Chapter 101: A Wrong Turn

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: A Wrong Turn

Caelia kept fighting while commanding the battlefield.

A C rank beast rushed toward her.

She blocked its claws.

Boom!

Her feet slid across the Ice.

She immediately countered.

"Frost Spear!"

The spear pierced its shoulder.

Snow jumped forward.

"Now!"

The Frost Lynx attacked.

Caelia followed.

Together, they brought the beast down.

She breathed heavily.

Then another group appeared.

Her expression tightened.

There were still so many.

Damon crossed her mind.

For a moment, she wanted to call him.

He could change the entire battlefield.

But Caelia shook her head.

Not yet.

She had asked him to reserve his strength.

And he had trusted her.

She couldn’t abandon her own decision simply because the battle was becoming difficult.

"I can do this."

She raised her weapon.

Snow stood beside her.

"Just a little longer."

Then they charged again.

The battlefield grew harsher.

A C rank beast broke through one of the outer groups.

"Behind you!"

An elemental user turned too late.

The beast’s claw struck his chest.

Bang!

He flew backward.

"Get him out!"

Two people rushed forward and attacked the beast together.

"Frozen Chain!"

"Blizzard Cut!"

The combined attacks forced the beast back.

An elder finished it.

"Take the injured away!"

The injured elemental user was dragged toward the healers.

Another fighter immediately replaced him.

There was no time to mourn.

No time to hesitate.

The tide kept coming.

Caelia watched another beast fall.

Then three more appeared behind it.

Her grip tightened.

This was becoming dangerous.

The first wave had tested their endurance.

The second was testing how long that endurance could last.

She looked toward the distant battlefield.

The beasts seemed endless.

And even though they were killing them, the empty spaces were immediately filled again.

It felt like they hadn’t made any progress.

"Lady Caelia!"

She turned.

A C rank beast was already charging.

Caelia stepped forward.

"Snow."

The Frost Lynx moved.

"Together."

Snow attacked from the side.

Caelia struck from the front.

"Ice Fang!"

Their attacks landed almost simultaneously.

The beast fell.

Caelia barely had time to breathe.

Another two C rank beasts rushed toward them.

She raised her weapon.

"Again."

Snow growled.

They attacked.

Time continued to pass.

The Winterbourne elemental users were no longer cheering.

They were focused.

Their breathing was heavier.

Their movements were slower.

Aether recovery was becoming a serious problem.

Even with rotations, there wasn’t enough time.

Some elemental users had already emptied their cores and were forced to withdraw completely.

Others were fighting with barely enough Aether to use their strongest arts once or twice.

Caelia noticed every one of them.

She adjusted the formation again.

"Don’t waste your Aether!"

"Use basic techniques against the D ranks!"

"Save your strongest arts for the C ranks!"

The orders spread.

They followed them.

It helped.

But only slightly.

Caelia’s own Aether was beginning to fall.

Snow was breathing heavily too.

She looked at her spirit elemental.

"You okay?"

Snow nodded.

Caelia smiled.

"Then we’re not done."

She turned back toward the battlefield.

Another wave of beasts was approaching.

Caelia’s expression became serious.

They had already killed so many.

Yet the tide still looked almost unchanged.

She clenched her teeth.

How many more?

Then she heard footsteps behind her.

A scout was running toward her.

The man’s face was pale.

Caelia turned.

"What happened?"

The scout stopped in front of her, breathing heavily.

He looked toward the battlefield before looking back at her.

"Lady Caelia..."

His voice trembled.

"Bad news."

Caelia’s expression changed.

"What?"

The scout swallowed.

"Bad news."

He looked terrified.

And whatever he had seen was serious enough to make him hesitate.

Caelia tightened her grip on her weapon.

"Speak."

Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, the group behind the attack had received the latest report.

The Winterbourne family was struggling.

Everything was going according to plan.

The person they had planted inside the battlefield had finally moved into position, using the chaos of the second wave to get close to Caelia without drawing suspicion.

The leader looked toward the man who had brought the report.

"Has our scout moved?"

The man nodded.

"Yes."

A smile appeared on the leader’s face.

"Good."

He leaned back.

"Caelia won’t know what hit her."

The others remained quiet.

The leader looked at the battlefield report again.

They didn’t need to defeat the Winterbourne family directly.

They only needed to separate the right people.

Caelia was the key.

Use her sense of responsibility.

Push her into making a decision.

Then Damon would have no choice but to move.

The leader smiled.

"Let’s see how much she trusts her own judgment."

Back on the battlefield, the scout finally gathered himself.

He had rehearsed this moment many times.

His breathing was heavy, and his face carried the right amount of worry.

"Lady Caelia..."

"What is it?"

"I spotted a small group of B rank beasts."

Caelia’s eyes narrowed.

"B rank?"

"Yes."

The scout pointed toward the distance.

"They’re not too far from here, but they’re still some distance away."

Caelia looked in the direction he pointed.

"If we leave them alone, what happens?"

"They’ll eventually reach the main tide."

The scout paused.

"And if they join the battle, the pressure will become even worse."

Caelia thought about it.

He was right.

If they could eliminate the B rank beasts before they reached the mansion, they could reduce the pressure on everyone else.

It was a good strategy.

There was just one problem.

Why had nobody else noticed them?

Caelia looked toward the battlefield again.

Her mind was already calculating.

The elemental users were exhausted. And the C rank beasts were continuing to pile pressure on them.

If those B ranks joined the wave, the situation could become much worse.

She had a choice.

Ignore them and continue defending.

Or remove the threat before it reached them.

Her eyes moved across the battlefield.

Another elemental user fell back with an injured shoulder.

Two others immediately replaced him.

Caelia’s expression tightened.

"We’ll take them out."

The scout lowered his head slightly.

"Understood."