Frostfire Legacy

While the enemies were distracted, Vanessa moved beside Faeloria, quickly assessing her current state. However, even from a distance, it was painfully clear that the poor elf was in no condition to aid in battle.

Her mana had dwindled to pitiful levels, and her injuries—both internal and external—were far from mild. Dark bruises and cuts littered her body, and her breathing was shallow and labored, signaling the toll the battle had taken.

"You sure pushed yourself," Vanessa sighed, her eyes narrowing with a mix of concern and disapproval.

Without wasting time, she waved a hand, casting a minor healing spell to ease Faeloria's pain, before tossing a few vials of her signature potions over to her.

"Drink these. They're my prototype potions. Though they come with some side effects, I guarantee they could bring even someone on the verge of death back to life."

Faeloria hesitated, her fingers lingering over the vials. She wanted to refuse. She should refuse. But as the old saying goes, beggars can't be choosers. Without many options, she picked up one of the vials, wincing as she uncorked it and inhaled the strong, metallic scent of blood.

"Ugh!"

Her body instinctively recoiled, but she forced herself to steady her trembling hands. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and downed the potion in one swift gulp. Her face twisted into a grimace—a mixture of pain, disgust, and, to her surprise, relief.

"Wow..." she whispered under her breath as the potion took immediate effect.

True to Vanessa's word, her wounds began knitting themselves together with supernatural speed. Even her smashed internal organs, which had left her barely able to stand, mended themselves as if they had never been damaged. She felt her strength returning to her, the aches in her muscles fading like a bad dream. But despite the potion's miraculous effects, Faeloria's gaze darkened with suspicion.

She turned to Vanessa, unable to suppress her curiosity any longer. "...You mentioned a side effect, right? What exactly is it?"

Vanessa, nonchalant as ever, shrugged while keeping a wary eye on the battlefield, where her familiars continued to hound their three remaining enemies.

"It's nothing too extreme. The potions are made with my blood, and as a vampire, my body fluids naturally have a... stimulating effect on the one who ingests them."

"In short?" Faeloria's voice grew tense. She didn't appreciate Vanessa's tendency to speak in circles.

Vanessa glanced at her with a deadpan expression. "It's an aphrodisiac disguised as a potion. I originally made it for Aster, but..."

"WHAT?!" Faeloria nearly choked on her breath, her wide eyes fixed on Vanessa in disbelief.

She had just swallowed a concoction made from vampire blood—and worse, it was functioning as an aphrodisiac!

Her stomach churned, not from the potion itself but from the realization of what she had just consumed. She wanted to shout at Vanessa to berate her for her sheer lack of decency, but this was hardly the time or place for a lecture.

A sudden flash of light sliced through the air, interrupting her thoughts. It materialized in the narrow space between Faeloria and Vanessa, forcing both women to react swiftly. Faeloria instinctively cast a defensive spell, summoning a wall of thick, gnarled vines and roots, while Vanessa, ever the aggressor, ignored defense altogether, focusing instead on launching a counterattack.

Her hand blurred like a razor-sharp blade, cutting through the air toward the figure's neck.

"Ah!"

Vanessa's strike was effortlessly dodged.

The newcomer, a half-elemental woman, turned her body into an immaterial form for just an instant, allowing Vanessa's hand to pass harmlessly through. The half-elemental's grin widened as she rushed forward, her speed dizzying.

"You look fun, auntie! Let's play~!" The woman's voice had a teasing lilt, but her choice of words struck the wrong chord with Vanessa.

"Aunt—?!" Vanessa's eyebrow twitched in irritation.

Her temper flared instantly, and with a surge of power, a crimson wave of blood erupted from her like a tidal wave. "You stinky brat! I'm far too young to be disrespected like that!" The blood wave, pulsing with dark energy, surged toward the half-elemental woman, who smirked as if underestimating the attack.

With a quick flicker, she attempted to slip through it by transforming into a mass of photons once more.

*BZZT!*

The wave crackled with electricity, an unexpected current of energy that shattered the half-elemental's concentration. Her body solidified mid-transition, and the next thing she knew, her entire form was engulfed by the electrifying blood wave.

A puff of smoke escaped her lips as she crumpled to the ground, her charred body twitching weakly.

Vanessa stood over her, scoffing as she kicked the half-elemental's head like a discarded toy. "Idiot..." she muttered, her voice dripping with disdain.

The momentary silence was shattered by a loud *BAM!*, as another of their enemies—Kaz, the impatient satyr—smashed through Faeloria's defensive wall with brute force, launching a direct assault on the weakened elf.

Vanessa glanced at him, her eyes narrowing. The battle was far from over, and despite the strength of their enemies, she knew one thing for sure—she was not going down easily.

But something else nagged at her—a sense of wrongness in the air. It wasn't just the attacks she had to worry about. No, something far more insidious was at play.

*BAM!*

Kaz, who had been focused on breaking through Faeloria's defenses, found himself too preoccupied to notice Vanessa sneaking behind him. She landed a solid kick to the back of his head, a move swift and calculated.

It was a clean hit!

However, Kaz barely reacted. He turned his head slowly, a smirk curling across his lips as if amused by her attempt.

"You think such a flimsy attack could hurt me?" he growled, the confidence in his voice unmistakable.

His hand shot out with the speed of a viper, grabbing Vanessa by the ankle before she could pull back. With a cruel grin, he yanked her toward him, winding up a punch aimed squarely at her face. The force of his strike shattered the air, the shockwave crackling with power.

But Vanessa didn't flinch.

"Believe me," Vanessa said calmly, her form flickering as Kaz's punch passed harmlessly through her head. "My attacks may look simple, but they aren't."

Her body dematerialized, dissolving into a swirling cloud of dark-red bats, much like how Solaria, the half-elemental woman, could disperse into photons.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Huh?!"

Kaz's cocky retort was cut short as his world spun. A sharp pain ripped through his insides, and without warning, he began to cough up blood.

"You—!" he gasped, his body trembling as he dropped to his knees.

His hand pressed against his stomach, and his vision blurred. Vanessa reappeared behind him, her expression smug.

"I told you," she murmured, watching as Kaz's once-imposing figure crumpled under the weight of her attack.

He glared at her, but his eyes had lost their fire. Weakness overtook him, leaving him so frail that a simple touch could finish him off.

Faeloria, who had been witnessing the exchange, stood in disbelief. She had known Vanessa to be strong, but this level of dominance over such a fierce opponent was beyond anything she had imagined. Within the Hit Squad, Vanessa might just be second in strength to their leader, a title not easily earned.

Just as Faeloria was about to offer a word of praise, something in the distance caught her eye. A subtle shift in the shadows—the enemy's next move. "Watch out!" she shouted, her voice filled with urgency.

Vanessa, ever-alert, had already sensed the shift.

Selene and Chrona, two of their deadliest adversaries, stood motionless on the battlefield, seemingly waiting for something. The eerie stillness of their presence sent a shiver down Vanessa's spine. Something was off, but it wasn't until Faeloria's voice echoed in her ears that the realization dawned on her.

"That Aracelli girl," Vanessa muttered under her breath, her eyes narrowing. "Her brainwashing can bypass even my resistance. Be on guard!"

Faeloria's eyes widened as the truth hit her. Aracelli, their cunning opponent, had already sunk her mental claws into their minds, twisting their perceptions. They had been under her influence without even realizing it.

Vanessa didn't waste another second. She quickly retrieved a vial from her ring-shaped spatial storage, downing the contents in a single gulp. The moment the potion coursed through her veins, her eyes shifted from their usual blood-red hue to a sharp, icy blue.

The concoction was a special brew designed to counteract visual and mental manipulation by disrupting the flow of mana and altering the properties of her sight. In short, it blocked all forms of ocular-based brainwashing.

But she was too late.

As her senses cleared, Vanessa's heart sank. Selene and Chrona were already upon her. Selene, faster than expected, waved her hand, summoning a shadow lance that shot up from beneath Vanessa's feet, aimed directly at her head.

"NO!"

Faeloria screamed, raising a barrier of thick roots between the two in a desperate attempt to block the attack.

The lance collided with the roots, splintering them, but it wasn't over yet. A barrage of shadow lances rained down from above, each one chipping away at the defenses Faeloria had summoned.

Vanessa, undeterred, summoned her own forces. With a wave of her hand, a swarm of blood-red bats and rats surged from the earth, throwing themselves at Selene's shadows in a ferocious counterattack. "Come, my minions!" she called, her voice steady as the battle waged on.

Selene sneered, her focus unwavering. "Devour them, Schied!" she commanded, her own shadows swirling to meet Vanessa's forces. The air crackled with tension as the two opposing forces clashed.

Despite the ferocity of the battle, there was one critical problem: Chrona stood untouched, unnoticed amidst the chaos. With both Faeloria and Vanessa tied down by Selene's relentless assault, Chrona took advantage of the distraction, pulling their injured allies from the battlefield one by one.

Her time-manipulation abilities kicked in as she placed her hands on each of her fallen comrades, reversing the flow of time and restoring their bodies to their uninjured state.

"Damn it!"

Faeloria cursed under her breath as she watched their enemies regain strength.

The effort Vanessa had put into weakening their ranks was rapidly being undone, all thanks to Chrona's unique powers. The realization that they were now back at square one filled her with frustration, but there was no time to dwell on it.

The battle raged on, each side refusing to back down.