Leticia took the opportunity to kick her chair out from under her.
She slid over the table between them and raised her fist at Sister Preenia, who sat before her.
Preenia had been listening to the whispers of another priestess who had run into the room, her expression tense, and it stiffened even more at this. What was she anticipating, Leticia wondered in the short time it took her to close the distance between them. Was it fear of pain—so late in the game? Would she really fear being struck after all that had happened so far? After they had gone on and on about their despair?
Still feeling a twinge of guilt, Leticia nevertheless struck Preenia in the face. Ignoring the swarming priestesses and swatting aside the tentacles of the Red Dragon guard standing at a distance—it had only begun to move after the priestess was struck—Leticia rushed over to the collapsed Preenia.
She wasn’t knocked out. Leticia grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up, getting behind her with her hand still around her neck. With a hostage now, she turned back to the rest of the hall.
“Don’t move!” she shouted, stopping everyone there in their places.
Not only did the two priestesses at the table and the young one who’d rushed in with the news stop, but even the two Red Dragons who had begun to get into serious combat positions stopped, which was surprising to Leticia—she’d been prepared to slaughter Preenia and everyone else there if she had to. She was half-relieved and half-disgusted with herself. She was getting more and more savage, wasn’t she...
“Are you satisfied, sorcerer?” Preenia asked, panting. Leticia was silent, so the priestess continued, “That’s right, it’s our loss—the Second World-Seeing Tower is in the hands of the traitors now. The World-Seeing Tower has priority over the tunnel connections as well. The sanctuary has been taken over!”
The expressions of the other priestesses—who hadn’t yet heard the report—all turned to ones of shock. Even the Red Dragons exchanged a look.
She must have been trying to alert her allies of the situation. Preenia went on, “While we were distracted by you...you so easily evaded our sight! That’s something no one’s been able to do in two hundred years. Did you use Lottecia?!”
“I’m sure they did,” Leticia said simply, annoyed by Preenia’s shouting so close to her.
But that wasn’t all Preenia had to say. She dug her nails into Leticia’s arm as the other woman strangled her, struggling desperately. “Was this your plan? To dangle the pact in front of us and make us think it might benefit us in some way?”
“Yes. The pact does nullify several of the sanctuary’s external defenses, but it can’t do anything about the door into the Ayrmankar burial chamber.”
“So you distracted us, and while we couldn’t take action—”
Leticia finally lost her temper at the moaning priestess. She shouted into her ear, “You couldn’t take action?! But you didn’t have any trouble attacking the Thirteen Apostles to minimize the threats to you!” She tightened her grip, keeping everyone else away with a glare. “Master’s pact shouldn’t have to have been used for something like this. If you would have just looked outside every once in a while—”
“If you had...considered us...” Preenia’s voice dripped with anger, a lurid grin on her face even as she began to pale from lack of oxygen. Her voice scratched as she coughed and shouted, “It’s we of the sanctuary who are slaves! Are we not?!”
“Yes, you’re strange rulers who made yourselves into slaves!” Leticia shouted before sensing someone behind her. She had never believed in a sixth sense, but if it existed, it was probably something like this. In fact, that must have been exactly what it was, since she was sensing a spirit.
With a voice only she could hear, the presence told her, “You don’t need to buy time anymore. I’ve finished my final recovery. I can transport you now.”
“Your timing always sucks.”
If she was being honest, there was still more she wanted to say to them, but Leticia cursed to Azalie and shoved Preenia forward at the same time.
In the same moment, she felt her senses warping. She felt freed from gravity, space, and time as she was transported—she was used to teleporting like this by now, but Azalie, who was somewhat lacking in power, still couldn’t make the trip instantaneous. It exhausted her too.
After a little time—she wasn’t sure exactly how much—she passed through space and stood once again in...
KABOOM!
A heat wave that burned her hair and a loud explosion that dug into her eardrums took her by surprise and Leticia fell on her ass. The feeling of the damp ground underneath her made her feel nauseous for a second, but at least she quickly figured out where she actually was. She was outside.
It was still dark out, but dawn shouldn’t have been too far off. Leticia flailed her limbs, trying to find purchase, and righted herself somehow, then strained her eyes. The explosion had occurred somewhere near to her, and there were still flames rising from the ground. The white fire was without a doubt produced by sorcery.
She heard a voice from somewhere in the darkness.
“Silver Flash!”
A white light shot straight at Leticia from the darkness, grazing her. In the sea of trees behind her, there was an explosion twice as large as the one that had just occurred. She was almost knocked off her feet by the tremors, but she managed to keep herself upright by clinging to some nearby ivy.
Several things were clear to her: First of all, she was outside. And secondly, she would die unless she did something.
“Seriously, your timing sucks!” she spat at the invisible Azalie once more, taking off running. She used the direction she’d heard the spell come from as a reference and just ran without looking at what was underneath her.
That was vocal sorcery... If it’s a sorcerer, then they’re not my enemy.
“Aside from one of them, that is,” Azalie’s voice echoed in her head once more.
Even with the ringing in her ears and the continuous sorcerous explosions going off all around her, she could hear that voice perfectly clearly.
She couldn’t understand what Azalie had said, though she got the feeling it didn’t mean anything anyway. Frustrated, she asked her, “What do you mean?”
“Who’s got the best view of the situation right now?”
Leticia didn’t say anything, but her thoughts must have given Azalie her answer. She went on without a response from Leticia.
“I had no choice but to use Colgon to take the Second World-Seeing Tower from the priestesses, but...now we have to stop Colgon.”
“Why?”
This time, Azalie didn’t answer, and Leticia couldn’t read her mind. It was unfair, Leticia thought with a grimace. She tripped on a tree root and almost fell over. It wasn’t easy to move through a thick forest without any light.
By the time she’d righted herself, she heard Azalie’s voice again. “Krylancelo...killed that man in the priest’s robes.”
Leticia stopped, a shock racing up her spine.
Killed. Azalie had said the word like it was completely natural, and now she was speaking again.
“He’s coming here to the sanctuary as a more powerful sorcerer than Master.”
“And what does that mean?” Leticia asked hostilely, but Azalie didn’t rise to her provocation.
She just went on, “Colgon’s just become invincible, but there’s a possibility Krylancelo can still stop him.”
“So?”
“So he’s going to make the decision now that I no longer can, since I’m dead... With full knowledge of Aureole’s will.”
Leticia had started moving forward again, but she stopped once more. She glanced back, though she knew she wouldn’t see Azalie there, and spoke to the deserted darkness behind her. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You don’t need to understand. It’s just pettiness anyway.”
As expected, Azalie simply shut her out. Leticia sighed and kept moving.
Eventually, the sorcerous attacks lessened, the explosions fading away. She had no idea if that meant they had fought off their enemies or if they had simply been wiped out without being able to put up a fight. Leticia kept walking, not worrying about it. She couldn’t expect any good news at this point. Still, recalling Preenia’s face as the priestess was shoved to the floor did bring a twisted sort of feeling to the surface. She’d cried herself several times over the last few days, but if you acknowledged your loss, then all that was left for you was to become a slave.