Heavy footsteps resonated all over the narrow alleyways, accompanied with bated breathe along every corner. Flo was exhausted, running and hiding for a time now.

"Stop." Kara said, Flo pausing in his track. His eyes happened to catch Kara's back, staring at her gleaming beauty under the midnight sky -the moonlight seemingly playing with her curls, dancing along her pale skin.

"What?" Kara turned, her golden eyes piercing through Flo's very soul. "Nothing." Flo bowed in arrest, his face brimming with warmth -flustered, he thought.

She's different.

Although they met only very recently, Flo could tell something was off with her. Her vibe seems, to put it bluntly, ice-cold, compared to before.

Before what? Flo thought.

Thud.

Flo felt his body go numb, unable to move a limb with the warmth within his body escaping seemingly through a hole within his heart. Literally.

Flo clenched his chest, blood spilling all over as an incomprehensible pain pulsed within it, leaving Flo breathless and gasping for air.

It hurts.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. Flo felt his body crash as he rolled over the stone-cold floor, blood spatting all over, making a mess. His arms felt like ice, shivering and shaking, his legs unmoving, like blocks of stone.

Flo couldn't breathe. He couldn't hear. He couldn't even see the world flashing as he died. He could only see a blurred figure, many meters away, holding knives -throwing knives he thought, as he inched closer to Flo, the figure's blonde hair dancing around his circlet.

"Xel."

I'm dead, Flo thought, however, a lingering joke formed a smirk on his pale face. How many times has he died already? He almost died falling before even, what's another death call? After all, he still has Kara.

He glanced over to her, seeing her emotionless face staring right back into his. "Kara?" He said, the hint of desperation in his eyes fierce like a dragon's, clinging ever so desperately to life.

"U-Use your magic." Flo muttered, clutching his chest drenched with blood.

Kara didn't respond.

"Heal me, Kara!"

.

.

.

"Disgusting." Kara sneered.

"Huh?" Flo squealed as Kara then knelt and cast her blood magic, an eight-sided, blood and flesh figure manifesting behind her as small, blood-red tentacles swarmed Flo's heart, seemingly dancing and playing around it, repairing the massive wound on his chest.

"Stay." Kara said, turning her head towards Xel as she conjured another spell, this time transfiguring the many surrounding metal walls, floors, and buildings tens of meters away, to grotesque, flesh-like substances that adorned many bloodshot eyes dotting all over it.

A smaller, four-sided figure swallowed the previous figure behind Kara thereafter, like a small predator feeding on its prey, the remains of the first figure littered all over the bloody flesh floor.

Flesh.

Flo wanted to hurl everything he had on the -somewhat absolutely disturbing floor below him, although even if he wanted to do so, none would come out of his stomach. He was starving still.

The jarring stare of the grotesque eyes within the fleshy floor made Flo queasy -uneasy, to say the least, though that wasn't of significant concern. The actual problem was Xel, blocking off the alleyway to the front.

Stares as cold as Flo's body crossed between Kara and Xel, keeping the other in check. Kara's strong, incredibly so. But how can such a powerful woman not have any aura?

They remained still, eyes darting to and fro from one thing to the other, looking for any chances to initiate an attack.

"Iliti'aj, Wer'pa, d'an Lusyons'il m'ka!" Xel shouted in a foreign language, thereafter an intricately designed figure, alternating red, green, and purple in ambiance, formed behind him. His aura flared to life, brimming the narrow path with strength.

Xel pounced first, nearing the distance between them in a blink, dashing within the narrow alley with a dagger in hand -aiming for a small vertical arc swing. Kara blocked- no, the meat floor blocked the swing with a giant bloody tentacle coming from below, and, with a sweeping downward motion, attempted to slip Xel.

Xel did a forward flip, dodging the sway of the tentacle and followed a vertical down kick towards Kara. Kara dashed back, keeping a good enough distance between themselves.

Flo took keen observation on the ongoing fight, taking particular importance to the tentacle marred with a large cut -around a half deep, a result from it blocking the blade attack of Xel. Not even a greatsword can do that much of a damage, Flo thought as the tentacle regenerated its wound.

Xel's strong.

However, no matter how strong, one doesn't reach Crusader by mere strength alone. And one doesn't reach that level of reaction speed by mere training. Blessings from the Elders or Natures must be in place, which can be seen through the intricate symbols behind him.

However, something's odd. The symbol behind Xel shifts in ambiance, shape, and size every second, an event that only occurs to magians -beings blessed by many, many Elders and Natures.

Increase in power and sense enhancement. Those are the two blessings Flo observed from Xel as he evaded the bulky swish of the tentacle, not even turning to look where the fleshy limb was aiming. He knew where and how Kara was aiming at him, evading the whips of flesh like water moving freely.

Red, green, and purple. Red, for the blessing of strength. Green, for enhanced senses.

Purple.

As Flo watched in awe at the abnormality of the fight right in front of him, something appeared from behind Kara -it was Xel, or at least a lookalike of him, manifesting from the air like water vapor condensing, making a horizontal arc swing with his right, aiming for Kara's neck.

Kara evaded it by an inch as she followed up with a rising motion of her right hand -her flesh tentacle dashing out from below the grotesque floor, knocking back Xel. At the same time, the 'other' Xel dissipated into nothingness, like a mirage fading from sight.

Illusions.