On the other side of the wall, Tanya saw Elizabeth and Jenny gawking at the giant obstruction.

“Where in the name of the devil did that come from?” Elizabeth asked.

“It must be that Earth magic user,” Jenny replied.

Now’s my chance, Tanya thought. While they were distracted, she threw a smoke bomb at them.

“Get out of the way,” Jenny shouted.

Elizabeth tried to get up and grimaced. “My back…”

“Lizzie!”

The bomb exploded releasing a smoke into the air.

Jenny called out to Elizabeth. “Lizzie, don’t inhale it. It’s poisonous.”

Elizabeth coughed while covering her mouth.

“It’s useless, Berserker.” Tanya trod to Elizabeth wearing a mask.

Elizabeth screwed up her eyes. “Damn you, what did you do to me?”

Tanya unsheathed her katana. “Looks like the poison is spreading. It helped that you already had wounds.”

“Coward!” Elizabeth growled.

Tanya laughed. “Not very lady-like, Elizabeth. But then again, that’s probably why they call you Berserker, eh?” She stopped laughing. “You have a lot of nerve to say that after walking into our home and attacking our people, fucking kin of Deidirious.” She swung her katana and slashed Elizabeth’s open back.

“Aargggh,” Elizabeth cried.

“Hurts, doesn’t it? How do you think our soldiers felt when you killed them?” Tanya slashed Elizabeth again.

Elizabeth screamed and clawed the ground.

Tanya hovered her blade over Elizabeth’s head. “Goodbye, Berserker.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened.

“And I thought I was your opponent?”

Tanya froze. A high-flying kick came from behind and connected with her back throwing her off-balance. She had no time to react as a figure materialized in front of her and punched her chest. The poisonous smoke dispersed with the force of the punch as Tanya crashed into the trees and gasped.

Jenny was standing over Elizabeth’s body.

Tanya winced. It hurts. Curse her. She took out a Leaf Moon from her pocket and squeezed it. Her injuries disappeared and the moon glowed a bright green shade for a second before breaking in half.

She sighed and looked at Jenny whose right arm was draped in a Dark Aura.

Jenny tilted her head. “Oh, you had a Leaf Moon? And here I was sure my Fallen Wings had killed you.” She cracked her knuckles. “But that was a bad decision since you can’t use it again for today. I’m just getting started.”

Tanya’s eyes widened. “Fallen Wings? But that’s a Raven Clan Demon Art!”

Jenny smiled.

Her eyes roamed over Jenny’s clothing, to see if she was carrying any special weapons. How? Demon Arts are quick magic. The Raven’s need more time, unlike the other clans. And how did she get inside this smoke without any problems? She should have collapsed immediately. She spotted a vial in Jenny’s left hand.

Tanya frowned. “You…What’s that thing in your hand?”

Jenny put the vial in her back pocket. “This? Just an equalizer, to level the playing field.”

“Equalizer?”

Jenny planted her left foot forward and cleared the right leg out of the way. Her right hand arched back.

Tanya’s lips curled into a smile. “A Zeor dash? Interesting!”

She lifted her katana to the skies with both hands while putting her right leg forward. “I will knock you down before your wings reach me.”

The battlefield became silent. Tanya realized that all eyes were on them. The wind howled as a small leaf flew off a tree and fell in between them.

Jenny rushed forward with the cloak of darkness covering her entire right hand. Tanya kept her posture without moving an inch but her eyes were locked on Jenny.

Jenny was just five feet away when Tanya shuffled forward and brought her blade down with as much power as she could muster.

The impact caused the ground underneath to crack and release a dust storm. The few remaining smaller trees were uprooted by shockwaves as everyone in both camps got caught in the storm. The dust cleared and Tanya towered over her defeated opponent’s head.

A chorus of cheers erupted from the Deep Forest Camp.

The blade fell from Tanya’s shaking hands as she dropped to the ground clutching her chest. She opened the top half of her front vest revealing a swollen dark patch in the middle.

Her breathing was a bit ragged. However, her eyes drifted to the fallen form of Jenny and a small smile appeared. “I-I-win…”

“I don’t think so,” said a voice.

Hearing that voice, Tanya jerked up her head.

“Raven Clan Demon Art, Heavens Wings!” Two wings of Darkness protruded out of Elizabeth’s back and she flew toward Tanya.

“She’s up? How–”

Tanya’s words were cut short as Elizabeth jabbed her with both hands sending the redhead flying through the Forest.

Tanya tried to brace herself for impact when Elizabeth soared up to her and locked her in a bear hold.

“Let’s see if you can handle this,” Elizabeth shouted and descended toward the ground.

Oh no! She’s going to crash me.

Tanya wildly grabbed Elizabeth’s throat and started squeezing her windpipe. It was a battle to see who would drop first.

Elizabeth crashed Tanya back-first into the ground and dragged her through the dirt.

“Damn you,” Tanya yelled and kept punching Elizabeth but the Raven Leader didn’t ease up her hold. Tanya’s punches lost their force bit-by-bit as her head started to spin.

Elizabeth grunted. “Yes, almost.”

“No.” Tanya’s eyes cleared up. She brought down her fists on Elizabeth’s head for one final hit.

Elizabeth’s hold loosened a little for a second then she grabbed Tanya and rammed into an old oak tree. Tanya’s labored breathing filled the air. The black wings on Elizabeth’s back disappeared.

Tanya gasped. It was her Aura?

“Damned Noble Clan.” She cursed as she pushed the unconscious Elizabeth off her body. Elizabeth’s left hand loosened and a vial fell from her grasp. A vial again? That woman. Did she give this to her? Tanya crawled over and inspected the vial. There was a small drop still left.

The Raven soldiers and the Deep Forest guards were running toward them. Tanya couldn’t move anymore. Depending on who got here first, she or Elizabeth would be dead. Her eyes shifted from the unconscious Elizabeth to the vial again. The Ravens were getting closer. Tanya gritted her teeth and drank the last drop.

The Raven soldiers thrust their spears at Tanya.

“No,” screamed one of the Deep Forest guards.

But Tanya deftly evaded the spears and brought down all the soldiers with just a kunai. Their slashed throats created a puddle around Elizabeth’s body.

Tanya walked over to the unconscious Elizabeth. “You’re good. I’ll give you that. I’m sorry it had to be like this.” She knelt and placed the kunai near Elizabeth’s throat.

“Tanya, run.” Tanya glanced over her shoulder when she heard the sounds from behind. The nearby Deep Forest guards collapsed with bullet holes in their heads.

A man was standing far away with a gun in his hand. “Step away from Elizabeth. Now!”

“How dare you…RAVEN SCUM!” Tanya growled.

She ran toward him with her kunai. He aimed without a tremor and fired just two shots. The first shot knocked the kunai out of her hands.

Tanya saw the second bullet coming and jumped to the right.

“Now!” he ordered. The skies darkened as many Raven soldiers Zeored down from the trees.

They tricked me. Dammit, I can’t stop.

They fell on top of her.

“Let me go!” she demanded.

“Be careful now, she’s dangerous,” the gun-man told the soldiers.

There were ten of them. What’s going on? Where’s everyone? She peered up at the distant battlefield and her eyes widened.

The Deep Forest guards, every one of them, were on the ground, not moving.

“No, no, no.” She thrashed about like a madwoman. “Murderers! I’ll kill all of you!”

Blood trickled down one Raven soldier’s chest armor. “Murderers? You attacked us first. We just wanted to go home,” he whimpered.

Tanya continued struggling.

“Gonazamius, shoot her. She’s crazy,” said another soldier.

Gonazamius stared at Tanya as she snarled. “I’ll kill all of you.”

“Kill her already.”

Gonazamius pointed the gun at Tanya. Just then a rumbling sound came from the ground. The nearby trees started overturning. The soldiers and Gonazamius ran toward Elizabeth as the trees came down.

“What was that?” another soldier cried.

“I don’t know. Let’s just take Elizabeth and get out of here,” Gonazamius murmured.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Tanya scowled at them from atop the pile of dead trees.

One of them shrieked, “Everyone Zeor, now!” But it was too late.

She jumped down and the sound of necks snapping echoed through the forest as all the soldiers keeled over. The gun quivered in Gonazamius’s hand. He was the last one.

She marched toward him. “It’s useless. Trying to Zeor when your mind’s in a frenzy is impossible.”

He backed away and fell over the unconscious Elizabeth. Seeing her, Gonazamius bit his lips and stood up. He fired another shot but the bullet flew past Tanya’s head.

She knocked the gun out of his hand. “Every last one of you can go to hell.” She circled her fingers around his throat. Her lifeless eyes glared down at him as his face turned blue.

“Enough.” Jenny grasped her hands and wrested them away.

Tanya’s lips parted. How did she get here so fast? I never heard her.

Jenny’s eyes were red. “Just go down already you monster.”

The ground underneath Tanya gave way. “Oh fuck,” Tanya mumbled. Both she and Jenny were in the skies near the trees. Down below, she saw Elizabeth and Gonazamius. I forgot, she can teleport. How could I be so careless?

Jenny grabbed Tanya from behind. “Raven Clan Demon Art, Four Klaws!” A Black Aura appeared around Jenny. Tanya tried to escape but Jenny’s fingers and feet dug into her body.

Dammit, I can’t move. They started to fall and this time Tanya couldn’t fight back. I’m going to die.

Everything happened in an instant. Another quake occurred causing a giant vine to fall from one of the trees toward them.

Tanya who had given up hope, saw the vine and shot a desperate hand out.

Jenny screeched, “No, you don’t,” and tried to pull the arm away.

But she was too late as Tanya caught the vine and disrupted their trajectory. They changed positions and crashed into the ground with Jenny below Tanya. The claw-like grip around Tanya loosened and she rolled away. She breathed in hard and focused her eyes on Jenny. The Dark Aura was disappearing but there was no blood on the ground.

She’s still alive. Her Aura protected her. Bloody Noble Clan. She got up and limped over to Jenny.

“No, Jenny get up.”

Tanya groaned. “Is this like tag to you? One of you falls and the other gets up. I knock her out and you come back into the ring.” She planted her weight on to her left leg and circled around.

Elizabeth sat up quivering on one elbow. “You…what…what are you?” she asked in a hoarse voice. “How did you beat us without any powers?”

“With sheer will,” Tanya replied and took out a kunai. “Nothing but sheer will. Something you lack.” She slammed her right leg on Jenny’s chest. “Now die already.”

“No,” Elizabeth begged.

A small sound buzzed in the air and a flash of light came from Tanya’s right, blinding her.

“Alright, that’s enough fighting for one day.” It was a man’s voice.

She opened her eyes again cautiously. Standing before them was someone wearing white armor. “A Knight? Reinforcements?” She was surrounded by many soldiers. Her eyes darted to the bodies of the fallen Deep Forest guards and she cursed in a low voice.

“Help me,” she whispered. Once again, the tremors roared to life and many trees started keeling over.

“Don’t think you’ve escaped. I’ll hunt down every last one of you someday,” Tanya snarled at Elizabeth as she threw another smoke bomb into the ground and ran away in the commotion.

One of the trees tipped over Elizabeth’s head but the Knight destroyed it with a single slash of his blade. She closed her eyes as the debris fell on her.

Elizabeth heard the man tell his soldiers. “Scour the area. Chase away any who are hiding. Don’t engage but retaliate if they attack.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

Elizabeth let out a sigh. “Thank you.”

The battle was finally over.