As soon as the command was given, a construct lunged directly toward her.
Despite looking somewhat frail, Aurora was surprisingly agile and strong. She stepped aside and drove her blade through its body.
The attack did little more than disturb the water inside, but her sword began glowing bright red, boiling the thing’s form from within and causing its body to seize.
"Now!"
Three crusaders surged up with her command, plunging their swords into the construct before their blades began heating up as well.
With the combined force of four people, the construct tore apart faster than it could reform, reducing it to an ordinary puddle across the street.
’Some kind of holy fire? It seems affective against these things...’
More emerged behind it, but Aurora did not waste a beat.
"Next!"
’The very fact that Lady Aurora agreed to become engaged to Young Master Noct was a miracle from above...’
Lenia guided the broom into a steep descent, where both women hopped off to regroup with the others as quick as they could.
Amelia looked upward just as they landed beside the fountain. "Noelle! Where is Noct, what the hell is going on right now?!"
"We got separated..."
But before Amelia could ask, she quickly handed the contents inside her bag and the bundle of cloth to her.
"What’s this?"
"It’s the records from Baron Altaire," Noelle nodded. "Young Master Noct said he was complicit and so he wanted me to save the Baron. Unfortunately...the knights got to him first."
Aurora pulled her sword free from another construct before leaving the remaining enemies to her private army. Hurrying back to regroup, her eyes widened as she spotted Noelle.
"Aren’t you supposed to be—?"
"I’m heading back there right now."
And without another word, Noelle started toward the crystal mines on foot. Even if it normally took a few hours to get there, she could probably arrive in one if she tried her hardest,
"Wait..."
Everyone’s attention turned to the source of the voice, which happened to belong to the Witch of Black Ice.
She stood beside the fountain, staring down at the water trembling inside its basin. "I’ve had a theory for a while..."
Several thin streams rose from the fountain and circled around her fingers. Their normally clear color had become dark and murky, though considerably less thin than what Noelle had seen from Altaire River when first arrived.
"These constructs...might’ve come from the Spirit World."
Amelia tilted her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"Someone has forcefully opened a passage to the Spiritual World," she explained. "I’ve read in a few excerpts...of a spirit in old legends whose power was controlling water was so potent they were able to corrupt the mind."
"Sorry, but please make it quick." Noelle hurried her. "I don’t have time. If this was coming from the mines, then the Young Master must be dealing with this all alone—"
RUMBLE!
The ground swayed under them as cracks spread across the central square, toppling several civilians and causing the surrounding buildings to fray
Then, every construct in the surrounding streets stopped moving. Their faceless heads turned towards the port.
One after another, their bodies collapsed. But rather than splashing harmlessly onto the ground, the water composing them began flowing through the streets in the same direction.
Citizens yelled out in horror as an enormous silhouette began to take shape. A gigantic head with gaping jaws large enough to swallow an entire ship emerged. Afterwards, a serpentine neck rose higher than the surrounding buildings while the river itself became part of its body.
The pressure that descended upon Altaire forced nearly everyone in the square to their knees in an instant. Noelle drove her dagger into the ground to remain upright.
"What...is that?"
"It’s not a construct," Lenia stared at the thing, her face having gone completely pale. "My fears were true after all."
The watery serpent continued rising, revealing a body that seemed to stretch endlessly under the port, so much so that it seemed to block out the sky, casting a large shadow over the entirety of Altaire.
"Then what is it?!" Aurora demanded. "How the hell can something like this exist in Altaire?"
The creature opened its mouth. With a single roar, the sheer force created tidal waves, shattering every remaining window in the square.
"A Disaster Spirit," Lenia said, even if her voice was lost under the chaos. "Leviathan, the antithesis of Undyne and the Lord of Chaotic Water."
"What should we do?!" Amelia yelled, just barely hanging onto one of the wagons nearby. "There’s no way we can beat that thing!"
Lenia examined the creature for a while, only to realize a certain fact. She spoke up immediately. "If the Disaster Spirit were really here, we would already be dead by now!"
"So you mean that thing’s only a partial manifestation?"
"Yes."
"That doesn’t answer the question!" Amelia demanded. "What the hell are we supposed to do about this?!"
Yet, instead of answering Amelia, the Witch of Black Ice suddenly turned toward Noelle.
"You were right. You need to help your Young Master somehow. I can still feel his lifeforce, but it’s weak."
"...What?"
"He needs your help," Lenia nodded. "Most likely, this is a sacrificial contract made to summon Leviathan. There’s only one person here with enough authority to gain the resources required to do so..."
"Faust de Arcadia," she concluded. "He’s likely the same as me, trying to contract a powerful spirit. But ignoring all the natural laws..."
"Young Master is trying to stop him this...alone?"
Grabbing onto the shaft of her broom, Lenia threw it toward Noelle’s direction. The young maid caught it, staring back and forth between the owner and her ride/
"I’ll handle it here," she paused, looking toward the thing. "Actually, I think I’m the only one who can..."
With a simple sentence, Lenia set the final act into motion. The fate of Noct de Arcadia...was in the hands of his own maid.
"Go save your Young Master."