Annie stumbled backwards and almost dropped her weapon. Was she seeing things? That kid was utterly incredible. Karabell had told Kei and Annie to assist Squad B, but she sincerely doubted he'd expected something like that. They'd rushed towards the rearguard expecting their allies to already be under attack. Yet, by some bizarre twist of fate, they'd ended up engaging the enemy instead. As soon as it'd spotted Annie and Kei, Arago had signaled its squad to attack the approaching Aberrations. It hadn't exactly resulted in a surprise attack, but they'd managed to gain the upper hand. Annie blinked rapidly and nervously. Kei going off on her own wasn't weird at all. She'd reckoned something like that was bound to happen. However, it hadn't ever crossed her mind that the little girl Alice and Karabell had trained for just a few days would kill an Aberration not even a minute after laying her eyes on it. Kei was dancing around the enemies, evading their hits like it was nothing. Even the Aberrations seemed shocked by her agility. She was in a league of her own.
"There are so many enemies here... yet one way or another, we're managing. Am I even needed here?" Annie sighed, but she already knew the answer.
No matter how nimble Kei was, she couldn't do anything against furred or scaled Aberrations, and she was aware of that fact. Which was why she was trying her best to avoid running into any. She could just take the feathered ones out while waiting for Arago and its friends to incapacitate the others. The gentle breeze ruffled the Kei's hair. She smiled, pumping herself up. She'd seen Karabell and Alice fight before. They'd even agreed to teach her all those things. It was finally time to put that knowledge into practice. Karabell and the others wouldn't have left if they didn't have a plan. So they had to keep those Aberrations from advancing. The rest was up to them.
Kei fearlessly charged towards the two creatures. They were both covered in feathers, and one of them was obviously a Gargling. She had to admit, going against two Aberrations at the same time was a bit scary. The Gargling noticed her first. It swiped, the knife-like talons nearly scratching Kei's arm. Imitating Karabell's movements, she leaped to the side, closing the distance between her and the Aberration at the same time. With the feathered monsters, finding a weak spot wasn't that hard either. Getting close enough to hit that spot with one of those short knives, however, was a challenge. The Gargling spun around, angered by Kei's rapid movements. The other Aberration was still waiting for an opening. As long as she was near the Gargling, it couldn't attack carelessly. Kei evaded the Gargling's frantic strikes and circled around the creature. In a flash, she jumped on the beast's back and started climbing towards its nape. The Aberration desperately struggled to shake her off, to no avail. Kei's mind went blank. Mechanically, she grasped the knife's handle even harder, plunging it deep into the back of the creature's neck. The Gargling yelped in pain before collapsing to the ground. Kei withdrew immediately, anticipating the other Aberration's attack. The feathered creature, however, was busy defending against Annie's merciless blows.
"Keep at it!" Kei shouted, staring steadily at her.
She drew in a deep breath, before throwing one of the knives at the creature. The weapon got the Aberration's left eye, confusing and infuriating it at the same time. Nonetheless, it had completely lost focus. Thanks to Kei's reckless idea, Annie didn't have any trouble finishing off the feathered monster. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, glancing at her blood-covered sword.
"Could've gone better," she muttered.
"How're things looking?" Kei asked.
"We lost at least two apprentices already. I saw a group of Garglings kill them. Some of the Aberrations that tried to help are injured as well. We took care of those, but need to wrap this up already. I'm sure one of them's a Superior. Judging by the way it was acting earlier, Arago is probably searching for it, too. They all look the same to me, though..." Annie replied with a half-shrug. "We can't let anyone else die. You're strong, Kei. I'm no weakling either. Well, I'm a soldier, after all. But those kids are so frightened they don't even know how to wield a weapon anymore. It's not courage they lack, but experience. We're somehow able to suppress our fear, that's all. Killing that Superior won't solve this problem, but it should make it harder for the enemies to work together."
"So we'll get rid of the Superior first, then wipe out the rest. Seems like a good idea. Plus, Arago shouldn't have that much trouble finding it," Kei replied nonchalantly, pointing her finger at the Squad Leader.
Arago jumped up and down, signaling the nearby Aberrations to follow him. Annie and Kei exchanged a smile. Out of a sudden, they head Ono's loud voice telling them to get out of the way. The man was running as fast as he could, carrying a bunch of weapons in his arms. He dashed right past them, heading towards Arago.
"Captain Karabell did ask him and Ergo to distribute those weapons, but I didn't think they'd actually do it. Talk about suppressing one's fear, huh? Look at him go," Annie remarked, laughing softly.
It didn't seem like Ono was worried about the possibility of getting attacked at all. Sure, the apprentices had managed to kill a few Aberrations, but the battle was far from over. He stormed past the enemies, making sure not to drop a single weapon. Where in the world had he gotten that surge of courage? Squad Leader Arago grabbed one of the longer swords and examined it. One by one, Squad B's creatures followed its example. Spears, swords, even knives... All piercing weapons, perfect for slaughtering Aberrations.
"It's kind of ironic, if you ask me," Ono joked, hurrying back towards the wagon.
"Full of energy, huh?" Annie shouted after him, trying her best to stop laughing.
Ono smirked. Of course they were full of energy. Ergo was already on his way to Squad A, too. After all, they had to win that battle. It wasn't about saving their own lives anymore... It was about saving humanity. Captain Ress had specifically asked him and Ergo to help. So they had no choice but to give it their all. They weren't soldiers, true, but that didn't mean they couldn't help.