Release That Witch

On her left two shadows came out from the night, bulky and peculiar, different than the normal visage of a demonic beast. And then Leaf saw that there were two figures riding on the backs of the mixed species. They were tall, twice the size of a normal person. They wore no armor but the clothes of some indescribable material. No, one would be reluctant to call it clothes. It was as if they were wrapped from head to toe in a swollen animal skin, bulging in many places.     

And yet the most striking thing about the two figures was the two masks they were wearing—they were obviously transformed heads of demonic beasts, ferocious and terrible. Their eyes with reddish brown crystals dug into their skulls. A full patch of leather on their heads seemed to be peeled back, running down their back in shells. One man was equipped with a few spears on their mount, another with strangely shaped iron gloves. From the look of it, the iron glove only had three fingers.     

Only one word hung in Leaf's head, "Demon".     

"Enemies!"     

Cara's harsh screaming pulled all the attention back to the enemy. Stone placed her hand on the ground, turning the snowy land in front of them into a large swamp. This was the correct response. The mounts were hybrid wolf beasts with wings. They were not only fast but could fly for short distances. However, these two obviously could not, their wings had been cut off, hemp rope was tied onto their bare bones, which were held but the demons riding them. Therefore they could not fly over the swamp but would have to cross over it. This would give the sisters time.     

However, the enemy did not act as expected. Rather, they drove the mounts forward, entering the swamp. Then, by the impulse, the demonic beast leaped into the sky, jumping across the remaining distance, right to the place where the non-combat type witches were gathered.     

"Spread out, quick!" Leaf's voice had not fallen before the ironhanded demon wearing the three-fingered iron gloves was already killing the witches in the crowd. His degree of agility did not match his body at all. The witch close to him did not have time to react and was punched in the head. Then there were another two sisters that the ironhanded demon pinched on the neck. The others were alerted and ran about in panic. It was only Shino that stood still. Even though her ability was not suitable for fighting, she did not turn away, but rather drew the crossbow from her back and took aim at the creature. The ironhanded demon dodged to the side lifted its feet to send her flying. Along with the rush of power came a muffled sound. The little girl was sprawled on the ground and clotted blood flowed through her mouth.     

The spear-wielding demon turned around, walking towards the terrified Stone. Right when he was about to pierce the witch through the chest, flames erupted in front of him. Red Light rolled between his legs, grabbing Stone's hands and running. Their opponent attempted to catch up but was stopped by a black wall of gas.     

Leaf poured all of her power into the earth causing all sorts of plants to appear out of it. Thorny vines wrapped around, climbing the ironhanded demon. Cara summoned the demonic snake "pain" that bit into the ironhanded demon's arm. When he waved his hands to get rid of the snake, the vines fluttered and captured his feet, tugging them backward and causing the heavy body to crash to the ground.     

"Run, sisters, run!" Shouted Leaf, her voice shaking in fear. "Escape, fast! Hurry away from these terrible monsters! They are recorded in the ancient texts as sources of evil, demons that have appeared out of the Gates of Hell!"     

The poison from the demonic snake seemed to be ineffective. The ironhanded demon fell to the ground, who seemed to want to grab the vines that had scratched at him. The spear-wielding demon saw his companion's difficulty and was soon focused on Leaf, who was controlling the vines. He lifted a spear, getting into position to throw it, his arms quickly swelling. The original bulging skin was stretched to a thin layer, and even through it, one could see blood vessels and dark bones.     

"Leaf, watch out!" Stone once again turned the ground into a quagmire, this time directly casting herself at her opponent. The spear-wielding demon suddenly sank down, and the spear he had thrown instantly changed direction, inserting diagonally into the ground in front of Leaf. A section of the spear as tall as a person was submerged into the ground. Leaf burst out in a cold sweat.     

After throwing the spear, the swollen arm shrunk rapidly, quickly becoming something similar to a dry wood.     

The spear-wielding demon could not throw spears now! She immediately realized that it was a good time to escape. She was not alone in this. Stone, Red Light, and Windseeker, who had been struggling with the ironhanded demon, ran to the careless Cara. They wished to bring Mentor Cara to leave with them. Only Leaf saw the ironhanded demon pull at the vines to reach out to the three women.     

"What is he trying to do? Wait!"     

"No..." But she was too late to warn them, as a line of blue light came from the ironhanded demon's hands. It was like a bolt of lightning piercing the sky and twisted to hit the three sisters. The blue bolt jumped between the three women, crackling. Their bodies went up in white smoke, and they fell to the ground, with their robes burning behind them.     

The attack seemed to consume the great effort of the enemy, and with heavy breathing, he stopped moving. At this time, Leaf's magic power had hit its limit. The vines disintegrated and changed, turning quickly into withering weeds.     

"Everything is over," she thought. The mentor's desperate shouting faded as if she had grown far away as the strength of her body faded like a tide. She fell to the ground helplessly.     

After resting for a mere moment, the ironhanded demon slowly climbed up from the snow. No one could stop him this time as he went to stand in front of the horrified Cara. The demon stretched out his hand to choke the throat of the mentor, who wanted desperately to break free from the creature's fingers, but it was meaningless in this desperate state. Struggling, she sent the demonic snake out and it bit the enemy's arm and neck, but the ironhanded demon was unmoved but continued to grip tighter.     

As this was happening, one demonic snake bit the ironhanded demon's leather hose under its head. Red mist sprayed from the fissure, revealing tendons and bones. The ironhanded demon issued a terrible scream, the skin quickly fouling under the red fog, revealing tendons and bones. Even though he released his iron hand after this and tried to block the tube in panic, the fog quickly dissipated and his body began to tremble. He fell to the ground, motionless.     

The spear-wielding demon with half its body buried in the swamp shouted. Leaf had never heard such a voice. It was like a sharp scream and a low roar together, and it hurt her ears.     

But the enemy's roar did not make Leaf flee, rather it gave her the will to win.     

Biting her lips, she struggled to stand up and picked up the crossbow that Shino fell. Re-loading it, she went in front of the spear-wielding demon. The spear-wielding demon obviously understood what she wanted to do, its two arms desperately waving. But in the swamp, the more you struggled, the faster you would sink. He tried to block it from entering his lungs, but the part of his windpipe that extended into his shell was exposed.     

"This is for my lost sisters," Leaf thought, aiming at the tube she pulled the trigger.     

The crossbow bolt hit its mark, and red mist spurted out where she had hit. When it sprayed, the opponent's head fell.     

She had killed the demon.     

Leaving the crossbow, Leaf looked back at the more than a dozen of her sisters that had lost their lives. She fell to the ground and burst into tears.