From atop the car, with her hands still on the gun, Liri looked back at the three Inquisitors.
They appeared confident. Completely certain that this fight would amount to nothing but a brief interruption in their daily routines.
[Maybe,] Liri thought, [I could-]
"Get out of the car!" Caitlyn called out all of a sudden.
"What?"
One of the Inquisitors made a hand sign of some sort, muttering to himself as Caitlyn walked out of the vehicle.
His right hand began to let out sparks. Liri's eyes widened.
[A Mantra?]
"Arisa, get out!" Liri urged as well before hopping off the vehicle.
Arisa exited the car just before a bolt of lightning shot out from the man's palm and struck it.
The car exploded. Liri managed to wrap herself around Arisa right before the explosion, and they were both sent flying to the right.
Rolling to a halt, Arisa held her head and let out a quiet, pained moan.
On the opposite side of the exploded car, Caitlyn was trying to regain her footing frantically.
The Inquisitors approached quite calmly.
"Well," one of them said. He was talking to the other Inquisitors, not to the three fugitives. "I was hoping this would be at least a little entertaining, but nah. Looks like this is gonna be boring as shit. How the hell did these three even escape?"
"Don't let your guard down, Allen," another said, though he seemed just as relaxed as the Inquisitor he was speaking to. "We have a job to do."
"I know, I know. I'll take this seriously, and all."
"Arisa, get up," Liri urged her friend, throwing an arm over her back and trying to carry her to her feet.
"Master," the third Inquisitor, a girl with curly, blonde hair, asked, "it doesn't seem like they're much of a threat. What should we do?"
"Our jobs," the older Inquisitor answered. "I understand the Duchess wanted to wait to hear what the God-King had to say about this... thing," he said, looking at Liri, "but, if they're trying to escape, we can't just let them."
"I see," the girl replied, before unsheathing her sword.
"Nah, you two can stand there and watch, just leave this to me," that first Inquisitor, a young man with a cocky look, said. "Been a while since I got my sword wet."
"Allen..."
"Like I said, I'll take it seriously. Trust me!"
"... Fine. But, don't waste time," the older Inquisitor replied. "Just get it over with."
As the younger man walked forward, Liri considered her options.
[They're underestimating us,] she thought. [With how strong they are, I can honestly see why. They probably haven't met anything here that could actually challenge them. I can use that to my advantage and, maybe, get an easy kill. After that, I could just push the other two away and try to run past them.]
Killing all three Inquisitors was unlikely. Mainly, since she had to make sure to protect Arisa and Caitlyn from any counterattacks.
But, taking one of them out seemed like the best strategy. So, she decided on that.
And it appeared that the man walking toward Caitlyn wanted to be the one to kick things off.
[I'll only get one shot at this, realistically,] she thought, balling up her armored hands into fists. [Let's make it count.]
The Inquisitor approached Caitlyn.
The elf watched on with panicked eyes. As analytical a person as Caitlyn was, Liri could see the gears in her head turning as she tried to think of what she could do.
Liri waited.
Caitlyn snuck a glance at her, almost as though asking if she was simply going to allow the Inquisitor to kill her.
Liri kept waiting.
Until the Inquisitor stood right in front of Caitlyn, and Liri felt he could no longer see her out of the corner of his eyes.
[Now!]
She ran at him.
"ALLEN!"
The older Inquisitor tried to warn him.
"Huh?"
He barely managed to notice Liri as she dashed up to him.
Liri put as much of her speed and power into this as she could.
By the time the man began reacting to her, it was already too late.
"AGH!" Liri yelled out as she moved to punch him in the back.
And, not only to the shock of the Inquisitors and her friends but to Liri's surprise as well, her fist went straight through his armor. Straight through his body.
The man gasped. Liri's eyes widened, looking down at her own arm.
[I... What?]
She hadn't expected this outcome. Her plan had been to kill him, but this had been...
Well, easy. She couldn't imagine this outcome taking place against someone with a Soul Rating that was so high.
Soul Rating Gained: 300
Soul Rating: 4250
Was the gap between them that meaningful?
[No,] Liri thought. [This guy died because he was cocky. Don't make the same mistake, Liri.]
"NOOO!" The older Inquisitor cried out before Liri heard him running up to their position.
She extracted her hand from his body and stole his sword from his frozen, disbelieving hands.
Just in time, she turned and deflected a slash aimed at her head.
One block was enough to shock the older Inquisitor further. Before Liri could counterattack, the man backed off.
All the while, the younger Inquisitor had still been standing, staring down at the hole in his body. It was only now that he finally fell to the side.
"... Who the hell are you?" The old man asked.
Behind him, the blonde appeared puzzled. Like she couldn't quite process what was happening.
"Mariana," the man called out. "I need your help. Come on."
"R-Right," the girl replied before standing beside him, using the same exact combat stance.
Liri breathed in slowly.
"Cait," she whispered. "I think I can hold them off. Take Arisa with you and leave."
"Are you..." Cait didn't bother finishing the question, as she looked back and found multiple human guards moving to their position. "I'll try."
"Please."
Cait jogged over to where Arisa stood.
"You think I'm letting any of you-"
Liri interrupted the older man by running up to him.
She slashed at him wildly with her blade, and the man pulled back. The force behind her blows stunned him.
[I don't need to kill these two. I just need to pressure them long enough for Cait and Arisa to make it out.]
So, Liri began trading strikes with the two Inquisitors.
She owed her current proficiency with swords to her training with Alma, years ago. If it wasn't for that, she may have needed to rely on nothing but her raw strength to protect herself now.
[Thank you, mother,] she said in her thoughts. [I will make you proud today!]