“Did you fail?” Serenity asked in a calm tone of voice while their surroundings burned.

Scarlett grunted at her. “I did not! I watched her HP drop all the way down.”

“Are you sure it reached zero?”

Both watched the result of their failed assassination attempt, as Amelia glared at them with bright golden yellow eyes. Besides her was a mirror image of herself made of fire, floating 20 inches above the floor. “You messed with the wrong person, bitches!” both shouted in unison.

“It must be ‘Cheat Death’,” Serenity said softly, tapping her chin in a pondering expression.

“That’s a very annoying passive skill.” Scarlett gritted her teeth before shouting. “But who cares! I just need to break her neck again, right?!”

Before Scarlett could step forward, a male voice cried from outside the burning house, getting their attention: “Amelia!”

“There he is,” Serenity whispered before glancing at Scarlett. Both nodded, agreeing on something in silence.

“You’re mine, princess,” Scarlett said, wickedly grinning at Amelia, who observed both enemies.

This is not regular crafted fire. The heat should be intense enough to gradually drain their HP, Amelia thought, watching in Serenity’s direction. But she is unscathed. She then crossed her eyes with the smirking Scarlett. And then we have this one, who doesn’t seem to care.

“Miss Amelia, I have secured Sloochie,” Bella called her through Party Chat.

“Good. Take him out of here and give The Mayor a message...”

“Let’s dance, redhead!” Scarlett shouted, dashing forward. Chains stopped her, appearing from the flames and shackling her wrists and ankles immediately. “What is this?!” she shrieked, as her body got lifted in midair. “When did you have the time to channel this?”

“Idiot, why should I tell you?” Amelia sneered, before whispering to her fire clone, which was mimicking her gestures. “Auto Mode...” The clone changed into a hunched posture, awaiting instructions. “Permission to use half of my mana and perform a summon. Priority: Help Alan.”

“Understood,” the clone said before dashing and passing through Scarlett’s body, burning her chest.

The 6 feet 5 inches tall female warrior cried in pain, and yet, giggled, looking into Amelia’s eyes. “You’re not half bad. This will be fun...”

***

“Amelia!” Alan cried, trying to run forward, but Anastasia held him by the waist.

“Master, please, you can’t go there. It’s dangerous.”

“Can’t you remember what I told you?! If Amelia was ever in danger, you should prioritize helping her!”

“Master,” Anastasia whispered in his ear. “I can’t see Amelia’s status from here, but she’s in full health. Given the circumstances, you’re in more danger than her or Ashley.”

Alan stopped struggling while forming fists. “Dammit. Who could have done this?”

“This seems to be Amelia’s doing,” Ashley said, as she manipulated her Menu Window to change into her battle gear. “She is defending herself from someone.”

Seeing her equipping her bow made Alan swallow hard. “E-equip set A,” he commanded, automatically equipping a rudimentary, unstylish set of armor, inspired by a sharpshooter silver set.

“Equip set A,” Anastasia followed, changing her long skirt and long-sleeved shirt for her silver full plate armor. Her shield and sword hovered in the air for a couple of seconds before she grabbed them.

From the burning building exited a woman with platinum hair, white eyelashes, and a long black dress. “Greetings, friends,” she said in a jovial tone. “I’m Serenity. Care to tell me your names?”

“No! But if you pay for the damages, I’ll consider it!”

The pale-skin girl hummed while putting a finger on her cheek. “Considering there’s only a User with a single-digit level in all the Novus, it’s easy to guess who you are.”

No... No, no, no! I hate being right sometimes!

“Did an Administrator send you?” he asked, getting Ashley’s attention.

“An Administrator? What a strange thing to ask,” Serenity said, folding her arms and wiggling her hips.

She’s playing with us.

“Alan, what do you mean by that?” Ashley asked, before dodging a spear made of black mass.

“Master!” Anastasia blocked the one aiming for Alan’s chest with her shield.

“Not fair!” Serenity cried, pouting. “You’re not supposed to avoid them!”

As he watched her childish mannerisms, Alan felt that his feet were sinking. “What?” He looked down, noticing that the ground in a fifty feet radius had turned pitch black.

“Shadow Crafting,” she giggled. “Made in Black.”

Dark tentacles sprouted from below, trapping and sinking him deeper into that cold void. What the hell is this?! He glanced at Ashley and her NPC, who were also struggling to escape. “Ashley!”

“Do not worry, this will not kill you,” Serenity started saying, as a colder, emotionless expression dominated her face. “This will only put you to sleep.”

Her way of speaking is extremely familiar…

“Major Summoning,” a voice announced from outside the burning house, making a magic circle appear in the sky. “Flaustos, Hell’s Pet.”

A giant paw crawled out of the summoning circle and quickly swiped at the enemy.

At that moment, Alan felt the roughness of the ground pressing against his hips and legs. He looked down, finding half of his body buried. The black mass disappeared.

“Hurry up, Master! Stand up,” Anastasia said, pulling him from the armpits, as he admired the monstrous feline creature landing on the street and releasing a breath of fire into the enemy. A copy of Marissa engulfed in flames was behind it, commanding it.

“Amelia?” he called aloud, as the Bella NPC could be seen running from the back of the house, holding Sloochie in her arms.

Where is she going?

A message notification demanded his attention.

** Amelia Laflamme wants to start a Party Chat! **

“Amelia, are you okay?!”

“Yeah, don’t worry. But who are these people?!”

I can’t tell her a thing...

“I... don’t know…”

“Shadow Crafting, Mimic!” a female voice could be heard from a distance.

“Alan... I know your secret...”

“What are you…?”

“Watch out!” Anastasia cried, pulling him from the collar of his shirt, as the 30 feet tall monster called Flaustos was battling an exact copy of itself, made of liquid blackness.

Alan glanced at Serenity controlling the duplicate and looking unharmed. Not a single sign of excitement or anger on her face. How is she okay after those attacks?!

“Alan,” Amelia called in a stern voice. “I know why you logged you out, Ashley’s true nature, and who your real enemy is.”

“How…?”

“Let’s talk about that later, okay? I just need to know one thing... Do you think ‘that thing’ sent these two?”

“I... I could investigate…” He cleared his throat. “Hey, Singular!”

“IDIOT!” Amelia could be heard, both from the Party Chat and from the back of the now crumbling house.

The enemy stared at him with glacial eyes before folding her arms and wiggling her hips in a hectic dance, giggling. “Who are you calling Singular? My name is Serenity, dummy. You’re weird!”

Oh… my holy crap…

Ashley did not waste any second and shot an arrow to Serenity’s chest, which passed through her body.

She’s incorporeal!

“Alan,” Ashley whispered, and when he gazed at her, her usually calm green eyes were glimmering. “We need to capture her, at all cost.”