Chapter Seventy-SevenThe signal to return was a little inconvenient with Harmony’s transportation out of commission.

  Hyacinth croaked frustratingly from his trapped position, a bubble being channeled by a magic user that kept him trapped, even his spurs were unable to pop it. That was at least taking all of that attacker's attention, but it left Harmony stuck fighting two attackers while she waited for [Final Silence] to get back up so she could free him.

  So far it had been less fighting and more trying not to get pinned between the two women attacking her. [High Kick] to bounce up and away. [Small Armor] and how to dodge, only doing that strong block when necessary. [Style and Grace] and [Poise and Bearing] to dance away from strikes, both had daggers giving them extra reach.

  But it was a pain in the ass that would have been impossible to manage without all that practice on the second floor of Nae’s Garden fighting multi-limbed twiggy, and slinging vines. They didn’t have those but they had skills. [Keen Investigative Awareness] helped keep track of those. A blue mana dart that shot out with a spark before reaching high speeds. A dagger ssh that left three follow-up projections. Their stealth made them unnoticeable if you didn’t keep your eyes on them. A mental creep that told you they were insignificant, even as they tried to shove a bde into your side.

  There was always [Stride Before the Fall]. That could even this up but that meant giving up emergency escape. Not yet. Harmony slid away from an arcing knife letting her feet kick up some dirt. [Dust] whipped into action to fling it at her attacker’s face. Not quite like having a pocket full of sand to toss into their eyes, but she needed to get the most out of her skills. [Mend] had spent time synching the corners of their clothing to constrict their movements slightly but it always got undone.

  The dust shot out. Skill met skill to stop the attack. Wind didn’t knock it aside and there hadn’t been any earth manipution yet. In this battle of skills, Harmony lost, just lifting and flinging the dirt had taken all the energy and she’d relied on that momentum. The dust moved to the side and dropped into a neat pile on the forest floor.

  “Lady White, would you believe me that you are not our goal today?” This was the first time any of the attackers had spoken. Shocking enough that a bde cut across her harm, a wound she quickly sealed up with [Mend]. “You’ll merely be a bonus. And we acknowledge you and all you’ve done to disrupt what we’ve built.”

  The gut punch of authority was almost as bad as the queen’s letter. Who in the delving hells were these people? But she wasn’t in as unstable a pce as she was before and she had a better understanding of skills, how the container worked, and interacted with her body. That didn’t mean she could avoid using [Stride].

  Split into two to handle the new rush. The new Harmony swung at one of her attacker's blind spots. The woman’s body shifted a few feet away. [Awareness] tagged that as new. They’d been holding back waiting for her to do this.

  A third perception kicked in. Could Max’s summon of her help with this rush of authority? Maybe after she fixed his trouble.

  That brief distraction nearly cost her, well, did cost her but only one would be surviving this. A bde in your gut hurt, but [Final Silence] was ready. Pushing through the pain she silenced the caster trapping Hyacinth while the other her kicked off in her familiar’s direction. Harmony crashed into the toad as he fell out of the bubble and both spshed into the shadowed ground like it was a pool of water, sinking inside of it.

  Three on one. Plenty of free authority she pumped it into [Cold Touch] and [Mend] and boosted that synergy with [Mana Rotation]. A web of ice stretched out, harder to break, and aimed to lock these three in pce. “You’re staying with me!” Not a lethal attack but it should hold them. More weapons came to wipe the smile on her face away. But who said you couldn’t die happy?

  ***

  Max dropped the hand he was holding. He hadn’t expected the woman’s friends to sever it from her arm. Saccerate was yanked back into her cage. The spear ripping into him was also a surprise, [Armored Presence] had been stretched to its limits and now faced three, two, and an eighth if you counted miss-one-hand as a fraction.

  Danger to a whole new level. [Power Sworn] That summoning bond lit up, chaos pumping into the simucrum of Harmony, one that was rger and whose hair glowed as pink as his did.

  Her kick sent the spear wielder tumbling across the rough earth. At her size, it packed an oversized punch. That was when he felt his wound seal back up, and that flush of energy come back.

  “Go help Rose. I got this.” Frost coated the summon’s fingertips.

  A [Dashing Strike] let him follow his attack away. Hopefully, [Racing Trouble] would get him back in time to help. Was he running away from trouble or toward it? The growing chaos in him wasn’t a good sign. Time to down a healing potion.

  ***

  Tyler! The signal sent Jessica moving back quicker. One had survived somehow, but the evolved skill took a lot out of her when she wasn't injured. [Fshing Steps], the rare skill Tyler had given her let her jump forward quicker, projecting a light-based copy of her, a nude silhouette, ahead that her body would jump into.

  Ahead Len focused on support spells, but Tyler faced five up close while four peppered him with range attacks. Blood leaked from the seams of his armor, but the Tank was still moving. Taunting them, keeping them away from Rose. Jessica took in the situation as she hopped back.

  One caster had an attack charging up, not one of those quick light flickers Tyler could handle. When she’d evolved, Jessica chose [Superior Service]. She activated that professional skill now. It made you better at everything, at least temporarily. A little quicker, a little stronger, more able to serve. And if someone needed her service now it was Lord Tyler.

  The melee attackers scattered. Not yet! In the channeled range attack, a ball of bck-purple energy shot out fast. [Fire Shield] lit her up. Was the attack faster than light? [Fsh Steps].

  In that less than a blink she interposed herself between Tyler and the Attack. Facing the wrong way, but it was nice to see Tyler’s face again. With all that work he was doing, he was getting more handsome. The blood on his brow even made him look attractively rugged.

  The [Fire Shield] sizzled. Hotter! Jessica put her will into it. Even [Warm] for a little extra heat. But it wasn’t enough.

  ***

  The spell crashed Jessica’s body into Tyler. The attackers had timed the attack while [Unbent Unbroken] his fate-bound spell wasn’t ready again. [Protection] on Jessica did nothing. The Force of the impact sent him stumbling back a step. That oozing bck energy coated them both, tying them together.

  No, it wasn’t them not anymore. Jessica wasn’t there anymore. The magic started to constrict and the maid's body’s bones broke and blood leaked out. One of his pouches of scroll components shattered too under incredible pressure. Tying him up with Jessica's corpse.

  Attackers dashed around him to the shields Len had set up. The Tank stood there no longer important, not able to defend, a failure who’d let down the friend who’d come with him. Despair raked Tyler’s mind. This was his worries come to life in the fear of his weakness manifested. The system notification caught him by surprise.

  Do you wish to bond a Spirit of Sacrifice?

  One of his unique scrolls? He’d brought all the ectopsmic scrolls he’d collected over the years. Part of his armor buckled under the attack’s pressure, shoving a piece of metal crumpling into his shoulder with a stab of pain. Sure, why not? One st sacrifice.

  He willed the answer to be yes through the crushing agony. Then he started to burn. The scroll must be sacrificing him into a spirit to help the others? That was why he’d been hesitant to even take it, anything with the word sacrifice was risky. Time to accept his fate.

  Fire licked out of Tyler's armor. The heat repelled the magical pressure. Jessica’s corpse fell from where it had been held to him into a disfigured pile at his feet.

  “Come on, my Lord, it’s time to fight!” Jessica’s voice echoed in the air snapping Tyler out of his trance. No, no more freezing up. With a fming aura around him, he charged back toward the battle.

  ***

  Len could feel the defensive spells get stripped away. Hazgul blocked some attacks but the new spirit only had so much utility. Come on Rose.

  A rainbow blur hit the group peeling off some pressure. A rge boom sent them scattering as Harmony’s familiar crashed into them from above with the necromancer on Hyacinth’s back. Both looked stunned by the nding. Max swung in his pink hair lighting up his face’s maniacal grin as he charged in. The fming Lord Tyler shocked everyone with the determination painted on his face. Not enough to stop them. One more shield.

  “It’s done.” The deep and powerful voice spread out like a wind. “ Princess Rosaline as your servant I [evict] these unwelcome guests.”

  With little pops, the attackers disappeared. Starting with the closest and ending with the farthest. The obscurement effect was stripped away with their departure.

  Rose stumbled a little looking as worn out as though she’d also participated in this battle. “What?”

  “Eviction is not an attack, but they have been removed quite far. I doubt they’ll be back. I fear it might be my fault they came. I served the Highsmythe Family for a long time but was ousted due to a ck of popurity and social pressure. Perhaps forces still dislike my return to the family.” Hargreaves said with a hint of sadness in his haunting voice.

  “I’ve never heard of the Highsythes having an undead servant,” Rose murmured.

  Adric gave a shrug when she looked at him. Family history wasn’t his interest, but Rose should know.

  “Jessica!” Harmony gasped looking at the body of the former maid.

  “Oh my,” Max muttered.

  A small fme formed at Max’s shoulder. “Yeah, that sucked. But you haven’t gotten rid of me that easily.” It spoke in Jessica’s voice stunning them all to silence.

  That was when Thorne and the eight sun temple guards teleported in all looking worse for wear. Somehow, Hargreaves had a silver tray with filled crystal goblets waiting moments after their appearance. “Refreshments?” the butler asked.