Defeat

Miss Christen, Major General Arngan, and Colonel Norrett looked frozen with their eyes at the sky. They even held their breath, almost expecting something majestic to follow.

The cloud of decay kept spreading, affecting the trees' crowns. Their large leaves wilted and tried to fall, but a surge of vitality promptly flowed into them, counteracting the process and keeping them on their branches.

Miss Christen wasn't actively countering the cloud. That was a passive effect of her cloaking ability. That cover was still active, but she didn't know how effective it had been during the recent exchange.

As shameful as it sounded, Major General Arngan and Colonel Norrett had made Miss Christen falter. Those few moments had always lasted less than a second, and Miss Christen was mostly to blame for them since she was holding back. Yet, they had happened nonetheless.