Chapter 20 – The Truth of Betrayal

Isabella fell silent. Because she knew the meaning of 'I won't be able to kill you'. But all along she had been feigning ignorance so they could remain friends. And she didn't want to know that at a time like now.

"I say one more time Isabella, you shouldn't be here. You may join me in Boaren or go elsewhere and never come back. I just don't want you to die fighting in this place."

Isabella took a deep breath.

"I grew up in Lirest. If I must die, I will die for Lirest."

Cody could only stare with a sad look. He had expected that Isabella would be stubborn like this. And that stubbornness is what makes Cody fall in love with this girl. Although he never had the courage to admit it.

"Barnes promised me the territory of Lirest. After Boaren wins this war, he will give me the power to rule over the Lirest region, under the condition that the resources in Lirest will be divided between me and him."

"You stupid? How can you be sure that Barnes will keep his word?!"

"He will surely fulfill it. More precisely, he must. The magic herbs in Lirest are our greatest treasure. And you know only me and Raymond can max out the resources in Lirest. Barnes would not pass up such a great opportunity."

"So, just because you can rule over half of Lirest, you want to sacrifice Raymond?"

"I've asked Raymond to destroy Boaren many times, but he doesn't listen. If left unchecked, Lirest would be destroyed one day. I'm just taking charge and deciding the best way for all of us."

"Even though many will die out there?!"

"Casualties are commonplace in war. You can't expect great things without sacrificing anything."

Isabella was angry at Cody's words. He didn't expect Cody's thinking to be that shallow.

"I know you won't agree with my thoughts, but my decision is unanimous. Get out of here, only this time I'll let you go."

Isabella raised her sword.

"I don't need your pity."

Cody chuckled in return.

"As expected, the two of us do have different mindsets."

Cody's hand pointed forward.

"I command the life to restrain the enemies that get in my way."

A mass of green colored energy wrapped and pressed against Isabella's body. The girl tried to break free by channeling magic all over her body, but the pressure still made her unable to move.

"Keep it that way."

[Cody activated skill "Spiked Area" Level 2]

Long roots started to spread and wrap around Isabella's body. Making her body pierced by dozens of sharp roots.

"Ukhhh..."

Isabella tried to endure the pain. Sharp thorny roots, but small in size. Resulting in a wound that wasn't fatal, but also caused far greater pain everywhere on her body.

Cody looked at Isabella with a sad expression. He loved Isabella, but instead had to torture this girl using his own hands. Without him noticing, Edison ran from behind.

He thrust the sword into Cody, pierced through the half-destroyed root armor, then pierced into Cody's stomach.

"Ah!" Cody felt a pain in his stomach.

He immediately took out a long and large root from above the ground, then stabbed it straight into Edison's stomach. Make it translucent from stomach to back.

"UNCLE!"

Isabella tried to rebel when she saw Edison stabbed. The wound was very fatal and could make anyone die if help was not given quickly. But Isabella, who tried to move, only made herself more hurt by the thorny roots.

Cody looked at his own wound. The sword thrust just now wasn't deep because of the root armor, so he can still fighting properly.

"Uncle, you shouldn't interfere. You're old, and your mana has run out. Why don't you just rest and enjoy your life?"

Cody moved the long roots that stabbed Edison, then took him far to the side so he wouldn't interfere.

The old man tried to move to get himself out of the root, but his strength was gone. Even if he could pull out the root, he would bleed to death.

"Looks like it's time."

Edison knew that that day was the last day he saw the sun.

"CODY ALFREDO!"

Isabella rebelled even stronger. Making the wound worse.

"I ordered magic to give me power and I will give my life energy to you."

The sharp roots that formed Isabella suddenly froze, then shattered into very fragile ice flakes.

"Isabella Harriet, look at you right now. So sad. Why don't you follow my words and live quietly?" Cody said with a smile, but also showed anger. Angry because he had to hurt Isabela, angry because he had to hurt his uncle who had cared for him for dozens of years after his father died. But Cody was angrier that Isabella still insisted despite being hurt like that.

Isabella didn't answer, because now it was pointless to talk. She stuffed two magic pills into her mouth. The green pills are for healing wounds, and the blue ones are for replenishing mana. It was the last she had.

It was at that moment that Griffin came, telling Isabella that he couldn't get Raymond out of the sinner prison.

Hearing that, Isabella knew, that they could no longer expect anyone else.

"Griffin, thanks for helping me all this time." Isabella said with a calm face, but at the same time made Griffin feel strange.

"What do you mean?"

[Warning! Massive amount of magic detected]

[Warning! A chill starts to creep all over the place]

Suddenly from Isabella's body issued a very strong cold wind. So strong that it pushed Griffin far back.

[Isabella uses the benefit of passive skill 'Frozen Blood']

[Isabell is forcing a large amount of mana into her magic.]

"For ice, turn my blood into mana and make mana the greatest strength for me. I desire destruction for the enemy even at the cost of my life..."

Griffin was shocked when he heard the spell. A spell that is only performed by those who no longer care about their lives.

"Isabella! What are you doing?! Stop the magic!"

Cody bit his lip at the sound of the spell.

"Isabella, do you hate me that much to purposely use that spell?"

Isabella still continued her spell despite hearing what the two of them were saying.

"I gave all my magic, life, and soul in exchange for a power I couldn't contain. Create a cold that will freeze and stop everything that is the target of my hatred. And I will pay for this power with everything I have."

The cold wind that was blowing became even stronger accompanied by the snowflakes. The wind aimed at Cody and slowly started to freeze his body and surroundings.

[Cody activated skill "Root Armor" Level 3]

[Cody activated skill "Plant Aura Manipulation" Level 3]

[Cody combines two skills into one.]

The root armor began to wrap around Cody's entire body, even up to his head, so neither Griffin nor Isabella could see inside.

At the same time, a green aura emitted from the roots that covered him, as additional protection from Isabella's immense magic.

Even so, Isabella's magic was so great that the root armor froze very quickly. They can see cracks starting to form on the root armor caused by the temperature dropping too fast.

"That's bad, what should I do?"

Griffin confused what to do. If it continues, it is very likely that Cody can be defeated. But Isabella must also die from using that much magic. Because Griffin knew, the spell just now was a magic that made the user convert all health points and mana points into the strongest magic. So that the user will die after the magic is finished using it.

[You activated skill "Flame Sword" Level 1]

[A large amount of Mana is used in the skill 'Flame Sword']

Griffin repelled the cold air that was pushing him using the flame sword. His magic wasn't strong, but there was enough mana to create flames that could at least temporarily block the wind.

"Now."

Griffin ran quickly before the cold winds returned to rage again. Agility of 20 helped him move agilely, so he could get behind Isabella in an instant.

"Ugh! The wind is so strong!"

Griffin struggled to survive the cold wind that kept trying to push him back. With all his might, he put his right hand on Isabella's back.

"I order the magic to create heat from my mana to seal the magic from my target."

[You have used a sealing spell]

[The sealing spell has clashed with the large scale magic]

[Sealing is in progress]

[Large amount of Mana is used in sealing spells]

It's the only thing Griffin can do, seal Isabella's magic so she can stop.

"Please, I hope this works."

Griffin didn't know if this would work or not. Because sealing spells could only be performed by powerful magicians, and the target had to be enemies of a much lower level. So he didn't know, with his unknown level, whether he could seal Isabella's magic or not. He could only hope that his immense mana would help out this time.

[Large-scale magic begins to break the sealing spell]

[The sealing spell is about to break]

"That's bad, the seal is about to break."

[Unknown Skill activates automatically]