Lyriana shot off the branch like a streak of red lightning—
children held tight, mana coiled inward, body a blur against the rain.
Thane reacted instantly.
Holy power roared through his armor.
His sword snapped upward in a diagonal arc, cleaving the space she had occupied a heartbeat before.
A beam of gold mana ripped through the canopy—
FWAAAAM—
splitting branches above her in a burning line.
Lyriana twisted midair.
Her body curved with impossible precision, leg tucking inward as the slash grazed past her hip, burning the air where she'd been.
Elenya squeaked.
Lucifer slept on.
Lyriana's eyes didn't flicker.
She let gravity take her.
Spun.
Shifted weight.
Her heel snapped out toward Thane's head—
a counterattack as fluid as breath.
Thane didn't flinch.
His shield swung up like a rising wall of steel, radiant symbols blazing across its surface.
BOOOOOM—
Her heel slammed into the shield with a thunderous shockwave rippling through the clearing.
Leaves blasted outward.
Rain warped around the force of the impact.
Knight formations staggered back.
Thane held.
Boots carved deep trenches in the earth, sliding inches but never buckling.
His shield shook, sigils flickering—
but he remained a fortress.
Lyriana didn't waste the fraction of a second she earned.
Her foot rebounded.
Her weight shifted.
She planted her boot on the face of Thane's shield—
light, precise, merciless—
and used it as a platform.
Thane's visor tilted up just as her heel touched steel.
He realized too late.
Lyriana's muscles coiled.
Mana pulsed through her limbs.
Her entire body compressed—
And she launched herself off Thane's shield with explosive force.
Bark and mud shot backward from the pressure.
Thane's feet dug deeper into the earth, forced down another inch.
Lyriana soared upward—
into the branches, stormlight catching the edges of her silhouette.
She never stopped moving.
Her free hand steadied the children.
Her eyes locked onto the next branch.
Her momentum carved a perfect arc through the air.
Below, Thane growled—
a low, thunderous rumble.
> "Fast…"
Knights scrambled, looking up, shields raised in panic.
Thane tightened his grip on sword and shield, holy mana crackling around him.
> "AFTER HER!"
But Lyriana was already gone—
cutting through the rain and canopy
like a red ghost fleeing the jaws of a hurricane.
Lyriana disappeared into the canopy, weaving between branches like a streak of crimson lightning. The knights surged forward, boots slapping wet earth, weapons raised—but suddenly, the forest seemed… empty.
Thane slowed, scanning the trees with a sharp tilt of his visor. His eyes narrowed beneath the helmet.
"Where—" he began, but the words were cut off by the glint of movement in his peripheral vision.
Red spears of mana erupted from the leaves around him—blinding, sudden, and lethal. They struck before he could react. One pierced through a knight at his side, another clipped the shoulder of a second. Blood sprayed like shattered rubies across the wet trunks and branches, a flash of carnage that froze the formation.
Thane's hand instinctively went to his sword, but by the time he moved, the attacks had already shredded the space between him and the soldiers behind. The knights stumbled back, shocked, their disciplined advance collapsing into confusion.
Then, impossibly fast, Lyriana dropped from above. One of the knights—taller, heavily armored—turned just in time to see her descending. His eyes widened beneath his visor. He raised his sword, teeth clenched in grim determination, but Lyriana was already moving.
With a fluid twist of her torso, she let his blade slide harmlessly past her shoulder. Not a hair out of place. Not a breath hurried.
Then her leg snapped out like a piston. The kick was brutal, precise, unstoppable. It slammed into his helmet with a sickening crunch. The knight went down like a broken tree, armor splintering, body slamming against the forest floor. Silence followed—broken only by the rain and the soft, horrified gasps of the knights behind him.
Lyriana landed lightly on a nearby branch, children pressed to her chest, aura barely flickering, completely calm. Her red eyes scanned the chaos below, a predator in a storm of her own making.
The remaining knights froze. Shock, disbelief, and fear flickered across their faces beneath their helmets.
Without another word, Lyriana vanished again into the dense canopy, leaving only shattered armor, splintered branches, and the echoes of what had just happened.
The knights stared, dumbfounded, trying to figure out where she had gone—but in the forest above, she was already moving, invisible, unstoppable, and hunting the next opening.
Lyriana shot forward through the treetops, weaving between branches like a streak of crimson lightning. Rain-slicked leaves blurred past her, the forest a rushing tunnel of green and red.
Below, the knights surged forward, boots slapping wet earth, weapons raised—but she had vanished. Confusion rippled through their ranks.
Lyriana skimmed through the canopy like a shard of red lightning, branches whipping past her, raindrops streaking across her skin as she vanished into the leaves. Only once she'd put a good thirty meters between herself and the knights did she let her speed dip—just enough for breath, not enough to be caught.
She pressed the children closer.
I can't fight them on open ground. Not with both of them in my arms.
Her mana coiled tight around her, silent, controlled.
Lyriana crouched low on a thick branch, shifting her weight to steady Elenya's head. Lucifer snored softly into her shoulder, blissfully ignorant to the violence beneath.
Her eyes swept the forest floor through the curtain of leaves.
I don't know how many more are out there.
This is only a fraction of their force.
And I can see he's the strongest among them.
Her gaze fixed below on Thane.
Thane's visor tilted as he scanned the canopy. A flicker in the corner of his vision caught him—but by the time he reacted, it was too late.
Red streaks erupted from the leaves around him—blinding, jagged, deadly. Spears of mana tore through the air, striking knights with surgical precision. One pierced a chest, another ripped through a shoulder, spraying blood across the forest floor like shattered rubies. Hesitation spread through the formation, shock rooting them to the spot.
Charging them head-on is impossible. Even for me. Not while I'm carrying them.
Lyriana dropped from above, landing silently on a thick branch. Her eyes locked on the nearest target: a lone knight, trapped between fallen comrades and the chaos of the forest. His visor widened in disbelief.
He raised his sword with trembling hands, teeth clenched, intent on defending himself—but Lyriana was already moving. With a fluid twist of her torso, she let his swing glance harmlessly past her shoulder. Then her leg snapped out like a piston—a brutal, unstoppable strike.
The kick slammed into his helmet with a sickening crunch. He collapsed instantly, body crumpling against roots and mud, helmet shattered, head crushed.
Here, in the canopy… this is the safest place right now.
Up here, I control the angles. I control the sightlines.
They can't surround me. They can't overwhelm me. Not in the trees.
Her red eyes narrowed.
I can finish each one by one. Quietly. Efficiently.
End it before any get close enough to endanger them.
The remaining knights froze. Some gasped, others faltered, unsure whether to advance or retreat. Their formation shattered in an instant. Lyriana's red eyes swept the chaos below, calm, calculating, her children pressed safely against her chest.
Without warning, she vanished again, melting into the canopy like a living shadow of red fire. The knights stared upward, searching desperately for a target that no longer existed.
Above them, Lyriana moved like the storm itself—unstoppable, precise, deadly—already preparing for the next strike.
A knight stepped too far from the group, spear raised, shield angled for a threat he couldn't pinpoint. His breathing was heavy beneath his helmet.
Lyriana exhaled slowly.
Her fingers brushed Elenya's back, soothing the small tremble in her tiny frame.
I promised I would protect you.
So I will fight the way I have to—not the way they expect.
A flicker of red light gathered in her fingertips.
Another isolated knight wandered beneath her branch.
One by one.
No risks.
No mistakes.
She vanished from the branch without a sound—
and the hunt resumed.