257 Night escape II (1/2)

”Ria!!” Evlin screamed as she saw her friend in danger.

Ria herself saw the beast charging wildly at her and pulverizing even more of the castle much to the king's despair.

”Aaaahhh!! My castle!!! Stop destroying my castle!!!”

Auren leaped forward to try and stop the dragon with another barrier of energy, but like before, it proved to be harmless against Wrath's powerful scales.

Ria used her own power to create a shield beneath their feet that propelled them out of the way, making the dragon crash against the wall and completely demolishing it.

This small moment of panic made Ria lose her focus and ended up making the portal she struggled so much to open disappear.

”Oh, no...” Ria gasped.

”Evlin...” said Ashley, who was still lending a hand to her sister so that she wouldn't fall on the ground, ”Do you have any strength left...?”

”Barely anything...” Evlin admitted, ”But I doubt any of my spells could be of much use against Wrath...”

”What about Ria?”

”Ria?”

”You used your magic once to increase Gustav's power so he could spread his purification throughout the whole south kingdom, right? Can you share some of it with Ria so she can make another portal faster?”

”M- Maybe... But I told you... I'm almost out of juice...”

”Just try to give it a little bit... Just enough to help us get out of here!”

”I- I'll try...”

Wrath's head appeared from the cloud of smoke that was hiding the hole he created on the wall, and soon he once again stepped forth to enter the palace.

”You're running out of time, crossbow girl!” Knucker mentioned, ”Time to make your decision! Will you accept my offer and go home? Or will you take your chances and continue to gamble with everyone's lives?”

Evlin glared at him, ”I don't believe in gambles anymore...”

She then locked eyes with the only person in that room that could save her right now.

”KING OF GREAYART!!!”

”Ah!? W- What!!??” the king gasped once he returned to reality from thinking about how much the repairs of his castle would cost.

”Between Knucker and me... Who do you hate more right now?? The girl that ran away from you? Or the guy that brought a dragon into your house??”

The king glared at Knucker for a moment.

”Oh... We are on this timeline...” Knucker whispered realizing what Evlin's plan was.

The king then stood up and raised his staff while charging it with lightning magic, the first magic he ever learned from his old teacher, Xadi.

”All soldiers!!! Bring me Knucker's head!!” he screamed while releasing a powerful blast of thunder magic at the white-haired man.

”Oh boy...” Knucker whispered while gazing at the attack coming at him.

”Wrath!! You moron, I'm just an avatar!! Forget about me and grab the crossbow mage!!!” Knucker yelled.

Evlin and Ashley used this chance to rush closer to Ria so they could move on with their plan while Wrath was distracted.

”Ria!! Grab my hand right now!! I'm going to boost your power!!” Evlin stated.

”O- Ok!!” Ria replied as she touched the mage with the hand that was equipped with Marcus in his gauntlet form.

Evlin tried to focus but, as she imagined, she had barely any power left.

”Sphinx!!”

She tried to call for her pet who was still waiting outside so she could fuse with him and get access to his magic, but once the griffin came closer, he began to shiver at the sight of Evlin.

”Sphinx...? Sphinx, come on!! I need you!!”

The golden monster remained still. Just looking at Evlin and thinking about getting chained up again was sending shivers all over its body.

Evlin knew it was just a matter of time before Wrath charged again, so she tried to use the only other thing she could think of.

She closed her eyes and began to focus.

'Fire ladies... Are you there...?' she whispered in her mind.

[Let... Us... Out... ]

Evlin didn't want to do this, but if they were to survive, she would need to ask for help from her own powers. The same powers that were trying to come alive at the cost of burning her body. She was hoping that her current drained state would allow her to tap into this power without too much risk.

[Let... Us... Out!!!] the powers mumbled again.

Evlin's whole body was shaking in fear, but she still needed to finish her mission, 'I can't do that... You are my powers... You belong to me... And I need you to help me right now!!'

[LET... US... OUT!!!!]

'I said no!! I'm the one in charge, so you better start listening to me!! Unless you want to become dragon food, give me enough power to get me and my friends out of here right now!!'

[...]

Evlin suddenly felt her skin burning, very similar to what happened when she faced Wrath in the city of the west and when she destroyed the roof of the west temple during Envy's attack. Although, this time, it seemed like it was on a much smaller scale.