Macannan grabbed Kai and threw him backwards, his weapon shifting to a shield as he tried to cover them both.

“Grym fell!” Verdan struck out with a powerful bolt of lightning the moment he had a clear shot, the lightning cracking the air as it struck Budaev’s Essence shield.

Tendrils of lightning sparked from the impact, but Budaev ignored them to press the attack, unleashing a series of fast slashes that left dark blemishes across Macannan’s shield.

“Garreg dyn challyn,” Verdan called out as he conjured a weaker version of his construct spell, animating a section of debris as Budaev got around Macannan’s shield and plunged his sword into the Sorcerer’s gut.

Macannan went unnaturally pale and gasped for breath as he tumbled to the floor, his magic fighting desperately against the decay that had been plunged into his core.

Verdan’s construct finished forming and swung for Budaev, but Verdan could already tell that it was too slow to fight the Elder alone.

Budaev’s riposte failed to cut through the compacted debris that formed the construct’s arm, but as with Macannan’s shield, Verdan could see that the strike left lingering damage.

Thankfully, Verdan’s construct felt no pain and advanced after the Sorcerer, continually swinging its huge fists at him to at least keep him occupied.

Kai took the opportunity to grab Macannan and start to drag him away, starting in surprise as a vine slithered along the ground to wrap around Macannan and help move the large Sorcerer.

Thunder boomed overhead as Gwen, Carla, and Feli joined the fight, the two Storm Witches hitting Budaev with wind and lightning at the same time.

While the other two attacked the Elder, Feli knelt down to whisper to the ground, a second vine bursting through the damaged paving stones a moment later to help drag Macannan to safety.

“Durst!” Verdan sent out a blast of Aether to break Budaev’s shield, hoping that an attack would slip through, but the Elder used Verdan’s construct as a shield while he recast his protection.

“I’m going to enjoy picking your mind apart once I’ve subjugated this place,” Budaev snarled in Verdan’s direction, a hint of strain in his voice for the first time as he conjured one of the javelins he’d used to break the wall and rammed it into Verdan’s construct.

Verdan groaned and clutched his head as he reeled back from his spell being forcibly broken. Aetherburn built up by casting powerful spells, but having an ongoing effect forcibly disrupted was far, far worse.

Shaking the effect off, Verdan saw that his construct had fallen to pieces when his concentration was broken, and Budaev was exchanging rapid attacks with Gwen and Carla.

Storm Witches were powerful, but their defences were limited. Much like the thunder Sorcerer Verdan had fought, the two Witches had conjured a large shield of sparking lighting that annihilated any spell that Budaev cast at them.

Verdan saw Budaev conjure a new javelin of decay, but as part of casting it, the Sorcerer palmed a dagger from his belt and threw it alongside the spell.

“Ast!” Verdan shouted as soon as he realised what was happening, a blue shield of Aether forming in front of the two Witches a heartbeat too late.

The dagger was struck by lightning as it passed through their shield, charring and burning it but doing nothing to stop it from sinking deep into Carla’s chest.

“Carla!” Gwen’s scream of pain and denial wrenched at Verdan’s heart as he watched Carla topple to the floor.

“Garreg tyn!” Verdan cried as Budaev began to race toward Gwen, the stone in front of the Sorcerer rippling in the other direction and knocking Budaev to the ground.

A roar cut through the air as Winifred and Hope arrived, Tim and Sylvie racing behind them.

Winifred pounced straight toward the Elder but was caught with an unformed blast of combined poison and decay Essence.

Hope’s Aether was running rampant through her familiar, but it was enough to strip the fur and flesh from Winifred’s chest and part of her face, sending the big cat off course with a yowling scream.

Hope had little power outside of her familiar and was forced to look on with impotent horror as Sylvie and Tim raced past her.

Gwen screamed with rage, Budaev’s hair lifting into the air slightly before a brilliant flash blinded them, and the roar of thunder crashed into Verdan with an almost physical weight.

Verdan pulsed healing Aether through himself as he blinked away the lightning scorched into his eyes. His ears were ringing, and he couldn’t hear anything, but the Aether would deal with that eventually.

Gwen was on the floor, unconscious or worse, but Kai was already by her side and checking her over.

Hope had turned Winifred back into her smaller form and was staggering out of the fight.

Sylvie and Tim were somehow still standing, though Verdan could see blood trickling from their ears.

Turning to his right, Verdan’s eyes went wide as he saw Budaev lever himself up from where he’d been thrown into the wall of a nearby building.

The Sorcerer was injured, with charred clothing and blood on his face, but nothing more.

Budaev grimaced as he got to his feet, revealing a pendant around his neck that slowly turned to dust over the next few seconds.

Essence bloomed from the Sorcerer as he coated his sword with decay once more and began to stalk towards Gwen with a murderous expression.

Verdan conjured a lance of flames, swiftly followed by a shieldbreaker and a flurry of air blades, imparting as much Aether as he could into the offensive.

The lance was enough to break the shield that Budaev cast, but Budaev was agile enough to dodge all but a few of the follow-ups, taking a few deep cuts to his arms in the process.

Verdan lifted his chin defiantly as Budaev turned his attention from the unconscious Gwen, the Elder’s dark eyes boring into Verdan’s as he raced forward with daunting speed.

“Raf,” Verdan cast a slowing spell at the approaching Elder, wincing at the pain that drilled into his mind as he did. He was reaching his limits, and Budaev was showing no signs of stopping.

Budaev was thankfully distracted by Sylvie and Tim moving to intercept him and didn’t recast his shield, letting the spell gain purchase and slow him.

Budaev grimaced as he slowed down, but the spell wasn’t strong enough to bring him far enough down to give Tim or Sylvie the advantage.

Verdan tasted iron as he ground out a shield spell to cover his friends from the decay that Budaev immediately sent their way.

Despite managing to withstand the attack, Verdan’s shield was forcibly broken, sending Verdan down to one knee as the feedback jabbed hot knives of pain into his head.

Shaking it off as best he could, Verdan felt the telltale stillness in the Aether around him and looked over to see a bloodied Hedda holding up one hand as she locked down the Aether around them.

Budaev’s sword flickered and lost its Essence the instant before he crossed blades with Tim, catching the Sorcerer by surprise as his sword didn’t cut straight through Tim’s.

Tim was quick to take advantage of the opening and landed a pair of deep cuts on the Elder, chasing him down as Budaev tried to conjure his Essence in response.

Locking down the Aether like this would stop any external use of magic, but Verdan was confident that Budaev’s speed enhancement would work once it burnt through the spell Verdan had cast to slow him down.

Sylvie darted in and managed to get her jaws on the Sorcerer’s leg, pulling him off balance as Tim continued to rain attacks down on him.

Budaev managed to block the attack that mattered and drop an elbow into the side of Sylvie’s head, knocking her clear.

Bleeding from multiple wounds, Budaev’s gaze flicked between the two facing him, Verdan and Hedda, anger and hate settling onto his face as his body swelled with Essence.

Physically, there was no change, but Verdan’s spell was almost immediately burnt away, making Verdan grunt in pain.

Hedda was still locking down the area, but Budaev had abandoned all subtlety and was trying to brute force his way through, pitting his reserves against Hedda’s willpower.

A vicious grin spread across Budaev’s face as he realised his speed was back, and he quickly turned the tables on Sylvie and Tim, driving them back and taking the offensive.

Tim was a good fighter and handy with a sword, but he was barely holding on.

“Verdan?” Griffon’s voice came as the Commander ran up to where Verdan was kneeling, bloodied and out of Aether. “By the abyss…”

Verdan managed to look at the Commander, seeing how pale he’d gone at seeing the state of the battle in front of him.

“I can’t hold him!” Hedda screamed out, her pale features drawn with pain and covered in sweat as she trembled in place.

“I’m trusting you to look after my city. This won’t be the end,” Griffon said, his expression resolute as he looked down at Verdan for a moment before hefting his sword and charging down to join the fight.

Budaev gave Griffon no attention at first, only realising at the last minute that the Commander wasn’t slowing down to engage him.

With Sylvie darting in to bite at his legs and Tim not letting up the pressure, Budaev could only throw a dagger with his free hand, catching the Commander in the shoulder but doing nothing to deter him.

Hedda groaned in pain, and Verdan felt a flicker of movement in the Aether around them. She was about to lose her grip.

Budaev managed to knock Tim back by closing in and throwing an elbow up to connect with his jaw, whirling back the other way right as Griffon reached him to dodge the Commander’s stab with supernatural speed and plunge his blade into Griffon’s chest.

Griffon’s charge carried him deep onto Budaev’s sword, locking him in place as the Commander dropped his own blade and grabbed the Sorcerer, stopping him from pulling away.

Budaev struggled frantically, his Essence blooming out as Hedda finally collapsed, but it wasn’t enough to stop Tim’s sword as he slashed open Budaev’s throat.

Sylvie was on Budaev the moment he hit the floor, her jaws locking around his throat as she bit down hard, making sure the Elder wasn’t getting back up.

Verdan pushed himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his staff as he hurried over, reaching for the potion that Natalia had given him.

Pulling Griffon free from the bloody mess that had been the Elder Sorcerer, Verdan started to feel for a pulse, his heart sinking as he saw decayed flesh around the wound and felt nothing beneath his fingers.

“Take Budaev’s head and spread the word that he’s dead,” Verdan said to Tim as he got to his feet and began to head for the sound of fighting.

Verdan had only a small amount of Aether and was suffering from bad Aetherburn, but he refused to sit out the rest of the fight.

Budaev’s death would be the end of this fight if the Weeping Death reacted the way the Defiant Flame had done, but there were still lives to be saved.