21: Thorn in One's Side: Part 2

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At the same time Trigg attacked MW Province, another member of the Brotherhood of the Thorn appeared in another province. Hysteria immediately ensued as the invader, along with their Banshee underlings, unleashed their full powers unto the surroundings. As expected, the provinces' magical squad arrived to face the attacker.

Seeing the newly-arrived people, the invader said, "From the magical presence I could sense from you, I presume you are the protectors of this place. I am Tarkin, member of the Brotherhood of the Thorn."

"Stop your attack to RPM Town

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"Stop your attack to RPM Town. Leave or there will be repercussions," Jimin sternly claimed.

"What if I won't?" Tarkin retorted.

"Then, Iffincy will be your final resting place," Youngbin stated.

"We shall see about that," Tarkin smirked. "Banshees, attack!"

Banshees began attacking by releasing high-pitched sound from their mouths. Rowoon simply raised his shield to protect everyone from the attack.

"Chani-ya, if you please," Inseong requested while shooting some Energy Sparks.

"Right away, hyung," Chani complied. His allies glowed in Fantasia Hologram color; an indication that his Augmentation was now in full effect.

Dawon's Bursting Balls eliminated a bunch of Banshees. Yuna was hitting them with her dual swords made of light. Hyejeong was giving the Banshees a taste of their own Sonokinetic medicine. Jimin blasted Banshees with her concentrated lightning and even had the time to throw a spare beam to Tarkin. Tarkin defended with the same power and threw a couple of Energy Balls. Everyone was expecting Rowoon to defend but he was unable to since he was defending Chani from a couple of Banshees' attacks. The miscommunication caused Seolhyun, Chanmi, Inseong, and Dawon to be hit by the Energy Balls. The four were thrown away from the impact, crashed into various objects and fainted.

"Chanmi! Seolhyun!" Hyejeong exclaimed.

"Inseong-hyung! Dawon-hyung!" Hwiyoung screamed after defeating a Banshee with a Thermal Ball.

"Zuho, gather the unconscious. Rowoon, concentrate your force field to protect the injured, Zuho and Chani," Youngbin instructed. "We can handle the rest without your defense. Make them your top priority."

"Understood," Rowoon responded.

The battle continued. Banshees were getting annihilated slowly but surely. Youngbin's earth attacks were not missing a single target. Jaeyoon was countering with smoke. Taeyang tried to throw red-orange fire to Tarkin but this was easily countered by Tarkin's Advanced Electrokinesis. Finally, Jimin, Yuna and Hyejeong were able to finish off the last of the Banshees.

"You turn," Jimin mentioned.

"I have been waiting," Tarkin sneered back.

Jimin, Yuna, and Hyejeong went on Tarkin's other side. Their plan was to attack him from both sides just like playing dodgeball. Tarkin made the first shot by firing condensed electricity to both sides. Jimin was able to easily negate the beam on their sides since she had similar power; However, over at the men's side, they were having a slight trouble dealing with the beam as it was overpowering Taeyang's stream of fire. Youngbin came to the rescue and launched a huge chunk of earth to the colliding attacks, causing a huge explosion. While that was happening, Yuna shot a barrage of light arrows to Tarkin. The light arrows were countered by another barrage of Energy Balls. Hyejeong countered the Energy Balls on their side while Hwiyoung nullified them with Thermal Balls.

"As I expected, you magical squads are no pushovers," Tarkin commented.

"You are not bad yourself," Youngbin responded.

But the conversation was merely a trap and distraction. Out of nowhere, he fired lightning bolts to the women's side. Slow to react, Hyejeong and Yuna were hit, flung away and crashed harshly. Jimin, out of reflex, fired the strongest electricity beam she could muster. On the other side, Taeyang was able to react and shoot jets of flame to Tarkin. Tarkin was hit with Jimin and Taeyang's unexpected counter. Tarkin spun in the air and hit the ground with quite an impact.

"Essiff-9, do your thing!" Jimin screamed.

Comprehending what Jimin said, they chanted, "X-Con: Burning Sensation!"

Comprehending what Jimin said, they chanted, "X-Con: Burning Sensation!"

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Fissure appeared and the ground started breaking up. In the area where Tarkin was laying, a pool of magma materialized. Tarkin ultimately fell in the pit of magma.

"Where did this come from? I will not be defeated! NOOOOOOO!" Tarkin's last statements as the pool of magma caused him to combust and turn into ashes.

Immediately, Youngbin reversed the effects of X-Con technique by covering the magma area with a huge chuck of earth.

"Good job!" Rowoon whispered and softly patted Chani's head as the augmenter fell limply and unconscious into his arms after deactivating his power.

"Zuho, we need to transport the injured quickly!" Youngbin's tone was urgent.

After one flaming teleportation, everyone reached the emergency room of Sensational Feeling Nine General Hospital.

"We need immediate medical attention here!" Jimin shouted.

"Code Orange! I repeat: we have a Code Orange! Incoming injured members of Angels Ace and Essiff-9," one personnel announced.

The announcement caused nurses and even doctors to flood into the emergency room. It's pretty common though; hospitals usually give priority to injured magical squad members especially if they were not so busy.

The conscious members were separated from the unconscious ones. They themselves were being treated for minor injuries and a couple of other things. Meanwhile, the rest of the healthcare providers focused their attention to the seriously injured. They thought everything was under control until they heard what one of the doctors said.

"Bring him to the operating room."

With the mention of the pronoun "him", Essiff-9 became worried. They were unable to know who it was since they were being treated all at the same time. When they were done, they were instructed to wait near the nurses' station.

Minutes turned to hours and everyone was anxious. Nobody reported to them anything. Youngbin was pacing back and forth out of worry. Finally, a doctor approached them.

"How is everyone?" Jaeyoon was the first to state a question.

"Okay, calm down. I have everyone's reports," the doctor said. "Angels Ace's members Yuna, Hyejeong, Seolhyun and Chanmi are all stable and currently resting."

"How about our members?" Zuho was impatient.

"Inseong is currently resting and out of danger while Chani just fainted out of fatigue so we let him rest," the doctor read the files.

"Thank goodness," Rowoon sighed out of relief.

"What about Dawon-hyung?" Hwiyoung probed.

"Unfortunately, Dawon had to undergo surgery as a sharp object, specifically a bottle shard, pierced through his side near his kidney and we have to remove them," the doctor reported. "Thankfully, it did not reach his kidney and we were able to remove every single one of the shards. He is currently stable and resting."

Essiff-9 collectively let out a sigh of relief. Miraculously, their members were going to be fine.

However, the same could not be said yet to Milloow Province.

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