Farrynelle managed to speak even though she was exhausted. Both of them were almost out of Elemental Energy. They had used all their Divine Energy too with that attack.
"We need to buy more time."
The woman's body finished regenerating. She hovered slightly above the ground as her energy gathered once more. She landed with a massive crash that caused cracks in the ground.
"I, Ardne, will not be destroyed by weaklings! Overwrite—"
Farrynelle moved before the word could finish, forcing her body to respond despite the strain as another bolt of lightning shot forward. It flew directly into Ardne's mouth and cutting off the invocation mid-formation again.
Xander's mist compressed into a dense, focused mass around his arm as he stepped forward and drove an uppercut.
The force launched Ardne into the sky with a violent shockwave. Farrynelle wings flapped as she pushed herself upwards, chasing that opening with everything she had left, even as her body protested with every movement. Her Elemental Energy was nearly gone but she forced it anyway into one final strike.
Lightning crashed down from above as she met Ardne mid-air. It incinerated her body once again in a burst that lit up the sky. Farrynelle screamed as the energy burned through her own arms. The excessive output tore through her control and left her limbs scorched.
Xander didn't give Ardne a moment to recover. His mist wrapped around the scattered pieces of her body, pulling them together. Each blade strike of his sliced the fragments into smaller and smaller pieces, reducing them to particles so fine they barely held form anymore. It was about slowing her down. They were buying seconds or minutes if they were lucky.
The mist compressed into a sphere that trapped everything inside. Farrynelle, barely able to stand, forced herself to act one more time, gathering the last remnants of her Elemental Energy and striking the sphere with a concentrated burst of lightning that tore through it, further destabilizing the fragments within.
Xander followed immediately, condensing the sphere even further until it hardened under the pressure. He hurled it upwards, causing a shockwave to emerge from the throw. Xander didn't wait to see what came next. His body was already moving as he grabbed Farrynelle, lifting her without hesitation as he turned and ran.
They didn't get far before a surge of black energy flooded the space behind them. The delay had worked but not for long. Ardne's pressure made it clear they couldn't keep this up much longer. Xander didn't slow down as his gaze saw something ahead, something that hadn't been there before, or maybe had been hidden in the chaos.
An obsidian structure rose from the ruined ground. Its surface was etched with faint runic patterns. Around it, a group of knights fought with precise coordination, cutting through the remaining Krepsunas as they guided fleeing Therianthropes toward the entrance. It didn't take long to recognize what it was.
Insignia had found the Obsidian Runic Spire and brought it here.
Ferris Harrowshard stood at the forefront. She looked at Xander and Farrynelle as they approached.
"You both look terrible."
Farrynelle gave a weak scoff.
"Try fighting an Overlord Rank Krepsuna and see how you look after."
"Get inside. We'll handle this."
Two more figures appeared beside her. Chainless and Chrysanthemum arrived without warning. They looked up as the black energy gathered again in the sky. Chrysanthemum tilted her head slightly, observing the reconstruction with a calm, analytical gaze before speaking.
"She'll be able to escape in about two minutes. Her body is fragile, even at Overlord Rank."
Chainless' hands formed quick, precise signs. Chrysanthemum glanced at her briefly before nodding at her.
"She's right."
"What does that mean?"
Ferris answered Xander's question as she took out her greatsword.
"Arletta says that her Magecraft is Overlord level but her body isn't. Her body is probably at the Forgotten Rank. That's why you were able to destroy her body so easily. She has a fragile body."
Xander nodded once, not wasting time on anything else as he shifted his focus back to what mattered.
"Thanks."
He didn't wait for a response, moving past them as he carried Farrynelle through the entrance. The doors behind them sealed instantly. Everyone was inside now.
Outside, Ferris, Chainless, and Chrysanthemum stood together with their gazes lifting toward the sky as the black energy finally condensed into a complete form again. Ardne hovered above them, fully regenerated. She stared down at the four women below.
Ferris' grip tightened around her black greatsword while beside her, Chainless raised her hands causing her sapphire chains to manifesting instantly, coiling around her arms and ready to strike. Chrysanthemum stood calmly behind them with her golden Priestess Staff.
"I'm going to kill all of you."
Chrysanthemum responded without hesitation with a mocking tone.
"No, you're going to run with your tail between your legs. We are the Commanders of Insignia, subordinates of the Ingenious Aeterium Prince, Vastarael Richinaria. Well… Monarch now, technically, but the point still stands."
Ardne's expression twisted further at that. As she raised her hand, a massive beam of black energy formed instantly. She didn't hesitate this time, releasing it in a direct, overwhelming surge aimed to erase everything in front of her in a single strike.
Chrysanthemum's staff released a golden light at its tip. A beam of pure Divine Energy shot forward to meet Ardne's attack head-on. The collision was immediate and violent. Black and gold crashed against each other in a blinding clash that created shockwaves. It didn't last long though.
The golden beam pushed through. Ardne's attack was torn apart as the Divine Energy cut straight through the black beam as if it had never been there. The impact forced Ardne to hiss. She felt the nature of the energy colliding with her own.
"That's… pure Divine Energy—"
Chrysanthemum lowered her staff and interrupted her.
"You can't even rely on your own body. You're compensating with energy because you have nothing else. Were you born fragile before becoming a Krepsuna? That's honestly pathetic."
The words landed harder than the attacks had. Her expression changed as her energy surged again. She opened her mouth to speak once more,
"Overwr—"
A thin beam of golden light shot forward before the word could finish, slicing cleanly through her jaw mid-formation. The motion was so quick that for a brief moment, there was nothing but silence as the pieces fell away. Her ability to speak was completely removed in an instant. Chrysanthemum didn't lower her staff this time as she looked up at Ardne with the same calm expression, as if this was exactly what she had expected.
"We're not letting you say that. If you're this insistent on using your Overwrite, then we'll just stop you from speaking at all."