Meanwhile, in a dim alley somewhere, crimson-black patterns flickered in and out of sight through the air; the bluestone-paved ground resembled a swamp formed from pooling mud, its filthy traces spreading in every direction.
Pitch-black figures clutching blades, swords, and staves crawled out from within it one after another, like soul reapers from hell, carrying the stench of decay and death.
Alicephil, dressed in white furs and wearing a Cossack Hat, had been forced into a dead end.
"shapeistLeben! (O remains, I grant thee life.)"
With danger upon her, the silver-haired beauty suppressed her nerves, snapped several strands of silver hair from her fingertips, and scattered them forward as she chanted solemnly.
In an instant, several strands of silver thread crisscrossed and traced out a complex outline. Interweaving and joining together, they formed an intricate three-dimensional object like a woven wicker craft, complete with fierce wings, a beak, and sharp hooked talons. It was an exquisite silver-thread craft modeled after a giant eagle.
The Silver Thread Eagle was a "Homunculus," an artificial lifeform created on the spot through alchemy—a weapon Alicephil had given life to.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
The special creation let out a piercing cry like metal blades scraping together, then shot forward like a bullet. Its razor-sharp beak and talons pounced upon the several Shadow Servants blocking the alleyway.
Splat! Splat!
As the Silver Thread Eagle's sharp wings and claws swept through the air, the slow and stiff Shadow Servants along its path were carved open with horrifying gashes. Some even had their limbs, heads, and necks severed outright.
Yet when the Shadow Servants emerging from the Black Mud were sliced apart, only flowing Black Mud remained inside.
In mere moments, those gruesome wounds were completely erased as the sludge filled them in.
*I have to vaporize the ground