"How are you dodging them so effortlessly?" Valentine huffed and puffed, her head bowed and hands on her knees. She had reached her limit after all the expended energy.
"You can't defeat me. I am always two seconds ahead of you." Lily blurted with the straightest face, her eyes dead serious, "You have already lost. What a disappointment."
Lily snapped her finger, and the earth caved in beneath Valentine. Glowing runes of strange variety rose from the earth, encircling the stunned moon princess at a face pace.
Flaming chains shot out of the earth, latching themselves on Valentine's limbs. They tightened, leaving no space for her to escape. They burned fiercely, weakening her more.
"Of course, he'd calculate everything. Right from the moment you fought him." Lily walked back to Delusion, "You need your limbs to cast that skill, and it is a focus cast."
Focus cast meant Valentine needed to focus her energy into the attack to use it.
"And, so? When did you prepare all of this?" Valentine asked, her eyes wandering the pit she'd been buried in, "I was watching you throughout the journey. You didn't do this."
"This was dug by Melissa herself! It's a trap for catching raks, not princesses." Lily laughed, grabbing Delusion's feet and dragging her across the ground, "You got caught."
"A rak trap? These fire chains and those runes, where did you get them?" Valentine was stunned, her eyes wide seeing Lily wipe the tears of her eye corners, her voice low.
"Oh, those? I just draw a circle with the blood of a moon slave, and channel flames into it." Lily explained, throwing Delusion into the pit, "It's now a pit of imprisonment."
She snapped her finger, and more chains shot out to secure Delusion, "Ever asked me why I always snap my index and ring finger? Haha! I've been doing this for a long time."
"Why?" Valentine asked, her pupils narrowing as the smile on Lily's face dropped. A cold wind blew, and even with burning flames around her, Valentine grew terribly cold.
"I was distracting you, while leaving «Blaze Runes» during my strike and evasion." Lily crouched before the pit, her gaze growing emotionless, "You were never winning."
——
"Oh, the bandits?" Augustus blinked, unfazed. He sighed, turning to Melissa with his brow raised, "Is that threatening at this point? Anyway, let's not underestimate bandits."
"So, what are you going to do?" Melilssa crossed her arms in front of her chest, a cold scowl on her face, "We are done here for today, aren't we? I'll have this crowd excused."
Augustus tapped the blade strapped to his waist, narrowing his eyes in thought, 'I'd guess I sounded too confident. Those bandits managed to get a catapult, it can't get near.'
Launching powerful ballistics into the barely refurbished wall of the village would be another bill of expenses they weren't in a state to cover. He struggled to hold back a sigh.
As Melissa walked back down to address the crowd, Augustus followed her. While she discussed the situation with them, he grabbed the panting Ralph and took his swift leave.
[Quest Encountered!]
[E-Ranked Quest, "End Bandit Raid"]
[Reward — Gold, "10, 000"]
'A quest?' Augustus narrowed his eyes seeing the screen, a cold frown on his face. He guessed this was easier than that witch hunt quest with a better reward, 'Greed is good.'
Once the supply routes open up, more gold would help the villages' growth. Although 10, 000 gold was as easy to spend as it was to collect, anything was better than nothing.
"I good you haven't ratted you mouth out to anyone?" Augustus asked Ralph, but the man only chuckled drily, causing him to facepalm, "Fuck, let's hear it. Who did you tell?"
"I only told Aaron, but his wife and child were with him." Ralph replied, causing the young prince to let out a loud groan, "Aaron is probably out best fight now. I needed t—"
"No, hold it there." Augustus frowned, running to a halt. He pulled out his blade and turned to the side, "You've worried the family already. Just get Aaron, I'll go on to check."
——
"What is more alluring than the beauty of life and death?" A young man asked, hands behind his back as he stood atop the mountain overlooking the vast mountainous plains.
"The delusion of hope." A distorted voice answered, scattered across the vast plains. A cold wind followed it, and as the voice settled, the storm started in the earth and heavens.
The man smiled, turning to the side and stretching out his right arm. A silver dragon's head stretched forward, and he caressed its face, "Their endless charge of fire continues."
"Arynon failed us. The dawn is near, and darkness wanes." The voice replied, a tinge of disappointment at its edge as it continued, "Hoping we could stop it, isn't that beautiful?"
"Our bandits have invaded Iona. Once we obtain it, then we can order Enryon to fire a «Spear» against the charge." The man laughed, "He'll have nothing to fear once it's dead."
"The sun palace will not allow us move freely." The dragon's head rolled over, and the earth rumbled, "If other dragons hear of our movements, we'd get in a terrible position."
"Ananias and Verona continue their madness in Kyoqui, so Verxon is ours to toy with." The man turned around, taking in the beauty of the colossal silver dragon, his gaze bright.
The silver scaled dragon, spanning thousands of kilometres in length, caused the earth to tremble with every slight movement. A grand vortex levitated behind the silver dragon.
"Julius! Guinevere!" A tiny voice shouted, causing the man to turn around and gaze in the heavens, his brow raised seeing a young girl come riding a silver cloud, "I have news!"
"Oh no, it's Rosanne!" Julius shouted, turning to the dragon Guinevere, "Quick! Get us out of here before she says anything! That girl has never brought us anything but bad—"
"Celina's court have arrived at Silverna!" The girl screamed at the top of her lungs, an eerie aura blossoming from her as she parted the heavens, "Pius and Luis engaged a wisp!"
"Oh Mol, they what? What abomination have you brought to us, Rosanne?!" Both the man's and the distorted voice roared, completely in sync. This news they heard, was vile.