NOVEL WEB Chapter 6: Departure
The village of the elves faded behind her, its ancient wards whispering in the night. They had seen sorcery beyond human comprehension, magic older than empires, but what Minus had done tonight—what she had become—was something that even they could not fully grasp.
Her steps were slow but steady, her body still recovering from the ritual. The mana flowed through her like a river, vast and deep, yet delicate in its balance. She had altered something fundamental in herself tonight, stepping beyond what should have been possible. Even the elves, masters of preservation, only safeguarded life. They did not cheat death.
But Minus had never been content with merely existing.
The magic she used was ancient—older than even the elves' oldest records. It was not like the structured spellwork of humans or the natural affinity of elves. It was closer to the magic of demons, of things that should not exist in the mortal world. A technique that tied her soul to eternity, allowing her to step beyond the cycle of life and death.
The weight of it settled in her bones. Not heavy, but vast. Infinite.
A wind stirred through the trees.
She paused.
Six presences. Watching. Waiting.
Hunters.
Minus did not turn, nor did she reach for her magic immediately. Instead, she exhaled, letting her mana ripple outward. Not an attack, but a pulse—an ancient trick the elves once used to measure the world around them. The air carried the faint scent of steel, oil on leather, and the unmistakable trace of human fear.
They are afraid.
Good.
A figure moved first, breaking from the cover of the trees. A crossbow in his hands, his stance practiced but not steady. He had heard the stories. He had come prepared for a battle.
He was not prepared for her.
The bolt flew, slicing through the cold air.
Minus did not move.
She merely raised a hand, palm open.
And the bolt stopped.
Not through force. Not through fire. But through something deeper—mana itself rejecting the attack, breaking it apart before it could reach her flesh. It was the kind of magic that defied logic, the kind of power that made humans whisper legends in the dark.
The hunter hesitated.
A mistake.
Minus stepped forward, and in that instant, her magic awakened fully. The air shimmered, the unnatural blue fire igniting along her arms, her fingertips tracing patterns in the night. It was not ordinary flame. It carried weight—history—memories embedded in the mana itself.
Magic is the embodiment of will, the elves often said.
And her will had never been clearer.
The nearest hunter barely had time to react before the flames struck. Not burning him—no, that would be too simple. The fire coiled around him like a living thing, etching golden runes into his skin. His scream was brief before he collapsed, not dead, but emptied. Stripped of mana.
The others hesitated.
They had not been sent to kill a human.
They had been sent to kill something beyond human.
"You understand now," Minus said softly. Her voice did not rise, but it did not need to. The magic spoke for her.
She lifted a hand, fingers spread. The runes along her skin pulsed, a slow, rhythmic glow, like the heartbeat of something ancient.
"This magic," she continued, "has not been seen in centuries. Not even elves practice it anymore." She tilted her head, golden eyes gleaming. "Do you know why?"
Silence.
She smiled.
"Because it does not belong to this age."
The hunters ran.
She let them go.
The flames receded, curling back into her palm like a beast retreating to its den. The night was quiet once more, save for the faint rustling of leaves.
Minus turned her gaze toward the distant horizon. Somewhere beyond the mountains, beyond the human cities with their fleeting kings and fragile empires, the battle still raged. The world believed her dead. The world believed in endings.
But Minus understood what even the elves had once feared to admit.
Time did not matter.
Not to those who knew how to defy it.
She pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders and walked forward.
She had all the time in the world.
And when she returned, she would not return as a name whispered in fear.
She would return as something eternal.
But before she departed the elven village, Minus went back to Milirade's previous home and planted a grimoire, containing a mana draining binding spell invented by herself, as a gift to the elves of the village ensuring they will have protection from outside forces, never to be harmed again.