Within a well-defended village, Priscilla and her men rested around numerous crackling fire pits, skewered chunks of meat sizzling along their edge. Men and women moved with hastened steps, moving food and drink between the warriors and mercenaries.

  The lively hustle and bustle of the villagers was filled with cheer and smiles as they served the saviors that appeared in their time of need. That morning, four-legged beasts attacked the village from the empire's direction, snarling fangs and frenzied bloodshot eyes blind to reason on display as they slammed their bodies against the palisade.

  No matter how they attacked the creatures with spears and stones, spraying their blood against the soil, it proved futile as the beasts rose time and time again. Elastic flesh that regrew from any puncture and a vicious vitality that betrayed reason was their domineering traits that pressured the village.

  Panic set in. The people's backs were drenched with sweat, and anxiety overcame them. But then, the thunderous stomp of countless horses aroused their already taut nerves as dozens of men appeared beyond the horizon.

  The villagers had rarely seen the imperial soldiers in action. At best, it would be a small patrol moving about the imperial lands, performing their various tasks. Yet compared to those meaningless moments, these men seemed far more focused as they charged at the beasts, bloodying the land with their gore-torn flesh.

  Each strike from the valiant men bore down upon the illogical creatures with an unprecedented fury that halted their regenerative prowess. And even grander was the woman who sat behind them with a cold, distanced aura. They had seen nobles before, lazy men and women of standing who would let others fight for them.

  It was easy to think she was the same.

  But once the demonic creatures' endurance proved overwhelming for the troops, she moved with a wave of her arms, an inferno of mystical mayhem that coursed through the area and swallowed the frenzied beasts up as an everlasting memory.

  "I was so shocked! I thought my old bones wouldn't make it another day," an aged man chuckled. "But really, thank you so much for the help."

  "We've been stressed as is after the patrols ordered us to stay within the village and not to wander due to recent unrest within the area, but to think we'd also get attacked by beasts when tensions were so high as is," the man sighed, shaking his head deliberately. "And you're saying these beasts spread across the empire, Lady Valentine?"

  Priscilla swirled a simple, unadorned wooden goblet before turning to the elder. "Troubled times came for the empire, and far too few were the wiser. Now, we must be the ones to suffer to put an end to it."

  "You were fortunate to encounter only some trifling mutts, but there are those who have suffered at the hand of far greater evils out there," she said.

  "The Eastern Sands nearly fell to their schemes. I fear the worst for the Southern Seas, and perhaps the Western area may have fared better, but the continent is too vast to know everything that goes on, I'm afraid," Priscilla added before taking a swig from her goblet. "And for the central regions, well, you've already seen the results and how the creatures have wormed their way deep into the imperial city."

  "By the Star! What dark deity has the empire succumbed to," the elder croaked. "We don't have much to offer, but whatever you need, we'll do our best to help, Lady Valentine!"

  "Your understanding is a great help already," Priscilla replied, a smile creasing her cheeks as she looked toward the elder. "Your village is close enough to the imperial city and large and fortified enough for us to wait for the rest of our members. I couldn't ask for more."

  "That's not a problem," the elder happily nodded. "We're more than blessed to open our village to you. Especially if more of those beasts return," the elder chuckled and stroked his beard.

  "They should come within a week," Priscilla replied. "We only left them to handle some of the logistics to protect everyone that isn't made for combat, but besides that, they're making haste as we speak."

  The elder continued stroking his beard, eyes glazing as he pondered the time frame. "It might be too much time, Lady Valentine."

  "When the patrols visited earlier, they brought word of great unrest, as I've mentioned; this included mention of the emperor's command to stay in one place while he purges the city of dissenters," the elder said. "Would it not be an opportune moment for the creatures you speak of to make their moves?"

  An almost knowing expression formed on Priscilla's face as she gazed toward the imperial city's direction. "If what I fear comes to be, it'll be far worse than what you're crediting them for."

  Before Priscilla could elaborate, a desperate crash thundered against the palisade. "Help, someone, please help us!" A man's desperate voice cut through the pounding noise of metal against wood.

  "Elder! There's people at the gate," a young man ran over and reported. "Looks to be two wayward families running from something..."

  As the elder spoke, a bestial howl erupted with ferocity, approaching the village with an unheard-of speed. Trees splintered and crashed onto the barren ground, and with every tremendous step the beast took, the environment quaked at its mercy.

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  "My Lady, we'll go stop the beast," one of the mercenaries chimed as he rose.

  "No," Priscilla replied flatly. "Go let the people in, I'll go. Just look at how the land quakes beneath its might; it's a big one approaching."

  Priscilla rose and rushed forward, leaping into the air as the wind lifted her beyond the palisade's reach. As she moved past the gate, two men underneath raised their heads in shock as the breeze struck them hard against their faces. Once they saw the woman's form, their eyes flinched, images of the past flashing through their thoughts.

  These trifles were irrelevant to Priscilla, who soared unbothered, heading directly for the approaching monstrous being. The trees shuddered, caught between a wild beast and a fierce force of nature. Their fragments blew through the air like a wicked storm, wreaking havoc in its path before finally, Priscilla reached the demonic giant.

  The beast towered, not unlike the trees, with tufts of unruly fur lining the sides of its torso and forelimbs. Elongated teeth protruded from its mouth, disfiguring the already snarling expression on its face. Its beady, bloodshot eyes narrowed as it set its sight on Priscilla, and it roared a bestial howl that could be heard throughout the area.

  Priscilla scowled, the creature's hot and putrid breath sticking against her flesh from its mighty roar. "Damned mindless demon," she said through gritted teeth as she waved her arms and slammed down a blazing pillar of flame atop the beast's head.

  Its fur-blanketed arm swiped against the flames, striking it with a powerful punch that caused the fire to spread and dissipate.

  "Grr-rrr-aaaak, rat," the beast snarled, snot and spit launching. "Delicious...aaaak- tasty smell."

  "What?" Priscilla muttered as the demon's muddled voice reached her. Not only did the giant beast treat her attack as a mere gust of wind, but it even had a sentience unbefitting its monstrous form. "Who are you?"

  "Gaaaa-rrrrr-kkkk," the creature spat before swiping its arm and whipping it at Priscilla's head.

  "Aakkaaa-rrrr, delicious... smell... witch."

  Priscilla moved with a graceful stride as she dodged past the colossal arm—within her palms, blades of ice formed as she twirled around the outstretched limb, gashing into it repeatedly. Blackened blood splattered.

  Brush strokes against the landscape as the nicked flesh ruptured and created an excessive spray of the creature's black blood. The beast howled in the way only a beast could. Shrill. Violent. Frenzied as it sought out the one who harmed it. The demon raised its arms overhead and brought them together before hammering down atop Priscilla, but she continued dancing across the land with the wind at her fingertips. Its strike caused the ground to burst into chunks that flew across the area.

  Seeing that Priscilla avoided the attack, the creature lunged forward and swiped its leg out at a monstrous angle that crashed against the woman while she dodged to the side.

  Priscilla couldn't keep herself steady as the force of the strike threw her backward. Her back struck against a tree, and she recoiled, slamming face-first into the ground beneath her. The ground spun in her eyes, but she raised her head and spat, "Damned beast."

  "Grrr-aaa- witch, witch, eat," the beast snarled and jumped high into the air toward Priscilla, slobber flung from its maw as it gaped open, hungering for the taste of the power that emanated from the woman.

  By now, Priscilla realized. This demon's appearance and actions, while maybe not directly related to her, were becoming more interconnected to the power that lay within her.

  Its palpable hunger.

  The wicked determination that bore down upon her.

  All of the creature's methods caused her mind to flicker with thoughts of the empire's changes and the forces shuffling along in the background—even Zae-Rin's existence and how it ties into it all.

  Seriousness spread across Priscilla's face, and she lifted herself up with jagged blades of ice and stone in her hands. She thrust off the ground and flew toward the beast with steely eyes focused on its jugular. "No more games," she whispered as she neared the beast.

  "Graaa- food comes," the demon spat as it whipped its body and rushed toward the shooting star that was Priscilla. "Must... devour... rat."

  Priscilla snorted softly as her eyes narrowed, and she dove straight toward the beast. She spun her body with the wind and stabbed one of her ice blades toward its left shoulder. Using the momentum, the ice pierced deep, and a deluge of blood sprayed out, splashing across her face.

  The other blade she whipped toward the demon's gaping maw that remained transfixed on her despite the pained howls emanating from its gurgling throat.

  "Grr-a-a- must... consume," the beast forced out before dropping onto the ground, blood pooling beneath its colossal body.

  Priscilla watched over with cold eyes before breathing a sigh of relief. She raised her eyes toward the glowing sky, basking in its light as she ruminated on its eternal majesty. "Rin... I'll... I'll get you out from there, so you too can enjoy this feeling."

  Priscilla left the lifeless creature and rose atop the wind, heading back toward the encampment. Once she touched down, she heard a loud voice bark in disbelief, "Impossible!"

  She turned slightly and found two men standing amidst several of the mercenaries under her. Her gaze hardened and her mouth opened slightly as she tried to force the words out, but her body froze instead leaving her stupefied. The men shared a glance at one another before having a similar reaction.

  "Lady Valentine," one of the men forced out before slumping onto the ground with both knees bowed.

  The other soon followed and said, "Lady Valentine! We greet you! May the prosperity that protected you remain eternal!"

  Priscilla snapped from her daze and looked at the two kneeling men with a flat expression. The stifling silence was heavy as she continued staring, her thoughts unknown to the others who didn't know what to do or say.

  "It has been a long time," Priscilla said, a sharp edge lining her otherwise soft words. "The noble and dignified guards of House Valentine. Prosperous and loyal to a fault as they obey every command given, no matter what. How's father? Why have you fled from his service only to find yourself at the precipice of death at the hands of a demon."

  "Has a life of servitude caused you to wish for a change of careers, or have the changes in the empire finally reached the masses so unaware as they perform their duties?"

  "Tell me, Davies, Elrick, what brings you running for your lives?"

  "And," she added coldly, "Why should I spare them?"