Chapter 34 - The End Of Family (2)

Luna made the ice run up Clara's legs until it was at knee level, that's when the ice started melting. A red aura surrounded Clara's body and her eyes were lit up, "Don't underestimate me you old hag!" shouted Clara as she unsheathed her sword and made a lunge for Luna's face. However the icy floor hindered her footwork which made her slower than usual allowing enough time for Raul to react by parrying Clara's attack.

"Before you get to the old hag you have to go through me first," said Raul with a smirk. The two were of equal height and therefore were at a stalemate in terms of reach however Raul was at a great disadvantage. Clara was a low-rank 5-star mage with equipment that made her strength similar to that of a high-rank 5-star whereas Raul was a high-rank 4-star mage with trash equipment. Looking at his sword it was but a simple blade with no adornments only a single line of undecipherable text was written across the cross guard of the sword.

Clara's blade however was shining silver made of Mythril, its grip was made from the leather of a magical beast called a Ryvern. Magical beast leather helped to better increase the conductivity of magic to the blade. The cross guard of her sword was made of mica, a very slippery metal that made it easier to redirect the attacks of opponents. "You overestimate yourself old man," said Clara as she set her sword asunder almost burning Raul if not for him gracefully back stepping to get out of the range of the ragging fire.

Raul replied quickly by lunging for Clara's face. "Predictabl-" Clara's words were cut short when her parry missed Raul's sword and Raul's blade hit her torso drawing blood. "I'm sorry, did you think I was aiming for your face? I would never dare to damage such a master piece." said Raul mockingly as he flicked his sword throwing the blood of it's blade.

Clara's body began to glow even brighter, "How dare you, you lowly pig!" she shouted as she began a series of wild lunges and slashes which were all gracefully dodged by Raul. "You know you may have better gear than me, but when it comes to a sword fight nothing beats pure skill." said Raul as he dodged another slash and kicked her square in the gut using earth magic to make the hit even more sturdy.

"Sigh, you never change Clara." said Amana as Clara coughed out blood. Amana was well aware that Clara thought she had something to prove but there was only so much beating she could receive before she finally learned her lesson. Amana raised her arms and her body began glowing a bright blue colour, her eyes became deeper than the ocean and the forest became quiet. It was as if mother nature were telling her kids to listen quietly. "Raul, get dow." Luna tried saying however it was too late. Amana had cast the tier 8 ice spell winter's curse which brought about a great blizzard.

Many of the surrounding trees died from frostbite and Raul was frozen in ice. Luna had survived by instinctually creating a make shift ice dome to protect herself from the on coming spell. "It seems your partner wasn't as skilled as I first thought him to be." said Amana in a cold voice almost as if she were in a dream. *Crack* The ice that covered Raul shattered and he came out shivering but with a slight smirk on his face.

Raul had used earth magic to create a layer of earth between himself and the ice preventing himself from being frozen dead. He then sent small tremors through the thin layer of earth to break down the ice due to a disturbance in its integrity. A masterful use of earth magic, much to be expected from a 7th order knight. "And I don't think you're as hot as I first thought you to be either." quipped Raul as he charged at Amana with his blade aiming to cut off her head.

Just as Raul's blade was about to slice Amana's neck his body stopped. His legs were trapped in ice and Amana simply took a step back like her life was not in grievous danger a few milliseconds ago. Clara's face looked a bit disappointed, she was hoping that the demigod of ice would have a little accident a long the trip but deep down she knew that such an attack would never work on her.

"Raul take cover, I'm not sure I'll be able to hold back fighting against Amana." shouted Luna as she sent out a blizzard of her own, winter's curse. "Fine by me." said Raul as he quickly made the earth rise from below the ice and went into the ground closing the entrance. "Find him." said Amana as she created a huge ice wall to block the blizzard, however stress cracks began forming on the wall. "Hurry!" shouted Amana, for the first time in a while she was panicking.

Clara used fire magic to rocket herself to the spot where Raul disappeared and used Motherly call to locate Raul. "Four signature's? This will be fun." said Clara with a sick look on her face as she chanted "Earth open to me your door." A door made of earth opened leading into the ground. As Clara was about to enter, 2 daggers made of ice sliced through the air aiming for her. Clara blocked one but the other hit her arm, the ice dagger quickly disappeared and ice began to spread throughout her arm.

"You never change Luna." said Amana as she held out her palm and the ice on Clara's arm disappeared. Luna had used ice magic to attempt to freeze all the arteries, veins and nerves in Clara's body however Clara quickly reversed that, which was a major feat in itself. It required one mage to over power the life force imbued in a spell with their own. Too little and it wouldn't work, too much and it would cause Clara's body to be poisoned due to the presence of too many different life forces.

Clara took this as her chance and quickly escaped for the door, leaving Amana and Luna alone. Amana watched as Clara passed through the door, this was her first major mistake. As Amana turned back Luna was no where to be seen and there was not a single sound to be heard. Suddenly 6 ice daggers flew out of mid air aiming for Amana's neck, eyes, heart and lungs, however Amana shot our 6 daggers of her own nullifying the attack.

"Ice-puppeteer huh?" asked Amana to no one in particular as she chanted "Furnace". The temperature began rising and Luna suddenly appeared, since ice-puppeteer used ice shards to reflect light by simply melting the ice the illusion would be compromised. However 5 more ice daggers came from behind Amana, "It was an illusion?" thought Amana as she turned to create an ice wall on the side the daggers were approaching from. However it was the daggers that were an illusion not Luna, 5 daggers struck Amana's back drawing her blood and weakening her as the frostbite quickly spread through her body.

Luna had infused what little she had left of her life force into those blades so it could not so easily be over come by Amana without her overloading her body with her using too much of her own life force to stop it. Although it was an underhanded trick Luna wasn't one to fight cleanly.

The demon witch didn't get her name as a simple moniker. While Lillian was the ice-witch because of her talent in ice-magic, Luna was called demon-witch due to her style in battle. Luna was capable of using ice-magic like a blood hungry demon which was how she was described by those lucky enough to still be alive after encountering her in battle.. And even then it was only because she was too lazy to kill them off.