The army of white creatures continued their approach, closing in on Yuko like a swarm of vultures. Veyric stood in front of Merle and Morris, who was unconscious. A smirk found purchase on Zeta’s face, his head tilting back slightly, watching his creations move.

  “Isn’t it incredible?” Zeta said.

  “You think this is incredible? You turned a bunch of people into mindless monsters.” Yuko remained in her stance, her gaze drifting around, the shadows writhing, and reacting to the movement around her.

  “And it’s a trade I’m willing to make to heighten my understanding. No one here was going to be anything worthwhile. Why not give them a greater purpose as one of my tools? Perhaps you’ll find yourself as one, too.” Zeta snapped his fingers.

  The pale creatures screeched in unison like a pack of wolves before charging at Yuko and Veyric. Her eyes narrowed, slashing off one’s leg that was trying to rush past her, and it cried out while falling over. Another threw itself at her, swiping both of its hands inwards, razor-sharp claws threatening to dig into her skin. She stepped back, evading the slash. The creature’s arms seared off with a slash, blood pooling onto the ground while Yuko drove the blade through its chest. She yanked the blade out, then noticed from the corner of her eye that another was moving toward Veyric. She streamed across the street, slicing off its head in one quick motion, then grabbed its dying body with one hand and launched it back at the crowd. The creature slammed through, a large portion of the others falling to the ground like a castle of cards.

  “How many of them are there?...” Veyric asked.

  “Doesn’t matter how many of them there are. Eventually, there’ll be ten, then none.” Yuko discarded her cloak, which was drenched in blood.

  Shadows coiled around the blade, and she took in a deep breath while walking forward. Yuko noticed the creatures were lined up, and she tilted her head, firmly holding her sword.

  “If those warding runes are working, then the Leviara Guard knows that he’s down here. Which means they’re on their way.” She said.

  Yuko could see Zeta’s grin from afar. He wore a large cloak with the emblem of a twisting serpent on the back, softly pulsing with a silver color. There was an insignia of a full moon behind the twisting serpent, and they gleamed in unity. He walked forward, his hands just barely visible through the oversized sleeves, while his bare feet dipped in red from the blood-streaked ground.

  Yuko slightly bent her knees, lowering her blade with both hands at her hip. Darkness surged around her like fog, the red-glint in her eyes vanishing amongst it. Merle felt a shiver go down his spine, swallowing hard. Yuko flickered forward, and Veyric’s brows arched up. He would barely be able to track her if not for the passage of shadows blitzing around, but even then, he was always a moment behind. In the surrounding area, blood splattered around in heaping waves, the creatures tumbling down to the ground one by one. Zeta’s eyes opened, putting a hand on his chin while Yuko cleaved through the waves of his creations. A head went flying in a soaring trail of blood, landing and rolling up to Zeta’s foot.

  Yuko dropped down in the center, surrounded by creatures on the larger side of the spectrum. She clutched the handle of her sword tighter, loose, wild shadows discharging like curling tendrils around the blade. She spun in place and slashed around her, unleashing a giant circling slash with razor-sharp spikes like a serrated blade. The slash of energy further expanded, mowing down the rest of the creatures and reaching the buildings that hugged the street, leaving behind deep slash marks. Yuko panted in the aftermath of her onslaught of attacks, soaking in blood. Her clothes were painted red, and her hair hovered over her shoulders, damp with blood dripping down them. Limbs were scattered, and murky pools of dark carnage splashed all over the street. The walls were striped with thick volumes of crimson that looked like paint. Blood slowly trickled down the building walls, Yuko’s heavy breaths filling the silence as she pointed her sword at Zeta. One of the creature’s arms flopped down hard next to Merle from the sky, twitching, as blood pooled out.

  “Oh, my god…!” His eyes widened, watching the hand twitch and wiggle until it became inanimate.

  Zeta’s grin stretched wider, pupils dilating while his blood-red eyes gleamed.

  “Yes, you too… I’ll have you too,” Zeta muttered.

  “... She killed all of them… And without hesitation. They were once my people, and she slaughtered them, ignoring that fact,” Merle’s voice broke, his eyes hollow.

  “Hesitation’s not in her nature. She’s an assassin.” Veyric said.

  “Assassin?... You’re wrong, you’re absolutely wrong, dragon. She’s a killing machine, devoid of any emotions. They’re both monsters…” Merle said.

  Yuko rushed forward, thrusting her blade into Zeta’s chest.

  Zeta grunted while the blade of shadow pierced him. Yuko drove it in deeper, pushing her sword out the other side, more blood spurring out onto her. Zeta’s hand whipped out, snatching Yuko’s wrist. She immediately countered, kneeing him in the groin and ripping her blade out of his chest. She then planted a slash across his abdomen before front-kicking him to the ground. Zeta laughed on the way down. Veyric walked over, hand over his rib area. The sound of armor rattled in the distance. Knights who were being led by Xena flooded into the streets, organizing into formation immediately. The knights paused at the sight before them. The street and buildings were painted red, intestines spilled from the stomachs of the white creatures, and an inhumane detachment was in Yuko’s eyes.

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  “What the hell happened here?” Xena drew her sword, looking down at Zeta, who was holding back his laughter.

  “Went for Merle and Morris as you asked, but we had an unexpected visitor. I believe you’ve been looking for him for a while, haven’t you?” Her sword and scabbard began to retract to their original sizes, the shadows drifting away while she sheathed her katana, a harrowing scream ringing out.

  Yuko’s eyes snapped open.

  “Something seems off, doesn’t it?” Blood continued pooling out of Zeta’s chest.

  “Well, you can see for yourself, I’m sure.” He grins.

  Her fingers were beginning to turn pale and white. The whiteness quickly spread up to her wrist, invading her body bit by bit. Yuko looked at it, then unsheathed her katana, her heart throbbing in her chest. She chopped her arm off at the elbow, a waterfall of blood dropping out as her head began to spin.

  “BROTHER, NO!” Merle shouted.

  Veyric spun around.

  The severed hand from earlier clamped onto Morris’s chest, digging into his skin and entering his body. Morris had awoken, his skin turning pale and white as chalk. His bones weren’t violently stretching and contorting. The white was glazing over his skin, replacing its original tone, turning his sclera pitch black, while his eyes reddened like Zeta’s. Morris broke free from the shadow chains, rising from the ground.

  Zeta rose as well, and on his way up, he swept Veyric and Yuko. They both fell. Veyric landed on his ribs, biting back a scream, his face clenching. Yuko hit the ground with a thud, dropping her katana along the ground. She was completely still, her body not even going as far as to twitch.

  “... Yuko?” Veyric looked over at her, his eyes gaping open at her unresponsiveness.

  Afterwards, Xena bolted toward Zeta. Flesh bubbled in Zeta’s hand, shooting an arm towards her that wrung and crunched. Xena instantly reacted, slashing the arm apart. Blood exploded, and Zeta dashed backwards, but Xena chased him, lunging a stab towards his throat. Zeta evaded to her left-hand side, and Morris charged in, his footsteps pounding into the ground, leaving cracks. Xena’s focus shifted to Morris, her eyes snapping open while his leg flickered up. She rolled to the side, his foot stomping into the ground. While tumbling up to her feet, Zeta lurched at her. Veyric went airborne, drop-kicking him in the cheekbone.

  Zeta was sent back a couple of inches, staggering to the ground. Veyric fell hard on his side, groaning.

  “Xena, Yuko’s not responding! We need a healer, a medic, something!” Veyric forced himself up, despite the pain.

  The knights closed in on Zeta and Morris.

  “I know that, but we can not afford to let him get away this time!” She shouted.

  “Yes, you can’t… But what are all of you without your incantations?” Zeta grins.

  A white rune appeared on the back of his palm, pulsing with energy before he swatted his hand. White specks blasted into the area, but did not cause any immediate damage. One of the knight's swords shattered onto the ground, his eyes going wide. Armors began to fall apart, vital pieces of everyone’s equipment becoming faulty. Xena’s armguards snapped apart like branches and crumbled to pieces at her feet. Mana pooled beneath Zeta and Morris, pulling them into the ground through a portal.

  “How is this possible? What the hell have you done!” Xena furrowed her brows.

  “I’ve done nothing. Now’s the time to say our farewells. Please, tell King Alan I said hello. One day, I hope to wring the life out of his eyes.” Zeta’s features were relaxed.

  Xena lunged forward, reaching out her hand to grab Zeta. Her fist clenched around nothing, snatching a handful of air.

  Morris and Zeta escaped.

  Xena let out a long, hard exhale, threading her fingers through her hair. She turned on her heel, jogging over to Yuko. There was a medic kneeling beside her, wrapping bandages over the steady stream of blood coming out of her chopped elbow.

  “I’m afraid that I can’t do any more for her, right now, with our incantations disabled. We should get her back to the manor as soon as possible. She’s already lost so much blood, I’m not sure if she’ll make it.” She said.

  “We can’t allow her to die. If she does, that curse will animate her body—in return, that means we all die. I’ll take her back myself, because I’ll get there faster than any of you can. I want everyone back to their outposts and searching all of Leviara,” Xena picked Yuko up, running off in long strides.

  Veyric walked over to where Merle was. His head was crushed, chunks of brain escaping through the top of his head and spilling onto the street. His jaw clenched, and his throat bobbed. Veyric’s hands balled up into fists at his sides, flames escaping through the cracks of his knuckles.