Rana was surrounded by soldiers who wanted her dead, and her hostage was in no condition to become a bargaining chip. The dead have no value, after all. However, she was not afraid. There was the possibility of death if she took a misstep, but it did not grip her like it had in the past. Death was an outcome born from errors, and she knew she would make none.

The only threats among her foes were the two marked ones, a defensive spearman, and a hidden archer. They had a more powerful Status and the better equipment. However, they were also burdened with incompetent allies. The soldiers had no mark, therefore they could do little against even the lowliest of marked ones. They were sentient obstacles that could be manipulated, and she saw the fear in their eyes.

It was pathetic, to think the soldiers of the kingdom had fallen this far. The Spell she used was not registered to her mark. Rana formed the runic-pattern within her palm, the unstable energy could not be contained outside the body and the Spell activated before the mana was able to properly take shape. It had the barest effects of Singularity Burst but none of its power, yet the soldiers were already struggling to recover.

Rana flicked her wrist, the arm no longer torn but reattached and well due to the Altar reactivating her mark.

[Stats — Health: 100/100, Mana 180/200, Focus: 62/100]

[Talent — Twin Soul (active)]

“Thank you,” she whispered with a small smile. It was one of gratitude, and one of sorrow. The Talent was the reason she was alive, and the proof of the sacrifice that made it possible. She steeled herself and faced her foes. Rana would not allow her sacrifice to be made in vain.

Rana inspected the battlefield. It was an open settlement square surrounded by torn walls and chunks of rubble that were once decrepit buildings. The terrain was uneven dirt with the occasional shattered stones of what used to be paths towards the Altar. There was not much she could work with, but it had enough to prepare for her win condition.

She could not fight the two marked ones herself, and any prolonged fight would put her at a disadvantage. She was a level one, therefore, could not abuse her Focus as much as her opponents, who also had a better Status. If the fight were to proceed under normal circumstances, it could only lead to her defeat. That was why she would force another path to open.

Her foes began to recover and she began her offensive.

Rana strode towards one of the soldiers. He was the quickest to recover and was ready for her. That was what she wanted. The first strike always dictated the rhythm of the ensuing fight, and she would make sure it was as visceral as possible.

The soldier raised his blade and brought it down towards her skull. That was his plan, and he was too slow. She extended her arm and grabbed his wrist before he was able to splatter her brains. She gathered mana within her grip. There was no mana protecting the soldier from the violent energy that was about to unleash within his flesh.

Mana Blast exploded his wrist and the blade fell. She let him scream, his allies needed to hear it. She then wrapped her fingers around his neck with her other arm, waiting for her prey to show a hint of realization. There it was. She fired off another Mana Blast and his screams were cut in an instant. The silence of his death was only punctuated by the clanking of his helmet and the drizzling of blood.

Rana picked up the sword and made sure she peered into the eyes of every enemy soldier. Then, she rested her gaze on Kai.

“You will take no more innocent lives!” yelled Kai and charged towards her. He responded as she expected. He was a fraud, imposing his fabricated honor onto others. She ran away from his rage-fuelled attack and aimed for the other soldiers. “She’s picking off the weaker ones! Stand together and cover for each other! Lead her to me and I will finish her off!”

He was a fool. Rana hadn’t planned on killing the other soldiers. She simply needed them to be a hindrance until the archer joined the fray. She gazed at the open window where the archer was and the hostility was not there anymore. It was moving, to get into a position that could doom her. He simply did not realize it made it obvious where he would be.

The soldiers began to attack. Their swings and stabs were slow and uncoordinated. She could easily breakthrough and take out any of them in one hit. However, she did not engage them but simply dodged backward. It would’ve been a sign of weakness, but the image of the gruesome death earlier was already imprinted within their eyes. The soldiers had only one thought, and that was not to become a bleeding sack of meat screaming until death claimed them. They pressed forward, desperate to rid themselves of that future.

Rana also made sure she retreated to where broken structures blocked her sight from the archer. If she could not see him than she was not in his line of sight.

“Good! Press the attack and do not let up! Victory will soon be ours!” Kai rallied as his spear grazed her cheek. She let loose another Mana Blast to the side. The Spell hit a shield of one of the soldiers and pushed him away, allowing an opening for her to retreat through. “Do not let her near the Altar! Follow my lead and we’ll corner her!”

Kai was an exceptional commander. Her brief interaction with him during the Fenris fight already confirmed it. The soldiers were slowly beginning to regain their confidence. Good. Overconfidence leads to slow but sure deaths. The soldiers still had the vivid image from earlier, but they now foolishly believe they had the ability to avert their gruesome fates.

Rana would let them believe. The fearful and zealous put formation and patience to the wayside, overcompensating their movements with raw emotion to cope with whatever was going on inside their minds. She weaved in between the soldiers’ edge, making sure she was always in the range of another instinctive attack.

Kai knew it as well. That was why he chose to command the soldiers and support them rather than having to fight Rana through their meddling. He was not like Henry as the archer had zero qualms in killing those who stood in his way of slaying the greater evil. Kai also knew that because of this, he had no way of easily landing a blow that could kill Rana. Therefore he would choose to lead her to somewhere that allowed his partner to land the killing. After all, it was the arrows that defeated her and put her in a perilous situation earlier.

Rana would not allow the situation to go his way.

She parried a spear and a sword from two soldiers, pushing them away and revealing a path towards Kai. It was the opening she was waiting for. She charged towards Kai who reacted too late. It was foolish of him to entrust the formation to amateurs. He should’ve ignored his hindrances and went for the kill from the start.

Rana formed a Spell in her palms and struck her opponent in the chest. Kai smiled, and hostility flared close in the distance. Henry began to charge his arrow with mana and it burned brightly. The Skill he was about to unleash was filled with enough magical energy to blow her entire body up.

She stepped back and cast her arm towards the archer. She let loose a Mana Blast.

“I won't let you,” Kai said as he activated the Support Defend Talent. Speed was a non-issue and distance became obsolete. The spearman stood before his ally with his shield raised, protecting the archer’s Skill from being interrupted. Their teamwork and experience were exceptional. It was why they survived many battles up until now.

It was also why the archer shall fall today.

There was a dancing dot of flame sizzling in the air before them. It was dying. It was supposed to die. However, even the smallest of flames looked to consume, and even the cheapest of tricksters latched onto anything in their desperation.

The Fool’s Fire Rana planted when she struck Kai ignited the unstable magical energy within the arrow. The explosion incinerated the archer’s weapon and torched his arms. However, Rana did not aim to maim her enemy, she planned to remove the archer from the fight. Permanently.

There was a call, a small whisper that told her she landed a hit. The Talent Support Attack allowed for a marked one to instantly follow up on a successful attack of an ally.

[Talents — Support Attack activated (Twin Soul)]

Rana formed another Spell, one surrounded by all the mana she could muster. This time, the Fool’s Fire was not alone, it was surrounded by a torrent of unhinged magical energy.

Rana smirked.

The explosion was a bright light, like thunder, blasting the earth and ignited the sky.