The attack cleaved the dwellbeast in two, leaving an X-shaped ravine underneath. Twenty meters on each end, more ink-like blood dripped down. Augustus jumped and landed backward. He raised not a fist, vision hazy. I-Is it over? I have to— He tripped on a peddle. The fires around burned his throat.

He panted, his magic depleted to 90%, much to the denial. His skin began to fissure like dry earth, red seeping out. For all his efforts, the monster fully healed, but it was angry. For all its might, the injuries were too effective. Tumbling, it regained balance and growled at him. He now believed in being the next meal. The maw opened wide in drool, after all. However, his eyes lit up in shock.

“You… give pain…” said the dwellbeast, holding its chest. It picked him up with its right and growled again. “You… Damn you!” It flung him back first onto a building. Seeing it collapse under him, it cackled.

Augustus disbelieved the phenomenon altogether. Perhaps research mages were wrong to say the creatures had no sapience. Either way, the scars he dealt still lingered. It scarfed the limbs and organs of his fallen comrades to regain strength. But most damningly, not all had perished.

“Sir… help…” said one nearby, bloodied all over. Unluckily, it caught the dwellbeast’s attention. Augustus crawled at a snail’s pace, and his reach failed.

Its claws wrapped around her tight. She vomited red and panted in sweat, the teeth on her temples. “S-Sir…! Help me! Please do something! August—” Her hand plopped down. Even in tears, the light came with a crunch.

More comrades called for him, only making the monster excited for a feast. Head after head, he heard a juicy crunch. No matter how they cried, he struggled to move an inch. The pleas went louder alongside the agony. Now, only the crackling embers of shattered homes went.

Augustus yelled in a tearful rage and crawled on his elbows beyond the limit. The foe’s mouth opened wide again for its fourth helping. Grabbing by the ankle, his tremors snapped tendons into strips. Now with 95% of magic used up, he fell with closed eyes.

The monster shrieked and looked down, growling. It instantly grew a new foot. “Damn you!” It kicked him in the stomach. Despite the scorn, it never devoured him. Whether this was the case of saving best for last was never known.

At that moment, he started thinking of the place as his deathbed. He denied the notion of such a cruel fate. Yet with all his doubt, his eyes closed, hearing the last desperate cry of the young. More red had pooled from his cracked skin. Gasp as he may, the air couldn’t reach his lungs.

Moments before such fate, Augustus’ comrade told the king of his decision to fight back. The latter never took it lightly. He’d usually let him fight his battles out of sheer love and respect. To this day, he vividly recalled the tall stand against a seadrake. The phantom teeth had ached his waist.

As the mage mentioned a black ink dwellbeast, his face filled with immense dread. “I’ll go on my own. Tend to the injured.” The throne room’s doors swung back and forth.

“But my king,” he followed behind, eyes squinted. “You must understand that—”

“We need them alive more than I. You’re all my pride and joy.” Filled with resolve, he went down to the palace garden. He cleaned his ears dry from the thundering noise hours ago.

Ten kilometers away was a private carriage for higher-ranked mages. The passengers were a couple and their eleven-year-old daughter, also a mage. One was a reborn human, the other a former noble: Haruto and Tokino Minagawa (皆川 春人・皆川 刻野). Twenty and twenty-one years old.

Yukino (皆川 雪野) heard the ‘thunder’ first. “What was that, Papa?” she looked up.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But I feel like it’s from the city itself.”

The driver raised both brows. “Well, that was a loud one. I’m sure it’s just our people in the city square again. And would you look at that! I can see lanterns down there!” He gazed at the distance, smiling wide.

Tokino squinted for a closer look. Those are not lanterns, her sweat rolled. Using her power for a minute, she had a horrifying mental image of the ruined city. A blazing inferno that consumed those left alive. With the corpses of many comrades, she saw the culprit. Her eyes lit up. “Drive us back home as fast as you can. No time to waste!”

“Certainly, ma’am!” tipped the driver. “Thank the Gods for these runes around me. Hiya!” The pegasi reached their top speed of 85 kph. Air resistance was never something to worry about.

“What’s wrong?” Haruto turned to his wife.

She slowly looked back, eyes still wide. “David, Shin… Penn. They’re all dead. And Augustus. He’s dying.” She panted in more sweat. Her husband showed more tenfold: no more Sunday sparring.

“Mama… Papa…” Yukino moved closer, saddened and beyond.

Tokino immediately hugged her only sunshine. “We’ll be fine, honey. I know you’d want to help us like those times. But some battles are too much even for you.” She made a light move on her cheek. “You stay here. Promise?”

Haruto held her shoulder. “Tell you what, Yukino? Your mom and I will win this fight for you. Once done, we’ll buy your favorite. Whaddya say?”

She dried her eyes. “Hm!” she nodded, fists and smiles of confidence. A brief hug of promise never hurt.

Seven minutes in, the carriage arrived near the city. “We’re now above home, folks!” yelled the driver, stopping his steeds. “Gonna take another minute for us to descend smooth— What are you two doing!?” He turned around. “We’re over three hundred meters off the ground here. Hey!” The couple jumped out of the carriage. He sighed, eyes drooped. “Couples are wild….”

Yukino popped out of a window and waved down. “Good luck! Forever till the end!”

In the city, a brigade mage gasped, mouth covered. Augustus’ current state would’ve attracted angels. An empty hole in the gut, bones cracked on the outside, and muscles ripped to shreds. He couldn’t do much with the dwellbeast still feasting on his comrades. His higher-up laid helpless to join them, or so he thought.

The monster went to another spot. Now was the time to tiptoe and save his once teacher. He succeeded halfway and walked faster. But it was a too soon victory all along. He hid under rubble as it returned and “smelled” the air. Looking back, it was nowhere. Alright! Let’s do this! Making the other halfway, he kneeled and carried the imperial mage. Alas, it was never a victory.

Towering above him, drool had soaked his cape. It showed a toothy grin, chucking at its next meal. He sweated bullets.

What do I do, what do I do, what do I do. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do!

He panted fast in tears, seeing more spit drip on his higher-up below. Eyes closed, he accepted the other side. A hundred smiles came into his mind.

The dwellbeast’s teeth slowly wounded his neck around. But it never did the job, confused. It “sniffed” the air again, sensing others. Then, it howled to its knees. Its soul had felt not one magical pressure but two. Back up, it roared in the smog and prepared another thunderclap. Yet before any reflex, a storm of blades slashed and pierced its torso at lightning speed. It flung onto three buildings in a row.

Back up again, the tall standing couple bewildered the monster. Its legs turned to jelly.

Lavender eyes and hair had Tokino as more of a folktale maiden. But a lady, she insisted, married and all. Either way, she made sure lavender itself accented her on-duty attire. Two dear people in her life gave her two gifts. Sidelocks over the shoulders and a crown plait tied to a long braid at the middle back. More reasons for her to love the phrase: two is better than one.

Sadly, unlike the unparalleled wife, veteran and rookie mages never missed a day ridiculing Haruto’s undone, spiky strands. It drooped down, even between his eyes. Their sides ached further upon saying his face was only a male Tokino. They even brayed he was younger, fairer for the birds and deer. But with swords at the ready, they always backed away. It was just a prank, one said in sweat.

Nearby, the mage tried to heal Augustus’ mortal injuries but to no avail. Tokino stepped in and cast runes ten times faster in his lifetime. Such skills had his eyes wide. “This is only enough to keep him alive for now,” she stood up. “Return to the palace clinic in haste.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He lifted him by the shoulder.

His eyes slowly opened, smiling. “Wow… Never thought you’d learn this far, Tokino….”

“It’ll always be a pleasure, sir,” she returned the gesture. Back at the fight, her husband caressed his chin. She sighed, unable to stop his in-battle tactics. But it was always cute, she giggled.

His eyes squinted. “Hmmm… seems like we can’t kill this thing with brute force. It did shriek aloud when hit, though.” He turned to her. “Let’s try a different approach.”

“Right…” she unsheathed her sword. “Guess we need to be faster, too.”

Haruto drew his next, phasing through its scabbards and strap. Two broadswords emerged. On the right was a golden blade, and the other was silver: the perfect juxtaposition for the ages. Up, down, his bright flurry left wounds within seconds. Left, right, left, right, the direction mattered not. The dwellbeast merely had scrapes, yet it howled too often. No matter what, he ran circles around it.

Even with such blinding footwork against the foe, his red-rimmed, white long coat received zero scratches. The color stuck to him more than a favorite; love was the theme. He ordered gold Japanese characters of “till the end” for his all-red shirt. It completed his wife’s lavender “forever” just under the left side of her garment (最後まで・永遠に). They never even removed their wedding rings.

Haruto moved back. I knew it! This thing’s durable but can’t take a hit. And it still has to be in a quasi-solid state to allow movement.

Upon golden opportunity, the dwellbeast charged where he stood in place. But upfront, the rapier-wielding Tokino stabbed it faster than his slashes. It flew into another three buildings in a row.

Her garment flowed with sheer elegance midair. No one dared make a maiden cry. So none had shunned her all-white halter top with blue rims and an all-blue mini skirt. Even her cold shoulder sleeves wide at the ends were a proud statement beyond Vetus’ norm. Tall white boots were the final touch-up. But still a lady, she urged with a damn. Alas, many comrades ignored the ring for more jokes.

Despite her sighs, she thanked them for understanding her red blade. The couple’s love extended into undying care for the city. Ever so beautiful, their blood was always ready for an exchange. But no one ever knew why her blade had wisteria engravings—let alone her husband etching the same flowers unto his swords. She sighed again and shook her head, stabbing the dwellbeast within milliseconds. Rather than a pin cushion, it was now like an overplayed black putty.

She thrust onto its belly, grunting loudly. “Be extra careful, honey,” she walked toward her husband, holding his cheeks. A daring move in battle, she cared not. Her eyes even closed, letting go. “We’re not fighting rock giant, you now?”

Haruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head in thanks. The dwellbeast emerged from the rubble and opened its mouth wide. “You… people… always pain me. Why? Why!”

The couple readied their stances as it charged again; tendrils swung from its mouth, slicing homes to size. They dodged the attack and flash-stepped unto the monster. Together, they showed a beautiful dance of left, right, and around. Many saw their swordplay as elegant ribbons in the otherworld’s grandest festival. They weaved through each other in flawless coordination.

The sword art of elegance itself befitted the flowers of their custom apparel. Be it Tokino’s obvious lavenders in her garment—or Haruto’s plum blossom branch at his coat’s back. Petals flowing with the wind were a not-so-subtle overt style. He grunted, backing away. “No time for laughs. Let’s go!”

“Right!” She held his hand for a threefold reel. With centrifugal force, her stab removed half the monster’s torso. It shrieked but instantly healed no less. It sprouted tendrils around its body, but they darted all the same. So once again, it had a thousand eyes for better prediction. Yet the sure-hope failed, howling in pain even more.

After another minute of agony, it finally noticed. The husband became more agile as it went, and his attacks had cut flesh easier than ever. The overall danger rating of him as a combatant continued to rise. The other was his apparent wife kept moving ahead of time no matter how fast its attacks were. Keeping the pace and exceeding it even, she caused instant devastation everywhere. Their intricate dance became the bane of their enemies.

The pain turned sharper once the ordeal passed two minutes. The dwellbeast slowly lost balance. Its sight became hazy, unable to liquefy correctly. “Aaaagh! Damn you! No more!” Its body looked like melting into a puddle of goo. No longer did the streets have red stained everywhere. Cry as it may, the slaughter was far from over.