Reincarnated in the Astral World

The tension grows between Eliza and her brothers, the deadly silence buzzing loudly in their ears, their eyes fixed on their enemy, Marcos, but also on the large green lizard hissing with its long tongue.

Preston and Tobias grip the handles of their swords tightly, while Eliza holds her magic scepter in one hand, the other dancing around it slowly.

Marcos notices Eliza's fingers making some familiar movements, her beautiful lips poised to react.

"There is a way this doesn't have to end so badly…" he comments in a dark tone, a lascivious glint appearing in his eyes.

"YOU BASTARD!" Preston becomes furious and rushes toward Marcos.

"Wait!" But Eliza grabs his brother's shoulder with her free hand.

Marcos' smile grows even more mocking. "Come on, our families may be enemies, but we could try to change that…"

"I won't fall for that," Eliza says calmly. "You'd kill me in the end anyway."

"You can't be considering this!!" Preston exclaims, even more frustrated.

Eliza tries to signal to him with her eyebrow before turning her gaze back to Marcos. "If I had some guarantee…"

The dark glint in Marcos' brown eyes becomes more apparent as his lips curl into a cunning smile. "My word isn't enough?"

"It depends…" Eliza shows doubt on her face, but anyone who knows her well would doubt her true intentions. She slowly begins to lower her magic scepter.

Marcos raises an open hand towards the trees and begins to slowly move towards Eliza. But his gaze remains sharp, and his other hand grips his crossbow firmly, a bolt ready.

He begins to speak in a confident tone. "This is the right choice, Eliza; you have no other way out after-" But he stops when he sees Eliza's fingers tremble for less than a second.

"NOW!!" She raises her scepter again, creating a trail of bright white energy in the air. "Gelida Evoca!" The words leave her mouth just like ice shards from her scepter.

Eliza's attack is extremely fast, surpassing Marcos' reaction, but not that of his giant lizard, which shoots a ball of acidic slime in front of its master, destroying the ice shards in the air.

"FUCK!!" Marcos quickly raises his crossbow as the cloud of acid and icy fragments falls before his eyes, revealing Preston and Tobias in the air, already initiating their sword attacks against him.

The brothers advance with good synchronization, using the full potential of their Champion ranks; Tobias seems anxious, but Preston is confident, his eyes glowing with anger and a desire for revenge.

Yet, Marcos remains calm as dozens of black arrows emerge from the shadows behind them, *Whoosh* *Shhoosh*

"SHIT!" Preston and Tobias have to fend off the arrows in the air to avoid being hit, and the fragments shatter, hindering their vision for a second.

That's enough time for Marcos to ready his crossbow, aiming a black bolt right at Preston's head.

*Click* *Whooosh*

The bolt flies from the crossbow with incredible speed, and Preston can feel the intent in the air, the piercing intent of a master archer.

"Watch out!!!" Preston yells as he uses all his agility to dodge the bolt cutting through the air. He manages to do that, but the bolt keeps going toward Eliza.

She has an ice barrier in front of her body, but the arrow pierces through it easily, and she cannot dodge in time due to her lack of agility.

'No!' Preston panics for a moment as a dark glint flashes in Marcos' eyes. But to his surprise, the arrow creates an explosion of white light upon hitting Eliza's chest.

*Flash* *Crack*

The arrow is repelled by the explosion of light, shattering into several fragments, while Eliza is merely pushed back a few centimeters by the force of the impact.

"I'm fine!" she shouts to her brothers as a piece of the medallion around her neck falls to the ground.

Preston mentally thanks their father for his gifts and refocuses on Marcos, wasting no time before dashing towards him with his sword ready.

"With me, Tobias!" Preston exclaims as he swings his sword at the enemy.

*Whoosh* *Whoosh*

More arrows come from the shadows, but this time, the tattoos on Preston's and Tobias' bodies glow, and large gray birds appear beside them, flapping their wings and creating gusts of wind that deflect the arrows.

"Tsk!" Marcos clicks his tongue, and his large green lizard spits a glob of green slime toward Preston's Astral Beast as he himself leaps back.

Hooded figures emerge from the trees around them, shooting arrows at the siblings and their bird companions. Eliza is also targeted by archers and swordsmen emerging from the shadows to attack her.

"Protect Eliza!!" Preston shouts to the two bodyguards still standing beside Eliza as he and Tobias try to reach Marcos, but the group is outnumbered by the Drummond soldiers.

Eliza summons her Astral Beast, too, a beautiful white bird similar to a swan. The creature flaps its wings, creating powerful, icy winds to deal with the rain of arrows coming from all directions.

"Keep your ground!" Eliza exclaims to the soldiers beside her while using her magic to defend them from the enemy arrows.

But she cannot handle so many attacks, and the two soldiers quickly fall with black bolts in their skulls.

Preston notices that and pulls Tobias back to Eliza's side. "Fuck! I hate rogues!!" he exclaims as he sees Marcos jumping between the shadows of the trees while his lizard keeps a torrent of poisonous attacks on them.

"Hold!" Marcos' voice sounds from the shadows, and the arrows stop coming. He appears, walking with calm and relaxed steps as several hooded figures emerge from the shadows behind him, surrounding the siblings.

Eliza and her brothers' expressions grow more stern as they notice the strength of the enemies: dozens of Elite Warriors and several rank one Champions in their ranks, along with, of course, Marcos, a rank three Champion. While Eliza is also a rank three Ascended Mage, and Preston a rank three Champion, Tobias is only a rank one.

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

Marcos lowers his crossbow and claps while his soldiers keep arrows, swords, and spears pointed at the trio. There are also a few mages in the shadows, ready to attack.

"I'm quite surprised," Marcos smiles provocatively at Eliza. "You guys seemed like nothing more than spoiled brats, but you have some grit... not that it will change the outcome anyway."

As Eliza scrutinizes each enemy with her sharp eyes, Preston grits his teeth in anger. "What kind of coward hides in the shadows and attacks from afar?!"

"The kind that wins battles and stays alive! Hehe…" Marcos grins, showing his yellowed teeth.

Preston looks ready to explode with rage while Tobias' hands tremble in fear. But Eliza tries to remain calm.

"I suppose it's too late for a deal…" she says casually.

"Oh, dear," Marcos analyzes Eliza's body with his lascivious eyes. "Now that you've shown your fangs, I'll have to remove them one by one... good girls shouldn't bite, you know."

Preston tries to advance towards Marcos with his sword. "YOU-"

"NOW!" But Marcos gives the signal to his soldiers, who resume attacking the siblings with full force.

The archers cover the trio with a rain of arrows from the front while the other warriors close in from behind. The siblings rely on the protection of Eliza's ice barrier, but they see the red glow of small flames emerging from behind the trees.

"Ignis!" Two voices echo, and two torrents of flames surge at the flanks of the barrier. Fire against ice, a battle whose advantage is against Eliza.

Her barrier begins to melt rapidly, and the black arrows pierce through it more easily. It's only a matter of seconds before the trio is overwhelmed by the enemy's attacks.

"You made a mistake coming here…" Marcos slowly raises his crossbow and aims at Tobias' head.

Eliza finally shows fear in her eyes. The desperation in her heart becomes apparent due to her inability to protect her family.

'I thought I was getting stronger… that I could be like my father… what a fool, I brought my brothers to their death in this cursed forest…'

*Whoosh*

Marcos' black bolt flies swiftly towards Tobias and once again is shattered after an explosion of white light. When his defensive medallion falls to the ground, Eliza lets out a sad sigh.

When all seems lost, Eliza's mind drifts away from her family. 'I wish I could have enjoyed his company a bit more…' She thinks of the mysterious boy who captivated her more than any other man…

'Will he miss me?'

Thinking this, Eliza tastes bitterness in her mouth. 'No! I can't lose now when I was having so much fun!'

She wishes for more time to interact with Arthur and see what fate has in store for them. This desire makes her want to defy the odds, to fight against an enemy that seems invincible.

"Gelidus… Glacies…" She begins to chant her spell, shocking Preston.

"Sister!? What are you doing??" he exclaims.

Eliza's eyes turn as white as ice stones. "My barrier is useless… at least we can take this bastard with us…"

"Don't do it!!!" Preston knows what Eliza intends to do: a self-destructive spell.

But she no longer hears him. Blinded by rage and frustration, she only wants to ensure Marcos' death.

As she abandons her focus on the barrier, it begins to collapse even faster under the fiery attacks of Marcos' mages.

Eliza's body begins to float as her brothers defend her from the arrows. "YOU WORM, I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO—"

She almost completes her spell, but then something surprising happens: one of the flames goes out.

"???" Both she and Marcos get confused.

*Whoosh*

They focus their senses and hear the sound of the wind being cut in the shadows, followed by a groan of pain. "Argh!" The other flame goes out before Eliza's barrier falls.

"Who???" is the question that arises in everyone's mind.

*Whoosh* *Shhoosh*

They can hear someone moving in the shadows behind Marcos' soldiers, and those in the Elite Rank begin to fall from the trees, all dead in the same way, with their throats cut.

While Eliza and her brothers feel relief, Marcos is bewildered. "Shit!!!"

Not knowing who is attacking them from the shadows with such mastery, he can only think of one thing: kill his targets.

Ignoring his soldiers dying around him, he aims a black bolt at Eliza's head. She knows that shot will pierce through her ice barrier, and now there's no more protective talisman to save her.

"What a pity…" he says aloud as he begins to pull the trigger of the crossbow.

But before the fatal shot is fired, something emerges from the shadows, alerting his senses. This isn't the first time such a thing has happened, and Marcos remains calm, trusting his faithful companion to protect him.

*Glarg* The large lizard spits a ball of green slime at the threat to his master…

"What?!?" But something goes wrong, shocking Marcos: the lizard spits the slime in one direction while the real enemy comes from the opposite direction.

Marcos hears him before he sees him, and as a last reaction, he tries to turn his crossbow in that direction. "WHO—"

*Whoosh*

A gleaming blade cuts through the air and strikes Marcos' crossbow. He can feel a powerful intent, and half the weight of his crossbow disappears.

"NO!!!" Marcos sees half of his crossbow flying away and the gleaming blade returning in his direction, covered in sword intent.

*Shoosh* Marcos uses his high agility to leap back, getting a better look at the mysterious figure standing where he was just a moment ago: a young man in elegant attire with the most surprising appearance he has ever seen.

"You…" It's the first time Marcos has seen that guy, but he already knows who he is.

Seeing his back, Tobias and Preston wear the same confused expressions while a beautiful smile appears on Eliza's face.

Arthur turns to Eliza and winks at her with a confident expression on his face. That is enough to make her heart beat so fast she could swear it might leap out of her chest.

'He came for me!' She couldn't help but think that.