Elemental Cats

As soon as the platform was clear of innocent bystanders, Yill stopped holding back. With the bridges sealed off, she only had to limit her strength slightly to make sure no one got swept up in the avalanche of ice magic she unleashed.

Toz and every cat except Asilean got covered by the wave of ice magic, turning into ice sculptures. Even Lucy, who snuck out of the familiar space without Yill noticing in order to hide Scrael's tracks as she dashed toward the ice wall, was struck by the magic.

Yill threw a glance around the platform, ensuring she had frozen and immobilized everyone. She was slightly surprised at the appearance of a black cat hiding in the shadows behind Toz, but she didn't pay it any further heed. It was frozen and couldn't do anything. And she had a more pressing issue to deal with.

While she had successfully frozen and captured Toz, Brunswick, and the cats within the range of the platform, Asilean had managed to slink out through the hole in the wall before she could get to him.

And with the cat of space's magic, even she might not be able to catch up if he got too much of a headstart, so Yill set out as fast as she could.

Yill followed Asilean and stepped out into the Void after widening the hole in the wall so that she would fit through it.

Despite not having the void element, Yill easily endured the pressure of the Void.

Yill looked into the distance and began flying toward her target instantly.

Asilean was blinking and darting through the fabric of space as quickly as he could, but he could barely keep Yill from catching up. And he felt his hope of escape dying when Yill started sending magic his way.

Yill's ice magic created a river of snowflakes that surged forward.

Asilean tried to stop it in its tracks by condensing space. But the river of snow broke through the barricade without even stopping for a second. The avalanche quickly rushed forward to swallow Asilean and turn him into a block of ice to go along with his comrades.

Asilean's eyes were filled with despair when he sensed something and turned to look ahead again. His eyes widened in pleasant surprise and alarm.

Asilean used a large chunk of his magic and willpower to teleport straight to the side. His instantaneous movement allowed him to avoid the avalanche, but he didn't get too far away from Yill, and she might still easily catch up to him.

Since he became a seventh level spirit beast, Asilean had trained hard to learn how to create portals by himself but also how to improve his short-distance movement by removing the need to move while blinking. Instead of shrinking space to shorten the time needed to travel, Asilean had started moving himself through space instantly. It took a lot more concentration and mana than just blinking, and Asilean wasn't as good at it as he wanted. But the short-range teleportation was effective and had incredible potential. Unfortunately, since he was lacking in proficiency, Asilean could only move out of the river's way. Not any further away than that.

However, Asilean didn't want to avoid the river of snow with his teleportation. Asilean wanted to avoid the attack coming from the river's opposite direction.

Asilean might not be able to outrun Yill on his own, but he knew someone who could.

Taienra was still fatigued from her breakthrough, but she had made steady progress with her recovery, and she would be more than energetic enough to grab Asilean and rush into the Void, away from Yill.

Asilean had run in Taienra's direction as soon as he left Toz's familiar space in the hopes of getting to Taienra before Yill could get to him. Thankfully, Taienra's impressive perception reached all the way to the platform, and she began moving as soon as she sensed something was wrong.

She had deliberately hidden in case the delegation became interested in a Starry Sky Whale with a forest on its back. The Starsling Kingdom's treatment of her during their previous encounter had left behind some trauma, and Taienra chose to be careful.

However, she was silently regretting it now that she sensed Asilean fleeing for his life. She had no idea who the person chasing him was or what had happened to the others, but she could tell that Yill was powerful enough to make the leaves on the trees on her back tremble.

Even if both she and the trees were still worn out and exhausted, it wasn't time to care about such trivial matters.

Taienra had already decided to ignore whatever trivial pain she might experience as soon as she saw Asilean being chased down by Yill.

She managed to convey her intentions to Asilean while she prepared her attack.

Taienra had other means of attack, but against an opponent Asilean, and most likely the others as well were powerless to face, only one thing would have hope of making an impact.

Taienra ignored the strain in her back and the unwillingness she sensed from the trees as she roused her mana.

The trees began glowing lightly as they helped alleviate some of Taienra's burden despite their reluctance.

White starlight accumulated in front of Taienra's gaping mouth as she readied her attack. The orb of white light grew until it was eventually larger than Taienra's mouth.

Taienra wanted to squeeze more mana into her attack, but the pain in her body got too much for her to handle without risking having the entire attack dissipate.

Taienra was left with no choice but to fire the beam of starlight straight at the river of snow rocketing forward toward Asilean.

Thanks to her warning, Asilean moved out of the way.

But Yill, who didn't get a warning, only noticed the beam of starlight right before it struck her magic.

The collision sent snow and light flying in all directions as the power of Taienra's attack forced the river backward.

Asilean saw hope as he continued moving toward Taienra, who was still a fair distance away.

However, his hopes came crumbling down as the situation changed.

Taienra only managed to push Yill's river of snow back, thanks to her surprise attack.

Yill only frowned before she put more mana into her magic, which easily reverted the flow again.

The growing river of snow quickly drowned Taienra's beam of starlight before continuing forward and spreading out.

Yill's ice magic filled the Void with ice as it swallowed Asilean and everything around him.

Taienra could only look on in despair as Asilean was transformed into an ice sculpture.

She roused the last dregs of her mana as she tried to conjure another beam and attack Yill.

Her desperation helped her drown out the cries of her rapidly collapsing body and the trees.

Taienra charged forward, wanting to grab Asilean and flee.

But with no mana left, there was no way she could escape Yill.

Yill looked with pity at Taienra, who had almost gone crazy from the pain and Asilean's fate.

"Don't worry, he's not dead. He'll be fine, but you should take better care of yourself."