Not only were the assailants faster and stronger than Phloria, but their casting speed was leagues above her own.
At Phloria's level, she was still learning how to weave tier three spells with her body. To make matters worse, Reaver was unparalleled when ambushing someone and terrible when its master was the victim of the ambush.
The assailant on her right blocked Phloria's slash with his Adamant-coated right hand while punching her in the side with the left. Years of experience told her the moment they made contact that the enemy wasn't human.
Yet it was already too late.
The hand on her blade weighed like a mountain while the punch was so heavy that it bent the Adamant of her Featherwalker armor. The impact broke her ribs and punctured her lung, sealing her breathing technique.
The shapeshifted creature took no risks and punched her left side as well.
Even though she had a healing spell in her magic holding ring, Phloria had taken so much damage that when she activated it, she fainted from exhaustion before her lungs recovered enough to use Invigoration.
At the same time, the assailant blocking Celbas' right arm grew in size, turning out to be a Seven Headed Dragon.
"Nothing personal, kid." Ufyl breathed Origin Flames from all of his mouths, burning the Griffon's body, mana, and the Life Maelstrom empowering him.
At the same time, the assailant blocking the left arm transformed into a Sekhmet, stinging Celbas' back with her tail. The acid dug a hole through the Adamant armor protecting the Griffon and reached his spine.
Celbas fell to the ground, his body paralyzed from the waist down as he screamed in agony from the violet flames that now ate at him inside and out.
"Target E acquired. I repeat, target E acquired." The creature holding Phloria's limp body said in a communicator amulet.
"Copy that." Thrud's voice replied. "One of you bring the package to the nest. The rest will remain on standby. Target V has yet to be acquired."
"What about him? Do we kill him?" Ufyl pointed at the agonizing Griffon who was still struggling to survive.
"And risk antagonizing an entire Griffon bloodline?" Iata replied with a sneer. "We already have trouble facing the joined forces of the Kingdom and the Council. The True Queen has no need for more enemies."
A wave of her paw extinguished the Origin Flames and healed Celbas enough to ensure his survival but not enough to resume the fight.
"I'm sorry, kid, but this is war. Unless you think that a woman you barely know is worth the risk, you'd better stay out of it." Then, she healed the Griffon completely and exhaustion made him faint.
"What if he's a romantic idiot and gets involved in the war anyway?" Ufyl hated leaving a witness alive but Iata outranked him.
"If he does, then it will be him attacking us and if we kill him, it will be out of self-defense." Iata sighed at the Dragon's hot-headed naivety. "This time he was an innocent bystander. If we killed him, his bloodline would have hunted us down.
"If he looks for trouble and dies in the process, instead, no one will care. War is a dirty business, Ufyl, but that doesn't mean we have to make it even dirtier."
***
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