They were making their way to the fighting floors, and by now, all of the remnants had moved on too, to the fighting, feeling safety in their advantage, so Valkyrie and the others did not run into any of them on the way down. They walked in silence, the air tight with anticipation. All that Valkyrie could hear was the slight splish-splash of their feet meeting puddles of blood and the steady, slightly shaky breaths of herself and the others. The closer they became to the fighting, the louder the cries of the injured and grunts of the fighting, and the louder her heartbeat too. Her limbs were beginning to feel weak as she took the lead down the last deck of stairs.

At the bottom, a group of injured sorcerers huddled into a hiding corner, and two women had stationed there with snipers, aiming to shoot remnants, and even hitting some, but by now it was useless; the remnants would just possess someone else.

Dexter crossed his arms, "Valkyrie can't just walk out there. The remnants will be all over her."

"You're right," China said, "They know her face, and they know she is a threat to them. Once they recognize her, they'll all turn against her."

Saracen said, "No, if we block her, we'll look like normal sorcerers, simply joining in on the fight."

"It could still endanger her," Dexter argued, though not angrily, "It would be a big risk."

"I could form a shield around me- us. Of electricity," Valkyrie suggested.

"It's better if we sneak in," China said, "Your shield may not be able to withstand too many attacks." Dexter peaked around the corner, looking to see the fighting.

"There is a pile of debris we can hide behind," he said, "But it'll be cramped."

"Better than nothing," Saracen said.

"I'll go first then," Dexter peeked out again, "We're going to have to pick up the pace a little bit."

"Then China and I," Valkyrie said.

Saracen crossed his arms, "I'll be right behind you." Dexter nodded and dashed out. Not a second later, China and Valkyrie ran out, China on the outside and blocking Val from view. Right behind them was Saracen. He followed them behind a giant pile of debris, taking cover. The remnants who saw them took aim, but they ran, barely dodging the attacks, but as Saracen was veering behind the debris, a blast of energy hit him and knocked him backwards. He grunted and rolled beneath a pile of bodies, serving as passable, though not adequate at all, cover; he would not last under it for long, for the remnant's numbers were growing, and their strength had already nearly doubled. Dexter cursed and then said something that Valkyrie did not hear, because immediately, she rushed out to protect Saracen. China called out to her, but she did not listen, because all she could see now was beams of electricity, balls of fire, and necromantic slashes, all barely missing Saracen. Valkyrie would not let anyone else die today. She jumped in front of Saracen and reached out to her magic, whilst simultaneously searching for magical energy to steal from the dead sorcerers surrounding her. The rush of power and adrenaline that permeated her body almost made her faint, and it took all of her strength to stay upright. She kept going, pulling magic into her body, so much that the magic could not be contained completely in her body, and it became visible to the natural eye, surrounding her like a forest fire. Pain began to attack her body, spreading through her arms and legs. It hurt so bad. So so bad. Tears streamed down Valkyrie's face and she used her magic to search for remnants, and once she found them, she pulled. She was pulling nearly a dozen out of their possessed bodies. At once, she felt like she was underwater: all of the screaming she heard dulled; all of the pain felt distant. It hurt as though she were in a dream. She gasped for breath, because in this new underwater world, there was no oxygen. She couldn't breathe. Oh god, she couldn't breathe, and she was panicking. She was losing herself, losing control of herself, and all of her focus was on breaking remnants, stealing more magic, and healing herself, but that focus was wavering.

Her acquired magic was wearing down faster than it ever had, as she began to pull apart hundreds of more remnants. She reached out again, diving deep into the minds of the dead sorcerers. She was so overwhelmed, so panicked that she could not think straight; she scoured through their minds, searching for the rules of their magic, and when she found it, she pulled and pulled, but her focus, so fragile, began to pick up other things- memories and thoughts and knowledge. It flowed into her mind as fast as the magic entered her body, and she couldn't stop it. And since she couldn't stop it, she tried to ignore it, continuing to break apart the remnants, but oh god, there were so many memories, and she was losing track of which one's were hers. She tried to catch a glimpse of the people around her- what were their names, again? She swore she recognized the people behind a pile of debris beside her, their names were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't remember.

In her moment of confusion, a blade of necromantic shadows sliced her arm, and she screamed out in pain. Like a boomerang, the shadow came back around and cut her again. She didn't realize what the shadow had done until she saw her arm on the ground, bloody and detached from the rest of her body. It took another moment for the pain to set in. And when it did, her searing body was met with a new throbbing pain, and she screamed. Her legs gave out and the pain was too overwhelming, and she didn't know who she was. A small piece of her, so very small, held onto the situation around her, and she pulled apart more and more remnants; she didn't know why she was doing this. It was just a feeling she had, something like a purpose to be breaking apart these dark remnant souls. She felt righteous despite her ignorance and despite her pain.

Then everything stopped. All of the remnants were gone, and she had won. She had won! She had won? She didn't know anything anymore.

She let herself collapse, in a confused state, and all she could see as darkness shrouded her memories was the gore-y scene of blood and death, and a vision of a blonde-haired man and a beautiful woman running towards her.

"Valkyrie?!" the woman called. But the confused girl did not know who Valkyrie was.