Hatred had consumed Ives Ballard so thoroughly that reason no longer held sway over him. His son's death had left a wound so deep that neither time nor power could ever hope to mend it.

Where others in his shoes might have found despair or resignation, Ballard only found burning hatred that transformed into reckless obsession. The grief that had once threatened to break him had instead turned him into a single-minded and unrelenting person.

In that obsession, self-preservation became utterly meaningless. What value did life hold when the world had already robbed him of what mattered most?

But he never once stopped to ponder that everything that had happened to him and his family... was his own doing.

His son had already been murdered, and as for his family… if they hadn't died in the Battle of Ravenfell, then it was very likely that they might have been slain afterwards, once news of his betrayal of the city came to light. And chances were, it had.

And so, every thought of caution, every instinct of survival, was drowned beneath the memory of his son's face, the shadow of his lost family, and the image of his killer.

Ballard no longer cared for strategy, allies, or even the outcome of this battle. He only cared for the chance to strike down the one who had taken everything from him. To him, nothing else mattered.

The moment Anna stood before him and the Soulmark Lantern pointed straight at her, the rest of the world faded away. His hatred blinded him to danger, deafened him to reason, and reduced him to a single truth… that he would see his revenge carried out, even if it cost him his life.

And perhaps… deep down in his heart, he too longed for death… for the chance to reunite with his son and family.

Ballard's long sword came crashing down on the crimson-haired princess, his eyes ablaze with fury and bloodlust. In stark contrast, Anna stood calm, composed, and utterly fearless. The fire in her scarlet eyes was steady and unwavering.

And right before Ballard's sword could even come anywhere near Anna, Kaspar had made his move!

The ground underneath Ballard writhed like a living entity before shooting upwards. Hardened coils of earth snapped tightly around his legs, locking him in place with crushing force. He struggled to break free, but the stone only tightened, grinding against his bones and halting his advance.

In the next heartbeat, Daryl shot out two arrows from his bow. Both buried themselves with merciless precision into the sides of Ballard's torso, their poison-laced tips sending agony through his veins.

But the assault did not end there. A sudden chill swept through the clearing. A cold gust of wind blew, and Ada appeared like a ghost behind the Mana Vortex Magus.

The poison from earlier had slowed down his reaction, and so before he could even react, Ada's twin daggers flashed with a cold light, plunging into his shoulder. Instantly, frost bloomed outward, consuming half his body in a sheet of ice. At least, at the last moment, he was able to shift his body to avoid lethal injury.

In but a few moments, Ballard's lower body had been coiled by thick coils of earth, restricting his movement. His left half of the body was being ravaged by poison, while his other half was frozen stiff.

Yet, his eyes continued to blaze with murderous intentions. He gritted his teeth and still swung the sword at Anna, who was standing calmly before him.

But his attack was slow… far too slow.

Anna's sword blazed with holy flames as she positioned it before herself. In the very next instant, she swung her sword downward with decisive force, instantly severing Ballard's sword-wielding arm in one clean stroke.

Without pause, she changed her grip, her scarlet eyes narrowing as she cast one final glance at the man standing before her.

"You brought this upon yourself," she muttered coldly, her tone devoid of any pity.

Sword light flashed as she swung the sword diagonally upwards, slicing through Ballard's head… along with his shoulder and chest in a single, merciless arc. With a dull thud, a portion of his body fell to the ground.

Even as his severed figure fell, his eyes were still glued to Anna, spewing venom, hatred, and unyielding spite.

Anna did not spare him another look. She calmly slid her sword back into her sheath, and at the same time, weaved a simple hand seal. Following that, Ballard's mutilated remains were engulfed in otherworldly flames until nothing but ash and silence lingered in the forest clearing.

And just like that, the battle had come to an end. It hadn't been a clash of equals, nor a prolonged struggle where both sides fought tooth and nail.

It was over the moment it began.

All it had taken was preparation on one side and exhaustion on the other. Ballard and his Magi had walked straight into a trap, weary and drained from their ceaseless pursuit.

Whereas Anna and her entourage, despite being equally exhausted and greatly outnumbered, had lain in wait, prepared and coordinated.

The result was inevitable.

What should have been a confrontation between powerful Magi was reduced to little more than a one-sided slaughter. No matter their strength, Ballard and his men never had a chance to turn the tide.

Ada walked towards Anna in a slight daze. Standing beside her, she stared at the pile of ash on the ground and murmured, "That was… easier than I thought."

Anna closed her eyes and exhaled a long, heavy sigh. "Nothing was easy."

"What about these bodies?" Daryl stepped forward and asked, gesturing at the corpses of Ballard's men.

"We'll get rid of them," Kaspar muttered flatly. "No traces must be left behind. We don't know if there are more pursuers. Although I highly doubt it, it's better to be safe than sorry."

With a wave of his hand, the corpses of the dozen retainers of the Ballard Family were enveloped in flames. A towering pyre blazed at the heart of the clearing. Anna stared at the burning flames for a moment before looking away.

"Let's head back to the town. We'll pick up Rowan and his family, then resume..." Her voice trailed off in the end, and a cold feeling of dread clawed at her heart.

In that instant, she sensed several figures closing in around her and the others in the clearing. Kaspar, too, had an extremely solemn look on his face. The four of them quickly assumed battle formation, their backs pressed firmly against one another.

The following moment, over a dozen figures dressed in black from head to toe emerged, standing at the edge of the clearing. All of them were peak Mana Liquefaction Magi. And the one leading them… was a Mana Vortex Magus!

Anna could tell that they were all assassins. But when her gaze fell on their leader, her eyes widened in shock and horror. It wasn't the leader's appearance that frightened her. No, it was who he had brought with him.

Rowan and his family were chained, kneeling at the assassin leader's feet!

The middle-aged man turned towards Anna and spoke with tearful eyes:

"Lady Anna… forgive me…"

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