Jean and Sapphire stopped along the path as they were being surrounded by spirits.
"There's so many." said Sapphire.
"This would be more troublesome if my wind wasn't revealing them. We have to fight." said Jean.
They were in a tight spot with no clear way of escaping. Though Sapphire could use a gate to teleport them somewhere safe, she wasn't supposed to show off any of her skills.
Jean dashed from side to side, gently slashing the air, cutting down 8 spirits at once.
Slash. Slash Slash.
[Jean has used 'Goddess's Blessing of Wind']
A green light attached to Jean's sword, arms and legs. Then, the same thing happened to Sapphire and felt a change in her body right away. It felt like she had been entrusted with a good amount of strength.
"That's my wind skill. Your attacks should be just as strong as mine but, be careful." Jean stated.
Sapphire noded.
An exceptionally large spirit rushed forward and tried to grab her, but she quickly moved aside and kicked it's face.
"Penetrate."
Her leg smashed through its face with effort, killing it.
More spirit's came forth, sneaking up behind Sapphire and lifting their claws above her. Jean noticed just in time and rapidly swung her sword, slicing them into bloody chunks.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
"Stay close to me." Jean ordered.
Sapphire listened and got behind Jean who explained "The buff is for fighting when we have to. Only attack when they come at us."
Stomp Stomp Stomp;
One of the spirits slowly came at them but a sharp force sent it's head away.
Slash!
"Just like that. The Spirits hardly rush at their opponents in high numbers. Usually, only two or six of them attack at a time."
Stomp. Stomp. Tmp. Tmp. Tmp.
Gathering in a swarm, the spirits advanced at them with great speed.
Sapphire didn't know how to react as her eyes watched the many monsters approach. There wa sno way she could fight more than two at a time.
Jean stepped up, pushing Sapphire behind. Holding her sword handle tightly, Jean raised the blade to the sky, before swing cutting through the air a single time.
"Protection Wall!"
Swip.
A sturdy wall of wind stopped in place, tearing the monster apart as they tried to come through.
Rip. Slash. Cut. Rip. Rip. Cut.
It kept on for five long seconds as the body parts started to pile up.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A lot had been killed, but the battle wasn't anywhere near over.
One of the spirits rushed from behind and used it's claw to pierce Sapphire's back.
Stab!
"Agh."
She stood in pain,watching her life force spill out onto the grass and dirt.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Shank.
The Spirit pulled its claw back, letting Sapphire's body fall forward.
Thump.
"No! Sapphire!" Jean shouted in panik.
She slid over in a rush, using her sword to stab the spirit's heart.
Stab! Shank!
Jean kneeled at Sapphire's side in distress, but she was out of luck. Jean didn't specialize in any kind of healing, so there wasn't anything that could be done to stop Sapphire's bleeding.
Her injuries didn't change the fact that there were lots of spirits left.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't fast enough." Being left to watch Sapphire bleed out, the failure of being able to move fast enough weighed down on Jean's mind and shoulders.
Sapphire was in pain, her limbs were losing feeling and her warmth turned to cold.
'I...guess my skills will reveal itself.'
Her vision faded out and she had fully bled out.
{Hp: 0}
The creatures at hand gave no time to mourn as they came rushing.
Jean jumped into the air and stabbed her blade into the ground as she landed. The ground lifted and a sphere of wind blasted out, pushing the monsters away.
This gave Jean the advantage of range.
She aimed the point of her sword in at the many crowds of spirits
The creatures advanced as ripples of wind shot across, killing them one at a time.
Swsh. Swhs. Swhs. Swhs.
Though Jean's stamina could keep up for a long time, it didn't look possible to keep up until all enemies were killed. There was nearly an army of them in the forest. A claw slashed Jean's arm, opening a deep wound. But the pain didn't stop her as she killed the spirit with three cuts to it's chest.
It was then that she became aware that she was once again surrounded, being left to fight in a small circle of area. Opponents kept coming forward without stopping as she continued to kill them off, but it was only a matter of time till they overwhelmed her.
Her back was struck, knocking her forward. A sharp fang bit her thigh as she quickly slashed the monster responsible.
Jean swung her sword all around, decapitating each foe within it's range. This only gave her the opening of a second to rest . A deadly claw stabbed through her shoulder, almost tearing it off. Following along, the other spirit's slashed away at Jean's back and side.
Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.
She grew weaker as the strikes came and her sword began to feel like too much to hold.
Even so, she wasn't going to stop yet. WIth all of the energy and rage in her body, Jean let out an adrenaline-filled scream of a warrior.
She put her foot forward, pulling her sword back as she shouted.
"Full Scale Slash!"
All the muscle in her shoulder and arm lunged her sword forward. Everything in her path was turned to shreds by a devastating tornado that traveled around. The trees and forest animals became no exception.
Jean fell to her knees in weakness, barely holding herself by leaning on the handle of her weapon. She had many bloody and nasty wounds, she was reaching her limit. Whenever her great tornado reached it';s limit and disappeared, she most likely wouldn't last another minute.
"I may very well die here. As a war knight, I will fight with courage until the end."
Her body tried not to lose balance when she stood up again and lifted her blade for what looked to be the final time. The spirits crowded and traveled like any army.
Jean took one last second to admire the sun in the blue sky as this was going to be her final sight.
"Okay..I am prepared."
A hand reached out, grabbing a hold of Jean's wrist, before she was pulled into the safety of a portal. Jean crashed against the stone floor of a road. A road that belongs to the town of Buryanston.
(Kingdom: Ashetira | Town Buryanston)
Jean found herself suddenly back in town. How?
A voice spoke from her side.
"I really didn't use my gate. But it was going to cost us our lives. I just hope you keep this a secret for me."
Jean sat in disbelief. Sapphire had survived and had a fully healed wound.
"What is this? Please...explain"
"Well, I died. Dying is kind of my thing because I always get a second chance. Third chance if I reduce it's cooldown all the way. Seeing that you were on the verge of death, I used a gate to bring us to safety. Can you please keep it a secret?"
Jean was in a daze of disbelief but managed to snap out of it.
"For saving my life. It is the least I can do. I am in your debt."
She jumped to her feet, holding her hand on her chest and made a vow.
"I, Jean Gallager am both a knight and war knight for this kingdom by choice with no restraints. At this moment, I vow to be at your side whenever you should need me, just give the order.
"Wait, hold on. There's no need to do all that. I just did what anybody would do." Sapphire replied.
"Not just anybody would've been able to save me from that situation."
"It's my information that put you in that situation. And it's pretty much because of me all those knights died."
Though it was true that her information led them to disaster, Jean ignored it and looked at it in a different sense.
Both the dark mages and the council of light have been terrorizing many kingdoms for years. It was Sapphire's information that led them to any area where they seemed to be operating.
"The information did come at a cost. But now the kingdom has a good lead on both dark mages and possibly even the council of light now. The knights that bravely fought and died knew the risks this job held. Their lives were not in vain."
All things aside, it was time to get back to the main threat. Over in the forest, there are spirits in great numbers. Then there was Ace Skyman dealing with Isla, a powerful weapon working at the dark mage's disposal.
"For now. I advise you to go home. I will inform the ruler of the threats right away. And no need to worry, I'll keep your feats a secret."
"Thank you. You should get going. Ace might be in trouble."
"Very well, then. I'll be off." Jean sped off in a hurry.
But it was noticeable that she was in pain on the verge of clasping. But here wasn't a doubt that her will could keep her going.