Seven seconds.
That's how long the duel lasted.
Not that Stella remembered.
She acted out of pure instinct, only knowing what Eyna recounted later.
Which made her even more terrified. Not from Nimrod, of course. Only of herself.
That poor, cheap copy of the Prodigy never stood a chance.
"I don't know much about magic, but when he tried to cast a spell on you, you screamed and encased him in ice," Eyna explained. It checked out. She must have syphoned his mana away.
And she must have done it way too hard.
"I tried to stop you," Welf added, looking paler than usual.
Rather than continuing, he held up a hand with frostbite evident on his fingers.
"S-so sorry," Stella stuttered, having only regained her sanity a few minutes ago. "Did I kill him?!"
"The right question is 'how many times?'" The blacksmith grunted, and the voices inside her head went wild. Ah, so they have returned, too? The familiar chaos was almost calming.
But not quite.
"Nimrod is alive, Lady Stella," Eyna said, knocking the brutish blacksmith in the side.
She shot him a cold glance, too, thinking Stella wouldn't notice. But when it came to her, she placed a warm hand on her back for gentle caresses.
"W-what happened, then?" Stella was almost too worried to ask.
Those two glanced at each other and sighed in a perfect sync.
Welf waved for the purple-eyed girl to start, and following his frostbitten hand—
Stella realised only now that they were in a tribesman's house.
"So uh, it has gotten very cold," Eyna recounted, struggling with words. "He couldn't cast any of his magic and yelled about cheating."
"But only until he froze," Welf added with a smirk. "Then he'd shut up at last."
He raised his fingers playing in black and deep purple, a clear sign that he almost met the same fate. So, Stella had unleashed her necromancer powers without realising.
"The ice disappeared when I told you we need him alive, though," the girl was quick to continue.
Wait. No explosions?
Discharging a lot of mana should have caused one.
Unless the cheap copy didn't have enough to syphon away.
But then, melting the ice to keep him alive would have led to—
"You mumbled about holding him on the edge of life and death," Eyna noted. "And Nimrod woke up a few times, begging for help. Then he passed right out again."
Oh, yes. That must have been her life-force transfer at work.
And if she used her own—she should have been dead by now, too.
Right on cue, Welf confirmed her worst fear.
"Your face was awfully pale," he said as if he were one to talk. "When I asked if you were all right, you, uh—kinda shocked me? It still hurts like crazy, but you said you needed my essence."
No. She did not do that. That was too much even for a monster like her.
Stella wanted to die, or at least dig the deepest hole known to mankind and disappear in it.
Attacking her own allies?!
Draining Welf's life forces—that must have been it. Even if it was to keep that bastard alive—
"You mumbled half words, but I puzzled it together," Eyna added salt to injury. "You kept Nimrod alive with your own health, but it ran out."
"That doesn't make it right to steal yours," Stella moaned, bowing her head.
No, she should have fallen at her knees already to beg for their forgiveness.
"It's all right. I volunteered," the purple-eyed girl said with a small smile, still caressing her back.
Looking at her now, she must have been in a lot of pain, too.
Did she try to hide it to comfort her?
As soon as she had the strength to spare, she had to restore their bodies to the fullest.
Then she can die to atone for her sins, but not a moment before.
Too bad she couldn't do that already. She was still dizzy, the voices inside her head unhelpful.
Right now, they were still quiet but messy. She couldn't make out any of the individual words or their meanings. It was impossible to tell if they were praising or scolding her, either.
Not that she wanted their opinions, or them to exist in general.
Having them muted was already an upgrade to the usual chaos.
"To be fair, we forced you to take his duel," Welf said, breaking the awkward silence. "And a little pain won't kill me, ma'am. Besides, Liliske would say I deserved it."
Right. Lady Liliana put her in charge. Had she foreseen this?
No, it didn't make her actions acceptable—but did they at least work?
"Indeed," Eyna whispered, patting her back. "Sorry for pushing you too hard. We tried not to show it, but we were desperate, too. And you definitely convinced Nimrod to help us."
Convinced? More like murdered him, over and over, then brought him back for more torture.
It was no wonder everyone hated necromancers.
She did, too, but she never had a say in becoming one.
"S-so where is he now?" she asked, realising it was only the three of them in the small room.
Welf let out a strained chuckle.
"The tribe's shamans examine him," he said. "It fascinates them that no healing magic works on him. If that's intentional, great job, Stella."
He yelped when Eyna kicked his shin. She couldn't exactly take that as a compliment, either.
But that was the terrifying nature of necromancy.
Regular spells could use mana to speed up the healing process.
What they could not return was the life forces she stole. Her cursed magic was the opposite of natural, and the wounds she caused could not heal. Only over time. Lots of time.
Or by her replenishing the lost life essence herself.
"If they have a strong animal, I can transfer its health to him," she mumbled. "And to you, too."
She grasped at straws, but as the blacksmith pointed out, it would have only made things worse.
"Blood sacrifice?" he asked, struggling with a smirk. "Let's not do that. They're too superstitious."
"We'll find something in Halaima," Eyna offered. Complete with another murderous glance towards the redhead. "But I agree. Bad idea to do that on tribal grounds."
"Right, sorry, sorry," Stella apologised, not even sure why.
Other than the fact that she did horrible things. And she didn't even remember any of it.
The purple-eyed girl gave her a gentle shake, gazing right into her eyes.
"Lady Stella," she said, voice low but firm. "We have too many enemies, and you're our only ace. We're the ones to apologise. Despite pushing you way too far, you still saved our skins. "
Stella could only shake her head, but Welf put a heavy palm on her shoulders as well.
"She's right. We got what we deserved for underestimating you. You won that duel in no time, even on his terms, no preparation whatsoever. In my book, that was amazing."
"And we're looking forward to your leadership," Eyna added with a bow. "Thank you."
Thanking? Her? After that disaster?
The world must have turned on its head.
But if it was in her power to correct that, she had to do it.
For people like them—her only friends.