"Mommy... Mommy..." A young girl cried out as she strolled around the underground refugee.

Short brown hair and eyes, with a red cap on her head. Tears streamed down her face as she wondered aimlessly.

She had gotten separated from her mother whilst everyone was escaping. The only thing she had left on her was her teddy bear.

The lights were flashing on and off, debris could be seen falling around. Everything was beginning to collapse.

She had no clue as to where she was going. She was following the sounds of people yelling and crying out, hoping the she could be reunited with her mother.

*Bump*

She fell on her back, after suddenly colliding with a mysterious figure. Looking up, she felt her heart sink.

Her body froze, trembling as her voice struggled to come out.

Ahead of her was a humanoid being with horns sticking out of his head. His hair was dyed in blood making its natural colour unrecognisable. His eyes were a bright crimson.

He was topless, making his shredded physique visible. It was covered in scars.

But she was too petrified at what the gauntlets on his hand were holding onto.

The head of a person. The face was unrecognisable as it was covered in blood.

The horned one turned to her, with an amused look before raising his arm up into the air.

The girl's legs trembled, she wanted to scream for help but it just wouldn't come out.

He swung his arm down, aiming to finish her off in a single motion.

*Clang*

But in that instant, the sound of a burst resounded from the other side of the refugee, and a trail of dark flames manifested.

Feeling, eminent danger, he tilted his body backwards watching as his strike retracted backwards from being parried.

his strike was knocked back in the very last second by a sword swing which had appeared out of nowhere.

Following that, the girl which he had just tried to kill, vanished.

He entered into a fighting stance, a grin grew on his face as he looked to the left.

There the girl rested on her knees, beside her was another female, slightly older.

Long silver hair, and golden irises. On her waist, two swords rested along with one on her arm which rested on her shoulder.

Behind her, the dark flames raged on. They didn't seem to be showing any signs of fading.

She gave the girl a pat on the head before telling her to sit back and wait.

[Delta, Come in.]

"I've reached the refugee. It was a long way down but I've found the target. Preparing to engage."

[What rank is it?]

She looked over at the top half of his horns.

"Red Rank." She spoke

[Red? The reports were true, they're bringing out their best. Tread carefully, if things get rough, retreat.]

She glanced over at the frightened girl, before saying.

"I can't do that."

[What-]

She cut off the signal before turning to the horned man and pointing at him.

After that, she turned to the red horned man before pointing at him. A flame lit up at the edge of her finger as she declared with a frightening glare. "You're dead."

The horned one burst out laughing before waving his hands, gesturing for her to come and attack him.

Accepting the challenge, she pointed the blade of her sword before charging at him.

The horned one, smacked his palms together before placing one foot ahead of the other as he bent them.

A strange fighting stance which she did not recognise.

She continued running, the moment she stepped into the three meter radius of him, the fight began.

She lunged at him, thrusting her katana-like sword right at his chest.

He avoided it by pivoting with one foot and rotating his body to the right.

As the edge of the blade passed right by him, he thrust his palm towards her approaching face.

*Swoosh*

The palm made contact with thin air as she side-stepped in the last second. Spinning as she avoided it.

With the momentum from the spin, she swung her sword again at the horned ones neck.

The horned one had been one step ahead, ducking down, before thrust his barefoot feet at her head.

His feet were also glowing brightly.

She shifted her her sword swing's direction, changing it to where his feet were heading towards.

They were going to collide, just as she had aimed.

*Clang!*

*BOOM!*

Her eyes widened.

Rather than his feet being sliced in half, as if a landmine had been set off, a fiery explosion burst forth from his feet upon collision.

Her katana was knocked right out of her hands and sent flying away. Her body had ricocheted backwards, leaving her open from the stomach down.

The horned one seized, that opening, sending a glowing fist right towards her stomach at insanely high speeds.

[Dark Flames]

*Swoosh*

He punched through a wall of dark flames left behind by her as she seemingly vanished.

At the same time, half of his entire arm had been cut cleanly off. He gave it a confused look, as it laid on the floor.

He didn't think much of it however, as he could simply heal it back together.

He quickly picked up his severed limb before placing it back on the spot where it had been cut off.

But to his surprise it wasn't healing. Dark flames were burning on his flesh, repeatedly consuming the flesh, preventing it from regenerating.

"Oh?"

"Dark flames... They consume everything. Your little trick won't work." She muttered as she placed her hand over the hilts to the two swords on her waist.

The flame began to spread as a result he quickly cut off the remaining chunk of his arm to prevent them from spreading any further.

"I was getting tired of fighting the small fishes." He said as he reverted back into the stance.

The exact same stance, only this time with one arm. His right arm was stretched out with the palm facing her.

"So what if you took an arm? It'll be healed before this fight is over." He muttered before letting out a deep breath.

At that moment, his entire body began to glow brightly.

The two felt chills go down their spine as he took a step forward.

*BOOM!*

--------------------- December Goals

250 - Powerstones - 14 Ch / Week

Golden Tickets:

Every 10 Golden Tickets - 1 Extra Chapter release, end of month.