I deliberately ignored the unfortunate man's situation, knowing with certainty that I couldn't do anything for him without jeopardizing my own mission, and I descended the stairs leading to the mansion's first floor. In a few crucial seconds, I reached the main door, quickly exited the mansion, and headed toward the dense forest, where my instinct told me Daphne might be hidden.
—Miss, over here! Quick, there's no time! —The urgent voice of a guard echoed among the trees in the distance.
I could clearly see the bodyguard holding Daphne's hand as they ran between the trees, their figures barely visible amid the dancing shadows.
—What's happening? —asked Daphne with a trembling voice, reflecting her growing fear.
—For now, head straight to the shed! You'll be safe there! —responded the guard with palpable urgency, carrying a heavy machine gun strapped firmly to his back.
Ahead of the pair, exactly fifty meters away, loomed a large warehouse as the last possible refuge. The warehouse was made of solid gray stone and had a thick metal door, clearly designed to withstand any attempt to force it.
—I found you, Daphne! —I shouted with all the strength I could muster.
I was breathing with great difficulty. My lungs burned from running so much through the forest surrounding the mansion. I regretted not having trained my physical body better. I wasn't like Arceus, who seemed like a battle machine.
—Reinhardt! —shouted Daphne upon seeing me, her voice laden with an explosive mix of relief and desperate urgency.
She and the guard stopped abruptly, turning toward me with expressions oscillating between surprise and extreme tension. However, before either could utter a single word, Mica burst onto the scene, descending from the sky like an angel of death at the forest's entrance surrounding us.
Her presence infused the air with an absolutely lethal tension, as if death itself had taken human form. Her gray hair, disheveled by the rigors of battle, parted into natural strands that fell with chaotic elegance; some strands slid across her face like rebellious shadows, while others flowed freely to the sides, cascading over her shoulders and chest in an ashen waterfall.
Her figure, marked by a generous bust that perfectly accentuated her silhouette, exuded an intoxicating blend of elegance and deadly danger, a harmony that disarmed as much as it deeply intimidated.
It was evident that they had already eliminated all the mansion's guards, leaving behind a silence that weighed like a death sentence. My instinct urged me to turn toward her, to confront her, to try to reason in some way, to desperately search for words that might stop the whirlwind approaching.
But before I could even move, the guard, with trembling hands clutching his machine gun, unleashed his fury. He opened fire with completely uncontrolled violence, sweeping from left to right like a man possessed by the wildest madness, his eyes bulging and his breath ragged as bullets sprayed out in deafening bursts.
Panic paralyzed me a moment too late, and I fell hard on my backside, the impact resonating painfully in my bones as dozens of bullets struck a radiant white barrier that rose just in front of my face. Each projectile hit with a dull thud, leaving behind a trail of kicked-up earth that floated like a dust cloud, while the barrier, radiant and translucent, withstood with an almost supernatural solidity, protecting me by mere centimeters.
Mica turned her gaze toward the guard with disconcerting calm. The guard, with a contorted face and eyes brimming with hatred, continued firing desperately, but Mica, unfazed, extended her arms with a grace that evoked an embrace of the sun itself.
Then, a blinding column of light descended from the firmament, a radiant pillar that pierced the air with a silent roar, striking the guard with devastating precision. The surroundings lit up instantly, bathed in a white glow that seemed to purify every corner of the forest, while the man's body was consumed in a voracious fire, his form and machine gun evaporating into nothingness, as if they had never existed. Only an echo of heat remained in the air, a whisper of invisible ashes that faded with the wind.
Spells were organized into four main categories, each determined by their purpose, structure, and relationship with the Illuminated's affinities. These categories not only provided a framework to understand their complexity but also guided the training and specialization of mages, priests, and warlocks.
The scene felt familiar, a déjà vu that froze my blood completely. I recalled how Cassie had invoked a similar spell to break the artifact's barrier at the orphanage, a display of power that had shaken the foundations of my understanding.
Daphne, watching the scene from the side, paled instantly, stumbling backward awkwardly until she tripped over her own feet and fell heavily to the ground. Her eyes, wide open, reflected total fear, as if horror had nested in her soul.
Mica stood before the terrified young woman, who looked at her with tears welling in her eyes. She raised her arm slowly, preparing to deliver the final blow…
—Wait, damn it! —I couldn't watch anymore and shouted with all the strength my lungs could muster.
Only then did Mica turn and deign to look at me.
—Why are you stopping me?
Her expression was frigid as she looked at me with a furrowed brow. She seemed genuinely annoyed, perhaps even irritated by my behavior. I knew, at least, that Mica was someone I couldn't defeat at that moment.
Through the Eclipse Eyes, an even more unsettling revelation unfolded before me, confirming the suspicions that had germinated deep in my mind. In Mica's solar plexus, a newly born star emerged, a faint orb that seemed to have awakened from an ancient slumber, whispering secrets of a forgotten cosmos.