Cyania flicked her hand and commanded Fons to assault Princess, raining down countless petals and ice shards.

The Elven Arbiters behind her channelled their formations and fought against the golden Arachna. A series of explosions echoed as flashes of light clashed and dispersed. Despite their numerical advantages, the Elven Arbiters couldn't overwhelm the golden Arachna.

Princess blocked Consimia and Ancil and reached out. Her hand twisted the fabric of reality and crushed everything that came too close to her. The pink flowers splashed into nectar, the ice shards into droplets.

A spell formation manifested beside her and mechanically turned. As she drew her hand back, it shattered into countless shards and reflected light in all directions.

The bluish golden radiance flooded the room, its divine might eclipsed everything into insignificant. The intense brightness pushed Cyania backwards.

The Elven Arbiters grabbed their heads as Fons went out of their control. The light collapsed the jointed formation and injured the unfortunate Elven Arbiters whose power resided at the crucial conjunction.

The golden Arachna leapt and swung its spear, killing an Elven Arbiter. The same scene occurred back to back, forcing the Elven Arbiters to break their formation.

Cyania glanced at the others and bit her tongue. The pain shocked her. After she regained herself, she jumped, the ground where she previously stood erupted into a swarm of spikes. She sent waves of petals to Princess while retreating.

Princess nonchalantly faced the petals. With a wave of her hand, space around her folded onto itself, crushing the petals that dared to get close to her.

In front of the absolute power, Cyania slowly exhausted her Fons. Despite her unwillingness, she couldn't find a way to turn the table.

"Cyania, we meet again." Princess stood in front of Cyania, her expression faintly smiling. "Do you want to reunite with him that badly?"

Cyania met Princess's gaze. "Only when you die, he'll be pleased."

By overworking her mind, she constructed a formation surrounding Princess. It generated a blizzard inside its domain, locking Princess from the outside world.

With an overwhelming amount of Fons rushing in and out of her body, Cyania felt lightheaded. Her body gradually transformed into that of a Spirit, pure and smooth, though the pain in her chest intensified.

"You choose the Goddess of Winter as your path. You're like me, getting used then discarded by the others."

"I don't care as long as I avenge him."

The twirling blizzard overwhelmed Princess from all sides. The ice shards, the coldness, and the pale snow blended into a freezing hell, threatening to rip her body into shreds.

Fons emerged from Princess. Along with her gesture, the liquified Fons clashed against the blizzard. Despite the difference in quantity, Princess had been refining her power through countless battles and knowledge from the unknown peak Arbiter, helping her surpass Cyania.

Gripping her chest, Cyania retreated as she witnessed Princess tore the blizzard into pieces. She gritted her teeth and concentrated her power, shifting her hair to a water-like structure, semi-transparent and wavy.

Like a whirlpool, her hair absorbed and gathered the Fons into a massive sphere. The Elven Arbiters stared at her in horror, shouting for their lives, though their voice couldn't reach her before the golden Arachna took their lives.

The broken formation reformed bigger than before, exuding another soothing presence. With the blizzard as the centre, flowers and vines grew from the floor, recreating nature.

With bushes covering the corpses and vines hanging from the shattered ceiling, the greenery painted a thin layer of tranquillity over the nightmarish landscape they occupied.

The flowers blossomed and released a strange fragrance, stagnating the flow of Fons and soothing the minds. The golden Arachna who touched it collapsed on the ground. Their body stopped functioning.

The greenery failed to affect Princess. She stared at Cyania.

"A double blessing. How rare."

Princess brushed her hand across her vision. Every stroke filled the surrounding with Fons, twisting space into a whirlpool of destruction. The gem on her chest illuminated the blizzard, its brilliance encompassing the hall.

The blizzard slipped into the folds of space and disintegrated. The screeching noises of the ice shards faded away as the void swallowed all. Princess glared down at Cyania. Her silhouette covered Cyania in despair.

In silence, Cyania trembled as her legs gave in. She fell on the ground. The pulsation of her heart echoed in her head, filling her thought with static numbness. In the confounded moment, a familiar scene played in her mind.

The faint figures of her friends stood in front of her, their back facing her. They fought endlessly against the Arachna, begging for her to help them. She tried to move, but a dark shadow casting over her restrained her movement, forcing her to watch a claw decapitating her friends.

Princess held Cyania's head and lifted her. "You who work under the Gods are restrained by them."

"Kill me if you dare." Cyania gawked at her, unblinking.

"Farewell, I hope you meet him in your afterlife."

Princess positioned her right hand, placing her sharp fingertips forward. In an instant she stabbed forth.

"Wait!"

The claw slightly grazed Cyania's forehead, cutting a tiny wound on the brows. Princess turned to Consimia who interrupted her, her hand guiding Fons to chain Cyania.

"What is it?"

"Princess, please spare her. She's already suffered a lot."

"Does it matter whether she dies or not?"

"It's my duty to protect all Elves, a burden that I accept."

Princess pointed at Ancil and then Consimia. "How about one of you takes her place?"

"Don't you dare!" Cyania shouted, her face twisting in shame. "I lose this battle. I deserve to die."

"No one deserves anything bad. Only through living, you can amend your mistakes." Consimia walked to Princess. Though her face remained determined, her breathing was unstable.

Ancil grabbed Consimia, but she shook her hand off and gently pushed Ancil onto the chair. The gentle yet determined smile bound Ancil to the chair, her eyes following Consimia but not her body.

"Please make it painless." Consimia glanced at Cyania with a hint of pity in her gaze. As she closed her eyes, she contemplated her life, waiting for a swift demise.

"Remember that face. She's your saviour." Princess grabbed Cyania and forced her to stare at Consimia. "She'll be the last person you see."

Princess slid her fingers into Cyania's left eye socket and gouged her green pupil. She listened to the chilling scream as her fingers gripped the eye and pulled it out.

She let go of Cyania and played with the green pupil, examining the semi-transparent property of a Spirit. She held no regard to Cyania who screeched ceaselessly until blood clogged her throat.

"Why?" Consimia stared at Princess. "Why did you lie?"

"Every action has consequences." Princess smiled. "I need to eliminate any risk I could, though I won't kill her."

She pulled Cyania up and watched her struggling to get away from her. The fragile hands clawed her carapaced skin, doing no noticeable damage to her.

In the same manner, Princess gouged the blue pupil. Because of her injury, Cyania could barely remain conscious. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Darkness permanently stayed with her, filling her with despair and loneliness.

"Your highness, an anomaly has been detected rushing toward us," Shifting Mist manifested beside Princess and said.

"An avatar of a God?"

"Two avatars with a hint of Divinity, to be exact."

"It's time to go," Princess said to Consimia.

"Your highness, please let me accompany you," a voice said. Princess turned to the approaching figure.

An unimpressive Elven Arbiter walked out of the formation. She donned in casual uniform, her appearance completely ordinary. When the golden Arachna closed in to obstruct her, they stumbled and exploded into countless petals.

With every bouncy step she took, her appearance began to shift, turning from an ordinary Elf into a beauty of high calibre. Her black hair extended down her waist, her skin smoothening. Her presence brought peace.

Princess frowned. She detected no ripple of Fons when the golden Arachna died. Nothing seemingly happened.

"You're a Vessel of the Goddess of Nature."

"Fallen Princess, your intellect is excellent, but not enough." The Vessel snapped her fingers, turning the golden Arachna around her into piles of leaves and petals. "You try to defy us, which is unwise."

"Speaking all high and mighty but still using an underhanded trick."

Princess grabbed Consimia and took a step back, her other hand creating barriers in front of her. She sprinted to Ancil, racing against an invisible force that drilled through her defence.

From above, a semi-transparent blue chain tore the ceiling open and intercepted the invisible force. The impact shattered the metals, exploding into a heatwave that melted the surrounding into liquid metal.

With Consimia and Ancil with her, Princess couldn't quickly ascend Shifting Mist. She tossed an orb of Fons at Cyania. It pulsated in a dark glow.

The Vessel repelled the chains and reached out to the orb. She let a chain penetrated her shoulder and shot a petal to intercept the orb. The flowers and vines on the floor vibrated as their Goddess borrowed their power.

Princess leapt up, using her spell to propel upward. Her concentrated and intensive usage of Fons caused her chest to burn. The gem let out a searing noise.

"You won't be going anywhere." The Vessel grabbed the stabbed chain and yanked, her godly strength broke the chain before throwing it at Princess.

The metallic shrapnel heated up as it dragged the air around it. It burned into a fireball of molten Fons and crashed against the layers of barriers. The overheated air combusted and damaged the surrounding, leaving only the last layer intact before turning into green ashes.

Princess forced Consimia and Ancil away before overloading her Fons. The excruciating pain pinched her heart as Fons surged through her body, rupturing her skin. She directed it to the green ashes.

Upon touching the Fons, the ashes exploded into a swarm of thorned vines. They engulfed Princess in spherical confinement. The Fons fought against it, tearing a hole while it regenerated back.

After a moment of silence, the vines crumbled under the assault of the Fons and burst open, revealing Princess with wounds all over her body. She gripped her abdomen, using Fons to prevent heavy bleeding.

Blood dripped from all over her body. She panted as her gem dimmed, though a smile remained on her face. After she threw Consimia and Ancil away, Shifting Mist had already taken them in.

Once she entered Shifting Mist, she would be unstoppable.

GDLiZy

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