We were completely surrounded...There were around 36 shadows while there were only 3 of us. Amelia only has her gun and she couldn’t possibly have unlimited ammo. I could probably handle one or two of them but I doubt they would attack in pairs. They were getting nearer and I didn’t know what to do.

Until Temma stepped forward.

“Fortress Howl!” a red aura emitted from his body and all of the shadows attacked him.

“Mind’s Eye!” Temma’s eyes began glowing and he managed to dodge and even land counters on his enemy.

“Amazing... Fortress Howl and Mind’s Eye. No wonder he’s the vice-captain”, Amelia said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Fortress Howl is a spell that causes you to look dangerous for non-sentient beings. They are useful for making sure that monsters are lured away from your allies as you take them all on. Then, your allies could freely attack a monster without fear of getting attacked by the others.”

“But isn’t that dangerous?”

“Yeah. But thanks to his second spell, Mind’s Eye, it’s not as bad. Mind’s Eye allows you to see the trails of the future movement of your enemies. You could avoid their attacks and even plan your next moves. However, it costs a lot of mana and prolonged use causes your mind to have a headache due to information overload”, Amelia said.

I charged at one shadow and slashed at it.

Anya! I’m leaving the mana manipulation to you! You’re an amazing sword since you could do that, right?

Of course I can. Let your imagination and resolve go wild! I’ll make sure you won’t lose any excess mana!

I imagined my shadow piercing five enemies at once. My shadow rose and split into 5 spikes. It lunged at the shadows and hit them. I slashed another shadow.

When I looked at Temma, he was doing well. He was avoiding all of their attacks and even defeated three at once.

However, the defeated shadows merely reformed into new ones. Severed limbs just grew back and when I counted, there were still 36 of them.

“They’re not dying?!” I asked.

“It seems we gotta defeat the caster for them to disappear”, Amelia said.

“I doubt they’ll just let us do it though”, Temma panted.

“Yield and I will grant you a painless death”, the bandaged man said.

“Nah... We bought enough time. If you’re planning to come out, then now’s a good time!” Amelia shouted.

The door of the warehouse broke down as a group of men entered. Leading them was a tall man with glasses and gray hair. A golden sword was on his right hand and a gun was on his left.

“Arurandeisu? Why is he here?” I asked.

“He planted a tracker on your shoes. Well, I’m pretty sure that he now knows the situation”, Amelia said.

I looked at the sole of my shoes and sure enough, there was a rectangular device stuck on it.

“I never thought that Niel would be responsible for those disappearances. However, you’re still responsible for his death. As his friend, I will have your head”, Arurandeisu pointed his gun at the bandaged man.

“Familiaran!! In front of us is my enemy! Be a dear and take him out”, he added and the men roared.

They each fought a single shadow while Arurandeisu charged at the bandaged man. Temma and I followed him. The bandaged man shot off red orbs and we dodged them.

He was quick on his feet since he managed to avoid our combined attacks. Even my shadow couldn’t reach him and he used a barrier to avoid Arurandeisu’s gunshots. He could even block Temma’s strikes with his wooden staff.

“He’s pretty good... Is he really a mage?” Temma asked.

“Probably a battle mage like you. How annoying”, Arurandeisu said.

“What should we do?” I asked.

“I’ve had enough”, the bandaged man said and another wave of the eerie feeling washed over me.

A giant black magic circle appeared on the ground and everyone was wrapped in dark chains.

“What’s this?!” Temma asked.

“I-It’s draining my strength”, Amelia said.

Draining their strength? I didn’t feel anything aside from being pulled to the ground.

“It’s time to end your pitiful lives. This is for the Unkindness”, a black ball of energy hovered on his palm.

If this magic was powered by the strange energy, then that could explain why I wasn’t affected. After all, the bandaged man once tried to put that same dark energy inside me but I wasn’t affected.

Wait a minute. I managed to absorb the strange energy in Coco when she was rampaging. If I could do that, then I could set everyone free.

Magic required an image and resolve. My resolve was not lacking since I want to save everyone here. I imagined being a drain for a sink and that the strange energy was water. I began sucking all of the strange energy

Mikage! What are you doing?! Hey! It’s dange-.

My stomach twisted. The dark ball of the bandaged man, the shadows, and the black magic circle all went towards me as I absorbed them all.

The eerie feeling became strong enough to consume me.

“What’s going on?” the bandaged man said.

I felt powerful. Too powerful. The bandaged man tried to conjure another ball but it got absorbed. Darkness was coming out of my body.

That guy... He had no problems with killing. He was also more or less responsible for the disappearance of the 35 people. Then, there was no problem if he died, right?

My shadow turned into a huge snake and bit off his arm. He howled in pain and I couldn’t help but smile. Ahhh... His blood was so red... How wonderful...

I willed my shadow to turn into a giant muscular man. The bandaged man tried to run so I turned his shadow into chains and bound him.

“You tried to kill us.... Hope you’re ready to die for that”, I snapped my finger and the giant shadow swung his fist.

The fist was huge enough to crush his body but I made sure he wouldn’t die from just one hit. The giant continued punching him repeatedly with each blow getting stronger from the last.

Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash.

The ground shook as the punches landed and I couldn’t help but laugh. He should suffer more. It’s because of people like him, many suffered. Because of their selfish desires, my peace would always get disturbed. All they wanted was my power for stupid things. Feels great to vent out a little.

Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash. Smash.

I would’ve kept on until I felt somebody tackle me.

“Mikage! Stop it already! He’s dead!” Amelia told me.

.... Dead? I killed another one? Wait.... My head hurts. The eerie feeling inside me got stronger.

“Anya!!” I shouted.

You’re back! Thank goodness! But there is something inside you that’s...

I know! Quick! Make me pass out! I don’t think I can control myself!

Okay okay. I don’t know what’s going on but you’re gonna be in a world of hurt!

I coughed up blood as all of my senses overloaded. My vision turned blurry and I felt dizzy.

The last thing I remembered was seeing Amelia’s troubled face as she was calling out my name.