MIGHT DIE."
Isabella started preparing to dive. Carmella held her hand and asked, "Sister, what are you doing? I'm going to dive in the river. You just read, there are chances of getting killed." Isabella sighed, "Listen, Carmella, you're not even old enough. Let the adult handle these things." Carmella shouted, "B-but what should I do? I'm just being a burden to you since the beginning." Isabella assured, "Carmella, it's not like there's nothing you can do. You can guard me until I get the gem."
Carmella agreed to Isabella and summoned Silvershroud. Isabella dived into the river. The water was cold, to a degree that a person can freeze within 15 minutes.
Carmella was safeguarding Isabella. Suddenly, an evil crowmorph arose from inside the ground and started releasing plant bombs on Carmella.
Carmella ordered, "Silvershroud, enchant, 'Soothing Harmony'(This spell makes everyone feel calm and happy by playing a nice tune that relaxes them)."
The soothing harmony calmed down the evil crowmorphs, and it benefitted Carmella; they became Carmella's guards.
But one evil crowmorph slipped from Carmella's eyes and jumped into the water to chase Isabella. Carmella immediately ordered, "Silvershroud, enchant 'Tricky Sound Trick'(It makes fake noises to trick enemies or hide friends by playing clever tunes), and hide Isabella."
Silvershroud succeeded in ambushing Isabella, and the evil crowmorph swam deep but couldn't track Isabella as Isabella was invisible.
She was shivering from intense cold. She hurried to take the Vitalium gem; more like she could freeze any minute, but she hung in there.
On Carmella's side, another crowmorph popped out of nowhere. But this time, Carmella had the upper hand, a trump card, which were the manipulated evil crowmorphs.
This time manipulated evil crowmorphs did the fighting. Silvershroud can control only 10 at a moment, so there were not any other chances other than killing the popped out evil crowmorph.
A rampage was going on on Isabella's side. She reached the core and found the Vitalium, but it was stuck between the rocks. She was struggling to extract it but also freezing; her mind was almost blank.
She summoned Nightember and ordered it to "Enchant,Eclipsion and extract Vitalium." Nightember had to use it three times, and finally, a huge part came off. Isabella packed it in her bag, but unfortunately, she completely froze.
Carmella and Silvershroud were trying hard to not let other evil crowmorphs jump into the river. Manipulated evil crowmorphs were fighting the popped one continuously, but it was regenerating consecutively.
Carmella was shocked. She ordered Silvershroud to enchant many mantras, but attack by attack, Silvershroud's exp was decreasing; other crowmorphs were almost at the brink of collapsing.
Carmella had no option but to use summoning method to make that evil crowmorph her own. She drew the enchantment on the floor, as per given the instructions, in the grimoire.
Carmella ordered, "Silvershroud, lure that evil crowmorph here on this circle." Silvershroud succeeded in luring it to the circle.
In the grimoire, the capturing spell was written, "Aether Bind," which binds the crowmorph and turns it into an obedient one by taming. The evil crowmorph was bound by chains. Carmella hurried and enchanted, "Harness the aether's silent might. Bind the essence, veil the light."
The evil crowmorph shouted, and finally, the taming process was done.
Carmella, for her second crowmorph from her own skills, her happiness knew no bounds. She jumped in joy. Suddenly, Nightember jumped out of the water, holding Isabella who was completely frozen.
Carmella exclaimed, "What happened, sister? Sister! Sister! Wake up. But how is she frozen? Can't we do something?" She started worrying about Isabella's condition, suddenly an idea popped into her mind.
As Isabella's Ghostfeather was already summoned before, it was recovered too. Carmella looked up the grimoire for Fire Crystal and found an enchantment called 'Fireflare,' which surrounds the crowmorph in a fiery aura, making its next attack stronger with extra fire damage.
Carmella ordered, "Ghostfeather, enchant 'Fireflare' and use it till sister Isabella's frozen state melts." Ghostfeather used all of its power to melt the ice, straight for 30 minutes, and finally, the ice started to melt.
Isabella's heart was still thumping; she was safe from any danger, but she was still asleep.
All manipulated crowmorphs were exhausted, and no other evil crowmorphs were coming out. Carmella saw a garden nearby and thought of checking it.
There was an insane amount of plants and trees in the garden; the smell alone was enough to cure one's illness. Carmella felt her body flying high on the seventh sky.
She saw herbs laying around every corner. She remembered that there was a herb section in the grimoire, just a hunch.
She opened the grimoire, found the section, and read about the curing process. She plucked one herb and started making a paste out of it by grinding it multiple times. Carmella took it to Isabella to feed her.
She needed water, so she took a leaf and fetched water from the river, feeding it to Isabella.
After a while, Isabella opened her eyes, feeling fit and fine. Isabella asked, "Hey Carmella, what happened? For how many hours have I been out?" Carmella replied, "You were approximately out for 5 hours. Nightember brought you out of the river; you were completely frozen. I was scared for a moment, but Ghostfeather helped me melt the ice, and I took herbs from the nearby garden to cure you."
Isabella exclaimed, "Fi-five hours, and there's a garden nearby?" Carmella responded laughingly, "Ha, ha, I know it's weird, but it's full of herbs. Want to check it out?" Isabella replied, "Yes, let's go."
As soon as Isabella entered the garden, she was overwhelmed by the aroma. "Wow, I've never had any experience like this all my life. This is the very first time. Hey Carmella, why not we take something for Alex as a present?" Carmella agreed, "Yes, I think probably something which fills his empty mind." Both of them broke into laughter.
They started plucking some rare plants for Alex and packed all of it in the bag along with the gem.
Carmella exclaimed, "Let's go, Sister Isabella, we've had enough." Both of them approached the barrier.
Isabella commanded, "Nightember, enchant Umbraburst and break the barrier." Nightember started breaking the barrier, but not even a scratch appeared.
Isabella exclaimed, "Why is it not breaking?" Carmella said, "Wait, sister, there is something written here on the gravestone. It says that you can only exit by defeating the evil crowmorph, which revives every six months."
Isabella shouted, "Six months, what the hell..."
-To be continued