-None shall pass!

The girl’s battle cry temporarily stuns the human soldiers. Not because of the content nor the volume, but because of the tongue that she used to announce her will.

That language actually is…

-She speaks our language…!

The human soldiers mumble to each other. By this point, the remaining skeletons are already disposed of. All of the human’s attention point to the girl in black cloak. They hold firm their swords, but the shock from hearing their own language from the mouth of an enemy makes them hesitate a little bit.

Nonetheless, the human soldiers are experienced warriors. They no longer pay any heed to the language she used, but to their fallen comrades died by her hands. Even so, none of them seek to get their revenge…at least not yet. Slowly, the soldiers try spreading out in an attempt to encircle the girl. But before they can do it, the girl holds her hands in front of her and starts chanting a spell.

-Shit!

Cuss the soldiers. The girl’s chanting speed is as fast as lightning. In no less than three seconds, she finishes casting her spell. But that isn’t an attacking spell. The defensive stances make by the soldiers prove useless when the girl simply conjures a huge wall made of fire behind her back, blocking all the path leading to the inner castle, and make futile all attempts to encircle the girl.

-Go home, humans. Continue any further, and you’ll meet your end.

Suddenly, the girl speaks.

-There’s nothing but death waiting for you here. Go home, back to your family and loved ones. You shouldn’t throw your lives away. My mercy has limits. If you don’t go, I’ll be forced to fight you.

The soldiers look stunned for a moment. It’s been a while since the last time they hear the word “Family”. But…the soldiers suddenly start shaking, not because of their homesick, not because they miss their loved ones. It is anger that drives them mad.

-Don’t joke with us! We don’t need your useless pity!

Shouts a soldiers. They all point their weapons toward the red-haired girl with intention to kill. If you are put into their shoes, maybe you’ll understand. Just imagine the life of a soldier that finally made their way to this castle. You, a common man turned soldier. You, who stand guard in a foreign land through winters upon winters. You, who made through the countless enemies and successfully went behind enemy’s line. You, who are still alive even though many had already fallen on the path to this castle. You, who are fueled by anger from the deaths of your compatriots when they almost make their mission a success. And then, after you went through all of those, your comrades’ killer suddenly bring out a speech about mercy? To make it short, just imagine someone tell you to make a choice that is impossible for you to choose, and they act like a saint because of that.

-You said of mercy…right after you killed our men. You said of home, when we barely made it to stand in this place. Everything you said are just pure bullshit! I don’t care if you speak our tongue, your life shall end here today!

The soldier’s words reach the girl’s ear. Her face saddens for a bit, before it turns to a bored and blank expression. She sighs from the futileness of her action. That’s it, I give up... – thinks the girl.

-So I could’t reach you as well…Him and you humans…Why are all of you such stubborn creatures…

The girl mumbles to herself. Slowly, she takes off her black cloak, and tosses it away onto the snow. Right now, the girl only has her long-sleeves white shirt with a black string necktie, knee-length black long skirt and a plain pair of black shoes. Nothing from the girl’s appearance indicates she is a force to be reckoned with. But the soldiers know better, they know her fire magic are probably more dangerous than her persuasion skills. They try to spread their force a bit thinner, all while thinking of a way to gang up on her before she have time to conjure her dangerous spells. Their enemy is a very dangerous spellcaster, but no matter how dangerous she is, there’re still many ways to take out a spellcaster.

-Well then, if you desire so, I shall be your end. I’m in the mood for some carnage anyway…

The soldiers suddenly feel pressured. Those who are soul energy-sensitive can feel the movement of soul energy around her area. She’s trying to use a very big spell – think the soldiers. But the soldiers know that the bigger a spell is, the longer it’ll take to complete the chant. While the girl’s casting speed is godlike, if they make it quick, they can end the fight before it begins. That’s the theory…

But some of the soldiers have a bad feeling about this. They have a hunch it won’t be that easy…

Without waiting for any reactions from the soldiers, the red-haired girl holds both of her arms in front of her. A sudden gust of wind flows by as she chants the arcane words.

「O miǫʜƚy Ꭾobƨ oʇ olb.

Hɘɘb ƚʜɘ woɿbƨ oʇ ƚʜiƨ ƨinʇul dɘinǫ. 」

The wind grows stronger as the verses continue like a flow of water. All the soldiers are ready for the attack, but none dare to make any sudden move.

「Ɔʜɒinɘb ɒwɒy ʇɿom ƚʜɘ woɿlb.

⅃oɔʞɘb uq ƚo ƚʜɘ bɘɘqɘƨƚ ɒdyƨƨ. 」

The soldiers give each other a look as if urging the others to try and do something. But their courage is wavering, they can’t bring themselves to finish the job when their own feelings are obstructing themselves. The soldiers don’t know what this feeling is, it maybe a mix of fear and anxiousness, but there is one thing they know: The more verses are completed, the stronger this feeling becomes.

Something terrible is going to happen.

「ᙠuƚ I dɘǫ oʇ ƚʜɘɘ, liƨƚɘn ƚo my qlɘɒ.

Яɘlɘɒƨɘ mɘ ʇɿom my quɿǫɒƚoɿy. 」

Angry at the cowardice of his comrades, one soldier decides to act up. With his iron sword in hand, a helmeted soldier runs toward the girl. The gusts of wind don’t even faze him and prove to be nothing but mere nuisance. The soldier can’t believe his comrades are afraid of a child-scaring trick like this. He quickly closes his distance, and gets his sword ready. The moment the girl is in his reach, there will be a headless corpse lying on the ground.

「ᖷoɿ ƚʜɘɿɘ ɒɿɘ woɿlbƨ ƚo duɿn ɒnb ʇlɘƨʜ ƚo ʇɘɒƨƚ.」

The girl’s chanting stops. Her spell has been completed. The gusts of wind rapidly fade away. And…nothing happens. No sudden sea of flames. No burning corpses around. No one dies. Nothing, nothing at all!

-It’s over!

With nothing stopping the oncoming soldier in his track, the soldier finally gets in range. Pouring all his strength to the iron sword, the soldier takes a swing, aiming at the girl’s pretty neck with the intention to sever the head off its body. Yet, despite the oncoming doom, the girl doesn’t react, she welcomes the oncoming attack with a bored look.

Sphhhlt!

The attack connects. It slices the girl’s neck. Her red blood starts soaking the iron sword. The soldier is still physical fine. He doesn’t meet any sudden resistances from his enemy. Nothing happens to him. His attack is a success, but only partially, because of two things:

His attack isn’t strong enough to sever her head off her body.

-You…!

And the fact that the girl is still alive, even when there is a sword stuck right in her neck, wounding her in the process. But the girl doesn’t show any reaction, aside from a bored glance at the pitiful human in front of her. The iron sword which cut her flesh, bled her and stuck in her neck just proves to be a mild annoyance for the girl.

As she grows tired of the charade, the girl finally acts.

Shnk!

Like a naughty girl who torments her toys, the girl grabs a hold of the soldier’s head, and snatches it away as easily as breaking a doll. In the span of a blink, the former brave soldier is now lying on the ground as a headless corpse. Blood streams burst from what remains of his body. The girl’s white shirt is now soaked in red. As casual as a naughty girl, the red-haired girl throws away the head like it is a broken toy. When the head touches the ground, the helmet bounces away, revealing the surprised face on the former soldier’s head, still has yet to realize he is no longer a living human.

All the soldiers fall dead silent as the scene lays out before their very eyes. The iron sword earlier is still stuck to the girl’s neck, and yet, she casually plucks it out with a nonchalant face. With little use of the sword, the girl throws it away, all while slowly walking to the terrified group of soldiers.

-Arghhhhhh!!!

Some soldiers scream. In an act of desperation, some charge at the girl in an attempt to end her life. With swords and spears, they pierce her body with all the rage flowing in their veins. Their attacks make it through her clothing and pierce through her flesh, but all of those attempts prove to be futile. The iron blades and spears stop after penetrating a few inches inside her flesh, they can’t push any deeper than that, despite all of them being soldiers that are capable of beating Orcs with those same weapon.

-Sorry.

Says the girl. Her actions in the next five seconds when her words end will probably become a nightmare that haunts the remaining soldiers for the rest of their lives, provide their lives won’t end at this place.

In the first second, the girl in red throws a punch at a helmeted soldier’s face. It doesn’t end with a mere smashed face, nor a plucked head. The soldier’s head outright explodes from the impact.

In the second second, the girl aims her punch at the second soldier’s torso. He doesn’t explode when in contact this time, but the punch still leaves a big hole in his body, with her arm goes straight through it like butter.

In the third second, the girl tries to be more gentle in this attempt, by the mean of strangling the neck. Instead of killing her enemy through asphyxiation, she outright squeezes his neck until it becomes a pulp of flesh and blood.

In the fourth second, she resorts to punching again. But strangely, this time, her enemy actually gets blown away without having his body exploded like fireworks. There are still some serious dents on his armor though, and the guy keeps vomiting blood from internal wounds until he dies seconds later.

All of this is as if…the girl is trying to test her newfound strength and power.

At the final second, seeing no needs to experiment her strength anymore, the girl quickly kills the last guy by grabbing his face and slam it to the ground. The force she uses is so strong, his head becomes a part of the smashed ground, painting the place red in the process.

Like how she disposed of the iron sword on her neck, the girl in red nonchalantly plucks out the swords and spears stuck in her body. The attacks may have made her clothes a bit more revealing, but the soldiers are more scared than aroused as the wounds caused by the soldiers are automatically healing themselves. The ugly red flesh rapidly revert back to the silky white skin praised in jealousy by other schoolgirls. Little did those girls know how a symbol of woman beauty can become a harbinger of terror to these human males.

-Monster! She’s a freaking monster!

-Mages! Mages! Blow her to smithereens! Destroy her with everything you got!

The battle mages – despite being as terrified as the soldiers – still decide to take on the girl with their spells. But the girl no longer stays a passive and immobile target. The moment she gets a hold of her strength, her hesitant also ends. The girl in red starts running toward the crowd, all while the soldiers try their best to prevent her from taking out their mages.

-Die!

Some bravery still remain inside the soldiers’ hearts. They were taught on the principle of ‘If it bleeds, we can kill it’.. The problem is while the girl can bleed, with how hard it is to deal something that isn’t scratch damage, on top of that is her regenerative power, it will probably take forever to make the girl die for good. Nevertheless, the soldiers don’t hesitate, they keep boldly coming knowing they will die. And die, they do.

Without any restrains, the red-haired girl unleashes her fury upon the doomed soldiers. Bodies explode and heads are crushed. Those who are lucky can get off with some of their body parts intact, yet that don’t stop them from slowly bleeding to their death. But the girl isn’t that cruel, she rarely gives someone the chance to stay alive after her first blow. It’s like…the moment she touches you, you get exploded to a bloody pulp and die instantly. Maybe in her view, this is actually her way of expressing kindness and mercy to her enemies?

-Eat this! You bloody beast!

As the mages finish conjuring the spells, they shout their taunts. Many types of attacking spells make their path toward the girl with the intention of destroying her. However, the girl doesn’t even bother to dodge the attacks. She holds her right arm toward the spells, and start taking the attacks head on. The fire spells burn her arm, and the ice ones freeze it instead. Some try to crush her with earth magic, or torture her by the use of lightning. All of them once again prove futile when the red-haired girl still stands strong after those attack. The burnt wounds, the frostbite wounds…all of them barely make it to the girl’s bones, let alone her organs. Maybe they should feel proud for successfully stripping her off her shirt’s right sleeve instead. If they keep up the good work, maybe they can have some lucky looks before their inevitable doom arrive.

-Impossible!

Say the mages as the girl stares at the puny humans. Her red eyes have changed. Her pupils have turned to that of a lizard’s, with the red irises looking like they are alive and moving, a red flame with a hunger for things to burn. When their gazes meet, those who see her eyes feel like their whole soul is on fire, consumed by the blood lust and fury. It bring terror to their very being, and that’s just the beginning of their end. When she have enough, the red-haired girl resumes her carnage and starts painting the white snow in blood red.

Before the unknown might, no amount of bravery can turn the table against the girl. Everything the humans throw at her should be considered idiotic attempts as of now. This is no longer a fight against a fire mage, but a primal force of nature, a being beyond the humans’ comprehension. Cowardice finally find the cracks it needs to possess the minds of these feeble humans. Their instinct act faster than their sense of duty. Their legs run faster than the beating heart that constantly reminding them of their original purpose. The men run, run, and when they stop running, the mere sight of the girl in red following behind is enough to get their legs working again.

Soon, the battleground moves from before the castle gate to the middle of Darkwood forest. Divided, the girl slowly picks up her prey one by one. No one bother to resist anymore. They just resort to screaming and crying until they can’t scream and cry anymore. The moment she unsealed herself, this battle is no longer a battle, it has become a carnage, something the girl desired when she gave up on fighting with words and ideals.

“So only violence can solve my problems…”

Mumbles the girl as she catches up to her newest prey. She disables the man by snatching one of his legs off, and slowly approaches the man to deliver the killing punch.

But she stops for a moment when she finally have a look around the place she’s standing in.

“This place…”

Her own garden. Her own haven. Made by her. Tended by her. It soothed her lonely heart, something no one has ever managed to. The scent of the flowers slowly mends the raging beast inside of her. Her bloodlust is halt for a moment, enough for the pitiful soldier to pray for his life.

-Save me! General Origen...!

Little does he know it is exactly his words that wake the girl from her peaceful state of mind. The girl is quickly reminded of her position as the predator, and she throws a punch at her prey as an act of gratitude.

Shluk!

However, her punch gets stopped, not by traditional means, but due to her arm being torn apart by some unknown attack. Her right arm gets slashed, not enough to separate it from her body, but still deep enough to almost make the deed comes true. This time, it is the girl’s flowing blood that is used to paint the snow in red.

The girl throws a look at her attacker. In front of her, there’s a knight riding a white horse. The knight is tall, even taller than the girl herself. His right arm is holding a strange looking sword. A curved and slender blade. The girl has never seen a sword like that before, but perhaps her familiar is more familiar with this type of exotic weapon. After all, it is very similar to the signature weapon from the land of his birth.

But the girl pays no heed to the strange sword that cut her arm. She is more intrigued by the owner of that blade. He is a knight clad in white armor, with a white cape behind his back. His armor looks like it is made from the best of steels, and on various places it is branded with the symbol of the white cross. His helm’s visor is also mold after the cross symbol, but it still does a very good job of hiding the face of the mysterious knight. But no matter how hard he’s trying to conceal his own identity, the armor itself is a dead giveaway of who he is, and what he’s truly capable of.

His name is quickly chanted by the mouth of the crying soldier.

-General…Origen!

-------------------------

「West Bridge – A few minutes after the beginning of the battle」

The oncoming army is still charging at the castle with all of their vigor. The demon soldiers really don’t expect an army that had marched through the Dark Line can still retain much of their strength like this. But their wandering thoughts quickly vanish the moment both sides clash their blades.

Back to the commanding position on top of the West Gate, Nilrem is still looking at the mysterious old mage on the other side of the bridge. Despite the ongoing attack, none of the human soldiers actually take the main bridge as their charging route. The old mage keeps staring at the witch in grey without doing anything notable.

“Hmm.”

The witch in grey looks slightly pissed. As an attempt to cool her boss off, the witch beside her – Walpurga – quickly strikes a conversation.

“Do you think that girl…Deborah…can hold the North-East ward by herself?”

“I’m not positive.”

Says Nilrem.

“Deborah…she inherited Dargoth’s kindness…a useless thing to have in a chaotic era like this.”

“But why did you still rely on her for that place's defense?”

Asks Walpurga.

“I didn’t rely on her nor asking her to do it. She just went there by herself and that just happened to be the place we’re lacking manpower to defend. That girl, for all of her hatred, she still wants to defend Dargoth’s castle…”

Nilrem starts to look at the sky with a complicated face, all while mumbling to herself.

“I’ll depend on you this time, Deborah. Go on and fulfill your duty…as the last flame dragon.”