Boon of Azalea

Lifting a glass of 'Riveroak-1190', glistering a milky white texture, and sipping the rim of the glass, enjoying its dry kick that mellowed away into a lingering sweetness. Zariel smiled, unable to believe his taste buds tingling.

"Bloody hell, I can only handle one more shot!" Sionn blurted out, slumped over on the couch, looking up at the ceiling; he turned to his master with blurry vision.

"You drunk half the bottle alone," Zariel chastised, rolling his eye. "The hell is—"

He paused and turned towards the west. "Immortal Qi?"

His brow shot up, and he rose, pushing open the dual doors to his balcony, and peered down at the city glistering under the glow of the silver moon with hawk-like eyes.

Noticing the look upon Zariel, Sionns drunken stupor slowly began to fade as he lifted himself, "What is it?"

"Ella is about to die." He answered, staring at the immense invisible dome, near Bluec Street. He crossed his arms, "How strange; I didn't think she would grant a low commoner her blessing. Interesting. I wonder what these seers saw in Aurelia?"

"Huh? Where are they!" Sionn cried, staggering to his feet, as his mind dazed the moment he stood up. Almost falling over his own feet, he growled.

"Your too drunk, and I'm not much better. But I think Ella can live. She is not without help, or did you forget the tiara she got from Tiamat? It was a powerful Artifact molded by the Greek Gods. While it does increase your comprehension, it has another purpose."

Listening to Zariels comforting words did nothing to calm Sionns nerves. "Take me there, I—"

"Have a little faith; unlike you with your inhuman defense, Ella and Aurelia are weaker than you. Despite you getting your ass kicked each time by them, if you were gifted a magical shield to stop spells, you might be able to do some major damage. Those two girls need to deal with this on their own."

"And if they die?" Sionn countered with a smoldering gleam.

"Then they die. You need to understand that you can't always defend Ella and Aurelia. Some battles are unwinnable."

Sionn expression only darkened, "But Ella doesn't have her tiara. Aurelia does. Are they together?"

"Huh?"

—

Globs of sweat trickled from Ella's brow as she stared at Salven's mighty aura blazing like an azure flame under the moon's glow. Stiffen by the Immortal Aura raging like a blazing sun, Ella's legs trembled under her weight as Salven glared at Ella.

"DIE!" The Second in Command bellowed, shattering glass with his booming voice, and darted forward like a bolt of lightning. Piercing his sword with agile ease towards the Druid's chest, Ella's eyes only widened as her Arcana flared to life, pushing back the pressure holding her in place.

No time to entirely block Salven's blow, Ella twisted her body with all she had, allowing the sword to miss her heart, saving her life, at the cost of his sword plunging through her shoulder, smearing her cheeks red.

Heat pierced through her mind as she held in the cry of agony emanating from her shoulder. Tears filled her ruby red eyes, but the blaze within her gaze never withered away.

Gripping the blade plunged into her shoulder, with Arcana covering her palm. Salven's expression was but a mixture of contempt and disgust, as he didn't try to pull away but instead twisted his blade, tearing through muscle fibers and bones as he listened to Ella scream.

Tears leaked from her eyes, but she held on, making sure Salven would only twist but never pull.

"You would sacrifice your future with a blade just to kill me? Admirable, but with Azalea's blessing, all things can be achieved." He thundered as Azure Arcana began to swell. "Face my Lord's power! FORCE BLAST!!!"

Casting the same spell, the moment Salven chanted his, a ripple across space resounded, followed by an explosion, sending gravel and debris flying. Cracks erupted, and buildings began to collapse one after another by the sheer power of the two identical spells clashing.

"That won't work!" Ella cried, almost falling to one knee, as blood gushed from her lips, almost falling over her ruby sword; breathing laboriously, a glint of surprise flared within Salven, whose clothing had become stained and tattered, but he himself was perfectly fine.

"Impossible," He snapped.

Ella smiled, and as her blade flared, using the remaining Arcana she had, her frail body seemed to thin out as she used her life force as fuel.

"Force Blast!" She chanted as the sigil of the spell erupted above her head.

Meeting her spell head-on with his own, blood gushed from Ella's lips as she was blasted off her feet and into a wall, painting the streets red; she fell to her feet as a scream bellowed into the world.

Picking her head up, the Elven Druid had a smile on her face; as blood trickled down her forehead, she gazed upon the torn body of Selven being shredded apart by the Ivory Vines; she silently chanted the moment Force Blast went off.

"No! NO!!!" Salven cried before his body was eaten apart by the Ivory Vines, leaving nothing but gore trickling over the ground like rain.

"I win," Ella muttered, closing her eyes, allowing the darkness to take her.

"Boss! Salven." One of the assassins mourned, tears pooled from their eyes as they approached Ella's body, "You're going to pay for this."

"For the Boss. For Salven. For Azalea!" They all said one after another, hoisting their weapons in the air.

"I'm afraid I'll have to stop you all." A lone voice followed by the chimes ringing echoed. "I'm afraid Duke Blackwater might be angry if we allowed someone to kill one of his students."

Startled by the sudden voice, the assassin all turned to look at the smiling priest dressed in all red. "Did you really think no one would notice a mirrored realm opening in our academy?" He jokingly asked, shaking his head. "Were it not for the headmaster telling us to allow the fight to continue, school security would have slaughtered every last one of you."

"Your, I know you! Your—"

"Names have power, Mr. Asssassin." The Red Priest swiftly interjected, "Drop your weapons or be subjected to torture for the remainder of your days. I'm sure Duke Blackwater would like a word."

"NECROTIC RING OF DESTRUCTION!" Aurelia howled, hoisting the staff of Eldritch high into the air, turning the once dark skies into a blaze of emerald light.