"Haha," Agrona chuckled. "Do try and keep me entertained then."

Tess rocketed towards Agrona as fast as she could as Regis lept into Arthur's body. Using wind magic she moved the air around her to increase her speed. A trick she learned from Arthur, and with that she broke the sound barrier right before she swung her blade. The sudden boom caught everyone off guard and made them all cover their ears. Even Agrona was surprised and wasn't able to dodge. Instead he reinforced his right forearm with mana and used it to block her sword. It was a shallow wound, only a quarter inch deep, but it also earned a trickle of blood. Not wanting to stay stationary for long she spun out of the attack and landed back on her feet ready to continue.

Agrona moved his arm to inspect his wound, and while doing so a storm of black steel rained down upon him. There was no dust cloud to hide the result, several steel spikes were stuck in his body. They weren't deep, but it further reinforced his mortality with the high bloods.

"It seems I took you both too lightly." Black flames burst out from his wounds as they healed and pushed out the spikes. "I'll correct that now."

He shot towards Tess, but a black metal wall erupted from the ground blocking him, then fired a series of black needles. Agrona didn't verbalize his anger, but it could be seen as he slowly turned his head towards Elijah floating in the air with his eyes wide.

Tess and Elijah didn't need to communicate at this point, they already had a plan of attack that they created back in Dicathen when they learned they were going with Arthur to Alacrya. They knew the difference in their power versus a Vritra and knew Arthur would do whatever he had to to keep them out of the fight if things turned dire, going as far as to even create a portal so they could escape, but they never had any intention of complying. They developed a simple strategy while fighting together, with Tess as the vanguard and Elijah as her ranged support. Even though Tess was a conjurer, she had long since worked on refining her swordsmanship, and with Arthur's help she was confident she could fill this role.

As Agrona focused on Elijah Tess jumped the wall and went for a vertical slash. Unfortunately Agrona was taking them seriously now and quickly moved out of the way, then delivered a swift kick to Tess' abdomen, sending her flying into the wall behind her. She crashed into the wall, leaving a small crater before falling to the ground bleeding from her head.

Keeping the pressure up so Tess could recover Elijah fired several more spikes. Agrona scoffed dismissively and swung his hands to bat them away. To his surprise the spikes began exploding on impact and releasing a burst of black flames. Agrona roared with anger as he was looking more like a fool, but that was the plan.

As the flames subsided Agrona lowered his stance to launch himself into the air, and this is when Tess came out of nowhere and slashed her blade along his back. He fell to the ground and glared at her looking as if she wasn't hurt, and in truth she wasn't.

The armor she wore was designed by Gideon after he became inspired by Arthur's armor. It couldn't withdraw into her core like Arthur's, but it did come with its own features. Aside from being constructed from the relictomb ore, the inside was lined with strategically placed crystals imbued with healing spells, but these weren't simple healing spells like the ones Alice made when Tess and Arthur were in school, these were complex and highly advanced. Alice and an emitter from Caspian's party worked together to develop a very effective all around spell to handle anything. The complexity of which only allowed them to manage making two a day each. The armor also contained a built in two use high level mana barrier for emergencies, as well as a self repair feature the dwarven metal mage blacksmiths helped design.

The cost of this armor could nearly bankrupt a low ranked noble family, but thankfully Gideon didn't care much about money, his legacy, going down in history as the greatest artifacter was what mattered most to him. Though Tess' family was more than willing to fund this artifact for their daughter, allowing her to now wear the second strongest armor in Dicathen.

Agrona held out his hand and his staff that had wrapped itself around Arthur, released him and flew into his hand. He then shot towards Tess and swung it. She could tell this was going to be powerful and raised her arms to defend as she activated her first shield. The staff collided with the barrier, which quickly shattered, then collided with her armor, sending her skidding back.

Tess grunted in pain. Her forearms were broken and the armor was dented in, keeping a great deal of pressure on her arms. She worried now what her condition would have been if not for the barrier. However with a light glow from her armor the dents popped back out and she felt the healing crystals doing their part of healing her broken bones.

Meanwhile Elijah created his metal snake golem to attack Agrona. Agrona's was still angry from the humiliation he experienced, and was quick to eliminate the golem, resulting in him being engulfed in black flames again. He took to the air, ready to bring the battle to Elijah. Quickly Elijah dropped to the ground, narrowly dodging a swing from Agrona's staff.

Once on the ground Elijah began preparing for a close quarters fight. Unlike the other Lances, Elijah didn't want a weapon made from the relic tomb ore. Not just because he preferred to remain in the conjurer role, but because he could form his own at a moment's notice. Black steel began forming over Elijah's body, making him look like a black knight from a medieval story, and to complete the look a black broadsword came up from the ground.

"Hmm, interesting," Agrona mused, intrigued as he watched Elijah's change. "You've never fought like this before Nico."

Elijah didn't pay his words much attention and charged in with his blade. Curious, Agrona scaled back his strength and took on a defensive stance as Elijah swung his sword. The two clashed but Agrona only remained on the defensive studying him.

"You're not Nico anymore," Agrona suddenly said. "Somehow your mind has become that other one."

"I'm not the other one!" Elijah shouted as he jumped back. He was surprised that Agrona realized, but he wasn't going to show it. "My name is Elijah!" Immediately his signature black metal snake golem burst out from under Agrona.

It did knock him off his footing, but he was quick to recover and admired Elijah's work with a smile. "Yes I can see that. If only Nico's combat prowess was on par with yours, he would have been far less of a disappointment."

The metal snake swung its blade-like tail, but Agrona blocked it with his staff. The snake then coiled around him and tried to crush him like a constrictor.

Agrona laughed. "Do you honestly think this can hold me?" He then pushed out, but to his surprise the metal gave way as the snake exploded in black flames.

Elijah held at the ready, he knew that wouldn't kill him. He had no doubt Agrona would emerge from the flames perfectly fine and retaliate any second now.

"I say again you are impressive," Agrona said from within the black flames. "Nico never would have thought of something like this. Hopefully he'll keep this creativity when I bring him back."

Just as expected, Agrona walked out from the black flame, only his clothes being damaged.

"Hate to disappoint you, but the Nico portion of me is gone forever," Elijah informed him proudly.

"Ha, that much better. I'll just alter your memories and guarantee I keep your combat skills."

Tess looked on as her arms finished healing. She knew there was a more than fairly large gap between her and Agrona, but she had hoped she and Elijah would have fared better than they were. Arthur told her about the wraiths and how they were trained to fight and kill Asura, and according to him she and Elijah were close to their level, so they both thought they could at least hold him off. She looked over at Arthur laying there as Regis worked to bring him back, but with no indication how much more time he needed.

She wasn't sure how much longer they needed to hold, but at the rate they were going they wouldn't last for long. Tess then activated her beast will. She didn't want to use this if she didn't have to, since as soon as she did there was set timer as to how much longer she could hold out. Ten minutes, that was her limit before she was brought to the brink of backlash. If she could absorb more mana after then it would be possible to use it again, but there was no way that could happen. Arthur had been teaching her how to absorb mana while moving, and she could now while walking, but while fighting was well beyond her at the moment.

As her will activated she noticed something different, something she had never felt before. The feeling she felt when she felt an aether spike from Arthur was coming from her. She caught a glimpse of her hair, instead of the normal emerald green color it usually held when her will activated, there was a vibrant violet color to it.

"Could the aether have somehow been bound to my beast will?" She thought to herself.

She shook her head, this wasn't the time to think about that. Elijah and Agrona were trading blows again, but Agrona was clearly controlling the fight. It was only a matter of time before Elijah wouldn't be able to keep up and Agrona ended it.

Ignoring the changes to her beast will Tess focused on the matter at hand, Agrona. However one might say that the aether didn't want to be ignored. As Tess unleashed a series of what she expected to be emerald green vines of mana, they came out as amethyst vines of aether. Just the same, Tess refused to focus on that now, and continued her attack.

"Lord Agrona!" One of the Vritia from the balcony shouted.

Agrona pushed Elijah back and turned around just as the aether vines wrapped around him. Tess smiled triumphantly, she wasn't sure how long she could hold him, but she was very pleased the other Vritra's warning didn't allow Agrona to escape.

The High Sovereign looked down at the vines curiously, a mistake as Elijah was able to take advantage of the opening and thrust his sword into Agrona's chest. He coughed up blood and his eyes widened as the blade entered. Both Tess and Elijah were shocked, believing they had actually managed to kill him, as did the highbloods outside the barrier.

"Too many unexpected things have been happening, I need to end this," Agrona thought.

His face quickly hardened as he shot towards Elijah, jumping up and delivering a swift kick to his abdomen at full strength, shattering armor where the blow connected. Elijah went flying into the barrier, sending ripples out from the collision. He slid down to the ground as the barrier retook its normal shape and laid there with the only movement from him being the small movement of his chest as he took shallow breaths, showing he was still alive.

"Elijah!" Tess screamed, but he didn't move.

"I would be more worried about myself if I were you," Agrona said.

He then unleashed the full power of his core. Tess shuttered from the sudden change, causing her focus to waver. Taking advantage of this Agrona fought against the vines and broke free.

"A lesson for you," he said with a dark tone. "At your level, concentration is imperative."

He then shot forward towards her. Tess activated her last barrier, which aether mixed with as if reacting to her intent. He started to break through the barrier, his staff almost going through. He then pulled it back and formed an aetheric blade on the end making it a spear again, and thrust it forward into the barrier. The barrier held, but the blade was breaking through, getting dangerously close to Tess. Agrona pulled his spear back and clad his hands in aether then thrust them into the opening and began pulling her barrier apart. Tess focused, trying desperately to reform it, but it wasn't working. The aether wasn't listening to her as it did with her vines or when it mixed into her barrier, allowing him to continue to pull it apart.

As he reached for her she ducked down to try and escape, but he managed to grab her by the hair. With a jerk Tess was on her back as her barrier shattered.

"Ahhh," she grunted as Agrona lifted her up by her hair.

"You have fought hard, and with your strength, you will make an excellent vessel for the legacy."

Agrona reached out for her head. Seeing this Tess knew she had to get away and began to struggle. As she did she saw her sword on the ground to her right and used one of her aether vines to grab it and throw it to her. She caught her blade and swung it over her head. Agrona pulled his hand reaching for her back instinctively, but that wasn't her target. With one quick slash Tess cut her hair, freeing her from his grasp. Once on the ground she jumped back as she swung her blade, sending a wind blade that cut into his abdomen.

Agrona grunted in pain, then threw his spear at her. The speed was too much, and it pierced into her armor at her shoulder. Tess cried out in pain, but due to the material of the armor the aether spear didn't go completely through her shoulder and stopped at her shoulder blade. The force of the throw was still enough to knock her off her feet, and left her on the ground in pain.

Tess tried to pull the spear out so the healing crystals would do their thing, but Agrona arrived and held the spear in place.

"You lessers are becoming a far greater nuisance than you are supposed to," Agrona spat as he towered over her.

He began to reach down, but stopped as he felt a sudden aether fluctuation. He looked up to see a portal forming, but before he could identify what was on the other side a bolt of mana struck him in the face. He stumbled backwards from the hit, releasing the spear. As he looked back up he saw her, the one who opened the portal and attacked him. She glared at him with a threatening gaze as her feet touched the ground between him and Tess. She pointed at him as another half dozen bolts formed around her.

"You!" She said with a blood lust one wouldn't have ever expected. "Don't you dare touch my mama."

She then fired the bolts striking the surprised Agrona.

"Sylvie?" Tess forced out as she pulled out the spear. "What are you doing here?"

"I was using the viewing crystal Papa gave me before you left. I saw you were in trouble so I came to help."

"I think you're confused," Agrona said as he recovered, several points on his chest and face glowing purple as he healed with aether. "Your mother was Sylvia, a powerful dragon whom you were clearly named after, and I am your father," he said with a confident smile.

Sylvie fired another bolt of mana at his face, which he blocked.

"You think I don't know that? I never knew my mother, and you I've never met before now. Yet you still turned me into your puppet as soon as my mother's protection wore off." She then gestured to Tess behind her as her shoulder glowed from the healing crystals. "However my mama and papa showed me love since the day I hatched." Sylvie smirked devilishly. "I believe my papa said it best, he's more of a father to me than you ever were or could be."

Argona's face became serious. "It seems I have to impart some parental discipline."

With that Sylvie released another series of mana bolts while flying away from Tess so she could keep her safe. Agrona blocked every bolt, but that was fine, she was holding back at least until Tess was healed so she could protect herself. Agrona quickly closed the distance between them, raised his staff, and swung down. As the staff closed in however, Sylvie used god step and disappeared from his sight. Agrona stopped in shock, but before he could react was struck in the back by a series of mana bolts.

Agrona quickly spun around and backed away.

"It seems you've learned some god runes," he said with intrigue.

"My papa taught me," she bragged, rubbing in Arthur's title to her.

Agrona scowled, but didn't reply. He may have intended to experiment on her after she hatched, but it would have been nothing compared to what he did to his Vritra blooded army. The fact that she was still his own flesh and blood...his and Sylvia's child...

"If only she listened, the three of us could have been a family together. We could have ruled Epheotus. No, she was too loyal to Kezess. If only she didn't run and betray me, stealing our daughter away like a thief in the night," Agrona thought to himself as his anger built.

He intended to let Arthur live as a Scythe after he turned Tess into the legacy, but now, he just wanted to torture all of his knowledge out of him and kill him slowly.

He shot towards Sylvie with his staff pulled back and swung at her. Being so much smaller Sylvie was easily able to dodge, and fired two mana bolts at his abdomen before backing away.

In response Agrona held out his left hand and aimed it at Sylvie before releasing a stream of black flames. Sylvie tried to counter with her own. She couldn't hold him back, but it was enough to slow it down. Sylvie flew through the air firing mana bolts, but they were just devoured by the flames. Having an idea she began to fly closer. Little by little she closed the distance, making it harder and harder to avoid his attacks. Once close enough she formed an aether dagger, and threw it at his hand.

She had made a lot of progress when it came to her aether arts, but using it in a ranged attack was still difficult. Just like with Arthur in the beginning, it only went a short distance before dissipating. Which meant she needed to be close for it to be effective.

Unlike the mana bolts, the aether dagger wasn't devoured by the black flames, but instead cut right through it and into Agrona's palm. He grunted in pain as he jerked his hand back, dropping his staff, and used his own aetheric control to dissipate the blade so he could heal. Sylvie however wasn't about to give him any breathing room and continued her attack.

Outside the barrier the highbloods watched on as the once godlike figure who ruled over them was constantly being wounded by an Asura child, and three mages.

Sylvie appeared to be keeping Agrona on the defensive, but despite her efforts she hadn't been able to land another hit. She glanced back toward Arthur, still lying on the ground motionless. When she looked back Agrona was taking hits as he rocketed towards her.

He pulled his arm across his body and released as if to backhand her. She began to dodge but Agrona's staff came up out of nowhere and jabbed her in the stomach before the back of his hand connected with her face and sent her flying back down, crashing into the ground.

Sylvie tried to get up but was stopped by a sudden force applied to her chest. As she opened her eyes she saw Agrona pressing down on her with his foot on her chest.

"As your father, I will forgive your insolent behavior, but we clearly need to change your attitude," Agrona said as he reached his hand out towards her head.

Sylvie glared angrily at him. "You may be my father, but you'll never be my papa," she spat with venom in her words.

Agrona's hand moved closer and closer. He was just a hair away when he suddenly stopped. Not by choice, but because of several aether vines wrapped around his arms and torso.

"Get away from my daughter!" Tess roared, and her vines jerked him away and slammed him into the ground.

Sylvie quickly god stepped to Tess and hugged her legs. "Mama are you ok?" She asked in a panic.

Both of her barriers had been used, the healing crystals were nearly completely depleted and the mana crystal for the self repair depleted before it could finish mending at her shoulder. To make matters worse, she only had a few minutes left of her beast will before she was risking backlash.

"I don't have much time left with my beast will, but other than that I'm fine," she replied with a warm smile as she patted Sylvie's head.

Agrona stood up and glared at them in annoyance, bringing an end to Sylvie and Tess' moment. Sylvie turned to face him, ready to continue, but now she wasn't alone.

Tess placed a hand on her shoulder. "I might not be as strong as you, but let's do this together."

"But..."

"This is why I'm here. To buy time for Art to come back to us. So as long as I have some fight left in me I'm going to do just that."

"I'll draw his attention first then, you attack when you see an opening," Sylvie said before god stepping closer to Agrona and continuing her assault.

Sylvie immediately began firing bolts of mana, but Agrona was done dodging. With a swing of his staff he deflected every bolt, somehow knocking a few back at her. Tess shot forward, it was clear there would be no openings, Agrona wasn't taking them lightly anymore. She made it look like she was going to charge in for a close range attack, but stopped short and sent forth a series of aether vines. He released the pressure from his core, but Tess was completely focused this time, she wasn't going to be distracted.

The vines slammed into him and forced him to the ground, giving Sylvie an opportunity to rain down a series of mana bolts while he was down. Tess withdrew her vines at the last second and the bolts connected to form a sizable explosion.

Sylvie floated back away from the explosion, waiting for Agrona to show himself. She could have just continued raining mana bolts, but feared not only the potential danger for Tess if the battle got out of hand, but also draining her core to a dangerous level before Agrona was killed or Arthur woke up.

Outside of her dragon form she had always leaned more so to the path of a conjurer. For starters she felt that her body was too small to properly fight as an augmenter, but also she wanted to be able to support her papa in battle. With his lack of ranged spells and by nature always relying on his swordsmanship, she saw a supporting conjurer could seamlessly fight alongside him, as she knew it would also take years even after she grew up some more to develop her close range combat skills to be able to fight on his level.

Agrona stepped outside of the crater created on the attack, without his staff. Sylvie and Tess took note of this and quickly searched for the staff.

"Sylvie behind you!" Tess shouted as she took to the air.

Sylvie saw the staff coming and managed to dodge, but Agrona got up there quickly and delivered a powerful kick to her back, sending Sylvie plummeting to the ground. Tess reached him and swung her blade, aiming for his neck. Agrona ducked down and grabbed her arm, then threw her after Sylvie. They both laid there on the ground together as Agrona slowly approached.

Tess forced herself up and conjured her aether vines, but paused as she felt a sudden throbbing coming from her core.

"NO! Not now!" Her time was up, she was on the verge of backlash.

Baring through the pain she launched one final attack. Four aether vines reached out, the ends sharpened like spears. Agrona swung his spear and cut down two and caught another with his bare hand. The fourth penetrated his abdomen right at his core, but didn't even make it an inch deep before the vines dissipated. Tess' beast will faded as she falls to her knees then to her side beside Sylvie. Tears of both pain and sorrow streamed as she reached out and took Sylvie's hand.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough," she said weakly.

"No," Sylvie said as she squeezed her mama's hand. "You fought to the last drops of mana, till your body couldn't keep going." Sylvie released her hand and started to push herself back up. "Your core might not have been strong enough, but you were." She stood tall between Tess and Agrona. "You've been an amazing example of who I want to be one day. I know a mama is supposed to protect her child, but let me protect you this time."

Agrona closed the distance instantly and slapped Sylvie across the face, knocking her back down into Tess' arms. Tess held Sylvie tightly as she shakily raised her sword and pointed it at Agrona while glaring at him with pure malice. He grabbed her sword and effortlessly pulled it from her hand.

"This annoying resistance is over," he said as he knelt down and began reaching for both of their heads.

A sudden flash of amethyst appeared between them causing him to jump back. When he looked back at them he saw two aether swords floating crossed in a defensive manner before them. He tried to push himself back up to his feet, but noticed something very wrong. He looked down towards his hands to see both of them were missing from the wrist. His eyes quickly shot back to the swords to see both of them sitting on the ground under them.

A sudden pressure filled the room. Everyone capable looked over to Arthur, as he began to stand up.