As the disheartening light of his torch came ever closer, Elizabeth took matters into her own hands and ripped the leather off the armour covering her bum leg. It's not like she needed to protect it anymore.

She wrapped it around her bloodied foot and pushed the women off in an attempt to stand on her own.

The gritting of her teeth was audible to three women as she struggled to keep herself straight.

“Elizabeth…” Nora weakly pleaded.

“There's no better solution. Without me putting some pressure on him, whether you like it or not, we're finished.” She coldly responded.

The priest began rubbing one his eyes and opened his mouth in amazement. It seemed he had regained his vision.

She tried to walk forward but her own weight was too much to handle.

She made a single hop forward before she stood in silence for several seconds as she prepared for another.

“Shit, this isn't going to work. Sigh, you three stay back, I'm going to handle this.”

“Are you fucking insane!?” Tina shouted.

The priest perked his ears up and continued walking towards the darkness.

“(I can't just go and say I have immortality, now, can I?) Tina, I'm the only one who can fight him competently. I'll try to trap his leg with my arms but if I can't, I want you three to make your way to the exit and regroup with others. A surprise attack is the only way he's going to be defeated at that point.”

Before she tried to walk off, Tina grabbed her hand and turned her around.

“Elizabeth stop fucking around and tell me how you're getting out of his magic so quickly! You can't just say shit like you have something and I don't and expect me to believe you.”

Nora made a “Shhh” sound, praying Tina would quiet down but she just didn't shut up.

“Come the fuck on Elizabeth, this asshole’s gonna kill us, is whatever the fuck you're doing so important you can't tell us!?”

Elizabeth blankly stared at her before turning around. “Get ready to run away.”

Tina felt like she was going to shout at the top of her lungs but something happened that caught the attention of all those in the room.

“Tina!?” A familiar voice shouted in the distance. “Tina, is that you!? Are you hurt!?” They could all tell, the voice was slowly approaching.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The figure behind the voice soon appeared in the room's entrance held in the arms of large man.

“Tina! Tina! Ti-” she paused as she looked at the boy with black hair walking around with a torch. Even at the entrance, she could tell the burns on his body were those of the girl.

Her face instantly turned to pure unfiltered disgust when she saw him.

"(He's the same age wise but he's clearly a different kid than what those two were talking about.) Kid, I'm only gonna ask this once. Who the fuck are you.”

Daniel turned around and rubbed the back of his head.

“The one with yellow eyes…hmm.”

“Hey Nigel, let's kill this little bastard.” She commanded, her grip tight on his chest hair.

“Heh, sorry little guy, you were at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

He placed her down. “What the fuck are you doing, you oversized jackass?” she asked while propping herself up with her hammer.

“Babe you rest this one out, you can barely move.”

He tapped the wounds on his stomach. “I've just got a few flesh wounds, so you'd probably just slow me down.”

Before she could tell him to stop, he began running.

“Hmm, who is this man? I don't remember him saying anything about him. Oh well, I can't imagine he has a trick similar to that blonde woman.”

He kept his focus on the darkness as the large man approached and Elizabeth flew out of the darkness.

He quickly stopped her and her momentum down but the other girls exited as well spreading themselves out. Tina reached for Elizabeth and threw her at him once again.

As Elizabeth flew through the air her expression shifted from determination to grave concern.

“(Wait, a minute, Nigel!?) Nigel, turn back!” She shouted as Daniel stopped her a few feet in front of him.

The other women appeared in the corners of his vision and he wasted no time stopping them before they got any closer. He had to rid himself of the blonde woman by any means.

Before he could bring his blade down into the head of Elizabeth, Tina tackled him.

He stopped her and pushed her off but not before being grabbed by the big man from earlier.

He stopped him and…

(“Hmm? What's this now?”)

His grip was stronger than he expected. He was large but he didn't expect this sort of strength out of him.

A punch smashed his jaw, sending him and the man who held him flying back several feet.

(“Ah, Nigel. I didn't expect you to listen to me but at least you've proven useful.”) Elizabeth thought as she watched them fly back.

Nigel had no magic. What he did was raw strength. Strength so raw, even though he couldn't move, he managed to keep the bane of their existence for the past several minutes in check.

It took several seconds for him to realise this man didn't have magic. Which was a good thing since he was convinced he might have taken unnecessary damage.

After the punch Elizabeth was quickly crawling, which he delayed by constantly stopping her, to little success. She was now clutching to the leg of the man that had him restrained.

(“Hmm, I would cut his arm off to escape but it seems my hand is too low to do so. How many stabs should it take to have him release me?”)

While his hands were not in the same area as Nigel’s arm, they were close to his torso. All he had to do was turn his sickle around and push the blade into him.