The sound of footsteps echoed off the city streets. Her sapphire eyes, glowed harshly against the setting sun within the shadow of her figure. The echo of her footsteps in his ears sent chills up his spine with every step she took before she finally stopped just before him.

“So, the final player has decided to finally show herself,” Aaren huffed coolly, standing up.

Aaren noticed it as soon as she arrived. Her mere presence had captured his full attention. Something was different.

Rachel smiled, a twisted smirk as she chuckled, “I apologize, but I’m not here for games this time.”

Aaren narrowed his eyes, immediately jumping forward. He drew his katana quickly aiming for a strike at Rachel as she just stood there seemingly defenseless. He knew what she was doing, she was trying to intimidate him, just like the reports said she does. What she didn’t know however, was he had no intention of being intimidated by someone like her.

Aaren thrust his sword towards her with incredible speed, cutting the wind ever so gracefully. The sound of impact rushed into his ears, but his eyes however couldn’t seem to comprehend what they were seeing.

Rachel stood there; her eyes alight with a dangerous purple hue as she perfectly held Aaren’s blade between her fingers.

“Sorry to disappoint but, I’m afraid I’m not one to fall for the same trick twice.”

Effortlessly, Rachel tossed Aaren aside, Aaren quickly reacting as he rolled back onto his feet and proceeded to close the distance once more. Aaren’s jet-black sword mowed towards her. Rachel in turn shifts, turning her body to perfectly dodge Aaren’s slash. Aaren then alters his strike into another razor sharp thrust towards her head. Rachel tilting her head, dodging as she looked ever so bored by his feeble attacks.

Again and again, they danced Rachel dodging Aaren’s attacks over and over as they moved across the city streets at tremendous speed.

During this exchange, Aaren’s mind reeled. How could she have improved so quickly over the course of one day? No, it’s not that she’s improved, she’s perfectly predicting my movements. Was our last encounter a fluke? Was she pretending to be weak in order to study me? It can’t be just that. She’s not at all like she was before. Her entire presence is different than before. It’s almost as if she wasn’t trying before. No matter, if this is all she can muster, then I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Aaren suddenly stopped, sheathing his sword as Rachel watched him closely from a few feet away. Aaren’s breathing slowed as he heightened his focus on his target. With the force of a hurricane, Aaren drew his blade. A loud crash echoed off the streets as the street itself was torn apart, deep cuts slicing into stone below.

Rachel widened her eyes, a small cut appearing across her cheek, “My, my… that was, almost impressive.”

Rachel turned to Aaren as she spoke as he had appeared right behind her within a swirl of his sword’s shadow magic. Aaren jabbed forward; his sword charged with his ultimate spell.

“Kuru.”

This time however, Rachel didn’t dodge.

Using her own magic, Rachel caught Aaren’s spell with her own as the two magics clashed against one another. Shadows against light, Aaren’s sword and Rachel’s hand were mere inches from one another, their magic being the only separation between them.

Nevertheless, the mere exchange only lasted but a few seconds. Rachel closed her hand, dispersing Aaren’s ultimate spell, propelling Aaren towards her, throwing Aaren completely off. Using the momentum given to her, Rachel readily slipped beyond Aaren’s attack and defenses and landed a harsh jab into his chest, Rachel’s movement matching that of one of Kiara’s attacks.

The force of the attack caused Aaren to cough blood as he felt suspended in the air for a moment before flying back further into the city streets.

Aaren struggled to get up as he glared at Rachel slowly stalking closer to him. In that moment, Takashi and Calen appeared behind Rachel having diverted their attention from the others to aid Aaren.

Rachel smiled, a rather menacing smile as she twisted her hands to her magic. Immediately Rachel’s magic rose up from around her and shot towards the two, knocking them away from her as if they were meager flies, before she stopped before Aaren.

“I cannot be defeated by those with empty ideals.”

“Empty ideals?”

Rachel stared down at Aaren.

“After everything you people have done. After all the destruction and devastation you people have wrought these last several centuries. After all the lives lost… you would dare call purging the world of you monsters an empty ideal?!”

There was a moment of silence, before Rachel chuckled, a darker quiet chuckle causing everyone around her to freeze.

“You fools. To think there are people out there so blind.”

“Wha-?!”

Aaren froze, Rachel’s eyes flared like fire, purple magic rising into her pupils as she glared down at him.

“It seems as though you do not understand. An ideal is an amalgamation of one person’s desires that resonate into a single dedication to one’s entire being. It is the very thing that drives every action of a person. The one thing that drives them forward, the very thing that allows one to stand up even against odds beyond that very person,” Rachel explained, her magic swirling within her hand before she promptly dispersed it.

“And yet, you believe yours to be some placid illusion of what you call justice? To an objective you’re not even trying to accomplish?”

“Like someone like you could ever understand what we are trying to accomplish,” Aaren countered moving forward to attack her.

However, when he swung his sword, all he hit was empty air.

“!?”

“Oh? Let’s see me see what it is here that I do not understand,” Rachel spoke now standing behind him.

“The AMG’s sole mission is to eradicate all mages, which is because of the six kingdom rulers, the major cause of the destruction and devastation of Etherea within these past few centuries, correct?” Rachel spoke as Aaren turned around with sharp mowing attack.

But Rachel was no longer there.

“Now if my information is correct, the AMG comprises of six elite teams, one to supposedly deal with each of the six ruling kingdoms of Etherea, yes? So why is it, that one of those elite teams is here, in a nobody city far from any of the six kingdom rulers?” Rachel spoke now back to where she was before.

Rachel smirked, “But its Silver, isn’t it? What? Did you think she might be easy prey to weaken her kingdom? At this point, you’re just fooling yourself. Silver is nowhere near her kingdom. How would defeating her here make any difference?”

Aaren’s blade cleaved the air, right towards Rachel however…

A glowing white dagger, one to have seemingly appeared out of nowhere blocked Aaren’s attack, keeping his sword away before Rachel threw it harshly aside.

“You don’t get it do you,” Rachel spoke stalking towards Aaren as he got up again.

“I’ve heard many things about the AMG, but they all seem to convey the same idea. No member of the AMG has gone anywhere near the kingdom’s capitals!”

Aaren drew back his sword for an attack but as Aaren blinked, Rachel was gone.

“!?”

Then next thing Aaren knew he was on the ground, not remembering how he got there as a sudden pain from his gut caused him to cough harshly.

“Eradicate all mages? You haven’t even made any efforts towards the this so called goal! So, what is it you’ve been doing I wondered?” Rachel implored, kicking Aaren away harshly.

“Surely a group of well-trained individuals would be doing something productive towards helping build a better Etherea right?” Rachel questioned, kicking him again.

“But what I come to find, is these so-called heroes slaughtering innocents!” Rachel bellowed.

“Enough!” Aaren roared, bursting forward with a surge of magic.

“You’re the one who called me a monster. Perhaps, it is time, that I showed you one,” Rachel muttered.

Rachel stepped forward; her breath as natural as the wind before her magic condensed around her. Aaren immediately skidded to a stop. Rachel stood before him her magic so condensed nobody could sense it, it was… incomprehensible.

Rachel’s magic arose from her body like a white beacon. Wisps of pink and blue rose from within the beacon of light as Rachel’s hair whirled within the tremendous energy.

All eyes were on her.

Rachel’s eyes met Aaron’s; her pupils now sharp like diamonds as she glared down at him. Aaren’s mouth was agape before he clenched his teeth and moved to step forward, only to fall to his knees, his sword clattering beside him.

Aaren stared at the stone below him, unable to meet her eyes.

After a moment, Rachel dispersed her magic, stand before him as she spoke coldly, “You are no more than a mere puppet. An empty husk only following someone else’s blind orders. The way you are now, you have no will of your own.”

The others gathered to Rachel, each of the Gale Force members carrying one or two of the other members of the AMG before tossing them beside their leader as the others tied them all up.

“We’ll send them back to where they came. We’re done here,” Rachel muttered, turning and walking away.

Karla messed with Jace’s wrist braces, promptly send them home with a push of a few buttons. Waving goodbye, Karla sent them away as they teleported back to where they came with a flash of light.

Rachel walked ahead of the others before staring down at the cracks of magic on her arms.

Hugo jumped from his seat as soon as the others teleported into the room. Moving quickly, he untied his team from the rope binding them as they sat there defeated.

It was a few moments before anyone said anything, all of them mulling over everything they had just experienced.

Aaren stood; his teeth clenched in his own anger before he punched the nearby wall beside him.

“Rachel Medallia. I will, end you,” Aaren growled.