"So it WAS you then!"
Three words of power lit up along the length of Princess Inara's blade before she had even finished speaking. Her expression glimmered with a smattering of emotions, mostly cold-blooded viciousness as she eyed Lady Jiang.
And Lady Jiang clearly saw it as well. Her mind raced, trying to come up with any way to get out of this alive but she knew Princess Inara's strength and temperament all too well by now, not to mention the two guards behind her.
Even if she tried to use flight magic which she could barely activate properly even under normal circumstances let alone under duress trying to get away from this place, there was a pretty good chance she would be dead before her feet would leave the ground.
And if by some miracle she managed to take off, Uri would still be left down there and that would most certainly spell his doom.
She looked towards Princess Inara with a complicated expression. How had it come to this?
"Sister...why are you doing this?"
Princess Inara, upon noticing that look of pity and anguish in Lady Jiang's eyes even in this situation, couldn't help but seethe with unconcealed rage.
She grit her teeth loud enough that everyone around her could hear it.
"Because of that! There it is again! Every time you look at us with those stupid eyes I want to gouge them out. What gives you the right to be so high and mighty? A mere human witch without even a place to call home dares to look at ME, a princess of the Hallvard Clan with those pitiful eyes? You lowly peasant bitch-"
She pulled back her blade as the three words of power jumped into action. Lady Jiang pulled Uri close and cast the simplest protective spell she knew, creating a bubble of light that surrounded them both.
Princess Inara swiftly slashed forward but the barrier was already in place. She attacked two more times but these normal attacks could do nothing against it. All the force and energy was redirected towards the ground below.
Princess Inara had seen Lady Jiang cast this barrier spell before. It was created with the sole purpose to defend against physical attacks in case an enemy got close.
"YOU.DIRTY.WHORE!" three more attacks landed after every word but to no avail
Her expression became uglier as the three words of power started combining with one another and created a much large symbol, one that could barely fit on the blade but even then did not stop growing.
When the symbol reached the maximum width of what the blade could handle, the blade started to expand along with the symbol. From a shortsword that was barely half a meter long, it turned into what looked like a cleaver that was almost 1.8 meters in length, longer than the person it was pointed at.
Its hilt continued changing even after the blade had stopped growing. Two rows of canine teeth emerged from the top and bottom of the hilt. Each tooth was outfitted with a red gem.
Although it took a while to explain everything, the process itself didn't take more than a couple of seconds. And when the sword's transformation stopped, a heavy pressure fell on the entire valley followed by a bloodthirsty aura.
Both the guards, Lady Jiang and Uri, everyone other than the two Princesses fell to their knees.
The guards who were closest to Princess Inara had already dropped their spears and were holding onto their necks, their faces black and blue as if they couldn't breathe. The veins on their neck and forehead were bulging.
"P-Princess!" one of them called out, getting Inara's attention.
She turned around and saw what was happening to them, but when the guards who were hoping for aid saw her pale, ashen-faced visage, they were left aghast.
She had lost control. The unassuming blade in the Princess's hand was an artifact that had been passed down within the Hallvard clan from the time her people first settled here. It had been by their side for as long as anyone could remember.
And now, the Princess had activated it in the heat of the moment and could not bring it under control.
Lady Jiang and Uri on the other hand were doing much better. Lady Jiang had extended both her hands, casting another protection spell that encompassed them both. It protected against the simplest spiritual attacks but all it could do was slightly numb the pressure around them.
Even though she was running out of mana with every passing second, as long as she could outlast the Princess she should be able to make it out of here.
Lady Jiang's forehead was caked with sweat while the sword continued to exert more and more pressure, unleashing vast amounts of bloodthirsty aura which made their blood run cold.
Princess Inara managed to hold on for 20 seconds before she fell to her knees as well. Her face was as pale as a ghost as she fought for every breath. The sword was drawing energy by consuming her vital blood which she did not have a lot of to begin with.
But even at death's doorstep all she could think about was taking Lady Jiang with her.