Moving through the buildings as quickly as she can, Shiro made sure to glance back every now and again to see Blytheâs progress in transitioning to stage 3.
During this stage, the userâs mind would be corrupted by quite a large amount, making it so that they will risk almost everything to fight their enemy.
It becomes a situation where itâs either you die now or I die trying.
"You know big sis, we can get away quickly if you let me carry you." Keomi reminded since Shiro had just taken the initiative to grab her hand and drag her away.
". . ." Staying silent, Shiro turned and looked at Keomi with a deadpan expression.
Sighing softly, Shiro hopped onto Keomiâs back.
"Is this ok?" She asked since she didnât want to make Keomi too uncomfortable.
"Yeah thatâs fine." Keomi nodded..
Crouching down slightly, she dashed forwards. The force created from this caused the ground underneath them to crack and shatter.
While they were focused on running away from Blythe, his actions of using the corrupted relic has caught the attention of everyone whoâs in the current war.
They had seen two huge tier 4 spell circles expand out with the second creating a huge ice chandelier.
Both the first and second prince were confused since they hadnât sent anyone of that calibre to fight their brother.
Understanding that it must be the work of a third party, both princes made their way towards Blythe. After all, he must have plenty of good loot in his inventory.
They also wanted to make sure that they see Blythe die since his domains are one of the most annoying things to deal with. Especially when they place several debuffs on you and it continues to stack.
As for Shiroâs party, after regrouping with everyone, they made their way to the orphanage. During their trip, they clearly felt a huge burst of mana from the north and saw Shiroâs fight with the third prince. After all, Ice Chains were one of Shiroâs defining traits whenever she used her ice magic.
"Damn, since when was Shiro able to cast spells like that?" Madison muttered after seeing the tier 4 spell.
"I think she might have gotten help. Remember her links? I donât think she can cast such a spell without negative repercussions." Lyrica frowned in worry.
"Do... do you girls want to go over and help her?" Silvia asked since she was concerned about Shiroâs situation.
"No. If you go now, it may hinder mum instead. For her to need to use a tier 4 spell, it must mean that sheâs in quite a lot of danger and sheâll need to focus. Mumâs one of those people that fights really well when sheâs unrestrained." Lisandra shook her head. After all, she knew how much Shiro cared for the group so if theyâre in any danger, it would only distract her.
"But even so, we canât just run away knowing that sheâs in danger." Silvia shook her head.
"Hmm... what if we do this. I can construct a spell but Iâll be needing your help. Itâs based on a theory that I found during my time in the library." Aarim suggested.
"What theory is it?"
"The theory is that through using multiple people as checkpoints and have them participate in constructing a spell, theyâll be able to add their own sections and grant effects to the final outcome. Iâm thinking that since all of us have empowering skills, we can perhaps construct a spell that contains all of them and target it at Shiro." Aarim explained.
"That could work but can we even reach her? The distance is quite far." Lyrica frowned.
"Donât worry about that. I can do it since I have the most speed out of all of us." Lisandra volunteered while pointing at her angel wings.
"Alright, Iâll see if I can make the spell." Aarim nodded.
Focusing her mind, she pushed her hands in front of her.
An empty set of rings appeared while spell runes started to carve themselves within the empty spots.
"Silvia, since youâre the support, try add some buffs into the spell." Lyrica said while looking over at Silvia.
"Iâll try."
Walking up to the magic circle, Silvia reached out with her hand and attempted to add her own magic into it. However, the moment she did that, the circle destabilised and shattered apart instantly
"Ah!"
The force had sent Silvia stumbling backwards as Chen Yu quickly caught her so that she didnât hurt herself.
The same happened to Aarim but she stabilised herself before anyone could help.
"Hmm... thatâs a bit troublesome. It seems like the main problem is compatibility along with some other factors." Aarim frowned since she had analysed the spell the moment it destabilised. The main cause was due to their mana fighting each other for dominance over the actual spell and caused it to shatter.
"Tch. This ideaâs a bust." She sighed while dusting herself.
"So we canât do anything then?" Lyrica asked.
"Unfortunately no." Aarim shook her head as the party made their way to the orphanage with disappointment.
When they arrived, they were slightly surprised to see the elders along with both princesses treating the wounded while the fourth prince escorted them to the closest evac zone.
"Ah big sis, you came." Cyri called out after seeing the party.
"Yeah, Shiro told us to come here while she made some trouble up in the north. With how things are going, it looks like sheâs fighting third brother." Lyrica nodded her head.
"Hmm... thatâs slightly concerning. From what we saw from here, the tier 4 spell earlier wasnât a product of his class. The most likely situation is that itâs an item." Cyrl frowned.
Before they could say anything else, a dense amount of mana washed over the city as they looked over at the fight in shock.
*BOOM!!!!!
"Er... I donât think third brother is supposed to have that kind of power." Cyril said while looking at the elders with concern.
"Hmm... Cyril, Syvi, you two go support Shiro since you two are the highest level supports. Shiroâs party, you lot stay here for now since itâs too dangerous. I doubt Shiro would want you in harms way. Instead, you can help us with the injured and escort them to the evac zones." One of the elders instructed.
Both princesses, Cyril and Syvi, nodded their heads and obeyed the order.
Giving the rest of the party some orders, the elders had Lisandra, Cyril and Syvi make their way to the north.
With Lisandraâs speed and ease of transport, this would be the most efficient way.
Grabbing both princesses by the h.i.p.s, Lisandra spread her wings and flew towards the north.
###
Taking a deep breath, Shiro wiped the sweat from her head and looked towards Blythe who had just finished transitioning to stage three. With itemâs second skill back up, it was hard to run away effectively.
"If weâre sneaky enough, do you think we can get out of his area of effect?" Keomi asked.
"Iâm not too sure. Thankfully, he hasnât found us yet because of my skill but I wouldnât count on it." Shiro replied while trying to stand up. Forcing her body against the wall, she slowly nudged herself up on her feet only to fall back down again.
"Tch! Weâll have to delay him again." She frowned.
Activating Frozen Chandelier once more, Shiro knew that this couldnât continue for too long since there was a limit to how much she can use Keomi as a catalyst.
With little knowledge on how much mana Blythe has, it was a gamble to continue this way.
However, during this, she sensed Lisandraâs presence coming closer.
"Lisa, can you hear me?" Shiro said into the earpiece.
"Mum? Yeah I hear you. Iâm coming in with some support." Lisandra replied.
"Donât. If you come closer, youâll lose control of your body." Shiro replied quickly.
"Eh? Why?"
After understanding the situation, Lisandra frowned and turned to the two princesses.
"Mum said that Blythe has obtained an item called Executionerâs Requiem. The moment we enter his range, weâll lose control of our body and may be killed on sight."
"Thatâs bad isnât it?" Cyril raised an eyebrow.
"Of course it is." Syvi rolled her eyes.
"Say, sis, you think we can clear the debuff if we bolster Shiroâs resistances and use cleanse on her?" Cyril asked.
Since theyâre both supports, with Cyril being a combat medic and Syvi being an enchantress, they were able to provide both healing and buffs.
"Iâm not sure. We donât know the nature of his item." Syvi shook her head.
On the other side, Shiroâs eyes brightened after hearing what Cyril has said.
"I think we can kill Blythe." She muttered with a grin.
"Lisa, ask them two how often they can use cleanse. If itâs within 5 seconds, we can win."