The girl attacked first. She was swift, clearly well trained. The beast parried, moving into a counter. She looped the sword back around and blocked the attack then moved in for another attacker. The Berserker started trying to twist the blade from her grip, but she was too skilled to fool for such a trick. Instead she stepped forwards and thrusted. The Berserker stepped to the side and attempted to counter by breaking the bind and swinging downwards.

Watching them fight, Jackson was reminded of a teacher and student sparring. Their form and movements were similar, almost identical. And both easily anticipated the other’s movements. They clearly knew each other and their preferred fighting style. It was also easy to tell who the teacher was,

The Berserker switch his weapon to his off hand then created a second blade in his primary. Both swords seemed to sharpen as the blades grew and thinned. The girl continued to parry his assault but was struggling to keep up with his two blades. Several times she withdrew in order to dodge a fatal strike. She was losing, Jackson realized.

“Cut!”

Jackson need to help her, so he casted his spell and cracked the armor. The thin armor that remained started to crumble. Yet, it wasn’t enough as a fresh blood resealed the small opening.

The girl rejoined the fray, striking quickly from side to side. She was trying to get the beast on the defensive. The Berserker broke through her attack by stepping into her guard and allowing her golden blade to cut into its shoulder. The girl tried to skip back as the blades closed on her. Before Jackson’s eyes, the girl disappeared then reappeared a few feet away. She was sweating and panting now. She took a guard while catching her breath.

Once more their swords clashed. Jackson continued to watch the battle, throwing in spells trying to help the girl. His options were limited as he worried that he would accidently hurt her. It wasn’t that he cared for her, but if she fell in that moment, he would be powerless to stop the Berserker.

The girl blocked another swing by the Berserker. She dropped one hand and snapped her fingers. An explosion knocked impacted against the Berserker’s chest. It moaned in pain but otherwise seemed unphased. The Berserker then then landed a solid kick to her gut and knock her to the ground. She moaned in pain then went to snap her fingers again. The Berserker beat her to it, snapping its fingers and sending her flying. Yet Jackson didn’t see her land. Instead she was suddenly behind the beast. She was thrusting her blade forwards and drove it into its chest. She withdrew the blade before the Berserker could turn on her.

Both moved at the same time, snapping their fingers. The girl was blown back while the Berserker howled in pain. Jackson then snapped his fingers, Blowing a chunk of armor off the beast. It howled in pain before rounding on him. The girl tried to move as the Berserker charged Jackson.

The Berserker didn’t get halfway to Jackson as several barbed snaking chains impaled it.

“That belongs to me!”

The voice was low and cold. It sent chills down Jackson’s spine. Jackson watched the Berserker try to free itself from the chains, however they snaked around him and once more pierced its flesh.

Jackson eyes followed the chains and his heart nearly stopped. It was Barbara, but there was something eerie about her. A darkness seemed to be floating around her. Her red hair seemed almost garnet, her flesh pale and her eyes a dark green. She was dressed in a black dress with a red hint to it. The chains snaked around her as she moved. She held both her broadswords, blood from her wrists flowed down the blades.

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No longer did she look naive or clueless. There was a strange light in her eyes that didn’t seem to belong. She looked at Jackson and gave him a wicked smile. Her head tilted and her eyes closed as she spoke.

“Did you pick up another stray? I grow tired of them.”

“Elizabeth?”

The girl said in a frightened voice while staring at Barbara. The Berserker used an axe to cut through some of the chains before rounding on it new opponent. Barbara smiled, not bothering to take up a guard stance while moving toward it.

The beast attacked, it was wild and faster then ever before. Yet, its strikes were blocked by the snaking chains. A chain wrapped around the Berserker’s left arm and a horrible cracking sound range out at the armor was crushed. Barbara then stepped in, driving her blades through the beast’s chest. She was laughing madly as she continued to mutilate it.

The girl was suddenly next to Jackson.

“How do I stop Her? How do I stop Elizabeth?”

“What? Who?”

“How do I stop her from killing my father?”

“Father? The other Berserker?”

“Yes! She’s going to kill him. Help?”

“I don’t know, this is new.”

“Please. I can’t lose him to.”

“The armor, we need to destroy the armor. Her dress looks like the armor created when she bleeds.”

Jackson was gambling. Perhaps, she had simply regained her mind after so long or this was another stage of the Berserker he’d yet to see. In either case it scared him. Barbara had always been a little scary, but she was almost like a helpless puppy. This one however was a true monster. She was enjoying the pain she was inflicting on the other Berserker. It was this reason that Jackson decided to help the girl. That, and a part of him felt he owed her for saving his life.

The girl charged, disappearing for a second as she cleared the distance between her and Barbara. As she reappeared, she used her golden blade to cut through the chains binding her father. She then moved to strike at Barbara, who easily blocked the attack with her swords.

“Shatter!”

The girl yelled and Jackson watched as a portion of the black dress fell away. Underneath was the tattered remains of the red dress she had worn the night before.

“Interesting.”

Barbara said with a smile.

“A half demon with old magic. When did my lover find time to train you? Why haven’t we met before? Who are you?”

The girl ignored Barbara, choosing to attack. She landed a cleaning cut on Barbara, cutting through the armor dress. She then snapped her fingers and blew Barbara back a few feet. The girl used her golden blade to cut through two of the chains sent after her then parried a mad strike from Barbara. The girl barely managed to escape a strike aimed for her neck as Barbara continued the assault. Jackson started to build mana in his hand again.

He needed to end this in one hit. He needed to take out two Berserkers in one hit, thus he needed all the power he could muster. He didn’t know if it would work as it needed to be much stronger then any other time. Stronger then when he wiped out the bandits before fighting the dragon. Stronger then when he struck down the beast men hero. These were Berserkers, living natural disasters. His flesh started to peel away as he readied himself.

“Move!”

Jackson ordered the girl. She disappeared and Jackson snapped his fingers.

There was a bright flash and the city shook.

Jackson looked to the mangle remains of his hand as the armor formed forcing back into an almost human shape. It was bent and twisted in an unnatural way. The only good news was that he burned out the nerves and didn’t feel what he could only assume was horrendous pain.

Barbara and the other Berserker were both still standing, but their armor was slowly falling off. The Beast took a deep breath before jumping away.

“Barb!”

Jackson yelled as she started to collapse. The girl caught her and moved her over to Jackson with a smile.

“Thank you.”

The girl said while stepping on Joseph. She reached Jackson and laid Barbara next to him.

“We won? We won!”

“I don’t think we did. I doesn’t feel like a victory.”

Jackson looked at his fallen friends and comrades. They were all worse for ware and Jackson was starting to feel the pain as his nerves healed. This was no victory.

“We lived. That’s a victory. Oh, congrats, it’s midnight. You won!”

“Huh?”

Jackson said as his strength finally failed. The world turned black.