Free Web NovelChapter 42: Avariel Healer
Rhea’s eyes went wide in disbelief as Arc freed himself with the help of a strange beast. She should’ve known better than to think the battle would be one-sided, with her coming out victorious.
But she didn’t have time to think about it as the strange beast disappeared, and in its place was an even stranger woman who precisely caught her spirit needles between her fingers, only to spin around and toss them right back at her.
She wasn’t scared of the spirit needles hitting her, and when they did, they simply went through her body harmlessly, embedding themselves in the wall behind her. They were bound to her for as long as she had the needle pouch on her, and were specially designed not to hurt their user, as the Epic-tier item they were.
What she was worried about was the series of attacks that came right after them, streaks of phantom claws that gave her chills and made her hair stand on end. More worrisome was the fact that the intruder had disappeared into thin air, and without her blood threads to rely on, he could attack her from anywhere at any point in time.
She gritted her teeth, snapping her head towards Sarah’s body, and with flicks of her fingers, she drew thin strands of blood that wrapped themselves around her fingers and whipped them out towards the incoming attacks to deflect them and lash out at the strange woman.
Seraphina was fortunate enough to leap out of harm’s way before a blood string tore across her thigh, slicing her garment and the pale, smooth skin underneath.
She winced painfully but didn’t make a sound. She wasn’t sure where her master was, but she could feel he was nearby, watching the battle unfold, and was probably disappointed in her for being unable to handle this much.
This was her first battle, and her master probably wanted to see her in action first to determine if she would be useful to him before he joined the battle.
Watching the enemy whip her red strings about, completely annihilating her initial attacks, Seraphina gritted her teeth behind her veil and, using her nail on her torn dress, ripped it further with one clean swipe, tearing the fabric from the thigh down to the ankle to reveal her flawless slender leg.
Strapped onto her thigh was a row of claw-shaped daggers, of which she swiftly pulled two out in a dual wield as her gaze locked onto her master’s enemy.
In two breaths, she shot forward like a cannon. Rhea swung her blood strings at her, but Seraphina didn’t back down or retreat. Using her daggers, she began deflecting and dissecting every one of the blood strings, all while charging forward without faltering in her steps.
She was determined to prove to her master that she was strong.
More blood strings came from all directions, whipping at her exposed spots. But unlike the first time, when she got careless, Seraphina swiftly countered each and every one of them with lightning speed, flicking out phantom claws every now and then towards the enemy, who found it hard to dodge while controlling that many blood strings.
But no matter how many times the enemy was hit, she healed herself up almost immediately, and the further Seraphina advanced, the denser the blood strings became, forcing her to slow down.
All this while, Rhea had actually been weaving a web of blood threads around Seraphina and was just about to pull them in around her when a chill ran down her spine and her hair stood on end.
It wasn’t because Seraphina was about to execute something threatening, but because the one whose whereabouts she was unaware of was standing behind her now.
Rhea didn’t even need to look to know he had that devilish grin. She could feel it in her soul.
Arc patiently waited until she was distracted to appear at the perfect moment when she was completely open and defenseless. He wrapped his hands around the Avariel healer’s waist with a chain in his hand, feeling her uncontrollable shudder in his arms as he lifted her off the floor, raising her above his head and doubling over to smash her into the balcony floor. But just before her head could collide with the floor—
"STOP."
Rhea commanded with an otherworldly voice, and Arc immediately froze in place, still bent backward with the Avariel healer above him.
"DROP ME."
Like he’d lost control of his body, Arc felt his muscles move on their own to straighten his back and safely drop Rhea onto her feet.
"LET ME GO."
Rhea commanded once more.
Arc’s hands moved to untangle themselves from her waist, but couldn’t move any further.
"I SAID, LET ME GO."
Rhea commanded once more with a frown.
Contrary to her expectations, Arc only smiled behind her ear. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"I’m sorry, my mistress. But my hands are tied—literally," he said in amusement.
Rhea’s head snapped down to see Arc’s wrists tightly bound together by a chain. A Rare-tier chain weapon she recognized that couldn’t be broken easily. And just as she looked up, the strange woman was already before her with her claws diving for her chest.
Her eyes widened at that moment as she realized she’d been tricked.
But how?
How did he know she could control people by manipulating the blood in their bodies, but not their minds, and think this far ahead to chain himself around her so she couldn’t escape?
"T-TURN AROUND. NOW."
She immediately called out in panic just as the strange woman’s claws were about to pierce her chest.
Arc couldn’t disobey and turned just before Seraphina could dig into the Avariel healer’s heart, leaving his back open to take the brunt of the attack.
But Seraphina’s claws stopped a hair’s breadth from touching him, and she swiftly moved around him to attack Rhea once more.
"LEAP AWAY."
"Seraphina, tear us to shreds," Arc called out almost immediately just as his body moved.
Rhea was shocked upon hearing his words, and Seraphina hesitated for only a brief moment before shapeshifting into a cloud of black fog.
Arc had leaped away from the balcony, still midair and about to hit the ground below, when a ferocious beast emerged from the fog.
It wasn’t the size of an overgrown house cat now, but a massive wingless dragonling the size of the Silver Wolf Alpha Beast in its full form.
It leaped off the balcony with its maw lined with razor teeth, at full length and fast approaching the duo before they could even touch down.
"A-Are you crazy?! Are you trying to kill us both?" Rhea screamed.
"Crazy?" Arc scoffed coldly. "I’ve been called worse. Let’s see how fast your healing abilities can keep up."
Seraphina’s maw consumed the two just as those words left his lips, biting down hard.
