Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Phel had just joined the rest of his class when Endra's message arrived. He flew next to Arza and explained the contents of the message.

"So we'll need to hurry if we don't want to lose our Helm-bearer," Arza said and peeked beyond the fortified walls Bella had just created. 

He would be looking at a giant black cube standing where the Helm-bearer of the Arcvallen class should be. But he immediately ducked down, and a pitch-black beam flew past his head. The beam hit a tree behind Arza, turned into a goo of some sorts and wrapped around it.

Nearby, two of Phel's classmates were lying down, their body covered in the same black goo. The rest of the classmates were trying to remove them but were finding it troublesome.

"It's frustrating that we're being underestimated," Arza sighed. "Surely she has stronger methods than this."

"I don't think we wanna see two of our classmates dead, instead of just stuck," Phel replied.

"But still…"

"Stupid idiots, I'll only allow Evin inside." A loud voice interrupted Arza. "Go bring him before I cast some real spells on you all! You're still in my range, you know that, right?"

Phel couldn't help but glance at Bella. Sure enough, the girl's eyebrows were twitching incessantly, despite her outwardly calm appearance.

"Was she always this talkative?" Arza muttered from beside him.

"Who?"

"Eliseline. The Child of the Empress. I thought she was the silent, broody type. Like Dec. Now she's calling us stupid idiots. What does that even mean?"

"She barely showed her face when the competition was just starting, and from what I heard, before that too, but after Evin had that fight in the duels, she became like that."

"Well, it doesn't change the fact that we need to push her out of that area. Dec! How big of a spell can you create?"

The Count of Ankelite came at the call. He peeked out beyond the wall and soon ducked down to dodge the black beam.

"I can make something big enough to cover that whole area, but it won't do anything. It'll just get blocked by that block of darkness."

"Isn't that just a shadow? The same stuff Evin makes all the time?" 

"No, that thing's much more dangerous. It's Nyxium."

"Nyxium?" Phel gasped. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I thought it was impossible at first, but seeing this black goo, I'm sure that thing has Nyxium spread across its body." 

"What does it do?" Arza asked from the side.

"It's a material coveted by Exivear users due to its ability to make shadows have assume different states of matter," Decatur explained. "It can make them solid, fluid, gaseous and anything between those three states. So if I throw a big flame at it, it'll just become fluid and negate it."

Before, Dec would've never responded to a question like this, but now, he even made a detailed explanation of the thing. Phel was feeling kind of proud of him.

"But how do you deal with that?"

"The surefire way is to lob ketricite at it, but we have none of that," Decatur shrugged. "The other method is to overpower it with world energies, but that seems impossible for us."

"Why?"

"There's a reason why they don't teach about Nyxium or similar materials to students. They take too much mana and willpower to control. Even I, who was fed World Shards since I was a kid, will find it troublesome to control Nyxium of my own size."

"Then how is she creating a giant cube then?" Phel asked.

"There are different types of World Shards. We mostly consume half-processed or raw ones. There are some masters who can fully process them, making it easier to digest and also much more effective at increasing your mana intake. As the golden daughter-reincarnator of the Duke of the East, I wouldn't be surprised if she only consumed those kinds of Shards.

"But, it's not like that huge cube is completely made of Nyxium. Most likely, only 1 % of it is actual Nyxium, but since they're so easy to move around, they can act as a sort of mobile defense against enemy spells."

Arza looked like he wanted to groan again.

"Any other solutions?"

"We can rush in and hope for the best?" Decatur grinned.

'Oh… Dec just joked,' Phel thought.

He was momentarily dazed by what he just witnessed, but he needed to offer a better solution. The class couldn't risk everything here. 

"Maybe we can go attack the other teams?" he asked. "From what Evin said, the Torgaza's will be stuck on the Crownshields for a while. If we go there now, we should be able to make it in time. It's shameful to say, but deal with those two classes may be easier than trying to attack the Child of the Empress."

Two months ago, Arza would've stubbornly insisted on the siege, but now, he was seriously contemplating the decision. He had changed a lot during these past few months. Most of it was due to Evin humbling him endlessly at every competition they could find themselves together in.

Arza was someone who submitted to strength. He was also someone who did everything in his power to overcome said strength. 

And when pushed far enough, he started to consider options that didn't just amount to fighting power. Fight strategies, tactics, tricks, post-fight analysis… he started to see his fights against Evin with the eyes of a coach. He even started to thinking of group tactics that could be used against Evin. Granted, his pride didn't allow him to use them, but he still became well-versed in the matters of commanding. 

Phel felt that that was the only moment Arza truly became interested in his title of Helm. Before it all, he only saw it as a convenience, but eventually, he started to see how important the position of a Helm was.

Phel, as always, stood together with Arza during this whole time, so he felt very proud of him. The part of him that constantly wanted more for them raised up its voice, but Phel shut it down. He should be thankful for the fact that he could still stay close to Arza.

His father didn't insist on Phel ceasing all contact with Arza. Perhaps he was still keeping an eye on the two of them, but Phel stayed true to his promise.

'And surprisingly, I got over all that much quicker than I realized,' Phel thought smilingly. 

"You're right," Arza suddenly spoke. "It's too risky to bet everything on this siege." He gathered the rest of the lass. "We'll do this. Bella, Dec and I will try to rush in and see what happens. I don't think great numbers will do much against that black cube.

"The rest, head towards the Crownshields' Helm Bearer. What's the point of having this many people in the first place? Phel, you'll be the leader of the division. Oh, and for the two who got goo all over them. See if the spell disappears if they go far enough. If not, they'll just have to wait till we take care of the Child of the Empress somehow."

Arza winked at the last part and prepared for the rush. Phel took control of the rest of the class as ordered, and flew away. He looked back, and saw the three advancing under Bella's protection.

*****

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