Trying to Save my Favorite Character from His Tragic Fate

Chapter 158: She has been there all along

It is hard to recognize her with that twisted expression on her face. Vivienne slides the sword out of Lord Analybe's body and lets it free fall from where they stand to the bottom of the stadium. 

A massive panic erupts in the stadium, and the audience would even step over each other to get out of the place. 

Cathy staggers back with much of the air sucked out of her. The thud from the old man hitting the floor resonates crisp in her ears. She spats out a mouthful of blood herself. The sudden severance of the pact between Lord Analybe and the heirloom has affected her who is also in the joint contract.

She grabs Laurel's shoulders tightly, "The barrier is down! Please Please save my people"

Cathy faints in Laurel's arms. Everything has happened too fast. Laurel is still processing that the witch has been hiding as the prince's attendant all this time - the one person everyone has forgotten to check. She grinds her teeth at the sight of Vivienne turning back to that nightmarish little girl that forever imprinted in her memory. The one that has given her the reason to host so much resentment, guilt, and rage towards. 

The image of Tobias flashes through Laurel's mind, and she hyperventilates from the sight of that witch!

The windows from Kyrie's room burst and the glass particles shoot at the witch. She swipes her arm in the air, and all the glass particles turn limp and subject to gravity again.

"Federline, send half to the port in case the demons invade into the protectorate," Kyrie gnashes his teeth, "Try to gather as many soldiers to go along with you."

Kyrie pierces his eyes at Federline, "Once you finish, you have to come back home."

Federline shakes slightly, but soon, he regains his composure. He turns without a single word and disappears in an instant. 

"Lemuel, Celine, and Sulfrid Gather all the citizens with the others and evacuate! Find a place where a lot of people can take refuge until I look for you. Lemuel, I leave that to you. Don't return until I say so."

Lemuel is about to protest, but Celine grabs his wrist, pulling him away. 

"Celine-," Lemuel quickly turns silent when he sees how Celine and Sulfrid's atmosphere turn somber. He is aware that the situation is serious, but are they really going to leave Kyrie and Laurel to face the witch? They have decided to subdue her together, so naturally, those two might not be enough to do that. 

"Trust them," Celine murmurs. That is really the only thing she could say about this situation because anything more positive would just be hope with a time limit.

Lemuel lowers down his gaze, worried for Laurel, who is getting surrounded. Demon puppets are gathering in the arena, and Laurel also has an unconscious Cathy. Cathy is the only heiress to the protectorate, and she cannot just leave this person to die. 

Saskia giggles with her sickening child-like voice, "Kyrie, right? Hmm You are no longer the same puppy."

She walks off the room into the air, and the clicking of her doll shoes makes the illusion that she is walking on solid ground. Kyrie blocks her path before she lowers down to where Laurel stands, occupied with the inundating stage with demon puppets.

"I will give you a game to play later, but I am busy" Saskia inflates her cheek in annoyance.

The witch is more cautious than the incident in Bristol. Maybe Saskia is finally getting aware of her own mortality. She is starting to experience what it is like to fear others.

However, this does not make her in any way vulnerable. Kyrie is actually the one who is in peril. He has not thought as far as the witch, killing Lord Analybe to buy her time and divide her enemy's forces. 

Kyrie grinds his teeth, disappointed in himself. Of course, that is a move that the witch would use! She has nothing to lose in the protectorate. However, her opponent has the holy duty to protect the living. He laughs at his rash decision of choosing to be the paladin again. He really does not fit in this role well. In what rationale does a villainous character want to save the world? 

Kyrie puts his hand in his dimension pouch and takes out five mana stones. He has a time limit and a mana limit when facing the witch.

[ahhhhhhhhhhh!]

Kyrie wants to scream but can only hold it in his chest. He might die. No, he can't die. He can't let Ian down. He has too many things to do.

[Stop.]

Kyrie forces his mind from overthinking. His fingers are turning cold, and his body is chilling from the cold sweat. He needs to quickly develop a new plan since his previous one has gone down the drain. Or else-

-boom-

Kyrie jumps off the room before spider threads coming from Saskia's fingers pierced through the complex. The entire ring that hosts numerous rooms crumbles down once the spider threads destroy one of the bases that hold the structure. Kyrie hovers in the air with whirls of air below his feet. He draws his sword from the scabbard and propels it towards the child-like witch. Like spears that gained their own will, the spider threads shoot toward him at a frightening pace. Sparks fly into the air as Kyrie masterfully glides his blade over the threads to change their courses away from him as the target. 

Once close enough for Kyrie to engage in face to face combat with Saskia, his nose picks up the unforgiving stench from Saskia's body. Karma has struck this twisted doll for cursing an entire town and turning them into ghouls. She seems to be decomposing, sending off the same smell as those ghouls, densely acidic that an inhale can burn through the windpipes.

Seeing that using her spider webs is not working, she lets the spider webs condense and form into a double-edged ax. The ax stands at the same height as Saskia and the white threads that mold the weapon darkens. She tilts the ax to block one of Kyrie's attacks directed at her, and she frowns at the surprising strength through that attack. This paladin kid has not been fooling around all this time. 

Saskia takes her mind off her playful side and slashes wildly at Kyrie with the ax. The strikes are wide and unpredictable due to the double edge. However, like any witch, she lacks physical strength, and the attacks are not to their potential due to this weakness. Saskia tries to cover that weakness by enhancing her strikes with mana. Mana coats the edges, forming sharp crescent moons on both sides. The strikes that land cut through Kyrie's mana barrier around his body.