CHAPTER 1147: SPOKEN

The lightning in the sky grew wilder. The storm-born being gathered hundreds of lightning bolts into one colossal spear, condensing them into a five meter long lance that hummed with deadly energy.

From the battlements below, the soldiers and Mages could only watch in awe and terror. To them, it looked like a natural disaster, a wrathful force that could obliterate everything at any second.

Sylmira felt much more dread than them. Her face was tense and filled with worry.

She began to realize that sending Arty up there alone might have been a terrible mistake. But she had to maintain the barrier below to prevent wild Magic from lashing out from the battle above.

She couldn’t send another Mage to help either because none of them were as capable as Arty.

Then Sylmira noticed something strange. A faint mist of blackness began seeping from Arty’s body. It was small and subtle, and perhaps only visible to her trained eyes.

"What is that?" she thought, her anxiety deepening. "Could it be... that foreign power that once attacked her? Has it returned?"

High above, Arty’s eyes had turned completely black, like obsidian that devoured light. Her expression twisted into a snarl, her body trembling as if she could barely contain the storm of rage within her.

Her mouth opened, baring her teeth. She now looked feral and animalistic.

She looked like a beast ready to devour her prey. And her prey now was the being before her, the one raising a massive lance of lightning aimed directly at her.

The being roared and hurled the weapon. It shot through the air with terrifying speed.

In the blink of an eye, Arty conjured a shield of four elements around her body. Fire, wind, water, and earth whirled together, forming a barrier that shimmered with violent energy.

BOOM!

The lightning lance struck her dead-on, triggering a massive explosion that blanketed the sky in blinding light.

A chaotic shockwave rippled outward, splitting the rain and tearing through the clouds.

The soldiers and Mages below shielded their eyes, while Sylmira only narrowed her eyes and also gritted her teeth.

She could feel it, something had changed in Arty.

When the light faded, Arty’s barrier was cracked and shattered, fragments of lightning still crawling over her. But she was still floating, still standing strong, completely unharmed.

She glared at the being with those black eyes, still snarling like a wild creature.

Then, without warning, Arty let out a sharp, furious scream that echoed across the storm.

A black mist trailed behind her as she shot forward, faster than sight.

She collided with the being before he could react. His earlier attack had drained him. That lightning lance carried the power to destroy a city, and so, he had suffered from unleashing it.

Worse still, this was not his full form. It was just one-third of his power, split into three avatars.

Arty’s gauntlet blazed with glowing runes as she slammed her fist into him.

The impact launched the being far across the sky, crashing into the distant forest.

A heartbeat later, a massive explosion erupted where he fell.

Arty didn’t hesitate. She blasted forward again, chasing him before he could recover.

Seeing Arty fly off to face the being again made Sylmira’s heart lurch. What should she do? Should she chase after her and leave the barrier behind? But what if something else appeared and attacked?

This storm was unpredictable, and she wasn’t sure her Mages could maintain the barrier without her.

Still, she couldn’t just let Arty fight alone. Not in her unstable condition. Whatever was influencing her might take full control if she did nothing. Sylmira had to go after her.

She turned to her Mages. "Keep the barrier up. Don’t let anything break through it," she ordered firmly.

The Mages exchanged uneasy looks. The barrier was Sylmira’s creation, complex and powerful, and they weren’t confident they could hold it by themselves.

But one glance at her determined eyes told them they had no choice.

"You must hold it," Sylmira said. "I’m going to help Arty."

Without waiting for their response, she used her Magic and shot upward, leaving her worried Mages behind.

Right now, nothing mattered more than stopping Arty before it was too late. If Arty returned to the same berserk state as before, it could threaten the entire kingdom.

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Arty reached the crater where the being had crashed.

He lay there in the mud, grimacing in pain, lightning flickering weakly across his battered body.

Arty didn’t care.

She moved forward, grabbed him by the leg, and hurled him into the air before slamming him back into the ground.

The earth cracked beneath the impact. She spun him around once more and threw him across the forest, shattering trees as his body crashed through them.

But Arty didn’t stop.

She chased after him immediately, the same wild snarl tearing from her throat, her black eyes burning with fury.

By the time Sylmira arrived above the forest, she froze in shock at the sight below.

"Arty..." she whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief and fear.

She immediately followed Arty from above, but even on the ground, Arty was moving incredibly fast. Trees splintered and the earth tore apart beneath her every step.

Soon, she reached the man again. The being was already back on his feet, his body crackling with unstable lightning.

He raised his arms and assumed a fighting stance, as if refusing to be outmatched by her.

Arty charged at him with the same feral snarl, her eyes still pitch black.

In an instant she conjured sharp spears of earth and hurled them at him with explosive force.

The being countered, unleashing a violent gust of wind that shattered the spears mid-air, scattering shards of stone in every direction.

But Arty didn’t stop. She thrust both hands forward and sent a roaring torrent of fire toward him.

"Zerathul!!!" the being bellowed, his voice echoing through the storm. His eyes burned with fury as he glared directly at Arty.

It was the first time he had spoken.

The sound of his voice reached Sylmira above, and her eyes widened.

"What... what was that?" she whispered. "Why did he call her that? Why is he saying that while looking at Arty?"

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