Sariel and Aegreon stood still in front of an army of undead. On that dark night, only the purple glow of their eyes could be seen, like a swarm of fireflies, illuminating both the ground and the sky.
"Just a few hundred... Doesn't seem like a strong necromancer," the traveler commented indifferently.
Aegreon simply ignored his comment and remained silent.
Sariel, as if accustomed to that kind of situation, simply walked calmly towards them, holding an ice sword in his hand.
The creatures threw themselves at him and soon his body could no longer be seen, covered by the reanimated bodies.
However, with physical strength alone, the traveler threw them all away. The force he had used was so great that, even though it was just a push, it was enough to destroy them and cause their bodies to turn to dust.
"Well, I just threw them, and they died? I was expecting at least a challenge..."
"This is no game." Aegreon approached with his scythe in hand. "Let's finish this quickly before many more die."
"Oh? So, you care about the lives of the innocent?"
Responding with a grunt, Aegreon dashed towards the army followed by Sariel. The strength of both was such that they were able to defeat the creatures simply by running, as if they were two elephants advancing and trampling any fragile insect in their path.
It didn't take long for them to reach the center of that army, where the most powerful undead were concentrated.
"What?!"
As they approached, they heard a surprised voice shouting in the middle of that army. Since everyone there was dead, that voice could only belong to the one who caused all this turmoil.
"Kill them!"
Under his orders, all the creatures moved towards the two, failing miserably to stop them.
Both were already close enough to clearly see the necromancer: a man of average height, pale skin and short white hair that was hidden by a large dark hooded cloak.
Seeing that the common undead would not be able to stop them, the necromancer brought both his hands together and created a purple sphere between them. Then, this sphere began to grow until it was the size of an adult wolf.
Then, the sphere slowly changed shape until it had the silhouette of a quadruped animal. The purple color of this silhouette changed to an absolute darkness like that of a starless night, which soon materialized into a kind of creature made of fire, very similar to the one that attacked Luna in the forest.
"Go! Consume them in the name of Elgor!"
Under his command, the creature advanced towards Aegreon, who completely ignored the heat of its body and punched it when it was about to bite him.
His fist pierced the creature from the inside, made it explode and spew fire all over the place, and he completely ignored the lava that ran down his arm.
"What?! How?!"
Sariel continued to advance towards the necromancer without slowing down.
"Damn you! DIE!" The necromancer extended both his hands, and, from his palms, intense purple flames spread like a jet towards the traveler.
The flames touched the traveler and passed through him, as if his body was incorporeal.
"What?!"
The necromancer intensified the flames even more, which would be capable of burning half of that village in a single attack, expecting to finish Sariel, but the result remained the same.
Suddenly, he felt something cold pierce his waist from behind.
Before he could react, he felt gravity pull his body to the ground.
However, he did not fall because he had lost his balance, but because half of his body had been cut, with his entrails being the only thing that still connected his two halves.
"ARGH! FUCK YOU!"
He tried to use his flames again, but the traveler simply cut off both his arms before that.
"I thought I killed all of you at the Scorched Mountain... You're taking this army there, right?" The traveler moved his face very close and whispered in his ear.
"FINISH HI-"
"Silence." Sariel didn't even wait for an answer and tore his head off with a clean cut.
The next moment, all the creatures instantly disintegrated into ashes, disappearing as if they had never existed.
"And to think that someone like you caused so much trouble..."
Aegreon approached him and stared deep into his eyes.
"Hm? Is there something on my face?"
"What did you whisper to him? Why did you use Illusion so I couldn't hear?"
In response, the traveler simply smiled mysteriously and placed his index finger in front of his lips.
"You…" Aegreon started approaching him.
"Sariel..."
A distant and desperate voice sounded in the distance, reaching the traveler's attentive ears.
Upon realizing this voice was Raymond's, he didn't hesitate and flexed his legs, taking a powerful jump and returning to the village like a comet.
"SARIEL!" Raymond continued to shout.
Thud!
The sound of something dry hitting the ground heavily sounded behind him.
Turning around, he saw the traveler with a small crater around him.
"What's the problem?"
"She was injured with Conjuration!"
Upon hearing this, Sariel immediately knelt beside Luna with a worried expression.
Without saying anything, he brought his two hands together, which began to glow gold, and a golden, translucent liquid poured from his hands towards the wound.
The wound showed signs of trying to close, but a purple energy fought against the healing power and tried to corrode any tissue, muscle or bone around it.
A few seconds later, Aegreon also arrived and, upon noticing the wound, also approached.
"Why isn't it working?" Raymond was visibly anxious.
"My healing power isn't enough, I need you to help me, use Protection magic too."
"But I don't have this element..."
"How come?" Sariel was clearly confused by that statement. "At least 25% of your magical power is of the Protection element."
"That must be a mistake! I've never used this element before."
"Have you ever been healed with magic before?"
"Yes..."
"Then try to recreate this feeling and pour your magic into Luna."
Following his orders, Raymond tried to use Protection magic, trying to invoke a warm and comfortable feeling, but the most he could do was create a hard, cold, resistant magical shield.
He tried somehow to change the consistency of this magic, but only made it even more resistant.
"Damn it! I can't do it!" He punched the ground in frustration. "I'm useless here."
Raymond gave up, fearing he would do something wrong and make the situation worse. He felt extremely embarrassed to be the princess's official bodyguard and had not been able to do anything to help her since that journey began.
Ever since Luna left the castle, all the events had been completely dictated by Aegreon and Sariel, while all he could do was just watch and accept their decisions.
He always thought he was more than qualified to protect a simple girl, but recently, he has been realizing more and more how imposing and small he was. He wasn't even able to protect her from a simple group of undead, imagine if those two tried something.
"Cold... " Luna's voice could barely be heard. "So... cold..."
At that moment, Raymond's face turned pale. She had never felt cold in her life, so hearing her whisper those words was terribly worrying.
"Stop whining and keep trying!" Sariel shouted, waking Raymond up. "If you don't help, she'll definitely die!"
Pressured by those words, the bodyguard tried once more to heal the princess, creating another magical shield again.
"Relax, you have to stay calm, otherwise you'll just create a resistant shield."
Trying to follow the advice, Raymond relaxed his mind and body, remembering Luna's gentle and calm smile, as well as the few relaxing moments they had together.
Gradually, that shield softened until it acquired a liquid and transparent aspect, which began to heal the wound.
They both remained in the same way for several minutes while constantly healing the wound. At that point, drops of sweat soaked Raymond's face, who felt increasingly tired as he exhausted his magic.
'I can't stop, Luna is still in danger!'
Sariel, despite doing the same as him, didn't seem tired.
Some of the villagers offered to help, but the traveler simply refused, stating that there was nothing more that could be done.
Meanwhile, the villagers, as well as Shiina, worked to extinguish the flames of the houses.
Finally, after a few minutes, the wound finally closed, although Luna remained unconscious.
"Whew, she's out of danger for now." Sariel relaxed his posture.
"She's still unconscious and feverish!"
"She needs to rest." The traveler gently lifted Luna into his arms. "I'll leave her in the house she was in before." Then he carried her back so she could recover, with Raymond and the couple following him.
"You can leave her in our room, she needs a bed, we can sleep somewhere else." The husband offered.
"Thank you for your kindness."
Sariel entered their room and gently placed her on the bed.
"I'll stay by her side to make sure she's okay." Sariel looked at the couple. "You should try to sleep now, you're safe."
"Thank you for saving us, we will be eternally grateful" thanked the wife, who, accompanied by her husband, left the room.
"How is she?" Raymond still had a worried expression.
"Stabilized, for now, go to sleep."
"I'll stay here."
"Then you'll have to sleep on the floor."
"I don't mind." In an irrepressible tone, he sat down on the floor anyway.
"Alright..." Sariel did the same, sitting in a chair next to her.
Hours passed and Raymond remained on the floor all night. Luna showed no signs of worsening and slept the whole night.
When day broke, she still showed no signs of waking up, and Raymond remained in the same place, without having moved an inch.
"Will she be okay?" Was his first question in hours.
"I think so..."
Raymond was silent for a few seconds.
"Th-Thank you..." he said hesitantly.
"For what?"
"For saving her. If it were up to me, she would be..."
"Maybe this way you can trust me..."
"A little."
"How did you know I have a little Protection?"
"I noticed in Fordurn when I scanned your magical power, but you really didn't know?"
"No..."
"Then Fordurn is really quite deficient in the magical arts..."
Hours passed without them exchanging a word.
Day turned into night, with Luna still unconscious.
Raymond, at that point, had not eaten or slept. He was tired and hungry, but he stayed by her side.
"If you need to eat, you can go."
"But..."
"I'll tell you right away if anything happens."
Raymond thought in silence for a moment.
"Alright..." He got up and left the room.
"Di..." In her delirious and unconscious state, Luna whispered, almost as if she had felt Raymond's absence.
This caught Sariel's attention, who turned his face and found her still asleep.
"She must be dreaming." He didn't give it much importance.
"Dies... irae..."
Upon hearing those words, he immediately turned to the princess and approached to listen better.
Luna remained silent for a long time, which almost made the traveler give up and walk away.
"Quantus tremor est futurus..." she whispered.
"Quando iudex est venturus..." Sariel continued.
"Cuncta stricte discussurus..." they both finished in unison.
After that, Luna said nothing more.
The night passed again, and the traveler spent the whole time thinking about those words uttered by the princess, who should not know them.