Magicians under the leadership of their king began to filter through numerous portals that cut through the air with a bright radiance, an unbridled armed crowd.

Each of them was wearing protective elven armor and shouted a battle cry as they rushed to the aid of the greatly weakened faerie formations.

General Aisen ordered the assault groups to join the werewolves, taking the witches into a blockade ring.

The archers stood at a considerable distance, but thanks to magic, their arrows flew for several kilometers, hitting their target on the spot with one blow. They spread out in the crowd, revealing flaws in the defense and covering these holes with themselves.

Horel looked frighteningly distraught as he stepped onto the battlefield. He instantly assessed the situation and gave the necessary orders, ungrouping the magicians into sectors. But he couldn’t focus on the slaughter himself. All his thoughts were occupied only by his daughter.

Where was she? Where was he supposed to run to help her?

And although with their appearance, the pace on the battlefield changed dramatically, "fresh blood" came, capable of resisting the already significantly tired witches and surrounding the bliars from all sides, they were mostly only in the background. There weren’t many assault groups among the magicians, because the main role was taken by the werewolves who rushed in a little earlier.

Lillian was furious when she heard a huge pack of werewolves approaching. No, that doesn’t even come close to describing their number. She could not even imagine that there could be such a large number of werewolves in the whole world, because they have always led a rather secretive lifestyle.

Distraught at the thought that they had betrayed her by not taking her side, she killed and gutted them with her own hands until she had to be distracted by Artemis’s summoning cries.

It was only a matter of time before Raphael showed up there, so she was preparing her best performance for him.

She returned to the immobilized girl and the sight made her face curl into a sour expression. Did such a powerful sorceress just flatter herself defenselessly in front of her? It was a pitiful sight, but it also raised doubts in her mind.

Why didn’t she defend herself when she could? Why did she so humbly and submissively let herself be caught? Was there any hidden meaning in this?

Had they set a trap for her? But she’s immortal and it wouldn’t make any sense. Or is she really that stupid and weak against her?

She watched with fascinated eyes as the fire crept closer to Artemis’s body. She saw the fear in her eyes, heard her heartbeat, loud as the roar of drums. It made her smile wider, getting incredible pleasure.

She was going to stand there until the end, watching this girl she hated burn, but at some point the roar of steel, the whistle of spells and an icy curse thrown in her direction in a menacing baritone made her cringe. But it was only for a moment, until she remembered her invulnerability again.

The corners of her lips twitched slightly, trying to hide a smile, and she allowed herself to leave Artemis alone with the natural elements, under the supervision of her faithful witches.

In a moment, she was in direct reach of those enchanting scarlet eyes that promised her the most terrible death. But it was a moment until Raphael saw exactly the same look directed at himself.

It would be a small thing to say that he felt genuine surprise and confusion, but he did not allow his thoughts or feelings to take up his time. He rushed at Lillian, colliding with her in the air.

A suffocating thick haze of darkness spread around him at the speed of light, enveloping everything around like a dome, depriving the sun of the opportunity to spread its rays to the earth.

They didn’t even have time to say a word to each other, they inexorably struck each other blows that for a simple person or even a magician would have been fatal from just one touch.

The more fiercely Raphael attacked, the more clearly he realized that something was wrong here, and Lillian’s crazy smile still did not leave her face, as if for her it was just a game. She deliberately let him reach her to inflict injuries. She wanted him to finally understand. And this realization did not take long to come.

As soon as his hand pierced her rib cage, squeezing the lump of darkness that she called her heart, she pushed against him harder, allowing his hand to enter deeper into her flesh. And then, she did exactly the same to his heart, defiantly licking her bright lips.

- Shall we play, dear? - She flashed mischief in her eyes and pushed Raphael away, taken aback.

He squeezed her heart so tightly earlier that a thin trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her lips, which she immediately licked off, smacking her lips.

Pushing back the soft black curls soaked in their common blood, she stretched out her hand when the nails on her hands noticeably lengthened and she pointed at Raphael with her index finger.

- Do you hear her plaintive squeaks? He whines like a beaten dog. It gave her incredible pleasure to see the madness begin to take hold of him as if in slow motion. - But you won’t go to her while I’m alive.

Immediately, her laughter echoed, telling him that she would not let him get close to Artemis until she was dead.

Fast, invisible to the human eye movements, striking blows, torn tissues, strong grips and suffocating techniques. It was like a child’s game between two immortal vampires facing off in an equal fight.

The only ones who were losers in this battle were those who got into the thick of the dark field that enveloped all the nearby surroundings around the vampire king. The acrid smoke thinned their lungs as if they were filled with acid. Both enemies and allies were captivated by this smoke, getting their most terrible death, with no way to get out, no witchcraft or magic could cope with it. There was no escape from this. They died painfully... but quickly.

Aisen de Pierre and King Rivaldi exchanged glances, nodding to each other. They already knew about this property of dark smoke from Raphael himself, and therefore kept a considerable distance with their groups. Now was not the time to mourn those who, by coincidence, were trapped in that trap.

Seeping through the fighting crowd, they acted in close contact with all races. Vampires, thanks to their speed, could dodge witches, while fairies dealt striking blows with point magic. The werewolves repelled the onslaught of the bliars, and their backs were securely covered by the magical rear.

And everything seemed to be going much better than before the magicians appeared, but Horel could not find Thea in any way and this drove him to despair. He itched to avenge Lillian for everything, but now he set his main goal to find his daughter, leaving his wife to the king of vampires.

- Richard! Do you hear her anywhere? - The king roared.

Richard was still loyal to his king, but he had to work out his punishment to the fullest. As if knowing that this would be a blow to his ego, Raphael ordered him to serve Chorel with all dedication until everything was over. And although Richard was not particularly happy about this, he did not resist and performed his duty faithfully.

Covering the bright scarlet irises with his eyelids, Richard squeezed his eyes shut to concentrate, trying to somehow determine the direction in which they needed to move, but it was all too difficult when there was a riot of noise and various sound debris around. He tried his best, refusing to give up. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Hara squeezed his shoulder, giving him a soft, encouraging smile.

- Let’s go together. - It was probably the first time in her life that Richard hadn’t pushed her away, taking care of her.

- Can you drown out the unnecessary sounds in my ears? - he asked, looking at her intently.

- Keep listening. - She nodded, and the next moment, a bright flash on the tip of her wand gently enveloped his head as she chanted a spell.

Hara also tried to be focused so as not to let her witchcraft falter. And although this spell was strong enough to weaken her, she did not stop humming it until finally Richard opened his eyes, casting a confident glance towards the place where clouds of smoke had gathered in the sky and the horizon was colored with an orange glow, shimmering with molten air from the heat.

Pointing the direction to Horel, he unceremoniously and without decency grabbed the king to run towards the blazing flames with incredible speed.