"How many did we manage to save?"


    Orion asked Kamala, who chose to look after the rescued citizens of Kaios.


    She was attending an older man who had been injured in his face, rendering him partially blind.


    "Too few. These soldiers sure worked fast. They killed seventy percent of the residents during the night."


    She sighed, knowing how pitiful it was to try and save the remaining survivors, but this was her idea to begin with, so she had to do everything in her power to protect as many lives as she could.


    "I''ll be honest, I did not expect this amount of death."


    Orion turned around and opened another portal. A woman came out of the portal, seemingly pushed by someone.


    "Get somewhere safe! Quick!"


    A guard walked through it right after. But he was fighting a soldier, who managed to cross over too.


    "?"


    He looked around and saw the survivors everywhere. He questioned his sanity, before realizing were he was.


    "The enemy''s bas-"


    The soldier couldn''t finish his sentence. Blood began to pour from his slashed throat.


    "Your mistake is my win!"


    The guard slashed him and kicked him back into the portal, before Orion closed it completely.


    "For simple guards, they are well trained."


    Orion was in awe in front of the strength of the guards. Until now, there was no casualties, as they avoided fights they couldn''t win, prioritizing grouped attacks.


    "You can thank Timothy for that. He personally trained these people to be able to defend Hocride in times of need."


    She continued.


    "But, they are only humans. Against threats like corrupted, there has always been casualties. They fare way better against other humans. What a joke."


    She was openly saying that her army was made to kill other humans.


    "As a matter of fact, if your guards were able to single-handedly fight Apostles, I''d be pretty worried."


    He laughed it out, easing Kamala''s emotions.


    "You''re right."


    She stood up after wrapping a bandage around the man''s eyes.


    ''I''m sorry, but I won''t be helping all of you.''


    Orion looked at the hundred or so survivors, all hurt in some ways.


    The only ones he personally saved were the people closest to death. The others, well, they would have to heal with time.


    He opened another portal.


    ''My headache is slowly diminishing. It''s getting easier to deal with.''


    Slowly, his magic use was beginning to lower. The constant use of large amount of energy caused his body to create more magic in return.


    But to say that he wasn''t exhausting would be a lie. He still had to be in good shape if he wanted to fight against Ivan.


    True, he didn''t have to fight alone, or even be the center of the fight, but he refused to look useless.


    ''I''ll keep my fatigue level in mind, in case I suddenly need her help.''


    ''I don''t really want to depend on her though. Once you start to rely on someone, it becomes harder to not return for more.''


    He was in deep thoughts.


    "Any informations about Ivan?"


    Kamala brought him out of his thinking.


    "No, so far, even the soldiers have no idea why their Lord doesn''t move."


    "That is great. Knowing that he hasn''t come out is still good news for us. We have to save as many citizens as possible before our attention is diverted to him."


    Orion nodded, knowing that the moment Ivan showed up, he wouldn''t be able to create portals for the rescuers anymore, and Kamala would be unable to take care of the survivors either.


    ''I''ll have to bring Amelia and Karteira back at some point. How are they doing?''


    He focused his senses on the portals that were on their back.


    ~


    ''I haven''t found anyone. Maybe there''s no other survivor to be rescued?''


    Amelia walked through the rubbles of an house, watching out not to walk on a corpse.


    *Crack*


    A sound surprised her that came from her right side.


    "Someone''s here?"


    "Amelia?"


    Karteira popped her head from the other side of the destroyed house.


    "Karteira? How did you arrive here?"


    "I walked around?"


    The two girls finally regrouped after rummaging through the city in search of life.


    "Amelia, you need to be saved?"


    "Of course not."


    Karteira joked for a second, while Amelia shrugged, a smile on her face.


    Stolen story; please report.


    "Are you alright? Orion told me that you two saw something pretty horrible."


    "I am fine. I''ll explain while we move, we can''t stay in one place for too long."


    Karteira nodded, before they walked out of the house into the main road.


    Amelia explained what she saw and did, and how inhuman these soldiers were.


    "I see. I also almost lost control."


    Karteira explained next her first encounter.


    "Thanks to Orion, I was able to calm down."


    "It''s the same for both of us it seems."


    They looked at each other and smiled warmly.


    "How many did you rescue?"


    Since they were technically in a competition, Amelia asked the result so far.


    "Three. I haven''t found anyone since."


    "I saved three too. I think we''ve done everything we could."


    "You''re right. I''d say it''s a draw, but..."


    "Yes, let''s forget about that part."


    As they continued walking on the main road, they suddenly came to a stop.


    "Looks like we have company."


    "Good, I was feeling bored, I haven''t fought anyone since coming here."


    Karteira slammed her fist together, looking at the platoon of soldiers that barred the road.


    "Cerulean Storm!"


    Karteira''s new ability that she worked on during the whole month of training, and that bore fruit epecially during the last week was finally being used.


    ''This is the perfect opportunity to try it out.''


    Her plates began to move and place themselves all over her body, covering everything under a thick layer of protection.


    But she wasn''t ready yet. There was no real changes except the openings on her back, and the two large container like plates on her thighs.


    The ability wasn''t complete.


    "Amelia, support please."


    She nodded and brought her fire element out.


    As all the soldiers were running toward them, Amelia threw a ray of fire toward Karteira''s back, heating her whole body.


    The heat accumulated. More and more pressure was exerted inside her.


    *PSSSSSSH*


    Steam exploded through the slight openings on her back. As if to repeat the fight against the Fire Corrupted Lord, she had almost the same look.


    A cape of steam began to continuously form behind her.


    "Thanks Amelia. I''ll return if I need more."


    "Go get them."


    Amelia cheered her friend, as she prepared to lunge at the enemies.


    "I''m going."


    Karteira placed one hand on the ground and crouched a little bit. The two storage units on her thighs opened and released a burst of steam that pushed her forward.


    In a second, she was in front of the soldiers.


    "Were did she-"


    The man couldn''t finish, as a good amount of them were thrown in the air or pushed back by the force at which she hit them.


    She was slightly repelled by the strength of the impact, which a soldier who was not staggered saw as a chance.


    "I''ll bring you down!"


    Karteira didn''t even blinked. The storage unit on her right side opened and pushed her out of the way of the attack.


    She moved with a small burst, just enough to counter the soldier attacking her.


    A kick was thrown at him on his right side.


    *Cough*


    The man breathed for air, but couldn''t endure it and fell to the ground.


    ''Weak. Orion would have already dispatched you in a single breath.''


    She was determined to finish this quickly. Wanting to be closer to Orion''s strength was her goal.


    When she saw most of the soldiers stand up from her previous attack, the steam pushed her backward.


    Her right leg moved forward, and she disappeared once again.


    One by one, she attacked each soldiers with devastating punches and kicks.


    Some resisted, but some weren''t that lucky. She connected each strike after the other, moving freely between them as if she was air itself.


    ''I''m running out of steam. I''ll retreat for now.''


    She turned to kick a soldier in the face and used his falling body to jump in the air. With the remaining steam she had, she threw her body toward Amelia.


    Her feet touched the pavement and slide for a few meters, passing Amelia.


    "I still have a hard time controlling big bursts."


    "I saw that."


    She did great moving around, doing precise movement, and gauging the amount of released steam to move around, but the further she needed to go, the harder she found it to gauge.


    "Are you staying in this form? Or do I empower you again?"


    Karteira thought about her proposition. She looked at the remaining soldiers.


    Out of the fifty people, only thirteen remained. One was looking especially fine.


    "Amelia! Behind me!"


    Confused, she still ran behind her.


    "Cerulean Eagis!"


    Her plates changed rapidly, and two shields appeared on her forearms.


    She crouched with Amelia.


    *Bang* *Cling* *Bang* *Cling*


    The soldier that was in a better shape took out a gun and shot at Karteira.


    She defended perfectly the bullets. Metal, even at high speed, wasn''t able to damage her strongest defense.


    The work she did after Dramia injured her arm during their past training made her realize how important protecting her arms was.


    Instead of remaining powerless, she thought of many possibilities.


    And what she found was that she didn''t need the plates on her back. Every plates on her back were moved to protect her legs, arms, and front.


    She even placed a protective plate on her head, just in case.


    "Thanks, Karteira. Always quick to see those details."


    "Don''t worry about that. Are you alright?"


    "I''m fine. And you?"


    "I''m enduring it. It doesn''t hurt like before at least."


    *Bang* *Cling*


    The impacts of the bullets made her slightly move her arms up and down, but she remained still.


    "I''ll wait until his cartridge is empty, then I''ll do something about him."


    "If we don''t do anything quickly, the remaining soldiers will surround us."


    "Don''t worry, I have an idea."


    Karteira nodded, and they both waited for the man to unload everything at her.


    *Click*


    "Now!"


    She screamed to notify Amelia.


    "Ceres!"


    The earth dagger, Ceres, formed in Amelia''s left hand.


    She jumped over Karteira, and threw the dagger toward the man''s feet. As he was reloading, he didn''t see it coming.


    The dagger pierced the pavement.


    "Now!"


    The dagger disappeared, leaving behind it a sudden rumble.


    A two meters high rocky wall appeared in front of him where the dagger touched the ground, blocking his sight instantly.


    Ceres reformed in her hands, before being thrown again, but this time on the wall.


    It hit the wall, and disappeared once again.


    "ARG!"


    The man screamed behind the wall as blood began to flow on both side of the wall.


    "Leima!"


    With her lightning dagger, Amelia ran with the "Swift Wind" ability, enhancing her movements, toward the remaining soldiers.


    One by one, they fell lifeless to the ground. After dodging one swing, she cut them without mercy.


    ''They don''t look corrupted. Why are they doing this?''


    She questioned the sanity of the soldiers that were dying in front of her.


    ''Orion said that everyone had their vices, transforming them into corrupted.''


    The question was hard to answer.


    ''Oh, maybe these were the ones that maintained their sanity. The ones having losing it were the ones sent toward Hocride.''


    To try her theory, she did what Karteira did before. She smashed the last soldiers belly, were the core should be if he was corrupted.


    She tried at least, because his armor was too hard for her. She wasn''t a super-human.


    "I''ll do it."


    Karteira seemingly understood what Amelia wanted to do, so she removed all of her plates, and only formed a gauntlet on her right arm.


    Amelia looked at the poor soldier that was on the ground, losing blood rapidly for having his arm cut.


    There was no pity in her eyes.


    "Right... there!"


    "A-"


    The man couldn''t even scream in pain, because a black stone clogged his throat, before being ejected of his mouth.


    The black stone instantly evaporated, killing the man in the process.


    "I knew it."


    "These guys are perfect corrupted humans. They have retained their senses."


    Amelia spoke to Karteira, and by extension, to Orion. She knew he was listening.


    "What does that mean for us? That we have to be more careful?"


    "Definitely. Remember, the Apostles are supposed to have drunk a large amount of corruption. What would happen if they regained their senses?"


    And just when she finished saying that.


    *BZZZZZZZT*


    A lightning spear flew out of the castle''s window, toward the girls.


    "Shit!"


    Karteira was going to protect both of them, but she would be too late.


    Two hands appeared behind them and grabbed their arms, dragging them backward.


    "I won''t let that happen."


    Orion dragged them through a portal, and closed it before the spear touched the spot where the girls were standing at.


    *BOOOM*


    From their headquarter, Orion saw a lightning strike hit.


    "Thanks Orion!"


    Amelia hugged him.


    "That was close. I guess we have to move now."


    He looked at Kamala, who was ready to fight.


    "Yes. We have a debt to settle with him."


    Lightning began to crash all over the city. There was no other survivor, the city was empty, or being emptied.


    The remaining soldiers still alive were reduced to ashes by the lightning, leaving no one behind. Before long, the city was completely destroyed, leaving only Ivan sitting on his throne.


    "He really flattened his whole city."


    Karteira was shocked. This was the power of a corrupted Apostle.


    "Amelia, Karteira. We leave this place to you."


    Orion said, walking forward.


    "Yes./Of course!"


    He nodded. Kamala arrived next to him and stopped.


    "It''s our time now."


    "Yes. It''s our fight from this point."


    Under the blazing sun, three people were about to unleash everything.