A chilling howl is released by Natasha as she leaps over the side of the tower, running down the wall and across the field straight at the enemy. Her wolven pack had split up behind the castle and was rounding the corners to flank the knight’s side. Sadly there was no cover for the wolves to make use of, they had to run hard directly at their enemies now. The knight mages kept on blasting at the walls while hunkering down behind shields that were always raised up now. Yet a group of spear riders breaks off from the group to charge at the wolves.

The spear wielders began to pick up speed as they glowed and spread out, leaving large gaps between themselves. Rex aimed at the lead rider but held his shot as glowing images of exact copies of the riders filled in the gaps. They were all identical spearmen that were now part of a large charging unit. The wolves didn’t fare too well against this move. They were pierced and shredded when they met. The riders they managed to attack just vanished into light.

The real body of the knights with spears was along the outer edges, as their fake copies were being shattered, they turned around and rejoined the shield wall. Mounted archers stepped up and out of cover with drawn bows, their bows had no arrows, but magical light turned into arrows before they launched a volley. Arrows of bright light streaked through the air as they landed among the wolves, killing a few outright and injuring many more. Only one Archer near the middle of the formation lost its head.

"This is going to be troublesome." Rex was scanning the shield wall with his scope, hoping to find some sort of weakness. "I don't have enough for this." He shot an MP Bullet at a spot that had a thin overly due to human error, it cracked open a hole big enough to take out a spearman with a second shot.

Natasha smashed through the broken shields, opening a hole in their defenses. She sprinted directly at the mage, a magical barrier imposed itself before her. "Ha! You dare- huh?" The bewildered mage blinked hard when his opponent turned instantly around to chargeback out the way she came. "The horses!" He screamed as she started clawing at the unprotected flanks of their mounts.

"Forgot the knights, slash and go the mounts." Natasha growled out orders to her followers. They responded with stunning teamwork as they injured the legs or bellies of the beasts. Rex was able to take out a few more shielding units thanks to their efforts. "Shield holders must go!" Her howl echoed out as she jumped at a shielded knight.

"Why is this so trying?" Rex huffed out of breath. He was holding onto the wall while his vision was spinning. "Stop the spinning, please." He closed his eyes while trying to steady himself.

Jo-Leanna put a cool comforting glowing hand on his back. "You are just low on mana, sir. After some simple mediation, you should be refilled and feeling better." She motioned at the others in the group sitting in different forms with a calm concentration on their faces. The magic in the very area around them began to light up in small dim motes that would be absorbed into the skin.

“Can’t I just use theirs?” Rex managed only one eye open until his vision steadied, he pointed to the meditating group. “Like just link their magic to mine?” Jo-Leanna just gave him a blank look, like he said something really stupid. “Doesn’t work like that?” He closed his eye while getting his breathing in order, while his mind slowly cleared up.

“It’s complicated magic, we already boosted you earlier with all we had anyways. It’ll take a month or two, at most, to be able to try it again.” Jo-Leanna sighed as she sat down on the ground herself. “I need to replenish myself as well.” Her eyes closed while Rex peeked out, watching brighter more colored specific light motes were finding their way to her.

“Benni, got any ideas?” Rex tapped the bracelet while watching the wolves separate the front shield wall of knights from the command unit hiding behind a more elite-looking shield wall. The little Spirit fluttered out yawning and stretching, she was sitting on a slightly growing stack of screens.

“Sorry sir, what you say?” She yawned while poking a button next to her waist, the screen disappeared while Benni dropped slightly onto the next one. She blinked her eyes tiredly while looking at the knights before pointing at something glowing behind the rear unit. “What’s that?” She dropped repeatably while poking her seats into oblivion.

“Nothing good!” Rex snapped to attention the moment he scoped in on the glowing light. A solid round man-sized orb was pulsating with many orbiting magical circles around it. A group of heavily guarded mages behind the angry-looking Margrave Cowen was preparing a large-scale magical attack. Rex could feel a chill run down his spine as he stared at the ball of glowing destruction being handled. “Hey, Benni, what happens to you when your mana runs out completely?” He had a really dumb idea in mind.

“Depending on the magic being used, it can either take from your life force or outright kill you.” Benni stopped paying attention to the screens to glance into the distance at the attack. “They are wasting so much just to cast a Tier 4 attack, Humans sure are cruel.” She quickly turned to look in fright at Rex, remembering he was one too.

“That we are Benni, let me show you just how cruel we can be.” A wicked smile was plastered on Rex’s face after hearing her confirmation. He took a large breath, feeling the warmth of energy flowing through him. He closed his eyes, setting his mind on his plan. “Let’s do this.” Rex’s eyes snapped open with a hard gaze at his target. His magic flared into motion, flowing out through his hands into his rifle.

“So pretty.” Benni watched in awe as the gun in Rex’s hand began to shine in multi-colored patterns. Shifting runes of lights began to move as he selected his bullets, behind him his pair of Pheonix wings burst forth. “Wha?!” Benni was left shocked witnessing his flaming life fore wings for the first time. Two feathers fell to ash as their flaming energy was absorbed greedily into Rex’s body before funneling to the gun.

“Captain?” Smith was woken from his meditation by the powerful fluctuations of magic Rex was causing. “How?” He could only watch in shock as the wings faded away leaving an unmoving Rex, slightly steaming with a soft glow around his form. The weapon he held had such complex magical structures on Smith went dizzy looking directly at it.

“What did you do?!” Jo-Leanna shouted as she jumped up just as Rex’s wings faded. She kept herself from yelling even more when she saw him focusing on the glowing ball of death in the distance. “They would really use that?” She gasped while watching the attack grow to the size of the knight’s mounts.

“I won’t let them.” Rex’s breathing was steady, his body still, his heartbeat was slow. He saw Natasha howl out an order for the wolves to spread out, sadly only half of their numbers seem to be moving still. They barely took out a handful of enemies for their troubles. Rex spotted Cowen stop his shouting and turn an evil look his way, this was what he was waiting for.

“You filthy creatures will face the might of the Empire! For his majesty Emperor Randell Mandark Malcolm! Fire!” Margrave Cowen then dropped down to the ground, a few knights with shields surrounded him. The shield wall in the rear dropped as the mages lifted their staffs making the orb raise up above the knights.

“That fucker is here, he’s alive?” Rex’s eyes grew wide in surprise at hearing a name he thought was long dead after trying to kill him and Alfred a hundred years ago. His anger flared as he watched the ball stop its ascent, the magic circles around it all synced up thrumming into a bright light. “I’m going to kill him.” Rex declared, followed by his rifle roaring out. The large recoil was unable to be magically contained this time, with wide eyes and an ‘oh shit’ face, Rex went sailing back into a few people. “I was wondering where all the recoil went, guess I found it.” He coughed a few times, while a few angry grumbles pushed themselves free from beneath him.

“Some warning would have been nice.” Jo-Leanna was right under him since she was standing somewhat behind him. Thankfully she was much stronger and sturdier than she seemed to Rex. She easily pushed him off her while setting him back on his feet. “What did you do?” An explosion silenced all, as its brief but blinding light was followed by a shockwave knocking everything down. A large fireball took its place roaring out before leaving a void of quiet in its wake.

“That, I think.” Rex just pointed at the giant area of destruction. “Totally unexpected. Natasha and the puppers!” Rex tried to run to the wall but stumbled face-first to the ground. “Can’t really move, what’s happening?” His body started spasming uncontrollably. Jo-Leanna crouched above him with her glowing hands.

“You just used a massive amount of magic, enough to kill yourself twice over, and you wonder why you can’t move.” She just looked him dead on with a warning glare, she just shook her head while sighing. “We need to get you trained in the basics before you use up all your feathers. Most Reborns only use their feathers for emergencies.” She looked over the wall while lecturing him. “I can see her and a few others that managed to get clear in time, but the dust is making it hard to spot anything else.”

“Can you yell for her to retreat, I’m sort of stuck here.” Rex closed his eyes while mourning the loss of his new wolf puppers, he opened them in renewed vengeance for the fallen brave warrior they were. “Get me moving as soon as you can.” Rex struggled hard to flip onto his back, while Jo-Leanna called out to Natasha. “I have something to say to that prick that survived.” Rex closed his eyes while concentrating on his body, he began to feel little trickles of energy from outside began to be absorbed into his flow. His eyes snapped open to try and see this phenomenon, but it all faded the moment he lost focus.

“What happened?” Rubee just walked up the stairs to the tower witnessing the tired-out survivors meditating with an explosion settling down in the distance. She spotted Jo-Leanna attending to Rex who was splayed out on the ground while breathing heavily. “I brought these as you asked.” She handed over a package to Jo-Leanna.

“Thanks, Rubee, how’s Betty doing?” Jo-Leanna took the package and rummaged through it for a glowing light blue potion. After downing it, she looked for a few others.

“She is sleeping safely in the Healing Cradle, it says she’ll be awake in a few days.” Rubee gripped her spear tightly, remembering her friend’s form hovering in a magical light trying to stay alive. “I’ll make those bastards pay.” Her radiant red hair had small licks of red flames curl up with her rising anger.

“Get in line, I’m gonna kill that bastard first.” Rex was struggling to lift his head up to stare at Rubee, she just blinked at the man on the ground. Jo-Leanna was busy pulling out then putting potions back into the bag. “Don’t touch my prey.” Rex’s head was pushed back to the ground by Jo-Leanna’s glowing hand.

“Since you don’t seem to care about the after-effects of your actions, I have a special potion for you.” She held up a bottle with a potion that seemed to glow, but inversely, almost like it was absorbing the light instead of giving it off. “This should let you take care of this mess before making you worse.” She uncorked it, the light started shifting around like it was at the bottom of a dark ocean with a few light rays reaching out. “I have always wondered how effective this one is.” She quickly shoved it into his mouth, gravity being the bitch it is, made all the potion rush down his throat.

“Trying to drown me?!” Rex coughed out after drinking it all so he could breathe again. He felt a chill as he stared at a grim smiling Jo-Leanna, who held up two more bottles. “Please be gentle.” He whispered before being force-fed two more thick oily slimy glowing liquids of unknown origin. “Taste like sh-” Light burst forth from inside of Rex, a renewed flow of invigorating energy flowed throughout his body. He lifted his feet up before bringing them down, he pushed off the ground the moment they hit, lifting himself back up to standing. Rex stared at his hands, flexing his fingers while tensing his muscles to check for anything wrong. “How long does this last?”

“You have a day, after 24 hours, you will be bedridden for about a week or two. So make use of it, I need to rest now.” Jo-Leanna laid down on the ground to sleep, instead of meditating.

“Rubee, take her back to rest up next to Betty, guard them well.” Rex gave the order as Rubee carried Jo-Leanna off the tower. “Smith, I’m going back out, launch me out.” Rex stood at the wall of the tower with his rifle in hand. He could feel the wear and tear it had more than see it, it still looked brand new. “Magic is crazy.” He gently stroked the rifle. “Just a bit more partner, then we’ll get AL to fix you up, thank you.” He squeezed the rifle in gratitude.

“Are you sure Captain?” Smith had a magic circle glowing around his hands as a level popped up in front of Rex. “I don’t have enough to cast a Return.” The man was sweating and panting hard while struggling to stand up.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll walk.” Rex turned to grin at the dwarf, before gripping the handle and aiming his landing point. He launched himself in the bubble again to fly over the smoking field of corpses slowly dissolving into light motes. He hardened himself as the majority of the dead were the wolves, a few soldiers were stuck under their dead mounts while most were unmoving and smoking. His bubble popped as he touched down in the center of the enemy’s formation, no knights came to meet him though.

“Group up! Leave the wounded and regroup!” The smoke was thinning out as the dust was still swirling around due to high winds blowing around. Rex spotted the unmistakable glowing shape of shields moving through the mess, he followed along to find a small gathering of the remaining shieldbearers. “Where are the mages?!” Cowen was in the center of the shields yelling at the armored unmounted knights. “Do we have any mounts left?”

“None sir! The archer unit is gone, the mages went up with the backlash.” A shield unit reported to him. “We only have us six shielders and four spearmen left.” The remaining units were turtled around Cowen, the shields were dimmer than before and their armor had no more light shining out. Rex fell prone to keep from being seen as the smoke and dust started to settle, thankfully he had a few bodies to help him blend in.

“I will kill them all! Those ungrateful inferior bastards!” Margrave Cowen began to rant out his anger as he swung his sword around in furry. The knights gave him some more room, lest they get struck by him. A gap opened up right below waist height for Rex’s line of fire.

“Scum.” Rex fired an AP Bullet right between the two shields, it slammed into the right knee of Margrave Cowen. It shattered the protective armor around his knee, exposing the skin to the projectile. In the next split moment, the round pushed through the skin, while the bone began shattering like glass. After tearing through the stringy muscle, it exited the other side while sailing off down the pathway to dissolve since it finished its task.

A painfilled scream was released from Cowen as he crashed into the ground. Due to still swinging his sword, he was unable to catch himself from falling. He grabbed his stump that was gushing out blood while screaming incoherently. Two of the spearmen dropped their weapons to try and bandage up the wound since the healers were dead along with the mages.

“You fuckers aren’t welcome here.” Rex stood up, with his rifle resting in his hands, pointed at the ground. “Take your asshole on the ground there and get!” He slowly turned his back to them as a puff of smoke billowed out around him. He heard heavy footsteps rush his back. He fell forwards while placing a hand on the ground he threw his weight around with his legs, putting him back in a prone position facing the enemies again. “Dumbass.” He fired a normal bullet at the chest of the spearmen that charged him.

“Dirty bastard, I’ll-” The knight fell back as another shot entered through the previous hole, ending his life. Rex was back on his feet with his rifle aimed at the retreating group of knights. The spearmen were carrying a loudly yelling Cowen, while the shielders covered their retreat.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Rex began to rush after them. A trio of shielders stood at the entrance of the pathway, blocking him from following the few in retreat. “Bad move kids.” He picked up speed while switching his grip on his rifle to his right hand. He charged at the one in the middle, the two at the sides dropped their magical light shield while drawing short swords. They still held their kite shields high, with the swords ready to stab out when he gets close.

“Wrong move!” He shouted while loading an AP Bullet with a thought, he turned his wild gaze to his left. The knights raised their defense while shifting their attention to his raised left hand. A loud bang sounded out from Rex’s right, the two knights turned to the other side to see the third one had a hole in their helmet. A smoking rifle barrel was resting on the outstretched kite shield before the body collapsed due to its death, the rifle clattered on the shield when it hit the ground.

“Next.” Rex’s voice was heard from behind the knight’s attention. The one with the dropped magic shield found himself upside down in mid-air for a brief moment before landing heavily on their back, knocking the air from their lungs. In their eyes was Rex, kneeling on top of them with an arm cocked back. A blur of motion flashed as Rex struck the lightly armored neck area, after two quick hits resulting in gurgling noises, he drove under a sword strike.

“Last one.” Rex rolled away while the last knight held his kite shield out with his sword held high, poised for a counterattack. “You should always be aware of your surroundings on a battlefield.” The knight just deepened his defensive position over the choking knight. Rex grins as he flicks his foot on his fallen rifle, flipping it back into his hand. With a quick, heavily practiced motion; he loaded an AP Bullet, aimed, and fired at the last knight.

Rex strode out over the pathway, he crossed the halfway line, the lighting and mood shifting like magic. He didn’t pause at the crossing this time, he entered through to the main field. As he passed through, a feeling of humid sticky energy was flooding his senses. “Oh wow, that’s intense.” He looked around, finding himself amidst a shadowy forest of trees. There was an obviously straight cut-out pathway that seem to lead out into a dimly lit grassy field. He could feel his body begin to refresh itself much quicker than usual.

Rex noticed the knights had dropped their magical light shields and were running faster than before towards the field. He sprinted after them, his breath was steady, his blood flowing alongside the warmth of magic in him. He reached the edge of the spooky dark trees to witness a large wide flat expanse, filled with grasslands in an eternal setting sunlight lighting. Shadows danced everywhere the light didn’t touch. The knights’ armor was now slightly glowing again, dimly, but enough for Rex to see in the grassy plains just ahead of him.

“Tell that bitch Randell, Chief Commander Rexford Raymond, is coming for him!” Rex shouted after the knights, they stopped in their tracks.

“You dare insult the Emperor!” Cowen made the knights turn around for him to yell at Rex. “You and your kind will suffer for this!” He was about to yell some more before Rex’s loud laughter cut him off.

“I’m more human than you’ll ever be.” Rex just looked at them with anger in his eyes. “That bitch you call an emperor was taught and raised by me, he then tried to kill me.” Rex took heavy steps forwards while seething in rage now. “I’m not mad he tried to kill me, oh no, I’m mad he failed to kill me, twice now.” A mad evil smile with crazy eyes showed on Rex’s face. “He doesn’t get a third chance, since he killed my dogs.” Rex brought up the rifle and began to let loose a rain of bullets, letting only Cowen and two others escape with his message.