Jon’s and Tallow’s bodies flew parallel to the ground, going at a high speed. Jon’s gun had propelled them, but Tallow’s wind mana made sure they coasted through the air from the rustling force.

It was reminiscent of flying with Geneive, except Geneive’s flying was much more serene. Jon could feel the roughness of Tallow’s mana forcing them to keep moving, as they only had the force of Jon’s gun to utilize for their momentum.

Still, Jon didn’t mind. He trusted Tallow. Just like with her, he knew that past the rough exterior was someone who was always completely under control.

That didn’t stop him from keeping his arm wrapped around Tallow’s back, keeping them close together. He hadn’t meant to grab her, since she had shown her disapproval before.

“Again, Jon!” Tallow said.

Jon pulled the trigger again. There was an extra burst of acceleration. However, Jon could already tell it was less than before.

Up ahead, he saw Amalia doing her best to fend off against Raglace. Her weapon was in staff form now, and she kept him at bay, but Jon could see her pained face.

“Break away… now!” Tallow yelled.

Jon let go of her body. She let go of his hand and pushed off of him with her feet.

They split into opposite directions, taking either side of the conflict.

Jon made sure to use the gun to help ease himself into a roll. He came to Amalia’s side.

“Hi,” Jon said.

“Jon!” Amalia grabbed his wrist. “You’re here! You didn’t have to come-”

Jon reversed the grip, grabbing Amalia instead and pulling her out of the way while Tallow and Raglace fought, moving in their way.

Tallow had drawn the Vindazi sword. She leaped around like always, but unlike her other battles, she stayed in front of Raglace the entire time, making larger movements and swings with the larger sword.

Raglace didn’t seem to mind at all. Despite her large movements, he fended her off easily, swinging his large sword with one hand and keeping up with her.

“From behind, Jon!” Amalia cried.

Jon nodded.

He immediately started shooting.

The blast stunned Raglace from the back, but he kept his footing, still pushing away Tallow with his sword.

“You’re gonna need something larger than that!” he cried.

Amalia swung her red staff down onto his head. He side-stepped it before turning around and deflecting Tallow’s blade.

His leg immediately lifted, kicking Tallow hard in the stomach.

He grabbed Tallow and held her by her neck, keeping her in front of him. He held the sword to her throat.

“Try anything!” He said. “I’ll make sure she bleeds!”

Jon didn’t know if he could make a shot good enough to stop him from hurting Tallow. He grimaced.

“You don’t hold a Vindazi!” Tallow yelled, stabbing Raglace in the shoulder with a dagger.

While he was stunned, she reached above with her clawed hand and grabbed his other shoulder, digging into it with her claws.

“Aaaahhhh!!!” He yelled in pain, sinking down to his knees.

“Jon, you can-” Raglace raised his head up, the back of it hitting Tallow in the chin and knocking her head back, cutting off her command.

Her body had frozen, and she fell onto her back like a statue.

Jon both internally freaked out and groaned as he immediately knelt low and shot Tallow’s body, rolling it to the side out of the fight.

She was still probably tired from earlier. Jon wanted to think more about Tallow’s health, but he still had a large angry swordsman pulling a dagger out of his shoulder.

On the second inspection, Jon realized that it was Thalia’s dagger. He didn’t get to see it much as Raglace had already tossed it aside.

“I already told you you’re gonna need something bigger!” He yelled.

We need a plan… Jon thought. Unfortunately, Amalia had already charged with her staff raised above her head, screaming.

No one wants to plan… Jon silently wished for Hector to be near as he ran behind Amalia they went towards their target.

Raglace came forward and swung his sword to parry Amalia’s attack.

Her staff changed to a shield, resisting the parry and causing Raglace to miss his footing.

She then swung at his ankle.

“Ow!” He hopped onto the other foot. “That’s still not enough to-”

He received another staff to the face. “Stop that!”

Jon shot the gun and pushed Raglace back.

The man still held his ground.

“You’re just flying!” He yelled. He knocked away the incoming staff with his free hand and stabbed towards Amalia.

She was able to sidestep just in time, but he came towards her with another kick in tow.

She had her shield ready in time, but unfortunately, the kick was strong enough to knock the back of it straight into Amalia’s head. She stumbled into a gaze.

Ah! Jon had to shoot her to get her out of the way of the next attack.

“Just me and you!” Raglace yelled. “No more running away!”

Jon looked at his gun. He was right. It was him and Raglace. No one else would be there to help him.

Maybe he could hold off Raglace until Hector got here, but who knew how long that would be. He could also try to run away, but then he would be leaving Raglace alone with Tallow and Amalia’s unconscious bodies. Jon was going to have to hold his ground.

“Come on!” He yelled. “Come on!” He motioned with his hand, taunting Jon to come closer.

Jon of course didn’t want to come closer with his gun. What could he do to hurt Raglace? What would Tallow do? What would anyone do?

Just keep hitting him until he stops moving…

The words echoed in Jon’s head. All of his friend’s voices kept repeating the advice in Jon’s mind, even Mallory.

Right on the mugger! Avery added, pointing to his own head.

Hit him in the head… Jon supposed that was the best advice he had for now.

He gingerly took a step forward.

Raglace yelled and charged forward like a madman.

Jon was impressed for the few seconds he had to react. Raglace waited for him to step forward before running. Even a single step could have thrown Jon off-balance, maybe even making him miss a shot.

Of course, Jon wanted to take a shot now, but he realized that it might not have been enough. What could he do differently?

He didn’t have that much time to think. Raglace was already closing in. In fact, he was too close. Could Jon even shoot him? Raglace was expecting him to shoot. So, what if he didn’t shoot?

Jon held his gun up with both hands and swung forward, colliding with Raglace’s massive swing.

There was so much force, Jon even began to lift off of the floor a couple of inches. He was able to see where Raglace’s swing was coming from, but that didn’t matter because it was so powerful. Jon wished he could rely on a strategy as simple as swinging at everything.

He didn’t have enough time to be too impressed with himself as there was a fist coming for his head.

Oh… Jon was still airborne when the fist connected with the face. The pain was instant, and there was so much of it, Jon was almost numb to it all anyway. Still, his face ached as he was knocked backward, flipping partially in the air as he turned upside down. He could see the ground move from under him and over and under before he landed on the floor.

At least he was still alive.

No… That’s right. He was still in a fight.

He shot the gun while rolling on the ground, standing himself up again when he could already feel the hot breath of the man rushing towards him.

Already! Raglace had managed to keep up with Jon that entire time. And now he was way too close.

Let go of the gun.

That’s right. Jon threw the gun up in the air with both hands and dived onto a tumble, just barrel going underneath Raglace’s sword.

He readied himself to keep the gun, staring at Raglace’s backside.

Shoot. No, something hard. Jon tried to figure out what could hurt Raglace. What would hurt?

Jon then remembered Hector’s shoulder tackle.

Once he caught the gun, he pointed away and fired.

The force was strong enough to send Jon into a huge shove. Jon felt like he heard something crack in his own arm, but it was okay since it was enough to cause pain on Raglace’s end.

“Ah!” Being shoved forward a few feet, Raglace had barely managed to catch his ground before Jon shot his gun again.

This time, Jon aimed for the side, shooting him into a spin as he swiveled on one leg. By the time Raglace had turned, Jon was already behind him.

He raced through his head of options, trying to think of what his friends would do.

Mercy...Jon ran up and grabbed Raglace from behind, wrapping his arms around the front.

“What!” Not wanting to give Raglace a chance to react, Jon fired the gun into to ground, thinking only nothing but aiming from the head.

The blast pointing down to the floor forced Jon to swing both himself and Ralglace over Jon’s body. Raglace was slammed hard into the ground as Jon brought him over, but he was still holding on.

Jon could still hear Raglace’s coughs.

Again. Jon shot again, flipping Ragalce onto his head once more.

Again. Again. Again. They went several more times in a row, Jon keeping his grip on Raglace for fear of retaliation. He began to feel Raglace almost coming free, so he changed it up.

Big one. Adhering to his command, the blast of the gun launched both of them into the air.

Once they reached the arc of the leap, they both began to turn upside down.

Having nothing else to lose, Jon fired the gun and both men flew headfirst into the ground.

This time, Jon had lost his grip, rolling away from Raglace. He looked up and saw that Raglace’s sword had been left around in all of the tumblings.

Good… it’s- Jon had received Raglace’s own shoulder tackle straight into his body.

There was a brief stint of pain, and Jon went flying again, this time without any flipping.

Big hit… Jon thought. I should shoot-

Jon’s back collided hard with a tree. There was so much pain, Jon could barely manage a scream. There was just a pained gasp as his body landed uselessly on the floor.

Even if he was still sitting up, he could barely move. The gun was still being held onto by his index finger.

...hurts… Jon couldn’t feel the pain, and yet, his body was telling him that it was hurt all over. It was as if every single part of his body was crying at a different tempo.

All he could do was catch his breath and look back up at the scene.

Tallow had woken back up. Her headwrap was mostly knocked off, except for the part still braided into one side of her head.

Tallow… Jon tried to grab towards the floor and move towards her, but all he did was grab dirt.

Useless...Jon hated it. At least Tallow was awake again. Maybe she would save them.

“Little birdy come out to play?” Raglace asked. “My men went on ahead. They’ll catch that carriage sooner or later. We can negotiate a price for your lives.”

“Money’s overrated, honestly,” she responded, drawing both of her swords. Her clawed hand held her normal sword and her plain hand held the larger one. “And I’m named after a bird, doofus, so come up with a better insult!”

She dashed in Raglace’s direction, but at a normal pace without the assistance of her wind mana.

She’s out of mana… Jon wished he could do more but watch. But he watched.

Tallow began her usual flurry of blows, but now with two swords. She danced around Raglace, moving out of the way of his attacks.

Even without her mana, her movement ability was impressive. In fact, Jon realized he could tell when Tallow would use the littlest of mana at opportune times. She managed to leap behind him and give him a shallow cut of her sword.

Raglace growled, but he wasn’t deterred. She kept moving, sidestepping and giving him more and more shallow cuts with both swords.

“These do nothing!” he yelled.

“True, but they piss you off!” Tallow yelled. She jumped up and planted both of her feet of his face flipping off of him in a mana-assisted leap.

Raglace roared and made a large leap in the air after her.

Jon couldn’t even begin to be worried as Tallow had shot down to the ground immediately with more mana.

She landed on the floor with her hands and pushed off, just barely dodging Raglace, who had stabbed into the ground where she was.

She’s not out of mana… she’s conserving mana… John could barely nod in approval. He had much to learn if he had ever learned to utilize mana at those levels.

She stopped moving, taunting Raglace with her blade.

“Little birdie too fast to catch?” she asked.

“I’ll get you!” Jon could see the shallow cut on Raglace's cheek under his eyepatch, which seemed just as angry as the rest of his body. Raglace was right about Tallow's strikes not doing much damage, but she had to have a plan. Right?

Raglace ran to her again, and she challenged him with her own run.

Jon knew that Raglace was smart enough to change his strategy when needed. He didn’t think she could get by with another leap.

He almost closed her eyes when she did go into the air. However, she hadn’t gotten very far when a red whip had caught itself around her waist.

Raglace had stopped short and made a wide swing in preparation for Tallow’s movement, but her momentum had already been stopped by the whip. She was pulled away as the sword passed by where she once was.

Amalia was already running from behind Tallow. As she passed the Vindazi girl, her whip turned into a pole, which was brought down on Raglace’s head. This time, he was still recovering from his hard swipe.

All he could do was bring his sword back around to the top of his head and block the attack.

When the red staff landed, Amalia held it there. Tallow had already jumped onto it and began running across its thin body.

Raglace roared and brought his arms apart, knocking the staff and Amalia away.

Tallow, like always, was already in the air and behind him. She spun towards the ground at a high speed as both swords were brought down his back, making two large cuts on the way down.

Yeah… Jon was impressed. He could feel the feeling coming back into his face as he smiled.

“You gonna just keep watch?”

It took Jon a moment before he realized that Tallow was talking about him.

Oh. He grabbed his gun and used the tree to push himself off of the ground. Tallow and Amalia were already jogging down to his side.

Tallow got there first obviously.

“Are you okay, buddy?” she asked, coming to his side.

“Yeah,” Jon said, nodding.

“He knew I was gonna escape, that bastard,” she said. “Sorry for letting myself think I was so smart.”

“You are smart,” Jon said quickly.

Tallow punched him in the arm, blushing. “Really?”

Jon’s heart had jumped when she did so, but it had barely hurt.

“I hope you’re not listening to Macy and trying to get into my pants,” Tallow said. “Not happening.”

“I don’t want your pants…” Jon said.

“Uh, guys…” Amalia was readying her staff, pointing it towards Raglace. “He’s coming…”

“I wish I could have cut his arms off,” Tallow said as he approached. “But his mana’s too powerful. His body’s, like steel, almost.”

“So, he’s like Lester,” Amalia said slowly, taking steps to the side. “Only, trying to kill us.”

“I wouldn’t waste brain cells trying to figure out which one is dumber,” Tallow said. “But yeah. I don’t know why I never sparred with him in advance. Could have been useful. Killing blockheads, 101.”

She turned to Jon. “Anyways, that’s not the point. His body’s hard, but he can still feel pain, ya know? Even if we can’t cut through him completely."

“You cut him,” Jon said.

“Yeah, but that’s me,” Tallow said. “Won’t happen again. But, you did manage to give him a couple of good blows on his head. I wish I could have saw that happen.”

“Yeah…”

“That’s what we do,” she continued. “Keep hitting him on the noggin until he stops moving. Even if he can’t feel it, his body's gonna shut down eventually. Right?”

Jon nodded. “Right.”

“Shoot me!” She immediately said, jumping into the air.

Jon was ready. He fired up and at an angle.

Raglace was swinging at Amalia, who used her staff to keep away from him while Tallow soared high above his head.

Jon expected another blow, and so did Raglace. But instead, a large dark gust of wind came down onto his head.

While he was distracted, Jon started to walk forward and start shooting several single shots.

Raglace had finally knocked away the wind magic and was but was taken aback by Jon’s consecutive blasts.

After 2 more hits, Raglace finally repositioned, as not to be hit by another of Tallow’s ariel attacks. He had turned to counter-attack once Tallow handed, but Amalia had already run up and stabbed her staff down into his shin, knocking his foot back.

"Haraagh!" He screamed as he fell forward, and she quickly raised her staff up, knocking him in the chin and pushing his head back.

Jon had run forward as well, quenching his fear and taking his opportunity. He swung the back of his blunderbuss into Raglace’s face, continuing the attack.

The blow knocked Raglace back, but he was still trying to keep standing.

“I’m gonna-” the last hit came from Tallow, who had leaped forward and punched him hard in the face with her golden claw.

Now, Raglace was barely standing in place. He held on to his sword, but he didn't even seem to be looking at them.

“That’s all you got?” he yelled. However, he seemed out of breath.

Tallow had detached her claw hand handed into Jon. “I think you know what to do."

Jon opened up his gun and she dropped the claw in the chamber.

He loaded the gun and fired the claws out from the gun.

Raglace swung at the weapon, hoping to deflect it. Instead, he received a golden fist to the stomach, lifting him off the ground and sending him flying away.

Jon needed to know why his gun seemed more powerful when he stuffed objects into it. He also didn’t remember it being a fist when Tallow dropped her claw in there.

Jon was gonna have to learn a lot more about mana. And his gun. People’s lives might have depended on it.

“I’m not done!” Raglace crawled from the ground. “I’m not done!”

“He’s done,” Tallow said. She opened up her pouch and handed Jon a net.

Oh yeah. The sharpshooter had given him that.

“Tie him up,” Tallow said.

Jon loaded the net into the gun.

She walked away as Raglace tried to run at them. Raglace was jogging slow, so it was an easy enough shot. The net had knocked Raglace off of his feet, lifting him away as it tangled himself around his body.

“Boss!” The sound had come from behind. The three of them had turned to see more men on horses.

“Come on!” Tallow shouted, readying her sword.

“Hector!” Amalia cried.

Tallow looked swiftly over her shoulder to Amalia.

“Well, yeah, he’s not here right now, but-”

“No!” Amalia pushed Tallow and pointed in the other direction.

It was indeed Hector, riding a horse towards them. Mercy was right behind, reading her small black tool while Hector drew his own sword.

“Kick their ass!” Tallow yelled. “I’m tired!”

“On it!” Hector yelled as the horse passed by them.

The other horsemen didn’t stand a chance. It took one attack from Mercy and Hector each and everyone else who was on a horse wasn’t anymore.

Hector brought the horse around, now at a simple strut, as he came to the trio’s side.

“Took you long enough,” Tallow said as they got near.

As soon as the horse stopped moving, Mercy rushed down the side and wrapped her arms around Jon.

“I missed you!” she said. “I miss you so much!”

She pulled away from him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Jon tried to smile, but Mercy had already pulled herself around her body again.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight again!” she said.

“Within, reason!” Hector said, climbing down from the horse. He saw Amalia.

“You’re hurt!” he said. He came to Amalia and raised her hand towards her face.

Jon could see it. She had a cut on her forehead, as well as a small gash that he hadn't noticed before. There were also cuts on her arms.

Jon could have sworn she was smiling, but then she knocked away Hector’s hand.

“Don’t you start worrying about me now!” she said. “I’m fine!”

“Of course, I’m worried!” Hector’s voice became a little more excited, but he hadn’t gone to screaming levels yet. “I want to know if my friend is fine?”

“Your friend?” Amalia began to cry. “I’m… not your friend…”

“Of course you are,” Hector said. “Why would you say something so… dumb…”

“Hector!” Both Tallow and Mercy said sternly.

“What I’m saying is-” Hector didn’t finish as Amalia had wrapped her arms around him.

“Yeah, sure.” Hector returned her hug as if he didn’t know what the right decision was.

“So, I don’t get a hug and a kiss?” Tallow asked.

“I didn’t kiss Jon,” Mercy said. “But, you can ask Hector.”

Hector was still being hugged by Amalia.

“You want a hug?” Hector asked. “I could-”

“No thank you,” Tallow said. “It’s fine.”

“Are you fine?” Hector asked.

“Yeah. Where’s the wagon?”

“Up ahead,” Hector said. “The family is safe, but they said they didn’t want to leave until they knew you were safe.”

“How sweet,” Tallow said. “It still might be a shit show, over there.”

“Where’s my sister?” Hector asked immediately after.

“She’s… she’s having fun with my nunchucks,” Tallow said.

“Alright. Me and Mercy will go and assist with the rest of the situation. You guys-”

“Hey, tool!” The cry came from afar.

Hector’s face immediately turned to a frown.

“There she is,” he said, not even following the source of the sound.

Sure enough, Macy was on a horse heading towards them.

“I knocked a couple of bitches out while you took your time here,” she said.“ You gonna help clean up?”

Hector sighed. “Are you even okay with fighting?”

“I’m always okay,” Macy said.

“I’m serious, Macy, I-”

“Bro, chill." On Macy's face was one of the only serious expressions Jon saw on her. "We’re on a mission.”

Hector rolled his eyes. ‘Fine.”

Macy apparently satisfied with this, quickly changed subjects. “We’re mostly done. Just clean up now, but everyone’s out of mana.”

“What about that magic chick?” Tallow asked. "The blonde one with the annoying haircut."

“She’s not gonna feel her whole body for a week,” Macy answered. “I made sure of that.”

She took the nunchucks off of her side and tossed them back to Tallow, who caught it.

"Now I have to wash my hands," Tallow responded, causing Macy to give a big grin.

“I can help,” Jon said, looking up at Hector. “I have energy.”

“No, Jon, stay here,” Hector said. “You should…”

He paused. “Sure, do whatever you want. Sorry.”

"Hector," Tallow started, a puzzled look on her face. "Are you trying to-"

“Here,” Macy patted the back of her horse, staring at Jon. “With me.”

“No way!” Mercy said stepping in between them. “I don’t trust you!”

“Cause Hector talked about me?” Macy responded. “What dirty secrets did he tell you. Should I tell his?”

Her eyebrow suddenly raised. "Don't you want to ride with your hubby?"

Mercy gritted her teeth. Jon could tell she was trying to hold back something.

"Besides," Macy added, "me and Jon... we got to know each other really well last night."

"What?" Mercy turned red with anger She reached back for her hip. "Are you kidding me?"

“Guys, enough!” Hector yelled. “Jon, with me!”

Jon grabbed Hector’s extended hand and he was pulled onto the horse.

"...Don't kill each other," Hector said to the other two women.

Mercy gave Macy an angry stare before climbing on the back of Macy's horse.

“The wagon’s waiting ahead,” Hector repeated to Tallow and Amalia. “You guys meet up with them.”

“Got it, boss,” Tallow said, reaching through the ground. She found the dagger and picked it up.

“I’m not your boss!” Hector yelled as the two horses pulled away.

The two horses pulled away.