Like lighting on the move, the person who'd grabbed Damien shot past the doctor before sinking themselves into the ground right behind Ahara.
CRASH!
Boulders of stone busted from where they had landed, sending a smoke screen of dust everywhere. Damien winced. Some of it got into his eyes and mouth, but he didn't have the time to whine.
"Are you okay?" Came a familiar deep voice.
The half-choking teen forced his eyes open, almost screaming at the bloodcurdling blue eyes staring at him. It was Kingston, in his beastly form. Black fur was all over his arms, and his face was bearded, with claws capped in golden tips attached to the rings on every one of his fingers. Each ring had gems the color of his eyes that resembled the larger one glued to his curious wristband.
Damien squinted his eyes at the strange designs on it, but before he could make out what they were, he felt familiar hands wrap around his face before being flipped around to face her.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Ahara asked, her tone affectionate and shaky as she caressed her brother's face.
Damien shook his head, a bit confused at Ahara's reaction. Shouldn't she be telling him off at this point or asking about the gem?
"He seems fine to me," Kingston announced from behind them, his wolf eyes scanning their surroundings.
They were surrounded by about fifty or so rogues from what he had made out before stealing the boy.
"Twenty S-ranks tops. The rest are A or B at the very least," he glanced at Ahara, who gave Damien one last hug before standing, whipping her sword on the ground, and sending yet another wave of dust and rubble filling the air around them.
"We're outnumbered," Ahara cursed under her breath, biting her bottom lip. She pushed Damien behind her, eyes glued on the enemy, ready to counter the moment one of them even tried to flinch in their direction.
"Wait for it," Kingston grinned, showing off his sharp teeth.
They looked like a chainsaw to Damien, who swallowed hard, running his hand around his neck. However, being afraid of Kingston wasn't a luxury he could afford at the moment. The guy had saved his life. Besides, if he wanted to eat him, he'd have done so a long time ago when Damien was still a kid.
As if to snap him back to their current predicament, an ear-piercing thunder clap sounded above them, and Damien ducked, looking at the skies. Like paper being ripped, the air opened up, revealing two guys whom Damien would've found weird a few days ago.
The first to appear from the portal had shiny crystalline scales showing on his jawline, with long black flowing hair and upturned purple amethyst eyes that glimmered in the dark as he descended to the ground.
Following him was the most muscular guy between the duo, holding a staff with a bizarre-looking disk-shaped top. He had short black hair and small round earrings on each of his ears, with eyes that looked like he'd rather be sleeping than traveling through a portal at night.
"What did I miss?" Asked the long-haired dude, his eyes slanting upwards as the scales covered his face.
"Nothing, just me saving Ahara's little brother from that son of a bitch over there," Kingston pointed at Kaos who was now floating mid-air and moving a bit further away from them, along with a few of his men.
"Then he's all yours, Ahara," the dragon cracked his neck, facing their enemies who were now seemingly changing their formation.
"That's pretty obvious, isn't it?" The short-haired guy landed in front of Damien, patting Ahara's shoulder and nodding at her, before turning to the boy. "And you must be the little brother, Damien?"
Taking Damien's hand, he grinned, his eyes glinting but not showing any sign of wanting to be here yet.
"Name's Dion, S-rank wizard and your sister's friend. And that stuck-up dragon over there is Song Kim, X-ranked meat head." He said the last part as if he couldn't believe the dragon was ranked above him.
Song tilted his head to face Damien and smirked. "Nice meeting you, little bro. Wish we had the time for chitchat but we'll all die here tonight if we don't kill these bitches first."
"Language!" Ahara hissed at him.
"I'm fucking 16!" Damien roared back shamelessly, making the dragon grin wider as he chuckled.
"I like him. Let's take him back to Gibbous once we win."
Damien scrunched his brows in confusion. "I'm sorry, you wanna take me where?"
"They're coming," Dion cut him, hitting his stick on the ground and producing some kind of dust which he smeared all over Damien. "To keep the aura from burning you alive," he explained once he saw the boy's face scrunch in confusion.
"Everybody, get ready!" Kingston barked the command, baring his teeth at the enemy.
He had barely finished speaking before Ahara smacked her whip in the air, wrapping it around a vampire's neck and flipping around. Then she jumped and snapped the fellow's head off, landing a few meters away from the others. Song whistled, Kingston smirked, and the wizard hummed in approval.
All whilst Damien stood rooted between them, his body drained of energy. Ahara wasn't herself anymore. Her eyes were dead. Her face was stoic and gave no emotion away. Like a trained murderer.
"Whatever you do, don't let my brother get hurt, or I'll be coming for you after this fight."
"Ha! Did losing enough contact for eleven years make you a forgetful bitch?" Song rebuked her just when a smack hit him across the shoulder from Kingston.
"Speak to her like that again and I'll kill you along with them."
"Shut up and focus!" Dion hissed, already levitating above Damien, his brown eyes now glowing white. "I'll protect the boy with a shield and use long-range attacks to keep them away from him. You guys go fight the rogues who try to penetrate the barrier I'll set."
He didn't need to say anything else before the aura from the other two immediately matched Ahara's.
Then it began.
In the blink of an eye, everyone except the wizard vanished from Damien's eyes, leaving a dust screen to block his view. Before he could figure out what was going on, another rumble came from above him, followed by a sharp whip of the wind that hit the ground next to him.
Damien grabbed his pounding heart. One hit from that attack could have cut him in half.
"Stand in line with that mark," Dion commanded.
Damien hesitated for a moment. The wizard looked scary as fuck, but what else was he supposed to do? Everywhere he looked, beasts were fighting with his sister's friends. He had nowhere to run to except to them.
'Ahara warned them not to hurt me, so I'm gonna be fine, right?' He wondered, making his way to the large dent Dion had put on the ground. The moment he set foot on it, a warm masking sensation overtook his body as the air thinned around him, forming a see-through shield that spread to where the others were fighting.
"Now you're safe," the wizard yelled, rising high up the sky. Flipping his staff in his hand, he pointed it at the flying dragons that managed to pass the others and yelled:
"Otheoaktiv!"
BOOM!
A cloud of dust rose from where the hit dragon had landed. Without wasting time, he flipped his stick yet again, pointing it at yet another target.
In that moment, whatever doubt had clung to Damien's mind vanished, and he darted his eyes into the fighting crowds, looking for his sister.
But he couldn't see her.
The dust was too much. And so were the flying body parts, the flashes of light, the rocks, the water, the fire, and the blood that was now making a small stream headed in his direction. It was like he had been isekai'd to a movie. Everything moved too fast for his eyes.
However, he soon spotted her on the restaurant's rooftop.
Like a cartoon character, she moved in the strangest of ways, twisting her body mid-air as she swung her weapon at Kaos and three of his henchmen. They dashed away from it, and the doctor blasted a spell in her direction. Ahara evaded it, vanishing from Damien's sight before suddenly appearing behind Kaos.
Then she pirouetted mid-air and flipped her leg, smacking him in the face. The wizard fell from the edifice, hitting the ground with a loud boom that sent a rush of adrenaline all over Damien's body.
'That's my sister!' He thought to himself, squinting his eyes at the dust as Ahara whooped the henchmen with her whip and sent them flying after their master. Then she jumped, following them into the dust cloud.
For a few more depressing minutes, the dust smoke didn't subside, and Damien couldn't see what was happening. But when it did, he gripped his chest and fell to the ground, horror masking his face.
Kaos was gripping Ahara's neck and pinning her to the wall, a sickening grin on his bloodied face. His henchmen were also holding her. Legs, hands, she wasn't free.
"Ahara...Ahara's in danger!" The boy screamed at the top of his voice, hoping someone would aid her.
However, no one took action.
He raised his head to look at the wizard above him, but Dion was too busy spinning and blasting spells to notice his friend was almost dying at the hands of their enemy.
The same applied for Kingston and Song. They were now standing back to back, surrounded by a pack of beasts and vampires alike, but still managing to hold their own somehow. If Damien had looked a bit more closely, he'd have noticed that their looks had transformed, and they looked more like a real wolf and dragon, but his eyes immediately flickered back to his sister, his chest hurting.
Ahara was now pale, and Kaos was punching her face, an icy grin showing that he was thoroughly enjoying torturing her.
Another sharp pain coursed through Damien's chest.
'Am I…scared?' He wondered, raising his shaking hands. 'Figures, I've never been in a fight before, better yet, with beasts. '
Adrenaline fired into every one of his senses, increasing their efficiency in all the wrong ways, like him smelling the stench of blood, or him being able to spot scattered pieces of severed bodies all over the park.
'If beasts like these are being killed even though they're powerful, then what about me?' Damien wondered, pulling the roots of his hair and glancing at Ahara.
However, one look at his pale sister's bloodied face settled the cloud of doubt in his mind. She was still glaring at the wizard even though he was hitting her non-stop while she was subdued.
As if his mind was mocking him, he remembered her words from back when she had fought some college bullies for him after he had apologized for being scared:
"Having courage doesn't mean that you don't feel fear. It means standing up for yourself despite being fearful," she had said.
"Ah, fuck it. I'm charging in," Damien gritted his teeth, leaning towards his sister's direction before taking off at great speed.
"Damien!" Someone called from behind him, but he couldn't care less. He cut through the wind barrier and sprinted to assist Ahara.
BOOM!
A large boulder smashed into his path, but Damien jumped just in time. Smirking victoriously at his win, he increased his speed, glaring at Kaos, who was now pointing his dagger-shaped wand at Ahara's pale face.
"Get. Away. From. Her!"
Lunging at the doctor with both his feet in the air, Damien blasted him directly in the face, knocking him off balance into one of his men who had been clasping Ahara's arm.
"Nice one, Damien!" Ahara cheered, already swinging her whip at the other two and getting a clean sweep of their heads. Their bodies flopped to the ground, convulsing like headless chickens.
As for their heads, they landed in front of Damien, who backed away, a bit surprised at himself for not screaming his head off at the gruesome sight.
"Otheoaktiv!"
A white flash hit the wall where Ahara was pinned to a while ago, sending the building dropping to the ground like Lego.
"So that's what that spell does," Damien shivered as he stood, Ahara already shielding him.
"You still got the necklace?" She asked, extending her arms like a mother hen protecting her young from birds of prey, her voice sharp.
"Yes, you want it?"
"No. It's a surprise you can even wear that thing for thirty minutes. It would've melted my chest by now if I'd worn it that long."
Damien gripped his chest. Instead of being melted, his skin seemed to be getting harder than ever. However, he couldn't tell Ahara that. Not now. That'd only distract her.
"Get ready to run back to the shield. I'm about to get serious."
Damien didn't need another word coming from her. The fiery sensation erupting all around her was enough warning already. Goosebumps erupted all over his body, and he felt a suffocating sensation overtaking him at the massive power oozing from Ahara.
Flipping himself around and charging in the other direction, Damien didn't even take more than two steps before he felt the sharp pain in his chest again, this time, more painful than before. It sent him on his knees, his body stiffening when he tried to move.
Then, in a rather familiar suffocating hand motion, he was carried off the ground.
"Let him go!" Came Ahara's angry voice.
"Or what?" The doctor hissed back, his eyes glued on Damien, not even paying attention to Ahara.
A majestic wind erupted from nowhere, sending Kaos's henchman to his knees as he choked. The doctor kicked him in the shin and sent him shattering on a boulder somewhere in the battle.
"Weaklings," he mouthed, finally giving Ahara some of his attention and grinning. "So, you've finally decided to get serious? Very well then, I'll let the boy go since he can't move anyway, and this time I'm not showing any mercy. I'm going to kill both of you and take the gem with me."
"Lip service won't save you either, old man," Ahara shot back.
Damien forced his head up to look at her. Her voice was nothing like he remembered. It was brutal and coarse, like an angered smoker. Finally, he was able to get a good view of her, but his eyes widened at the sight before him.
Her skin was ripping on its own, blood flowing all over her, and her once grey eyes had now turned a deep shade of blood-red. When she opened her mouth, it looked just like Kingston's had a while ago, as if all her teeth were now canines.
Then she glared at Koas and drew in a sharp breath before screaming at the top of her lungs:
"Primal Ascension!"