The three questers dashed forward, their eyes glued onto the hooded figure running along the rocky bridge above them. Despite having shorter legs, the Crimson Witch was insanely fast; her feet were a blur amidst the mini sandstorm she generated around her legs.

"I'm going up there," Emily declared. The thin blade of her sword glinted yellow under the sunlight, matching the ruffling blonde hair on her head. "The two of you, cover me."

With that, she veered sideways and leaped up the boulders that formed the bridge pier. A few quick jumps later, she was right behind the witch, her sword extended out and ready to strike. "Stop right there, witch!"

The Crimson Witch remained steadfast in her course. Without even a glance at Emily, she reached into her hood and threw a handful of coins up into the air. They transformed into individual spears midair before flying towards the blonde fighter.

"Lyn, Monzo, now!" Emily cried out as she knocked away the spears with a few loud 'cling, clang'.

Lyn raised her hands up while Monzo slammed his hands down. Swinging their arms in opposite directions, a bolt of lightning slashed through the sky just as a stream of loose gravel shot across the ground. The sky and the earth collided, with the Crimson Witch sandwiched between their wraths—the ground below her crumbled while lightning plummeted next to her. Red smoke enshrouded the two women at the bridge.

Emily took the chance to launch an attack, but the witch managed to roll away from the plunging sword. As the fighter went in for another strike, Lyn noticed the Crimson Witch lifting up her face veil—that was weird, what was she doing?

"Em! Watch out for—"

But it was too late. A strong gust of wind hit Emily in the abdomen. She screamed in pain as she fell off the bridge.

"Em!" Lyn charged up her body and jumped forward, catching Emily before she crashed to the ground. They tumbled, with Lyn hugging the blonde woman and absorbing most of the impact.

"Are you okay, Em?" Lyn asked, gritting her teeth to stop herself from crying out.

Emily nodded, but her scowl intensified. "What the hell was that?" she groaned while rubbing her head. "I didn't know she's also an elemental mage."

"That was some really strong wind magic," Lyn admitted.

From the memory images that Brendan had shown them, it was clear that the Crimson Witch was a phenomenal enhancer mage, with the additional strange ability to counter elemental magic. But to generate a blast of wind like that—that was undeniably elemental magic, and a quester-level one at that too. It was already rare for one to have that level of skill in one type of magic, but to be that good in two types of magic? What's next, the ability to heal as well?

"Are you two alright?" Monzo arrived next to them, his brows furrowing in worry. "Is she a fighter-mage or something?" he asked as he extended a hand to Emily, who was still groaning in pain. "We should've gotten some of our fighter-mages in this commission."

"It probably won't help much," Lyn said while heaving herself up, "her magic is insane."

"She's a fucking monster, that's what," Emily muttered under her breath.

Just then, two beams of light shone in the distance, like two bright blue pillars holding up the sky: the sign of the QA's teleportation enchantment.

"Shit! Two fighters down already? We have no time to lose, let's go!" Emily bolted towards the direction of the light, Lyn and Monzo hot on her heels.

Soon, they spotted the Crimson Witch at the edge of a cliff, going against three fighters at once. A sword in her hand, and four other swords whirring alongside her, it was almost comical how effortless she looked parrying three other fighters.

"Jesus, they can't even get her three to one," Emily cursed before turning to the two elemental mages behind her. "Lyn, strike her with—actually no, you might hurt the others. Monzo, crush the ground under her!"

The bald man responded by throwing up his fists. As if following the motion of his hands, a trail of crumbling rocks zipped across the ground, from under his feet and all the way to the rocks under the Crimson Witch's feet.

A high-pitched shriek ensued as the hooded figure fell backward.

But alas, with a swing of her arms, the witch managed to stop her body from falling off the cliff while simultaneously swiping chunks of sand towards her opponents. The three fighters, now covered in red mists, were swept off from their feet and kicked out of the cliff.

Three bright blue lights radiated from the escarpment of the cliff; the petite figure, on the other hand, disappeared.

The entire scene was incredulous to watch.

"Holy shit, how agile is she?" Lyn exclaimed.

"That's it, I need to get to her right now," Emily growled through clenched teeth, "Lyn, give me a boost!"

"What?"

"Your lightning boost! Give it to me, I need it to catch up to her!"

"What? No!"

Enveloping a body in lightning was a precarious thing to do; it would increase one's speed, but it could also potentially overexert and damage the body. Lyn had to limit herself to only using this ability at most once a day, and that just was with her own body. It was far more dangerous if it was done on another person.

"Lyn, I said, give me a boost!"

"It's not safe for—"

"Did I stutter?" Emily glared at her with her icy blue eyes. "Boost me up with a charge, now!"

Reluctantly, Lyn placed her hand on Emily's arm. Tiny specks of charges lit up all over Emily's pale skin, before she took off, jumping to the top of the cliff and disappearing into the horizon.

Lyn and Monzo followed suit, albeit much slower. When they finally made their way up the cliff, Emily was already in an intense duel with the Crimson Witch.

Monzo lifted his hands to summon his magic, but Lyn held him back.

"Don't," she warned, her eyes lingered on Emily anxiously, "not when Em is charged up like this. I don't want her body to become even more strained."

"Alright." Monzo shrugged. "She's winning, anyway."

Indeed, Emily's upsurge in speed had put her at an advantage. No matter how agile the Crimson Witch was, a fighter of Emily's caliber boosted by Lyn's lightning made for a formidable foe. After a few more slashes, Emily landed a hit on the witch's shoulder. Blood splashed into the air as the masked figure staggered backward, clutching her injury.

"Yes!" Lyn and Monzo shouted—but their cheers were short-lived.

The Crimson Witch's hand swung out, spraying more drops of blood into the air, except this time, the red liquid was granted a life of their own. Clumping up into tiny red bullets, they rained down on the unexpecting Emily, like a torrent of unyielding shrapnels.

"Argh!" Emily collapsed, her sword thrown to the side as she recoiled in agony.

The Crimson Witch turned around and bolted.

"Em!" Lyn rushed over.

The fighter was convulsing on the ground, her porcelain skin colored with lines of blood-red and spots of flickering yellow. When Lyn grabbed her hand, the charges on her body dissipated, and she slumped downwards, motionless.

"No, no, Em-cakes," Lyn whispered as she reached for the ring on Emily's finger. "Port over to group one right now, please."

"Don't you... dare... touch that... gem..." With what's left of her strength, Emily pulled free from Lyn's grasp. "Chase... after her..."

"I got her." Monzo knelt beside Emily. He reached into his coat pocket and took out a small glass bottle. "You go after the witch first, we'll follow soon."

Lyn stared at the bottle, and then at the bald man, and then at the unmoving Emily. "Wait, wait, wait... What are you thinking of doing, Em-cakes? Don't just take potions, go to the healers, please!"

"Just shut up and go, Lyn!"

"Monzo, look at the state she's in, no potions can—"

"This was Emily's instruction to me before the quest started," Monzo snapped. "She can't afford to leave; we can't afford her to leave. So go!"

Lyn gritted her teeth. "Fine, just don't push yourself too hard, you idiot."

She stood up and ran towards the witch. As if taunting her, yet another beam of light shot up into the sky in the near distance. Damn it, their numbers were dwindling at an alarming rate. Lyn held back a string of curses and picked up her speed.

When she spotted the small cloaked figure, she found the Crimson Witch going head-to-head with none other than her team's very own Neil Maska.

For a while, Lyn's heart soared with hope. After all, Neil was the strongest fighter she had ever known. But unfortunately, even the best fighter in the world would be caught off-guard by the elemental magic. The moment the witch had an opening, she lifted her face veil and blasted Neil out of the way with a sudden burst of wind.

And just like that, the best fighter they had was blown away.

Lyn let out a grunt of frustration and raised her hands. There was no one else around, so she finally had the free rein to use her lightning to the fullest extent.

Slamming her palms downwards, a huge bolt of lightning shot out from the clouds, crashing towards the escaping witch. Before it could reach her, however, the Crimson Witch threw up a handful of coins. They transformed into short needles in the air, splitting the giant lightning strike into a cobweb of smaller charges. The needles disintegrated into dust, while the individual veins of light dispersed into multiple directions. Meanwhile, the hooded woman continued forward, unbothered.

Blood surged into Lyn's head. What the fuck? What the hell was up with this witch? She was so adept at fighting, had such powerful enhancer magic and elemental magic, so freaking agile, and now... she could even manipulate her lightning? Nobody had ever controlled her lightning like that!

Before Lyn realized it, the Crimson Witch darted into a small opening in the canyon. Damn it, now she was inside a cave, where lightning could not strike again. Lyn clenched her fists. She couldn't fail again, not again, not in her second QA commission, not when Em was pushing herself like this...

She charged up her entire body and entered the cave at lightning speed. In a blink of an eye, she was right next to the Crimson Witch, her hand reaching out and gripping the surprised witch's small arm. The electricity caused the petite woman to falter in her steps, giving Lyn the time to slam her into the rocky walls. A loud thud and a shriek ensued.

Quickly, Lyn pinned the groaning figure down with a hand, and lifted her other hand up to punch her right in the—

"Lyn."

The voice sent shivers down Lyn's spine. The magic around her body disappeared with a poof, along with the rest of the surroundings.

She stared at the masked face. A pair of unfamiliar, crimson eyes stared back.

"W- What?"

"Didn't you say that you would rather die than to aim your lightning at me?" the mouth behind the face veil whispered back.

The tone was light and amused as if she was holding back a chuckle; the sound was soft and sweet as if it was the baked brown sugar inside a cinnamon roll; and the voice, that lovely voice, was so familiar and missed, it was as if Lyn had manifested it into life just by dreaming about it too much.

Lyn's heart leaped up to her throat. "C- Cinna?"

The witch did not reply. Instead, she yanked free of Lyn's loosened grip and kicked Lyn in the stomach.

Lyn flew across the cave and crashed onto the wall. Jagged rocks pierced into her back as her vision blurred. She rolled onto the ground, coughing and sputtering.

"Lyn, are you okay?" Neil appeared next to her, helping her up.

"Cinna... Cinnamon pie..."

"What are you talking about?" Neil frowned. "You're injured bad, you should port away."

Lyn raised her head. Stars blinded her vision, but she could see Emily and Monzo in front of her, and the small hooded figure far ahead. That petite stature, that shy, closed posture, the way she was running...

How could she have missed all these clues? Her Cinnamon Pie had been right in front of her. Why had she not noticed?

Slowly, Lyn forced herself to stand up.

Neil glanced at her. "Lyn, what are you doing?"

"Stay back, everyone!" Emily shouted. "Monzo, crash the cave on her! There's no way she can escape this."

The entire cave began to tremble, and rocks began to fall from the low ceiling. The Crimson Witch was visibly flustered as she tried her best to avoid the rocks. She was in trouble... Cinna is in trouble...

Despite feeling as though her body was crumbling like the cave, Lyn charged her body up once again. Her feet stomped the ground as she flew deeper into the cave, towards the falling rocks, and towards the Crimson Witch.

The pair of red eyes widened when they noticed her.

"Lyn? What are you..."

"I got you." Lyn opened her arms and wrapped the witch in her embrace. A boulder hit her in the back, right where it was already bruised. Despite the unbearable pain, Lyn tightened her grasp; she was not letting Cinna go.

Not again, not ever.

The whole world went dark.