“Ravyn! The signal!” I screamed without looking back.

“Got it!” Ravyn yelled. “[Fire Ball]!”

I glanced up to see the [Fire Ball] loose into the sky. Soon after, Ball Gag started to fly in figure-eights, the signal warning of impending combat.

The twin girls’ smiles continued to grow wider and wider, splitting the skin of their faces like it were a suit stretched too far. Their teeth lengthened and sharpened, glittering in the morning sunlight. Bones cracked and skin tore apart, and clown-like laughs escaped from their lips.

“What ever are you doing?” one twin asked, bones poking and protruding through her skin as if desperate to escape her body.

I furrowed my brow and readied into a fighting stance. “Who knows?”

“It’s them,” Erina whispered.

“Things will be different this time,” Jazz hissed.

For a moment, I believed her. Then I saw a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her head, and face scrunched together in a mix of anger and hesitation.

Shit. You gotta hold it together too, Jazz.

Ceres took a step forward. “No harm shall come to this band.”

The twins cackled at a pitch I’d only ever achieved by inhaling a full balloon of helium. The hairs on the back of my arms stood on end. An arrow soared through the air and found home in the left girl’s shoulder. She observed the projectile as if she was mildly curious instead of gravely wounded. Then, she ripped it from her skin, snapped it in the very same hand, and threw it to the ground before lunging at us.

“[Double Image]!” Jazz’s immediate copy rushed to my left.

The twin’s wounded arm restructured itself mid-flight, molding a half-moon blade between her wrist and her elbow. Jazz’s second image took the blow head-on, prompting me to dodge in the opposite direction of the incoming blade.

The sharp, white edge cut through Jazz’s replica without effort, following through with a slash at my side. I thought I’d dodged it in time, but her response was faster. A searing line of pain sang from my side, and I hissed through my teeth. Without any time to look at the wound, I charged forward and swung my axe overhead into the girl’s skull. Bone broke, and blood sprayed, decorating her head and my hands with the sanguine shower.

“Hee,” the girl responded. Her brow raised, and she lapped at the dribbles of red down and around her lips.

The fuck?

“[Invoke Frost]!” Ceres appeared out of the corner of my eye, her polearm alit with a frosty gleam. She rushed toward me, glaring at the girl at the end of my axe with a focused fury. Just as she readied her swing, the second twin blindsided her in a terrifying blur. Ceres drove her heels into the dirt, steadying her balance and searching frantically for her attacker. The twin reappeared—both arms converted to blades—and swung mercilessly at the [Magic Knight]. The clashing of metal and skin permeated the area as they dueled.

“Kee, kee, kee, kee!” The Defiled before me laughed, then swung its bladed arm at me once more. The axe was lodged in too deep—I couldn’t yank the damn thing free. With no other alternative, I back-hopped away to avoid the edge of its arm.

At least, I thought I did. A gash had opened up across my abs. It stung like hell, but the surprise left me faster than I expected. The Defiled took another step forward.

“[Pinpoint Weakness]!” Keke called out from behind me. “The stomach! Wait! No, the knee! The shoulder!”

Heads? Shoulders? Knees? Toes? I gasped as I managed to evade another swing. Come on. We need an in.

“Useless girl,” Jazz muttered, then screamed, “[Pinpoint Weakness]! The knee! Wait…the hell?” Jazz launched herself forward to the Defiled I was facing’s side in three steps, then plunged one of her daggers into its temple.

I watched as the body of the monster melted and repositioned itself as if it were made of gel or ooze. Jazz’s strike missed the mark and nearly sent her to the ground with the momentum.

The Defiled turned to swing at her, but Jazz was quick enough to turn her stumble into a roll, avoiding the attack altogether.

“Slippery bitch’s weak point keeps moving,” Jazz growled.

A few more arrows flew through the sky, and were immediately blocked by the flat edge of the girl’s blade. She let out a screech and darted past us in a sprint.

No!

I turned and watched as she ran toward Keke, her blade arm held at the ready. Keke gritted her teeth, and I gave chase to try and catch the Defiled before it could reach her. When I knew I was no match in speed, I cried out for the only chance at stopping the damn thing, “Erina!”

Erina moved in and clotheslined the Defiled with a mighty swing of her greatsword. The girl was cut clean in two.

As relieved as I was that Keke was temporarily safe, I couldn’t believe that would finish it off. Not when my axe couldn’t deal a killing blow after nearly splitting its skull in half.

The top half of the Defiled rolled across the grass toward Keke, my weapon falling out and landing beside it in the dirt. To my horror, the top half continued its sprint, ‘running’ in Keke’s direction on its one-and-a-half arms. I snatched up my axe as I barreled toward them, screamed out, “[Adrenaline Rush],” and threw it.

The axe wedged itself into the girl’s back, the dull sound of crunching bones like music to my ears. She tumbled once more, never stopping.

“[Provoke]!” I screamed. It was the perfect time to use as far as I saw it. Even if it’s never worked on a Defiled. Sure enough, the severed body continued its terrifying jaunt toward Keke, not once ever looking in my direction.

“[Provoke]!” Erina yelled.

Suddenly, the Defiled girl stumbled and rolled away from Keke, making its way toward Erina.

The fuck? Why did hers work and not mine?

Arrows soared through the air at the Defiled raking its way to Erina’s position. The Defiled’s lower half rolled across the ground and joined back together with the top half. The axe once again fell out of the Defiled’s body, and I was quick to grab it.

Not throwing it this time.

I ran in pursuit of the Defiled, eager to fight beside Erina. Some meters behind Erina, Ceres and Jazz had found themselves preoccupied with the second twin. I was nearing the Defiled, nearing Erina. Just a few more steps separated us. I would help her just as she helped Keke.

“[Invigorate]!” Ravyn shouted.

A golden glow enveloped Erina. Moments later the Defiled’s blade met Erina’s. Metal clashed together, and for such a large blade, she sure as hell knew how to swing it. The two swung at each other like wild animals. When some distance cleared between them, Erina smirked.

“[Onslaught]!” Erina didn’t just scream—she roared.

Much like being blasted by a sudden gust of wind, an otherworldly force suddenly battered my limbs. It knocked me off my balance for a brief moment. Even so, I continued my sprint toward Erina and the Defiled.

And then my jaw dropped.

Erina’s eyes were swept in an ominous scarlet glow. A fierce aura surrounded her as if someone had outlined her in a blood-red sharpie pen. Her muscles brimmed, and veins covered her from head to toe. “Swing again!” she taunted.

The Defiled girl shrieked just as loudly, and the two began to clash again. I skidded to a stop just short of running into them and backed up, watching in absolute shock as two animals swung chunks of metal at each other in a contest to see who would wither away first.

“[Galvanize]!” Ravyn called out. A bubble formed around Erina’s figure just before the Defiled’s blade could find purchase in her shoulder. Cracks formed in the bubble’s surface, but it was otherwise unaffected. The Defiled’s blade was a split-second too late and harmlessly bounced off the bubble.

Erina gained the edge, and, to my surprise, the Defiled jumped backward.

“You’re not going anywhere! [Eruption]!” Erina drove the point of her blade into the ground. A heartbeat later, the earth beneath the Defiled shook, cracked, and broke apart.

The Defiled girl stumbled to one knee, and as the ground quaked, it started to take on the consistency of sand, burying both sets of legs beneath it.

Erina pointed the edge of her blade at the Defiled. “You are the ugliest abomination I’ve seen thus far,” she chided. Erina moved and swung her greatsword without another word, beheading the creature in a single swipe.

The head dropped into the sand, laughing on the way down. A chill swept over my skin, and I shivered. A clawing pain from my stomach warred with the adrenaline in my ears. The wound was getting worse.

Shit. This is deeper than I thought.

“Matt!” Cannoli cried from behind Keke.

“Don’t!” I barked over my shoulder.

A single mistake and all of us would be dead. The vague scenario of what would’ve happened if Erina hadn’t intervened when she did tore at me for a few seconds. Our luck was already being pushed to the limit. As great as her intentions were, I knew Cannoli didn’t have the reaction time required to deal with this.

When I looked back to the scuffle, the Defiled had vanished. Erina’s head whipped around to where Ceres and Jazz were fighting the other twin, and moments later, the second Defiled disappeared in kind.

“What the hell?” Jazz breathed, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Be on the lookout,” Ceres said as she turned her head any way she could manage, her polearm splattered with blood.

Then whispers surrounded us.

“Look how they struggle, Sister.”

“How very vain and honest,” said another.

And then they giggled.

“Show yourself!” Ceres demanded. “Fight us with honor!”

Another giggle. Then she jeered, “Honor! Honor! Honor! Where was the honor in running from your sisters, red woman?”

“Yet here we are, returned to finish the job we began,” Jazz growled.

“Then a joint effort,” the other voice said. “To even the match.”

A gust of wind blew past us, and for a brief moment, there was absolute silence.

“There.” Jazz pointed to our right.

Under cover of a tall tree, a shadowy mist was gathering. It rose higher and higher like a towering flame, and the silhouette of a humanoid figure rested within it. As the fog began to clear, its shape became more distinguishable. The creature that remained had four arms, but one of them was lopsided, like an anatomically confused model by a kindergartener. Sharp edges jutted out of its skin in chaotic patterns, and it walked on four legs—human legs. Like some strange amalgamation of bodies stitched together, and the limbs were in places they shouldn’t be.

At the top were the sisters’ heads. Their muscles and bones readjusted until their heads rested level to each other between the shoulders. One of the heads had three eyes, all placed on its forehead. The second head had a single eye located where the mouth should’ve been, shifting its lips instead to the center of its forehead.

I couldn’t imagine this is how they were meant to look.

The two heads smiled, then cheered in unison, “Let’s dig in!”