OceRydia and Ziegelzeig notes : We will not be more original than the other times, but we really want to thanks our editor, ReaderNo31142, Jrh01409 and Cimar-WideHopps. You guyz are incredible! Be strong, there is just one chapter left ;)

Chapter 8: The Huntress and the Demon Fox


It was absolute carnage. Aliya wished she would never have seen such a spectacle, but unfortunately, she was now accustomed to it. The young huntress had already seen such a debauchery of violence not so long ago...she had even been the target of it. So she had no trouble recognizing the bloody signature of the perpetrator of the crime that was spreading under her eyes.

"It's him..." she gasped. "It's House...he's still alive."

The vixen clenched her teeth as she left the tavern containing the thirty dismembered corpses which now populated it. Around her were members of the Silentwind Guard, one of whom ran to the corsac vixen when she saw her leave the crime scene.

"What are your conclusions, Huntress Sari?" the mammal asked, visibly unaccustomed to confronting this kind of massacre.

"We are looking for a demon. He will certainly have taken a feline form and will be accoutered like a puppet. If you locate it, don't engage, especially not alone, as you would have no chance. Notify the nearest Hunter officials."

"You...You won't continue the investigation?"

"No ..." Aliya replied coldly. "It's time to hunt."

Determined to put a final end to House's actions, the corsac vixen interrupted the conversation and accelerated her pace, trying to concentrate her olfactory senses in order to spot the death track that the dread puppet had left behind. She pulled her hood over her head as a cold, insidious rain began to fall on the town of Silentwind. Above her, the tortuous clouds took on a strange, purple color, which told her something sinister was in the air. A curse was at work, and something serious was about to happen. Her senses on alert only confirmed her fears...

"Master...I hope you're ok..." she stammered for herself.


"Ned, I said I didn't want to hear about this nonsense anymore!" Loràn shouted, once again banging the table in the meeting room of the headquarters.

The doctor gauged this gesture with a cautious look. At this rate, there would soon be nothing left of the table.

"Our funds are limited in terms of equipment, sire. I remind you that I'm also in charge of our cash, and it's not the most glorious these days..."

Loràn became red with fury at the provocation that was asserted, making the company of his adviser unbearable.

"Do not force me to fire you again today... It might be final."

"Before this demon mingled with the Hunter's business, I always had your full confidence," Ned said calmly. "Something has changed, and you can't deny it."

"Certainly..." mumbled Loràn suspiciously. "But probably for the best. As for trusting you, maybe I was wrong. Obviously, your defamation of Umbra was motivated by your jealousy towards her."

Ned felt anger rising but remained stoic and detached. He had a gift for controlling his emotions.

"Just a moment ago, I caught her plotting with a demon in the very heart of this castle, and yet you put my word in doubt."

"I don't believe it," Loràn said. "It's your word against hers. Accusation is not proof."

"What did she promise you to be so reluctant to hear the truth?" Ned snarled. "Did she have visions of the future and promised you greatness, wealth, and victory? You know that our quest will never end. Our struggle is eternal, we will never get rid of the demons permanently. Just like us, they are a part of this world."

"Blasphemies, now!" exclaimed Loran, rising to his full height, directly threatening Ned beneath his imposing stature. "I disbelieve more and more in your loyalty to me, Doctor."

"I am loyal to the cause of our Order," Ned replied dryly.

"Now, all is clear," the white hare murmured with a dark voice. "Please leave these place - immediately."

The doctor took a step back, understanding very well what the leader of the Order was meaning.

"You have become blind to all good sense, that is my final diagnosis," Ned finally said, before leaving the room.

If he were to save the Hunter's cause, it would have to be done without the support of their leader.


The rain that hit Silentwind stretched for miles around, and even as far away as they were, Zieg and Reynart were not spared from its brutality. Even though their condition as demons protected them from the cold, it didn't prevent them from suffering the inconvenience of wet fur. The master of arms snorted, shaking from his head to the tail before jostling his muzzle to chase the raindrops that crept into his nostrils.

"I know you're in a hurry to reach your land, but we'd better find shelter until this downpour stops."

"Look at the clouds piling up behind you, Joseph. This rain is not about to stop soon."

The demon turned under the advice of his counterpart and noticed the particularly dense cloud concentration and the strange purple color swelling in the East.

"It's focused on Silentwind ..." Reynart mumbled worriedly.

"That's not our problem anymore," Zieg snapped.

"The last time I noticed such a concentration of black magic was ..." the master of arms began before swallowing his words. He let a few seconds pass, and then resumed, more panicked than before. "Aliya and Oce are in danger, I feel it ..."

"You said yourself that we had to give up on them. It's not in our nature to meddle in the affairs of mortals. All our misfortunes began, for this reason, almost a thousand years ago! This must end!"

"You're partly right, stupid fox," a deep, cavernous voice echoed down from the top of a hill flowing with rainwater.

Zieg and Reynart turned their eyes to distinguish the massive shadow that had just called them, and which was accompanied by a slimmer, slender, silhouette. The demon foxes had to refine their vision to distinguish them in the middle of the downpour, but first impressions didn't deceive... It was Samael and Thomas Cataro.

"Tell me I'm dreaming ..." the fox demon wondered. "We left you a few weeks ago on the verge of killing each other, and now you go together like a wagon and wheel?"

"I owe you thanks, brother," Samael grunted, letting himself slide heavily to the bottom of the mound, Thomas on his heels. The Hunter still had his arm in a splint, but apart from that, he looked healthy and more aggressive than ever.

"And why is that?" Zieg questioned reluctantly. He heard Reynart's crackling of electrical energy in his back. Obviously the master of arms was ready to defend his friend in case the situation was to degenerate.

"For putting a minimum of sense in my mind..."

"After you left the Outside Country, I thought about the events that had just happened." Thomas intervened in the cold, detached voice he always used. "I needed answers to my questions...and I thought Samael could give them to me. Fortunately, he wasn't as difficult to find as the previous times. To believe that the more we find our senses, the less we are careful."

"Believe it or not, but the one who was my torturer helped me to reconstruct the puzzle of my psyche...and buried memories came back to me," Samael continued, getting closer to Zieg, dominating him with his impressive muscular stature.

"I'm delighted for you both," the fox said, shrugging his shoulders. "When is the wedding?"

"Don't mess with me!" Samael shouted, the burning ardor of his eyes becoming even more inflamed than usual.

"I would give you the same advice, Samael," Reynart said, whose whole body was now covered with lightning. His eyes had become intensely white, and he was ready to release the wrath of his electrical power.

"That will not be necessary," Thomas called out. As the only mortal in the middle of three demons willing to slaughter each other, he showed no sign of worry. "We are not looking for a confrontation. We have uncovered a conspiracy which has corrupted our respective ranks for years now."

"A conspiracy?" Reynart asked. "What does that mean?"

"You were too busy mothering to realize what was just playing out under your snout, Joseph..." Samael scolded severely. "My mind has been broken for all these years, but what's your excuse?"

"Stop," Zieg interrupted firmly. "Don't blame our brother. He has played his role since all this time under my directive."

"And maybe you would not have spent the last six years of your long life in the Underealms if we had all been a little bit more careful..." the huge wolf said. "Don't make the same mistake today."

"What do you mean by that?", Zieg replied.

"And speaking of errors...where is the bunny?" Samael asked.

"Yes," added Thomas. "What did you do with Oce?"

Zieg let himself smile with his most provocative look, before spreading his wings, rekindled by the return of his heart, and burning his flame to its highest degree of intensity.

"You didn't notice that I had recovered my health?" He contented himself with answering arrogantly.

The violent blow that hit him in the face couldn't have been anticipated. Zieg had the feeling that a mountain had just hit him right in the jaw as he was propelled to the ground with such force that he sank several inches into the mud that had invaded the winding path they took.

Reynart's thunderbolt snapped in a flash of light, but he didn't have time to emit the slightest discharge as Thomas's crossbow was pressed against the demon-fox's temple that had crashed to the ground, who remained still, stunned by the masterful slap Samael had inflicted to him.

"Tell yourself that this one is worth every smack you should have taken after what you did, six years ago," Samael growled, stomping forward.

"Zieg..." Reynart interjected. "Would you like me to get rid of them?"

"It will not be necessary, Joseph..." Zieg grumbled, straightening up, a trickle of blood flowing from his mouth. "I think I deserved it, in a way..."

"You did," Samael stated bluntly. "You took advantage of the reforms that Oce's father's dissident group tried to achieved six years ago, in order to seize power over all the forces involved, demons and mortals. You couldn't just settle for what you had already won in your life! People who trusted you, on both sides! Michael, Joseph, and myself...you had our support. And through your shenanigans, most hunters had also placed their hopes in you. We were finally facing the possibility of putting an end to centuries of struggle, but it was necessary that you destroyed everything, by your selfish conduct!"

"I am a demon, not an altar boy," Zieg countered with a smirk. "And don't come to talk to me about trust. Michael betrayed me too. You practiced the Rite of Condemnation with the help of the other Calamities in order to deprive me of my power. And you thus allowed Oce to tear my heart out and banish me to the Underealms. Joseph is the only one who remained faithful to me!"

"In fact, I think that's where you're wrong, dumb fox," Samael replied coldly. "None of us betrayed you. We were corrupted by the rapprochement made with certain groups of hunters, and we let the power of another one infiltrate our minds little by little, without noticing this scheme. Another one who also wanted above all to obtain power, and who saw in you her greatest rival. She caused your fall through us, and stole all of your strength, to make you a wild beast. Listen, in your madness, you almost killed the father of the bunny."

The fox remained silent, his eyes wide. It was as if a ton of iron fell heavily on him, and prevented him from breathing properly. None of this made sense to him. He hadn't discussed the subject with Oce since his return, not once. As if these events had become taboo, a kind of tacit agreement between them guaranteeing the precarious balance of their reformed partnership. A pact...it was only a pact. Things were very different, but it led him to the mistake. A new time. A fatal mistake.

"It was me who slashed off Oce's paw, wasn't it...?" Zieg growled in a muffled voice. He already knew the answer to this question. "It was me who maimed her..."

Samael was silent for a few seconds, gauging the condition of the demon-fox, whom he felt was ready to implode under the weight of the revelations.

"You had gone mad, just as Oce and her father were facing the reality of your true ambitions. The Rite of Condemnation practiced without our knowledge made you lose your mind at the same time as your power. Oce did everything to try to calm you down, but you attacked them both. She acted to save her father. She knew that depriving you of your heart was the only way to put an end to your madness."

"And you didn't do anything?!" Zieg yelled, his red eyes fogging in spite of him with tears of rage. "You didn't do anything to prevent that?!"

"By the time I realized what had happened, the damage was done," Samael continued. "Besides, I wasn't even present. What would you have wanted me to do?" Samael justified without being intimidated. "But I found the track of the evil spirit that had corrupted us, Michael and I... and maybe even the other Calamities. I never knew clearly who had been involved in the manipulation process."

"Who is at the origin of it?!" growled the fox, whose body was slowly covering itself with burning flames. "Who is responsible?!"

"I think you already know the answer..." Samael replied.

"Umbra..." Zieg mumbled with such a degree of hate in his voice that it was barely audible.

"When I understood it, I tried to confront her with the truth, but her hold on Loràn Potence was already very strong. She handles him better than a puppet. She's been behind every Hunter action for all these years."

"Samael was delivered to us on a silver platter," Thomas said coldly. "We were asked to destroy what he was, failing to send him back from where he came from. This order came from her, no doubt. She knew that she had to muzzle her most serious rivals."

"My incredible resistance had become my scourge..." Samael concluded. "And without your intervention, nothing would be left of me but a savage and murderous beast today."

"It's more me that Umbra should be afraid of now," Zieg shouted, his fangs tightening as he turned his face towards the apocalyptic, cloudy heave that stood in the distance, just above the fortified city of Silentwind.

"Unfortunately, you destroyed our chances of approaching her by betraying Oce once again..." Samael countered. "Oce would have opened the way to her without any difficulty. If we want to reach Umbra, we will find ourselves facing a complete army of Hunters, obeying her orders through Potence."

"That's fine like that," Zieg said. "I don't want Oce to be involved in this. She suffered enough because of me."

"You will not be able to do it without her help," Thomas countered immediately. "Apart from Loràn, she is probably the only one able of motivating our troops to turn against the real enemy."

"But why…?" Reynart asked, shaking his head. "What does Umbra have to gain from all this?"

"Your great heart and naivety are your weaknesses, Joseph," Samael replied in a dark voice. "She wants what every demon wants implicitly. Domination of every form of life."

"That's not what I want," answered Reynart. "I never wanted it."

"Because, just like us, you have spent too much time in contact with mortals, so much so that they have influenced your real nature. The one that the Creator had imposed on us as a line of conduct. Test the purity of mammals, and punish those who weren't worthy of the love of their Creator."

"But mortals have so many facets..." Zieg added head down. "It's impossible to gauge them so easily...at least, not without coming to love them for their weaknesses, as well as their qualities."

"And that's what we should cherish, right? Even if it forbids us to live with them...At least we can guide them on the right path," Joseph insisted, who was trying to breathe some hope into their common cause.

"Maybe..." Samael admitted. "But I don't think it was the primary idea of the Creator. It was for this reason that he created other generations of demons, darker and cruel. The mix that we had developed with mortals was certainly an aberration to his eyes that sought purity and devotion."

"Umbra is one of those generations that followed ours," Zieg concluded. "Her heart is black and filled with hatred, both for mortals, but also for demons. We must not look further for the motives behind her actions."

"You judge her..." Thomas added. "But if I understood correctly, you did the same thing in the past...right? Ritual of Condemnation or not, you too wanted to dominate all the others. You lied and manipulated to reach that goal, and if Umbra hadn't opposed you, you'd probably be heading Hallow today."

"And would it have been worse?" replied the fox demon. "The Hallow area I was in charge of was a marvel of nature, flourishing and prosperous. The mortals who lived there were happy and healthy. Hallow could have followed the same path if I had been allowed to lead things in my own way."

"Even if it had to be accomplished through mutiny and civil war?" Samael asked. "That's what you started six years ago. Assume at least the consequences. You think you can be an exceptional leader, but you forget that the sacrifices involved are sometimes too big. Even if your cause seemed right, it was a source of trouble. You lie to yourself if you think you can get to your ends so easily, and without dirtying your paws."

"And we saw the results last time..." Thomas added with a sigh.

"Today is different," Zieg argued. "I do not worry about power anymore, and the lands that I cherished are nothing but ashes. Hallow as a whole will also burn if we don't put an end to Umbra's actions."

"Is that really the only thing that concerns you?" Joseph asked in a voice full of doubts. "You can't hide it, not from me..."

"It's just..." the fox began before interrupting himself for a few seconds. "There are things that I wasn't prepared to lose, already at that time. And to safeguard what remained, I thought I had to give up on it."

Samael sighed wearily. The rain and this morose conversation were beginning to annoy him.

"Stop beating around the bush. If you don't fight for Hallow, for us, or even for you...admit that you do it at least for her. Otherwise, you're nothing but a coward. "

"I don't admit anything," Zieg replied, clenching his fists. "But I will fight."


The trio formed by Oce, Ramic, and Luckyz had traveled the last kilometers separating them from Silentwind at a running pace because the torrential rain was as icy as invasive, and the journey had become particularly unpleasant.

"I dream of dry clothes, a hot chocolate, and a cozy bed!" Luckyz moaned, closing the march.

"I dream to see Oce and Zieg kiss," Ramic added in a perky voice, hopping in the rain.

"And I dream that you stop filling my thoughts with sweet and pleasant things," Oce concluded.

She noticed the wide-eyed and erect ears of her two companions, who, despite the rain, could not stop their tails from moving happily. The rabbit shook her head, understanding what they had in mind.

"I was talking about the cozy bed," she added, to the great misery of the two mammals, whose ears fell limply under the weight of the deluge. "You know you're creepy sometimes?"

"I wasn't damned for nothing," Ramic answered, rolling his eyes.

"Huh? What?" Luckyz whined. "I'm going to be damned for that, too?"

"You're just a young Padawan on the way of the ship, Luckyz," Ramic reassured him. "You still have a long way to go before damnation. I'm the captain of the ship, and you're still a little moss."

"Maybe I'll stay like that, then..." Luckyz moaned. "Not that you are ugly to look at, far from it. But the spades everywhere, and the horns... In short, I think it would make me much less delicious. Too crunchy in the mouth."

Oce glanced at him sideways, slightly aghast. "You're starting to scare me with this cannibal tasting story... You're not going to invite Arten to eat you, right?"

Luckyz seemed to weigh the pros and cons for a moment before finally letting go. "Wait, why would that be a good idea in the first place?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Who is Arten?" Ramic asked in a cheerful voice. "Luckyz, is it your ship?"

"Well, he wanted to eat me once... I don't think anyone has ever wanted me that much. It was almost touching when I think about it ... And then he had such big fangs... What do you think, Oce? "

"I think once this whole thing is over, I'm going to need some therapy."

Fortunately for her, they arrived at the Silentwind drawbridge as she uttered these words. The sky was twisted of strange flashes of mysterious colors that prevented them from determining whether it was day or night. The high fortress of the fortified city stood proudly, but it had lost the pearly beauty of its white color and was no more than a thick shadow carving itself in a veil of darkness.

"Too bad we didn't meet any female demons," Luckyz grumbled, obviously not having finished with this strange conversation. "Not that Arten is a bad guy, but I'm not playing on the right team."

"A tip, Luckyz," Oce said, without looking away from the high gates of the city. "Try to find someone nice, who will not break your heart ... Or better, who will not try to eat it."

"Noted!" The black wolf concluded with a big smile.

"If you want, I can help you find someone," Ramic suggested to the black wolf. "As it turns out it's my specialty."

"You are specialized in lost causes..." Oce intervened in a sad voice.

"I forbid you to be defeatist!" Ramic replied. "One day, a shining ring will adorn your finger, and it will be a fox demon kneeling in front of you who has given it to you."

"But of course..." Oce muttered, turning her face away, feeling the redness rise to her cheeks. "Stop now, please..."

They had no trouble entering the city, Ramic hiding his demonic garb, and the presence of Oce, daughter-in-law of the lord of the city, making the administrative procedures useless. They had barely made a hundred meters in the central artery of the town that Oce noticed an unusual gathering of guards from various buildings, which had been condemned to public access. Obviously, there was trouble. The bunny accelerated the pace towards the fortress. All this told her that something wrong was happening. As she turned toward the rotunda that opened onto the upper fortified areas, she struck a white shape that was charging in the opposite direction. The two mammals were thrown to the ground with a slight scream.

"Excuse me, I ..."

"Oce?" Aliya interrupted with a singing voice.

The rabbit's eyes widened, surprised to find herself snout to snout with her childhood friend, even if their reunion had been a little brutal.

"Aliya! If I had expected to fall on you so fast!"

"Falling is the right word."

The two females hugged each other, then the corsac vixen greeted Luckyz, happy to see him again, and was introduced to Ramic.

"But where is Zieg?" Aliya finally asked. "Master Reynart went to meet you, you didn't cross him?"

"Two questions at once, and I have no encouraging answer to offer to any of them..." Oce said, bowing her head.

"What do you mean?" Aliya asked. "Something serious happened?"

"I... I think it would be better if we discuss it quietly... and especially in a dry place..." The bunny replied.

"But I'm in pursuit of ..."

"It's important, Aliya!" Oce interrupted.

The vixen grasped the seriousness in her friend's gaze, and realized immediately that she would have no choice but to follow her.


"Allow me to skip the knocking!" Dr. Ned let out, opening the double door that separated the pleasure hall from the sphinx sovereign from the rest of the fortress.

The sphinx straightened her head, refining her charming eyes, before displaying a smile of facade that shone by its falseness.

"Wouldn't it be Lord Loran's former first adviser?" The demoness asked in a voice full of cynicism. "I thought our lord had definitively fired you..."

"He did, and my followers are preparing my stuff as we speak." The bunny replied soberly, advancing resolutely towards the luxurious couch in which his interlocutor was lounging.

"Well, then, I will just wish you a good journey and say goodbye," Umbra said, scrutinizing her claws with a scornful and detached look.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Ned shouted as he straightened his right paw, which shined at the glow of the invocation's seal he created inside his palm, levitating the sword that girded his belt. His bewitched cloak waved behind him, seeming to react to the magical emanations provoked by its possessor.

Umbra's eyes widened as the rabbit swung his sword toward her, showing no sign of hesitation. The demon straightened up, countering the onslaught of a lazy movement of her paw, which materialized in front of her a shield of protection of a dark mauve color. The sword slammed the magic barrier, causing an awesome spurt of sparks.

"So you want to close the debate in such a way, poor mortal?" Umbra scowled, channeling her power to hold the barrier in place, as Ned continued the pressure of his sword, trying to pierce the obstacle that separated him from his target.

"There has never been a debate, Umbra." The doctor countered. "I have seen clearly through your game since the beginning."

"Too bad it took you so many years to have the good sense to come and offer me such a kind visit... But it's too late."

"It's never too late to fix one's mistakes." Ned insisted, gritting his teeth, administering more power to his weapon.

Fortunately for him, he remained alert to everything around him, which allowed him to dodge the thrust of the two-handed-sword that tried to hit him from his blind spot. Ned jumped back, bringing his sword back to him through his magical manipulations, and turned his face to the assailant who had just attempted to kill him by surprise...

The rabbit opened his mouth when he saw standing before him none other than Loràn Potence, engulfed in his combat armor, his giant blade, Demonslayer, brandished in front of him.

"S ... Sire ..." Ned muttered, stunned.

"I gave you an order to leave this place." the leader of the Hunters' Order let go. "But again, you didn't know how to obey."

"I… I…"

"You dare to attack my dear Umbra ... The watchful aegis who protects our Order and guides me on the virtuous path of victory? This time you went too far."

Ned's gaze fell from a dark shadow... one of infinite anger. Over the metal shoulder of Loràn, Umbra watched the show with a little-amused air.

"If I have to knock you down to make you listen to reason, sire ... I will do it."

"You'll try..." Loràn added darkly, before launching himself to the assault of his long-time friend.

The Hunter's leader's strength was terrible, each of his stroke more powerful than the previous one, and Ned could only counter his assaults from his own blade, taking advantage of his levitation to maintain a reasonable distance from his opponent.

"You don't see that she controls you?" The doctor shouted. "That she insinuated herself in your mind like a poison?"

"Silence, poor idiot. You know nothing. You never knew anything! "

Ned unfolded his cloak, taking off from the ground immediately to rise out of range of his enemy, bringing his sword back to him to give it a momentum and send it back to the assault. Nevertheless, Loràn insinuated, in turn, a spell to his sword, whose broad blade was illuminated by several ancient runes which had been engraved there, and which answered only to the will of their controller.

A burst of dark energy was thrown at Ned, who maneuvered as best he could to dodge it, but had to take some of the residual effects of the spell, which hit him on the left arm and shoulder. He gave a cry of pain as he threw himself towards the ground, out of reach of his opponent. A kind of corrosive acid of mystic energy was eating and gnawing his flesh, and he was forced to apply a healing spell to limit the damage caused. In doing so, he no longer mastered his sword and found himself at the mercy of his enemy.

Having landed only a few steps from Umbra, she wasn't going to miss the opportunity. With a violent movement of her huge clawed paw, she tried to tear off the head of her prey. Instinctively, Ned ordered his cloak to propel him out of range, and landed violently against the opposing wall, barely avoiding losing consciousness from the violence of the shock.

He was almost instantly joined by Loràn, who, with his sword raised above him, was about to kill him. With an agile movement of the paw, Ned brought his own blade back to him. His lagomorph opponent being right between him and his sword, Loran was hit by the magic weapon right in the back. His heavy armor took the bulk of the impact, but the hare was thrown to the ground, allowing Ned to move away again.

"You don't give me a choice ..." the rabbit let out a little higher, Umbra turning her lascivious and amused expression towards him. Obviously, she didn't take him seriously at all... That would be her loss, thought Ned.

He chained an impressive number of signs with both paws, ignoring the intense pain that his left arm injury made him feel. In just a few seconds, he had managed to generate ten mystical runes of arcane spells, and with a final movement of his right paw, he released their power toward his enemies. The dark room was then illuminated by the multitude of magic projectiles that poured from the sacred seals Ned had just invoked. About fifty salvos were fired on chain, ravaging the layer on which the sphinx sovereign had used to lounge. The walls of the fortress vibrated under the intensity of this arcane cannonade that raised so much dust and rubble that Ned's opponents quickly disappeared from his sight.

The smokescreen splintered at once, revealing an enraged Umbra, surrounded by a flickering protective screen, blood dripping down her face, and her right wing pierced with more than a trait.

"It's an act you'll pay dearly for!" The sphinx shouted, finally losing her calm and usual phlegm. "Don't expect to die quickly !"

She opened her maw, which deviated abnormally, revealing the hideous face that was hidden behind her usually posed and graceful appearance. A purple light source sprung into a kind of beam, and Ned reflexively let himself fall to avoid the vile wave of corrupt flames that his opponent intended for him. Hardly arriving on the ground, he was assaulted by Loràn, who had been severely hit by this arcane fire, but who despite the severity of his wounds continued to fight fiercely and handled his giant sword as if nothing happened. His armor was pierced in three points, and an abundant amount of blood was disgorging from his wounds.

"Sire ... stop!" Ned ordered, parrying the fierce blows of his former leader with his enchanted sword. "If you continue, you will bleed out and die!"

"Die!" Loràn vociferated gathering all the dark power of his magic sword.

Ned closed his eyes and prepared to take the shock. He straightened his good arm and materialized a shield of blue mystical energy, on which was neatly inscribed "Dr. Ned". The Demonslayer crashed against the aegis that protected the doctor, and the shockwave was so violent that the two adversaries were literally propelled to both ends of the room, Ned amidst the ruins that remain of the sphinx's throne, Loràn on the side of the double door.

"It's crazy fun to watch you kill each other." Umbra chuckled sadistically as she flew over the battle zone. From her clawed paws, she clung to one of the colonnades, folding her wounded wings in her back. "You're starting to run out of energy, sorcerer ... I can smell it from here."

Indeed, this exhausting fight began to push Ned beyond his limits. He sat up trembling, his breath short, and his body bruised. He had enough energy left to levitate his sword, but he needed a little rest before he could again generate offensive mystical signs. He clenched his teeth, refusing to let himself be pessimistic.

"But Lord Loràn could fight even if his limbs were torn off!" Umbra added.

And as if to justify her words, the white-haired hare straightened up. His wounds were appalling, and any mortal would have long since collapsed under their weight ... But not him. And the reason was quite simple ... Loràn's eyepatch had been torn off during the last assault ... And in the midst of the scars that run through his face was highlighted an arcane eye of purple colors. The mark of Umbra.

"You have literally controlled him from the beginning?" Ned shouted.

"Not totally..." Umbra admitted with a smile. "But enough to infuse him with the urge to turn against you. And now that your attacks have deprived him of his conscience, I can play with his body as I want. Thank you, little bunny."

Loràn then straightened his sword, ready to go back to the assault.

BONG

The hare froze under the effect of this resonant metallic sound which imposed the silence on all the antagonists in the room. Sir Loràn Potence fell to his knees, his single eye rolling back under his eyelid, while his magical counterpart energy evaporated into a myriad of purplish particles. The leader of the Order collapsed on the ground, defeated by the brutal assault that had been inflicted on him by none other than Nadine, prostrate behind her victim, a frying pan held between her trembling paws.

"Doctor ... tell me I didn't kill him ..."

"You... you're just perfect, Nadine." Ned let out, literally dazzled. "Marry me."

"Well ... of course!" The bunny replied in a trembling voice, her eyes watering with tears. Was it because of the emotion or anxiety, no one could say.

"You little bitch!" Umbra fired, letting herself fall heavily to the floor, only a few feet away from Nadine. "You broke my toy!"

She straightened her paw, ready to inflict a deadly correction on the rabbit who had the misfortune to intervene in her dark scheme.

The sphinx, however, didn't have time to strike, as Ned's magic sword stroke her directly between the wings, brutally wounding her on the back. Under the influence of anger, she had lowered her guard. Umbra turned her angry face towards the doctor, who was approaching her with a determined step, his gaze severe and his expression dark.

"I forbid you to touch her."


It was hard for Oce to console Aliya, who was crying loudly against her shoulder. The two friends had sheltered from the rain in one of the watchhouses which overlooked the walls of Silentwind. There, quietly, and with a great deal of apprehension, the bunny told the story of her misadventures to a stunned Aliya who, had first refused to believe in the betrayal of their master, and had finally had to resolve to hear the truth... And that with the necessary pain.

Ramic and Luckyz were left behind, morose, wanting to give a little bit of privacy to the two females who shared a mutual and sincere sorrow. Both had lost a lot today, and would probably never be able to heal from these wounds.

"We... we will never see them again, will we?" Aliya sobbed in the crook of Oce's neck.

The bunny found nothing to answer and looked away through the window of the watchhouse... What she saw outside left her open-mouthed.

"Uh... you wouldn't believe me if I told you so?" She said in a dry voice, drawing the vixen's attention to the outside. On the main road leading to the drawbridge of the city, an unexpected foursome was advancing... Thomas Cataro, the scourge Samael, the master of arms Joseph Reynart and the fox demon Zieg...

Oce clenched her teeth and frowned, before straightening up without saying a word and flinging herself out, past Ramic and Luckyz without even glancing at them. She hurried down the steps to the top of the walls, and rushed along the main avenue, under the pouring rain, to reach in less than a minute the main gate of Silentwind. She stood on the other side, crossing her arms, while the group she had spotted from the heights approached the city limits.

They stopped on the other side of the drawbridge, all shocked to see the welcome committee that was waiting for them.

Zieg shuddered slightly, before making a sign to his allies, ordering them to stay away, then he approached a few steps, stopping in front of Oce, who didn't look away and confronted him with a stern look.

"Go away, bun bun. I have a demon to kill."

"Me too," the bunny replied coldly, seizing her crossbow.