A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Erik quickly realised Meilin had been holding back before. When she charged him again, swords raised and expression twisted in anger, she also conjured several magic circles… but not pointed at Erik.

The magic circles spawned as far away from Meilin as she could manage, and quickly started unleashing a barrage of Frostvein shards at the barrier. Erik grimaced a little, but then shook his head and scoffed, choosing to focus on Meilin herself.

Though countless razor-sharp shards were pelting the barrier, Meilin couldn't provide the singularly powerful blow that could shatter the barrier immediately at this point. Though the barrier was under heavy assault right now, draining the Enkarian 'batteries', it was draining Meilin as well.

Finally, she'd realised which of them was most affected by the tyranny of time in this confrontation. She knew the longer this went on, the worse her chances would be.

At the same time, Erik did not change his original tactic. In fact, staying away from her became even more critical than before. Now that she was expending energy constantly, it was essential for him not to give her a way to recover quickly… like by wounding him.

Just like that, their clash continued. A furious Meilin chased pointlessly after Erik, even as a storm of Frostvein shards raged against the barrier.

Meanwhile, outside the barrier, the battles were slowly coming to an end. After finishing their battlefields, Emma and Astrid went to help out Ankhur and Enkai, respectively. Not long after, all four battlefields were filled with hunter corpses and seated Enkarian or Maghrebian soldiers providing the barrier with energy.

"Let's go," Astrid grinned, rubbing her hands together as she glanced at Emma next to her. "I'm itching to get involved!"

"Me… to," Emma nodded after a moment of thinking, a calm smile on her lips. "I'm excited to help you and Master in battle for the first time. For something other than formation managing, anyway."

Astrid nodded at her approvingly, then looked towards the dome. "Well, then what are we waiting for?!"

No longer able to wait, she surged forward. Emma was right behind her, flying over the ground on her golden disc. When they reached the barrier, it simply opened to let them in. Their eyes immediately flew towards the centre, where Thundersnow and Frostvein energies collided violently.

From here, they could clearly see Erik being chased by Meilin. Erik's superior speed allowed him to be in nearly full control of the situation despite the circumstances, but Astrid's expression still became a little complicated. "I know he's not engaging because we want to capture her, and he's missing his spatial affinity, but I still don't like seeing him like this…"

Emma smiled at her sister-wife, far less concerned. "Then how about we help him out?"

Astrid nodded thoughtfully, but didn't head for the centre immediately. Instead, she looked to the side to see several of Meilin's subordinates who hadn't detected them yet. "You go ahead. I'll go take out the trash first."

Before Emma could respond, Astrid was already gone. Surging forward, she reached the first Arcanist and instantly sent his head flying into the air. Her moves were filled with indifference. Killing had long since become second nature to her.

Emma watched her for a moment, but then quickly focused on her beloved. Smiling, she flew into the air, rapidly approaching the battle site. She muttered some soft, joyful words under her breath: "I'll fight by master's side today…"

Over in the centre, the situation had changed a little.

After all four battlefields had ended to become meditation sights, Meilin began to realise she wouldn't be depleting the available energy by dividing her attention between Erik and the barrier. Since Erik wouldn't let her focus solely on the barrier, she could only focus on him instead, but that meant she had to find a way to force him into a direct confrontation.

Fortunately for her, she'd figured out an advantage.

"You know what I figured out?" she growled, eyes narrowed, not having noticed the new entries. She was standing still right now, eyes locked onto Erik, who did the same.

"No, but I'm absolutely dying of curiosity," he smirked, hammer resting on his shoulder.

Meilin lifted one of her hook swords and pointed it at him, a cruel grin on her lips. "You are different! I don't know how or why exactly, but your blood gives me far more energy than any other!"

She spread her hands, and Erik cocked a surprised, somewhat concerned eyebrow… because she began conjuring almost a dozen magic circles. Aetherium surged in their surroundings. She was gathering an amount of power that he'd not seen from any of the other confessors.

"I was stupidly holding back," she panted excitedly, eyes wide. "I thought going all-out would have me run out of energy before I defeat you, but as long as you have even one wound, I won't run out!"

Frowning, Erik started backing off a little. Since his backup would soon arrive, there was no reason to take any risks at this point. Meilin's capture was the one and only goal.

Meilin's grin widened at his caution. "Too late!" she screeched and waved her arms.

Frostvein shards exploded from all her magic circles under the taunting sound of her maniacal laughter. Erik growled, his eyes flitting around as the shards surrounded them before he could get out. In moments, they were surrounded by a whirling storm of shards, creating a kind of arena for them and severely restricting Erik's movements.

"Tsk," he scoffed, focusing on Meilin again. Despite the situation, he was only mildly concerned. That shard storm was dangerous and filled with power, but clearly hard to control. He couldn't easily get rid of it or go through it, but Meilin also couldn't simply direct it towards Erik without harming herself as well.

If Meilin had fought this way from the start, perhaps he'd have been in more trouble, but all it did now was stop him from running away from her… and he had no need for that anymore.

Before he could say anything else, Meilin charged him again. Glowing hooks words raised, she grinned with cruel excitement. Yet, Erik could also see the aetherium practically leaking out of her.

Growling, he readied his hammer and engaged her. They traded some blows, and Erik's superior physical abilities and weapon skill became immediately obvious… but so did Meilin's raw power and leeching. Erik could do nothing against her insidious methods, which constantly created wounds on his body, easily restoring Meilin's energy before Erik could heal them.

It wasn't looking too good for him right now. Even if he could replenish his stamina nearly endlessly, everything had a breaking point, and Meilin would have energy for just a little longer than he.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before a bright golden light appeared just over their arena.