A Cold Grave For The Cultists

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 10, Post Number 237

-Silent Glaciers, 6:17 P.M.-

Dressed in her winter camouflage coat and winter camouflage pants with new boots that had slip-resistant soles she had picked up at a specialty outdoor equipment store in Capital Crocus yesterday, Leona had her Arctic Armor on over the jacket. She also had gloves on her hands, a white balaclava to cover her face, and polarized orange snow goggles to keep her from going snowblind and to protect her eyes from whirling snow if the wind picked up. Leona was not here for a nature walk... she was here for a job on behalf of the Order of Lightbringers.

Leona had reached out to the organization and they wanted her to do a job for them in exchange for a Holy Longsword. That job was to locate and destroy a group of demon-summoning cultists said to be using the area as a sanctuary after the Order had hammered it over the past several months. According to Father Morris the cult was rapidly losing members, but it was shoring up its dwindling human forces with increasing numbers of demons to serve as muscle. The Order had lost quite a few Knights, Clerics, and Paladins in the fighting and several of them Leona knew such as Order Knight Jessica, Order Cleric Amanda, and Order Knight Diana were out of action thanks to their wounds, meaning that the only support she would get was the assistance of Order Knight Athena, one of the few experienced members of the organization who was still able to fight.

Leona had brought Shoki in its scabbard on her left hip since it was made to be an anti-demon weapon and she had also brought her Scout Laser Pistol in its holster on her right hip in case the fighting happened in close quarters and she could not use Shoki. It would help her against humans too far away to attack with the Holy katana, but she doubted the pistol's effectiveness against otherworldly threats. That was not much concern because she had one of the Order's most proficient demon slayers to help her. Speaking of Athena, Leona saw the orange-haired cleric standing not too far from the entrance to the region.

Athena was wearing her usual white Order outfit and did not appear to be disturbed by the cold at all. She faced Leona and smiled... she must have recognized the Wizard Saint despite the face covering and goggles. Maybe it was the way Leona walked or maybe it was some other clue that gave away her identity.

"Hey Leona, are you ready to go hunt those cultists down?" Athena asked Leona.

"I'm ready, Athena. Father Morris gave me a rundown on what to expect. Is there anything special that I need to know like any kind of demon to really watch out for?" Leona asked the knight.

"Yeah. There's what we call Bull Demons. They run right at you like bulls and have the horns to match. They also have a lot of sharp teeth. Don't let them pin you against a wall with their heads or it's game over. We lost a lot of Knights to the Bull Demons when they slammed someone against a wall with their heads and used their horns to keep the victim from escaping while tearing apart their midsections with their teeth." Athena told Leona of a particular threat to be wary of. Leona had encountered that particular demon a few years ago during her successful effort to aid the Order in stopping a demonic incursion in Fat Monsterland, but her memory of them was fuzzy. She was sure that she would encounter enough of them to remember what they were and what they did.

"And you want to watch out for the red-robed cultists too. They're the best demon summoners the cult has and they can call in some heavy hitters from the other world. The most powerful of them can summon Infernal Guardians, really strong demons that take a lot effort to kill even when using anti-demon weapons." Athena added another warning.

"Finally the black-robed cultists have serious magical power. They like to sling fire or lightning, but every once in awhile you get one who uses ice. An ice user almost killed Order Knight Jessica when she was hit with an ice blast that induced the beginning stages of hypothermia on the spot. I managed to save her in time, but it was a really close call." Athena informed Leona about the cult's magic users. Leona would have to watch out for all three of those threats and eliminate them as soon as she could. The black-robed enemies sounded like they could be the most trouble, but getting in range to eliminate them would be a challenge.

"Are you ready to go?" Athena repeated her earlier question to Leona.

"This time I'm ready. Let's get going, Athena." Leona replied.

"Order scouts tracked the cultists to a cave that's not too far from here, but we don't know if they're still there or if they know we're onto them and started an evacuation. We've got to hurry before they can flee!" Athena stated and turned to face the field of snow, then began to trudge forward at a quick pace. Leona wordlessly followed behind the orange-haired Knight.

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-Silent Glaciers, 7:49 P.M.-

Athena and Leona had trudged through the snow and were now standing outside a cave that did not seem to have anything special about it. The cave floor and ceiling were devoid of anything like stalactites and stalagmites and was of average height and size. There was just enough width for two people to pass through while walking shoulder to shoulder and enough height for the two of them to walk through without having to duck.

"Here it is, Leona. I know it looks plain, but this is the entrance to the cult's sanctuary." Athena informed Leona. The Wizard Saint knew from past experience not to let appearances deceive her and was not going to let them deceive her now. She drew her Scout Laser Pistol and held it in her right hand.

"OK. I'm ready to go in whenever you are, Athena." Leona told the knight. Athena motioned towards the cave with her right hand.

"I'll lead the way. Follow me closely." Athena commanded. Leona followed behind the orange-haired Knight as she led the way in, her long hair flapping in the wind.

-Inside the cave, 7:51 P.M.-

Athena led the way and held up her spear to provide a soft golden light that lit the way for the pair. They carefully made their way through the tunnel until they reached a dead end inside a large chamber that felt "off" somehow like it was not entirely natural. For one thing the back wall was a bit too smooth to be natural while the rest of the walls had uneven textures more consistent with being formed by nature. The pair stopped in place and looked at one another.

"There's gotta be a way to get inside the sanctuary. Look for a hidden lever or something." Athena instructed. Leona pulled off her polarized snow goggles and put them in her right jacket pocket before responding.

"OK. It shouldn't be far from here." Leona replied. While Athena began searching the left wall Leona focused on the back wall, patting every inch of it she could reach with her left hand in the hopes of finding a hidden pressure plate or lever which would open the way. She reached the center of the wall and patted on it expecting to hit solid rock but instead her hand passed right through it, eliciting a gasp of surprise from the blonde.

"What happened?" Athena asked Leona, abandoning her search to see what the Wizard Saint had found.

"My hand's passing through this wall." Leona replied with a bit of excitement on her voice, putting her left hand through where solid rock would ordinarily be and pulling it back out to prove her point. Athena watched with interest for a few moments before speaking.

"Looks like illusion magic." The Knight stated calmly.

"That's a reasonably clever way to hide an entrance." Leona commented. Athena wordlessly walked towards the part of the wall Leona had put her hand through and her entire body passed through without resistance. The blonde hurried to catch up with her partner before the latter got too far ahead.

-On the other side of the illusory wall, 7:55 P.M.-

After passing through the illusory wall and going down a short tunnel the pair were now standing in a large room facing a spiral staircase that led down. The staircase had no railing or other safety features, but the walls were provided with sconces that had torches that burned blood red and black banners hanging from metal rods: the banners featured a grinning red skull with crossed axes behind it. Leona stood just behind the Knight, who was facing one of the banners.

"This is the cult sanctuary all right. Look at those banners. They belong to the cult we've been fighting for almost a year now." Athena said in a completely serious voice. Leona looked at the banners in the torchlight for a few moments before looking at Athena, who was clearly ready to move on. The latter walked forward and began to move down the staircase and Leona carefully followed. As Leona carefully went down the stairs she kept her Scout Laser Pistol ready in case they encountered enemies waiting for them at the bottom.

-At the bottom of the stairs, 8:02 P.M.-

Athena and Leona reached the bottom of the stairs without incident and were now standing side-by-side while facing a long and wide tunnel liberally decorated with cult banners and blood red torches in wall sconces spaced out at ten-meter intervals. At the far end of the tunnel was a set of wooden double doors with a grinning skull placed in the center of them.

"Once we get inside we're gonna have to move fast because I don't know if they're gonna attempt an evacuation once they know we're here. Our primary objective is to eliminate any cultists we come across. Our secondary objective is to find and secure any books, artifacts, or other objects." Athena went over the objectives one last time. Once the pair went into action the chances of being able to discuss anything were slim to none. Fortunately Leona understood the objectives.

"All right, Athena. Let's do this." Leona calmly replied. The pair began to walk towards the double doors at the end of the passageway and mentally prepare themselves for a fight. Once they got past the doors they would be in for a serious fight.

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As the pair approached the double doors Leona felt a surge of adrenaline take over. She holstered her laser pistol and drew Shoki in case demons were waiting beyond the door. If they were she would have her anti-demon weapon already in hand instead of having to waste time drawing it. If she faced humans on the other side it would hurt them as well.

"Do you think they know we're here?" Athena asked Leona as the pair walked briskly. Leona shrugged her shoulders.

"I have no idea." Leona answered. Moments later they reached the doors and stood outside of them.

"I'm gonna open the doors for us. Be ready to fight!" Athena advised Leona before raising her spear and aiming it at the skull on the door. Golden light began to spiral around the spearhead and concentrate on the tip of the spear and when the spell was ready a wide beam of golden light that was so intense Leona had to shield her eyes with her left forearm was fired. The doors disintegrated within seconds and Leona thought she heard shouting from the other side. The light soon faded and the Wizard Saint and Order Knight found themselves staring down eight brown-robed cultists that had been standing on the other side of the doors... they were wielding melee weapons like maces, longswords, and greatswords.

"We can't let these guys slow us down. We need to get through them as quickly as we can!" Athena stated. Leona watched the enemies began to rush at them from the entrance to the sanctuary. Athena held out her left hand and channeled golden magic into it, then fired eight golden balls of light the size of baseballs at the enemies, who were trying to get up. The projectiles homed in on the cultists and hit them before they had a chance to dodge, causing them to yell in pain before toppling to the ground. Athena pointed her spear towards the area they were guarding.

"We need to keep moving!" Athena yelled. She started sprinting towards the interior of the sanctuary. Leona followed close behind with the blue-white blade of Shoki gleaming in the torchlight.

-Inside the sanctuary-

The pair rushed past the empty doorway and now stood inside the sanctuary proper, which featured a long hallway with tall and crudely carved stone pillars with metal torch sconces on them. The torches were all blood red and the pillars were wide enough to hide a person standing behind them... or a demon. On the walls to the side of the pillars were numerous black cult banners.

Athena began charging down the hallway and Leona followed behind. The Wizard Saint wondered why the opposition at the entrance had been so light. She had expected the cult to throw everything they had at the intruders to keep them out of their sanctuary, but she supposed that they were rallying their forces deeper in the area.

Leona followed the Order Knight until they came across a new wave of enemies, but they were not men. They were a small group of six hunched-over muscular beasts with horns like a bull and large mouths plus yellow eyes that burned into whoever they were looking at. They were bipedal and their legs were as muscular as their bodies.

"BULL DEMONS!" Athena shouted a warning to Leona as the first of them homed in on the Wizard Saint. Leona stood her ground and waited for it to close in before spinning to the left slashing at it with a one-handed horizontal chop that cut it across the back. It bellowed in pain as it flopped forward onto the ground and kicked its legs, but it would not get a chance to get back on its feet because Athena plunged her spear into the back of its skull, killing it on the spot.

The others started to close in on the pair and Leona stood ready for them. The second one rushed straight at her and she repeated the maneuver, cutting it across the back with Shoki and causing it to topple helplessly onto the ground so that Athena could finish the job. The third and fourth ones charged her simultaneously and Leona hopped back for three big jumps before sheathing Shoki.

"What are you doing?!" Athena shouted. Leona ignored her partner's dismay and focused on preparing Shoki's Blue Flash ability, which she would use to hit both enemies simultaneously. She was a bit surprised when the fifth Bull Demon joined the fray, but she would try and hit it too. When they closed in Leona quickly drew Shoki and lashed out in a horizontal left-to-right slash that left a blue streak in the air for just a moment. She had timed the technique just right because the Blue Flash ability had cut all three across the mouth and knocked them back, leaving a trail of blood as they flew back a meter or two.

The last of the bulky demons thundered towards the Wizard Saint, who raised her sword in a two-handed grip and waited for it to get close. When it drew in range Leona stepped to the side and slashed diagonally down in a left-to-right stroke, bringing the blade across the left side of its face and cutting off one of its horns. The demon bellowed and spun to face Leona, who had already raised the sword to finish it with a downward two-handed chop. She brought Shoki down and cut it down its face and head, splitting its mouth and causing it to fall backward onto the ground with a bellow.

Athena stepped in front of the Wizard Saint and raised her left hand, then fired three of the homing orbs that slammed into the wounded beasts and killed them.

"Nice work, Leona. But there's plenty more where they came from. Now let's go!" Athena said before sprinting past the dead demons, leaving Leona to hurry after her. So far she could not tell if Shoki was really effective against demons or not, but she appreciated having it because its Blue Flash ability had saved her from getting trampled into the floor by the three Bull Demons. She was sure that she would get more chances to test Shoki's effectiveness soon enough.

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The pair sprinted down the long hallway as they hurried to catch as many cultists as they could before the robed men spirited away their lore, artifacts, and leadership to another location. Athena and Leona wanted to put an end to the cult today, which was another reason they were hurrying despite the risks of rushing through a place they were unfamiliar with. If their quarry got away the cult would have time to establish another base, summon more demons, and perhaps even recruit more human followers.

Athena and Leona continued to run until they came across a set of double doors that were exactly like the set Athena had blasted with a spell earlier. The orange-haired Knight looked towards the Wizard Saint.

"Leona, I need to save my magic power for what might be ahead. Could you get that one open for me?" Athena asked.

"Sure." Leona replied. She raised her left hand and prepared an Air Pressure spell. When the spell was ready she aimed and fired a visible horizontal silver column of air at the center of the door where the skull sat. The Air Pressure spell hit it and caused it to buckle inward, leaving a big enough gap for the pair to get through. That was the case until a large group of brown-robed cultists came streaming through the gap with their weapons ready to cut the intruders to pieces.

Leona raised her left hand again and prepared a Wind Blast spell to keep her and Athena from getting swamped by overwhelming numbers. When it was ready Leona fired the spell, releasing a visible blast of concussive air that hit and knocked down ten of the men like dominoes, allowing her and Athena to get a head start on contending with the ones who had gotten through the door before the spell could be cast. One of them made a beeline for Leona with a two-handed sword held in a ready position.

Leona stood her ground and waited until he got close, then took a step forward and stabbed at his heart with Shoki when he raised his sword to bring it down on her head. The blade punched through for an instant kill and his weapon fell from his hands as he slumped forward. Leona planted her right foot on his chest and kicked the body off of Shoki, freeing it just in time for a knife-wielding cultist to close in with her.

The man rushed towards her with a knife held point-down and raised above his head in his right hand. Leona turned to face him and raised her left forearm towards his wrist to prevent the knife from plunging downward. When he stabbed downward her left forearm prevented the weapon from fully descending, but she could not hold it for long. Leona wielded Shoki with her right hand and stabbed the enemy through the chest; the blade punched through, causing him to drop his weapon and fall backwards with Shoki still lodged in him.

Another man rushed at Leona while wielding a longsword in his left hand. The Wizard Saint quickly drew her Scout Laser Pistol, aimed it, and fired three shots at his chest in rapid succession. Each shot hit the target one behind the other and the man dropped to the floor to never move again. Leona glanced left and saw that Athena was holding her own. Two dead cultists lay at her feet and Leona heard the yell of a third as Athena thrust her spear forward and the golden spearhead punched through his chest for an instant kill.

Leona faced forward again and a fourth enemy wielding a longsword approached, but unlike his predecessor did not move in a straight line. He zigged and zagged to make it hard for Leona to get a good aim on him, so she put away the laser pistol and instead performed three consecutive backflips to put some distance between herself and the sword-wielding cultist. When the distance was achieved the Wizard Saint immediately used her Zephyr Dash spell to disappear in a "flash step" that propelled her towards her enemy.

The man was briefly surprised by her sudden reappearance in front of him, but he soon recovered and raised his sword above his head to try and kill her with a downward chop into her head before she could complete her attack. That effort was in vain because before he could raise it all the way she did a spinning jump and performed a Tornado Kick technique that sent her right foot slamming into his right jaw, hitting with enough force to twist the man's head to the left and break his neck. His body hit the floor at the same time Leona's feet touched the ground again.

The rest of the cultists, apparently deciding that numbers alone were not enough to guarantee a win, began to retreat, leaving their dead behind them. Four dead cultists lay in front of Athena and the same number lay before Leona. The Wizard Saint walked over to the dead cultist in which Shoki was lodged and planted her foot on his chest before pulling sharply upward with both hands, pulling the katana out and wiping the blood off on the dead man's robe.

"Good work Leona, but we can't stop now. We've gotta keep going! Follow me!" Athena said, sprinting forward and moving past the dead cultists before Leona could even catch her breath. Leona gripped Shoki tightly and hurried through the open doors after the Knight. Ahead of them loomed another long hallway full of stone pillars, cult banners decorating said pillars, torches that glowed blood red in metal wall sconces, and likely demons, cultists, or a mixed force of cultists and demons.

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Athena and Leona had sprinted down the hall until they reached a third set of double doors, the sight of which caused the pair to pause in place.

"Really? Another set of double doors, huh? Do they really think that this pair will last any longer than the first two?" Athena incredulously asked Leona while placing a hand on her left hip. The orange-haired Knight looked at the Wizard Saint, who quickly got the message.

"Not for much longer." Leona calmly remarked as she raised her left hand and prepared another Air Pressure spell. When the spell was ready she fired the visible horizontal column of compressed air at the door and blasted it open, sending the doors slamming back to the walls. The pair readied their weapons for a fight but were greeted with the sight of a large hall decorated with still more cult banners, but unlike the previous ones these were larger as if proclaiming defiance against those who wanted to stop the cult.

"Huh. You'd think they'd throw everyone they had at us." Athena commented on the lack of resistance. Leona kept her mouth shut because she did not want to tempt fate by making a remark like the one Athena had made. Instead she peered ahead into the hall and could make out a large space with a few branching paths, presumably hallways that led to rooms. Out of those hallways streamed brown-robed cultists bearing weapons followed by some gray-robed ones and black-robed ones holding armfuls of books and scrolls.

"There they are, Leona! Don't let them get away!" Athena ordered. Leona remembered the order to try and prevent the cult from getting away with all of its books and other valuables and sprinted through the open doors and into the great hall.

-Inside the great hall-

Leona hurried through and made a beeline for the nearest group of cultists hurrying away with armloads of books and scrolls. They were heading for an open set of double doors at the end of the great hall. She sprinted towards the group on the left and was halfway to them when one of the armed escorts noticed her and shouted an alarm. Six of the cultists peeled off from the group to try and slow Leona down, but they could not stop her for long. Leona waited until her opponents got too close to escape, then channeled silver magic into her left fist and punched the ground, casting a Storm Impact spell that staggered the men who had tried to stop her.

For her next move Leona moved a few steps forward and sheathed Shoki. The men soon recovered their footing and rushed at her with their weapons ready, but Leona had already planned her next move. She waited until they were too close to retreat, then quickly drew Shoki and lashed out with a Blue Flash ability, cutting all six in a single left-to-right horizontal slash that cut them across the midsection and knocked them back.

Leona watched the men stand their ground despite their injuries, but Athena stepped in front of her and raised her left hand, then fired a spray of golden orbs that hit the men and knocked them down, this time for the count.

"We've gotta keep moving!" Athena urged Leona.

"Don't worry, Athena. I'll get ahead of them and try to stall them for a bit." Leona assured her partner. She sprinted past the Knight and started to build up speed. She had a bit of running to do before she closed in on her quarry, but she could cut out some of the running with a Zephyr Dash spell that would take her to the end of the great hall. Leona focused magic into her legs, crouched down, and used the Zephyr Dash spell to take her to the end of the great hall. She ended up just in front of the doors and spun around to find the cultists streaming towards her.

She faced them with Shoki at the ready and watched as the ones carrying the items came to an abrupt halt while their escorts moved to attack Leona. When ten of them were within range Leona raised her left hand and channeled silver magic into it, then cast a Wind Blast spell, sending a visible burst of concussive wind at the approaching men. They were all hit and fell backwards, giving her a brief opening to attack the black-robed cultists who were said to be proficient magic users. While still holding Shoki in her right hand Leona drew her Scout Laser Pistol with her left hand and aimed at the closest one, a man standing about eight meters in front of her who was preparing a lightning spell... she could tell what kind it was because his hands were emitting blue sparks.

Leona raised her laser pistol at him and aimed for the head, firing a single shot that only grazed his shoulder because she was firing with her non-dominant hand. He retaliated by releasing a narrow blast of lightning aimed at her, which she dodged by hurriedly pressing herself against the open right door the best she could. The backpack of the Arctic Armor had gotten in the way, but she had managed to press herself against the door just enough to avoid being electrocuted. Leona carefully aimed her laser pistol for his head a second time and fired a second shot, this time hitting the magic user in the head and dropping him.

Her victory was short-lived because the brown-robed men she had knocked down were getting back up and she was about to face a large group of armed and desperate men who wanted to get past her. Leona prepared to fight the group while hoping that Athena would catch up with her soon.

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Leona stood with Shoki in her right hand and watched as a black-robed enemy near the back of the group raised a glowing red hand and fired a fireball the size of a fist at her. She ducked under it and when she did seven brown-robed cultists armed with various melee weapons rushed at her. With little time to lose Leona quickly stood up and channeled silver magic into her left hand, then cast a Wind Blast spell that knocked the group down and bought her just enough room to deal with another group of six who had moved in once she had cast her spell. They moved over their fallen fellows and surged towards Leona, who had quickly sheathed Shoki in preparation for a Blue Flash ability.

She waited until the second group was within range, then used the ability when they formed a rough semicircle in front of her and tried to overwhelm her with a group attack. Unfortunately for them the Blue Flash ability was a great counter to that tactic and she used it, quickly drawing the sword and swinging it in a left-to-right horizontal slash that left a blue streak in the air and cut all six men across the midsection, causing them enough pain to force them back for the time being. As if they had been given a silent command they parted and the next attack came in the form of a bolt of ice the size of a fist that was aimed at her chest and she pushed herself against the left side of the doorway to avoid it... she recalled what had happened to Order Knight Jessica when she had been hit by an ice spell from the cultists and wanted to avoid the same fate, especially with so many desperate men trying to force her out of the way.

Leona had already used two of her few crowd control options, leaving her with Storm Impact, Silver Tempest, and Razor Tornado. She did get any time to think about what to use because the first group of seven had gotten to their feet and were moving in again. If she wanted to survive this Leona would have to go on the offensive instead of waiting for them to come to her.

Leona channeled silver magic into her left fist, then dropped to one knee and punched the ground, casting a Storm Impact spell and catching all of the enemies nearby in the expanding dome of wind. They were staggered for a few moments, but that was all the time the Wizard Saint would need to start fighting back. She stepped towards the enemy closest to her and slashed at his throat with Shoki, cutting it with a left-to-right horizontal slash that cut so deeply the man was nearly decapitated. He fell backwards in a spray of blood and made way for Leona to continue her attack, lashing out with a second slash aimed at the throat of a second brown-robed cultist.

He was closer than she had anticipated and thus the blade not only cut through his throat but also cut through his neck, sending his head tumbling from his neck. Leona caught a brief glimpse of a surprised expression on his face before the head fell out of view, but she soon had bigger concerns when the brown-robed cultists rallied for a third attempt to clear her from their escape route.

The first enemy, who was wielding a knife, rushed forward and tried to bring his weapon down into her face, but Leona lifted her left forearm to block his wrist and prevent the knife from fully descending. The forearm caught his wrist and stopped the descent just long enough for her to stab her attacker through the torso with Shoki. It was a lethal strike to the heart and he died instantly, dropping the knife and collapsing to the ground. Leona planted her right foot on the body, lifted forcefully with her right hand, and wrenched the bloody katana from his chest just in time to meet the second attacker.

The man raised the longsword in his left hand and thrust it towards her chest, forcing Leona to parry with Shoki. He made another thrust at her chest and she evaded with a diagonal step back and to the right. A third thrust was aimed at her left thigh and the Wizard Saint did a sidestep to the right to avoid it, then turned and quickly moved towards him. When she got within range she stopped and drew back Shoki, then performed a two-handed diagonal left-to-right slash that he blocked with his sword.

The pair entered a bladelock and both combatants made eye contact. The cultist gave a smug smile and Leona wordlessly replied by forcefully kicking him in the left shin with her right foot, breaking the lock and giving her an opening to counterattack. She did so by drawing her left hand back and forming a fist, then channeling silver magic into the fist before using her Mach Straight technique to punch him right in the face. He yelled in pain and staggered back, giving Leona enough space to step forward and deliver a two-handed sword thrust to his heart for an instant kill.

The cultist died instantly and Leona kicked his body off of the blade. Leona looked towards the mob of cultists in front of her and watched to see who among them was brave enough to attack her.

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Leona watched and waited to see which cultist would attack her first. There was a gray-robed one clutching a thick, heavy book with a black cover who looked like he was considering leading the charge against her and there was a brown-robed cultist wielding a mace who was sizing her up. The Wizard Saint was not frightened and stood where she was... she was not going to move since they would have to get past her if they wanted to escape.

After a few tense moments the book-carrying enemy decided that enough was enough and raised his book above his head, then charged at Leona. The blonde had an incredulous look on her face and waited until he got close before thrusting Shoki at his heart and stabbing him through it. She expected the man to scream in pain, but instead he made eye contact and laughed at her before expiring. That must have been a signal because more cultists charged at her while she tried to free Shoki from the dead man's body.

Leona pulled the weapon out and faced her attackers, who were a group of brown-robed men wielding maces, shortswords, and longswords. They rushed at her while trampling their own dead and the first man to reach her was a man wielding a shortsword. He got within range and tried to stab at her right thigh, prompting the Wizard Saint to step to the left and dodge the blade before lashing out with a one-handed slash aimed at his left arm. He dodged it and a mace-wielding man took up the fight, jumping towards her with his weapon held high. She stepped back to avoid having her skull caved in by the downward swing of the mace and when he landed she stepped forward and stabbed him through the heart with Shoki.

As she faced off against the brown-robed men she noticed the gray-robed enemies making their move. At first she thought they were going to swarm her and try to beat her to death with the books in their hands, but she saw that instead of attacking they were taking advantage of her being preoccupied fighting their fellows to rush past her and escape the area. Leona groaned as she noticed that.

Where was Athena?

She should have been here by now!

Leona pulled the bloody katana out of her latest kill and faced off against a longsword user who wasted no time and went for a stab to her torso. She stepped to the left and parried the stab and the man stepped back to avoid the fate of his predecessor. More book-carrying enemies got by her as she continued to fight the enemies in front of her. She could not continue to let that happen because one of her objectives was to grab as many of the cult's books and scrolls as she could and that was not going to happen if all of the gray-robed men got away.

Leona raised her right hand, channeled silver magic into it, and cast a Wind Blast spell that knocked down the enemies in front of her, buying her enough time to turn around and rush through the doorway she had been guarding.

-On the other side-

With the cultists she had left behind undoubtedly on her heels Leona rushed into the next room, which opened onto a hallway much like the one she had just left behind except for the key difference of a large staircase that led down at the end of it. She spotted a few librarian cultists who had scrambled out of hallways to the left and right going down it and she spotted the ones who had fled her heading for the staircase. Leona quickly used a Zephyr Dash spell to reappear 200 meters away and stop a few meters short of the staircase, surprising quite a few of the cultists who had not yet gotten away... and some brown-robed and black-robed cultists emerging from the side hallways.

In her haste to stop the librarian cultists Leona had blundered into an ambush.

That was no problem, though. Unlike in the past the Wizard Saint knew exactly how to get out of it and the solution was to use Silver Tempest to clear out the enemies in one spell. With no time to lose Leona quickly sheathed Shoki and channeled silver magic into her body, then thrust her hands outwards and began to spin in place. She spun for five full revolutions before the Silver Tempest spell was cast and manifested as a visible silver tornado that emanated from her position. It hit every enemy in the area not already down the stairs.

A lot of yelling sounded as the cultists who were hit by the powerful silver tornado all fell to the ground never to move again. The Wizard Saint spun around to see one of the gray-robed men who had gotten far enough down to avoid her spell disappear down the stairs and frowned. She turned back towards the doorway she had rushed through and waited impatiently for Athena to arrive. The orange-haired Knight needed to hurry because the longer the pair took to move deeper into the base the more time the cultists would have to organize a better defense and evacuate their valuables.

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Leona stood where she was for who knew how long before Athena finally came running up to her with spear in hand. She looked a bit frazzled because her outfit had taken a few minor tears around her sleeves. She also looked frazzled from the combat she had engaged in to get those tears on her clothes.

"Where were you?" Athena asked Leona in a mildly demanding way.

"I could ask you the same thing." Leona replied without missing a beat. The Wizard Saint was not in the mood for an interrogation because time was of the essence.

"I was taking care of some cultists who popped up after we parted ways." The orange-haired Knight explained why she was late to rejoin the Wizard Saint and continue their attack on the cult.

"I left some more behind me when I went in here to stop those guys carrying the books. I managed to stop a few, but the rest went down the stairs behind me and got out of range before my spell could get them." Leona informed Athena what she had been up to when they had separated. Athena looked at all the dead cultists and the scattered books lying around the hall, then looked back at the blonde.

"You stopped them all right." Athena dryly remarked with a hint of admiration. She bent down and began to gather up the books that had been left lying around as a result of the Silver Tempest spell.

"You go ahead without me. I've gotta make sure we don't lose these books! If we can keep these out of the cult's hands we might be able to make a dent in their occult power!" Athena ordered Leona to continue the pursuit. Leona did not waste time arguing with that.

"I'll go on ahead. Just watch your back because I don't know if any cultists are hiding in those side halls." Leona warned her partner and swept her left hand around the hall. She then turned to face the large staircase.

"Good luck, Leona!" Athena wished her. Leona did not look back or say anything as she began to move down the stairs.

-In the stairwell-

Leona was moving down a flight of stairs that was wide enough to allow six people to move side-by-side and with a ceiling high enough for her to move while standing upright. The lighting consisted of more blood-red torches, but unlike in the earlier areas they were spread far apart and provided only sparse lighting. They also vaguely resembled eyes watching her as she moved... Leona felt like she was descending into the underworld. That was probably intentional on the part of the cult base's designers, but she was not going to dwell on that because she had work to do.

Leona kept moving until she reached the end of the stairwell and found herself looking down another great hall with all the features of the previous one such as blood-red torches and cult banners proudly displayed on the walls. In it were a large number of the Bull Demons milling about... she counted at least fifteen, if not more.

-Inside the hall-

The moment Leona stepped into the hall she heard metal grinding and saw a wrought-iron gate slam down and block her retreat. Then a shimmering violet energy barrier with a grinning skull in the center appeared. The same barrier appeared on the other side of the hallway. It was obvious that her enemies were trying to trap her and slow her down long enough for the cult leadership and cult artifacts and tomes of knowledge to be taken out of danger.

Leona looked to her left and right and noticed that this hall did not have any smaller hallways that led to side rooms, so she had nowhere to take cover from the demons or the robed men. That was OK, though. The lack of cover meant that there was nowhere for them to hide from her.

True to their name the Bull Demons charged at Leona in something resembling a herd. She drew Shoki with her right hand and began plotting a way to dodge the charging beasts. There was no real formation to them, but they had bunched together and all of them were after her, so she was not going to be able to weave through them and she was certainly not going to be able to stand up to them in a head-on fight. Instead she was going to have to use her speed to keep away from them and separate them from each other before attacking isolated demons.

With that Leona began to run towards the right side of the room to try and break up the herd before she engaged any of them.

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Leona sprinted to the right and stole the occasional glance behind her as she ran. The muscular demons were slower than her, but they were not the only enemies she had to contend with. Near the back of the hall the black-robed men were busy casting spells at her and the first one she saw was a fireball. A red fireball the size of a human head was racing towards her and Leona quickly performed a slide that sent it racing over her head and to the wall to her right.

Leona recovered from the slide and resumed running because the maneuver had slowed her down just enough for her bulky pursuers to gain ground. As she ran she looped around to the left and began making for the enemy mages to take them out as soon as she could. The cultists saw what was happening and one of them held his hands out as they glowed red... when the spell was ready they pushed outward with both hands and sent a long cone of flame towards the Wizard Saint. Leona saw it and sprinted to the right to avoid being roasted.

When Leona got clear of the cone of flame she turned to face the cultists and quickly sheathed Shoki, then ran towards them to get a little closer before using Shoki's Blade Rush technique. She was not quite close enough and she did not want to use Zephyr Dash in case she needed to get away from them in a hurry, so normal running would have to do. She rushed towards them while zigging and zagging to dodge more fireballs and a ball of ice one of the black-robed men had cast at her in an effort to stop her.

When she was finally within range Leona stopped and drew Shoki before crouching down, then used a "flash step" to propel herself towards the ice-using cultist. When she reappeared at the end of the "flash step" she slashed at his chest and hit, knocking the surprised enemy down. Before he could recover Leona spun Shoki in her hand to where the blade faced downward and plunged it into his chest, killing him on the spot. She quickly drew the sword from the corpse and faced the remaining magic users, one of whom was standing his ground and preparing to cast another cone of flame at her.

The Wizard Saint was not going to let that happen, so she sprinted towards him and made a lunging stab that hit him in the heart for an instant kill moments before he could cast the fire spell at point-blank range. The cultist yelled and collapsed to the floor, but before she could pursue the other magic users the Bull Demons made themselves known with loud bellows from her left. Leona had no choice but to get away before she got slammed against the wall by the charging demons, so she turned and ran away, narrowly avoiding getting hit in the left side by a demon that was more agile than she expected.

Leona used her speed advantage to string out the herd before turning and facing the one that was closest to her. She sidestepped its charge and lashed out with Shoki in a spinning slash, cutting it across the back but not landing a crippling or killing blow. Leona did not have time to kill it because its fellows were catching up, so she ran past it and kept running in a repeat of her strategy for dealing with them. However, the robed men were not just going to let her play keep-away and were casting spells in her direction... two fireballs were heading towards her while in the top right corner a red light flashed and a new Bull Demon emerged from a red circular portal hanging in the air. It stood in place for a few seconds before joining its fellows in trying to chase the Wizard Saint down.

She dodged the fireballs with a timely duck and popped up to keep running. She could easily wipe the group out with Razor Tornado, but she needed to save it for a dire situation and the situation was not desperate enough to warrant using her most powerful crowd control spell, so she would try and make room to use Silver Tempest. That would be a challenge because unlike with the cultists in the previous room the Bull Demons were not intimidated by her, so the space to use it would be harder to come by.

Leona kept running around the room and when she judged the demons were strung out again she turned and faced the one pursuing her and raised Shoki above her head, then brought it down on the demon in a second spinning slash aimed at its face. The blade cut a deep cut into its right eye, blinding it and causing it to spin about looking for its attacker. This time Leona finished the job with a two-handed downward chop that landed in its skull and cut deep just as it faced her: the demon fell on its back and did not stir, leaving her with only thirteen more to deal with.

That was the case until another red flash out of the corner of her eye meant that another Bull Demon had been brought into this world. Leona knew that as long as those red-robed cultists lived more demons could be summoned at will, so the men had to die. She faced the men and began to run towards them to try and stop the demon summoning before she was overwhelmed by their numbers.

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Leona's change of direction had not gone unnoticed by the enemy magic users. They began casting cones of flame in her direction to try and deter her, but the Wizard Saint was not deterred. She simply changed course and veered right to dodge the fire... while she was reckless she was not stupid enough to charge right into it. Once she was clear she veered left and resumed running towards the red-robed demon summoners.

The Bull Demons were hot on her heels, but Leona was faster than them and managed to build up a four-meter distance gap on them. When she achieved it she crouched down and used a Zephyr Dash spell to close the distance between her and her targets, appearing right in the middle of the quartet of red-robed enemies. They only had moments to react before Leona followed up by channeling silver magic into her fist, dropping to one knee, and punching the ground to cast a Storm Impact spell. The expanding dome of wind staggered the men, giving her the opening she needed to start killing them before they could be rescued by their black-robed fellows or by their summoned demons.

The first of them was killed with a swift stab through the heart before he could recover his footing. Leona faced the second and slashed with a left-to-right horizontal slash that decapitated them in one stroke. The third managed to regain his footing just as Leona faced him and stepped in before swinging with his right hand for an attempt to punch her in the face, but Leona blocked the fist with her left Argent Glove and stepped in for a stab through the heart that was so strong that the blade punched all the way through his chest.

The third red-robed cultist died within seconds of being stabbed and collapsed on the ground, leaving Leona to try and retrieve Shoki so that she could finish off the last summoner before he fled or managed to call in more demons. When she tugged twice and failed to get the weapon she silently stepped away from it and ran at the cultist, who drew a dagger with a serrated edge. The weapon had been pointed in her direction when she stopped and drew back her right arm, then put the middle and index fingers of her right hand together while drawing the rest of the fingers under the others.

She channeled magic into them and when the spell was ready lashed out with a diagonal left-to-right Silver Blade spell that cut through the man's throat and cut so deeply that it nearly decapitated him. The moment he fell backwards to the ground Leona heard the sound of thundering feet nearby and began to run for it before she got trampled by demons... while the enemy mages were still active they would get no more demons as reinforcements.

The trick would be getting Shoki back to use against the demons.

Leona scooped up the fallen cultist's dagger and ran over the man's body and away from an incoming cone of flame, narrowly avoiding being burned by the spell. She decided to press her luck and ran towards the two black-robed cultists, who had drawn daggers of their own since their target was too close to use spells against. Leona reached the first of them and used the forearm of her left Argent Glove to block the swing of their dagger, which was aimed at her face. She retaliated with a stab to the chest that left the weapon lodged in the target and the man in visible pain but very much alive. She quickly followed up by forming her right hand into a fist and drawing it back, then channeling silver magic into it before performing a straight punch to the man's face.

The Mach Straight technique hit the cultist squarely in the face and staggered him, leaving Leona to deal with the second one of the pair. The second moved in on her and began making wild swings of the dagger, forcing her to step back before each swing to avoid being cut. She avoided four such attacks before she had to flee when the demons began to get uncomfortably close and she fled by spinning right around the man and running past him.

Once she was clear of him Leona began running and when she turned to the left to head towards the door she had come through she heard a yell of pain followed by a loud THUMP against one of the walls of the room. Leona surmised that the hapless cultist had been hit and sent flying by one of the charging Bull Demons, but she did not have time to confirm that because one or two of them were gaining on her. She turned back to see the yellow eyes and open jaws of a bulky demon only two meters away from her. She faced forward again and at that moment noticed that the barrier blocking the door had faded and spotted Athena approaching the gate at a full run.

"LEONA!" Athena called out. When she got to the gate it automatically opened and the Knight burst into the room with her spear at the ready. She attacked the demon chasing Leona and stabbed it in the side of the head, punching through its head and killing it instantly. The demon crumpled to the ground and Athena ran again, jumping on its body and using it as a platform to jump off of for a leaping attack on a second one approaching her. The Knight went airborne and the spearhead glowed solid gold as it plunged into the top of the target's head for a nearly instant kill.

After her second demon kill in the space of thirty-three seconds Athena faced the oncoming demons and channeled golden magic into her right fist as a thin circle of golden light formed on the floor around her.

"GET READY, LEONA! THINGS ARE GONNA GET ROUGH!" Athena warned Leona. The Wizard Saint braced herself for what was about to happen next.

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Leona saw Athena raise the glowing gold fist into the air and when it began to shine the Wizard Saint instinctively raised her left forearm to protect her eyes from the brightness.

"HOLY JUDGMENT!" Athena called out before dropping to one knee and punching the ground exactly as Leona did to cast Storm Impact. Unlike Storm Impact the spell took the form of a column of intense golden light that expanded to fill the room, hitting everything in it including Leona. The Wizard Saint felt an intense burning sensation wash over her body, but the surviving Bull Demons were bellowing in pain and seemed to be falling because she heard multiple loud THUMPs in the room. When the light faded Leona had clearly fared better than the demons because she was still standing while they were lying on the floor with bright red like they had been cooked.

"They're all dead now, Leona. They won't get back up." Athena informed Leona, who was feeling almost as burnt as the demons lying around.

"That's what I was hoping to hear." Leona dryly remarked. She was feeling rather hot like she had just stepped into the Forgotten Deserts while wearing winter gear, but she was alive and her supernatural enemies were not. She could also see clearly, which was another plus.

Athena started towards the door on the other side of the room.

"C'mon, Leona. We've wasted enough time here. We gotta get going again and hope that we find the cultists in time to stop them!" Athena exclaimed. Leona took a quiet breath and hurried towards the dead cultist in whose chest she had lodged Shoki. She placed both hands on the grip, placed her right foot on the dead man's chest, and pulled sharply upwards, retrieving the sword with a forceful pull. Now that she was armed again she followed Athena through the open door behind the dead cultists.

-In the next area-

Athena and Leona had hurried through another long hallway exactly like the one they had just fought through and hurried down another diagonal staircase to find themselves in a hall that had been recently abandoned. Numerous scattered pages from books and the occasional trampled scroll littered the ground in front of them... presumably they were from the cult librarians who had escaped from Leona earlier. The cult banners were still flying and on bloodstained stone altars scattered throughout the room sat wooden buckets of a dark liquid that looked to be human blood. In the center of each altar were a few deep gashes from weapons strikes on the cult's victims, who had undoubtedly spent their final moments in the grip of terror.

"Damn. We missed them." Athena complained to Leona, who was more preoccupied with looking at the altars. Athena noticed that and spoke.

"Summoning demons doesn't come for free. It costs innocent lives." Athena remarked grimly. Leona had always wondered how the cult summoned demons and now she knew. She knew how they did it and why they needed to be stopped. Leona faced the orange-haired Knight.

"Do you think we'll run into any stragglers here?" Leona asked the Knight if they would encounter any defenders who had stayed behind to slow down the Wizard Saint and Order Knight. The latter shrugged her shoulders.

"I doubt it. They've likely evacuated anyone and everyone they could because they're starting to run out of people. I wouldn't be surprised if they left behind some demons, though. They won't complain about being left behind and they won't stop fighting until they're killed." Athena replied. Leona took a quiet breath.

"Let's search the area and see what we can find. Maybe we'll find some human stragglers to get rid of... or maybe we'll just find nothing but demons or empty rooms." Athena ordered.

"OK." Leona said, finally turning away from the closest altar and facing down the hall ahead. Athena led the way and Leona followed the Knight to their next destination.

-Outside Holy Castle, fifteen hours later-

After searching the rest of the cult base the pair had found nothing else. No human defenders, no demons left behind to slow them down, nothing but cult banners and more bloodstained altars with a mix of fresh and dried blood on them. They had also been unable to find any clues as to where the cult would flee next, but Leona was not particularly worried about that detail because she was sure that the Order would find the cult again some time soon. Once they had confirmed that the base was empty they had gathered up the books that Athena had secured earlier in the raid and made the long trip back to Holy Castle to report the mixed success of their mission.

The pair had managed to kill quite a few cultists and had secured some of their books, but the bulk of the cult had escaped to fight another day and they had taken their relics and occult lore with them. If Athena and Leona had not been bogged down in fighting the last few cultists and their summoned Bull Demons the pair could have likely killed more cultists and grabbed more books, but they had been delayed just long enough for the cultists to escape to parts unknown. Athena and Leona would just have to take the success they had gained and call it a day.

"Thanks for helping me with the raid, Leona. I know we didn't have the greatest success, but I'd say that we did pretty good for only two people." Athena thanked Leona for the assistance.

"I'm glad that we managed to accomplish something despite there being only two of us and us getting separated a lot." Leona replied. Athena faced the blonde and smiled.

"We evicted the cult from their hidden base and bought ourselves some time. One day we'll find the main base and put a stop to them once and for all." Athena said with certainty. Leona took a quiet breath before responding.

"Once you find the cult's headquarters I'll be glad to join-" Leona started to tell Athena that the former was willing to continue fighting the cult when the doors to Holy Castle opened and out stepped Father Morris with an escort of Serena Anderson on his left and Minerva Anderson on the right. Athena shifted her attention to the Order trio.

"Let's make our report to Father Morris and hand over the occult lore." Athena commanded as Father Morris and his escorts approached.

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

After the raid on the cult base in Silent Glaciers Leona had learned two things from the Order. The first was that the books she and Athena had recovered did not contain anything the Order had not already learned from books confiscated after previous raids on the cult's other bases. The second was that she would need to do at least one more job in order to earn a Holy Longsword. Leona was not pleased to hear those two things, but she would have to accept them if she wanted to keep good relations with the group who had gifted her her Silver Longsword all those years ago.

Now Leona was back in Silver Wolf Guild Hall and standing in her room. Her Arctic Armor, winter gear, Shoki in its scabbard, and Scout Laser Pistol in its holster were lying on her bed and she was wearing her black tube top and green, white, and gold skirt. She looked at her wardrobe, which was getting harder and harder to close thanks to the clothing she brought back from each shopping trip to Capital Crocus. The doors were barely able to close due to the variety of shirts and shorts she had crammed into it.

She really needed a new and larger wardrobe.

Leona might make another trip to Capital Crocus to look for a furniture store that sold what she needed, but first she had other things to do, namely administrative work that was undoubtedly waiting for her in the Guild Master's office. The blonde really did not feel up to it, but she could not ignore her responsibilities, so she left her room to go to her office and do what needed to be done. Leona did not know how long the work would take, but it did not really matter... she needed a distraction from the mixed success of the raid on the cult's base.

-Leona's Room, eight hours later-

Leona staggered into her room and quickly shut the door, then walked over to her bed, which still needed to be cleaned off. It had turned out to be another one of those days where the paperwork never seemed to end. Every time she completed one stack of papers another was brought in by a guild staff member and placed in front of her. The blonde had managed to complete it all without the help of coffee, but it took a lot out of her. The fatigue from the eight hours of administrative work combined with the travel and fighting in Silent Glaciers and then the long walk to Holy Castle and the walk to Silver Wolf Guild Hall made Leona feel awful.

She shambled over to her bed and took off the camouflage coat, pants, and long-sleeved white shirt and put them all on the back of her desk chair, then took the Arctic Armor and sat it in the seat of the same chair. She then picked up Shoki and the Scout Laser Pistol and propped Shoki in the corner to the right of her bed. The Scout Laser Pistol was stashed inside the top drawer to her wardrobe where she kept her undergarments. It was not the best hiding place, but right now Leona was too tired to care.

Once her weapons were put away Leona shut the wardrobe drawer and walked back over to the bed, then flopped down on it. It groaned under the sudden impact and rocked for a moment before she rolled over onto her side to stare at her room door until she went to sleep. She had closed her eyes and was about to go to sleep when she heard a knock on her door. Leona audibly groaned and forced herself to sit up, then placed her feet on the floor.

She shambled over to the door and opened it to see a guild staff member bearing an armload of papers. Leona watched them wordlessly walk towards the Guild Master's office with their cargo and instantly knew what was going on. There was a new batch of paperwork that needed doing.

Leona groaned again and walked out into the hall, shut her room door, and reluctantly shuffled off to the office for another session of administrative work.

There was no rest for the weary.

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