Chapter 131: Dawn of Day Two

The rest of the night went on peacefully, at least for the duo. With Diana by his side, and Ciaran being free to cast at anything that moved, the boy was steadily recovering.

He was no longer holding back, and with each kill, the percentage of lifeforce he took in was growing. At first, no one noticed, but the more he did it the more the other Mages got creeped out. Labeling an ability as 'evil' was far below them, but even they couldn't dismiss how unsettling the notion of a soul eater was.

Ciaran on the other hand was fully concentrated on killing things, and couldn't care less. His power wasn't growing, but his appetite for souls was. He was always a foodie, but this was different. The more he ate, the hungrier he got, until finally he couldn't eat anymore, and he stopped.

He had only lasted four hours, and with less output than before, but that was still satisfactory for the soldiers. The same mundane soldier was about to escort him again when Diana stood in his way.

The girl had become strangely protective, and possessive of the boy, but Ciaran didn't care. His eyes were burning, and he needed sleep. He had not eaten in a while, not in a conventional way, so his body was looking to restore energy another way.

When they got to the small broom closet, Ciaran thought he would be going in alone, but she did not allow it. She jammed herself into the cramped room and dismissed her armor. Pulling him to the blanket laid on the ground, she fully intended to share in his sleep.

"You miss me that much?" He asked jokingly.

"More! A lot more than you would think Rony." She said as she shared with him, her two months. At first, she relished the ability to fight her peers, but then the fighting stopped, and she had to go back.

Before meeting Ciaran she was used to spending months before she said a single word. But after they met, the loudmouth was always in her ear. Worse, they had fostered a habit of sharing their thoughts with one another, and without him, even her mind seemed to find no peace.

She knew it was not the same for the boy. He loved her and cherished her company, but he heard the voice of his Storm constantly. Now sitting, or more accurately laying next to him, she could hear it too. It wasn't hard, as it was a particularly loud and angry element.

"Maybe you have considered giving my offer a chance?" He asked as he lowered his hand to her lower back. He was pushing his luck, and he knew it, but there comes a time when a man had to make bad decisions and act on them, and Ciaran had decided this was one of them.

She would usually scoff at him, or play the maiden in love at best. But this time it was different. Her eyes looked at him like he was meat, and she was a wild and hungry predator. There was even a bit of Moonlight shining in them, barely held back, by what he thought was her last attempt of self-restraint.

"Do not push me further than this Rony. I am in no state of mind for it. Continue, and we will do something, we would both regret." She said sternly, but she didn't remove his hand.

The choice was left up to him.

'I am going to regret this for the rest of my life.' He thought as he closed his eyes, and asked his Storm to knock him unconscious.

If he had crossed the line, he would have felt dirty in taking advantage of his partner's weird mental state. He wanted an equal, someone who he would never lie to, someone who would be by his side willingly, in all manners of speaking.

It would be a lie if Diana said she wasn't disappointed, but she was also happy, in her distraught and unsatisfied way. She felt her partner and his warmth near her, she knew why he did what he did, and cherished him for it.

'A creature of pure logic to the bitter end, aren't you Rony.' She said, vie their mind link, and fell asleep too.

Outside the horrors of the night continued. Without Diana to protect the rear, Mages dropped like flies. The situation had gone from bad to worse when the Rank Fives joined the fray.

In the end, the army had no choice and had to employ a few of their strategic resources. They had sent out their Grand Mages. A dozen of them had joined every stronghold. Grand Mages were not considered powerhouses, but they were very close to them.

As Aces, they were tasked with ending the fighting for the first night. Twelve people at each stronghold cast the same spell simultaneously. They didn't share one element, but their spells mixed together and fired at the incoming beasts.

At the base where the duo was currently sleeping, there were eight Fire Grand Mages and the rest of them were Earth users. When their spells mixed, magma erupted from the walls of the castle.

It slowly melted every beast and carcass into nothingness, even destroying the mountains of flesh and the rivers of blood. The beast retreated further, as even just the heat of the combined spell was enough to kill the weaker beings.

The mages themselves stood at the edge of the wall, so they could shield the other humans from the heat. Even so, most of the people under Rank four passed out from dehydration.

They had been fighting for a while, and they were already at their limits. Even the soldiers' discipline didn't save them as they suffered the same fate. That night every stronghold had witnessed the scale the battles of the second day would bring.

An hour before dawn, reinforcements had arrived in every stronghold. Thousands of soldiers, as well as more Grand Mages, and even some powerhouses.

Old man Silver was still staying out of it, but he was expected to show up, on the third day. This was a nation-destroying disaster, so many of the royals fighting for power and influence had shown up too.

Some wanted to only make a symbolic appearance, but once they had arrived at the strongholds, they were stripped of their royal name, and placed in uniforms.

They volunteered for the job, and they were forced to pay for it.

"We have royals joining us today, give them a warm welcome." One of the Generals said.

The commanding officers of the Empire served the nation, not its rulers. They never cared for the games of the nobles. Some of the hunters even made vulgar remarks at the princes and princesses.

"Listen up goldilocks. I don't care how rich or fancy you brats are, we're stuck working together now. So let's cut the crap and get the job done, yeah? Or did you come here for a tea party?" One person said.

"Come here princess let's show the soldiers what we are fighting for." Another said, as he suggestively shook his hips.

"Is it true high born have golden nipples? Show us, show us?" A third shouted.

The Hunters that had lived through the hell that was the first wave hardly cared for the blood flowing in the veins of the newcomers.

Every place was more or less the same. Most of the royals were pissed, but they could hardly kill every hunter that was rude to them. Not to mention that after a growing twenty-four hours in this mess, the soldiers had started sharing some kinship with the brutes. Messing with the army was never a good option.

The most troubled of all was the Brigadier. Not only did he lose one of his strongest assets, as he sent Diana to protect his grandson, but he also hadn't heard anything from her, and wouldn't receive any news till the beasts were either all dead, or they gave up.

And to add a cherry on top he also had the pleasure to accommodate the Second Princess of the Empire. Veronica Hemperyngs the Mad.

"This what you want to see lads? See, pink and round just like the goods you're hiding." She said as she disregarded her armor and lifted up her shirt.

The Hunters cheered, the soldiers saluted, and Edward Clades thanked all the Gods this she-devil was here and not with his grandson.

'If they ever met, their capacity to cook up a storm would probably ruin the Empire as a whole.' He thought as his headache worsened.

He stayed clear of her path and allowed her to do as she pleased. He knew from years of experience with his grandson, that trying to leash her would only make her act out more.

As cheers were heard in the strongholds, and beasts were getting ready for the second day, the duo was held up in an embrace.

Diana's silver hair was all over the boy's face, and his nose itched from the constant irritation. And yet they both kept on sleeping peacefully as the madness threatened to begin anew.