The next day, Rei and her party are still searching for the hideout in order to save Shokei and Antoinette from the dangerous cn, Bloodstrike. The party woke up early to continue their quest in the Great Forest and Obsidian lead the way throughout the whole journey.

  "Ok..." Obsidian said to the party. "Since we reached this far, we should be close to where the hideout is."

  "Are you sure?" Rei asked him, not feeling confident. "We traveled far to get here in the mountains but are you sure this is the area where this hideout is located?"

  "Of course." Obsidian confidently said. "The enemy's hideout is in this location."

  "Fine." Rei said, folding her arms. "Just hope you're not trying to be Mr. Bigshot or know-it-allish."

  "Look, just believe in me, ok?" Obsidian said back at her. "Why would you think I'm misleading all of you?"

  "All right! If you're being helpful, we need to find our friends before they face a fateful fate." Rei said to him.

  "Say, what's that?" Marie said, seeing something from a distance.

  There, the party sees a group of lizardmen at a pond. The monstrous creatures, which is a party of four, appears to be washing up themselves. The party quietly approaches the monsters, with Obsidian leading, carefully without detection.

  "Over there," Obsidian quietly said to the party. "That's the cn. These creatures are part of Bloodstrike."

  "I owe you one." Rei said to him.

  "What should we do?" asked Saeko.

  "We have to make a sneaky surprise attack to make our initial strike." Obsidian said to the party.

  "Sounds perfect to me." Tamiko said as she sets up her crossbow. "I'm pro at aiming stuff."

  "Excellent!" Obsidian nodded with a smile. "Fire when ready."

  The party was ready to strike as Tamiko takes aim and fired a shot at one of the lizardman.

  ----------

  Back at Bloodstrike's hideout, Shokei and Antoinette were sleeping peacefully. Suddenly, a door opens, and stomps of feet disrupted their sleep. The girls wake up and then they see one of the muscur lizardman is offering them something to eat. The meal that the lizardman has for them is a small basket of apples. The lizardman pced the basket in their cell.

  "Huh?" Antoinette stares down at the apples. "That's for us?"

  The lizardman said nothing as he stands there.

  "Looks like it...is it safe?" Shokei asked.

  The lizardman is still silent as he looks at the girls with the apples.

  "These apples are fresh." Shokei said, examining the fruit. "Looks ripe to me."

  "You're going to eat that?" asked Antoinette. "You don't think it's poisonous, is it?"

  "No idea." Shokei shakes her head. "I mean, we haven't eaten since we were caught. In fact, I'm starving."

  "Be careful." Antoinette tells her.

  Staring at the apple, Shokei takes a bite of the fruit. The fruit taste fresh as she said it and the fvor is rich inside.

  "Mmm delicious." Shokei said, taking another bite of the apple.

  "Not poisonous right?" Antoinette asked.

  "Not at all." Shokei replied. "It doesn't taste weird or unusual."

  "Eat up while you can..." the lizardman speaks to the girls.

  "Huh?" Antoinette looks up and so did Shokei.

  "Because sooner or ter, our great leader Kod will have some sort of 'thing' to deal with you, dear princess." The lizardman finished.

  With a ugh, the lizardman leaves the cell. Shokei takes another bite of another apple once she finished one. Antoinette looks at her apple first before she eats it.

  "I...wonder what's about to happen next?" Antoinette asked in concern.

  Shokei hears her questioning and looks back at the door. She has no clue on what the leader of Bloodstrike is pnning to do to Antoinette, but she knows that her fate is at hand.

  ----------

  Not far from where the cn's site is, Rei and her party are fighting the lizardmen. The Bloodstrike group fought poorly as they are at a disadvantage by the groups own strength.

  "Execution Twist!"

  Rei delivers a technique to the lizardman by grabbing the leg of the enemy and using her strength to twist the leg, causing the monster to scream out in pain. The monster fell to the ground as Beatrice uses her nce to pierce the monster's head. Obsidian combines the attack with a striking blow on the chest with his heavy sword. The lizardman was killed in defeat and the party has successfully killed off all four tall lizardmen.

  "That takes care of them." said Obsidian. "But there's more where that comes from. Let's go!"

  The party follows Obsidian as they are heading for the cn's hideout.

  I hope we will be able to save our friends in time... Rei thought.

  ----------

  At Bloodstrike's hideout, Shokei and Antoinette finished eating their apples. The apples were freshly delicious as it filled their stomachs. The door opens in front of them and there, the leader of Bloodstrike appears with two of his cohorts.

  "Awww, my dear princess..." Kod said with an evil grin on his face. "I am pleased to see you once again."

  "Oh no!" Antoinette said, standing behind Shokei. "What do you want?!"

  "What I want, you asked?" Kod replied at her. "Or should I say, what I am about to do on YOU!"

  "Whaaa?" Antoinette keeps close to Shokei.

  "Now then," Kod continued. "My crew have discussed matters to what we are about to do to you two. We took our time and we have decided on your fates."

  The girls listened.

  "You," Kod points to Antoinette. "My dear, you will be stripped down and become sacrificed by one of our members."

  "WHAAAAAAT?!" Antoinette yelled out to him with anger. Her eyes were widened once she learned on what the lizardmen were up to. "N-NO WAY!!"

  "You bastards!!" Shokei speaks up for the princess, defending her. "You mean that you are pnning to do something harmful for the innocent and young and get away with it?! NOT HAPPENING!!"

  "Hmmph!" Kod held his ugher. "This keeps getting better and better! A petty girl defending a damsel in distress. You're making a huge mistake!"

  "Shokei..." Antoinette was trying to say something to her.

  "Hey, I'm saving you from these vomitorias bastards!" Shokei tells her.

  "And I assume that you, the heroine, would do something to interfere with our pns...perhaps..." Kod said to her.

  "The hell I am!" Shokei said back at the Bloodstrike leader. "Better yet, I thought about making a plea deal with you."

  "Really now?!" Kod said with grin. "What would that be?"

  "How about a duel?" Shokei asked him. "A sword fight between you and me, one on one. If I win, you will let the princess go."

  "Hmmm..."

  Shokei and Antoinette waits for Kod to come up with a response to the deal as he thinks for a minute.

  "For someone that would dare to challenge me," Kod responded. "You're joking. There's no way that you would go against sixteen of my men to duel with me. You won't stand a chance!"

  "Shokei...have you lost your mind?!" Antoinette asked her, looking at her in disbelief. "You must be crazy enough to face off every one of these lizardmen. That's crazy talk!"

  "Call me crazy," Shokei said to her. "But this is the only way for me to save you from being victimized by these foul beings."

  "Then it's settled." Kod said, coming up with his decision. "Rather than you take on my men, I'll accept your plea in facing off against me. Neither of my cohorts are not a match to my standards, but your best bet is to defeat me for your damned victory or Ill have your head as my trophy."

  "It's a done deal." Shokei tells him, eyes locked to his face.

  Just then, Kod and his cohorts turned at the door and saw one of their cn members coming in. The lizardman suffered serious injuries that was life threatening.

  "Kod!!" the lizardman coughed up blood and tries to take some breaths in between. "Ikef and his men...killed in *ugh* ambush!"

  "By whom?!" Kod asked in alert.

  "Some...*cough, cough* group of travelers..." the lizardman said, taking his st breath until he colpsed in defeat.

  "Bloody hell!!" Kod angrily said, tightening both fists and raising his arms. "Who are these bloody bastards that found our turf?!"

  Shokei became surprised and felt a sign of relief that her party is coming to rescue her and Antoinette.

  "Listen up!!" Kod speaks out to his cohorts. "You go get our men, find the bloody bastards and kill them!!"

  The lizardmen nodded and they both rushed out of the door. Once they left, Kod turned his attention to Shokei.

  "Now...where were we?" he said.

  ----------

  Not far away, Rei and her party are approaching the Bloodstrike's hideout. Just ahead, they can see a fg that represents the enemy's territory.

  "There it is! Bloodstrike's home base." Obsidian pointed out.

  "Shokei...Antoinette...we're coming for you!" Rei said out loud, hoping her voice gets to them.

  Ahead, the party can see a group of lizardmen leaving the site and they appear armed with their weapons. The party saw the enemies and they stopped when the lizardmen halt them in their tracks.

  "Oh snap! There's more of them!" Beatrice said.

  "At this rate, we won't pull through." Kichiro said, getting a grip of his axe.

  "No need to worry!" Rei tells the party. "We can all do this, right?"

  The party agrees with confidence.

  "Right! Let's get them!" Rei said, cshing both fists together with energy.

  Together, the party charges against the lizardmen as the enemy's side did the same thing.

  ----------

  Back in Bloodstrike's hideout, a dangerous situation is about to happen between Shokei and Kod. Due to the deal that Shokei made with the leader, Shokei is determined to save and spare Antoinette's life from the hands of the cn. Shokei, with her sword she received back by one of the cn members, gets in position, holding her weapon with a tight grip. While she was courageous enough to take on the leader of Bloodstrike, she feels nervous inside on fighting Kod alone by herself.

  Kod has his sword in his hand. His sword is a two-handed sword that's jagged edge and the tip of the sword is very sharp. Antoinette is around to see the fight and she looks at Shokei enduring for battle. However, she is held in a cage where Kod kept her in there to watch.

  "For someone like you, you must be ridiculous to face me." Kod calls out to Shokei. "I've dueled against those that fought me and not once have I lost to an individual."

  "Enjoy that bragging rights vicious freak." Shokei said to him. "All that will change once I kill your ass."

  "That bloody tongue of yours won't do you any good." Kod warmed her. "You should think twice on going up against me."

  "Go ahead! Try me!" Shokei tells him, taunting. "I dare you to swing at me, but I won't back from a fight even if you pose a threat."

  "Hmmph! I admire your bravery. But now..." Kod swings his sword skillfully and grips it tight. "The real fun stars! Now then...commence!!"

  Shokei sees Kod rushing after her and she did the same by cshing their swords against each other and the fight commences.

  ----------

  The fight rages on against the lizardmen of Bloodstrike as Rei and her party are cshing their way against the monsters. The enemies are split either duo or a trio as they face off against their attackers.

  "C'mon! Let's do this!" Rei tells Obsidian.

  Rei and Obsidian take care of the first set of lizardmen. Two of the lizardmen charge after Obsidian and one went after Rei. Obsidian can see his enemies are about to strike at him and he was prepared to deliver his first attack.

  "Meh! This is nothing!" said Obsidian and swings his sword unleashing his technique. "Crimson Ssh!"

  With a heavy swing, Obsidian ripped through his enemies, killing both lizardmen completely.

  Rei fought against the lizardmen that was coming at her. She delivered a few strong punches on the chest and face and swiftly kick the side of the monster's waist. The impact breaks the lizardmen's body on his side. Easily wearing the lizardman out, she delivered the final blow to the monster by lifting up the monster by gripping the waistline. Rei jumps with the enemy in her grasp and twirled downwards to the surface, using her Execution Twist. The lizardman died instantly destroying every bone in its body and sending the body right up to a big tree. Rei nds on her feet from her fall.

  "Yes!" Rei said with a tight fist taunt.

  Beatrice and Tamiko are working together to fight the other lizardmen. A total of four lizardmen are surrounding them at the same time.

  "We got this, right Beatrice?" Tamiko asked.

  "Right!" Beatrice replied and nodded.

  Tamiko takes aim and then unleashed a barrage of arrows out from her crossbow. Using her "Assault Arrows", the lizardmen were faced with sharp, piercing arrows being struck on their bodies, damaging them greatly. The lizardmen cried out in pain by the attack Tamiko gave to them, allowing Beatrice to run up to ssh off the lizardmen's head. Three of the lizardmen were killed off in decapitation. However, one of the lizardman managed to avoid being off with his head and counters with a guard impact against Beatrice, using his sword. Beatrice got distracted from the counter and then the lizardman roared and smmed his body against her, pushing her back on the ground.

  "Ahhh!!" Beatrice cried out, taking the hit.

  Kichiro and Saeko finished dealing with their side of the lizardmen. Saeko noticed the attack that the lizardman done to Beatrice and she got mad.

  "Oh no you don't vile thing!" Saeko said with anger.

  Saeko grips her spear and with enough strength, she hurled her weapon towards the lizardman 's chest. The spear punctures through the enemy's body, killing the lizardman off. Saeko heads over to help Beatrice up.

  "Are you ok?" she asked.

  "This is nothing." Beatrice replied, dusting herself from the attack. "I'm good."

  "Argh!!"

  Kichiro sees that his odds are against him. The remaining lizardmen are onto him as Kichiro defends himself from his foes. He backs up, moving away from the battle as he felt the pain on his right shoulder.

  "Sorry guys, but I'm being outmatched here!" Kichiro said, feeling the pain on his shoulder.

  "We can take them." Tamiko said to him. "Marie, help him out."

  "Got it!" Marie said, taking Kichiro to safety.

  Beatrice, Saeko, and Tamiko went after the rest of the lizardmen. Marie takes a look on the injury Kichiro has on his shoulder and the cut had sshed his flesh. The bleeding was painful for Kichiro and Marie used her healing spell to take care of him.

  "What happened?" Rei asked, with Obsidian coming over.

  "There were too many of them." Kichiro said to her. "These lizardmen here are stronger than the others."

  "Perhaps these girls could use a hand." Obsidian said. "Let me help them out."

  The three girls fought against the remaining lizardmen. This set of lizardmen are tough and they are high in defense. The lizardmen worked together as they csh well against the girls. Not even Tamiko's weapon wasn't quick enough to strike at their skin as the monsters are quick with agility. The girls were about to face defeat, until Obsidian comes swinging with his heavy sword.

  "Crimson Ssh!"

  Using his special attack once again, Obsidian takes a big wide swing and sshed his way through the st four lizardmen, delivering out a big finish. The lizardmen's bodies were sshed in half and all of them were killed.

  "Whew! Thanks, Obsidian." Beatrice said.

  "With pleasure." Obsidian said with a wink.

  The fight against the lizardmen was far from over. The party looks around to see the bloodshed that they had done against their enemies. They have wiped out all Bloodstrike, except the leader that only remains standing.

  "This fight was crazy...but we did it." Rei said.

  "But we need to save Shokei and the princess." Sadako reminded.

  "We will." Obsidian said. "However, the leader of this cn stands in the way. If I remember, he's a tough creature and more buff than the other lizardmen we faced off."

  "There's one more we have to face off?" Marie asked.

  "Look, we need to save our friends first." Rei said. "That's number one on our list!"

  "The enemy's hideout is nearby." Obsidian said, facing the direction. "We should go there now before it's too te."

  The party continues onward, and they ran up to get to the hideout.

  Meanwhile, the dueling battle between Shokei and Kod is at its wits end. Shokei is doing her best to defend the attacks by Kod's sword. With csh and csh, swing after swing, the fight was becoming intense for Shokei.

  "Give it up, young one!" Kod tells her. "There's no way you can outwit the wraith of my sword!"

  "As long as I stand, I won't back down from this fight!" Shokei calls out to him.

  "Persistent." Kod teased. "Very, very persistent."

  "I won't let you get near the princess...never!" Shokei angrily said to him through her teeth.

  "Ooh! I will! And I'll be damn sure to kill you by my hands and I'll use your body as meat for me to eat!" The lizardman said with his teeth drooping with saliva.

  Both sides charged at each other, clinging their swords together with force, and making this fight become more intense.

  "You must be alone by yourself," Kod tells Shokei. "You think your allies are coming for you and the princess's aid. My cn should be defeating them now...and then I'll freakin' end you for good!"

  "Don't press your luck..." Shokei tells him, adding pressure with her sword against the lizardman's. "I can fight you myself if I have to, even without their help!"

  Kod raged and then he performed a swift kick in Shokei's abdomen, knocking her back. Shokei takes the fall and when she was about to get up, Kod makes a leap and tries to strike her down with his sword against her. Shokei moves out of harm's way in time before the fatal blow killed her.

  "Shit!" Shokei hissed through her teeth.

  Quickly, she gets up on her feet and acts by fighting back with a heavy swing. Kod sees the attack coming and guard-impacts her sword in a quick defensive strategy. Shokei loses her focus, unbanced, as the counter like effect made her go off guard. However, she gets back in position, holding her sword tightly, as Kod remains in his position, wielding his sword, rotating in his hand once.

  Ughhhhh, how do you beat this menace?! Shokei thought to herself.

  "SHOKEI!!!"

  Just then, Shokei hears someone calling out her name. Out of nowhere, she sees Rei calling out to her. She can even see the rest of her party coming for her.

  "What the?!" Kod said in surprise and disbelief. "How in the world?!"

  "C'mon! We got to help her!" Tamiko said to the group.

  "No! She's in a fight right now from the looks of it." Rei prevents her from moving.

  "Impossible...G-GUH!!"

  Kod turned back at his opponent and felt a sharp cut, penetrating deeply in his chest. Shokei made her move instantly to kill the leader, going right for the heart. This unexpected move caught Kod off guard and he was too te to make a quick reaction. Looking down, blood begins to spill out of his body, causing his breathing to be disrupted. Shokei releases her sword out of his body and then watched him die.

  "Guh...no..." Kod weakly said in dying words. "Never...would, ugh...I thought...I die...*sic* like this..."

  "No more living...for you." Shokei simply said to the enemy, watching him die painfully and slowly.

  "What...you fought...bravely...uhhhhhhhhhh..."

  With his st breath, Kod colpsed on the ground. The sword drops out of his hands and the fallen leader for Bloodstrike died.

  Shokei feels gd that the long fight was already over. She turns back to see her allies standing on top of a hill, where they have witnessed the fight from below. Shokei waves at Rei and her party to indicate that she is still alive and well. Next, she turns to Antoinette and by approaching the cell, she destroys the lock with a hard swing with her sword. The cell became unlocked and Shokei freed the princess being held.

  "Oh Shokei..." Antoinette said, hugging her tightly.

  Shokei felt surprised by the hug, and she can feel the princess holding onto her tightly. Shokei did the same, but she could not feel or sense any feelings from this. A kiss on the lips was a memory of st night, in which Shokei recalled.

  After the hug, Shokei's friends arrived to where Shokei had killed the Bloodstrike leader on the spot.

  "Shokei!!" Rei called out to her and asked. "Are you all right?"

  "I'm good." replied Shokei. "I got the situation handled."

  "It's crazy, but I'm gd to see you two alive." Rei said, going over to hug Shokei. "I missed you."

  "Heh heh. No need for the emotion." Shokei said to her. "I'm happy that we're all in one piece again."