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“Haha, you know maybe this won’t be all bad! My black lions haven’t had a chance to fight humans for a while.” The witch laughed from above, and she moved further away to ensure she wasn’t in the blast zone in case something happened again.

While Syrus was stuck in a duel with the first black knight, the second raised its two swords and barrelled towards her.

[We’re going down!] (Syrus)

A bright red light emerged from her foot, and within a moment an explosion of fire was brought forth. The roof crumbled, and everyone went falling.

Syrus used this opportunity and flung the small at the knight behind her. The blade pierced between the joints on the left leg and Eva’s wire pulled Syrus’ body away from the knight mid-fall.

Crash!

The sound of rumble falling and wood burning echoed across the ghostly, quiet city.

Syrus rolled with her landing, jumping off the ground with her motion. The first enemy landed without issue, but the second crashed down due to being unable to bend his leg.

The knight removed the sword from his leg and got back up.

“Ehehehe.” Anlesa could hear the witch cackling behind them.

[Maybe we should kill someone. That could disrupt whatever the witch is doing.] (Syrus)

[Syrus, do you know what is going on?] (Luna)

[No idea.] She answered truthfully. [I know the same as you two, that she is hesitant to kill people and that Orb is doing something funky.]

[Based on the phenomenon we are seeing, it appears that the orb has taken… something from the person she killed. The reason she could be hesitant likely means that more killing means some sort of problem with that process. To what end, and what result I don’t know... but killing someone…] (Eva)

[Well, we have two living targets in front of us to test a theory.] (Syrus)

Syrus adjusted to a two-handed grip. With strength lacking at the moment, duel wielding was a little bit out of reach.

[But… they seemed controlled as well.] (Eva)

[Considering they are the witch’s personal weapons, we might be doing them a favour by killing them.] (Syrus)

The trio engaged in combat. The first knight slammed their body forward towards them.

Syrus evaded and immediately countered, but the knight's reaction time was too fast and immediately parried the blow.

The second knight joined in and Syrus leapt towards the building’s exit back onto the street.

Within less than a second, the second knight was besides Anlesa, and it swung its blade down at Syrus. She used a burst of Blood mana to avoid the attack, but the blade increased in length as a black shine formed on the tip.

The lengthened blade went down the side of her torso and the top of her left leg.

“Argh.” Syrus clenched her teeth as he continued to move as she slammed through the wooden wall and reached the street. She grabbed the vitaliser from her bag and scoffed it down.

She chucked the bottle at the knight, who stabbed her as it was still running towards her.

[I’ll handle the injury.] (Luna)

Syrus created flames over the wound, which hid Luna’s healing Moonlight magic. The flames were searing the injury shut.

Syrus took the drink to help with healing, but more importantly, she needed more energy. The vitaliser acted fast; as the liquid poured down her throat, all her muscles along it lit up like fireworks.

Anlesa parried the strike and gave a powerful, strengthened kick to the knight’s leg, tripping them up.

The other knight came for the follow-up; its twin blades fell down, and Syrus kept trying to move.

Once in position, Syrus jumped up, right in the range of her target. She leapt off the ground and, with a second jump, jumped off the pillar of the fence she landed on.

[Now!] (Syrus)

Two metal wires emerged, targeting the limbs of the witch.

The witch turned back around from her orb, and she tapped the door. “Uh, uh, uh, your fight is with my knights.” And within a moment, Eva’s Manipulation was cancelled, which caused the wire to fall.

A moment later she could move them again but they were already too far away.

[I’m sorry.] (Eva)

[Don’t be, just support me in combat now.] (Syrus)

The wire, now active again, pulled Anlesa’s body back to the pillars. The moment she landed, Syrus immediately jumped off as the wall crumbled and the earth opened up.

With a hard landing, Syrus continued the fight on the streets.

Metal wires flung around, stabbing into debris and chucking at the knights. Both simply ignored the rubble even as a small boulder of rock slammed into one of the knight’s helmets.

[No pain I see.] (Syrus)

[They… are truly like puppets…] (Eva)

[Soldiers that don’t feel any form of pain, guess that’s why they can do these overly strenuous feats.] (Syrus)

[What could be creating such a state?] (Luna)

[Apathy.] Syrus answered.

[Is… that what you felt before?] (Eva)

[Yes, though, it would take more than that to make them move like they do. When everyone else was affected, I bet none of them could do actions like what these two can do.] (Syrus)

Rubble was carved up out of the ground, and the knight with its sword shredded the earth behind it. The other knight vanished from view.

[Is this the person you met... back then?] (Luna)

[Maybe. Last time I checked, they had two arms, but I’d say more likely than not.] (Syrus)

[The stranger that had a similar feeling mana was in fact the same person?] (Eva)

[Umm, yeah, that’s a way to put it.] (Syrus)

Spears of rocks began launching themselves from the ground.

Syrus weaved between the spears with precision. She angled the blade behind her as she prepared to make a wide swing. With each passing moment, flames concreted on the sword, making the blade appear to be turning red.

The second knight jumped from inside a new building, breaking through the wall. Its blade pointed out, ready to skewer Syrus.

Syrus leant back and fell below the blade as it passed over her body. “You won’t get the chance to be quieter next time!”

Her knees cracked as her whole swung up off the unbalanced position, and her blade dyed red followed the path to victory.

The scorching flames cut into the knight's armour, and within a second of making contact with the flesh, the sky turned red as flames shot up towards the sky, engulfing the knight and sending them hurting back through the building.

Bang!

The explosion of flames deafened the city.

“A-errr.” Syrus groaned as her body was not happy with her.

[Is it dead?] (Eva)

[I doubt it, the witch would be cursing up a storm if it was. Though it is likely dying.] (Syrus)

The witch didn’t react to the strike; instead, she simply stared at Syrus.

The witch whispered as she tried to organise her thoughts. “Fuck, did that bitch have a daughter? No, impossible.” The lady shook her head. “Timing doesn’t match anyway.” Syrus heard and ignored it.

She then ordered, “Retreat!” She then shrugged. “I know my luck; I doubt there was anyone else here.” The witch stared down at Syrus, and her smile slowly widened. “If we meet again, then you will have to replace my doll.”

“I’d rather not.” Said Syrus.

The remaining black lion knight turned around, sheathed its blades, and in a superhuman dash ran towards the outer perimeter of the city.

[I… can’t keep up with that right now.] (Syrus)

[But why is she retreating..?] Eva asked. Sure they still had options, and maybe trump cards? But Eva would not consider them to be in the best of positions.

[If the knight is dying, then perhaps the impact of others dying around her is more detrimental than we first thought.] (Luna)

[There could be another reason.] Syrus said as they watched as people started groaning as a few began to wake up. Her plan to make as much noise as possible was a success.

“That’s not your choice to make.” The witch’s door rotated forty-five degrees and began to move away from the city.

“As I said, I’d rather not be one of your black lions.”

Her head turned around. “No, that wouldn’t suit you.” The witch smiled. “With your endurance, power, and speed, even while limited by human weakness, you still put up a decent fight. You might be worthy to be my first Crimson Lion.”