For a moment, the world felt like it had slowed to crawl. Everything moved so… slow… the air, the leaves, her own breath, the widening of the tall man’s eyes behind her, and the reflection of shapes coming together from the formless dark mass… her body, as she slowly turned to run, felt as if it was filled with lead.

But it was only for a moment, before everything exploded into a blur of motion!

A half dozen short, red creatures came sprinting forth, splitting in half to flank around both sides of Diane’s group.

They were followed by something else, a thing whose memory Diane had desperately been trying to bury.

Those long arms, those vicious claws… those disgusting eyes!

“GRENDEL!” Diane shrieked in panic, however Kristoff, face white with terror and his pants steadily darkening near the crotch, could only stumble backwards.

Emily rapidly loosed a few arrows before rolling behind a tree and Clover began to run wildly as all hell broke loose!

Several fireballs and large stones burst and crashed around them, shattering trees and lighting the forest ablaze!

“We can’t outrun them! FOCUS DOWN THE IMPS FIRST BECAUSE YOUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT! ” D screamed, trying desperately to counter the reflexive panic.

Two other monsters emerged from the shadow: one was a tall, incredibly thin, gray-skinned creature whose bones and muscles were etched across its horribly malnourished skin, with no arms and a large, wide mouth littered with shard teeth. It had no eyes nor horns, with only a pair of holes on each side of its’ smooth head that served as its ears.

And the other one… was massive, dwarfing the other demons and standing nearly 15 feet tall. Each step emanated a heavy *thump*, the disgusting ripple of excess flesh in grays and infected yellows shook across its morbidly obese form and caused its’ countless piercings to jingle in a sickeningly hypnotic combination. Combine that with its equally obese head, sunk neckless into the grotesque fat rolls of its body, and massive blueish-purple lips formed into a horrible smile, partially masked by fouled, rotten black dreadlocks… it was a sight easily capable of making anyone’s stomach turn. It was clearly the demon that chucked the huge battle axe, and it easily drug a massive sledge in its’ left hand, which looked like nothing more than a massive, poorly-formed cube of iron melted on to a four-foot long steel pole!

~~

A Grendel, a Gaunt, and a Bauther… two lesser demons and a mid-rank, no less! If we can’t at least reduce the damn ranged pests before those things make it here…

D grimaced, and quickly focused in on one of the imps flanking their right side, mana rapidly concentrating into his eyes and hands. He deftly reached for a red-tipped silver stake and loaded it into his crossbow, flooding it with mana through his hands.

Far sight. Night vision. Two of the imps are getting closer to each other? Change target… Bless. Enhances Shot. Precise Shot. Power shot.

The stake glistened white and red, before it launched from the crossbow and sliced through the air at an incredible speed…

*THWOOOM*

Bursting upon impact, consuming two of the imps in holy flame!

D smirked to himself.

They never see it coming, every time.

The Grendel immediately leapt into the forest canopy, flinging its body across the tree tops while the Gaunt launched itself into a dead sprint, saliva flying off its glistening fangs as it rushed forth!

Fuck! Barely seconds till they’re here!

The dark cloud had also already begun to move rapidly, faster than when it first came, following in the path of the daemon.

~~

Diane’s hands were shaking as she tried to focus on the imps, timing to move out from cover in between their poorly aimed spells.

It’s pointless, were just going to die! Everyone’s just going to die again!

She could see the demons coming for them, far faster than any of them could run… save Clover.

But with this hail of magic?

We can’t run… we can’t escape… we can’t… I can’t… no… no! NONONONONONO!

She tightened her grip, and began concentrating her mana rapidly. She could feel more flowing in, but it felt distant, slower… and devoid of the hatred that normally flowed with it.

“JUST LEAVE US ALONE!” Diane screeched, her voice almost cracking with the shrill pitch!

A large fireball coalesced around the tip of her rapier and rapidly grew in size, blending black and deep orange flame together as she attempted to take aim at the batch of imps on the left, who were promptly scattering for cover.

Wisps of steam erupted from across her body and a web of red markings cropped up on her body following all her mana veins, particularly across her arms as she flooded all the mana she could muster into the fireball!

Hal… everyone… why…

She shut her eyes and screeched, unable to quell the worsening shaking in her arms as she launched her fireball. The momentary smirk and glint in the eyes of the imps as the fireball flew wildly off mark was very short lived, however.

*FWOOOOOOOM*

Despite landing more than a dozen meters behind the imps, and in spite of their efforts to spread out, the fire burst out with a roar, and the air pressure blasted through the trees and shattered leaves and branches where the flames could not reach, forcing everyone to take cover. Even Clover was barely able to brace himself against the shockwave!

~~

There’s no way… the report from Kurstwood… she was the one who blasted a crater through the town?! She’s a god-damn monster!

“You idiot! If you were holding onto power like that, you should have aimed for…!” D bit his tongue and reflexively put his hand on his heart when she turned towards him, tears pouring from her eyes with her quick, ragged breaths. Wisps of steam still emanated from her body, as the web of red marks began to subside.

She really is just a kid… with power like that, chantlessly! No wonder the guild is trying to hide her!

“FUCK, MOVE KID!”

The middle of a battle is the last moment you should let yourself get distracted, and he knew better! He was literally just about to yell at her about it too!

D leapt forward, shoving Diane aside as a long claw speared him through his shoulder, and quickly lifted him into the air towards a glistening pair of jaws waiting in the tree tops. He didn’t have more than a second to react, ignoring the other set of vicious jaws blitzing underneath him.

This is going to hurt a lot… Bless! Lesser Purify! Agility! Precision! Reinforced Strike! Swift Strike! Limit Break! Overdrive!

Blood dripped from his eyes and began to gush from his wound as he deftly twisted, causing the claw to rip through more flesh from his shoulder as he flipped upside-down and delivered a kick with all his might directly to the jaw of the Grendel, with a sickening crunch!

D dropped to the forest floor and tried to chase after Diane and the Gaunt, as the monster howled in pain behind him.

If a Vamp caught me like that… damn! And if I keep burning through mana at this rate…

His vision was growing blurry as the blood continued to gush from his shoulder.

D grimaced as he looked at the wound… he couldn’t even apply a tourniquet and he lost the use of his right arm. He ducked and hid behind a large tree and began praying with his one good hand, as the Grendel dropped from the canopy, its lower jaw swinging unhinged.

It howled again as it began charging towards D’s hiding spot.

Damn, damn, damn! Even if she’s abandoned us… I have to try it! Please… please work!

“Goddess of Hope, I beseech you! Show mercy upon those who are suffering, and guide us towards a new day!”

*thwip thwip*

D ignored the sound of the arrows flying by and yelp of pain from the Grendel, keeping thanks within his heart that he would gain another precious moment to finish the chant.

“Sew out wounds shut and free us from our pain, for the Glory of Almalexia and the light of a new tomorrow! HEAL!”

For months… Nothing! And now?!

A surge of white light burst from D’s hand as the wound quickly sealed shut, his face etched with thankful confusion, and then pure shock.

HE COULD HEAR HER VOICE.

Soft and firm, it rang through his head with the force of a command from the divine herself!

YOU MUST NOT LET HER DIE.

D began frantically looking around. He had a damn good feeling who Almalexia wanted to protect!

This was no coincidence!

The Sabertooth caught the last imp and was in the process of relieving it of its limbs, and the boy was stumbling hurriedly towards it. The fair skinned girl with the bow was sprinting in sheer terror away from the Grendel, sporting a few more arrows poking out of it, and towards the Sabertooth.

Then where the fuck is Diane??

“STAY AWAY!”

D jolted towards the noise.

Thank god for the lungs on that girl! Down near the river!

As he ran closer, D could see the light from a couple more fireballs going off, setting nearby trees ablaze. The Gaunt was leaping and sliding across the wet rocks, trying to land a good bite on Diane, as her face was strained in terror and pain. While it was clearly having a hard time getting a grasp of her weird movements, and its movements were equally as strange, whether it was sliding itself forward while on its belly or after bouncing itself upright again. She was clearly getting exhausted, and her flailing strikes were nowhere near good enough to land a clean hit.

If she would stop panicking and had even the slightest amount of mana control, even with just the mana sloughing off her now, she should be able to easily rip these demons apart!

He took a deep breath.

50 pound lead stake. It’s mostly just skin and bones, it should be light even with that height. If I can knock it flat… then just like last time.

He burned through the last of his mana, filling the shot with everything he had. The light from all the fire was enough to aim even without mana enhancement.

Inhale…. Hold… Wait for just the right moment for it to turn facing me…

*THWOOOM*

The stake slammed squarely into the Gaunt’s chest, flipping it prone onto its back while the stake itself bounced off.

THE HELL ARE THOSE BONES MADE OF?!

Diane’s eyes widened for a moment, and she immediately leaped towards the creature, denying it even a moment to recover, stabbing her rapier in a frenzy between its rib bones and into its heart as yellow blood spurted out!

“That’s enough! It’s dead! We need to go, NOW.” D grabbed her shoulder firmly with a sweaty hand, as she slowed stabbing the lifeless corpse.

“C-Clover! We need to get Clover! And Emily! And Kristoff! I can’t leave them! They can’t die on me! Not again!” She shrieked, and leapt forward with enough force to break his grip and send him stumbling.

“… Fuck.”

D tried to catch his breath for a moment, and rapidly checked his remaining supplies, taking no more than a few seconds.

Four silver stakes. One special stake. Holy water… when did that bottle break? If I had any idea it would turn out like this, I would not have traveled so damn light. Talisman…

D held on to Almalexia’s talisman, a simple bronze plate with the sun rising on the horizon carved into it. A symbol of hope, and the new day, a staple across her entire following. Her magic was certainly strange when compared to the blessings of the other gods, as other than any of the recovery blessings, the power originated from within and used the caster’s own mana.

What kind of impossible task has she brought me into?

Cursing his fate, D began to run after Diane again.

~~

Kristoff stumbled over a brown pack as he was running towards Clover, just in time to see Emily fleeing his way as fast as she could run! He could also feel heavy shocks rumbling through the earth, but he could not look away from the Grendel bearing down on them.

Shrieking, he grabbed the pack and began to throw anything he could grab out of it at the creature! Bottles… Pink, green, white… all splashing liquid as he missed and they shattered on the ground.

Emily flew right past, and the creature was now upon him.

Kristoff threw one last bottle as he was trying to scramble backwards.

Grey.

It was a point-blank throw, and this bottle exploded into a mist on impact with the Grendel’s shoulder, engulfing its head as well. It backed off, screeching horribly while swiping at the air around it.

*KRIEEEE, KRIEEEEEE*

The shrieks were drowned out by a titanic crash, and the sound of more trees shattering followed by a pained yelp.

Jerking his head towards the noise, he realized the horror of what caused the rumbling in the earth! The Bauther’s giant sledge tore through trees with brute force before launching Clover into the air, sending the large cub crashing atop Emily, shrieking as she was partially crushed under the cub’s weight! The sickening sound of her legs snapping made him barf.

This… this can’t be real! This isn’t happening! Its not my fault! Its not my fault!!! This is just a nightmare! I’ll wake up! I will! And this will all be gone!

As Kristoff began to laugh hysterically, hands clawing as his own face, the Grendel howled and leaped onto the Bauther, clawing wildly into the leathery blob of flesh. The Bauther gurgled something unintelligible, before grabbing the Grendel with his free hand and slamming the creature into the ground and pulverizing it with his sledge. Each hit sent a small shockwave from the force of the blows, and chunks of bloodied flesh flying.

Then… it looked at the hysterical Kristoff, and Clover as the resilient Sabertooth cub struggled back up with a severe limp and hiss-like yowl.

~~

Her body felt like it was burning, with each breath and each step, she felt like she could barely stay conscious. Her head hurt, and she was getting incredibly thirsty.

She heard the crash, and ran faster, her heart thumping as if it were trying to escape her body as darkness clouded around the edges of her vision.

No no no!

“Em! Clover!”

Diane leapt across broken trees and shattered logs towards their injured bodies, her voice cracking from overuse.

“DUCK, YOU IDIOT!”

She dropped down, and a blast of wind swung where her head used to be.

Her eyes darted from Emily’s twisted legs, to the pack Kristoff was holding, and leapt forward like a frog as another swing smashed into the ground.

Blood was gurgling out of Emily’s mouth. Nothing else mattered.

She heard another massive CRACK and felt the ground shake violently under her feat, and she ignored the cacophony of horrible noises behind her as she grabbed the pack from Kristoff, and then chucked him onto Clover’s back.

Two left…

She grabbed both pink potions, pouring one into the gaping wound on Emily’s waist, and the other into her mouth.

“No Em! No, stay with me! You can’t! You are not allowed to die! You have to stay with me!”

The gurgling of blood stopped, but blood loss and trauma had still left her in total shock, while Emily’s skin was extremely cold and clammy.

“Not enough… not enough! We need to get her to a healer now! I… I… Thistle would know what to do!”

Diane lifted Emily, only to notice Clover had backed behind her, all fur completely on end and yowling relentlessly.

Then she heard a laugh to haunt her nightmares.

“Leaving so soon, are we? But you have such a good knack for finding all the fun though! And you know what? I never did get to play with you last time either…” a playful, sweet, familiar voice rang out… a voice she really should not be hearing right now.

The burning feeling, her sweat, her blood… it all ran cold.

A familiar face in a drapery of entrails.

Those wings… that tail… but… her face is the same…

“You… you can’t be…” Diane stuttered.

A wicked smile spread across Sayomi’s lips.

“It has been a little while since the Ogre’s, hasn’t it? But I am so glad you haven’t forgotten me! Because of you, I got in trouble! So you owe me! Oh, the fun we are going to have! Ah, and don’t worry about them… they aren’t here for you. Hehe!”

Trying to act so cute and innocent while coated in the blood and entrails of a mid-grade demon… as the air and earth twists and wilts around her… An absolute psychopath!

At the very least, she seemed to be telling the truth about the other demons running past behind her.

Not that they matter in the slightest in comparison, but that has to count for something? Right?

Diane tried to very slowly place Emily onto Clover’s back.

And…

With a very large smile, Sayomi formed a long spear of black energy in her right hand, and immediately the air pressure wildly spiked and electricity crackled around her.

“I told youuuuu, its playtime for me now! And all of you will be playing with me!”