We are all in fighting position while Mia and Luna run away from the mages. The city has meanwhile fallen silent, and everyone stands frozen like stone. The fight between me and the two in front of me, the King and the Archmage, two strong opponents, maybe even too strong.
I slap both palms against my cheeks. The Archmage is already casting a spell that creates soldiers from elements. Thirty fire soldiers and twenty electro soldiers appear. I jump up and cast a barrier spell, then land cleanly again and run straight through the soldiers, who collapse to the ground and extinguish in the same moment.
The King casts a god spell that only the royal family can use. A giant golem of light appears and causes a small earthquake. I fall to the ground, and the Archmage immediately casts one hundred spears of fire that fly toward me, but my barrier blocks all the attacks and then shatters.
"Shit, I can't create another barrier for 20 minutes, he's dangerous," I think and grip my daggers tighter.
I run toward the golem and slice off two of its fingers in a flowing movement, even though I already put all my strength into it. I immediately create an elemental being that is a cross between a wolf and a tiger.
"Go, focus on the golem," I say to my elemental being and point at the giant golem.
I run through the golem's legs and sprint toward the King. The Archmage quickly erects a barrier, but since it was created in haste, it is only weak, and I break through it like glass and cleanly cut off the King's arm.
"The King is no threat, but the Archmage is too strong if anyone else is still around," I think and knock the King unconscious. But the golem remains, though weaker than before.
Meanwhile, Luna and Mia have also started fighting against a full fifty high mages. The two stand before them, slightly frightened, and together cast another fireball, which this time is probably as big as a skyscraper. They let it fall to the ground, and a crater forms, but thirty high mages are still standing without injury. The tremor from the explosion can even be felt by me.
I look down and see cracks in the ground. When I look up again, I see a giant fireball in front of me that explodes. Suddenly, the ground beneath me collapses, and the golem also falls down while my elemental being tears the golem apart.
"Now it's just us," I say confidently and smile slightly.
The Archmage does not react and watches as I lie on the ground bleeding. I spit blood to the side and stand up, only one dagger left in my hand since the other was dissolved in the explosion. I move too fast for him to react, get behind him, and am just about to strike when I notice his counter barrier. But it is already too late. He enlarges the barrier, and I feel my own power against my body and am hurled through eight houses.
I slam into the wall of the capital and spit a large amount of blood. My injuries worsen while the Archmage still has no wounds.
"A counter barrier has to recharge, which means he's vulnerable," I think while breathing heavily.
Meanwhile, Mia and Luna are still fighting against the thirty high mages, who create a fire-water ball and hurl it at Mia and Luna. The two are hit hard and cry out in pain. They are bleeding and their clothes are slightly torn. The two now cast many individual fire and water lances, while the high mages create a fireball, but Mia and Luna manage it first.
Mia's fire lances are weak, but still dangerous. Luna's water lances begin to bubble and boil.
I recover quickly with a healing spell, but only superficially. I sprint toward the Archmage at an unrecognizable speed and strike him into the crater with an unpredictable movement. But then I look up and see a giant comet of flames hovering above and beginning to fall.
I create a water floor, and a massive cloud of steam appears that blocks the Archmage's vision. I use a tracking spell and find him again. I run toward him, narrowly dodge his area flame attack, and twist his neck with a kick. He falls to the ground, and I stand there covered in blood because the healing spell could not maintain its effect.
I collapse to the ground and lie there bleeding. I spit out even more blood.
Meanwhile, Mia and Luna have also defeated the remaining thirty high mages. They quickly run back with worried eyes. They run through the small crater and then straight toward me.
"MIN!" both shout loudly and anxiously.
They arrive at the giant crater and see me lying there bleeding. I cough one last time, and blood comes out again. Mia and Luna kneel beside me and quickly heal me. From above, Suri looks down at me with concern. After taking a short breath, she jumps down and heals me as well.
Mia and Luna look at her in confusion because of what she is doing, after all, we humans usually hate beastfolk, and that is why they never help.
"I am Suri, Min's roommate," she says with a gentle but worried smile.
The two girls only nod and continue healing me, but some deep wounds cannot be healed with this level of magic strength. After twenty minutes, I open my eyes again and smile slightly.
"Why did you help me?" I say in a heavily breathing voice.
The two girls begin to cry and throw themselves around my neck, crying continuously, while Suri only smiles. After some time, they let go of me.
"We were worried," both say in unison.
I strike the ground in frustration that I was so badly beaten. I slowly stand up and look around at where the soldiers, the Archmage, and the King are lying, all unconscious except for the Archmage, who is dead. I am still standing there slightly trembling.
"We have to get out of here," I think and take the hands of Mia and Luna. The two blush.
"Suri, if you want, you can have my house or come with us and flee," I say to Suri hastily.
Suri nods and follows me while I run toward the exit of the city, holding the two girls' hands. No guards can be seen anymore, everyone is in an uproar. I reach the exit and run toward the forest, far away from Lagoon.
I sit down to relax. I am still bleeding heavily, my wounds glowing green as I use a healing spell.
"I have barely any mana left, we won't get far," I think and use earth magic to build a small underground shelter.
I fall unconscious to the ground, and the three girls carry me into the shelter and close the lid over the hole in the ground. They lay me down and then go outside to gather food. They nod to each other and run in three different directions into the forest.
Mia runs straight to fruits that look like a cross between apples and bananas. She picks the fruit from the tree and finds even more of it. She is just about to run back when she sees soldiers suddenly searching the area. She hides behind a tree.
While Luna sees apples hanging from trees, Suri encounters a medium-strength monster. She instinctively takes a fighting stance and creates several water arrows on a bow made of water. She shoots ten arrows at the monster and riddles it with holes. The monster falls to the ground, and Suri cuts off the meat to use it as food.
The forest suddenly becomes incredibly quiet, and then a loud roar echoes through the woods. The three girls are startled, and the soldiers are already too far away to hear it. The three run toward the roar and discover the giant black dragon, also known as the Hell Dragon.
The dragon lifts into the air, and the wing beats are so strong that a powerful gust of wind is created, knocking Suri, Mia, and Luna back. They quickly run away while the soldiers abandon the search.
The three girls return to the hiding place, and no soldiers are left. They quickly go inside and see me still lying there, my wounds already completely healed. I continue sleeping, but begin to dream.
A girl with a violet tail and ears and violet hair. I walk toward her, and the girl only smiles.
"Lisa, is that you?" I ask the girl in my dream.
She smiles at me even more and nods. After a short time, she looks serious and then looks down.
"Min, you are strong, no, not just strong, but you have become a human who can achieve anything with pure will," Lisa says to me.
She looks up again, tears coming from her eyes, and she begins to cry with a smile. After a few minutes, she only smiles.
"Lisa, back then I couldn't do anything, I was far too weak," I say to her.
Tears gather in my eyes, and I begin to cry, not only in the dream, but my real body also begins to cry. After a short time, Lisa waves goodbye to me, and I wake up.
My eyes open slightly, and I see the three girls sitting in front of me, worried.