"Hold steady!"

Heeding the quick and verbose warning, the SGs barred their barrier shields and formed one large wall that protected all those standing behind them. Focusing, they lowered their knees, tensed their arms, and became immovable like stone as they reinforced their stances.

"Here it comes!"

They held their breaths as a rain of offensive artes hailed at them.

From coils of flames that could constrict around them like pythons, to streams of iron sand that had the power to tear through their flesh like a bandsaw, and even threads of electricity that instantly crossed the camp— the artes looked like beautiful explosions of fireworks as they clashed against the defensive barricade.

Just a little, the barrier shields released light as they dispersed the aether holding together these artes and that illuminated the myriad of colors like neon paint thrown onto a clear canvas. Were it to be any other circumstance, it would mark a beautiful sight. Yet nobody had the leisure to enjoy such a dangerous spectacle now: not Azura who was solely focused on finishing the anchor point, nor Samantha who was barking out orders like a commander, or the single medic in training who prayed for the nightmare to be over, and most certainly not the SGs who were too busy fighting for their lives.

"Stand your ground!"

The tidal surge of the possessed arrived at last and it broke into their bank of shields with a riot. The force stemming from the sheer physical mass of the horde was tremendous, yet the SGs, with their fortified stances, pushed back against the overwhelming numbers in a manner well-honed by their many months and years of repetition out on the field.

"Don't you dare let them push you back even half a step!"

But though they managed to withstand the initial clash, it was far from being the easiest thing they had done. In many more ways than one, nothing they had ever experienced before could have prepared them for this exact situation.

As guild operators, they were purveyors of security and fighters of beasts and monstrous creatures— not against other people, and certainly not against their close friends and comrades. Not only were they being pushed back by numbers ten times their own in strength, they were also unable to properly fight back as none of them wanted to hurt the people they knew so well.

From the start, it was a siege against a losing battle and they could only resign to being beaten down in a one sided manner. But, there was one person present who did not have the inclination to feel that way.

"Enough already! What are you idiots doing? Fight back! Use your artes! Don't just sandbag this fight!"

Samantha screamed at the SGs and hearing her, they glanced towards each other struggling by their sides. With just the look on their grim battered faces and the exhausted fading lights in their eyes, they shared in a silent agreement. They knew that she was right. Enough was enough. Even pacifism had its due limits.

If they still chose to not fight back now of all times, then they would all be finished. They would be crushed underneath the merciless stampede of the possessed. Was that the foregone conclusion they aimed to reach for?

Surely not.

"Wait, you can't! The barrier is almost complete! Just hold on for a moment longer, please! If you attack them now, you'll seriously hurt them for sure, and you might even end up killing them!"

Nevertheless, in stark contrast to Samantha, the only voice to raise an opposition was Azura, who still stubbornly clung onto his rationality. Was he wrong in doing so? If they hurt someone who was possessed, that injury would carry over once they reclaimed their senses. If they ended up reaping a life, then there would be no going back. Were they truly and honestly prepared to handle such a consequence as a result of their actions?

This uncertainty planted a seed of doubt in their hearts.

"Don't listen to him! Are you going to let them overrun you like this? Think of your friends, family, and your loved ones waiting for you back home. Do you think the outbreak will stop here? Yeah, this is an outbreak event! Get it in your heads already! They're no longer interested in having us join as one of them. We're now obstacles to be eliminated! Isn't that why they've been throwing artes at us left, right, and center? We need to fight back now! What do you think will happen once we're gone? They'll free the big guy in front of the rift and then Singapore will be fucked! Everyone! Will! Die! So stop holding back and fight!"

"Samantha!" Azura gasped, but his friend ignored him.

She was more pragmatic than he and her logic was without fault. The SGs thought this as well and, in spite of him, they came to arrive at the same conclusion she had. To put their lives on the line combating the dangers of the rift events— was that not why they joined the guild in the first place? Even if they had to hurt their comrades now, it was a necessary sacrifice to put a halt to this outbreak event. Those possessed would surely understand as well, if their capacity of thought still remained— and if the SGs were put into their shoes, then this would also be what they would have wanted.

"Sorry Azura, but don't ask for the impossible; you siblings have this thing common between the two of you. If you want to do something, then finish the barrier."

"Shut up. I already know."

…

…

"Hm?"

Weaving through the night warden's unrelenting attacks with remarkable grace, Quies felt a shift in the air. It was slight and had been gradual since her stall for time began but, just a little, she felt something distinct about it. It was considerably difficult for her to put her tongue on it, especially with her attention focused on the entity before her. If she had to make a guess, it would have to do with the flow of aether in the atmosphere. It was starting to taste thicker, denser, and more syrupy.

"It must be those siblings," she mumbled, realizing it.

It appeared that her gamble to buy more time for them had not been proven wrong just yet.

"As for you."

Strong winds began to gather once more around Quies's arms and she dove towards the Night Warden to resume her dance with it.

…

…

Rallied under a renewed sense of fervor, the SGs fought back with all they had. Finally making use of the aethertech firearms that they had kept dormant within their holsters this entire time, they were able to make the most out of their artes. It was a tool that magnified their efficiency and lethality manyfold and could be fired endlessly so long as they had the aether to chamber its shots.

By leaving nothing out of their repertoire, they were able to keep the possessed at bay and even created a gulf of comforting breathing space between them. Yet, the evening of hellish nightmares continued anyways.

"Just, what the hell is this…?"

They were horrified, justifiably so. Simply put, they had thought that their comrades were being charmed by the night warden's song. But now? They have since discarded that ignorant notion, as even the charmed could normally feel pain and could be knocked out with enough force. This, however, was not it.

"How can this even be possible?"

Even as the possessed sustained what would be a grievous injury, one enough to debilitate any normal man, they disregarded it like a meager flesh wound and continued to push through. Whether they were bleeding out like a faucet or fallen onto the ground and being trampled by the others, nothing short of death seemingly would be able to slow them down; though none of the SGs had gone this far just yet. Still, that was what everybody felt bearing witness to this atrocity unfold.

If there remained one avenue of relief left for them, it would be the sheer fact that the possessed were unable to use supporting artes or equipment. All they could do was to ram their bodies against their shields and cast whatever artes they could manifest in their haphazard mental state. It was laughably a small thing to find relief in, incapable of alleviating much at all.

Nonetheless, it was something. And as ridiculous as it may sound, it allowed the SGs to make light of what would otherwise be one of their darkest moments and retain morale within this godforsaken state of affairs.

And then—

The night warden's incessant screechings, which had already become a gnawing background annoyance to their ears, stopped. An eerie silence befell the camp then, with nobody daring to move a single muscle for fear of breaking the peace.

"Is it over…?"

An innocent Felid Scout uttered his question. To it, nobody responded. Even so, the hearts of man were fickle things, quick to cling onto any hope the moment it dangled before them like bait. But it was too soon to celebrate. The night warden had paused in its song twice far before, and each time it resumed not long after. However, with this third time being so far removed from the first two, they were hopeful that something must have happened, that their hard work finally paid off, and that things might stay this way.

So was it over?

Well, they really should have known better. For one, Azura's barrier had not even been completed yet. But if any one of them had simply peered towards the central barrier, they would have seen the night warden taking in one large breath to continue an even more terrible song.

"You fucking jinxed it! You moron!"

"I'm sorry!"

…

—And yet, things would be okay as they had already bought all the time that their Specialist needed to complete his work, and his mood was at its peak as he slapped down the last talisman that made up the final anchor point.

"And with this…!"

The eight trigrams ritual barrier had been completed.

They all sucked in a breath of suspense as they witnessed it, the equidistant anchor points activating in unison and the illumination of aethereal glows surging up into the night sky towards a single point atop the central barrier. It was like the holidays had come early, with the brilliant lights resembling the nightly decorations that could light up an entire plaza.

However, these lights continued to grow in intensity until it became almost blinding to look at, and then…

"It stopped? What happened?" Samantha gasped. With the activation having seemingly halted in its tracks, her first reaction was to look towards Azura for answers.

"I don't know! Surely everything was done properly— no, I absolutely did everything perfectly!"

"Then why isn't it working?"

"Well it started up, didn't it?" Azura snapped back, flustered. "The fact that it did means everything should be flawless, so there's no reason why it wouldn't work. No, not unless it's an outside variable… not unless there isn't enough aether to power—"

The Kitsune fell silent midway through his speech, but his expression told it all. His mind raced a mile a minute. Could something have happened to his sister? Did they manage to get her, those possessed? Was she still okay? Li Hua could have protected her if only she had come along.

—Interrupting his thoughts like a flame rekindled, the night warden's inferno screechings came back, more glaring than ever.

The tone, which was higher than before, more desperate than before, and more urgent than before, was like a cry of distress from the queen of a hive and it instantly sent all the possessed into an unstoppable frenzy.

Now, with their ferocity doubled, what was once a delicate balance of pushing and being pushed for the SGs was overturned on its head right away. Being hammered down so relentlessly on all sides, it was no longer possible for them to keep the horde at bay. And little by little, their once strong wall of shields was being squeezed to conform to an ever tighter space.

With every inch of ground they lost, so did their hopes evaporate as well. A second felt like a minute, and a minute an eternity. Their arms lost strength. Their legs buckled. Even their barrier shields, which seemed so invincible before, were beginning to waver underneath the constant strain. Some even felt their heads faint, as if they were finally going to join their comrades as one of the possessed.

Perhaps it was too much for them after all.

"Well, damn…"

Azura's mouth felt dry as he gazed up helplessly towards the central barrier.

Was that it then? If his sister had failed, then they really were doomed, he realized. In this current situation, surrounded on all sides by an even more frenzied mob of the possessed, the chances of him being able to get away long enough to finish the other half of the ritual barrier was effectively nil.

"It was a good run…"

He accepted his defeat. The night warden had won. When he turned around to glance at all his surroundings and saw the SGs being pushed to the brink of collapse, he felt a strange sense of serenity instead of dread or fear. But it was not just him alone who felt this way, as the SGs too felt something similar.

Lacking in all the proper equipment, supporting artes, and a reliable backline, it was already a heroic feat they were able to hold on for this long against such an overwhelming number of untiring foes. Even if they fell prey to the possessed now, they could be proud of what they had managed to accomplish that night. There was no shame to be had here for they had fought with every last ounce of spirit they carried and then some.

…

…

But then something happened. The lights, which had gone silent before, finally surged again!

They all looked up in awe as the lights from each of the anchor points conjoined to collectively form a frame around the central barrier. From it, a curtain of golden light descended like a veil and enveloped the entire dome in a glimmering barrier much different from those created by the FBDSs.

With this, the night warden became muted for the final time, as did the possessed fell motionless in their strikes. It was like they were in a different world now– quiet and serene– and the lull of a moment of suspenseful silence was all that they felt. The SGs, with their shield still bared and caution tensed, looked nervously as if waiting for the possessed to attack again.

Then, one minute passed with nothing happening.

"Is it finally over this time? Did we do it…?"

With no one wanting to jinx it again like before, they all felt afraid to be the first to speak, yet breaking the silence was the same Felid Scout who once again asked what was tactfully left unspoken.

—And then two minutes passed.

One of the SGs shifted his shield and prodded the possessed. But with no movement still, murmurs began to spread amongst the group. With the passing of the third minute, the murmurs quickly erupted into a loud, excited, and ultimately relieved rally.

That was it.

They had done it.

They had really done it.

Some lost strength in their legs and collapsed to the ground. Others cried the most earnest tears. A few also made calls to their close ones with their phones. But what they all felt similar with one another was the pure unadulterated joy in having survived the single worst night of their lives.

…

Unnoticed by all, the wall of hurricane winds surrounding the central barrier died down to a breeze. The head of Scouts, with her tired eyes and trademark gloomy expression, had returned from her battle in the midst of their celebration. Their jobs were not over yet. She still had much work left for them to do. With how many operators put out of commission by the night warden, the remainder would have to work ten times as hard to make up for the lost manpower

But as she stood watching these operators celebrate, her expression softened slightly. She could spare them a few minutes of time, she supposed. For all their hard work done, they had deserved it.

Not to mention, she had yet another call to make back to headquarters.

…

…