Sabina's eyes were filled with resolve, her lips pressed into a thin line as she furrowed her brows, frustration etched upon her face.
She watched in mounting annoyance and anger as the Kraken decimated her soldiers, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
She knew that if the situation continued unchecked, the Umbralfiends would push further inland, exploiting the chaos caused by the monstrous beast. The odds were already stacked against them in this battle against an enemy that ruled the seas.
She can't let this creature destroy them that easily!
Determined to slow the Kraken's progress, Sabina brandished her Death Chains and charged forward. With a powerful flick of her wrist, the dark corrosive chains wrapped around the advancing Umbralfiends, sapping their life force and restricting their ability to use mana.
A single forceful tug from Sabina was all it took to cleave the enemies in two, their dismembered corpses collapsing to the ground. Sabina's single-minded focus and determination to reach the Kraken left the Umbralfiends no room for escape, her Death Chains ensuring a swift and brutal end.
Meanwhile, Esther, who had been keeping her distance from the front lines, spotted Sabina's reckless advance toward the Kraken. Frowning, she steeled herself to intervene, but her eyes suddenly widened in alarm as she leaped back just in time to avoid an arrow imbued with dark energy that exploded upon impact. The ground where she had stood mere moments before was now a smoking crater.
"Don't think about escaping anywhere, Esther," A frigid voice echoed from the side.
Esther's eyes narrowed, scanning the battlefield until she caught sight of Queen Narissara emerging before her, brandishing a fearsome bow with an attached blade.
Esther glanced at her Death Knight, who was now preoccupied with engaging several powerful Umbralfiends, rendering it unable to assist Sabina.
Her attempts to reach out to Sabina were met with silence, further heightening her urgency. Knowing that the only way to help her daughter was to defeat the Umbralfiend queen, Esther's determination grew.
With a steely glint in her eyes and her voice brimming with resolve, Esther retorted, "I won't be the one who needs to escape."
The air between the two powerful women chilled with intensity as they charged at each other.
Finally, Sabina stood before the massive Kraken, its enormous crab-like form casting a dark shadow over the battlefield while her men held off any Umbralfiends trying to interfere.
The beast's eyes burned with an eerie, malevolent glow, and its razor-sharp pincers snapped and clattered with terrifying ferocity.
Sabina, in contrast, was a whirlwind of dark energy and lethal grace, her crazed grin belying the ruthless determination that fueled her every move.
As she faced off against the Kraken, Sabina danced around its deadly claws, her lithe form weaving in and out of the behemoth's reach.
She deftly manipulated her Death Chains, lashing them out to strike at the creature's vulnerable spots, aiming to slow its advance and keep it preoccupied.
As a high ranked member of House Thorne, she was privy to certain information nobody else would know.
Each crack of the chains was followed by an enraged screech from the Kraken as it tried to shake off the draining effects of the dark weapon.
Despite her nimble movements, Sabina was not entirely successful in avoiding the Kraken's powerful attacks. With each passing moment, she found herself on the receiving end of more and more blows from its formidable limbs.
She already knew how truly terrifying the Kraken was but the experience from fighting it personally was a whole another thing.
Without even using its mana, she was getting suppressed from its physical attacks. She guessed it must be saving its mana after exhausting a lot of it to unleash the corrosive mist that still covered the skies.
She had recently entered the peak level of Soul Purger, and yet she was on the losing end already.
Gashes and bruises marred her once pristine skin, her blood staining the earth beneath her. Yet, her shaky smile never wavered, the excitement of the battle fueling her onward.
The Kraken, seemingly growing more enraged by Sabina's continued defiance, unleashed a flurry of attacks in an attempt to crush her beneath its mighty claws.
Sabina, for all her skill and tenacity, found herself struggling to dodge the onslaught. Each new injury inflicted upon her only served to heighten the tension of the clash, a stark contrast to the carefree grin she stubbornly maintained.
Sabina's soldiers pleaded with her to flee, but their words fell on deaf ears. Filled with a frenzied determination, she was halfway successful in dismembering one of the Kraken's pincers using her Death Chains.
Sabina's eyes glowed with wild fervor as she repeatedly told herself that she could achieve this.
If she managed to sever the pincer, the Kraken would be forced to return to the sea and heal, buying them precious time, possibly even allowing her father to return and prevent further losses to their House.
Yet, the ancient beast had no intention of allowing Sabina to succeed. With a mere tug of its pincer, it lifted her into the air and slammed her onto the ground, forcing her to release her chains.
Without giving her a chance to catch her breath, the Kraken's giant pincer descended upon her, intent on crushing and tearing her body apart. Her soldiers cried out in despair, "Lady Sabina!"
Despite her predicament, Sabina managed a bloody chuckle as the pincer's enormous shadow engulfed her.
Just as the pincer was about to crush her, a surge of dark blood energy slammed into it, causing the Kraken let out an angry growl while its pincer was pushed away.
Sabina blinked in disbelief when another shadow appeared overhead – this time, a large flying beast.
A tall man with dark yellow eyes jumped down from the beast, and before Sabina could muster a word, a pair of strong arms scooped her up from the ground.
They leaped onto the flying beast and took off, leaving the Kraken behind.
Esther, who was in the middle of her battle with Narissara, never stopped paying attention to Sabina from time to time. When she saw the Kraken was about to kill her daughter, she was ready to risk getting injured to head towards her.
However, upon getting a message from the royal consort surprisingly, Esther couldn't feel more relieved, especially with Eradicator on his side.
Atop the flying beast, the man shook his head disapprovingly, "That was too reckless. What were you thinking?" he asked.
Sabina's vision cleared, and she found herself looking into the face of a devilishly handsome man, "Asher?" she mumbled in surprise, "What are you doing here?" She glanced to the side, seeing Eradicator and realizing they were flying atop Grimeras, Eradicator's mount.
Asher's lips curved into a smile, "Well, naturally, I'm here to help stop this war, and save your life while I'm at it," he said. However, he was astonished that this crazy woman actually managed to almost sever one of the pincers of the Kraken.
Sabina weakly smirked, managing to respond, "I…had it handled," Still, the last thing she expected was him to suddenly arrive and save her life. Why would he risk his own life to save hers? But for some reason, she was feeling better he was attached to her in some way. Perhaps, he must have been already seduced by her.
Asher surveyed her battered form from head to toe, then smiled sardonically, "Oh, you definitely did. Now I will handle the rest," He said as Eradicator made Grimeras land in a safe spot, surrounded by a lot of their soldiers.
Sabina blinked, her confusion evident as she asked what he meant by that. She looked around, noticing Ceti and over a thousand soldiers surrounding them. It was surprising to see that they were under Asher's command. How had he managed to gather so many soldiers?
But she knew they were far from sufficient to turn the tide of this war.
"Don't worry about unnecessary things and focus on healing," Asher urged and winking, he added, "I wouldn't want my potion partner to die from bleeding out."
"I am touched," Sabina weakly chuckled as she licked the blood from her lips in an alluring way. Her eyes then narrowed as she asked with a sarcastic smile, "So…you intend to stop the war with your little army?"
She recalled him mentioning that he would stop the war which made her think that he was joking.
Asher shrugged nonchalantly, "Well…as the royal consort, it's the least I can try to do, right? But my little army isn't the key. The Kraken is the biggest factor that would decide the fate of this war. I am sure you know that too."
Sabina's brows raised as she knew the war can be won if the Kraken goes down. But what surprised her was Asher hinting that he was going to do something about the Kraken which meant he would be facing it himself.
This made her let out a weak laughter, remarking ,"Oh devils…how ironic and amusing of you to tell me I was reckless…when you are planning to do something even worse."
She meant it, as Asher seemed too weak to last even a second against the Kraken. What was he even planning to do? Talk to that creature and coax it?
Still, after a few months of 'close' interactions, Sabina couldn't help but feel that he wasn't just foolishly arrogant.
A sense of excitement bubbled within her as she urged without even bothering to ask how, "Whatever…Let me see if you can really handle it or if its just empty boasting. Meanwhile, I will heal up here."
Asher nodded with a smile and looked at Merina as he instructed, "Merina, stay here and help her heal."
"Yes, Master," Merina nodded, though she felt a bit disappointed she couldn't help him with his plan.
He then turned to Ceti and said, "You can start executing the plan."
"As you say so...Your Highness," Ceti sharply stressed her words with a piqued glint in her eyes and gestured for her men to follow her as they charged into the battlefield, heading towards the Kraken.
Leonidas waved to the Dragon Legion, signaling them to follow Ceti and assist with the plan.
Climbing atop Grimeras, Asher hugged Eradicator's waist, taking a deep breath before announcing, "I am ready. Let's go."
A hint of reluctance crossed her eyes, but she nodded, and they took off into the air, flying towards the terrifying Kraken.
Once Asher had left, Sabina wiped her lips after drinking a healing potion. She glanced at Merina, who was gently wiping the blood from her body, and asked with a smile, "So…how many times does he sleep with you in a day?"
Merina's face flushed a deep crimson, startled by the sudden and unexpected question.
"I-I…I…" She stammered, unsure of how to respond and feeling too shy to answer.
However, Sabina didn't seem to mind her reluctance, letting out weak laughter as if she already knew the answer from Merina's reaction, "You must be the luckiest maid in the kingdom…ironically," she said with a shake of her head, making Merina awkwardly smile as she looked away.
Merina knew as a werewolf it was only natural she would be treated as nothing more than filth in this kingdom. Even if she was a refugee, the fact that she belonged to an enemy race would never erase their thousands of years of prejudice and hatred.
But thanks to her Master, even people were showing her respect, at least on the outside. None of them would dare to show her disrespect since it would mean disrespect to her Master as well. Even her daughter didn't seem to complain much about these things.
She was already feeling as if he had given her a new lease on life.
However, Sabina's smile stifled a moment later as her ghostly red eyes glinted with a stony light while thinking, 'A mere werewolf maid getting to have fun with him more than me? That…is unacceptable.'
