Haru gasped as Invidius wound up to strike Millie.

  The demon’s jagged short sword descended upon her neck. With wild abandon, the armored princess swung her great axe, slamming the haft into her right pauldron, closest to Invidius. The bit narrowly missed the back of her head. Sparks flew as the demon’s jagged sword scraped across the broad side of the axe.

  Invidius released Millie and stumbled backwards after almost stabbing himself in the hip with his own weapon.

  Clara scrambled to her feet. From beneath her cape, she produced a tiara with a ruby inset and threw it high. “Shadows flee from the light of purifying flame! Regni Ignis!” The sky darkened for a moment and meteors fell overhead, exploding into sparkles of all colors. She tossed her kunai into the air, and they tumbled before aligning in opposite directions.

  Between the two weapons, a spark ignited a flame bolt. Then the fire formed a solid scythe blade with each kunai being one of two blade tips. Clara reached out and grabbed at the air. From between her hands, another flame stream created a handle that connected to the scythe blade.

  The tiara tumbled and plopped onto her head, then aligned itself. A long veil of smoke spiraled down around Clara before constricting around her body. It formed scale armor that shimmered red, orange, and gold. Spinning the weapon, she brandished it at Invidius.

  The fire princess charged forward, holding one arm in front of her, the other keeping her weapon wound up behind. With a wild cry, she spun, grabbed the hilt with both hands, and struck out at the demon starting from her hip and cutting upwards.

  Invidius rotated as Clara shouted. He took a step in retreat, then arched his back unnaturally deep, avoiding the scythe blade as it neared his chest. Using the momentum, he threw himself into a backflip. His heel caught Clara in the chest, which halted her charge and caused her to stumble backwards.

  Millie turned and raised her axe over her head to strike the demon from top to bottom. “Take this!”

  After landing, Invidius scoffed and burst into a dash.

  The earthen princess’s axe strike slammed into the ground, shattering the pavement and causing everything around to tremor and shake. But it missed her target.

  Clara took a step back and braced with her scythe as the demon closed rapidly.

  Rose, who was knocked down with Haru, climbed to her feet and rushed to the witch’s side, crouching down to help Haru up.

  An endless torrent of blows descended upon Clara as the demon struck out against the fire princess. Each time she deflected the blade with her weapon, Clara was forced to take a step back in retreat. She began to grimace as the ceaseless striking continued.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Millie dragged her axe along the ground while running at the demon. Then from a low grip, she swung her weapon upwards.

  Invidius stopped his assault, pinched his shoulders and stood straight, letting the blow whir by him. Then he leaped and used Millie’s weapon hilt to launch himself at Clara, sword point first.

  The fire princess gritted her teeth and after recovering from a backstep, wound up her scythe and counter-charged the demon.

  Both Invidius’s and Clara’s strikes connected, each of their weapons emitted a shower of sparks.

  The demon tumbled and rolled along the ground. The fire princess was thrown into the air and tumbled head-over-heels before rolling to a stop.

  “Clara!” Rose stood with Haru, helping the witch to her feet.

  The fire princess curled up in a ball, the grip of her scythe leaning on her hip like a fallen log. She groaned and closed her eyes.

  Rose stepped away from Haru and produced a tiara, one inset with a sapphire and tossed it aside. It gravitated back toward her and began to orbit around her body. Overhead, thunderstorms rolled in. “Tide come and retreat, to wash away every tear. Regni Aqua!”

  A torrent of water fell from a part in the clouds, which crashed down upon Rose. The vertical stream absorbed into the ground as fast as it descended, and after emerging, the water princess was clad in chainmail which rippled like the surface of the ocean, and her bo staff had a sword blade on each end.

  Millie raised her axe and cried out as she charged the downed Invidius.

  After twirling her twinblade, Rose opened her hand and her weapon hovered away, pointed vertically in front of her. Then she clasped her hands together and the gem of the tiara resting on her head began to glow.

  Haru summoned her staff and pointed it at the demon.

  After a moment, the water princess raised her arm, and the breezy sound of a player casting a spell rang out. Then the choral tone of Raise 1 filled the avenue. A golden light shined down on Clara, then she grumbled and roused from her incapacitated state.

  Haru hesitated in preparing a normal attack. With her staff still trained on the demon, she turned her gaze toward Rose in disbelief, wondering what just happened. They moved as if they were Crownbroken but somehow were casting player spells.

  Millie closed on Invidius and dropped her axe. Just before it hit the ground, the demon rolled out of the way. Once again, the strike caused everything to vibrate. The shaking gave Invidius enough of a push to get himself up to his feet. He struck out with his short sword.

  Though the head of her weapon was still on the ground, the earthen princess released one hand, and in the blink of an eye widened her stance enough to avoid the blow.

  Haru’s eyes grew wide. That was a dodge proc. The witch’s staff head lowered as confusion descended upon her.

  “I’m just going to pick you off one by one again. All four of you were no match for me before and certainly not now.” Invidius cackled as he recovered to strike again.

  “You made a fatal miscalculation.” Millie kept the head of her axe on the ground and then raised her arm wide, at shoulder height.

  A ring of stars circled around Invidius, followed by a harsh tone, the skill provoke.

  Clara got to her feet and then wound up her scythe while closing in on the demon. Just as she swung, he disappeared into a plume of smoke. The scythe blade cut through the cloud, which dissipated.

  Invidius reappeared, once again grabbing Millie by the collar. He stood on her shoulder, and in a crouch, readied to drive his sword into her neck.

  “Now two.” Millie spoke laboriously. “You’re too predictable.” She groaned.

  “Oh yeah?” Invidius hesitated. “What was the first?”

  Millie cackled. “You don’t know how to count.”

  https://www.patreon.com/c/mekabukiko

  https://discord.gg/vS8jjazffM