Chapter 253 - The Severer

It was a room off-limits even to the most seasoned of the Outlanders; the attic of Beatrice's mystical home. Though, to simply refer to it as an "attic" would diminish the primordial knowledge that etched itself into the walls. 

Painted in arcane dust, blood of exotic creatures, even her own blood--seals lined the walls reinforced by a special metal known as--"Muni", a material that not only preserves residual mana, but amplifies magic in its entirety. 

Standing In the center of this expansive room filled with magic and nothing else, the sage dressed in her somber, black dress had her arms raised up as she weaved the phantasmagoric magecraft. It stretched across the length of the magic attic; strings of a nebulous magic that bore uncountable seals, most of which would be unintelligible to even the most knowledgeable mages. 

Coalescing into the center just in front of the sage, the many strings that resembled a rope of photographic film spiraled around a mass of gathering, grandiose magic that birthed gentle tremors. 

"...How long do you plan to watch? If you're waiting for the perfect moment to strike, surely such opportune moments have already presented themselves?"

Beatrice suddenly spoke out as she opened her eyes once more, not turning her attention away from the spell even while speaking. 

"Oh, you're as inhuman as they say! "Great Sage Beatrice"--the most wanted woman in the world." 

It was a feminine voice laced with malicious intent, it came as cruel and sharp as a blade. 

"I take it the barrier around this tree is of your doing?"

Ignoring the words of the enigmatic woman, Beatrice spoke with her voice as indifferent as the winter winds. 

"Indeed! Antoinette Kraus, at your service!"

Bowing down as she finally left the shadowy corner of the attic, the Argonaut maiden revealed her curly, brownish blonde locks that assisted her fantastically vibrant, gray eyes. It was usually a somber complexion to one's irises, but her fervent energy denied such concepts as she smiled brightly with her naturally glossy lips. 

"...Antoinette Kraus? Ah, I remember. "The Severer", how relieving to know the Argonauts are now recruiting actual murderers." 

"You know of my name? I'm honored, truly."

It was a slight deviation from the standard Argonaut attire; inhabiting a silver accent instead of the standard crimson that accompanied the infamous stygian shade of their neatly woven uniforms. Instead of opting for the default, professional suit most of her colleagues tend to wear, her attire resembled more of a butler, wearing gloves as bright as snow with a swallowtail-coat. 

Finally, Beatrice halted her creation of the spell, turning to face the mouthy Argonaut as her dress followed suit. 

"Oh! The rumors were true! You're as old as this world, yet you look like you're barely older than me! Wow, keeping your skin that smooth all this time--you'll have to tell me your skincare routine!"

"Kids these days...so crass; I'll have to discipline you properly." 

As Beatrice elegantly raised a single arm, taking a side stance, it took the Argonaut by surprise as she watched the woman dressed in a lavish, immaculate gown take a stance befit for a brawler. It wasn't so much intimidating as it was perplexing. 

"Don't think you can fool me!...I know you sages can't harm a human!" 

Smiling confidently, Antoinette reached behind her back, unveiling two, curved blades that had been tucked away behind her sable blazer, displaying their pristine sharpness as they shined under the presence of the magical radiance set in the attic. 

Those are definitely not blades native to Mastorn...Those are used by certain Derjun warriors. "Kasha blades", specializing in the removal of limbs of their opponents--most notably their heads. A savage weapon for even more devilish wielders, Beatrice thought. 

Even so, the two blades held were specifically unique; two streaks of a magenta design running parallel along each blade's steel with a sable handle decorated with small, but shining gems of the same shade of purple. 

"Is that so? Find out for yourself, child." 

Although she held an indifference to her expression, the ancient magical aura that radiated from Beatrice seemed to please Antoinette as her smile contorted into a wicked grin. 

"I'm going to take those star-filled eyes of yours as souvenirs, Old Hag…"

Whispering to herself, the curly-haired Argonaut ran her tongue across her bottom lip in a less than savory manner. 

"O'Gaia: Barrier." 

A simple incantation that seemed to require little exertion from the platinum-haired sage as she smiled with her maidenly beauty at the Argonaut, a circular barrier formed of a translucent, verdant energy encasing her. 

"So, that's your big plan, is it? If you can't fight back, just tuck yourself away in a barrier? Heh…"

Antoinette took a low, unorthodox stance, crouching so low to the ground that she resembled an animal that walked on four legs, dashing forward from this peculiar form with a speed that kicked up the residual dust inhabiting the attic. 

Using such speed and physical power, the Argonaut struck the barrier with her circular blade to no real consequence as it remained pristine. 

"It seems the magic of sages isn't all fairytales. Maybe this'll be a worthwhile hunt…"

Antoinette held her sinister grin as she posed, leaning her torso back slightly as one of her knees jutted out. 

She's quite the fast one. It doesn't matter anyway--the spell doesn't require my direct coddling to reach its conclusion--it'll only be a matter of more time being required before it can be cast, Beatrice thought. 

Still, a single failure didn't stop the blade-wielding woman from trying again as she took an unorthodox action--taking the opposite stance as before as she bent over backwards, kicking herself backwards as she contorted her body into a proper form. 

This time, Antoinette struck with both of her malicious blades against the mana-formed wall between her and the sage. However, this next strike left a small, but daunting crack on the form of the barrier, to the surprise of the caster herself and the glee of Antoinette. 

"How do you like it? My "Feline style"; quite the thing, isn't it?"

Antoinette boasted with a smug smirk as she twirled her blades between her fingers, lowering her stance once more as one hand rested close to her hip while the other stayed no more than a few centimeters above the metallic floor. 

"...I see. You didn't earn your infamy or your position as an Argonaut for nothing. "Feline style"--that is a practice originating from Derjun. I wonder...how a little doll like yourself came across such an art exotic to Mastorn?"

The sage's seeming lack of care about her barrier being cracked took away the frivolous grin from Antoinette for a moment as she frowned, narrowing her thin, yet expressive eyebrows at the pale-skinned woman. 

"Keep that act up while you can; you won't be so detached when I'm removing your limbs one-by-one..or wait, you literally will!" 

Beyond that seemingly ill-minded, hedonistic attitude, there was an undeniable resolve that sharpened the Argonaut's gray irises as her pupils seemed to tighten like a feline's own. It was the conviction of a murderer who was a perfectionist in their craft; one who didn't leave room for mercy. 

She's quite the infamous one, that Antoinette. As rumors would have it, "The Severer" never once has let a victim escape her grasp. Though, I stand to reason such a feat is skewed by the fact she earned her name only hunting those who couldn't defend themselves, Beatrice thought. 

As the sharp-dressed woman propelled forward at a ludicrous speed, there was little time that sat between the moment the tip of her shoe left the ground and the impact of her kasha blades against the spherical barrier. 

The small crack spread itself out further, multiplying like a spider's web as a pleased look came over Antoinette. She was truly a creature in her own right; one moment she was displaying her blades like a bloodthirsty child then the next she began stretching her body, pulling her arms behind her back as audible pops let out as she returned to her normal stance. 

"I'm starting to finally warm up, Gran-Gran...Only a few more hits--then your barrier will go pop."

Once again, her taunts fell dull on the ears of the primordial sage, who held her uncaring, slight smile all the same. 

Even a wise, old sage like her doesn't know everything. Isolated in these backwoods with her power and authority diminishing by the day...The world is changing, Gran-Gran. That's why you're so blissfully ignorant as to the nature of my blades! Antoinette smiled. 

Going in for another assault on the barrier, the swift strike of her kasha blades against the magical shield this time impacted with a greater effect--the cracks feathering across the barrier as particles of verdant mana seeped out from its exposed portions. 

"O'Gaia: Barrier."

Beatrice casually repeated the incantation as another layer of the barrier overlapped the compromised original. 

"Hah, seriously?...This is really all you can do, isn't it? And here I thought killing a sage might actually be kind of fun."