Light in abyss

CHAPTER NINE: WARS DAWN

In the crucible of chaos, heroes are forged, their spirits ablaze amidst the darkness. For when the fires of war rage, it is not the mightiest weapons or the grandest armies that prevail, but the indomitable will of those who dare to stand against the tide of despair, wielding courage as their shield and determination as their sword.

Elaina's heart raced as she rushed up the flights of stairs, each step a frantic scramble towards their apartment. With Katherine's limp form weighing heavily upon her back, she stumbled and tripped, her breaths coming in ragged gasps.

Finally reaching the safety of their home, Elaina wasted no time in placing Katherine upon the bed in her room, her hands shaking as she rifled through drawers and cupboards in frantic search. It was there, buried amidst the chaos, that she found it—a weathered book, its pages yellowed with age.
Her fingers trembling, Elaina flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning the hastily scrawled notes until she found what she sought—a recipe.

She raced to the kitchen, her footsteps echoing in the empty halls as she gathered the ingredients in a frenzy.
Panic threatened to consume her, making her movements clumsy and erratic as she fumbled through the kitchen.

She stumbled over her own feet, knocking her knee against the sharp edge of a cabinet, a sharp cry of pain tearing from her lips. Ignoring the throbbing ache, she pressed on, to pour the ingredients into the waiting bathtub.

“Seventy-five bottles of myrrh liquid, fifty cinnamon sticks, five hundred grams of calamus, and two clusters of cassias.”

She murmured to herself, her voice trembling with desperation as she recited the words from the book. With trembling hands, she tossed the ingredients into the steaming water, their fragrant aroma filling the room.

Turning her attention back to Katherine, Elaina's heart clenched with a mixture of fear and determination. With painstaking care, she stripped away the armor that encased her sister's battered form, her fingers fumbling with the clasps and buckles in her haste.

But eventually, she succeeded, and with a gentle touch, she lowered Katherine into the waiting bath.

And then, with a whispered chant, Elaina unleashed her power - a fusion of astral projection and stellar heal, two fifth-tier skills woven together to create Celestial light.

For ten long hours, she toiled without rest, her body trembling with exhaustion as she poured every ounce of her strength into the task at hand.

And finally, as dawn broke over the horizon, Katherine stirred, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal eyes dulled with pain and fatigue. With a weak smile, she teased her sister, her voice laced with affection despite the pain that lingered.

“You look like shit,” she said with a weak smile, a hint of amusement dancing in her weary gaze.

Elaina chuckled softly; her laughter tinged with relief as she brushed a stray lock of hair from Katherine's forehead. “You made me this way, you brat,” she replied, her voice choked with emotion.

Meanwhile on the desolate border of the kingdom of Bern, Arman and his team finally reached the village, their hearts sinking at the gruesome sight that greeted them.

Limbs of the deceased hung grotesquely from twisted branches, a macabre display of the demons' merciless rampage.

Enforcers, their valiant efforts in vain, were brutally slaughtered as they attempted to flee to safety, their heads torn from their bodies by the relentless demons.

Bella wasted no time in issuing orders, her voice cutting through the chaos. She commanded her team to initiate the evacuation of the villagers, her sword gleaming in the dim light as she prepared to stand against the demonic horde.

Bella whispered, "King of the Forest, Fenrir," and then let out a loud roar as she charged towards the demonic horde.

Chad couldn't resist a sly remark. “There's that monstrous strength of a beast, men,” he quipped, his words a mixture of admiration and amusement.

Arman surveyed the chaos, his mind racing as he sought a path to safety for the terrified villagers. With a determined nod to Sakina, he tapped into his powers, summoning forth a colossal tunnel to serve as the villager’s escape.

Together, they led the villagers through the passage, their hearts pounding with the urgency of their flight.

The demons, sensing their prey slipping through their grasp, descended upon the tunnel with a ferocity born of desperation. Chad and Sakina, intercepted them with a ferocious intensity.

Chad's chrono pistols blazed with flames as each shot finding its mark with deadly precision.

Sakina, unleashed her powers in a breathtaking display of aerial combat, creating spatial distortions to crush the winged demons attacking the tunnel from above.

As the battle raged on, Arman joined the fight from above the tunnel, his attacks a combination of wind and fire. With a thunderous cry.

“Wind Requiem.”

He unleashed a devastating barrage of wind slashes that tore through the demon horde, each strike draining both his energy and aura.

But as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him, Arman switched tactics, relying solely on his flames unleashing to fend off the encroaching horde.

Arman and his team staggered, their strength waning. They had saved the villagers, but now faced the demon horde with little to no stamina left to fight.

Driven back by the demonic forces, they found themselves surrounded unable to escape, simply waiting for their end.