Eadric jumped in front of me, interposing his body as Alexander chanted the spell. He held his shield outward and braced his legs against the stone ground.

  “No!” I screamed.

  There was a crack of lightning, and Eadric was struck with the full force of an empowered [Lightning Bolt] spell. His shield was immediately reduced to melted slag, and it did little to stop the immense power of Alexander’s spell. Eadric was scorched to the bone by the coursing electricity, and the right side of his body was immediately rendered into little more than a bubbling broth of liquid meat. He fell to the ground, and the impact caused a significant amount of blood to eject from his mouth.

  “Mulciber…” I began chanting the incantation for the [Volcano Cannon] spell in the hope that I could at least use Eadric’s sacrifice to score a hit on the Blue Mage.

  “Fi pacatus,” Alexander chanted, and my spell fizzled. He had just muttered the counter-charm to [Volcano Cannon].

  Alexander lunged forward, and I swung forward with my wand. Two Wind Knives struck him, and he didn’t even try to block them. Both attacks struck and dealt damage, but they were insufficient to stop Alexander’s attack.

  DAMAGE DEALT: 38

  DAMAGE DEALT: 23

  With her knife in hand, Haydith stepped forward and tried to block Cloudrazor. To all of our shock, she managed to catch the first of Alexander’s attacks and deflect it to the floor. The second attack, however, caught Haydith off guard. She was cut deeply in the midsection. With a quick flourish, Alexander stabbed Haydith in the center of the chest, striking her heart. As she fell, [Triage] told me that her heart had been destroyed.

  Half a second after Haydith’s body touched the ground, Alexander stepped forward with his sword raised high over his head. He moved with the cruel efficiency of a rational man, not slowed at all by thoughts of the innocent young woman he had just slaughtered without mercy.

  There was no time to think. I didn’t have the time to come up with some complicated plan or even react to Haydith’s lifeblood pumping onto the ground as she sputtered and died. Alexander’s sword would reach me in less than a second, and he would slaughter me just as easily as he slaughtered Haydith. There was no time for another incantation, and [Gust] would just annoy him. I had reached my final option. If this didn’t work, everything I had done and planned for the past fifteen years would be for nothing.

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  I reached out, clenched my teeth, and pumped as much mana as I could into the Ring of Etron. The mana flowed in a counter-clockwise circuit, and all of the stored momentum contained within was released immediately.

  There was an explosion of force centered on my fist. The Blue Mage and I were shot backwards in opposite directions. I flew through the air and rolled to a stop more than a dozen meters back. When I tried to lift myself to my feet, my body faltered as I felt a great pain in my arm.

  I looked down and saw the state of my hand that had been wearing the Ring of Etron seconds before. Every bone in my hand was broken, and the flesh of my left hand had been curled into a shape I barely recognized. Two of my fingers were missing, though my hand was so mangled that I couldn’t immediately tell which ones I had lost.

  The pain was immense, but I was used to it at that point. I had more important worries than my own destroyed hand. If I managed to survive the next minute, I would worry about my wounds then.

  You need to give me control.

  Thale spoke clearly and calmly. Unlike every other time I had heard him speak, there was no artifice or mockery in his voice. He was completely focused on the problem at hand.

  I looked up and saw where Alexander had landed. He had managed to get up much faster than me, and he was already slowly walking toward me with Cloudrazor low at his side. A knight who had managed to make it through the defensive line of undead attacked Alexander. After a frenzied clash that lasted less than five seconds, the knight fell to the ground in two equal pieces.

  “Miriam, heal Eadric!” I shouted, though my own voice sounded muted to my ears.

  How could you possibly do anything to stop him? No amount of experience will allow us to stop Cloudrazor from tearing out our heart.

  I approached Haydith’s prone body. Her eyes were wide and unmoving as blood trickled from her mouth. [Triage] told me that she was dead as far as the System was concerned. I would be running against the clock. If her heart wasn’t beating again in a few seconds, Haydith would be dead forever.

  I produced a healing potion from one of my coat’s pockets and lifted Haydith’s head to the bend of my left arm. She was no longer in conscious control of her motor functions, so I would have to mechanically induce a swallow response. I tore off the top of the healing potion.

  “Now, why would I let you do that?” Alexander asked.

  That English sentence emanated from a short distance to my right. I swiveled my eyes and saw Alexander approaching at a light jog, his sword raised up.

  Give me control now! I can stop him!

  I hesitated. If I gave command to Thale at that moment, Haydith would die. I only had a few seconds to save her, so any action I took other than treating her would assure her death. Any triage doctor would agree that my life took priority, and I would be justified in saving myself, yet I hesitated.

  Someone approached from the ongoing pitched battle and attacked Alexander. The Blue Mage deflected the blow, and I realized that the attacker was Kinro. Following shortly behind the samurai was Beltane, who fired a [Volvano Cannon] at Alexander. The attack missed as Alexander momentarily flashed out of existence.

  Kinro and Beltane would be enough to hold Alexander back for a few seconds. They could handle themselves well enough, and Haydith needed my help more than they did. I turned to look at the wide, dead eyes of Haydith.

  If I moved fast, she could be saved. If I made a mistake, she would die.