The rain showed no signs of ending, which was Lei-Lei's fault. Through begging, she had bargained with the Voice of Rain for this favorable weather as it allowed her to control her water-based ether with resounding freedom.

Lei-Lei's feet dangled off the center house’s platform. Someone’s here, she thought. Behind her, a malevolent entity had entered her ether field, sliding itself across the floor. She initially thought it was a Gelatin, but the ether exuding from the entity was concentrated with filth and sadistic intent. She put a hand over her mouth and retracted her ether field slightly so she wouldn’t vomit.

When Suzaku had left to retrieve Yushia, Lei-Lei had decided that relocating Fei and Payuei to the nearby lake was the safest choice. Using her ether, a spacious pocket of air was created under the lake, protecting the two from any dangers. All that was left now was Lei-Lei herself, but she opted to stay in the village. She’d given herself a duty, and if anything were to happen to it, she would be the one to protect it.

The ominous ether entered deeper into the village, making her ether field slowly retract with it. Tracking the disgusting ether was too much for her stomach to handle now so she withdrew her ether field and vomited over the ledge. She wiped her mouth and created a smaller ether field around her that spanned several meters.

Worry shrouded Lei-Lei's thoughts. Without her wide ether field’s wide range, she’d put herself at a great disadvantage.

“I beseech you, Voice of Ice: Spears,” she chanted quietly, holding her staff to her chest. As the rain fell, they collected into three, long, skinny bolts of water beside her head. After the chant had finished, those bolts froze into ether-enhanced icicles, chilling Lei-Lei's long, pointed ears. She lifted the hood of her robe over her head.

Expanding her ether field, she felt the ether from the entity, which surprised her. In so little time, it had managed to cover a distance far surpassing her expectations. Retracting her ether field again slightly, she made sure to graze its ether just enough so she wouldn’t need to vomit again. It began scaling the trees before standing upright on its legs on one of the house platforms.

Lei-Lei hid inside the house and faced the wall toward the direction of the disgusting ether. Her spears of ice rattled with her uneasiness, but regardless of that, she was ready. The evil presence hadn’t noticed her yet, and that meant she had the upper hand.

The being crossed a bridge, heading toward the center of the village where Lei-Lei hid. Loud, bull-like grunts were made apparent as it closed in on her. Then, it stepped foot on Lei-Lei's platform.

Pointing her staff at the wall, the icicles beside her head, from rest, began rotating at unimaginable speeds.“Release.”

The icicles shot out like pillars of light, creating three holes in the walls. The presence on the other side had been impaled by each icicle, one in its torso, the other in its thigh, and the third in its shoulder. The ether-enhanced icicles transferred their ether into the being, freezing its movements.

Again, Lei-Lei chanted. “I beseech you, Voice of Wind: Wyvern’s Gust.”

A mighty blast of air shot from Lei-Lei's staff, destroying and creating an even larger hole through the home. The being was sent flying away, indicating by it quickly leaving her ether field.

It was at this point that Lei-Lei realized her mistake. She had been using her ether field all day long, slowly draining her ether. Now, her supply sat at an uncomfortable low, and if she had to fight again, a loss would be inevitable. Forced and without a choice, she decreased the range of her ether field to an arm's length, running across the bridge to her house. She sat in front of her shine and dug in her robe’s pockets, grabbing two Silverwolf canines before shouting, “I beseech you, Voice of Spirits!”

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Four sets of eyes were summoned in the void of her blindness, each looking at one another before settling on the girl.

Squinting down at her, the Voice of Ice spoke. “Greedy today, aren’t we, Lei-Lei?”

“Once more do I seek your guidance, Voice of Ice!” Lei-Lei shouted.

The Voice of Mist’s eyes squinted as well, amused by the young Jiuli’s efforts. “You’ve never come to us in such a panic.”

“What is the matter?” the Voice of Rain asked.

She clutched the canines in her hands, nearly drawing blood. “An evil presence has been brought to the village. Voice of spirits, I beg of you. I seek the Voice of Ice and his guidance to fend for my village and the last of its survivors.”

“You have sought the guidance of the Voice of Rain and Voice of Mist in such short time,” the Voice of Wind said. “Take advantage of our guidance and we will abandon your voice.”

“I know that well,” Lei-Lei responded.

“You know that well and you still seek guidance?” the Voice of Ice yelled. “Incompetent.”

Like a flick to the head, Lei-Lei's head jerked back, a rush of cold air blowing against her face as she fell to the floor. The eyes vanished, and for the first time, she was rejected by the Voice of Spirits. As much as she wanted to be frustrated, the outcome was inevitable. The Voices had been helping Lei-Lei too often, and it was time she settled things on her own. She left her home, and in the distance only a bridge away, her ears perked toward a low grunt.

It’s here.

“The Cerulean,” the evil presence spoke. “Where do you keep the animal?”

Lei-Lei's heart matched the tapping rain. She didn’t know it could speak. “If it’s the Cerulean you’re looking for, can I assume you are the demon bringing terror to my village?”

“I am.” the evil presence proclaimed.

Lei-Lei's nearly broke her staff with her grip as she aimed it toward the evil before her. “Voice of Ice: Game.”

White frost channeled in a circular shape before the point of her staff, freezing the droplets of rain into hundreds of tiny ether-reinforced ice bullets. Her arm and body recoiled back as the bullets of ice shot out sporadically.

The demon dove into its shadow, dodging the attack.

A miss, Lei-Lei thought.

A jolt ran throughout her body as she sensed the demon slithering inside her small ether field. It grabbed her ankle.

“Where is the Cerulean?!” it shouted.

Refusing to acknowledge the demon’s words, Lei-Lei turned her staff downward and chanted again: “Voice of Ice: Spears.”

Droplets of water surrounding her formed a single spear, stabbing through the demon’s shadow, shooting it through the wooden platform. The demon was forced to leave his shadow and landed in the mud dozens of meters below.

Stupid demon, Lei-Lei thought.

As she expanded her ether field, she felt a sharp sting in her mind and kneeled. Her body became hot like lava, and her ether retreated. Touching the area where the demon had held her, she felt an open wound.

“I beseech you, Voice of Mist!” Lei-Lei called out, holding the tip of her staff to her ankle. “Brisk Elixir!”

Orbs of yellow light flew out from a yellow magic circle, smashing against one another before turning to dust, traveling inside Lei-Lei's wound. She’d been poisoned, but her ether had managed to extract the contents. They dissolved into the air once their job was done.

Expanding her ether field again, the demon was no longer where it once was. The spell she casted earlier had used an absurd amount of ether as well, a result of her nervousness while casting it. She’d be able to hold off against the demon but losing would eventually be inevitable.

She needed help.