Inside of the castle, a different tune played out. Knights struggled against white-robed attackers. Several had already fallen from battle. How were there so many, and where did they come from? Naela was sure these questions must have been on the minds of the defenders.
A certain elf rushed to Naela's side in the hallway. "What do you think? Will this be just like old times?"
The wyvern didn't say anything. She huffed and rushed forwards, hearing the annoying voice call out to her.
"You can't still be mad at me!"
Naela blocked a dagger aimed at her neck with a newly formed claw. The hooded attacker's face went from some kind of sadism to rage. He sneered while gazing at the maid's appendage.
"You damn beast! Die!"
The wyvern twisted and swept her tail at his legs. Though, she'd massively underestimated her strength. The attack was enough to shatter bone. She saw the marrow rip from his skin. She couldn't take the sound of his screeching. Even the men closer to the forest could take more of a beating than this. On the way down, she ended his screaming and his life by forming a pink dagger of flame of her own and stabbing it into his chest.
His death throes were short lived, and soon, another attacker was upon her. This one was an assassin as well. He was fast compared to an average human, but Naela could have easily stopped him. Yet, she was denied that ability.
The hand of a golem crushed him into the floor, sending blood and pieces of castle rock flying.
"Always so quick to try and do things on your own," Fianis said. The elf leapt onto her golem's shoulder, and then smiled down at Naela as if they'd never separated from each other. "I will try to save as many of the knights as I can. You can take on the attackers."
So annoying... Yet, Naela nodded. As she rushed forwards into a swarm of attackers, memories started flooding to her mind. Incredibly annoying...
Neala formed a pink flame in her palm, and she saw the image of a bonfire. She saw four people standing around it. Herself was reflected behind the eye of the flame, and of course, there was Fianis standing to the side. To another side, there was a girl wearing leather and a fluffy tail coming from behind her. And finally, there was the wizard, standing next to the flame, and thinking as he always did.
The wyvern didn't realize that the flames in her hand had grown absurdly hot with her bubbling anger and frustration. The pink flames launched an explosion of fire outwards, and the fireball melted people in its wake. Though, it didn't stop with people. It blew a hole in the castle's floor and sent shards of glass flying outwards from the impact. The one thing able to calm Naela's mind was the thought of her mistress.
She imagined Elanore's smile and those pretty purple eyes looking up at her, and it was like a spell was cast over her heart. The vampire was Naela's own addiction. She had no idea why this love had taken hold so fast, but she found herself unable to resist the charms of that witch.
Naela deflected an incoming mana dart with a pink barrier of flames. There were not that many attackers left in the castle after her rampage, but the ones in front of her appeared different than the ones before. These were not the same kind of pushovers as the assassins from before.
The one heading this entire operation stood behind their ranks and lowered his hood. It was a face that Naela had seen before, but she couldn't quite place it. He must have been much younger when we ventured here.
"You truly are a beast without a cage," the man said. "What is your name?"
"Naela, and on the orders of my mistress, none of you will leave here alive."
"Those are big words for one beastman. You think you can take this whole group? Synnaria watches over us, and your head will be delivered to her for daring to stand in our way."
Once again, people had mistaken her for a beastman. These humans twisted the own words of their goddess to fit whatever perspective they wanted. Naela remembered an old passage the wizard had read her. According to that man, Psevalis and Synnaria were supposed to be friends. If they wanted to be friends, then they would have been more faithful, yet the barged into this place and tried to do whatever they wanted.
As several of the priests readied their spells or arrows, Naela started her transformation. White scales with pink designs started forming across her body, and her maid dress did not rip. Instead, it transformed. As she became a full wyvern, the black and white thing formed around her neck like a scarf and a white bonnet formed on her elongated head.
Shouts of the men echoed inside of this chamber. They hurried their spells along, channeling their mana into rushed formations that contained a massive amount of magic power. One of them outright exploded with his rushed spell, but the others managed something incredible.
A white sphere formed in front of them, and a tall white-armored warrior appeared. It glistened with white light, and armor clung tightly to its frame. It held a tall great sword in one hand and a tower shield in the other hand. Though, it didn't bear the emblem of the mammoth. This one was something else. Something way different and far more sinister.
Even though it looked like a holy knight, it was more accurate to call it a demon. Tall black horns sprouted from its helmet, contrasting the armor, and it stood taller than Naela. The thing spoke no words as holy white wings formed on its back. It flapped once and arrived at Naela.
The heavy great sword swung down towards her head, but Naela was swift enough to dodge to the side. Those fools...
Naela truly had no idea where the monstrosity came from, but it didn't wear the visage of their goddess. It had no relation at all to her, yet it was certainly not benevolent. That fact became obvious with a glance towards the spell casters.
Their mana was being sapped by the behemoth knight, and streaks of white aurora flew from their bodies and swirled inside of this monster. Their faces started becoming pale with their loss of mana, and the only one who appeared untainted was the man leading these foolish people to their deaths. While his men fell to the ground frothing at the mouth, he smiled.
"What will you do now!? Nothing can stop our goddess's knight! Especially not a lowly wyvern!"
The gargantuan silent knight lunged forward with his tower shield. His speed was even faster with the human's drained mana.
Naela whipped her tail to meet the attack, and the two collided. The knight's attack was even heavier than Naela imagined. It sent a shiver from her tail all the way up her spine. The attack rattled her core, and her eyes narrowed towards yet another attack.
The knight swung his sword towards her flank, but his attack was met by a solid golem that jumped between them.
"Sorry I'm late. I had to protect the king," Fianis said. "It looks like these guys summoned something troublesome."
The white monster didn't wait for them to have their chatter. He struck the golem again after raising his sword straight into the air, and neither the elf nor Naela could believe what happened next. The golem shattered as if it was nothing more than a flimsy piece of glass, and it fell to the floor as pieces of rubble.
Fianis stretched her hand outwards and green magic formed in her palm. Vines came out of the ground and wrapped around the knight's legs. "It looks like this guy won't be a pushover. Naela!"
The wyvern grumbled, but she didn't protest. Pink flames traveled up her throat, and she formed a pink ray of fire. The [Scorching Ray] that had helped defeat a boss was launched towards the gargantuan knight.
He slammed his shield on the ground, and his magic was efficient and fast. A white magic circle appeared in front of his shield, and Naela's spell was blocked by the barrier.
No! It wasn't blocked at all. The spell was redirected. It was teleported away from this place and into another. Luckily for her, the pink ray didn't cause any civilian casualties, but it crashed into the city's wall creating an enormous hole and starting a fire on the grasslands.
"We'll need to be careful for civilians. These vines won't hold him much longer!"
The same kind of white magic channeled into the gargantuan's feet, and the vines slowly melted away.
Naela thought to the spell she knew, but none of them prepared her for an enemy like this. In terms of raw strength, she hated to admit it, but the knight was stronger. And she wasn't willing to test the depth of his magic power either. Each moment she spent thinking was a moment the knight readied himself for another attack.
She was not used to trying to think things over. In a perfect world, the wizard would come with more precise spells. Or Elanore...
Naela spent time watching her mistress. In fact, she found herself unable to take her eyes off her. It wasn't only her face or her body that were pleasing to Naela's eyes. It was also her magic power. It was even more precise than the wizard and incredibly deadly. It seemed that Naela was under her own delusions. She teamed up with someone that was way stronger than her. There was no doubt in Neala's mind that Elanore was beyond mortal comprehension, yet she felt like she'd gotten closer to her. She felt like her pink flames were enough. She could use them as a breath attack, or she could form them into weapons.
The wyvern closed her eyes as the gargantuan's vines snapped. The knight was freed, and it rushed forwards with a silent battle cry. The thumping of its footsteps echoed in the grand hall. The sound of a deranged mage shouting about his goddess accompanied it. Yet as Naela channeled her magic, a familiar voice sounded in her head. For once in her life, it was not something unimaginable. It was the voice of her most beloved.
[Congratulations! Two of your classes have been promoted! You are now an Expert Sorcerer! You are now a Master Fire Manipulator! Burn the enemies of the glorious energy drink empire!]
The last part gave Naela a wry smile. There was never a time when she imagined that the world's voice would turn into her mistress. Yet now she was ready. Thank you, mistress!