While the four captains began attacking, Blaine and Lyn stood back to protect Cecelia.
Deflecting the attacks from the four remaining 2-Stars, Lyn threw Blaine a glance.
"I'll go handle them. In the meanwhile, keep her safe."
Blaine nodded.
Blocking an attack, Lyn continued:
"If things get too out of hand… The two of you should be prepared to escape on your own.
Cecelia looked at Lyn with horror.
"I can't just leave you all behind!"
Lyn returned the princess's gaze with one of cold resolve.
"Before we set out on this mission, you made a promise. Don't forget what you said."
"..."
Cecelia bit down on her cherry-red lip in frustration.
She had sworn to run away if things got too dangerous, even at the cost of everyone else's lives.
Letting a member of the Royal Family fall into enemy hands was something that couldn't be allowed to happen…
No matter what.
Redirecting her attention to Blaine, Lyn gave the auburn-haired youth a serious look.
"I'll leave her to you."
Without wasting another moment, Lyn deflected another barrage of attacks with her twin daggers before kicking off the ground and launching herself at a nearby enemy.
With her immense speed, she appeared before her target before the latter could even process that she had moved.
It was as if she had teleported right in front of him.
Before he could hastily swap to his melee weapon to defend himself, Lyn's dagger drew a clean arc through the air, swiftly beheading the enemy 2-Star.
Just like that, the number of enemies fell from eight to seven.
***
Unlike Lorie, the other three captains had their targets relatively close together.
This meant they'd be having a three-on-three team battle instead of a one-on-one duel.
Something that worked perfectly for them.
Rick lifted his hammer and brought it down on one of the enemies before him, while Ginny stabbed her spear, aiming to pierce straight through her target's skull.
Delsie, on the other hand, was forced onto the backfoot as she hastily deflected an arrow shot at her.
As soon as the three of them jumped towards the three enemy 2-Stars, a man wielding a bow hastily jumped back as well, putting some distance between them and himself.
It just so happened that he set his sights on attacking Delsie first.
Unlike her two teammates, Delsie's weapon wasn't suitable for deflecting oncoming attacks.
Rapiers were generally far narrower than other bladed weapons and offered much less surface area to block.
Its primary use was to pierce, after all.
So Delsie had to utilize her enhanced senses to properly read the trajectory of each arrow and then stab at it with pin-point precision, knocking them off course just enough that they would miss her and her companions.
It was a mind-numbing feat, to say the least.
She wouldn't last long at her current rate, so she kept this up.
Several minutes at best.
Backed into a corner, a dark look appeared on Delsie's face as she steeled her heart.
"F*ck… This is gonna hurt."
Cursing under her breath, Delsie kicked off the floor and sent herself flying at the enemy archer.
Surprised by her sudden action, he hastily shot an arrow at her.
As the arrow shot from the bowstring, a purple liquid materialized itself on the tip.
With her enhanced sense of smell, Delsie could already smell its intense foul odour.
'Poison…'
Despite the disturbing revelation, Delsie didn't stop her mad dash.
Instead, she simply lifted her left arm and raised it to defend herself.
Moments later, she felt a searing pain in her arm.
Stifling a groan of agony, she tossed a glance at her injury.
The area around the protruding arrow was already turning into a mix of purple and yellow pus.
It appeared the archer's concoction was of the fast-acting variety.
Delsie was already starting to feel a sense of weakness spread through her body, clouding her mind.
Even her enhanced senses began to dull.
However… There was still one positive about her current situation.
The archer was finally within striking distance.
Moving her uninjured sword arm, Delsie stabbed directly at her enemy.
She aimed to finish this in one blow.
The bow-wielding Kelonian scowled as he hastily moved his bow to block Delsie's attack.
Unfortunately, Delsie caught the man's bow with her injured arm.
Exerting all the remaining strength she could muster, Delsie pushed on his bow, slightly moving its trajectory.
However… That was just enough.
Slipping past his impromptu defence, Delsie's rapier continued its trajectory and impaled straight through his throat.
"Nice try, better luck next life."
Those were the final words the bow-wielding man heard before he closed his eyes for the final time.
And now the enemies fell to six.
However, a panicked voice rang out before Delsie was given any time to celebrate.
"Delsie! Watch out!"
Recognizing the voice as Ginny's, Delsie hastily focused her senses.
It was then that she felt it…
The searing heat.
Slowly turning around, she saw a bright ball of fire light up the dark jungle.
It was bright enough to fill the void that the sun left behind, making the forest expanse look like it was mid-day.
And that ball of fire… I was headed straight for her.
Feeling the panic overrun her dulled senses, Delsie tried to move to avoid it, but the poison had already spread through her body.
She could barely lift a finger.
It was a necessary sacrifice at the time, as she was bound to get hit by an arrow sooner or later.
Trading blows was the most logical decision at the time, as she planned on getting Ginny to heal her afterwards.
Needless to say… That plan fell to pieces.
All she could do was fearfully watch as the fireball quickly approached her.
As the fireball covered the entirety of her peripheral vision, she closed her eyes in resignation.
It seemed that this was as far as she would go.
Strangely enough, she had no grand experience like having her life flashing before her eyes.
Instead, all she could feel was regret.
There was so much left she wanted to experience.
Heck, she didn't even get the chance to marry the guy she loved.
How funny was it that they were happily flirting only minutes prior?
'Well… I can't say I didn't have a good run.'
Thinking that, she felt the searing heat approach closer and closer.
…But the expected pain never came.