A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing-Chapter 807 - Descend

Coming up to greet him were, naturally, Emma and Astrid on the former’s golden disk, and Elora, now in human-size and using her beautiful purple-pink wings to propel herself upwards.

Worry etched their faces, but when they saw an unharmed Erik waving calmly and smiling at them, they quickly relaxed. When they met up, Elora reached him first and quickly caught him in a princess carry.

Given her diminutive stature, even in her largest form, watching her carry Erik’s massive frame in her seemingly frail arms was quite a sight... Fortunately, she did easily possess the strength for it. Despite his considerable power, his weight was only two or maybe three times that of a regular human—easily carried by her third-rank Arcanist strength.

Actually, managing weight was one of the first things both Arcanists and Runebound were forced to learn on pure instinct. Though they couldn’t really alter their weight like someone with the gravity affinity could, they could better anchor and orient themselves through the use of aetherium or runic power.

Anyone who didn’t manage to learn this would be flung around like plastic bags in the wind, simply because of the massive force their own attacks generated.

After catching Erik, Elora was joined by the other two, and they all breathed another sigh of relief. Some tension still hung in the air, however, not just over the fact that they were still high up in the air, but also the harrowing explosion, as well as their confrontation with a confessor.

Erik was about to reassure them when Elora spoke first.

"Oh, look at that," Elora grinned mischievously at her beloved. "I’ve caught myself a damsel in distress."

Smirking, Erik sighed dramatically and leaned back in her arms with a hand on his forehead. "My love! You came to save me!" he exclaimed playfully. "I’m the luckiest man on the planet to have such a strong, dependable wife!"

Looking up, he winked at her with an attempt to be coquettish. His eyes screamed sex, and his voice became breathy. "I’ll be sure to repay you later in bed..."

"Ugh," Elora groaned, instantly breaking character as she rolled her eyes. "Please never look at me like that again..."

The tension was immediately broken. Emma giggled, Astrid laughed, and Erik chuckled.

"Hahaha! You look ridiculous like that, you know?!" Astrid wheezed, wobbling on Emma’s golden disk as she clutched her stomach. Joy was clear in her voice.

"Hehehe, don’t make fun of Master, Astrid," Emma giggled, one hand hiding her lips, but not her twinkling, amused eyes. "He just saved our lives!"

"Yeah, yeah, let it all out," Erik chuckled, rolling his eyes, but clearly enjoying their relief. Grinning, he wrapped his arms around Elora’s small neck, pushing his body against her proportionally large breasts. "Personally, I quite enjoy being carried by my beautiful wife."

Rather than make another joke, Elora smiled sweetly at him. "And I enjoy carrying you for once, my love."

Erik smiled back, then kissed her passionately. Next to them, Emma smiled happily, while Astrid made gagging noises.

After separating their lips, the party of four started slowly descending to the ground, silence falling as each of them sank into thought.

"So..." Astrid finally muttered, being the first to break the silence. "That felt like quite a big explosion for someone who’d almost run out of aetherium..."

Erik nodded sombrely. "Yes, it wasn’t him overloading his magic core... In fact, I don’t even think he was conscious anymore. I think it’s far more likely Imogene planted some trap or insurance policy on him. At least, that’s what little I could gather after getting close enough to notice the power gathering in his body."

He looked at Elora, raising an eyebrow. "Anything you can think of regarding specifics?"

Elora shrugged, shaking Erik in the process, while frowning deep in thought. "The explosion was too powerful for a mere third-rank magic core overload, but there are definitely sigils out there that could enhance its power significantly, as well as those that can force the overload, and make it suck in aetherium from the surroundings at very fast rates, since instability of the magic core is essentially the goal anyway."

Erik nodded along with her. "That last one in particular would negate the issue of having very little aetherium left. It’s like a last fuck you after being defeated..."

Astrid scoffed in disgust. "Disgraceful... Defeat is a natural part of life, and the natural consequences are surrender or death. Exploding like this in an act of petty vengeance is just wrong."

Then she frowned. "More than that, though, he didn’t seem like the type to sacrifice himself. An arrogant asshole like that is only concerned with their own well-being."

Elora smirked indifferently. "Heh, I doubt he had a choice in the matter, or even knew of these sigils. It’s possible Imogene was monitoring the situation from afar and realised he was about to get captured, thus activating the sigils... but it’s equally possible the sigils are fully automated, and immediately activate when they notice their host is still in combat, but also unable to continue fighting."

"That’s ruthless..." Emma muttered softly, a little sadly, but once again with a kind of distance to it—like she felt sad for a story character, not a real one. "I wonder if all those confessors are like that..."

"That’s not only likely, but also a terrifying thought," Erik sighed wryly. "Not only does that reduce our chances of capturing one alive significantly, but it makes future fights against them all the more dangerous... especially if we’re facing multiple at the same time."

"Right..." all three women nodded thoughtfully and worriedly.

They continued gliding back down to the city in silence for a moment, coming closer and closer.

Finally, Astrid suddenly smirked and punched Erik’s shoulder playfully. "Hehe, regardless of the doom and gloom, you did prove your power is equal to those confessors now, right?! So Edda is next!"

Erik half-grinned at her. "I like the enthusiasm, but honestly, I was more or less the perfect counter to Gabriel’s abilities... Plus, that black fog still left me more helpless than I’d like. I’m not sure I’d fare as well against Edda on my own, especially not if we’d fought in a less-controlled and friendly environment."

"Hmpf," Astrid snorted and grinned, arms crossed. "So we’ll fight her together again! That’s what I’d prefer, anyway!"

"Hehe, deal," Erik chuckled grimly, the ember of vengeance still burning brightly in his soul. "Every day, the moment of her death, and our revenge, comes closer..."