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Erin stared at Eliza, who was lying in a pool of blood, unmoving. Erin did not turn her attention away and stood waiting.

Eliza was not dead, evidently from the rise and fall of her chest and also the lack of notification of experience increment on Erin’s end.

Erin frowned. It was odd, she thought, but only at first. This manner of wound was fatal but only to the average folk. Eliza was above the level of fifty. It would take more than a slit throat to kill her.

As Erin prepared to end the girl’s life for good, a chain of explosions snatched her attention. She turned around and stared towards the colossal structure that was no doubt created by Lilian’s Nature Magic.

“Damn it,” Erin cursed. There was no time to lose. It was no longer about having faith in one’s companions. This was no time to be scrupulous.

When Erin returned her gaze to Eliza, the girl was gone. No, she was carried off and Erin could still see the person running off into the distance. Erin rebuked herself for being so careless and letting someone slip under her nose so easily.

Erin would have given chase if she could but alas, the safety of her companions took precedence over the death of her assailant and assassin. Without wasting more precious time, she sprinted in the direction of the colossal structure.

The sounds of battle grew louder and louder as she drew near the structure. The ever-increasing clangour reminded Erin of war. In a way, this was already a war, a war for her head. Like most wars, the participants would justify their atrocious means in the end.

Erin was getting a headache from just thinking about it. The cause of all this was the old beings who proclaimed themselves as the world’s guardian deities. This massive bloodshed was the result of these old-timers’ paranoia. It was truly aggravating the more she thought about it.

“Ironic for a bunch of so-called guardians,” Erin scoffed in her heart.

Suddenly, Erin stopped in her tracks. She turned around and saw Amyra dashing towards her.

“Amyra?”

“Don’t stop now, milady! Keep running!”

“What’s wrong—”

Erin’s question was answered immediately in the next second as she glanced beyond Amyra. There was a metallic beast chasing after Amyra. Its sheer size and hardness allowed it to plough right through all the trees and various obstacles in its way with ease.

The beast in question resembled no creatures Erin had ever seen in her life. The only familiarity she had of the beast was its faint humanoid physique but other than that, it was no exaggeration to call it an abomination.

“What the fuck is—”

“That’s Bora,” Amyra said as she ran past Erin and took her along by grabbing her arm.

“That’s Bora?”

“Yes. That’s him.”

“What happened to him?”

“No clue but I think that’s his true form as a Skinwalker.”

“Did his transformation go wrong somehow?”

“You want to stop here and ask him?”

“That’s not funny, Amyra.”

“Well, I tried.” Amyra tittered despite the severity of their situation. “Anyway, I won’t recommend fighting him, milady. I saw how he tore the other person apart. I don’t believe your blades will fare any better.”

Erin sighed. “My apologies, Amyra.”

“What are you apologising for, milady?”

“I got you involved in this. I got everyone involved.”

“You’re not wrong but you don’t have to blame yourself for it, milady. I don’t speak for everyone but I do speak for myself. I don’t blame you, milady. You did nothing wrong. Time and time again, you have shown those relics that you are not the instrument of unfettered destruction they denounced you to be.”

“Thank you, Amyra. That means a lot.”

“It’s an honour to be serving you, milady. I’m sure it’s the same for His Grace.”

Before Erin could return the honour, darkness loomed over them. At the same time, Erin’s Sixth Sense crawled across her skin like thousands of ants. She rolled to the side, taking Amyra with her.

A tall and bulky figure crashed into the spot where Amyra would have run had she not changed her direction. The figure caught the sun’s grace and a sheen ran across its body.

“Bora,” Amyra muttered.

The metallic beast named Bora rose to its feet and straightened its back, standing over seven feet tall.

“Spirits be damned…” Erin gulped down her fearful amazement. “He’s dangerous.”

As if responding to Erin's words, Bora turned towards her and growled.

“I really hoped it would not come to this but it seems, in the end, I have to invoke my Lust.” Erin conjured a sabre with a blade extending nearly as long as her height.

“Milady, allow me—”

“No, Amyra. I will finish this. There’s no point holding myself back any longer. I’m well aware of how much I’m afraid of my reliance on abilities that are only loaned to me but… this is no time to be finicky.”

“...Very well, milady.” Amyra loosened her posture.

A predatory grin appeared on Erin’s face. “You have been warned, Bora. I never wanted this but you forced my hand.”

Bora snarled and lunged at Erin. The winds bent and followed him in a spiralling stream.

Erin met Bora’s assault head-on and swung her sword.

Bora swerved to the side without losing his pace and speed. Coiling its claws into a fist, Bora threw a punch towards Erin.

Instead of dodging, Erin caught the punch with her bare hands. There was a strained look but only that. There was no despair or fear.

Bora contorted his bestial face with disbelief and shock, which only made him more hideous than he already was.

“Gaudy, yet predictably hollow,” Erin scoffed. She tightened her grip.

Bora tried tugging and pulling but against Erin’s increased stats and strength, he failed to pry his hand off of her grip.

Without another word, Erin swung her sword.

Even with the power of foresight, there was nowhere and no way for Bora to dodge as his hand was caught, holding him in place. A vivid silverish cyan flash streaked across his eyes and his world displaced into two perfect vertical halves.

The experience surged into Erin’s very essence of being as the giant of a metallic beast collapsed to the ground in two halves.

“Well… that was mawkish,” Amyra mused. “What now, milady?”

“What else?” Erin flicked the blood off her sword and strode down the path that had been paved by all those before. “Lyra and the rest await us.”

“Will you be fine, milady? You did just—”

“Amyra, we have been dawdling long enough. Now isn’t the time to be particular with my health.”

Erin didn’t wait for Amyra’s response. She kept on walking with a firm gait.

“If you say so, milady. If His Grace starts asking, let it be known that I am not to be faulted for trying to—”

Erin disappeared into the trees before Amyra could finish making her case.

Amyra chuckled. “Fair enough.”

****

“So, how long are we going to stay trapped in this… deathtrap?” Lyra asked as she paced back and forth around within the dirt structure created by Lilian.

“Deathtrap?”Nivia sneered. “This is a sanctuary. If it weren’t for this, we would have been swarmed by those bloodthirsty hounds knocking on the walls as we speak.”

“This is not a sanctuary. We are not safe here. We are merely postponing the inevitable.”

“I agree with Lyra,” said Siv. “We have not won the battle. As it stands, we are just delaying our imminent defeat.”

“Then, what do you propose, Siv?” Nivia asked. “We are outnumbered and they are not just some simple enemies. They are Apostles of the Divines. I know none of us here want to hear this but we’re helpless without Erin or Aedan.”

“Staying here won’t help either. We’re sitting ducks.”

Nivia groaned. “Don’t compare me with ducks.”

Lyra sighed in frustration.

“I’m truly sorry for this, everyone,” Lilian said. “Had it not been for me, we would have gotten to safety by now.”

“That’s not true,” Siv refuted. “You can’t say that for certain. Given the many parties that want Mistress dead and us by proxy, I believe the outcome would have been so different even if you’re in good shape, Lilian.”

Lilian tittered. “Aww~ you say the sweetest things, Siv.”

Just as those words left Lyra’s lips, a series of explosions shook the entire place.

“W-what was that!?” Aera shouted, her eyes darting towards her companions for answers.

But no one could answer as they were just as clueless as her.

“Regardless,” Lyra said in a voice loud enough to garner all the attention. “We should be thinking of a way out. This… fortress won’t last. A few more explosions of that scale would bring this whole thing on us.”

“Will we be safe if we go outside?” Aera asked, her tone dipped in panic. “What about the explosions? Won’t we just get blown to bits the moment we set—”

There was another explosion but it was just one. Still, the lone explosion was enough to create a large hole in the wall of the colossal structure.

“Fuck!” Lyra cursed. “To arms, ladies! Incoming!”

Groups of shabbily dressed individuals flooded into the structure, all wielding weapons that were old and rusty. Even their bodies were mucky and laced with filth. The only part that was clean and gleaming about these people was the shiny silver badge that was embedded into their flesh.

“Are those silver that lodged on their bodies?” Nivia muttered out loud her bafflement.

“Must be a proof of vow or some sort,” Siv answered.

“Doesn’t change anything! Fire on them!” Lyra yelled.

Lyra and Nivia released their arrows on the charging Acolytes.

The two released multiple arrows with one shot, wasting not a single arrow. All of the arrows found their mark. They zealots stopped in their tracks and stared in shock. More than half a dozen of their siblings by faith had already been killed when they had only begun their assault.

Though the zealots froze, Lyra and the others weren’t. Siv rushed forward and flourished her swords, taking the heads of the zealots that were at the forefront of the charge. The other zealots recovered their bearings and lunged at Siv.

Arrows found the heads of the ones who lunged at Siv, arrows from Lyra and Siv.

The zealots were once again taken aback by the deaths of their companions. It was evident that they didn’t expect the opposition to be so strong and ruthless. They certainly didn’t expect to be losing so many of their peers in such a short amount of time.

“Come on, brothers and sisters!” Someone shouted at the top of his lungs. “They’re just a few lassies! We are many! We must take revenge for the families they so mercilessly slaughtered! Charge!”

At that person’s spirited cry, the zealots regained their zeal and surged towards Lyra and the others.

As Lyra and Siv hurriedly nocked their next volley of arrows, a horn resounded loudly and widely. The sound of the horn made the zealots stop their charge. Fear wrought their faces as they looked at each other in uncertainty.

“They are close… We have been discovered…”

“It’s them… What do we do?”

“Curses! We have no choice but to retreat!”

At the words of the same person who made the cry, the zealots rallied under his words and they all retreated through where they appeared from.

It wasn’t just them. Nivia strained her ears and she could hear diminishing noises and sounds around them. Everyone was scattering and clearing the area.

In minutes, the entire area became pin-drop silent and the noises there were, were the group’s bated breaths.

“What just happened?” Lyra eventually let out her question.

“Should we run too?” Aera asked.

Nivia and Lilian were also looking confused and perplexed, but not Siv.

“No, we don’t need to run,” Siv said. “We are safe, relatively.”

“You know what that horn was?” Lyra questioned.

Siv nodded. “It’s the horn of the kingdom’s army. I wager it’s because we are near one of the most important towns of the Yorun Kingdom, it’s only natural that we will stumble upon the kingdom’s army.”