As the last fragment of Solaris faded away from the castle, Alyss closed her eyes and the golden chains disappeared.
"F*cking hell…" Alice muttered, falling back as the disguise of the jester began to fall apart.
While the jester was versatile in keeping her identity a secret, one attack is all it needs for it to be dispelled.
If it wasn't for the fact that she had her resonance, her true appearance might've been seen by Solaris and if that was to happen, it would've truly been a bad situation.
'Honestly, I probably shouldn't have stolen his soul like that.' Alice's smile twitched thinking about the trouble she just caused.
But after he tried to wrap that chain around her neck, she felt an unstoppable surge of rage within.
'Well, what's done is done. No point worrying about it now.' Alyss shrugged with a smile. She felt satisfied being able to go all out after such a long time of not being able to fight. A true stress reliever.
Looking at the fading lance in her hands, Alice had a smile on her face. She was glad she didn't get rid of her personal artifact. A weapon that could act as a catalyst for her abilities and match her growth was far too rare to give up.
As long as she can weather this period where her body is at its weakest, the results will be unthinkable. A prime Alice with all her abilities available again. Cayla, Void Fang, Ruinous Void and the full capabilities of her blood.
The goal of bringing down the Zenia family was slowly coming into view and Alice couldn't suppress the smile on her face.
"Ah…" Pausing in realisation, Alice glanced to her left and saw Bo clutching his ribs while walking over in shock.
She had completely forgotten that the two of them were still here since Solaris had taken her attention when he appeared.
"Erm… Teehee?" Alice stuck out her tongue.
"I… have so many questions." Bo sighed. He didn't know how Alice was able to pull off everything she had just demonstrated. With the wounds she had on her body, this should've been impossible.
Not only that, but the last attack sent by Caelum was frankly too devastating. A single spear toss that made him feel like he was going to die just by looking at the attack.
Yet here she was, lying on the ground with mild wounds at best.
"Maybe you can ask them later when we get out of here. We're still in enemy territory ya know?" Alice scratched her cheek as she glanced past him and saw Olivr's shocked expression upon seeing her identity.
'I'm guessing that b*stard's scared now since he tried to kill you.' Alyss folded her arms.
'Perhaps. Should I deal with him now?' Alice wondered before nodding her head.
'Of course, I should. Leaving behind loose cannons like him would only cause issues further down the line.'
"Bo, could you move aside for a second?" Alice asked as Bo nodded his head.
Stepping to the side, he watched as she aimed her finger towards Olvir's location.
"!!!" Realising what was about to happen, he wanted to say something but a spark of raw energy shot towards Olivr like an arrow.
Detonating in front of him and erasing him in an instant, Alice let out a sigh of satisfaction.
"Thank you~ Had to deal with him before he tried to kill me while I'm weak. Motherf*cker exploded the orb I had on me to drag the guards to the watchtower." Alice figured she might as well explain before Bo misunderstands.
"I see…" Bo sighed as he could only shake his head. Had Olivr taken a different route, he might be alive right now but this was no time to mourn.
"The others are still fighting by the gates. The strange beasts haven't shown up yet. Let's get out of here and regroup." Bo suggested, offering to carry Alice considering her current state.
"Honestly, if the beasts appear we're kind of f*cked. I can't deal with them right now unless I plan on taking myself out with them." Alice admitted honestly.
With that last attack that Alyss threw towards Solaris, she exhausted all of the energy in her body. On top of everything, she even summoned her personal Artifact! Frankly, it's a wonder that she was even conscious right now.
"Also you probably don't want to touch my blood. Just a warning for you." She added, throwing a droplet towards what remains of Caelum's corpse.
Glancing over, he watched as parts of Caelum's flesh began to twist and mutate before finally bursting apart.
"What kind of spirits did you even attune to???" Bo blinked his eyes in confusion and shock.
"The less you know the better. Just drag me along with a rope or something. As long as you don't touch my blood, you're safe."
Nodding his head, Bo grabbed the bodies of the surviving captains while ignoring the rest. There were only three survivors.
Him, the shield captain and a captain who used support skills but didn't heal. Everyone else died in the fight except Olivr who was killed by Alice because he tried to kill her earlier.
Lifting the two captains onto his shoulder, he grabbed some clothes and rope. Bundling up Alice's body, he carried it on his back.
"I know I said that you shouldn't touch my blood. But isn't this a bit too much?" Alice's smile twitched.
With the way he had wrapped her up, she felt like she was a worm. Unable to move her limbs and tightly packed into a long roll. Only able to shuffle.
"It's either that or dragging you by rope. And honestly, rope is probably the worse option." Bo joked along, lightening the mood before dashing out of the castle.
He could see countless abilities and attacks being thrown by the gates. Dead corpses scattered across the battlefield. A friend who shared a meal with him earlier was blasted to smithereens without even seeing where the attack came from.
"The Grandmaster is dead! All units retreat!!!" Bo shouted towards the Warrior of Verona.
Despite their shallow victory over the Grandmaster, they could not occupy a port stronghold with these numbers never mind calling for reinforcements from the capital.
Hearing his command, the Warriors of Verona began to deploy defensive abilities with what little numbers they had left and began to retreat. Alice could spot Egil covering for his allies, taking the attacks using his own body and providing cover while Selen slowed down large scale abilities.
"I don't suppose we're continuing the assault after we regroup?" Alice asked curiously.
"Of course not. With these numbers, it's just suicide. We're going back to the supply base as soon as possible." Bo shook his head as Alice let out a sigh of relief.
Retreating back to the mountains, Alice glanced at the surviving numbers and couldn't help but frown. Out of the 55 that survived the journey here, only 17 is left not including the captains.
None of Bo's squad managed to survive the initial attack with stragglers barely surviving thanks to being covered by Egil.
The enemy targeted the healers and supporters first so they were the first to go.
Looking at these numbers, Bo couldn't help but let out a sigh. He had hoped more would survive but this was probably the best they were going to get. If Alice hadn't intervened in the battle against the Grandmaster, no one would be left.
"Rest up for an hour. After an hour, we'll prepare for the journey back." Bo ordered, taking command as the other captains were still knocked out from the battle.
Sighed of relief could be heard while many of the Warriors were traumatised by the battle.
Their eyes were hollow as friends whom they shared time with perished beside them while they survived on pure luck.
Meanwhile, Selen crossed her arms in front of Alice who was bleeding from all over her body due to the wounds that failed to close.
"What did you do this time? Your regeneration completely shut down." Selen asked with a frown.
She told Alice to take it easy but only for her to return in this state.
"Erm… Things got a little out of control I admit. But I got a clue on how to fix my body now." Alice coughed, changing the subject as Selen rolled her eyes.
Reaching into her pouch, she grabbed some bandages and began to dress up Alice's wounds.
Out of everyone, she was the most qualified since her body was somewhat resistant. As long as she keeps contact to a minimum, Alice's blood won't do much to her.
"I also got some new information on the Zenias for you." Alice whispered, ensuring that no one was eavesdropping on them.
"They've created a new hybrid similar to the one back in Verten. The three beasts that ambushed us are their new products and they have a human form."
Hearing this, Selen froze up immediately as her pupils constricted.
"So they finished the experiments." Selen gritted her teeth as she continued to dress up Alice's wounds.
"You know of them?" Alice raised an eyebrow, realising that Selen had information.
"A little but not much. Erick wasn't part of the main family so the information he could get was limited. However, there were two variants of this experiment. First, to create hybrids between humans and sealed Lords.
"I'm part of that experiment and the Lord I was matched with controls time to some extent. The second half… is to create a brand new 'race' of humans. I just know that their fusion starts much earlier than the ones of the first variant.
You could even say they're born that way and no adjustments are needed later down the line." Selen explained as she remembers seeing a few of the prototypes belonging to the second variant when she was still in the Zenia family.
Children who couldn't control their transformation and mutate into malformed beings before they could fully adapt. In one sense, it was worse than succumbing to the side effects of Abyss Blood.
There was no easy way to put it. Once they mutate due to a lack of control, they become malformed monstrosities with no way of turning back to normal.
The only mercy they could receive was being killed. Either die as a monster or live as a weapon of the Zenias. That is the choice offered to this new 'race' of beings.