Chapter 78: Retreat

"Yes. They are precious vessels," a woman that was probably in her early twenties stepped out from the shadow of an enormous tree. Five of the dolls stood right next to her as if guarding her.

"I should thank you," the woman's dark brown eyes glowed more ominously. "I will take care of them and the souls that you trapped within them."

"You will never own my creations!" Cari was getting more frustrated. She raised her hands and was probably preparing to cast powerful spells.

"I already owned them the moment you canceled your spell over them." Anger sparked in the ominous eyes of the woman. "You are certainly going to throw them away. I'm just picking them up."

"I will not let you use my creations against me!" Cari touched her palms against each other for a second or two and when she pulled her palms away from one another, a white tome had formed in between them and floated in the air.

The book opened on its own and shot a fireball against the despicable woman but it failed to hit her because one of the dolls closest to her had taken the blow. A wooden vessel should have been in flames but the fireball had been extinguished without leaving a tiny burn on the doll.

"I even made a little enhancement on your creations," the woman with ominous eyes had smiled wickedly. "That's how much I care about them. And obviously, I am already using them against you."

"How dare you ruin my work of art?!" Cari furiously waved her hand and the tome shot more fireballs towards the enemy.

This time, instead of catching the balls of flame with their body, the dolls used their weapons to parry perfectly and send those blazing spheres back to their creator.

Nearly ten fireballs were heading towards Cari.

Pieffer had quickly covered the group with a shield but Aries noticed that there was something wrong with the princess. Her hands were trembling.

It was not only the princess but also Gale. He was pale and shaking while tightly holding on to the overcoat of his twin brother. Gust and Prince Sunrei also appeared a little dazed but not as much as their siblings.

"We should retreat," Jodien advised even though he looked fine. "Ciara and I are not the only Celestial Knights in this area. Siren is also in here."

Upon hearing that last name, Aries instantly understood what was happening to his comrades. He quickly nodded agreement at Jodien then glanced at the princess.

Pieffer, despite her trembling hands, could still conjure a sturdy shield.

"We should leave," Aries told her. "Take Jodien. Gust…"

"I'll take care of my twin and Sunrei," Gust finished for him. "But where should we go?"

"Back to the sanctuary. Now!" He urgently yelled as the heat of the fireballs finally shattered the shield protecting them.

Pieffer pulled Jodien into the shadows. Gust dragged his twin brother and the prince into the wind vortex.

"Let's go!" Aries grabbed Cari by her hands but she stubbornly pulled away from his grasp.

She waved her hands and the tome released water balls that vaporized the flaming spheres.

"Kill them," the Celestial Knight that Jodien had called Ciara finally gave an order to the dolls.

Cari was enraged at seeing her creations follow the command of another person. She violently waved her hands and her tome fired more flaming spheres.

The dolls repelled the fireballs with their daggers. Most of them were advancing towards Cari and only a few rushed at the Ram House Leader.

Aries grabbed the arm of the stubborn Zodiac Knight and pulled her into the nearest shadow but she still managed to pull away from him and continuously blast fireballs at the dolls rushing towards her.

"Do you want to die?!" Aries deflected a few daggers and kicked their wielders out of the way.

"How can these dolls betray me?!" Cari was blinded by fury and oblivious of Aries. "I am your creator!!!"

The Goat House Leader was now shooting fireballs in all directions. Even Aries had to evade them while deflecting daggers. Though Cari was surprisingly good at dodging daggers, her outburst of emotion was starting to frustrate the Ram House Leader.

Aries was trying to close the gap between him and Cari but the dolls were preventing him from advancing. No matter how many times those wooden vessels were thrown on the ground, they kept on getting up. Their body felt like they were no longer made of wood but of something harder than the scarlet blade of Aries. He could only scratch them.

"You cannot kill me!" Cari angrily yelled when one of the dolls finally grazed her skin and more of them were aiming daggers at her.

Aries ran while frantically slashing his dual blades at the dolls blocking his way but he was too distant from the Goat House Leader. Reaching her on time was nearly impossible.

"Cari, run!" Aries desperately screamed but the Goat House Leader was stubbornly ignoring him.

"Fine!" Cari embraced the white tome. "Let's die together!"

"No!" Aries ran faster but slow down a little when he noticed a shield popped around Cari.

"It will not hold out for long!" Pieffer yelled near a huge shadow of a tree. "You need to drag her here! Quick!"

Aries nodded and as he grabbed Cari by her waist, the shield shattered.

Pieffer tried to put up another shield but it was as fragile as glass and broke into pieces the moment it covered the two Zodiac Knights. Nonetheless, it had given Aries a little time to run ahead of the wooden vessels.

"Let go of me!" Cari was still embracing her white tome while struggling against the strong grip of Aries.

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The Ram House Leader ignored her and focused on running. He was only a few feet away from Pieffer.

"I SAID LET ME GO!!!"

That roar caused the white tome to radiate and blast a shockwave that had thrown Aries a few inches away. It nearly knocked the breath out of him but he held on to his consciousness and to the waist of Cari. What he did not see coming was a dagger behind him. A doll had caught up to them when he staggered for a second. It pierced the back of his shoulder and passed through the front.

Blood splattered in the face of Cari and it made her freeze with eyes wide open with dread.

Aries wanted to say that he was okay. Getting stabbed was nothing new to him. But the pain each wound was inflicting kept getting more excruciating. He pulled away from the dagger. He wanted to keep on running for he was only a few steps away from the princess but his knees wobbled, his hands weakened, and his blades disappeared before hitting the ground, and he collapsed on top of Cari.

Pieffer put up another barrier. It was a little stronger than the previous one she conjured and had given her enough time to rush towards Aries. She quickly pulled him up and grabbed Cari with her other hand.

"Help me carry Aries," she urgently commanded at the Goat House Leader. "Hurry!"

Cari scrambled on her feet and did as she was told but before they could reach the shadows, the dolls had blocked their way.

As the shield shattered, Pieffer instantly conjured another one but it broke into pieces the moment it had been hit by too many daggers. Cari used her tome but her fireballs only hit a few dolls. There were still too many daggers aiming for their death.

Pieffer was getting paler and her hands trembled more violently but she could still conjure a shield. Though it was not as strong as before, it helped them survive for a few more seconds. Cari, despite her uneven breathing, was continuously blasting fireballs and knocking a few wooden vessels a few feet away from them.

Aries was ashamed. He should be the one protecting the women but his body was too weak to move around. He even failed to call Vermillion out.

Move!!! 

He was trying to stand on his own.

We cannot die here!

He closed his hands into a fist.

If I let Pieffer and Cari die like this, I can never make any difference in this lifetime.

I need to fight...

Please... come out now...

He ignored the terrible pain in his head and focused on calling his scarlet blade.

VERMILLION!!!

Aries smiled as he finally called his dual swords out and he also summoned the strength to stand on his own. Without wasting a single second, he instantly waved the scarlet blades at the dolls nearest to the three of them. He triumphantly pushed two rows of wooden vessels circling around them.

Pieffer unsheathed her silver dagger and Cari continuously fired blazing spheres.

But the wooden dolls kept on coming and would not allow them to get any closer to the huge and dark shadows of a tree.

The adrenaline rush that Aries felt was starting to fade. Pieffer was struggling to fight as the trembling of her hands grew more violently. Cari was also getting more exhausted. Some of her fireballs were starting to miss.

Frustration began to build upon Aries as they were returning to square one.

"Let's end it here!" Cari furiously screamed and embraced her white tome once more. "We will die anyway! I will take everyone in here with me!"

"NO!"

It was not only Aries and Pieffer who yelled disagreement but someone who appeared right next to Cari through a cloud of mist.

Aries remembered that perfectly white creation of Cari. It was the doll who had taken him to the Goat House Leader.

"Nari?" Cari was utterly surprised. "You're here?"

"Sorry for being late, Master." If wooden vessels could blush, the cheeks of that white doll would be fully red by now. "But as I told you before, I will never desert you."

Aries heard a familiar and comforting sound from behind him. It was a wind vortex.

"I guess I'm not that late, huh?" Gust grabbed Aries and Pieffer.

Aries seized the white doll while Pieffer clutched on the overcoat of Cari.

"Hold on tight!"

With great effort, Gust had pulled them inside of the wind vortex.

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