High above the chaos of Oakhaven, circling lazily on Kagari's back, Reika Lorne watched the golden spear arc upwards and find its mark. The illusion concealing the Hobgoblin Chieftain shattered, revealing the impaled commander just before the wyvern spiraled down into the forest.
"Woah," Reika breathed, genuinely surprised. "One shot? Seriously? The pdf definitely said that was like, a ten-page boss fight." She remembered skimming that part, bored by the description of Aelric's drawn-out struggle against the raid leader. "Okay, MC's got some serious DPS, gotta admit. But skipping the whole fight? That's not how the story goes." A frown creased her brow. This Aelric was powerful, yes, but his actions felt... off. Like a player using exploits to bypass content. "Weird. Looks like a cheating."
Her attention drifted back to the ongoing slaughter below. The leader might be dead, but hundreds of Goblins, Grak, and insectoids were still rampaging. The handful of Kingdom soldiers led by the eyepatch captain fought valiantly but were clearly overwhelmed. The winged beasts continued to rain fire.
"Alright, Kagari," Reika decided, shaking off her surprise. "Hero or not, this party needs some air superiority." Her eyes gleamed. "Let's thin the herd up here." Focusing her mana, she began weaving a complex, dissonant pattern with her hands, drawing not just on her internal pool but on faint, forbidden echoes lingering in the air itself – the psychic residue of ancient conflicts. //cast_forbidden_psalm(target=aerial_zone_A, effect=discord_frenzy). A wave of invisible, mind-shattering energy pulsed outwards. Down below, several of the fire-breathing flyers suddenly shrieked, turning on each other in a frenzy of claws and teeth. One ripped another's wing off, sending it tumbling. Two more locked in a vicious dogfight, ignoring the village entirely. The remaining flyers scattered wildly, screeching in terror, abandoning their attack runs under the psychic assault.
As she savored the chaos she'd sown, a sharp spike of focused magical energy lanced up from the village outskirts, forcing her to instinctively urge Kagari higher. A bolt of pure white energy, humming with contained power, sliced through the air where they'd been moments before.
"What a hell is that!" Reika scanned the ground below, quickly locating the source – not on the ground, but circling lower now, just below Kagari's altitude. A lone figure rode a massive, grey-feathered hawk, easily large enough to carry a rider, its movements disciplined and controlled. The rider wore the familiar indigo robes of the Grand Council of Mages, a glowing staff held ready, radiating an aura of potent magic that felt like a physical pressure even at this distance. A woman. Reika squinted, enhancing her vision again. Wait... she knew that face. Lyra? From Tenkaru Academy?
"Lyra?" Reika scoffed.
Down below, Lyra banked her war-hawk smoothly, its trained movements responding instantly to her mental commands. She had arrived minutes earlier, tracking the chaotic magical signature. Lyra, always the diligent student, the one who followed every rule and mastered every technique through sheer hard work at Tenkaru. She had always been considered second best, overshadowed by the baffling, frustrating Mizono, who showed zero talent for two years then suddenly wielded raw power Lyra could only dream of, breaking every rule in the process. Lyra had envied and resented Mizono's effortless power, even as she despised her lack of discipline. Mizono's escape from the academy had been Lyra's opportunity; with the unpredictable variable gone, Lyra's steady, reliable skill had finally shone, earning her the top spot and, eventually, this coveted position within the Mage Council's ranks. Now, seeing Mizono riding that monstrous beast, wielding forbidden magic with such flagrant disregard for consequence... the old envy warred with cold determination. The psychic discord tearing apart the flyers confirmed the target's presence and her dangerous nature. Lyra ignored the ground battle entirely, her focus immediately locking onto the massive, fiery Solarynth circling above, the chaotic signature of Ruinseeker magic clinging to it like a shroud. Target confirmed: Mizono. Threat level: Substantial. Lyra recognized Mizono's raw, undisciplined power immediately, amplified now by the terrifying beast she rode. Lyra focused her will, channeling refined mana through her staff – mana earned through years of painstaking study, not freakish talent – the crystal tip blazing with intense white light as she prepared a high-level containment spell, determined to prove that discipline would ultimately prevail over chaos.
"Guess she didn't like the mind games, Kagari," Reika grinned fiercely. "Let's give her something else to play with!" //cast_animate_stone(target=boulder_cluster_near_Lyra_flightpath, form=golem_crude). Below Lyra, several large rocks lurched together, forming a shambling golem that immediately hurled a chunk of stone skyward towards the war-hawk.
Lyra clicked her tongue, annoyed by the crude distraction but recognizing the raw power animating it. A swift sequence of gestures, faster than most initiates could follow, and multiple bolts of pure kinetic force intercepted the hurled rock, shattering it mid-air. Her eyes remained fixed on the sky as Reika urged Kagari into a dive. //cast_corrosive_orb(target=Lyra_position, spread=medium). Lyra erected a multi-layered Arcane Shield just in time, the sizzling green energy eating through the outer layers but failing to breach the core defense. Stronger than anticipated, and using prohibited decay magic, Lyra noted grimly, reinforcing the shield while weaving the complex matrix for a Paralysis Rune, preparing to intercept Mizono's descent.
Kaito watched the new development on the Scry-Shards with sharp interest. The indigo robes were unmistakable, now mounted on a large hawk – a signature of the Mage Council's elite aerial units. A Mage Council agent, engaging Mizano directly above the battlefield. The agent's controlled flight and the power displayed in her counter-spells marked her as highly skilled. "Perhaps," Kaito murmured to himself, ignoring the frightened servant boy, "the Council didn't fully trust the Noble House to handle this after all, and acted individually." Another faction, another variable entering the fray. He zoomed the feed, analyzing the magical exchange. Mizono's raw, chaotic power versus the Council agent's precise, controlled technique. This complicated matters significantly.