The storm picked up. The wind howled and screamed. Lights flickered constantly, and the crimson moon was hidden behind the flurry of snow. The temperature dipped, empowering my knights and surviving soldiers that were outside. I could feel them luxuriating in the mana and the cold. Gaining strength by the moment.

  Currently, each of us were inside, waiting for the storm to clear, even a little. I could probably handle the cold, but the chill had a different kind of bite. The wind itself lashed at me like it was a whip, battering me through the ice.

  None of us had any idea what the tolling bell meant and the cops that had come with us were currently taking stock of their supplies and hovering around their radio. A radio that was hissing and spitting at them and not actually relaying commands back and forth.

  Liche seemed content to kick back on one of the many couches in the main area. Joan stood nearby, looking completely out of place. As for me?

  “How’s it looking?” I asked the police, making myself useful.

  “Poorly.” One of them responded. “We can’t contact HQ or any of the other teams.”

  “Is that normal?” I ask to cover my bases.

  “No, the police chief upgraded all the equipment herself, it’s not supposed to lose signal. Not even during a blood moon.”

  “Interference then?” I continue.

  “Definitely.”

  “Are you worried about the chief, or the other teams?”

  “Not at all.” They said firmly. “We’re trained for this, and we have checkpoints all throughout the city. Anyone out on patrol would have retreated to the nearest checkpoint.”

  “And your certain they won’t be caught?”

  “Even if they were, those on patrol are typically part of the emergency response teams. They’re far better equipped than we are. They can more than easily handle those like you, or worse.”

  Confident, but a few well-placed bullets could take down a magical girl without issue, assuming they were a rabbit like me. I had no idea how a uniform would change the result, but… I have a suspicion they have a means to handle that too. After all, just these officers Grim had lent me had already proven themselves not only capable, but exceptionally capable.

  With that, I took up position by the front door. My eyes looked out into the storm, trying to glean any kind of information. To no avail. Outside, my knights stood bearing the brunt of the storm with glee. The snow swirled around Cobalt, empowering him and the others, even healing wounds as time went.

  A part of me wanted to sit down and help myself to a hot drink. My bones almost ached for it, with the cold settling into my veins. But I couldn’t afford it. Not just yet. The night wasn’t yet over.

  Instead, I focused on creating more bullets, filling back up my fanny pack, and assisting the police with their resupply. Minutes ticked by, but overall, the actual time barely moved, if at all, courtesy of my gifted watch.

  As I stared out into the storm, as the snow began to build, I saw something. A blur, a trick of the eye? A single blur, followed by many, and it wasn’t until I saw them coming forward, their forms obscured by the storm, in fact, they looked like part of the storm, that I saw what they were.

  Beasts. Creatures, monsters of a different sort than what I had faced. They crashed into the line of soldiers with little care. Literally bowling over the bronze ranks in their frenzied efforts to break into the building. Only to be stopped by the indomitable wall that was Cobalt and his two supporters.

  “Liche, Joan, we have company!” I cried out and rushed out. The moment the doors opened, a harsh gale nearly blew me over, but in the same breath, I felt my magic resonate, and I grew that much sturdier. With a stamp, I pushed forward and raised my rifle. With a squeeze of the trigger, a bullets song sang out, almost resonating with the howling gale.

  The bullet flew true, aiming right for one of the creatures. I saw a splash of blood, but little else. Pulling back the slide, I ejected the spent casing and loaded up the next, rapidly working through what I had, until none was left, yet the results were left wanting. None of the bullets had been lethal. The bulk of the creatures was far too great.

  Cobalt was having just as much trouble. His blade swung out, cutting into flesh, not unlike a woodcutter chopping into wood. Their flesh was hard, their hides thick. It wasn’t until one bounded past the troubled line that I finally got a good look at them.

  Horrific and yet, strangely beautiful. With four pairs of crystal blue eyes, long white fur, that blended into the snow. So white, it almost looked ethereal. The fur itself was fine, and looked more like strands of a cloud, rather than fur. Its teeth glistened. It’s bearing oddly noble, if not grotesque. Like something out of myth.

  It did not bare its teeth at me. If anything, in those eyes, I saw reflected my own icy visage. On a level, I felt resonance, it and I. Just as quickly, that feeling made way for the cruel reality we found ourselves in. Like two distant relatives meeting on the battlefield. Both given a purpose worth dying for. Neither willing to surrender or stop.

  Perhaps it was just a beast, but…

  Did it matter?

  With a shout, my bayonet affixed itself to my rifle. Holding it close, I charged forward, and the beast pounced. We met in the middle. Its mass and weight pressed against me. The ice that strengthened me crackled but held. The tip of my silvered blade carved into its flesh with ease. With a grunt, I shoved the beast off, claws tore at my arms, leaving bloodless gashes. All the while, tearing my bayonet free.

  In a swift series of movements, I pulled out a readied clip and snapped it into the magazine. The beast pounced and I fended it off with my bayonet and opened fire. Each bullet peppered into its hide, each hole leaked blood like liquid crystal. Emptying my gun once again, I surged forward, crashing bayonet first into the beast. With a heave, and a ho, I pressed forward, toppling the beast as I stepped atop it.

  It squirmed, it cried out, throwing me aside as it wriggled me off, a snake-like tail whipped out, nearly clipping me as it whistled by. In a single motion, I slapped in a new clip and readied my rifle.

  In a single breath, I squeezed the trigger, unleashing a point-blank shot type bullet into its face. Its song made itself known as it exploded. The sheer force behind it sent it reeling, but I didn’t stop. Pulling back the slide, I eject the casing, slam it back, loading the next round, rinse and repeat. With deadly efficiency, I unloaded an entire magazine’s worth of shot right into its face.

  On the final shot, I finally breathed. The beast’s face was ruined. A mess of mangled meat. It growled, tried to stand, but swayed. Its pride prevents it from simply falling over and dying. Seeing that, I ready my rifle, and once more, we met. We crashed, and this contest I won handily. Bowling over the beast, I stood atop it and pulled out my bayonet, then thrust and thrust until it was dead.

  Standing atop its corpse, bloodied and with ice in my veins. I look over the battlefield. We were holding, if only just. The officers had changed out their pistols for rifles. Each shot was precisely aimed, taking out eyes and joints with each trigger pull. Making the injured monsters easier for others to handle.

  Joan was at the far back. Her hands folded, as a thin ray of light attempted to breach the storm and protect my soldiers and knights. As for Liche, I couldn’t see her. Though, I imagine she was hovering around the periphery, picking off stragglers as she was want to do.

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  With a sigh, I checked over my rounds. Normal wouldn’t work, and shot barely worked, so, I copied the police. I loaded up on piercing rounds and went to work. Each shot had to be carefully placed, but they went deep. A well-aimed shot at the head could even kill one with little fuss.

  Even then, we were struggling. The cold was deepening; the beasts grew more feral by the moment. No doubt empowered by the cold, as I was, as my soldiers were. Which was the only reason we held.

  The bronze ranks were literally batted around by the beasts, their spears struggled to pierce, not unless they had them planted down when a beast rushed them. On instinct, they grouped together, forming small teams as they tried to keep their feet under them. All around them were injured beasts that had been skewered, simply awaiting their final end.

  As for cobalt. His blade had seemingly lost its edge. It became more of a blunt tool as he bashed aside beasts with ease, as if he were wielding a slab of metal, and not a blade made of ice. At his side, the pair of knights worked in perfect tandem. Blocking strikes with graceful steps and thrust at downed or weakened foes.

  The tips of their blades were unerringly sharp. As was their aim. Every thrust came with it a kill and every motion worked into an ethereal dance. A dance I realized, was close to what I had taught them in what spare time I had. They moved and flowed, though, not perfectly. There was a bit of jitter, unfamiliarity, but they were catching on.

  What did matter, was how they orbited Cobalt, allowing him to do his best unharried, as if they were his star and moon.

  Time slowly, inevitably clicked on. Slowly, the line, or what remained of a line was pushed back, further and further, up until we were at the very steps of the entrance. Using them as leverage, we prepared to make our final stand.

  Exhaling a stream of frost, the wind whipped my hair everywhere. I looked out into the storm. My eyes on the seemingly endless tide of beasts. The snow was up to our ankles by now, making every move all the more tedious.

  As I moved to reload, a spear haft hit me. A soldier had turned suddenly and pushed me away with their spear. Suddenly, a shadow soundlessly slid by, whatever sound it made buried under the roaring gale.

  An axe. A large axe bisected the soldier, destroying their core, smashing into the stairs a deep thunk I felt in my bones. I hit the ground in a roll, turned to face the axe, just as a figure leapt out from the mass of beasts.

  I felt a charge in the air, the moment our eyes met. Instinctively I knew.

  A magical girl had arrived.

  I wasn’t sure how to begin describing her. Though, if I had to be it would be in a word, it would be tribal. She wore a mix of furs and bone. Her hair wildly blew behind her, held in place with bone ornaments. Her face covered in what looked like warpaint. She exposed her sharp, almost animalistic teeth before pulling out her axe with a single fluid motion and launched herself forward. Her weapon of choice, an axe and shield.

  I scrambled down the stairs, barely avoiding another downward swing that smashed into the stair. Only to be met with a follow-up thrust of the shield she had in her other hand. The shield connected, sending me right into the back of my struggling soldiers. They nearly bowled over from the blow, but at the last minute, they managed to keep themselves up. Enough that I didn’t fall to the ground when I crashed into them.

  The magical girl wasn’t done, not yet. After pushing me back, she came again, axe swinging right for my body. I couldn’t dodge or throw myself aside, not without compromising my soldiers.

  I blocked and pivoted the blow with my rifle, or tried too, the impact reverberated through my bones and had my teeth clattering. My feet left the ground, and found myself thrown into the mass of beasts, but even then, she did not relent.

  Crashing into an oxymoron of a surface, so devilishly soft and yet, so incredibly hard, shunted the breath out of my lungs. My frozen body crackled under the force of blow, yet, frozen as I was, I didn’t lose my composure. The very moment I crashed into that oxymoronic surface, a living beast that recoiled from the blow, I was already on the move.

  The very moment I shifted aside, the tribal magical girl’s axe came hurtling down, cleaving into the beast without a care, splattering crystalline blood everywhere. Her eyes never left mine as I tried to gain distance. My hand shot to my pack, grasping for a clip or bullet to feed into my rifle when she came again.

  She moved with purpose. Constantly flowing from strike to strike, almost dancing from foot to foot. I matched her pace as best as I could, even with the throng of beasts pressing against me. Stray claws or teeth would swipe or snap in my direction, missing at times, others taking an ounce of flesh. Harried, yet unbothered under the ice, I kept trying to buy enough time to load my rifle, blocking blows I could not dodge, and doing my best not to be swept away by the storm.

  Even at my best, it wasn’t enough. A combination of my slowly accruing injuries, and ill-fated timing saw me trip on a downed corpse’s limb. Not enough to fall, but enough to stall my momentum, just enough for the tribal magical girl to slam into me with all she had. What followed, was a flurry of blistering swings that I could only just follow, until I couldn’t. A wide swing beat me out of place, my rifle nowhere near where it needed to be to block the next blow. Her grin widened, her eyes dilated in anticipation of the kill, her axe reared back to cleave me in twain.

  She swung, only to meet a blade of ice. Scarred, covered in wounds, their misty cloak of frost following in their wake, Cobalt had arrived. I could hear the ice of his blade crack, unable to handle the full force of her swing. The sheer strength behind the blow nearly sent him sprawling, but that wasn’t the end of it.

  Before he could even recover, she swung again and again. Each strike hit the blade, but each time, Cobalt managed to shift the edge, preventing her from hitting the same spot twice. This continued until the point where his blade’s edge was riddled with worrying cracks and wounds.

  Yet, I was not idle. Using the chance Cobalt gave me, I slipped a clip of rounds right into my gun, using Cobalt’s bulk to hide my actions.

  It was then that I charged into the gap, bayonet forward. She shifted aside, the tip of my bayonet cutting a fine line along the side of her body. She stepped back, and redirected my rifle with her shield, with the aim of crashing down on me with her axe, only for Cobalt to press in, swinging his cracked blade. Aborting her swing, she blocked the blow with her axe and diverted it. Granting me a chance to pull back, which is when I pulled the trigger. A bullet sang its discordant cry that filled the air while it fulfilled its sole purpose in this world.

  Her eyes widened briefly. Her body flashed a faint yellow. An image of a beast seemed to overlay her body. An object, a small token on her person her lit up in the very same hue and she leapt aside, not daring to take the blow as the bullet exploded, sending shrapnel out.

  I didn’t even have time to pull back the slide before she was back on me. She bolted forward, shield up. Forcing me back once more, I blocked with my rifle as she slammed into me with her shield, and brought her axe to bear, but I kicked out, my foot slamming into her bare stomach.

  The blow pushed her back, but the damage was minimal, but before she could push her advantage, Cobalt was back in it.

  With a charge, Cobalt arrived once more, forcing the girl on the backfoot. She didn’t meet the swing of Cobalt’s blade and instead danced around it, before delivering a series of blistering cuts that parted Cobalt’s iced frame with ease.

  Even with a breather, I didn’t stop or slow. Barely a second after Cobalt had charged in I followed. She managed a few strikes before I came in with a thrust of my bayonet, forcing her back for the briefest of instances before she was upon me instead. We danced. The stock of my rifle shifted and moved, blocking each of her strikes, all the while the both of us shuffled around each other, looking for an opening.

  Only, she was too close.

  Thankfully, once again Cobalt arrived, giving me just enough time to make a change. With a pull, I ejected the casing, and slammed it back, loading a new bullet in. In just that time, more worrying wounds were dealt to my most loyal knight. Stoically, Cobalt held the line, until I came charging in.

  She shifted to divert my bayonet, but… my bayonet was not affixed. The moment the tip of my rifle hit her shield, she realized she’d been had. Following through, I slipped under her guard, bayonet in hand and I thrust for her exposed stomach. She twisted like a cat, as if her spine was a question, not an answer. Following through, she kicked out, and I barely managed to block the blow with my arm. The blow hit solidly. The ice along my arm crackle, the bones and muscle underneath quivered, but owing to the cold in the air, and my own magic being bolstered, it held, if only just.

  With her kick, the girl managed to disengage, once again getting her feet under her. Yet, none of us stopped to wait and see.

  Cobalt closed the distance yet again, but this time, she didn’t pursue, but kept pulling back, I made to follow, when a soldier came up to me, hand extended. Their metal hand, cold as ice grasped mine in a moment of incredulity. My body moved to the soldier’s intention, following through as they pulled me and pushed me away.

  Not a moment later, a bolt, a crossbow bolt crashed into them, where I had been not an instant prior, and exploded. Obliterating another of my soldiers.

  Glancing in the direction of the bolt, a swirling tunnel was formed in the storm, in the distance I saw a cloaked figure wielding a small arm-mounted crossbow, their eyes on me, and me alone. All up until a familiar figure appeared from behind, her arm grasping out.

  The crossbow wielding magical girl jumped aside, but the extended arm still traced along her arm. Blood spurt out where fingers delicately brushed. Spraying the familiar figure in blood, Liche. She shot me a look and pressed on, keeping the crossbow wielding magical girl at bay.

  A second was going to be a problem… and something told me…

  A clap resounded out. All at once, the surrounding beasts perked up, the storm seemed to recede. As if quieted down. At the center of the disturbance, the hush, was yet another magical girl.

  It had only just begun…