Feeling the anger in her voice, the man who had spoken to her hastily said, "Yes, but I was supposed to tell you anyway."
There was no more time for useless words to be spoken. So, with a decisive nod, she said, "Alright, it"s good that you did. You can file it in later, but now, it doesn"t change our situation in any way. Unsterilized air can hurt the eye, but at least the damage is not permanent - with everything we brought, we will be able to heal it. If the controllers die, though… We will be facing a catastrophic loss that can and will impact our entire careers. I"m not prepared to let that happen. Everyone, prepare to use the second level of the holy figurines."
Gasps could be heard all about the small room as her words echoed in it. Before any voices could be raised in protest, though, she spoke again.
"Do you want to risk losing everything by still underestimating our foes? Or would you rather injure yourself, and ensure victory? I choose the latter, and as the commander, I make the decision for all of you. Move out. They"ve just been intercepted by those two pathetic idiots who were sent with us. Something is strange, though… Our estimate of their power places them at such a level that they should have been able to get through in one stroke. I was going to take us all in front of them before they got to the controllers, but those two weaklings managed to stop them! Well, either way, it"s all the better for us - take this little time we have to get acquainted with the bodies, but be ready to leave at any moment."
Her tone was one which brooked no argument, so with unseen expressions which Jade watched with uncaring eyes, the squad began to acclimatize to the new bodies.
A few moments later, it was time, as it seemed that whatever act their enemies had put up was coming to an end. She had quite liked that move employed by the leader of the continent they should have conquered by now, so when she saw the shocked expression of the reptilian as she was chucked into the path of the attack, even Jade couldn"t help but chuckle.
Anything which weakened those that they would soon go up against was welcome, but when she saw the two priests be defeated, she instantly activated the secret teleportation formation which brought them inside the control center of the eye.
As soon as she arrived, she once again had to shake off the unusual feeling that she always got whenever she came here. She looked behind her to see the eyes of the controllers, which were out of focus, just as they were always supposed to be.
She also followed along the veins which connected them to the eye, and after seeing that they were intact and unchanged despite the contamination of the air, she sighed inwardly with relief and then laid her eyes on those that she would soon smite with all her strength.
"Follow my lead."
With that, she began to weave the complex spell that was proudly named "Eternal Destruction" by the researcher who had created it.
It had to be said that he was fairly justified in choosing this name, as this spell was capable of combining destructive elements in a way that had never been seen before in the history of the Church.
This single achievement had propelled him to the ranks of the bishops, and remembering once again that that was her goal, Jade put all of her focus on the spell which would kill them all if she was inattentive for even a second.
Below, it became apparent that the three most powerful enemies had detected what was going to happen, as they began to have a hasty conversation following which they spoke to the one they had been told not to underestimate.
Despite completely being engrossed in the casting of the spell, she had reached a point from where she could finish the task with her eyes closed, so as she paid attention to their enemies in an attempt to glean any information possible, she saw that they were beseeching the kid for something.
She felt like laughing as she saw this, as she could already guess what they were asking for: the Artefact that had foolishly been sent to the most powerful member of the resistance that had been created here.
They had already taken it into their calculations, and even if it was used fully, which should be impossible, there would be no victory for these four.
Just as she reached the final stages of the spell, the kid actually walked forward proudly, like a hen strutting around without knowing that even the dish that it would turn into after being slaughtered had been decided.
Seeing him swish his hands confidently like a trickster about to regale them with something they hadn"t seen before, she scoffed, and proceeded to begin entering in the last thing required for the spell to strike: the coordinates of the targets.
Just as she was about to finish, she saw him raise his hands and speak. Curiously, he had cast a spell to make his words echo throughout the room, and as soon as she heard them, she felt like laughing out loud.
"Come out, my hearties. It"s time to play…"
Completely disregarding him, she prepared to end this confrontation, but suddenly… She felt something strange in the pit of her stomach.
It was almost as if something was… Wriggling, inside, and with horror, she felt the skin all over her body move, unbidden, as if there were something underneath it, while at the same time, tiny explosions from everywhere inside her body made her mind go blank due to the sudden pain.
The shock of feeling something alive within herself almost made her lose control of the spell, but at the last moment, she barely managed to use a countermeasure built into the complex casting process that would allow one to pause it if they were quick enough.
She did it just in time, as what happened next made her scream out loud in horror.
She had raised her hand and pulled back the long sleeve of the ca.s.sock to see just what was going on, and right in front of her eyes, a spot on the skin split open… To reveal red, s.h.i.+ning eyes.
They were only the size of the smallest pebbles that kids played with in villages, but the fact that they were coming from inside her body… Made her forget all the training that she had taken in the Church for a second.
They were connected to a grotesque body that was, somehow, also alluring at the same time as it was bathed in the blood and flesh that it had just eaten through, and as soon as she recognized what it was, Jade screamed again, and kept screaming.
As the mosquito completely broke free from its place of birth, it sensed the command from its father, so without further ado, it obeyed… And began to devour.