*Crack!
Blistering heat surged through the air, distorting the battlefield in waves of wavering haze.
Sparks erupted like flares with every vicious impact, each one a testament to the ferocity of the fight.
Mezra stood in the inferno's heart, her body drenched in sweat and ash, her movements a blur of precision as she fended off the relentless onslaught.
*Clang! *Clang! *Tzzz!
A storm of blades met her own.
The beasts attacked from every direction, savage and unyielding, their blackened weapons crackling with corrupted Eidra.
Yet Mezra parried each strike with fluid, practiced grace—her blade dancing with deadly purpose, refined by years of combat.
*Fwhip!
She ducked under a feral swipe from the left.
Another came from the right.
Her arm moved on instinct—
*Clang!
parrying the blow before it could bite into her ribs.
Then, with the same unshakable momentum, she snapped her wrist upward, her sword pulsing with concentrated Eidra.
*Fwoooom!
A pillar of flame burst from the ground in an instant, shooting straight upward and engulfing the descending beast that had tried to attack her from above.
*SHRIEK!!!
Its screech was muffled by the roar of fire.
Mezra moved like a blade herself—sharp, efficient, wasting no motion.
She knew better than anyone that one mistake, one hesitation, meant death.
These things—
they weren't just monsters.
.
.
.
The fight continued.
Then—
the tide shifted.
Three of the beasts leapt back, their twisted bodies shimmering with corrupted energy—before each of them split.
*Pop! *Pop!* Pop!
Within seconds, there were twelve.
A dozen identical copies charged straight toward her with razor arms extended and gleaming in the dim light.
"Mhm," Mezra hummed, her tone unfazed—calm, resolute.
Without hesitation, she drove her blade deep into the scorched earth beneath her feet.
Her eyes closed for half a second.
Her breath steadied.
And then—
*CRACK! *CRACK!
The ground fractured in a spiderweb pattern around her, molten red veins of flame spreading outward like angry roots.
*BOOOOOOM!!
Crimson fire exploded from the earth in towering columns, roaring upward in a ring around her.
The eruption engulfed the field, obliterating nearly all the duplicates in a blaze of heat and death.
Those few that survived had no time to react.
Mezra moved again—her blade a blur, cleaving through the remaining fakes with ruthless precision, each strike punctuated by a sharp, final cry.
But the real threat wasn't done.
One of the original beasts, crouched low in the distance, plunged both of its blade-arms deep into the ground.
The earth trembled.
A surge of pure black Eidra erupted from the impact point—
*Shuk! *Shuk! *Shuk! *Shuk! *Shuk! *Shuk!
dozens of jagged spikes racing across the battlefield, tearing toward Mezra like blackened fangs seeking blood.
Her eyes widened.
With a surge of instinct, she leapt high into the air—wings of flame erupting from her back as she propelled herself upward, just narrowly avoiding impalement.
But no sooner had she ascended than the other two beasts launched after her, claws extended, blades arcing through the air with brutal precision.
Mezra clenched her teeth, shifting midair.
Crimson Eidra gathered at the soles of her boots—
*Bang!
then detonated in a downward burst, launching her even higher in the sky, just above the beasts' grasp.
Time slowed.
Below her, the third beast continued to fire deadly spikes upward, but Mezra had repositioned—hovering above it, her eyes gleaming with resolve.
And then, she dove.
She wrapped her entire blade in searing Eidra, her body encased in flame, her descent like a meteor set ablaze.
*BOOOOM!
She struck the beast with devastating force—her sword piercing straight through its abdomen, pinning the abomination to the ground in one clean thrust.
*Skreeeee!!
It shrieked, its body writhing wildly—but Mezra didn't stop.
She tightened her grip, drove the blade deeper,
*crunch!
and unleashed a blast of Eidra from within the creature's core.
*Squelch… *BOOM!
The fire detonated inside it, flames bursting from its mouth, its eyes, and every pore of its skin.
The creature's flesh melted from the inside out, and its screams were soon silenced by the raging inferno.
"That's one," Mezra muttered under her breath, her eyes already snapping to the remaining two.
Without rest, she yanked her blade free, spun, and unleashed a wide arc of flame in their direction.
The wave roared toward them like a tidal wall of fire.
But the beasts were faster this time.
*Shhhhp!
They blinked—shifting through the air unnaturally—disappearing and reappearing only a few meters from her.
"Tch," Mezra clicked her tongue in annoyance, her body already moving into a defensive stance.
*Clang!
One of the beasts struck first.
She blocked it, her sword clashing violently with its arm-blade.
Then she tried to retreat—
but something happened.
*Crunch!
"Ghhha—ARGH!!" Mezra screamed.
A sudden, agonizing grip locked around her ankle.
She looked down in horror—the first beast she thought she had killed... hadn't died.
It had only played dead.
With a burst of strength, it crushed her ankle in its monstrous hand, bones snapping under pressure.
Before she could tear free—
*SHHHNK!
The second beast came in from the side—its blade slicing clean through Mezra's left arm.
*BANG!
The force of the strike hurled her backward across the field, flames and blood trailing behind her.
Her flame barrier vanished on impact.
She slammed into the earth, rolling violently until she came to a halt—her broken glasses hanging loosely on her nose, her breath ragged, her eyes swimming with pain.
Her left arm was gone.
Her right ankle shattered.
And the beasts were still coming.
"Haaah… haaah…" Mezra gasped, the taste of blood on her tongue.
Three monsters closed in, their bodies humming with black Eidra, their eyes glowing like pits of hatred.
But Mezra wasn't done.
Not yet.
She gripped her blade with her remaining hand, raised it—and pointed it at her stomach.
"I've got one thing left, you bastards…" she hissed.
*HISSSSS!!!
*ROAR!!!
Her sword shimmered and roared like a beast—flames igniting at the hilt.
She was about to self-detonate—unleash the last of her Eidra in a final act of defiance.
Mezra was about to snap her arm and plunge the sword deep into her abdomen.
Sweet, Burning and Final release.
But then—
*Crack… BZZZT!
A crimson spark fell from the sky.
*BANG!!!
It struck the earth like a lightning bolt, blasting dust and flame into the air.
Mezra blinked.
Her eyes widened.
A silhouette stood before her.
Crimson hair flowing like a banner.
A black and red cape fluttering behind her like the wings of a hawk.
And in both hands—
twin swords crackling with lightning.
Venedix.
Mezra stared, her breath caught in her throat.
"Aren't you a bit late," she rasped.
The figure turned her head slightly, her eyes gleaming with intensity.
"…Elder sister" Mezra whispered, a tremble of relief in her voice.
Venedix said nothing at first.
Then her voice cut through the chaos—c
old and certain.
"You rest," she said. "This will be finished shortly."
*ROAAAAARRR!!!
The three beasts shrieked in fury, their cries shaking the scorched battlefield.
But even their rage faltered.
They could feel it.
The pressure.
The weight of her presence.
Her Eidra—so intense, so absolute—
that even corrupted flesh trembled beneath it.
And before any of them could move—
*BANG!
Venedix blinked forward.
The sound split the air like a cannon blast.
In the same breath, her blades danced.
*Shrrnk!
One beast was cleaved clean in two—its body halved from head to groin, both sides crumpling in the dirt.
Venedix twisted, launching herself toward the next—her heel cracked against its ankle with a vicious
*Crack!
*Skreeee!!!
The creature dropped instantly.
"Do you feel it?" she whispered coldly,
"You pest."
The last beast lunged at her, throwing everything it had into a single wild attack—
And Venedix caught it.
With only one sword.
Its blade froze against her sword.
The beast trembled.
It felt it now.
Fear.
Pure fear.
It had never known it before.
But now—
It knew it intimately.
Venedix stared into its eyes as she drove her second blade through its chest.
*CRACK—
*BOOOOM!
Crimson lightning surged through its body.
It convulsed, shrieked, and burned from the inside out.
"Weak," Venedix said simply, yanking her sword free and kicking the beast's corpse across the battlefield like trash.
This…
This was Venedix Sorellia.
TheSword of the Empire.
And now that she was here—
The tide had turned.