Riftan's shaky breath caressed the back of her neck, and she could feel the deep fear rolling off him in waves.
Maxi clung to his neck, as if he were drowning.
In that moment, she wanted him more intensely than ever.
She couldn't bear the thought of parting with him.
Crying, she rubbed her cheek against his hair before seeking his lips.
Riftan cupped her face with a gloved hand and pushed his tongue into her mouth.
Sobs escaped between feverish breaths.
Kissing her cheek, Riftan murmured something harshly.
Although it was too quiet for Maxi to hear, she figured he was telling her not to cry.
Nodding, she looked over his shoulder at the rising sun.
He could hear the knights ordering the soldiers to hurry.
With his arms around her, Riftan murmured, “I need to go now.”
Maxi nodded again, but kept her forehead pressed against his shoulder, and he didn't move either.
They stayed like that for a long time.
When the screams of the knights reached them, she finally loosened her arms around his neck.
Only God knew how difficult that action was for her.
Riftan carefully lowered her to the ground and took a step back.
His eyes were feverish as he watched her.
Then, squeezing them, he quickly turned around.
Maxi stared silently at his dark hair glowing blue in the sunlight.
Every step he took seemed to pierce his heart.
She wiped her wet cheeks on her sleeve, wondering if she had conveyed her feelings correctly to him.
It suddenly occurred to her that all that crying was keeping her from saying the most important thing.
She ran after him.
The soldiers had dismantled most of the tents and were now loading the carts.
Passing by them, he stopped when he saw Riftan walking with Hebaron, Elliot and Princess Agnes.
They were engaged in a heated discussion as they headed towards the front of the formation.
Maxi vaguely watched Riftan's cape flutter in the wind before weakly walking away.
The coalition army has set up base in a narrow gorge, wedged between a steep, rocky mountain and a wall of rock and ice “ the perfect place to hide.
As the soldiers silently unpacked, the high priests threw barriers around the mountain range to hide them from the monsters.
The assembly of siege weapons also began that day.
The warriors turned into carpenters, the pounding of their hammers echoing through the canyon.
To prevent the noise from spreading, Sigrew's mages inscribed runes throughout the camp to manipulate the airflow.
They also cast a detection spell that would alert them to the presence of monsters.
Meanwhile, Maxi and the other mages from the gnome hall inspected the runes on the siege weapons.
Knowing that the attack would begin in a few days, Maxi inspected and re-inspected the magical devices with an almost obsessive compulsion.
She couldn't shake the fear that the devices would fail at a crucial moment.
In the end, Anette couldn't stand her fixation any longer.
"That's enough.
You've already checked this one twice," she said irritably.
“It’s going to work just fine, so give it some time.”
Maxi ignored her friend's exasperation and continued inspecting the mantlet.
Although her limbs were heavy with fatigue, she found it impossible to sit still for a moment.
She infused mana into a magical device installed on a shield to ensure there was nothing wrong with the mana circuit.
At this moment, a familiar voice called her.
“May I speak to you for a moment, my lady?”
When he looked up, he found Ruth just a few steps away.
She put down her tools with a puzzled expression and walked over to him.
“Is there a problem?”
“Why do you always think something is wrong whenever I try to talk to you?” Ruth grumbled when she saw his worried face.
Maxi narrowed his eyes.
“Because… you rarely bring good news.”
Ruth's mouth opened as if to retort.
Instead, his shoulders slumped, evidently lacking the energy to argue.
He took something out of his thick coat and offered it to her.
"So that's how you see me.
Well, I'm just here to give you that."
Maxi looked suspiciously at the exquisite purple magic stone in her hand.
“W-What is this?”"A sea serpent stone that I have kept for many years.
Accept it before I change my mind."
After looking at her blankly, Maxi reached out her hand.
Ruth dropped the stone into her palm with obvious reluctance.
"It has been modified to provide mana more easily.
Use it immediately if you feel it is almost depleted.
While I would like to believe that you will not be so reckless again, I am aware of your impulsive tendencies."
Maxi shot him a look before pocketing the stone with a sigh.
"Thank you for your concern.
I will use it well."
"Please take care of yourself.
Sir Riftan couldn't bear it if something happened to you.
I hope you always remember that."
“That sounds… like a goodbye.”
Although initially surprised, Maxi narrowed her eyes, suspecting he was planning to run away.
Ruth frowned as if reading his mind.
“This is a farewell,” he said stiffly.
"I will soon leave the camp with Sir Riftan.
It was decided that I would replace the wizard Albern in the mission to infiltrate the city."
Maxi's eyes widened in surprise.
“B-But why?”
"I volunteered.
With great reluctance, I might add, but I thought it would be best for a wizard skilled in deciphering and reconstructing runes to be in the unit for this reckless plan to succeed.
With my skills, I can not only drive the monsters into a frenzy, but also control the wyverns to some extent."
"I-Is that possible?
Are you...
really capable of doing that?" Maxi asked, looking Ruth up and down in disbelief.
Although he was well aware of Ruth's capabilities as a wizard, the rune in question was so complex that even Calto Serbel took a while to understand it.
Ruth just shrugged, as if this were an insignificant obstacle for him.
"For a Serbel, the amount of mana I can store in my body is relatively limited.
To overcome this flaw, I have been working on increasing the efficiency of the runes, trying to get maximum results with minimum mana.
It turns out that the dark mages' rune also uses this principle.
I'm sure it was developed in the same way to compensate for the low concentration of mana on the Plateau."
Ruth looked thoughtfully up at the sky before turning her gaze back to her.
“Although I can’t say for sure that I will be able to completely control them, I can at least buy enough time for an escape.”
Maxi looked at Ruth as if she were seeing him in a new way.
Because of his pathetic actions recently, I had almost forgotten that he was considered a prodigy even by Nornui standards.
She nodded, feeling a little more relieved.
"That makes me...
very relieved.
But are you okay with that decision?"
"I'm not," Ruth replied dejectedly, "but I have no choice.
If you remember, I also have instructions from my uncle to carry out."
His expression became wary.
Maxi didn't understand what he meant at first, but her face hardened as she remembered what he had told her before they first left for the monster city.
The secret instructions Calto had given his nephew were, if he found them, to immediately destroy any evidence of the dark wizards' attempt to create their own purification spell.
After casting a glance at the Temple Knights' barracks, Ruth added in a low voice, "If we manage to capture the city, the church will no doubt prevent the Tower's wizards from gaining access to anything related to dark magic.
If possible, I would like to scour the city before that happens and eliminate any threats before they cause major problems."
Maxi swallowed.
“But… will you have time for that?”
“It will certainly be difficult, but I still need to try,” he replied, sighing deeply.
Maxi sighed along with him.
Now he had one more thing to worry about.
As expected, Ruth did not bring good news.
She was mentally complaining about it when she heard Riftan's cold voice calling from afar.
"Ruth Serbel!
Why aren't you ready to leave?"
“Yes, yes, I’ll be right there,” Ruth replied half-heartedly before giving him a pleading look.
"Please, my lady, don't do anything reckless.
I'm begging you."
“You should go,” Maxi replied irritably, pushing him from behind.Ruth walked to where Riftan was waiting for him.
Her husband watched her silently for a moment before turning to the squire who handed him Talon's reins.
Maxi watched as Riftan strapped his luggage to the saddle.
Geoffrey, Elliot and a paladin named Luke did the same alongside him.
When Ruth returned with a horse and finished securing her belongings, the group mounted their horses in unison.
Maxi suppressed the urge to run and cling to Riftan like a small child.
If it would help ease her worries a little, she wanted to appear as confident as possible.
Bracing herself, she slowly walked towards the knights gathered to say goodbye.
Riftan abruptly stopped his instructions to Hebaron as she approached.
“You should return safely,” Maxi said, forcing a smile.
To her great relief, she managed to sound calm.
Riftan watched her silently, imposing on his warhorse.
He also seemed unusually calm and distant.
“May victory be on your side,” he said after a while.
Maxi held back tears as he repeated: “May victory be with you.”
As Riftan directed her horse away, she said goodbye to Ruth, Elliot and Geoffrey.
All the while, her attention was fixed on her husband.
Soon he drove his spurs into Talon's side, and the five men rode out of the narrow gorge.
Maxi stayed in place until their figures disappeared.
It started snowing the next day.
Huddled under an awning, Maxi watched the soldiers assemble their siege weapons.
Eight siege towers, hundreds of giant crossbows, and forty catapults were scattered throughout the camp.
It was truly a formidable sight.
The commanding officers of each kingdom waited in the center of the camp for the scouts to return.
Meanwhile, the knights were carrying out training exercises on one side of the spacious area.
A tense atmosphere hung over the coalition army.
It was a nervous tension that Maxi had never felt before, not even when she served as a healer at Eth Lene Castle years ago.