Klava had fully prepared herself for a war that would see her at a disadvantage. With her parents' life on the line, she couldn't possibly fight with peace of mind. And even if she won, at what cost would that be? Because winning but failing to rescue her parents couldn't be considered a 'victory', at all. She initially thought she had to investigate their whereabouts, but that was not the case. An additional note had been delivered through the same means as last time.

One of her guildmates—someone who had been on the lower part of the hierarchy—had been chosen to recite the message in a monotone, controlled voice. Then, in a burst of blood and brain matter, the man's head exploded. It was a very gory affair, emphasizing how confident those 'bastards' were. She didn't care about the death of a low-ranked Magician, but the issue was that it happened in front of her guildmates. It was a slap to her face, to her status.

She couldn't allow that to go on any longer.

'Meet me at Klayvon Forest, Autra'Sutra. Sunset.'

The words echoed in her head. What was left unsaid was that if she didn't respect that person's wishes, her parents would most likely be used as a 'demonstration' of what would happen should she refuse to obey them. And that couldn't happen.

"Are you sure about this, ma'am?"

Piyeon, the strongest Swordmaster in her Guild, spoke up with a touch of concern.

"What choice do I have?" Klava barely spared him a glance as she draped a crimson, protective cape over her shoulders, "They're heartless motherfuckers. They want me to walk into their trap, because they know they can't take us all at once!"

Unfortunately, she couldn't deploy all of her Guild. They had to keep everything hush-hush, lest her competitors swooped in and, like vultures, ate away at whatever was left of the Guild's carcass. Only a few, trustworthy members could come with her.

Piyeon closed his eyes and sighed, "Allow me to help you, ma'am."

"You can," she agreed, "But your battlefield will be a different one."

He perked up, more than willing to lay his life at her feet if that was what she wanted.

She saw right through his mind, for a smile crept up to her face, "I need you to take Rafael, Yu Su, and Marcelo with you." she trusted them deeply, that was why she didn't mind telling them the 'true' reason she was rushing in so impetuously, "They have my parents, Piyeon... they... they... dared... to attack innocent people!"

"..."

Piyeon didn't judge her kindness, unlike what many other Magicians of equal power would do. She was the one who picked him up from the street, clothed him, gave him a family... and most importantly, a purpose.

"We'll rescue them," he stated, confident, "Evil won't go unpunished. I promise you."

Her smile went even higher, "I know. That's why..." she clenched a fist, her mana sweeping through the office, "... I'll keep them busy while you rescue them."

"How do we know they're there, with them... and not somewhere else?"

"We don't know," Klava admitted, "But that's the only leverage they have on me. I'd be more... incentivized to put my life on the line if I knew they were alive, and so close to me. Unless they're overwhelmingly more powerful than me, I can still find many ways to escape if the situation gets dire. I know that. They know that. And due to that, there's a high chance they're going to use them as a deterrent... in case I defeat them. That's why I want you three to rescue my parents before it's too late."

Piyeon was under a lot of pressure. Klava, the woman he looked up—and secretly had a crush on—entrusted him with a job of paramount importance. If he failed, he'd never be able to forgive himself. For that reason, he decided that he'd use any means necessary to make sure her parents were safe, "Don't worry..." he intoned softly, "... nothing will happen to them."

Klava heaved a deep sigh.

She could only hope everything was going to be alright.

---

The sun sloped over the horizon as the purple hues of the sky darkened.

Night was upon them.

Klava floated above the treetops, her 'Mana Sense' spreading through the entirety of the forest. It was eerily calm—the kind of calm that promised nothing but bad omens. Usually, Klayvon Forest teemed with wildlife and activity. Rumors said that a Wyvern had even taken residence at the center of the forest. However, that day, not a single creature could be heard. Piyeon, Rafael, Yu Su, and Marcelo had split up with her before they reached the edge of the forest.

All of a sudden, her 'Mana Sense' captured the mana signature of three powerful entities.

She immediately stared ahead of her, where three cloaked figures landed atop three different trees.

The mana presence rolling off of them was either equal or greater than hers.

"Who are you?" Klava demanded, barely reigning in her rage, "Where are my parents? Speak!"

"..."

"Didn't you hear me? You motherfuckers, where are my parents? Let me see them!"

Silence.

Klava grunted in frustration and anger. She loaded a hand back, ready to lash out a spell—damn the consequences. However, it was exactly then that one of the figures spoke.

"They're dead."

"W-What..."

Her chest tightened, and breathing was, all of a sudden, incredibly hard... as if she had forgotten how to.

"I told you..." the voice reiterated, a laugh following soon after, "They're dead."

That voice tickled a long-forgotten memory in Klava's head. Something she had carefully locked away in the deepest reaches of her mind, never to see light again.

The cloaked figure in the middle floated forward, and slowly, brought the hood of her cloak down.

Klava gasped in horror, disbelief, and fear.

"You... you c-can't be—"

"Alive?" Rainey laughed, "Or powerless? Let me applaud you, though. You were almost successful in that little stunt you pulled. Alas, you failed to kill me... dear Klava. You failed to forget about me. You failed the only job you had back then. And now, you failed to protect your parents too!" she cooed, "Boo-hoo! You're a failure, Klava! A big, big failure ~"

The peals of giggles that ensued were the biggest blow to Klava, who choked back a sob, tears pooling up at the corner of her eyes, "You... HOW CAN YOU!!!"

She rushed at them. There was no other thought in her head but that of vengeance, of spilling the blood of her foes. With a wave of her hand, a crescent wave of light sliced in half the trees in the way, whizzing forward to decapitate her most hated enemy. However, someone readily interposed himself between Rainey and Klava's attack. Jered flicked his wrist, and a wiggling mass of darkness shot out, advancing onward while molding into the shape of a spear.

Klava immediately retreated as the collision uprooted a grove of trees and swallowed them.

"What..."

She watched as her own spell was devoured, without so much as putting up a fight.

A flash of thunder went off behind her, and Klava whipped around just in time to erect a 'Mana Barrier'. A cluster of lightning bolts struck her barrier, cracking it, but fizzling out before it could completely break it. She canceled the barrier and cast hundreds of ice shards that flew at Jerry, following him around even after he avoided them. A plume of smoke alerted Klava, who pointed a finger at Jered. A beam seared through the air, and he responded in kind. His 'Giza's Gaze' met it halfway, easily offsetting and overpowering it.

Klava's eyes splayed wide open as she teleported away, just in time. Well, almost. A line of blood trickled down her cheek, but her mana acted up and healed it. She snarled, her orange hair going up due to the waves of energy she was emitting, "I'll kill you all!"

Another streak of thunder bombed her, but she swatted it aside with a swipe of her hand.

The bolt of lightning ended up wrecking a clump of trees, lighting them up in flames.

"Ohh... these old bones of mine need to take this fight up a notch," Jerry flicked the cigarette away, his face tightened into a serious frown, "We don't want Rainey to spank us later, do we, Jered?"

"I don't know... she looks like she might spank us anyway," Jered replied with a chuckle.

Rainey chimed in, "You don't know how right you are."

Jered flew up high in the air, and spread his arms around, "Jerry... can you hold her still for a minute?"

"That would be sexual harassment, good sir," Jerry had a shit-eating grin on his face as he zapped away in a flash of lightning, reappearing right in front of a very angry Klava, "Hello there, missy," his hand reached out at a speed that would have made any professional MMA fighter blush in shame. Klava smiled as she teleported away, leaving in her wake an array of glowing, orange orbs.

An explosion went off, the flames feeding off of the forest. Ripples of acrid smoke billowed up as the wildfire expanded.

Klava made the mistake of venturing a glance at Jered, to see what he was up to. But nothing. He was still there, arms wide open, as if inviting her for an attack. She didn't know what she was doing. What she knew, however, was that she couldn't allow it. Her danger sense was blaring in alarm. And because of that, she didn't notice Jerry plowing through the smoke and thundering towards her. Klava unconsciously raised her arms to parry the blow, but none came.

Jerry had flashed right behind her, his hands whipping at her back in a swirling cluster of lightning.

"No!"

There was no time to dodge, so she desperately hoped a half-assed 'Mana Barrier' would have done the trick.

The barrier barely had time to form that it was pierced through. A searing, paralyzing pain followed.

Jerry pulled back. He had gained the upper hand, therefore he hastily capitalized on that.

A cage made of lightning reared up around the screaming Klava, who couldn't do anything but watch as she was trapped in a world of white and purple.

"Jered, now!"

Jered was already prepared. With a dramatic, downward wave of his hands, the glowing-white spears behind him tipped down and dashed towards Klava. A cacophony of sonic booms went off. What followed next was a flash of pure white. Then came the deafening roar of an explosion. A mushroom cloud sailed up in the clouds as the smoke swelled out in every direction. The shock waves weeded out more trees and upturned the earth.

The destruction was contained thanks to the combined efforts of Jered and Jerry—each of them cast 'Mana Barrier' twice, so that only a limited area of Klayvon Forest received the full brunt of 'Rain of Death'.

When the smoke petered out, a massive crater was left behind. And in the middle of it, Klava—or at least, whatever remained of her. Anything below her waist was blown off. Her intestines were sticking out, along with fragments of bones and flesh strewn around. One of her arms was missing, while the other had somehow survived, though it was charred. She was covered in soot, burns, and blood. Even her scalp was completely burnt off.

Not an inch of her skin came out unscathed. Yet, despite that, she still breathed.

Rainey floated down and walked over to her. She watched as blood bubbled out Klava's mouth, pooling up next to her face. Her eyes fluttered to Rainey, her lips parting to say something, but her larynx was torn up, and with it, her vocal cords.

"There's no need for you to say anything..." Rainey had a sadistic smile on her face, "... back then, you should have chased me down... and ensured I was dead."

Klava looked away, a few breaths away from her last.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

A scream, laced in grief and hatred, rang out. A cloud of dust kicked up, and when it settled down, someone was standing between Rainey and Klava.

"And who might you be?"

"You monsters! You won't get away with this!" Piyeon yelled, his eyes bloodshot, "I won't let you!"

Jered sighed and slowly headed towards him, "She can't be saved."

Piyeon brandished his sword, pointing it at Jered, "Don't come closer!"

"Or what?"

A green beam flashed out.

Piyeon stared in shock as the upper half of his sword fell off. Jered waved his hand dismissively, and a 'Kinetic Blast' sent Piyeon flying right next to Klava, his ribs shattered.

He had barely blinked!

And now he was... defeated?

He was an Elder-Tier Swordmaster. He had spent years training to be his mistress' sword and shield. Yet... he couldn't use his body as a shield to protect the woman he loved, and nor could he use his sword to slash down the ones that hurt her.

Why?

What had they done to deserve that?

Piyeon tilted his head to the side, his eyes locking onto Klava's.

... at least, he had had the foresight to prompt Rafael, Yu Su, and Marcelo to escape before he decided to face off against the enemies.

Surely, they'd warn the Guild, and swear revenge against the cloaked ones.

The crack of thunder sounded out, and Piyeon looked up, struggling to get back on his feet.

A concentrated ray of heat drilled through his chest.

"Fuck!"

Jered and Jerry walked up to him, their cloaks rustling in the slight breeze.

"Did you tell him that we killed his friends too?" Jerry asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Jered shook his head, "Why would I? That was not my job."

"Fair."

"..."

Consciousness eluded Piyeon, but he could still make out bits and pieces of their conversation.

"It's not like we have to proudly announce that we squashed a few bugs," Rainey joined them, "Well done, you two. Klava is quite a powerful Royal Magician."

"Pfft. I was not even trying hard," Jered tooted his own horn.

"Pfft. I was not even trying," Jerry mimicked him.

Rainey rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright. I'll reward you later," she crouched down next to Klava, "Farewell, old friend. Your heart will beat inside my chest."

She cast 'Physical Enhancement' on her hand and stabbed her chest.

"Noo..." Piyeon wheezed, tears pouring down.

The light slowly faded from Klava's eyes.

And when Rainey pulled her blood-soaked hand back, a beating heart was in it.