True to the feisty Titan Zeke remembered, Rhea did not waste a moment. She charged at once, clearly having no intention of talking to her opponent.

  Her club tore through the air, the resulting gale sounding less like the aftermath of an attack and more like a force of nature unleashed.

  Despite her speed and ferocity, she struck nothing but empty space.

  Wind mages were elusive targets, and even surprise had not been enough to land a solid blow on the Archmage earlier. Now that the woman was fully aware of Rhea's presence and could see every attack coming, it was even less likely.

  Zeke watched the clash closely, his brows knitting tighter with each exchange. It became clear almost at once that Rhea was at a disadvantage.

  While the mage's attacks did little actual damage to her, the flow of battle was obvious. Barring some unforeseen twist, Rhea had no real way to land a hit at all.

  Titans were imposing beings, nearly impervious to both physical and magical harm, but they still had weaknesses. Chief among them was their reliance on direct physical attacks. In that sense, Titans could be even more limited than many Chimeroi breeds.

  Rhea, for instance, showed no special abilities beyond her overwhelming physique. Against most foes, that alone was more than enough. Against a well-trained Archmage, however, it was not. The mage's experience, versatile spell arsenal, and deep reserves of magical stamina made victory nearly impossible for her.

  Dancing through the air like a leaf carried on the wind, the Archmage evaded the ferocious blows with ease. Each dodge was followed by a spell, striking either Rhea's limbs or the lumbering treants still pressing the Legion lines.

  The number of creatures dwindled rapidly, not only from the Archmage's attacks but also from the combined efforts of the Legion mages. Slowly but steadily, they were being worn down.

  Zeke's brows drew together as he watched the battle unfold. Something about the scene unsettled him, though he could not yet place the reason.

  Rhea, now bleeding from several shallow wounds, roared loudly. The sheer volume staggered the Legion, buying her a brief moment to recover. Even so, it was clear she was nearing her limits.

  The treants halted their advance at once. It seemed the Titan's roar had not been meant as an attack, but a signal for her forces to withdraw. It was a sound decision.

  Then it happened.

  As Rhea took her first step back, the ground rumbled. Earth surged up behind her, sealing her retreat behind a truly monumental wall. It no longer resembled a simple earth barrier, but a mountain that had erupted from the ground in an instant.

  Zeke harbored no illusions about who had raised it.

  There had to be a second Archmage, likely concealed beneath the ground.

  It had been a trap all along.

  By feigning weakness and even allowing themselves to be overwhelmed, the Legion had drawn Rhea out and worn her down. Only now, when she was exhausted and injured, did they reveal their full strength.

  Quite bold... to even use an Archmage as bait.

  Clearly, they intended for her to die here.

  Moments after the wall rose, the earth itself seemed to turn against Rhea's massive form. It was as if hundreds of hands grasped her limbs, restraining her movements and trying to drag her beneath the soil.

  "...Should we intervene?" David asked from beside him. He and Irisen were both watching the battle closely.

  Irisen's expression had grown grim at the sight of a second Archmage joining the fight.

  Zeke shook his head, a faint smile appearing on his face. "No need."

  His words puzzled the two. Zeke would not have been surprised if they thought him callous, but that could not have been further from the truth. His decision not to intervene had nothing to do with indifference.

  On the contrary, it stemmed from his intimate knowledge of the Titan named Rhea.

  An attack of this magnitude was not enough to kill her.

  Just when it seemed she could no longer resist, bound by dozens of earthen hands, it happened. In an instant, her massive form vanished. Or at least, that was how it appeared from a distance.

  Zeke knew better. Rhea had not vanished. She had changed forms, shrinking from her towering Titan body into that of a human woman. The difference in size was so vast that she now seemed like an ant compared to her former self.

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  Freed from the earthen restraints, Rhea stomped the ground. The motion looked almost comical, given her now ordinary size. The result was anything but. The earth shattered beneath her foot, as if a massive boulder had struck, sending tremors through the ground and tearing open wide fissures in every direction.

  Zeke could not see what became of the Earth Archmage hidden below, but the sudden halt in the attacks told him enough. The mage had not escaped unscathed.

  Rhea nimbly dodged to the side, avoiding a sweeping wind blade. The spell carved deep into the ground before fading away.

  She glared at the Wind Mage hovering above. Yet in a rare moment of restraint, Rhea did not press the attack. Instead, she stamped the ground again, launching her much smaller body backward.

  Moving with the speed of a loosed arrow, she punched straight through the wall that had blocked her escape moments earlier. The Earth Mage was clearly in no condition to reinforce it.

  It was a surprisingly clean escape. With that single maneuver, Rhea slipped free of the deadly trap.

  The treants were not so fortunate. Lacking any means of retreat, they were cut down one by one, sliced apart by wind blades or buried alive by the Earth Mage who still had yet to reveal himself.

  Zeke watched in silence as they fell.

  Though the Legion had failed to achieve its primary objective, they did not seem disheartened by Rhea's escape. After all, they had brought down more than a dozen treants without suffering serious losses themselves. On top of that, they had uncovered a new ability of their opponent.

  Zeke understood that mindset well.

  Every revealed trump card meant one step closer to victory. A predictable enemy was no threat at all.

  His gaze hardened as he watched the Legion withdraw in an orderly fashion, hauling the massive treant corpses back toward their camp.

  Rhea had escaped this time, but Zeke was unsure how many such encounters she could survive before the Legion finally cornered her. That was something he could not allow to happen.

  Now that he knew the true identity of the so-called forest guardian, his view of the situation had changed.

  Silently, he conveyed his intentions to Akasha.

  After several hours of holding position, the Alexandria began to move once more. On the main display, the Legion encampment gradually shrank. This time, he did not follow the treeline. Instead, they rose above it, tracing the scar the Empire had carved through the forest, while maintaining a safe distance.

  "Young lord?" David asked. "Have you decided?"

  Zeke nodded. If Rhea was here, then Cassius was likely nearby as well. That alone greatly increased the sanctuary's value in his eyes. What had begun as a mission to earn Irisen's loyalty had turned into a potential windfall.

  If he could recruit Cassius and Rhea...

  The thought sent a shiver down his spine. On the surface, it might seem like nothing more than two additional Archmage-level fighters, but Zeke knew better than to see it that way. With those two at his side, his power would more than double.

  Cassius's growth magic and Rhea's unique constitution, if used properly, were far more valuable than their apparent strength suggested.

  "We are going to make contact," he said, turning his back to the screen. "Prepare to embark." He looked at the two Archmages. "Both of you are coming."

  There was no need to say more. Akasha immediately contacted the remaining forces Zeke had chosen to bring along. By the time he reached the exit hatch, everyone was already assembled.

  All three Archmages were present: David, Raileh, and Irisen. Zelkara stood among them as well, his most physically gifted warrior, alongside Gravitas and Ash. He had not brought the latter two solely for their combat ability, but also because they had become close with Rhea, seeing her as an older sister and mentor.

  Zeke gave a brief nod as he took in the group waiting for him.

  "Let's go."

  Without wasting another moment, he was the first to disembark. Wind rushed past his face as he let himself fall. Even as the ground rushed closer, he made no attempt to slow his descent.

  There was no need.

  Just before impact, the relentless pull of gravity weakened, then reversed. In an instant, all his momentum vanished, and his feet touched the ground as gently as if he had taken a simple step.

  A faint smile crossed his face as he turned to the woman hovering just behind him.

  "You have grown quite adept at controlling your power."

  Gravitas, still focused on guiding the others safely down, showed little outward reaction to the praise. Even so, Zeke noticed the slight flush spreading across her bluish skin.

  "It is all thanks to you, Master," she said after a brief pause.

  Zeke smiled. In a sense, it was true that her growth was owed to the theoretical texts he had written specifically for her. Even so, he did not see it that way. Books were lifeless things. They could not teach on their own. It was up to each individual to draw knowledge from them.

  How many hours of practice had it taken to truly master that power?

  No. At best, he had shown her the path. Gravitas had done all the hard work herself.

  Zeke glanced skyward. The Alexandria, briefly visible when the hatch had opened, had already vanished once more. He could leave her behind without worry. The vessel's innate camouflage, combined with the forest's suppression, made it even more impossible to detect.

  "Let's move," Zeke said, his voice not spoken aloud but projected directly into their minds. "From now on, we communicate silently."

  This was one of the great advantages of a Mind Mage. With such a small team of elites, maintaining a mental link was a simple feat. It allowed for a level of communication and coordination that would otherwise have been impossible.

  He did not even need to verbalize his orders. Instead, he sent an image of the intended formation directly into the minds of his comrades. It was a blend of thought and vision, far more intuitive than spoken commands. Thought was, after all, the native language of the mind.

  In an instant, the group shifted into position. Zelkara took the lead, followed by Ash and Gravitas. Zeke held the center with Raileh, while David and Irisen brought up the rear.

  They moved at speeds that would have been unthinkable for ordinary people. Even the weakest among them possessed physical strength far beyond that of a normal human. As a result, the trees blurred past as they covered the distance with ease.

  Not even the dense vegetation slowed them. Zelkara and her spear cleared the way, cutting through the undergrowth while maintaining a steady pace.

  No one present could match her physical prowess, and it showed in how effortlessly she moved at such speed.

  It did not take long for them to reach the path carved by the Legion. At Zeke's silent command, they adjusted their course. Though none of them had seen it firsthand, it was clear that following this trail would eventually lead them to the sanctuary.

  Or, at the very least, to its guardian.