A surge of noise began to run from far off, seemingly from the direction where the kids had run off before. Many steps were heard and yells screamed out, which caught his attention. The children and villagers all came back, bearing weapons and protective gear. Leading the charge were the three children from before and the man who stood up to the adventurers before.
"You think you can waltz here and take over our village; you must be mistaken!" Baxter said, holding a wood-carved sword and pointing it toward Truman."
"You got a lot of nerve to hurt our friends! You'll pay!" Mya screamed as others began to yell out.
"Y-you won't get away with this!" Dillon screamed, surprising many that his voice could even carry that loud tone.
They then began to rush in, brandishing their weapons, some real, others makeshift. In the end, they were all united to take down those who had infiltrated their town. Whether they could win or not didn't matter to them; what they did was protect the place they called home and the people who had taken care of them for so long.
Truman, seeing this, grabbed at his pocket and tried to pull out an item. Xavien noticed it quickly and lunged at him with what might have been left. The small sphere-like object was an enhancement he planned on taking in case he needed to restore some mana quickly. He continued to pull at Truman's arms, stopping him from being able to consume the pill.
"Argh, get the hell off of me, kid!" he yelled as he pulled his arm back to punch him off, but Xavien refused to let go. If he allowed him the chance to consume the pill, it'd be as good as over for their chances, considering the townspeople didn't seem to possess much magic on their own side, and he'd be able to stop them quickly with his output. He tugged again until he lost grip, and the pill slipped from Truman's hand. Xavien fell to the ground abruptly but saw the pill fall away from his grasp.
"Shit-" he yelled before turning to see some of the men in the village close in and tackle him. The men then began to pin him down and attack. Leaving Truman to the mercy of the now-equipped villagers. Xavien coughed loudly as the pain from being rustled around put a strain on his weaker body. But he felt a hand touch his shoulder. A bearded figure smiled with a strained face as he let off a green glow; Xavien realized it was nature magic the moment it began to slowly heal him. He looked at the person beside him; it was Rita. He'd typically jump out of his skin seeing her, but her face had been entirely focused on Terra.
"Is she…trying to take out the fire on her own…?" she said with tears streaming down her face. His eyes followed hers to see Terra casting as hard as she could to muster up enough mana to deal with the flames in one go as they grew. Sweat fell from her forehead and dripped down her face as she continued to yell her spell. The clouds in the sky slowly began to change color as they darkened to a dim gray. Xavien looked at Rita and spoke in a weakened voice.
"That's Terra for you… she's always trying to look out for others before herself."
"...Terra? So that's her name…"
"She's not the type to do things without reason…but she's-well, we're fighting to help him…"
He pointed in the direction where many metal clangs were heard amongst the screams and jeers of the townspeople. Rita turned slightly to see the sparks from metal clanging against one another. It was Dante and Gordon fighting in the middle of the chaos. Many sharp rocks flew in his direction, some scraping against Dante's rough skin. Gordon's eyes sharpened as he pulled a sword from his hilt and swung with his free hand, causing Dante to step back into his stance.
Dante glanced slightly to his side, seeing Rita and Xavien on the ground next to one another; he saw behind them what was happening to the bar, and his face shifted, seeing the Tavern set ablaze at the moment. His eyes then locked with Rita's; she was worried and desperate about the situation. She didn't speak any words, but she shared a look with him that he had seen multiple times over the years of her taking care of him. Her face slightly changed, turning from a worried expression to a small smile.
His eyes widened seeing her face of assurance, especially in such a troubling state. He let out a deep breath before adjusting his stance once more. His feet shifted in the dirt as Gordon began to laugh maniacally. His face and clothes were drenched in sweat from the amount of magic he had to use to fend off Dante. His smile only widened as he spoke to him once more.
"Who do you think you are, Dragonborn!?" he yelled in elation. He clearly had been affected by the fatigue he'd built up in the fight, mostly attacking to defend himself from one of Dante's slashes. "You think I'm just going to let myself be outclassed by a newbie with a sword… you're sorely mistaken!" he yelled sharply. Before he knew it, the man chanted as he lifted his wand.
"Terrae Cavernae!"
He yelled this as rumbling was heard from underground. A multitude of pillars began to rise behind Dante, causing him to quickly step away from the rising spell. He looked up as the pillars grew higher and higher. Shock filled the citizen who had restrained the other two adventurers. They watched in astonishment and fear as the pillars began to change form and slowly shift into what seemed to be a jail-like structure, locking the two of them within its walls.
Dante looked beside him as the two had been locked away from the outsiders until he realized why he'd cast such a spell to stop further intrusion. He grabbed his pocket quickly before taking an orange pill from it and consuming it. The pill breaking echoed off the pillar's walls before an orange mist-like aura came from him. Dante hadn't seen anything of the sort before but realized that Gordon began to fire off multiple attacks in his direction. Spirals flew in faster than before as one scraped against his cheek, leaving a mark before being struck into one of the pillars behind Dante.
"His attacks are faster… it's like his magic is back to full strength!" he thought to himself before wiping the bloodied cheek with his arm. He inspected the area quickly, as being locked in the confined space was the worst thing that could've happened to him as he felt like a trapped bird in a cage. Gordon grinned heavily, applauding Dante for dodging the sudden attack.
"Sorry, I had to resort to such tricks when dealing with an annoying pest like yourself. So I had to put you in your place and treat you like the animal you are," he said as he shifted the wand backward. A whirring sound came from behind him as Dante's ears perked up before dodging out of the way. The same spirals that had struck the pillar before had redirected within it and shot back even quicker, causing one of the pillars to hit Dante in his calf. He winced at the pain but focused his stance one more. He knew dealing with him in this terrain would be troublesome, but he knew his training over the year would have to be his saving grace.