Flight of the Phoenix

The Hasty Rescue
As soon as the rest of the estate's care was left in the hand of Christina, Victoria and a host of other parameters unknown to all, Diana was to be the first to set out to the nearby city of Fiume di Giglio. Victor stayed behind in his own Skyhawk as the first departed, automatically fixating on the destination while he hooked up into the NST to try and contact those along its trade route. Thankfully it only took him about ten minutes to get a hold of a Legal Guild Northeast of Fiume, residing in a trading town -Mezzo Town- at the center of Fiore's forking north river. Due to them not being far away, they'd be able to ride the water and be there within a quarter of the day to hopefully help contain the situation.

But his thoughts weren't shared by his faithful Virago Spirit, Diana. She was in a fuming mood since she departed with the kids in more or less passenger seats unfolded nearby in the cabin. It'd only take less than a half hour for their Skyhawk to reach the place and she didn't like being apart from Victor while she had children's safety to consider. As much as she trusted their skills, the open field was an entirely different situation, unpredictable as a wild animal and more ferocious than any officially sanctioned duel between gentlemen.

Looking back over her shoulder, having not permitted anyone -least of all Yui- to sit next to her in the co-pilot seat, she debriefed them of the situation that was shared with her by Christina, "From what we know and what was reported over the NST a seller of Holder Magic items caught sight of a systematic robbery of the town's Jewels and profitable items. The local militia were unable to handle them and any magical assistance is null due to the relatively peaceful location they are in. More for merchants and sailors leaving or coming to Fiore they are underequipped to handle the organized force that not only invaded their city but were able to appear without coming through the gates or breaching the walls."

Morgan loved the feeling of flying in one of the Skyhawks, from the thrill of suddenly blasting into the sky to cruising at impossible speeds. It was a feeling of total, absolute freedom, the kind she couldn't get anywhere else. Because of the airship’s construction, she could enjoy the sensations without suffering from motion sickness, the bane of Dragon Slayers.

“My first mission...” she thought, both excited and scared. She had agreed to work as a member of the Phoenix Guild to help Victor's dream come true and to help her hone her own skills, and this was her chance to prove herself.

She wondered about the specifics of their task at hand. When Diana provided the details, Morgan frowned. "How could they get in or out without getting seen?" she asked.

"It's easy to walk through the front door if you ask me," Yui mentioned, leaning back into her seat while her bare foot's toes wiggled as they stretched out in front of her to kick at the empty co-pilot seat. Something she regretted not being able to sit in when Diana expressly told her not to put her legs up on the dash and weat a safety harness. Turning her face boredly at Morgan, she waved a hand dismissively as she explained. "If they have someone capable of transformation, illusion or even charms they could easily slip through the front gate and only announce their presence until the given time. I know plenty of con men and theives that tried that during my time with Nori."

"But...they said they came out of nowhere. If they even had a memory of something out of the ordinary, wouldn't that kind of thing you describe be reported right away?" Maria countered, looking over from the seat just behind Morgan to look directly at the older girl. "Wouldn't it make more sense if they came in by the river and up through the sewer channel? Since this is a city that sees little outside conflict coming in, the sewer system would be the least guarded of all the places in the given areas of entry."

"Either way is feasible," Diana piped up, negating any possibility of a debate springing up that might go nowhere. Looking over her shoulde at Morgan and her sister, she drifted her gaze to the indignant Yui who just sputtered raspberries while leaning into an upraised fist. "Regardless, they seem to know a thing or two about strategy since they were able to get past a fortified barrier without causing a stir or draw attention to themselves. They picked a relatively isolated city that was rich in imports and exports, a trading hub that goes beyond the borders of Fiore all across Ishgar, and knew that by the time any Legal Guild arrived to assist they'd already be long gone. These 'magic bandits' must be part or were once a Dark Guild; we shouldn't underestimate their resourcefulness or their capabilities."

Morgan was going to counter Yui’s argument, but the tone in Diana’s voice made her stop before she could even start. Something in the spirit’s tone suggested she wouldn’t deal with the bickering, and the young Slayer didn’t feel like pushing her luck on the matter.

All of a sudden, she realized that for once, her crime-ridden past could come in handy; she could offer a point of view very few others could. “It’d probably be smarter to use the sewers as an exit than an entrance though. If you got in that way, you’d smell terrible. Coming in a different way is less of a stench.You’re less memorable that way, and less likely to stick out. And that can make all the difference.” she said, taking a very neutral tone to avoid giving away her past guilt, instead trying to make it sound logical rather from experience.

"Huh, I guess that's true," Yui tapped her chin, only tilting her head slightly with both curiosity and pride in how Morgan answered so smoothly. "If I didn't know any better, I say you skulked through your fair share of sewers to learn that tidbit of information. No judging, I'm just making an observation."

"Ugh, that's right," Maria slapped her hands to her cheeks, feeling a bit silly for suggesting it now that the facts didn't add up. "They'd be surely recognizable long before they'd be seen. The smell would cling to them like oil stains on a skirt!"

"Which leaves only two options," Diana offered, looking towards the horizon as they kept on their course with the heavens thrumming as their relatively silent engines propelled through through the skyline. "Teleportation or smuggling. Either someone in the city planned this and wants a fair share of the loot or they're looking for something in particular. Besides the city being an easy target for a well prepared group it almost seems a bit too random for them just to attack it like bandits while also being undetected until the moment of attack. No, they're after something, I can feel it."

“She has no idea how accurate she is,” Morgan thought, impressed and stunned that two people could have guessed the truth about her on two separate occasions on the same day. “I’ve got a sensitive nose and I’ve smelled people fresh out of sewers. Revolting wouldn’t even begin to describe it. It’s not a smell you can forget, that’s for sure.” she half-lied, keeping the same neutral, smooth tone.

She let her half-deception sink in for a few seconds before continuing. “Besides, Diana’s right. An attack like this, it’s too planned out to be anything ordinary like money or goods. No, they’re after something big, something worth all the effort. And if that’s the case, the sewers wouldn’t work either way.”

"Point taken," Yui nodded as she leaned back straighter into her seat. "If an entire city is at war with them, they must be powerful enough that not even an entire militia housed within could stop them."

"Which is why we're going to stop them!" Maria shouted with a too-serious face that her voice depicted being forcefully gruff; too cute for anyone not to snigger like Yui.

"Let's get one thing clear, girls," Diana spoke out in an even-tempered tone, turning her face to look over her shoulder at all three of them. "I don't condone Victor's actions but I, as a Virago Spirit, am commanded to obey. I want you to all know that doesn't extend to how much I keep you out of harm's way. If there's anything hinting at danger beyond your control, I want you to run and wait for Victor's help. We have no idea the level of danger these Dark Wizards will prove when we see them. There's also a chance I can't fight them all at my best if you're too close by. So I want you all to promise me that if it looks too dangerous to leave me behind to fend them off and hide in a place Victor can find you. Swear it, or I'll keep you in the Skyhawk and never let any of you set foot in this city."

Maria gulped, feeling as if a ton of bricks was weighing on her shoulders all of a sudden. Nodding fervently like a terrified child, she agreed out loud with a squeaky voice, "Mhm, I got it. I understand. Totally do, Diana!"

"Tch, you're too protective, Diana but I don't wanr Noriko to be mad at me. Fine, I'll go along with it," Yui shrugged, more annoyed than scared at the Virago Spirit's demands.

Hearing Maria’s serious declaration, Morgan couldn’t resist a snicker. It was impossible, equating the normally bubbly girl with a serious expression. The fact her sister could even be serious was outright comical.

Diana’s threat to leave them behind if they didn’t agree to run if told to, however, instantly sobered her mood. She wanted to object, to rage about how against her nature it would be to run, but she also wanted the chance that loomed, to see the world not as a scared girl running from the hellish nightmare but as someone trying to save it. Deep down, she knew Diana was right, if something was strong enough that the order to run was necessary, then even the power of a Dragon Slayer would be useless.

“I promise. If it turns out that too strong for me, I’ll get away.” she said after the initial anger subsided, her pride finally backing down.

"Good," Diana replied with a satisfied smile, turning back to look straight away at the horizon. From her sight she could already see the city thanks to her high level of perception. As they drew closer by the minute her smile began to shrink and her pupils dilated. What was supposed to be a beautiful city inhabiting the width of the river and then some was now obscured by wafting towers of smoke. Furrowing her brows she growled out loud audibly enough to catch Maria's ears. "Damn, this doesn't look good."

"What doesn't?" Maria asked inquisitively, trying to lean forward against the restraints to see what was in Diana's line of sight. When she caught sight of the smoke beyond she gasped out loud. "The city is...burning?"

"Or some of it," Yui replied without any indication she'd want to see what she did. Flexing her toes she stretched in her seat, lazily looking over at the pair of sisters. "Most likely in the time it took us to get here and mobilize back at your dad's mansion from the message we received, it's quite possible they've done a lot of damage. You'd surprise how much havoc can happen in a mere five minutes time. Believe me, I've seen how Noriko drinks."

"M-Miss Hayate sounds like someone I wouldn't want to go out with," Maria nervously replied with a polite smile, chuckling to force the tension away through her own brand of timid humor.

Morgan watched the smoke rise, tracing the swirling paths back down as much as she could until she saw the city that now produced the ebony clouds. She could only imagine the terror gripping the city as it laid under the siege of magi, the kind of terror she knew all too well. It was like her home town in Sin, under the control of a monster.

Clenching her fists, she tried to rationalize to what end the bandits would engulf the city in flames. Only two possible reasons made any sense to her, both stemming from the same source, distraction. “It’s a cover. Think about it, by setting fires like this, they’re forcing law enforcement to divert resources away from finding them. Either they needed to clear guards away from their goal, or they’re trying to cover their escape.”

"Either that or they're trying to warn anyone coming to stay away," Diana intervened, her eyes glaring at the sight. Catching sight of a heavy blanket of mist swathing the entrances of the city she felt unease about going in from that direction. Adjusting the airship to land somewhere near the clouds of smoke. Once she had been covered by the pillar she allowed NST to automatically guide it down to the ground below. Undoing her harness before the other girls did, she passively flashed in a bout of Ethernano discharge before her body assumed her Arc Armor. "Nest, please engage the light refraction plating. I wouldn't want anyone seeing the airship in the event the smoke stops rising or the fire is snuffed out."

"Understood, Diana."

As the subtle sounds of clicking plating was turned about on the hull of the aircraft, Diana turned towards the girls, having seen all of them rise that she could tell, "We're going to take a look. Victor should be only a half hour away at the most. Until then we're going to see what the intent of these bandits are."

"Sounds fun," Yui quipped with a cheshire grin, leaning suggestively to one side with both hands on her hips. "I'll make sure to take pictures to give as souvenirs to Vanessa."

Shuddering at the sound of Yui's flirtatious advances to her mother, Maria looked over to Morgan and forced a bright smile. Raising a fist up to bump with Morgan, she chirped out, "Let's do our best, M'kay?"

As the ship descended, Morgan undid the harness holding her to the seat. She stood up a second too soon and her haste was rewarded with her comically falling backwards as the ship landed. Grumbling, she bounced back without missing a beat. She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, laughing off her blunder.

She looked blankly at Maria’s upraised fist for a moment, until she remembered what her sister said it meant. Not growing up as a normal child, all the things that were second nature to many young adults was still alien and outright absurd to the Dragon Slayer’s mind.Timidly, she returned the gesture with a shy smile on her face. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

First Encounter
"Come on, keep looking," Came a voice from down the road of the burning building Diana led her troop out of. Gesturing to them silently as to avoid detection, she walked on the air thanks to some trained pulses along the boots' soles. Yui, being bare foot, found no problem keeping her sound muted. Maria, knowing how virtually silent her sister can be, wrapped some air currents around her to glide across the air before dropping with a soft pat next to the leaning Spirit. Pulling back at the last second a pair of burly men, partially endowed in a mishmash of armor and tattered robes, were hauling partially filled bags while also keeping grip of magic weapons in their grip. "You heard what she said. It could be stashed anywhere."

"Yeah, her guidance hasn't led us astray. This is just the first time we don't have a highlighted path or a map pointing to the flashing red X is," The other barked out loud, not truly caring if anyone heard them. Stopping part way, he gripped on his friend's arm as they were mostly on the other side of the street, allowing Diana to look back around the corner to see the man questioning his friend. "Still, what's the relic worth if we have to attack a whole city in broad daylight?"

"Don't look at me, that was the boss's idea, not hers," The first replied with a shrug and a chuckle. "You know how he is. If he can let loose some of that pent-up energy he isn't using in the sack, maybe it'll do him some good."

"Right. After all, he's got that sword with him now. It didn't take long for us to wipe out opposition. Too bad there were so many non-combatants in the way," He responded sullen, almost regretful about the now obvious pungent smell being confirmed by their talk.

"Well, most of them aren't dead. They're lost in their own minds in the warehouses right now. It's easier than tying them up and less messy than killing them," The first finally finished speaking, his voice sounding farther away, the two of them now walking down the block in the opposite direction of the buildings they leaned next to. "Now let's keep looking. Remember, she said it's likely in plain sight and treated like an ordinary thing."

"I got you I got you," The second relented, following his duties as if nothing had happened.

But to Diana, she had heard plenty.

"Master Victor," She whispered through her connection to Alexander Head. "These aren't ordinary scavengers. Based on what I've seen and felt, they're Dark Wizards with a treasure hunting agenda. By the time we arrived here the entire populace was already pacified and there doesn't seem to be any current fighting at the moment."

"Securing the safety of the people will be your priority then, Diana," Victor replied, not to just Diana but to all the girls' minds. "Do not engage them unless absolutely necessary. Drawing out a fight, especially while a town's population is at risk, is unwise. If at all possible draw them away from the people. They've most likely seen enough trauma to last them a lifetime."

"Understood," Diana nodded, turning towards the girls, wondering on her next course of action.

"We had some trouble contacting aid for the city. Thankfully there are some mages eager to help only less than a half day away. Hopefully they can clean up whatever mess we leave, not to mention contain the situation," Victor adds further in addendum.

"Right. We'll be expecting you then. Diana out," She finished, breathing out a sigh. Turning towards Morgan specficially, she leaned against the building's surface with arms crossed over her armored breastplate. "Morgan, can you smell out where the hostages are being kept?"

Silence was one of Morgan's talents, one she took full advantage of, stealthily following Diana. The only sound she created was a barely audible whisper of her jacket as she moved. Over the crackling flames, there was no doubt in her mind that even that would fail to give away her position.

Because this was the first time she experienced the use of a Thought Projection ring personally, the moment Victor's voice projected itself in her mind, she blinked in surprise, After a second, she realized that it was because of the ring that she wore. She recalled the events of a month prior, when her train robbery went awry because of the ring's ability to communicate the thoughts of the wearer's. Understanding the magic now, she realized that fight had been lost the moment it began.

Sniffing the air, she tried to locate the hostages, but the stench of smoke overtook any other scent, even to her enhanced sense of smell.. "I can't smell anything but the burning building, but if that changes I'll let you know."

"Damn, worth a shot," Diana swore lowly, turning to look around, trying to triangulate their precise area. Given that this was closer to the center living area she guessed that the overheard mention of warehouses would be closer to the docks. Looking up at the Sun briefly she turned around to face the girls and beckoned them to follow her. "We need to head north. That's where Fiume's harbor is and I bet that's where most of the townsfolk are being kept. Stay close to me."

"You know it's bound to be guarded," Yui pointed out loud, easily keeping pace as she rapidly clapped her soles against the ash covered stone of the town ground. "What if we start a commotion and cause the whole gang to, well, gang up on us? Do you intend to fight near so many innocents?"

"I'll try to drive them off if things go that way," Diana promised, her eyes drawing into a hardened glare as her teeth bared with anger. "I'll make them regret what they've done here in this beautiful city and its people. I'll protect them with all I can, but you must stay alive and keep them safe. That is your new priority."

"We'll do our best, Diana!" Maria cried out as enthusiastically as she could as she sprinted behind the surprisingly light-footed, armored maiden as they headed northward.

Morgan followed behind the rest of the group, her eyes scanning to and fro, looking for anything out of the ordinary that would be of interest. Her lips twisted into an unbidden scowl as she swallowed her anger at being rendered unable to help due to the terrible smoke and tried to make up for that by keeping on the lookout.

“I understand Diana. I’ll do what I can too.” she said solemnly, glancing around at the burning cityscape as she sped up to catch up to the others.

With all three young women following accordingly, Diana guided them across the burning part of the city to a less ramshackled part of the town. Crossing over bridges and veering around streets to stay away from roving members of the attackers, rushing water was seen glittering in the sunlight that twinkled down over their heads. Beautiful architecture mirrored that of tiles made to be colors of the sand, sea and the sky itself. The unfortunate state that an entire city may have been already defeated by the time the distress call signal was sent seems to be more and more the case among their minds.

Stopping just on the edge of the road district, Diana slid her body within the shadows of a shop, ending the strip before what looked like a row of warehouses that bordered each other. Each one was blocky, red in color with green outlines, boldly captioned in numbers. Even from here one could hear muffled sounds of people trapped on the inside of several of the structures, easily containing the thousands that survived their assault.

"Keep it down in there!" One of the guards snarled, banging his foot against the gate to the closest of the warehouses. "Stop making that racket! The boss wouldn't mind if I roasted ya now but I got orders to keep ya alive. Leverage is always nice when you're holding a whole city randsom, hehe."

Diana kept her calm as she observed from her safe position. From what she could see, a direct assault seemed to be the only way to get to them. This also meant that most of the warehouses were in a direct line to each other before the Northeast and Northwest sides turned into the actual beginnings of the harbor before going forward to the rear of the warehouses to continue onward. From her count based on her sight and other senses, she could roughly estimate around five to ten men guarding around the front and sides of each warehouse holding the people. There were around ten warehouses that she saw which meant they'd have to divide the work close to evenly.

"I want to ask you something," Diana began, turning around to ask all three girls with Morgan being at the center of them. "If I let you handle around fifteen to twenty Dark Mages on your own, do you think you can handle it? You'll need to be swift and subtle, nothing too explosive. I don't know how strong they all are but it's essential if we are to rescue and free the citizens still alive here."

“It's not like we can just sit here and do nothing.” Morgan said, glancing around, looking for any large patches of darkness to hide herself in or to feed on if the fight turned rough, finding nothing substantial enough to devour much power from.

She walked past Diana to get a look at the area ahead, already making a plan of attack in her mind. She knew better than to run in and attack, having learned that lesson well from her training with Victor. Getting even a little of the lay of the land was a major strategic advantage, one she planned to exploit.

She retreated from her vantage point, taking her place between Yui and Maria once again. “This won’t be easy, but we can manage if we move carefully enough. It’d help to have some sort of distraction to lure some of those bandits away though. Thin their numbers a bit, you know? Less chance of being surrounded that way."

"I can handle that," Maria offered in a low voice.

"Oh? Now you got my interest piqued," Yui chuckled, more amused than genuine about her claim of curiosity.

"Do what you can," Diana nodded with approval to the young Mage.

Rising up, she took a few steps till she was out of the shadows. Motioning her arm till it was stiff and raised towards the sky, her thumb folded over an open palm. Using the other arm as a brace, a dark orb of energy manifested in front of her fingertips, crackling as it birthed with instability before it calmed into the size of a baseball.

"Bullet Magic," She uttered aloud, firing the projectile up, allowing a loud whining hiss to shriek through the air. "Flare Shot!"

Moving her arm subtly the bullet attracted the attention of most idle Dark Wizards while only a few batted an irritated eye. When it burst into a violet fireball that expanded wildly before crashing a good deal behind the warehouses into the harbor's water, most of the mages looked aghast and alarmed. "Where was that fired from?!" One asked while another shouted, "Did it hit any of the goods?!" When a good half left their positions around the hostage contained warehouses, Diana smiled enthusiastically at the confusion instilled in them.

"Now," She commanded, her body rushing forward in a soarching glint of metal and fabric. Choosing to launch past the still standing guards to the ones checking the blast on foot. Taking the first five off guard completely, her Arc Armor unleashed a devastating cone of Ethernano ahead of her, bulldozing through them, sending their unconscious bodies crashing into the sides of the warehouses adjacent to the alleyway. Appearing in a rush of halting momentum, her feet clanked to the ground. In an azure burst of Requip, Diana was armed with a pair of gleaming golden swords that reflected its mesmerizing edges towards her prey. "Do any of you want to dance?"

"What the Hell? Is this the shooter?" One of the bulkier Dark Wizards asked disbelievingly.

"Who cares!" Another, more rotund shaped man standing nearly eight feet tall. The fatter man grinned decadently at the woman, unaware that she was a warrior spirit. Raising his fat hands to clap together, a circle formed up from his wrist to issue several smaller ones that ended over his pursed lips. "I'll suck you up and crush you inside my belly. Vacuum Magic, Reverse Reaping Cyclone!"

A devastating whirlwind suddenly began to pull in all of space towards his obese mouth. Tiles, dirt, air and even a wayward comrade was accidentally pulled into the raging suction wind. The sight of his body crunching and imploding on itself was disconcering enough to make even Diana cringe. However, as her heels dug into the ground beneath her, she felt the tug pull her closer.

"Look at Garz go!" One of the nearby Dark Wizards, now eager to stay and watch at a safe distance as their comrade began to egg the woman closer and closer to his disassembling mouth. "That bitch thought she was hot stuff, and now she's caught in his ultimate spell! There's no way for her to escape!"

Crossing her blades against each other in a sign of a crucifix, Diana murmured out something unheard thanks to the howling air force. A searing glow emanated from the pair of swords before a sudden expansive flare of light shot out from her posture. With the air parting and the suction halting, they'd see Diana's body lean forward slightly with both weapons steaming at her sides. Turning to look back at Garz, the man had two six inch wide cuts in the shape of a cross bifurication from his forehead down to his groin and from his sternum to either upper arms. As she stood up, the man fell into cauterized pieces, revealing a much larger cross cut into a docked ship behind him.

Looking over, she'd ask with a menacing glare, "Who's next?"

At the same time, Yui moved to attack her first pair of warehouses. Her body was trained to move light and swift, her feet barely making a sound as she skirted the air with a handful of steps. Rushing forward to meet a handful of Dark Wizards, she let loose her ocular Caster Magic. A pinwheeling light sprayed out from her eye into the vicinity of her enemies, transforming their environment into a dark burning Hell with skeletons ensaring them with gruesome ooze ebbing from their empty sockets while screams came out of their hollow mouths. The sight was so shocking the first group had no time to react.

"Mirage Eye, Coils of the Damned!" She uttered with a cheshire grin, her open hands and feet moving in a blur to hit them with devastating blows. Each body reverberated with shock, her subtle discharge of Burst Magic used at its least power at a precise point in the body of the targeted. Each one was knocked out, leaving her to race to the next group. Seeing that they were more aware she took no chances with playing the same trick twice.

"Burst Magic," She began to say before her voice became static as such was her body. A stream of light was all that the Dark Wizards could make out, even as they readied weapons and spells. Invisible kicks and punches delivered at such velocities sent them flying across the air, crashing against the warehouse or ground. By the time she reappeared among the fallen bodies, she postured with both hands on her hips, sticking out her tongue in mocking at the downed mages. "Burst Sprint."

Maria chose a different avenue of attack.

"What's going on? Where did they come fro-?" The Dark Wizard asked incredulously among other panicking men, finding himself instantly planted in the ground with bone-rattling force.

"Daryl?!" Another lanky raider shouted with surprise, seeing a twintailed girl's palm in a stranglehold grip. Raising a Fire Magic sword over his head, he rushed to hit her with a burning stroke. A sudden nauseating spin later and the man felt himself striking nothing but air, stumbling forward because of missed momentum. Landing onto his knees, he saw himself in the crater Daryl's unconscious form was. Turning to see Maria behind him, he squeaked out with impotent realization. "T-Teleportation?!"

"There's more than that," Maria finally replied with a wink, standing up and waving to her feet. With her soles leaving the ground she levitated up into the air, the latter element swirling around her uniform and hair in a beautiful sight of gravity defiance. "Flight Magic too."

"You little shi-grk!" The man was silenced when Maria flew at speeds faster than his eyes could track, his face being wedged inward by a foot crashing into his cranium. Flying head over heels, the big man skidded to a number of angered Dark Wizards. Raising up magic guns to erecting circles over their hands, they fired a number of shots at her simultaneously.

Dodging the shots with expert practice, having seen her own father and Victoria use similar tact, she twirled in the air until she formed a pair of cupped open hands with her wrists slapped together. A brilliant orange light formed between the curled digits and palms, soon unleashing an arcing dozen of shots rushing out to either flank before angling towards the Dark Wizards. Unprepared by the sudden maneuver, most of the Mages were hit by all of them while only a couple dodges.

"They outmaneuvered my Scattershot?" She thought with surprise, still remaining slightly above the ground while the pair of Dark Wizards glared from a distance. She could hear the clattering of feet rush around the corner, no doubt aiming to reinforce them. Aiming her hand down the line of silhouettes emerging from around the corner, she focused her energies while she thought with final conviction. "I'll defeat you all here. These people you terrorized must be freed from their prisons!"

As the group split up to handle the bandits, Morgan sped to nearest bunch, appearing behind the first, leaving only a ebony-colored blur in her wake. Despite her speed, her approach was deathly silent, befitting her description as a wraith on the battlefield. Appearing behind the bandit that was positioned rearmost in their formation, she lashed out with a darkness-infused chop to the base of the man’s neck, cracking the vertebrae causing him to cry out and crumple into a useless heap.

The other three heard their comrade collapse and scream, but when they turned around, all they saw was a ghostly afterimage. “The hell? Gil, you alright? Gil?!” one of the men barked out, noticing the fading figure. “Who in blaz-” Before he could finish, Morgan appeared and delivered a momentum-enhanced kick to his right arm, the angle and force more than enough to fracture the bone. The man howled in pain before dropping to his knees, holding the busted limb tenderly.

Before Morgan could zip to her next target, however, the third bandit almost took her down with a deadly right cross, forcing her to duck to avoid being injured.

“You smug bitch. I’m going to smear the ground with your brains. I don’t care if you’re just a kid, I won’t hold back!” he yelled, running at the now prone Dragon Slayer, intent on caving her skull in with a double-handed overhead blow. Before he could, however, she sprang back up and her right arm glowed with violet light that quickly shaped itself into a dragon-like wing. Without wasting a single moment, Morgan swung her arm and the wing followed, carving it’s path with the same unnatural speed. The bandit, unaware of the nature of the attack, could only feel a sharp pain in his neck, as if a razor blade tore at him. Thick jets of blood spurted from the wound. Wisps of darkness clung to the bloody gash. The man crashed to the ground as Morgan rolled away, barely conscious as his life bled out,

The final bandit couldn’t believe his eyes. In the span of a few seconds, he watched his cohorts collapse in defeat, at the hands of a child no less. “What the hell? You stupid girl, you’ve made a huge mistake. You won’t be able to get away!” he yelled, pulling out a dagger and throwing it at his attacker.

Morgan rolled away from the blade before bolting over the last bandit, delivering a well placed punch that knocked the hapless criminal out cold. Turning around, she counted to make sure that the job was done, noticing the one who’s arm she broke passed out from the pain. Once she was sure that all her opponents were unconscious, she ran off to find another group to deal with, or her own allies.

"I won't let them get away with this. I'll tear them apart myself if I have to!" she vowed to herself as she ran.

As Morgan ran to deal with the next group of marauders, they'd find themselves pincered on either side by the two young girl Mages. Maria was propelling herself across the air in the form of a blur while Morgan was streaking across the ground as a silhouette. Each Dark Wizard was more aware of the danger and formed magic circles, prepping their defenses. They shouted out loud as they moved to attack them at the same time as they arrived.

Then, Yui came crashing down, her spiralling down heel erupting the earth in a bright fissure of rosy light. Upsetting their balance enough to send them rising up into the air, Morgan and Maria stormed through the magicians, tumbling them into a pile of unconscious and broken bodies.When they all finally landed in a heap, a thunderous series of explosions were heard far behind the warehouse full of people. When a number of bodies were seen landing across the area, comedically landing with white-out eyes and gaping mouths, Diana forward flipped over the warehouse to pursue.

When she saw all the girls accounted for, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at all three of them, "You're all safe. Good. I'm glad none of you are harmed."

"Like they could," Yui remarked with a cocky grin, "these guys are amateurs. I'd barely rank them at C-Rank, most of them seem like D-Rank Mages to me at best."

"They did seem not used to fighting high caliber opponents," Maria noted when she busied herself tying them up with simplistic barriers formed in the shape of handcuffs or chains. Looking around at some of their torn attire she blinked at the insignias they wore. "I don't seem familiar to this group. They look like gnarled vines of thorns at irregular patterns. None of them look the same."

"Thorns?" Diana queried, looking over at an exposed man's upper back, looking like a bush of protruding thorns from an ugly brush of black hue. It only took a few seconds for her to register what they were, causing her mouth to open and gape in shock. "The Black Brier Gang!"

Morgan kept herself busy by helping Maria bind the bandits. When Diana suddenly sounded shocked about the Dark Guild they were up against, she did a double take. “What’s so bad about these Black Briar guys? We just defeated a whole army of them without even a scratch. Why are you so worried?” she asked, confused and somewhat unnerved. In the month that she had lived at the mansion, she never once saw the Virago Spirit express worry.

"She's right," Maria pumped a fist, her smile uneasy by the rare sight Diana sported when she looked at the symbols exposed on the man's body. "After all, if we could defeat this many without even injury, how hard would it be to team up and beat the stronger ones?"

"You don't understand," Diana corrected, a bead of sweat seen crawling down her scalp to drip off her chin. Her eyes looked over at the two in particular while Yui bent down on her haunches to examine the brand herself. "I have been Master Victor's assistant in all the coming and goings of news related to the magical world. Be it for business or to keep updated on the status of legitimate or illegitimate groups' activities. His foremost priority in developing the Phoenix Guild wasn't just to ensure security to the company from interloping attackers of high ranking. No, this particular group is a splinter cell from a once prominent Dark Guild, the Raven's Claws.

"But, since their destruction their survivors became a band of relative madmen. Good enough to be called nearly impossible to catch but not good enough to cause any large scale damage. It wasn't until a few months ago that we noticed them becoming more discreet. The Black Brier's attacks went to nearly nothing up to many in a single week and leave hardly a trace of their wake. The fact they came here without even being noticed and the word being gotten out at the last second proves just how dangerous the Black Brier Gang really are."

"I've heard stories but never ran into them myself," Yui remarked idly, brushing her hands against the markings thoughtfully, eyes twinkling with memory of the past. "The Midnight Titans never really targeted low priority Dark Guilds. Ordinarily you need permission from Fiore's Magic Council in order to engage openly against the illegitimates but we were locked into a personal struggle. The Black Brier never once came up as a threat to our ears."

"And really, it isn't the group as a whole that's the dangerous part. Most of these could be just hired hands to keep a population under control. But as of now, their strongest is their leader; a man named Swartz," Diana informed with a look that told them all just what her real fear was. "I know not any mage more powerful from the Raven's Claws other than their Guild Master himself. His lunacy is often the only thing that keeps his own catastrophic power in check. He's classified as an International Threat to the magical world, capable of fighting the best of the Wizard Saints on his own. For all we know, he could be aware of our attack right now and planning to deal with us himself...that is the part I'm worried about the most!"

Morgan couldn’t believe what she just heard. Her first mission and already the threat of a Wizard Saint-class criminal loomed ahead. The idea of it absolutely terrified her to her core. Knowing that Diana was afraid of just one man out of an entire group sent a chill through her body, and the look the spirit gave the group only told her that everything she heard was with merit. “Do we even have a chance of taking this guy down?” she asked, shaking from fear.

Diana nodded her head, pointing to her neck for emphasis, "Reports say that Swartz wears a Ethernano Restraint Collar. He had his modified so that he could control his ridiculous amount of power. If we can surprise him before he releases the collar entirely we should be able to best him. If we all work together, that is."

"Oh come on, how bad could it be?" Yui cried out with a confident grin.

Falling to her hands and knees, Maria felt as if all the color was sapped from her at hearing that comment, "I can't believe you just said that, Yui. Now we're all going to die..."

"Hey! Don't make this my fault!" Yui cried out with a waving fist.

"Still," Diana quietly spoke, turning her head towards the warehouses holding the surprisingly quiet volumes of citizens. "Even with all the storages of the harbor full, how did they fit so many people in? We have to figure out how to transport them all out of here if we're going to keep casualties to a minimum."

The Black Strikes Back
All was going well in the mind of Elaine Lyte.

She had targeted this river city not only due to its isolation from most Legal Guilds but because their militia was only sufficient to ward off conventional barbarians or mindless beasts. They didn't stand a chance against their fully staffed three hundred band of Dark Wizards, led by her darling Swartz and his trusty confident Ketchum along with her own professional being. The men hardly had to do any work as Swartz took the lead as soon as she helped them manifest in the middle of the city without having to enter from any part of the walled off town. He was so eager to release some pent-up aggression.

Unfortunately, one of their new hired hands that was in it for the money and fame got angry he was used for little. Causing more collateral damage than she wanted she suggested that he be in charge of the warehouse duty. It wasn't until nearly the whole city's populace was forced into the storage of the harbor that she found that one of them was able to send a distress signal out. She didn't know where but because of their isolated area from most help, she wasn't completely worried.

Just alert. That mindset helped when she heard a series of distant explosions and crashes near the far north end of the city. The same place the citizen turned hostages were held at.

"Huh?" Swartz, her lover and partner, turned his head to look towards some puffs of smoke where his ears were picking up sounds. "What's with the commotion? Did the citizens revolt and break out?"

"That's impossible," Donovan Treuce, one of Swartz's immediate followers. He was a man of average height, wearing a mustard colored hooded jacket with blonde hair and light chocolate eyes. With an iron pole in his right hand, he reached his free palm to muss his hair while looking over at the puffs of smoke still rising in the horizon. Sighing through his nostrils he cursed out loud. "Dammit, did we let our guard down and let people enter in?"

"It's possible they managed to get through my Field of Rejection I placed around the city's perimeter," Faer Pleigh offered explanation, the blonde haired young man turned to look over at Elaine. With a black patch covering his left eye, the hood and cloaked man bent forward, left gloved hand placed over his chest while the other held his jewel encrusted staff. "My humblest apologies in failing you, boss and milady."

"Please, no apologies needed. These things happen when we least expect it," Elaine smiled pleasantly, waving her hand towards him so he may feel at ease. Inwardly she felt a simmering anger she suppressed at the idea interlopers could have entered outside of their detection. She could only wonder who managed to respond to the distress so quickly?

"Should we cut them down?" Rowlie Bann asked with an eager grin, the dark skinned girl with piercing golden eyes with a bandana wrapped around her burgundy colored hair took a stare. Her attitude told of someone aching for action, something that was missed out thanks to their leader going on a murderous rampage.

"Hmmm," Elaine pondered out loud, stroking her chin while dipping her head down so her expressions were hidden. Finding the treasure was top priority. And while they were majorly spread across the city, making deployment of valuable associates risky, she needed to get rid of them before they ambushed anymore of Black Brier.

"I'll go! I'll go! I'll go!" A small girl jumped up and down enthusiastically near the back of the group. Bearing a small stature with blonde pigtails of skull braid shape ornaments, the striped legging and fur laced jacketed little girl is Mina Sarrk, a deceptively strong Dark Wizard. While only being the age of 11, she could stand with the best of the members underneath the Black Brier's Elite 3.

"Let'em go," Swartz muttered out loud, causing all nearby eyes to look at their staunch leader's coat covered back.

"You sure?" Elaine queried with a tilted head.

"Look," Swartz turned around, making exaggerative gestures while his face spread his mouth in a series of excited expressions. "I can't tell you how important is for a kid's growth to include some good ol' fashioned violence and mayhem. I mean, look at me! I'm the picture of perfect upbringing-!"

"You were raised in a prison camp and became a notorious criminal at large," Donovan replied with a sardonic tone, cutting his leader off as he tilted to the sight with a hurt look in his twitching face. "You're not a role model anyone should look up to."

"D-D-Donovan! Why are you dissing me in front of everybody?!" Swartz stuttered out with a stream of tears running down his face, straight underneath his impeccably dark blazer shades.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"It isn't hard, psycho," Donovan rolled his eyes as he shrugged with his response, unaware of the text covered arrow that pierced Swartz's chest and caused him to comedically back up with agony.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"T-That hurt, Donovan," Swartz murmured, sounding suddenly solemn. When he was up in the shorter young man's face, he backed up with an alarmed expression. When the bigger man's hands gripped his shoulders, he felt himself shook like a bag of potatoes. "Do you know how my morale depletes the more you speak such things to me? I feel like I'm going to die! Is my sad demise all you think about?!"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Stop! Shaking! Me! Boss!" He cried out as he felt control over his body was lost to the blur of motion his unruly superior put on him.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Now-Now," Elaine tapped Swartz's shoulder, earning the tear-stained man's face to turn towards her. "I'll give you a nice massage when this mission is over. That should cheer you up, won't it?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Elaine," Swartz whispered. Dropping Donovan onto his back with a thud, he bent down and hugged her in his bare chested embrace, rubbing his face against the crook of her neck. Feeling her hands pat his back while stroking his hair, he cried out in a wave of emotion. "I love you so damned much! We're going to make sweet magical love when this mission is over! All night long!"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">A host of groans was heard, barring Donovan's shaken up person. Rising up he dusted himself while kicking his iron bar into his palm. Sighing, he motioned to the other three to leave while they still could. Rather they be witnessed to another emotional burst from their superior.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">

"Hmm," Diana approached the warehouse wall. Placing her palm against it, she could feel resistance, as if the metal wasn't something her gauntlet was touching. Pulling back a fist, she pumped Ethernano through the greaves, causing them to jetstream behind her elbow. Yelling out she crashed her fist into the structure's siding only to have it stopped dead with a loud crash. A series of runes rose up and down, revealing in purple bordered black text what was at work here. "Rune Magic. They must have a powerful Barrier Mage to deflect that hit. It's also possible they ensured that the space within was immense enough that they could hold so many people. How should we get them out or break this spell?"

"Morgan," Maria whispered, turning to look at her with hopeful eyes. "Do you think you could slip under the barrier by becoming a shadow? I don't know if you've done that or can do that, but maybe that's a loophole around this shield?"

Looking at her sister, Morgan shook her head. “That’s one thing my magic can’t do, unfortunately. The most I can do is cover myself in the darkness to hide in it. But that gives me an idea on how to get past it. Diana, would you say that this barrier is weaker than the one on the training hall’s floor?” she asked, a devious smile on her face. “If it is, I might be able to break through it.”

"It's not the same as the barrier set around the Nest, that's true," Diana nodded to Morgan, turning her gaze towards the Darkness Dragon Slayer. "However, this isn't a simple containment field. It is designed to bear the stress of thousands of people should they regain consciousness. It is likely a Rune Barrier with specific parameters in which keep the captives or rescuers from shattering it. Do you still think you can pull it off?"

"And not accidentally bring the roof on their heads?"

"Yui!" Diana harshly reprimanded while the girl just shrugged.

"Hey, I know this girl seems to be strong, but what exactly makes you think she can break a barrier this high grade? I think even Noriko would break a sweat trying to nullify it," She idly commented as she placed her arms behind her head.

"I believe in you," Maria whispered with a smile, holding her hands up in a clasped fashion similar to a sign of prayer. "You can do it, Morgan."

Morgan shook her head, still smiling all the while. “I have to do it. It’s not like I can or can’t at this point. I just need to gather enough darkness.” Without another word, she began to breathe deeply, causing the darkness around the quartet to suddenly shift and gather around her. Even the shadows of her comrades were pulled along. As the pool of inky blackness gathered, it began to turn to vapor and ascend to her waiting maw, where he devoured it, magic power surging about her body. The enormous boost surprised her, it was beyond her expectations. Whatever it was, she couldn’t discern, but that wasn’t a prime concern.

She began to focus her new reserves of energy, causing a shadowy aura to emanate around her person. The aura began to flow and gather around her hands, shrouding them in the bleak void of power. She brought her hands together, fusing the dark energy into a single mass. “Dragon Slayer Secret Art, “ she began, the sphere of power shifting to a sword-like form as she spoke, “Kali’s Emptiness!”

Once the blade solidified, she dashed over to the barrier, using the extra momentum to enhance her swing. Much to her shock, the barrier wasn’t instantly torn asunder by her destructive magic. The two spells collided, sending sparks of black and gold. For a brief instant, Morgan thought her spell failed. “No! I won’t fail now!” With a final push, burning through a vast majority of all the power she gathered. Her magic went haywire as she fed it, and in a single moment, her spell spiraled beyond her control, waves of darkness seeking out the other barriers as her initial target was finally severed. The residual blades of her power tore through the other defenses with the same ease her overpowered original had. The assault produced plenty of dust and smoke, obscuring the warehouses for a brief moment.

The sudden, unavoidable loss of power forced Morgan to hunch over, collapsing to her knees in short order. “I might...have...overdone it.” she said, her breathing ragged and shallow. “I need...a few minutes.”

"Are you going to be okay?" Maria asked, taking in her breath after losing it at the sight of such an awesome technique. She had no idea she had been saving such an ability till now. Even briefly, her own shadow had vanished, giving her a chilling sensation that felt like her skin lost feeling.

Shared in this experience was Yui, who was left with widened eyes and a slackened jaw. She knew the girl looked powerful but she had no idea she was a kind of mage only from legend. The first Dragon Slayer she's seen in life, only heard from historical texts accounting for those who existed both as the real deal and artificial crafted ones. The display took her breath away and it was stunning to behold.

"You've done enough, Morgan," Diana said with a smile, having regained her composure after witnessing such a devastating attack. Even though it was a close call, the fact every warehouse barrier was broken just proved how capable she was if she put her mind to it. Looking over at the shocked expressions of the other girls, she pointed to them with an authoritative edge in her voice. "What are you waiting for? The enemy is bound to be here any second! We have to get these people out of here before-"

"-we come to see what the commotion is," Mina Sarrk piped out from above, causing the Virago Spirit's eyes to widen and her complexion to pale. Turning slowly to look up she saw the adorably dressed girl who smiled in a way that was too innocent. The look in her eyes and the voice that echoed down emphasized a cold, calculated mind behind the diminutive shaped body. "That is what you were thinking just now, right?"

"No," Diana breathed out, her wrists flicking out to summon her golden swords once more via Requip flash of crimson. When she heard a tapping of metal against an open palm she turned to see from her right someone around the corner. A blonde haired man with a yellow coat was approaching with a simple bar he held and slapped over an outstretched hand like a bat, Donovan Treuce. "They're already here!"

"Damn right you are!" Donovan quipped out with an excited smile, his eyes widening with manic delight fueled by his own adrenaline rushing through his veins. "I can't believe all my luck. I thought this was going to be the most boring mission, but Swartz was right to let us come here. Look at all these enemies we made. I was having second doubts because of the strength our hired help was but...well, seeing that large explosion rock the docks got me thinking you guys aren't pushovers."

"Agreed," Came an arriving voice, a pair of feet landing on top of the warehouse roof high above their heads. The bandana haired woman with a sword already drawn with its flat edge tapping against her back and shoulder, she smiled down. Rowley Bann practically cackled with enthusiasm. "I've been aching for a real fight. Cutting down militia is a waste of my skills and power. Perhaps you can entertain me for a change."

"Calm yourselves, both of you," A light, feathery voice broke the electricity momentarily made by the excitement of both weapon wielding Mages. Balancing a staff along the ground, a billowy cloaked man with a delicate complexion and blonde hair with one revealing blue eye showed that he was quite young despite his stance among the other three. With the eyepatch covering what was most likely a blinded orb, his remaining eye calmly assessed the enemies in mass. "Cornered they may be, you saw the Magic that broke through my barriers. Though they weren't my strongest, it is impressive anyone has the raw power to shatter my shields. Underestimating them will get you killed like the rest."

"Buzzkill," Donovan rolled his eyes when he heard the younger man lecture him. Ruffling his hair, he pointed his iron bar out, wavering in its gesture at each alert woman. It was only when he saw the particularly pale skinned and black haired girl that he realized who it was. Through simple deduction, he pointed purposefully with a wry grin of knowing. "Hey, you're the one who broke all of Faer's Magic, aren't ya? What's your name, little girl?"

Exhausted, Morgan weakly smiled. “I’ll be fine Maria. Don’t worry.” she lied, pushing herself back to her feet. Still reeling from the loss of magic, she tried to hide how powerless she was, not wanting her sister to worry about her. To that end, she pretended everything was fine.

Looking around at the warehouses, she realized how drastic her spell was. The fact she had so easily taken down every barrier made her feel like the weakness she felt was worth it in the end. Before she could assist with saving the populace, the wind shifted and she could smell three unknown people already among the group. Just as she became aware of them, the trio had made their presence known.

Knowing that she was too drained to even think of fighting until she could properly recover, Morgan instead prepared to retreat if the situation turned out badly, fully intent on following through on her promise to Diana. When one of the three strangers addressed her, she decided to stall the trio for as long as she could, until either an opening could be made for escape or she could find a source of darkness that retained enough energy to feed on. “My name? I don’t have any reason to tell you.” she replied to the man.

"Oh yeah?" Donovan queried, lowering the iron bar to his side. Looking down at his feet he idly brushed off some loose debris. The sight gave him an idea, one that triggered a hungry grin to spread ear to ear. "You know, you're right. I don't need to know the name of a stain on the ground!"

It was all that Diana could do to prevent instant death for Victor's adopted daughter. Kicking off the ground, her armor was a glowing aurora of cerulean silver light as the armor jettisoned Ethernano to enhance her speed. Grasping Morgan and Maria, Yui was pushed to the ground in a blur of motion. At the same time, a single rock was kicked up by the tip of Donovan's boot, allowing a casual swing of his iron bat to crash into it.

In a sparking flash of cobalt, the stone turned an orange hue and left an air splitting impressiong in the space in front of the Dark Wizard. As wind buffeted with the shrieking projectile, it flew with such power and precision that it managed to tear part of Diana's armored backside off, knicking her a shallow wound behind. As she grimaced the magic enhanced pebble collided into a tower not too far away, exploding its base and causing it to crash nearly atop one of the hostage holding warehouses.

"Damn, you're fast," The Black Brier Mage commented with a surprised set of blinks, followed by a cool smile as he extended his bar towards her. "Heh, you might be a fun gal to dance with. Care to join me?"

Wordlessly, Diana flourished her twin golden swords, rushing forward in a whirlwind of magical jetstreams. Simultaneously, the blonde jacketed man raced to meet her, crashing his bat into her weapons with a mighty eruption of earth and air pressure. Smiling rabidly while her stoic eyes fixed into his, their lock ground the ground one meter at a time, webbing cracks spreading across the ground around them. Gritting her teeth, she shouted at the girls while not taking her eyes off the man in front of her, "All of you, leave them to me! If you get out of the way I'm sure to fight them at full strength without fear for your safety."

"Like I would-"

"Come on!" Maria commanded, being less chipper and more level as she grasped Yui by the wrist while wrapping an arm around Morgan's middle. With a propulsion of wind left in her wake, she took to the air, using her Flight Magic to take to the sky and head as far away as possible. Even though the weight of both was hard on her, she knew her personalized Teleportation Magic couldn't take them far or fast enough. This was the best option.

"Let go!" Yui commanded, feeling herself hanging like a sack of flour while Morgan was more or less comfortably held closer to the airborne Maria. "I can take care of myself!"

"I knew you wouldn't listen to Diana," She muttered with expectancy, ignoring her complaints without giving any sign of care to her plight. "I need to get us to someplace safe. If she unleashes her most devastating powers, there's no way they-"

"-can stand a chance," A soft voice finished above her, causing Maria's eyes to widen and her mouth slacken. Turning quickly to look up, she saw the childish Dark Mage with arms crossed behind her neck, seeming to keep pace up by a means of flight all her own. Sweat crawled down her neck as her teeth ground together with unseen frustration as Mina finished her sentance. "Am I right?"

Dipping her head down to gain some distance, she suddenly found herself wrapped in what she could describe as invisible netting. It wrapped around her torso, twining around her arms and even over her face. Visible stretches of force was seen, her grip on Yui and Morgan lessened till she was forced to relinquish them. Dropping them she tried to scream only to have her air forcibly suppressed from escaping her mouth.

"Hold still," Mina commanded, holding her back with invisible effort. Turning around to face her in a horizontal line of her warping back, she gave a soft smile of certainty. "I can't take pride in dissecting you if you're struggling."

The feeling of slowly tensing coils painfully dragged Maria's limbs back, threatening to pull them out of join and even out of socket. Similarly the same thing happened with her legs and head. As her eyes teared up, the periphery sight of both Yui and Morgan falling to their demise caused her blood to pump faster. Against all odds, she let out of a throat tearing shriek, her body enveloped in a bright red mantle of Ethernano, unleashed in an uncontrolled Bullet Magic blast from her pores. The result was sending Mina reeling back head over heel, giving Maria all the time she needed to lock her gaze at Morgan's distant figure...and then reappear instantly beside her.

"Gotcha!" Maria cried out as she grappled Morgan around her middle, flipping at an uncontrollable pace while holding her, closing in on the earth below. Turning her gaze towards Yui, she saw that the girl had landed on a nearby building top, releasing an explosive wave of Burst Magic to nullify the gravity pulling drop she had. As the shockwave radiated the nearby structures, Maria focused on the magic flowing within her. Glowing dimly underneath her clothes and spreading out to her fingertips, digital pathways causing her veins to be filled with Ethernano caused her body to be mapped out. Steadying herself and quickening her reflexes, she flipped four times before landing with a loud crash in a squat. Feeling the shock radiate her whole body, she was glad she activated her Vein Magic in order to stop Morgan from being harmed.

Turning to look at her, just as Yui joined them with a skidding glide down the building's face with a dragging palm that gouged its surface, she heard Mina appear with a soft tap behind them. Looking around with a deathly glare, one that was foreign to either girl near her, Mina smiled with a devilish playfulness, "You three aren't so bad. I may have some fun playing with you all."

Morgan couldn’t believe it. In the span of only a few minutes, she had to be saved no less than thrice, the latter two by the person she herself vowed to protect. Unlike Yui, she couldn’t even protest that she could take care of herself in her current state, a fact that she despised to admit.

When Maria was forced to let go of her, Morgan could only vainly reach out, wishing she could defy gravity to return to her sister’s side. Seeing her sibling in pain, pressed against an invisible force, was enough to break her heart. Unable to do anything to reverse or even halt her descent, she silently cried, wanting to deny the truth that sank in faster and faster as she fell, that her revenge would never be fulfilled, that her last sight would be the despair in her sister’s eyes.

But that end never came. Much to the Dragon Slayer’s surprise, Maria managed to teleport to her side, saving her life in the process. A few gut-spinning flips and a jarring, but relatively painless landing were the only price that was paid. Sighing with relief as her feet touched down on solid ground, she wiped away the tears that formed in her eyes.

When the mysterious enemy who chased them and trapped Maria showed up, Morgan almost instinctively stepped in front, a dark, angry look in her eyes, stopping only because she felt like she’d still be a liability despite recovering some of her power in the chaos. “I just need a few moments to eat the shadow of the building.” she whispered to Yui. “Can you keep her busy long enough?”