The clashing of blades that took place made Liri's bones tremble.
Defeating that first Inquisitor so quickly had certainly boosted Liri's confidence, but something had happened soon after that which helped to keep her ego in check.
Her armor faded away.
The pieces of wood that covered her body fell to the ground like branches falling off a sickly tree. The instant that happened, Liri felt her strength and speed become noticeably lower.
Which, led her to a simple conclusion:
[The armor Mantra was increasing my physical power!]
As she parried a series of slashes from the older Inquisitor, she pushed him away with a kick but was given no time to rest as the blonde one came to fight her immediately after.
[I need to cast my armor Mantra again!]
"Juvin melnir, na coran!" She yelled out.
...
Nothing happened.
[What?]
She was baffled.
As she blocked more powerful swings from her enemy, she tried it a second time.
"Juvin melnir, na coran!"
Again, nothing.
[Is it on cooldown, or something!?]
She hadn't been in a situation where she needed to use this Mantra twice in a row like this. Finding out that the ability had a cooldown in the middle of a battle was... unfortunate.
[Okay, okay, it's fine,] she told herself. [In that case, I just need to hold out until I can use it again. I'm already stronger than them, but that armor ability gives me more than enough strength to end this.]
A couple of human guards took a position behind Liri, raising their rifles. The older Inquisitor muttered something far away and raised his hand, aiming his left palm at Liri.
"Mariana!"
"Right!" The blonde Inquisitor replied and she stepped to the side, clearing the way for the older man to use that strange ability again.
Liri's eyes widened. Just as a bolt of lightning shot out from the man's palm, she jumped to her right. The bolt struck the spot where the two guards behind Liri had been standing, and a red mist ended up being all that was left of them.
[Powerful,] Liri noted, briefly glancing back. [Without my armor, that ability might actually kill me regardless.]
A brief look to her right let her know Caitlyn and Arisa were both hiding behind another car.
Holding this sword out in front of her, she tried to calm herself down.
[On the off-chance that I actually lose this fight... I'd at least like to make sure they make it out.]
Their options were, however, quite limited.
The rest of the guards in the city were finally arriving at their position just now, gathering behind Liri. She didn't know exactly how much time she had left before she had their gunfire to contend with as well, but she guessed it wouldn't be too long.
Even with her Soul Rating as high as it was, there was only so much she could do.
Alone, anyway.
So, she snuck another look at her allies and locked eyes with Caitlyn.
Telepathy wasn't among her list of abilities but she hoped the look in her eyes would communicate at least a small portion of her current thoughts to the elf.
She needed some help if she was going to get them out of this mess.
---
{Caitlyn}
Up ahead, Liri continued to defend herself, deflecting the enemies' attacks but failing to find a chance to retaliate.
It wasn't clear to Caitlyn why Liri was struggling now when she'd already eliminated an Inquisitor so easily, but it was clear she was.
If Caitlyn was being completely honest, she was currently caught between the desire to help the woman and the desire to run away, leaving her and Arisa behind.
She didn't like the idea, but at the end of the day, her duty was to protect elves. If there wasn't much of a chance that she could get out alive with Liri and Arisa, she felt compelled to try to get out alive without them.
And yet, she was unable to ditch them. Her legs remained frozen, and the panicked, concerned look on Arisa's face kept Caitlyn's heart from being able to push them out of her thoughts.
As she made eye contact with Liri, she decided she could at least try to save the situation.
She had no tools to work with, though.
[Maybe I can get one from someone else?]
Her eyes then fell on the body of the Inquisitor Liri had killed. It laid a few paces behind Liri, the man's dead eyes caught in a frozen and disbelieving state.
On his belt were a few tools. Tools Inquisitors often used whenever they didn't want to kill a target immediately, but instead, capture them and execute them publically later.
One of which Caitlyn felt could help.
[A flashbang?] Caitlyn asked herself. It was one of the many inventions the god-king had brought with him after he became the world's ruler. [That could work!]
Now that she saw an option, she needed a plan. However, she saw that guards were running toward them from the west, and Liri's fight raged on to the east.
She couldn't afford to sit there and calculate every single step she was going to take. So, she settled on the following:
[Grab the flashbang, throw it at the Inquisitors, and run away.]
As simple a list of objectives as there'd ever been.
But, thinking of a plan was one thing, carrying it out was another.
[Just try,] Caitlyn thought. [If it doesn't go well, then... It is only because of Liri that you're alive right now. You owe her this much, at least.]
Before she could convince herself not to do it, she ran forward.
"Caitlyn!?" Arisa asked, confused as to why she was sprinting out onto the street.
Caitlyn disregarded her voice, along with the yelling coming from the guards closing in on their position, and the sounds of metal clanging against metal as Liri fought the Inquisitors to her right.
All she did was, instead, focus on the dead Inquisitor's body, as she retrieved the flashbang from his belt.
"Come on, come on," she muttered in frustration as she tried to rip the thing from where it was tied.
As she finally got it, guns to her left started shooting.
[Go, go, go, go, go!]
She ran toward Liri, then, flashbang in hand.
"Arisa, come on!" She yelled out at the drasen as she made her way toward Liri. Her bare feet ran over blood and bits of flesh from the two guards the Inquisitor had inadvertently killed earlier.
As Arisa came out from behind the car, Caitlyn threw the flashbang forward.
"Liri, cover your eyes!"
The ven did as she asked.
But, due to the warning being yelled out the way that it was, so too did the blonde Inquisitor. The older man, however, did not.
As the flashbang went off, Liri raced toward him and slashed off one of his legs, while Caitlyn and Arisa ran to the gate.
"AGH!" The Inquisitor cried out, falling to the ground.
"Go!" Liri yelled as the other two ran forward.
Arisa half-turned, looking back at Liri as she ran, but Caitlyn took her by the arm and pulled her forward.
"Worry about yourself, Liri will be fine," she told the drasen. "Move!"
"R-Right," the other woman replied weakly, as they exited the town through the open gates, with Liri trailing behind them.