As the flames lit the area, the crows turned to the house.

Faela didn’t move and made no sound. She could only watch.

There’s too many of them, Tetsuko projected to her wielder. Even focusing, she couldn’t sense every infected bird. Stupid smoke dampening my senses…

All the crows opened their wings at the same time. The next moment, they batted their wings. The wind extinguished the outer flames. It wasn’t enough to put out everything, but the feathers destroyed the house.

“Crap,” Faela muttered as she took cover in an alley. The house became dust and the fire grew weaker. Soon the darkness was back.

There’s no way you can fight that many, Tetsuko said when she sensed what her wielder wanted.

“If you can cut them, I can kill them.”

I can. But you won’t see them.

“You’ll have to be my eyes.”

I don’t know if I can with this smoke. Even if I could, how are you gonna fight them? I doubt they’ll come down from the roofs.

Faela peered her head out the alley. Though it was hard to, she could see the outlines of the monster crows still on top of the house, breathing in the smoke.

“Can’t you bring them down?”

I’m a sword. How am I supposed to do that?

Before Faela could answer, the birds turned to her.

“Shit!” she shouted and ran deeper into the alley.

A moment later, the gust blew and a rain of black razor-sharp feathers destroyed where she was, reducing the stone floor to dust.

“They won’t let me go up.”

They’re smarter than they look.

“We can never catch a break,” she muttered as she looked around them. “Is there anyone in these houses?”

Tetsuko forced her concentration. Despite the smoke falling, she could sense faint traces of Celeste inside.

“Damn it,” she said when the sword informed her. “We need to take them out of here.”

How? In this darkness, they can’t see either. And take them where?

Faela grew quiet as she thought. Before she could come up with anything, an orange streak came flying against the crows. It took a moment for them to realize it was a flaming arrow.

The beast birds didn’t even bother with it, they just watched. When it hit one of them, however, instead of brushing off on the razor-sharp feathers, the arrowhead buried itself on the animal. Then it exploded, sending fire metal shards and feathers in the air.

That was a living metal arrowhead. Just like the ones we used in the mountains, Tetsuko thought.

Faela raced back to the end of the alley and peered her head out. At the end of the street, over a hundred soldiers came marching led by Sergio.

“Shot!” he shouted with his sword raised. The arches at the rear released another volley of flame arrows.

This time the birds knew better and batted their wings. The wind was enough to stop the arrows in midair, but not enough to put out the flames. Before they fell on the ground, they exploded, sending flaming bits of metal everywhere, hitting and wounding the animals.

The crows screeched and their black and yellow eyes with the Mark of the Demon turned to the soldier. The next moment, they all spread their wings at its full length as if one.

“Watch out for the feathers!” Faela shouted.

Sergio glanced at her and nodded. “Soldiers! Shields!”

They quickly placed metal shields before and above them. With so many birds, the impact was tremendous. Along with the wind, there were feathers. The soldiers managed to withstand the pressure, and the shields resisted the plumes.

It’s made with a living metal alloy, Tetsuko realized, smiling in her head. So you developed shields as well, my friend.

After the attacked stopped, the soldiers lowered the barrier, and Sergio raised the hollow sword. “Aim and fire at will! Kill those monsters and protect the town!”

The archers did as bid, sending the flaming arrows at the birds. Though the fire shone a little, it was still dark, and hard to hit the monsters directly. But they didn’t have to. As long as the metal shards exploded close enough, it was hurt.

They’ll come down once they realize they can’t fight from up there, Tetsuko projected her thoughts to her wielder. Then we’ll have our chance.

“Yeah, but then we can’t use the arrows up close…” Faela looked up at the heavy smoke covering the sun and creating darkness. However, not everything was black. There was a streak of orange among the smoke. “What’s that?”

The soul in the sword focused on it. It’s fire… the Celeste in the smoke is keeping it alive…

“Shoot the arrows in the smoke! It’ll illuminate the place!” Faela shouted to Sergio.

The captain of the city’s guard nodded and pointed at the darkened sky. “Fire on the sky! Set that damn smoke on fire and bring back the light!”

The crows realized at once. They flapped their wings nonstop. However, without coordination, the wind wasn’t strong enough to stop the arrows. The soldiers protected the arches and they shot at their target.

The flames tailed like an orange and yellow thread until the arrowhead burst into tiny pieces, spreading the fire. With dozens of arrows, it was enough to set the poisonous smoke clouds into fire and light the area.

Just like Tetsuko expected, the fire didn’t die but became trapped inside the smoke. It wasn’t enough to bring back the day, but it was enough to drive away the darkness and allow them to see the monster crows.

They look even scarier like this, Tetsuko thought, smiling.

“Only a crazy demon sword like you to laugh at this,” Faela muttered.

The fire indeed allowed them to fight. However, it also cast down the ground a shadow, making the birds even scarier.

Doesn’t matter. Now you can fight them.

“Let’s hope they can be put out,” she said as the crow looked up the skies and turned their wings at it, flapping faster than ever.

Instead of putting out the flames, the wind pushed back the clouds, creating a gap and allowing the sun to shine upon them for a moment. They stopped moving their wings at once. The smoke filled the hole and the eerie yellow and orange light was the only thing driving away the darkness again.

They are pissed, Tetsuko said as the birds turned to the soldiers.

“How do you know? It’s impossible to tell anything with their bird face.”

I can tell. Their Celeste is stirring.

The crows opened their wings again, but instead of flapping and attacking, they took flight. They circled above the soldiers, becoming faster little by little.

“Get out of the way!” Faela shouted when the beast birds came flying down at the soldiers.

Even if the shields were made of the living metal alloy, there was no way they could withstand those beaks; especially at a speed like that. Some soldiers jumped out of the way at once. But with so many packed together, it was impossible for everyone to get out of the way. The birds came flying through them like mounted warriors against peasants. Their beaks pierced metal, leather, flesh, and bone as if made of paper, killing dozens at once. Most flew upwards when they lost speed, but some weren’t so fast.

Those were hurt by the shards, Tetsuko said as the soldiers drove the hollow sword at them.

Even if they killed a couple, they had nothing to celebrate. The other monster crows were already circling above them again, ready to come down.

“Don’t stand in line! Spread out! Protect the archers!” Sergio shouted. “Archers, fire at will. Doesn’t matter if you can’t kill them! Just bring those monsters down so we can!”

Despite the fear in them, the soldiers obeyed, breaking their lines and spreading throughout the wide street. The arrows flew in the air once again. Even if the crows dodged, they couldn’t escape the shards. Many were hurt, but they could still fly. However, two of them fell down. Sergio took the lead and ran to the monster, bringing his sword down at it, killing another monster bird. The others screeched, their voices echoing in the air like a death song. Faela winced but didn’t cover her ears.

“Damn it… Stupid birds,” she muttered as the crows came flying down for another attack.

One of them would fly by right before the alley. When she noticed, she didn’t hesitate to raise Tetsuko and bring the sword down. At that speed, it didn’t matter how sharp the sword was; the beast bird was too fast to be killed by a single strike. However, the attack was enough to slow it down. Without full speed, the bird couldn’t pierce the shield. Though he pushed back the soldiers, when it stopped, the others killed it.

“Tetsuko, can you sense Anna?” The soul in the sword focused. Despite folding her energy and the smoke above, she could sense the girl’s energy on the other side of the street. “Can you talk to her?”

At this distance? The soul in the sword thought for a moment. She had no idea how she could communicate without a mouth. She knew it was through the Celeste. Maybe. I’m not sure, but I can try.

“Then try. Tell her to stay in an alley and attack the birds from a safe position. She doesn’t need to kill them. Just wound them enough for the soldiers to finish.”