The man in a black robe extended his palm as the runes around his hand converged into a ball of blue light. The light then turned into a myriad of colors, and each color from the spectrum of light shot out like a laser toward the white-robed assailant. A woman in a white robe, with brown hair tied in a ponytail, ran in front of her comrades. The golden device on her hand shone, creating a translucent shield of light. Behind her, a man with dark hair and an aged look held a charm shaped like a rosary and muttered incomprehensibly. Then, he opened his eyes and shouted, "SLOW!" as the lasers were slowed down.
The abnormally slow lasers hit the woman's shield, bouncing off of it. Once the attack was over, the woman raised her head and shouted at a young man in a similar robe with black hair.
"ATTACK!"
The young man nodded and charged at the dark-robed man—no, the dark-robed mage—at full speed, a blade of light forming in his hands as he ran forward. The young man slashed horizontally, and a blue light shone at the mage's feet as an explosion launched the mage back a considerable distance.
The young man sneered with murderous intent as he threw a hidden blade of light at the mage.
The mage was in midair, and the blade cut through the air at breakneck speed, reaching him in a fraction of a second. But as the blade hit the mage, it seemingly passed through him as if the man was no more solid than the air it had cut moments before, disintegrating a wall behind him.
Everyone froze as the mage landed on the ground, only for his image to become hazy and disappear. The young man's eyes narrowed as he quickly turned his gaze to the brown-haired woman with the ponytail.
"ROSE, ABOVE YOU!"
The woman named Rose looked up as the mage appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The mage's eyes gleamed with elation as he held a knife etched with complicated glowing white runes. There wasn't enough time for Rose to raise her magical shield in the air to stop the attack, and from the look of it, being hit by that knife wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
The mage pounced, the runic knife cutting through the air as it aimed for the woman's neck. However, the mage's movements suddenly became abnormally slow, even defying the laws of gravity.
The mage's eyes shifted to the aged man, whose hands were still on the rosary. The mage glared at the man with silent wrath.
Rose managed to raise her shield in time to block the attack, and the gauntlet on her other arm glowed with a golden white light. She lunged forward, striking the mage in the gut with immense force, the sound of the mage's bones cracking as he was launched back. The mage slowly stood up, spitting crimson blood. The young man soon arrived, standing next to Rose. The mage summoned his runes once again, and Rose raised her shield.
Damien watched, his eyes glued to the scene in disbelief. All prior doubts had been cleared from his mind: this world wasn't his.