Ryua

BANG!

Seven bodies drop like marionettes with their strings cut, their skulls punctured by the holy bullets. Ryua's revolvers smoke in her hands, the glow from the enchanted ammunition quickly fading as the creatures fall lifeless to the ground.

'Good thing I stole some of those bullets from Kael's stash, he left them lying around,' she thinks, her lips curling into a slight smirk. 'I doubt he'll care… he had so many.'

With a swift movement, she slips her hand back into her pocket, feeling the remaining holy bullets. The problem isn't aiming—it's that she's running out. As she takes a step forward, her form vanishes again, just as another creature lashes out, its claws raking the air where she stood a second ago.

'They're getting faster... but without these bullets, killing them is a pain,' she thinks, reappearing a few feet away, only for two more creatures to lunge at her from the darkness. Her foot twists sharply, and she dodges effortlessly, leaving nothing but a gust of wind in her place.

BANG!

The revolver in her hand fires again, tearing through another creature's head. Immediately, a black vine shoots up from the ground, wrapping around the body and dragging it underground with a disturbing speed.

'Where the hell are they going?' Ryua thinks, her frustration growing. Before she can take another step, the earth beneath her feet quakes violently, and a deafening BOOM! echoes through the cave. Cracks spread across the rocky floor like spiderwebs as the ground gives way, releasing a fresh wave of grotesque monsters.

Twenty-seven more of the hideous things leap at her, emerging from the cave walls and floors, swarming her like a plague. BANG! She fires a shot directly into the face of the closest one, its head exploding in a spray of black sludge, but the rest come faster, their rotten wings buzzing with an eerie, hollow sound.

Ryua jumps, flipping through the air with practiced grace. She slams her revolvers into the faces of two more creatures mid-flight, sending them crashing to the ground. But it's not enough—there are too many.

"OVER HERE!" she yells, her voice infused with mana, echoing through the cave with a deafening roar. She lands on the ground, instantly moving again, dodging a swarm of claws and snapping jaws. Her body blurs from spot to spot, never staying still for longer than a heartbeat, her movements impossibly quick.

One creature dives at her from above—BANG! The bullet blasts through its head before it even gets close, but before she can fire again, three more appear in its place. They come at her from every angle, forcing her to twist and weave through their attacks. She ducks, then flips backward, narrowly avoiding a swipe from another.

'I need to conserve bullets…' she thinks, gritting her teeth as she lands and immediately dashes forward again. The creatures are relentless, but so is she.

More creatures slam against the cave walls, crawling out of the cracks and piling toward her. They've started attacking the dome again—her comrades are inside, but they're not responding.

'Dammit, why are they sleeping? Did they get poisoned?' Ryua's mind races as she slams her foot into the ground, using her momentum to leap over a dozen of the creatures. The air whistles as they barely miss her, their claws slashing at empty space.

She reappears on the other side of the cave, but the creatures are relentless, swarming her faster than before. Ryua raises her revolvers, but there's no time to aim—she's surrounded. With a quick flip, she slams the barrels into the closest creature's head, sending it reeling back. But they keep coming. She ducks under another swipe, twisting her body just in time to avoid a second attack. BANG! She fires again, and another creature falls, but the ground rumbles beneath her feet, and more are emerging.

"Hmm..." Mirelith taps his cheek thoughtfully, his golden-lit aura casting a warm, radiant glow around him as he peers through a crack in space. Beyond it, Kael battles fiercely against Dúnadan, the clash of their swords echoing through the ether.

'Ilka, Ilka, Ilka... To think your disciple is the next one,' Mirelith muses, his smirk widening. 'I was so sure the gods would destroy your soul... What stopped them?' He watches the combat with an unsettling calm, eyes gleaming with interest.

"Once upon a time, there was someone who bested me," he begins softly, almost like a story told in secret. "That person became important, dangerous—someone the gods feared would ascend and challenge their authority. But that story? Erased. That person? Deleted from every record. And those who followed them? Slaughtered like cattle."

His smile grows broader, almost feral, as he shifts his gaze to a red, blooming flower on a floating wall, "Her disciple is in here, good luck finding them, Leena." Slowly, the flower collapses in on itself, its petals withering to a dark bead before crumbling into dust.

"Hmhmhmhm..." Mirelith's laugh is soft but full of hidden delight. He leans forward, resting his chin on his hand, his golden eye glinting. "The mere fact she had a disciple is miraculous, but the idea that her disciple has no chains..." His laughter turns to a full-bodied roar. "Hahahahahaha!" His whole body shakes with the force of it, gripping his stomach as if the absurdity is too much to bear. 'Kael... Mother Earth's system may tolerate it, but I know better...'

His golden eye flashes, fixating on Kael in slow motion. 'Your body... it's not human. And you... Why can't I see your soul?'

The unsettling thought lingers, but Mirelith's gaze sharpens. "Hmm... I shouldn't ignore her, either." With a casual flick of his hand, another rift opens, this one revealing Ryua, deep in the thick of her battle. The cave creatures swarm around her, and for all her speed and skill, she is pressed. "This race... I thought it had died off. At this rate, she'll die." He extends his hand, intent to intervene, but pauses just as his fingertips brush the edge of the rift.

'No,' he decides, lowering his hand. 'It seems Mother Earth has no desire for me to interfere.' His golden eye narrows as he watches the chaotic dance of Ryua's fight. 'How interesting... Their fates must be intertwined.'

With a final chuckle, he pushes his hair back and leans comfortably into his chair, the glow around him pulsing faintly. "It seems the calamity this time won't be small. I wonder what 'they' will do, what do they call them now? Devils? How funny..." His eyes flash once more, taking in the unfolding battles. "I hope extinction can be avoided this phase..."

Cough! Cough! Blood drips from Ryua's mouth, staining the already battered ground beneath her. Wiping it away with the back of her trembling hand, she glances around at the swarming monsters. "Hmm... I might die," she mutters, her tone eerily indifferent, as if death were merely an afterthought. Yet her cold, calculating eyes remain sharp, scanning the creatures relentlessly clawing at the ice barrier.

But then, something flickers in her—a flame deep within. "However..." she whispers, her teeth grinding against each other as she swings her gun like a blunt weapon, smashing one of the creatures with a force that cracks its skull. "It won't happen twice." Her voice gains an edge, steely and unforgiving. "I refuse to let anyone die." There's no emotion, no sign of hope in her voice—just the simple statement of a vow long made.

Her fist clenches, muscles straining against the fatigue.

BOOM!

The impact of her latest strike sends a monster flying, its body crashing into the cavern wall. The stone shatters, creating a crater, and debris falls from above, making the cave tremble under the weight of her unyielding fury. "I will kill all of you," Ryua growls, staring down at her bleeding, trembling arm as if it were nothing but a tool to wield. The pain is irrelevant. The blood, meaningless. "It won't happen again..." she whispers to herself, her fists tightening, her nails digging so deep into her palm that fresh blood flows freely.

'No arrows. No bullets. Barely any mana left,' she thinks through gritted teeth. "No excuses."

Her vision blurs as she lunges at the nearest creature, fists flying in an unending rhythm of fury.

"Die..."

"DIE!"

"DIE!"

Her voice becomes a mantra of death, whispered with each crushing blow. Blood spills from her wounds as she fights with nothing but raw desperation, her bare fists smashing into the creatures over and over—striking, punching, kicking. She moves with the force of a storm, each strike leaving a new crater in the already battered ground, but she barely notices.

Her breaths become ragged, every inhale a painful reminder of her broken state. Still, she presses on, her fists now slick with her own blood as she pummels the monsters one after another. "I... I will kill you all..." Ryua breathes heavily, her voice straining under the weight of exhaustion. Her eyes, bloodshot and unyielding, stare up at the next wave of creatures rushing toward her. 'Why... why is there more?' Her body is screaming for rest, but her will refuses to break.

With a roar of defiance, she charges forward, her entire form a blur of speed and rage. "GET AWAY!" she screams, her voice echoing through the cavern as she slams her fist into another creature, sending it flying back as she punches her way through the horde. The ground shakes as she leaves yet another crater in her wake, her blows so forceful the earth itself seems to recoil.

She reaches the creatures still clawing at the ice, her fist slamming into them with a sickening thud. Blood spills, bones crack, but she doesn't stop. She can't stop.

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