In the darkest abyss where no light could come, Leona found herself floating in the endless void, but as tumultuous as her mind was she found strangely at peace.

“You have met a terrible fate, haven’t you?”

A distorted male voice came from behind her, she turned around only to be met with an undulating ominous dark red energy barely visible from her perspective.

She tried to speak but it was as if the very air was sucked out of her lungs, even though she could not say a word, its presence did not cause any alarm. It continued to reverberate with its surroundings and a voice reached her ears once again.

“Our fate has been intertwined since the beginning, you have what it takes to change the very principles of this world.”

She reached out for the dark red energy, trying to grasp it but it was just out of reach. Her hands were clouded with a strange dark mist and the further away from her body it got, the stronger it became.

“Endure this road of troubles and we’ll meet again. My champion of darkness.”

Pulsating red energy enveloped her and before she knew her eyes opened to the gentle rays of sun coming between the leaves.

“What…”

She blinked a few times, confused. Looking around, everyone seemed to still be asleep, saving for Neiliel leaning with her back against a tree near Laura, she had her mace out while gripping the handle lightly.

Embers of the former campfire were still emitting a weak orange glow while a thin trail of smoke raised from the ashes. The priestess noticed Leona wake up from the edge of her vision.

“Good morning Princess Leona.”

She said whilst smiling warmingly.

“Good… good morning Neiliel.”

“What’s wrong? You seem taken aback by something.”

A trickle of cold sweat was coming down from Princess’ brow, she dried it with her right thumb and held the rest of her hand against the forehead deep in thought.

“I honestly don’t know, I feel like I had a dream but I cannot recall what I dreamed about.”

“It is better if you don’t dwell on it too much.”

She picked a dark hemp sack from her bag and gave it to Leona as she said.

“It’s not much but I hope it’s filling.”

Inside the hemp sack there was a round dark crusted bread big enough to fit between both her hands. She was mesmerized by the lump of loaf and asked without taking her eyes off it.

“Can I have this?”

The question seemed to confuse the priestess a little at first, but with a light chuckle she answered.

“Yes, of course.”

Leona’s slender fingers dug slightly into the crust as it released a pleasant crunching sound, she then forced a quarter of it apart and a sweet aroma of baked dough hit her nose. She shyly took a bite and her eyes widened in surprise towards Neiliel who was watching her expectantly.

“This is… this is really good. Where did you get this?”

“Oh I’m glad you liked it. I baked it yesterday myself.

Leona gazed on the bread for a good few minutes, before looking towards the priestess again.

“Can I have all of this?”

“Yes I made it for you.”

Hustling beside her, Krieg had come to consciousness. His tight grip on the guard of his weapon relaxed as he noticed the Princess immediate to his left.

“Good morning Leona.”

He said while blinking a few times to focus his vision on the object she held. She turned towards him and greeted with a mouth half full of bread.

“Good. Morning. Krieg.”

“Is that… bread?”

She nodded and offered him the round loaf, it had a part torn off but it still had its freshness to it. He reached out and pulled out a chunk with his index and thumb, some of the crust flaked off on the grass.

He took a bite and started to nod as he chewed.

“This is some very good bread.”

“I know right? Adele used to make some-“

She stopped mid-sentence regretting what she had just said. Her fingers curled around the bread slightly as her expression saddened, the former maid was part of most of her childhood and now she missed her dearly.

“Adele…”

She muttered while staring at the embers of the campfire. Most of the days she spent after losing her mother was in Adele’s company, the dutiful maid kept the so necessary parenthood care that her mother once gave her. From waking her up to getting her ready to sleep, the two horned maid was always supporting Leona however way she could.

Krieg was resentful for his own incompetence to protect her, it felt just like the day Lady Ravness was killed, nothing but regret and pain. He stood up and put the greatsword leather strap on his left shoulder.

“Leona I’ll go wash my face, I’ll be back shortly.”

“Mmm.”

She answered dispiritedly and kept eating pieces of bread. Neiliel, seeing what just happened, sat beside her.

“Princess Leona. I know not of what afflicts you but know that many things in this great world are not set in stone.”

Although she was listening, her expression didn’t change as she asked.

“…Not even death?”

“The goddess Eleonora is a merciful deity, as long as we find the person, there’ll be a place for salvation.”

“I just hope it doesn’t come to that, I don’t know if I can bear losing my father…”

Her eyes were filled with sadness, but Neiliel slowly reached her arms around the princess’ shoulder before hugging her lightly.

“Everything will be alright.”

Near a wide but not too deep pond, Krieg kneeled and washed his face vigorously with a hint of anger with his movements. His failures led to the situation they were in, or at least he thought so. They were still days away from the capital and a few more from the mansion, there was still time to prepare Leona for whatever would happen there, be it a happy ending or an unfolding tragedy of unimaginable proportions. He didn’t want to leave it to chance again, it was something he could not forgive himself for if it happened again.

“I will not fail you, for that I swear upon my own life.”

He stood up and in a split second of hearing hustling in the bushes to his right side he jumped backwards to avoid a volley of crossbow bolts coming from the foliage and as the leather scabbard came forward from his sudden movement, he held the greatsword handle and drew the blade. Three cloaked figures dashed from within the thick bushes with two shortswords each, Krieg dropped the leather scabbard on the ground behind him and held the greatsword with both hands as the assassins fanned out around trying to find a blindspot in his guard, however the knight kept moving sideways as he stepped closer to the pond while still keeping an eye out for any sudden movement. They spread out around him trying to get out of his peripheral but before they could accomplish so, Krieg kicked a chunk of earth towards the one in the middle which he promptly dodged by stepping to the right side and as he did so the knight rushed towards the one on the left with a wide swing. The assassin jumped backwards, evading most of the attack that slashed part of his cloak, whilst in mid-air he threw a couple of knives towards Krieg but they were easily blocked by the flat part of his sword.

Hearing footsteps approaching from behind, the knight instead decided to charge the one in front of him, hanging the sword low near his hip and pointed forward towards his victim like a spearhead.

Krieg dodged a sword strike coming for his back by bolting forward with his head low, the assassin desperately tried to jump backwards once again but was met with a tree trunk behind him and this time without nowhere to run, the knight impaled him through the stomach pinning him against the wood trunk.

“AAARGH!”

He dropped both swords and screamed loudly in pain, his hand trying to grasp the blade but with no avail, only serving to cut his palms. Krieg used the momentum to snatch a shortsword and swiftly throw it backwards towards the closest assailant, which he dodged and threw his own sword at the knight. He dodged the weapon and raised his fists. Unorthodox as the knight was, the assassin seemed to hesitate before trying to stab him in the chest, Krieg dodged sideways and quickly jabbed the opponent in the jaw. Stumbling back a few steps he recovered from the sudden strike and tried a wide slash towards the knight’s arms but he simply leaned backwards and evaded the attack altogether and using his opponent’s opening he grabbed the assassin’s right wrist and hit his face with a headbutt.

“Oof!”

The attacker stumbled back again and collided against the other assassin, Krieg used this brief moment to grab the greatsword handle with both hands while anchoring both his feet in place before twisting his upper body with all his might.

“Aaaaaargh!”

He pulled the blade out of the trunk, leaving the impaled assassin to fall on the ground and beheaded both opponents in one strike, their heads were sent flying into the pond that slowly turned crimson. The assassin left on the ground was agonizing while blood poured endlessly from the wound.

“Aaa… aaa… aa…”

He was slowly crawling away but Krieg grabbed his left ankle and started to drag him away towards the camp. Desperation kicked in and the assassin tried to use a hidden blade to wound the knight’s left hand but instead his whole right wrist was lopped off from his arm as Krieg turned with the greatsword downwards like a guillotine.

“AAAAAAA!”

Back in the camp, many were startled by the sudden scream. Everyone seemed to rushily get ready for a battle until the elf’s ears twitched as she muttered.

“What was that?”

Phoebe’s head turned suddenly towards where the sound came from and instinctively drew her longbow. Leona looked to the elf and followed her eyes towards a familiar trail in between the bushes.

“That’s where Krieg went to- Krieg! Are you alright?!”

“Shhhh! Keep it down, it may be an ambush.”

Phoebe motioned for her to stay quiet as she knocked an arrow ready as she pulled the string halfway back.

“It’s me, don’t shoot.”

Krieg’s voice came from the foliage before he moved it aside with the flat side of his sword. The bloodied blade left a trail of crimson on the leaves and on the ground, behind him an agonizing hooded man with a terrible wound on his stomach, the knight tossed the man forward and raised the sword to rest on his shoulder before looking towards the priestess.

“Can you heal him? I have some questions that need answering.”

The whole group was in shock, he merely took some time to wash his face and instead brought a man half dead back with his weapon soaked in blood, luckily for the Princess, Phoebe had just enough time to cover her eyes. Laura slowly put down her greatsword as she leaned back on the tree trunk behind her, Laslow and Luke both inspected the man from afar but without saying a word, Jonathan approached right behind Neiliel that kneeled to heal the man, Leona approached the knight after Phoebe let her go, he still held the greatsword with one hand while the blade rested on his shoulder.

“Are you alright Krieg?”

“I am unharmed, I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“I trust your strength but please don’t push yourself too hard.”

He nodded and before her gaze could meet the man’s wounded body he put his arm around her shoulder, turning her to the other side.

“Princess, that is not a very pleasant sight.”

“Krieg, I appreciate your concern but I’m afraid there’ll only be more terrible things awaiting us once we get back to the capital and I…”

There was a long pause, she swallowed dry as she tried to finish her sentence, of course it was a terrible sight and she knew deep inside that it would haunt her for the last of her days, but just like once she had wounded a man with a blade, it was necessary for her to get accustomed to that sort of thing, even if it meant having nightmares.

“...I should focus on getting stronger.”

He looked towards the bloodied ground, while the concept of death and killing was something that accompanied him throughout most of his life, he wanted to protect the innocence of that young girl, but his liege was no longer just a little girl and the times are different. Albeit with regret, he released her shoulder and turned around.

“...Very well Princess.”

Leona inhaled deeply before turning around herself. Lying in a pool of blood, the handless man was being held in place by Jonathan while Neiliel worked on his wounds, the gruesome image of flesh became burned in her mind as her breathing stuttered from a sudden surge of panic as the memory of hacking through flesh with a weapon of her own became vivid in her mind. Krieg held her trembling shoulder gently and stayed there quietly while she recovered her composure.

“Listen here friend.”

Jonathan held the man’s left arm while trying to talk to him.

“For better or worse you should start talking, we may even send you on your way if you decide to cooperate, who knows, maybe even reattach that lost hand to your stump of a wrist.”

With the pain noticeably subsiding, the man seemed to calm down, if only a little. Luke who had gone to fetch the knight’s scabbard also brought back the man’s hand still clutching a dirk of some sort, the blade however, was blackened.

“Hey, I got the guy’s hand.”

Holding it with the end of a forked stick, he carefully put it down near Jonathan who proceeded to pry it open and remove the weapon from its grasp.

“I’m… I’m not paid enough for this garbage.”

The man spoke in a weak tone, with the hood half off his head it was possible to see his brown hair and reddish eyes and a familiar squiggly crown mark on his clavicule.

“You are… a Slayer?”

Jonathan wasn’t very sure as he never saw this specific person before but it was certain he was a King Slayer.

“Hah, I don’t recognize you sonny, maybe a newer member o’ sorts?”

“Cut the chat, who sent you? Why were you targeting me?”

Krieg grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt, where the cloak was being held. Neiliel stopped healing when the knight suddenly got physical with her patient. The man’s eyes widened.

“I ain’t sure, Just doin’ my client’s orders but they didn’t pay me enough to mess with ya sort big guy. Man’s call himself the King, I was just followin’ his request.”

He shoved the man back on the ground again and nodded to the priestess who continued to heal him.

Laslow and his cousin approached the knight as he took part of the man’s cloak to clean the blood off his greatsword. Luke seemed worried as he explained.

“Sir Krieg, I’m almost certain that the person who this man is referring to is my brother. It is to no surprise that he wants to become King, now as to why he would make use of assassins rather than the soldiers in the capital, I have not the slightless clue.”

“It matters not in the end.”

Laslow said then turned to the knight.

“Should we head out? Karna village is not too far from here, maybe we could acquire more information there, although I doubt there’ll be much use.”

He agreed but Leona stepped in the conversation.

“I believe it would be best if we avoided the village.”

She had mostly recovered from her panic attack, though her voice seemed to betray it as she stuttered to finish her sentence. The wizard looked at her with doubt showing on his brow before asking.

“And why would you suggest that?”

“Let’s imagine he knows we’re coming from Windia, Karna village being a few days inwards the Great Forest, it wouldn’t be too hard to estimate how many days on average a small unit of assassins like these would take to return there, if so, there is probably an ambush set for us, either that or they already plan of hunting us inside the forest.”

Laslow slowly started to nod, understanding her reasoning.

“Right then, so what do you propose we do?”

“Circle around the border of the Great Forest, while maintaining a march towards Arcadia, the underground tunnels should give us the needed entry towards the capital.”

“Aren't the tunnels abandoned due to the increasing monster infestation?”

Luke voiced his concerns while glancing every so often towards the man having his hand attached by Neiliel and Jonathan. Krieg sheathed his blade and hung it around his left shoulder, his eyes met Leona’s as he started to talk.

“They can’t be more dangerous than what I’ve faced so far.”

“Still, their numbers are the most worrisome, while I’m not certain of how many, I know it’s more than one man alone can handle.”

Jonathan walked up to them with a light crossbow loaded on his hands. He seemed to have taken all the assassin’s weapons before sending him off.

“Hey, I got some new weapons. Hm? What’s with the serious faces?”

Laslow turned to him and hit his shoulder with a light punch.

“We got a job for you. But first let’s get moving, lest more assassins jump out of bushes.”

They packed everything and the thief carefully erased any trail of the camp and sent their camels off towards the desert. Laslow and Krieg moved in front of the group while Luke, Laura, Leona and Neiliel kept to the middle with Jonathan coming up last. While the pace wasn’t exactly fast, they made sure no tracks were left behind with the thief’s help. Leona carefully observed his techniques while they moved, his knack for hiding his own footsteps in the grassy forest floor by walking along tree roots and disguising the group’s trace by shifting rocks or foliage over more noticeable footsteps. She started to mimic those behaviours but her footwear was ill suited for stepping on top of the tree’s foundation and her right foot slipped.

“Ah!”

Luke caught her hand before she could fall backwards into a bush. He pulled her back and asked if she was ok.

“Yeah I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Those shoes aren’t the best for this kind of thing, Princess Leona.”

Jonathan had his eyes on her movement patterns for the last couple of minutes as he continued to clean most of the trace left from the group. He handed her a couple of worn out bandages rolled up into small tubes.

“Use these around your shoes, it’ll help with friction.”

“Ah… thank you.”

She didn’t have the slightest clue how to wear it but Laura gently grabbed them from her hand, she stood a good half meter above her, but her voice seemed so gentle for someone so intimidating.

“Sit down for a few minutes and I’ll show you how to wear them properly.”

Leona nodded as she sat on a nearby rock. The whole group stopped but each one kept an eye out around them, Laura pulled off her shoes, though Leona wanted to protest against it she decided not to in the end as the former formal footwear would do more bad than good in the intricate forest. The barbarian proceeded to strap her right foot with the bandages, creating a thick boot-like cover around it; she did the same to the other one and was left with two low heel shoes on hand.

“Best if you throw them out.”

Jonathan explained as he continued to point out the reason.

“If you leave something like this here it’ll just point out that we were here.”

Leona was hesitant but ended up nodding to Laura, who was waiting for her answer with both shoes on hand. The barbarian got up and winded her arm back before throwing both shoes far into the sky in the opposite direction where they came from, it pained her to see a gift from her father to be thrown out like that but it was necessary as they were hardly keeping up with the rough terrain she had been walking through for the last couple of days.

Krieg frowned his brow slightly but nonetheless turned around to keep going, Laslow right behind him to keep track if they were actually going the correct way as walking through the forest without following a trail was much harder.

“Are you alright Leo?”

Luke asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me.”

Even if she said that, it was obvious she was not okay with it. Her right hand painfully clutched the prismatic pendant on her neck. The young man grasped her left hand tightly with his eyes staring at hers.

“Everything will be fine, we won’t let anything happen to your dad.”

She couldn’t help but smile weakly.

“Thanks Luke, you’re… you’re a great friend.”

He nodded firmly. His friend was a gifted mage, a great companion and above all, a dear friend to him, she gave him the resolution to go forward as a mage and as a person, when he couldn’t find words to close the gap between himself and his parents, she was there to support him. And now the time had come to repay everything she helped him achieve. With a quiet chant, Luke cast a protective aura around her that gave off a slight orange sheen as he let go of her hand.

Leona felt a warm sensation on her chest and a strange sense of peace within, the grasp on the pendant slowly weakened as she found herself calm once again. In the serenity of her thoughts she found a surge of power she did not have before, each step through the woods felt as if the shadows followed her steps, embracing her every movement.

Neiliel felt a chill go down her spine, it felt something ominous was following them closely, but every time she looked behind her nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Noticing her nervousness, Laura approached her and quietly asked.

“Is there something wrong Neiliel? You seem like you saw a ghost.”

“I don’t know but something is following us.”

“In the spiritual manner you mean?”

The priestess nodded. She held the star shaped talisman close to her chest and a golden glow enveloped her body when she opened her eyes again they had a glint of divine energy coursing through them. Changing the once deep blue eyes towards a bright yellow color, she scanned the area but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, until she glanced at Leona.

Neiliel’s eyes widened as an ominous dark red aura could faintly be seen from the princess surroundings, though the power not familiar to her, it was certainly beyond just demonic powers, as it lacked the usual malice that would come along a demon worshipper but it wasn’t dark elemental magic either since the red aura that normally accompanied fire aspected magic was present without an increase in temperature. A streak of chills went down her spine, it was as if she looked into the abyss, unnatural and void of meaning.

“What’s wrong? Is something on my face?”

Leona questioned the strange expression the priestess was giving her. Neiliel tried to dismiss it.

“Ah no… it’s nothing you need to worry about Princess.”

“Are you sure? You seem ill…”

She was going to reach out to her but a strange sensation compelled her hand to stay put, much like a parent’s cautious grasp, a faint bit of dark mist enveloped around her left wrist. Leona’s eyes glanced towards her own hand but there was nothing there.

“I’m fine, honestly, I was just scanning the area for fiends or the like.”

“I see, well do tell me if you see anything.”

“I most surely will.”

Neiliel decided to walk a few meters behind the Princess while observing the strange dark aura that enveloped her, it was much like staring into the abyss, an endless darkness void of the kindness grasp of the goddess or the never-ending malice of the demon god. It felt much older and powerful, something she could not begin to understand. Laura scuttled towards her while keeping her voice low.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m… I’m not sure, there is something about her that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s not dangerous by any means but it’s presence is unsettling.”

“Should I keep an eye on her?”

“If possible, yes.”

The barbarian nodded and proceeded to walk closer to Leona.

Towards the front of the group, Laslow pointed the direction towards east as Krieg used a shortsword to push the foliage aside without cutting it.

“Laslow, what kind of mage are you?”

The knight asked without losing focus of the path he was taking between the thicket.

“I’m a dual element, fire and lightning, but I’m also an esper.”

“Esper huh? What does that mean?”

“Are you not familiar with espers? We are mages who control physical and abstract things with our mind.”

The wizard put his left index finger along the side of his nose as he closed his eyes and suddenly the bushes in front of Krieg moved aside, creating a straight path. He opened his eyes to the knight staring at him and continued to explain.

“There are a multitude of things I can do but it’s much more taxing than casting elemental magic so I’d rather not use it unless absolutely necessary.”

“I see. It certainly has its uses.”

After a while of silence Laslow asked out of nowhere.

“Are you not a wielder of any magic?”

“No, I’m not familiar with the concept of magic.”

“Hmmm… I believe it would be useful to at least learn ephemeral enchanting. It has its uses from time to time.”

Krieg raised an eyebrow, learning magic was not something in his priority list, much less so right now.

“And what would that do?”

His voice showed he wasn’t exactly invested in the learning process so Laslow decided to take a more direct approach. He grabbed a dirk that he had taken from the Slayer assassin and held it out in front of his body. A faint blue aura started to envelop the weapon slowly transferring from his hand to the handle then towards the very edge of the blade and with a flick of his fingers the whole blade became on fire, tightly embracing the steel like a deadly dance of elements. Krieg’s eyes suddenly lit up with the sight of the enchanted blade.

“That’s… that’s much like blade energy. Do you know anything about it?”

“Blade energy?”

He flicked the flames out of existence as he raised one eyebrow.

“No I have not heard of that before, sounds akin to an enchantment of sorts. What does the blade look like when it’s active?”

“It’s much like a blue spectral force, it’s more of a concentrated energy within the blade rather than what you just showed me.”

“Hmmm… that is very interesting, yet totally unfamiliar to me. Where did you see that before?”

“Only from a few knights of the east. Queen Eleonora was also able to wield it.”

Laslow scratched his chin underneath the cloth turban. Coming from someone who had no experience with magic, the description seemed too accurate to be just told legend. He racked his brain to remember something like what the knight had just explained but it came as a blank.

“Ugh… I don’t recall anything from the library like you just said. Maybe it’s something about the weapon and not the person wielding it?”

“Queen Eleonora could use it with any weapon, although she did mention it was easier with certain kinds of swords.”

“This certainly warrants research, but I suppose there wouldn’t be much information even at the Grand Academy…”

A faint crackling sound caught Phoebe’s attention as she warned the group to stop.

“I hear something… it’s coming from deeper in the forest.”

The moment they stopped a familiar scent hit Leona’s nose, burned wood and foliage. It was something she could hardly forget after experiencing the horrors of the battlefield that once was her home. She glanced at the group in the front.

“It’s fire, I’m sure of it. We must get out of the forest before we end up trapped.”

Laslow then decided to take the lead.

“Let’s move north then, it should have enough trees to provide visual cover but not enough to entrap us should the fire spread this far.”

They darted through the woods as there wouldn’t be any trail left if the forest fire caught up to them. About twenty minutes after they started to run, the fire seemed to be getting closer and closer as the roaring sound of flames became more apparent with the thick veil of white smoke coming through the trees obscuring most of their vision. Krieg, seeing how the fumes of the fire were starting to catch up to them, started to shout orders to the rest of the team while pulling Leona towards his side and covering her nose with a piece of blue cloth.

“Cover your eyes and nose! Hold onto the person in front of you so you don’t get lost!”

Luke ignored the knight’s warning and rushed to each member of the group and started to cast a protective ward that fended off the heavy fumes, though not much, it still helped the ones further back to hold out longer.

The debilitating fog started to affect everyone as it prevented them from breathing almost any fresh air for minutes. Luckily, Laslow seemed to have a great sense of direction as it did not take much longer for them to find the edge of the forest. Almost everyone bent to their knees after finding fresh air outside the thicket. Leona seemed the most unaffect as Krieg’s aid helped her immensely, followed up by Phoebe who was quick on her feet, the wizard himself whose head was already covered in cloth and the knight himself who seemed to have shaken off the effects of the fumes. Laura, Neiliel and Jonathan were struggling to breathe but they weren’t in mortal danger.

Luke however, was much worse. Breathing heavily after being exposed to too much smoke, his eyes were aching with a stinging pain he could hardly keep them open. The young man fell down on his knees while clutching his throat and gasping for air.

“Luke! What happened?!”

Princess quickly got to him, but as she turned him on his side, part of his brow was starting to turn blue, he kicked his legs while pleading for his life when their eyes met. Phoebe ran as quickly as she could toward him and started to rummage through the bag on her belt until she found a red glass flask with a ring knot made of straw near the top of it. She bit on the cork and spit it out before pouring its contents in his mouth.

“You’ll be alright! Neiliel! I need you here right now!”

He drank the red liquid as if he was parched, desperation was setting in from the lack of oxygen going through his lungs, until Neiliel reached out from the corner of his vision and placed her hand upon his chest, when his vision was about to fade a far away voice brought him back from the edge of unconsciousness.

“Oh ever merciful goddess of light, bring respite unto this frail body, Lesser Cure!”

A faint blue light started to glow from her hands and slowly spread to his whole body, with a deep groan and quick gasps for breath, Luke took a very deep breath as he started to cough again, a black watery substance came out of his mouth.

“Aaaah… haa… I thought… I thought I was a goner.”

Phoebe put the empty flask on a bag on the other side of her belt and held Luke’s shoulder.

“Don’t you dare to die on-”

A splash of blood accompanied by a loud sound of an explosion going off interrupted the elf’s speech as she fell on the ground beside Luke.

“Phoebe?!”

A hole was left on her left shoulder as she closed her fist groaning in pain. Her clothing was burned as well as the wound, leaving an ugly black mark around it.

Everyone turned to face where the loud noise came from and two figures cloaked with white robes were floating above the smoke, the one on the right had electricity crackling around their left hand.

“Kill them all and bring her back, correct?”

His deep voice showed how much older he was compared to the party. The other figure nodded while floating away from him.

“Just don’t kill her.”

It was a woman’s voice probably over her twenties, but she could barely be heard from where the group was.

“Oh don’t you worry…”

The man raised his other hand behind his back when sparks of fire lit up on each individual finger before converging into a ball of fire.

“She won’t die instantly from this.”