The Gamer's POV-Chapter 282: Battle of the Lords: A Scene Both Strange and Disturbing

"How is it going, Isolde?" Yami asked as she approached the girl.

Isolde suddenly sprang to her feet and shouted in a hushed voice. "Mama!"

She rushed toward Yami and slammed into her in a hug.

Yami rubbed the girl’s hair and sighed. "You know I do not like it when you call me that. I am a man, you know. Not a girl."

The girl looked up at her and smiled. "When you change into the body of a man, then I will call you papa."

Yami rolled her eyes and gave a tired exhale.

This little girl, who was currently being so affectionate and clingy, was apparently Yami’s second summon.

When she let go of her lord, Yami dipped her hand into her haversack and pulled out a monocular. She put it to her eye to see the chaos below, then said, "You didn’t answer the question I asked, Isolde."

"Oh, oh." Isolde turned back to the battlefield and said, "It’s bad. It is really bad, mama, especially for the three people you instructed me to observe."

She pointed toward the bridge far away and said, "The princess is over there."

Yami moved her lens toward where Isolde was pointing. It took a few seconds before her eye landed on the princess, who was currently battling desperately against many of the nagas on the bridge. Over a hundred ice weapons flew through the air, killing the nagas that had managed to make their way to the bridge, and some weapons were even guarding the edge of the bridge and the lake to stop more nagas from climbing up.

There were a few cadets who had come around where she floated. Those cadets didn’t seem to have combat skills, so they were huddled in groups, and her ice shields were spinning around to protect them. There were even a few weapons above the shields to strike down on any naga that would get close to the shields.

Yami shifted the monocular back to the princess, then she chuckled because she could see that part of the princess’s face had been corroded off.

"How did she get herself that makeover?" Yami mused aloud.

After a few seconds, she asked, "What grade is she now?"

Isolde looked at her and replied, "Three, just like us."

Yami frowned, then muttered under her breath. "Tsk. Hope she drops dead. Really."

Not too long after she said that, her expression relaxed as she suddenly realized that the princess was really overextending herself just to protect the cadets. She smiled then muttered, "Maybe I don’t need to worry. With the way she’s wasting her mana, she’ll quickly burn through it all."

Isolde perked up as if remembering something then said, "Oh. I just remembered. I saw something when I was reading her soul."

"What?"

Isolde touched Yami’s chest then added, "She has the same thing you have here."

"What thing?" Yami asked impatiently, then her eyes widened as the realization hit her. "Wait. She has an essence core?"

Isolde blinked naively. "Is that what it’s called?"

"It powers her magic, right? Just like her mana core?"

"Oh. So that’s what it’s called."

Yami’s frown deepened then she snapped her gaze back to Aurora and began seething. "When? When did she get one? What did she even do to get one? I spent all these months going through territory after territory, consuming creature after creature before I could even get mine. And she just gets one because she’s the princess? What is this joke? This shite is so un... huh?"

She suddenly trailed off mid-rant as she noticed something intriguing. Dozens of daffodils in the air were changing into light and flowing like mist into the princess’s face and body, repairing her wounds.

Yami scanned the bridge and followed the daffodils until her gaze landed on a graceful, battle figure amidst the carnage some meters away on the bridge.

"What is that thing?" Yami turned to Isolde. "Is that her summon?"

Isolde blinked questioningly, then Yami quickly clarified, "I’m talking about the being with the garden on her back for wings."

"Oh. You mean the leafy-eared flower-girl?" Isolde shook her head. "No. The princess’s summon apparently is a creature that looks like a puppy but made of ice. I don’t know who that summon belongs to. I tried reading her soul to see her weaves, yet nothing points back to her lord. It’s really strange."

Yami arched a brow. After a moment of contemplation, she muttered. "It is really strange, and because it is, I think I have a suspicion of who her lord is. Show me where Leon and Cedric are."

"You mean the golden-haired dummy and the creepy one?" Isolde scoffed and pointed toward the shore to a spot among the chaos.

When Yami looked at where Isolde was pointing, her expression twisted in confusion because she saw a scene that was both strange and disturbing.

She could see Cedric standing perfectly still, like someone who had been dazed by a heavy blow. He kept swaying and his eyes were closed as if he were sleeping.

Not far from him, Uriel and Leon stood on either side, both of them swaying on their feet like they were drunk. The Raven of Decay stood with her sword drawn a few meters away, but she too was dazed, her body tilting as if she might tip over at any second.

Some meters from her, Celeste stood motionless. Her head was tilted back as she stared at the sky with a smile on her face, as if admiring the clouds in a trance.

Finally, Goldie was flying a few meters in the air near Cedric. She was just hovering there, her body slumped and limp as a rag doll. Saliva dripped from her mouth and her eyes were half-open, glazed over as if she were sleeping while flying.

For some reason, seeing them like that suddenly filled Yami with dread.

At that moment, Isolde spoke. "When I said things were really bad, I meant for them."

Yami swallowed and stammered in confusion. "Wh-what is happening to them?"