[center][h1][b]Iraleth Kyrios[/b][/h1][/center]

[b]"...!"[/b] It was difficult to gauge whether Iraleth's growl of frustration was directed towards the Umbralist for somehow evading her wrath, or towards Chunji for his nonsensical raving. At this point, she couldn't tell, either. Both, then. Of course the Umbralist had the temerity to not die when it was killed. Blights upon the face of the earth, every last one of them. 

Iraleth raised her shield and crouched behind it as the corpse exploded, the shadow spikes pinging off. Chunji faded from her mind for the moment as she considered how else to approach this. Sheer force wasn't working, even with the amount of Essence her sword had redirected. Though that had been repurposed by the Umbralist for but a moment. Light, perhaps? Though she had one good spell left in her before rebound would hit. Iraleth didn't have the stamina left to see what worked and what didn't. 

[b]"Is that supposed to deter me?"[/b] She asked in response to the Umbralist's threat, though her eyes widened as he shot a spell towards Ciara and Davil. Too fast, and she was on the wrong side of the caster...! 

Thank Astra that Undermage Nicole made it in time to halt the attack. Though it galled Iraleth to be ordered to retreat. She gnashed her teeth beneath her helm for a moment, seriously considering the merits of ignoring the order. But duty won out. The undermage was a superior, and Iraleth was one spell away from becoming a liability. She would have fought to the death were it down to her alone, but now...

[b]"...Understood."[/b] Iraleth leapt over the Umbralist, her Ethos dissipating midair before she landed with it completely faded away, still sounding none too pleased. [b]"Conventional assault isn't working. He simply formed a new body."[/b] She did her duty, reporting all she knew as she started to fall back. Though a glance back towards the ensuing duel had her thinking. With the fading light, Iraleth could provide one advantage with what she had left. The Essence came to her, and she spoke the words:

[b][i]"Illumination unending."[/i][/b] An orb of light formed in her hand, and she hurled it up high in the cathedral where it remained, emitting radiance to combat the oncoming shadow. By the time the Umbralist realized what she did, the paladin had already retreated, emerging out into the hallway where Ciara was calling for guards. Iraleth would have said something, done something, but the accumulated strain of having her Prime Essence leeched and chasing down Ciara before fighting at full tilt finally caught up to her, and she collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath as she stuck her sword into the ground to brace herself.