Chapter 76: Stand Down
After several hours of intense fighting between the armies of the underworld and the humans, the battered and tired soldiers could only watch as they were bathed in light which followed a certain intricate path that went around the battlefield.
Forming a perfect circle which had three concentric stars in it and a small circle in the middle, the activated ritual rune first brought intense lighting to the battlefield, making some of the soldiers who had been peeved at having to fight at night let out sighs of relief but then it didn't last long.
Though most were slow to pick up on it, the soldiers from the underworld included, within seconds, it didn't take them long to realise that the battlefield was being rapidly saturated with mana, one that was very foreign to the soldiers who were defending their home country and very surprising to the soldiers from the underworld considering such mana should only exist in the underworld.
With everyone's senses going on alert and watching out for any danger that was to come, it didn't take them long to spot a woman who had suddenly popped out of nowhere, peacefully seated in apposition where the light made a sharp bend, this position being one of the vertices of the star, the woman muttering some incoherent words under the cover of a light red barrier.
Spotting Kate, before anyone could react, Blake seemingly popped out of thin air, the effects of the dark dagger unable to hold while a ton of evil mana was being sent his way.
Blake's appearance also drew a lot of attention and as they stared at the young man who was standing in a rather small circle of light that was rapidly intensifying before they could make out what was happening, they suddenly felt a turbulent force run through their whole body and then they began letting out screams as they felt a pull on their lives.
...........
"Well, are you just going to stand there, your soldiers are being killed," Hannah said feelings of danger going through her when she stared at the light that made up the large circle of the ritual rune.
"So are yours" Rehabab replied and then his gaze moved to a particular area of the battlefield, one close to the edge of the light but outside it and he shot towards it.
A second after Rehabab moved, Hannah also moved and when the demon finally killed his momentum, his hand shooting out to grab the neck of the figure that had gotten his attention, Hannah's swords came swinging at his arm, clashing with it and pushing it away while she wrapped her left arm around the waist of Rachira and jumped away from Rehabab.
"She is my subordinate, stand down" Hannah called out but Rehabab merely snorted and shot towards her.
Letting go of Rachira, Hannah prepared herself to clash with Rehabab but then all she saw was a blur and then a heavy blow from above landed on her chest.
Without even being able to put up the slightest resistance, Hannah was hammered onto the ground flat on her back, this hit first instantaneously cancelling out blazing circle, the technique that Hannah was using to burn her life force in exchange for the greater power so she could somewhat keep up with Rehabab, and then after that her mana core went into a dormant state, the powerful aura which had been radiating from her body rapidly dying out and leaving Hannah a paralysed woman as she found herself unable to move a single limb, her body dead to her commands.
For a while, Hannah's head was filled with a sharp ringing sound, but then it died out and the conversation which was happening beside her unmoving body filtered into her ears.
"I have no idea who he is"
"Little girl if you keep spouting nonsense I'll crush your skull."
"I really don't know who he is, I have no idea what is going on, please"
Splat!
This conversation took place to Hannah's left and not even able to move her head she could only watch from the corner of her eyes, rage and sadness filling her when she saw Rachira's head which was held in Rehabab's right hand be crushed, a bit of the priestesses' blood and brain juice splattering on her.
Without care, Rehabab threw Rachira's corpse to the side and walked over to Hannah, his huge form standing above her body which now rested in a small crater.
Looking down at Hannah, without a single word Rehabab raised his right leg, his giant iron-like boots going into the air and over her head, his intentions more than clear.
"So, this is how I die," Hannah thought, her eyes trembling and then closing as she saw death rapidly approach her.
"Booom"
The loud sound of the impact of Rehabab's feet crushing her face resounded in Hannah's ears, ringing all through her head while her heartbeat quickened as she felt a tug on her soul, death having come to claim her.
Memories of her passionate times with her husband, thoughts of her children and her dreams filled Hannah's mind as she was killed tears slowly going down her eyes.
"Wait tears," Hannah thought her eyes shooting open as she looked up only barely catching a glance of Rehabab having a hand over his heart with a worried expression before he turned and sped away, a mighty and powerful aura, the strongest which Hannah had ever felt in her life bursting out of him, a hot wind blowing over her.
"What the hell is happening, what did he see" Hannah thought confused as she tried to figure out what danger had made Rehabab who was about to kill her forget about her.
As Hannah pondered the matter, she also realised that the loud sound she had heard hadn't been from Rehabab stomping her to death but something else but before she could try to make sense of what, she felt that tug on her soul one more, her soul slowly beginning to leave her body.
With a sneer, Hannah roared into her being, screaming as she kickstarted her mana core, easily blasting apart whatever force had been acting on her and quickly realizing that the suspected orchestrator of this entire incident was most likely the one who had drawn Rehabab's attention.
"Blake," Hannah said questioningly her mind filled with doubts but then the rapidly increasing heat to her side alerted her that she had to get her body moving as a pool of larva was spreading and about to envelop her.