Rumbles from another distant blast traveled through the ground, yet it didn’t do much to affect Sol’s fight. ‘Three swordsmen, one dagger, and one scythe…’ Sol’s mind worked quickly while her body slipped between the various strikes launched against her.

Three of the eight enemies in the team were eliminated, however Sol couldn’t determine the special characteristics of the swordsmen attacking her. The same could be said about the female dagger user. With only a spare short sword in hand, Sol was uneasy about engaging full fledged swordsmen.

With that in mind, she dodged strikes as much as possible until the woman with the dagger found an opportunity to strike. Sol used the opening as bait as soon as the woman was within reach, magic flooded her system once more. Faster than the woman’s eye could track, Sol gripped her wrist.

Her figure was yanked towards Sol who used the woman’s back as a leaping board. The magic that coursed through her legs launched Sol into air and outside of the team’s encirclement. Used as a board, the woman’s back snapped in half and she folded over herself after a short scream.

By the time Sol landed and turned her gaze back towards the team, she only caught the tail end of a swordsman extracting his blade from the woman’s heart. ‘He put her out of her misery? How kind.’ Her idle thoughts leaked, yet she remained focused on the fight.

“Get her.” The man ordered his team after retrieving his sword. Sol watched the group fan out once more and paced themselves so they’d engage her one after another instead of at the same time. She couldn’t help but click her tongue at the tactic and kicked off her toes to move backwards into the forest line.

Though stronger than each individual, Sol was well aware of how much pressure the team working together was placing on her. Up to now, she managed to win mostly through surprises. The enemy’s information on her abilities was outdated.

It was unlikely she’d be able to surprise them like she’d done so far. Thinking such, Sol escaped the team’s net and fled back towards the Knights she picked up earlier with her spiritual awareness. ‘You’re not the only ones with a team…’

Sol maintained facing the group while she used her spiritual awareness to navigate through the forest backwards. Each kick off from her toes would abruptly alter her trajectory and provide the impression she was looking down on the team. Contrary to her hopes, the team ignored her taunts and continued their chase methodically.

Sol observed the team long enough to conclude the team was part of a well trained unit. A smile crept across her face. ‘He really went and did it…’ The only large Assembler force Sol was aware of that was also trained belonged to the former Prince Roland.

The unfortunate Prince Roland was sentenced to death by Sol in her mind. Sol continued retreating and lured the team into a small forest clearing. Upon landing, Sol’s body fell backwards as if she tripped. Although she rolled back to her feet, the enemy engaged her with the momentary delay.

The first dagger swiped at air as Sol contorted her waist. She managed to kick the dagger wielding woman in her side, however the strike was underpowered due to her awkward positioning. Without time to follow up the kick, Sol’s short sword directly clashed against the swordsman trailing the dagger woman.

Once again, her blade embedded itself deep into the swordsman’s sword, however the blade lacked the momentum to carry through. Despite that, Sol kept her grip on the blade this time and flooded her system with magic to strengthen her block.

The two feet Sol barely managed to regain footing and balance on dug two trails into the forest soil as the weight of the swordsman’s strike ran through her. Though shaking at the end of it, Sol managed to hold her own against the hit.

“ARGH!” Sol leaked a girlish roar and repelled the swordsman’s blade back. Despite that, she felt as if she were still weighed down by the strike. Glancing at herself, Sol found a thin transparent chain wrapped around her arm and torso.

Each movement stressed the chain, however failed to break it. ‘Restrictions? Is this their magic?’ She could only assume. The strike between the swordsman and dagger woman were executed too close to distinguish cause and effect.

Sadly, there wasn’t enough time for Sol to examine the chains in detail. From the moment she landed in the clearing to deflecting the back to back strikes, only about 7 seconds had passed in total. Sol knew she had only parried two of the five members chasing her so far.

As expected, the swordsman she pushed back chose to roll out of the way rather than regain his balance. From behind him, another swordsman already had his sword raised to deliver a powerful strike down. Sol was wholly unprepared to take the strike head on, however she had already bought enough time.

Slipping from cover of forest darkness, an arrow with an oddly shaped coin attached to it flew across the short clearing. Caught unaware, the swordsman didn’t even try to dodge it as it struck the side of his chest. Sol watched in slow motion as the ‘Temperamental Betty’ activated. Traces made of magic ignited on the coin and burned it to ash.

All the magic activated in the ‘Temperamental Betty’ was injected into the swordsman’s body. Infectious tendrils of teal spread from the man’s left side rib cage across his chest and back before halting mid journey. Sol then saw the conquered territory detach itself from the man’s body as if it were a sand castle.

Life left the man’s eyes and his sword continued its swing by sheer weight, momentum, and leverage. Sol deflected the strike without issue, however the man’s innards slipped from the new cavity and spilled across Sol. Unable to process the gruesome scene for a moment, Sol accidentally froze her actions. Sol wasn’t an innocent maiden unfamiliar with death, however this was probably the most gruesome death she’d seen so far.

The shock of it halted her movement and allowed the final swordsman to close in on her. The man was clearly on guard for any ambush and his strike came in from the side due to that. By the time Sol collected herself, she only had enough time to bring her short sword between herself and the blade.

Crushed by the swordsman’s strength, her blade warped along its flat end and dug into Sol’s side. Her childish body was launched into the ground tumbling from the strike where she lay coughing up blood. Sol’s mind was reeling from the assault, however her spiritual awareness remained active regardless. During her training with An, the one thing he hammered into her was to always maintain awareness.

Such training was why Sol understood that there was a final strike coming her way. A scythe with a blade curvature nearly the length of her body was pressing down on her position. The final scythe user was probably the leader of the team judging from his positioning since the start of their engagement.

Sol flexed her abdomen to move her body, but found she was still paralyzed from the previous strike. Although she didn’t count, she was sure her body tumbled end over end at least 4 times from that hit. When she focused on her hand, she found the warped short sword was missing, likely lost during one of the rolls.

Sol coughed out another blob of blood. Judging from its quantity, she was fairly certain one of her ribs broke and dug into a lung. Her mind ran through options available to her while she assessed her condition simultaneously. Her conclusion? The situation was bad. She had underestimated her enemy.

Something An warned her never to do. Something she warned her men never to do. ‘How shameful!’ Embarrassment flooded her system, yet she continued to evaluate her options. Her mind was the only weapon available to her at present.

From her spiritual awareness, Sol recognized the location her Knights were at. She could even tell they were in mid movement to leap from cover and come to her aid. The world seemed to move in slow motion and Sol suddenly realized ‘The Unchained Queen Beast’ method was cycling on its own.

The pristine model An taught her initially was no longer recognizable. When she looked within herself to observe it, infectious silver globs were actively spreading across it and infiltrating the system. Sol’s heartbeat grew faster and the world slowed down even more.

She could see the tip of the scythe pushing particles of dust to the side as it cut through the air. She was able to see his leather armor deform and follow his figure as if she were watching blades of grass flex in sequence with wind across an open meadow.

Her cognitive model expanded and her mind shook as pieces of it disintegrated. Sol felt magic rush through her body and integrate itself with her very being. Though she felt as powerless as she was a moment ago, there was a degree of confidence that her durability might have just improved.

With nothing to lose, Sol funneled any excess magic in her system into her left arm. Silver veins creeped under her arm without her knowing. The ground below her arm was soon saturated with magic and Sol triggered the only other magic she knew.

The ground lit up with teal magic traces outlining it. Without a target to inject the magic into, it drove into the earth. Sol watched as the tip of the scythe blade entered within 20cm of her chest. She also watched as the first slab of rock slammed into it…followed by another into the man’s arm, chest, and face.

Sol’s vision soon turned over and over as her body was launched through the air.