‎Suddenly, halting a short distance from them with its bow lowered, the horseman dismounted and walked forward a few paces. At that instant, the dark steed sprouted two vast wings, each ending in a hooked talon. Its frame swelled, becoming larger and more monstrous than before, while its eyes were consumed by a blazing red glow that poured outward.

‎Without much thought, one could easily surmise that this was the horse's full beast form. In another sense, it was also a clear sign that it stood ready to strike, just like its master. One troubling question continued to weigh upon them. The very race of these two beings remained unknown. Even the horse appeared unlike any ordinary beast, and the aura it exuded was deadly, pressing upon them with suffocating force.

‎It was easy to deduce that the two were either a new race or something altogether unknown to humans, for even Na-Ri struggled to associate them with anything, not even a Demon. Once more, the horseman wore its woven mask, concealing its true features beneath.

‎Kyle scowled as he summoned his weapon into readiness. He was uncertain what state he would be left in after this battle, but he was resolved to triumph at all costs. This bastard was aggravating him beyond measure. They already had more than enough to contend with, and now it had chosen to appear with its steed, compounding their already numerous burdens.

‎One thing, however, restrained them, and that was their stamina. Honestly, they were all lacking in that regard. To fight this entity, which seemed intent on severing their heads, even a stamina level exceeding one hundred would scarcely suffice, and they had not even reached that threshold.

‎Yes, this was a death game with a certain outcome of who would stand on the side of victory and who would fall.

‎"Prepare to fight until you can fight no more, because if we fail to bring it down, we will not live to see the night. Now all we can rely upon is tactics. Whatever happens, we must ensure at least one of us survives," the beautiful stranger whispered, stepping forward with her blade levelled at the threat before them. The creature's gaze, however, was not fixed upon her but upon the young man beside her... Kyle.

‎Of course, Kyle was aware of this. It confirmed his earlier suspicion that the entity was more intent on killing him than confronting the others. But why? Why was it after him, a stranger and, as yet, a mere nobody without power?

‎He did not know.

‎But it was certain that this was something personal. Perhaps because he was mediocre in his looks? That was only a joke, of course, and not befitting of their current situation.

‎The beautiful stranger glanced at Adela, who was prepared to fight and simultaneously eager to prove her worth more in the group today.

‎...However, Na-Ri's protective demeanor suggested otherwise.

‎"Ad, I need you to stay and guard the Essence cores. No, run as far as you can. We will find you. We will make sure to find you, so go. Orion's shadow will escort you," she said without looking back at her.

‎The grey-haired beauty flinched at her words, momentarily rendered speechless at first.

‎The handsome youth did not take long before he agreed, sending his shadow to her side rather than employing it to enhance himself.

‎Just then, Adela could not help but rage against Na-Ri for the first time ever.

‎"No! Why do you keep thinking I cannot stand against any danger? I challenged the Demon with you all, I took down those creatures of the dead in the Valley, I can also fight and I am good at—"

‎Kyle interrupted her midway.

‎"You are not weak, Ad. We just need you to go. And even that alone proves that we believe you can reach the Citadel alive and well, even without us..." He smirked as he stared at the being while readying himself in a battle stance, then continued, "but we are surely coming along."

‎Her eyes fell to the ground with a dark expression, her hands tightening around the hilt of her sword. On the ground, the shadow looked at her, awaiting her next move. It also did not want to abandon its master, naturally, because if Orion died, it would cease to exist. But then again, the shadow could not stray too far from its master due to its limitations, so the beautiful stranger was very much aware of what she was doing, apart from being protective.

‎Soon enough, Adela said nothing, turned around and picked up Orion's dark cloak from the ground, which was used as a sack to hold the Essence cores. With that, the shadow moved far into the distance, almost to a point where it could not be seen again, and the grey-haired beauty followed swiftly. However, the shadow was also shrewd. Rather than leading her beyond where it could not reach, it guided her to a temporary hiding spot among the stony terrain, of course confirming it was not a beast's territory.

‎"...I wish you all safety," Adela muttered to herself, crestfallen at the fact that she could not assist in the arduous battles.

‎***

‎As they awaited the being to strike along with its menace behind it, the two had remained dormant for quite a while, as though studying them. In truth, one might have said it was not a fair fight of three against two, but in terms of power and current capability, it was in fact the other way around.

‎If they were to place the second monstrosity of a horse on a power scale, it would undoubtedly be Stage Three, and perhaps even Sovereign rank. Even at their full capacity, they could not possibly defeat a Brutal rank, let alone something that might be twice above that.

‎The beautiful stranger drew a long breath as she steadied herself, then said:

‎"Kyle and—"

‎Before she could complete her words, they all felt terror, a dreadful and searing force, surge through them, freezing them momentarily with widened eyes and trembling hands. The being's bow suddenly transformed into a great sword, much like the way Na-Ri's blade was able to swiftly shift into a formidable gun as well.

‎It placed one foot forward and suddenly shot forth like a bullet. No, far swifter than that. Kyle raised his daggers in both defence and attack despite not knowing where it was. He swung down wildly in a wide arc but missed, cutting only through the air. At that instant, he felt a cold hand seize his face tightly before slamming him to the ground.

‎He tried to bite like a dog, but to no avail.

‎'Shit!'

‎With that, he was dragged along the rough and stony ground at a merciless speed, the force tearing away the remaining pieces of his clothing and carving deep, disfiguring marks across his back, blood seeping out in streams.

‎Before the others could think of coming to his aid, they were met with an onslaught from the transformed horse. It rose into the sky with its majestic four wings and exhaled a torrent of blazing red fire upon them, which the two narrowly evaded. The beautiful stranger conjured ice in an attempt to block a fraction of it directed at her, but the flames broke through, forcing her to hurl herself into the sky with all her strength. She manoeuvred mid-air and landed firmly on her feet. Her eyes instantly burned with a blue light as she sprang forward, pushing her limits and threshold beyond, and soon Orion joined her, sweeping down wide with his rope-blade and aiming directly for the overwhelming creature's head.

‎On Kyle's side, the being ceased dragging him across the ground after covering a long distance and chose instead to hurl him further before striking with its great sword to finish him off. Yet, as it attempted this, it momentarily paused upon realising that the young man had clung to its arm and leg with his daggers still in hand, bearing a deep, angered scowl and bloodshot eyes, crimson streaming down from his head and covering half his face.

‎'Ouch! That hurt like hell!' Kyle first yelled in his head.

‎Unable to contain his rage as he was kicked a short distance, tumbling across the ground and fracturing a bone in his arm, he rose instantly and began scrambling across the earth towards the being like a wild hound, the StarGod Twin Daggers outstretched in each hand.

‎He clenched his teeth in fury, hurled himself into the air and came down with a savage assault while the being remained calm and immobile.

‎"I will fucking kill you!! Twerp!"

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