Chapter 3 || Azure Abyss

"My, it's rude to take someone else's gift. I suggest you stop what you're doing and back away. You're a gentleman, aren't you?"

Chills ran down the grey-haired man's spine. The alluring voice of the person he had been looking for breathed in his ear with a chilly breath. How could he have been so careless? No... She was at a level far higher than he had expected. Was she actually on par with Roselia now? The magic power she gave off was barely her full power.

Every cell in his body screamed as mana gathered and rapidly flowed through his "circuits" before being drilled to the ground. Thorny vines shot out, launching themselves at the person behind them as melodic laughter echoed through the forest. The magus got up from his crouched position, turning his gaze to the sandstone-haired woman.

The Azure Abyss dusted off her white and blue dress, her lips arching into a playful grin before hiding it with her azure fan. The sight sent chills to the fiery familiar, yet she held her ground.

"Now that's just rude. It would be in your best interest to take my advice. You'll only get hurt if you attempt to activate my little clue for Emma."

"Stop with your senseless drivel, Clotilde." Tristan scowled as Lynx narrowed her slitted eyes at the woman before them. "Is this a projection of yourself? Or were you here all along?"

"Oh, what do you think? Am I a projection? Or am I the real deal?" Her brows narrowed as her grin widened.

A gust of wind bellowed, and in the next moment, Tristan was right in front of the witch in mid-air, his right leg pulled back, ready for a kick. He threw his right foot at the witch, only for Vita to fold her fan and use it to block the strike.

"You're quick to use violence on a woman, don't you think? Let's be civilized about this and do a Q&A instead?" She offered, her tone playful and teasing.

"And have you manipulate the flow of the conversation? You must think I'm such a dolt to fall for a temptress' words." Tristan retorted as he leaped back.

"I don't think that at all. On the contrary, I think you're quite sharp." She unfolded her fan once again, covering the lower half of her face with the mount of her fan. "We're making a commotion loud enough for Emma and the others to hear, yet you look like you're not worried about being noticed. You're even flaring up your mana to a level that would alarm them as we speak."

Her hidden grin grew in size, giggling as Tristan flicked his wrist, another spiny vine springing out of the ground.

Vita shook her head, amused. She waved her fan with a single stroke as a gust of chilling winds froze the vine. "Well?"

Tristan scoffed and fixed his fedora. "When my familiar was about to return, I felt a barrier blocking him from entering this area the moment I started to approach that stone slab." He pointed at it.

Intrigued, the Azure Abyss hummed as she gestured for him to continue.

"If I may take a wild guess, there's a defensive spell placed on that slab. It alerts you if the mana signature it detected isn't your sister's before triggering a high-level barrier around the heart of the forest." He deduced, channeling mana in his hands once again.

Her grin morphed into a pleased smile. "See? You're a sharp young man."

"I'm flattered you think so." He rolled his eyes before his fierce expression returned. "But enough of this. I've been looking for you. More specifically, a client has tasked me to find you so you could meet and talk with her."

Vita closed her eyes, fanning herself with a melancholic expression. "Grandmother?"

He heaved a sigh as magic circled appeared on the side of his feet. "If you know that much, then I'll assume you know what I am?"

"Hehe, perhaps, but why spoil the fun by confirming your assumption? I rather hear the words from your own mouth~"

"I'm not here to serve as your entertainment!"

Finally snapping, Tristan darted toward her. The magic circles on his feet thrust him forward, boosting his speed and momentum as he pulled his leg back.

Vita faced his glare with a smile, snapping her fingers as several blades appeared above them. The spectral blades moved at the will of their master. They launched themselves at Tristan, but a spiny arm of vines blocked their path. This allowed the fedora-wearing magus to give the witch a kick.

Or so he thought.

"Wha—"

"You know you couldn't beat me from a distance with magic, so you chose to fight up close, hmm? That's not a bad idea... if you were fighting any other witch."

His foot met a wall of ice before a blast of icy wind knocked him away, sending him flying toward a tree.

Tristan grunted as he kicked off the trunk before his back could make contact, somersaulting backward, the magus safely landing on the ground.

Lynx took her position in front of the magus as she growled, burning mana building inside her.

"Lynx, stand down," Tristan ordered as the kitten familiar turned and stared at him in shock.

The kitten meowed in protest, the magus shaking his head as though he understood what she was trying to say.

"Even if you fought in your true form, you won't be able to last long without my sister nearby." He said sternly as the kitten looked down, nodding as she leaped behind the magus. "I am really sorry, but this is for the best."

During his walk to Isthmia Forest with Elliot earlier, the magus had already pondered the scenario of Lynx in her true form assisting him in restraining the witch. But the man dismissed the idea after considering the risks. It was too much of a gamble, and it wasn't a guarantee they could pull things off.

'Lynx's flames are too hot and destructive without Erina keeping her in check. And without her, she'll easily run out of mana before I could actually seal her flow of mana.'

The longer this keeps up, the sooner Clotilde will start getting serious. Once that happens, Tristan would have to retreat.

The magus couldn't risk Lynx using her true form, but he still had to take a gamble.

Vita quirked an eyebrow as she narrowed her eyes, amused. "You're still planning to fight? I wanted to see what that familiar is capable of. I could feel an abundance of mana inside of her. What a shame. "

"A shame indeed." Tristan sarcastically remarked. He crossed his forearms in front of his chest. "I have no plans on causing a forest fire."

Mana coursed freely through the air as Lynx took cover from what was about to come.

"I'll say it again: Will you come with me to have a talk with your grandmother?"

Two magic circles manifested on the side of his feet once more as several others appeared behind him.

Ten, twenty, no, thirty— no, fifty magic circles appeared behind him, large amounts of mana whirling in each of them.

The witch let out a giggle as her mana flared up slightly. "No, thank you."

The air around the bewitching beauty grew cold, the moisture in the air freezing as they formed icicle spears.

"I am grateful my grandmother wants to talk to me again, but I'm afraid that it will have to wait. I still have some important business to take care of."

Without another word, Vita swung her fan, gesturing for the ice projectiles to shoot forward.

Tristan closed his eyes as the grey circles behind him glowed and flickered with sparks of mana. The icicles approached him with bulletlike speed, yet his face showed complete calm. Emerald eyes shot open, and with a snap of his fingers, grey swooped down the forest.

"Dance, sparrows!"

Grey sparrows of different sizes flew out of the magic circles, their sheer number flooding the heart of Isthmia Great Forest in grey. The icicles aimed at the magus struck some of the avians, only for their pierced bodies to recover.

The sparrows flew around wildly as Vita narrowed her gaze into an inspecting glare, examining the birds.

"Illusions? These sparrows don't feel like illusions though..." Vita muttered as she turned her eyes to Tristan, who continued to cross his forearms.

The grey avians dived in front of the magus, then flew upward, the magus disappearing from his spot.

Eyes widening, the Azure Abyss looked around and tried sensing the man's mana signature. A visible frown formed on her face. The illusions... or whatever they were, were throwing off her senses. Every sparrow flying around had a portion of Tristan's mana, making it difficult for her to pinpoint him.

But instead of getting too upset, a smile graced her lovely face.

"So this is your last resort? Using this illusion spell to deceive my senses? Summoning this many sparrows would take a considerable amount of mana. I'd be surprised if you have enough to cast anything else." Vita began, extending a palm forward. "It's unfortunate I have to get rid of such an interesting display of magic!"

Razor-sharp ice shot up from the ground, piercing and trapping the avians in its icy grasp. More of the sparrows were caught in Vita's Frozen Prison until most of them were encased in it. The rest of the birds who were out of range flew towards the witch with a cry.

Vita simply snapped her fingers and crimson blades took shape in the air, dancing as they sliced through the charging sparrows. As she thought, they started to regenerate again.

She had frozen and slain the majority of the avians, yet their numbers never went down due to the ones getting sliced and pierced regenerating.

Her lips stretched into a faint smile as the magic circles summoning the sparrows started to fade. The grey-haired magus was nearly out of mana.

"He won't be able to hide for long."

"You don't say?" came a voice from behind.

"!?"

Just as Vita turned around, piercing emerald faced her amethyst eyes. From her flank, Tristan appeared out of a flock of sparrows. The witch managed to form and fire spears of ice at the magus, hitting his shoulders and right arm.

The spell connected, but it didn't deter him from charging at Vita.

"Gh... Dancing Blades—!?"

"Too late!" His palm reached and pressed her abdomen, a magic circle appearing. "Cut the flow, Severance!"

Vita shuddered, heat whirling in her abdomen, sudden nausea crashing down on her.

Suddenly, the ice prison trapping the avians shattered like glass, far different from how she shatters it herself.

*THUD!*

"Ah!"

"Ugh...!"

Vita felt her back kiss the ground as Tristan lay on top of her, sweat pouring down his face. The woman blinked before smirking, though it was short-lived when she tried to check his mana, gasping in realization.

"I can't feel any mana... How is this possible? What did you do?!"

Through panting breaths, Tristan grew his own smirk and replied, "I sealed your flow of mana, albeit temporarily. You won't be able to sense or use any mana for a while."

The Anguis' jaw dropped as she stared at her, dumbfounded by the revelation. Then, she did something neither of them expected.

She laughed.

Tristan blinked, perplexed. He soon glared as he raised a hand. Vines sprouted from the ground, wrapping themselves around the witch's wrists and waist, bounding her.

"I don't understand why you're laughing, but don't think your bewitching laughter will work, Clotilde."

"Ahaha... haha... I'm sorry, but I was far from laughing at you." Her laughter slowly faded as she calmed down. Vita shot him a smirk. "You think my laughter is bewitching, do you~?"

"You know what I meant when I said that." He scoffed, rolling his eyes at her teasing query. "You can cast magic with your voice by applying mana. A fitting ability for a witch pretending to be an opera singer."

She frowned at his remark, then rolled her eyes. "I may be an Anguis and a witch, but I never pretended to be an opera singer. I actually take pride in my singing skills."

"Good for you." He deadpanned.

The two heard a meow as Lynx ran up to the magus, making the man get back up as the kitten snuggled his shin, concerned.

"Sorry for worrying you like that, Lynx. I'm a little spent, but I have enough mana to warp us back."

The fiery kitten nodded slightly, glancing at the witch who simply smiled and waved a hand through her restraints. The two sweatdropped.

Vita turned her attention to the fedora-wearing magus with a look of genuine surprise after hearing his words.

"You cast several spells earlier, summoned who knows how many sparrows, and used that spell of yours to seal my mana. And from how much you've been sweating, it looks like you spent a large portion of mana to cast it." She surmised before inquiring, "And yet you still have enough for a teleportation spell. Tell me, why haven't you run out of mana yet, Mr. Magus?"

The man's emerald eyes narrowed into a glare before shaking his head weakly.

"I thought you wanted to hear confirmation from my own lips."

"Well, I changed my mind. You piqued my interest, and I rather hear more of you than hear you confirm you're a member of a once-extinct clan of magic practitioners."

Tristan fought a scowl as he took a deep breath while Lynx glared at the witch.

"I'm not obligated to explain myself to my target," Tristan said, wiping sweat off his forehead. "However, you can theorize all about how I still have mana on our way to your grandmother."

"That's not fair..." She muttered, her lips almost forming a pout. Vita sighed and closed her eyes. "Well, if you're being like that, at least humor me a little and tell me what those sparrows were. I highly doubt all of them were your familiars."

"I'm not obligated to explain what they were either."

Now she was glaring at him like a child. How annoying...

The magus turned around and took off his fedora. He already accomplished his mission so...

"You were too overconfident in your abilities. I was honestly surprised, but it worked out in my favor. You had set yourself for defeat the moment you looked into their eyes."

"Their eyes?" Vita repeated, pursing her lips in thought before gasping in realization. "Occular illusion..."

The magus chose to stay silent, neither confirming nor denying anything. He didn't need to though as Vita laughed, trailing off her with her own hypothesis.

"The sparrows were likely special illusions that were tangible against magic but intangible against physical touch." That would explain how they kept regenerating after being attacked by her magic. "When I was checking what exactly were the birds you summoned, I believe my eyes locked with a few of theirs..."

She was close to figuring it out, but Tristan continued to keep his mouth closed.

Vita sighed, visibly disappointed at his lack of a reaction. Her lips soon upturned into a smirk.

"I guess I'll have to keep speculating after retreating. Emma and the others should be here any minute." Her smirk widened as his head snapped toward her, alarmed. "Oh, did you actually think I wouldn't be able to escape because you sealed my mana?"

The grey-haired magus gained a scowl. "You're wasting your time bluffing. I definitely sealed off your flow of mana. You're incapable of using any magic right now."

"Hehe, I never said I'd use magic to escape, did I?"

A purple-colored circle he had never seen before appeared on the ground she laid on. Her smirk became an apologetic smile as she closed her eyes.

"Please tell my grandmother I'll come and see her in my own time. I was telling the truth when I said I had important business to take care of." The Azure Abyss's body began to be enveloped in light. "Oh! Do tell her that it's related to the Gnomes! Until we meet again, Mr. Magus!"

"No! Dammit!"

Tristan was too late.

He was too slow in casting his warp spell. The woman had already vanished in bright light, the barrier that encased the heart of the forest disappearing at the same. He failed to restrain her...

Tristan fell to his knees and gritted his teeth. "Shit, shit, shit...!"

The magus uncharacteristically cursed under his breath, feeling dread from his failure. He was too damn careless! He should have warped them back to Eryn as soon as he sealed her mana! Because of his carelessness, the Abyss escaped.

Tristan wasn't even sure he could outplay her again, and all because he had been soft and humored her with a hint. He won't be able to seal her mana again with the same trick twice...

Lynx held back from comforting the magus when she saw his sparrow familiar return, swooping down from the sky and chirping, distressed. Tristan met the avian's eyes, nodding slightly.

Elliot and those two are quickly making their way here after the witch sensed the barrier vanish.

"Let's go. We have no business here anymore."

"Meow..."

Worried, Lynx nudged the man's arm while the sparrow perched himself on his right shoulder, nuzzling his cheek against Tristan's. The magus cracked a thin smile, holding a hand up as his magic circle appeared beneath his feet.

Light surrounded their bodies before warping out of the forest.

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Back at the Archbishop's office, Erina watched everything unfold through the eyes of her familiar. The fiery magus clenched the side of the table, the heat emitting from her palms enough to start burning the wood.

How could she forget about Ouroboros' tech? That was a fatal miscalculation on her part. They should have been prepared for the possibility, but she underestimated Vita after Tristan restrained and sealed her mana.

Erina wasn't blaming her brother. The redhead magus always believed he would be able to suppress the witch; she was just upset she didn't predict her using Ouroboros tech to get away. It was because she heard that she was recently acting separately from her comrades due to a disagreement.

But she could live letting her escape... The same couldn't be said about Tristan, though.

If Erina's terrible habit was her poor punctuality, Tristan's was his habit of burdening himself by letting his "mistakes" and "slip-ups" get to him, despite knowing some things were beyond his control.

The male magus wasn't even aware of his own bad habit.

Her fiery red eye widened. Through the eyes of her familiar, she saw Tristan cast the warp spell.

"They're coming back!"

As those words left her lips, Tristan's magic circle appeared on the floor of the office, light accompanying the arrival of her brother and the familiars.

"Meow!"

"Lynx! Tristan!" Erina cried out as she caught the kitten in her arms before wrapping an arm around her little brother.

The male's complexion had seen better days, rivers of sweat running down his pale face. He finally reached his limit.

"Erina... Big sister... I'm sorry... I failed..." The grey-haired magus panted out before ultimately collapsing in her arms.

"You idiot. I should be the one apologizing..."

"No. I am the one who owes you two an apology. Therefore, I should be the one apologizing."

A familiar voice echoed through the room. Erina felt her lips twist into a thin smile as she turned around, a crimson-colored magic circle emerging from the floor.

With a flicker of light, a blonde-haired girl appeared before the siblings. Her mere presence sent shivers down magical beings. The large red crystal on top of her staff exuded dense mana that even made Lynx shudder in fear.

Her eyelids slowly opened, crimson-pink eyes staring at them before they softened upon meeting with the female magus' red one.

It was Crimson Roselia.