Harem Regressor: I'll Save Them This Time-Chapter 32: Ch : Going After Her.

August sheathed his sword and drew on magic from his binding stone.

The shadow summoned by Sunstorm didn’t belong to any natural element. That was why Vera couldn’t dispel it, even though light normally overpowered darkness element sorcery.

But the power building up in the golden square around August’s open palm didn’t belong to a natural element either.

The magic of the binding stone pumped through August’s mind and into his spell. He focused it. Aimed it. Released it.

The mass of shadow shuddered as if it were a great ball of jelly. Its edges shimmered with an odd translucency.

August clenched his fist, which glowed gold.

The shadow condensed into a ball roughly the size of a man’s head, all within a single instant. A great rush of air followed, along with an audible crack.

The rain seemed to halt for a moment, then exploded outward across the clearing. Fractures appeared along the ground. The few remaining huts burst apart into splinters.

And in the middle of all of this stood Sen and Sunstorm, who bore the brunt of the blast.

Sunstorm shook like a leaf swaying in the wind, blinking rapidly beneath her black cloak and leather armor. Her Champion enhancement protected her, and she likely felt little more than a tickle.

Whereas Sen collapsed to her knees, holding a hand to her chest for a moment.

When the explosive force blew out, she slammed backward into the ground and appeared to scream. August couldn’t hear her, so he wasn’t certain.

Sunstorm stared up at the ball of shadow hovering above her. Then she looked at August, who held a glowing golden fist aloft. Her eyes narrowed.

She was a sharp one, he remembered.

August hurled the ball of shadow high into the air, where it burst into a mass of shadow once more.

A moment later, the shadow vanished. Sunstorm must have unsummoned it.

The hoplites closed in on the downed Sen.

Looking around her, Sunstorm realized she was surrounded. Her pair of single-sided short swords appeared in her hands.

A moment later, she vanished, and a hoplite fell to pieces. August barely caught a shimmer of a shadow dart past the collapsing bronze automaton.

True to her orders, Fei charged toward Sen.

The bandit spellblade was already rising to her feet, using her greatsword as a crutch.

Her eyes were wide, and she looked around wildly. Vera should have blown her off her feet. August couldn’t see the sorceress amid the storm.

A shadow shimmered in his peripheral vision.

August spun to his left, raising his guard.

Sunstorm ran at him, torso parallel to the ground and arms straight out to her sides. Dark mist roiled off her body.

August sighed. He held his hands together and a pair of golden triangles appeared on the back of each palm.

A moment later, a shimmering barrier appeared around him.

Something slammed into it from behind, and an explosion of shadow ensued.

Immediately, August spun, dropped the barrier, and unleashed a blast of wind in that direction.

Her blades spinning, Sunstorm darted backward. The wind blast met her blades in a blast of shadow and vanished.

A beam of light slammed into Sunstorm’s side, and the Champion dropped to one knee with a curse.

Vera strode up and fired off another beam, but Sunstorm blocked this one. The Champion crouched on the ground, glancing between August and Vera.

Her eyes made it clear she knew was surrounded. She charged at August. Two beams of light shot at her.

In a puff of shadow, Sunstorm vanished.

August whirled, sensing her appear behind him. She was a Champion, and like all Champions she stuck out like a sore thumb magically, shadow abilities or no.

Sunstorm glared at August. She kept her distance, swords up, and glared at him.

In the distance, Fei dueled with Sen.

The red hexagon spell had flickered out of existence when Sen had been knocked to the ground.

Sen kept trying to hit Fei with third rank spells. The cairn flared with power, and Sen swung her greatsword each time.

Except Fei kept hitting Sen with the strength of a hundred men and sent the other woman sprawling in the mud.

Their speed was equal. Sen’s magic could disintegrate the Champion and her sopping wet tail in an instant if she got off a single good spell.

The bandit spellblade knew from their previous encounter that the beastkin didn’t have the raw strength to match her, either.

But this time things were different.

Fei didn’t slip around Sen’s massive swings, or try to slash at her from behind five times each second.

Instead, Fei went for the jugular with every swing. Blow after blow rained down against the spellblade.

She held on for as long as she could. Rolled with every blow she took and avoided letting Fei cut her open. Her greatsword slowly chipped away.

Then Sen slipped in the mud. Her guard went down.

Fei was there. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

An instant later, Sen’s arm twisted and snapped. Her sword fell into the mud.

Sen fell down, holding in a scream. Red light burst from the cairn as Sen prepared one final spell in a last ditch effort.

Fei ended Sen’s resistance with a knee to the jaw.

Sen flopped over into the mud. Before Fei could blink, the hoplites were on the bandit spellblade, dogpiling her and grappling her.

The fight was over.

Fei had won her first true battle as a Champion. She looked up to where she knew August was and tried to shield her eyes against the rain.

Both Sunstorm and August had seen the cairn sputter out as Fei put Sen out of the fight. Only one opponent remained for August.

One person to capture.

His eyes focused on Sunstorm. "Care to come quietly?" he asked.

She took a step toward him and shook her swords menacingly at him.

"I take it that’s a no." He sighed.

A pair of hoplites closed in on her.

She exploded in a burst of shadow and turned one into a pile of armor, before returning to her previous position.

August didn’t have a clue how he’d capture her.

He didn’t have the power to take her quietly. If he tried to force her, most likely he’d hurt her a lot. Or kill her.

Another blast of light flew toward Sunstorm, and she deflected it.

Her attention turned toward Vera, who was slowly moving closer.

August’s hand closed on his sheathed sword and his eyes narrowed.

Sunstorm froze. Her eyes turned to him. "You haven’t even been taking me seriously, have you?"

"I’m taking you seriously as a threat," August responded.

Sunstorm cursed. "Your nights are limited, Bastion. Arrogance is a curse."

Shadow exploded around Sunstorm.

August whirled and fired off a wind blast where she knew she would appear, this time empowering it with the binding stone.

As before, Sunstorm blocked it with a sword.

She screamed as the blast knocked away her sword and cut her hand open. Blood flew, mixing with the rain for a moment.

Her hand was still there, but long gashes ran along it. She glanced between her fallen sword and August, her eyes wide.

Then she vanished in another puff of shadow.

"Like hell she’s getting away," Vera shouted.

With a gust of wind, Vera took off into the mist.

"Stop!" August yelled after her. He cursed when she ignored him.

If Sunstorm stopped to fight, then Vera would get herself killed. August glanced down the valley.

Fei was standing guard over Sen and waved at August.

"Keep watch over Sen," August shouted. "I’m going after Vera."

Fei tilted her head for a moment, as if confused by something, then saluted as an acknowledgement.

The mist was too dense to see either Sunstorm or Vera, so August had to follow them using their magical presence.

Fortunately, both were using their magic so were easy to track.

He stumbled through the forest, trying not to trip over fallen branches or slip over in the mud.

By the time he found Vera, Sunstorm was gone. Her presence had vanished almost a minute earlier.

Vera kneeled in a small clearing, her staff held before her in both hands.

A half-dome of solid white light stood in front of her, projected from her staff.

She was shaking, staring at the ground. Her arm and face had slashes on them, but otherwise she appeared uninjured.

"You’re alright," August said. It wasn’t a question. Given who she had chased, these were very light wounds.

"Physically," Vera said quietly, with only a hint of fire in her voice. "My pride? Not so much."

"Your pride can recover from a loss. Your body can’t recover from being decapitated," August said.

Sunstorm was an assassin by trade. She enjoyed chopping off heads. Vera was very lucky.

"Speaking from experience?" Vera asked, a hint of a smirk on her face.

August stared at her. Vera’s smirk vanished, and she looked away.

"Let’s head back," he said. "Fei’s captured the spellblade. We can rest up, wait for the storm to pass, then ride back to my keep."