Chapter 7:

"Wha?!" Ascion started as Akio tore his sword out, his teeth still bared.

The warrior glanced at Ascion. "What?"

"Nothing, just surprised." Ascion shook his head as the body immediately started to dissipate. "We could've tried to get information out of it."

Akio shook his head. "Useless. Scouts, mindless. Besides, I already know."

"Why they're here?"

Akio nodded, sheathing his sword.

"So?" Kaede asked. "Why are they here?"

Akio shook his head. "Not now. No time. They're attacking soon. Into the cave. Quick."

"Wow, Akio." Ascion remarked. "This is the first time I've heard you say so much in one go."

Akio didn't say anything in response, instead gently pushing the mage and the archer into the cave. It was pitch black inside, but Akio easily steered them left and right as if he could see in the dark.

"Why are the Black Wings attacking you?" Ascion asked again when Akio finally let go.

"… We will talk later." Ascion noted that the warrior sounded hesitant. "Yes?"

"Alright, later." Ascion took a deep breath, before he switched his mind into combat mode. A glance to the side revealed that Kaede had done the same, her face now a mask of neutrality. "So, how about some light?"

"No need." Akio only looked mildly surprised by Ascion's suddenly serious tone. "The attackers, bring torches."

Ascion nodded, before he created an [Energy Bolt], letting it float in his hand to illuminate the room they were in.

"Okay," Ascion said briskly, "we've killed their scout and the Black Wings have attacked Akio a few times already – they did, didn't they?" Ascion directed that question at Akio, who nodded silently. "Alright, good, that means they're expecting you to be alone."

The mage paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Akio, how do you normally beat them?"

Akio hesitated. "I use hit and run, but now, not usable." He then pointed at the tunnel they just went through. "But I can use choke point."

Kaede frowned. "Why can't you use your usual method?"

Akio absently tugged at his shield straps. "Ah, talk, later?"

"It's connected to why they want you, then?" Kaede asked.

"Yes."

"Alright," Ascion cut in, "we'll set that aside for now. So, Akio can take the choke point. The tunnel's roof is about a meter above Akio's head, so Kaede and I will stay in the back and lob projectiles over Akio. Agreed?

Akio and Kaede both nodded in confirmation.

"If Akio has to fall back, it'll devolve into a free for all. In that case, we'll need objects we can hide behind."

The mage glanced around the room, taking note of the stone furnitures. With how barren the room was, there wasn't much, but... "Akio, mind if I use your table and benches as cover?"

"Go ahead."

"Alright, Kaede? Flip the table and get behind it. Akio, help me with the benches"

"Roger that." While Kaede flipped over the table, Ascion and Akio both picked up a stone bench each, Akio doing so with noticeably less effort than Ascion.

"Set yours down over there." Ascion indicated the spot with a jut of his chin as he set down the thick slab of stone. Akio silently complied. "The benches probably won't help much, given that we have to be lying flat on the floor for it to completely cover us, but it's better than having no cover at all."

"More caves." Akio added in, pointing at the other tunnels leading away. "Use if need retreat."

"You'll have to lead us, or we'll-"

A dim flicker of firelight silenced Ascion. It was coming from around the curved tunnel Akio had led them through, and was steadily growing brighter. The light was accompanied by the sound of marching feet.

"-get lost." Ascion finished. "Alright, get into your positions. Kaede, you're better at aiming, so take care when shooting. We both have to lob our projectiles over Akio's head, and it wouldn't do any good if we keep cancelling each other out."

"Got it." Kaede acknowledged curtly as Ascion joined her behind the overturned table.

The sounds of marching escalated, and its sheer volume started to unnerve Ascion. How many soldiers did they field to take out one teenager?

"If we fire before they reach Akio, we may be able to scare them off." Ascion muttered to Kaede. "They might not be prepared to fight three people at once. If that happens, we could retreat to town. The Black Wings won't dare to attack there."

"How likely is that plan to work?" Kaede asked tersely.

"About as likely as my father giving a starving kid a sandwich out of the goodness of his heart."

"In other words, not very likely?"

"You nailed it. Get ready."

A barrage of arrows and spheres of mana flew over Akio's head the moment the first few soldiers turned the corner.

Akio barely restrained a feral growl of annoyance as he deflected another spear strike with his shield before gutting his foe. While he wasn't used to using chokepoints, he was still getting tired at an unacceptable rate.

He needed to train more. Especially if there were to be another situation like this, where he couldn't use his trump card.

Akio quickly ran a rough estimate of how many enemies were left. Generally, the attack parties were several hundred strong, capping out at six hundred, as far as he knew. If he was alone, he could have taken care of more than three hundred by now, but his two… acquaintances were unknowingly limiting him.

Still, they had racked up quite a number of kills themselves, about two hundred. Combined with Akio's own two hundred kills, they had already taken out almost four hundred in the past five minutes.

Another upside to their aid was that he had taken less damage than expected. In his current state, fighting alone would definitely put himself at risk, adding more injuries to his already long list.

Not that it mattered much to Akio.

Ascion did not have to be so worried. Akio thought as he easily parried a mace before decapitating the offending soldier. Although covered in bandages, these are only minor wounds. Never have I been badly injured in these attacks, and I plan to keep it that way.

Although the fight was currently skewed in their favour, Akio could sense that something was amiss. So far, all the enemies that they had fought were foot soldiers. He has yet to see even one of the captains. From his experience, the captains of the Black Wings were all eager to fight and capture him, for his capture results in their promotion.

There are normally two. Akio frowned as he chopped another enemy in two. By now, at least one should have attacked. Strange.

"You're mine!" A man suddenly lunged at Akio from behind one of the rabbit soldiers, brandishing a spear.

Ah, that makes one.

Akio barely spared the man a glance before he flipped his grip on his sword and threw it with enough force to reverse the Black Wings Captain's momentum. The blade impaled the man, pinning him to the stone wall of the tunnel.

Akio impassively drew his spear from his (the his right here, I thought you were referring to akio's own back at first, cos you used his spear and then his back) back even as the Captain started to drown in his own blood, futilely tugging at the blade that had torn a giant hole in his lung.

Leaping at me while screaming? Idiot. All he managed to do was notify me of his location.

The warrior easily deflected the next sword strike with his shield, the force behind the attack informing him that the attacker was most likely another Captain, trying to catch him off guard.

The second Captain, a woman this time, struck at his shield again. Akio calmly shifted his shield in accordance to her slashes, deflecting the swift strikes one by one, before shoving his shield forward all of a sudden.

The thick slab of steel clashed against the Captain's sword halfway through its swing, catching the Captain off guard and causing her to flinch. Akio's spear shot forward, and though the Captain attempted to dodge, the spear blade still managed to catch her side and gouge out a long gash.

The woman hissed in pain as she retreated, glaring daggers at the warrior even as a foot soldier took her place. Akio ducked under a clumsy swing from the rabbit man, then thrust his spear upwards, impaling the soldier easily.

Kicking the soldier off, the warrior quickly ducked back behind his tower shield, hearing another resounding clang as another weapon skidded off its surface.

His shield was starting to give out, although he had reinforced it with magic. He could feel it every time the metal took a hit at him. It was only due to the support that the magician and archer gave him that his shield hadn't broke.

Not surprising, to be honest. While it was a good shield, it was still one that was mass produced and sold in stores. Taking hundreds of hits in rapid succession? Akio had already resigned himself to getting a new shield.

Akio thrust his spear again, killing another soldier, as another wave of projectiles soared over his head, bombarding the quickly thinning waves of enemies.

More than four hundred down. Maybe four hundred and fifty. They still have one slightly injured Captain, and possibly an unknown number of uninjured ones.

As if right on cue, Akio spotted a small streak of black charge at him, much faster than the rabbit soldiers. He jerked his head back and to the side just as a powerful blow struck his shield, the blade sinking into the metal and cutting into the area where his head was. Whoever did this must have noticed the condition of his shield.

Thinking quickly, Akio pulled his shield arm to the side. The blade lodged deep in the plate of steel was pulled along, the yelp of surprise signalling that he had managed to unbalance its wielder.

His shield no longer obstructing his sight, Akio realised that the attacker was the Captain he had previously wounded. Her surprise was clear on her face as she stumbled forward. Capitalizing on that chance, Akio took a single step forward and plunged his spear into her stomach.

The Captain screamed in pain even as Akio pulled his spear back, unceremoniously kicking the dying woman off his weapon. She hit the floor, thrashing wildly and pressing on her fatal wound as her screams pierced the air.

When these attacks had first started, Akio had flinched at every dying cry, be it from the Captains or their soldiers. He cried after the attacks, mumbling apologies for all the pain they must have felt before they died.

Years later, in the present, Akio didn't even wince as the screams faded into choked gasps, then silence. He was much too used to it, having been attacked so many times in the past. He had killed so many of them that he had long since lost count, their death throes no longer bothering him.

The Black Wings were enemies. Enemies must die. It was as simple as that.

Moments after the death of the second captain, the remaining rabbits suddenly stopped. They retreated a little, then formed into two cohesive lines, standing side by side in the tunnel that was just barely large enough for them to do so.

Akio frowned at the odd sight. The soldiers had never stopped attacking before. In past attacks, even after the captains die, they continued attacking in a frenzy, not stopping until every last one of them were dead.

So what's happening now?

Then, they surged forward, weapons raised. Akio raised his half ruined shield, ready to receive the first attacks as projectiles continued to streak into enemy lines from behind him.

It was faint, but just before the rabbits could get within melee distance, Akio caught sight of a glint at the far end of the tunnel. A small white glow.

It wasn't from the projectiles shot by his companions. The magician's were small explosions of blue while the archer's were either brown, nearly black arrows or golden arrows that dissolve after a hit, neither of which could cause such a glow.

Sensing some unknown danger, Akio thrust his shield forward, his body slanted in a way to minimize the chances of being hit should an attack pierce his shield. He braced his spear behind his shield, so that the weapon would protect him if his shield failed.

The warrior's shield and weapon glowed a pale blue as he reinforced them as much as he could.

And not a moment too soon. In a sudden wave of crackling light, the warrior was lifted off his feet. He was aware of an intense heat on both his arms before his short flight ended with his back slamming against an obstacle.

Up until the point Akio got punted across the room like a football, Ascion thought they were doing great.

He wasn't sure exactly how many troops an organization as large as the Black Wings would send after a single teenage boy, but he thought the answer was clearly too many.

With Akio up front tanking hits and slashing away at the enemy while he and Kaede continued their long range bombardment, they had already killed approximately three, maybe four hundred soldiers. Even so, the numbers did not seem to thin at all.

Then again, he couldn't see much past Akio, so he wasn't too sure.

Still, Ascion grimaced as he downed another potion to keep his mana reserves up, I've hit my limit on the amount of potions I can down in a day without repercussions. If this drags on for much longer, I might have to go melee.

"I'm starting to get tired, Ascion." Kaede warned before she loosed another shot. Like all her previous ones, this one hit its mark, if the scream of surprise and pain was any indication.

Ascion's expression turned deadpan as replied to her in the most neutral voice he could muster. "This is probably a bad time to say this, but what a coincidence. I don't think I can drink any more mana potions without throwing up."

Kaede paused before she loosed another arrow. "If this doesn't end soon, we're screwed. Akio can't hold them back forever."

"Have a little more faith in him. He came out of the previous attacks alive, if a little hurt." Ascion threw another [Magic Bolt] before crouching down behind his cover to catch his breath. "Goddamn, I'm winded. I need to up my endurance training."

"You don't have endurance training."

"I know. Which is why I need to up it. Maybe."

"You lazy ass."

"Hey, you're not the one who also has intensive mana training."

"So? I'm still going to outlast you in this battle."

Ascion relaxed marginally as the familiar banter calmed his nerves. "You wish." The mage snarked back before he got up, intent on continuing his attacks.

That was when Ascion was nearly blinded as a sudden blast of light impacted against Akio's shield, sending the warrior flying back with a thunderous roar.

Right into his face.

Ascion was sent crashing back onto the ground while Akio did a little backflip before landing on his face.

Ascion groaned in pain as he got up. "What the hell?"

There was a clang of steel on stone as Akio threw his spear aside and fumbled with his shield.

When Ascion's vision stopped spinning, he realized that Akio's metal spear was red hot, and the top half of it was tilted to the side, courtesy of the melting shaft. His shield was much worse off. Like the spear, it was glowing hot, but there was also a large hole in one side of it.

Akio quickly undid the straps, letting his shield fall onto the ground with a clang. "Careful." Akio warned as he drew his mace. There was a loud creaking sound as he cooled his gauntlets with ice magic. "Left, one unknown. Powerful electric attack." He then strode forward and vaulted over the stone table Ascion and Kaede were using as potential cover.

Ascion used his staff like a crutch to stand, his head still spinning slightly. Kaede was launching arrow after arrow at the approaching enemy, but the constant stream of cracks told him that the arrow barrage was ineffective.

Whatever was attacking, it was skilled enough to bat high velocity arrows away repeatedly. After several shots, Kaede quickly took a hint and stopped wasting her limited arrows.

The tapping sound of steel on stone also told him that their enemy was approaching.

Akio stood a little to the front of the table, his mace raised and his legs tense, ready to dodge if the laser like attack came again.

The torches that had been dropped by the vanguards of the attacking Black Wings seemed to have had their entire length set on fire by the blast, lighting up the tunnel. Two human corpses, like the torches, were also entirely on fire, and Ascion was suddenly acutely aware of their existence when the smell of burning flesh hit him.

There was a sudden clatter beside him. Glancing to the side, Ascion immediately knelt down when he realized that Kaede had crumpled onto the ground. She was taking the presence of the burning corpses badly.

He had heard that people react badly to extreme violence and/or gore. He knew Kaede wouldn't react badly to death, she had hunted animals before. But seeing a person being burned right in front of her? Being mildly sociopathic and mostly apathetic towards gore, Ascion himself wasn't affected much.

Kaede wasn't him, though, as evidenced by her shaking. She was taking deep breaths to calm herself, and it seemed to help, if only a little. Ascion started to pat her back in an attempt to soothe her.

"Kaede," He whispered urgently. "Look at me, alright? I'm not asking you to be fine, but for now, you have to shove it down. We're not out of the woods yet, alright? We still gotta fight. After all this, we can go home and you can rant and rave at me, but for that to happen we've gotta survive this, yeah? C'mon, girl, easy now…"

"...Yeah." Ascion wasn't sure, but it looked like Kaede had calmed down slightly at his actions, although she was still shaking badly as she picked up her bow. "Yeah, I got it. You go and back up Akio. I'll try to join in, after I stop shaking." She grit her teeth as she continued to take deep breaths.

Ascion nodded, rubbing her head. "I'll do that. You just focus on getting better, yeah?"

Ascion then got up, vaulting over the table as well to stand next to Akio. "Kaede's suffering from some psychological trauma." He muttered as he stood by Akio. "Those two burning guys set her off."

Akio glanced over at Ascion before returning his eyes to the front. "Understandable. And you?"

"Mildly sociopathic, I don't feel -"

That was when a streak of silver and gray shot out of the tunnel.

Ascion flinched back in shock. While the tunnel was lit by the still burning torches, there was a part of it that was still covered in shadows. Their enemy had suddenly lunged forward before they could be revealed by the light, surprising the mage.

Akio merely stepped forward, meeting their foe's charge with his mace. With a clang, Akio deflected his opponent's first strike and swung his fist at her.

His opponent leapt back, dodging the counter. Her long, white hair fluttered in the air before she landed with a loud clash of steel against stone.

From what Ascion could see, their opponent's face was covered by a triangular mask. She was dressed in what looked like a high tech bodysuit decorated by straight, glowing blue lines.

She twirled her weapon – a large, cylindrical block like an oversized tonfa – dexterously, before swinging it down and pointing one end of it at Akio.

Just then, her mask let out a soft hiss. It split down the middle and separated, moving aside and revealing her face.

Ascion barely caught a glimpse of her pale skin and bright blue eyes before he noticed two glaringly important details.

First, Akio looked stunned when their opponent revealed their face. Anything that surprised Akio so much that he stiffened in a combat situation was probably not good. At least he didn't drop his weapon.

Second, the girl's weapon wasn't a resized battering ram. Ascion didn't think normal bludgeons would give off an ominous white glow focused at one end.

Ascion lunged at Akio, grabbing the warrior's arm just as the laser cannon fired.

Just before everything exploded into white, Ascion caught a murmur from Akio.

"Yuko-nee-san?"

Kaede reacted the moment she felt the stone table she was slumped behind vibrate. Survival instincts overruled her psychological shock, and she threw herself flat on the ground.

An instant later, the crackling roar of thunder deafened her, causing the archer to flinch and cover her ears.

Glancing back, Kaede noted that the table she was hiding behind was smoking and slightly red. She barely caught sight of several white strands of electricity that snaked down the stone table and into the ground.

Wait, Ascion! Akio!

Taking a deep breath, Kaede scooped up her bow and inspected her quiver. Six arrows left. She sighed as she nocked one of her last arrows. I hope they're enough.

With that, Kaede suddenly shot up, drawing her bow, acquiring her target and firing at the masked figure in the center of the room in a single, fluid motion.

Studiously ignoring the still-burning bodies, her eyes darted across the cave, noting a glimpse of white hair behind an overturned bench. A single crack sounded out as the masked assailant batted the arrow out of the air.

Kaede was then forced to abandon her position, lunging for the other overturned bench as another electrical blast narrowly missed her. She hit the ground, rolled, and came up crouching behind her targeted bench, her remaining arrows held in her draw hand.

And then she promptly cursed up a storm when she glanced at her enemy to see the barrel of the cannon pointing directly at her.

Ascion's heart pounded in his chest, his breathing ragged.

Just before the cannon had fired, Ascion had grabbed the surprised warrior and teleported the both of them behind one of the benches.

The flash of light that lit up the cave a split second after his teleportation did not help his nerves.

As Ascion tried to even out his breathing, he heard a twanging sound, followed by a loud crack. His fright melted away as he recognized the sound.

Kaede must have jumped into the fight when she heard the blast, either to cover Akio and himself or to ascertain their position. Whatever the case, he had to back her up.

The rumbling blast of sound that followed a moment later only reinforced his decision.

"Akio, are you-" Ascion was cut off by a deep, rumbling growl. A glance to the side revealed that the sound had emanated from Akio.

Without a word, Akio launched himself over the bench, pouncing on their enemy with a roar of rage. His mace swung down, forcing the Black Wings operative to abandon her current target to block.

Kaede breathed out a sigh of relief as she circled around the melee, darting towards Ascion. She wasn't sure she could have dodged if their opponent had fired then.

"Alright, Kaede?" Ascion asked as he watched the fight carefully, waiting for an opportunity to blast their opponent with [Energy Bolts].

"She almost got me, but I'm fine." Kaede herself got up, arrow nocked and bow drawn.

"Akio's level was listed as 53, I'm 55, and you're 49." Ascion muttered. "Even if we're tired from our previous battle, our opponent can still hold us off easily. That means her level is much higher than ours, at least 70. Damn. Kaede, aim for her joints if you can. I'm going in."

"I hear ya." Kaede nodded, her eyes focused on her moving opponent.

And with that, Ascion vaulted over the bench, charging at the person Akio had called sister.

Akio wildly swung his mace, his lips frozen in a snarl as he lithely dodged his sister's – opponent's attacks. He could feel his blood rushing around his system, his body heating up in his anger.

Akio had lost his family when he was merely three years old. He didn't have much to remember his family by, apart from the few pictures he had salvaged from their ruined home.

He hadn't seen his sister – Yuko – in a decade.

Despite that, he recognized her. He remembered what he had seen when her mask parted, although it was now covering her face again. Her hair, her face, her eyes, they were all just like how he imagined she would look like grown up.

And her scent. The most damning part. Though it was tinged with metal and chemicals, it was unmistakably hers.

That meant that his opponent was actually his sister, or somebody had managed to create a copy of her somehow.

Akio was leaning more towards the latter option.

How dare they.

He swung his mace again, the metal head clanging against the cannon his opponent was swinging like a melee weapon.

Left, right, duck, uppercut. The moment his mace struck the underside of his opponent's cannon, he was already pulling it back as his left hand shot forward in a punch, attempting to catch his opponent off guard.

The white haired girl merely spun her weapon, batting his fist away with the barrel – or stock, it was hard to tell. That one action also resulted in the opposite end of the cannon striking his mace before he could completely disengage.

Though Akio managed to maintain his grip on his weapon, his hands were flung to his sides. He had to stumble back to keep his balance.

His eyes widened as his opponent prepared to swing the cannon at him. He was too off balance to try and block, so all he could do was brace himself for impact.

That was when something touched his back, and his vision was temporarily blocked by a flash of blue light.

Ascion had to slap himself to get rid of his dizziness. His mana was practically gone, and while he wasn't physically tired, mentally he was exhausted.

Get yourself together, man. He told himself as he shook off the aftereffects of his teleportation. Either you take a rest later, or you die. Not a very tough choice.

With that, Ascion leapt at his opponent – Yuko, was it? – and swung his staff like a mace. There was a dull clang as his staff clashed against the cannon/hammer/thing.

Ascion pulled back before he could be pushed off balance. He ducked under the retaliatory swing, then thrust his staff forward like a spear.

Yuko sidestepped the attack, her body spinning in a circle as she let the momentum from her previous swing carry her until her cannon-hammer was bearing down on Ascion's head.

Ascion lunged forward, diving past Yuko's body. He heard the crash of a heavy metal object striking the stone floor, followed closely by the twang of a bowstring as he rolled, spun around and got up, staff at the ready.

He wasn't surprised to note that, apart from a small scratch on her shoulder, Yuko had perfectly dodged the attack.

Ascion was stepping forward, ready to resume the fight, when Akio struck at Yuko from behind. The girl immediately responded, spinning around to block his attack. The mage took his chance, swinging his staff at her exposed back.

The girl merely raised her hand, catching the blow with her palm.

She immediately twisted her body, and an arrow dug into the flesh just under her left shoulder with the twang of a bowstring.

Although it was a hit, the arrow didn't hit her upper arm, which was where Kaede was aiming for. That would have probably disabled Yuko's entire arm and lowered her combat ability.

Yuko didn't even flinch as the arrowhead pierced her flesh. Her fingers curled around his staff, crushing and breaking it in her grip.

Ascion leapt back, staring at his now headless staff with a deadpan expression. You have got to be kidding me.

Akio jerked his mace back, freeing his weapon and causing Yuko to stumble slightly, before he attacked again, his mace swinging at Yuko's side.

The girl ducked under the attack, swinging her weapon up in. She caught Akio mid-swing, her hammer smashing into the warrior's chest and sending him flying back.

By then, Ascion had discarded his now useless staff, taking advantage of Yuko's distraction to summon another one from his pocket dimension. He leapt forward, whipping his staff at the back of Yuko's head.

Yuko ducked again, Ascion's attack flying harmlessly over her head, as her cannon swung up just like it had against Akio.

Ascion leaned back, immensely grateful that he had kept up his physical training, unlike most magicians. His hands touched the ground, supporting his body as he seamlessly swapped from dodging into a backflip, his leg sweeping up to kick Yuko's cannon.

And, ow. Kicking a solid chunk of steel was a very bad idea. He may be physically strong for a magician, but he certainly didn't possess the strength a warrior his level would.

Still, his kick did its job, unbalancing Yuko for just a brief moment.

Twang.

Like before, Yuko quickly recovered and reacted, leaning out of the way. The arrow sailed just past her chest, missing completely.

Or it would have, if it didn't flashily explode right in front of the white haired girl.

Yuko fell to the ground, rolled, and came back up in a crouching position. The front of her grayish suit was blackened with soot, but other than that she didn't seem to be the least bothered by the explosion.

Ascion heard Kaede groan behind him, seeing that her [Arrow Bomb] did literally no damage.

Before Yuko could stand up, though, Akio had approached her from behind, swinging his hammer down.

Of course, Yuko dodged spectacularly, diving to the side, but she was blindsided when Akio's mace suddenly exploded with lightning.

Again, Yuko rolled with the blow, this time springing up onto her feet, cannon held behind her. The electrical attack didn't even leave a mark.

Ascion bit back a groan. They need to quickly defeat their opponent somehow, before their exhaustion causes them to falter.

They needed a better plan than 'whack-opponent-until-it-works'.

And it was up to him to make that plan.

A/N: Hey guys, its been a long time. At least it ain't my fault this time. TLDR: My cousin got school, got busy, went for a vacation overseas, then procrastinated-

Beta: RUDE!

A/N: -so the beta reading took some time to finish.

Good thing is that I'm already done with the next chapter (kind of) and it is now awaiting beta reading. Which would hopefully not take… Oh…

Err, yeah, it shouldn't take six months this time.

Please review!