The flames slowly headed in their direction. The two could feel the heat smoldering against their skin. It would appear this was the end for sure. Neither Grodd nor Ire would have wanted an end like this. Truly, burning alive is perhaps one of the least desirable ways to go.

Grodd steeled his resolve and prepared to handle the flames with dignity. That was, until a certain enigmatic being had made it a mission to defy this fate. At what should have been first contact with the flames, they merely dissolved right before they hit the duo. If one had concentrated hard enough, they could see a small distortion. A pocket- a hole, that remained in the middle of it, swirling in place.

“[Spatial Magic; Thoroughfare]”

A voice spoke from their left. Both sides turned to look at who had just entered. There was an eerie feeling at the lady who’s voice spoke with such elegance. “I can’t allow any of this… this won’t do.”

The lady spoke with this air of regality and authority that was beyond her projected age. Her walk was relaxed. On her shoulder, a younger girl also sat, a little nervous. Her eyes scanned the room and watched everyone, as if looking for something.

At the moment, no one could tell exactly who she was -save for Grodd. Zari had previously seen her, but doesn’t truly know to what extent she can be frightening.

As she spoke, she carefully made her way to the center stage, in between Grodd and the trio. Noone had yet moved.

“I suggest you now tell me, child. What is it that is truly going on here?”

Coming to the conclusion she was being addressed, Rinn hesitantly answered. “T-they’re all-”

Lusha hushed her quickly. “Not you, child.”

Before she could elaborate who her voice was directed at, Roy had attempted to do his offensive.

The wounds that he had previously manifested with his throwing knives appeared all over Lusha and both the young Rinn.

Lusha didn’t even make a noise as she realized the techniques' effects appearing upon her. Rinn also did not react to the damage she had taken. Truly, these two were an unusual duo. For how young they looked, they acted the same as those who have experienced pain to the point of camaraderie with it.

She stared at her charred and seared hands. It was only a second before it all started to heal as if it never happened. Alarmed, Roy attempted to impose the effects on her again, only for her to yet again, appease them with her healing.

“You know… the interesting thing about binding barriers-” She placed a hand on Rinn and Grodd’s head and exerted her magic through their bodies.

A sudden strange force pushed Roy back into the duo behind him, knocking the kid off his balance and sending the girl sprawling back.

“Even the most proficient user of it will lose a novice who knows how to defend against it.”

She walked over to the other man that was also afflicted by the technique. Utilizing the same method, she repulsed all of the effects back to the channel they came from.

“The technique is a supplementary one. The gateways to these exchanges remain open so long as the technique is active. If you don’t close it however, it can be reflected back with enough disruption.”

There was a certain gateway that existed between this barrier, the user, and the paths in which the energy traveled through. If one could not synchronize their aura in direct correlation, it would have proven complicated to repeal the technique. For Lusha however, this was a simple matter of experience.

“Should you try to activate the technique again, I will simply repeal it.”

Grodd was stunned. As was the rest of them. Roy in particular was caught entirely off-guard. He had learned of his affinity for this unique style of combat completely experimentally. Even the technique he developed, he had never once heard of another utilizing it like this.

Yet, just now, this girl understood mechanics of it that he himself had no idea of. Even more- she was speaking as if it was a technique of common-place.

“You are being controlled at the moment, so I’ll excuse you. But, kid, if you do not cease wasting my time… You will not enjoy the consequences.”

A feeling crept over Zari that he had been all too familiar with recently, fear. This woman…. He could feel her presence now. It was the same faint trace he had felt from the pillar of fire that had erupted earlier. If so, then surely, Lord Ozun is already dead.

This would mean this woman was perhaps the strongest person of the adventurers he had summoned yet. His hands began to tremble and the disturbance could be seen on his face. Even-so…

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Even so…- this lady was not nearly as frightening as the thing he had been dealing with up until now.

He commanded both Roy and the Inora to attack. They promptly coordinated their offense while he attempted to escape the horrifying enigma. This would yield no fruit however. Before he could even turn around, the two were upturned, flipping several feet through the skies. By the time their bodies collided hard with the ground, Lusha was in front of the child, squatting to meet his face.

“Now… I did warn you.” The words were completely different than her expression had stated. There was a smile on her face, yet the words were colder than the winters in the Birei Mountains.

She flicked the child playfully. The flick almost sent his head flying back. At the moment of contact, Zari still attempted to retaliate, grabbing onto her hand and placing the seals to control her.

Pointless. Without even batting her eye, she severed her hand. As if it was just a simple piece of hair. Her eyes never left this kid’s face. “Do you want me to do the same to yours?”

She grabbed his hands and broke them. The noise rang out sharply and his screams echoed through the forests. Her hand regrew back as the child wreathed, holding onto his arm.

“So I’ll ask again. Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?”

He continued to squirm as he held his hands shouting. “I don’t know!!”

“Why are you killing off everyone? What’s causing this entire situation in the village?”

“I don’t! Please…! I can-” Yet again, she quickly grabbed his other arm and snapped it between his fingers like a twig.

“AAAAAAHHHGH!!!H!”

Rinn, Roy… even Grodd winced at what was before them. It was tough to hear a child screaming like that “Please– You don’t know…..” His eyes looked up at her now with tears streaming down his face.

The exact response that was shown in her face could only be described as indifference.

“Don’t know what? Who…. what is responsible for all of this? If not you…. Who?”

Just as she asked this, Inora appeared behind her. She had quickly made her move and attempted to secretly decapitate her. Her stealthiness was quite impressive. With her immersion in the conversation, she had almost failed to notice her. Nonetheless, her head came off without resistance.

The sheen of her blade remained in front of Zari’s face with the crimson blood glistening on it. Inora had succeeded. There was suddenly a wave of calm as Zari had realized the onslaught had worked. His fear was not going to subside that quick, but it was definitely levels lower than it was before.

Whoever this girl was…. She frightened him more than anything yet. No- that isn’t quite right. It was almost the same as the other enigma he had encountered.

Of course, the fact that her head came off was simply because she allowed it to happen. The body that stood in front of him, stopped bleeding. There…. Zari saw something that made his breath stuck in his throat.

Skull material reformed. Then muscle. Then tissue and flesh before her skin had entirely constructed. Her hand reformed the same way.

She cracked her neck before glancing at the woman with the blade. “You’re free to try that again. But just know… if you fail again… I will make sure you suffer worse than anything you can imagine.”

The words were a warning, yet again spoken as nonchalantly as before. “Now… where were we…. Ah-” She took his fingers in her hands. At this point, she realized there was no more resistance on Zari’s part. He could try to infect her again with his inscriptions, but he knew that would only cause her to remove her arm just as she did before.

Even the fact that he didn’t command the adventurer Inora to interfere showed his defeat. She snapped his index finger between her thumb and middle finger. Yet another scream yelled out before he activated his own seals on himself. Numbing himself to pain yet again.

“Just… kill me..- please… don’t try this anymore… kill me.”

“You just realized I cannot die. You realize how powerful I am. You saw a glimpse of my ruthlessness…”

She paused and let go of the young child’s hand. “Yet- you won’t tell me who is behind all of this? Does this other person scare you that much?”

His face was pressed against the dirt as he pleaded with her. Tears streamed down the side of his cheeks in a pool against the crushed grass. “YES!!-- PLEASE… I can’t anymore. I can’t say anything!!! You have no idea what it is you’re up against! If anything… please- Just get out of here!!”

“I can’t…. Take this anymore…”

“If I’m going to die…at least let it be with one less life on my hands.”

Lusha sighed. “In that case, I will kill you right here. That way… you won’t have to worry about any more lives. Your conscience can be cleaned of its wrongdoings.”

A small flame sparked at the tip of her fingers. So tiny was the flame that it barely encompassed the length of a fingernail. “Zari Ozun. Are there any final words you would like to impart?”

At that moment, someone’s hand grasped onto hers. Tightly. These small hands clutched at her in an attempt to get her to stop. Their aura flared up intensely as they clutched onto her hand in an attempt to get her to stop.

“What do you think you’re doing? Rinn?”

Rinn shook her head. “T-this. It’s all wrong.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Rinn… I asked you what you think you’re doing?”

She reasserted herself. “It’s wrong Lusha. He’s terrified.”

“Of course. Yet, this is his own choice.”

“No!” She stood in front of the Zari with her hands outstretched. “He’s not afraid for himself. He’s terrified. For others.”

“Move.”

Rinn stood defiantly. This was something of a shock to Lusha. It was something she did not think Rinn was capable of. Of course, there was a bit more admiration in the fact that she was able to do something like this. After-all… to be in her team eventually meant that they would have to raise their swords against her.

“Then… will you die for another as well?”

Rinn, with tears in her eyes, yet again refused to move.

“So be it.”

The flame blasted out and collided with Rinn’s forehead. She clenched her eyes shut, afraid of what was to come.

Upon hitting her head, there was no collision. It merely disappeared. An Illusion.

She opened her eyes in confusion. Before realizing the flames weren’t real to begin with.

“W-..” Zari was stunned. “Why- would you do that in the first place?”

“It didn’t look like you wanted to die. Even if you did say it.”

“What are you saying? Are you stupid?... that- that’s no reason to throw your life away for me.”

Rinn smiled. “Isn’t that what you are doing right now?”

Zari was caught off guard.

“Who is it?”

He sighed… defeated. “My brother… ”

“Let us help. We can put an end to all of this.”

“This person…. It’s a demon right?”

He looked up now for the first time. “Y-...how much do you know?”

“I know Lusha has taken care of demons before.” This of course was entirely a lie. However, she had already seen what Lusha was capable of and beginning to get a grasp of her ability.

“She has-....taken down a demon.” His eyes that stared Lusha up and down changed her entire composition in his mind. Now she too appeared to be a monster… more-so than she already was.

“She’s… a monster…”

Rinn nodded. “Mhm. And what better way to take down a demon? Then with another monster?”

At that point, the seals all went down. Roy and Inora were freed from their bounds. Roy shook his head. It was as if he had been walking in a hazy world. His body ached all over. In fact, it felt like if he moved any part of his body, he would fall apart.

Inora quickly ran to his side and helped him stand. “Ugh… what the hell happened?”

“You guys…. Listen…-”

Zari spoke.

“The moment I say this…we may all die.”

There was a look of curiosity as everyone’s attention now turned to the brat who had caused so much problems.

“In this village…. There’s a demon. The same one that had destroyed the capital city of Godon…”

“It’s most-likely already here.”

“What do you mean? Already here?”

“I mean… he’s right here.”

Just as those words were said. A new voice had pierced through the skies. It was a voice that could only be described as…. A voice that shouldn’t exist in this world.

“TA~~DAAA~~~~”

Gleefully speaking through muffled, yet loud distorted vocal chords. It sounded as if 5 different individuals were speaking at once. The presence didn’t just appear here. It was as if… it was here the entire time. Lusha wasn’t certain what it was she was feeling just now. But it was no doubt…

An anomaly much like her. Then came the immense pressure. As if one had suddenly found themselves under-water. This... was no longer just something to be taken care of casually.