Aurellia appeared to be dead only for a second before the illusion she had created evaporated into nothingness. She reappeared a few feet away. She had survived but not without taking on some real damage. There was a large cut that moved over her chest and onto her left hand. She was covered in blood and her face was pale with fear. It was clear that she had just escaped death.
Ion looked at her and snarled like a beast ready to destroy the world just because one person had garnered its rage. He merged with the world and suddenly, there was a mass of darkness that fell from the heavens like a blanket of death. Within this darkness there were thousands of black swords and spears, all aimed at the sacrifice warriors that had come along on this attack.
This was when Aurellia accepted that she had underestimated the power held by the wandering palace. It was not her fault since she had been lied to by Avalon. Avalon had given a faulty report to the temple and this was how the sacrifice warriors had ended up in this dire situation.
Aurellia had very much wanted to deal with this palace herself, collecting merit by taking back Medusa's head, one of the most powerful relics the temple had ever owned. All these dreams now evaporated into failure and she had to let them go. She raised her divine treasure and shot out a beam of power. This was a message to the world. It could only be seen by supernatural beings and other sacrifice warriors. The message was clear: the wandering palace has been found and held down. They have one of the keys of chaos. Come and get it. Now that the situation had snowballed to the point where her life was in danger, she decided to share this bounty with the other greedy beings of the world.
Cate saw all this and she was not happy. Just as Aurellia had underestimated the wandering palace, Cate had overlooked how determined Aurellia was to take the palace. She was even willing to share, something that was not commonly associated with the Divine Temple. Aurellia's decision was especially shocking since she was willing to share with her sworn enemies, the supernaturals of this world.
"You must kill them all within ten minutes," Cate ordered. All the servants received the order and just like that, the battle grew more intense. The humans were outnumbered and even though their Votums were powerful, they were no match for the enraged servants. In a matter of minutes, the humans had their numbers cut down to half. The blanket of darkness fell down and just like that, only three sacrifice warriors including Aurellia were left. The three were surrounded with no chance to escape.
"How cowardly of you to hide behind your servants. Have you no shame," Aurellia cried out.
Cate just shook her head at this foolish attempt. It would work on only those who had even a hint of shame. Cate had neither honour nor shame. All she cared about was gaining more power. There was nothing to gain from personally going out to face the humans. She was not ready to take on the Divine Temple, making this battle nothing but a waste of time. The best thing she could get from interacting with the sacrifice warriors was battle experience in preparation for the future and that was exactly what Cate had achieved by sending out her servants to face the humans.
"Kill them now," Cate ordered. Ion personally moved in and ripped out the throats of two of the remaining humans. Now that only Aurellia was left, there was no way for her to evade her death.
Suddenly, Cate felt a change in the world. The air grew thicker and the earth rumbled as though a herd of beasts was coming for her. Cate focused and the wandering palace increased its range of surveillance. Through a screen, she saw a group of seven werewolves. Each wolf was the size of three elephants put together. Their yellow eyes glowed with so much light that they illuminated the world better than the sun above. Each step they took shook the earth. All the wolves had thick black fur and their claws were sharper than razors.
"The Joyful Wolf pack," Cate cried out with surprise. The Joyful werewolf pack was one of the most powerful. These wolves were the largest and their bites were the most terrifying. It was said that even devils would have to take care not to be bitten by these wolves. The poison their long fangs carried was simply that terrifying.
Cate had never crossed paths with these wolves and so she had no idea why they would decide to get involved in this war and make an enemy of her. These seven wolves were powerful enough to face all her servants and turn the tide of battle. Cate decided that it was time to leave this place.
She activated the wandering palace, using its power to summon her people back into the safety of the palace. They all disappeared and returned to the hall before her. She then willed the palace to move through space and leave this place. This was when she noticed that the palace was bound to this place. The palace released more power and the chains that held it in this place groaned. The wandering palace was being tied to the earth below by seven powerful chains. They were as black as ink and reeked of powerful magics.
"It seems that more people than I had expected have showed up for the palace. The keys of chaos still hold so much sway over the minds of the people," Cate said as she began casting her magic.
She first conjured seven swords using a powerful spell. These swords could cut through mountains and no metal could stop them. Clank, the chains were shattered instantly but by then, the seven wolves had reached the wandering palace. They pounced on the palace and bit into its walls, pulling it to the ground.
Cate willed the palace to attack. Nine cannon-shaped weapons appeared on the palace and began condensing magic power from the world. "Fire," Cate cried out. Seven of the cannons fired at once, releasing seven beams of concentrated magic power. The blue beams cut through the world with devastating might and fury.
The wolves were struck at the same time. Two of them were turned to ash and three were sent flying into the distance. The remaining two were powerful enough to take on the magic attacks. Their teeth allowed them to stay attached to the palace. When they saw their kin killed and others blown away like leaves, the wolves growled with fury as they tore into the palace. The wandering palace was ultimately pulled to the ground where it was slammed into the earth with such force that an earthquake was sent through the world.