“Retreat and hold the line!” A man with a red embroidered cape barked orders. Previously he had sent a group of six to combat the females...only three were still alive to carry out the fallback order. They regrouped deeper in the street, using the buildings from either of their sides, they created a wall, practically linking shields together. They were essentially an impenetrable fortress. Behind the wall was a squad of crossbowmen.

The illustrious looking soldier that was presumed to be an officer ordered the archers to take the position; The crossbowmen placed the end on the shoulders of the soldiers in front of them. The tip of the bow jutting just slightly further than the helmets.

“Sister, where is the food? I’m starving.” She put a bloody finger to her mouth. Even though there wasn’t much magic, it was still a tasty snack.

Rinae said nothing to her. She was watching the men in the front. From her experiences, she was quite vulnerable to projectile based weapons. She extended her wings; the larger pair started to vibrate first followed by the smaller couple. She crouched and launched herself several feet into the air.

“Fire!” The bolts crossed past her flight path; she was agile enough to change her course mid. The bolts passed her without harm. She began to glide and looked behind her. The bolts were inaccurate, very few even came to close to the other female. Seems they were actually aiming for Rinae, to begin with. However, one wasn’t aimed at her and was going entirely on target. To the archer's’ surprise she caught the bolt.

That was all Rinae needed to know; Her offshoot was a more defense centered version, perhaps she was more suited to be her shield.

She folded her wings to her back and dropped into the crowd; she landed on a reloading archer, Even if he survived the impact, his internal organs would still be penetrated by her heels.

She uppercutted the nearest soldier with an open hand. Her claws went deep into the chin. His eyes rolled straight to the back of his head. She pulled the head towards her tearing it from the neck. She slashed at another with her free hand. She didn’t manage to kill him, but his armor was now pretty useless. He was knocked back some feet away and landed on his butt.

“Kill the monster!”

“It broke the line!”

“It killed Weber!”

Just some of the things that she heard them saying, with that she caused enough destructive force to break the formation. The archers dropped their weapons, brandished daggers. The men on the shield wall turned around to face her. They fell right into her clawed hands.

Her offshoot crashed right into the soldiers that remained on the wall; shields were either flung or drooping limply from the broken arms. She grabbed two of the men by the skulls and squeezed. They screamed then were followed by a wet slopping noise and silence. The bodies were free from her grip and laying on the floor.

“Gah!” One swung at her, using her reflexes she caught the blade and snapped it from the hilt. He wasn’t alive much longer after that attempt. She stabbed the sword piece through the top of his helmet.

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“Damn it!” The officer dropped his sword, The situation was beyond saving, over half of his forces were decimated, “Retreat!”

Any soldiers that were not tied up in the fight turned tail.

Two robbed men approached the battlefield. “Unacceptable.” One said, raising his arm. A small ball of flame was produced at the palm. It gradually grew in size until it was twice his hand.

Both females stopped their slaughter picking up the familiar scent of growing magic. Like moths to the literal flame. “There they are!” Rinae pointed at the two mages.

Back when she was at the farm, she would often see the mages outside the barracks. Elrich had told her that they were sent from an academy in the west to earn some experience here.

“Purge them.” One of the robbed men commanded the other.

“Gladly.” He released the built-up flame magic. The ball turned into a meteor barrelling through the fleeing soldiers vaporizing any that touched, In the wake, there was only ash.

The officer just barely managed to get out of the way. The heat was far beyond anything he’s ever felt. It was even hotter than the fire it took the form of. After the ball passed by him did he feel the burns it left.

“Move!” Rinae shouted at the last minute. Sure, she could try to absorb the ball of flaming magic, but, there existed the risk of that failing and her becoming a crispy critter. Her offshoot was not so fast. She took the blast head-on, the resulting explosion created fragments of dirt, metal, and rocks to flying everywhere.

Once the smoke cleared and the debris settled, Rinae’s offshoot was on all fours with her claws dug into the ground. Her chitin armor looked melted in various places. Most notable in her arms and eyes mask, huge sections had been burned off revealing bluish muscle and neon blood.

She hissed at the two assailants. She was going to have to work for her meal.

Rinae took to the skies once more to try her dive bomb technique.

It proved to be completely useless; A water tentacle slapped her right back to the ground. She created a crater. Now she knew she was no longer in the superiority regarding combat. She could be touched in the one domain she had only just begun to dominate.

The tentacle slithered back to the source it came from, a flask that was placed on the ground.

She raised from the crater only to wake up to another fireball. She tried her wings to get to a higher elevation. No avail, they were too soaked even to vibrate correctly, she rolled.

The ball hit the ground and exploded. She was kicked even further away by force. She slammed into the side of a building.

“The militia was struggling with this?” One of the mages asked as he chuckled.

“Mind your cockiness.” He pointed to the offshoot. “That one took your magic head on and is still breathing.”

“Heh. Let me rectify that.” He pointed his palm once more; the ball was produced once more. It wasn’t clear whether or not the offshoot could handle another blast.

She stood from her spot and walked towards the two mages.

“Uh uh, we can’t have you getting close.” The mage in control of the water magic had the tentacle wrapped around the clone causing her to stop moving. She struggled as the ball approached.

The ball came within inches of her face when Rinae stepped in and sliced the ball in half. The two halves flew off course and into the surrounding buildings causing massive structural damage.

Rinae’s claw was scorched, dulled from melting slightly and actively hurt. The tentacle began to slither away but was caught by Rinae. The magic was starting to drain causing the water to evaporate.

“What!?” The water mage broke the tentacle off from where she was holding. “These can nullify magic?”

Rinae stepped back and vibrated her wings, the heat from the fireball stiffened them slightly. Except she was using them to push the smoke from the background forward. Once they were covered, she grabbed her clone and went for one of the buildings to make a plan.