Cedric stood frozen, his eyes widening in horror. Selena was on the ground, lying on her side, with cuts and scraps littering her body. Tiny droplets of blood oozed out of her wounds and stained the floor crimson.

"Ah, that's so sweet that you came to watch your little friend die. Don't worry, she won't be lonely for long since you'll be joining her soon," Ava taunted with a grin.

Ava reached down, gripping Selena's right shoulder, and yanked her up. She leaned closer, her fangs getting closer to Selena's neck.

Swoosh!

Ava sharply turned her head to the left when she heard something rip through the wind; her eyes widened in shock when a giant blue cobra raced toward her with its jaws wide open. She dropped Selena and jumped backward to dodge it.

Ava's mouth hung open in surprise when Cedric closed the distance and swung his weapon upward, slicing along her right shoulder. She yelled out in pain and reached up to clutch onto her injury. "Damn exorcist!" she growled.

Cedric tried sprinting toward Selena before he twirled around and blocked Ava's claws. His eyes widened when she twisted her body around and slammed her left foot into his chest, sending him flying backward into the railing with a loud thud.

A pained gasp escaped Cedric. He struggled back to his feet and then coughed into his hand, staining his skin with a bit of blood.

Ava stormed over toward Cedric like a jaguar sneaking up on its prey in the tall grass, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. "Since you're such a little pest, I'll just kill you first," she threatened with a murderous look in her eyes. She inhaled deeply, causing purple energy in the form of whips to crawl out of her body.

"See if you can dodge this!" Ava roared. The whips erratically moved around, flying in every direction in a chaotic mess.

Cedric stepped to the left and right to avoid a couple of strikes. When a whip flew downward at him, he reached up to create a barrier to shield his head. He gritted his teeth when he felt his body get pushed slightly toward the ground. He dove to the right when one swung horizontally at him, grazing his chest slightly.

"This won't do either," Cedric mumbled to himself as he ducked to avoid one hitting him. He extended his right glove out, soaked with his own blood. "Trust me when I say I won't have to worry about dodging. That'll be your job," he stated to Ava with a coldness in his eyes.

"Phantom!" The moment he uttered those words, the blood crawled out from his glove, forming into tiny threads. Each one slowly wove together, taking the form of a creature with a black cloak concealing its face and body. It hovered above the ground and held a giant scythe in its hands.

Fear washed over Ava as she stared up at it. She leaped backward to avoid the slash of its weapon, only for her heart to drop when it appeared behind her. A pained scream left her when it managed to sever her right arm, littering the ground with black blood.

Cedric dragged his body toward Selena, who hadn't moved a muscle. "Are you alright? You don't seem alright. But that isn't my fault, is it?" he stated nonchalantly. He knelt down next to her and rolled her over. He placed his hand against her throat, feeling her pulse beneath his fingertips. "What a relief you're still alive."

Cedric stared at her with dull, blue eyes. His fingers slowly started to curl around her neck before his eyes widened in shock, and he pulled his hand away from her.

—--

Selena's eyes weakly fluttered open. "Cedric?" she called out to him when a blurry image of him appeared before her that gradually became clearer. She noticed the freaked-out expression he wore on his face as his entire body continued to tremble. "What happened..." she began before she paused when he vomited to her right.

Selena's stomach churned as she watched the contents of his stomach spill out onto the floor next to her. He reached up and wiped the corner of his mouth clean.

"I tried my best, but I wasn't able to land a single hit on her. The only thing I was able to do was to block her attacks for so long, and then I blacked out for a moment when I hit the ground," Selena explained before her eyes widened when he tugged her forward into a hug.

"I was so worried. I'm glad you're okay," Cedric said softly, holding his tears back.

Selena closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying his warm embrace. It oddly put her mind at ease. "Look, I'm fine. You can let me go now," Selena complained with a pout before he pulled away. She peered around him, seeing pools of black blood staining the ground. "What the hell happened!" she stated in shock.

Cedric reached up to rub the back of his neck. "To be honest, I don't fully remember. I think I burst through the roof, and then I managed to hit her with a spell," he sheepishly explained, causing Selena to pout.

"You don't even remember!" Selena yelled at him as she rose back to her feet.

"Yeah, sorry," Cedric admitted as he used his legs to push himself back up.

"You damn exorcists ruined my party! You'll pay for this!" Ava screeched. She struggled to stand back up due to her injuries inflicted by Cedric's spell. She inhaled deeply before letting out a deafening scream that tore parts of the roof off and sent them flying.

Cedric swiftly moved in front of Selena and cast a blue barrier. It deflected the debris moving through the air and prevented Cedric and Selena from being sent off the roof.

"I can deal the finishing blow. Just keep the barrier up," Selena stated with a look of determination in her eyes.

Cedric nodded his head. "You got it," he said with a smile.

Selena sucked in a breath, channeling all the magical energy inside her body. "Flame lion, devour her!" she roared with a rage brewing in her eyes.

Ava gasped as the floor beneath her rumbled. "Think that trick of yours will work again!" she hissed. A look of surprise washed over her when her head struck a barrier when she tried to leap out of the way.

"I think it'll work this time," Cedric commented as he moved the barrier away from them and around Ava to keep her in place.

Ava didn't get a chance to speak when a massive flame lion burst through the floor, swallowing her up whole. When the spell disappeared, Selena collapsed to the ground, causing worry to well up in Cedric's eyes.

"Are you alright!" Cedric asked in a panic as he grabbed onto her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's just my whole body hurts, is all," Selena whined out loud. She looked up and down at Cedric, seeing how he was battered just as much as she was.

Cedric let out a sigh of relief as he pulled away from her. "Tell me about it. But, hey, at least you finished your first mission," he declared with a smile on his lips. "Let's get out of here and go home," he said, extending his hand for her to take.

Selena's lips curved into a smile. "Yeah, let's go home," she stated, taking his hand.

Cedric pulled her back to her feet and turned on his heels. "Let's take the stairs to head out," he declared.

Once the two of them headed downstairs, a dumbfounded look crawled on their faces. There were injured wolves littered across the floor, some on fire, while others weren't. Pieces of debris were scattered across the floor in a mess, and nearly a chunk of the building had been damaged beyond recognition.

"Crap!" Cedric screamed loudly, clutching the sides of his head. "The people are on fire!" he stated in a panic before casting a water spell to put out the flames.

Selena furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean? Aren't they monsters?" she asked before she frowned when her clothes were soaked with water from the spell he cast.

"The people kind of transformed into monsters, and after that, it is a little hazy to remember," Cedric admitted before relief flooded his systems when he extinguished the fire that was devouring everything.

"Are you saying you did all this?!" Selena scolded him, remembering that the mission mentioned keeping the damage to a minimum.

"I don't remember doing any of this," Cedric stated confidently before seeming unsure of himself. "Well, at least things couldn't get worse, right?" he stated with a lopsided smile before he let out a terrified yelp when a piece of the ceiling crashed to the floor.

Selena pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "Can we really call this a mission well done?" she said with an annoyed tone as she crossed her arms. Dante is not going to be pleased about this, or maybe he's the last person I should be worried about being angry about this, she briefly thought concerned.