Chapter 73

"The ferals were guarding them." Vicente pointed towards the soldiers in black gathered together.

Yu lept forward into the center of the feral pack, and when she landed the staff began twirling around in a fierce barrage as they went flying. Several of them began a series of counters, but Yu slammed her staff into the ground as powerful winds forced them away.

Yu's staff began to glow as she swung it wide shattering two ferals heads with little effort. They were caught off guard by how powerful her attack was but still surrounded her. Seeing the ferals closing in she was reminded of their actions.

While playing with the kids after dinner Yu noticed the new ones. When she approached them to play she noticed how skittish they were. Then she noticed the bite marks on their bodies. That's when Vicente told her about the ferals. This was the first time Yu ever experienced rage towards another being. Yu unleashed a primordial aura as her staff was enveloped in a purple glow.

When a kakuen unleashes its essence a simple stick could bend steel, and their tails can exert enough force to break a man's neck. Their entire body becomes as sturdy as the earth itself. A ferocious look went across her face as her canines extended and Yu began attacking around herself wildly.

Destruction ensued around as ferals went flying about, and the sound of crushed skulls echoed through the battle. A mystic prepared to launch a spear of lightning but a loud crack was heard as he went up in black flames. Lilith came flying down next to Yu as Kaya appeared to cover her back.

"Reign it in a little bit you're leaving yourself open," Kaya told Yu while summoning her bow.

A barrage of fireballs was roaring towards them, but Kaya swiftly countered with water arrows along with a chant. While soaring through the air they morphed into large spheres of water extinguishing the flames with ease. Before they could gather mana again two fire arrows pierced their chest.

Kaya began chanting as both of the vampires became pillars of flames causing others to scatter while Vicente began leaping through shadows picking off the ferals. Aleister saw them coming together and was preparing to break their momentum.

Aleister lunged forward to strike at Zack before he could recover his wings. Ren saw him stepping forward meeting his charge with a downward swing from her club. Aleister barely caught it in time as his feet sank into the ground. He began laughing at the attempt as he started to slowly raise her club.

Ren smirked as her aura spiked. Her hair began to grow as it extended down her back, and her horns had a similar response. Ren's muscles began to expand as her height gradually increased. This was a result of her essence flaring up in intense battle. She was towering over Aleister as he started to sink back down. Some of his allies rushed to Aleister's side but were incinerated by Kaya and Lilith.

"You're not qualified to fight my man," Ren smirked.

The spikes on her club extended piercing his flesh as it spun rapidly. Aleister was hurled away losing his other arm in the carnage, but after retrieving it attaching it was simple. She charged in to strike Aleister again but was swarmed.

With Ren's essence activated her muscles were difficult to pierce, and none of them could withstand her attacks. Any attack that managed to slip through was too shallow and rewarded with a swift death from her club. Watching her fight Zack realized why she never wore armor.

Zack recovered his breath dashing in to fight alongside his comrades. Aleister saw how powerful they were, and was considering fleeing. All the blood on the battlefield began to bubble as it gathered in the air. Seeing this all the vampires halted in their fighting. They only knew of one vampire capable of such a feat, but he was dead. What surprised them most was seeing the scarlet magic swirling Cassandra.

A series of large swords flew towards Aleister as they began attacking him. Aleister was struggling to dodge them, and knocking them away was too difficult. One of them managed to stab into his back, and the others followed as they disappeared.

Aleister dropped to his knees in pain. His skin felt like it was on fire, but it was his blood rapidly boiling. His body began swelling and morphing irregularly before struggling to return to normal. The pain within was excruciating as he screamed in pain. He stared at Cassandra dropping his head to the ground.

"Please stop!" Aleister begged.

Cassandra snapped her fingers as Aleister's body exploded, and blood rained down where he once groveled. Then Cassandra cut her hand taking the medallion that belonged to her father. She began bleeding on it while chanting a spell.

They witnessed Cassandra's eyes rolling back as the scarlet clouds enshrouding the city began to dissipate. When they were gone completely Cassandra stumbled to the ground as blood ran down her nose. Seeing her fall the ferals tried to avenge their leader, but a barrage of fire arrows struck them.

On the roof around them were elven archers preparing another volley. The vampires were preparing to retreat, but behind them appeared the dark elves. They turned to flee, but around the corner came Wade with his soldiers closing the final area of escape. Seeing the overwhelming force the traitors surrendered. All of the ferals however attempted to fight their way out and were slaughtered swiftly.

"What should we do with the rest?" Vicente asked.

"So long as they don't try anything we will let Emilia, and Madison decide that together," Zack replied.

"If anyone of you lifts a finger without approval your head will roll." Madison declared staring them down coldly.

With the surrounding forces and Madison on guard, none of them dared move a muscle. Madison intended them to be punished by the council if the princess agreed. They led them to the dungeon setting up a fire barrier. Once this was finished Wade went off to check on the civilians.

Zack was comforting Yu and helping her calm down. Sun warned them she would get wreckless when drawing from her essence. In their training, she was learning to use her essence carefully, but she still had problems withdrawing the power especially when enraged. With Zack holding her Yu was returning to normal quickly.

"I like your hair better that way," Lilith said while circling Ren.

"It goes back to normal in a few hours," Ren replied while looking to see Zack's opinion.

"So you shed?" Lilith teased as she narrowly dodged a push kick.

"Don't say it like that!" Ren retorted while clutching her club.

"I can say what I want," Lilith smirked forming her bident.

Both of them were letting off a strong aura that caught everyone's attention. The elves were gathering splitting into sides as the two clashed. Most of them have witnessed Ren training, and always wondered which of Zack's women was strongest. Their weapons were preparing to clash as a mana wall blocked them, and gold chains bound their hands. Kaya separated them with a wall, and Zack swiftly restained them.

"Will you two cut it out. The town will have to be rebuilt bad enough as it is." Zack scolded.

"Oversized children both of them," Kaya stated while walking next to Zack.

"Thanks for your help," Zack smiled at Kaya.

"Someone has to h-help you r-run things. Maybe it's time you pick someone to m..."

"You know the rules!" Ren scolded charging forward.

"Finally something we can agree on," Lilith replied with a wicked grin.

"I never agreed to that s-stupid game!" Kaya shouted drawing her bow preparing to fire.

"Now who's acting like a child." Vicente teased.

Vicente faded into the shadows narrowly avoiding Kaya's retaliation. As they argued Yu took advantage of the situation and was dragging Zack away while whispering into his ear. The only one to notice this was Haruna.

All Haruna did was watch the events unfold around her silently in the background. Everyone seemed to be celebrating in their own way except for Haruna. Throughout the last few days, she hasn't shown the slightest emotion.

To Haruna, all the things occurring around them seemed unnecessary. The front gate needed to be rebuilt, there are bodies in the street to be handled, and so much more. As everyone went about their celebrating she began her work. To Haruna, there was only the mission.