Just as the blades were about to make contact with the fair skin of the fiery, red-haired maiden, a sudden force yanked the cursed assailant away, flinging her back in the air several meters before her body crashed into the ground with violent force.

Her body strained, she was swiftly incapacitated through the sheer force of the mysterious power that whisked her away.

Focused on her own battle and similar desire to prove to everyone -as well as to herself-, the remaining sister was lost in her feverish craze. Strike after strike, slash after slash she too was slowly losing her senses as her mind was slowly lost to the sweet whispers of corruption so did any semblance of technique or skill betrayed her assaults.

Slowly, but surely, the girl's attacks were reduced to nothing more than swaying swings of a mad man (or girl). She struck, relentlessly from both sides with no particular aim behind her slashes.

Due to this haze clouding her senses, the girl did not notice her most beloved sister's sad defeat, nor that sudden appearance of the very person she too revered.

Once he noticed that the situation was rapidly trailing towards an outcome that none could come back from, Captain Don could no longer hold himself back and decided to step in.

Without waiting for his co-leader, Aiden's response, the old man suddenly vanished from his spot, as he rushed to resolve the messed-up situation with the twin sisters. Surprisingly, even though he seemed to be slightly over his prime years, the old man was still quite energetic. His charge was swift, much faster than anything the rest of his team have showcased so far. Within a blink of an eye, his robust figure appeared behind the lithe little girl, his broad shadow towered over the girl, yet she didn't seem to take note and continued with her attack.

Seeing that something was probably amiss, Don didn't hesitate even for a second, and simply grabbed the little girl, his large hands, like a giant vice grabbed the girl from her back and flung it away as if she were weightless.

Even then, as she was coursing through the air, the girl didn't seem to wake from her red stupor, her gaze kept following the figure of her opponent as she grimaced, scowled. Even as her back hit the ground, and the air was kicked out from her lungs the haze didn't seem to waft away and free her senses. As she succumbed to the void, her face retained the contorted, twisted grimace, only easing once she relieved control of her facial musculatures.

Don didn't stop there, the last remaining twin also seemed to be plagued with something that he couldn't explain. The light from her eyes was just as lost as her twin sister's, her attacks were just as much were slowly losing their grip, their technique, returning to basic, drunken, effortless swings.

Don could only sigh and shake his head, frowning at the scene as he stepped over, behind the girl. Even as his giant shadow covered the girl, she too, -just like her sister before-, didn't seem to notice the sudden change.

As the second sigh escaped his lips, Don struck down, pulling the girl off from his prey, and flinging him towards her fainted sister in a similar fashion.

In a moment, her figure followed the trails of her sister, crashing into the ground and only stopping as she got next to her.

Like that, with the intervention of the very captain they sought to impress, the second fight from three simultaneous ones has also reached a conclusion. Though they were triumphant in the end, the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet didn't feel that they have won at all.

On the contrary, they both suffered a loss, grave yet not vain, as both have learned subjects that they could improve upon. Still, as they looked at the twin sisters lying blacked out beneath the emerald grass, they could only frown with an awful distaste lingering in their mouths, souring their moods.

—

At the same time, the third, and last of the duels were the least exciting of them all. Although it was the flashiest, the presence of two ferocious war-trained hounds was already reaching the limits of what the mercenaries would be able to contend with. Each of the rabid-looking bites, the terrifying bestial growls needed the mercenaries full concentration just to keep their respective predatory opponents at bay. They couldn't possibly spend any effort towards the back line supporter girls, even if they were the important targets.

Thus, left free, Lily and Galina were free to unleash their own attacks, uncontested. A rain of arrows fell on top of the four unlucky mercenaries, whilst every attack they managed to cause was almost instantly healed up by the strange caster girl.

Adding to that, every now and then, a strange, mysterious invisible arrow appeared right in front of them barely giving them any quarter to evade.

From all the individual confrontations, theirs were the only one that wasn't tainted or ruined in any way. Just as both of the twin girl's fell to the ground by the interruption of their leader, so too did the last of the four fighters facing Sam, Biggy, Lily, and Galina have fallen on their knees only to sing the exclaim loudly with their hands raised: "We concede!"

—

As the fight came to an end the rest of the team, joined together by mercenaries and the young adventurers, have gathered around the bodies of the three fainted ones. Due to the lack of life-threatening wounds, this time the Mistress' enchantment didn't seem to activate, the girls weren't bathed in a pillar of colorless, bright, blinding light, pushing all the work and responsibility of tending to their wounds over to Aiden and his friends.

The air was solemn, though the goal of their little melee was to get to know the other, the results were less than favorable in the end. Though there were no grudges born, the strange twist in the twin sisters' actions was a grave omen.

Turning his head towards the mansion's study room once again, Aiden looked at the woman standing behind the windowsill with a solemn, serious look on his face. He didn't speak, nor did he had to as the message was painfully clear.

Knowing that his message has been received, Aiden turned his attention towards the laid-down girls on the ground.

Just as he looked over them, the concerned, worried, meek voice of her little girl, Galina resounded in his mind.

'Young Master.. Should I.. no.. Can I help them? They are friends, right?' She asked with a bit of uncertainty. Though they acted strangely, none of them have found a fault with them. They all have noticed and even discussed the strange happenings as of late. This invisible veil that has descended as of late caused more and more people to lose their minds, and in some cases, their souls.

The dark whispers, the gentle nudges during emotional moments have gradually reached into the hearts of almost everyone..

Being lost in thoughts, suddenly Galina was jolted awake by..

---

AN: Hey there Readers!

Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation!historical

Links:

/shaele