The Long Night

The fuzzy scene played out like a waking dream, and it wasn't the first time Kamiro had seen it, nor would it be the last. Warmth enveloped him while he laid under a shady tree partially covering the morning sun that shined above. It was peaceful and far too comforting for him to open his eyes, but a familiar voice called out to him that made him want to try.

"Kamiro, wake up."

The soft voice of a female child filled him with a sense of nostalgia. He struggled to open his eyes while the voice continued to call out to him. It was always the same, as if he was stuck somewhere between awake and asleep, and the most he was ever able to grasp was the silhouette of the small girl.

"Wake up, big brother."

The girl's fuzzy image continued, but as much as he struggled, Kamiro could not fully awaken.

As time passed, the voice grew louder, and her tone changed with every call. "Wake up."

The voice became cruder, and the blissful scene Kamiro experienced dulled and began to shatter, bit by bit. Until the point of no return.

"Wake up!"

The complete shattering of his dream snapped Kamiro's eyes wide open, and he found Ayu desperately shaking him.

At some point after his talk with Fleur, he had fallen asleep. So much for being on watch duty...

But after his initial confusion subsided, he realized that they would be in for a longer night than expected. Kamiro stared at Ayu's distressed face, which began to show a hint of relief now that he had awakened. Looking around, the dark campsite was filled by a pink gassy substance that lingered in the air.

"What is this?" He stumbled up after Ayu, and they checked their surroundings.

"It's a sleeping gas. We have to wake everyone!" Ayu struggled to awaken Earla and the others, and Kamiro headed towards Fleur in the carriage.

He wasted no time. He snatched the curtains away and opened the cargo hold. At that moment, a voice came from within.

"No, don't!" Fleur said.

Kamiro barely had time to think while the scene in front of his eyes played out. One of the bandits had returned, but it seemed he was alone, probably just the one that Fleur had humiliated and sought revenge. This again?

Fleur was frozen with wide eyes as the bandit ripped the damaged talisman from the cage door. With a thump, his body dropped without notice, his eyes still open with a glassy appearance.

"No..." Fleur's eye's trembled toward Kamiro. "You have to—"

A magic circle appeared within the cage and illuminated everything with an ominous purple. Fleur grunted and struggled within; she appeared in pain and seemed to weaken by the second.

"Fleur!" With the cage now open, Kamiro reached inside. While he pulled her out, he was overwhelmed with fatigue, if only for a moment. They struggled off the carriage hold, and the others, now awake, rejoined them.

Ayu shared a shoulder with Fleur, who had trouble just standing. "So it was those bandits again... but, what is that?"

The magic circle in the cage had grown more intense and disturbed the space around it. Made of a mix of zigzag lines and shapes, the circle settled down to a slow, pulsing glow.

"It's... some type of spell." Earla said.

"You all have to leave... They'll be coming for me..." Fleur's voice was weak, but she forced out her words.

Is this why she didn't want anyone to open the cage? Kamiro looked around as a sense of uneasiness filled him. "I doubt that whoever 'they' are, will be friendly."

"Who's coming for you, Fleur?"

Fleur turned her saddened gaze away from Ayu and remained silent.

Ayu glanced at Earla. "Even if we were to turn back, we're low on supplies. What should we do?"

"We still have to try." Earla shook Old Bill in a desperate attempt to awaken the poor mule, the only one still under the effects of the sleeping gas.

Guess he's a heavy sleeper.

"Apart from Petram, the closest village is about a day away," Gregory said while he and Old Man Marvin helped wake the mule.

"Then, let's head out now." Ayu tried to lead Fleur to the front of the carriage, but she resisted.

"No. They'll only come after me, so you need to leave. Now." Fleur looked at the magic circle; its pulsing glow had increased in speed. "I think they're getting close."

"We're not leaving you behind," Ayu said.

"I have a feeling it might be too late to run-off anyway..." Kamiro unsheathed his blades.

"Kamiro?"

"We're not leaving without her, right? So we'll just have to stand and fight."

Ayu and Earla nodded, and Marvin and Gregory hid behind the carriage with the now awakened mule next to them.

"Please, don't! These people aren't like those run-of-the-mill bandits you faced."

Kamiro grinned while he tried to hide his growing nervousness. "Don't break character now, Fleur. That would've been a perfect time for one of your witty remarks... And it looks like we're not alone anymore."

Her teary-eyed face slightly reddened. "Idiot. You should've left me..."

Out of the shadows of the night, tall, dark silhouettes of men began to emerge one by one until the party was completely surrounded. Seven figures stood silent, in all black. Their faces were hidden beneath long, pointed hoods with only their eyes visible, and their bodies underneath matching black robes. Each wore a purple jewel-encrusted amulet around their neck.

Kamiro stared at the enigmatic figures. Were they even human? Their form didn't suggest otherwise, but a certain aura in the air made him question that. Fleur might've been right about these people not being your typical bandits.

The party stood with their weapons drawn, but no one dared to move an inch or break the suffocating silence. The heavy atmosphere made a passing moment feel like an eternity.

Those hoods... For a fleeting moment, their distinctive guise gave Kamiro a sense of deja-vu, but nothing came to mind. Or rather, he couldn't put much thought into it under such stress.

A nudge from one of the most unlikely sources finally killed the thick air, at the cost of some foul odor. The loud noise came from Old Bill; his behind was the perpetrator. The party glanced back at the unassuming mule in comical disbelief.

"S-sorry, he gets gassy during tense moments," Gregory said with a strained smile.

The untimely interruption was a welcomed relief for Kamiro, and even Ayu and Earla released the breaths they'd held in.

The black-robed figures were still silent but looked to have been caught a bit off guard as well, they looked at one another in a confused manner, but eventually, they made their move. Each one grasped their amulet and began chanting in incomprehensible words. The jewels started to shine, and the party readied themselves for whatever was to come.

"Wait! It's me you want, right? There's no need for all this..." Fleur eased her way toward them, and the jewels' light died with each step she took as the men loosened their grip and stopped the chants. As soon as she was within their immediate vicinity, two of the men violently grabbed her.

"Fleur!" The party rushed after, but Fleur's sudden cry halted their advance.

"Don't!... It's okay." She gave a saddened smile before facing her captors. "I won't resist, but I ask that you please let them be."

The black-hooded men glanced at each other and nodded in unison.

"No..." Ayu was on the verge of tears.

Earla shivered as she clenched her eyes shut, along with her hands holding her sword and shield.

Come on, what am I hesitating for? Kamiro stood frozen.

Two men hauled Fleur away, her body still visibly fatigued. The other five followed, but one of the men leading stopped them. "No evidence," he said, and the five nodded and faced the party.

Fleur's eyes widened, and she began to struggle with all her might. "N-No!" Her voice cracked.

Her fatigued body was of no use to her at that moment, but, like a cornered animal fighting for survival, she did all she could and used anything as a weapon; her teeth proved most effective. Like a vicious beast, she bit down the hand of the man who carried her over his shoulder, enough to draw a considerable amount of blood that stained his black robe with a hint of red. The man didn't flinch, but with Fleur causing trouble, the two men walking off smacked her face repeatedly until she was too weak to fight.

"You bastards!" Kamiro's body finally moved. He dashed after.

Ayu and Earla followed, only a step behind. The five remaining hooded figures grasped their amulets and began chanting once more while they blocked the group's path.

There was no hesitation in Kamiro's slash, but something didn't feel right. Did I miss? He staggered after the attack and looked back. All five black-hooded men stood undisturbed. "What the...?"

Ayu and Earla's face showed the same surprised look Kamiro had.

"It's almost like Emil's 'Void' but..." Ayu said.

Earla nodded. "It's different; Kamiro's attack went right through them as if he were attacking a specter. And those chants... But there's no time. Kamiro, don't stop. Go after Fleur. We'll hold them off."

He hesitated.

"What, not even brave enough to save one girl?" Ayu said.

He clicked his tongue. "You guys better not die."

Earla gave him a thumbs up. "I expect the same from you."

"I'll be back in no time." Kamiro rushed after Fleur and picked up speed while he activated his 'Liber: Accelerate.'

The five hooded figures didn't so much as look toward him, but two of them stood back a bit, with their unrecognizable chants slightly different.

"You think we might actually survive this? Maybe Old Bill and them can give us a hand? "Ayu said.

The girls glanced over. Marvin and Gregory were off to the side, they shivered in a tight embrace with the mule at the center.

"Perhaps not," Earla said.

While Kamiro sped away, his pursuit of Fleur was cut short when he crashed against some kind of invisible wall. "Ugh!"

It was almost comical, like a bug trying to get through a glass window. He slid down after the impact, and Earla and Ayu appeared to hold in a snort of laughter. Upon contact, an opaque purple, dome-like barrier became visible, and the group found themselves enclosed.

"Seriously." Ayu's stoic stare said all it needed to, as did Earla's deep sigh. "Fine, but you'll regret keeping us trapped. Invocabo Glacies: Ice Javelin!"

"Wait, Idiot! I'm still back here." Kamiro scrambled to dodge Ayu's barrage of icicles, which went right through the enemies without leaving a mark.

"Oops. That's right." She let out a nervous chuckle.

Earla stared at the hooded men with narrow eyes. "That chanting, can it really be...?"

Kamiro regathered himself. Let's try this. He activated his 'Liber: Paralysis' and attacked the five men with their backs turned, but like before, his slashes went right through them. Just as the attack lands, that point in their body turns intangible, and if there's no actual contact, the status effect won't apply. He regrouped with the girls. "Well, it was worth a shot."

"Useless..." Ayu muttered.

Kamiro shot her a glare in reaction before looking at the chanting men. "What are those chants? I can't even understand them, but it feels familiar...

"It... might be Daemon spells. It's ancient magic that was mostly used by the Demon Lord and their followers," Earla said.

"I didn't know that it still existed," Ayu said.

"You rarely hear about it nowadays. It supposedly allows for the use of unique and powerful spells, but they say that it comes at a cost."

"I see. This fight is not gonna be easy... " Kamiro glanced at Ayu. "Maybe we should use my 'Status Up' ability. "He prepared himself for Ayu's violent reaction.

"Well... we're waiting," Ayu said, looking away with rosy cheeks.

"..." Earla also seemed a bit bashful while she stared at the ground.

"Oh, o-okay..." He was surprised at how cooperative they were but didn't think much of it considering their situation.

Kamiro tried to keep a straight face as he embraced the girls. Even over their armor, he could feel their warmth and the shape of their body, but it was their slight, stifled moans and gasps of air that made his heartrate rise.

Yeah, this is never gonna stop being embarrassing.

While Kamiro applied the buffs, the chanting of the front three hooded figures grew more intense. A magic circle appeared on the ground in front of them and began to glow. Small monsters slowly emerged from within, purple sparks emitted from the circle while the creatures materialized in this world.

"Are those... summons?" Earla said.

Ayu began to thrash around. "K-Kamiro, what's taking so long? Hurry up."

"Idiot, stay still. It's almost done."

Three small monsters fully emerged. Bug-like in appearance, they were about the size of a large rodent.

"W-What...?" Kamiro's face showed his disgust and disbelief. He'd never been a fan of most bugs, and seeing these larger, stranger versions of them tickled his spine in the wrong way.

"Those are low-level monsters. We should be able to handle them, but..." Earla observed the enemies. Though they'd only summoned three, the magic circle still glowed, and they continued their chants. "...I don't think this is going to be the end of it."