Chapter 16

Zephirine's POV

"Frey, I need to speak with you…it's urgent."

Princess Selene Frostfire…just the thought of her gives me goosebumps.

"Err…I believe you've met Zephy? She stays, gotta princess?" Frey was quick to respond, almost like he was expecting her.

"Why the hell should I entertain commoners, no offense to the twins?" Her voice was as snobby as ever. I unfortunately didn't mind her words anymore, courtesy of Frey.

"Don't do that, snowflake, that's definitely not you. Talk to me, what's up?" Why was he suddenly so calm? A few minutes ago he was destroying parts of the forest in a fit of rage, even though he wasn't fully in control.

"Unless you are willing to change, please don't call me that. And for the reason I'm here…I need the church girl gone. Immediately." Her voice was calm, which was a big problem — for Amanda, that is.

So Amanda apparently had a target on her back. We have no idea why, but the look on Frey's face is enough to know we're going to protect her.

"Why do you 'want' her?" he asked as he began calculating the distance between him and the princess.

"Same reason SHADOW is after you," she said with disdain.

Something shifted in her voice on that last word — like it cost her more to say than the rest of the sentence combined. I filed that away.

"You're aware?"

"Yes—" As she answered, her presence vanished, leaving behind a chill in the air.

"Zoey, imma need cover. Don't let nobility fool you, Selene is a TRUE MASTER."

"Tier 6 ice mage, I know. Now let's talk temps…medium rare or extra well done?"

I feel like Zoey just hinted at murder but I can't be totally sure.

An icicle screamed out of nowhere, aimed straight for Amanda's throat—

CLANK

—and Axel was already there, armor raised, deflecting it at the last possible second. He might be built like a tower, but he's fast. Even though the shard never touched him, the cold bled straight through the metal into his skin. That's how powerful her magic was.

"Where is she?" Axel yelled frantically.

"Boiled." Frey didn't let past relationships affect his team. He knew Selene would do anything to get what she wanted — that was how they were raised.

"Noted…"

"HAIL STORM!"

“Shit “ i exclaimed, the sight was as terrifying as it was [insert better word for beautiful]

“You have to understand something very clearly, unless you fight me at full power—your victory and survival aren’t assured.” she declared.

I knew she was leagues ahead of us, but something felt different and it wasn’t the sudden challenge.

While I was trying to figure out what was wrong with this certain confrontation, Frey had gotten enough of holding back. 

“See this is why I left, the endless boasting just to get beaten." He said as his aura rose, with it the surrounding temperature began to climb, trying to negate Selene's pseudo domain.

“Imma say this once and you are going to listen… THE GIRL STAYS WITH US.” He was definitely angry.

 Why wouldn’t he be, he was hated by his kingdom for something he was too young to understand, his father was never around to take care of him and his childhood friend was currently trying to kill someone entrusted to him by his grandfather. 

The atmosphere shifted, we tried to run but were met by mercenaries from the shadows. There were just 4 of them but they were skilled. Frey and Selene took their fight to the skies causing massive shockwaves as their auras collided.

“Sorry Starlight but unless you defeat me, she dies today.” Selene said, ever confident.

“Guess that's how it's going to be,,,,,” he took in a deep breath and as he exhaled the colour of his aura shifted from orange to blue, he was about to cause an absurd amount of damage.

His aura didn’t just change in colour, it changed in texture. It got denser, much more easier to shape, that was definitely a problem for Selene. She noticed it before I did and changed her entire battle strategy accordingly.  

She was a mage who specialized in long range offencive attacks, this was an open forest. The odds looked to be in her favour.

“GLACIES PLUVIA” she yelled as she extended her arms creating a storm that shot icicles no longer than an inch at Frey. The attack was basic, it was the sheer amount that was impressive.

Unfortunately none touched Frey directly, he was just too hot. 

She realized going easy on Frey would be a mistake she couldn’t afford.

“Corona Hiemis “ 10 massive rings made of bone chilling ice went straight at him and he waited for them, not a single muscle flexed….then a single command

“Scinde” they all shattered right before our eyes.

“I’ve never seen that one before…interesting” she said as her stance shifted.

“Haven’t had chances to use it until now. Let's say we cut the theatrics and get to the main fight, I'm not in the mood to waste mana here” His voice, as arrogant as ever. He was serious about this fight, there was no backing out now.


“Hail storm, Corona Hiemis, Glacies Pluvia “ she chanted with a smile on her face. 

Each one was the same attack but the mana output was tremendous. 

“Guess you might give me a real challenge after all.” he said as he finally drew his sword, a pitch black kodachi, then he turned to us facing the Shadow, “stay safe till i get back, this might take longer than i wanted”

And with that he drove his blade across one of the rings cutting through it cleanly.

 Although they were above the trees confronting each other, their methods of propulsion were very different, Frey kept himself up by outputting mana through his feet. Through controlled rapid combustion, while Selene was up by creating stable ground by freezing the air beneath her feet.

Multiple projectiles lounged at Frey, all varying in shape and size but they were all no match for his precision and Selene knew it. In a matter of a minute Frey was closing the gap between them as he was deflecting everything thrown at him.

“Guess I underestimated your capabilities, time to see if you’re strong enough to protect the church rat.”

Then I heard Amanda's voice, very frustrated. “I’d like if you guys stopped calling me that”

“Glacies Serpens “ all her previous attacks seemed to gather right in front of her creating a glowing sphere …it almost looked like….SHIT

“Well that’s new” Frey said as the core created a creature, an ice serpent.

The serpent was massive but its speed was something to behold, very impressive.

“I’m pretty sure that's not allowed, right?” zoey questioned as she defeated the last of the assassins.

“This is definitely not going to go unnoticed that's for sure,” Axel said as he tried to guess Frey's next move.

In the blink of an eye Frey rushed in, delivering multiple slashes to the abdomen of the beast, all seemed to do damage but were healed immediately.

“Perks of being made of ice i guess” Zach said jokingly.

Let's wrap this up, I've got places to be .” Frey said.

“Errr all jokes aside, you don't think he’s going to attempt the thing, right?” I said as I noticed a major shift in his mana circulation.

“What thing?” Amanda asked.
“Oh the thing where he goes he goes quiet then  nuclear.” Zoey responded

“Cor Infernum “ 

“Yep he’s definitely doing the thing, that’s my cue” Axel said as he channeled his aura through the ground beneath us to create a type of shelter.

His eyes glowed bright white as a crown of iridescent flame dawned on his head. He began to leak his aura in the form of fire, raw, undefined fire all directed at one being.

“Fissura  Flammae “

He initiated multiple dash-burst slashes on the serpent, each one so fast it was hard to see, so hot the serpent couldn’t heal on time.

Then he stood in front of the injured construct and uttered a single phrase…”cleave

The slash went straight through the core and an entire portion of the forest. The core tried to self repair but ended up imploding. 

The bright emissions that was their aura dimmed instantly as they both fell from the sky.

Zoey and I went to rescue them midair, I caught the princess knowing it was what Frey would have wanted and her temperature was something I could bear.

“He is awake and he’s burning up. Good thing you limited his output this time.” Zoey said as she laid him down.

“What do we do with her?” I asked, seeing as she wasn’t teleported it meant she was still qualified to continue the test.

“Leave her,” Frey said as he stood up. “She’s not alone, they’ll find her”

“Shadow?” Zach asked.

“No necrosis mist squad.” Amanda said.

Frey was on his feet, victorious. It was almost night time, and something told me we had to fend off more mobs this night.