Capítulo 72: The Sacrifice

"You oafs! I said I want her alive!" Darion's voice thundered through the skies of the South Kingdom. Grandma Era shifted a little as she ground trembled below her feet. "Why are humans so stupid!"

That Holy Knight did not hold back his Berserker and pushed the whirlwind to Yllana. A glint flashed across her eyes. "Hell's Berserker,"

Flames rose beneath her in a circular motion. It danced with the wind and encircled her inside a whirlwind of fire. In a matter of seconds, it rose higher and higher until no one could see her inside. She couldn't feel the heat from the fire. Hell, she was not even burning from the fire!

"She's only a Mid-Saint! How…" the two knights staggered back. The one limping with his wounded leg gorged down a bottle of medicine. When the pain in his leg subsided, he hastily removed his helmet and glared at Yllana. His brow was still twitching either from fear or anger.

The two whirlwinds, one of the winds and the other of the flames, smashed against each other! The powerful force blew open the walls and doors around them and the whirlwinds merged into a powerful and giant one. Yllana felt the two knights hitting the steel-like berserker around her.

"Don't try me," she hissed at the shadows outside. Then she leaped above the knight in front of her with her sword on her side. The flame and wind almost blinded the knight that he squinted his eyes.

With full force, she banged her sword against the knight's. The knight gasped and fell backward losing his grip from his sword. Another halo of fire and wind blades exploded from the twister and hit the people around them.

Darion's eyes widened. In one leap, he turned into a purple ray of light rushing to Yllana's side.

"Mas-"

Azimuth did not even finish speaking when Lucien also vanished on their side. They did not even see his shadow. When they looked back at Yllana, a tall dark figure was already glaring behind her. Across them, the knight who summoned a berserker continuously coughed out blood. His sword was stuck on his stomach and Darion was holding it on the other end. There was a devilish smile playing on his lips.

He pulled the sword up and the knight's upper body split into two. Blood splashed everywhere dyeing the tiled floor an eerie tint of deep red. Yllana gripped her sword tighter and raised a corner of her lips. "You don't even hold back on killing your own men."

"I said I want you alive," he threw the sword on the side and gave a warning glance at the two knights. "Stupid idiots," he added.

The two looked at each other and removed their helmets to see her clearer. "You are pretty skillful for a Mid-Saint rank," one knight muttered under his breath. They gritted their teeth, huffed up their chests, and ran towards her, their swords pointed at her head.

She raised her hand to signal Lucien. It took him several seconds before he could calm himself down. "Leave him to me," he declared. He looked at the healed scars on her body. 'Will you still need me after this?' Doubt started to enter his mind.

"I, Yllana Saber, pledged as a knight. Lucien, I will fight as long as I can hold." She vowed to herself.

When the two knights were almost an inch closer to them, Yllana freed her shadow serpents and grabbed their feet. "Bone Crusher,"

Shouts and sound of cracking bones erupted in the air. Leon and Vannie who have been watching on the side felt a chill run down their spine.

Darion saw the opportunity and dashed to the three half-blood on one side. When Azimuth saw that he was aiming for them, they left behind the two young men.

"Circle of St. Teron," Darion uttered. They were trapped. Lucien and Yllana quickly spotted him and wrinkled her forehead. 'Why did he trap the half-bloods?'

It was too late when she turned to see Leon and Vannie. Darion is already in his demon form. Long black arms, red eyes, and two boys? 'Oh, no…'

Darion caught Leon and Vannie in his hands. He was gripping their necks tightly that the veins started popping out. Just a little bit more pressure and he could easily crush their necks. The glow in Yllana's eyes started to fade. It turned back into its original shade of red. Her eyes darted from his demon form and to the boys on his grasp.

"Come to me obediently or these two will die."

If death had a voice, she was sure it was near Darion's. It was cold and hoarse. "Shadow serpents," she whispered again.

But Darion saw through her attack. He loosened his grip on Vannie and threw him into the arriving serpents. Lucien summoned his own serpents and caught Vannie in the air. Yllana's serpents continued to crawl swiftly towards Darion.

"Stubborn girl," Darion sighed. He summoned his sword on his other hand and…

Swoosh!

Everybody stopped moving as a piercing cry followed the sound of ripping flesh.

"No, Leon!" Yllana screamed. This was not supposed to happen!

~~~~~~~~~~

Grandma Era heard Yllana calling out Leon. She felt her chest tightened, but she could not stop now. She was in the middle of the chant. And these many people would take so much more than what she expected. Hundreds of thousands of people to cure with a spell and a single witch? If it was an ordinary witch, they could have died already.

Another minute passed. Her eyes started to blur. She could feel the end of the chant drawing near as gray clouds begin to gather in the sky. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"This emperor has done so much for our kingdom, but we do not deserve this as an exchange." She gazed down at the people outside the palace. A little girl caught her attention. She looks just about four. Two ponytails adorned her pretty little face and she was even holding a bunny doll on her right arm. "You used to knock on our door and ask for Mariek to play with you and yet…and yet…" Something caught in her throat while she felt the stinging tears forming on her eyes. 'It's not too late. It's not too late.' She repeated in her mind. Her tears were followed by another pair dripping down to her wrinkled chin.

She was still floating on air inside her own tornado as she lifted her head up and lift her arms a little. "This is my sacrifice. Take me to heal these people."

The ground shook. Several cracks emerged along the pavement and made way towards Grandma Era. All the cracks met on that point and seemed to grow bigger. Black smoke then surged up below her. There were some people swallowed by the black smoke, but none screamed nor fell on their knees.

Their faces were still. The innocent little girl did not even run away or called for her mother. They were all lifeless dummies the emperor and his witches enchanted. "This is all I can do for you." Grandma Era closed her eyes.

The smoke rose higher and higher until it reached her feet. When a sliver of smoke touched her skin, that spot turned black in an instant. Grandma Era let out a heart-wrenching cry. It felt like someone had cut off that very part of her body and left the vicious pain for her to suffer.

Slowly, inch by inch, the pain of being cut slowly into tiny pieces crept to her legs, then to her thighs. It went higher and higher, ever so slowly and painful that tears did not stop dripping down her chin.

"Forgive me! Oh, heavens forgive me and let these children live!" She cried. She screamed. She let out her wails as a little child would. Memories of her children and grandchildren flashed before her eyes. She could feel the cutting sensation climbing up to her chest. Her heart constricted. She twisted from side to side but did not let go of the smoke that was eating her alive.

Finally, she stopped moving. Her face was looking up in the gray sky with a pained expression. She took her one last breath…and the smoke clouded her vision.

When the smoke swallowed her completely, it shot up in the sky like a rocket firing up. Boom! The black smoke spread across the vast sky and the gray dull sky turned even bleaker.

Drip…drip…drip

On the pavement, small drops from the sky fell. It was supposed to be rain, as any ordinary weather looked like. But instead of colorless liquid crashing down to the ground, it was red.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Kareem, why do you think it's taking them so long?" Mariek was sitting on a hidden corner outside the city walls. It had almost been two hours since they have seen Lucien and the others enter the kingdom, but there hasn't been any shadow that went out. It made her little heart beat nervously.

"They are trying to be as silent as possible. They will rescue Grandma. I'm sure they will. I believe in Yllana." He smiled confidently. His eyes sparkled as he thought of seeing Grandma once again.

Drip…drop…drip…

"Blood?" Mariek's brows almost met in the middle when she held out her hand to catch a drop from the 'rain'. She stood up from where she was sitting to look at the bleak sky. Then her eyes went back to that single drop. The warm drop on her warm felt heavy on her palm. Her heart beat faster and her hands started to shake a little. She bit her lip and swallowed hard as she brought the small drop to her nose.

Sniff.

Light instantly faded from her eyes and a dark shadow loomed above her head. Her hand shook even more uncontrollably and two hot liquid raced down her cheeks.

"Grandma!"

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