"Bring it on! Teiwaz!"
The defiant shout of Evaline cut through the howl of the blizzard. Mana coursing vigorously through the very sinews of her every muscle.
Her enemies - feral beasts born of the storms of wintery fury, rushing at her with bared fangs but -
"RRAAAAAAA!!!!"
-with a unladylike shout, Evaline bashes in the foremost beast's face with her fist causing its body to unnaturally bend backward due to its momentum.
But Evaline did not stop there.
With an almost impossible maneuver she evades the other beasts, then grabs hold of the hapless bashed beast and then quick as a storm's gale, she traces the air with her free hand and shouts,
"Kenaz!!!"
and sets its face on fire.
The beast made a muffled cry as it reeled back in agony and clawed its face desperately trying to put out the flames but to no avail.
It flailed around causing its companions to stop and avoid it.
'Let's see how this ends!'
Although her actions weren't as calm as her thoughts, she was rationalizing the battle.
Earlier, she had already concluded the beasts' weakness, which is that they avoid fire. So much that they initially hesitated to enter Kyrie's Sunfire barrier.
But she also saw that the beasts had some level of intelligence. Most probably on the level of primates despite looking like disfigured fauns or satyrs since they not only displayed caution upon seeing how Evaline had retaliated, but also were quick to conclude that overwhelming her with their sheer numbers was the best option.
In all honesty, that part made Evaline shudder. Had she not taken the gambit of attacking them head-on to surprise them and instead focused only on fleeing or enduring their attacks, she knew she would've lost.
Afterall, they were creatures she had no prior knowledge of. Plus, she was not as strong as her father nor her mother. So the best option she had at the moment would be to proactively attack as she charged through.
She had mana to spare and as luck would have it, she is proficient in using fire-based magic. That fact alone guarantees her a few seconds of survival for every beast she incinerates.
"OUT OF MY WAY!"
She grabs one of the beasts by the horns then knees its face mercilessly forcing it to reel back and raise her up giving her a brief high vantage point that she did not dare to miss out on.
After taking one quick scan with her eyes, she immediately uses Kenaz again to set the hapless beast ablaze before quickly jumping off and attacks another. Truly something one would not expect from a princess.
'I still see the barrier going strong so Kyrie must still be alive. I just made a quick head count of the enemy numbers and I estimate them to be roughly around 50 to 60.'
She evades the hand swipe of a beast and the lunge of another and then casts Kenaz again on the latter before pushing it to the former causing both to be set ablaze.
'2 more down. They sure burn rather quickly...convenient. But I still need to fight through more than 12 meters worth of monsters.'
"ELHAZ!", she makes another shield of light to block an incoming beast then punches the beast's face through the shield again before grabbing it by the horns, setting it ablaze with Kenaz then kicking it over to its companions again.
'If I repeat this, I might just make it to the others without much problems.'
Evade, hit, burn...then rinse and repeat. Simple enough.
With that thought in mind, she continued her savage march through the horde of monsters.
*****
"Guard Skill, Sunfire!"
How many times has Rosseweisse heard Kyrie say that? She had already lost count and judging from how labored Kyrie's breaths have become, it isn't farfetched to say that fatigue has caught up to her.
"Guard Skill, Force!"
This time, it was Maria who used a Skill. Her intent, to shield Kyrie from a flanking attack of one of the beasts.
"Thank you!"
"Don't mention it! Look out!"
At the cry of Maria, Rosseweisse felt Kyrie tug at her and she was soon moved to the side just in the nick of time as the large beast that had flung away Evaline descended upon them and kicked away Kyrie and blowing her away; and since Kyrie was apparently the source of the Sunfire Barrier, the barrier moved as well.
Leaving Rosseweisse and Maria to the mercy of the howling blizzard.
"Lady Kyrie!"
Rosseweisse worriedly called out and attempted to rush to the young Guard's aid but was blocked by a couple of the smaller beasts.
"Lady Rosseweisse!", this time, it was Maria who called out, "Guard Skill, Force!", she then used a Skill again to shield Rosseweisse.
The two beasts -which Rosseweisse recognized as Chorts from Slavic folklore, loomed over her menacingly. Looking at the beasts closely, they were over 12 feet tall, they had distorted faces that looked like a cross between a troll and a goat, their fangs showed through their bared teeth, and they had grotesque looking horns making them look like deformed, oversized satyrs or fauns.
Of course Rosseweisse recognized them since she learned all about them from the Vatican archives as one of the more secretive creatures whose life and origins are as shrouded as their fellow Beasts of Storms- creatures who thrive in lands of perpetual chaos and storms.
Not that her knowledge would be of any use right now.
The beasts' breaths created large billows of mist as they huffed in anger. Their fangs, now bared as they cautiously approach Rosseweisse.
Normally, this is the part where one would run away or at least make one last attempt on survival like throwing a rock or in this case, a snowball at the feral beasts.
However, Rosseweisse, calm as can be-
"Greetings! I am Rosseweisse. Can we please all calm down and discuss this?"
-greeted the beasts.
*****
'Eh?! The barrier somehow got farther away!'
Evaline was shocked as she strangled a one of the beasts in her arms before setting it on fire.
'What just happened?!'
Confusion filled her head as she ducked down, grabbed another beast, twisted its head using its horns as hard as she could then set it on fire again.
"Elhaz!"
She erects a barrier in front of her just in time to block a punch from one of the beasts and then she jumps to the side and continues to run. Her mind somehow distracted by the barrier's sudden flight from her.
'The speed of how it went away rules out the the possibility of them simply recasting it elsewhere. It is also unlikely they just decided to move somewhere...'
Evaline recalls how Kyrie had mentioned not having any experience fighting monsters. There was no way Kyrie would've intentionally moved from her spot considering that their already disadvantaged numbers was reduced by one and that she was burdened with the protection of not just 1, but a couple of people and that she heavily implied she needs Evaline's assistance.
'That means...Kyrie was the center point of the barrier and that that large figure that just swatted me out of the barrier is the one to blame.'
That was the only conclusion she could come up with.
Just as she did, a certain feeling welled up from within her.
'What is this?', she evaded a beast and then countered by burning its face, 'Why do I feel like I need to hurry?', her eyes darted left and right -now unsure what she should do; should she continue to whittle down the enemies' numbers while slowly making her way to her companions? Or...should she follow this somehow unnerving feeling and hurry somewhere within the horde of of beasts?
The beasts however did not wait and now started to pressure her by attacking her with sheer numbers.
"Shit!"
Distracted, she was too late to react properly and soon found herself completely surrounded with no way out.
'I messed up! I should've focused on one thing!', she regretted letting her mind wander for even a second.
"Teiwaz! Elhaz!"
She immediately switched to defense; casting both Teiwaz -a strength boosting rune spell, and Elhaz -her magical shield to augment her body's durability since she can see herself getting hit directly.
[Do not let your mind wander in the middle of a battle!]
The thunderous memory of Guinnevere echoed in her mind as if remonstrating her for losing concentration.
She had lost the initiative and was thus unable to respond properly to the overwhelming rush of the beasts.
*GRRRRAAAARRRAARRARARAAAA!*
The incorrigible cacophony of their growls and roars filled the air and drowned out the howl of the blizzard.
One of the beasts manages to grab hold of Evaline and attempted to take a bite out of her. Luckily, Evaline had casted Elhaz on herself; turning her body's durability to that of forged iron.
*CRACK!!*
The sound of breaking teeth resounded as the beast's mouth and her shoulder connected, causing the beast to quickly reel back and howl in pain.
"Now...LET.GO!!!!!"
She forced herself out of the vice grip of the beast by literally shattering its meaty hands with her enhanced strength. However, she was still surrounded and not a second later, she finds herself with no way out as beastly hands and open maws approach her from all directions.
But now that she has recollected herself, her mind was clear once more.
She was taught by her mother, Guinnevere in the use of magic. Sure she can use the magic her mother and the other Knights of England use. However, that magic system requires her to recite an incantation.
Not an ideal magic to use in Evaline's current situation, that is why, she'll stick to what she is most proficient at;
'Then-!'
And that was the magic her father taught her; the magic system of Norse Mythology, Seidr or most commonly known as 'Rune Magic'.
She quickly writes three runes on her body and shouts,
"ELHAZ KENAZ GORVA!"
and immediately, a raging aura of orange flames enveloped her body causing all the beasts to yelp and and jump back in fear.
The beasts fear the warmth of flames. That was the one thing Evaline knew and she wasn't one to miss an opportunity to turn the tides of battle in favor.
One of the beasts was unable to stop its lunge and carelessly touched her and as soon as its hand made contact on Evaline's body, the flames covered its hand and almost instantly began burning it to ash much to the beast's agony.
The beast reeled back and fell flat on its back as the flames continued to consume its body ever so slowly. The beast's efforts in putting it out in vain as not even the unforgiving gale of the howling blizzard could blow the flames out.
Seeing that, Evaline breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally bought herself more time.
'Alright. I cannot maintain this spell on my body for too long or else I'll also burn myself.', she looked at a direction somewhere away from the barrier, 'I do not know why...but something is making me go there...', she thought so. Acknowledging that uneasy feeling she had ever since the Sunfire barrier moved farther.
Evaline then turned her attention to the beasts who were now back to being wary of her, 'I feel like the distance isn't too far so I'll just take a quick look.'
Deciding so, she readied herself again, "Now then-", she clenched her fists, "Enough being on the defensive, I'll be busting right through you! NOW READY YOURSELVES! I'M ABOUT TO BURN A PATH THROUGH YOU!"
With a fearless smile, she charges onwards; to that place where the uneasy feeling has been directing her to.