1469 Sacrifice
1469 Sacrifice
No one understood why Duchess Serenthia did what she did. Least of all, Isadora who was observing everything in a passive state.
Unfortunately or fortunately, there wasn't room for her to question her mother's actions.
The battle exploded into epic proportions in a blink.
Land split and sky cracked.
Even the strengthened space was filled with endless cracked gray lines, akin to a fractured mirror.
This was fatal not just for mere rank 8s like Varian's family but even for new rank 9s.
The dukes assumed they were alright because of some treasure but in truth, Varian had no such life saving artifacts.
'Thank you.'
Varian conveyed his heartfelt gratitude.
'Eh, ehehe. Don't forget to visit me!' The Spirit's tired but excited voice rang in his mind.
Enigma continued to work on the card artifact, building up the charge for them to jump from this place.
Because this was a protected region, it needed a lot more aura than usual.
Varian was pouring in his own aura to help but even then, it's only barely enough.
Boom! Bang! Bam!
The treasures of the duchess were confronted by her equals.
For a normal viewer, it was a battle of equals.
High rank 9 warriors fighting against weapons that could exert an equivalent strength.
Since Duchess had several such weapons and was fighting the entire squad alone, they might even assume she had an upper hand.
Her natal treasure apparently allowed her to manipulate and enhance treasures, bringing out far more strength from the artifacts than otherwise.
For each rank 9 artifact, Serenthia must've spent centuries, pouring her resources, effort and hope.
They worked well, holding off four equals for a while.
Serenthia's trump card was formidable. If she had intended to kill someone with all these treasures, she would've suceeded in ending them.
Having looked down on her all this while, the battle was like a slap on the face for the dukes.
Eventually, they recognized the dynamics of the battle and unleashed their full powers.
Their own natal treasures.
Armors surfaced, weapons materialized, treasures formed.
Even though their natal treasures didn't have the characteristic to grow stronger through accumulation over the years like Serenthia's, each and everyone of them was an absolute genius of their era, possessing treasures that put them at the top of the pyramid.
Kach!
A sword's blade shattered was a rebound from a crystal armor.
Jaa!
An arrow's head exploded from the compression of aura.
Bam!
A shield began to shake violently before it melted away. The tongue of a purple flame flickered in the remnants, hissing like a vengeful snake.
Da!
A spear spun missed its tracks and began to poke the air, as if it was an enemy. A ghostly robe floated behind the spear, slowly manipulating it against to eventually use it against other treasures.
Serenthia had expected this but her brows were still furrowed.
At their full power, the dukes were stronger than she expected.
'Two minutes? No, even a full minute is difficult.' She turned back to Varian's group and tried to yell.
But instead of a sharp and instructive order, what left her throat was a lump of blood and then a broken voice.
"G-Go away alre…ady!"
She couldn't believe her own voice.
It was only then that Serenthia notice her skin had gone beyond pale and her eyes were bleeding heavily.
The toll of controlling all these natal treasures was literally sucking away her life and soul.
'If I'm fated to die, then I should at least kill him.' The Duchess' gaze rested on a fierce man fighting off her treasures one after the other.
With a rebounding crystal armor enveloping his body, the man was fighting with unmatched ferocity.
Small injuries didn't slow him down and the sight of his own flesh falling out of his body seemed to work like a motivating factor, causing him to push even harder.
'This low life…'
Serenthia tried to take a step forward but staggered and nearly fell. Her vision was already cloudy.
Blood was now flooding out of her nose.
'Haa!'
A sense of weakness, one that she had never experienced even as a rank 1, engulfed her body.
Unspeakable pain seared every nerve ending. It's like there's a burning furnace in her heart, scorching everything inside her without somehow turning it to ashes.
As if the physical pain wasn't enough, her soul began to distort and a pain far greater than anything she could even imagine assaulted her being.
Even with all her restraint, tears began to spill out of her eyes and her body began to shiver.
If Serenthia had to describe her situation, it'd be as putting her entire body into a pool of bubbling lava, not burning to death and insisting on staying there.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
But she continued to pour aura into her treasures and kept working her natal treasures nonetheless.
'More. Just a little more.'
The lady's vision began to flicker. The world turned blue and red before blanking out for a moment.
All the pain vanished just for that little period.
In that brief instant, the four broke through the restraints and charged forward.
'Ah…'
Serenthia dug deep and channeled the last traces of aura.
The dukes were forcibly blocked but the reality of the situation had dawned in on the mother of two.
Her body, which was now drenched in blood and beginning to slowly disintegrate, seemed to agree.
The lady turned her back with great difficulty, even the slightest movement feeling like a hot rod passing through her pale flesh.
'Enigma…'
A small necklace on her bosom lit up and her voice rang in the head of Isadora's little sister.
Enigma's pupils quivered at her voice and her fists tightened up. For some reason, there were dried tear marks on her cheeks.
'Was it for me?' Serenthia didn't dare to think so.
'Please get away as quickly as you can. I can no longer hold them back.'
'W-Why?!' A confused, agonizing voice asked.
But it was a bit familiar.
The duchess' dimming eyes glowed with a brilliant light and a gentle smile adorned her lips.
'Ah, Isadora? How are you? Don't worry, I'll send them back safe. I swear on my life.'
