My hands tightened around my blade, my eyes narrowed upon the Ghouls standing before me. They shambled and shuffled forwards, their mangled and partially decayed bodies struggling to keep moving—Bar the two foremost Ghouls who managed a full on sprint towards me.

  I offered a single glance to my side, I saw the crackling electricity across Akemi’s frame and I could feel the same element surging through my arms and legs. Sliding one foot back I readied my blade for the first Ghoul, the edge turned forwards with both arms poised for the strike.

  The first Ghoul in line let out a guttural cry as it lunged the last of the distance between us. Its arms launched out, with fingers stretched–-Bones protruded from the tips of its digits, giving it sharpened talons that clashed with my blade as I brought it across.

  The force of the Ghoul’s strike was immense. The impacting force sent a jarring pain through my arms, one that nearly tore my blade out of my hands before I could shove it forwards with a twist of my body.

  Electricity arched across the edges of my blade while I twisted it forwards, mana surged out of my chest and down into my arms like tidal waves in order to reinforce the strike. Violet arcs of energy danced along the metallic length of my arms, spiraling into my blade in the instats the edge made contact with rotting flesh.

  My blade entered the Ghoul’s abdomen just beneath its ribs, slicing the flesh neatly apart until it was forced to a hard stop once the end hit the edges of the spine. But the Ghoul didn’t react in the slightest, it just shrieked with a rage that roused the rest to move even faster.

  I pulled hard on my blade, tearing it free of the first Ghoul’s abdomen while backing away slowly. My shuffling steps landed one after another in order to press for more distance between me and the Ghouls.

  Akemi turned and began running, circling around the outside of the group with her trio of tails waving through the air. Violet electricity leapt across her fur as she ran, her paws moving with incredible speed that sent clouds of ash into the air—I could feel the mana exuding off of her small frame, and the Ghouls clearly could as well.

  Six of the twelve Ghouls turned their heads, letting out guttural cries as they turned for the Kitsune.

  With the slight chance given to me I raised my hand up again, charging as much mana into my fingertips as I could in the few moments I was given. The Ghoul I had already injured rushed forwards, its arms outstretched while I turned around its side and forced it to overshoot.

  My hand raised up, the mana congealing together into a tightened sphere in my palm before blasting out into the foremost Ghoul’s chest.

  The magic surged outwards, impacting with a wet thump against the rotten hide of the Ghoul—The force sent it stumbling backwards, a hole now scorched deep into its rib cage. I stepped back a few paces, feeling my breathing already growing rapid from my pounding heart.

  The first Ghoul gurgled out a final defiant cry, but before it could so much as take a step towards me its legs gave out. Blade pooled out from the gaping wound in its chest, its lungs tried in vain to pull in air only to give out as it collapsed to the ground.

  The walking corpse was left in nothing more than a pile of its own bodily fluids, becoming just a mere obstacle for the other Ghouls to march around in order to chase me. Their rage becoming immediately palpable—It was as if they were angered by the death of their comrade, with the entire group turning their now hate-filled gazes upon me again.

  “Alright… easier than the first one.” I sighed out with some relief—Somehow, some way, these Ghouls were weaker than the first one I had fought mere minutes ago. But they were much faster to make up for that durability.

  The Ghoul farthest to the back, proved its speed as its figure blurred into a rapid forwards motion. A scream escaped its disheveled lips while its tattered clothes billowed with intense waves of wind, the gales of wind whistled like a hurricane.

  The Ghoul ran like a feral animal, all four of its limbs flailing wildly to drag its mass towards me—It's thrashing limbs crashed against the ground in its wild motions, shoving the other Ghouls out of its way to feed its ravenous hate.

  “Shit…” I whispered under my breath. Bringing my blade up as quickly as I could, I swiped to the side in an attempt to parry the Ghoul away from me. However, its hands shifted around with an immense gust of wind guiding its grip—Landing its rotting fingers on the edges of my blade, its nails dug in to reaffirm its grip.

  The snapping maw of the Ghoul sat only a few inches from my face, drool pooled out from its mouth carrying decaying flesh with it as it slopped onto the flat of my blade. The Ghoul pressed forwards with strength far greater than my own, its mass weighing bearing down upon me and threatening to collapse my shaking legs from underneath me.

  “Akemi!” I cried out for help as the pressure grew upon my body—Gales of wind howled around me, guided in to batter me with intense gusts brought forth by the mana under the control of the Ghoul.

  I heard a loud yip of recognition from the Kitsune in nearly the same instant that chunks of rock and clumps of ash were driven into me by the howling winds. The Ghoul’s strength refused to give in either, I could hear the other Ghouls growing closer by the second as well.

  I felt my heart pounding in my ears, my arms felt weak and shaky—Threatening to give out under the relentless force of the Ghoul, my legs felt no different; growing weaker with each foot I was pushed back.

  “I'm not… losing to a… mindless… beast!” I shouted out through clenched teeth. Every breath I took was fought for, but mana still surged through my body. I saw the flash of white fur out of the corner of my eyes—Given only a second of warning to move with another yip from Akemi.

  I stepped back and turned, pulling my blade away with all of the force I could muster. The suddenness of my motions brought the Ghoul lurching forwards. However, its grip still remained firmly planted upon my blade, with its ravenous eyes following my motions.

  Its grip didn’t last, Akemi slammed into its back with electricity crackling across her body—Despite her light frame she impacted with enough speed and force to tear the Ghoul away, with its shoulders launching forwards and its head following close behind it.

  I pulled my blade back as quickly as I could, mana surged through my body, granting me strength and speed to spin the blade around. Bringing my arms together my scimitar came down like a guillotine upon the neck of the Ghoul, cutting clean through back-to-front. With a quick turn of my wrists only the side of my scimitar scraped along the ground for a moment, the remaining Ghouls slowed. They wore looks of confusion and concern, as if they wondered how another of their brethren fell.

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  Mana continued to flow through my body, obeying my adrenaline-guided commands while lightning surged across my body. Akemi brought herself to a stop beside me, her fur standing on end while low growls escaped her lips with bared fangs threatening the remaining Ghouls.

  Luica looked up slowly, her world was still churning. Glacia lay sprawled across the ground beside her, the Hawk’s wings were raised over her head as if she hid from some unseen terror.

  “Glacia?...” She called out weakly—She could barely breath over the unrelenting force of mana in the air. She had to force her legs to work, terror ran through her body but sensibility sat in her mind.

  “We’re not dead yet…” She could barely even hear her own thoughts over the pounding pressure that kept building. It was like an Archmage unleashed their mana, pressing upon the world with unyielding hatred. The mana whipped and spiraled like a primal and wild calamity bearing a threat upon everyone who dared to stand.

  “Glacia!” Lucia called out for the Hawk again. Finally, the Hawk responded, her wings shifting around and her head turning with a soft squawk leaving her beak. Her heterochromatic eyes focused upon Lucia for a moment before softening.

  “Can you fly?” Lucia asked worriedly, her gaze turning slowly—The others were all on the ground, unconscious or groaning under the immense pressure being unleashed upon them all. Her stomach dropped when she saw Erick on his side, his eyes glazed over with pain.

  Turning her gaze back forwards she could see Glacia testing her wings, her answer given once she took to the air. Lucia let out a soft sigh of relief from that, moving her legs to stand shakily.

  The sounds of fighting reached her ears, metal impacting bone. The screams of Ghouls, the struggling screams of someone fighting against them.

  “They’re… distracted?” Lucia took a moment to even register that someone had made it back to them in time. Had Sanders found them? It… it had to be Sanders, right?

  But, that couldn’t be right either—Sanders was an Archmage! Even if he wasn’t specialized into combat he was an Archmage, he should have won by now.

  “We need to help…” Lucia settled upon her decision quickly. It was the only correct answer, they already saved her and the others, she had to help them.

  Glacia let out an approving squawk, but she didn’t fly off without Lucia. Instead, Glacia continued to hover around her while her shaking legs guided her towards the thick walls of ice they had created together.

  They weren’t terribly tall, but still it would take a lot of effort to climb. Footholds carved themselves into the ice, with each step carrying her just a little closer to the precipice of their defensive structure.

  The sounds of fighting continued to grow more intense, the whistling of a blade dancing through the air. The hum of electricity impacting the ground, the sizzle of flesh being scorched, they all reached her ears before her eyes crested the top of the icy wall.

  A silver-haired girl was what greeted her upon the other side, dancing between ten Ghouls. Electricity hummed across her body while her curved blade bent with the poorly aimed strikes she managed to land.

  The Ghouls just couldn’t keep up with her. Every time she whiffed a strike she was covered by a small, three-tailed fox. Any time the Fox was nearly caught, the silver-haired girl would rush in with either her blade or a shoulder bash.

  “Kirin?...” Lucia asked under her breath. She could feel hatred and anger bubbling to the surface of her skin at the mere sight of that girl—That plague upon Berinia. But another emotion followed alongside that hate, it was… respect?

  This girl that she only ever greeted with hate was defending her? She was defending Erick too… maybe she could excuse that Kirin might not know they were there—But, she was still protecting them.

  And she was losing. Kirin was keeping the Ghouls at bay, but she was losing. There were too many of them, her movements were slowing down, they were going to catch her soon.

  Two divided emotions went to war within Lucia’s mind, but she didn’t have the time to decide which one she liked more. She just knew what would keep her and Erick alive.

  “Glacia, we need to help her.” Her words came out firmly, her mind steeled with a level of determination. Her mana, her origin, she felt it rush to her fingertips with frost beckoning her commands.

  “Agh!” I cried in pain as a Ghoul’s flailing strike cracked me in my still tender ribs—The barely healed injury screaming in resurging pain that threatened to push me to the ground. I moved back as quickly as I could, separating myself from the tightening group of Ghouls that refused to give in.

  I hadn’t managed to land a single defining strike on any of them, despite Akemi distracting them, despite mana flowing through my body like a ceaseless tide, I couldn’t land a good strike. My blade constantly landed wrong, with sweat leaving my scimitar loose in my hands I couldn’t keep the edge straight.

  And now the Ghouls were pressing the charge again—They were all much faster than I was without my mana. They all had some kind of magic, even if it was weaker than even my magic was, they had magic.

  The first pair of Ghouls reached me with a burst of fire and water leaving their backs in an uncontrolled burst. The fiery Ghoul brought both of its hands together, interlocking its fingers before slamming them down towards me.

  The Ghoul trailing water behind it swooped in low, with one arm hanging limp thanks to a previous strike it was left with nothing but an attempt at a spinning kick.

  I shifted my blade up, blocking the overhead strike as best I could as Electricity arched from my legs into the ground. The surge of mana forced the Ghoul with water magic back while I shoved the fiery Ghoul to the side.

  My arms were already aching, my ribs were screaming in a level of pain similar to when they were broken. My heart pounded painfully in my chest and my mana felt nearly drained.

  “Come on Tulip…” I was reaching my limits and I knew it. There were too many enemies for me to fight, they were too strong and too durable… and I wasn’t any of those things when compared to them, I only had speed to keep me alive.

  “Glacia, now!” A familiar voice screamed out. Waves of frost and ice danced across the town square before me, the layers of frost bringing the Ghouls to a sliding collapse as one after another fell to the ground.

  A concentrated blast of frost followed the wave of ice, freezing half of the Ghouls from the waist down while the others struggled back to their feet.

  I felt relief as I turned my head towards the source of the voice. A girl not much older than me strode forwards, her red and blue hair split perfectly down the middle flowing with the same grace she walked with. She shifted an arm, outstretching it to act as a perch for the icy hawk with bluish-purple feathers to land upon.

  “Looked like you needed some help,” Lucia said with an exhausted smile on her face. “Thought I could offer a little.” She added as she flicked her hair away from her face with her free arm.

  “Thanks…” I sighed out with some relief washing over my body. Half of the Ghouls were totally immobilized, struggling in vain to break free of their icy shackles that continued to spread up their body. I took a deep breath, trying my best to bring my racing heart down slower.

  Five Ghouls still pulled themselves to their feet before they were frozen over. The fiery Ghoul stood at the forefront of them, hatred filling its wild eyes while cinders flaked away from its ashen skin.

  “I take it you can’t do that again?” I asked with a glance back to Lucia.

  “No… that was almost the rest of my mana, Glacia isn’t doing much better either,” Lucia answered with exhaustion etching her voice. She looked like she was barely even standing now, with her last surge of power using up whatever energy she had left. “I’ll help where I can though.”

  “Alright.” I sighed out with a slow nod. I tightened my hands across the hilt of my blade, breathing as calmly as I could. Akemi limped over to my side, one of her foremost paws was left dripping blood after a Ghoul managed to grab her. Yet she still stood ready to fight.

  “Only five now…”

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