As Natsu dragged the charred werewolf corpse out of the cave, the first rays of morning sun pierced through the clouds.
He squinted, seeing Ezreal kneeling on the clearing with his back to them, twelve children arranged in a circle around him like flower petals.
Their tiny bodies were covered in a pale blue magical film, shimmering with a mother-of-pearl luster in the sunlight.
"EZ!" Natsu shouted, casually tossing Comet's body aside.
The charred remains made a crisp sound as they hit the ground, shattering into several pieces, with only the head barely intact.
Ezreal didn't turn around.
His hands hovered above Maxi's chest, delicate white threads of light flowing between his fingers.
These threads of light continuously tried to penetrate the boy's chest but were always repelled by some invisible force.
Happy flapped his wings and flew over, suddenly braking sharply about three meters away.
"Aye... Natsu..." The little blue cat's voice became unusually dry, "Maxi, he..."
Natsu rushed forward in a few strides, his boot soles crushing the dry branches on the ground.
When he saw Maxi's appearance clearly, a low whimper escaped his throat.
The boy's face was an unnatural ashen gray, his lips cyanotic, and his chest showed no rise or fall.
Compared to the rosy complexions of the other children, Maxi looked like a crudely made wax figure.
"Damn it!" Natsu's fist slammed towards the ground, but he abruptly stopped it just before contact. He was afraid of disturbing the magic Ezreal was performing.
Ezreal's golden hair was soaked with sweat, plastered to his pale cheeks.
His goggles had somehow slipped down to his neck, revealing his bloodshot blue eyes.
His gaze swept over two little girls with faint breaths, his voice hoarse as if abraded by sandpaper: "Happy, healing magic."
Happy immediately understood, his white wings fully spread. With a soft cry, twelve feathers drifted down, two of them landing precisely on the girls' hearts, while the other ten were evenly distributed among the other children.
The moment the feathers touched their skin, they transformed into milky white halos and seeped into their bodies, and the children's complexions immediately became rosier.
"They're stable for now." Happy folded his wings, his voice choked with tears, "But Maxi..."
Natsu crouched down, carefully touching Maxi's wrist.
The cold touch sent a pang through his stomach. The child's wrist was so thin he could feel every bone, and there was still dirt from playing lodged under his fingernails.
Natsu suddenly remembered the feel of the old woman's trembling fingers gripping his sleeve, her eyes full of anticipation, that desperate hope.
"EZ..." Natsu looked up at his companion, finding him staring at Maxi's face, frozen in agony.
The remaining muscle patterns showed that this child had experienced unimaginable torment in the final moments of his life.
Ezreal suddenly took a deep breath, forming a complex hand seal in front of his chest.
"Their soul essence was extracted by a Soul Sacrifice Array."
"The others' souls are not badly damaged and will recover well, but Maxi has already died, and most of his soul power has been sacrificed. Only residual soul power remains in his body."
"I can use the residual soul power in his body to reshape this child's soul."
A white magic array unfolded beneath his feet, a diagram entirely composed of ancient characters rotating clockwise, with twelve lines of ancient characters condensing into light and precisely connecting to each child's glabella.
"Natsu, I need your help to create a flame barrier. I heard the Guild Master say you've learned to change the form of flames." His voice was terrifyingly calm.
"Wait!" Natsu suddenly grabbed Ezreal's wrist, "Are you going to... revive him?"
Ezreal didn't deny it, simply gently pulling his hand free from Natsu's grasp: "Go to the southeast corner. When I begin chanting, release a flame barrier to ensure the soul power doesn't dissipate."
Happy flew over and grabbed Natsu's hair: "Aye! EZ, can you really save him?"
Before Natsu could ask again, Ezreal had already taken off his jacket and spread it on the ground, laying Maxi's small body flat.
When he raised his hands again, the magic power in the entire space suddenly became viscous.
Natsu felt tiny currents of electricity prickle his skin, and every hair on his body stood on end.
Just then, the shadow beneath Ezreal's feet suddenly twisted violently.
Dense black smoke, like an erupting volcano, shot skyward, condensing into a terrifying giant wolf shape in the air.
Its fifteen-meter-long black body blotted out the sun, and the airflow generated by its wingspan uprooted the surrounding bushes.
Ruby-like eyes burned in the shadows, staring intently at Ezreal, who was preparing to cast a spell.
"Master!" Evil Wolf's voice sounded like thousands of swords grinding against each other, "You know your mental state!"
"Using Life Alchemy requires a large amount of magic power. If you lose Light Magic's suppression of your soul, you..."
"It's just a brat's soul." Ezreal smiled gently, forming a sword-finger hand seal with both hands, the tips of his fingers glowing with a faint green light as he wrote complex ancient characters in the air one after another: "It won't cost much magic power."
"It'll just slightly delay the completion of the soul purification by a few days, it's not a big impact. This kid's life is still a life, it would be a shame for him to die." Ezreal joked with a smile.
"Once you use magic power, those memories that haven't been fully purified will erode deeper." Evil Wolf's tail impatiently thumped the ground, carving a half-meter-deep gully, "This human infant's soul has mostly dissipated. Is it worth it?"
Ezreal finally looked up, the edges of his blue irises tinged with an abnormal green: "Move aside, Evil Wolf."
Evil Wolf fell silent, its blood-red eyes full of worry, but it eventually stepped aside, its enormous black wings spreading, its body dispersing into a black cloud and re-entering Ezreal's shadow to lie in wait.
Natsu watched this conversation between master and servant, flames flickering restlessly in his palm. He gathered from Evil Wolf's words that Ezreal's current state seemed off, and moreover, since this commission, he hadn't seen Ezreal use Light Magic.
This made Natsu's expression immediately sink. He looked at Ezreal with some concern, "EZ..."
"Positions, everyone." Ezreal winked at him, patted Natsu's shoulder with a smile, and then pushed him away.
As Ezreal formed the hand seal again, Natsu noticed his expression twisting.
"Start." Ezreal commanded curtly.
Natsu immediately jumped to his designated position, slamming both palms to the ground: "Fire Dragon's Flame Wall!"
Crimson pillars of fire erupted from underground, forming an octagonal barrier that encircled everyone.
Happy, meanwhile, quickly touched each child's forehead, leaving small points of healing magic light.
Ezreal's chanting began softly, like a breeze rustling through treetops.
But as the spell progressed, his voice grew louder and louder, finally becoming a deafening roar.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"