The Axman Cometh

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 34, Post Number 826

-Fat Monsterland, 11:00 P.M.-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with black bike shorts on underneath the skirt, Leona wore her Argent Gloves on her hands, her Silver Longsword in the scabbard on her left hip, and her new Scout Laser Pistol in its holster on her right hip plus Ses Revanche in her right boot. Leona had acquired the pistol less than a week ago and it had already proven to be easier to carry than her Ranger Laser Rifle. The pistol rested securely in its holster on her right hip, meaning that she did not have to worry about it moving about while she moved. It was also lighter to carry, but convenience counted for less than firepower, an aspect of the weapon that she would test tonight.

The Order of Lightbringers had learned from documents recently taken from a raid on a cult's headquarters that the cult in question was going to perform a ritual of some sort in the area tonight around midnight. Leona's job was to investigate it and stop the cult from completing the ritual. If she was unable to stop the ritual from taking place then she was tasked with defeating whatever entity was summoned by the ritual. As usual the Wizard Saint would be working alone since the Order had sent its forces elsewhere and thus could not spare anyone to assist her with this task.

Leona walked into a large clearing where several zombies stood motionless about fifteen meters away from her. She saw that they were carrying axes and their blades gleamed in the moonlight; their choice of weapon made close combat with more than one of them a risky proposition. Fortunately for her she did not have to get anywhere near them to take them down... she could use either pistol or spell to eliminate them. Leona took the Scout Laser Pistol out of its holster with her right hand and aimed carefully at the head of the closest zombie, then squeezed the trigger. The shot went wild and missed its head by a good half-meter to the right.

Alerted by the sound of the weapon firing, the zombies moaned and began running towards Leona at near-human running speed. Her first shot had completely missed and now they were onto her, but that was no problem. Thanks to the laser pistol being a one-handed weapon she could keep a weapon in her right hand while casting spells with her left or vice-versa. Leona waited until the five zombies were within range and clustered together, then cast a left-handed Wind Blast that knocked them down to the ground. While they struggled to get to their feet Leona aimed the Scout Laser Pistol at the head of one of the zombies that had just started sitting up.

Leona aimed carefully and squeezed the trigger, firing a shot that grazed the left temple of the zombie but did not kill it. The zombie seemed to glare at her as if asking "You missed such an easy shot?" The Wizard Saint frowned. So far her new weapon was turning out to be more of a liability than an asset.

She was growing frustrated with her inability to hit anything, but at least she had not carried the new weapon into combat against humans like she had with the Ranger Laser Rifle during the Border Clash between Bellum and Pergrande. She was fighting zombies and that gave her leeway she would not have against human opponents because as far as she knew zombies could not carry and use firearms. Leona waited until the zombie she had fired at stood up, then aimed for its forehead and fired a third shot.

This time the shot struck the zombie in the forehead and took it down with a single shot. The third time was the charm. Pleased with that small success, Leona stood her ground and fired at the head of a second zombie who was running towards her. The shot hit it in the right eye and caused it to groan. Leona winced and quickly turned around, then used a Zephyr Dash to put fifty meters between her and the zombies so that she would have more time to line up a shot or spell.

At the end of the dash Leona spun around and aimed carefully at the one-eyed zombie, then fired again. The shot hit it in the forehead and it flopped backwards with a dramatic groan. The remaining three zombies charged at her and Leona aimed at the closest one.

Leona aimed carefully and led the target for a few seconds, then fired another shot. The shot went wide by a half-meter to the left and hit the grass a good distance away. The frustrated Wizard Saint holstered her pistol and drew her Silver Longsword. She would finish this fight the old-fashioned way.

Leona waited until the zombie raised the ax above its head to wind up for a downward two-handed chop, then stabbed it through the skull with her Silver Longsword. Accidentally embedding her sword in its skull, she kicked the zombie away from her and turned to face the other two, who were closing in for attacks of their own. Leona jumped back three times, then prepared to cast an Air Pressure spell with her right hand. When the spell was ready she thrust her right palm forward and fired the spell at the zombie's head, hitting it and causing its head to explode from the force of the horizontal column of compressed air.

The last zombie closed in for an attack, but Leona was ready for it. She sidestepped the downward two-handed chop, then retaliated with a Tornado Kick aimed at its head. The kick hit it in the temple with enough force to knock it down, leaving it open for a finishing move. Leona quickly positioned herself at its head, then drew the laser pistol again and aimed straight down for its head. The shot hit the mark and killed the zombie in one shot.

Leona took a quiet breath and holstered her pistol, then went to the zombie with her sword lodged in its skull and pulled the sword out. She wiped the blood off of the sword on the grass around her, then put the sword back into its scabbard. Leona then began walking forward through the clearing towards a forest path that led deeper into the area. The cult had to performing its ritual deeper in Fat Monsterland.

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-Deeper in Fat Monsterland, 11:15 P.M.-

While pressing deeper into Fat Monsterland Leona had defeated several more ax-wielding zombies who had tried to block her path. Now she was in another small circular clearing where another small group of zombies had congregated. This was another small group of ax-wielding zombies... she counted seven in total that were standing ten meters away from her.

Leona quietly drew the Scout Laser Pistol and aimed at the head of the nearest zombie, who was facing towards the woods on the far left side of the clearing. She held her aim for a few seconds, then fired the shot. It hit the zombie in the temple and killed it on one shot. Leona was pleased that she had finally managed to score a kill by making that kind of shot instead of missing by a wide margin, but her pleasure was short-lived when the rest of the zombies spotted her. Not wanting to waste any more time than she had already wasted, Leona quickly holstered the pistol, then channeled magic into her body.

Once the spell was ready she then held her arms out to her sides and quickly spun five full revolutions, casting a Silver Tempest spell to quickly defeat the zombies before they could get to her. When the tempest made contact with the zombies they all groaned in unison and fell to the ground, landing on their backs and going motionless. Once the tempest had subsided Leona looked at the zombies lying motionless on the ground and drew her laser pistol. She carefully walked up to each zombie and fired a single shot at the head. Each shot hit the target without fail and the zombies did not respond to being shot in the head, meaning that she had killed them with the Silver Tempest spell.

Once she was sure that the zombies were all dead she moved on to a corridor that led deeper into Fat Monsterland. She was not sure where the cult was, but she did not have much time to waste. Midnight was fast approaching and she needed to stop them before they could complete their ritual.

-Inside the corridor, 11:18 P.M.-

It had taken three minutes to cross the clearing and enter the corridor with "walls" made of thick underbrush, but she was now in the corridor that would take her deeper into Fat Monsterland. Ahead of her the corridor had a few zombies scattered at irregular intervals, but it was not like she was facing a cohesive zombie horde. The closest zombie was five meters away and had its back to her while mindlessly shuffling about. She could kill it with one shot from the laser pistol on her side.

Drawing the laser pistol and aiming for the back of the zombie's head, Leona fired a shot that hit the target. It fell forward with a groan that alerted the rest of the zombies in the corridor and they began to run towards her. Leona clenched her teeth and stood her ground. She took careful aim at the zombie who led the pack and aimed for its head, then squeezed the trigger. The shot rushed towards the zombie's head and veered to the right, missing by inches.

Leona groaned in frustration and put the pistol in its holster, drawing her Silver Longsword instead. She did not have time to fire ineffectually at the approaching undead. She needed to get through this corridor as quickly as she could and it was taking her way too long to get anywhere with the Scout Laser Pistol. She would just have to rely on her magic and her sword instead.

The Wizard Saint channeled magic into her left hand and prepared an Air Pressure spell, then once the spell was ready cast it at the zombie leading the group. Since it did not even bother to attempt dodging the incoming spell the Air Pressure spell found its target and the zombie's head exploded on impact. The next zombie in line rushed by its recently dispatched fellow and Leona held out her left hand, preparing a Wind Bullet spell.

Once it was ready she aimed her left index finger at the head of the target and fired the silver marble. The Wind Bullet hit the target's head and it exploded on impact. There were only six more zombies in the corridor, but they were spread far apart and casting another Silver Tempest without them being clustered together would be a waste of magic power that could be better spent stopping the cult. Leona decided to keep using single spells instead of trying to hit them all at once while they were far apart.

The next zombie in line ran at Leona with its ax held back to perform a two-handed downward power chop, but Leona stopped it by performing a Zephyr Charge that slammed into the zombie before it could swing the ax and send it flying backwards for three meters. While it flew backwards it dropped its ax and Leona kicked the dropped weapon away to the underbrush a meter to her left before sprinting towards the fallen zombie. It sat up and was about to climb to its feet when its recovery was interrupted by a Silver Longsword driven through its forehead.

Lacking the time to recover the sword, Leona left it embedded in the zombie's skull and turned to face the next zombie, which had closed to melee range and was just about to plunge its ax blade into her skull. She sidestepped left to avoid the swing, then quickly drew her pistol and jammed the barrel against its left temple before firing. At that range she could not possibly miss... the zombie went down in one shot and Leona had a few seconds to breathe before the next zombie closed in.

The Wizard Saint aimed carefully at its head and held her aim for a few seconds, then squeezed the trigger. The shot hit the zombie in the right eye but did not stop its charge. Leona waited until it got within melee range before aiming for its forehead and firing. The shot hit and the zombie went down. There were only three more left... or there were only three more left before she heard moaning from both sides of the corridor and saw zombies begin to stagger through the underbrush and into the corridor.

More undead had just arrived!

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Leona did a quick tally of the ax-wielding zombies emerging from the underbrush and counted twenty-one of them arriving for a late-night snack. She was about to use a Silver Tempest spell to hit them all with one spell instead of trying to take them on individually when another zombie crashed through the underbrush just to her left. She spotted the zombie and decided that she had better retreat now before she was overwhelmed by the undead.

The Wizard Saint holstered the Scout Laser Pistol, hurried over to the zombie her Silver Longsword had been lodged in, and gripped the sword's grip with both hands. She then planted her right foot on its chest and pulled upwards sharply, quickly reclaiming the sword. She then hurried away from the oncoming zombies towards the clearing she had passed through. There she would make her stand and take them down.

-In the second clearing, 11:19 P.M.-

Leona reached the clearing about forty meters ahead of the zombies and was about to draw her laser pistol when she realized something.

Why use her laser pistol when she could use Silver Tempest instead?

Most of the zombies were close together, so that spell could hit them all at once and take them out a lot faster than she could by using the laser pistol or her Silver Longsword. She had plenty of magic power to spare and not a whole lot of time to lose, so using Silver Tempest was the quickest and easiest way to go. Leona hurriedly wiped the blood off of her sword on the grass near her feet, then sheathed the weapon and began to channel silver magic into her body.

She then held her hands out to her sides and began spinning. She made five full revolutions and the spell was cast. The silver tornado expanded outwards and all the zombies who had been chasing her were hit by it, causing them to fall onto their backs with a dramatic groan that could be heard by anything within earshot. Leona had better hurry up because if the cult was performing its ritual the sound of zombies being killed would clue them in that someone was on the way to stop them. The zombies that had fallen on the ground did not move, but before she moved on Leona was going to make sure that they were absolutely dead.

The Wizard Saint drew her laser pistol, carefully approached the downed zombies while keeping an eye out for any stragglers, and stopped a short distance from the head of the first zombie she got to. She aimed the laser pistol at its head and fired a single shot at its forehead. The zombie did not react to the shot, so it had been killed by the Silver Tempest. Making sure they were all dead was a delay that she could ill afford, but Leona did not want to be surprised by a horde of ax-wielding zombies approaching from behind while she was fighting whatever threat came next.

-In the third clearing, 11:27 P.M.-

After making sure that all of the zombies that had chased her out of the corridor and into the second clearing were dead and passing through the corridor Leona arrived in a very large clearing that was empty. About sixty meters ahead of her loomed the opening to another corridor like the one she had just traversed. The area around her was devoid of zombies, so it should be an uneventful walk to the corridor.

Leona walked through the clearing while looking all around her for more zombies or other dangerous creatures. She reached the halfway point without seeing anything, so she kept walking as fast as she could go. She had spent a lot of time fighting the zombies and she did not know how much longer she had to find and stop the cult before they started their ritual, so she did not dawdle.

-In the corridor, 11:34 P.M.-

Leona had reached the next corridor without incident and was now walking briskly through it while watching and listening for more zombies to come crashing through the underbrush. She had a walk ahead of her because the corridor was roughly 100 meters long. Then she remembered that there was a quicker way to traverse the corridor.

Why spend time that she might not have to spare walking the entire distance when she could just use a Zephyr Dash to cross it within seconds?

Deciding to do just that, Leona channeled magic into her legs, then performed the Zephyr Dash. She traveled 100 meters in a matter of seconds, saving herself a lot of time and energy. Now she was practically at the end of the corridor. She took a moment to pause and look ahead of her before moving on.

Ahead of her loomed yet another large clearing. It looked to be clear of zombies, but she would remain vigilant while traversing the clearing. With that Leona exited the corridor at a brisk walk.

-In the fourth clearing, 11:35 P.M.-

Leona walked into yet another large clearing with a corridor flanked by trees and underbrush roughly sixty meters from her present position. She stopped for a moment and wondered if she was ever going to find the cult in time to stop them, but she was not going to stop them by standing here and thinking about it. She had to keep moving.

Leona's progress was halted when she heard loud moaning from the woods nearby. She spotted humanoid shapes in the distance and knew that she was going to be in for another time-consuming fight with the undead. She really did not have time for yet another fight, but it could not be helped. She did not want to get caught between a zombie horde and the cult once she found them, so it was best to deal with the zombie threat before moving on.

The Wizard Saint did not have very long to wait because the zombies soon came to her in a rather large group. She did a quick tally and counted around fifty zombies emerging from the woods all around her. She was not sure if more were on the way, so she had better take care of the first wave quickly before a second wave showed up.

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-In the fourth clearing, 11:36 P.M.-

Leona did not have long to wait for the zombies because they came charging at her from all directions. There were roughly fifty total and she was not sure if more were on the way or not, but before she worried about more enemies arriving she needed to deal with the ones in front of her. It was time to prepare to thin out the incoming zombie horde with a Silver Tempest spell. She had better do it fast because they were moving in quickly and she could see the ax blades gleaming in the moonlight.

Leona went through all the steps to prepare the spell, then once the spell was ready held her arms out and spun for five full rotations, releasing the silver tornado. The first Silver Tempest spell took out twenty-five zombies in a single casting, cutting the size of the horde in half. Leona drew her Scout Laser pistol and prepared to pick off the zombies as they came.

The Wizard Saint raised the laser pistol and aimed for the head of the closest zombie, firing a single shot to the forehead that connected and killed it in one shot. It went down with a groan and Leona was now facing twenty-four zombies. She heard moaning behind her and spun around to see ten of them advancing on her with axes at the ready. Leona quickly cast a Wind Blast spell with her left hand and knocked them to the ground, then turned around to confront the rest of the undead approaching from all sides.

Leona aimed at the head of a zombie charging at her and fired a single shot that grazed its left temple. Leona swore under her breath and aimed a second time, firing again. This time the shot hit its forehead and killed it. It spun dramatically and flung its ax into the air, then flopped to the ground. Twenty-three zombies remained.

Aware of the fact that she was in danger of being surrounded and overwhelmed if she stood still for much longer, Leona turned around and used a Zephyr Dash to cover 100 meters in seconds and return to the shelter of the corridor she had passed through to get here.

-In the third corridor, 11:41 P.M.-

Back inside the relative safety of the third corridor, Leona turned to face the exit and saw the zombies streaming towards her. It would not take long for them to get here, so she needed to start getting rid of them quickly. Leona aimed her laser pistol at one who had broken away from the pack and fired, managing to hit it in the head from eighty meters away. It went down and its fellows streamed around its corpse, leaving twenty-two zombies left.

Leona aimed and fired at another zombie who was leading the pack. The shot hit it in the head and it threw its ax up in the air before falling backwards. Leona was killing them, but she was not killing them fast enough. It was time to call in a summon for some help.

Leona quickly holstered her pistol and raised both hands into the air, channeling magic into them before summoning Tempest Avian to aid her.

"TEMPEST AVIAN!" Leona called out. Within seconds the rotund metallic owl descended from the sky to help her. He landed at her right side and waited for instructions.

"What do you need, Leona?" Tempest Avian asked.

"I need you to use Steel Flechettes on those zombies! Aim for the head!" Leona commanded aloud. The zombies were not smart enough to understand the danger they were in, so she did not bother issuing her orders telepathically.

"Will do." Tempest Avian said. He flapped his wings several times and went airborne, hovering above where he had stood. Moments later Steel Flechettes rained down on the zombies, striking five in the head and hitting non-vital areas on others. Leona gave the command to fire again and the summon fired another volley of Steel Flechettes, killing five more zombies and wounding others.

The zombies were still far away and they had dwindled in numbers from twenty-three to thirteen, but that was thirteen too many for the Wizard Saint.

"Fire another volley!" Leona instructed. Tempest Avian obliged and another rain of projectiles descended on the zombies, claiming another four with hits to the head. Nine zombies were left and they were within forty meters of the Wizard Saint and her summon. That was still plenty of distance to take them all out before they got within striking distance.

Leona was aiming her laser pistol when she heard the underbrush on both sides of her begin to rustle. She knew that was a sign of the impending arrival of more zombies. That was the last thing that she needed right now, but they were going to arrive whether she wanted them to or not. The Wizard Saint promptly spun on her heels to face the currently empty third clearing.

"Follow me, Tempest Avian!" Leona ordered her summon before running towards the clearing to avoid being surrounded in the corridor. Tempest Avian dutifully followed his summoner towards the clearing where she would stand her ground and eliminate the current group of zombies pursuing her.

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Having retreated to the third clearing in light of a new force of zombies arriving, Leona and Tempest Avian prepared to face off against the zombies. Leona counted at least twenty more new arrivals that mingled with the remnants of the first batch, making at least thirty zombies she had to face down before this wave was no longer a threat.

The Wizard Saint raised her laser pistol and aimed at one leading the pack. She aimed for its head and fired, somehow managing to hit it in the head. Its feet shot out from under it and it tossed its ax up in the air. She was surprised that she managed to make the shot, but her pleasure did not last long because there were at least twenty-nine more zombies behind it.

"Tempest Avian, use Steel Flechettes!" Leona commanded the summon hovering a short distance overhead. He obliged and flapped his wings, sending out a volley of projectiles that hit four zombies in the head and lightly wounded two others. Now there were twenty-five enemies left and they were about sixty meters away at this point.

Leona kept her distance and aimed her laser pistol again, firing at the head of another zombie. She missed its head and hit the head of one just inches behind it and to the left, which was a feat of accidental marksmanship that she would cheer about... later. Right now she needed to finish off the remaining twenty-four.

Seeing that they were well within range of her Silver Tempest spell, Leona dispelled Tempest Avian, holstered her laser pistol, and prepared to use Silver Tempest to take out the zombies charging her. They were fifty meters away and closing. Once the spell was ready to use Leona used it to release a silver tornado that easily took care of the horde of attackers that were forty-six meters away when she cast the spell. They all fell down in unison, leaving Leona to walk around and shoot them in the head to make sure that they were truly dead and not just faking it.

-Back in the fourth clearing, 11:51 P.M.-

After making sure her undead opponents were dead for real Leona had traversed the third corridor and was now back in the fourth clearing, where some zombies were waiting for her. Leona frowned. She thought that she had taken care of them all minutes ago, but this new group must have been remnants from the group she had knocked down with Wind Blast earlier. No matter where they came from Leona was going to finish what she had started.

She drew her laser pistol and took careful aim at the head of a zombie about fifteen meters away from her. She fired a single shot that hit it in the forehead and killed it. The other nine zombies were alerted to her presence and started running towards her. Leona stood her ground and used the pistol to pick off three more before they covered three meters, leaving six left. Leona used a Wind Blast spell with her left hand to knock down the six remaining zombies, giving her plenty of time to dispose of them.

While they struggled to get up Leona killed two more with headshots, then killed a third as it finally got to its feet. The three remaining zombies began to run at her, but they were easily taken out with a headshot apiece.

Once they were all dead Leona did not waste any more time. The fighting had eaten enough time that she could ill afford to lose and she had to hurry to make up for the delay. She ran towards the fourth corridor and hoped that she was not too late.

-In the fourth corridor, 11:55 P.M.-

Feeling the pressure to get through the corridor as quickly as possible, Leona did not stop running for anything. She had already wasted enough time and magic power on the hordes of zombies that had barred her path and she was hoping that she could get through this corridor without having to fight any more zombies. Leona kept moving and reached the halfway point, but it seemed to stretch on forever. Knowing that she did not have time to lose, she kept running as fast as she could go.

-In the fifth clearing, 11:57 P.M.-

Leona eventually reached the end of the corridor and was now standing in yet another clearing. She took a moment to stop and look and noticed that this clearly was roughly twice as large as the preceding ones. She also noticed that there were no zombies in the area, which was a blessing because she needed to keep moving. She spotted another corridor about 300 meters ahead and knew exactly where she had to go. Leona took a deep breath and set out at a run to make as much progress as she could before the cult started its ritual.

Leona highly doubted that she was going to be able to get to the ritual site in time to stop it, so her thoughts had shifted from stopping the cult to preparing to fight whatever the ritual was being performed to summon. She could only guess at what would be waiting for her when she finally got to her destination.

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-In the fourth corridor, 12:01 A.M.-

Leona was running through the fourth corridor when she spotted a beam of red light shoot into the sky. Her heart skipped a beat as the significance of the sight dawned on her.

The cult's ritual had already begun!

Leona kept going despite the ominous sight of the red beam reaching into the sky. If there was any chance she could stop the ritual, any chance at all, she needed to take it. Otherwise there was no telling what would be unleashed.

-In the sixth clearing, 12:05 A.M.-

After running through the mercifully zombie-free corridor Leona was now in a clearing that was the same size as the fifth one she had passed through. In the middle was the source of the beam, an area where six humanoid shapes were standing. That had to be the cult, so Leona kept running as fast as she could go.

As she approached the humanoid figures she got a better look at them and saw that they all wore red robes with a black skull emblem on the chest. Aside from the color and pattern differences the robes worn by these men resembled those of the black-robed men who had resurrected Ancient Knight in Silent Cemetery a month or two ago. She did not know if there was a connection between the two cults or not, but she could determine that later. Right now the ritual needed to be stopped.

The six red-robed men did not seem to notice Leona as she aimed her laser pistol at the head of one of them, then fired a shot at him. To her surprise and horror the shot bounced off of a glowing red magical shield and ricocheted at her!

Leona gasped and ducked under the shot, which whizzed by her left ear. Had it been any higher or a little further to the right she would have accidentally shot herself in the head. The men laughed for a moment as they continued with the ritual without stopping. A thin red line moved along the ground and a six-pointed star began to form with the men standing at each point. Leona took a deep breath and focused on trying to find a way to punch through the shield.

The Wizard Saint took another deep breath, then brought the laser pistol up in a two-handed shooting grip and readied an Armor-Piercing Shot. She aimed carefully at the head of the same robed man and focused as a red circle formed on the ground at the points of the star. When the barrel of the Scout Laser Pistol glowed red Leona silently exhaled and fired an Armor-Piercing Shot at the target's head.

The shot did not ricochet this time. It went right through the magical shield and hit the target in the head, killing him instantly. Leona smiled as the men took notice of her and showed what looked like fear. Now that she knew how to punch through their magical shields she was going to wipe them all out.

"STOP HER!" One of the men shouted. Another one turned away from the center of the star and faced her with glowing violet hands. He pushed towards her and fired arcs of violet lightning that she barely dodged in time by jumping to the left. Leona aimed and fired a single shot that bounced off of him and headed for her. She ducked under it and was met with laughter from the man.

A furious Leona prepared another Armor-Piercing Shot and aimed for his head while he prepared another spell. She aimed carefully and fired, but her shot went just left of his face when he moved his head to the right at the last second. He retaliated with another two-handed barrage of violet lightning that she dodged by jumping left again. Leona was somewhat impressed by his quick thinking and quick reflexes, but he and his fellow cultists were not going to get away.

Leona prepared to deal with the cultist and dodged another lightning spell by jumping to the right. When she landed she prepared and fired an Armor-Piercing Shot that was aimed at his head. Due to her haste in firing and his attempt to dodge a lethal shot she hit him in the left shoulder instead.

The red light intensified and the men began to laugh. Leona saw a bulky humanoid shape take form in the center of the six-pointed star. She had to hurry up, but she had to finish dealing with her opponent first. He had other plans because he laughed before his hands began to burn with black fire. He then pushed outwards with both hands, sending a large cone of black fire in her direction.

Leona jumped to the right to avoid it and barely managed to dodge. She aimed and fired at the opponent with an Armor-Piercing Shot aimed at his head while he was clutching his wounded left shoulder, but to her surprise he disappeared in a flash of red light along with three of the other cultists, leaving only one cultist and the burly humanoid figure remaining.

"You're too late! He's already been summoned and he's more than strong enough to crush you beneath his heel!" The remaining cultist standing to the left of the newly summoned being informed Leona and pointed towards the burly figure. The figure in question was a tall and muscular man wearing segments of black leather armor and wielding an ax that was taller than Leona.

"Kill her and bring us her head!" The cultist ordered. The burly man faced the cultist and spoke.

"I live to serve." He replied in a deep voice. The cultist then laughed and disappeared in a flash of red light, leaving Leona and the ax-wielding man to face each other. The cultist she had killed earlier was left behind, but she would have to search him for clues later. Right now the ax-wielding man was glaring at her with milky white eyes and a look of homicidal intent and that demanded her attention.

"Tonight you die!" He declared and hefted his ax into a ready position. This looked like it was going to be a tough battle.

The Axman:

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Leona listened to the axman's threat and took a few steps back. This guy was tall and intimidating with an equally intimidating weapon, but his ax probably took so long to swing that she could drink a cup of coffee by the time he could get it going. Still, she was not going to take any chances. She quickly raised her laser pistol, aimed for the head, and fired a single shot directly at his head.

The shot hit him in the forehead, but rather than killing him, the weapon only caused him to laugh at her.

"Pathetic!" He chastised her for her failure to kill him. Leona groaned in frustration and aimed for the body. She fired three shots at his chest and they all hit him. Again they did no damage and he laughed at her a second time.

"Time to die, little one!" He bellowed. He suddenly sprinted at her and Leona jumped to the right just in time to avoid being hit by the charging man. He spun around and faced her again, prompting Leona to prepare an Armor-Piercing Shot and fire it at his head. The shot hit him in the forehead but did not kill him, prompting him to laugh.

Seeing that she was not getting anywhere with her new weapon, Leona holstered it and drew her Silver Longsword. Seeing as the axman was summoned by a ritual, he was likely of supernatural origin. Her Silver Longsword could hurt beings like him, so it was her best hope of hurting him. However, the trick was getting close enough to use it without getting cut in two by that ax or getting knocked around by powerful kicks or punches.

Leona took a deep breath and watched the axman charge at her again. She waited until the last second to dodge, then jumped to the side and watched him charge by for roughly four meters before coming to a halt. While his back was turned she used a Zephyr Dash to close the distance, then slashed at his right leg with her Silver Longsword. The blade hit the back of his leg and caused him to stagger forward, then turn around and swing the ax like a golf club using the flat end as the surface to try and hit her with.

Leona jumped back and narrowly avoided having her head caved in or her right side hammered by the heavy metal blade. She stepped back and prepared a Wind Blast spell with her left hand, then cast it, hitting him in the chest and knocking him back a few steps. Leona took the opportunity to jump forward and attack his left leg, aiming for his knee with a two-handed downward jumping slash. The Silver Longsword sliced into his knee and caused him to bellow in pain.

He whipped the ax around and swung it horizontally, prompting Leona to duck to avoid the strike aimed at her waist. He used the momentum of the weapon to bring it around and up, then quickly brought the ax over his head and chopped downward. Leona was surprised by how deftly he wielded the weapon, but she rolled to the right and dodged the descending ax blade. Leona recovered and ran towards him while he was preparing to attack again and attacked his right knee, slashing at it horizontally from left to right with her sword. She landed another hit and jumped back twice to avoid his counterattack.

Leona jumped back three times to give herself some more space to avoid his ax. She was landing hits and she was hurting him, but she did not need to get overconfident. It would only take one or two good hits from the axman and she would be in a world of hurt.

The burly man began striding towards her with the ax in a ready position. Since he was clearly expecting her to attack Leona would not gamble on making a few quick strikes before he could retaliate. Instead she would go on the defensive and wait until he overextended himself, then attack when the opportunity presented itself. Leona continued to back away from him while watching both the ax and the man who wielded it.

[Post Word Count: 706]
[Total Word Count: 6,720/7,000]

The burly axman walked towards Leona slowly and deliberately in a manner that was calculated to intimidate her and make her feel like death was approaching. Leona was not intimidated, but she was wary of the man. He had proven that he could wield the seemingly unwieldy ax with surprising speed and he was incredibly tough. It seemed like the wounds she had inflicted on his legs during the opening moments of the fight had not fazed him at all.

Leona kept backing away from him and watching for him to charge at her again or swing the ax. He kept walking towards her with his milky white eyes fixed on her, watching her, waiting for her to lose her nerve and either flee or make a desperate attack that would give him the opening he needed to hit her with a powerful counterattack that would kill her outright or hurt her so badly that the momentum of the fight would shift in his favor. Leona did her best to not take the bait and remain patient until the opportunity to strike presented itself.

After a minute or two of backing away the axman's ax began to glow red. When it was ready he slammed the bottom of the ax's haft onto the ground, generating a red shockwave that traveled along the ground. Leona jumped straight up to avoid it. That was a big mistake.

As soon as her feet left the ground the man sprinted towards her. Her feet touched the ground and stayed there for only moments before the giant slammed into her, sending her flying upwards and backwards for a good three meters. Leona dropped her sword in midair to avoid cutting or impaling herself when she landed on the ground and managed to make the drop moments before landing. She bounced up twice and landed again, then groaned in pain. Her entire body was hurting from being on the receiving end of the charge, but she did not have time to lie about.

She hurried to her feet just in time to see him charging at her. Leona hurriedly scooped up her Silver Longsword and jumped to the right, avoiding the charge by a margin so slim that he had missed clipping her left boot. She turned to face him and saw him stop two meters away and whip around to face her. It was a good thing she had not chosen to use Zephyr Dash to close the distance because judging from how quickly he had turned around he had expected her to use that tactic a second time.

Leona could not win this fight by staying on the defensive, but she could not afford to make reckless attacks either. He had already caught her off guard once and she had paid for the mistake. The burly man was waiting for her to overextend herself and punish her once she did. Leona needed to think about how she was going to shift the momentum of the fight back in her favor.

Her Silver Longsword was essential to inflicting damage because her laser pistol was useless even when she had hit him in the head with an Armor-Piercing Shot. Her spells might not be doing much damage, but Wind Blast had knocked him back just enough to give her the opening that led to her scoring hits in the opening moments of the fight. However, he would be expecting her to try that tactic again and would be waiting to give her a faceful of ax blade or a kick to the face for her trouble.

The axman was not going to give her the luxury of dictating the terms of the fight because he began to channel red energy into his ax. When it was finished he swung the ax at waist level, making her duck under the red crescent wave that was fired at her. When she ducked she watched him charge at her. Leona had barely enough time to roll out of the way and rolled to the right, avoiding being trampled by the burly man.

Leona gambled and used a Zephyr Dash to close the distance while his back was turned, attacking the back of his right leg with her sword. The slash connected and elicited a yell of pain, but the man spun around with frightening speed and landed a backhand to her face that sent her flying. Leona flew away three meters and landed on the ground, dropping her Silver Longsword in the process. She felt a little dizzy from the backhand and her head was pounding, but she would need to stay focused on the fight if she wanted to survive this encounter.

The man was striding towards her at a slow pace, so Leona grabbed her Silver Longsword again and turned to face him. Leona had taken a couple of hits, but she was still in this fight. She just needed to avoid taking risks like the one she had just taken. She needed to ignore her instinct to attack and stay on the defensive a bit longer. Leona took a deep breath and watched the axman stride towards her, but as she watched she noticed something off about his gait.

He seemed to be limping every fifth step with his right leg.

Leona's attacks were having some effect after all.

Seeing his weakened right leg as a key to victory, Leona kept her aggressive instincts in check and planned to find a new way to attack that limb that did not involve getting in range of the ax or other melee attacks. While she planned her next attack the axman continued to stride towards her with his ax at the ready.

[Post Word Count: 954]
[Total Word Count: 7,674/7,000]

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 34, Post Number 848

Leona had taken a couple of hits from her assailant and was on the back foot, but she was still in the fight. Her repeated attacks on the axman's legs were bearing fruit because he was limping with every fifth step taken with his right leg. She was not sure whether that would make an immediate difference in the fight without her applying more pressure to the limb, but that was a sign that she had managed to hurt him despite taking a couple of hits herself.

Leona continued to back away as the opponent continued to walk towards her while maintaining eye contact in an effort to intimidate her and pressure her into reckless action that he could punish. Having learned that the man could move surprisingly fast despite his size and muscles, the Wizard Saint was not going to make any more close-range attacks unless she was certain that she could either kill him or cripple him enough to swing the momentum of the fight in her favor. Instead she would use her long-range spells to attack his right leg in the hopes that she could slow him down enough to make closing in for sword attacks less risky.

Leona prepared an Air Pressure spell in her left hand and aimed for his right knee, then cast the spell. The column of compressed air struck his knee and caused him to yell in pain, then raise his ax into the air and channel power in it until it glowed red. Knowing that a red shockwave was about to be sent along the ground, Leona waited until the shockwave was released before jumping to the right to avoid the attack instead of jumping straight up and leaving herself open for another charging tackle while she was airborne.

Leona landed on the ground seconds after the red wave had already passed along the ground and was forced to dodge again when the axman stepped forward and swung his ax horizontally with one hand, aiming for her waist. She jumped back and avoided being cut in half at the waist and was forced to jump back again when her opponent skillfully used the momentum of his weapon to transition from a horizontal attack to a vertical one in the form of a one-handed downward chop. Leona jumped back and avoided the attempt to cut her in half, then jumped back again when the man transitioned into a charging tackle.

Leona quickly jumped to the right and dodged the tackle, then turned around and prepared a Wind Bullet spell with her left hand. Once the spell was ready she fired it at his right leg just as he turned around. The spell hit him in the left knee and caused him to flinch but otherwise did no lasting harm. He began the slow walk towards her and Leona began walking backwards to keep some distance between her and that ax.

As she walked backwards Leona noticed that his walking speed was beginning to decrease. His gait was not a full-fledged limp just yet, but he was clearly not moving with the same pep in his step he had moved with earlier. Even though remaining on the defensive was not in her nature, she was starting to see the benefits of wearing her opponent down through hit-and-run attacks and using her long-range spells instead of fighting him at close range. He must have sensed that Leona was distracted because he channeled energy into his ax, then swung it horizontally at her neck.

Leona ducked under it and watched him launch into a charging tackle aimed at her. She quickly rolled to the right and he zoomed by harmlessly. Leona recovered from the roll and turned around, facing him as he turned to face her. The two combatants stared at each other for several tense moments, each one waiting to see what the other was going to do. Neither one dared to make a move until the axman raised his ax above his head in a two-handed power chop.

Leona acted quickly and raised her left hand to cast a Wind Blast spell. She cast the spell and the axman staggered, giving her enough time to sprint over to his right knee and slash at it diagonally with her Silver Longsword. He yelled in pain and tried to chop her with the ax anyway, but she jumped to the right as the ax descended. Leona saw him turn to face her with a noticeable decrease in speed.

The tide was starting to turn in her favor.

All she had to do was stick to the winning strategy and keep wearing him down.

[Post Word Count: 778]
[Total Word Count: 778/5,000]

Realizing that she was starting to wear her opponent down, Leona felt a surge of confidence. He was not moving as quickly as he did at the start of the fight and with each blow she landed to his right knee he slowed down even more. His turning speed was decreasing and his movement speed was going down as well. However, she would do well not to let her newfound confidence go to her head.

The axman was still on his feet and was still holding his ax. The long reach of the ax made getting close to him a dangerous proposition and its reach was something that Leona overlooked at her peril. Making that sort of mistake was not something that she intended to do. Now that she had found a winning strategy she was going to stick to it until she claimed victory.

The man stared at her with milky white eyes and an expression of what looked like anger. He gripped his ax tightly and glowed red, then leaped forward in a jumping two-handed power chop aimed at her. Leona jumped to the right of the incoming attack and watched him miss by a good margin, but then saw a red shockwave emanate from the ax blade. She jumped into the air to avoid the shockwave and watched for a follow-up charging tackle, but to her surprise the attack did not come. Instead the burly man dropped to his left knee with a groan, leaving his right knee exposed.

Leona landed on both feet and turned to face him. She was sorely tempted to throw caution to the wind and take advantage of his moment of weakness to land another hit on him. However, the Wizard Saint remembered the strategy that had gotten her this far and restrained her impulse to charge in for a sword slash on the opponent's right knee. That restraint proved to be wise because the burly man soon forced himself onto his feet and glared at Leona as if daring her to attack him.

She was going to attack him, but she was not going to attack him in close quarters. Instead she prepared another Air Pressure spell with her left hand and aimed for his right knee. He spotted what was about to happen and  charged at Leona, but by the time he got into motion she had already prepared the spell and was in the process of firing it. She fired the Air Pressure spell and hit him in the right knee as he ran, causing him to stagger as she stepped aside to avoid the charge.

She dodged the charging man with ease and spun around to face him, preparing a Wind Bullet spell and aiming at the back of his right knee. Recalling what had happened the last time she had fired a spell at his right knee prematurely, Leona waited until he turned to face her before firing the Wind Bullet. This time the spell hit its intended target. He stood tall and glared at the Wizard Saint in defiance like nothing had happened, but she immediately noted that he was not quick to launch another attack on her after taking the Wind Bullet to the right knee.

Leona looked at him for any other weakness to exploit so that she could end this fight quickly. She saw a red spot on his chest that was the size of a fist, something that looked to be exposed. Maybe it was a vital point she had been overlooking because of her fixation on crippling his right leg. Leona wondered if using a spell could do the trick or if she had to hit the red spot with her Silver Longsword. Not wanting to possibly tip her hand to the axman, Leona made eye contact with him instead and glared at him in return.

He glared at her for several more seconds, then began to glow red. Leona backed away from him as he began to approach her with ax in a ready position. He then knelt down on his left knee and punched the ground like Leona did when she used her Storm Impact spell. Leona was unable to dodge it in time and was caught in the red dome of magic that emitted a shrieking sound as it expanded. The spell hit her and the high-pitched sound disoriented her so badly that she could not see straight.

The Wizard Saint tried to back away from the axman but fell backwards and landed on her backside. He laughed at her as he approached with his ax at the ready in anticipation of making the kill. Leona could see two of him approaching, but she was not sure which one was the real person. If she did not figure that out soon she was going to die when he got to her.

[Post Word Count: 814]
[Total Word Count: 1,592/5,000]

Leona sat helplessly as her ears rang and she was suffering from double vision. She knew she needed to get up and get moving before the axman got to her, but she was so badly disoriented that if she got up to run she just might end up running into him by accident. The Wizard Saint looked at him and watched as he approached while winding up for the final blow. He was going to cut her in half with a two-handed downward chop of the ax.

Leona watched him approach and tried to get to her feet, but she was so unsteady that she only fell back onto her backside the first time she tried. The second time she tried she rose to her feet and wobbled right when she tried to move forward, then wobbled right again and spun around for a 180-degree turn. She finally stood up straight and tried to run but staggered instead, staggering for three steps and nearly falling onto her face. The man laughed at her again as he held his ax in the air.

The Wizard Saint steadied herself and started running again, this time only wobbling about instead of staggering and almost falling over. It was a good start, but she needed to do better than that if she wanted to get away from her opponent before he cut her in two. Leona continued to move forward, slowly regaining her balance with each step until she was able to run in a somewhat straight line away from her attacker. After twenty or so running steps her balance had more or less returned, but she was still suffering from double vision and her ears were still ringing.

When she felt that she was a safe distance away from her attacker she turned to face him and saw him approaching, but there were two of them. They separated and merged at random, leaving her unable to tell which one was the one she needed to fend off until her vision returned to normal. In the meantime she raised her left hand and prepared a Wind Blast spell to attack him and buy herself a little more time for her vision to return to normal. Leona cast the spell and hit him, buying herself a few precious seconds as he staggered three steps back and had to lower his ax to balance himself.

With those few seconds Leona turned and ran for twenty steps, then turned and faced him again. She was still seeing double, but it was recovering little by little. Her opponent was slowly starting to merge into a single person instead of two, but the merger was not happening fast enough for her to effectively defend herself. Leona was forced to retreat again when the axman began to glow red. He must have noticed that she was recovering and tried to incapacitate her again, so he went to cast the red dome that had hit her last time.

Leona knew what was coming and used Zephyr Dash to dart ahead fifty meters out of its range, avoiding it by a comfortable margin. She turned around to find the axman walking slowly towards her. He was not moving at nearly the same speed that he was earlier, suggesting that his injuries were starting to catch up to him. Or it could be him trying to intimidate her again by taking advantage of her double vision to frighten her into making a fatal mistake. Leona needed to remain calm so that she did not make a fatal mistake in her condition.

However, that was easier said than done.

Leona's vision was distorted. Her ears were ringing and she could not hear very well, so there could be cultists or zombies all around her and she would not be able to hear them until they were too close for comfort. Leona was at a definite disadvantage, but she had persevered through worse situations before. However, the axman was not going to give her the luxury to recover and make counterattacks because he charged his ax with red magic, then swung it at her horizontally to shoot a red crescent at her.

Leona ducked under the crescent with ease and stood up to face the axman, who began to advance towards her at a sluggish pace. Feeling emboldened to attack, Leona charged an Air Pressure spell and aimed it for his right knee. She fired it and watched as the spell passed harmlessly a meter away from the target's right leg. Leona had just wasted magic power that she could have saved for a counterattack when her vision returned to normal.

The axman continued to advance on her while Leona looked around her for threats other than the burly man in front of her to avoid losing situation awareness. She risked a quick glance around and saw that the only enemy she had to contend with was the one in front of her. With that issue settled for the time being she faced the axman again and waited for him to make his next move.

[Post Word Count: 850]
[Total Word Count: 2,442/5,000]

Leona faced her opponent and waited for him to make his next move as he approached her. She knew that she was not going to win by staying on the defensive the whole time. She would have to go on the offensive at some point. Her vision was beginning to clear up enough for her to see straight, so that was something working in her favor.

Leona took a deep breath and waited for the man to get close. She did not have long to wait because when he got within range he began his charging tackle attack. Leona waited for him to approach with Silver Longsword at the ready. When he charged by she was going to swing at his right leg in an attempt to hurt it even more. It would be risky because he might catch on to what she was doing before she did it and adjust course so he hit her anyway, but she needed to start landing more hits if she wanted to break the stalemate that was existing between them.

Leona stood her ground and waited until he was almost about to hit her, then did a spin off to right while slashing at his leg with the sword. She connected with the sword swing and cut him across the side of the right knee, causing him to bellow in pain and stagger to a stop two meters away. Leona could not immediately capitalize on that success because her spinning slash had made her a bit dizzy thanks to her lingering case of double vision.

The Wizard Saint stood still for a moment and recovered from the spin, then turned her attention back to her opponent. He was kneeling and struggling to get to his feet, which was a perfect opportunity for her to dart in and slash him a few times with her sword. Leona held off on making her move because just like last time he could be feigning weakness. Leona watched him carefully for a few seconds and saw that he was really struggling to get up, but he looked like he could spring to his feet and give her an unpleasant surprise if she took the bait.

Leona instead opted to prepare another Air Pressure spell and aimed it at his right knee. The moment she did he sprung to his feet and spun to face her. Leona aimed the Air Pressure spell at his right knee and fired. She managed to graze his knee but not hurt him thanks to her vision messing up at the wrong time. He charged at her and Leona repeated the spinning sword slash aimed at his knee. Again she connected and again she made herself dizzy.

The axman yelled again and fell to one knee. He began to glow red while struggling to get to his feet. Leona did not like the look of that and began to put some distance between him and her in case he was preparing to make one last effort to kill her. Leona retreated ten meters away from him and watched for him to make his move while keeping her Silver Longsword ready.

He struggled to get up and made two almost successful attempts before he dropped to his left knee each time. He planted the end of the ax's haft on the ground and tried to use it as leverage to get back on his feet, but in the end he did not succeed. He dropped down to his left knee and shouted in agony.

"Damn you!" He shouted with his back to her as he continued to glow red. Leona put a couple more meters between her and him as he struggled to stand up again. His third attempt did not succeed.

"I can't believe that you've done this to me!" He shouted at her. Leona remained silent and watchful as he tried a fourth time to stand and finally succeeded. He turned to face the Wizard Saint and made eye contact.

"You've won tonight, but you've only delayed the inevitable! The next time we meet I'll claim your head for my masters!" He promised. He raised his left hand to the sky and crimson flame enveloped him, burning so brightly that Leona could not stand to look at him and raised her left hand in front of her face to shield her eyes from the intense light. Moments later he vanished from sight like he had never been there.

Where did he go?

Leona refused to believe that the axman had vanished. She stood around for a full minute while looking all around her and waiting for him to reappear at any second to attack. After three more minutes of waiting and looking she concluded that he must have vanished like the cultists who had summoned him. Perhaps he went back to wherever he had come from.

Leona took a deep breath and exhaled. While she had not managed to kill the axman for good, she had defeated him for the time being. She had technically fulfilled the requirements for the job by doing so, but she was not sure whether the Order of Lightbringers would accept that or not. She then looked left and saw the red-robed cultist lying on the ground exactly where he had been left by Leona when she killed him before the axman was summoned.

Maybe he had something important on him like some papers or a book. If she took something like that back to the Order she might be able to convince them that she had done the job she had been hired to do. It was worth a try.

Leona walked over to the dead cultist and bent down to search him for clues when she heard loud moaning in the distance. The Wizard Saint frowned. That noise meant that more zombies were on the way. She set her Silver Longsword down at her right side and began to search the dead cultist for any kind of information she could take back to her employers.

[Post Word Count: 1,010]
[Total Word Count: 3,452/5,000]

Knowing that she was on a short timer before the zombies showed up to block her escape, Leona hurriedly searched through the dead cultist's robes. So far she was coming up with nothing. Part of her was tempted to leave before she got surrounded by ax-wielding undead, but she was not going to walk away empty-handed, not after everything she had went though to get to this point.

Leona continued to search for a book, a piece of paper, anything that she could take back to the Order of Lightbringers as proof that she had confronted the summoned axman and defeated him for the time being. She heard the moaning getting closer, which was a cue for her to hurry up. Leona was about to give up on the search when the tips of her right fingers brushed up against paper that gave off a soft rustle that was barely audible thanks to her ears still ringing from the red dome attack from earlier.

Galvanized by her discovery, Leona fumbled for the paper and got her fingertips on it, then grabbed it between her thumb and index finger. She carefully pulled the paper out to find five sheets of paper with something written in red letters in a language that she could not read because she did not know what it was. She did not bother trying to read it because the moaning was getting closer and she needed to get ready to fight. Leona stood up, switched the papers to her left hand, hurriedly grabbed her Silver Longsword with her right hand, and began running for the corridor that would take her out of the area.

-Outside Holy Castle, six hours later-

Having fought her way out of Fat Monsterland when numerous zombies had confronted her during her escape and having killed them all so that none of them would follow her out of the region and endanger people living beyond the borders of Fat Monsterland, Leona was more than a little tired. At least her vision and hearing had returned to normal during the flight to Holy Castle. She dismounted Winged Lion and dispelled him, then took a few deep breaths. It had been quite the night, but now her work was nearly finished. All she had to do was hand the three pieces of paper she had recovered from the dead cultist to the Order of Lightbringers and explain what had happened and her work would be finished.

Leona took a few more deep breaths. She then began to walk towards the front door to the castle when it opened up and out strode Father Morris escorted by Order Cleric Amanda. Father Morris reached her first and looked at the papers clutched in her left hand while Amanda stopped at Father Morris' right.

"Hello, Leona! I see that your mission on our behalf was a successful one!" Father Morris warmly greeted her.

"It was. I recovered these five pieces of paper from a red-robed cultist I killed in Fat Monsterland. Your information was good. There was cult activity in Fat Monsterland beginning at midnight." Leona said to the man. He made eye contact with her.

"Were you able to stop the ritual from taking place?" He asked her. Leona shook her head.

"I wasn't able to make it in time to stop the ritual, Father Morris. I was delayed by numerous zombie hordes that got in my way. I made it to the cultists roughly five minutes after the ritual had actually started." Leona replied, telling him the truth behind the events of her trip to Fat Monsterland.

"If you weren't able to stop the ritual, did you defeat whatever the cultists summoned?" He asked her. Leona nodded.

"Yes, Father Morris. I managed to defeat the person they summoned." Leona replied. The man and the cleric looked at her. That was the Wizard Saint's cue to describe the axman.

"A person, you say?" Amanda asked Leona.

"He was a tall man who stood at almost twice my height. He was bald, had milky white eyes, and wore black leather armor. He also carried an ax that was taller than me." Leona described the burly axman the best she could. Father Morris and Amanda looked at each other, then at Leona.

"You must be referring to Zaeral the Infernal Headsman." Father Morris said to Leona. Leona shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not sure if that was his name or not, Father. I never heard his name mentioned by either the red-robed cultists or the axman himself." Leona admitted her ignorance to the client. Amanda stepped forward.

"He fits the description you gave us, Wizard Saint. And as Father Morris said, his name's Zaeral the Infernal Headsman. Zaeral's an ax-wielding demon in human form who lives for slaughter. The Order's clashed with him several times in the past and each time we won, but each time it cost us a lot of lives to banish him. Only the best Order Paladins and Clerics can stand a chance against him." Amanda explained to her the significance of the man she had encountered.

"Zaeral didn't seem all that tough to me. I cut his right leg with my Silver Longsword several times and he vanished of his own accord. I don't think that's the last I've seen of him." Leona replied. Amanda frowned.

"No, it's not the last you've seen of him, Wizard Saint. You only won because this is the first time in over one hundred years he's been summoned and he's not yet regained his full power." Amanda told Leona bluntly, causing the Wizard Saint to feel a bit deflated. Leona felt like she had done something important in defeating the burly man and Amanda's candid statement made her feel like her achievement amounted to nothing. Perhaps sensing that the Wizard Saint was feeling like her accomplishment had been dismissed as meaningless, Father Morris stepped in.

"Whether he was at his full power or not, defeating Zaeral by yourself is no small feat, Leona." Father Morris praised Leona for her victory. Leona felt a little better, but knowing that he had not been permanently defeated put a damper on her good cheer. She would be be OK, though. She just had to keep moving forward.

"Now, about those papers. Would you kindly hand them to me?" Father Morris asked.

"Certainly. Here you go." Leona said, offering the client the papers in her left hand.

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[Total Word Count: 4,526/5,000]

"Thank you." Father Morris said as he took the papers Leona offered him. He stepped back and began to glance over them. He then looked up at Leona.

"They're in a code that only a few people know of. We'll have to give these to our translators so that we can find out what they say. But you've done a valuable service in defeating Zaeral for the time being and retrieving these papers. We can't thank you enough." Father Morris told Leona.

"I'm just glad that I was able to stop Zaeral before he could really get going. If he's as bad as you say he is, I'm gonna be in for a hard time when he returns." Leona said to him. Father Morris gave a small smile.

"There's still hope, Leona. The fact that the cult resorted to summoning him means that they're in dire straits. We just have to keep fighting and keep up the pressure on them." Father Morris told her that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

"That's true, Father, but bear this in mind. People are at their most dangerous when cornered." Amanda reminded her superior. Father Morris nodded.

"That they are, Amanda. The cult will do anything to stave off defeat. But we can defeat the cult as long as we don't give up." Father Morris said with confidence. Leona remained silent as the man turned to face her again.

"Thank you for all you've done for us, Leona. We'll have these papers translated and let you know their significance when we finish translating them." He assured her that he would pass along the information once the Order had finished translating the papers she had recovered.

"All right then, Father. I'll let you and Amanda get back to work." Leona said to him.

"We'll let you know if anything comes up, Wizard Saint." Father Morris assured her. He and Amanda turned back to face the castle and walked towards the doors. They entered the castle and the doors shut behind them. Leona turned around and started on the road back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, six hours later-

Leona had changed out of her outfit top and into her green tank top. She had taken off the sword belt of her Silver Longsword and set it inside her wardrobe for safekeeping but kept the Scout Laser Pistol at her side. While she still had a ways to go before she could use it to its full potential, it showed a lot of promise. It was reliable, easy to carry, and packed a lot of firepower in a small package. It also worked a lot better with her "weapon and spell" fighting style than the two-handed Ranger Laser Rifle did since the pistol was a one-handed weapon.

Leona took a few moments to catch her breath before she went to the guild cafe to get some coffee. She was more than a little tired from the traveling and fighting she had done hours ago and needed some coffee before she tackled the mound of paperwork that was certain to be waiting on her in her office. Well, she did not need coffee so much as she wanted coffee. Right now she did not care about distinctions between a desire and an actual need... she was going to get some coffee and that was that.

Leona walked out of the room and set out for the guild cafe. Hopefully her carrying the Scout Laser Pistol in its holster on her left hip would not be too alarming a sight for the guild staff.

-The guild cafe, eleven minutes later-

Leona sat at the table she typically occupied while drinking her coffee from a disposable styrofoam cup. She had been quite the ordeal earlier and she made it out alive. She knew that she would face Zaeral the Infernal Headsman at least once more before everything was said and done, but she had won a victory by defeating him before he could regain his full power. That victory bought her and the Order of Lightbringers time to prepare for his return when he inevitably came back looking for a rematch.

She sipped some coffee before lifting up the cup and looking at it absentmindedly while she wondered how much paperwork she would have to do in her office when she finished her coffee. She then lowered the cup and sipped from it until it was empty. Once it was empty she stood up from her table, pushed the chair in, and walked over to a trash receptacle, where she disposed of the cup. Leona then walked out of the guild cafe and started towards her office to take care of any administrative work that needed her attention.

[Post Word Count: 800]
[Total Word Count: 5,326/5,000]