With the citizens successfully evacuated from the plaza, Nina was finally able to let loose, throwing herself into the battle with a barrage of increasingly fierce attacks.
Deafening explosions echoed through the air as their elemental powers clashed violently again and again.
Though Idir was technically outmatched by Milt, his coordination with Nina was flawless. He moved in perfect lockstep with her, constantly harrying the green serpent and disrupting his rhythm. Milt repeatedly tried to eliminate Idir first, but with Nina running interference, he couldn’t find a single opening.
As the duel dragged on, Milt realized to his horror that Nina was far more formidable than he had anticipated. In fact, her raw strength eclipsed his own.
It became painfully obvious that she had been pulling her punches earlier to avoid harming the bystanders. Now that they were gone, she was finally revealing her true, terrifying power.
What kind of monstrous talent did this female possess? He had wielded his devouring ability for years, draining the essence of countless beastmen, yet he was still being completely outclassed by her. To make matters worse, her fire affinity was a natural counter to his ice element.
Worse still, her stamina seemed entirely bottomless. While he was already beginning to flag, Nina looked as fresh as she had at the start of the fight.
After taking another heavy blow from her, Milt’s resolve broke. He needed to run. Where there is life, there is hope. If he stayed and kept trading blows with her, he would undoubtedly end up dead.
Fending off the joint assault of Nina and Idir, Milt began scanning his surroundings for an escape route.
Having finished the evacuation, Odian and the rest of the group rushed back to reinforce them.
Seeing the reinforcements arrive, Milt knew his time was running out. He unleashed a desperate, powerful strike at Nina to buy himself a second, then immediately whirled around to flee.
But Nina predicted the move, cutting off his escape path instantly.
Cornered and desperate, Milt ground his teeth and threw every ounce of his remaining strength into a final, lethal technique.
A fierce, howling gale whipped up around him, and massive ice blades materialized in the air, spinning rapidly.
Nina met his gaze, channeling the raw power of the Blazing Stone to confront him head-on.
In a fraction of a second, the ice blades hurtled toward her with thunderous force, while a colossal wave of fire erupted from her, lunging forward like a wild beast freed from its cage.
When ice and fire collided, the atmosphere convulsed. A blistering, boiling shockwave swept across the plaza.
Ultimately, the fire prevailed. Melting the ice into nothingness, the roaring flames swept over Milt, instantly engulfing him in a sea of fire.
"Arrgh!" With a agonized shriek, Milt crashed heavily to the ground.
Seizing the opportunity, Nina conjured a thick web of vines, binding him tightly. Severely burned and charred black, the heavily injured Milt lay trapped in the center of the brush, unable to move a muscle.
Nina and Idir glided down to land right in front of him.
"Idir, do you want to end him yourself?" Nina asked. In his current state, Milt was going nowhere.
"Yes." Idir drew a sleek, black dagger. "My father forged this from one of his sharpest scales. It’s only fitting that I use this to finish him."
Nina nodded.
Controlling the black dagger with his telekinetic ability, Idir drove it straight through Milt’s heart.
The massive green snake let out a violent, dying thrash, but he could not break free from the vines. Within seconds, the last of his life force faded away, and his body fell completely still.
Staring down at Milt’s corpse, Idir let out a slow breath. The blood debts owed to him and his father had finally been settled.
Odian and the others hurried over to Nina.
Odian immediately looked her over, checking for injuries. "Nina, are you hurt?"
Sal and the rest of the husbands hovered close, their eyes filled with concern. The shockwave from that final clash had been immense, and they worried she might have caught the brunt of it.
"I’m perfectly fine," Nina reassured them with a smile. She looked around at the devastated courtyard; the battle had certainly left its mark on the plaza.
Harin stepped forward, bowing respectfully. "Lady Nina, please leave the cleanup to us." He hesitated for a moment before plucking up the courage to ask, "Could I... trouble you to help heal the sick beastmen in our city?"
He knew she had just finished a grueling battle and that asking now was somewhat insensitive, but the city’s females and cubs were still suffering from the plague. Any delay could cost lives.
"Of course. Go ahead and gather them all," Nina replied readily.
"I’ll get right on it! We will gather at the central plaza and wait for you there."
Harin quickly took his leave, rushing off with the other elders to assemble the ailing citizens.
After Harin and his men left, Odian pulled out the Black Scale Ring. "Nina, you should bond with the Black Scale Ring first."
Nina took the artifact and pricked her finger, letting a drop of blood fall onto its surface.
The Black Scale Ring flared with light, and a glowing contract rune materialized upon it. The moment the bond was sealed, a colossal wave of energy flooded her body, making her feel as though every single inch of her being was being reshaped and remolded from within. At the same time, her body erupted in a brilliant, dazzling golden light.
A moment later, the golden glow receded, and the Black Scale Ring floated up on its own, snapping securely around Nina’s wrist.
Idir looked at her with a mix of awe and delight. "Nina, it looks like your bloodline just evolved."
Nina traced her fingers over the cool metal of the Black Scale Ring. So it just helped her evolve her bloodline? No wonder she felt an even greater, more boundless reservoir of energy coursing through her veins. She glanced at Odian and the others, making a mental note to see if she could help them evolve their bloodlines later on as well.
Joy mirrored in the eyes of her husbands; Nina was now even more formidable than before.
Nina and her group soon arrived at the central plaza, where the ailing females and cubs had already been gathered. Standing on the highest platform at the center of the square, she looked out over the massive, dense crowd of countless beastmen stretching across the plaza.
Turning to Harin, she asked, "Is everyone here?"
"Yes, everyone is accounted for," Harin confirmed.
Nina raised her wrist and began to channel her energy into the Black Scale Ring. A vast, breathtaking wave of healing energy rippled out from the artifact, rapidly expanding across the entirety of the square.
As the light washed over them, the beastmen in the crowd felt the agonizing aches and pains of the plague slowly begin to recede. After a short while, their sickness vanished entirely, and their strength was completely restored.
The plaza erupted into wild cheers.
"The pain is gone!"
"Mine too!"
"We’re actually cured!"
"Lady Nina healed us all!"
...
The citizens of Serpent City were overcome with emotion. Led by Harin, the entire crowd dropped to their knees, bowing deeply toward Nina. "Lady Nina, thank you! Thank you for saving our people. We will find a way to repay this debt, no matter what it takes!"
"It was no trouble at all. Please, stand up," Nina said.
As the crowd rose to their feet, their eyes remained filled with profound, reverent gratitude.
"Lady Nina," Harin said respectfully, "you must be exhausted after everything you’ve done today. Why don’t you head over to the City Lord’s estate to rest?"
She really had gone above and beyond for their city today. If it hadn’t been for her intervention, Serpent City would have likely been wiped out by Milt’s machinations.
Remembering Alar’s warning about the secret chambers beneath the estate being filled with corpses, Nina immediately declined. "No, thank you. You should focus on cleaning up the estate first."
Realization dawned on Harin, and he quickly apologized, feeling sheepish. "Right, forgive me, I completely forgot about that. Let me arrange another place for you to rest then." He began running through a mental list of the most luxurious and comfortable estates in the city outside of the main palace.
Just then, Vair stepped forward. "Lady Nina, why don’t you rest at Lord Idir’s former residence? Our faction purchased it after he left. We’ve never lived in it ourselves, but we’ve kept a staff of beastmen there to maintain it regularly." To him, Nina was already their rightful leader.
After Idir had been driven out of the city, his estate had been put up for sale, and Vair’s faction had snapped it up. Their original plan had always been to present it to Nina as a gift once she entered the city.
Nina found the idea highly appealing. "Alright, we’ll stay there."
Idir took Nina’s hand, a warm smile on his face. "Nina, let me take you home."
Back to a home that belonged to them. He was thoroughly pleased that Vair’s faction had bought his old property. It was a place where he had lived for a very long time—it was his true home.
"Mm." Nina nodded, letting Idir guide her toward his old estate.
As they walked away, several stealthy figures quietly slipped into the shadows, tailing them from a distance.