"I'm giving you one last chance to surrender and leave," Neil declared as he strolled towards them. The sun had set outside the castle, but his golden eyes still shimmered in the dim room.

It all made sense now—how Lyn had been so conveniently introduced to Neil in jail; how willing he had been to help her find Cydney; how he had disappeared back then in the cave, and a few hours ago when Millie was injured...

In her quest to find Cydney, Lyn had been blind to the real threat: the Masked Ninja.

"Fuck you," Lyn growled. "I'm not leaving until I make you pay for everything you did."

Neil raised an eyebrow. A small smile, as mocking as his voice, tugged at his lips. "You sure, Lyn? After all, the only person who can ever possibly beat me is injured." He cocked his head towards Cydney, who was holding onto Raph while struggling to stand up.

Lyn clenched her fists and cursed inwardly. It was true; she had never once beaten Neil, not during their duel and not during any of their practices. If Emily was with her, or Irene, or any of the Witches, maybe they could take him down together, maybe. But Lyn was alone...

"Well, I'm still here, aren't I?" Cydney snapped. Her lips were trembling, but her dark eyes fixed on Lyn with a glare that seemed to say, "Trust me." As if on cue, the dagger on Lyn's hand elongated into a long sword.

"I'm here too," Raph chimed in. He was pursing his lips as if he was about to puke his dinner out. Despite that, he looked as determined as Cydney. "I'll boost you up, Lyn. Go wild. Go wild for Millie."

Lyn gripped the sword; the hilt molded into the shape of her palms. Neil was a hell of a fighter, but she had the best healer in the world behind her, as well as a weapon enhanced by the best enhancer mage. Electricity swarmed around her as she pointed the sword at him.

"I'll fucking kill you. For Cinna and Millie."

A sudden surge of energy burst through her; her mind cleared, her body stopped aching, and all of her exhaustion disappeared without a trace. Raph's boost was as phenomenal as ever. She charged herself up—sparks coated her entire body, both outside and inside—and, without any hesitation, charged forward.

The speed she gained from both her lightning and Raph's magic was not enough to catch Neil off-guard, however. He swung out his sword just in time, and the two blades clashed with a loud ring that echoed throughout the room. The impact pushed them away from each other, but they both struck again immediately, not giving themselves any time to relax.

For the next few minutes, their swords were a hurricane of slashing and clashing. Even with all the boosts she had gotten, Lyn could barely keep up with the monster that is Neil.

Her foot missed a step. Stumbling forward, her eyes widened in horror as a glint of metal flashed in front of her. Oh no, not again—

She raised her hand upwards. The beautiful stained glass window above her burst into smithereens, while a streak of light smashed right into Neil's sword, right before it cut her.

The resulting explosion pushed both of them back. Lyn fell and slid across the room; despite tearing up from the smoke around her, she kept her eyes peeled for an attack.

Indeed, Neil was already dashing towards her, clearing the fog around him like a whirlwind. She swung her sword out to meet his, but her grip was not tight enough—and her sword flew out of her hands.

A gasp caught in her throat as her body froze in time.

"I warned you before, didn't I?" Neil's weapon hovered dangerously below her neck. "I told you not to throw your life away just for a woman."

Before Lyn could reply, two blades came out of nowhere, striking the giant sword and forcing Neil to jump away. The two of them stared as the flying blades traveled back to their owner.

"And I told you I'm here, didn't I?" Cydney hissed.

Standing on one foot with Raph as a support, she threw a few coins into the air. They transformed into more daggers that pointed directly at Neil.

Lyn's heart soared with pride. That was right, Cydney might be injured, but she was still as powerful as ever.

Neil let out an audible sigh of frustration. "I really should've cut her arms off too," he muttered under his breath before charging towards Cydney and Raph.

"Oh no, you don't!" Lyn yelled, jolting to action. She blasted a bolt of lightning towards the tall man.

He managed to dodge it, but that moment of pause was enough for Lyn to run next to him and swing her sword at his head.

Once again, the two of them became a hurricane, but this time, the storm of swords included Cydney's flying blades, along with the occasional lightning bolts. Neil was now fighting against two people: a fighter he could not get to, and a pissed-off lightning mage with a powerful weapon.

Even so, he was still a monster. He blocked, parried, and fenced off every single onslaught, and then, with a lunge, the tip of his blade sunk into Lyn's left arm.

"Argh!" Lyn jumped away before the weapon plunged any further.

Pressing down on her injury, she gritted her teeth to stop herself from screaming out even more. Her heart raced; its every throb drummed against her head and muffled the world around her. Cydney was screaming, but her voice was but a mere echo.

"Just give up." Neil was as annoyingly calm as ever. "You're strong but you're not a fighter. Even Millie fights better than you."

Blood rose to Lyn's head at that last statement. Millie.

"Fuck you!" she bellowed. Her rage gave her a surge of energy, as she raised her sword and sprinted forward, ignoring the bleeding gash on her arm.

However, the pain had muddled her brain and slowed her movements—after another round of sparring, Lyn wound up with even more cuts to her body.

Finally, Neil landed a kick in her abdomen. She cried out in pain as she crashed into a pillar and rolled onto the ground. Her mouth tasted iron. She spat out a mouthful of red, painting the floor in front of her.

Damn it. Neil was too strong, too fast, too calm, and he was a hell of a fighter. Even with all the boosts in the world, there was no way Lyn could beat him in a fight...

"Lyn! What the hell are you doing?" Cydney's voice pierced into Lyn's ears, snapping her mind back into focus. "Why are you holding back? I have a bag of coins from my world, you idiot! Stop fighting like that and go wilder! Wilder!"

Something clicked. Lyn smiled; the sparks surrounding her skin began to spread, expanding around her body, extending towards the sword she was holding.

"As you wish, Cinnamon."

With that, Lyn dashed forward with her charged sword. As the blade met Neil's, the electricity transferred over, causing the man to flinch and jump backward. Her sword quickly crumbled into ashes, but a replacement dropped into her hand as if she had conjured it.

Neil frowned. "What the h—"

Lyn cut him off by summoning lightning into three hovering daggers in the air. They shot straight towards Neil like a flash—and he barely dodged it. One of the blades managed to rip through his clothes before disappearing into dust like the others. A drop of blood spilled from his copper skin, while his torso convulsed from the electricity.

First blood. They managed to draw first blood.

The smirk on Lyn grew. Without the fear of destroying Cydney's weapons with her magic, she could freely use them to the full extent now. And that also meant that Neil could no longer block any attacks without being electrocuted.

Renewed with confidence, she struck, enshrouding her sword with lightning in one hand while directing lightning towards Cydney's flying blades in her other.

Against Neil's windstorm of a blade, Lyn was now the lightning storm, zapping and sparkling at every contact. Cydney matched her pace as well, giving her a new weapon as soon as she lost one.

Slowly, Neil became as battered and injured as Lyn; his face was covered in soot and bruises, while his clothes were tattered and bloody. The calmness in his golden eyes was replaced by an expression that Lyn had never seen in him—frenzied, bitter, and desperate.

Finally, Neil had had enough. With a sharp, "Tch," he threw his sword towards Cydney before dashing out the door.

"Cinna!" Lyn yelled.

Raph shoved Cydney out of the way just in time—only for the sword to slice across his arms. He let out a loud curse before crumpling down on the ground.

"Raph!" Lyn darted over to the crouching man. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, it's fine, I'll be fine..." Raph muttered with his eyes closed. His lips, pursed in concentration, were a few shades lighter than the rest of his scowling face. When he opened his eyes again, the gash across his arm had sealed. "Okay, yeah, I'm fine now. Here, let me heal some of your scars, Lyn."

"Nah, I'm good, you take care of yourself first."

"Shut up." Raph did a half-eye-roll as he pulled Lyn towards him. "I already stopped my bleeding. Let me help you stop yours."

"Y- Yeah, okay, thanks," Lyn mumbled. She looked down at her disfigured arms and watched as the scars heal. "I can't believe that coward just ran off when he's losing..."

"He definitely knows when to surrender, I'll give him that. But be thankful he stopped when he did; with your body's condition, I don't know how long you would've—"

A scream cut them off.

It was Cydney. Raph had thrust her to the ground, and she was now pushing herself up, eyes wide open with fear. "W- Werewolves!"

Lyn jerked her head towards the door and gasped.

Hordes of werewolves had broken into the room, storming towards them.

Did that motherfucker get back up? Coward! Fucking coward!

Without wasting a single second, Lyn slammed her hands downwards and struck a few wolves down. Then, grabbing Neil's sword from the floor, she ran forward and went on a rampage.

She hacked, sliced, and stabbed wildly, electrocuting them and zapping them to embers. Her memory was an utter blur; she did not remember what happened exactly, all she knew was that she was going to kill every single one of them—she had to.

"Argh!"

The rampage abruptly stopped. Lyn spun around towards the cry.

A werewolf had sneaked past her to attack Cydney. The petite woman had been fighting it—a sword was firmly lodged into its body—but its teeth were already sunk into her arm.

Cydney was bitten.