NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

"Ready or not, here I come!" Alice shouted, as she conjured thousands of magic circles behind her.

Those magic circles Alice made were all above the average spells that mages knew. According to Okami, Alice was still acting carelessly about this fight.

"If she really wanted to kill us, Alice could've blasted the ground before we could even have the chance to blink. Alice knows we cannot fight her. Even if we tried, we would lose this fight," Okami added. "Try dodging this rain of attacks! Once this is over, Alice could give us some break. And that time would eat those five minutes."

As soon as Okami said those words, the magic circle above us revealed their spells. Those runes had different colours, which corresponded to their magical attribute. Some projectiles moved like lightning, while others travelled sluggishly like magma.

"TRY NOT TO DIE!"

Those words were the only thing that kept our bodies moving from the projectile's direction. Some of us tried blocking or destroying the attacks. However, when the time came, our magic could not pierce through Alice's spells.

"Match!" I shouted, and went towards Match's front.

If there was one thing I wanted to do, it was to save Match from this assault. I would gladly risk my life to save her, since I did not want to lose a sister again. I did not know what would happen if Match would die in front of me. There should always be something that I could do to prevent that occurrence from happening.

Fortunately, our protective spells finally kicked in.

Match's lava shield burned some spells that headed in our direction. Since that spell was a few levels higher than the magic projectiles, the lava shield destroyed most of them. Our wind enhanced movement spelled played a vital role in pushing us away from danger.

Ryoshi also planned on taking his arrows into the test and activating its shield. However, before he could even use it, Okami's words hindered him from firing it on the sides. Okami claimed we could use these arrows for later when Alice would release the bigger guns. As stated by Okami, this wave of attack was just the beginning of our end. We still needed to withstand the rest of Alice's trials if we wanted to succeed.

If we schemed on using every unique spell we had, our team could lose to Alice. We would not last until the end round, where those protective spells would matter most.

However, if we did that, we also risked ourselves dying from these spells. That plan would only work if none of us died after the first few minutes. But if our team lost a life, we would also lose this battle.

Thanks to those spells, we delayed the inevitable. But if this continued without us doing something, we could lose a member.

Okami desperately tried to move around and slash at those incoming projectiles. He also went towards our fore and shattered the spells our magic could not reach. Since he was a veteran in this game, Okami could save the team and himself from this onslaught of attack.

But when Alice noticed this tactic, she finally amplified her attack. The big guns Okami mentioned earlier emerged in front of us. Those magic circles that we feared before attached themselves to the castle's surface.

Those circular runes continued firing at us with various magical elements. That happened despite those crystalized texts latching themselves on the citadel's walls.

"What is happening?" I asked, while studying our surroundings.

It took a few seconds before Ryoshi could answer my question. Ryoshi was not even that sure when he laid out his findings to me.

"My only guess is that those magic circles control these walls. It won't be long before this castle moves on its own….." Ryoshi explained, while scratching his head.

Nobody knew what those words meant for us. It was an absurd thing to believe that these ancient walls would have a mind of their own. How could the walls attack us with more arcane power?

That question received an answer.

After a few moments, the entire castle tilted to our right. Like a flat board, the floor went towards the side, disrupting our balance. It even spun our eyes when that event happened, which made all of us nauseous within seconds.

Besides those bombarding projectiles, we had to deal with these rotating surfaces. And since the world surrounding us took a different angle, it became difficult for us to defend against these disadvantages.

Although Match's spells made us fly for a limited time, that duration was not enough to let us fight these magical projectiles. It even made things worse, since we had to balance ourselves in mid-air while defending ourselves.

Within a few more hits, Match's lava barrier got destroyed. Although Match could recreate another set of barriers to the team, lava barriers would not be our option. She already lost almost all of her mana pool. And if Match continued exhausting her arcane, she might collapse on the floor without saying nothing.

We had to avoid that as much as possible, considering the rules Alice bound us with.

Our team had no choice but to accept that blaze shield. Within a second, that crimson barrier emerged in front of us. But that protection would only last around a minute. It also couldn't take multiple hits from those magical projectiles since the spell was weaker than the lava.

However, we needed to take whatever benefits our team could have against Alice. Each of us needed to try all of our skills, hoping that it could scratch our toughest opponent.

But instead of turning the tables around, we continued tumbling over to the side. It was difficult to maintain our balance while focusing our eyes on the incoming attacks. Some of us even received some wounds coming from the raining magical particles.

"If I wanted to, I could have killed you guys already. But these chains shackling my arms hindered the flow of arcane inside my body. Thank the game developers out there for restraining my abilities. Or else you would have already turned into mincemeat by now," Alice claimed, as she revealed herself above us.

Now that she had mentioned it, Alice had yet to take part in this fight. She only cast those pre-written runes from the castle and used them to her advantage. Although these spells came to her arcane, those chains contained Alice's power.

If it were not for those locks glued on her hands, Alice would have already wiped out the entire Code.

Fortunately, we maintained our ground despite the moving terrains of this battlefield. After countless trials, our body became accustomed to these roundabout ways of fighting. It even enhanced our accuracy of taking down those elemental attacks.

However, when Alice noticed our triumph, that puppet manipulated the arena. Instead of following an angle, the castle twisted and turned. The entire vicinity morphed into a ball, getting passed by each side without a moment's rest.

And when our movement stopped, our body would not recognise the still ground. Our legs would sway like the leaves blown by the autumn wind.

All of us except Okami fell to the ground. Even when we kissed the floor, those magic spells continued relentlessly firing in our direction.

I couldn't use my right eye for this clash, considering the environment limiting my abilities. Each of us shared the same frustrating feeling of defeat as soon as we went supine on our backs. We needed some time before we could recover. And I could only embrace Match's body as the rain of spells slowly came after us.

Okami, who was the remaining fighter, stood tall in front of us. He planned on taking these alone without the help of our abilities.

"Are you out of your mind, Okami?! You're strong, but not strong enough to take on that kind of army?!" I shouted, and raised my concerns.

Okami never turned his back towards me as he replied, "You haven't seen nothing yet, Red. Watch me. This smurf account won't hinder me from attacking Alice."

Okami wanted to turn this battle into a one-man show. He had his form activated throughout the fight, but Okami used it to protect us after each second. But now that we all gathered, Okami had the chance to sweep the stage all by himself.

Well, if we could help him, that would be a blast. But we needed a minute before we could feel our legs again. And another thirty seconds to fight like we used to before.

That crazy player leapt from the ground, leaving a creator from where he jumped. A burst of arcane emerged inside of Okami, helping him enhance all of his senses at once. When he finally reached Alice's magical spells, Okami used his wolf form and destroyed the part in front of him.

Within a few seconds, Okami gave us hope to win this battle.