Chapter 8 - The Awaited Conflict (2)

Chapter 8: The Awaited Conflict (2)

The night had become eerily quiet, as the only sound that steadily permeated the air was the low crackle of wood set ablaze. Ten minutes prior, a deafening explosion rang throughout the capital and silenced everything along the outskirts of the city. Yet despite the silence, Rolozuthen and Ralozenther stood along the edge of the outer wall, watching strenuously for anyone attempting to flee the capital.

Despite the two being alone atop the wall, neither uttered a word to the other. Within seconds, the reason why became apparent, as from the shadows of a razed building, a single Elf dashed out toward the charred hole in the wall. Yet before the Elf could even reach the halfway point to the wall, Rolozuthen’s gaze locked onto him.

“Spirits of Flame, heed my command!” Rolozuthen shouted, extending her arm toward the path of the lone Elf. “Envelop my target in a world of Flames, Searing Ascension!”

As the incantation left Rolozuthen’s mouth, two beaming red magic circles enveloped and rotated around her arm. A single blue wisp flared into existence before Rolozuthen’s hand, drifting with an eerie grace as though it possessed a will of its own. Before the fleeing Elf could take another step, the wisp vanished, as if it hadn’t existed to begin with.

And as the Elf’s foot touched on the ground, a searing roar filled the air as a pale blue inferno erupted into the sky, engulfing him whole. His agonized wails spewed through the air as his flesh melted into the flames. Yet as his voice slowly faded against the roars of the flames, a single charred object managed to escape from the inferno. Despite the distance between her and the inferno, Rolozuthen could clearly recognize the charred Elven skull that escaped her spell.

With a sigh so faint it wouldn’t even rouse a feather, Rolozuthen released her spell, letting the inferno die out as its flames reached for the stars. Despite the years she had been forced into controlling flames with her magic and Skill, it was still draining to control a spell to the extent she had displayed. Nevertheless, despite her exhaustion, a voice nagged at her from the side, with its owner clearly being filled with boredom.

“‘Searing Ascension’? Seriously, why such a flashy name for a simple inferno spell?” Ralozenther sneered, clearly trying to pass the time with conversation.

“Shut it, Ralozenther,” Rolozuthen fired back, letting the irritation on her expression show as she turned to face him. “I get that you’re bored, but we have a job to do here.” 

Although Ralozenther was extremely chatty by nature, Rolozuthen’s curt reply left him uncharacteristically silent, almost as if no one had ever rebutted him so sharply before.

“Oh come on, since this revolution started, how many Elves have tried to escape the walls? Three, maybe four?” Ralozenther retorted, letting out an egotistical chuckle between his words. “How about you loosen up a little?”

Rolozuthen’s hair flared as she began to emanate a burning red aura. Despite only meeting for the first time a handful of hours ago, she already knew Ralozenther was the type of person she despised. 

“It was twenty-three! How can you lose track of something like that?!” Rolozuthen exclaimed, vexation coursing through her body. “Seriously, how long are you going to keep up that cheap arrogance?”

A palpable disdain grew between the two; had it not been for Ralogolar’s orders, neither of the two would have ever interacted with the other. Yet despite being at each other’s throats, there was one thing both of them could agree upon regarding the other.

‘He’s powerful, I’ll give him that,’ Rolozuthen thought, focusing her still angry gaze on the cloak of mana Ralozenther exuded. 

The bright green hue of his mana lit up the dim exterior of the wall, and despite its chaotic and angry purpose, simply looking at it gave Rolozuthen the distinct impression of life, as if his mana was made of the very essence of nature. Yet as the two continued to exchange harsh glares, something in the distance caught her eye. A lone, familiar blue glimmer was slowly approaching the wall.

“Ralozenther, enough. Someone’s approaching,” Rolozuthen said cautiously, fixing her gaze on the ever-closer glimmer.

“Deflecting now, are we?” Ralozenther sneered, evidently oblivious to the seriousness behind her voice. “Just admit it, you know I’m right. You need to loosen up a bi-”

“Shut it, you fool!” Rolozuthen exclaimed, cutting him off. “Turn around and look at that!”

Rolozuthen pointed at the blue glimmer, now several meters closer than before. Ralozenther, now curious about the shift in her attitude, turned his gaze to follow hers. As he locked his gaze upon the glimmer, a strange familiarity washed over him, as if he had seen that same glimmer from much closer in the past. As the two continued to squint at the glimmer, the light continued to grow, as if it was approaching the wall at the speed of a sprint.

“Rolozuthen, is that who I think it is?” Ralozenther asked, clearly intrigued by this newfound glimmer.

“It could be,” she replied, straining her eyes to get a better look. “But it doesn’t make sense. Why would he come here? Isn’t he supposed to be at the castle by now?”

Ralozenther nodded in response, but his acknowledgement came with a grim thought, one that he spoke aloud with fear in the back of his voice.

“What if that isn’t him?”

That simple train of thought he suggested sent a shiver down Rolozuthen’s spine. While the reality of it was nearly impossible, she couldn’t deny it being the case here. Why else would Ralogolar, the one who concocted and knew the plan like the back of his own hand, be traveling toward the wall? Yet there was something that struck her as odd. Had the glimmer truly been Ralogolar, why was it traversing so slowly?

“Ralozenther,” Rolozuthen said rigidly. “Cast a sight enhancement spell on me, the strongest one you have.”

“Tch, don’t order me around,” Ralozenther scoffed, stepping back and raising his arm toward her. “Spirits of Nature heed my command! Grace and enrich the senses of my target! Sensory Enhancement!”

As Ralozenther spoke the incantation, his bright green mana began to swell, shrouding his body and forming two magic circles around his arm. An instant later, a green light spread over Rolozuthen and gently melded with her skin. Her pupils shrank instantly as the magic overtook her senses, the world sharpening and magnifying as though she were peering through a telescope. Her sense of smell and hearing exploded in potency, giving her a headache from the countless new sounds and smells around her.

“Ugh…” Rolozuthen grunted, stumbling back and clasping her head. “How powerful did you make the spell?” She asked desperately. 

“Powerful enough, you should be able to see who’s down there now,” Ralozenther sneered in response, crossing his arms as he reined in his mana. 

Despite every sense in her body yelling at her, Rolozuthen lifted her head to locate the source of the glimmer. Her vision, although shaky and disoriented, locked on to the glimmer, yet what she totally defied her expectations. A young, Elven girl with braided red hair wearing a torn and dirty dress, one that would have befitted an Elven noble had it been in pristine condition.

In her hands she carried the source of the glimmer, a pickaxe with a lustrous blue head and gray handle. However, the girl was visibly exhausted; as she ran down a ruined main street, her face was beyond pale, her bright red eyes stricken with fear, her breathing shallow and laborious, almost as if she had seen Death itself and was running out of fear. 

“What the?” Rolozuthen asked with confusion evident in her voice.

“Who is it? Ralogolar?” Ralozenther replied curiously.

“No, it’s an Elven girl,” Rolozuthen answered anxiously, still confused as to what she was seeing. “But she has his pickaxe.”

“That’s not possible,” Ralozenther retorted smugly. “There’s no way Ralogolar could have lost to an Elf; you must be seeing things.”

Rolozuthen shook her head. As much as she wanted to deny it, what she had described was the truth. The two stood in silence, contemplating the situation they now found themselves in. Had that Elven girl killed Ralogolar, then there truly could be no hope for the remainder of the siege. Yet a thought lingered in her mind, one that she couldn’t figure out with the information she had.

‘Why is she running toward the wall?’ Rolozuthen thought, observing as the exhausted girl ran toward the wall.

Despite the little time that had passed, the Elven girl had significantly closed the gap between herself and the wall. Had a couple more minutes passed, she surely would have reached the wall. Yet the question stuck in Rolozuthen’s mind gnawed at her, with her insatiable curiosity as a mage only strengthening the need for answers.

“Tch, Ralozenther! Make sure nobody escapes while I’m gone, I’m going to investigate this Elven trash!” Rolozuthen declared angrily, brushing off her anxiousness as she raised her arms in preparation to cast a spell.

“Hold on!” Ralozenther replied hastily. “Who says you should go? What if I wanted to get some answers out of that Elf?”

“Don’t make me laugh!” Rolozuthen chuckled before starting her incantation. “Even if you became the smartest person in the world, someone like you would never even realize if a girl is lying straight to your face!”

Ralozenther faltered, flabbergasted at her comment. In all his eighteen years in the Agriculture District, eighteen years of enduring High Elven scorn and abuse, never had his pride been dismantled in such an effortless manner.

“Spirits of Flame, heed my call! Summon forth the brightest of flames at my control!” Rolozuthen chanted as four bright red runes etched themselves into the ground beneath her feet. “Pale Inferno!”

Lines of brimming red mana enveloped the ground, spreading and morphing into a magic circle in the stone. Only for her to rise into the air as a pale blue inferno erupted from the ground; Ralozenther nearly catching stray flames as the spell activated. The wind began to howl as the inferno spun wildly beneath her. 

“Hold on!” Ralozenther exclaimed over the ferocious winds spewing out of the inferno. “Don’t go charging off with my spell still active!”

Ralozenther’s bright green mana swelled over his right arm, slowly reforming the two magic circles that coincided with his previous spell. Yet rather than casting a second spell, the two magic circles shattered like glass thrown against the road, turning into dozens of shards that slowly dissipated into the atmosphere.

As the last shard of mana vanished from sight, Rolozuthen’s senses began to go haywire, taking several seconds to reorient herself to her regular perception. Without wasting a second more, she zipped down the wall and over buildings in a fiery instant. Putrid black smoke arose from the scorched path she carved, adding to the dark clouds hovering above the burning capital.

Within seconds, Rolozuthen tore across the capital, reaching the street the young Elf ran upon with ease. Having reached her destination, she reeled her mana in, slowly letting her spell deactivate as she descended gracefully to the ground. Yet her arrival did not go unnoticed; before her, the Elven girl faltered, grinding to a halt hardly a dozen meters away.

Despite coming to a stop, Solana couldn’t stop gasping for air. With each breath she took, her face grew paler, her eyes quivered with fear, and her legs trembled from exhaustion. Although she fought to stay upright, expending every last ounce of strength to keep from collapsing, a momentary wave of relief washed over her as her eyes roamed frantically over the human who had landed before her.

Ever since her meeting with Ralogolar, the wailing she heard throughout the capital only grew louder. Yet in front of this human girl, those torturous wails fell silent, as if her hands were free of blood in this unforeseen revolution.

“Hey, Elf girl,” Rolozuthen said harshly, breaking the silence between the two. “Answer my questions honestly and maybe you’ll get to live.”

Solana trembled with fear and exhaustion as Rolozuthen’s words entered her ears. Much like the fear she felt earlier in the night, this fear was primal, as if she had provoked a beast too powerful for her to deal with. She managed to nod slightly, swallowing what little saliva there was in her parched throat as she anticipated Rolozuthen’s next words.

“What did you do to Ralogolar?” Rolozuthen growled, letting her fiery red mana pulsate from her body like a continuous flame.