Noémie snapped her eyes open, desperate to end the vision she had just witnessed.
"What..."
She stayed in shock for a moment before pulling herself together.
"Murderers! Killers! What did those people do to make you act like this?!" Noémie screamed, outraged by the acts described by the woman.
"Well... It is what it is, I guess. I'm not the one who came up with the plan!" Blak replied.
"Hey, hey, what did you see in the vision? I know that technique. It lets you briefly observe people connected to us, closely or distantly, right? It's a very powerful technique!"
"Who are these masked men?! I'll kill them!" she screamed, blind with rage.
"Aaaah, them..."
Orazhe and the desert man turned their heads toward Blak.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything. Wouldn't matter to you anyway."
"What are you saying?!" Noémie exclaimed.
"Listen. It's your last day, not my fault. Personally, I have nothing against you. I don't even know you! Papa told me to do it. You're an Evekius, aren't you?"
Noémie's eyes widened, her pupils dilating.
"How do you know my family name?!" she exclaimed.
"Isn't Strauss Dad's name?" Itoî asked in a small voice.
"I-Idiot, they're talking about Grandpa's last name," Uyan retorted.
Uyan seemed to be the only one truly aware of the danger.
Vars was on his guard. He looked ready to strike, but his stance remained hesitant.
Kaelle stood in front of Uyan, who was hiding behind his sister's legs.
Itoî also seemed eager to fight, but his stance was clumsy.
"Alright, we've been here a while, but I'm not going to give you a detailed explanation. Papa asked me to, that's all. Besides, it'll be the same for your brats: they'll suffer the same fate as you," Blak said in a much more serious tone than before.
"In your dreams!" she exclaimed before directly casting a spell:
"Light Shield!"
A large shield of light appeared around Noémie and her children.
Kaelle cried out:
"Stay behind me, boys! It's way too dangerous!"
The children got behind their sister.
"So, we starting?" Orazhe asked.
"No," Blak replied.
"I'm starting. You guys stay back," she continued.
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Noémie cast a spell without chanting:
"Mesel, god of speed! Grant me the ability to cast faster!"
Small wings appeared on Noémie's wrists.
She wrote very quickly, and meanwhile, Blak lunged to attack.
"Here we go," she said, leaping from the pile of rubble they were standing on.
She slammed violently into the barrier.
Vars and Itoî were getting impatient; they wanted to join the fight too. But seeing the two boys stomping their feet, Kaelle retorted:
"Don't even try. You'll just get in Mom's way," she said coldly, pushing them back behind her.
Noémie finished casting and spat out stones engraved with blue runes. She threw them directly to the ground. The stones placed themselves automatically to form a circle.
I clearly don't have enough mana to defeat all three. I still haven't recovered from the last incident with Itoî, so I have no choice: the kids need to run.
Meanwhile, Blak kept striking the barrier.
"Wow! Your stupid barrier is no joke," she said, annoyed.
"Watch out, they're going to escape," Orazhe said.
"Ugh, I can't be bothered," Blak replied.
"Can't you just quickly activate your power, Orazhe? Pleeease, pleeease, pleeease!" Blak begged like a child asking their parents for something.
The cyborg boy sighed:
"Do you care that much about keeping your powers hidden? Fine. But only for a few seconds."
"Mechanism #7: Mana Cancel," Orazhe said.
Orazhe's eyes flickered, and the barrier Noémie had erected began to crumble.
Noémie's eyes widened.
They possess magic capable of canceling ambient mana? By extension, I won't be able to cast spells for very long. However, it doesn't matter. Objects charged with mana, capable of releasing their energy on their own, should do the trick if I keep feeding them mana at the same time. The teleportation portal should still work.
Noémie screamed at the top of her lungs:
"I'm activating the portal! Kids, jump in!"
The kids nodded quickly, and Kaelle scooped Uyan into her arms. He was crying in fear.
"Activate!"
The portal activated, and simultaneously, the cyborg boy declared in a monotone voice:
"Mechanism #7: Laser Finger."
A thin red laser shot from Orazhe's index finger toward the portal.
Noémie nimbly pulled out a light-charged blade and threw it at the laser to deflect it.
The cyborg boy reacted instantly. Meanwhile, the portal was fully active.
"No problem," he said, raising his other index finger.
He fired the laser again, but this time aimed at the stones powering the portal.
"Come on, hurry!" Kaelle said, running toward the portal.
She was only two steps away when Uyan leapt from her arms, rolled on the ground, and crawled back to his two brothers.
"No, Uya—"
Kaelle didn't have time to finish her sentence. She stumbled into the portal, which sucked her in and teleported her away.
Noémie was about to throw herself directly onto the laser, even if it meant getting hurt, to let the children escape. But suddenly, the desert man launched an attack, shouting:
"Living Mud!"
The ground turned to mud, especially around Noémie's feet, which sank into it. She couldn't stop the laser from hitting one of the stones. It shattered on impact.
"No!" Noémie cried.
The portal flickered out for a second, then flared back up. Apparently, more stones needed to be destroyed to neutralize it completely.
"Why did you jump out of Kaelle's arms, you idiot?" Itoî asked, angry.
"If Mom is in danger, I have to stay!" Uyan exclaimed, just as furious.
Vars put a hand on Itoî's shoulder, signaling him to stop. Itoî looked at him, then understood it was pointless and not the time to bicker.
"This has gone on long enough," Blak said, lunging forward.
The two men behind her smiled.
"Yes, it has!" Noémie said, summoning a silver rapier.
Over a minute had passed since Orazhe used his mana-canceling technique. Moreover, thanks to Mesel's blessing, she could execute her spell incredibly fast.
Unable to move because of the mud, she threw her rapier at Blak with such violence that it pierced the woman after only two seconds of flight. Yes, Blak took the rapier right through the heart.
She crashed to the ground, still mid-leap.
Noémie turned to the boys and asked with a smile:
"Are you okay, boys? Can you walk?"
"Yes, Mom! The ground is still solid here and all the way to the portal," Uyan answered her.
"But are you going to be okay, Mom?" Uyan continued, deeply worried.
Noémie stared at Vars for a moment, then said:
"Please, Vars, go. Jump into the portal."
Uyan, furious, screamed at his mother with all his might:
"We're not going anywhere without you, Mom!"
"Yeah, the little guy is right!" Itoî added, nodding.
Vars remained more doubtful, but he had understood one thing.
Noémie looked in horror at Blak's body. The corpse lay in a pool of blood. Then, her fingers twitched. The woman's eyes darted left and right before bulging out of their sockets.
The body struggled to its feet and stared at Noémie, who seemed to be in shock.
"But what the—"
"Oh, hey," Blak's body said.
How is this possible?! She's not dead?!
"Shall we continue?" Blak asked.