Celeste sat cross-legged on the ground, motionless, behind the ranks of the Ember Clan and Paladins.
The latter two sent wave after wave of fire. It was as if they sought to drown the vast army under an ocean of flame.
In response, ice fulgurated within the horde, offsetting the heat and dowsing any flame.
So far, both sides remained in a stalemate.
Celeste felt that would soon change.
Whether that would be a good thing for the humans, she did not know.
What she did know, however…
Was that Alden was out there battling, surrounded by enemies on all sides.
A seed of unease bloomed in her heart.
She felt very uncomfortable just sitting here, protected from the mighty army. Celeste also hated the anxiety and trepidation clashing within her - any second now, Alden could potentially meet his end.
Celeste despised being useless.
Maybe that was just a byproduct of her wanting to live up to the expectations of others as a Chosen of the Divine Sovereign. Or maybe it was a desire not to be left behind.
Either way, the feeling was not very nice.
Shifting her gaze, the young lady stared at the little phoenix nestled in her arms. Ignia was very still. It was as if she was paying attention to something with bated breath.
Celeste was thankful to have the baby bird by her side. If not for her, then she would have long since dashed into the horde, consequences be damned.
Celeste now had an indicator telling her whether Alden was alive. The fact that Ignia remained stationary was a good sign - it meant that her love was not in any sort of danger. Just then, as if she had jinxed fate, the little bird flinched slightly.
Celeste resisted the urge to stand up immediately and dive into the fray. She watched Ignia carefully, sensing that the baby phoenix was very tense.
Eventually, the little bird relaxed, and Celeste breathed a large sigh of relief.
'Thank the Asterons.'
She didn't know what she would have done if Alden died right after reuniting with her.
That would have been very cruel of fate indeed.
Celeste inhaled, hoping to calm her wildly beating heart. She needed to be calm to increase the speed with which she recovered her mana.
She also needed to be focused.
Both of which were almost impossible if she knew Alden was in danger.
Releasing a heavy sigh, Celeste blocked out all the noise from her surroundings.
'You've got this, Al! Fight and show them who's boss!'
Then, the young lady closed her eyes and began meditating.
She would do her best to recover as quickly as possible. After all, Celeste was determined to fight with Alden side by side.
Alden immediately burnt through a sizable chunk of his remaining mana - which was not a lot, considering he had been travelling constantly without pause and lacking sleep.
An invisible barrier blocked the path of the ice claw. Then, a dark energy engulfed his blade and Alden executed an upward thrust from point-blank range.
The Dark Elf seemed like it hadn't registered the imminent danger. It continued pushing against the magical [Shield], hoping to maim Alden with its frozen claws. The latter meanwhile, thought he had caught his opponent off-guard.
That hope was dashed only a split second later, though. A slate of ice appeared in front of the Dark Elf's chest. It was as wide as both of his hands combined. It was also very thick, doubtless imbued with more ice to strengthen its sturdiness.
Alden's weapon, coated with decay, slammed into the frigid barrier. A net of cracks appeared on the ice.
Under his disbelieving gaze, however, the young man watched as the rate at which the ice turned into nothingness slowed. A second later, he realised that the Dark Elf was consciously saturating the slate with more magic so that it could better resist his abyssal power.
Alden's sword swiftly crumbled.
Meanwhile, the frozen shield erected by his corrupted opponent remained, repaired as soon as the tenebrous energy made any sort of headway.
The young man sensed the Dark Elf had flooded the slate with a startling volume of magic. At the back of his mind, Alden realised that he was hopelessly outmatched against his foe in terms of how much mana the each had at their disposal.
Things only got worse for Alden.
The [Shield] he thought was impenetrable suddenly cracked, now visible to the naked eye under the effects of the Dark Elf's ice. Before he could supply the barrier with more mana, it crumbled under the gelid force of the creature's attack, ethereal pale blue shards dissipating within the thin mist.
Alden gritted his teeth, shifting his neck as he used [Haste] once again. The Dark Elf's icy claws whistled inches from his cloak. He retaliated with a spinning kick augmented with mana to the creature's midsection. The corrupted creature blocked with another slate.
Alden clicked his tongue.
Once both his feet had returned to the ground, he hurriedly retreated a couple of paces, opting to give himself a little space. The Dark Elf just stared at him with what appeared to be amusement in its gaze.
He gritted his teeth harder.
It was well known that fighting a sentient creature was much more difficult than fighting a rabid Defiled. Alden knew that, of course. But even knowing that and experiencing it first hand, did nothing to ease his current predicament.
His opponent was stronger than him. They were also very crafty and insidious. Luckily for Alden, it seemed the gulf between them was not too large for he could still react to the Dark Elf's movements and even counter-attack on occasion.
Only now, faced with a much more dangerous and cunning threat, did he begin to miss his encounters with the more simple-minded abominations.
'What a crazy thought.'
He laughed lightly to himself.
Then, his expression hardened.
One way or another Alden would have to take this Dark Elf down. He refused to believe that it was impossible.
Alden's mind sharpened.