Chapter 39

Zee initiated the assault by charging at Eirisse with her elven agility. Eirisse, prepared and poised, grinned at the approaching elf. However, Zee defied her expectations by leaping into a wall run along the chamber's side, propelling herself past Eirisse's line of sight.

As Zee executed her acrobatics, Ercale capitalized on the distraction. From behind Zee, he launched another arcing bolt of lightning aimed directly at Eirisse. She deftly sidestepped to evade the electrifying attack.

Yet, Zee was not alone in her assault. With unparalleled speed, Larkin closed the gap and seized Eirisse, his body surging with mana-enhanced swiftness. As Zee descended from her wall run, she executed a slashing strike aimed at Eirisse's right arm, forcing her to defend against the incoming attack.

Eirisse's attention was divided between Zee's assault and Larkin's sudden appearance. Caught off guard, she found herself ensnared in an unexpected alliance, her left arm seized by Larkin, and her right hand trapped by Zee's firm grip.

Eirisse, her playful demeanor intact, remarked, "Impressive, you're finally giving it your all."

Zee wasted no time in her attempt to strike Eirisse. She forcefully diverted Eirisse's right hand away from her face, aiming her dagger at Eirisse's head. Eirisse responded with an unsettling calmness, licking her lips as the blade descended. Then, with astonishing dexterity, she caught the dagger between her teeth, producing an unexpected metallic clang. Surprised, Zee tried to retrieve her dagger, but Eirisse had other plans.

With a flirtatious wink, Eirisse's teeth snapped, effortlessly shattering Zee's dagger into pieces. In the blink of an eye, she followed up with a forceful kick to both Larkin and Zee's midsections, sending them staggering backward.

Meanwhile, Ercale seized the opportunity to launch a ball of lightning at Eirisse. Undaunted, Eirisse simply stood still, a confident grin on her lips. The eye artifact on her shoulder transitioned to a deep black hue once more, effortlessly nullifying Ercale's magical attack.

*Damn that eye! You have to annoy me even after death, don't you, Violet,* Ercale thought in exasperation as the eye nullified another one of his magical attacks. He knew he possessed more potent magic, but he knew that the eye would nullify it as well. After all, Violet had always ranked second in power only to Winter.

Ercale glanced around, his irritation growing as he noticed Xain was nowhere to be seen. *Where the hell is the ape?* he wondered as Eirisse took aim with the eye, its glow shifting to a fiery red hue before it unleashed another blast.

Meanwhile, Xain had managed to slip through the frenzied combatants and entered the storage room, where Lennix was lying, still slowly healing his injuries. Xain knelt down. "How are you holding up? You don't look so good," Xain remarked, concerned about Lennix's well-being. Lennix groaned in response, "She inflicted severe damage to my bones. Healing that takes time, even for a vampire like me." Despite the pain, Lennix slowly started to sit up.

Lennix extended a hand to help Xain to his feet, after which he asked, "How are you holding up against my sister?" Xain replied with a hint of frustration, "Not very well. She's incredibly powerful, and we're struggling to make a dent." Lennix nodded knowingly, his expression casual. "She's the strongest person I've ever known in over a hundred years."

As they exited the storage room through the broken wall, they witnessed Zee, Larkin, and Ercale launching another coordinated assault on Eirisse, with little success. Frustration hung heavy in the air as their attacks continued to be thwarted.

Lennix turned to Xain. "Why aren't you going berserk like you did when we fought?" he asked. Xain hesitated before responding, "I...can't. It doesn't work like that. I can't summon it on command."

With a sigh, Lennix steeled himself. "Well, it looks like I'll have to give it another shot," he said, lowering himself preparing for a powerful charge towards his elder sister.

As Eirisse was focusing on the others, Lennix charged towards her faster then lightning. However, she swiftly noticed his approach. When Lennix attempted to land a punch on her cheek, she gracefully sidestepped his strike, her movements flowing effortlessly.

"Aw, dear brother, do you wish to spend more time with me?" Eirisse purred seductively.

Lennix, propelled by his vampiric agility, continued his rapid onslaught, his motions becoming a blur of relentless attacks. Yet, Eirisse proved herself more than capable of countering his assault. Her lithe figure glided smoothly through the flurry of blows, each of her movements an artful response to his advances.

Then, with a sudden and fluid motion, Eirisse executed a powerful throw. She twisted Lennix's arm, expertly flipping him over her shoulder and slamming him onto the ground with bone-crushing force. The impact was so tremendous that the wooden floor fractured beneath him, sending him hurtling into the office's basement, where a cascade of debris followed his descent.

Xain, witnessing Lennix's ineffective assault, couldn't help but think, *Wow, he accomplished nothing.* Suddenly, Ercale's voice sharply called out to him, "Ape! Quit standing around and fight!"

Eirisse shifted her attention toward Xain, locking her unsettling smile onto him. Xain felt a shiver run down his spine as he adopted a combat-ready stance, sensing the weight of her gaze. She kept the artifact aimed at the others, preoccupying them, while she seemed to take a peculiar interest in Xain.

"You know, I've been curious about you from the very beginning," she purred, taking deliberate and seductive steps towards him. Her chest was puffed up, her demeanor almost as if she was trying to entice him.

Meanwhile, the artifact she wielded continued to shift through an array of colors, each hue representing a different attack that tormented Zee, Larkin, and Ercale.

The red color emitted a scorching heat, the blue brought an icy chill, the green conjured slicing winds, and the white unleashed freezing blasts. The trio struggled to evade these relentless assaults, narrowly dodging the shifting tempest of attacks. Ercale, drawing from his past experience with Violet, instinctively discerned the effects of each color and guided their evasive maneuvers.

As Eirisse approached Xain, Zee strained against the relentless barrage from the artifact, trying to get to him. Xain, searched the room for anything he could use, suddenly fixated on the entrance they had used. His expression morphed into one of genuine surprise.

Taking note of Xain's change in demeanor, Eirisse redirected her attention toward the door. In that moment, a blazing projectile surged toward her. She narrowly dodged it, but the fireball struck the wall, searing through it. Emerging from the doorway was a woman with blond hair, accompanied by a man encased in pitch-black knight's armor.

The woman, her eyes locked on Eirisse, proclaimed, "I don't know who you are, but only I get to kill that little brat."

Xain's voice quavered with fear as he uttered, "As if our troubles weren't enough... Why are you here, Amara?"