Bolts of violet lightning thundered across the dark, foreboding sky as if they were enraged serpents while fat, oversized raindrops crashed towards the earth, only to be caught by the thick forest canopy that protected the ground from the full might of the raging storm.

Booming thunder accompanied the terrifying light show, causing the eath to shake while the howl of the bitter, cutting wind made it almost impossible for any of the various sentient beings that were witnessing the scene to describe it as anything but apocalyptic.

Deep down, those with enough strength and mental fortitude not to seek shelter immediately knew that an intense, otherworldly battle must have taken place recently.

Extreme changes in the weather, especially those that were violent and seemingly uncontrollable, were always the direct cause of battles between peak powers that involved one or more Chosen.

The reason for this was that their abilities relied on mana, divine energy that only the Chosen could utilise, which would mutate the laws of nature and generate deviations in the world essence. While external mana would eventually dissipate, without direct control it would cause havoc with the surrounding environment and force the world spirit to respond in an attempt to restore balance fiercely.

Even with the raging storm, far off in the distance bright flashes and the sound of battle could be faintly discerned as a battle of epic proportions took place on a distant mountain.

Suddenly, a deafening roar, terrifying in might rose out of the dense forest vegetation and was quickly followed by a compact, earth-shattering explosion as a dome of black flams incinerated everything in its immediate vicinity and sent everything else flying high into the air. The blast contained so much force that it even reversed the momentum of the falling raindrops momentarily.

Just as the vibrations from the massive explosion started to die down, a black shadow, around about the size of a large horse, shot away from its epicentre and back into the dense undergrowth, using the only landmark, a nearby mountain to guide it.

As the shadow crashed through the vegetation, it left dark red, blood stains on the various leaves and trees, however, instead of being washed away by the rain, instead it seemed to boil as it ate away whatever it landed on.

"Don't let that bitch escape." A loud, almost awe-inspiring roar, that seemed even to make the thunder diminish in reverence, repeated through the forest as ten humanoid figures appeared in the newly formed crater wearing what appeared to be similar to medieval weapons and armour.

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"What about Jean and his team?" responded one of the figures, its leather armour was torn almost to rags, revealing various bloody wounds.

"Look around you," snorted the original speaker, crimson robes catching in the wind and revealing plate-like armour, that reflected the lightning above, underneath. "They underestimated that wench and paid the price. They are dead."

"As you will be soon," responded a chilling, heartless yet still feminine voice as its owner, the shadow that looked like hat already fled, yet was hovering just behind a large tree, spat out a stream of black flames, so dark that they appeared to absorb the limited light surrounding it.

Turning anything that stood in its way to dust, the flame shot towards the crimson-robed man yet the shadow had already fled into the forest, not waiting to see if its attack was successful.

Shock, as he had personally seen the shadow escaping earlier, appeared in the man's eyes yet he didn't hesitate in the slights, quickly raising both of his hands, palm outwards and pushing mana out of his core as he envisioned a shield.

Flickering once before fulling forming, a blue shield, similar to the metal shield one of the figures was carrying, appeared in front of the man just before the flames were about to reach him.

A thunderous explosion rippled out from where the shield and flame met yet, even though the mana shield had taken most of the power out of the attack, it was still unable to entirely resist and, with a secondary explosion, shattered and sent the man hurtling backwards and slamming into the floor.

"Elder!"

"Lord Commander!"

"Guild Master!"

Various exclamations of surprise, horror and shock were shouted out as the remaining nine figures rushed towards the downed, smoking body of the man as he tore the burning robes from his body and patted out the black flames.

"After her," bellowed the man. The greedy, lustful shine in his eyes standing in contrast to his bleak state as he coughed and a mouthful of blood seeped through his lips. "Your heads will be the price if she escapes."

"Sir!." As one, the remaining nine responded with various salutes ringing off their multiple types of armour before changing direction and chasing into the forest, heading for where they last saw the fleeing shadow.

To an outsider, even without the differences in armour, appearance and manners, it would be clear that the group, although knowing each other, they all had different backgrounds. At the moment, they held a common goal and obeyed the man, grey hair starting to appear at the side of his head, without question.

Struggling to stand as he watched his comrades, or more likely subordinates, flicker into the forest, the injured man extracted a bottle of red, blood-like liquid from a pouch tied to his waist and raised it to his mouth before greedily drinking it and discarding the empty vial.

"Little dragoness," whispered the man to himself as his wounds started to heal visibly and cracks could be heard from his mending ribs. "There is nowhere you can run. Either you will be mine, or you will die. The time of your kind is over. The age of the Chosen has arrived."

With a flick of his wrist and an incomprehensible mumble, blue energy gathered at his feet, seemingly dancing between them, and with only a moment's hesitation, his figure flickers as he rejoined the chase.

By this time, the shadow had made it to the foot of the mountain and, even though anyone would say it was on its last legs, was quickly ascending its cliffs through ever growingly sparse trees.