Chapter 218 218

Chapter 218 218
Anton disappeared, and the witch let out a nervous breath, worried. Then she pulled herself together and turned back to us.
“Good,” the mage continued. “We need to get closer, and as soon as the arrows rain down, we can begin.”
We started moving in, and I saw my beloved’s lips press into an unhappy line when he noticed our maneuver. Laverna raised a protective dome over us, and that… whoever he was, helped Kays.
Suddenly the monster thrashed even more furiously, clearly displeased by our coordinated actions. With a deafening crack, one of its legs slammed into the ground—and hundreds of spiders, each the size of a large dog, began crawling out from beneath it!
Everyone’s attention shifted to the crawling horror. It turned into a real massacre. Our mages spared no strength against those creatures, but there were far too many of them.
What was happening started to feel like an apocalypse. Horrible chittering and snarling sounds, screams, groans, the clang of weapons, curses—everything blended together. Then we heard a whistle. Laverna threw a protective shield over the people, and arrows rained down on the black creatures and their leader.
Anton had reached the archers, and now they were showering the black abomination with a storm of arrows—dozens of them pierced the skirefen’s limbs. The monster slowed visibly and collapsed onto its belly, trying to rise, but the arrows pinned it down.
Without wasting a second, the mage standing nearby began unfolding his spell, crashing it down on the creature. We watched as the body started to change again, taking on female shapes. It didn’t fully turn back into the familiar Bahira. It was a woman’s silhouette with black, spiked skin, grotesque hands, and knees bent backward—staring at us with hatred and contempt. Realizing things were going badly, it struck out, and once more an invisible cocoon wrapped around it for a split second before vanishing.
I caught her gaze and locked onto it, holding on with everything I had. The monster couldn’t move, straining to reach me.
I saw all her crimes over the long centuries—how she devoured entire settlements, creatures, people. She was a true abyss of hatred and savagery. Tears streamed down my face, but I clung to her consciousness, forcing myself not to sink into the horror that was Bahira’s very essence.
Without wasting a second, Kays, Laverna, and the dark-haired mage launched another barrage of magical strikes at the creature—but the shield was still there. A reflected wave slammed outward, hurling nearby people dozens of meters away. Only the mages and I remained standing.
“Magic won’t take me, upstarts!” the brunette snarled.
And then I noticed Anton behind her—advancing with a sword, lifting it high over the monster’s head.
One sharp, powerful swing—and the blade should have severed the creature’s head, but it crashed into yet another shield.
The bitch burst into a vile laugh, glaring at us with burning malice.
“Oh! And cold steel won’t get close to me either,” Bahira mocked, feigning regret over her invulnerability.
Suddenly I caught only a brief flicker of a small shadow—before that mockery of a woman began shrieking and roaring, thrashing wildly.
Focusing, I saw it—
Figaro.
He had clamped onto her neck, tearing into her flesh with sharp teeth, his blade-like claws shredding skin and muscle! Black blood soaked the creature’s clothes and smeared my beloved little beast’s muzzle—but the kizibara didn’t stop, tearing on with feral fury.
Figaro carried no weapon.
He was the weapon.
We watched as the creature’s magical shields finally collapsed from exhaustion. With effort, she managed to fling Figaro off—but Kays, the dark-haired mage, and Laverna were already there. They unleashed a combined strike of such power that the skirefen couldn’t deflect it.
The monster’s body began to burn away before our eyes, as if being seared from existence, and a horrific howl echoed across all of Letid.
A magical explosion followed. A massive avalanche of free energy burst into the world, searching for vessels. Kays, Anton, Laverna, the mage, and I were the closest—and we were pierced by blinding light.
I saw the magic pour into Kays, Laverna, and the brunette—but when their capacity overflowed, the energy went searching again.
It found Anton and me.
I felt like I was bursting from the inside—new sensations, a feeling of power flooding every cell of my body. When I opened my eyes, I seemed to see everyone at once—not individually like before, but all together, effortlessly.
People appeared either as gray or light masses. But when I turned to the others, I saw four blazing suns—Kays, Laverna, Anton, and the dark-haired mage. They radiated intensely, brilliant and alive.
And then I noticed one more tiny sun.
Shaking off the vision and returning to normal sight, I realized that little sun was Figaro. The little guy had gotten magic too. I looked at him with pure delight—when suddenly he vanished and reappeared beside me out of nowhere.
“Teleportation,” I heard my beloved say knowingly.
Warm hands wrapped around me from behind, warm lips brushing my neck.
“How are you?”
“Kays!” I turned to my husband, pressing close. “What was that? I feel so strange…”
“Looks like we’ve got a few more of the strongest mages now,” the dark-haired man murmured thoughtfully, then turned to the unfamiliar brunette. “So… maybe now we introduce ourselves?”