"On your left!" I shouted, gritting my teeth as I charged toward the juggernaut.

  Null followed me, his fingers glowing a dark purple as he leapt into the air while his trench coat fluttering in the wind.

  "Luminary Bolt!"

  I pointed my hand at it, brag as I unched a burst of gold and e-red energy bsts at the monstrosity. I didn't expect them to do much more than stun it, but every sed ted.

  My spheres of energy struck its face, causing it to stagger slightly before it roared, rushing forward.

  "Move!" I screamed, jumping out of the way as it swung one of its enormous cws.

  A fsh of blue streaked through the air, and Elysia appeared on top of the creature's back, digging her bdes into its shoulders.

  The juggernaut roared, swatting at her with its free hand. She leapt baarrowly dodging its swipe as she nded nimbly on the ground behind it. I quickly followed up, charging up a Rank 3 Luminary Beam as I rushed forward.

  "Luminary Beam!"

  A beam e-red energy surrounded by a golden spiral burst from my hands, striking the juggernaut square in the chest. The bst sent it stumbling backward, its skin steaming and crag from the impact.

  I pnted my feet firmly in the ground, p mana into my attack as I kept up the barrage.

  The creature raised its hand to shield itself from the bst, and Elysia took advantage of the opening. She lunged forward, slig and dig at the back of its knees with her rapier.

  The creature growled, colpsing to one knee as the ligaments in its leg tore and split. But before we could press the advantage, a pack of five horrific wolf-like monsters leapt at us, their glowing blue eyes and razor-sharp fangs fshing in the light. 'Wolf' was a generous description, though. They were more like hulking, twisted, mutas, with wolf-like, snouts, heads without visible ears, and furless bodies ranging a gamut of earth colors, snouts. The monsters had sharp, spiked cy-like boes protruding from their shoulders, backs, and heads. They were far rger than any real-life wolf, and had to be over a meter tall while standing on all fours.

  "Shit!" I cursed, barely dodging a bite to my leg and halting my attack.

  I spun to the side, narrowly dodging one of their lunges as it nded on its hind legs and swiped at me with its cws.

  Suddenly, green glowing streaks shot through the air, nailing the two closest wolves in the side and sending them flying.

  Vanna nded o me, electricity crag around her halberd as she and Clipboard fnked me.

  "Need a hand?" She smirked, twirling her on in her grip.

  "Yeah, thanks for the assist," I replied, grinning back.

  Clipboard charged forward, his katana glowing with a a light, sky blue energy as he sshed at another wolf's head, instantly decapitating it.

  "Suiton:" Clipboard shouted, sweeping his katana up vertically. "Water Tide!"

  He gestured his hand, and a rush of water surged from the ground, f a surging wall of water in front of us.

  "Bst it!"

  Vanna held her hand out, sending a surge of electricity through the wall. Simultaneously, Elysia coiled up and flung herself over the wall, dismissing her swords as a blue glow emanated from her hands.

  "Frozen Fre!"

  She shot out a bst of freezing air, swirling to mix in with the wave of water aricity.

  The three attacks struck the juggernaut, sweeping up half a dozen wolves with the force. They howled and shrieked in agony as their bodies froze, their skin crag and breaking apart.

  Elysia nded in a crouch, a smirk f on her lips as she slowly rose to her feet. "Stay sharp, that's not going to be enough for the big guy."

  I urning my attention back to the juggernaut. It was still down on one knee, but it was already starting tee. I could see the flesh and bone in its leg quickly mending and ref, its chest shuddering as it sucked in air.

  I raised my hand, preparing to unother bst of energy as it started to rise. But before I could do anything, a blinding light fshed from behind us, and a deafening explosion rocked the earth.

  We all stumbled, shielding our eyes as a rush of wind a blew past us.

  "Dammit!" Elysia growled as I turned. "Sunlit Majesty is going to burn us alive if we don't deal with her soon!"

  She was right. Sunlit Majesty had been rainieors down on us since we started the fight. Elysia had thrown up a blue barrier, blog most of the ining projectiles. Meteors rained across the misty pins, crashing into a swarm of wolves across the field below us.

  "We've got new creepy crawlies ing in," Forest Willow shouted, appearing at my side with her bow drawn. "They're definitely not friendly."

  Sure enough, a mass of creatures had appeared in the distance all around us. They were rge and lumbering, with dark, wispy and shadowy bodies, and dozens of glowing blue eyes that glowed eerily through the mist.

  "What the hell are those?" Clipboard asked, gritting his teeth as he raised his sword.

  "No clue, but they look like they mean business," Vanna said, adjusting her halberd in her grip as she stepped forward.

  "I have a feeling we'll o get Frostburn and Sparrow here before this fight is over," Elysia muttered, shaking her head.

  I turo Null, who'd been standing back, keeping an eye ouation. "You said you were low on mana, right? I think we might need you to deal with any nasty surprises ing our way. Do you think you hahis?"

  He shrugged. "Holy? I'm pretty tapped. But I'll do what I when it hits the fan."

  I urning back to the juggernaut. It began to stand, its wounds fully healed as it snarled, blue energy crag around its wounds.

  I took a deep breath, g my fist as a golden glow formed around my hand.

  "Here goes nothing..."

  I couldn't afford to let them get too close. So as the juggernaut lurched toward me, I shot off a burst of energy, jumping back as Vanna and Elysia rushed forward, ready to intercept.

  But before we could strike, a fsh of yellow light blinded me, and a rush of heat and forocked me backward.

  "Ugh!" I groaned, my ears ringing as I stumbled, trying tain my bearings.

  Fireball after fireball smmed into the rge creature, slowing it down as it covered its face with its massive, cw-tipped hands.

  Molten rocks rained across the battlefield, scorg the earth aing the grass alight.

  "Ace! What the hell are you doing?" I screamed, barely able to hear my own voice over the roar of fmes and the thunderous explosions.

  She and Aurora were o be seen, and 'Sunny' was raining down fire and brimstone like it was going out of style.

  "Shit!" Elysia growled, leaping forward to back to shield us from the fireballs with her barriers.

  Blue honeyb-like shields formed around us, proteg us from the worst of the bsts.

  But the juggernaut was gettied, and I could see its skin blistering and crag as it tio thrash and snarl.

  "We have to make for the fort the sade for us to hold out for this exercise!" Null shouted, pointing toward the stone aal structure in the distahat thing's gonna regee in a heartbeat."

  "Um. Yeah, about that," Vanna said, shaking her head. "We've got a small army of these wolves and shadowy things ing up fast!"

  "Then we'll just have to carve a path," I stated, turning to Elysia. "Ready?"

  She nodded, holding her hand out as a blue glow emanated from her palm. "I'll take point."

  "And I'll bring up the rear," Null grunted, his sungsses shimmering in the light. "Just keep moving."

  "Right by your side, Elysia!" Vanna said, grinning as she gripped her halberd tightly.

  "Let me open up!" Clipboard shouted, sheathing his katana as he settled into a low stance. Blue lightning crackled around him as he gripped his sword hilt tightly.

  "Raiton: Uraemi!"

  He drew his sword quickly, sending a burst of lightning through the ground in front of us right as Elysia dropped the barrier. The shockwave sent the wolves flying backward as their bodies vulsed and spasmed.

  Vanna charged forward, soaking the lightning into her body as she charged into the fray, swinging her halberd around in fshes of red.

  All of us exploded into streaks of light as we sprinted down the hill. I could see the wolves and shadowy creatures rushing toward us, but we had to get to the fort before they overwhelmed us.

  I gritted my teeth, building up my mana as we ran.

  Forest Willow broke from our formation, rushing ahead to fnk an ining group of wolves. Her arrows whistled through the air in green streaks, nailing the beasts in the head and chest with deadly precision.

  "Let's go!" she shouted, shooting off another volley of arrows.

  Elysia leapt forward, her body glowing with blue energy as she unleashed a storm of id snow. "Frozen Fre!"

  The bst of id cold froze several of the monsters solid, and Vanna followed up, swinging her halberd with a shout.

  "Strike: Thundercp!"

  A wave of red electricity exploded from her, shattering the frozen wolves and sending their bodies flying.

  The additional hordes were a nightmare and closing in fast, but we pushed on, our ons and powers fring to life as we carved a path.

  "e on, e on!" Null urged, grunting as he struggled to keep pace. His ck of a full transformation was clearly starting to affect him, and he was struggling to keep up.

  "Just a little further!" Elysia yelled, gng back at him. "We're almost there!"

  Gnashih and glowing eyes surrounded us from every angle, but we pressed on, refusing to give an inch.

  "We're getting boxed in!" Vanna shouted, spinning her halberd in a blur. "We're out of options!"

  "Elysia!" I shouted, turning toward the silver magical girl as I felt my mana rea apex. "Shield the team! Now! I'm going to clear a path! Everything I have!"

  She turned, her eyes widening as she nodded, stepping back as she put her hands out, summoning another massive barrier around the group.

  I nodded back, taking a deep breath as a golden glow formed around my feet and hands. And then, I charged forward, throwing everything I had into e burst.

  "Luminary Art: Dawn's Glorious Explosion!"

  A scream erupted from my lips, and a massive wave of golden light exploded outward, washing over the field around us. The earth shook and trembled, and the sky fshed white as the force of the bst rocked the ndscape.

  Dozens of monsters closing in were ied in an instant, their bodies evaporating into dust as a wave of heat and force washed over them.

  The nova tio expand, ing the entire field and a good k of the surrounding pin before it finally stopped.

  My vision blurred, and I could feel my head spinning as I struggled to catch my breath. I sank to the ground, uo stay on my feet. And as the energy and light faded, we all stood in the ter of a scorched crater, surrounded by dozens of steaming, charred carcasses. In spite of that, monsters tio creep and surge from the hills and pins around us.

  There were... so many more of them. It was a stream of horrors and nightmares that took me back to that night at Refuge Zeta. The burning buildings and shadows, the screams and the tears...

  But just as I began to panic, a wave of warmth and energy flowed through me.

  "Hey," a soft, sweet voice chimed from above me.

  I looked up to see Elysia floating over me, smiling reassuringly. "Easy, easy. You gave me a real scare, huh? A burst like that could have leveled a city block."

  She held her hand out, and I grasped it tightly, pulling myself to my feet. "Yeah, I just..."

  She smirked, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Well, looks like that bst got us just enough time to make a run for it. At least until Aes to help, that is."

  I gnced up, and sure enough, we could see a streaks of yellow, blue and red rag toward us from somewhere beyond the misty hills.

  "We have to move. Now," Clipboard urged, already starting to sprint up the hill with Null.

  "What the heck is an hoo-god fort made of crete aal doing here anyway?" Null grunted, leaping over a mound of charred wolves. "The amount of resources it must have taken t that stuff here would have been astronomical."

  "Oh, that's just par for the course for a premier magical knight academy," Forest Willow sighed, shaking her head as she unslung her bow. "You'd be surprised by how much cash and resources, and literal a magic artifacts they have lying around. Although..."

  A roar echoed through the hills, and we all turo see the juggernaut looming over the battlefield, pletely untouched and unscathed by our efforts.

  "Shit. It's like we didn't even tickle it," I muttered, g my fists.

  Vanna scowled, tapping her fingers against her halberd as she gred at the creature. "It's going to be a real problem."

  "Oi!" an obnoxious, nasally voice called, auro see Frostburn standing atop some ramparts roughly twenty feet in the air, looking worse for wear. "It's about time! Thought you losers were gonna die out there!"

  Null snorted. "Frostburn's personality is still on point, at least."

  Elysia helped me to my feet, and I brushed myself off as the athered around.

  "You okay?" she asked, looking at me with a worried expression. "That was quite a bst you threw out there."

  I shrugged, rubbing my neck awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess it took a lot out of me, though."

  "Well, you'll need your strength," Clipboard said, nodding toward the battlefield. "That thing's still ing."

  "And we're still going to need a pn to deal with it," Elysia sighed. "It's going to take a lot more than just a few bsts to stop that thing."

  "Hey asshole!" Vanna shouted. "You gonna opee? We've kinda got a small army on our tail!"

  Frostburn smirked, turning and disappearing from sight. Moments ter, the fort's heavy steel doors swung open with aronic woosh.

  Elysia gently grabbed my arm, aarted to move. "e o's get inside before that thing catches up."

  "Man, do we even have enough firepower to take it down?" Null muttered, shaking his head as we made our the hill.

  "Well, we have Frostburn and Sparrow here now. Plus, I think Ad Aurora are already on their way too," I said, trying to reassure him.

  But deep down, I couldn't help but feel the same fear and apprehension building in my chest.

  We were still alive, but there was no telling what would happe.

  I gnced back at the juggernaut, watg as it lumbered toward us in the distas eyes glowing with blue fire as it prepared for another round.

  I could only hope we had enough time troup and e up with a pn.