Nadia noticed the magical disturbance behind her. She turned around and saw that her companion had fainted.
Without a second thought, she took a step back. The silver wings behind her spread open, lifting her into the air.
A plume of black smoke suddenly rose into the sky. She pointed her wand at it, but the ambusher easily deflected the curse.
Nadia raised her other arm and fired a short crossbow bolt. It was black, nearly invisible in the darkness, yet the person pursuing her still dodged it.
She smiled faintly, turned, and accelerated toward the maze. The person behind her pursued relentlessly.
But before long, the bolt she had fired turned around and came chasing after them, looking like a rattlesnake with its tongue flickering.
"You can't shake it off," Nadia said with a laugh. "Once it locks onto you, it won't stop unless you die!"
Her pursuer remained silent.
"Don't think it'll stop just because you kill me!" Nadia continued loudly. "It came from the maze. As long as the maze exists, it won't—"
Nadia raised her wand and blocked the incoming spell.
"Bastard!" she cursed angrily, then looked down at the ground as if considering where to land.
Just then, a mass of black mist suddenly rose from the ground, with a pair of white eyes inside it.
Startled, she still nimbly evaded the mist's charge. But that left her facing two enemies.
"Messenger, help me!" she shouted.
But no one answered.
"Are you calling upon your god?" she heard a voice say.
"Who?" She looked around.
"I know you worship the god of death," the voice continued in her mind. "Pluto is no auspicious god. Even the Romans did not build him a temple within Rome."
"Instead, they worshipped other gods, because those missionaries said believing