Chapter 2: Attack at Wrong

Wrong Dungeon was a very messy place. It was inhabited by many hideous monsters such as Balrons and Dragons. Even the agile, hard-hitting Lizardmen rested in some areas of the place.

Meryl, Saber, and Jerk appeared in the fourth level of the dungeon, where the most dangerous of the monsters dwelt. They hid behind a wall opposite a red dragon that was strolling around as if guarding the area.

"Alright." Meryl said. "Let's take on the dragon. Jerk, your long absence might have made you a little rusty so be careful."

"I have not forgotten how to fight." Jerk replied.

Saber snickered and Jerk glared at him.

"And what is so funny?" He asked his brother sharply.

Saber cleared his throat and straightened up his face at Jerk's question.

"So, Meryl, when do we attack?" Saber asked, changing the subject.

"The plan is this: I paralyze the dragon and cast a paralyze field on it. Jerk, you poison it and cast your lightning spells, while you, Saber, keep hitting it with your arrows. Understand?" Meryl said.

The two Criterions nodded and Meryl took out a handful of reagents from her bag. She leaped out of the wall with her zostrich and yelled, "AN EX POR!" The dragon roared and faced the offender. After a few seconds, it was unable to move. Meryl casted a paralyze field afterwards in front of her opponent. The dragon roared even more loudly with anger and tried to attack Meryl, but the field prevented it from doing so.

"Jerk! Saber! Attack now!" Meryl signaled.

By that minute, she expected her two cousins to leap out from their place and start doing what she told them to do. But not one of them came out of that wall nor replied to her.

Meryl, getting rather annoyed, yelled again. "Jerk! Saber!"

Nothing.

She grunted and decided to kill the dragon herself. Before Meryl could cast her poison spell, she heard a familiar scream. Soon, she found both Jerk and Saber running as fast as they could towards her with frightened looks on their faces.

"Hey! Where's your zostrich, Saber? And Jerk, your horse?" Meryl asked.

"RUN!" Saber screamed.

"What!"

"Energy Vortex!" Jerk shouted.

Meryl saw it; one of the deadliest creatures one could summon. It had the speed of a Lizardman and double its strength. The angry purplish demon gained on her cousins. Meryl had her zostrich take her behind the paralyze field.

"Go here! Quick!" Meryl instructed.

Jerk and Saber split up and ran opposite directions and then hid behind the field. The Energy Vortex caught sight of the paralyzed dragon and suddenly switched its target. It attacked the dragon instead. The new opponent, also filled with fiery fury fought back and was freed from the field.

Meryl, Saber, and Jerk watched the battle behind the disappearing paralyze field as the dragon spat its fire and the Vortex throw its hard punches on the dragon's chest.

"The dragon's about to lose." Meryl said softly as she studied the status of each of the warring monsters.

She was right, because in a matter of minutes, the dragon fell down, dead. The Energy Vortex, after finally attaining victory, caught sight of the three young Criterions and began to chase them with a newborn fury. Meryl, Jerk, and Saber split up as they ran and the Vortex gained on Jerk.

"Help!" Jerk yelled.

Meryl quickly grabbed some reagents from her bag and held them out, aiming at the enemy.

"An Ort!" She chanted.

In a matter of seconds, the Vortex disappeared in a poof of smoke. Jerk panted as he approached the dead dragon's body. Meryl sighed.

"Where did that damn Energy Vortex come from?" She asked rather angrily.

"I don't know." Saber replied, looting the items on the dragon's body. "It just suddenly appeared and attacked us."

"But there aren't any Liche Lords or any magic users near the area we came from!" Meryl answered. "Wait a minute." A realization struck her. "That must mean someone else is here."

"That is correct." A deep, cold, feminine voice echoed, sending a chill down Meryl's spine.

"Who's there?" Meryl asked bravely as she unsheathed her Viking sword of Vanquising.

A knight in BlackRock Armor riding on a black mustang came out from the shadows. She removed her helmet and revealed herself to the Criterions.

"U-Urumi Kanzaki!" Meryl stammered.

Urumi was one of the deadliest murderers in the whole of Britannia. She had killed many famed and great warriors from different guilds. No one ever dared to face her in battle. Those who did ended up having their heads displayed in her fortress.

Jerk and Saber, after seeing the woman, froze in horror and slowly backed away from the dragon's carcass.

"Well, well," Urumi said, amused. "I found myself three helpless rats of the Criterions" She smiled evilly. "Too bad you won't be able to live long enough to see the next generation."

Meryl glared at Urumi in order to cover up her fear.

"We may not be able to live long enough, but that doesn't mean that we're going to die now!" Meryl replied fiercely.

Urumi let out a small laugh.

"Interesting. So you wish to challenge me?"

"I have no choice, if our lives depend on it." Meryl answered.

On her zostrich, she charged at Urumi and swung her sword. Urumi blocked the attack by quickly drawing her sword. Meryl backed away and swung her weapon again. Her opponent parried the blow and counter attacked. She slashed Meryl on the shoulder and caused her to fall off her zostrich.

"Ah!" Meryl cried as she hit the ground.

Her zostrich, realizing what just happened, furiously started to attack Urumi. Meryl checked her shoulder and noticed that only her shoulder plate armor had been damaged.

"Meryl!" Saber called. "Are you alright?"

He and Jerk approached and helped her stand up.

"I'm fine. But that Urumi can really hit hard…" She replied.

It didn't take long before Urumi drove her sword through the chest of Meryl's zostrich. It fell down dead and its blood flowed on the ground. Urumi then turned to Meryl, Saber, and Jerk.

"Who's next?" She said evilly.

"RUN!" Meryl shouted and she sheathed her sword.

The three quickly spun around and broke into a run. They passed through a long hallway filled with the dead bodies of monsters that were probably killed by Urumi's Energy Vortex. They ran as fast as they could and tried to find a safe area. Suddenly, Meryl heard the words, "An Ex Por", and Jerk, the last person behind her, froze.

"Help!" Jerk yelled.

Meryl stopped and turned around, while Saber continued to run ahead of her. Before he could go any further, Meryl called out to him and threw him a rune.

"Recall yourself out of here and save yourself. I'll go and help Jerk." She ordered and then drew her sword.

"Alright." Saber replied with uncertainty. He took out the needed reagents and held out the rune. With the words, "Kal Ort Por", Saber vanished.

Focusing on Urumi, Meryl also took out some reagents and aimed at her enemy.

"In Por Ylem!" She cried.

A fiery arrow shot out from the palm of her hand and hit Urumi before she could cast a paralyze field. Urumi's mustang backed away, and Meryl dashed straight towards her and prepared to attack. Urumi held out her shield and blocked the strike. She held up her own sword too, and soon, they were both locked in a heated battle.

Jerk was already able to move and he watched the fight. Meryl noticed this as she blocked one of Urumi's attacks with her sword and shield.

"Jerk! Get out of here now!" Meryl ordered and counter-attacked Urumi.

"What about you?" Jerk asked. He noticed Meryl's armor was already badly damaged.

"Don't worry, I'll keep Urumi busy!" Meryl said. "Recall yourself out now!"

Jerk nodded and pulled out a rune and reagents.

"Kal Ort Por." He chanted and soon, vanished.

"Now it's just you and me, Urumi." Meryl said.

"Fine with me." Her opponent replied and swung her sword at Meryl. She defended with her shield and then drove her weapon upwards, meaning to hit Urumi through the vulnerable part of her armor. The mustang suddenly stood on its hind legs, evading the blow, and pushed Meryl with its fore legs. She was off guard and Urumi, seeing her chance, slashed her right arm as the mustang positioned itself back on the ground. The sword cut through the Rose armor and also through Meryl's flesh. She backed away and clutched her arm as she felt the pain sear all throughout it. An amount of blood began to drip down her armor. Despite the pain, she still held her sword in her injured arm.

"Does it hurt?" Urumi asked and grinned evilly a she held up her bloodstained Black Rock sword.

Meryl, breathing heavily, just replied with a death glare. Urumi had surely defeated her. She had no more chance against her, especially with a severely wounded arm.

Urumi pulled out some of her reagents and held them out, aiming at Meryl.

"In Vas Por."

Meryl's eyes widened when she heard these words. An explosion was unleashed from Urumi's hand and threw Meryl backwards. Her sword flew out of her grip and she hit the wall a few meters behind her. She cried in pain and dropped to the ground.

Urumi approached the writhing Criterion and dismounted her mustang. Meryl sat up to face her and watched as she held up her weapon, getting ready to strike.

"Your head is now mine." Urumi said coldly.

Before she could cut off Meryl's head, an arrow shot out from the shadows and pierced through her armor.

"What?" Urumi exclaimed and peered into the darkness.

Meryl also turned her head to the same direction, and to her surprise, she found a knight in Bloodrock armor charge at Urumi on his matching red zostrich. She quickly blocked the knight's attack and rolled on the ground to decrease the force the knight exerted. She mounted on her mustang, and she and the red knight began to battle. The sound of the clashing of their swords echoed throughout the dungeon.

"I believe I deserve a thanks after this." A deep voice from behind Meryl rang through her ears.

Meryl whipped around and found another knight in bronze armor, carrying a bow of vanquishing.

"W-Who are you?" Meryl asked weakly.

She sensed the man grin under his helmet. He removed it and revealed himself.

"G-Greenarcher!"

"You're in bad shape." Greenarcher said as he examined her.

Meanwhile, the red knight was having quite a hard time with his fight with Urumi.

"Greenarcher!" He called out as he shot a Magic arrow at his foe. "Take Meryl and get her out of here!"

"Done." Greenarcher replied. "Meryl, can you stand?" He asked as he helped her up.

"I th-think so." She answered, trying to stand.

Pain suddenly shot through her whole body and she dropped back to the ground.

"Argh!" She cried. Her vision started to blur.

"Damn!" She heard Greenarcher say. "Lestat! She's lost a lot of blood!"

"Bring her back to the Criterion house, quickly!" Lestat replied urgently as he blocked one of Urumi's attacks.

Meryl began to feel dizzy. It did not take long before she blacked out.