Saitya was one of the most valuable members of the cult when it came to obtaining slaves who obeyed only the cult's orders. That was because her necromancy left no trace of the old soul or memories. Other necromancers could end up leaving remnants of their former personalities, but she did not. Her magic erased everything until there was no chance left for those souls to interfere with her magic—something that could hinder other necromancers if they took someone who refused to be controlled.
"I want more and more beings who obey my orders without question."
Her personality was like that. She wanted to be in command. That was the reason she joined Sairao—to gradually gain absolute obedience from all beings. For her, obtaining Val'Drakar was especially satisfying because she had heard stories of how loyal he had been to the first dark elf.
"Now that loyalty is mine. It feels so good to take important things from other people."
That statue had been given to her by Sairao two years earlier. After acquiring it, Saitya immediately wanted to restore part of the power of the great guardian of the dark elves. Now the guardian obeyed only her. So when he stepped in front of her to receive the attack from the fire mage standing before them, she smiled as she saw him follow her thoughts so perfectly.
'Excellent work.'
"Sir Marvud and Cescud, show that you won't lose to someone who came after you."
The two skeletons behind her moved quickly—not because of the necromancer's words, but simply because they were obeying the command to attack. After all, there was no trace of their former souls left. Val'Drakar also moved, his hood covering his body as he attacked Valença with his old sword—now black in color. Even so, Valença seemed to recognize the blade.
'Now that I think about it… Lord Sairao was talking with that boy and even looked at her for a moment.'
From the evil god's words, it was very possible they were the ones who had interfered with his plans years ago. If that was true, she must have been a battle companion of her magnificent acquisition. With that idea, Saitya smiled beneath the hood still covering her face. Valença dodged the sword and activated the ability of her staff before narrowing her eyes at the giant figure.
"That sword… if it's…"
She clenched her teeth as veins appeared along her neck. Without time to think further, she tilted her head back to dodge Marvud's wind-covered sword. Cescud appeared from behind with his shield and struck Valença's back, sending her forward. Val'Drakar, still hooded, raised his sword to strike her, but a tornado of fire burst from the staff and pushed all three enemies away at once.
'She has an absurd amount of mana.'
Saitya watched as Valença began whispering something, a vein marking the left side of her chin. When she raised her staff, she created a circle of fire and used her fire zone and lava zone. All those magics were used together, with the fire circle being the weakest of the three—having been the primitive one she created two years ago. All of them served to increase the power of her fire affinity, while the magma zone enhanced lava magic. By combining the three, she created a new zone.
"Volcanic Crown Field."
But there was a difference—this zone was focused only on strengthening herself. Her affinities now carried more power than before. Only she could receive the increase, even if other fire or lava users were inside the area. Noticing things were becoming dangerous, Saitya put her plan into action. Covering herself with her hood, its magical ability activated, erasing her presence.
'Val'Drakar, reveal yourself.'
Valença summoned a fireball at the center of her staff. Jumping into the air, she pointed downward, ready to unleash the attack—at least until she was caught by surprise when Val'Drakar lowered his hood and revealed his face to her.
'She really—'
"You sentimental people are so easy to affect when a dead man returns."
Taking advantage of the moment of surprise, Saitya appeared above her with a purple-bladed dagger. That dagger was of unique rank, capable of poisoning an opponent with just the tip touching them. The poison came from the fangs of a dragon with venom magic that her god had once fought. This precious weapon had been given to her for the excellent work she did eliminating enemies and bringing valuable sacrifices.
'With this, even her mana will be poisoned.'
"Magma Explosion."
Valença's eyes moved backward as she turned her head toward Saitya. Her eyes carried a cold fury. A sphere of magma appeared above the fireball. When the two collided, an explosion engulfed them both as Val'Drakar jumped in front of the blast along with Cescud.
The attack struck them and sent both flying backward behind her, while Saitya placed several skeletons in front of herself defensively. Her hood was destroyed along with part of her clothing as the explosion—one that would certainly have killed her—was mitigated by life transfer. One of her best spells, it redirected pain and injury in exchange for the lives she had sacrificed to maintain the spell.
"Why did you revive him?"
Her hair covered her eyes as she spoke those words. She had known him only briefly, but she admired the dedication he had shown for so many years as the guardian of the dark elves. Seeing his body used like this—by people who wanted to sacrifice those he once protected—was simply disgusting. Saitya narrowed her eyes with disdain.
"Why would I care about a dead body? To me, dead bodies exist to be used. And I used him—and I will use him to kill anyone who tries to stop my lord Sairao."
As soon as she finished speaking, a fireball was already in front of her face. She barely avoided it by moving her head to the side. The explosion behind her was almost as large as the previous one, even though it used only a single affinity. That meant the girl before her had an absurd amount of mana.
"What did you say?"
With eyes overflowing with fury, she channeled even more magic through her body and summoned Incandis to her side.