The trio watched in horror as the civil guards and wizards were effortlessly slaughtered by Caleb Dune, the ultimate junkie. What Alicia feared had stood before her. The Trinketshore wizards were no match for the possessor of black magic.

"Nadine," Alicia asked, her voice trembling with fear, "will there be any wizard reinforcements to help them?"

Flustered, Nadine's news wracked Alicia's heart even more. "Alicia, they're like the only mage unit in Trinketshore."

Her words were clear as the blazing shop across the street. Reinforcements from the civil guards? Another wasteful gesture. Hundreds of bullets had not left a single scratch on Caleb. What was the point of sending more victims to Hades? After all, in a town as small as Trinketshore, the civil guards who served in the operation had made up more than half of the total officers assigned to that borough.

The other onlookers who had been watching the spectacle gave up their prior intention and fled. Now, only the three of them remained, and they too were about to run.

But the lad and the lass had a hunch that Alicia would not come with them.

"We should get out of here," Nadine said, her voice urgent. Gilmore did not utter another word but nodded his head to her proposal.

"B-but... where to?" Alicia replied, uncertain. A flicker of irritation flared towards Alicia's question. Instead of preparing to run for dear life, the bookworm fancied a thought for another debate.

"What do you mean, 'where to'?"

"You know what I mean, Nadine! If we don't stop that mage, even my house's protective spell won't be able to keep us from his malevolent magic!"

"So what do you want to do?" Nadine was struggling to keep her composure. "You want to face that creature?"

Alicia summoned Orb out of her backpack. She stared intently at it in the hope of a reasonable answer. A mysterious resonance was made by the orb and the response took Alicia aback, making her squeeze her head. Dizzy and overwhelmed. Her cold sweat poured down her face. She understood that she alone, the solitary remaining so-called mage, possessed even the slimmest chance of standing against Caleb Dune. Yet, fear gnawed at her core, unabated, no matter if on her hand, laid the formidable Orb, whose power once buried her alive. If nothing stopped him soon, it would not take the black wizard a single night to unleash devastation upon the town, then build himself a mini-tyranny and take all the residents hostage.

"What's it say?" Gilmore was concerned.

"No one's coming," Alicia's voice was barely above a whisper. "I have to fight him."

That statement made a fretful look on Nadine's face even starker. "No. Orb, stop your baloney! She never even swayed a fist on a bloody mouse. You want to kill her?"

Orb retorted with a firm hum. "It said it could beat the bad man," Alicia interpreted.

"It can beat him, you can't! Alicia, are you really going to believe its words?"

"I knew it! I knew we shouldnae trust the baw!" Gilmore snapped. "Alicia, I'm going to call yer papa to come back and bring reinforcements—"

"Idiot! You forgot our telecomms were completely damaged at the incident yesterday?" replied Nadine.

"Ah, shite! Alicia hasnae paid for our telecomm yet—"

With so many thoughts in her head, Alicia kept pounding her head multiple times, for the sake of ceasing her relentless dilemma. Gilmer snatched her arm right away, shaking his head. Just when he had a glance at her eyes, he saw a new spark of determination.

"S-sorry. To Hades with this!" Alicia then set her conviction. "We have to hold him off. I know it's nae a sound plan—"

Gilmore interrupted her, "It is not! That's a pure brain fart, hen!"

"Aye! But no one is coming! At least it could make time to help those people away. I need your help to save them, please!" Alicia begged her best friends.

Nadine and Gilmore looked at each other, both unsure of what to do. "Ye're an absolute mad, lass," said Gilmore.

"I'll... g-go on my own, then!"

"What? Don't do it to us like that!" Nadine complained. "F-fine! We'll see if your Orb can keep its words!"

On the other side, Caleb perched upon Fergus's prone form as his hands exuded the familiar violet raw essence. He did not mean to shoot it straight into his face. Not when he could derive greater satisfaction from compelling Fergus to ingest the malevolent energy, and bear witness to the torment as his innermost organs ignited and withered, an agonising demise of slow descent.

The addict clasped Fergus's mouth ajar with one hand, poised to pour forth the wicked essence with the other.

Suddenly, the glowing orb struck his face.

It kept darting straight before circling back to deliver a resounding blow to his nape, compelling his cervical bones and sinews to jerk forward involuntarily. Orb returned to the alleged wielder in a circular motion, only to charge forth once more, a forceful strike against Caleb's chin. A mighty remote uppercut. Alicia and Orb managed to prevent Caleb from producing another grisly death, though her stance betrayed a trembling resolve.

Nadine and Gilmore dragged the unconscious Fergus away behind the overturned carriage. They also managed to gather the others.

Caleb opened his blazing eyes wide before Alicia had a chance to flinch. In a spectacle reminiscent of a celestial crooner doing the anti-gravity leaning in reverse, he rose upright, prompting Alicia, utterly dumbfounded, to tumble to the ground. She stared at Caleb's face, which now bore little resemblance to that of a human, akin instead to some undead apparition. His clenched teeth, his pitch-black form, and his malevolent eyes, wide open, instilled an aura of terror.

"Reinforcement?" Caleb sneered with a hoarse voice then chortled afterwards. "Are you so desperate that you have to send three kids to confront me?" Another roar of devilish laughter added to Alicia's horror. A bit of regret attacked her already heavy chest. Seeking out the nearest telecom booth and alerting her father now sounded like a more sound plan than before.

But what had happened, happened. She was already standing at the front of the battle line, making a gateway between Caleb and his defenceless victims. Running away just made her die silly.

"Haw, ye wee bairns!" Caleb pointed at Alicia and her friends. All of them were frozen. "I dinnae ken what's gotten into yer wee brains, snatchin' away my prey and frolickin' with me like some bloody toy! Especially ye, fancy baw brat! Ye longing for death?" His gaze settled upon Alicia, who sat there, paralysed. Gilmore and Nadine forthwith helped her back to her feet.

"Eugh, yer face is pure reekbeek, mate! We cannae let you doing foreplay with yon peely-wally man!" Gilmore pulled out a sword he got from one of the unconscious wizards. He then pursed his lips at Alicia, whispering, "Once again, yer insane. Ye should have yer first square-go against yer bullies instead. Clipe, ye better ken what ye're goin' to do!"

Alicia just gulped. A panicked chuckle slipped from her mouth. "I mean, ye're the first bully, so..."

Gilmore's dumbfounded expression was the only response the Crimsonmane girl received.

Nadine, on the other hand, seemed to be crafting something from her waistbag. It did not take her long to complete the assembly—a crossbow, complete with arrows attached.

"What the—?" Alicia was confused. And surprised. "Since when were you playing with a crossbow?"

"Explanation for another time!" Nadine insisted. Her "army" mode was coming out of hiding. "Focus, Alicia!"

"A-aye!" Alicia nervously stuttered. Her best friends were being forced to deal with a black magic maniac, and her moral burden increased once more as she had to ensure the safety of her friends.

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Caleb just chuckled as he watched them form a classic medieval team-up—a knight, an archer, and a mage. "Ye brats are affy reekbeek than me! Always think of everything as a game!" His hands gave off an aura of purple energy that blazed like fire.

"I'll rot all off ye, fucking larpers! This is nae 'Dungeons and Dragons', ye stupid fuck!"

Alicia, in all her panic, tried to deepen her sync.

Whoosh!

A burst of energy stormed into Caleb's chest, sending him flying backwards. Gilmore, desiring not to be outdone, ran toward Caleb with a slash ready for him. Seeing The Big Yin approaching, Caleb swiftly extended his arms toward Gilmore's face, ready to decompose his annoying visage. But before his hand ever reached Gilmore, an even faster arrow shot towards Caleb's line of sight. Even with his focus divided, Caleb could still catch the arrow with his other hand. His reflexes were remarkable.

But the trio had more surprises in store. The crimson-tipped arrow detonated before Caleb's eyes! Even with his uncanny, ominous purple eyes, the searing pain was the one he could not withstand. His agonised cries punctuated the air as his vision faded into darkness. An opportunity for Gilmore as he slid on his knee then sliced the maniac's left knee joint. A glowing mauve liquid oozed out from the wound.

The Knight then spun around and intended to stab him in the back, before the addict, on reflex, turned and slapped his palm against Gilmore's head again. But his still-impaired vision thwarted his own efforts. In exchange, Gilmore ducked down and hacked Caleb in the chest. His large stature was no obstacle to moving nimbly with his swordsmanship. Truly a reliable and shrewd future knight. And so slashes continued to marred Caleb's body while Gilmore evaded the counterattacks and kept his distance. The maniac could only let out screams with every new wound. And every time Caleb was about to grab Gilmore, Nadine's explosive arrow or Alicia's plasma shot would distract him, the shower of torments.

Caleb's arrogance was met with a beating from the "larpers" of the fantasy world. Alicia was amazed to see her two friends fighting side by side. Despite her fear, she still tried her best to be useful in battle, albeit all she did was shoot beams that often missed.

Was this what it was like to be involved in a fight? Especially a fight using magic! It was not like the girl's childish imagination of a mage hero wiping out demons in a heroic and epic way! It was not epic at all, it was dreadful! Alicia imagined Merlin wetting his pants because he had to witness the horrors of demons mutilating their opponents in a ruthless manner in every battle! Or when the townspeople ran with their faces melted for being caught in the dragon's lake of fire! Merlin could not help but enter a battle of life and death just to eradicate the dragon while being witnessed by piles of human steaks!

Caleb was already overwhelmed. Who would have thought that no matter how potent his magic was, did not make him a master of martial arts in an instant? He finally chose to jump away. His jump was quite high, he managed to keep his distance from them. Electric sparks flashed from his mauve blood-covered wounds, doing some miracle works to pull his torn body tissues together.

"Damn it! He's regenerating!" Gilmore exclaimed. The regeneration process was a torment itself, as seen by Caleb's demeanour and his shrill outcry. It felt like he had to endure those series of attacks again. The trio could only cover their ears at the screams while watching the wounds on Caleb's body slowly knit. His body returned to no scratch, his eyesight worked again, and his emotions exploded because the three teenagers made him the object of humiliation.

"Fuck! Fuck! Rancid fucks! No mercy on ye!" Caleb shot the black magic in succession at them while walking backward to keep some distance. The triumvirate dared to chased him while eluding the shots. Nadine shot back with her arrows, almost all of them a bullseye. Unlike her friend, Alicia was a complete terrible at shooting in motion. None of them hit.

"Aim right, Alicia! Don't waste your energy!" Nadine ordered.

"I-I'm trying! Stop p-pushing me!" Alicia was getting more and more stressed.

The Crimsonmane girl kept unleashing a barrage of projectiles upon him, until at last, a shot found its mark upon the hapless junkie. The potency of that cerulean plasma beam proved formidable, even bringing Caleb to his knees and delaying his shot. The arrows and sword slashes might have been very painful, but a single magic shot from Alicia sent him to the depths of Hades' torturing chamber. It felt like his very being was being devoured by it, draining his endurance to a drastic degree. Whereas previously he could withstand any attack, since being kissed by Orb's magic, every arrow and slash was more troublesome than before.

The addict could not play games anymore. He stopped, pulled out his stance, and stretched out his hands again. Nadine could not fire any arrows anymore as she had run out of them.

Knowing what was about to happen, Gilmore braked his legs, warning the rest, "He's doing his shock wave again, Fall back!"

Nadine and Alicia almost stumbled, then propelled their feet back in the opposite direction.

"Ye dinnae go anywhere! Eat this, bastards!"

The enormous lump of magic from his hand spread out, becoming a shock wave of high speed and wide coverage.

Alicia instinctively created a small force field around herself and Gilmore when she was looking back, protecting them from the impact and reducing their injuries. Nadine? How the Divine had cursed her. She was out of the force field's range. She bumped into the door of one of the carriages and swooned!

"Nadine!" Alicia shrieked.

She tried to approach Nadine, but Caleb did not give her a single chance. She had no choice but to run and dodge all those shots.

The fallen Gilmore knew that his sword had been thrown somewhere. Seeing Nadine pass out, he immediately flew into a rage and was about to ram the ultimate junkie. Caleb, noticing Gilmore lose his temper, easily flung him aside with his hand. The force was strong enough, Gilmore bounced off and rolled over ten metres away. The Big Yin attempted to rise, but the soreness all over his body prevented him from doing so.

How the tides had turned. Now it was only the Orb Mage and the Addict. Alicia's heart raced even faster as Caleb approached her with a big grin.

"Now only you are left, wee lass."

With tears streaming down her face, Alicia wildly gestured towards the floating Orb, "Go away! Leave me alone!"

Caleb sneered, "Yer power is the most pain in the arse among yer pals. Of course, ye scunnered wee bastards willnae submit to me." A wave of magic was unleashed from his hand. "Scunnered that such power has to disappear. But it'll be even more troublesome if a damn brat like you gets in the way."

Alicia's mind was in chaos as she struggled to focus her magic. She attempted to swing her arm and push the plasma energy out of the magic sphere. Caleb tried to parry, but it turned out the shot barely hurt at all. Realising this, he put a fascinated face with his lips thrusting forward to the frightened young girl.

"What is it, hen? Out of mana?" Caleb mocked.

Her shooting was relentless, forced by utter fear, but they started to have indistinct effects. The attack not hurting him at all was the first, then the energy released was getting smaller—sometimes disappearing before the impact. Even worse, one of them turned on its own even though Caleb was not turning anywhere other than walking straight!

What is this? she thought. I'm not exhausted yet, how are my magic shots not working?

"Orb, what are you doing? Not now! Please hit him!" Alicia shouted at Orb, desperate and confused. Orb tried to explain as best as it could through its straining voice, but the girl ignored it as she kept ordering Orb to shoot properly. Alicia was so scared, she even forgot to move her legs.

"Alica… what are you doing?" Gilmore muttered in vague. This was not like her early demonstration that afternoon, he thought. He forced himself to get up with all the pain all over his body. No. Not again. Don't let what happened at the graveyard happen again!

Nadine opened her eyes. Her nerve sensors began to do their job, giving Nadine the sense of collapsing. She heard Alicia as if begging for something. Alicia, alongside Orb, stood their ground, but Caleb appeared to have grown stronger, steadily advancing towards them with every determined stride. From a distance, she spotted Gilmore, gait hampered by injury, labouriously making his way towards the bookworm and the addict. Nadine knew her little friend was doomed.

"Alicia!" called Nadine, before being greeted with a groan.

Caleb did not care about the two behind him anymore. They were no longer his match. His gaze was only fixated on the crying fragile lass unprepared for Hades.

"Silent Divine, help me! Gilmore, Nadine, help me! Papa, Leith… Mama... Anyone! I dinnae want to die yet!"

In her tears, Alicia closed her eyes. She was run out of choice. Mustering the rest of her scrambled focus was the last stake; her last attempt to attack the evil mage as hard as she could. At least, in all her reckless decisions and foolish actions, she died trying.

"So long, hen," Caleb grabbed her cheek and began channelling his wicked magic into Alicia's mouth. Just before it entered her oral cavity, the unexpected occurred.

With a burst of light, the Orb released a dazzling radiance that temporarily blinded both Caleb and Alicia. A swarm of plasma strings streamed out of Orb and danced around the two. But as for Caleb, the hundreds of free-floating threads converged upon his hands, dissipating the surrounding violet aura into the ether. The moment of rotting demise had not yet arrived, to which Alicia slowly opened her eyes, and much to her surprise, Caleb took the steps back, shaking his hand away. But the confusion did not stop there. Another wave of plasma stream gorged his entire being, destroying his own throat with a shriek of misery! His black body gradually faded to its initial skin colour. His mauve veins turned faint. The clash of black magic and Orb's power stirred his organs. A scorching sensation on his skin.

Alicia remembered the findings at the former Howlett's eatery earlier. With a tense expression, she gathered up the last of her strength to keep the focus alive. Orb responded well to her intention by delivering more plasma streams to Caleb. He felt more excruciating pain than ever, writhing and bellowing. All the curses that ever existed escaped from his lips.

The fatigue had come to her not long after, her eyes were dim. The swarm slowly faded, but she still tried to stay awake. After a while, the pool of plasma streams finally dissipated, and Caleb lay sprawled on the ground. His pale and emaciated body was a sign he had returned to his normal state.

Once his eyelids were undone, the gaze he gave was that of horror. Especially at Orb in Alicia's hands.

Was that why the pain of the previous cuts and shots multiplied every time he was exposed to its magic?

"W-what's that thing? Fuck! You're lucky to see another day. I'll be back, ye fucking orb mage! I'll be back!"

Caleb, with the rest of his strength, chose to escape from their sight. Gilmore implied his relief. From a distance, another siren wailed and drew closer. Nadine ran and hugged her expressionless pal.

"Alicia, you awright?"

No response from Alicia. She felt the gravity tugging at her body and eyelids ten times as powerful as before. Unable to contain herself with her remaining strength, Alicia succumbed to the force of gravity. Unconscious, once again. []