In a dimly cave, three people stopped their tracks to look around. They turned their heads to the right, slowly moving it to the left to familiarize their surroundings. Around the walls, moss had started to form. A small lake could be seen from the far distance, illuminated by the faint light coming from the cracks above.
"Is this the 10th floor...? Why does this place feels empty?"
Otuko mumbled quietly as she wandered around with caution. Her claws were out in the open, prepared to guard for any possible attacks from her sides, back and front.
Otuko and Saber felt weirded out by the silence. Their undead companion, Lyra, on the other hand, was walking around nonchalantly. She reached for the flower that was nearby the lake, playfully poking it with a stick. Her expression became warm as the other two observed her from the distance.
"Stay here for a moment..." Saber gestured his hand to Otuko. She nodded and responded with a hum before he went away, watching him as he walk towards Lyra.
While Saber was talking to her, Otuko decided to investigate. She turned around once again and scrutinized her surroundings with her eyes squinted.
There seem to be no monsters hiding, she thought to herself as she returned her attention back to Saber.
Tak!
Otuko acted swiftly turned her head towards the sound.
"Oh... It's just a rock."
Just when she was about to heaven out a sigh of relief,
[ ̚CĄ̷U±¡ø̵̧̡Π ̟ ̟(MAX) has been activated...!!]
A loud notification echoed in her ears surprising her.
Her body moved out of instinct and made her way towards Saber's direction.
"Ly...ra...?"
Saber was about to touch Lyra's shoulder when he suddenly felt his neck turn cold, prompting him to look forward.
At that moment—
"....!!"
He saw a sharp blade made out of water in his view.
It was about to reach his head when he heard a faint voice before him.
"Must protect..."
In an instant, his eyes opened widely as Lyra's body came crashing down on his chest, knocking the air out of him.
Caught by surprise, he fell on his bum as the water blade came passing through his eyelashes by a hairbreadth. Some had managed to hit his hair, cutting few strands of it.
"Th-thanks.... Hmm!!?"
Saber noticed ten more attacks following from the distance.
"Haaa!"
Fortunately, Otuko came in time to save them. She stretched out her other hand and summoned a mana barrier to protect the two of them from the barrage of magic attacks.
The magic had managed to put a crack on her barrier, but it didn't break. After the dust was halfway cleared, she noticed two dark individuals that came dashing from the walls.
One of them leaped towards her with a stretched hands.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed in the whole place. Otuko was slightly pushed, took a step backward as she struggled to maintain the barrier from breaking.
As soon as the dust was finally cleared, the appearance of their enemies was finally revealed.
With her claws still stuck on the barrier, the disfigured angel came into view. It had a broken halo that was barely glowing grey, it's eye socket empty as black liquid were gushing out from the hole like a cry. It's mouth was sewed sealed, skin pale with tattered clothes that somehow resembles a uniform.
"That clothes..."
Saber was shocked from seeing this as he recalled about his meeting with the faceless lady back at the 5th floor. Their uniform looked exactly similar in some way, except for the fact that the angel before them now looked like it had been around centuries passed.
He was about say something again when he remembered that the angel was not alone.
It's companion came crashing down from above as his realization set in, leaving him almost no time to react.
"Must protect..."
The same voice was heard as his undead raised her stick above her head. In an instant, a wind barrier was conjured and protected them from the second angel's big bite.
It's razor sharp teeth hit the air before getting blown away. Unfortunately, the angel had managed to land safely few meters away, creating a big crater on the ground.
Saber took his little time to scrutinize the second angel. Unlike the first one who can't use it's mouth, the second angel can while it's eyes stitched. It had disfigured-looking wings without feathers, no arms and halo, but with sharp teeths. The second angel was also wearing the same uniform as the first one.
Lyra continued to fire out some spell using the stick she picked up as her wand, aiming to hit the second angel.
"Must protect..."
She repeatedly said those words in each spell she released.
While Otuko and Lyra was fending off against the two angels, Saber's mind and heart started raising incredibly fast. He glanced between the two of them and realized something.
If the two angel uses physical to attack, what about the one who fired those spell from earlier?
Saber felt his neck turning cold all of the sudden as he took his sword out and swiftly cut the incoming water blades.
"There's three of them..."
He spoke through his gritted teeth. His eyes wandered around until it landed towards the third angel.
The third angel was different unlike the two. It's mouth and eyes were stitched sealed, only it's ears in operation. The uniform it was wearing was unusually less torn apart from the others. It wasn't clean, however, but looked wet amd somewhat dusty in some part. There was no halo floating above it's head, no wings attached to it's back, but it had all it's limbs fully intact unlike the others.
"I'll handle this one."
Otuko nodded in response to his words, while Lyra remained fully focused on the second angel. Saber gave them a quick side glance before leaping up, he used the air as his footing and propelled himself towards it's direction.
The third angel's ears perked up slightly as it raised it's head to face him. More water blade was conjured out of thin air as it came flying towards his direction, causing some it to scratch his cheeks.
"Haaaaa...!"
Thud!
Saber slammed his sword on the ground that caused the ground to shake. It created a small crater, but he ignored this and focused his attention to the angel who had easily dodged his attack.
He clicked his tongue and swiftly hacked and slashed his sword from all directions. Saber didn't let the angel took some time and continuously attacked in every directions.
However,
He didn't manage to land a single hit.
After a couple minutes, he finally stopped and panted. The angel leaped away and observed his movements by using only her senses. It turned it's head towards his direction, tilted it's head mockingly before firing more spells.
He almost got hit by this, but was fortunate enough to sense it before it could happen.
I'm already getting tired... Weird, Saber's eyes began to twitch as he felt annoyed by the angel's remarkable speed.
[ ̚CĄ̷U±¡ø̵̧̡Π ̟ ̟(MAX) has been activated...]
The sudden activation of this ability caused a stir in his mind as he went blank for a moment.
"Saber, look out!!"
Otuko called out him, but he remained still.
It was about to reach his head when he suddenly tilted his head to the side to dodge it with ease.
"I understand..." He stood up and picked his sword. "I need to find a way to finish this quickly before it can use it's ability again."
Saber took a quick glance at his two companions and realized their situations. Otuko was starting to get tired from all the attacks, while Lyra was struggling to keep up with the second angel due to her not having a proper wand for aiming.
With a click of his tongue, he returned his attention to his opponent upon sensing another of it's attack. He deflected the magic using his sword before fixing his stance. He closed his eyes, reimagining the moment in one of his dream about the man who used the same weapon as him.
'He was holding the hilt of a black sword, sheathed at his side.'
Saber sheated his sword back on it's scabbard and held it's hilt.
'Suddenly, with the white figures emerging from the distance, the man remained calm, awaiting their approach.'
Saber calmly observed the angel as it conjured hundreds of magic spells above it's head.
'In an instant, the man vanished,'
Saber vanished,
'Leaving behind a trail of blossoming flowers.'
Leaving behind a trail of crimson-red lightning.
'Beautiful.'
Death.
'Was the only thing he could think of inside his mind.'
Was the only thing the angel could feel in the air.
[Bloom]
With a swift and precise cut, all the spells it had conjured vanished.
Saber stood behind the angel, his sword remained sheated. Blood began to trickle down his lips and eyes, his hand slowly releasing it's grip from the hilt.
He turned his head to the side and glanced at the angels back.
"I...."
Thud!
Out of the sudden, he fell face flat on the ground.
"Failed..."