Yue placed the back of her hand on the girl's forehead standing opposite her.
"Sia? Are you alright?"
The ears on top of Sia's head twitched due to the sudden warm contact. She backed away and shook her head. Just like Yue, her breathing was uneven.
"I am fine, but is he really gone? That man has been following behind us for so many hours, and I noticed it..."
Sia sucked in a deep breath.
"He is strong enough to capture both of us within seconds but instead, he chose to trail behind when we made our escape. He was enjoying it when we struggled to take a breath! So, why did he suddenly disappear?"
Yue clenched her fists tightly. She noticed it as well, the man was indeed toying with them! She opened her mouth to utter some comforting words, but then a familiar laughter filled the air around them, sending chills down their spine.
Sia's eyes widened but amidst the fear in her eyes. She immediately grabbed the spear hanging behind her back before looking at Yue with gritted teeth.
"Let's attack this time, and when he's distracted, we'll split up and run in opposite directions. That way, at least one of us will survive."
Yue bit down on her lips, hard enough to draw blood. As a member of the famous WintCrest family she was taught to fight with a lot of weapons but in the end, being a mage made it challenging for her to excel in close combat.
However, she knew from her previous experience that her spells would not work on the enemy. That's why she grabbed a silver saber from her storage ring. With a deep exhale, Yue turned to Sia.
"I have an artifact. I can kill him with it but I need to get closer to the man to activate it."
But then, suddenly another voice echoed in the air, tinged with drowsiness and a hint of complaint.
"What's happening? I just want to rest for a whi...!"
The voice stopped abruptly, and Yue noticed with bated breath. It was very familiar. She had heard that same voice many times before. Even the hint of annoyance within the tone was strikingly similar to that person.
Her eyes snapped shut and the tears around her lashes dropped to her cheeks before she called out, her voice barely a whisper.
"Kyle..?"
At that moment, everything around her fell into eerie silence. She hastily moved her fingers toward the artifact, only to be interrupted by a piercing, agonizing cry that echoed through the air. In an instant, she wanted to open her eyes, but a cold hand from behind swiftly closed them shut.
"It's fine."
Kyle's face was expressionless and his eyes extremely cold as he stared at the other winged man who was grabbing the demi-human girl. He shuddered at the thought that if only he was a few minutes late something devasting could have happened to Yue.
The winged man trembled under his gaze and staggered backward with shock and fear. He couldn't help but gazed at the glistening ice sculpture of his companion. What happened? They were enjoying themselves, weren't they? So how did his friend turn into an ice sculpture so suddenly?
His eyes remained fixated on the sculpture, but it was as if his friend had never existed. Suddenly, the ice sculpture burst into a mesmerizing display of glistening sparks, soaring away with the wind.
The man's panicked scream filled the air as he desperately flapped his wings, attempting to flee. But his eyes widened with terror when chilling blue flames materialized all around him.
Unlike his companion, he was not able to cry out in pain because the cold flames seeped into his mouth, traveling straight toward his skull and heart.
Opposite the newly formed ice sculpture, the demi-human girl's mouth was hung open and her eyes wide with disbelief. It was a sight that she would never forget in her whole life.
