Lucille felt scared- and if asked why, then she’d say it all started when a Demon Duke of all things emerged from a portal to attack the school.

But just as quickly her fear evaporated when she saw that a white blur- soon to be known as Her Majesty, Saintess Neophyte, - managed to cut the arm of the fiend but then more of them came and started attacking the students and Lucille downright became paralyzed-

But then the princess made a speech that they should fight back to keep the Demons from pouring out of the school and onto the city and well, Lucille wouldn’t dare to fail the princess so she called her Pledge and went for the Demons- and- and- it was so great that she fought back- but- you know- she hasn’t seen Demons all her life and- well- she didn’t realize that there are Demon Barons in the invading army and she overextended, stabbed the back of a Baron’s knees, and now the attention of a third tier of the Demon leadership hierarchy is on her.

The princess could probably kill it with ease but she wasn’t Neophyte, she wasn’t a one-in-a-trillion prodigy that might as well be a hero in her own right- she was just regular old Lucille trying to imitate the princess, doing her best to be the woman that Neophyte is and chase after her coattails.

But in the end, no matter what she does, Lucille isn’t Neophyte.

So she ran.

What else could she have done? Her pledge isn’t that strong, she didn’t have anything on her person to make the fight easier, and she sure as well couldn’t bridge the gap in power using Techniques. She was weak, but at least she was good at the one thing that she trained all her life, and that’s being fast.

So she ran. As fast as she possibly could.

First across the battleground that was once the gymnasium, then to the hallways of the main building of Pledge Academy-

The pristine white walls greeted her and started promising her safety but none of it got came when the dog-like demon chasing after her broke through the exit doors of the gym and into the hallways of the school, continuing its relentless chase after her.

Its crash turned the wooden doors into smithereens, it didn’t even need to break them off of their hinges, the doors were just that useless of an obstacle against it.

Lucille turned a corner and caught a glimpse of the Demon in the far distance; it was quadrupedal, meaning that it was a variant of Wrath, Envy, or Sloth, the last two are doable, since it means that the Demon wouldn’t be that adept at fighting but if it’s a Wrath Demon then she might have just to continue running until she’s saved, she pumped her legs and went fast, but then realized that she needed to conserve strength so she started cutting down the fuel for her Greater Speed by a quarter and slowing herself down by a noticeable margin, but at least her reservoir wouldn’t have to get depleted that quickly.

She turned another corner and this time, she eyed the Demon for a scant few seconds, it was enough for her to start noting all of its features: a red colored body, a dog-like head, a neck full of holes, black forelimbs that went up into a thin black line streaking on its sides, and a brown tail.

She did not know what any of those features meant and she was forced to look at its face and meet all four of its eyes to realize that the Demon is in fact, classified as Wrath, because only those would have extra predatory parts, be them having an extra set of claws that grew on all digits of their fingers, teeth that would make a sand-shark blush, or, a predator’s most defining feature, an extra set of front facing eyes.

Lucille held back a whine and increased the fuel for Greater Speed in hopes that the Demon wouldn’t catch up to her.

She ran much quicker than before and she heard the sound of something shattering behind her she knew what she was about to do was a stupid idea- she didn’t want to do it- really, how stupid would she be if she did this- Lucille closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again to look behind her to see the Demon has increased its speed, and it looks like it didn’t use a Technique to do it either, it just increased the length of its strides, moving its legs to their maximum reach before pushing off of the ground and simply running.

Tentacles barbed with sharpened bone grew out of the holes of its neck and started attacking the lights on the ceiling.

Lucille flinched when the first one broke apart and slathered the Demon in darkness.

She turned forward and ran- the sounds of breaking glass was behind her- she continued running-

And running-

She turned a corner and felt a whip of air run past the back of her neck- something to her right broke apart, it sounded like concrete being shattered- she increased the fuel of her Technique and continued running- moving her legs as fast as she possibly could- within her, she called on her loom and started creating a one piece dress, she didn’t know how effective it’ll be but if it means that her life could potentially be saved by what she was about to do then… she put the one piece dress over herself and activated the Technique, casting a small armor buff onto herself, it wasn’t anything substantial, she’s never bothered to study about armor based Techniques after all, but the protection it offered should be good enough-

Growling came from behind her and she increased the fuel for Greater Speed-

Something whipped past her legs, almost hitting them- a strange sound came out of her mouth- another thing moved past her arm, another hit- she started to whimper- she’s scared- she didn’t want it all to end like this-

Something struck the wall next to her head just as she was about to turn and tears ran down her eyes-

The sound of glass shattering made her flinch- why- why-

Darkness soon enveloped her and in a fit of desperation, she broke into the nearest classroom by slamming her shoulder against it- her eyes widened when her shoulder met no resistance- so the door was open this entire time- wait- that’s not good- she went on a roll that turned into a crawl as she stabilized sudden fall- then she started moving her knees- pulling on her loom and creating something- anything that’ll help her, she stopped fueling Greater Speed and gave herself pants, more protection, then boots for added protection- gloves went to her hands- armor- all of it- she should’ve studied and learned a Technique that protected her body-

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The chair right next to her split apart into wooden pieces and she eyed the red tentacle full of white, bony growths a few inches away from her from her face- her eyes subconsciously followed the trail and there, she spotted the Demon, its four eyes looking directly at her.

Lucille held back her whimper- Goddess- she’s about to die-

No- no- of course not- Princess Neophyte wouldn’t give up in this exact same situation, she’d fight back- she would- and then she’d come up with something that’ll cause her to come out on top- Lucille wasn’t as sma- no, she is smart, it’s one of the few qualities that she’s proud of having- she calmed herself down and looked around, then quickly and in a fit of clarity she realized that…

… the Demon had been playing around with her all this time hadn’t it?

Her fear turned to anger for a brief second but she forced herself to calm down- not the time- she needed to continue acting scared, buy more time for herself to- to- she looked around the classroom, making sure to turn away from the Demon all the while to continue the illusion of her being scared-

There’s nothing inside the classroom, save for a blackboard, a few chairs that the Demon can break apart- a first aid kit- then a window that led to- that’s it- she just needs to bait the Demon into going there doesn’t she?

But how?.. Force it to lunge? How? Become annoying- she stopped fueling the Techniques that gave her armor and went back to pumping Greater Speed with Light, then she weaved something haphazard, a set of gloves much like the ones that the princess likes to wear, something to give her a good amount of strength- once the weave was done, she grabbed a nearby chair, stood up, and threw it at the Demon.

It broke apart when three tentacles tore into it, but that was fine- Lucille dodged a tentacle- it still managed to scratch her sides and her stomach started to bleed- she gritted her teeth through the pain and grabbed another chair, she threw it at the Demon before slashing at the tentacle that struck her side just now- the Demon is gonna regret not pulling it back and when the blade of her Pledge met its skin- it failed to cut through-

A tentacle whipped out.

She dodged again.

Lucille started gritting her teeth- then she dashed forward- she stepped back mere moments before a tentacle reached her- it got stuck on the floor and Lucille tried to cut it again and this time, she increased the fuel for her strength boost and felt the metaphysical gloves she’s wearing tear apart- and it did- at the exact same time her own Pledge cut through the Demon’s tentacle.

Her Sanguine Pledge did its magic and Lucille felt her bleeding side start to heal and relief flooded her veins- cold water that cooled her down enough to think of a way to improvise the next few steps- first, though, she needed to dodge the tentacles while weaving another set of gloves, she didn’t know the innate functions of a strength boost or how the corresponding Techniques worked but she knew it had something to do with the targeted body part- and there are five main parts; the body, the arms and finally, the legs.

She started weaving, her idea being that the resulting glove would be skin tight and closer to her hands and she hoped that the effect would be stronger then-

She dodged and started adding seams, she needed to make sure that the resulting glove would be tight- the Demon screeched and she jumped lower down the classroom and ran even further backward as multiple tentacles started attacking her, and she knew then that the Demon was still playing around because the tentacles only attacked one by one- her gloves were starting to form now, and all she needed to do is put an extra detail- a circle went on top of the palm, a small, tiny minuscule boost in vitality to make sure that her hands end up fine-

A tentacle struck her shoulder and Lucille activated her Technique- she swiped up- it didn’t cut fully but a little bit till half is good enough, she pulled her arm down before cutting again- the tentacle snapped in half.

She heaved, okay, she has little to no Light left in her reservoir, probably only 30 seconds worth of the stuff to keep her current Techniques going and… what else? Oh, a Demon is about to kill her-

A bit more confident now, she started dodging one tentacle after the next, weaving past them as they lashed out, she kept dodging until she reached the Demon and attempted to stab at its eye- but it was a feint and she backed off, and she didn’t know just how arrogant the Demon in front of her is- but since it played around, it’s safe to say that there’s a bit of pride in the damn thing despite it being Wrath.

Regardless, she didn’t know if what she did would get it angry enough to lunge at her so for good measure, Lucille cut a tentacle in half before running to the back wall.

Fortunately, the Demon snarled at her before lunging- she bent down and the Demon missed, breaking the wall and falling off- she silently celebrated and watched as the creature fell out of the school.

She heaved and let her Techniques fall, there’s only what? 10- 15 seconds left? And that’s her giving her reservoir the benefit of the doubt. There are probably only 3 or 4 seconds left of Light in her reservoir in all actuality-

The slack tentacles around her tightened- the ones stuck to the walls- Lucille felt her heart stop at the sight- she chuckled in self-deprecation, all of that and for what? Only for her to realize that the Demon never bothered to pull its tentacles back to its neck after it launched them out because it knew what she was planning.

Lucille fell to her knees and stared at the ground, a resigned expression on her face.

Guess this is it after all, huh? All of that and for what? The Demon to outsmart her? Goddess-

A bell toll broke past her worries and a surge of power and strength pushed into Lucille, then she heard a shout- “KICK IT OFF!”

She forced herself to smile and got herself off of the ground before running to the edge of the room, and what perfect timing, the Demon was about to get back up-

She lifted her right leg and kicked, her sole met its face and sent its neck back- it wasn’t enough to even damage it, let alone push it off… Barons really are on a whole nother level of power aren’t they?..

But she’s not gonna give up-

Lucille gritted her teeth and attempted to kick it again- and again- but the Demon only watched and weathered her attacks and continued pulling itself up despite Lucille’s best effort, the tentacles around her began to recede until there were only four left, and those too came back to the Demon’s neck after it reached the floor.

Lucille stood stock still as the Demon came up, its snarling mouth right next to her face. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate- then the sound of a loud crack echoed out and both she and the Demon turned to the source- Lucille smiled when she saw Zyra standing by the door, whip in hand and a scowl on her face-

“Come on!” She said to her but clearly didn’t want to wait because her whip tied itself around Lucille’s waist and she was pulled back- the Demon swiped at her but was prevented by an armored figure that ran in between the attack and Lucille, she reached Zyra’s side and got enveloped in a hug.

The hug tightened, “why did you just stand there?”

“I-” why did they even follow her here? She couldn’t help but ask internally and she would have voiced it out too, but it wasn’t what she wanted to say so Lucille smiled and told her what she really felt at that moment- gratefulness, “thanks,”

Zyra broke the hug and nodded at her, “don’t mind it,” she said just as Yhaine’s armored self reached them, Zyra cracked her whip and struck the Demon Baron to no effect, her eyes went to Lucille, “you really just had to pick a Demon Baron to fight didn’t you?” She said, head shaking in disapproval, “why didn’t you get chased by like, a Captain or something?”

Lucille returned Zyra’s shaky smile, “I don’t know?”

Yhaine grabbed hold of the two of them and they were both lifted up, “QUIT YAPPING!” She yelled as she pumped her legs, carrying the two other girls as far away from the Demon as possible.

Lucille heard a bell toll and it was followed by the sound of footsteps getting nearer and nearer, eventually, Nickos reached them and he looked at Lucille like she had gone insane, “you know I’m never gonna let you live this down right?”

She nodded, smiling, “I know you won’t,” she responded, “thanks, Nickos.”

“Yeah, yeah, save it for later- when our chances of dying aren’t through the roof,” He looked back and winced, “okay, I have one more toll, I can probably boost you,” he eyed Yhaine and the girl’s helmeted head spun to face him, “can you carry for of us?”

She nodded and a bell toll resounded, Yhaine stopped running and said, “wrap your arms around my neck,”

Nickos did as he was told and as he hung like a backpack from the girl’s shoulders, they started running for their lives- er, Yhaine ran for their lives- all the while tentacles started coming at them, Zyra couldn’t use her Pledge, Lucille couldn’t as well, while Nickos already used his three daily tolls, which meant that Yhaine had no choice but to dodge or else they’d get killed, and surprisingly enough, she was pretty good at it, moving past tentacle after tentacle, they turned a corner and as safety came she said, “we’re near the tree now,” Lucille nodded at that, “we should be fine after we reach it-”

Something struck her calves and she fell down.

“Fuck.” Someone swore just then.

Lucille had to reluctantly agree with the speaker.