The golden light and the lightning slowly faded into the damp air of the underground arena. When the dust settled, two figures stood squarely in front of Lancet.
Both won were at least a foot taller than him, with their imposing, otherworldly majesty carrying to the ends of the vast, dark place. Even the summons of the Terrible Three felt their dark aura rivalled by the heroic magic of the two Legends.
Linzley’s unhinged giggling completely stopped. Her eyes popped wide, and her jaw dropped. "Holy shit," she squeaked in her high-pitched voice.
Muskard remained perfectly still, his eyes locked onto the glowing heroines as he studied them.
Caelem’s handso face twisted into a look of jealous awe. "So... it’s real. His powers are the real deal. It’s really you. Astensia Valengard and Thor Stormchild."
Thor barely spared them a glance. She slowly studied the dark, ruined arena, unimpressed. Around the head of her warhamr, the kinetic lightning still violently snapped here and there.
She then turned her head to look at Astensia, who looked back at her at the exact sa mont.
"What is the aning of this?" Thor demanded, her voice like distant thunder. "Where have we been summoned now?"
Astensia looked just as oblivious as her. Together, they turned around. Thor’s electric-blue eyes imdiately landed on the boy standing behind them.
Lancet smiled and waved. "Hey guys."
Thor’s eyes reduced to slits. "You. I told you not to yank wherever you please, whenever you please."
Lancet shrugged, standing his ground. "Look, I know you don’t like as a master. But you’re still my summon. If I’m in need of help, I have no other choice but to call onto you."
At the word ’help’, Astensia’s deanor shifted entirely. Her eyes, previously calm, imdiately narrowed to show her unbreakable dedication.
She turned her body, placing herself firmly between Lancet and the rest of the room.
"You are in need of help, Master?" Astensia asked, her voice dropping into a deadly, serious tone.
"Yes!" Lancet said, pointing a finger past them toward the opposite end of the arena. "You see those guys and their scary-looking summons?"
Astensia and Thor turned simultaneously. Their sharp gazes swept across the Terrible Three, analyzing them in a line from Linzley to Muskard, before trailing upward to study the giant, hideous monstrosities behind them.
"What in the na of the Elders are those creatures?" Thor asked, her lip curling in disgust.
"I call them Terrors," Caelem declared boldly, recovering his arrogant composure. He spread his arms, gesturing to the hulking Big Foot, the wailing Bathsheba, and the skittering, arachnid-like Sunshine.
"Our summons are far too unique, too sophisticated, too terrifying to be classified as ordinary beasts. They are the Terrors of the earth."
Astensia looked at the smiling Caelem, then glanced back at Lancet. "That boy does not seem like a good guy."
"He plainly calls his summons Terrors, Astensia," Thor deadpanned, giving the Knight a side-eye.
Astensia narrowed her eyes. "One who summons terrifying creatures is not intrinsically evil. It is the choices they make—such as threatening a single student with malevolent actions—that stains the heart and makes soone truly evil."
Thor eyed Astensia, then looked back at the Terrible Three. "That is a noble belief, Astensia. But looking at these hideous wretches? What I think is that they have been evil from the womb. Rotten to the core."
Across the arena, Linzley’s face scrunched up in deep offense. Muskard scowled and Caelem’s smile twitched, his vanity clearly bruised by the Legendary Valkyrie’s blunt assessnt.
"You three! What do you want from my master?" Astensia demanded, her voice ringing out with knightly authority.
Caelem grinned, malice in his eyes. "He knows. He should have just joined when we asked."
Astensia’s brows creased tighter, forming wrinkles on her forehead. She looked deeply angry.
"They tried to force to join a secret confraternity in the Academy called the Serpent Society," Lancet explained quickly from behind his summons.
"These guys are very bad people who rebel, manipulate, and kill for their own personal gain. They wanted to join because I had access to you guys. By extension, they just wanted to use you for their twisted cause, and they’ve been hurting and torturing all week to force into giving you up."
Astensia’s eyes widened, completely horrified. Then, that horror hardened into anger, her first display of rage.
"Torture?" Astensia hissed, the golden Grace flaring violently around her armor. "You dare hurt my master?"
Thor glared at the trio. "I told you. Rotten from birth."
Astensia reached back and pulled her massive broadsword from its scabbard, the tal ringing beautifully in the dark arena. She adjusted her heavy shield, planting her feet.
"A human only forfeits their life when they unjustly take the life of another. I will try my hardest to keep this rule in mind as I slaughter your Terrors and ruthlessly punish you for torturing my master."
Thor prepared her warhamr, causing more lightning to crackle around its head. "My true master is dead. But I am doing this anyway, because evils like you three deserve the suffering I am about to inflict."
First there was silence for a while. Then an eerie chuckle ca from Caelem. "Hehehe. How scary. But don’t think this is all we brought to fight you. This was rely the warning shot! A little display to see if Lancet would stand down and join the Society he’s fated to."
Caelem’s Grace violently exploded outward. "But if it’s a battle you want... then we have more summons! Co out, Lycan Lord!"
The shadows beside the Big Foot warped and twisted. A massive, ten-foot-tall werewolf tore its way into reality.
The beast was made of muscle and dark fur alone, its jaws dripping with acidic saliva as it let out a bloodcurdling howl that shook the very foundations of the arena.
"I call upon your endless terror!" Muskard yelled, pushing his red hand forward. "Enenra! Co forth!"
From the ground, plus or dark smoke erupted. The smoke swirled into a vague shape; sothing that looked like an unnaturally tall human, with eyes burning like hot coals.
Almost instantly, the smoke split apart, cloning itself into three identical, shadowy wraiths that floated ominously beside Bathsheba.
Linzley chuckled hysterically, reaching behind her back and pulling out yet another grotesque toy. "Say hello to Mummy, blondie!"
She threw the doll into the air. Mid-flight, the toy rapidly expanded, growing into a human-sized, terrifyingly pale mannequin with yellow hair.
When it landed beside Sunshine, the Mummy doll began to laugh along with Linzley, a sight that was incredibly haunting.
Then it did sothing even more terrifying. With a sickening series of pops, its limbs, torso, and head disconnected from one another.
The disjointed pieces floated in the air independently, twitching and rotating in a horrific display of dark magic before loosely reconnecting by invisible, spectral threads.
Lancet stared at the floating, disjointed doll, thoroughly astonished. ’Not the fucking chop-chop fruit.’
"Our Terrors are all ranked Grand!" Caelem gloated loudly and triumphantly. "That is just one rank below your Legendary status, great heroines! Even with your higher rank, six creatures with a rank just below yours is not going to be an easy task!"
He threw his head back and laughed. "It didn’t have to be this way, Lancet! You should have just joined when you were kindly invited!"
Caelem pointed dramatically at Astensia and Thor. "Legends? Give up now! Tell your master to submit to the Serpents and be spared the fangs!"
Astensia had heard enough. She lifted her armored boot and slamd it down onto the arena floor.
CRACK!
A fissure violently broke the stone beneath her. It crested a crack that raced across the arena floor like a lightning bolt, tearing straight toward Caelem. Before he could even blink, the ground beneath his feet exploded outward.
"Wha—"
Caelem was launched backward through the air, crashing violently into the massive, hairy foot of his own Sasquatch summon.
"You talk too much," Astensia said flatly.
"Nggrrhhhhh!" Caelem stumbled up, spitting dust and rubbing his bruised back. "How dare you! I was having a great mont and you ruined it!"
His chiseled face reddened with fury. "ATTACK!!!! SHOW NO RCY!!!!"
With that, the underground arena erupted.
Deafening roars, banshee shrieks, and psychotic laughter filled the air as the six colossal Terrors charged forward, causing the ground to shake under their combined, monstrous weight.
The Lycan Lord bounded on all fours, the Big Foot charged like a freight train, and the disjointed Mummy doll floated rapidly toward them.
From the opposite end, the Heroines charged as well.
"Stay behind us, master," Astensia said. "We will be done with this soon."
Astensia shot forward like a golden missile, her massive blade angled to the side, ready to cleave through flesh and bone. Beside her, Thor leaped, lightning sizzling beneath her greaves, her warhamr pulled back as the lightning around it hungered to be unleashed.
The two forces barreled toward the center of the arena... ready to collide. Ready to battle!
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