On a place high in the heavens, a man stood alone with nothing but his armor and his sword. The sword’s ocean-blue blade glimmered like a gem, and its obsidian-black hilt seemed to swallow the surrounding light. Compared to the sword, his metallic silver armor riddled with scratches and stained with blood looked like mud.

Gazing at the army of hundreds of thousands before him, the man couldn't help but sigh from behind his protective helmet. “Fiero, that god,” he muttered, flicking his sword. As the blade cruised through the air, it left behind a blue trail, and the air surrounding it suddenly heated up.

“Oh well, I don't mind slaughtering demons,” he bent his knees, steadying the sword in his hand.

BANG!

But then suddenly, a golden bolt of lightning struck him from above, engulfing his body as he disappeared. The only thing left behind was the charred soil where the man once stood.

+

WOOSH!

Eve twisted his body, the arrow barely missing his nose by a hair's width. Turning his head, his eyes searched for the elusive archer.

“Tch,” he frowned, backing away as the swordsman's sword sliced the air in front of him. Stomping on the ground, Eve stepped toward the man, moving his sword chasing after the latter's right arm—which was holding the sword.

The swordsman brought his sword up with one arm, blocking Eve's stone sword with his sword's handguard. The man pushed Eve's sword to his side, putting Eve in a defenseless stance. With a grunt, his other hand hurled through the air and struck Eve in the chest!

BANG!

“Hup!” Eve slid back, gasping as he felt his chest buckle in. Looking down, it looked as though there was a small crater on the surface of his body. ‘Magic,’ Eve thought.

Then, his ears picked up the sound of the air being split—Eve moved back, only to pause mid-way.

FOOSH!

An arrow flew past his face, but another one chipped away at his back. Had he not stopped, he would've been skewered. Cursing, Eve jumped back, only to see two more arrows hurling toward him.

“Damn,” he raised his left arm, flooding it with primal energy.

THUD—TCHH!

An arrow stuck to his forearm, but another pierced his hand and nailed it to his right shoulder.

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“Guh!” Yanking his hand free from his own shoulder, Eve brandished his sword a moment later—CLANG!

Pushed back by the swordsman's blade, Eve jumped back thrice. As he did, two arrows chased after where he landed.

‘Tsk, that damned archer,’ Eve cursed. ‘We need to retreat. I didn't expect humans to be this strong.’

He frowned inwardly. ‘Or is it me who's rusty?’

Either way spelled doom, and with the mental link, he recalled Lucky to his side. As the latter was only a few paces behind him, he figured it shouldn't take a while.

Eve narrowed his eyes, bending his knees and ran around the swordsman. The swordsman guarded himself with his sword, eyeing Eve but otherwise not moving.

‘Is he slow?’ Eve pondered. As he thought of it, he saw another clay man from the corner of his eyes. ‘If he's slow, then…’

Eve didn't think twice, he bolted toward Lucky in a random pattern. “FALL BACK!”

Hearing his master, Lucky copied his move before splitting away from Eve. ‘Clever guy,’ Eve huffed. ‘But you're supposed to shield me!’

Scowling, he yelled for Lucky to stay near him.

Crossing a few houses, Eve glanced back, seeing the swordsman rushing after him in his bulky armor.

“As I thought,” he smirked, looking back at the front. The gates had been shut close, but Eve didn't see any troubles. With his primal energy still gathered around his left arm, he stopped before the wooden gates and pulled his fist back and twisting his hips, aiming at the gate.

But then, Lucky stood to his side, his arms crossed—PCHHI!

Three arrows pierced Lucky's torso, unable to reach Eve.

BOOM!!

At the same time, Eve's punch crashed on the gates, collapsing it. Grabbing Lucky by the neck, he bolted out. As they exited the city, he lifted Lucky in front of him and grabbed the three arrows, taking them out in one pull.

“Not good, I used up most of my primal energy,” Eve said through gritted teeth. The “signal” he was talking about was his stomping on the ground at full force, copying a small earthquake to alert Kurgos from a distance.

But now, Eve had no choice but to run in plain sight.

Rumble…

All of a sudden, he felt the ground shaking under his feet, making him turn back. On top of the city walls, there was a man wearing leather armor. He was waving his hands in the air, which was covered in an ethereal brown energy.

“It’s a mage,” Eve turned around, forcing all of his remaining primal energy into his legs. Before he blitzed across the ground, he yanked Lucky by the neck.

Meanwhile, the mage casting his spell frowned. “It's too fast,” he said. Looking to his side, he saw a woman hiding behind the wall. Her long brown hair was tied to a bun, and on her hand was a bow that was coated in ethereal white energy.

“They escaped?” The archer asked, peeking through the walls.

“Not yet,” the mage replied. “But my magic is too slow.”

“Don't stop,” the archer said, squinting her eyes at the fleeing form of Eve. Lifting her bow, she took an arrow from a quiver and nocked it on the bow.

“Make him focus on you,” she mumbled.

The mage nodded, clasping his hands. Below the city gates, a huge chunk of the ground started churning, gathering into a ball of earth. Slowly, the earth mound started to rise, its size bigger than a two story house.

“He's running faster,” the mage sighed, holding his magic in place. That was all he could do, if he tried throwing it at the intruder, the earth construct would lose shape and crumble.

“Good,” the archer whispered, before suddenly letting go of the bowstring. The arrow silently bulleted through the air, traveling in a straight line, when all of a sudden—

BANG!!!!

A blinding light engulfed their visions for a brief moment as lightning struck in front of them. Frowning, the two of them looked at the scorched earth on the ground, and the armored man holding a blue sword standing above it.

The mage's eyes widened, while the archer's jaws slowly parted.

“Is that?” The mage turned to the archer, only to see her face. Shaking his head, he ignored the armored man for the moment and searched for the clay man. There he saw it, two halves of the clay man's body levitating on the ground, gliding through the air toward another man in the distance.

Quickly, their figures vanished from his declining eyes.

“Haaa,” he sighed, leaning against the city walls. His mana was exhausted, holding an intermediate spell for an extended period without using it took a toll on him.

With his focus shattered, the earth mound floating on the air cascaded down, filling their ears with a loud rumbling sound. The commotion seemed to wake up the armored man as well, as he started looking around, his gaze landing on the two of them.

“Hey, Ashley,” the mage called out, patting the archer's back. Ashley jolted at the sudden touch.

“He's coming,” he said and just as he did, he felt a gust of wind, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them, the man was already next to them.

“Is that you, Master Xander?” The man asked, laughing heartily as he placed his sword down on the castle walls.

Xander shook his head. “You're embarrassing me, Felix.”

The man, Felix, laughed louder. “No way, you taught me so much, Master Xander. Don't be embarrassed, hahaha!”

“And Ashley, why do you look like a fish?”