Hours had passed. The sky of the Underworld in Universe 7, Level 1, burned with ember clouds, lava storms, and endless shrieks of pain. The war against Vex Astaroth had stretched into its first day, and still there was no sign of stopping. The ground itself groaned under the weight of fallen bodies and scorched spells. Every minute felt like an eternity.
Anita stood beside me, blood running down her cheek, her spiky beige hair matted with sweat and soot. Her emerald eyes remained fierce, glowing even amidst the ash fall. She was no longer the uncertain girl from a few years ago. She had grown into her power, but this test, this war, was beyond anything I had ever wanted for her.
Vex Astaroth hovered in the sky, her sorcery raining down like celestial curses. Runes blazed around her like dancing stars of death. Her lips curled in a cruel smile. She had thousands of imps at her command, each one ready to die for their Princess of Hell.
Imps swarmed us from all directions. Anita, wielding her glowing Kali blade, cut through them like a tempest. Her movements were fluid, her form precise. The battlefield was littered with bodies, each a tragic testimony to the power and necessity of my disciple's fight.
"Master! I cannot keep this up much longer!" Anita screamed, panting heavily. "I am running out of crypto! My PQC is almost dry!"
That struck deep. Without crypto fuel, technomancy collapses. The healing Smart Contract Ability keeping her alive would shut down at any moment. And once it did, there would be nothing between her and death.
I clenched my jaw. I had no choice.
"STOP!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the battlefield. "VEX! I surrender! Take me, just let Anita go!"
Everything fell silent. The air tightened.
Vex's crimson eyes widened in amusement. She descended slowly, surrounded by burning sigils. "Patricia Mage, you offer yourself willingly?"
I nodded solemnly. "She is just a child. She does not deserve this. I am the one you want."
Vex smirked. "Agreed. You are mine now."
Then she turned to her legion. "Kill the girl."
"WHAT?!" I roared. "We had a deal!"
"You assumed mercy," Vex said coldly, her eyes glinting with malice.
My heart pounded. My eyes flared. I could feel every inch of my energy, my final reserves rising.
This was it.
"BLITZ MODE 2!"
Golden flames burst from my body. The ground cracked beneath me. Time itself trembled. I released my Stasis Field.
A pulse of light swept across the Underworld. Everything stopped. Every imp. Every spell. Even the storm. Frozen.
Except for me and Anita.
We stood in a glowing dome of stillness. Lava hung midair like frozen teardrops. Thunder was a sculpture. Vex hovered above, her form locked but twitching, resisting. She was slow, but not entirely trapped. Her magic, deep and ancient, still shimmered beneath the surface.
I knew it. Her sorcery made her partially immune. The Stasis Field would not hold her for long.
"Master. What did you do?" Anita whispered, trembling.
"I canceled the Stasis Field I cast in Daggerdale. A year earlier than I planned," I answered.
Her eyes widened. "You mean Solana..."
"Is unfrozen now. Which means the threat of Hukluban 1 is back in play." I turned to her. "And that is where you come in."
"Me? Alone?! We can go together! Let us return to Daggerdale now!"
I shook my head gently. "I have unfinished business here. Vex will break free any second now. This place is not safe. You must find Solana immediately."
"But..."
"Listen. Anita. As of this moment, you are no longer my disciple. You are now a full-fledged technomancer of the Quantum Knights Guild. You have passed your trials."
Anita froze. Her lip trembled. Her eyes filled with tears.
"You must report to Guildmaster Ban-Ban once Solana eliminates Hukluban 1. Understood?"
She nodded slowly. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
I summoned a shimmering portal. It flickered against the backdrop of frozen war. I could already feel the strain on my body, the Stasis Field draining me faster than ever before.
"Go," I whispered.
She stepped forward, then turned. "What about Lord Elai? Should I tell him?"
I shook my head firmly. "No. He must never know. If he finds out, he might annihilate the entire Level 1 Universe 7. Only Ban-Ban must know what happened here. She is the strategist. She will make the right move."
The portal began to pull Anita in, inch by inch.
"Master Patricia! Before I go. In our Web3 MMORPG, should I pilot the Assassin class or the Mage class for your character?"
I grinned, despite the ache in my chest. "Mage. Always Mage."
Anita smiled through tears as the portal swallowed her. Her aura flickered with resolve.
Gone.
I floated alone in the battlefield of frozen destruction. I looked up at Vex Astaroth, her body twitching, breaking slowly through the Stasis Field. Her hand moved a few centimeters. Her lips curled as if fighting their way toward a spell.
I chuckled softly.
"This is just getting started," I whispered. "Let us make it fun."
Then I pulled my PQC screen close. I grinned, my eyes crackling with defiance.
"The time has come to reclaim my forsaken relic, the Quantum Time Box, also famously known in this universe as the Cube of Time."
THE END
Patricia Mage will return in Biochains.
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Written by T-Boy Crypto of ArtsPublished completely on Paragraph.com as a Web3 StoryAll characters in this publication are fictitious.Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.