Chapter 92: The Silver Maiden
Jaden looked at everything happening at the gate with wide eyes as he mumbled.
"What the hell just happened here?"
Five minutes ago—
Lane had already finished the first wave, and the second wave had begun. The nightmares were similar to before, but they had thin grey chitin covering their bodies.
"Die."
Just as Lane finished her words, the nightmares’ bodies fell with a thud. She looked at Maria with the end of her eyes. Maria stood leisurely, her hands folded across her chest with a wide grin on her face as she asked.
"Why so slow? Be quick, Lane. We do not have all day for this."
Lane looked away, her gaze fixing on the gate before she clicked her tongue and asked, "Why are you not helping me then?"
"Hmm? You didn’t get to have fun the last time, right? I thought I’d let you have your fun this time instead," Maria answered with a tilted head as her smile turned playful.
"I do not want James to get late because of me," Lane answered before hurling more icicles and lightning streaks at the nightmares coming out of the gate.
"I will take care of the next waves," Maria stated with the same playfulness.
Lane glanced at her and spoke softly, "You promised."
Just as she said that, her demeanour changed. Her mana began to drain rapidly as she mumbled. "Iron Maiden’s Frost Zone."
The ice elementals shifted, and the metal mana in her aether core blended with it. The mana left her body like a silver-blue liquid and pooled near her before it rose and began to spread everywhere.
"Krr... krre... kreek..."
It climbed onto the bodies of the nightmares, trapping and freezing them in their place. The nightmares shivered under the cold emitted from the metallic-ice liquid before it froze into the shape of a warrior woman with wide wings, holes all over the statue.
All of the nightmares of the second wave were trapped in their places. She clenched her fist, and icicles appeared before each hole and shot forward.
Pss... Thk... Pss... Thk... Pss... Thk...
Soon, dark red dripped from the holes as all the holes had icicles jutting from them.
The place fell into silence, and the local arcane knights looked at her with wide eyes. Their bodies shivered under her involuntary gaze.
Lane turned back and walked towards Maria as the gate turned darker, announcing the arrival of the third wave.
"That was better than before," Maria commented as she stretched a little.
Lane shot her an annoyed look before responding, "I used most of my mana for it."
Maria shook her head and replied with a smile.
"I’d be surprised if you hadn’t... It was a four-star spell, after all."
"It could’ve been better," Lane replied.
Maria raised an eyebrow and grinned as she spoke.
"Oh, stop being humble, Miss Thunder Ice Pixie."
Lane gritted her teeth and spat, "You know I hate that name, do you not?"
"Hmm? How would I know that?" Maria asked with a tilted head as a faint frown crossed her face, but... her eyes gleamed with mischief.
Lane’s expression turned furious, and she parted her lips to speak, but a heavy heartbeat cut her off. Both of their expressions turned serious, and the expressions of the other arcane knights turned grave as one of them mumbled.
"T-Third Wave!!"
The civilians and arcane knights murmured:
"It’s the third wave... all of them would be of Expert rank this time!!"
"Can they handle it?"
"Are you doubting my princess?"
"The fuck you mean ’my princess’?"
"Oh, my Thunder Ice Pixie! You don’t have to fight alone. I’ll fight with you!!"
"You are just an Initiate rank, bro."
Maria chuckled under her breath as she muttered, "Do you hear them questioning us?"
Lane didn’t answer and just stared at the dreamgate. Maria shook her head at Lane’s reaction and raised her hand. A silver blob appeared on her hand and stretched into a scythe as a wide grin appeared on her face.
The gate widened a little, and a horde of nightmares poured out of it. Their chitin had turned darker and harder. Maria’s grin widened as fire began to cover the blade of her scythe.
"Morana’s Scythe Dance." She mumbled as she swung her scythe multiple times within a single breath.
Swish... Swoosh... Swish... Swoosh... Swish... Swoosh... Swish... Swoosh...
Each swing of hers produced a fire blade that first cut through the nightmare and then burned deeper into their wounds. The nightmares screamed and let out incomprehensible cries.
"Heh. Finished already?" Maria muttered. She turned towards Lane and continued, "I tried, but I was still slower than the time you had with your lover."
"SHUT UP AND FOCUS ON THE GATE!!" Lane shouted at the top of her lungs as her face turned beet red.
"Haha!" Maria chuckled as she turned towards the gate and her scythe began to shimmer with a faint silver as she rushed towards the remaining C-ranked nightmares.
Jaden, who was looking at all of this through the ASUV’s window, muttered with wide eyes, disbelief painted on his face.
"What the hell just happened here?"
Jamie, who was also looking at everything through the window, spoke in a bitter tone.
"She is having a lot of fun... huh."
Jaden turned towards him and thought.
’Is he fine? Has he gone mad? Nah, there’s no way!’
He shook his head and turned back.
"Kre—" A nightmare let out a scream, which was cut short by Maria’s scythe as she cut off the upper half of its head. Her scythe caught the sunlight, gleaming red like a bleeding crescent. A few drops of blood marred her beautiful face.
The gate pulsed again, its colours deepening as it widened.
Maria’s scythe melted and turned into a chain with a hook at the end. She channelled wind mana into her leg and stomped. The nightmare bodies that littered the ground rose in the air. She threw the chain; more chains shot out of it, snaring each body before hurling them all into the same spot.
Maria smirked as the scythe reformed, her expression turning into that of a wild beast.
"Come faster."