Chapter 1281

Chapter 1281:

Leonardo’s laugh boomed through the haze. “Makenna, you’re too weak to summon the power of the sacred artifact now! Give up, and maybe I’ll let you live!”

I forced myself upright, though my legs trembled like leaves in the wind. The frost-like cracks spreading over my skin had already reached my neck, and every breath seared through me like fire.

Still, I let out a bitter laugh, drew my dagger, and slashed my palm. “Not a chance!”

Blood spilled onto the scepter and disappeared without a trace.

Gritting my teeth, I summoned every last ounce of strength. “By the White Wolf Clan’s Saint!”

The scepter erupted in a blinding, icy light. A towering wall of shimmering ice surged from the earth, cutting off the poison gas and blocking the enemy reinforcements.

Leonardo’s smug smile froze on his face. He staggered back, shock etched into his features.

But the newly formed ice barrier soon began to splinter, cracking apart like a fragile spider’s web.

My sight grew hazy, and my legs buckled beneath me. The elder’s warning echoed in my mind: “Using the sacred artifact exacts a terrible price. Its power and your life are bound. The more you use it, the more it saps you.”

The glow of the scepter flickered, dimming and flaring without pause.

“Miss Dunn!” Amon called out urgently as he caught me before I collapsed. Beyond the cracking ice wall, I saw Leonardo’s reinforcements gathering, their heavy crossbows already trained on us.

The fractures in the ice spread rapidly, ready to shatter at any moment.

Just as the wall was about to break apart, the scepter in my grip shook violently. From it surged dozens of massive, ghostly wolves glowing ice-blue, their howls piercing the air as they charged straight at Leonardo’s forces.

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Wherever the wolf spirits ran, the earth froze solid, glittering with frost, while soldiers stiffened and slowed like puppets made of ice.

“Fall back! Fall back now!” Leonardo shouted, panic lacing his voice as he scrambled away, forced to watch his best fighters crumble under the wolves’ assault.

Amid the chaos, I spotted an enemy archer pulling back a longbow, the arrow’s glowing tip aimed straight at my chest.

“Look out!” Amon shouted, his sword flashing in a swift silver arc.

With a sharp slice, he cut the arrow clean in two, but one half still grazed my shoulder.

A searing, burning pain shot through me, and I couldn’t stop the scream that tore from my throat.

The sound instantly drew Bryan’s and Dominic’s attention. They spun around at the same time, fear flashing in their eyes. But in that split second, enemy blades came crashing down on them.

I tried to warn them, but my voice was faint, fading.

The arrow’s paralyzing poison began coursing through my veins, spreading like wildfire. My limbs turned to lead, and my mind started to slip away.

I staggered back a few steps before the ground gave way beneath me.

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