Lodtrack and Leonor ran through the halls, finally reaching to the servants' bedroom. Leonor looked confused at Lodtrack, who just gestured for him to be quiet and pointed to the fireplace. It seemed perfectly normal, with worn bricks and the wood still burning slightly, making anyone ignore it, but if you looked closely, you could notice Dragonoid clan marks, metallic surfaces barely protruding; the slight mark surrounding it as if it had been displaced, and, of course, there was no way there could be a functional fireplace in that part of the castle.
Lodtrack began to push. Normally, it would take immense strength to even budge it a few centimeters, but the guard only needed to lean on his legs to move it completely, exposing a narrow underground path. Lodtrack gestured for Leonor to follow. Leonor stepped forward to pass. Lodtrack was about to follow him when he stopped abruptly and unsheathed his sword.
"What an interesting trick." Standing in the doorway of the room was an elf armed with a silver bow, his ears extremely pointed, and the markings running across his body betrayed him as a forest elf, a warrior, as his musculature stood out prominently, and he was as tall as Virtof, which is uncommon among elves.
"What business does the Elven Crown have here?" Lodtrack asked, recalling his struggle against the Dasos elves. "Why would they send a druid to a human war?" The elf chuckled under his breath, opening his eyes wide, shining like emeralds.
"You're wrong on at least two counts," he responded hesitantly, raising two fingers. "This goes far beyond a simple human squabble, and... I am not a servant of Kyríchos," he said, unsheathing his bow.
"At least introduce yourself properly," complained the guard, adopting a combat stance.
"Forgive me... my name is Grigori Vali, traitor to the Elven Crown and servant of Miss Verónica."
"I am Lodtrack, apprentice of Draco, and protector of the Dragonoids."
The elf attacked without a second thought, drawing his bow, and a mana arrow appeared that Lodtrack could barely dodge. He raised his shield to block the second one, which was gray this time, and was sent flying, crashing into a wall.
The guard agilely got up; another arrow, now purple, grazed Lodtrack's leg and exploded the bed behind him. He tried to approach whenever he noticed an opening, but Grigori recovered with inhuman speed, attacking with arrows of different types as if it didn't cost him much magic.
"Kolemid," Lodtrack thought to himself. One of the arrows managed to hit his foot, encasing it in ice. The elf smiled and prepared a final arrow. Lodtrack managed to break the ice cone and grabbed a baby powder container from one of the tables; he made the arrow hit the container, releasing a curtain of dust throughout the room, limiting the elf's visibility and interfering with his magic arrows.
"You can't escape; we will find you in the end and finish you..." he stopped speaking as he felt his opponent's thrust pierce him; the dust cloud dispersed, and he could see Lodtrack's face, a cut ran across one side of his forehead.
"What a disappointment. I didn't think someone so interesting would use cheap tricks," Lodtrack said lightly; the elf's eyes dimmed, his body wobbling, and he struggled to focus his vision.
"Shut up!" he responded; he took his bow ready to shoot another arrow, but Lodtrack withdrew his sword and in another move sliced off Grigori's hand. He screamed in pain, although it was silenced by a kick from Lodtrack that left him unconscious on the floor.
Lodtrack ran alongside Leonor, but he fell to the ground with the rumbling of a giant explosion that caused the entire place to shake.
It could only mean one thing, and Leonor knew it well; he ran to the throne room, ignoring Lodtrack's warning, who had no choice but to follow the noble with his injured foot.
The witch could barely contain the desire to kill Draco and everyone there. She looked again at Fender, who continued with an expressionless face that bored the witch. She pointed her finger at Fender and began to recite a spell to end him; however, he seemed unfazed. Veronica gritted her teeth in frustration. She was about to cast her spell when she was interrupted by Lord himself.
"You didn't think... we'd let you win just like that, did you?" Fender said with a slight smile. The witch smiled and prepared to launch her attack when she was hit in the face by Draco. Dazed, she released Jill and stopped reciting. Draco looked at his apprentice and signaled her to leave. She obeyed and tried to flee through the door, avoiding the soldiers as best as she could.
Veronica tried to stop her, but Draco grabbed her arm and hit her again. This time, Alwarmu reacted and knocked Draco down, increasing gravity on his body.
"Oh, dear creator, forgive me for what I am about to do..." the lord began to recite. His crown and the necklace he wore began to glow along with his words, which seemed to scare Alwarmu. "But I ask you for the strength to end it all, the power of the pagan gods you hate so much, even if it condemns my life."
The crown shone as brightly as the sun, and a dragon made of pure magical energy seemed to form over the noble.
"FOOL!" shouted the witch as she raised her barrier. Alwarmu tried to imitate her, but Vindicta interrupted him by impaling his heart. Draco had managed to mortally wound him.
"It was a pleasure to have met you..." he said with a smile that immediately turned into a furious expression. "Now, go to hell."
The blinding brightness suddenly stopped, and a gigantic explosion of mana erupted from the crown, destroying everything in its path. In his final moments, Fender could only wonder if his son would be safe, finally reducing the throne room to ashes.