Moments after Eren got locked inside Burning Abode and crashed to the ground.
"Why… Why isn't he coming out?"
Altashia mumbled to herself before spreading her mana sense in the vicinity. She almost had no mana to intervene in the attack she had cast herself.
"Eren… Eren!"
Altashia yelled and her heart began to beat faster as she felt that Eren was hurting inside her spell. She started regretting casting Burning Abode on the butcher and felt that she needed to do something. So she started running in Eren's direction without worrying about the injuries that she had suffered due to the duel.
The slash wounds that were on her body were threatening to open once again after her mana defense layer ran on fumes. By doing so, it simply prevented the wounds from opening, and it lost all its defensive capabilities.
As Altashia started running in Eren's direction, her wounds opened up. The bare-minimum layer of defense she had was compromised at the moment and her body was most vulnerable at this time.
Yet, Altashia didn't stop running. There were drops of tears running down her cheeks as she found herself unable to speak anymore.
***
"I… I think you should go. Get Eren out of that damn thing."
Arjun mumbled to himself as he watched the climax of battle unfold in front of his eyes. Then he realized that he hadn't said anything to the healer. So he looked at him frantically before yelling.
"Sir, I'm sorry, Sir Adept healer. But what the fuck are you waiting for? Please save our team members."
Arjun's violent voice jolted everyone out of their daze. They were so mesmerized and stunned by Eren and Altashia's battle that they had forgotten to check on either of their conditions. Only now did they realize that Eren could be in mortal danger.
For the first time, Arjun was angry at his captain for executing Burning Abode on Eren. He had witnessed her fight with the Goblin Lord as well. That demon spell almost took care of an Orc Lord. It had scared the D-Rank monster so much that he didn't come to claim his camp even when Altashia's squad was there for the whole night.
And yet, Altashia had chosen to cast that spell on Eren, who was only in the Ace rank. If Arjun didn't know his captain so well, he would have called it an attempt to murder.
Arjun saw Altashia running in Eren's direction with tears running down her cheeks and sighed. Using his power alone, he wouldn't be able to dispel Burning Abode any time soon.
So he decided to let the healer handle that part while he held onto his guilt-stricken captain. He stood over the ledge of the audience booth's railing and was about to jump into the arena.
***
The Adept rank healer had also been stunned by Eren's duel with Altashia. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that he would get to witness such a high-level duel between two Ace rankers.
When Arjun yelled at him, the healer felt a bit angry at him for his rude behavior. But then he was a bit ashamed because he forgot his duties. So instead of scolding his juniors, he decided to prioritize the work that he was supposed to do.
But just when the healer was about to jump out from the second floor's audience booth and get directly into the arena, he felt a unique mana pulse from the Burning Abode.
The rest of the rankers felt that pulse too. All of them focused their eyes and mana senses on the Burning Abode. As if they all had come to realize that something was afoot. As if they were going to witness something special.
Rumble!
The Burning Abode was blasted away in an instant. The compressed form of fire-element mana spread in every direction. The flames were largely dispersed in the thin air. However, some flames managed to survive the blast and were burning brighter than ever in the vicinity.
Some of the fire-element mana was headed for Altashia. Due to her physical and mental condition, she was vulnerable to being injured because of her physical and mental condition.
But suddenly Altashia realized that the view in front of her was changing rapidly. She had focused so much on Burning Abode and the person locked inside it that she forgot to register what had happened to it.
Altashia was lifted off in the air as the vision in front of her suddenly blocked. Because of her distraught state, she didn't understand what had happened and looked sideways before looking upwards.
The warrior-ranker saw a familiar face smiling at her as she was being held in a princess carry midair. As a result, she couldn't help but smile and cry at the same time.
"You… you… Eren… are you alright? I…"
Eren smiled mildly as he saw Altashia's condition. He responded while spreading his newborn wings.
"You thought I was dead? Tch tch tch! I thought you knew me better than that."
The butcher teased Altashia before readjusting her in the air once again. He wasn't used to his flight maneuverability yet. As a result, he was struggling to keep himself and his plus-one in the air as he controlled his elemental fusion wings.
Only now did Altashia observe Eren's wings that gave off a peculiar mana signature. She observed that the wings he had were so different from her.
Altashia's feathers were bird-like and completely black. But Eren's wings were an ethereal fire that had taken the shape of draconic wings. Plus, he didn't have to maintain the motion of flapping wings. Because half of his work would be done by tweaking the pressure he had on the surrounding air.
Altashia's mind calmed down after she saw Eren was safe. Her chaotic mana circuits caused by her heightened emotions found some respite. As a result, her natural mana defense was restored, if only barely. And her wounds stopped bleeding. She took a deep breath before replying with stoic expressions that said that she was trying to tame her emotions.
"I'm just glad that you are alive. I accept my defeat."
Altashia said and wrapped her arms around Eren's neck as the latter held her by her hips. They were both standing in front of each other in the air.
Altashia had accepted her defeat. But she did not stop it just there. She brought Eren's face close before planting a kiss on his lips. The latter accepted her advance with open wings and closed arms as he guided both of them down to the ground.
Altashia could feel Eren's elemental fusion because of the embers of the fire still surrounding him. When she came so close to him and felt the mana signature exuded by his wings, she was beginning to have ideas of her own.
A kiss seemed to complete the puzzle that had been left incomplete for a long time. Just when Eren landed on the ground with Altashia, they were surrounded by the clouds of Adept rank mana that visibly manifested around them. The butcher understood what was happening as soon as it started happening.
Altashia was breaking into the Adept rank!
