"Escape? That's easier said than done!" Friya understood her sister's worries, but the only way out was blocked by two undead.
The silver lining in their predicament was that the Ernas sisters had finished preparing their spells and had their weapons already in hand. The ambush had succeeded, but the girls' preparation had neutralized its element of surprise.
Each one of the Ernas conjured a Full Guard spell, reducing the advantage that superior numbers granted to their enemies. The only problem was that after finishing to weave the spells, they had no time to drink any potion.
Without the aid of the alchemical tool, the gap in physical prowess was their greatest enemy.
The Ghouls smelled the intoxicating fear coming from their prey and established the pecking order. The little girl was the weakest link, almost on the verge of panic. The hot girl was scared as well, but her determination was stronger than her fear.
The slender, effeminate man, instead, wasn't afraid for himself so much as for the two women.
"Where the heck is Captain Ernas?" The leader of the Ghouls asked Phloria, igniting her rage. She hated to be mistaken for a man just because of her pixie cut.
"She was supposed to be with her sisters. Tell us where to find the Captain and we'll make sure you are unconscious while we feast on your flesh." Karis Lessar the Ghoul pointed at Friya, calling dibs on her.
Undeath made so that none of the Ghouls was bad looking. Their bodies were toned like those of athletes, without a shred of body fat or imperfections of the skin. Yet none of them could compare to the human girl and that royally pissed them off.
The fact that the women's fear had suddenly disappeared and was now replaced by hilarity only worsened the Ghouls' mood.
"This is no laughing matter, children." Karis snarled. Rage fueled the red light of undeath in her eyes, making it so bright that the corridor seemed to be drenched in blood.
"If we can't get her, then we'll keep you as hostages. Alive is very different from well, and being devoured is no pleasant experience. Talk now or my deal is off."
"Fuck you. That's where she is." Phloria kept her voice low to not be recognized and stepped forward.
She hoped the Ghouls would surround her, leaving only the two undead in front of Friya to deal with her sisters. Despite the gap in physical prowess, with their equipment, Friya and Quylla had a chance in a two versus two fight.
The Ghouls followed Phloria's script, believing that despite his bravado, the effeminate man would regret leaving his back exposed while surrounded by so many enemies.
Phloria let the first enemy come in contact with her conjured stone shield before activating her personal spell, Dread Blast.
It generated a small sphere comprised of air and darkness that affected everything in her surroundings except for the space within a meter (3.3 feet) from her body. By mixing tier zero gravity magic with it, the spell also lowered the weight of all those in its area of effect, sending them flying like leaves.
Darkness magic injured her opponents while gravity magic robbed them of their foothold. Slamming against the wall would deal no damage to an undead, but the move had temporarily broken the encirclement.
Only then did Phloria advance further to take out the enemy leader in the hope that it would make the rest of her forces retreat. Karis inwardly applauded the effort and went for the kill.
No matter how well trained they were, humans could never compare with the experience of centuries and the perfect coordination that only a body whose strength didn't depend on muscles could accomplish.
The moment Karis entered the range of Full Guard, Phloria stopped holding back. The speed of her pseudo-Awakened body took the Ghoul by surprise and the years spent practicing the same moves over and over did the rest.
The lunge was a basic attack, with no trick nor feint behind it. Yet Phloria executed it with a speed and accuracy beyond human, without any wasted movement nor hesitation. She knew that there was no feint she could try that the Ghoul didn't counter at least a hundred times in the past.
Phloria didn't have an undead's reflexes, so she was bound to lose if things dragged on. The simplest move was the most lethal she could perform because her opponent would overthink.
Karis could see the estoc move and tried to read Phloria's muscles to determine her real goal. Attacking where a human heart was supposed to be was such a dumb strategy that the Ghoul refused to believe it.
By the time Karis realized it was really an attack instead of a feint, it was too late. Reaver pierced through her chest, causing nothing more than an annoying sting. Like all Ghouls, Karis could freely move her weak point around her body.
With a Ghoul's innate regenerative properties, the cut would heal the moment the sword was pulled out of the wound. Unfortunately for her, it would never happen. Reaver was engulfed in the golden aura typical of the anti-undead weapons developed by the Balkor department.
Karis suddenly felt weak. The golden aura was robbing her blood core of its strength and taking away all the gifts that undeath had bestowed upon her. Orion had never been a meek man, but after Kulah's events, he was considered the embodiment of wrath.
He had poured all of his rage into War, to make Lith into the blade that would strike at their common enemies while he had devised the weapons of his children to protect them from any harm.
Using a few state secrets for personal gain was a little price to pay to make sure his daughters would come back home safe and sound.
Karis tried to plunge into the ground, but the rock was deaf to her call. She tried to move her heart from the stomach to the calf, away from the estoc, but her weak point remained still and even her wound bled as if she was still alive.
"What the fuck?"
"Fuck you. That's how." Phloria used her personal tier five spell, Master Sword, to unleash the darkness spells stored inside her ring directly inside the Ghoul's body.
Master Sword was a tier five Mage Knight spell that allowed her to channel her magic inside her estoc and release it at will upon contact.
Mage Knights had to often fight in close combat while defending their mark, so Phloria had devised Master Sword to be able to use all kinds of spells without having to worry about their area of effect or speed.
Darkness magic was the bane of the undead. It made Karis's chest rot and with it her heart, reducing the conceited Ghoul into ashes before her companions struck by Dread Blast could even hit the ground.
'That was the "easy" part, but now that they know how fast I am, the same trick will not work again.' Phloria thought while stepping back to regroup with her sisters.
Friya had no idea what had just happened, but she took the shocked expression on the faces of the Ghouls in front of her as her cue.
Dreadnaught, her rapier, had been enhanced as well with the anti-undead properties and its abilities further upgraded.
