Temple Reclamation

Job Details:

Sign-Up page 24, Post Number 580

-Southern Midi, mid-afternoon-

Wearing her green-and-gold outfit with Adaptable Armor, Argent Gloves, and backpack with Silver Longsword on her left hip, Leona arrived in a large town named Okyto after hours of walking from the Imperial City. Okyto was a peaceful place full of oriental-style buildings much like those in Shirotsume and the Imperial City of Midi. Older people dressed in traditional clothing mingled in foot traffic alongside younger people dressed in more modern fashions. Leona was impressed with how easily tradition blended with the modern world in the town, but she should not have been surprised because the people of the Imperial City had iLacs and dressed in modern fashions as well. Speaking of tradition, she had better find that temple she had been hired to reclaim from evil spirits.

Leona walked through the streets of Okyto and tried to remain inconspicuous, but her efforts were doomed to failure because of her distinctive clothing, her blonde hair in a sea of dark-haired people, and her reputation. People took notice of the Wizard Saint of Courage walking among them and out came the iLacs to get a picture of the famous mage from Desierto. Leona was embarrassed by the publicity, but she went along with it because she was a public figure who was meant to bring hope to the people of Earthland.

"It's Leona Jarnefeldt!" An older woman in a simple green kimono whispered to her husband.

"The Wizard Saint of Courage is here to help us? We are truly blessed." He answered in a soft voice that bordered on reverence for the Wizard Saint. Leona was sure that not everyone in Earthland held her in such high regard like the old couple did. Some considered her to be a curse, especially the outlaws of Desierto with whom she had clashed multiple times. Leona gave a polite wave and walked past them on her way to the shrine.

A short distance outside the town was a large white pagoda with blue roofs surrounded by ten-foot-high white walls. A large red "torii" gate marked the entrance to the sprawling shrine. Leona noticed a white dome-shaped barrier that shimmered like water and completely covered the shrine and its grounds. The blonde wondered what the dome was doing there.

She walked with purpose towards the hilltop shrine and past people who made way for her without even being asked. Leona disliked that tendency more than having her picture taken because someone not familiar with her behavior would certainly think that she had commanded the citizens to move aside. People whispered among themselves once they saw that she was headed for the shrine.

"That temple is cursed!" A young man wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans with black sneakers whispered to his female friend, a young woman wearing a pink kimono with a white sakura pattern.

"I hope she knows what she's in for. It's a temple that was built over the remains of a castle that stood during the wars of unification hundreds of years ago. The castle was fought over at least seven times and a lot of soldiers died on its grounds. After the war it was destroyed and a temple built in its place." The young woman said to her companion.

"They say that the restless dead walk the temple grounds and are looking to invade the town to get revenge for past residents tearing down their castle." A middle-aged man in a brown business suit and black shoes whispered to a similarly dressed man.

"Only the efforts of Priestess Sumika in maintaining the barrier have kept us from being overrun already, but I don't know how much longer she can hold out. By some miracle she's kept the barrier going for over four weeks." A bespectacled older man wearing a gray business suit said to his co-worker, a younger man wearing a black suit.

"Don't worry. Leona Jarnefeldt will take care of everything. She's got a lot of experience in fighting the undead. She'll save Sumika-sama and the town!" The younger man assured his older acquaintance. Leona would do her best to live up to the expectations of Okyto's citizens and save Priestess Sumika from the undead threatening to break through the barrier she was maintaining. Leona heard expressions of hope from the citizens as she walked towards the shrine with a little knowledge of what to expect and what was at stake during this job.

Leona had carried her Silver Longsword expressly for the purpose of fighting spirits and the undead, but she did not know if Midi's supernatural entities were affected by silver or not. It would be a good idea to make contact with the priestess and speak to her to learn more about what she would be going up against. But first the Wizard Saint had to get to her destination. Leona reached the outskirts of town and slowly made her way up the winding path to the temple.

[Word Count: 850]
[Total Word Count: 850/12,500]

-At the temple gates-

Leona was more than a little tired by the time she reached the temple gates, but she had sufficient energy to press on. She stepped on the stone pathway leading under the torii gate and was soon greeted by a young woman who emerged from a wooden side building. She was about Leona's age and wore white robes and a red hakama. She had violet hair that extended past her waist and violet eyes as well. The shrine priestess was an alluring young woman, but the Wizard Saint was not here for romance or a social call... she had a job to do.

"Hello, traveler. You must be Leona Jarnefeldt, the Wizard Saint of Courage." The young woman greeted her. She looked to be tired from her exertions but was masking it with a facade of manners and good cheer.

"Yes. Are you Priestess Sumika?" Leona asked the young woman.

"I am Priestess Sumika. I am the one who has requested your help with a pressing matter." The young woman confirmed her identity as the priestess who was her client.

"I heard a bit about what was going on in town. I heard that the temple's overrun with the undead and that they want revenge for their castle being torn down after a war from the past ended." Leona recounted the fragments of the story that she had heard in Okyto before ascending the path to the temple. Sumika nodded.

"The townspeople are partially correct. The undead do roam the temple grounds, but they do not do so of their own free will. They have been forced into service by a necromancer who has invaded the temple grounds and claimed them for their own." She explained to Leona. Hearing that information brought up the topic of whether her weapon would be of use against them or if she were better off just throwing rocks.

"Are the undead of Midi affected by silver weapons?" Leona asked Sumika, placing her left hand on the grip of her Silver Longsword.

"Yes, Leona. Silver works against them, but Holy magic works even better." The priestess answered.

"I don't have any Holy magic, so my Silver Longsword will just have to do." Leona commented.

"The temple has eight floors and is fraught with peril. I cannot accompany you since I must maintain the barrier, so you must be very careful. However, there is something that can help you." Sumika added. Leona was curious. Aside from a Holy weapon or an item that could imbue her magic with the Holy property, what could the temple grounds have that could help her against the necromancer and their army?

"Scattered throughout the temple are statues of holy men, statues that are blessed with divine power. The divine power is so great that the undead will not go near them, so you may use the area around them as places of rest if you need to. But be warned. The necromancer's stronger minions are not affected by the power and may approach you, so be cautious!" Sumika told her of special statues that would grant her sanctuary before warning her that their divine power would not keep away all the necromancer's minions.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." Leona thanked the priestess.

"Is there anything else I should know about the temple grounds?" Leona asked Sumika. The priestess closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She hmmm'd and tapped the ground with her foot, then opened her violet eyes and looked towards the Wizard Saint.

"I recall one other thing that may help you. Hidden on the temple grounds is a weapon of considerable holy power stashed away in case dark powers ever took over the temple. If you were to find and use it, it would be of great assistance to you. However, you must search to find it and I can only offer a single hint as to its location." Sumika added.

"What's the hint?" Leona asked.

"You can find the weapon opposite the blind." Sumika answered. Leona was stumped. What could "opposite the blind" possibly mean? Leona memorized the cryptic clue and turned to face the temple grounds.

"OK. Thanks." Leona thanked the priestess for her help so far. Sumika nodded and clasped her hands together, then closed her eyes and chanted some words in a language Leona did not understand. Sumika flashed white, the barrier dispelling the temple disappeared, and Sumika fell to her knees and began breathing heavily.

"I can only lower the barrier for a few moments. You must get inside before the undead get out!" Sumika warned Leona. As if to emphasize her point, Leona heard moaning and inhuman howling coming from within the temple grounds. Leona drew her Silver Longsword and hurried through the torii gate before the undead could get out and march on the town below.

"Good luck!" Sumika called out to her while standing up. Leona rushed through the gate and into the temple grounds as Sumika began chanting again. The white barrier soon reappeared, sealing the mage in with the dead just as she got inside the temple walls.

-Inside the temple grounds-

Leona paused just inside the barrier and looked around the sprawling temple grounds. True to the word of both the people of Okyto and Sumika, the undead were out in force and were all heading towards Leona. It was time to fight through the undead and get to the necromancer who had brought them back to do their dirty work for them. However, it would not be easy due to the sheer number of zombies shambling about the grounds.

Leona counted twenty-four close by and saw more emerging from the ground in the distance. They all wore armor of a very old pattern and carried katanas with rusty and chipped blades that could still do damage if they connected with her skin. Arrows protruded from their heads, necks, and torsos, giving a large hint as to how their mortal lives were ended. Leona tightened her grip on her sword and got ready to fight.

[Word Count: 1,026]
[Total Word Count: 1,876/12,500]

Leona waited until a partially armored zombie with an arrow shaft sticking out of his forehead separated itself from the rest of the group, then moved in to dispose of it. She ignored its moans and partially raised sword and took a two-handed diagonal swing of the Silver Longsword that cut through the rotting flesh of its head and brought it down for good. Leona turned to the next zombie and ran up to it, then delivered another two-handed diagonal slash that cut through the rusty sword it raised in a feeble attempt at defense. A follow-up diagonal cut cleaved through its head and dropped it to the shrine grounds... now there were only twenty-two zombies left to get rid of.

Leona focused on the zombies in front of her and continued to fight her way through them. They did not have the brainpower to use their rusty blades to attack... when they were raised it was because they were reaching out to grapple the blonde and pull her in for a bite, not because their wielders were about to deliver a cut that could give her tetanus. The zombies did not hold any terror for her since she had fought them on multiple occasions before and knew how to dispose of them for good. The most threatening thing about them was their numbers and even that advantage could be mitigated with judicious use of her spells.

Leona stabbed through the skull of a zombie whose torso was riddled with nine arrows, then withdrew the sword and used a Wind Blast spell to break up a cluster of five undead soldiers gripping naginatas with rusty blades and wooden shafts on the verge of rotting away. Once they were temporarily taken out of action Leona carved through the skull of an archer zombie with a gaping chest wound from mortal life and ducked to avoid a grapple attempt from behind by a sword-carrying zombie.

Leona spun around and saw that the group of soldiers from the right side of the shrine had shambled over and finally caught up to her while she was fighting the first group. Now the blonde was surrounded. She would not remain that way for very long. Focusing magic into her right fist, Leona dropped to one knee and slammed the fist into the ground to use a Storm Impact spell that staggered all the enemies around her and bought her precious breathing space, space that she used to call in a little help from her summons.

"SKY CHAMPION RAFALE!" Leona thought. Moments later the green-clad appeared and brandished his energy blades.

"Attack the zombies in front of you! Go for the head!" Leona instructed him. Rafale raised one of his blades and brought it sharply to the right, cutting through a zombie's skull with ease. He flew upward to avoid being grabbed and Leona sprinted away from the group before she was surrounded again with no way out, retreating to the temple gates and starting to use her long-range spells to thin out their numbers.

Leona led off with a Fast Ball spell that hit and caved in the skull of a naginata-wielding zombie who was missing a good chunk of the right side of his face from a sword slash. She then aimed and fired a Gale Cannon that hit and detonated the head of a sword-carrying zombie who had an arrow shaft sticking out of his left eye socket. Leona was not killing them fast enough, so she raised her hands and called in another summon.

"TEMPEST AVIAN SUMMON!" Leona called out, summoning the short and stocky metallic owl with a military bearing. He took to the sky and flapped at a height that was twice as high as Leona was tall.

"What do you need?" Tempest Avian asked.

"Use Steel Flechettes and aim for their heads!" Leona instructed, pointing her Silver Longsword towards the slowly approaching army of undead soldiers. Tempest Avian flew higher until he reached the right height, then paused and gave his wings a mighty flap. A storm of metal feathers were fired towards the zombies, who advanced towards her without regard to the danger they were facing from the summons their prey had called to help.

The front row of eight zombies crumpled to the ground with metal feathers sticking out of their foreheads point-first. Tempest Avian looked pleased with himself for his accuracy.

"We've still got over seventeen more." Leona informed him. The metallic owl was undaunted. He aimed carefully and fired another spread of flechettes from his wings. This time six more zombies fell over with fatal head wounds, leaving their comrades to stumble over their bodies and shamble through the killing ground set up by the blonde and Tempest Avian.

"Eleven more." Rafale sounded out the score. Again the owl aimed and flapped his wings at the zombies. Six more went down with metal feathers sticking in their foreheads. That left only five out of the initial batch to deal with. Leona did not want to ruin a good thing, so she let the owl finish them with one final spray of flechettes.

Once the remaining five zombies were down for the count, Leona began to survey the temple grounds for any more undead looking to join the party. She spotted another group of fifteen soldiers with naginatas and swords shamble towards her from the right side of the temple grounds, which meant that there were still more enemies prowling the outside. It would be prudent to dispose of them all before heading inside the temple to deal with the necromancer responsible for their summoning.

Leona aimed her right hand at a naginata-wielding zombie and fired a Wind Bullet that detonated its head on contact, dropping the headless body to the soil. Rafale swung an energy blade and fired a crescent of purple energy that cleaved through a sword-carrying zombie's head and split it down the middle. Leona fired a Crescent Cutter spell that replicated the feat on another sword-carrying zombie. There were twelve more out of that batch to deal with, but that was not all of them. Another group of twenty soldiers were pulling themselves out of the ground in front of Leona with moaning to signal their arrival.

"This is not good." Rafale remarked as he and Tempest Avian flew over their mistress' head and prepared to fight. Leona faced the new arrivals and clutched her Silver Longsword. This was going to be harder than she thought.

[Word Count: 1,102]
[Total Word Count: 2,978/12,500]

Swelling in numbers with each passing second, the small zombie army staggered towards the blonde, her metallic owl, and the green-clad summon with two violet energy swords. Leona was pretty sure that if she left them alone they would follow her through the temple and add more stress to an already stressful job. It would be prudent to eliminate them now while she had the time and the opportunity. Her summons were already fighting the undead menace while she stood about... Tempest Avian was launching storms of Steel Flechettes while Sky Champion Rafale was slicing through the enemies who waded through Tempest Avian's sprays of lethal metal feathers to the skull.

Leona was debating whether to join them when she heard moaning from behind and felt cold, clammy hands grip her shoulders. She bolted forward and turned around to find a trio of zombie archers with no bows but quivers of arrows on their backs shambling towards her with arms outstretched. How did she lose focus that easily? This was not like her.

While her summons fought off the undead army behind her, Leona prepared to deal with the undead archers. She stepped forward and stabbed the first of them through the skull with her Silver Longsword, which got lodged in its head. Leona tried her time-tested trick of planting a foot on its torso and kicking it off the blade, but this time the usually reliable trick did not want to work, leaving her empty-handed against the remaining two zombies. That was not entirely true... she could still cast spells, so a weapon was more of a nice thing to have than an absolute necessity for her.

Leona stepped back and used a Wind Bullet spell to burst the head of the first archer, then took two more steps back and used a Gale Cannon to burst the head of the second archer. That encounter was pretty easy and the blonde hurried to reclaim her sword because it looked like Rafale and Tempest Avian were getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of zombies getting past them, a number which was roughly sixteen. She was thankful that they were not smart and organized enough to move in as a team like human soldiers would do.

Leona quickly retrieved her sword and turned to face the emerging threat while Rafale and Tempest Avian continued to fight to keep more stragglers from joining the already crowded fray. Leona went into action and carved through the skull of the first straggler, a naginata-carrying zombie with two arrows sticking out of his forehead like a macabre pair of horns. The body had hardly been on the ground for ten seconds before her silver blade cleaved through the skull of a sword-wielding zombie who had just enough of a reaction time to accidentally put its sword in front of her own, but to no avail. Her sword easily cut through the ancient sword and its halves fell to the ground at the same time as its owner.

Tempest Avian, having dealt with the threat ahead of her, now turned his wings towards the threats in front of Leona and began firing more volleys of Steel Flechettes. Rafale used his speed to fly in front of his mistress and carve through a pair of zombies she had missed while stabbing through the skull of a sword-carrying zombie in almost complete samurai armor except for a helmet. A few more sword strokes later and the trio had dealt with the undead menace in this area.

Escorted by her two summons, Leona walked back towards the entrance to the temple and took a brief break once she paused at the foot of the steps in front of the doors. About a minute later the wooden temple doors opened of their own accord. Rafale and Tempest Avian looked towards Leona, who looked at them in return and then looked back towards the doors. Rafale could go with her because he had a humanoid build, but Tempest Avian would struggle to get around on two feet and she did not know how large the hallways were.

"I... I do not think I can fit in there." Tempest Avian spoke up. Leona glanced inside and concurred with him.

"Thanks for the help. I'll call you if I need you." Leona said to the faithful metallic owl. He nodded as she dispelled him and turned to face Rafale.

"Well, it's you and me, Rafale. The clock's ticking." Leona said to her summoned companion. He nodded and together the pair walked up the wooden stairs and through the wide double doors into the temple.

-Inside the temple, First Floor-

The pair had hardly made it inside the temple when the doors slammed closed behind them, hitting Leona on the backside and making her yelp in surprise. Rafale turned to face her and did not quite understand what had happened to her. Leona decided to let the matter go and focus on what was in front of them.

The pair were standing in the entrance of a temple with white walls, wooden floors, and a golden statue of a priest with his hand raised in a gesture of blessing overlooking the entrance. To the left was a wooden staircase that led up to the next floor. Halfway through the hallway leading to the stairs was a doorway that led to somewhere, probably a dining room for the resident priests and monks. Leona looked towards Rafale and thought that she heard chanting in a female voice echo through the empty halls.

Sumika warned her about the undead, but she did not mention anything about ghosts. Rafale looked at Leona with concern on his face. He then fell to one knee and faded from sight. The walls all bore glowing red runes made in a language she could not understand. Leona tried to summon Rafale again, but the runes flared blood red and the summoning just would not happen. Based on what little information she had, Leona deduced that the runes must have been set up to suppress summoning magic.

"Your summons will not avail you on this holy ground! Here you will have to fight your own battles!" A female voice chastised Leona, lending support to the mage's newly formed theory. The blonde wanted to call the person out on their flagrant hypocrisy. After all, they were a necromancer using the reanimated bodies of deceased soldiers to fight for them, so they had no right to lecture the Wizard Saint on fighting her own battles. Instead of screaming into the void, Leona would fight through all eight floors and give the necromancer cause to regret their words via a Mach Straight to the face.

[Word Count: 1,130]
[Total Word Count: 4,108/12,500]

With the ability to bring in summons taken away from her Leona was effectively on her own. Sumika was busy maintaining the barrier that kept the town below safe, so the priestess could offer no further help other than what she had already told Leona about the temple. The Wizard Saint had been given both a hint about the location of a hidden weapon and informed that the statues of holy men were imbued with divine power that could protect her from the lesser undead. Leona felt the divine power radiating from the statue and knew that it was one of the eight statues that could grant her sanctuary. With the runes pulsing on the walls, she walked down the hallway towards the staircase and towards the large doorway she had seen when she first stepped into the temple.

Leona walked carefully towards the doorway and listened out for the approach of more zombies. She crouched behind the right side of the doorway and peered into the darkened room, which was not a dining hall but instead a place of worship that could comfortably accommodate a large number of worshipers. Inside were small wooden tables with incense burners placed on top, but there was also a raised wooden platform upon which sat a large golden statue of a robed figure; the statue was almost as tall as the ceiling was high. The figure had its legs crossed, its eyes fixed on the viewer, and its right hand was raised in a gesture of blessing that matched the gesture of the statue at the entrance. Unlike the statue at the entrance, this one was purely decorative and had no special power.

Seeing no enemies within the room, Leona left the place behind and walked over to the wooden staircase. She listened out for enemies but did not hear or see any. She then ascended the stairs and reached the second floor.

-On the second floor-

Leona stepped onto the second floor and took a glance down the darkened hallway, which was wide enough to accommodate four people walking side-by-side. On the white walls hung framed scrolls with letters of the Midi language on them; presumably they were religious tenets to be recited by the faithful and kept in mind by the priests who dwelt in the temple. Further down the hallway was a small group of humanoid shapes that did not look friendly. Moments later she heard moaning and the sound of weapons scraping against the wooden floors... she was going to have to face off against another group of zombies before she could ascend to the third floor.

Leona waited for them to get closer and noticed that they all had swords, which made her job easier because the rusty old weapons could not stand up to her Silver Longsword in a clash of weapons. Once she had determined what they had it was time to dispose of the eight zombies. She aimed and fired a Wind Bullet that burst the head of the first zombie, then targeted a zombie missing its left arm from the elbow down due to a clean cut that was inflicted by a sword slash. She aimed and fired a Gale Cannon that destroyed its head, leaving only six zombies to deal with.

Leona then charged into the fray with her sword and punched a zombie in the face with a Mach Straight. The punch sent the zombie falling onto a teammate and knocked them both down, allowing her time to deal with one on the front and right of the loose formation by stabbing it through the skull. She hurriedly withdrew the sword and dealt with the one on the left with a stab through its skull, then turned just in time to see a zombie rush in for a grapple attempt.

The Wizard Saint ducked under it and hit back with a Mach Uppercut, knocking off its head by sheer accident thanks to its throat having been slashed in mortal life. The two zombies she had knocked down earlier were still struggling to get up. Their hands were grabbing at the air and their feet were kicking but they were unable to get on their feet. Leona would eliminate them before they could somehow regain their footing.

She cautiously approached them and held her sword with the blade pointed downward, being careful not to trip and fall onto the zombies she was planning to kill. Once she had made it past their flailing arms she aimed carefully and plunged the blade through the head of the first zombie, then pulled the blade out and aimed for the head of the second zombie, which was partially hidden by the left shoulder of the zombie she had just dispatched. She waited until the time was right, then plunged the blade through its skull and pulled it out. All of the zombies were now defeated... except for the head of the enemy she had accidentally decapitated earlier with a Mach Uppercut.

Its jaws were still snapping but without a body it was effectively immobile, so she casually walked over to the head and stabbed downward through the top, then removed the blade. Leona then walked past the bodies in the corridor and walked towards the stairs, passing by the priest statue stationed on this floor at the halfway point. While walking she listened out for more zombies or for new enemies to appear... Sumika had mentioned that zombies were not the only minions that the necromancer had at their disposal. Leona would have to keep a look out for other forces that the necromancer could call upon to halt her progress.

Leona carefully climbed the stairs to the third floor and kept an ear out for trouble.

-The third floor-

Leona arrived on the third floor and was faced with the same wide hallway as the one on the second floor, but one major difference was that there were numerous sliding doors on both sides of the hallway. She was now on the floor with the living quarters of the temple staff. Enemies could be hiding in the rooms, so she would have to be careful going down the hallway.

[Word Count: 1,036]
[Total Word Count: 5,144/12,500]

-The third floor-

While glancing down the hallway to check for enemies, Leona saw that the wide hallway also had paper lanterns hanging at strategic intervals to provide light. In the corner on the right side of the hall she saw the priest statue looking at her with a smile on his face. The left side of the hall presumably had the staircase that led to the fourth floor, but she would have to check that out later because she heard soft moaning that did not belong to zombies because it was too smooth. It sounded almost human, but Sumika did not mention that people were on the temple grounds.

Leona took five steps forward when she saw ghostly forms float through the closed doors on each side of the hallway. When they looked towards her their robes resembled those worn by the priests of Midi. It was possible that the necromancer brought them back as part of her army; an army of zombies, while more than a little intimidating, was not the most formidable fighting force known to the world. They could be brought down by any weapon provided their brains were destroyed. Ghosts were vulnerable only to magic or silver or enchanted weapons, a fact which made them slightly more durable than shambling corpses and slightly better material for an army.

"Grant us peace!" One of them pleaded with her.

"Our time in this world ended long ago. Why have we been brought here?" Another one asked a question that Leona could answer were they not bent on trying to make her join them in the spirit world.

"A nonbeliever has invaded our home. We must expel them." Another ghost answered.

The facial expressions of the ghosts hardened and went from a tired look to one that was hateful. They wanted her dead and the hatred they were giving off was palpable. The fact that they had black holes where their eyes once were made it more unsettling. The blonde involuntarily took a step back and got ready to fight her way through the crowd.

The ghosts then began to float towards her with outstretched arms. Leona took her sword into both hands and started to cleave through them in an effort to cut a way out of the mob. Unlike the uncoordinated zombies, the ghostly priests moved as a team and not as a mass of individuals moving at their own pace. That made it hard to destroy isolated ghosts because they did not stray far from the group.

Leona cut her way through a clump of ghosts and was working down the hallway when a ghostly arm phased through the door and seized her left arm in its icy grip. Leona took her silver sword and twisted to face the appendage, then chopped through it and freed herself as its owner phased through the doorway to come after her. Leona fought her way past another trio of spectral priests and reached the halfway point in the corridor, but she had not reached the relative safety of the statue yet. She still had a small army of ghosts to get through before she could relax.

A priest tried to grab her from behind, but Leona sprinted forward and cut through the waist of one trying to grab her throat with both hands. She ran through the resulting blue mist and felt a brief chill on her face, then felt even more chilled as ghosts phased through the doors and grabbed at her arms and torso. More of them were emerging from the rooms behind her and in front of her, filling the hall with restless spirits who all wanted to see Leona dead. Leona had fought her way past a pair of priests when a ghostly hand reached through the floor and snagged her right ankle, causing her to trip and fall onto her face.

Leona's face hit the floor hard and her Silver Longsword shot up disturbingly close to her face in her effort to hold onto the only weapon she had that could harm the ghosts. If she lost her grip on it she would be done for. She could not call for help from her summons and she had no other weapons that was effective against ghosts.

"You are not welcome here, nonbeliever!" One of the priests admonished the Wizard Saint.

"Get the nonbeliever!" Another called out. Leona gently rolled over to steal a glance behind her and saw that at least two dozen ghosts were coming after her. The ghostly hand that had caused her to fall was still clutching her right ankle, which had gone numb from the cold. She needed to get on her feet and moving for the statue before they caught up to her. Leona carefully lowered her Silver Longsword to the floor, positioned the edge close to the spectral wrist, and cut outward. The wounded hand retracted into the floor and the blonde was free... now to get moving.

Leona forced herself up and started running and hobbling for her life, escaping just ahead of the ghosts grabbing for her back. She jumped over other hands reaching out of the floor and tried to avoid putting too much pressure on her numb right ankle lest she fall over again and be unable to escape the ghosts a second time. She ducked under some hands reaching out from the doors and walls and jumped over others sprouting from the floor in a parody of dance, but she was not worried about style points so much as not getting caught. Leona twisted and jumped her way closer to the statue and was almost there when a spirit phased through the door to her right and grabbed for her arm.

The startled blonde jumped forward and did a 180-degree spin to face him, nearly falling over in the process. She spun around another ghostly hand reaching through the floor and did a high step with her left foot that placed her squarely in front of the statue. The mage saw that the small army of ghosts paused in place and looked at her with black holes where their eyes used to be, then stopped moving.

"She has reached sanctuary." One of the bald ghosts commented.

"How troublesome. The nonbeliever knows enough of our ways to seek protection from the holy statues." Another ghost remarked.

"They will not save her from what lies ahead. The nonbeliever will learn that soon enough." A third one said. The others uttered low hums in agreement.

"Come, brothers. We will deal with her another time." A fourth said. The ghosts nodded and turned around, going back into the rooms from whence they came. Leona was confounded by their abrupt change in behavior. Why had they given up when they had her cornered?

[Word Count: 1,138]
[Total Word Count: 6,282/12,500]

Leona watched the spectral monks return to the rooms they had occupied in life and watched until they vanished, then turned her attention towards the staircase standing in front of her. She lingered a few minutes longer to make sure the ghosts were really gone and had not just pulled back a short distance to fool her into leaving the sanctuary. When they did not reappear to block her path to the staircase, Leona sprinted for the stairs and hurried up them before the monks decided to take another shot at killing her. The blonde's booted feet thundered up the stairs as she ascended to the fourth floor of the temple.

-The fourth floor-

Leona reached the top to find a large group of thirty enemies waiting for her at the other end of the hallway, but unlike the zombies she had fought so far this group was composed of a perfect mix of swordsmen, archers, and pikemen. They also moved with half the speed of a human, but they were practically track stars when compared to their slower brethren. They took up positions halfway down the hall and formed up in perfect ranks; swordsmen moved to the front, the pikemen knelt with their weapons facing outward, and the archers stood in formation behind the pikemen with their bows ready. Leona was surprised to see such a degree of coordination from the undead, but something was different about them other than being fast and their ability to fight in formation. Their eyes were glowing violet, which was something the other groups of zombies she had fought did not have.

Leona had just enough time to take a breath before a volley of arrows was sent her way. Leona ducked under the volley and stood up in time to meet the first of the swordsmen in a clash of blades. Her blade met his and a CLANG sounded, but she soon saw that the other nine swordsmen were advancing on her; the others were not going to let them duel one-on-one, so she had to end the stalemate before the rotting swordsman's friends arrived. She kicked him in the chest and fired a Wind Bullet at the head of the one closest to her, destroying it in a single shot.

Leona's first opponent quickly recovered and renewed its attack on her with a diagonal swing followed by a horizontal slash. She sidestepped the first attack and ducked under the second, then retaliated with a Gale Cannon at less than ten steps away. Its head exploded and left her with eight swordsmen, ten pikemen, and ten archers to contend with. Another volley of arrows raced towards her and the Wizard Saint ducked just in time to feel one rustle her hair as it passed by. She rolled to the left to avoid a downward chop from a rusty katana and was met by the descending sword of another opponent. She raised her sword to block the attack and once it had been stopped Leona pulled her sword back and literally cut her opponent off at the knees.

She stabbed the enemy through the skull when it rose up but had to dodge for her life when another volley of arrows whistled towards her. Leona was a bit too slow and felt an arrow graze her armored shoulder as she ducked and leaned right to avoid a shot through the head. Leona stabbed through the skull of a swordsman stepping in to deliver a two-handed downward chop, then turned and hit a second one in the unarmored forehead with a Mach Straight that caved its skull in. She did not have time to think... the pikemen were advancing on her with their weapons held out as the archers readied another volley. Leona had to stop them before she became a pincushion.

The Wizard Saint readied and cast a Wind Blast that staggered the pikemen and gave her just enough room to get in the middle of their formation and either kill them or make their polearms useless. With only seconds to put her plan into action, Leona sprinted past undead swordsmen and made a running jump that placed her in the middle of the staggered pikemen, then went to work.

Leona took a swing and removed the point of one enemy's spear, then chopped off the point of another and removed a third that was level with her head before it could be thrust into her skull. Leona managed to removed half of the pikemen's points before they recovered and began to press on her with the help of the swordsmen she had left behind. She had gotten in too deep to break out, so the only way out was through them... or so she thought.

Leona heard the whistle of arrows and ducked just in time to feel an arrowhead graze her armored right shoulder and another one slam into the protective pauldron. The impact had definitely hurt but the armor stopped the arrowhead from punching through. The archers had to go before they found their mark in her skull. The Wizard Saint gripped her sword and rushed at them while they were reaching for another arrow. She slashed one through the skull with a diagonal slash, then began to cleave through the remaining four on the right while their fellows bunched up behind her and took a few shambling steps backward.

Leona dealt with them quickly and turned just in time to confront five archers ready to fire. The blonde jumped to the side and narrowly avoided arrows to the chest. Once they had fired she rushed them and put them down with a series of rapid chops to the head before they could nock another arrow. Now that the archers were gone she turned back towards the pikemen and began to deal with them in the same manner she had used to dispatch the archers; turn one side of the formation and finish it before dealing with the rest of them.

The blonde crashed through the ranks of pikemen and shrugged off a pike to the chest thanks to her armor. She stabbed the pikeman holding the offending pike in the head, then turned and pulled the weapon out of her armor with one hand. After finishing off the remaining four on the right using dodges interspersed with stabs or slashes to the head, she turned back and cleaned up the left side, which was composed of four zombies holding poles and one with a gleaming pike point.

As the last pikeman fell with a fatal head wound Leona received a slash on her armored left shoulder that notified her that there were still active swordsmen to deal with. Leona rushed at the offender and put him down with a diagonal slash through the skull, then focused on his teammates and disposed of them. Once the last enemy was down a female voice spoke to her.

"Perhaps I underestimated you. I did not anticipate you managing to defeat them, but don't celebrate just yet. There are four more floors between you and me and the next challenges won't be so easy!" The necromancer warned Leona before her voice stopped. The tired blonde stepped over the bodies of the zombie army and reached the statue in the left corner at the end of the hall, then sat down and took a break before even thinking about ascending to the fifth floor.

[Word Count: 1,250]
[Total Word Count: 7,532/12,500]

-The fifth floor-

After taking a ten-minute break from fighting her way through the small but coordinated zombie army on the fourth floor and removing the arrow shafts protruding from her left shoulder, Leona finally clambered up the stairs to the fifth floor, where she met still more opposition. This time her opponents were fully armored zombies wearing metal facemasks complete with fake mustaches and armed with katanas that were not old and rusty, but instead polished and gleaming in the light of the paper lanterns lining the hallway. Their eyes were glowing violet and they moved with the speed of a normal human being, which meant that they would be a lot more dangerous than run-of-the-mill shambling corpses.

Leona had barely taken her back foot off of the stairs when she was spotted and eight of them rushed to stop her with weapons held at the ready. She raised her sword to stop the descent of the first enemy's weapon and was alarmed to see that the rest continued to come after her. Her opponent pulled his weapon out of the blade lock and spun around to deliver a horizontal slash, but Leona saw it coming just in time to step back and catch only the tip of the sword across her armor instead of catching the entire blade on her unarmored hip. That was small comfort to her because the other seven were trying to surround her; the bolder ones were making their own offensive feints to keep her off-balance. Without her summons to watch her back the Wizard Saint was having to play it safe against the fully armored zombies and that was giving them time to wear her down.

Eventually Leona got tired of spinning in circles to stop feints before they turned into full-fledged attacks and attacked an opponent holding their sword above their heads for a downward chop. She stabbed for the forehead of his facemask and somehow managed to punch through the metal, bringing it down with a stab through the skull. Its teammates were quick to capitalize on this mistake and came after her with a flurry of sword swings that forced her to dodge for her life. The attacks were so intense that she had to leave her Silver Longsword behind and flee for her life; one fierce downward swing grazed her left sleeve and sliced it open from the elbow down, just missing doing the same to her arm.

Leona fled to the staircase and was pursued by two zombie samurai who were not going to let her go without a chase. Leona stretched her right arm out to cast and one of the samurai almost cut it off with a sword swing; she pulled it back just in time. They were not going to let her use her more powerful spells, so she would just have to use her basic spells. Having backed her to the wall behind the staircase, one of them lunged at Leona and made a lunging stab towards her abdomen. The blonde rolled to the right to avoid that stab and was met with the other samurai standing over her about to bring his sword down.

Leona screamed and rolled to the right to avoid getting her head split like a watermelon, then scrambled up and ran past the five enemies clustered nearby to try and retrieve her sword. The others sprung into action and began chasing after her, forcing her to leave it behind and run for the sanctuary of the priest statue, which was sitting with legs crossed as opposed to the rest of them being placed in a standing position. Leona ran for the statue and paused in front of it to take a breather before going up against the seven samurai still waiting for her.

She paused for a moment and looked at the statue. There was something off about it aside from the priest being cast in a sitting position. Then Sumika's hint came to mind.

"Opposite the blind."

Leona was trying to puzzle out what the cryptic clue meant when she looked closer at the statue's face and finally started to understand. The statue's eyes lacked clearly defined pupils, which must have meant that the priest the statue depicted was blind. Leona's green eyes widened.

"Opposite the blind."

Now she got what Sumika had meant. The special weapon was hidden opposite the statue of the blind priest! Now she had to find a way to open the area where it was kept and she had to do it fast because the zombie samurai were still charging at her!

Leona hurried to the wall directly in front of the statue and began pressing on it and looked for a secret lever, button, anything to open a hidden alcove. She was coming up with nothing. She thrust out her left arm and cast a Wind Blast spell that staggered the zombies momentarily, buying her far less time than she would have liked to search for the weapon. Leona began pressing all along the wall until a nondescript panel on the right side of the wall sunk in and the sound of gears grinding against metal was heard. The wall in front of her opened up to show a sitting statue of the blind priest holding a gleaming white sword in the palms of his hands.

Leona hurried into the room and scooped up the sword, which was a katana with a long blade that looked to be a mix of blue and white. The handgrip was the same color as the blade and in the priest's hands was a black scabbard for the sword. Leona claimed them both and rushed out to confront the samurai before they trapped her in the room with no room to swing the new sword. The zombie samurai obligingly backed up and surrounded her with swords held in a ready position.

Leona saw the blade pulse white in her hand. She set the scabbard down and shifted to a two-handed grip to better hold the lengthy sword. Sol or Johann could have easily held it with one hand, but Leona was not quite as strong as them, so she had to use a two-handed grip to maintain control over it. Armed with her new weapon, the Wizard Saint stepped into the attack of a samurai who was going for a diagonal slash and swung the weapon horizontally, cleaving through the armor and cutting it in two across the waist.

It let out an unearthly yell as it fell apart and erupted into blue flames that burned the halves of its body to ash in the space of fifteen seconds. Leona was surprised at the power the sword held. Since it could burn the bodies of the undead it cut into, destroying the head was not necessary to score a kill against the zombies. Facing down the remaining six zombies with her powerful new weapon, Leona felt confident that she just might be able to complete this mission by herself.

The Hidden Sword:

[Word Count: 1,191]
[Total Word Count: 8,723/12,500]

Despite their teammate getting cut in half and falling to the ground in pieces that burned, the zombie samurai did not back down and kept their weapons ready while maintaining a semicircular formation that kept Leona trapped between them and the hidden room she had just exited. The blonde mage kept her new loaner weapon in a defensive position and waited to see who made the first move... she did not have very long to wait because the enemy on her far left stepped towards her and swung their blade in a diagonal slash. Leona spun towards him and blocked the attack with her sword, then stepped forward to gain leverage. The enemy kicked her in the shin and pulled his sword out of the blade lock, then made a one-handed stab for her torso.

Leona stepped aside and quickly retaliated with a horizontal slash that cut the samurai in half and set the severed parts alight in blue flame. Facing the remaining five enemies, the Wizard Saint then fought her way out of the partial encirclement by cutting through the zombie to her right and taking a sword cut to her left shoulder that was blocked by her Adaptable Armor. The four samurai gave chase and Leona retreated until she had enough space to swing her sword, then turned to face them. The first to meet her brought their sword down in a diagonal slash that Leona met with her sword. She quickly withdrew from the blade lock, avoided the downward follow-up slash from her enemy, and countered with a diagonal cut that cleaved through it and sent its halves to the wooden floor.

The second undead samurai rushed in and executed a flurry of five sword strokes that Leona was hard-pressed to block because of the weight of her weapon. She blocked the first two strokes to the shoulder with ease and managed to stop the third aimed at her waist without much trouble but had trouble with the fourth and fifth, which were a diagonal slash to the torso followed by a horizontal slash to her chest. Leona stepped back to block the last two and gave up ground, a move that resulted in her getting another cut across her armored abdomen.

Leona drew her sword back to her right side and made a forceful swing that the samurai tried to block with his weapon. Leona's sword cut through the enemy's blade with ease and cut through his chest in the process, sending pieces of undead enemy to the floor to burn. The third opponent advanced slowly and kept his weapon in a ready position while the fourth and final enemy ran at her and tried to ram his sword through her torso with a two-handed lunging stab.

The Wizard Saint sidestepped the stab and was met with a descending slash that she blocked with her own weapon. While her attention was fixed on the more methodical swordsman the enemy recovered from the lunge and made a whirling horizontal slash at her armored side. The slash hit her and was barely stopped from penetrating to her skin by the armor, but the impact was enough to throw off her concentration and help the first enemy gain the upper hand. He stepped forward and kneed her in the stomach, then hit her on the back while she was doubled over. Leona fell to the ground and barely avoided impaling herself on her sword.

Leona did not have time to rest because the two enemies began stabbing downward to kill her while she was unable to defend herself. She rolled away from them for three awkward but full rotations and quickly jumped up in time to face an oncoming enemy. Leona stepped into the rushing enemy and performed a downward diagonal slash that cut it in half with one powerful blow. She quickly hefted her weapon into a defensive position and blocked the attack of the last enemy, then stepped to the side to avoid a lunging stab. She finished by making a stab through its torso while its back was to her.

The enemy went limp on the sword as their wound caught fire and burned them from the inside out.Now that all the zombies were gone, Leona pulled her Silver Longsword from the skull of the one undead samurai who was not cut down by her magic katana. Leona was glad that fight was over.

Walking through the ashes left behind by the zombie samurai, she picked up the scabbard of the heavy katana she carried and attached it to her left hip. She then hefted the sword and made her way past the priest statue, then walked up the stairs without encountering further opposition... on this floor.

-The sixth floor-

Leona made her way up the stairs and glanced at what was waiting for her on the sixth floor. Paper lanterns provided lighting and showed that the walls boasted a few austere but skillfully executed ink paintings of nature scenes. The very first ink painting she looked at was one of a priest in orange robes leading a column of religious pilgrims up a snowy mountain path to a mountain shrine located at the peak. She thought that the art style was overly simple, but it was still a well-made painting that employed skillful use of color and shading to make the scene. Leona did not have time to look at more paintings because another enemy force arrived to do battle with her.

A quartet of fully armored zombie samurai were followed by ten pikemen and ten archers who had formed up in the center of the hallway. Leona frowned when she saw the archers positioned behind the gleaming pike blades. She hated those guys because they made her life miserable with their constant volleys of arrows and ability to work in concert with the other zombies. Their eyes glowed violet, which meant that she was about to face off with a group that had rudimentary but effective coordination.

The zombie samurai were of particular concern because they had shown speed and reflexes on par with living humans. They had given her enough trouble when it was just eight samurai, but now they had pikemen and archers to support them. Leona took a deep breath and prepared for another tough fight.

[Word Count: 1,063]
[Total Word Count: 9,786/12,500]

Not wanting to hang back and get turned into a human pincushion because of excessive caution, Leona dropped her Silver Longsword and immediately took the offensive against the zombies assembled before her. She ran towards a zombie samurai and made a powerful horizontal swing that nearly threw her off-balance but cut through the enemy in one swing. Leona staggered to a halt in front of another zombie samurai and was about to engage it when she heard the whistle of incoming arrows, a sound which made her duck to avoid getting hit in the head or another vital area. When she ducked the enemy in front of her took the chance to knee her in the face and bowl her over onto her back. The Wizard Saint quickly recovered and climbed to her feet before she could get stabbed through the torso as she lay on the floor.

Boxed in by the samurai standing in a triangular formation and needing a quick way out, Leona shifted her sword to her left hand and formed a fist with her right hand, then dropped to a knee and punched the ground in a Storm Impact that staggered the three samurai and gave her enough time to escape. She quickly shifted the sword back to her right hand and stepped forward, cutting through the samurai in front of her with a powerful diagonal slash that cut through its right shoulder and down through its left hip. She sprinted by it as its halves fell to the ground and came up against the pike formation.

Leona skidded to a halt and ducked under another volley of arrows, then popped up and employed a Wind Blast spell to break up the pikemen. Before they could reform the line Leona used a Zephyr Dash spell to speed past them and get to the archers they were protecting. The blonde stood up and carved through two archers in as many swings of her sword, but there were still ten remaining and the pikemen were beginning to form up again. She had better act fast to avoid getting stabbed in the back by the enemies she had left standing.

Leona cut through another archer who had switched to a sword, then stepped forward and slashed through another who had taken a step back and was about to shoot her in the face with an arrow. She spun left and barely avoided a ragged volley but caught one in the left shoulder just like she had in the fight with the archers on the fourth floor. Leona rushed at them and began cutting through them until all four were burning on the ground, then turned around in time to catch an arrow to the chest.

She shrugged it off and rushed at them, cutting through the four archers and receiving a pike to the right side just as she finished the last of the archers. Leona pulled the pike out and stepped forward, cutting through the offender with a diagonal slash before having to quickly step back to dodge multiple pikes being thrust at her. Nine more pikemen and two samurai were left on this floor... once they were beaten she could move on to the seventh floor.

Leona rushed at the pikemen and began carving through them with the same alacrity with which she had carved through the archers. She repeated the strategy of carving through each flank of the formation starting with the right... she easily knocked aside their weapons and cut them down one-by-one until the five on the left were still alive. It was at that moment a zombie samurai made a lunging stab that grazed her back and almost stabbed through her skirt. Leona turned away from the pikemen long enough to slash through it with a horizontal slash. She paid for that mistake with another pike to the right side that was barely stopped by her armor.

Leona staggered from the blow and turned to face the five remaining pikemen. She watched as they marched on her with weapons pointed at her, then used her sword to bat aside the middle two and leapt into the middle of the formation. She then cut the tightly packed enemies all down with a single right-to-left horizontal slash. The last remaining samurai charged at her with weapon held high. She stepped forward and finished the fight with a stab to the torso.

As the last samurai burned Leona walked over to her Silver Longsword. She picked it up, put it away, and held the katana in her right hand as she retraced her steps through the ash piles that used to be zombies and strode past the priest statue. Leona had taken a few hits, but she was still able to fight. Her armor had prevented the edged weapons from punching through but did not negate the pain of being stabbed with a pike or hit with an arrow. She paused in front of the priest statue and plucked the arrows out of her armor, then proceeded up the stairs to face the final obstacle that stood between her and the necromancer behind the invasion of the temple.

-The seventh floor-

Leona reached the top of the stairs and was in for an unpleasant sight. She was greeted by the sight of a small army of violet-eyed samurai waiting on her that numbered two dozen. They were in the middle of the corridor with swords drawn and were aiming to bar her path to the eighth floor. Since they had come all this way for a fight, Leona would given them what they wanted. No one would get in the way of her quest to stop the necromancer.

The first of them broke ranks and rushed to meet her in battle. The other twenty-three of them soon followed, forcing Leona to spring into action before she was overrun by armored undead swordsmen. She kept walking towards the first and cut him diagonally before it could lower its blade in a two-handed downward slash. She had killed one of them... there were only twenty-three more of them to carve through before she could confront the necromancer who had raised the undead army and taken over the temple as a stepping stone to taking over Okyto.

[Word Cunt: 1,057]
[Total Word Count: 10,843/12,500]

With twenty-three samurai bearing down on her, Leona had to break their formation up so that she could take them on in smaller groups instead of in one big group. She shifted the sword to her left hand, then raised her right hand and cast a Wind Blast to try and break up the incoming samurai. Her spell only affected five of them; the rest of the enemies streamed past their staggered teammates and continued towards the Wizard Saint without even slowing down. Leona had a choice to make, a choice that was not really a choice at all.

She was planning to save her special adrenaline rush for the fight with the necromancer, but there would not be a fight with the necromancer if she got chopped to pieces by the threat in front of her. With that in mind Leona activated the adrenaline rush and felt the sword in her left hand lighten to the point it felt as light as her Silver Longsword. Now she could use the heavy katana with only one hand instead of having to use both of them, which gave her a much-needed advantage because now she could cut through them faster and defend herself quicker.

Leona shifted her sword to her right hand and used her adrenaline-boosted strength to cleave through the waist of another zombie who was about to chop downward into her head. The next enemy fell just as easily with a one-handed diagonal slash through the torso. Soon Leona had cut through three more of them with as many sword strokes, but she was still about to be overrun because eighteen of them were still left and were about to converge on her at once.

Leona stood her ground and used a left-handed Storm Impact to generate a dome of wind that staggered the front row of seven and slowed the rest of their fellows down, giving her just enough time to retreat and get enough space to stand her ground for the next wave in a slightly more manageable chunk of four. Leona cut the first one in half with a horizontal strike and blocked a simultaneous sword stroke from the three remaining enemies who had closed with her. With a nudge upward Leona shoved their swords into the air and stepped forward, bringing her sword in a horizontal slash that cut through all three at the hip.

The next wave consisted of five of them who had rushed past their staggered colleagues to come to grips with the Wizard Saint. Leona backed up a few steps and stabbed the first to reach her in the torso. She then punched another one in the face with a Mach Straight and sent them staggering into the group, slowing down the enemies even more as three of them received the impact of their colleague and staggered backwards themselves. Leona quickly cut through an enemy with a diagonal slash and blocked the attack of another who arrived just a moment later.

Unfortunately for the Wizard Saint more samurai freed themselves from the impasse she had created and rushed to the attack. At the sight of incoming enemies Leona was forced to give ground again and retreat before the onslaught, but she was gradually wearing them down to more manageable numbers. After retreating again Leona stood her ground and took them on as they came, whittling them down until only eight were left standing.

Still powered by adrenaline, Leona took the offensive and rushed at the remaining eight enemies before they could return the favor. She cut through two of them as they raised their weapons in a vain attempt to defend themselves, then blocked the sword of a third before withdrawing her blade and cutting through it in a single diagonal slash. Now she was down to five enemies standing.

Leona quickly cut through them and was left with piles of ashes dotting the floor where armored zombies had once stood. Her adrenaline rush was still going strong, so she sprinted down the hall and jogged up the stairs to try and fight the necromancer while it was still in effect. It was her trump card, a valuabe one that she would need against an enemy who could summon an army at will while blocking Leona's ability to call in summons.

-The eighth floor-

Leona noisily scrambled up the stairs expecting yet another narrow hallway packed with enemies to fight but instead found herself in a spacious room much like the hall of worship on the first floor. There was even a large gold statue of a priest sitting with his legs crossed that dominated the room just like the one on the first floor. Standing in front of the statue was an older woman with jet black waist-length hair dressed in a simple black kimono. She was alone, but Leona felt that it would not be that way for very long.

"So they've sent a hired sword to deal with me. But they didn't send just any hired sword. They sent a Wizard Saint after me." The older woman dryly remarked to Leona with a small laugh at the end.

"Why did you take this temple over?" Leona asked the woman.

"You've manage to defeat my minions despite my best efforts and your inability to call in those summons of yours. I'm impressed." The woman danced around the question by complimenting Leona's abilities. She took a glance at Leona's borrowed weapon and appeared to recognize it.

"So you've found the sword known as Shoki. In your language that translates to "Demon Queller." I was hoping to take it for myself to keep it out of the hands of do-gooders, but I failed to find it in time since you're holding it." She said to Leona with a tone of resignation. Leona was puzzled as to why the woman had not summoned as may zombie soldiers as she could to overwhelm the Wizard Saint by sheer numbers. Something was not right.

"What I want isn't here and you're clearly ready for a fight, so I'd best be leaving. We'll meet again, Wizard Saint of Courage." The necromancer bade Leona farewell before disappearing in a puff of black smoke. Leona was stumped. Why had the woman left so suddenly when Leona arrived? Was the reason something to do with the sword she had?

[Word Count: 1,081]
[Total Word Count: 11,924/12,500]

-Outside the shrine gates-

Puzzled as to why the necromancer had left so abruptly instead of fighting, a puzzled and tired Leona had made the lengthy trip down eight flights of stairs and walked to the outside of the shrine, where she met with an equally exhausted Sumika. On Leona's left hip was the katana known as Shoki in the language of Midi, which translated to "Demon Queller" in the common language of Earthland. Leona wondered if the woman feared the weapon or was afraid of Leona herself; it could have been a mixture of both. A relieved Sumika rushed to greet the victorious blonde.

"You did it! You defeated the necromancer who took over the temple grounds!" Sumika exclaimed. Leona did not share her enthusiasm because the victory was only a partial victory. Leona had defeated the undead army occupying the temple and had chased away their leader, but she was unable to stop the woman once and for all because the woman teleported away before Leona could take action to prevent the escape.

"She got away. I'll have to face her again." Leona admitted to Sumika, whose facial expression went from jubilant to concerned. Sumika's violet eyes then went to the weapon on Leona's left hip. The priestess soon assumed a more hopeful facial expression as her eyes met Leona's.

"I see that you managed to find the weapon hidden on the temple grounds." Sumika said to the Wizard Saint.

"I managed to find the weapon just in time. It helped me survive the mission and I think it scared her off. She mentioned wanting to take it for herself so that no one else could have it, but I beat her to it. When she saw me holding it she called the sword "Shoki." Leona recounted the brief and mysterious encounter to her client, hoping to learn more about the katana she had found and used to such good effect against the zombies. Sumika appeared recognize the sword's name. She was also pleased by this news.

"That woman has good reason to fear Shoki. The sword was specially made to be a counter to spirits, demons, and humans who have cast their lot with dark powers. If it were to ever cut her flesh, the holy properties of Shoki would inflict grave harm on her, if not kill her outright." Sumika briefed Leona on what Shoki could do. Leona had already gotten an idea of Shoki's power when she used it to cut through the zombie army in the temple without having to resort to attacking their heads, but she did not know that it also had special powers against practitioners of the dark arts. That information was good to know; it made the weapon much more viable for Leona, who was put off by its weight because she was trained to use one-handed swords and had limited experience with two-handed swords.

Its power to fight the supernatural and humans with ease made Shoki a powerful weapon that could come in handy on her adventures. However, it did not belong to her and the Wizard Saint should return it to the priestess whose temple she had just reclaimed. Leona gently removed the scabbard from her left hip, took it in both hands, and presented it to Sumika, who was surprised by the gesture.

"Shoki doesn't belong to me, Sumika. It should go back to the temple where it came from. You might need it if that woman returns to threaten the town again." Leona explained to Sumika. Sumika closed her eyes and smiled slightly. She then gently pushed the weapon back towards Leona, who was caught off-guard by what the priestess had done.

"No, Leona. You keep Shoki for the time being. You'll need it to fight that woman. Besides, there's no telling what other unholy magic she knows and will use against you." Sumika explained the reason for allowing Leona to keep it... for now. Leona reluctantly took the weapon and reattached it to her left hip.

"You said that the necromancer was a woman, did you not?" Sumika inquired. Leona nodded.

"She said that she was looking for something in the temple, but she didn't say what it was." Leona added. Sumika closed her eyes and hmmm'd in thought. Leona waited while the priestess finished her thoughts before daring to speak again: it took Sumika about three minutes before she spoke to the Wizard Saint.

"I don't know what it is they're looking for, but I may know someone who does. It'll take time to consult with them and for me to send their response to you." Sumika finally said to Leona.

"When you hear from your source, let me know and I'll come back to Midi to help." Leona replied to Sumika. The priestess nodded and smiled.

"In the meantime, I'd like to thank you for saving Okyto from that woman and her undead army. You performed a brave deed, Leona. Okyto won't soon forget what you've done. I'm sure the Emperor will hear of your bravery as well." Sumika promised the Wizard Saint of Courage. Leona was not concerned about gaining fame. She was just glad that Okyto was still a vibrant town full of living people instead of a ruined, bloodstained necropolis overrun by the undead.

"It's no problem, Sumika." Leona tried her best to deflect the praise. Sumika embraced Leona, a move which made the blonde blush.

"Farewell, Leona. May the Dragon Spirit protect you on your journey!" Sumika said to the blonde.

"Thanks, Sumika." Leona said before turning away and walking away from the temple and towards the steep path that led to Okyto. Leona did not know where she would meet the necromancer next, but with Shoki at her side it did not matter. Leona would one day put an end to the woman's plans to ruin Midi.

[Word Count: 1,004]
[Total Word Count: 12,928/12,500]