When Ang arrived at the spot where Candice had fallen, he found chaos beneath the dense canopy.
Candice's body hung suspended between two thick branches. Her mage robe had long been shredded by broken limbs, its fabric fluttering from the branches in the wind and exposing bruises and scrapes across her body.
Her eyes were tightly shut, and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth dripped onto the mud below, soaking out a small pool of dark red.
The Magic Broom, snapped in two, lay scattered across the ground. Its runes had shattered and no longer glimmered.
Ang stood beneath the tree and looked up, his gaze cold, yet his expression utterly unmoved.
With a push from his feet, he nimbly leaped onto the trunk and found steady footing among the branches.
He leaned forward, reached out, and slowly lifted Candice from the branches.
Her body trembled faintly. She was still conscious, but the severe fractures from the fall had left her almost unable to move.
She laboriously opened her eyes. When her gaze fell upon Ang's face, she instinctively tried to struggle, but only a stifled groan escaped her throat.
Intense pain surged from all four limbs, as though every bone in her body had shattered. Even the slightest movement made her wish she were dead.
Ang did not question her immediately. He gently placed her on a patch of level grass.
Taking out the Magic Communicator, he spoke tersely. "Temple, find that male mage and restrain him."
A moment later, a reply came through the communicator. "Understood, sir."
Ang put away the Magic Communicator and looked down at Candice. His tone was calm but appraising. "Can you still speak?"
Candice's face was pale. She clenched her teeth, shut her eyes, and remained silent, as if using silence