A person

The creature tried feebly to defend itself with its weapons, but it was unable to as it was savagely beaten to presumed death by the clackers.

Seeing that he was distracted with clearing out the fire in the sky above, the creature proceeded to thrust the knife at his stomach, taking advantage of this key moment while it still could.

The living fireball was grabbed, the flames beginning to cover her arm as she pulled it closer to herself. Once it was thrown and the missiles were fired, it seemed to rain the red flames down upon the ground below.

(Sorry!) He would only manage to cut off one of its arms before it tried to wrap the other around him, the red flames beginning to soak into his clothing and begin burning them quite quickly if it managed to succeed.

The creature proceeded to dash to the right of the blast coming directly at it, and charged straight for him, its knife in front of itself.

Without a word, Nemesis proceeded to carry Hinamori away from danger, following the maid's orders to a T. The lantern was hit by the eye beam, causing the extreme flames within to shroud the creature and turn it into what was essentially a living fireball. It began to charge towards the party, intent on setting the others ablaze, a trail of red flames being left behind by it.

Unaware of the location of the third, the creature found itself being blown over by the projectile, landing upon its right side and laying there for a moment as it was wounded still. Nemesis noticed the flame blast coming and quickly tried tackling Hinamori out of the way of it, taking herself along. Fortunately, the mecha maid would be able to put up a barrier in time to block the blast, the flames fanning off into random directions and landing upon the ground. Seeing that it failed to target the injured, the creature proceeded to shove the dagger into the lantern once more and thrust it at Hugh, sending another red flame blast in his direction. Nemesis looked over at Hisui and nodded. Nemesis: You're a lifesaver, Hisui! We probably would've gotten cooked if you hadn't protected us! She looked over at Hinamori, a silent way of asking if she was okay.

Now with the flames wrapped within the lantern, the creature that pulled them in proceeded to thrust its knife into it before pulling it out, red flames shrouding the blade. It glanced at the injured Hinamori and proceeded to thrust the weapon in her general direction, a stream of red fire being shot at her and anyone around her from the knife.

Upon seeing the lantern vanish within the smoke, the creature proceeded to charge straight at the male, swerving around to the right of the smoke as it saw that it was just a cloud of death and destruction, and attempting to get behind him.

The lantern hit the ground, spilling the flames onto it which began to spread out like a liquid trying to fill a non-existent void until they began getting pulled into the sole remaining lantern in the area, leaving a slightly darker spot on the trail where the flames burned for a short while. Meanwhile, the creature used its knife to deflect one of the swords only for the other to sink into its torso and knock it over, though it quickly flipped back onto its feet and yanked the weapon out as though it felt no pain, now wielding it in its previously free hand. It pointed both at Joseph menacingly.

It seemed as though one of the creatures was feeling rather brave as it threw its lantern out at the quartet and charged at them, its knife out in front of itself. The creature was hit hard by the bullet, sending it face-first into the ground, though it still managed to slowly pull itself up, albeit stumbling as it did so. Nemesis' target creature spotted this and proceeded to raise up its lantern, the red flames upon the ground beginning to get pulled into it, causing Nemesis to back off from it. However... ...her attention was soon brought to Hinamori. Nemesis: Hina! She immediately ran to the girl's aid. Her allies' well-being was far more important than ensuring that the creatures were all dealt with.

The creature danced to the right of his thrust and, using the close quarters to its advantage, proceeded to try and throw the lantern at him... ...only for it to explode within its grasp, causing the flames to shroud it. Having no other choice, it proceeded to charge directly at Tommy, its arms out as though it were getting ready to hug him. Nemesis, meanwhile, proceeded to fall upon the creature that was knocked away by Hugh and sent her katars into its head, ensuring that it was going to stay down. Permanently. Not hesitating, she moved onto the next creature, one with a lantern, her katars ready to send another to the afterlife.

The creature would find itself meeting up with an electrically-charged first, causing it to be sent flying away from him and tumbling along the ground. Another, seeing this happen, proceeded to fling its lantern at Hugh, trying to catch him while he was busy assessing the damage dealt to the other.

The creature twisted around and hopped back to face Tommy as he went in for the grab, causing his attempt to miss. It pointed the knife at him in a threatening manner, and raised its lantern up as well. Meanwhile, another one of the creatures proceeded to throw its lantern at the smoke-producing male, the red flames lashing out from the open sides of it.

The water splashed upon the red fire, sizzling loudly as it evaporated upon contact with it. The creature slid underneath Tommy and his blade, causing both the weapon and the dropkick to miss, and thrust its knife at his back as he sailed over it. It still had its lantern in its grasp as well. Nemesis, after sending her target into the ground with her kick, proceeded to hunker down and thrust both katars into the back of its head quickly before yanking them out just as fast, and proceeded to charge towards the next target. Nemesis: Let none survive; they'll all learn a lesson today!

The lantern was shot as it flew through the air and split apart, causing the red fire within to shower the ground below and begin spreading along it like, headed mostly in their direction. The creature would find itself being hit three times, grabbed, then slammed upon the ground, leaving it either dead or in a daze. Another one of the 7 remaining proceeded to charge atTommy with a sudden burst of speed after seeing him take its friend down, its knife in front of itself.

BGM: Mother Earth of Dishonesty ~ PART 2 The creature would find itself being blasted by a barrage of missiles, causing it to be blown away from the scene, through its lantern flew up into the air and began to fall towards the ground. Meanwhile, another one of the creatures suddenly charged at Yui, displaying an incredible amount of speed that put its earlier shambling along to shame, its knife out in front of itself and its lantern at the ready.

One of the creatures approached Tommy and Frank and, instead of getting closer, proceeded to bring the lantern in its hand back and throw it in their general direction. Nemesis, meanwhile, started to walk around the puddle of red fire as Hinamori's rock throwing slowly put it to a crawl, allowing for, at least temporarily, a safe passage around it. Once she was around it, she proceeded to launch herself at one of the creatures approaching from the front and sent her right heel down at its head. Nemesis: You chose the wrong party to mess with, you cretins...

The plan worked like a charm, the creatures within the trees falling out of them due to the wind projectile blasting the trees and causing them to shake violently, sending more than a few dead and rotting branches into the air as well. With the mysterious assailants' appearances now revealed, the only thing that mattered was numbers; there were eight in total, 7 with lanterns, one without a lantern, and all armed with seemingly very dull knives. One by one, they began to stand up and slowly walk towards the group. Meanwhile, Nemesis waited for the fiery puddle to be put out. It was probably not a good idea to step into fire, especially red fire. Nemesis: Are you sure rocks are going to do the trick...?

Nemesis let out a sigh, muttering something to herself quietly before picking up the pace. From the shadows of a tree on the left came a lantern whirling through the air, a large, red flame coming from within the cage it consisted of, it headed for the ground between the party and her. It hit the ground and split apart, the red flame within spreading along the ground and forming a sort of fiery "puddle" between them. Nemesis slid into a combat stance. Nemesis: Guess I was wrong...looks like we're in for a fight!

BGM: Approaching Dread As if triggered by something, several pairs of glowing lights appeared within the shadows of the trees' upper branches, like eyes gazing down at the party below. They gave off an unwelcoming aura, one of pure malice. Nemesis turned her head to gaze at them, seeming to take mental note of how many there were. Her katars slid out of her coat sleeves. Nemesis: As long as we stay on our guard while we advance, we should be okay. Slowly, she started to continue on down the path. Nemesis: If any of you notice any sudden movements, alert the others; don't try fighting alone.

Up ahead, the path leading to the city could be seen, the heavily used road curving in the direction of the large silhouette to the northeast. Nemesis set foot upon it immediately and began to follow it...but suddenly stopped in her tracks as a shadowy figure seemed to quickly dash by the group's front. Nemesis: ...looks like the animals are interested...

Upon receiving confirmation that nobody left anything important, Nemesis proceeded to nod. Nemesis: Okay, everyone, let's get going and see what awaits us at this city! And with that, she proceeded to head northeast through the edge of the forest, hoping that the path would be up ahead, just as Hisui said. A thought occurred to her: what could be within the forest? It seemed like it was pretty large, and since this was an unknown land to her, there most definitely had to be some strange creatures within it, just like in the world she was from. The world she told nobody about. She was about to say something about it, but it would probably be best to save it until they got to the city.

She watched Hisui depart before finally turning towards the party. Nemesis: Well, are you all ready to get going? Make sure you haven't forgotten anything before we head over there; I'd rather not have to walk though this place again without some way to leave a trail leading us back!

Nemesis nodded confidently. They had the numbers, and her skills would make finding the path easy, so knowing that it was only a few steps away was reassuring. At least they got a tip from her. Nemesis: Thanks, Hisui! Will we see you at that city?