Mana watches as the entire surrounding area glows bright with Cole's fire and slowly dies down until the only light remaining comes from the moon. She turns around and Cole is gone.

Mana nods to herself and smiles. "So, good ol' Xander Break." she says. "Where do you think he is?"

I think there's a village on the other side of this forest. Didn't the request specify he was spotted north of Soncha Kapa or something like that?

"That it did, Mary dearest." Mana says and starts walking. Then, she stops. "...which way is north?"

Mana frowns, deep in thought as she sits on top of a tree. She'd been unfortunately left to figure out the way north on her own because Mary promptly passed out from exhaustion.

"So...if it's just like the sun…" Mana mumbles to herself, looking up at the moon. "...and the moon rises in the east...and the moon hasn't been out for that long…that way should be east." she says to herself, pointing in the moon's general direction. She draws an imaginary line across the landscape with her finger. "And if that way is east, that means north is-" Mana stops, her eyes widening when the forest suddenly lights up in the direction she's pointing. "Damn it. Gotta be faster, Mana, c'mon..." she chastises herself. Mana jumps down to the ground, puts her mask back on, and starts running.

"I'm going to kill you."

"Cool. Would you mind waiting until we find Mana and Cole again?"

"Fuck y-"

"Guys." Emile hisses, smacking Akane and Veiss upside the head. "Shut up. Didn't you hear what they're calling that woman?"

"The Grand General or something. What the hell does her title matter?" Veiss grumbles, glaring at Emile. "Hit me again and you're going to lose an arm."

Emile ignores him. "The Grand General has control of Valiance's entire military force and she's a Supreme Commander within the Rune Knights, just look at that jacket. She's powerful - strength-wise and position-wise. If we're too loud or get too close, she's going to sense us and everyone involved in this is going to get in trouble." he whispers harshly.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Akane asks. "Follow them or try and move past them? The original request said Xander Break was spotted north of Soncha Kapa, right? Mana and...that guy are probably headed in that direction too." she says.

"If this girl is as powerful as Emile thinks she is, we're probably better off moving ahead. If they do anything off, Calypso can just tell us through her Earring Communications Lacrima." Veiss says in agreement.

Emile nods. "So we'll go past them, then." he says. "Come on, north is...this way."

"You didn't sound too sure of that."

"I'm positive north is this way."

"That doesn't erase the hesitation you had two seconds ago."

"Just shut up and follow me."

Victoria watches Ace nervously when she sees the woman's smile change. And then, "It seems we have six rogue Mages attempting to interfere with our mission, ladies and gentlemen." Ace says as the group of thirteen march through the forest. "The nearby three smell like...what's the name of the northmost port town?"

"Zaflior, ma'am." one of the Rune Knights pipes up.

"Zaflior." Ace smiles. "The home of the guild who failed to protect their townspeople. Now, what could they possibly be doing here?" she wonders out loud.

Victoria grits her teeth. Stupid Dragon Slayer senses-

"Victoria."

Victoria tenses. "Y-Yes, Grand General?"

Ace smiles, turning her head back to glance at Victoria. "You seem nervous."

Victoria ignores the suspicious look Saul gives her. "Not at all." she says.

"Your heartbeat says otherwise." Ace says and turns her head back forward. "Everyone, continue on as normal." she says, her smile growing. "I think our comrade here just made our job more interesting."

Mana sighs in relief when she finally sees something beyond the trees. "Finally…" she sighs. "I wonder...how long I've been...running." she pants as she exits the forest. Mana huffs as she puts her hands on top of her head, narrowing her eyes as she looks at the faint silhouette in the distance. "That's got to be the village, right?" she mumbles to herself. "I wonder if...Calypso?"

The girl in question looks up when she hears her name being called. She's hiding behind a rock with a piece of paper in hand. A thoughtful look was on her face before Mana called her name. "Mana!" Calypso beams, sitting up. "I've been waiting for you to show up...where are the others?" she asks, her expression falling when she sees that Mana is alone.

Mana quickly explains what happened.

"I see." Calypso frowns. "Well, I haven't seen Cole come out of this side of the forest." she says. "I didn't see anything light up like you said you saw either."

Mana frowns. "That's...weird." she mumbles.

I definitely saw something light up in this direction.

"Anyways," Calypso says, clearing her throat. "l-look what I found." she says with a troubled look on her face. "Do you remember what Emile said about someone following us?" she asks and hands Mana the piece of paper in her hand.

My Dear Queen Midas,

Master Xander should be returning to the village soon, he left to gather more Mages when we told him of the Vice President's plans. Proceed as you would when he returns. We'll have the girls back soon.

Devlio

Mana pales as she reads the note. "I-I thought we would only be dealing with Heaven's Light tonight." she says, starting to panic. "Devlio's a part of Revenant Beasts. Does that mean Xander is getting reinforcements from his own guild or Revenant Beasts? I really can't deal with them right now. I wasn't mentally ready for this and Mary's been asleep for Goddess knows how long so she isn't here to quite literally whisper reassuring words in my ears. The official request says that Heaven's Light is believed to have ties to Revenant Beasts too. Does that mean they were right?"

"I don't know but if the note was still here, doesn't that mean this Midas person hasn't gotten here yet?" Calypso says. "We still have a chance to warn the village; we can evacuate them!" she says encouragingly. "Everyone shouldn't be too far behind now, we might get in trouble but we can't deal with trying to reign in the pyromaniac and a Dark Guild Master that's bringing reinforcements." Calypso insists.

Mana gulps and nods, sweating nervously. "Y-Yeah. Yeah." she says. "You're right. And we can warn the others before-" Mana frowns. "Where's your earring?"

Calypso reaches up to grab at her ear. "What do you mean - oh." she freezes when she's only met with skin. "...I guess it fell out."

Mana sighs and touches her ear too. "So did mine."

Calypso grumbles and kicks a pebble by their feet. "I guess we're on our own." she says.

Mana nods and they start walking towards the village. "Let's hope the villagers believe us." she says. "I really don't want to argue with them."

"And let's hope that we don't die."

"That too."

"Step on my foot again and I'm gonna wring your fucking neck, Kumiko-"

"It was an accident, shut the fuck up and follow Emile."

Emile ignores them as he studies the tracks on the ground. They already passed the tree Mana crash landed against (the branches on the ground were an excellent indicator) and now they're following her footsteps. "We should be coming up on her soon…" he mumbles under his breath.

"Bullshit 'it was an accident'." Veiss grumbles.

"Shut up Dregliark." Akane hisses. "You're going to get us-"

Novem suddenly perks up, his eyes widening. "E-Emile, there's some-"

"Caught." a deep, masculine voice finishes Akane's sentence.

The four of them freeze, turning around to see a large, intimidating man standing behind them.

He's a grown man, that much is obvious. He has lightly tanned skin and deep red eyes that are staring at the Phoenix Fire Mages intensely, almost as if he's sizing them up. The man has messy neck-length brown hair and a small beard on his chin. The only things he's wearing are black pants that are ripped at the bottom and wrappings around his arms.

Then, he abruptly turns around, exposing large, intense burn marks on his back. "You're not the ones I'm looking for." he says and starts walking away.

The four of them share a look.

"'Looking for'?" Akane repeats, turning to the man. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

The man stops. "I'm here on my Master's orders." he answers. "I'm looking for our target but I also sensed someone...powerful."

Emile cringes, not liking the way the man said that. "But who are you?" he asks, steering the subject away from the man's bloodthirst. "Who's your Master? Like, a Guild Master, or…?"

"I am Uzlamain." the man, Uzlamain, introduces himself. "No more questions. You're wasting my time." he says and continues walking.

Before any of them can question the man any further, an extremely bright light starts shining above them, almost like a star. It illuminates the entire surrounding area and it's almost as if it's daytime and the sun is out. It quickly becomes apparent that it's not actually a star though when it starts coming down, getting brighter and bigger.

"A shooting star?" Emile wonders out loud.

Veiss' eyes widen. "That's not a shooting star, dumbass." he says, spying the clear silhouette of a human in the light. "Everyone take cover! Black Arms!" he casts, generating his extra set of shadowy arms once again and using them to shield himself, Akane, Emile, and Novem.

Ace stops suddenly, sniffing the air.

"Grand General?" one of the Rune Knights calls. "Is something wrong?"

Ace smiles. "It seems like another player has entered the game." she says, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Someone strong."

Victoria starts sweating nervously. Shit shit shit shit shit. Are they going after the Phoenix Fire brats?

"Their scent is starting to mix with the Phoenix Fire Mages."

Oh dear Soasis.

"I want all of you to continue marching towards the village, I'll rejoin you shortly." Ace orders.

"Aw, the mighty Grand General is leaving us to our own devices?" Saul coos.

"Yep." Ace smiles and gives them a mock salute. "I'll see you all soon." she says, bows, and disappears in a flash of light.

Victoria sighs. "I'm going to come back to Sonia with gray hairs and I'm going to kill Glinda because of it." she says, rubbing her temples.

Saul raises an eyebrow. "Sonia?"

"My wife." she says and turns to the Rune Knights who look a bit lost without their leader. "You, listen to your freaky Supreme Leader or whatever you call her and keep marching!" she yells at them. "I don't need her finding those kids before I do…"

Ace, standing atop a tree, looks down at the three teenagers and the strange little animal on the blue haired boy's head.

"The Earth King." Ace whispers under her breath. "Hello there." she smiles and jumps up high into the air.

"No more questions. You're wasting my time." she hears Uzlamain say to the teenagers.

Ace's smile widens when Uzlamain starts walking away from them. "Celestial Dragon's Claw." she whispers, jumping down from the rather tall tree. Light starts generating from her feet. Ace kicks her leg up in the air when she gets close enough and brings it down on Uzlamain. She sends the man crashing several feet into the dirt, creating a small Uzlamain sized hole in the ground. A cloud of smoke obscures the area all around her; the light from her attack so intense that it burned Uzlamain and the earth and trees in the surrounding area.

"Wh-What the hell?" she hears one of the Phoenix Fire children, the girl, cry out when she lands on Uzlamain. "What the hell was that!?"

Ace grins, looking in their direction even though they can't hear her. "The new Grand General of your country's military force and Supreme Commander of the Rune Knights. You may call me Ace." she introduces herself. "I-" she stops, looking down at Uzlamain when he starts moving. "You're still awake. That's annoying." Ace says and jumps off of him. She moves to stand in between him and the Phoenix Fire Mages. "I guess I'll have to deal with you fiery birdies later." she says with a smile. "Go regroup with your other allies."

The boy with the pointy ears doesn't hesitate, using the odd pitch black arms protruding from his sides to pick up his teammates. Then, he starts running.

"You…" Uzlamain grunts out, wiping the dirt off his face as he stands up. "I found you. The powerful one…"

Ace shakes her head and wags her finger at him. "Au contraire, my dear Uzlamain. I found you." she says.

"CAVERN GOD'S BELLOW!"

"Celestial Dragon's Roar!"

The two Slayer's breath attacks clash against each other - Uzlamain's attack shooting hundreds of sharp, blade-like rocks at Ace with a powerful gust of wind and Ace's attack shooting a large beam of golden, plasma hot light at Uzlamain.

Ace's light burns the rocks in Uzlamain's attack to dust and the man has to quickly cast another spell to shield himself from being burned any further: "Cavern God's Blade!" he quickly turns one of his arms into a large blade made of earth. It successfully shields Uzlamain from Ace's attack until it dies out, albeit it takes a few dings in the process. He slowly lowers his arm and stares at Ace with a wild look in his eyes and a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "Finally. I've been waiting for someone as strong as you."

Ace grins right back at him, her expression matching his. "Is that so?" she asks. "I'm afraid to disappoint but you're not my priority right now, your Master is. I'll have to end this quickly."

Uzlamain bursts out laughing. "Then I guess I'll just have to make sure I put up a good fight, won't I!? Cavern God's Body!" he grins maniacally. His entire body starts to give off a greenish glow. "COME AT ME, DRAGON SLAYER! DON'T HOLD BACK, GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!" he screams. "IN THE NAME OF HEAVEN'S LIGHT, I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING IN MASTER XANDER'S PATH!"

"Who the hell was that guy…?" Emile wonders, trailing off.

Veiss shakes his head, shivering. "I don't know. But I get a bad feeling from him and that freaky woman." ihe says. "How does she know about our 'other allies'?"

Akane hums, deep in thought. "We were far away enough that any normal person wouldn't have heard us when we were back there, she couldn't have heard us even when we were fighting with Cole. Victoria wouldn't have said anything because it would've gotten her and everyone else involved in this in trouble...and the fact that she called us 'fiery birdies'...a Dragon Slayer, maybe?" she guesses.

"But even if she were a Dragon Slayer, how would she know that we're from Phoenix Fire?" Emile wonders. "The smoke was still a bit too dense to see the marks on our hands and I don't think sight is one of the senses they have enhanced." he says.

"I don't know, we probably smell like the ocean or something!" Akane guesses. "How the hell would I know what we smell like?"

Novem yawns, getting comfortable on Emile's head. "The guildhall is right next to the beach…" he points out as he falls asleep.

"The cat is right." Veiss says.

"Not a cat." Emile corrects him.

Veiss ignores him. "But it doesn't matter how she knows. Didn't you hear what that woman called herself?" he asks. "If someone like that is picking a fight with Uzlamain, that means he's most likely with Heaven's Light or Revenant Beasts. And if that's the case, that means they're here."

"With reinforcements." Akane says in realization, her eyes widening.

Emile gasps. "Mana and Calypso."

Veiss nods, picking up the speed. "Let's hope that the Rune Knights and S-Class Mages aren't too far behind us."

Mana smiles comfortingly down at the villagers gathered in the underground shelter. "Don't worry. We're the only ones who know you're down here," she says, gesturing to Calypso. "you'll be safe until we come back for you."

The village chief nods, a worried look on his face but as he reassured the girls earlier, he has complete faith in them. "We'll be here, Mana." he says and turns to Calypso. "Calypso. Thank you both again for coming to warn us. We were the ones that reported that we'd seen that man lurking around our forest but we didn't think…" the chief trails off and sighs. "I don't know what we thought. But it seems like we were right in reporting him."

Mana and Calypso give them a few more reassurances before shutting and locking them in the shelter.

The two of them start heading back towards the entrance of the village. "Are you sure you don't want to join them now?" Mana asks.

Calypso nods. "Yeah, I'll be fine with you until Master Xander and his cronies arrive." she says and looks back at the shelter. "They'll be safe in there, right?" Calypso asks.

Mana nods. "The chief said something about some kind of...um….Jutsu Shiki?" she tries. "They placed a barrier around the village and around the grounds of the shelter too, just in case." she says, scratching her head. "All of this stuff still doesn't make too much sense to me but basically, if anyone who bears the Heaven's Light or Revenant Beasts mark on their body enters the village's territory, they can't leave." Mana explains. "The one on the shelter prohibits anyone without a Phoenix Fire mark from interacting with the shelter."

"I see…" Calypso says, looking around the empty village nervously. "This place is freaky when there's no sign of life anywhere." she grumbles under her breath.

"Isn't that best, though?" Mana asks. "If Xander and any reinforcements he brings don't think anyone is here, they'll move on." she says. "We just have to find a good hiding-"

"I can't find him anywhere."

Mana and Calypso jump at the sudden sound of a new voice. "Cole!?" Mana gasps when she turns around. Although the young man has bandages obscuring half of his face, both girls can see the annoyance and displeasure on his face clear as day.

"I can't find him." Cole repeats. "Have you seen him?"

Calypso glances at Mana. "This is the guy we're looking for?" she asks.

Cole narrows his eyes. "How many of you are there?" he asks.

"Well," Mana says, holding up her hands and counting on her fingers. "there's me and Calypso here, obviously, my best friend Akane-"

"She's not your best friend." Calypso corrects her.

Mana pouts. "Yes she is."

"Akane would disagree."

"...She doesn't need to know."

"I'm just saying, you're lying to Cole and yourself."

"She'll stop rejecting my affection and friendship one day."

"You saying that she's currently rejecting your affection is already saying that she's not your best friend." Calypso yawns.

"...Shut up." Mana grumbles. "Anyways, there's Emile and Veiss - the two boys that you were fighting with earlier, and there's Novem too of course, Master Glinda, Victoria-"

The color drains from Cole's face. "V-Victoria's in on this too?" he stutters nervously. "Why didn't you say that the first time we met!?"

Mana blinks, caught off guard by Cole's sudden change in demeanor. "I-I-I-" she stammers, confused. "W-Would that have made a difference?" she asks.

"YES!" Cole cries. "It would have made all the difference - nobody in their right mind pisses off that tiny woman except for Master Glinda and Seinaru!" he says fearfully. "Oh dear Soasis, she's going to kill me when she gets here." Cole breathes out and starts pacing. "Okay, so, logically, if Victoria is arriving with the Rune Knights, she can't kill me in front of them so that gives me just that much more time to find Xander before my impending death." he says to himself.

Mana and Calypso share a look as Cole continues to talk to himself.

Damn...how long have I been asleep?

Mana beams. Mary! Are you okay? You fell asleep so suddenly, I was worried.

I'm fine. But more importantly, how long has the sun been up? Mary asks.

Mana blinks, looking up at the sky. "Oh wow...I didn't realize it's been that long." she mumbles.

"Mana?" Calypso questions.

Mana shakes her head and taps her temples. "Mary woke up." she explains and Calypso 'oohs', nodding in understanding.

I just had a look at everything I missed. Mary says. If you found that note while the moon was still out and the sun is rising now, then this Midas person is more than likely here already. Xander and his reinforcements, too. They should-

"-be here soon." a dull and unfriendly familiar voice finishes Mary's sentence. "In fact, we're already here, Mary."

The three of them turn around to see the familiar face of Devlio, a new face that looks like the sister of Luna and Eira (seriously, what is it with meeting all these girls with white hair and blue eyes?), and a woman looking at Cole like he's the dirt on the bottom of her shoe. While Devlio still looks as hard to read as ever, the girl looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but here.

The older woman has a very 'rich girl' vibe about her. She has blonde hair that goes a little past her shoulders done up all fancy with blue bows tied into her hair and bright blue eyes. She wears a white ruffled blouse with a long black skirt that has even more ruffles at the bottom. The woman also has on brown boots and a brown hat with a rose on it.

"Tell me, has my dear Queen Midas arrived yet?" Devlio asks. "I miss her terribly."

Cole clenches his fist. "Who the hell are these three?" he asks.

"That man is Devlio, a Dark Mage with Revenant Beasts." Mana answers. "I've never seen the girl or that woman before but I'm guessing they're with Revenant Beasts too."

"There's no one else here but us!" Calypso shouts at him. "I-"

"Is that so." Devlio says as more of a statement than a question. "Then we have nothing left to discuss but you returning to where you belong." he says.

Mana grits her teeth and waves Calypso towards the shelter. "Calypso!"

Calypso nods. "R-Right. Be safe, Mana." she says and runs off to hide with the villagers.

"Although maybe you'd rather hear that from a...friendlier face." Devlio says, ignoring Calypso's escape and gesturing to the younger woman beside him. "Do you remember our friend Hibiki? Or is her face lost to the void that Finn's niece created in your head too?"

Hibiki doesn't say anything and just stares at Mana with a conflicted look on her face.

Cole looks suspiciously at Mana. "'Where you belong'? 'Friend'?" he questions. "

Mana looks at Cole desperately. "He's lying! I don't have time to explain it right now but he's a Dark Mage! Are you really going to believe anything he has to say?"

"...Fair point." Cole acquiesces and turns back to Cole and Hibiki. "What's this guy's deal?"

The older woman finally speaks, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she does so. "Stop whining and come back to us Mana. Make this easier on everyone, I have a tea party to get to later." she says.

Mana shakes her head, covering her ears with her hands. "I'm not going back I'm not going back I'm not going back!" she cries.

"You belong with us, Manami." Devlio frowns. "It's that child clouding your judgement. If you just let us take care of her like we originally intended to-"

Mana freezes. She looks back at the three Dark Mages. "You...you want to kill Mary?"

The woman scoffs. "Obviously-"

"Black Mask."

Devlio sighs and turns around, pulling his mask back up. "Rosalia, Hibiki, one of you, just...take care of this."

"I won't let you hurt Mary." Mana says lowly. "Black Arsenal: Sword."

Rosalia rolls her eyes. "This is why I prefer Kenny and Finn." she says to Devlio. "Those two freaks would never turn down a battle."

Mana holds her hand out, grabbing onto the darkness in front of her just like she'd seen Emile do several times now. The darkness takes the form of a longsword and Mana wastes no time in rushing at Rosalia.

Rosalia counters the second Mana is less than a foot in front of her: "Crescent Petals!" she casts, creating a blade made out of petals and parrying Mana's strike. Rosalia smirks. "Guess you really did forget everything, huh? That means I finally have the upperhand!" she says. "Who knew that I would get the best of you with-"

"COLE!"

"Red Viper!" Cole casts from behind Mana. He creates several cords made of fire and launches them at Devlio and Hibiki. He keeps one of them in his hand and extends it towards Mana, using it as a lasso and pulling her away from Rosalia and over to the other pair. While Devlio and Hibiki are busy stomping out the fiery snakes and dealing with a sword wielding homicidal Mana, he casts another spell, aiming it at Rosalia. "Red Bombardment!" Magic seals form on both of Cole's hands and release multiple blasts of fire in Rosalia's direction.

Rosalia curses under her breath and jumps out of the way, using her petals to bring her up to a tree branch. The fire explodes below her, shaking the entire surrounding area and deafening everybody for a moment.

Seinaru gives a lackluster response, "My guildmate, Neil, was bugging me about it." he says with a shrug. "I just wanted him to shut up."

Alistair stares at Seinaru with a frown. "You're lying."

But before any of the men have a chance to continue that argument, an explosion coming from beyond the forest north of Soncha Kapa draws their attention and earns a chorus of screams from the capital city. The three men need only exchange a look before they change course for the forest.

"My money's on Akane." Nelio comments.

Alistair scoffs. "Are you an idiot? When have you seen Akane use her Fire Magic?"

"It's obviously Cole." Seinaru says. "Kid's got hellfire."

"You don't need to have Fire Magic to cause explosions-"

"Then explain the smoke coming from the direction of the explosion."

"Other kinds of Magic can cause things to explode and catch other things on fire!"

"Sure, Alistair."

"Whatever."

Alistair has half a mind to show them what he can do with his Magic right then and there but, y'know, priorities.

"Tch." Rosalia grits her teeth, glowering at Cole. "Fire Magic. What a nuisance." she says. "I refuse to fight a losing battle." she says and looks down at Devlio and Hibiki fending off Mana. "I'm going back. I won't be helpful here." she says and looks behind her. Rosalia smiles evilly. "It looks like the cavalry's arrived anyways." she says. "Toodles." Rosalia waves mockingly at Cole and disappears in a flurry of petals.

"You're not my priority anyways." Cole scoffs and starts running over to help Mana. "But what was she saying about 'the cavalry'?"

Three sixths of Team No Name are met with a bizarre sight when they finally make it out of the forest. A sword wielding Mana with a homicidal look in her eyes and the clothes surrounding the circumference of her waist burnt down to her skin battling not one but two Dark Mages that are fending her off while simultaneously fighting with fiery snakes. Cole sending blasts of fire at an unfamiliar Dark Mage that she dodges and-

Akane, Veiss, and Emile lose their balance as the explosion shakes the ground and they tumble onto the dirt.

"M-Mana!" Emile calls as the three of them get back up on shaky legs.

Akane, still on her knees, grits her teeth and creates a long chain, lassoing the girl fighting with Mana and pulling her towards the three of them. Mana whips around, her eyes widening when she sees her teammates but she's quickly pulled back into her fight when Devlio kicks her in the stomach.

"Two against one is a bit unfair, don't you think?" Akane asks rhetorically as she stands up and glares down at the girl. "Also, you wouldn't happen to be a Fire Mage, would you?"

The girl, still a bit dazed from being dragged several meters across the ground, blinks up at Akane. "No?" she says slowly.

Akane smiles. "Perfect." she says and pulls at the chain she has around the girl, slamming her against a tree. "This one's mine." Akane says to Veiss and Emile. "One of you go help Mana and one of you go check on the village."

Veiss scoffs. "Don't tell me what to do, Kumiko." he says but runs off towards the village anyways.

"Then I guess Mana is mine-"

Akane snaps her head towards Emile.

"D-Don't look at me like that! That's not what I meant!" Emile cries as he runs after Mana and Cole.

Akane huffs and turns back to her opponent gasping for air, narrowing her eyes when she sees the blue mark on the girl's left thigh. "What is it with you people and kidnapping the girls' we find in forests?" she asks and sighs. "What do I call you?"

"H-Hibiki...Hibiki Ito." the girl coughs out.

"Akane Kumiko. It's a pleasure to meet you." Akane says dryly. "Now get up so I can kick your ass for hurting Mana."

Hibiki shakes her head as she gets up off her knees. "I d-don't want to fight you. I didn't - I didn't hurt her-"

"Bullshit you didn't hurt her." Akane scoffs. "You were literally just fighting and Mana looks like she wants to kill you and Devlio. Homicidal thoughts are more mine and Veiss' thing." she says half-jokingly. "And that's kinda tough that you don't want to fight because I have a lot of pent up energy from this panic attack I had earlier and I'm just itching to take it out on someone who deserves it." Akane says, cracking her knuckles. "Now put up-" she stops suddenly, a chill going down her spine. "Wh-What is that?"

Oddly, Hibiki gets the same look on her face. "They're here." she whispers fearfully.

"Who's 'they'?"

All the fighting stops when two figures emerge from the forest: each of their faces making Mana's and Cole's blood run cold.

Finn Brown and Xander Break.

The White Bull looks just as Mana remembers him: nearly identical to Cooley but heavier white armor in place of Cooley's normal studded green and brown armor.

Xander Break looks just as Cole remembers from all those years ago. Xander is a man a bit younger than the Brown twins. He's got an athletic build but going by all the stories there are about him, he's definitely a lot stronger than he appears to be. He's a bald man with a silver beard. Xander's clothes are a bit casual for a maniacal and fanatical Dark Mage (in Emile's fashionable opinion): he wears a gray hooded cloak over a gray shirt bearing a white cross and black dress pants and shoes. He also has on a necklace with the symbol of the Goddess Soasis on it and several silver Magic rings on his hands.

Finn smiles sinisterly at a terrified Mana. "Hello Mana and Mary. It's been a minute but your dear uncle has returned to take you home." he says, spreading his arms out to either side.

Xander's smile is a lot calmer than Finn's. "Cole, my boy. It's been a while." he says.

Mana drops to the ground and her mask falls off her face. She's shaking from head to toe as she stares at Finn. "Y-Y-Y-You…"

Cole becomes blinded with rage and hatred. "XANDER!"

Xander sighs, shaking his head at Cole. "I was hoping we could talk more before you descended into...this." he says disappointedly and turns his head to look behind him. "All of you, take everyone you can find." he says and a small army of Dark Mages emerges from behind him and Finn.

Fortunately for everyone else, the S-Class Mages and Rune Knights finally emerge from the forest.

Victoria's eyes widen when she sees Cole start running at Xander. "Damn it." she swears and turns to Saul and the Rune Knights. "These guys have already secured the village. Secure Xander Break and defend the others!" she orders and the Rune Knights charge headfirst against Xander's little army.

Saul raises an eyebrow as he comes to stand beside Victoria. "How do you know that the village is secure?" he asks.

"Is this really the time for that?"

Meanwhile, Emile is trying to pull a frozen Mana away from a cackling Finn. "M-Mana, come on, you're not ready for this-"

Cole suddenly screams and starts running at Xander. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU YOU BASTARD!"

And everything erupts into chaos.

PF x SS x AH

A/N anna ou

it's all finally coming to a head :omaiga:

also, all of these fighting scenes were what took me so long LMAO i can't write fights for shit

roast me, tell me what you thought :omaiga: