Thalia von Ravenfall's legs grew weak, and she fell to her knees.
Thud.
"Ahh....We're all going to die." she muttered, overwhelmed by despair in the face of the Soulborne's monstrous presence.
"Hey.. cough..get out of here you brat."
As she trembled in fear, Aether stepped in front of her, shielding her with his battered body.
"Ah..."
Seeing Aether stand up for her, even when his body was beaten badly, made her remembered something painful.
One year ago…
Thalia and her big brother were returning from the academy after talking about her admission.
But on their way back to the Ravenfall estate, a group of hooded men and undead monsters attacked them.
They had a hundred mage as escorts, but the number of enemies was overwhelming.
In the end, the hooded men killed every single mage. Only Thalia and her brother were left, facing a terrifying number of enemies.
At that moment, Thalia's brother stepped in front of her and said
"I hope you find happiness, my sweet sister."
She was on her knees, watching her brother stand tall like a hero from a fantasy tale.
His back looked heavy with responsibility, like someone ready to protect, even if it meant sacrificing his own life.
Seeing this tears welled up in her eyes.
"Brother…"
Before she could say anything, her big brother used his remaining mana and half of his life force to cast a powerful sealing spell. It was a type of forbidden magic.
He was an 8th-circle genius mage who invented many spells. This forbidden spell was one of them
A magic circle appeared. It sealed his sister inside a black ball.
It was so strong that no one could break it.
The seal would only open if someone from the Ravenfall family infused their mana. That was how he set the spell.
It was an act of love for his sister that he sacrificed half of his life force to seal her, instead of sealing himself.
Meanwhile, Thalia was slowly surrounded by the dark energy of the sealing spell.
Before it fully closed, the last thing she saw was her brother smiling at her. Behind him stood a massive army of enemies.
"Brotheerrrrrrrr" she screamed, but the magic sealed her view completely.
Thalia punched and used magic to break the dark seal around her. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't leave a single scratch.
Her beautiful hands were covered in blood. The skin was torn as she kept hitting the seal and screaming like she was losing her mind.
Outside the seal, his brother was fighting with the little mana he had left. But soon, a hooded man, who was their leader, cut both of his legs.
Slash! Thud
As a result, he fell face-first to the ground. his whole body covered in blood.
The hooded men's leader leaned close and told him the reason for the attack.
They were assassinating him because he knew something troublesome.
Just then,
a group of people was traveling near the battlefield and recognized Thalia's brother.
They were warriors from one of the Seven Great Families, the Southern Sea Ice Palace. They were on their way to the academy and saw the fight happening.
Fortunately, the matriarch was there. As she came closer to the battlefield, the hooded men looked at her.
At that moment, Thalia's brother, whose legs were cut off, raised his head and bit the neck of the hooded men's leader who was leaning toward him.
Crunch!
He bit so hard that he tore the flesh.
"Ekeekh!" The hooded men's leader screamed in pain.
Then he punched Thalia's brother hard in the face.
Crash
Thalia's brother launched back into a tree and lost consciousness.
The hooded men's leader held the torn part of his neck and gave the signal to retreat.
As the matriarch of one of the Seven Great families was charging at them, and his neck wound was very bad. He decided that retreating quickly was the best choice.
Thalia's brother would not survive anyway because of his blood loss.
As they were retreating, the matriarch used her ice magic to freeze all of the undead monsters.
Only a few of the hooded men, including their leader, managed to escape.
The rest turned into ice statues, then shattered into pieces.
"how disgusting, to use dead humans as soldiers." the matriarch narrowed her eyes, glaring at the black-hooded men.
Then she gave a signal, and one of her warriors went to check on Thalia's brother, and he used ice magic to stop the bleeding from his severed legs
"Hmm… The Ravenfall family has grown strong. For him to cast such a sealing magic…" The matriarch looked at the sealed black orb and spoke with praise.
"Anyway, Send a message to the Ravenfall family."
"Yes, my lady." the butler replied.
Just like that, the painful battle finally ended.
Because of her brother's sacrifice, Thalia von Ravenfall survived.
* * *
Seeing Aether step in front of her, just like her brother did. Thalia felt a wave of complicated emotions.
She clicked her tongue as tears filled her eyes.
She felt guilty about what happened to her brother, but seeing Aether, a mere mercenary who had humiliated her just an hour ago resembled her brother made her feel annoyed.
Her brother was kind-hearted, but this man was disgusting.
Seeing her brother's qualities in him made her feelings complicated.
"Hey..you can stand right? Go hide." Aether said coldly.
"Why..why are you protecting me?" Thalia asked Aether.
"Protecting you!! Tsk.... You're just in the way. Now go hide before I kick you myself."
Aether didn't care whether she lived or died. But this was Noctvain territory. If anything happened to her, her father might invade Noctvain land to find the culprit or blame them for her death.
Meanwhile, seeing his cold attitude made Thalia's heart ache.
She quickly stood up and clicked her tongue.
Then, warriors from the Ravenfall family came out of the inn. They were shocked to see what was happening.
The sky had turned dark and there was a monster coming their way.
Just then, The Soulborne's body began to glow with dark energy.
And it was giving off a strong spiritual pressure that felt suffocating. Many of the Ravenfall warriors started coughing.
"Wha...What is happening?" Thalia said in fear. Her breathing ragged.
"The soulborne is entering it's final form." Aether said
"!!!!"
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To be continued...