The sky turned even darker. Ash could feel her heart starting to beat faster.

"Well," Metsumi said, "I'm gonna check on the girls. Yell if they start attacking."

"Yeah..."

Metsumi walked back into the house as Ash took a deep breath. Her previous interactions with the demons passed through her mind. The fight against the Nightmare at Jade, the ruins she and Kaori cleared out. Although they'd made it out alright each time, she couldn't understate how frightening the experiences were.

Beyond the trees, she could see demons gathering, some of them were staring straight at her.

Creepy...

She heard a door open behind her and a pair of footsteps made their way to her. It was Kaori. The blonde's eyes were on the distant forest as she sat down near Ash.

"We're done," she said. "Should be getting ready to leave in just a few minutes, but..."

"Hm?" Ash turned to look at her.

"The path to Pearl cuts right through that forest, at least, that's what Metsumi says." Kaori shrugged.

"So, what's her plan?"

"She wants you to guard us as we run through," Kaori stated. Then, she looked at her with concern in her eyes. "Are you feeling okay?"

Ash looked back at the forest ahead.

"Yeah," she took a deep breath. "I'll be ready, don't worry."

Then, she felt Kaori take her left hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Ash looked at her and found the blonde smiling, the kindness in her expression making Ash narrow her eyes a little. She still wasn't used to this new thing between her, Kaori, and Keiko.

"Maybe after this," Kaori said, "we can take a look around Pearl. I've heard people say it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world."

"Hm, maybe," Ash shrugged.

At that moment, the sky darkened further. Ash heard thunder cracking above. The air got colder and Ash looked at the demons. They were snarling, drawing closer to the farm as the area of effect of Niven's Blessing began to cover the field.

"Looks like it's time for us to go," Ash heard Metsumi say behind her. She stood up and found the woman with three large bags by her legs, with her daughter and Keiko standing nearby. Ash nodded.

"Any ideas that could make this a bit easier?" Ash asked her.

"Well, all we really need to do is escape the portal's area of influence, right?" Metsumi shrugged. "Seems to me like the beginning of this is going to be the hardest part, but the farther we get from the portal, the easier this becomes."

Ash understood and looked down at her cube. Transforming Lust into a sword, she took a few steps forwards.

"And the letter to the council?"

"Already sent," Metsumi replied. "I told them to send it to the castle at Pearl, they'll probably notify you when it gets to them."

Ash added to that in her mind if we get there.

"Come on," Metsumi began walking towards the forest. "The longer we wait, the more that portal's influence spreads, the harder it gets to make it past them."

Ash checked her stats.

Level 11

MP: 250/250

---

STR: 45

DEX: 45

CON: 35

INT: 25

WIS: 25

L: 100

Not as strong as when I was actually in the portal, Ash thought, maybe that's because I'm not close enough. Should apply to them too, so, we'll see how this goes.

Feeling power flowing through her veins, she took a deep breath. This feeling is... addicting.

Looking at the group of demons, she counted them. One, three, seven... Maybe 11 all in all? If they're all as strong as I am right now, this won't be good. But, after all, we're not trying to fight them, really. We're just trying to make it out.

"I'm ready." Ash looked back at Metsumi, who smiled and nodded.

"Then, let's go."

And with that, the group began to walk towards the forest. Of course, they were making sure to remain on the outer edge of what appeared to be the portal's area of effect. Still, that wouldn't keep the demons from attacking, and Ash knew that. So, she made sure to keep herself ready as they walked between the trees.

Ash wiped away some sweat as demons lurked to her left. She could feel her hands shaking, and tightened her grip on her sword. Calm down. Keep your guard up.

It was then that the demons began their attack. Ash checked their levels.

Level 4

Level 5

Level 3

Level 5

Level 2

And so on. Each one hovered between levels 1 to 5. So, even though they're enhanced, their levels are still the same because of the area. Ash thought. That means their overall stats should be lower than mine if we're both equally enhanced, right? Let's see how strong they are.

"Stay behind me!" Ash called out, with a shaky voice. She was holding her sword up between her and the creatures as they ran towards her. One was closer than the others. She targeted that one, waiting for it to be close enough. One, two, three steps and the thing was in front of her. It swung a clawed hand towards her head, and she dodged, leaning back and watching it move past her. Then, she charged forwards, with both hands on her sword's hilt, and she impaled its abdomen. Holy shit, it's like cutting through iron. She thought.

"So fast!" Kaori exclaimed behind her. To Ash, she and the demon had been moving at a normal speed.

The demon fell to the side, still alive, but Ash focused on her next targets. Two demons this time. She took one hand off of her sword and aimed it at one of them.

"Corruption spread, corruption launch!" She yelled and a black sphere flew out from her palm, striking the demon she had aimed at. It hunched over, choking up and falling to its knees. Then, she turned towards its companion and slashed to the side, causing the demon to take a step back and pause, wary of her.

Ash glanced back, seeing the others trying to get through the forest as quickly as they could.

"Stay close!" Ash urged them.

Then, the demon attacked again and this time, Ash cut its arm off as it swung at her, and followed it up with a slash at its neck.

EXP Gained: 15

EXP: 30/125

More demons showed up. Ash took a deep breath, turning to follow her group.

We need to move! She thought. I can't hold back this many!

She settled for incapacitating them in some way and continuing to run. So, instead of looking for kills, as more demons approached she'd either launch a Dark spell at them or try to cut off a limb.

It seemed like their path out of the forest would be an easy one, until the ground shook with giant footsteps, causing everyone, some demons included, to trip. What? Ash searched the area, looking for the source. It didn't take long to find it.

Coming from her left, further up ahead, she found one demon that was far larger than the others. It towered over them, carrying a butcher-like cleaver. It had the body of a large, muscular man, and white hair flowed from its head down to its knees.

A Nightmare? Ash realized. Fuck, fuck!

She should have guessed one would appear sooner or later. She looked back at the group, helped Metsumi and her daughter back to their feet while Kaori helped out Keiko.

"Keep going!" Ash urged them.

"Come on, girls!" Metsumi rallied them, "Ash is making space for us, it won't last forever though!"

More demons arrived and Ash poured more of her strength into every movement she made, sprinting up to the closest one and engaging it with a slash across the stomach. However, her overaggressive move was punished when another demon kicked her in the back.

"Agh!" She fell to her knees. The sounds of animalistic growling behind her made her eyes widen. She turned around, only to find the demon who had hit her about to finish the job. Its clawed hand was raised, blocking out the sun above in the violet sky, when suddenly, a surge of fire struck its face.

What? She looked back, finding Kaori with an extended arm in her direction.

"Get up!" Kaori yelled out.

"R-Right."

The escape resumed. If we move fast enough, we won't have to fight that Nightmare. Ash figured. Or, at least, I'll be able to fight it with the others, outside of the forest where this stupid status effect doesn't change its stats.

Regarding said stats, thankfully, Ash took a look at her status and saw that her attributes had all gone down by 5. She took this to mean that they were already beginning to leave the portal's area of effect.

In that instant though, something happened that none of them had been anticipating. Ash could see the others ahead, Metsumi leading the group, her daughter behind her, and Kaori and Keiko in front of Ash, with Kaori dragging the blind girl along.

So, she got a very good view of the arrow that flew through the air and pierced through Kaori's Savior Armor, striking her left thigh.

Kaori cried out, tripping and falling to the ground, which brought Keiko down with her.

What? Ash couldn't comprehend what had just happened. She looked to her right and found two demons with bows in their hands, aiming them at the group. Up until now, every single one she'd encountered had been little more than a mindless animal. She didn't even know that they could use such weapons, and yet, here they were, snarling as they prepared to fire more arrows.

"Metsumi!" Ash called out. The woman turned around, gasping, and running up to Kaori. "I'll carry her, you lead Keiko!"

"I-I, what?" Kaori was as confused as Ash as she looked down at her wound. "How?"

"We'll think about it later, let's just focus on getting out for now," Ash told the blonde.

"Maybe you can heal it?" Kaori asked. "Agh, it hurts..."

"I... Let me try," Ash replied.

Casting a spell while running like this was far from comfortable, but Kaori was right. If Ash was busy carrying her, she wouldn't be able to hold any of the demons back. So, she muttered the incantation and a white glow emerged from her left hand.

"AH!" Kaori screamed when Ash touched the wound though.

"W-What?" Ash pulled her hand back, confused.

Then, a message popped over Kaori. One that the both of them saw.

STATUS EFFECTS:

[Cursed]

[Healing magic will instead worsen the recipient's condition.]

You're joking. Ash thought.

"What do we do!?" Kaori asked desperately.

"I-I don't know," Ash was beginning to feel the worst mixture possible of fear and confusion. Behind her, the demons were beginning to draw closer and with Kaori like this, she certainly wouldn't be able to run.

Options. She needed options. She started running through the spells she knew, trying to find one that would work here. She didn't know too many though. The only possibility she saw was that of turning around, and firing as many of her empowered Dark spells at the demons as she could, hoping they would be staggered enough to allow Ash to carry Kaori away.

It's not the best idea out there, but it's an idea. Ash thought as she gently let Kaori fall to the dirt.

"Ash?" Kaori asked What? Does she think I'm leaving her here? Ash thought.

She turned around and looked at each of the demons.

7 in total, with the closest one about to be in range to strike.

Never thought talking fast would mean life or death, but here we are.

With that thought, she began reciting the incantation as quickly as she could.

"Corruption spread, corruption launch! Corruption spread, corruption launch!" One spell at a time, she would pull back a hand, recite the incantation, and cast her magic at her enemies. She hit the one closest to her, missed the two farthest back, but hit the others in between.

It was a strange feeling, being able to cast as much magic as she could without needing to check her mana at all. With every single one she cast, she felt her heart rate going up.

She suddenly had half a mind to go in and try to fight every single one of them, alone, as dumb a decision as she knew that to be.

Feeling slightly drained, she gritted her teeth as she managed to create some space.

"Okay, come on!" She helped Kaori up. "Actually, fuck it." Then, instead, she began to carry Kaori fully, sprinting with the Savior in her arms.

Kaori was looking at her with a strange expression. It was like she was scared of Ash.

Calm down, calm down.

The farther she got, the more Kaori seemed to weigh.

Wait, no. She checked her status.

Level 11

MP: 200/200

---

STR: 25

DEX: 25

CON: 25

INT: 20

WIS: 20

L: 100

Good, good! Ash thought. We're making progress.

More arrows like the one that had struck Kaori fell behind the group, just barely missing each of them. Their Dex is going down the further we go out, they should be less accurate. Above, the sky seemed to be turning back to normal as well.

Then, Metsumi saw something and spoke up.

"Over there!"

Ash looked ahead and saw a wooden bridge crossing over a river.

"Ash, maybe you can break it as soon as we cross?"

"Yeah!" She stated.

The group passed desperately, trying to keep the demons away from them. As soon as they were over the bridge, Ash dropped Kaori more harshly than she would have liked and turned around. There were ropes attaching the bridge to the side Ash and the others had just gotten to. The river didn't look too deep, but it would no doubt provide them with enough time to escape.

So, Ash transformed Lust into a sword and quickly slashed the ropes.

Come on, come on. Ash waited to see how the demons would react.

To her surprise, they simply stopped. They didn't attempt to swim up to her, they didn't try to jump across or anything else Ash was afraid they'd do. Instead, one by one, they froze, looking on at Ash with hatred in their blank eyes. The Nightmare made its way to the front, raising its sword and resting it on its shoulders in a strangely human gesture.

The group stopped, looking back at their enemies.

The demons didn't even raise their bows. They weren't doing anything anymore. They were just watching Ash.

And then, she heard a sinister voice in her mind.

"Abomination, chosen. Run. Doesn't matter." Ash's eyes widened.

Niven? She wondered.

"Demon. Escape impossible. Will always find."

And with those words, the demons turned around, walking away like they'd lost their energy.

Ash fell back.

What the hell just happened?

Then, she heard Metsumi exclaim something.

"Satsu!"

She turned around and saw that her magic trainer, Satsuhiro had arrived, sweat pouring down his face. He was breathing heavily, signs that he'd been running for quite a while.

"You, the farm?" He asked, coughing.

"We had to run," Metsumi explained, hugging him.

"Satsuhiro," Ash said. "Kaori." She pointed at the Savior, who was on the ground, looking at her wounded leg.

"What is it?" He crouched by her.

"I-I got cursed." Kaori almost made it sound like a question.

"Shit, we'll need to get you to Pearl then, right now. Come on."

With that, Satsuhiro carried Kaori in his arms as Ash couldn't tear her eyes away from the retreating demons.

Why do I feel like this is just the start?