Tista kept yelling at the top of her lungs, each one of her attacks conjuring a bolt of darkness or ice that threw another of her captors off guard enough for her claws to reach them.
With every spell she cast, her body grew in size and Sunder followed suit. The monsters piled up on her, trying to push the Red Demon down again, but the cold sapped their strength first and then turned them into frozen statues in a matter of seconds.
The gravity array didn’t bother someone made of ice much whereas it slowed down everyone else. Tista’s joints cracked and fixed themselves whereas once the monsters fell to the ground, she would stomp them into ice shards.
The Warg ordered her troops to charge forward and jumped where Tista’s heart was supposed to be. Her armor was still the size of a human so it could no longer protect her vital areas.
‘The little bird made a huge mistake. Cracking an Adamant armor is much harder than ripping a big enemy apart. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!’ She thought while hitting the crystal-clear ice as hard as she could.
The Warg’s fist cracked the Ethereal Aegis and pierced through the Red Demon up to the elbow. The Warg’s snout curled up in a savage grin, rows of white fangs exposed as she twisted her arm and pulled it free.
Yet only a stump came out. Nothing was left but a thick layer of ice that had kept her from feeling the pain from the amputation. The Warg screamed in horror and tried to jump off her colossal enemy but her limbs refused to obey.
Her hand and feet had frozen as well, losing their sensibility without the Warg even noticing. She had no idea that what she was clinging to wasn’t ice but Zero. Tista noticed the Warg’s presence only from her screams, her frozen body insensitive to pain.
The Red Demon grabbed the Warg, freeing her from the trap by shattering her limbs.
Fury ravaged Tista’s mind at the memory of how the monster had mocked her. How it had hurt her. And how the Warg had gouged her eyes before eating them in front of her.
The Red Demon opened her mouth wide, biting the Warg and severing the chest from the hips. Tista made sure that the Warg was still alive while her fangs ripped her prey into shreds.
She felt no guilt as bite marks appeared on the other nearby Wargs. The whole pack was willing to sacrifice themselves to save their leader and they all died trying.
The Red Demon screamed again, unleashing a Raging Sun on herself that cleared her path long enough to draw another breath. Her red and blue eyes had used the meal to complete their regeneration and they flared up together, splitting the elements.
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The ice turned into Cinder and Tista flapped her wings, free to soar through the skies again. Once she reached safety, the Red Demon stared in hatred at the small figures squirming below her.
Even in her Ethereal Aegis form, she could still feel their hands clutching and biting and pulling her apart. She wanted them to stop but no matter how high she flew or how hot she burned, the hands were still there.
The Red Demon unleashed Checkmate Spears that she split into smaller icicles in order to pin dozens of creatures to the ground. Thundering Mist drenched them before bolts of lightning coursed through the monsters like frenzied snakes.
Then, once they were soaked in water and blood, Tista released the Frost Flames she had conjured inside her body, turning a bunch of monsters into a dozen of meters tall crystal tree decorated with corpses.
Now that only True Flames remained, she dived down, flying through the enemy ranks. Those too weak became ashes in her wake while those strong enough to resist died a few minutes later with their lungs burned too badly to draw another breath.
The now twenty meters (66′) tall Red Demon plunged like a meteor amid the monster horde, mowing dozens of them down with each slash of her claws. Those who lumped together to stop her attacks were burned by a burst of Origin Flames while those who tried to escape were struck in the back by a tier five spell.
The Mouth of Menadion conjured in quick succession the arrays that Tista had stored inside it, turning the retreat paths into minefields.
With their leaders dead, the monsters turned against each other, prioritizing their own survival. The Trolls ate the Goblins while the few surviving Wargs focused solely on escaping.
The monster horde that until a few minutes ago had threatened to swallow Ne’sra turned into a disorderly rout. By the time Nyka reached Tista, she still needed to be saved, but from herself.
In her frenzy, she kept unleashing Cursed Flames against the retreating monsters even though the burden they inflicted upon her life force far surpassed the damage she inflicted upon her enemies.
“Calm down, dammit!” The Vampire Blinked right in front of the Red Demon’s face, slapping her.
Tista roared in outrage and clapped her hands to squash the unknown assailant like a bug. Nyka grunted, blocking with both her mace and the crystal sword.
“It’s me, you idiot!” Another slap snapped Tista out of it and she finally recognized the Vampire.
“Oh gods, I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“No, but not for a lack of trying on your side. Thank you for asking.” The Vampire smiled. “By the way, good job in maintaining our cover.”
Only then did Tista see the frozen tree, the burned wasteland, and the horror in the people of Ne’sra who from the battlements of the city walls were staring at the flaming creature with five eyes.
“Oh, shit!” Along with her focus, the flow of runes through her body was broken and the Red Demon quickly reverted to her original size.
“Don’t worry. I’m afraid to have ruined it first.” Between her armor and the hammer in her hand, everyone recognized the Golden Knight whose feats had been broadcasted throughout the Kingdom along with Verhen’s.
“Well, we have saved them and you two are acclaimed heroes.” Nyka said with a chuckle. “Worst case scenario, they’ll throw you a parade. Just try not to gloat too much in my face.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Solus said.
The battle was over for a while but no one was cheering. The Healers had retreated behind the walls and the city gates were still closed.
A soft sobbing had them turn back, noticing that Tista’s eyes were swelled with tears. Her once beautiful wings still carried the marks of the recent fight. They bled profusely where chunks of flesh were missing.
Huge patches of deep pink skin were exposed and caked with blood where the feathers had been plucked. Tista had hoped that shapeshifting would have fixed them, but she was wrong.
More than the pain, what hurt her was the deep feeling of loss that the sight of the missing feathers gave them. She used healing magic to close her wounds, but the bald spots remained unaffected.
