The fiery Ghoul made the first move, it surged forwards with bursts of flames leaving its feet in messy bursts. Its neck lurched backwards from the explosive force of its own motions—In an instant its head reached the limits of its spine, snapping to an unnatural stop that nearly made me shutter in discomfort before the Ghoul reached me.

I grunted as my blade raised, catching the heavy impact of the fiery Ghoul’s flailing limbs. I felt flesh crush itself under the pressure imposed by the steel that my sore arms could barely hold in place, bones bashed against the grooves of the metal as flailing limbs continually slammed into my blade.

Utterly pinned in place by the near endless assault I was left with only one option; attempt to retreat.

But to either of my flanks I would already be running into the other, much slower Ghouls that supported the fiery one. Their rage brought forth coordination, with two flanking me and the remaining two turning to fight Akemi, Lucia and Glacia.

Without any way to escape I lost my footing, feeling my back heel slip from the ground. My balance lost in its entirety I was forced to succumb to the overwhelming assault being thrown upon me.

The endless pressure brought the Fiery ghoul down onto me, with its own limbs being tripped up—However that did little to halt its attack, with only my scimitar dividing the distance between us. My arms reinforced both ends of my blade, while the Ghoul pressed harder and harder against my straining grip. Gnashing teeth and bleeding gums sat mere inches away from my face.

In desperation I brought my legs up, turning before kicking them out with all the power that my body and mana could manage together—Pushing back against the fiery ghoul with a shout.

“Get off!” I screamed out as I kicked the Ghoul with all my might. The soles of my feet pushed against the rotten gut and stiff ribs making up the Ghoul’s torso, I felt the bones creak under the force of my kick. Even using my entire body I was barely able to overcome the strength of the fiery Ghoul.

The Ghoul staggered back several paces before falling onto its back, giving me just enough time to roll over onto my feet—With a burst of mana quickly following suit I expanded the distance between myself and the trio of Ghouls, turning to see that I was mere moments away from being dogpiled by the other two.

However, the trio of Ghouls now seemed rather confused as to how I managed to get away from their seemingly perfect trap. With hate quickly finding its way to overcome confusion, I turned to Lucia and the others.

She was being pushed back by a ceaseless assault by the three Ghouls that ran for her. Akemi was trying to help her, but her injured paw was proving to be crippling for the fight as she couldn’t even run thanks to it. Glacia wasn’t fairing much better, barely even flapping her wings with enough intensity to keep herself airborne.

Lucia had ice covering both of her forearms, her right was sharpened into a blade while her left was a narrow shield that let her bash the Ghouls away with relative ease. But she was still being pushed back, every strike she turned away still drained her. Every slash she managed to throw out was coming weaker than the last one.

“I need to help her…” I thought a second before my body moved into action, the mana in my body was already at its limits. The grand lake of power in my chest felt diminished to little more than a puddle, but still electricity shot to my legs.

The fiery Ghoul barely had enough time to turn its head before I blasted past it. My legs pounded into the ground with such rapid force that my knees began to ache, my heart thrummed in my chest with a continuous rhythm that pulsed with each step I slammed into the ground—Beating again just in time for me to push off into the next step after, and then again and again.

“Watch out!” I called out just before I collided with the rear-most Ghoul in Lucia’s group. My scimitar whistled through the air, mana arced through the edge of the blade with impudence for the flesh of the Ghoul it hit. Flesh and bone parted with ease.

With its spine severed the Ghoul collapsed to the ground without so much as a wheeze from it, and the next didn’t fare much better either—It turned its head just in time to see my blade coming down upon it in a downwards arch, slashing through the center of its skull and pulling out near the ear. I grimaced a little when I felt the harsh impact on the flat of my blade, the surface crashing into the hardened teeth of the Ghoul.

The third and final Ghoul of Lucia’s group turned its now hate-filled gaze towards me, completely losing interest in Lucia while leaving its back wide open for her. I didn’t have time to stop myself before the Ghoul’s arms would have hit me and latched on, but Lucia didn’t hesitate.

She turned and plunged her icy blade forwards. Its pristine, frosty tip severed the Ghoul’s neck with next to no effort, leaving only a limp corpse to fall crumpling to the ground.

“Thanks for that…” Lucia huffed out through a series of quick breaths. She looked like she was barely standing, her red and blue hair sticking close to her frame thanks to the sweat dampening it.

“Still have three more.” Not a moment after I finished speaking did the fiery Ghoul begin screeching. Its rage was absolute, heat expunged itself off of its body in such intense waves that even its remaining two comrades backed away from it.

I felt the threat the Ghoul exuded: Immolation.

If I had to guess, this Ghoul was stronger than Tulip or myself with its magic alone—Its skin was nearly as hard as the bark of a tree, I knew I was outmatched by it. But all the same, I readied my blade.

What little mana I had left pulsed through my body, I couldn’t make a shield, I couldn’t fly, I barely had any mana left to increase my strength. Nearly the only thing ll I had left was a chipped, warped blade.

I flashed Lucia a determined look, I felt how my eyes steeled themselves—I could remember the flashes of the Elves, of Tyrosa and Geldin.

“If I survived against them, I can win here.” I thought to myself with freshly steeled resolve.

“Keep me covered.” I spoke quickly to Lucia, then rushed in. I didn’t want to offer the Ghouls an instant to recover themselves any more, the fiery Ghoul was already putting off a palpable, uncomfortable amount of heat. The other two however looked confused—Scared even—So I knew my targets.

I aimed my body like I was running straight for the fiery Ghoul, then at the last second I kicked my leg out. The force threw me around with enough momentum to sidestep the fury of the fiery Ghoul, my wasting no time at all I pressed onwards to the two others just behind it.

The fiery Ghoul turned its rage-filled gaze towards me, while the two other Ghouls readied themselves. Fear returned back to anger and hunger in their gazes, their mouths tore agape and they rushed to meet me.

With heat pressing on my heels I raised my blade, praying that the thin arcs of electricity still dancing across its length would be enough. I slammed my right foot into the ground, a moment later I felt a chill rush towards me—Chasing the heat that nipped for my heels away for just enough so that I could swing.

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The first Ghoul in line, one that looked like it had been a child not much younger than me turned its gaze to panic. Fear and dread filled its expression in the milliseconds that turned to millenia of my blade's arc.

Slash.

Before I could even register its expression my blade cut into its skull, stopping harshly once it collided with the jaw bone. The Ghouls body went limp immediately—I couldn’t pull my blade back, it was stuck firmly between the slashed bones thanks to the warp I had given it.

“Shit!” I thought in a panic—Thinking as quickly as possible I planted my foot and pulled hard towards the Fiery Ghoul once I felt it approaching again.

My eyes locked with the gaze of the fiery Ghoul, hate couldn’t even begin to describe the emotions that were expressed on its rotten gaze. I wasn’t even despised, it was a degree of hate that I still felt uncomfortably familiar with.

I was nothing more than a vile excuse of a living thing, nothing more than an animal to be put down. I could understand why now too.

The face of the fiery Ghoul, even warped with hate and rot, was undeniably similar to that of the one I had just slain—The very same that I threw into its path, the very same that the fiery Ghoul tore its way through in its near mindless rampage.

The fiery Ghoul lunged forwards with all the rage and hate of a parent that had just witnessed their child slaughtered for a second time. The sheer force it impacted me with was overwhelming, I couldn’t do anything to avoid it when the Ghoul threw a flailing punch into my chest.

Immense couldn’t even describe the force I was hit with—It was like a charging bull with the mass of a house rammed into my chest, subsequently sending me rolling across the ground over and over and over again.

By the time I came to a halt I was dizzy and disoriented, the entire world was spinning and I was the center of the spiral. My ears rang while the sickening taste of iron filled my mouth, but I could still breathe.

By some miracle my ribs hadn’t been shattered by the strike, but I knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long once the scream reached me.

It was like a thousand birds bellowing in pain at once, a completely unnatural, impossible sound for a human to be making. Yet, the fiery Ghoul was making it.

I felt the second miracle that had happened in my hands, I felt the handle of my scimitar still firmly placed in my palm—But my heart sank when I glanced down at it.

It was just the handle, the entire blade had snapped off with nothing more but the jagged edge a few inches long remaining attached to the grip. I clenched my teeth, bringing my gaze up to meet the two Ghouls left standing before me while the handle clattered to the ground.

The fiery Ghoul had a proud sneer on its face, it was like the Ghoul was proud that it broke my blade.

“How am I going to fight them?...” I thought in a panic—I didn’t have enough mana to waste on another burst, Lucia certainly didn’t have enough to do anything decisive. My entire body ached, even if my ribs were still intact they hurt after that punch.

Every path my mind tried to go to was an absolute blank, but it wasn’t like I had much time to think anyways.

The Ghouls both pressed their advantage, surging forwards in a maddened yet controlled rage. They had a unified goal against me; revenge. I could see the anger on their faces, they despised me for killing their rotting kin.

The miniscule mana I had left trickled through my body still, taking nearly every bit of concentration I had to keep my limbs reinforced with its presence.

The first Ghoul brought its arms together, interlocking its fingers before slamming them down over my head. I ducked down to the side just to collide with a swinging knee from the fiery Ghoul, first feeling the harsh impact that was quickly followed by a searing pain that shot through my side.

Without a chance to regain my balance or composure while I staggered back, the Ghouls continued their assault. Strike after strike, blow after blow hit my shoulders, arms legs, ribs—But they were never enough to kill me. They were tormenting me, hitting me with just enough force to cause pain.

I felt waves of cold air rush over, Lucia was trying, but she couldn’t do anything. She was even more exhausted than I was, she was barely standing.

“Agh!” I cried out in pain as the fiery Ghoul spun, slamming its shin into my gut with enough force to send me flying. I felt blood and bile rush into my mouth all the same from the impact, leaving me thankful for when everything momentarily when numb after my back slammed into the ground.

I couldn’t hear anything, my ears rang with a never-ending tone. My entire world felt numb, like a thousand needles prickling against my skin all over. I couldn’t see anything, only the blighted, ash-covered sky that stood above.

Every heartbeat slowed the spinning of the world, cleared the tinnitus out from my ears, and made my vision expand. I felt the heat approaching, I heard the defiant growls of Akemi, I knew what would greet me in moments.

But I refused to just give in, I had survived for months in the brutal winters of the mines. I survived years of abuse, of lashing and pain worse than this.

“I’m not done…” I hissed out through clenched teeth. My mind felt clear, resolved, indomitable.

Each motion it took to roll over was agony, every aching muscle pulling every bruised bone across my body. But still I stood, pressing with all my might just to bring my legs underneath myself.

“One strike…” That's all I had left in me, one, singular strike. One wave of mana that I had to hope was volatile enough—I didn’t have enough mana to even consider a burst, but Lucia had given me an idea.

I thought of every weapon that Carmine had shown me, from the miniscule knives to the gargantuan warhammers. But it didn’t take much effort to think of what I needed, it was simple—The weapon that had very first caught my eyes.

I settled my freshly steeled gaze onto the Ghouls as they approached. Both of them froze in place, they were clearly confused as to how I was even standing. But with defiance rushing through my body, I brought my hands together.

“I’m fine Akemi,” I managed to speak out, soothing the anxious Kitsune. “I just need… one second.” I heard the Ghouls both rushing as soon as I closed my eyes, but the world itself felt slowed thanks to some bizarre mixture of adrenaline, pain and mana. But it was exactly what I needed at the moment.

Electricity ran through my body, the arcs congealing and combining together. It didn’t feel far removed from making a shield out of the intangible mana, it was just a more refined shape—LIke that of a pristine thunderbolt in my hands.

I felt the shaft of the weapon I had made, shifting my grip for a heartbeat before my eyes opened.

A halberd, a weapon far too large for my small frame. A weapon made out of lightning, compressed together using what little mana I still had. I couldn’t even reinforce my body, I couldn’t hope to increase my strength while using it—But it felt like I didn’t need it.

“That’s all I need, one strike.” I spoke with eerie determination in my voice, and a grin on my lips.

The Ghouls froze in place, but I didn’t. I launched forwards with all the power that I could muster—Which was far less than I had previously, yet it paradoxically felt faster. I turned while I moved, bringing my grip as low onto the massive length of the halberd as I could while the blade crackled through the air.

I heard the panicked screams of the Ghouls, they tried to move, they tried to turn and run. But when my head snapped around, locking onto their retracting figures in the moments before the bladed edge hit, I smiled.

The blade hit true, but it didn’t remain. After slicing into the side of the first Ghoul it began to disappear from the pommel upwards, flying free from my grip as it continued its path. It cut clean through the midsection of the first Ghoul, but only the foremost tip of the blade remained once it exited.

Only that foremost tip of the blade managed to strike the fiery Ghoul, yet it was more devastating than possibly should have been.

It struck with all the force of a thunderbolt, tearing into the low hip of the fiery Ghoul before blasting outwards in a dome of blinding light a few feet across. By the time my vision cleared all I could gaze upon were smoldering remains.

I couldn’t remain to examine my work, every part of my body was exhausted—Every part of my body hurt, or it did until the world went black around me. In my last moments of consciousness, all I could see was a single, black speck in the distance.

Standing upon the very hill we came in from, a mass that looked impossible stood. A figure that shouldn’t have existed stared, with limbs sprawling in every direction and a hide blacker than the night itself. An Unspeakable watched.