Chapter 84: They never left her
At the front, Laira knocked Brakk away and immediately turned back. She looked at the wooden fragments on the ground, then at Ruo Yan.
Ruo Yan said nothing.
Laira didn’t ask.
She simply stepped forward, the flames around her burning brighter.
The battle continued for nearly two more hours.
The second puppet was destroyed when Aldren targeted Laira.
The male Elf didn’t attack head-on. He waited until Laira used over two hundred feathers to block Brakk, then drew his bow from a distance.
A blue arrow appeared on the string.
No strong fluctuation.
No sound of tearing air.
The arrow vanished the moment it left the bowstring, then reappeared right beside the base of Laira’s new wing.
Ruo Yan saw it but couldn’t pull Laira out of the way.
All she could do was send the second puppet charging in.
The puppet caught the arrow in its arms.
Corrosive magic spread across the wooden body instantly. Its upper half turned black, then crumbled to ash before it even hit the ground.
What remained fell at Laira’s feet.
She looked at the puppet that had lost more than half its body, and the Thunder-Iron wing trembled slightly.
Then Laira turned to Aldren.
"I’ll repay this debt."
Ruo Yan kept her eyes on the battlefield, her voice hoarser than before.
"Survive today first."
Laira didn’t argue.
She bent down, picked up the puppet’s core, and tossed it toward Ruo Yan. A Soul Thread caught it and set it down beside the first core.
Neither of them said anything more.
But from that moment on, Laira no longer saw those wooden puppets as just Ruo Yan’s tools.
...
Near the eleventh hour, very few people in the room could still fight.
Most of the retrieval puppets had been destroyed. The Stoneweaver clan had lost two members but maintained their formation. The Red Fang warband was down to six Beastkin still standing. Aldren’s Elf contingent had been cut by more than half.
Laira knelt on one knee in front of Ethan.
Her uninjured wing was covered in cuts, and the Thunder-Iron wing had lost nearly a third of its feathers. The remaining ones flickered on and off, unable to hold a stable shape.
Ruo Yan stood beside her, her right arm completely numb.
She had only the Necromancer and the last wooden puppet left.
That puppet had lost a leg, an arm, and nearly half its head. Ruo Yan had to use seven Soul Threads to replace the destroyed joints just to keep it upright.
Aldren stepped out from behind the Elf ranks.
His cloak was torn, and only half of the green stone remained on his forehead, but his Gold-rank tier 8 energy was still fairly stable.
He had been conserving his strength for ten hours.
Now there was no longer any reason to keep waiting.
"Hold the dragon down."
Brakk shouldered his war axe and led five Beastkin charging toward Laira.
She tried to stand.
The moment her legs straightened, Brakk was already in front of her. The war axe crashed into the Thunder-Iron wing, forcing her away from Ethan.
The remaining Beastkin immediately surrounded her, cutting off her way back.
Ruo Yan raised her hand to direct the Necromancer, but four Elves simultaneously erected barriers, locking it on the other side.
Aldren looked at the opening that had just appeared.
A green light circle materialized beneath his feet.
The male Elf’s body vanished.
Ruo Yan whipped her head around.
Aldren appeared right beside Ethan.
The slender sword in his hand wasn’t aimed at the neck or the heart. It slashed straight down at the left arm covered by the Primordial Armor.
"No!"
Ruo Yan wrenched every Soul Thread at once.
The last wooden puppet lunged forward.
It only had one functioning leg, but the threads pulled its body flying across the gap of over ten meters.
The puppet threw itself around Aldren’s arm.
The sword came down.
Crack!
The blade cut through from shoulder to waist, splitting the puppet’s body in two.
Aldren moved to shake it off, but the remaining wooden hand had already locked around his wrist. The splintering fingers refused to let go.
Just one moment.
But it was enough.
Ruo Yan wrapped Soul Threads around Ethan’s body and dragged him clear of his original position.
The sword struck the stone floor.
Ethan’s left arm was still intact.
Aldren’s expression went cold. He released a burst of energy from his body.
Boom!
The last puppet shattered completely.
The Soul Thread connecting it snapped.
Ruo Yan’s hand still held the position for controlling it, but no wooden puppet answered back.
The three companions that had stayed by her side since the day she was abandoned were now nothing but fragments scattered across the battlefield.
Aldren looked at her expression and smirked.
"They were just a few wooden puppets. After receiving Owin’s inheritance, you can create hundreds of stronger ones."
Ruo Yan slowly lowered her trembling hand.
Aldren stepped forward.
"You’ve lost all your puppets. Step aside, and I’ll let you live."
Green flames suddenly erupted behind Ruo Yan.
The Necromancer broke free of the vines and the barrier, then appeared in front of her. The broken staff rose, and a Bone Shield instantly blocked Aldren’s sword.
Clang!
Aldren was pushed half a step back.
Ruo Yan raised her remaining hand.
A single silver-white Soul Thread ran straight from her finger into the Puppet Core inside the Necromancer’s ribcage.
She looked at Aldren, her eyes free of any wavering.
"They didn’t disappear so I could stand here and cry."
The Necromancer opened its mouth.
"Soul Flame."
Green fire erupted from the tip of the staff, surged across the Bone Shield, and latched onto Aldren’s sword.
The male Elf retreated immediately, but the flames still crawled along the blade and up his wrist.
There was no heat.
No burning of flesh.
But a pain that tore directly into the soul made Aldren’s face change. He immediately threw the sword to the ground and used his energy to sever the sleeve where the fire had taken hold.
The Soul Flame still didn’t go out.
Aldren had to use the remaining green stone on his forehead to form an energy membrane and force the flames out of his body.
When he looked up, the composure on his face was gone.
"Kill her."
The surviving Elves drew their bows in unison.
Ruo Yan stood in front of Ethan. The Necromancer raised a Bone Shield, but the layer was less than half a meter thick.
On the other side, Laira knocked a Beastkin away and then took Brakk’s war axe across the shoulder.
She went down.
The Thunder-Iron wing slammed against the stone floor, dozens of feathers scattering loose. The Solar Flame around her body had dwindled to a thin layer.
Brakk raised his war axe, ready to strike again.
Laira braced one hand against the ground and stood up.
Her legs were shaking, but she still dragged her body back in front of Ethan. She opened her wing and used the remaining feathers to shield him.
Ruo Yan also fell back, standing beside her.
The Necromancer was the only puppet left, the green flames in its eye sockets so weak they were nearly extinguished.
Laira looked at Ruo Yan.
"Can you still stand?"
Ruo Yan wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
"Longer than you."
"Then don’t fall before I do."
"Same to you."
Behind them both, Ethan still lay motionless.
The purple-silver lines on the Primordial Armor had spread across his arm, shoulder, and part of his chest. The Heavenly Gate inside his body shuddered continuously, but no one outside could tell how far along the fusion had progressed.
Aldren looked at Laira and Ruo Yan.
Both were nearly out of energy.
The Bone Shield couldn’t withstand another barrage.
Laira’s Thunder Wings no longer had enough feathers to form a complete barrier.
He picked up a different sword from a dead Elf’s body and raised it.
"This is your last chance. Step aside, and I’ll let you both live."
Laira wiped the blood from her lips with the back of her hand.
"You talk too much."
Ruo Yan raised her blood-soaked fingers.
"Because he’s not sure he can win."
Aldren’s expression darkened.
He swung his hand down.
Brakk raised his war axe.
The remaining Elves drew their bowstrings taut in unison. Magic arrows took shape rapidly, all aimed at the two women standing in front of Ethan.
Right at that moment, a notification appeared in Ethan’s consciousness.
[Fusion time remaining: Three minutes.]
[Fusion progress: 99%.]
[Detected: Energy exceeding current threshold.]
[Heavenly Gate: Bronze tier 5.]
[Detected: Accumulated energy from Thunder Wings.]
[Detected: Accumulated energy from absorbed crystals.]
[Detected: Two complete Partner bonds.]
[Initiating breakthrough.]
Inside Ethan’s body, the first crack appeared on the Bronze Heavenly Gate.
Crack!
Purple-silver lightning surged through the fissure, then spread across the entire Heavenly Gate.
Outside, Aldren brought his hand down.
"Kill them."
A rain of arrows launched all at once.
In that same instant, Ethan’s left fingers twitched.