The power of the forbidden curse continued to spread. Wherever it touched, all the Steel Vines were shattered by the endless spatial rifts it created. Watching Pei Yan being forced back by his own spell from the vines and dodging to the side, Master Merlin finally had the chance to check on his teammates' injuries.
Surveying the surroundings, although the others appeared disheveled, their bodies were generally unscathed. Hecate was the only one who looked significantly worse off, as Pei Yan had initially targeted her for an intensive attack, leaving a deep wound on her back and right arm from his ambush, deep enough to expose the bone.
Hecate waved away Aleister's kind offer to heal her with his time-reversal spell. To Aleister, casting any time-based magic was a significant drain on himself, no matter how great the spell was, it wasn't necessary for her. She could rely on her innate self-healing to recover from the injury, albeit slowly but without affecting the larger situation.
