Zzzzzzzzt zzzzzzzzt!
Lightning zaps from one tree to another, trailing off Lilia's legs.
"Urk…"
Lilia's skin goes cold yet again in Rosa's palm.
Lilia spins her body, facing the gust chasing her.
"Vrandaetem!"
A cone of fire erupts from her mouth.
Flame engulfs the creature, especially with the wind wrapping around it.
Kiiiii
Two of the foxes flick their tails. Two embers launch from the tip right at the fire.
The fire flashes brighter and brighter.
BOOOOOM!
The embers detonate the flame. Rosa has never seen a fire fox do that.
The fire foxes are proven to be docile creatures. She never messes with them. Yet now she knows firsthand why no one should.
The lightning on Lilia's legs dissipates. The creature is doing its cast.
The creature forms its hand signs. Compressed air blades slice through the smoke towards them.
"Varriere!"
Rosa points her staff forward. Honeycomb barrier barely crashes into some of the air blades.
They shatter upon contact. Yet more incoming, passing the broken barrier.
Tang tang!
Two of them deflected by Akira, who appears from thin air.
One remaining air blade barely grazes Rosa's hair. Too close.
"Rosa!"
Lilia calls with haste.
"On it!"
Rosa aims her staff at Lilia's legs.
"Vlitzschreitt!"
Lilia immediately dodges backward. A gust of wind appears before her.
This time, not striking the ground she stood on. But aiming at where Lilia will be going.
It lunges, baring its claws towards Lilia's face.
"As if I let ya!"
Another gust kicks the creature's wrist upwards.
Shadow wolves rush in to Akira, yet fireballs slam them in their faces.
"Lilia!"
"Hyaaaah!"
Lilia swings the flaming scythe forwards, tang leading.
Thunk
The blunt spot hits the creature's head.
Lilia pulls the scythe before jabbing its face with the blunt edges three times.
Her right hand slides forward towards the middle of the shaft, and swings the pole forward.
CRACK
The pole lands square on its wrist. The beast writhes in pain as it steps backward.
Smoke begins to rise from its broken wrist.
Akira snaps her gaze towards Lilia, no, towards Lilia's hand.
"Tch! Long as that jar's around we ain't getting nowhere. Too much mana 'round here!"
WRAAAAAAR
Despite its broken wrist, it forms hand signs.
Embers wrap around its fingers, while the wind swirl around its claws.
Rosa's jaw slackens. She has never seen someone cast two elements in a single spell.
Not parallel casting. A single spell, but with two elements woven into one.
"Ya gotta be kidding me right!?"
Akira makes her own hand signs. Quick, even quicker than the beast.
"Dodge! All of ya!"
The beast claws twice at the air, launching another air blades. This time they are enveloped in flame.
"Vlitzschreitt!"
Lilia jumps sideways as soon as Rosa casts her spell. Akira jumps upwards, as if wind propels her.
Wind blades explode on the ground upon impact.
"Varriere!"
Lilia casts a barrier in front of her. Debris from the explosions crash upon it.
Akira forms another quick hand signs in midair and grabs her sais.
Lightning envelopes them soon after, before she lunges towards the beast.
The creature claws again. Launching barrages of burning air slashes.
Akira twists her body, dodging each blade before she plunges the prongs to lock its wrists.
She continues to push down until the sais sink to the ground.
The creature thrashes, kicking Akira while she fights to keep her weight on the sais.
"Lilia…"
"On it."
Lilia zaps near Akira. The lightning disappears from Lilia's footsteps.
"Can't ya two… do something… bout the legs?"
"Varriere…"
Rosa points her staff towards Akira as the barrier forms, shielding Akira from the kicks.
"Urp…"
"Lilia!"
Lilia falls to her knees, the phylactery still clutched in her hand.
Rosa looks at Akira, still struggling to pin the beast down.
Then Rosa notices the crimson pool on Akira's clothes.
"Akira… your rib…"
"Huh? Ah, yeah…"
Akira pushes harder. The sai sinks bit by bit.
"It got me good earlier… Didn't know it had friends… I got the foxes now…"
She brings her gaze to Rosa.
"Listen squeak, as long as the damned jar is here, it'll escape sooner or later."
"I know. I'll be taking Lilia back to the shed and bring the others…"
"Yeah, sounds like a plan…"
Rosa pauses. Her plan. Her responsibility. And Akira is bleeding for it.
"...Can you handle it alone?"
"Hell nah. But foxes are with me, dealing with the wolves. Even the sheep is around in case I need to shock this creature. I ain't alone 'ere. Now go!"
Rosa grabs Lilia by the shoulder.
"Rosie… hug…"
Lilia's eyes are hazy, unfocused. Gone.
"I'll be off. Taking the phylactery with me…"
Rosa grabs the oozing jar from Lilia's hand. Purplish haze begins to envelop her hand.
She points her staff to her own leg.
"Vlitzschreitt!"
Lightning wraps her legs, much more intense than usual.
Any weaker and the poisoning will overtake her.
She gazes in the direction of the shed and begins to take a lightning step.
Warmth radiates from her palm. Wrong direction. Wrong sensation.
It spreads from her hand to her arm, and soon enough warmth spreads all over her body.
The lightning dissipates from her legs as her knees weaken. The warmth intensifies to scorching hot.
"Urk…"
The sky suddenly spins, as if something twists the world upside down. Her stomach starts to churn.
She tries to throw the thing in her hand away, yet her joints are burning. Too painful to move.
Sweat begins to trickle on Rosa's forehead. Before she knows it, she is lying on the ground.
Lilia lies beside her, limbs loose, eyes closed.
In the distance, she can hear the beast roar even louder, while the sky spins even more.
Something shatters in the distance.
"Tch! Can't ya just stay put!?"
Akira's voice, before the sound of something crashing and rustling enters her ears.
All while something rings, as if it comes from her skull.
A dark figure enters her view, its hand reaching out to her.
Rosa forces her staff up.
"Vlitz…draiche…"
The heat begins to gather in her hand, then to her staff. Lightning blooms in her vision.
Then it launches. The dark figure dodges the lightning, forming a dragon before it shoots up to the sky.
Her hand can't hold it anymore. No, even worse. She can't feel her hands anymore.
Her eyelids are getting heavier as the dark figure returns to her vision.
"Eissvear!"
A new voice. The dark figure vanishes. Then translucent things launch past her vision.
Footsteps. Many. Coming from behind her.
Colorful projectiles rain toward the beast.
"Urrrp…"
Steps closing in on Rosa. Akira's figure on top of her, looking down.
"Hang in there, ya two! Erika, hold it off for me!"
"Got it!"
Akira's hands blur through another sequence. The moment she finishes, she plants her palm right beside Rosa.
Something glows as the light hits Akira's face from below.
Akira takes the jar from Rosa's hand and dangles it.
"I see… no wonder ya guys passed out like this."
The heat drains from her body, as if siphoned out.
Sensation returns to Rosa's skin. Her vision clears.
The knots in her stomach begin to ease up, churning goes away.
Swirls of markings flow and glow all around Akira's skin.
Rosa pulls her body up.
A flash of blue catches her eye.
Flau rams into a shadow wolf, lightning crackling from its wool on contact. The wolf yelps and retreats.
A sheep. Fighting shadow wolves. And winning.
She darts her eyes away from one ridiculous view to another.
Lilia is sitting up now. Drowsy look on her face.
"Mmnnmm… Is this breakfast time?"
Rosa exhales. Relief. At the very least, Lilia is still Lilia.
Lilia was holding onto the phylactery for far longer than she did.
How on earth did she manage to run for such a long time before she collapsed earlier?
Meanwhile it took seconds for Rosa to end up like Lilia.
Am I the weak one?
Rustling from the treeline snaps her attention.
"Akira, it slips! It's coming for you!"
Erika shouts as a gust of wind rushes towards Akira.
"Tch, persistent one are ya?"
Akira snaps her eyes to Rosa.
"Rosa! Figure something out! We're stuck otherwise!"
She forms another hand sequence before she disappears into the wind.
The magic circle fades from beneath them.
The gust veers toward where she was looking.
Erika slides to a stop beside them, bent forward, gasping.
"Haah… haaah… I'm glad you both are okay. What happened?"
She sits on the grass with the other two.
Rosa tightens her fist as she locks her eyes with Erika.
"We were trying to take the phylactery away, but it chased after us."
Lilia splays herself into the grass.
"And it was quick too! Not only that, I felt really sick holding the phylactery!"
Rosa nods.
"She's right. Seems like whoever touches it will get infused. A surefire way to get mana poisoning."
Cracking, slicing, and crashing mix among the mages who are helping to subdue the beast.
Erika returns her gaze to Rosa.
"That's bad news."
She brings the black book forward. The same one they found in the shed.
"We're going to deprive the creature of its mana source, right?"
She flips through the pages and points to a section.
Sigil diagrams. Handwritten annotations. Rosa skims the steps. Unfamiliar, but structured.
"This is the diffusing process. A way to drain the mana out of the phylactery."
"Mana diffusion… won't that just put the concentrated mana out into the air for the beast to use?"
"That's right. Which means we need to drag the creature out from this area."
Lilia taps her chin.
"If there's a way to diffuse mana, then there's a way to infuse it right?"
She leans closer to Erika.
"Can we just infuse it into several objects and then we split up?"
Rosa blinks.
"That… actually might work out."
"How so? You said it yourself, right?"
Erika points to her own palm.
"Anyone who touches them will get poisoned the same way."
Lilia grunts.
"Hmmm… she has a point… Speaking of, Akira might not have much time either now that she's holding it."
"If we split them into just several objects, then yes, it'll be pointless."
Rosa holds her hand out to Lilia.
"Lilia, give me a vial."
Lilia pulls a vial from the bag and hands it to Rosa.
Rosa brings the vial forward.
"If we use this, however… What if we just pour this on the ground?"
Erika pauses.
"That might be viable."
"But, before we go any further, who's going to do it?"
Rosa sharpens her eyes.
"Necromancy is forbidden for a reason. I don't have much knowledge nor experience about it."
She brings her eyes to the book.
"Like the mana poisoning earlier, the consequences might be dire if we make any mistake."
Erika taps the page.
"I'll do it. It shouldn't be a problem since we're just moving mana from one object to another."
"Are you sure about it?"
Lilia asks with her brows furrowed.
Erika rises, steadying herself with a breath.
"I'm sure. Besides, we don't have much choice. Also… I meant it… I want to see her… Reiko…"
She clenches her fist.
"I want to know how she actually feels about me…"
Rosa looks down. Something twists in her stomach.
She gulps the lump in her throat and stands up as well.
"Then, I'll help. Here's the plan. We make the pentagram and set the barrier up."
She turns to Lilia.
"The moment they are ready, tell Akira to throw the phylactery into the barrier. We'll make a brief opening."
Lilia sets down the bag and punches her own palm.
"Then when the barrier is closed, we keep the beast busy while Erika does her stuff, right?"
Rosa nods. Lilia bolts in the direction of the fight.
"Flare up when you're ready! I'll help Akira and tell the mages!"
Erika and Rosa immediately set up the pentagram. Following the instructions stroke by stroke.
"You really trust her, don't you?"
Rosa doesn't answer. Her hand keeps tracing the line on the ground.
"Being supported, receiving things from others... It's not a bad thing... I think."
Erika taps a spot on the ground with her staff.
"At the very least, it's way less cold than carrying everything alone."
Her hand drifts to her forehead, eyes distant.
"Erika... focus."
"Right. My bad."
Rosa draws another big circle outside of the pentagram.
The pentagram sits small at the center. The ward circle stretches wide around it.
After all is set, Rosa and Erika nod at each other.
Rosa points the staff upwards.
"Feuervall!"
The flame shoots up and disappears into the night sky.
Akira bursts from the treeline moments later.
Lilia hangs from her arm, hazy-eyed, phylactery clutched tight.
A gust of wind follows behind her. Other mages rush in from different directions.
"Ya better have a good idea 'bout this one!"
Akira grabs the small jar from Lilia's palm and throws it inside the wide circle.
"Varde!"
Rosa raises her staff up. The outer circle glows, enveloping the insides with a blue translucent light.
"Y'all know what to do! Don't let the beast get in!"
"Roger!" "Yes ma'am!" "Understood!"
The mages shout in unison.
Rosa stands inside the ward. Erika grabs the phylactery and runs to the pentagram.
"Urk…"
Erika's knees buckle. She immediately throws the phylactery into the pentagram circle.
The jar grazes the scraped line.
BANG BANG BANG!
"Nnnh!"
Rosa puts everything into maintaining the ward.
The creature is about to do the hand sign, same pre-movement it has made countless times.
Akira jumps to the creature and kicks it in the jaw.
The beast dodges backward. Akira slams her foot down, hitting its wrist and interrupts the technique.
"The line…"
Erika mutters in front of Rosa.
BANG BANG BANG!
The ward wavers as more and more hits come.
Erika shakes her head.
"Tch… We don't have time…"
She grabs some potion vials from the bag and places them on the five tips of the pentagram.
She extends one hand to the phylactery, the other gripping the book.
"You who sleep in glass and purple. I am not your master. I am not him."
The purple aura oozes from the jar, swelling.
"But I ask you to let go. What you hold was never meant to last."
The aura spills into the pentagram following the lines it creates.
"Follow the lines beneath you. Split into five. Flow where I guide you."
One by one, the blue potions start to change color to purple.
"Fill what is empty. Leave what is-"
Before she can finish, the ooze congregates into a single area.
The exact place where the line is grazed.
"Erika!"
The aura lunges. It hits Erika before anyone can move, wrapping her whole body before sinking into her skin.
Erika falls to the ground unconscious as she drops the book.
Rosa rushes to Erika, holding her.
"Erika! Erika! Can you hear me!?"
She places her hand on Erika's forehead and pulls immediately.
Erika's skin burns under Rosa's palm. Sweat beads across her face.
The plants begin to wilt around her while the ward is wobbling.
The wilt continues to grow, even reaching the trees.
The barrier shatters before her, the beast easily breaks through it.
Marks on its body glow bright blue, almost white.
Akira jumps behind it, and the creature responds with a strong spin kick.
She barely guards herself with the sai, but the sheer force sends her flying.
Its claw reaches for Erika and Rosa.
This is it. All of it. For nothing.
Now, Rosa closes her eyes as she braces for the inevitable.