“Quickly! Hunt down the fugitive!”
“That is the prime culprit in the Duke’s murder; we cannot allow him to escape!”
****
The alarm blared across the plaza, spreading like a virulent plague throughout the entire city in mere moments.
Immediately thereafter, countless legions of Black Knights mobilized, converging upon the central plaza from all directions in a meticulous sweep.
“Noelle, at this rate, you won’t escape either! Leave me behind, abandon me here, and flee on your own; they still don’t know of your existence!”
Yet, Noelle offered no response, continuing to pull You’er along, running forward without a moment’s pause.
“Caw! Caw!”
A raucous clamor echoed from the sky as several black crows circled persistently above their heads, refusing to depart.
“Damn it! These creatures are the Empire’s trained familiars.”
Clinging to them like stubborn taffy, the crows swiftly made You’er realize that these creatures were relaying their whereabouts to the nearby Black Knights.
“Oh, Spirit of Ice, I, Noelle Noah, beseech thee.”
At that moment, Noelle parted her lips, silently chanting, as an cerulean magical radiance emanated from her form.
“Thorns of Ice, impale!”
The magical radiance around Noelle flared to its zenith, and in the next instant, several blue ice thorns, resembling thorny vines, erupted skyward. Multiple black crows were impaled by these icy spikes, congealing into basketball-sized ice formations before plummeting from the sky and shattering into fragments. This menacing assault terrified the remaining crows, which immediately scattered and fled into the distance.
“So powerful… Noelle, run into the alley!”
This marked You’er’s first time witnessing Noelle unleash her power, and the magnificent ice magic left him profoundly awestruck.
Having spent so many days together, You’er was keenly aware of Noelle’s stubborn nature. Though she regarded him as her master, she would resolutely act according to her own will, rendering all his pleas futile. Given the current predicament, he could only exert his utmost effort and cooperate with her to escape.
Noelle gave a slight nod, guiding You’er as they plunged into the narrow alleyway.
The alley was deep and sufficiently concealed, yet it could not obscure the countless numbers of their pursuers. The cacophony emanating from all directions plunged You’er’s spirits to their lowest ebb.
“They fled into the old alley! Everyone, move your asses! If we don’t bring them back, we’ll all lose our heads!”
It seemed that despite Noelle having dealt with the black crows, their whereabouts had still been partially exposed.
Finally, with no avenue left for evasion, they came face to face with the first group of soldiers blocking their path.
“Found them! There are two of them! Damn it, just as I suspected, they had an accomplice!”
Confronted by these obstructionists, Noelle reacted swiftly, extending her slender fingers towards them as a vast magic array rapidly materialized in the sky.
“Ice Rain!”
This magic array enveloped all dozen or so soldiers blocking their way, unleashing a torrent of ice shards that descended like raindrops. In but a moment, a dozen lifelike humanoid ice sculptures stood complete.
Having accomplished this, Noelle once again took You’er’s hand, pulling the still-astonished You’er as they swiftly navigated through the ice sculptures, gradually putting distance between themselves and the scene. The experience during this passage was quite wondrous; the gaze within the ice sculptures shifted with their progress, indicating that the soldiers frozen within were not yet dead.
Thud, thud.
No more than ten minutes thereafter, a knight clad in black armor, radiating a terrifying aura, emerged from the shadows.
“A grand ice mage, how intriguing.”
With a casual wave of their hand, the dozen or so ice sculptures shattered into dust in an instant.