The mage’s eyes quivered, “In death, we’re one, and with blood. We’re bound!” He cried, hellish blue flames raging from his chest.

The rats got incinerated instantly as the mage’s body turned into ash.

***

Thud! Thud! Thud! The fighter ran as fast as he could, “We’re almost at the end. Is the spell ready?” He glared back.

“It should have been ready if we didn’t lose Jaron. A minute is all we need,” A mage growled, a faint magic circle emerging around his wrist. A tiny ball of magic danced between his fingers.

The fighter looked forward, seeing an iron bar door. “We reached the end. This should take us outside the city.” He looked at the bag on his shoulder, “Hold tight, lady. This is going to be rough,” He pulled his sword, smiling as veins bulged on his legs and arms. .

CLAP! The fighter swung his sword like a flash, cutting through the iron rusted iron bars as if they were nothing.

BAM! With a single leap, he flew out, landing on a tree branch and jumping again from it to reach the ground.

CRACK! The fighter landed, followed by the mages, “The spell is ready. Get over here!”

The fighter smiled, turning toward them, “It was about **ing time. Let’s get out of this damned city.”

“You’re right,” A sharp, high-pitched voice came from the woods, and the fighter glared back, seeing a tiny pixie staring at him with a smile, “Time to ** out,”

****

Back in the city, Aella pulled her bowstring. Her eyes sank with Zephyr. She took a deep breath, charging a massive amount of magic in her arrow.

BOOM! She fired in the middle of the busy street, scaring everyone around her.

The arrow flew, zapping between the people’s heads and arms. It swiftly darted between the gate guard legs and looped around the walls, racing between the trees toward the fighter.

The fighter lifted his sword, blocking the arrow.

BOOM! A blast of air sent him flying backward, but he quickly regained his balance, staring forward to see another two arrows flying toward him.

“Monster!” He took a deep breath, and swung his blade like the wind, ripping the two arrows apart. “Deal with the bug!”

The mages pointed their staffs at Zephyr, “Beware of the size and sleep magic. Pixies are known for their trickery!” One of them cried, casting a spell. FeyWard

A black glyph emerged on the ground, oozing dark magic, and Zephyr growled, “You’re ready this time, aren’t you?” She stared at them.

One of the mages glared at her, “The previous party fell to your size magic. You shrunk them. And then slowly killed them by stepping on them one after the other. You even ate two of them, you monster!”

Zephyr smiled, “I didn’t eat them. I sucked their mana dry and spat them out,” She giggled, “Half of them died happy.”

“Your wings, dust, skin, blood, and tears are all valuable alchemical ingredients. I will make sure you die a slow and painful death,” He pointed a staff at her, Chain Monster

Chains tied Zephyr down, dropping her to the ground, and the mages approached her. “What should we start with?” One of them lifted her up, “Plucking your wings should be a good start.”

“Please! Let me go…” Zephyr cried, tears flowing out as she wheezed. The mage started at her for a second. Something was off. He could notice it, those weren’t real tears, and she wasn’t afraid.

Zephyr went silent for a second, “Damn, I’m still a bad actor.” She sighed, looking at the mage’s face as he realized she was faking it.

PEW! Zephyr extended her lips forward, blowing at the mage’s face.

The mage looked forward for a second, Zephyr’s breath smelled nice and sweet, enough for him to try and take a deep breath.

CRACK! The wind flew from the sky, pushing into the mage’s nose and mouth, rushing into his lugs with a violent gust. Zephyr smiled as the mage’s chest expanded like a balloon, his rips cracking and eyes popping out of his skull.

CRACK! He fell on the ground, wind seeping from his corpse. Thud! Zephyr landed on his forehead, tapping on his forehead with her feet. “See, doesn’t matter if I shark you or not, you lots always die beneath my feet.”

BAM! BAM! The fighter rushed forward, swinging his iron boot. CRACK! He kicked Zephyr into the forest like a tiny ball, sending her bouncing from one tree to the other.

“Cast the spell! We’re getting out!” He shouted, cutting two of Aella’s arrows.

One of the remaining mages lifted the scroll, “Dominor daror Al bartorn!” He growled in a strange tongue, and gusts of magic flew from the scroll, engulfing them.

ZON! The fighter and the mages disappeared, leaving only a charr on the ground.

Zephyr stood, growling, “The bastards teleported away! That scroll was a Teleport spell.”

Aella grunted in the city, “You let them away, I told you to kill all the mages while I deal with the fighter.”

“Don’t scream at me! That FeyWard spell they used actually works, it weakened my senses and magic by a lot.” Zephyr stood, cracking her back and flying to the sky. “Otherwise, why would I blow at that bookworm’s face? I needed a direct conduit for magic,”

***

Inside Arad’s room, Loci stared at the cocoon, “They teleported outside my detection range. At this pace, I need to call for help.” A gust of magic flew through the ground, racing toward a certain house in the city.

CRACK! But before she could do it, the cocoon cracked.

“Arad! You’re waking up?” She cried, an eye emerging on her flower body.

CRACK! CRACK! The cocoon cracked open, and a flood of black liquid flooded out and burned the ground.

Loci looked inside, the cocoon was empty.

***

Outside the forest, the fighter and the mages landed on the ground, panting, “We made it,” One of the bookworms cried with a happy smile.

“Save the celebration till we get back to the camp. We need to keep running,” The fighter looked forward.

One of the mages sighed, “I hate that you’re right, let’s run,” They started running.

CRACK! The fighter stopped, feeling the fine hair on his back and chest stand as a shiver crossed his spine.

A brown squirrel stared at them from the tree, the birds landed and the ants stopped moving. The wind ceased to move and the trees cracked.

“Something is off.” The fighter growled, “Is there any magic around?”

He looked at the mages, seeing their faces turn pale.

He looked back forward, seeing a naked muscular man, dripping in black sludge standing in front of them.

At that moment, the fighter stopped breathing. A single stare at the man’s naked body told him everything, he was up for a backbreaking fight.

Arad slowly turned his head toward them, his clear eyes glowing with a purple haze.

Arad lifted his palm, and Mira’s body flew toward him. He laid her on the ground and ripped the bag open. Mira was unconscious with an arrowhead sticking to her left shoulder, sleeping poison.

“One, two, three, four, five…” He started counting, looking at Mira’s body and ignoring the fighter and mages.

The fighter pulled his sword and chugged a strange potion, “Hoi! Naked bastard,” He approached Arad, “Don’t you know how to wear clothes?”

Arad gently brushed Mira’s hair, slowly standing up, “Too many, I can’t count them all.” He said, looking at the sky, “Too many blood drops, too many hairs, too many lives.”

“The ** are you talking about?” The fighter glared at Arad, “Cover yourself,”

Arad stared at the fighter with a passive face, “Why should I bother?” He smiled, “I never heard of someone bothering to wear clothes in front of food.”

The fighter growled, roaring at the top of his lungs as he lunged forward, stabbing Arad in the chest. “Die you bastard,”

Arad didn’t move, he stared at the fighter with an empty gaze. HAA! He opened his mouth, biting a chunk of his shoulder through the armor.

GRWAAAAAAAAAAAA! The fighter cried, crawling back and touching his shoulder. Arad bites him, crushing the armor and a chunk of his shoulder bones. Even ogres can’t get through his armor, yet this naked man did it.

Arad grabbed the sword stuck in his chest, slowly pulling it without flinching. He then lifted it up, munching on the blade before swallowing the whole thing.

“Disgusting, but I’m hungry after waking up,” He glared at them, the wound on his chest closing in the blink of an eye.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” A woman screamed between the mages, pointing his staff at Arad and firing a massive lightning bolt.

CLAP! The lightning bolt exploded, but Arad remained unscathed. He lifted his palm, staring at the woman’s eyes.

“Come to me,” He said with a gentle smile.

The woman shook her head, feeling something itch on the back of her head.

“Come to me!” Arad repeated again, a purple flame burning in his eyes.

“I must come,” the woman mumbled, walking forward in a daze.