Chapter 218: Godlike Power

Seeing the flames climb up Elva’s body like a snake that could never be torn off, Randolf closed his eyes, his breathing rapid and shallow; he didn’t think any longer. Stepping forward, in front of Alice, he didn’t raise his sword. Instead, staring into her now black and purple eyes. "MA...ALICE PLEASE!" Alice didn’t spare a glance in his direction, focusing entirely on Elva behind, her hand twisting around, controlling the flames. "LET HER LIVE! WE NEED HER STILL!"

Her gaze finally turned towards him. "She has already hurt Alice. What need is there for her anymore?"

"I can’t escort you alone. It’s too dangerous. Please, I am begging you. Lord Raven will punish her. I’ll do anything, just don’t kill her." Her glare showed nothing in response to his words, instead moving back towards Elva, her hand continuing to control the flames to climb Elva’s body. Gritting his teeth, Randolf saw no point in begging. No matter what he did, she wouldn’t stop.

’I must escort her. I must protect the people of the Lands. I do both? Lord Raven, please, I need an answer.’ The screams echoing in the background chipped away at his mind, Elva’s desperate plea as the flames climbed higher, calling for him. ’I have to help, but my orders.’

"RANDOLF!" Through her screams, her voice called out to him. His body acted on instinct, his sword swinging up, the runes activating when his fingers grazed the activation on the hilt. It was an impossible choice, his duty to Lord Raven and the land colliding. The Magi were their enemies, the ones they had been warned about. Nothing about it was fair.

Alice’s free hand rose, wind forming on it. It wasn’t an attack; rather, the massive gust of wind propelled her back and attempted to push Randolf a distance away. The sword cut through the wind, the runes glowing a little brighter when they did, leaving Randolf unharmed. Looking back at Elva, in the momentary distraction, she managed to roll off part of the flames clinging to her, the source of their power interrupted.

Alice landed gracefully despite throwing herself back. Randolf didn’t hesitate; he had already made his choice, and knew Alice no longer would give him the luxury of peace she had offered. As if on cue, her hand rose, pointing towards him. Icicles formed, and Randolf paused his chagre, slamming the sword on the ground. The runes lit up, projecting a dense barrier of arcane power to block the icicles, shattering them on impact. Flicking his sword, he kicked up a small screen of dirt and circled around, attacking from Alice’s side.

Another massive gust of wind flew from Alice’s hand, propelling her back once again before the distance could close, and once more she gracefully landed. "Ahh." A low moan escaped Alice’s lips, the tips of her black hair turning back to the fiery red they really were.

Placing both hands together, even as Alice moaned in pain and sadness, an arcane spell formed, one far more complex than she had previously used. Light formed, as if the sun had touched the earth. Randolf tried to keep his eyes open, knowing even a blink could cost him his life, but he couldn’t stop himself; the burning light made him tear up.

The second he blinked, the light vanished, and Alice jumped into the air, wind flowing beneath her feet, keeping her suspended with perfect balance. Holding both hands out, her right hand held a massive amount of water, dense, like an ocean condensed into a ball. From her left hand, another orb formed that was eerily similar. It started off red, a ball of fire, that lightly hummed, but over time, it got lighter, orange, blue, until it became white.

The pained moans coming from Alice’s mouth got louder as more of her hair turned red, her right black eye now a mixture of green and black, looking like a yin-yang symbol. Every hair on Randolph’s body stood on end, a feeling he had only gotten when he felt immense danger. Looking back at Elva, she squirmed on the floor, the fire put out, but her lower body charred and in agony.

’Fuck!’

Screaming in his mind, he saw the water orb fly out towards him first, and behind it the orb of fire followed. The runes on his sword flared up, collecting the power of the world; then, more of the thick shield of pure arcane power formed. The orb of water collided with it, and just before it could be neutralised by the barrier, the orb of white fire hit.

Silence filled the land for a second before an eruption, one Randolf had never known possible, echoed. Being thrown back, the water hit first, burning him and making him scream, followed by whatever remained of the fire touching and instantly incinerating whatever it touched.

Alice didn’t stop; the explosion was just the prologue. Raising her right hand, she crafted a beautiful artwork of power. Water flowed from her hands, shaping itself into the upper half of a woman, the face eerily similar to the black-haired version of Alice. It was nothing like the mini water figures Alice had created, which were so small that the detail couldn’t be added. It was large, filling the sky. The detail was so magnificent that it didn’t look like an attack had been added. The robes intricate, the hands slender as they cupped underneath Alice. The grin, that tried to hide the mournful expresion in it eyes.

It was a work of art created from water, wrapping behind and underneath Alice as a protective shell. With her other hand, a cold breeze came from it, and the water sculpture began to turn to ice. Alice floated in the centre of it, her black hair now partway red again, her right eye fully green, the pain moaning louder with each second.

The ice figure began to fall, the weight pulling it down to the earth, but before it could it shattered, raw arcane power so immense it became visible to the naked eye expelled from Alice, worming it’s way through the suclputre and tearing it apart. The arcane power, refined the shattered remains of the sculpture, sharpening each part. They hovered in place, shavings of ice falling from the sky to create a small downpour.

Randolf couldn’t move, captivated by the beauty of such a thing and horrified by what it was. The hundreds of icicles shattered from the sculpture of the ice lady hung like the executioner’s blade. All were different sizes, different degrees of sharpness, and they hung, held by nothing but the raw power Alice infused in them. Her body convulsed in the air, her nose bleeding from the raw amount of information needed to sustain such a thing, the pained cries getting louder as her hair continued to turn red.

Yet that grin, the one that belonged to the black-haired woman. The playful grin full of teasing and pity stayed. Her raised hand moved slowly, elegantly, unrestrained by the convulsions of her body; the childishness in her actions he was accustomed to was gone. The hanging icicles shook as if anticipating what was to come. Taking the sword, his will to survive overrode the trance he was in, and the runes activated, snatching the power of the world at a final time to condense a shield of arcane power.

Seconds felt like hours, each inch her hand moved, dragging in his mind. It was an exectuion, one beautiful and horryfying, a depth to arcnae power he never knew could exist, soemthing that flet like it belonged to the Old Ones more then a person. The icicles shook so much that they filled the world as they hit against one another, chipping away.

"The world is cursed to be still."

Darkness flooded the world. A darkness so deep one couldn’t see their hand through it. The whispering voice that echoed alongside it was the only sound that could now exist. And within the darkness, light appeared, a dreadful blood-red light as a red iris hovered in the sky, taking the place of the moon, becoming the source of life for the world.

Sound didn’t exist, touch didn’t exist; nothing could exist in the world. The icicles that once felt godly were a mere drop of water before the iris that hovered above, watching, judging, unblinking. Elva’s screams and Alice’s moans died with the darkness; Randolf’s fears were not even allowed to live in it.

"My orders." The whispering voice echoed throughout the world, the being’s voice the sole thing that was allowed to exist in a world that seemed to stop. "Shall be obeyed. Cease this." The tone was different to everything he had heard before. It still whispered, still kept the same quiet tone it always did, but it was clearly angry.

Randolf wished to gulp, but couldn’t; the power that washed over him and everything else stopped even such a tiny action. He wanted to bow and beg for forgiveness, but he couldn’t. He wanted to cry and say he was sorry, but he couldn’t. The blood red iris watched for a moment longer, the new sun staring at the world for a moment before closing. With it, the darkness vanished, and Alice lay on the ground, her convulsing body now calm, as if the pain she was in was gone.

Her fiery red hair was completely back to normal, and her green robes were free of the blood that had once covered part of them. Randolf didn’t move instantly, finally able to feel himself breathe. Statically, after what must have been hours he turned, and saw Elva, laying still, her body free of the char that covered her when hse was burned. It should have been a mercy that she was healed, but Randolf knew it wasn’t. She wasn’t healed out of generosity but because her punishments were Lord Ravens to act upon, not Alice’s.