Eliron perceived everything in slow motion. His fingers brushing Cavi’s clothing, the fire erupting out of his swollen body, and the gust of cursed mana that surged out like a storm.

Luckily, he had made enough contact!

There was an audible ring in the air as Eliron teleported them into the skies above the castle, just as the rippling explosion tore through the sky.

The sky opened up like torn fabric, the air was laden with streaks of purple, and dark fire spread through the clouds.

Eliron had barely managed to defend himself in time. Part of his body was bruised from the blast, while a blue shield flickered in front of him, just before he deactivated the spell.

He let out a tired breath in the form of a deep sigh. If he had been just a second late... there was no telling how much damage would have been done to the castle. Alexander was wise to have not woken him up till they were ready.

When there is an explosion on solid ground, usually, one could tell just how powerful the blast was from the damage...

But up here, the only thing Eliron could use was the parted skies. It was a lot...

The explosion, the possession... They were all difficult spells, highly ranked even for Sataen, meaning he had spent quite a long time activating them.

He ran his hand underneath his jaw. Something felt off, very off... if he was the second apostle, he would not just settle at making Alex watch someone close to him die in a horrific way.

He would go further...

But how?

Sataen was a far way off from the capital, so there was no way he would bring his army directly to the city.

But he would want to cause as much havoc as he could, a statement that will kill the morale of the troops in lieu of the coming war—

BOOOM!

A loud explosion suddenly rolled forward from a distance. Eliron stared at the direction of the blast, his eyes narrowing as he tried to piece through the distance.

There was a large, thick, black cloud of smoke billowing into the air, one so large that it darkened the clouds.

’The port...?’

Eliron’s eyes suddenly widened. He teleported to the battlements of the castle, where he could see Ash speaking with the grand marshal.

They had also heard the sound and were looking in the direction of the blast when Eliron suddenly appeared, his jaw tight.

The mark on the back of his hand flared red as he sent a mental command to Jade, his eyes locked on Ash.

"Ash, something is about to happen in Donia, something big. I need you to work with Artie the Grand Marshal. Defend the castle at all cost, and then meet me at the port."

Both the Ash and the Grand marshal bore confused expressions on their faces.

Ash drew his sword before he asked any questions. "Is this about the explosion?"

Eliron nodded. "It is bigger than that."

Reginald’s face hardened with concern. "I will get the castle guards to form a defensive formation around—"

"It’s too late for that." Eliron replied sharply, and then suddenly, a loud, whistling screech reached their ears.

The sound was guttural, malformed... It was like a horror that was not meant to exist, and the source of the sound was just as vile.

A large, monstrous knight stuttered forward within the castle walls, its red eyes livid as it stared at the castle. The horror was enough to make Eliron’s stomach churn.

Multiple bodies, people who had once been castle knights, seemed to have been moulded to form the hulking figure.

Arms, feet, heads... they protruded out of its body, the creature standing at an impressive eight feet in height.

Their armour was mended with the skin, flesh clinging onto the steel like spider webs, swords sticking out like spikes.

"God above..." Reginal’s face turned green with disgust. "What the hell is that?!"

"People who made contact with Cavil..." Eliron replied coldly, a vein ticking on his jaw.

The curse of death usually needed more than just a touch to spread, usually, minions could only spread it by biting.

But it seemed Sataen had used a significant amount of power to curse Cavil’s body, just to make this possible. And by the time Cavil got to Yen, it had already spread through the castle.

Waiting to manifest...

There were likely others who had not yet succumbed to the curse, and were struggling for their lives, people who had stronger mana cores....

But Eliron had no time for them.

"Tell Alexander I will take care of the port!" Eliron said, just as he raced across the battlements, giving no further explanation.

As he ran, he caught a glimpse of Ash jumping towards the monstrosity, a wave of his violent mana tinting the air silver....

Once Eliron got to the edge of the wall, he leaped into the air, his arms flailing as he soared through the wind.

Below Eliron, a girl was cutting through the wind like a missile, her white wings unfurled like that of a bat.

Jade was in her human form, holding Yen by her arms as she flew. But the moment she saw Eliron, her eyes grew darker.

She flung Yennefer into the air, maybe Yen forgot she could fly because she squealed as she was set free.

Then below her, Jade transformed, her body morphing until the gigantic marble dragon took her place, white scales gleaming as though they swallowed the morning sun.

Yen bounced atop Jade back just as she twisted her massive form, catching Eliron from the air, massive wings beating as they hurtled towards the docs.

Yennefer was seated behind Eliron, her hands wrapped around his waist so tightly, that Eliron was sure he would have her hands imprinted on them later.

Her hair was billowing back in the wind, her eyes closed tight as she screamed. "What is heck going on?!"

She had to raise her voice to be heard over the cold, howling winds, which made her seem even more frantic.

Eliron could understand her confusion. His exact command to Jade had been to take Yennefer and find him.

Considering how Jade was, she probably just kidnapped her and leaped out of the window...

"Why are you closing your eyes? You always flew on Tiny’s back didn’t you?"

"Tiny was gentle! He knows how to treat a lady, unlike you two crazies!" Yen dared to look down and dreaded it. "Ohh my goodness, flying this fast can’t possibly be safe!"

Eliron would have laughed, but the situation they were in was too grave.

"Alright listen up..." he began to explain, just as they, and their hulking dragon vanished into thin air...