Having brandished the flag and planted it, Lillian watched as the darkness receded; her eyes then shot towards the densest area of darkness and found it to become fainter.
The Flag of Reclamation was taking effect.
But. It wasn’t enough.
She needed to get the flag closer to Marionette. Although it wasn’t specifically stated inside the enchantment’s description, the area closer to the flag held a greater effect.
Holding her shortsword in her left hand for the speed boost, Lillian lifted the flag and immediately leapt down.
Periodically, on her fall, she would construct a platform so she could plant the flag, preventing the darkness from recovering its previous size.
However, there were a few times when she was too slow.
The darkness was like a speeding jet of water flying through the sky, piercing through Lillian’s shoulder and barely missing her joint, causing her to groan.
Lillian felt the darkness wiggle inside her shoulder, corroding the flesh around it. She gritted her teeth and brandished the Flag of Reclamation, planting it on a newly created platform.
"[Reclamation]!"
With a fwoosh of light, the darkness dissipated, leaving behind a gaping hole that Lillian could only grimace at.
Drinking down a health potion, Lillian continued her dash forward, eventually getting to the ground.
...
"Sir Gardener!"
With a wave of his hand, the Gardener purified the wall of darkness in front of him, revealing the servants that were hidden behind as though he was drawing back a curtain.
His eyes darted to each one, eventually his gaze landing on the Head Butler. He then asked:
"I’m glad to see you’re all well. Do you have anything to report?"
"Most of the servants of the mansion are here; some were tragically lost. On our way here, we had also discovered that the darkness seemed to be weakening or perhaps receding slightly in some areas of the mansion."
"I have also discovered that last point as well."
Unlike before, the needed amount of mana from him to purify the corruption had been dramatically lessened by 50%. He had even felt the mana around him coat his body without his doing; something else must be in play.
The Gardener swept across the crowd, trying to locate a certain white-headed girl before discovering that she wasn’t amongst the servants.
"Where’s the girl?"
Houston, the Head Butler, shook his head emotionlessly.
"We have yet to find her, sir, and we fear we may not - for the darkness is originating from the Heiress’s room, which is... right next to where Miss Lillian’s room is."
Hearing this, the Gardener sighed, coming to the conclusion that Lillian had died. ’It seemed the ingredients used for the medicine were all wasted in the end.’
With a frown, he dashed forward, leading the forefront to his niece’s room as he banished the corruption in front of him.
Soon enough, he reached his niece’s room.
He shot a glance towards the inside of Lillian’s room, whose doors were destroyed, and found it to be barren of furniture and a destroyed area on the wall where the window would be.
The Gardener’s gaze lingered a few milliseconds more on the broken window as countless scenarios popped into his head.
He doubted the darkness would attempt to break through a window without purpose, and the fact that this was Lillian’s room led him to believe...
’So, she is alive.’
That she might be alive.
As he was about to step away, darkness suddenly attacked him from around the corner in the room, causing him to reflexively defend himself.
With a step back, the Gardener found that the left wall of the room was completely destroyed, allowing full view into the room next to this one, which so happens to be his niece’s.
"Are you still conscious, niece?!" He called out coldly to the fog of darkness.
A strained and feminine voice responded.
"Yes... The True Darkness is currently escaping from my right wrist and the veins in my body significantly quickened its pace of darkening." Marionette reported articulately.
She then asked, "Where’s Lillian—?"
"I don’t know." The Gardener immediately responded, waving his head and casting a wave of mana. "I have yet to see her after she visited my lab."
His mana made contact with the thick fog of darkness, but much to his expectation, he scowled as he found the True Darkness resisting his purification.
"How annoying. Are you able to reign in control, niece?"
"It’s resisting my control," Marionette muttered, trying her best to reel back in the darkness blooming out of her wrist - but the darkness inside her veins was rebelling, although its strength had definitely diminished a bit since a few minutes ago.
SHATTER!
As the Gardener was racking his brain on how to proceed, he found the fog of darkness dramatically diminish in mass, just enough so that his niece’s shocked expression could be seen.
In the span of a few milliseconds, the Gardener analysed his surroundings.
One of the two windows to the outside was destroyed. The darkness around his niece was receding rapidly. All that he had mentally noted was the cause of a flag stuck on a wall?
’The Bellona flag?’
Recognising the three symbols on the flag, the Gardener felt a sense of surprise well up inside his heart like a balloon. Why was a flag that bore the Bellona flag here? And why did it seem to have such great effects on the True Darkness?
He was not someone who delved into historical matters if it didn’t involve medicinal herbs or ingredients, but he would ask about it later. Right now, though, he needed to move fast.
The Gardener, unaware of how long the flag’s suppressive effects would last, summoned a syringe from his spatial storage - it contained the poison.
This syringe was special because when its needle sank into a fleshy surface, it would automatically inject whatever was inside it into the target’s body.
With a precise throw, the Gardener threw it towards his niece; his arm flicking forward like he was throwing a baseball.
It shot through the air, whistling. But when it was about to pass by the broken window to the side, it was intercepted by none other than Lillian, who had managed leap into the room through the window.
***
[Several Minutes Before]
"[Reclamation]!"
Finally reaching the ground, Lillian stabbed the Flag of Reclamation into the ground - causing the darkness around her to retreat. Her face was slightly sweaty as she stood on solid ground.
By now, she was nearing Marionette’s room, specifically, outside her window.
As Lillian was about to move forward, rubble from the mansion suddenly fell out of the sky - falling at a speed that left even Lillian shocked.
Her eyes widened in disbelief, "What the—?!"