Yuriko’s sword dance Animus circulation pattern had been active from the very beginning and by now, it had consumed more than half of her remaining reserve. Just keeping it up wasn’t a problem, it was when she attacked and parried that incremental Animus was lost.

Her mind raced as soon as she saw the creature, taking a snapshot of the scene. The tunnel here wasn’t big enough for it to properly manoeuvre but it didn’t really need to.

“Take them!” the creature called, and from its shadow, strange blobs of light manifested and took the shape of spiders that were at least as big as Heron’s buckler. The spiders jumped, legs spread wide, with silken threads stretched out between the hooked tips, ready to ensnare and encapsulate.

Yuriko was at the forefront and her instincts screamed at her, telling her to avoid them at all cost. Her sword dance told her another thing though, flush her blade with Animus and cut!

Swish!

The silk parted against the razor edge of her Animus enhanced blade, bisecting the spider too. But it was just one of many.

“Ifra!” Danazzo yelled while he drew his Plasma Lancet from its holster and shot at the bigger monster, ignoring the smaller ones rushing at them. Yuriko cut another trying to bypass her, while the others were blocked by the shield wall.

Wrong choice.

The spiders clung to the metal and the weight brought the cadet’s shields to the ground. The next moment, the critters crawled over and leapt at the exposed faces.

Whoosh!

Mikel’s flame blast took out the spider going for Heron’s face. Krystal had her Lancet in one hand, side-blade in the other, and was taking potshots at the big spider. Danika Lorn punched a spider with her fist, knocking it to the side and even though the creature tried to hook her arm, she was able to wrench it out of the way. Her forceweave uniform took the blow without issue.

The first clash and dozens of the spider critters had been killed. The next second, dozens more appeared from the shadows while the dead ones melted into black goo.

“Give me another sword!” Yuriko yelled while she retreated and fended off the first wave.

The Chaos Lord remained unmoving, the underpowered plasma bolts from the Lancets splashing uselessly against its Protective Field.

“Catch!” Heron yelled at her. He dropped his spear, drew his side-blade, and tossed it over, but in the process, left himself vulnerable. He paid for his gallantry when a spider pounced on him and webbed his arm to the ground.

“Heron!”

Yuriko caught the blade, and instantly, her golden Animus coated it, too, and it was brought into her dance. She spun about, alternating the second and the third dance, the transition was so smooth that it left no vulnerability. Slash, thrust, swipe! Deflect, smack, and parry! Her left and right arms acted almost independently, seeking targets and protecting her at the same time.

Before she could get to Heron, Mikel blasted the spider and burned off the threads, giving the bigger boy a burn but freeing him in the process.

Gwendith Sharine’s metal staff spun and struck, freezing each spider with a tap. Those she caught in midair fell to the ground before turning into a block of ice. The cold made her breath plume as she paused to rest and consider their plan of attack.

Each of the cadets fought to their utmost best, even though some were covered in tears and snot from fright. The Chaos Lord still hadn’t moved.

Yuriko counted ten cocoons, a single squad of cadets. What the Chaos lord wanted with them, she didn’t know but she’d see the Moon burn to the ground before she let them be taken away.

With the death of the second wave of spiders, she lunged at the Chaos Lord, weapons poised to behead it. The black goo underfoot moved towards the creature and as soon as it entered its shadow, more spiders came out.

“Argh!”

One of the cadets had been downed, blood seeping from a wound on her scalp, while the spider tried to cocoon her. The boy behind her tried to stab the spider but another one made it past his spear and pounced on him.

“There’s too many!” Gwendith gasped.

“All the better to burn!” Mikel yelled as he stretched out his hands with his thumbs touching and a cone of fire filled the tunnel, narrowly avoiding Yuriko and engulfing everything beyond. Yuriko skidded to a halt before she ran into the fires, giving Mikel an annoyed glare.

When his fire petered out, he slumped to his knees, completely winded.

“Futile effort,” The Chaos Lord laughed, its voice echoing in the narrow space and made Yuriko’s ears ring painfully. With another gesture, more spiders came out of her shadow.

Yuriko charged ahead, cutting down the spiders in her way, and when she came within reach of the Chaos Lord, one of its legs shimmered. Her instincts flared and she barely managed to parry the strike with a hastily raised blade.

An incredible force struck her body, flinging her back several paces. She landed on her feet, cold sweat running down her back. She’d barely seen the blow and it had seven more limbs. Those black beady eyes stared down at her with condescending amusement even as it kept its humanoid arms folded across its chest.

Yuriko’s eyes narrowed and she heightened her focus as much as she could, then she lunged, swords held in front. A part of her wondered if things would have been different if she had Fri’Avgi with her, but alas, that was not possible.

She barely saw the leg move, too fast for her kinetic vision. Still, she tracked the shadow and parried at the right moment, with both blades, and successfully diverted the force to the side. She slipped past, but the next limb shimmered and moved even faster.

“Ugh!”

She moaned as it struck her middle, flinging her back. She rolled on the floor head over heels twice before she twisted and rolled to her feet. The pain of the blow nearly made her vomit.

Almost before she could think, her Animus circulation pattern changed from the sword dances to Recovery. A flash of heat covered her body, and the next moment, the pain in her stomach disappeared.

Ptang!

“Now isn’t the time to zone out!” Heron yelled, his hardened air shield blocking the monster’s legs.

“Charge!” Gwendith yelled, and the cadets followed. The spiders were still burning and twitching from Mikel’s attack, and the ones Gwendith froze were still there. No new spiders were born from its shadow so there must be a limit to how many it could summon at a time.

“Fools.” The Chaos Lord unfolded her arms and held out her palms. In the blink of an eye, thick ropes of webbing shot out from its palm and its fingertips.

“Wah!”

Yuriko flailed with her blades, cutting off several strands while she leapt back. Heron hid behind his hardened air shields and Krystal hid behind him. Mikel was too far back. As for those who charged forward, they were completely entangled.

Even Gwendith, who spun her staff in an effort to fend off the webbing only got it entangled with her hands stuck to the metal.

“Ew!”

Some of the webbing stuck to Yuriko’s side-blade, but she managed to keep it off her hands. She dropped the weapon as soon as the Chaos Lord stopped spraying and, with the blade held low, charged.

“Ah, ah, ah!” The Chaos Lord said, even as the strands coiled around the necks of the stuck cadets. “Don’t move.”

Yuriko stomped on the floor, bringing herself to a halt. She glared at the Chaos Lord and didn’t lower her weapon.

“No, attack!” Gwendith yelled.

“Ooh, feisty.” It chuckled, “That will serve you well once you’re out in the Sea.”

Yuriko glanced at Heron and the others. Nearly half of the cadets had been caught in the webbing, though they never stopped trying to escape. The Chaos Lord clenched her fist and the web strands tightened.

“What do you want?” Yuriko yelled.

“Weren’t you listening? I want all of you.” It licked its lips and smirked. “Now, unless you want me to kill each of them immediately, lower your weapons.”

Yuriko’s eyes darted to each of her companions. Heron’s jaw was clenched and he was glaring at the enemy, too. Krystal glanced at her, face pale with indecision and worry. Mikel was still on one knee, gasping for breath.

“Why?” Yuriko asked while her hand tightened on the hilt.

“Ah, children. You despise us of the Chaos just as much as we despise you. Perhaps I should just eat all of you know. No, no, the Breaker said to bring as many as I could. Hie hie hie! But he’ll never know if they die from resisting against those I kill because I want to.” It tugged at the strings, bringing the cadets closer. “Now, either lower your weapons or fight me and die!”

For a timeless moment, Yuriko and the Chaos Lord stared at each other. How many of them would lose their lives if they persisted in fighting? But what would happen to them if they surrendered? Her thoughts raced.

The Chaos Lord started to close her other hand, and the strands around the necks tightened. “Surrender and you will have a chance to live.”

“No, Yuri, don’t,” Heron whispered. “We can’t give up.”

“But, we don't stand a chance,” Krystal replied, voice equally low.

“If we give up now, we’ll stand absolutely no chance,” Heron continued, “Worse comes to worst, run.”

“I can’t just give up all of the students!” Yuriko hissed.

“Hie hie hie! I see the fire in your eyes! Come, you will make an excellent vessel.”

It was that more than anything that tipped the balance over. She would not give up the sovereignty of her body. Not to anyone, and certainly not to a Chaos Lord!

“Get ready.”

“Don’t be rash!” Krystal hurriedly said.

Gwendith screamed, “Fight!” She grabbed the webbing, and frost raced up the strands and froze the Chaos Lord’s fingers.

Yuriko’s Animus had started cycling Boost instead of the sword dances as soon as she stopped moving, anticipating the need for explosive movement, and when the chance came, she was more than ready.

Bam!!!

She stomped on the stone floor, propelling herself and her blade as fast as she could. The blade flashed, trailing a golden afterimage, and it struck one of the Chaos Lord’s hands. The force of her blow snapped the blade at the base near the hilt, but at the same time, it bit deep into the creature’s wrist, digging until it hit the bone.

“Graaah!” The Chaos Lord reared back, but Yuriko’s attack wasn’t done, and she wasn’t the only one to do so.

The strands holding Gwendith’s staff in place grew brittle with the sudden cold. She twisted and broke the strand, then swept her weapon in a wide horizontal blow, putting all of her body weight into it.

Danazzo, who Yuriko thought had been caught by the webbing, slipped out of his coat and charged, his figure flickering in shadow. Heron followed behind Yuriko, hands extended and his hardened air shield materialised. It wasn’t its usual hexagonal shape, but was more like a kite shield, with a sharp, narrow point at one end.

Krystal, for all her hesitation, popped off a couple of Plasma Bolts aimed at two of its eyes. And Mikel, well, he was still on his knee gasping for breath while his eyes widened in surprise.

The combined force of their blows knocked the Chaos Lord back. It staggered and almost fell, but that was it. Other than Yuriko’s sword blow, it wasn’t wounded, and its eyes glowed red with rage.

“Ifra!”

Danazzo didn’t attack. Instead, he managed to move past its long legs and laid hands on one of the cocooned cadets, taking hold of Ifra. He slashed the tether holding her with a combat knife infused with an Empowered Strike and severed it in one blow. Then he continued running down the tunnel beyond, carrying the girl over his shoulder. There were still nine cocoons though.

And now, Yuriko was without a weapon, the Chaos Lord was enraged, and they were a man down.

“You’ve done it now!” The Chaos Lord growled. It reared up on its hind legs and howled.

Gwendith’s frost had snapped the webbing and the others had broken free. Yuriko readied herself to continue the battle, her Animus returned to the sword dance. Krystal tossed her side-blade to Yuriko, who easily caught it by the hilt. Golden light danced off the polished steel.

“Retreat!” Gwendith yelled, stunning both Yuriko and the Chaos Lord at the abrupt reversal. All the cadets seemed to have waited for that command because as soon as the word left the squad leader’s mouth, they spun on their heels and ran.

“Come on!” Heron grabbed Yuriko’s and Mikel’s arms, and he practically dragged them away,

“Wait! Come back here!” The Chaos Lord screamed. But she didn’t move from where she was, held back by the tethers holding the other cocoons. Yuriko saw its head swivel between the cocoons and the escaping cadets.

“But, but, the cocoons!” Yuriko wailed.

“Can’t help them if we’re captured, too!” Heron yelled. “We’ll look for help at the Hold!”

“Oh.” Yuriko grunted, “fine.”

She shook Heron’s hand loose and continued to run, even hoisting Mikel across her shoulder. Gwendith and the rest of the squad thundered down the tunnel, and soon, even the sharp screaming of the Chaos Lord was left behind.