The moment they saw Sofia's Magic Circle, one of them shouted. "Disperse. If we can get the children inside the orphanage as our hostage, these two S Rank Magicians won't be able to do anything to us."
Seeing them disperse, Roselyn marked them one by one, wondering which one to hunt first. Sofia, on the other hand, raised her hand and activated her Magic Circle.
Five spears emerged from the Magic Circle as she aimed them toward the incoming enemies. "Roselyn, you take care of the ones coming from the left."
"Roger."
After informing her, Sofia then released all Ice Spears with the speed of a bullet. In that close range, they arrived almost in an instant and hit all of them and turned the area hit by the Ice Spears to Ice.
Some of them were hit near the heart, so their heart got frozen the moment they touched them as they died on the spot. But some were still lucky. The spear momentum could only rip their arms or feet after turning them to ice.
Meanwhile, Roselyn disappeared from her position. Her Exoskeleton had emerged from her back while she reappeared in front of them with a sword in her hand.
"Gale Storm." Roselyn waved her sword to the right as torrential wind swept the area, blowing them away.
"I can't stand the wind pressure."
"Ah!"
All the people that came to her were blown away, crashing to the house, wall, or ground.
Roselyn then leaped toward a few of them and cut three people's necks before they recovered. There was no hesitation in her actions, but Roselyn didn't forget to say, "Forgive me, our paths can't go together anymore. I need to kill you."
Roselyn looked sad when she said those words, making those who had stepped aside know that Roselyn indeed didn't want to fight them. She sincerely wished to stop and cure them.
"What?" Seeing their extraordinary prowess, the leader seemed to have realized it wouldn't be that easy to get past them. He changed his strategy and ordered the remaining fifteen people. "Kill them first."
Listening to his orders, all fifteen of them charged forward, trying to kill both women.
Unfortunately for them, other than their extraordinary strength or speed, none of them had any special abilities.
After all, only those untalented people agreed to this experiment because that was how Evan and Isabelle got chosen as Zodiacs.
If they could handle their strength and speed as if it was nothing, Kai assured them the battle would end in an instant.
Sofia showed the first proof by creating a huge blue-colored Magic Circle.
"Circulation Ice Magic. Dragon Head."
A dragon head, roughly four meters in diameter, emerged from the Magic Circle with its mouth wide open. When it reached them, the dragon bit them and pierced their bodies with those sharp teeth.
"Argh!"
Screams from men and women echoed in the middle of the night, but no one could hear them anymore since this place had been deserted. Even the children were forbidden to go outside for the past few days due to the complexity of the matter.
Seeing their comrades dying, those, who didn't get bitten, hurriedly went around the dragon's head and planned to strike her down.
Sadly, Roselyn came from the right side of the dragon head and slashed all the incoming enemies while Sofia managed to use another Magic Circle with her other hand, stopping the rest.
The leader took both Roselyn and Sofia by surprise when he tried to sneak past them to enter the orphanage even by himself.
Since their leader had personally made his move, three girls from the peaceful group quickly came out and headed straight to the orphanage. It turned out all three of them were just faking it to make sure they had the perfect timing to take Sofia and Roselyn by surprise.
At the same time, those with the beast's hands destroyed Sofia's Dragon Head and the Ice Magic she cast to stop them.
With this, they had three ways to reach the orphanage while only Sofia and Roselyn took care of the entrance on the opposite side.
Sofia turned around and shouted, "Roselyn, handle the three women first."
Roselyn nodded with a serious expression as she changed her direction and cut down the trio. Sofia, on the other hand, used another magic to freeze the remaining enemies, leaving only the boss to reach the orphanage.
However, three women emerged from the shadow, attacking him from three directions. They were the helpers that Arnaud gave to protect the kids inside and they finally had the chance to show they were not useless.
Before they could even taste the power of the leader, they felt a gentle gale from the side, only to find Roselyn appeared behind the leader, sending his head flying.
Roselyn felt relieved. "Luckily, he is not that fast…"
"…" The three women were speechless, not having any words to comment on her remarks other than "As expected from S Rank Magicians."
Unfortunately for them, the situation didn't go as planned. Despite their continuous effort, someone with enough strength was enough to fight against them.
In the corner of the house, the squid had seen everything from the girls' appearance to their strength.
If other protectors thought observing was not needed because they were just mere humans, it was different for the squid, Kerza.
As one of the strongest fighters, Kerza never underestimated his opponents, even if they were weakling. That was why he could climb the rank.
This time, his opponents had some experience under their belts since they had helped Kai kill two of his friends. In addition, Sofia had gone to the US Base to kill some more, so they indeed couldn't be underestimated.
After understanding everything about them, the squid finally made his appearance, walking with two tentacles like that of human feet.
"!!!" Sofia widened her eyes and sucked a cold breath. Even though she had expected this person to show up, she was still surprised when she saw him with her own eyes.
After all, the latter showed an overwhelming flame that reflected his danger level. The squid was far stronger than her. Even Sofia couldn't see how to defeat this guy.
Her only relief was the fact that they were going to fight on land without any water source nearby. They should have enough advantage to repel him, if not kill him, she thought.
"Roselyn. We are going to fight him. I can only see that our chance of defeating him is slim. Do you dare?" Sofia smiled while taking a deep breath, calming her heart down.
"Even if I need to lay down my life here, I will kill him." Roselyn nodded with a serious expression.
The squid looked at the two girls' expressions and felt impressed by their resolve.
"You… Why are you trying so hard? I am surprised by the fact you can glimpse my strength, but I still can't understand why you are trying so hard to protect those children."
"I am their elder sister. That's enough for me." Roselyn smiled and raised her sword.
"If my boyfriend can protect the world, I will be ashamed to not have the ability to protect an orphanage." Sofia shrugged and made another Magic Circle as she was ready to confront him.
"Hahahaha!" Kerza laughed out loud as he was astonished by their answer. It was a simple, yet, irrefutable resolve. "You two amuse me. Alright. I have decided. In honor of your bravery, I, Kerza, promise that I won't lay my hand on those people inside the orphanage. I am here just to claim both of your lives. I promise you in the name of the Great King, Neptune."
Sofia and Roselyn exchanged looks. Although they didn't understand the significance of that name, they knew Kerza was serious.
"In that case…" Sofia flicked her fingers and activated the Magic Circle.