Chapter 47: A Flaming other side

The bird lost its balance, crashing down from the sky in a deadly spiral.

It’s desperate screams gaining the attention of its friends, as Steven could feel them moving away from the cave.

But that didn’t stop him as he managed to free himself from the creature’s grip, trying to balance himself on his body.

He couldn’t kill it off yet before he had finished the others.

The bird decided to spin himself wildly, throwing Steven off into the air.

But before Steven had time to act, one of the birds from the cave had entered a full dive towards him.

Its beak colliding with his guts made him gasp for air.

As with another bit, it grabbed him, bringing him up again. His brain felt like it was being pulverized from the sudden direction shift.

He raised his arm once more, trying to wound this one too, but even after swinging it with all his might, nothing seemed to happen.

He felt weak, as if something were draining all his power. Trying once more, he actually felt pain in his arm trying to hurt the creatures.

"What is happening to me?" He whispered to himself, spitting out blood.

As his vision began to spin, he stopped being rational, ready to cast a powerful spell.

"Divine flames say to punish the sinners." He even used an incarnation as he opened his hand, ready to burn it to a crisp.

But nothing happened; not a single drop of his mana left his body.

Slowly losing consciousness, he felt something jump down from their base.

Merency had entered the battle.

She was falling through the air, barely wearing more than some garments.

She hadn’t realized what happened until Steven just went missing while she was turned away.

At first she had believed he had just already descended the cliff, but with two of these giant birds trying to enter, she doubted it.

But instead of chasing her, they went towards some kind of loud scream, which meant Steven was down there.

Falling downwards, she didn’t feel too worried Steven could easily handle those even without flying.

But for some reason all of them were still flying; using her mana sense, she could feel him dropping from the sky.

But he wasn’t moving at all as worry took root in her heart for the first time.

She wouldn’t be able to reach him before he would collide with the ground.

So he decided to use her flight, as it moved the air downwards from her to the site, reducing any drag.

But that wasn’t enough as she used the air above her to push herself down.

Gaining unnatural speed, she descended like lightning trying to strike the ground.

Moving past all three of the birds who didn’t manage to catch so fast.

The ground only grew closer; barely a moment away from reaching it, her hand finally grabbed Steven’s arm, pulling him close.

She didn’t have time to avoid the collision, so she used all her power to create a powerful barrier around them.

As with a bang, she reached the ground, sending her unconscious instantly as her back cracked.

Opening her eyes just a moment later, she saw the three birds had already reached her as one of their claws tried piercing her chest.

She barely rolled away still holding Steven close; they had to go through her first.

And they were going to do that, as she was sent flying by one of them simply turning around.

Landing hard, she lost her grip on Steven, who landed a few meters away from her.

The birds slowly turned their heads towards her, seemingly excited about the whole situation.

But she could barely move anymore; with everything that happened yesterday in combination with today, she should’ve rested for the rest of the week.

But she couldn’t, as her eyes wandered over Stevens’ body, only fueling her rage.

Rising to her legs, trembling, one of them was already jumping at her. As she fired a ball of pure fire from her hand, it was only swallowed by them.

Barely able to jump out of its way, she tried once more, this time hitting her target but barely even leaving a scratch.

"What are those things?" She questioned herself while the two others only stared at her.

They were playing with her like she was just some kind of snack.

"I will show you the power of a moonstone." She hadn’t planned on using this type of magic during her school time, but she just couldn’t find another way.

As a single small flame in front of her turned alive, it wasn’t a normal spirit or summoning.

The sun seemed to grow darker just by its pure light; the heat felt unbearable even when she couldn’t feel it.

It felt like her soul and mind were split into two parts, revealing something long gone.

A single memory flashed in her mind.

She was sitting inside the royal garden as a small child, her red hair moving in the wind.

Next to her sat another identical-looking girl playing with something.

"Merency, promise me one single thing."

But before she could answer, she was pushed back to reality.

It was a Prophet-class spell, the true soul summoning. Which is one of the last solutions learned in the royal family.

But the drawbacks were so heavy that not even all ministers had used it in their lives.

His arms began to twist backwards, and so did her legs.

She screamed in pain as the flame in front of her only grew, even forming a small smile.

"Merency Moonstone, my troublesome sister, why are you calling me?" It asked, sounding cocky.

She only fell forward into the mud, not able to move a muscle.

"Oh dark flame of my body, I offer you a part of me in exchange for your power."

Her laugh was the last thing she

could hear.

As the three birds seemed to recognize the danger.

They were already gone, only their ashes remaining.