The thick veil of mist settled low like spilled milk over the earth, dense enough that even though it was clearly afternoon, the world looked trapped in predawn stillness. The road south from Bastrelheim had faded into wild, creeping roots and moss, swallowed whole by the looming silhouette of the Thaelwyn Mistwood. A few hundred meters before its entrance, the twelve elf children, plus one black cat beastfolk, found themselves staring into buzzing doom.
"Nyannyaah... twenty of them," Viqce said, squinting through the mist. "Big hornets. Bigger than usual."
They hovered in the air in a loose swarm, wings vibrating so fast they blurred, bodies the size of a water barrel. A low, droning hum pulsed through the fog like a warning bell.
"They're huge!" Fahleena gasped, spinning her Keyblade of Destiny with both hands like a dramatic baton. "And clearly minions of the Dark Hive Queen of Despair! Let us strike down these false monarchs!"
Jessica, adjusting her ponytail with a practiced flick, held back a laugh, but tried to focus. "Fahleena, focus."
Viqce narrowed her eyes, analyzing the swarm. "Their wings, nyan. That's the first weak point, thin and delicate, but you have to be precise. Second is the tail tip near the stinger. It's even smaller, moves constantly. Hard to hit unless you're a master archer."
Kyle frowned, shouldering his long mana rifle. "Great. They're flying, their wings are barely visible, and now I have to hit a wiggling tail the size of a thread?"
Viqce nodded with a flick of her ears. "Think sniper-tier difficulty, nyan."
Kyle groaned. "Just perfect."
"Let's do this." Fuhiken stepped down from the Stormrider Supreme Express IV, his short sword and shield already equipped. His white cloak fluttered, face composed. "Everyone out. Formation. Mist or not, this is a fight."
The others dismounted the magic carriage. Weapons unsheathed, mana stirred. Even the ever-cheerful Orchid tried to frown, tried.
Suddenly, the steady droning in the air shifted, subtle at first, like a change in tension just before a storm. The pitch rose, sharper, faster, vibrating through the mist like an alarm. Wings blurred into a collective hum of aggression. In a flash, the hornets broke formation and surged forward in a coordinated wave, their stingers gleaming and movements unnervingly fast.
"Incoming!" Jessica shouted, katana glinting as she cut into a flash of yellow and black, but the hornet twisted midair and zipped past.
Adiw roared, swinging his massive two-handed sword. "I'll cleave them! FlameSword II!" Fire surged along his blade. He struck, but the hornet spun, dodging vertically, and Adiw carved only hot air.
"I call Earthbreaker I!" he roared again, slamming his blade downward.
A shockwave trembled the earth. One hornet clipped by debris wobbled midair, but didn't fall. "Tch!"
Meanwhile, Fahleena twirled and flung her glowing keyblade. "Keyblade Boomerang! Go, Destiny's Wheel!"
The golden blade whirled like a wheel of fate, and struck one hornet clean across its wing. It spun out, but before Fahleena could cheer, a cloud of silvery dust exploded in her face.
"Bwuh!? What manner of fogged illusion magic is this!?" She started pointing at Kyle with exaggerated flair. "Ha! I see through your disguise, O Demon Lord of Carrots!"
Kyle ducked just as her next wild keyblade toss skimmed his bangs. "HEY! Watch it, you lucky lunatic!"
"Hallucination dust!" Viqce warned, loosing a precise arrow. It skimmed the mist and thunked into a hornet's thorax, just not deep enough. "It confuses targets, nyan!"
Orchid wasn't so lucky. Stumbling, she blinked wildly at Fuhiken. "Demon!! You've stolen my bread!!"
"What, no I didn't!" Fuhiken blocked her overhead slash, shield ringing. "Orchid! Snap out of it!"
Sakura stepped in, calm and glowing. Her staff spun. "Cure."
A beam of gentle light pulsed outward, cleansing both Fahleena and Orchid. They froze. Then blinked.
"…I saw… chocolate raining from the sky," Orchid mumbled.
"…I saw Kyle marry a carrot," Fahleena added.
"I'm not even surprised anymore," Kyle muttered.
But the hornets didn't wait. With a sharp rise in their buzzing, several peeled off from the swarm and dived in a sudden burst of speed. Their movements were erratic, zigzagging through the air like missiles with minds of their own. Jessica reacted instantly, her eyes flashing.
"Quick Step I!" Her form blurred, dashing through the mist with supernatural speed. In a streak of silver, her katana slashed through the air toward one of the incoming hornets. But just before impact, the hornet twisted mid-flight with inhuman reflexes, flipping out of range as the blade sliced through empty air. "Fast. Way too fast."
Kyle gritted his teeth and activated Sharp Shooter I. Mana pulsed. He pulled the trigger, three shots fired rapid.
All three missed.
"Are you serious!?"
Above, Gigih raised his spellbook. "Fire II. Fireball Rain!"
Blazing spheres rained from the sky, but the hornets darted aside, weaving through like dancers. A few got singed, but none dropped.
"Then… Firestorm!" Gigih declared.
The explosion that followed was massive. A roaring blast of fire and wind tore through the fog, sending several hornets crashing into nearby trees. But the detonation wave didn't discriminate, Gigih was flung backward like a ragdoll, his spellbook spinning out of his hands.
"AaaaaaaAAA, " POOF!
He crashed into a bush with a puff of leaves, and smoke.
Nearby, Kyle and Sinryo were also caught in the shockwave. Kyle tumbled with a yelp, rifle clattering beside him, while Sinryo landed flat on his back, groaning.
"Next time," Sinryo wheezed, "warn us before the fireworks."
"…still alive," Yetsan muttered, lowering his lance.
"More are coming!" Gabyola cried, loosing a wind-imbued arrow. Wind Arrow I zipped, hit, and clipped a hornet's wing, but not enough to ground it.
Three hornets broke from the disrupted swarm and retaliated with deadly precision. Their bodies twisted midair, stingers aimed like living spears. With a sharp, metallic buzz, they launched their venomous strikes in perfect sync. The stingers sliced through the mist, zipping straight toward Gabyola with terrifying speed, each one a blur of glinting green poison aimed at her chest.
"Not today." Yetsan spun his lance. Lance Thrust I! Metal rang as he parried each strike.
Adiw lunged for another. "Got you now!" Icestrike I! Ice coated his blade as he swung, but missed again.
"Zero kill count so far," Jessica said, dashing to his side.
"Shut up," Adiw hissed.
From the rear, Sinryo and Yuuna tried to support.
"Shadowstep I!" Sinryo vanished briefly, closing in on a hornet with twin daggers. He slashed, missed.
Yuuna raised her wand. "Binding Chain I!" Magical chains erupted, but the hornet swerved.
A sudden burst of glittering dust erupted midair, released from a group of circling hornets. In seconds, a thick, shimmering purple fog swept across half the battlefield, curling low like smoke. The haze glittered faintly in the light, beautiful yet dangerous, carrying the hallucinogenic effect. Yuuna and Sinryo, caught at the center, inhaled it before they could react.
"Agh, " Sinryo stumbled. His eyes went glassy. "Yuuna… you traitor…"
"What?" Yuuna blinked. "I didn't, "
He threw his left-hand dagger. Reflexively, she raised her wand. Mana control: midair bind. The dagger froze.
Sinryo lunged with his right.
CLANG!
Fuhiken intercepted just in time, shield braced.
Sakura dashed in again. "Cure!"
Both blinked.
"…I was about to kill her," Sinryo mumbled.
Yuuna patted her wand. "This is why I carry magical insurance."
The party was visibly struggling.
Attacks missed more often than they landed, and even the most agile among them found the erratic, high-speed hornet flight patterns nearly impossible to track. Jessica's blade struck only wind. Adiw's powerful swings tore through trees instead of enemies. Kyle kept firing, but the hornets danced through his mana bullets like they were playing a cruel game. Gabyola's arrows flew with grace, yet even her renowned precision couldn't pierce their vital points consistently.
Fahleena had recovered from her hallucination but was spinning in circles trying to lock onto a target, her keyblade whirling uselessly in the fog. Yetsan tried to brace the front, but his full armor made quick adjustments difficult on the uneven ground. Sinryo darted from shadow to shadow but found no opening, while Yuuna stood tense, spells ready but eyes twitching from the dust's lingering effects.
Meanwhile, Gigih, still slightly smoking from his last spell, stood up only to be knocked back again by a passing hornet's wingbeat. Nearby, Orchid let out a determined yell and leapt forward, swinging her longsword in an overhead arc at a hornet darting above.
She missed entirely.
Momentum carried her past her target, and with a loud thud, she landed flat on her back in the ground, sword bouncing beside her. "Ow…" she muttered, staring up at the swirling mist. "That one juked."
Fuhiken blocked where he could, keeping the others from serious injury, but the sheer chaos was mounting.
Even Viqce, usually composed, was gritting her teeth. "They're too fast, nyan! We're being toyed with!"
The mist didn't help. Every motion blurred. Every direction felt wrong. It wasn't just a battle, it was a frustrating game of tag where the enemy refused to be caught. Their unity wavered, their tempo staggered. One more hit of dust and it could spiral into disaster.
"Ice II," Gigih croaked from the bush, still smoking.
A white, glowing magic circle unfolded in the misty air above the battlefield, its intricate runes spinning silently like gears in a celestial clock. From its center, a massive snow-white wolf emerged, ethereal and majestic, with shimmering fur that sparkled like ice under moonlight. She landed gracefully, let out a haunting, echoing howl that reverberated through the trees, and lifted her snout to the sky.
As her howl echoed into silence, snowflakes began to fall, light and graceful at first, then swirling into a fierce flurry. The snow wolf's form shimmered, turning translucent before dissolving into mist, leaving behind a raging icestorm across the battlefield.
Ice whipped across the battleground. Hornets wavered in flight. Ten of them, half, began to slow.
Then: crack.
Frozen. Midair. Like statues.
"YES!" Jessica and Adiw shouted at once.
"Let's go!" Adiw charged first, cleaving two.
Jessica blurred through three in a sweeping arc. "Four!"
"Five!" Adiw countered, smashing one to bits.
"Ice skating match!" Fahleena tried to run, slipped and hit the ground. "Unfair terrain!"
Yetsan stumbled too. "This isn't regulation combat ground…"
Even Gabyola slid. "Okay. We're adjusting plans now."
Yuuna calmly raised a hand. "Fire I." She pointed down.
A narrow jet of flame burst from Yuuna's wand, slicing through the air like a focused laser. It swept methodically across the battlefield, low and controlled, just enough to melt the ice coating the ground without harming her allies. Steam hissed from the earth as frost gave way to damp soil and patches of grass. The once-slick terrain slowly regained its footing, still wet, still treacherous, but no longer an accidental ice rink. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for the party to move again without slipping like toddlers on a frozen pond.
Fahleena stood. "Hah! Now it is my turn again!"
She threw her Keyblade Boomerang, and clipped a hornet's wing mid-flight.
It fell.
"Combo!" Yetsan declared, lunging and stabbing it clean. Lance Punisher I! Four quick thrusts. Critical.
That left five.
Viqce, who had been half-hidden behind a tree, suddenly disappeared entirely. "Catwalk Whisper," she whispered. A stealth maneuver.
She emerged above one hornet, mid-jump. "Nyaaaa!" Her arrow glowed faint purple. Critical Shot!
The hornet screeched as the shot pierced straight through its wing. It fell, dead.
Then came the counterattack.
Two hornets, their wings buzzing with frantic energy, broke from the thinning swarm. Their movements were sharper, more erratic, driven not by instinct, but desperation. They circled each other midair like twin spirals of death, faster and tighter with every pass. Then, without warning, their abdomens pulsed, and they unleashed.
A tremendous burst of shimmering powder exploded from their bodies, denser and darker than any dust released before. It wasn't just an attack, it was a last-ditch gambit, a smothering cloud of violet miasma that billowed out in all directions. The fog didn't rise into the air, it sank, unnaturally heavy, pouring over the battlefield like a living thing. It hugged the earth, seeping into every crevice, curling around boots and ankles, crawling forward as if it had intent.
The once silver mist of the forest darkened into a corrupted haze, and the battlefield was swallowed in a suffocating gloom.
Jessica fell to one knee, sword clattering.
Gabyola blinked rapidly. "I'm seeing… tulips… walking…"
Orchid pointed at nothing. "Flying bread?"
Viqce collapsed into Gabyola's arms, purring wildly. "Nyaan~ I'm a pancake…"
Only Sakura remained unaffected. She stepped forward, staff glowing brilliantly.
"Omnicure."
A large white magic circle unfolded beneath Sakura's feet, its luminous runes spinning in perfect harmony with her heartbeat. As she raised her staff high, the sky above seemed to respond. The dense clouds overhead trembled, then parted slowly, as if peeled open by unseen hands.
From the rift between clouds, a single, divine ray of light pierced through the gloom. It struck the battlefield with precision, illuminating Sakura in a holy glow. The ray swept outward like a heavenly tide, its brilliance cutting across the dark violet miasma that clung to the land.
The corrupted fog hissed and recoiled, retreating from the light like shadows chased away by dawn. One by one, the thick tendrils of hallucination dust dissolved into sparkling motes, vanishing completely.
Then, with a pulse from Sakura's staff, a radiant dome of light surged outward from her body. It rolled across the field like a wave of sanctity, reinforcing the cleansing ray from above. Every corner of the battlefield bathed in its glow, pure and warm.
The fog was gone. Silence followed.
One by one, the elves blinked, eyes clearing, minds returning. The haze of illusion lifted. Reality snapped back into place.
"…I was cuddling Viqce," Gabyola whispered. "She's still purring…"
"I want to say let go," Yuuna mumbled, "but she's way too cute."
"Let's end this." Fuhiken raised his shield. "Final strike."
Yuuna pointed. "Binding Chain I!"
Chains erupted midair, latching onto a hornet. It struggled.
Gabyola didn't wait. Hawk Eye. Her silver eyes sharpened. She loosed another Wind Arrow. The second hornet's wing shattered. Both fell.
Jessica vanished from view. A streak of motion, Quick Step I, and a blur of blade. She slashed both hornets in one line.
They fell, but still buzzed weakly.
Adiw stepped in, sword igniting again. "FlameSword II!" He slammed down. "Earthbreaker I!"
Twin elemental strikes erupted, flame and rock in one burst.
Both hornets turned to ashes.
Silence. Mist swirled.
Then cheers.
"VICTORYYYY!" Fahleena spun. "We have slain the Guardians of the Mist Gate! We may proceed!"
"They were hornets," Kyle muttered, reloading. "Just really annoying ones."
Sakura went around healing everyone. Heal I pulses glowing over bruised arms, scraped legs, and cracked pride.
"You know," Fuhiken said, patting his shield, "I think we should camp. Recover. Mist Forest can wait until morning."
"Agreed," Gabyola nodded, still holding a purring Viqce like a baby cat. "We're a little… scrambled."
"I still see tulips," Jessica muttered.
---
They set camp near the Stormrider Supreme Express IV. Fire mana stone in the magic stove gave them warmth. Sakura handed out warm rice balls from her food bag. Orchid tried to cook something, Fuhiken quietly swapped it with backup rations.
By nightfall, peace returned.
"Nyanya… soft… warm…" Viqce was still curled up in Gabyola's lap.
Fahleena pointed dramatically at Adiw. "You! Slayer of Last Buzzing Doom! I dub thee: Lord Hornetcleaver!"
"No," Adiw replied flatly.
"It's already canon," Fahleena grinned.
"Not canon."
"Canon."
"Stop saying canon."
Kyle sighed. "We're doomed."
The party rested beneath the stars, a battle won… and more madness to come.
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