Maho stood there dazed, covered in her own father's blood, unable to act or protect herself from the incoming blow of the beast. Ioana jumped in front of her, holding a red magical wand with a sleek spiral design, blocking the attack by formulating a spell that solidified the nitrogen elements around them.
'Noxious Aegis'
A solid, glassy film surrounded them, but it didn't stop the beast's attacks. Its claws easily broke through the shield, only reducing the momentum, but the impact still blew the two women into Maho's wooden cottage. Soplat, holding his unwrapped staff, attacked the beast with a nitrogen-based spell to distract it.
The beast turned its head at an uncanny speed to face him. Finally, they could make out what had attacked them. It was a Rune-Spawn, with a lion-like face and a hyena-like body shimmering with rose-gold patterns all over its three-meter frame. Its towering presence filled Soplat with dread and a sense of impending doom. Most thought Rune-Spawn were mythical creatures, either extinct or impossible to encounter. Anyone who did meet one was believed to be cursed by a god.
In the debris of the collapsed wooden cottage, both Ioana and Maho stood up. Ioana, though suffering from broken ribs and bones, still managed to rise. Maho, on the other hand, escaped with only a few bruises and cuts.
"What is a Rune-Spawn doing here?" Ioana groaned, her voice strained from the pain. Ignoring her injuries, she moved toward the dazed Maho. "Move, child. You have to get out of here," Ioana said, shaking her. But Maho, unflinching, just stared at the Rune-Spawn. Seeing her efforts were in vain, Ioana changed tactics.
"Great Dimitris, sanctify my wand," she whispered a small prayer, charging forward to intercept the beast before it could behead her apprentice. "Change of plans, boy. Go protect the child!" she shouted, deflecting the beast's claws with a ball of pale blue flame, saving Soplat's life. Soplat crawled away from the Rune-Spawn, thanking his stars that he didn't have to face such a dreadful entity.
Ioana stood in front of the Rune-Spawn, diverting its attention from the others. She formulated a spell, conjuring five blue flaming arrows around her.
'Cavendish Bolt'.
The five arrows shot at blinding speed, exploding loudly as they hit the beast's skin. Gray smoke enveloped its figure. Ioana waited to see what damage her attack had caused, a decision she would soon regret. As the smoke cleared, she realized none of the arrows had inflicted any damage. There were only scorch marks on its rose-gold armored skin. She prepared another attack, but the beast charged forward with blurring speed, slashing at her throat.
Ioana was confident in her speed. As a mage specializing in aerokinesis and pyrokinesis, she trusted her reflexes. But even so, her opponent was fast. She conjured a spell to lift herself off the ground, narrowly dodging the beast's claws as they tore through the air. She flew higher, trying to create space between herself and the beast. The Rune-Spawn followed her relentlessly, undeterred by its inability to fly. It cared only about killing her, like a deranged predator.
Ioana prepared herself for the beast's next attack in the air. She had begun to understand its behavior: the Rune-Spawn was not intelligent but driven purely by destruction. Still, there were many unanswered questions. Pointing her wand at the beast's eyes as it tried to grab her leg, she cast:
'Cavendish Flare.'
A ball of condensed blue flame emerged from her wand, flying directly into the beast's eyes and blinding it. The Rune-Spawn crashed to the ground. Ioana grinned; her opponent no longer seemed invincible.
She conjured three more balls of condensed blue flames and sent them at the Rune-Spawn before it could lift itself off the ground. Ioana theorized that the creature possessed a unique ability that hardened its body when it perceived an attack, preventing physical damage—a defense courtesy of the runes on its body. Hoping this was its only magical skill, Ioana used the brief moment to catch her breath, her injuries still taking a toll on her.
Dust blanketed the area where the Rune-Spawn had landed. As the haze began to clear, the beast resumed its attack, but this time visible damage could be seen on its body. Ioana's theory was validated. The beast appeared partially blind due to her earlier attack on its eyes. She also noticed a small bruise on its back, likely inflicted by Soplat's previous strike, which further confirmed her hypothesis.
The beast was incredibly fast, but its speed became meaningless against a flying opponent. Ioana hovered steadily in the air, holding the higher ground. Each time the beast leaped into the air, its attacks grew increasingly predictable and easier for her to dodge. Ioana took full advantage of this pattern, weaving through its assaults and countering with well-timed surprise attacks that gradually inflicted more injuries on the Rune-Spawn.
After several exchanges, the Rune-Spawn stopped leaping and stared at her from the ground, its movements suddenly calculated, as if trying to strategize. Ioana held her position, unwavering, adhering to her motto: a patient fighter always wins. Without warning, the lion-like creature twisted its head at an explosive speed and shot a violet beam from its mouth. The attack was so unexpected that Ioana had no time to dodge. Instead of relying on her body, she conjured a spell to push herself sideways. Despite her efforts, she couldn't completely evade the beam and lost her left leg.
Losing balance, she plummeted toward the ground like a ragdoll. The best possible follow-up for the beast would have been a midair claw attack, but perhaps due to its lack of intelligence, it made the mistake of charging up another beam.
Ioana seized this opportunity. Conjuring the same spell, she pushed herself in the opposite direction and narrowly evaded the beam. A dust cloud rose from the beam's impact on the ground, and Ioana quickly hid within it.
Silence fell over the battlefield as both opponents paused. The Rune-Spawn prowled around the dust cloud, searching for its prey. Its partial blindness, combined with the burnt smell of Ioana's cut of limb, hindered its progress.
'Cavendish Kiri'.
A blue flame shaped like a dagger pierced the Rune-Spawn's head from the back, emerging between its temples. Using the dust cloud and the beast's partial blindness to her advantage, Ioana had snuck behind it and delivered the finishing blow. As the beast dropped to the floor, the flames burned from the inside out, melting its head in a gruesome manner.
Ioana slumped next to her kill, exhausted and severely injured.
As she sat there, noticing the surrounding chaos, she saw that the entire settlement was in turmoil. Other Rune-Spawn were attacking residents as they tried to flee or seek shelter. A beast, similar to the one she had just killed, casually strolled toward her with the same menacing aura.
"Damn it, we are doomed," she muttered under her strained breath.
---
Meanwhile, as Ioana battled the Rune-Spawn, Soplat tried to move Maho to safety. Despite the chaos just a few meters away, Maho stood frozen, staring at the beast. Soplat felt a dark premonition, knowing things had taken a grim turn since the Rune-Spawn's arrival.
'The girl's just standing there, looking at the beast. Does she want to get us killed?' Soplat thought to himself. He was tired of waiting and decided to move her by force, even if it meant hurting her.
As he reached out to lift her off the ground, a sharp pain shot through him. Before he realized it, he had lost his left arm, blood gushing from the wound.
'The Rune-Spawn… Is Master dead?' he wondered. 'No, Master isn't weak. Are there two of them? No, it can't be.'
He jumped into a defensive stance, preparing himself. He couldn't care less about his arms because of the more pressing terror surrounding them. Using his left hand, he picked up his staff—after all, a mage was useless without his wand or staff.
As if knowing this fact, the beast went for his left hand, but Soplat created a small, strong whirlwind to fend off the Rune-Spawn. He thought he was prepared—or so he thought. The attack on his hand was a feint; the beast was never interested in the young magus. It twisted in midair, aiming for Maho's chest. If the Rune-Spawn had the ability to make facial expressions, it would have been grinning.
'Damn it, I failed at the one job I was given. How pathetic can I be?' Soplat said as he stretched his hand, trying desperately to stop the attack from landing. He finally got a good look at the beast and realized its monkey-like features with rose-gold rune patterns glowing all over its body. He had underestimated the Rune-Spawn, and it had played him like a fiddle.
Maho was going to die, and she wouldn't even know who killed her. Just as the Rune-Spawn was about to tear open her chest, a solid, glassy film enveloped Maho.
'Noxious Aegis.'