"What the hell happened!? I asked worriedly as I saw Hiro running back to us with Leonna.
"She got hit by one of those dragonmen," he said. "I need to get her to the cave that everyone evacuated to. She needs a doctor."
"We have plenty of good doctors," Gleam said. "And since nobody was injured during the evacuation, you should be able to find one pretty easily."
"What...about...th...e...dragon...men..." Leonna weakly said.
That's right. They were still a problem.
"I can take care of them." I said.
"Are you sure," Hiro asked me. "Those things are a lot stronger than we are."
"Yeah, but I'm a lot stronger than you. And you took out quite a few of them with your attack, so I think that I can hold my own out there."
"That's true..."
Hiro looked over at the chaos that took place where a part of The Forest used to be. A huge chunk of the colorful trees that shined brightly under the night sky was completely destroyed.
"Ok," Hiro eventually said. "Just...be careful, and badass, ok."
I couldn't help but smile at his complimented remark.
"Always." I said.
"Make sure that blade stays hidden," Gleam said to Hiro. "Absolutely no one should know about this."
"Got it."
And with one last nod, Hiro took off running to the cave. Although, I couldn't help but notice that his face looked a little red. As if he was blushing or something.
"Are you sure about this?" Gleam asked me.
"Don't worry," I reassured her. "As long as I keep my distance I'll be fine."
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, then went charging out of the magic barrier and into the battle.
The dragonmen were coming in at impossible speeds, but my magic was even faster.
"AQUA SHOT." I chanted.
Around sixty water bullets shot out of my red magic circle and went straight towards the hundreds of dragonmen that came flying in. Black blood and limbs were sent flying everywhere. I was a great distance from the splash zone, so I was perfectly fine. However, there were still around one to two hundred of the flying beasts left, and some of them were flying straight at me!
"AQUA SCYTHES." I chanted.
Two nine meter long scythes made of water emerged from my red magic circle.
"FIRE BLADES."
I also summoned two blades made of pure fire and pulled them out with my hands. It took everything I had to maintain full concentration when I fought Hiro. He was able to knock my blades and scythes back because I didn't have enough concentration to be able to control them better. Therefore, if I used only my scythes for the concentration battle and manually used my blades, which required hardly any kind of concentration, I can be able to land some more powerful strikes against the enemy. If they get through my WATER SCYTHES, then I can finish them off with my FIRE BLADES. I just needed to close off everything around me and focus on what's coming at me, and it's not Hiro...it's a swarm of corrupted beasts trying to kill me.
"Ok," I said to myself. "...HERE WE GO!!!"
The swarm of beasts finally came flying to my scythes. I immediately began "swinging" them with every amount of mental power that I had. Most of the dragonmen were killed immediately while it took a few of them a few flaps of their wings until they collapsed. The soldiers riding the corrupted beasts were completely butchered without a chance to escape.
This went on for a good three minutes until about three and two thirds of one were able to get past the scythes.
"I've still got a trap up my sleeve." I smirked as I slashed them down with my FIRE BLADES. The ones that made it through were completely incinerated. Trails of beautiful red fire were left behind the gruesome scene until they caught up with my blade after I stopped swinging.
The ones that came after me were all completely obliterated, but there were still even more of them in the battlefield. I watched as hundreds of Leonna's fellow comrades were slashed and bitten in two. What disturbed me the most was seeing a woman crawling without her lower half. But even with no chance of survival, she still raised her sword and managed to take out another five enemy soldiers until she was put out of her misery by a dragonman. I wanted to help, but I knew that I stood no chance against those high ranking soldiers.
"The soldiers on the dragonmen, as wellas the dragonmen, may be deadly, but they're extremely weak," Gleam had told me. "You might just be able to hold your own against them, but a single high-ranking enemy soldier on the front lines can easily take out at least a hundred of them in one powerful swing."
I couldn't do anything about the front line enemies. However, I wasn't just going to stand here and do nothing.
"FIRE SHOT." I chanted.
The bullet-sized fireballs managed to hit a chunk of the dragonmen and caused a lot more of them to back off.
"KILL THAT GIRL!!!" I heard an enemy soldier shout from the distance.
After that command, almost every dragonmen on the battlefield went flying straight at me.
"..."
There were too many for me to count. My guess...was at least two or three thousand of them.
"No...I...I..."
I wanted to run. I wanted to run away from this battlefield. It didn't surprise me though...because...that's all I've ever really did in my life. I always ran away from my problems, from conversations, from people, from myself. I wanted to run because I could never protect myself, or anyone else for that matter. My mother died in front of me, and all I did was watch. Gleam found me and took me in as her daughter. Hiro saved me from myself, took me on adventures, and gave me the life that I've always wanted. He then saved me from that prick in the castle. I was able to make it because of the people I love...but...what have I ever done? I may be strong and focused, but deep down...I'm still that scared little girl that did nothing but run away.
But...why should I run away?
My past was always running away, and I always ran away from it. But why am I running away from it. It's the past, and the past can't hurt me. If I just accept it, then my life will be mine to live. I'm not going to spend my life running away from my past. I will learn to protect myself and the ones I love, just like Hiro said he would.
"Hiro, if you can hear me," I started to say. "then remember this: If you want to protect me, THEN LET ME PROTECT YOU!!!"
I looked at one of the dragonmen straight in the eyes without looking away. I kept my eyes right on his. Yes, I may be afraid, but I'm still going to fight!
BAM!
Before I could even process what just happened, three of the dragonmen along with the soldiers riding them were incinerated completely. Nothing remained of them except black blood and ashes.
I heard the Army of Light begin to cheer with excitement.
"IT'S THE MAGES," the commander shouted. "THEY'VE FINALLY ARRIVED!!!"