1301 End of an Era


    Diana could feel her overflowing spiritual energy take hold of the surroundings. Although she had never fought using it, only using it to fuel her Soulfire, ric was right again about this. She could feel the elemental mage lose his control over the elements as they scattered, abandoning him.


    "What is this feeling?" asked Rn with a smirk as he clutched his chest, raising defiant eyes to re at her. "How can I be so… helpless?"


    Earth had one ring weakness inparison to Alka, and that was witches. G brought spirits to their world and allowed them to manifest, teaching Diana about the benefits of spiritual energy that stemmed from the soul. Diana would have never believed it was effective in other scenarios, like fighting.


    As her energy flowed outward, she could feel it being different. When she trained with G, her spiritual energy was high, but not unusual. Diana could guess the reason behind the increase in her energy: the one hundred and fifty years of waiting. In the end, she opened the dam and allowed her spiritual energy to roam free.


    "Although I am tempted to kill you, I will give you onest option to survive," said Diana as she raised her ice sword toward the kneeling Rn. "Release the sand thieves now, and I will let you leave this ce alive. You have five seconds."


    Rn looked at her with a sweaty face, once again summoning his mana but failing to make it follow hismands. His soul was disturbed by the presence of the woman before him, and he could not focus or control his elements. Even before the five seconds were over, he knew that he had lost.


    "How can I guarantee that you won''t attack me?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You cannot, but I am not someone to go back on my word," said Diana as she stared down at him. "You have no other option, either. Your five seconds are over. Decide now, or suffer the consequences," she finished her words with a flick of her sword, letting it freeze the hall. Rn gulped and nodded, and Diana called her spiritual energy back to her body.


    Although she expected Rn to run or resist after she called her energy back, he did no such thing. Instead, he released the sand thieves as instructed, and they copsed on the ground, gasping for air. Most of them lived. The first to rise was a muscr man who wanted to attack Rn.


    Woosh!


    An ice wall appeared in front of the man, who turned to Diana with confusion. "I promised that I would let him live," said Diana with a frown. "Are you the leader?"


    "I am," said the man with a nod. "My name is Thorn. I met Lord Arthur a few days ago."


    "Alright, Thorn. Take your men and leave now. This assassination attempt is over," said Diana as she released her spiritual energy again while turning to Rn, who stood there with a frown. "Once they leave, I will leave as well."


    10:56


    "Mydy, since you are here, we can finish what we have started," said Thorn with confusion, hoping to draw the Princess of Ice and Fire to his side. However, Diana red at him, and he gulped down before calling to hisrades to gather and leave.


    The sand thieves rushed out of the hall, leaving ric, Diana, and Rn. Her mission was aplished, and she could leave this ce now. Rn, however, seemed to have some questions before she left.


    "What is your goal here in Sourna?" asked Rn.


    "Would you believe me if I said that we have nothing against Sourna itself?" said Diana as she retracted her sword and spiritual energy. Rn did not attack, knowing that he was not her opponent anymore. "Sourna happens to be an important ce."


    "Because of the Netherborne n?" asked Rn with a knowing smile. Diana did not answer him, but it was clear. "You dragged yourselves into a bigger mess than you think."


    "We are not ones to fear battles."


    "This is not going to be a battle, but a war," said Rn with a frown. "You cannot win wars alone. There is a limit to how powerful one can be, and numbers are far stronger than individual strength. If you join every fight that youe across, one of them will spell your doom."


    Rn did not seem to be threatening them, but sending a warning. As Diana frowned and tried to read the hidden implications in his words, a resounding explosion came from above them. The entire pce began to shake while the ceiling cracked and a fissure appeared.


    "This ce is copsing!" shouted ric as he stared at the ceiling. Diana rushed toward him and created an ice dome around the two. The ceiling came crashing down toward them, colliding with the ice, but failing to break through.


    Once the ce settled, Diana pushed through using her dome until she saw the lights outside. Then, her ice thawed, giving them a clear image of the battlefield. The hall was gone, and most of the pirs were destroyed. Atop the debris stood two figures, one impaling the other.


    "What is happening?" asked Diana with confusion. ric climbed beside her and watched the two women, before his eyes widened with surprise. "Do you know them?" she asked.


    "The swordswoman is Jian Ba, a member of the Lust Pirates, and the one with a sword through her chest is none other than Valeria Storm herself," muttered ric with confusion. Diana turned toward the scene and realized that this was bad.


    Jian Ba raised Valeria Storm with her sword before throwing her away, letting her roll and crash to the rubble. Valeria coughed blood as more leaked from her chest, but was unable to stand. As for the swordswoman, she cleaned her long sword with a handkerchief.


    "I was surprised by the trick, but I shouldn''t expect more from an old dog," said Jian Ba with disappointment. "This is the end of your era, Pirate Queen."