If someone had asked Agatha how she imagined her future a year ago, she would never have said that she would be part of a war. And yet, there she was, about to experience her second battle.

The atmosphere was different from the first time, Agatha was no longer in the confines of the infirmary waiting for the wounded but rather she was part of the front line of battle.

She joined the main group once the sun fell. The persecution that the Protectors were subjected to prevented them from gathering in the village to wait for the start of the battle. Luckily, they had someone who could provide them with information on the time and place of the demon attack.

"They're going to focus on Liberty Park once again," Varinia said. "My brother says that from there they are going to expand the forces to the rest of the village. The park is perfect because of its central location."

The trip to Liberty Park turned out to be simpler than they had planned. Lorcan had a theory that Peters' followers knew when the battle would begin and were going to save their strength. Apparently he was right.

"Nice sunglasses," Flora told Agatha after they arrived at her destination. "I need you to show me where you bought them once all this madness is over."

"Sure, I'd love to go shopping with you," Agatha answered. "I don't wear them for fashion, though, they help me with my light sensitivity."

"That makes sense, I imagine you must be very brilliant with that scepter." Flora smiled. "Good luck today, please don't get hurt, I can't stand Lorcan crying in the hallways again."

"Hey, you're ruining my bad boy image." Lorcan joined them, followed by Demir.

"You ruined it yourself, we don't need to do anything," said Clio, she had her two swords in her hands.

"I agree with Flora on something, try not to get too hurt," Lorcan told them. "I think we've suffered enough this past year. This is the last effort."

"Let's destroy those demons," Demir said. "After this I need a vacation."

"I'm sure we all need one," Flora agreed.

"You won't have one until my shop is completely fixed," Aífe joined the conversation.

Flora smiled at her. "Don't worry I won't stop seeing you, I know you say that because you'll miss me."

"They're coming." Varinia's words changed the atmosphere immediately.

The park fell silent. The group of friends looked at each other, words were not necessary to understand the message.

Survive.

The sound of footsteps was becoming clearer. Thanks to her earplugs, Agatha was able to concentrate without hearing all the noise that constantly followed her.

The first demons appeared under the light of the street lamps. Their great height allowed them to be seen from more than a meter away. Once they were close to the group of Protectors they stopped walking.

Borbala stepped forward, her white hair flying in the wind. "I'm surprised so many of you are still alive after a year. It doesn't matter anyway, tonight is your last night. Goodbye little humans."

The demon raised her hand and as she closed her fist her army rushed against the Protectors.

Agatha squeezed her scepter, watching as her enemies collided with the first humans. The sound of screams and crashes, mixed with the smell of  blood made her nervous. Soon the park was filled with demonstrations of the powers and ashes that the demons released when they died.

An ice spike flew towards her, the young woman dodged it in time and turned in search of the person responsible. A demon was looking at her just steps away, he smiled at her and extended both hands that were filled with spikes of ice.

Agatha focused on her scepter. A ball of light came out of it as she dodged the projectiles that flew towards her. The light floated until it touched the demon without dispersing despite being crossed by the ice. Once it came into contact with the demon, it expanded until it engulfed him and the monster finally disintegrated.

"She has the scepter," a demon shouted, pointing at her.

Agatha already expected that to happen, the ancient light posed a great threat to her enemies and it was almost certain that as soon as they discovered it she would become their target. That's why her friends stayed with her, to protect her from them.

A group of demons approached Agatha. She was too distracted by them to notice the hand approaching her from the side. When she saw it, it was already too late.

The hand was millimeters away from touching the young woman's face when a liquid flew towards it, making a hole in the palm.

"I'm not doing this for you, you can thank my sister." Belphar dealt the final blow to the other demon and then stood next to Agatha.

"You arrived just in time for the party," Varinia shouted. She took her position in front of Agatha and trapped the demons near her with her illusions. "Guys, we have a situation here. The demons have already realized."

The group of friends approached Agatha, surrounding her. That was the plan, they would act as shields and Agatha could use her power from the center of the group.

It didn't take long for them to be surrounded by demons. Agatha trusted her friends and focused her attention on controlling the scepter. Six balls of light came out of it and passed through her friends without damaging them, they didn't even have a problem passing through the wall of vines made by Flora.

The lights continued their path, controlled by Agatha. Although she couldn't see their location she was able to sense the energies surrounding the lights, the demons had a heavy and shadowy energy so it was easy to identify what her targets were. Once she sensed one of them she sent the light towards them and felt how the demon's energy dissipated.

The number of enemies didn't stop growing. When Agatha thought they were about to defeat them, more appeared to replace the fallen. It was no longer just demons, some inhabitants also joined in attacking them, pushing the group of friends closer and closer to Agatha.

Various types of powers attacked them. Flora's barrier already had several holes that didn't grow back, the earth wall made by Aífe began to collapse, and Varinia no longer had enough energy to keep her illusions activated.

Without their defensive powers, the group had no choice but to focus on attacking. Agatha didn't stop using the scepter in the hope of fully activating it. Varinia had told her that the more she used it, the greater her power would be, but she had never managed to reach maximum level.

The enemy managed to separate the group, they were too much for them, and the rest of the Protectors were busy with their own battles to help them.

"Don't walk away from me," Lorcan said, stopping in front of her.

He confronted the demons that were approaching Agatha, while she covered his back.

"There are too many, you can't fight them all," Agatha said.

"At least I'm going to try. I can't let them get to you."

Three demons attacked Lorcan at the same time. He dodged his attacks and responded with his swords. Against all odds he managed to defeat two of them, but the third one grew in size and threw himself at Lorcan.

Agatha longed to help him but more enemies approached them. She concentrated even more on the light, making its size increase a little and used it to prevent the new enemies from getting close to Lorcan who was trying to free himself from the demon.

"I need help!" Agatha shouted to her friends.

A log grew toward the demon and slammed into its chest, dragging it away from Lorcan. Flora had heard the call for help and ran towards them.

As soon as Flora built a new defensive dome around them, Agatha ran towards Lorcan.

He had a deep cut going across his chest. Blood didn't stop flowing from the wound and from the young man's mouth. Agatha's face was filled with tears as she tried to heal him with her powers.

It was not enough.

She could feel the life leaving the body of the man she loved. Screams joined her crying, letting out all the pain that was crushing her heart.

Lorcan held Agatha's hand, he barely had the strength to touch her.

"I love you, my lady, don't forget that," he said before closing his eyes.

"No! Don't leave me please," she cried.

Agatha could still feel a tiny spark of life in him. If only she could make it grow, if only she could increase her powers.

She was desperate, putting all of her energy into the task of saving Lorcan. She could hear the enemies hitting Flora's barrier and the screams of the battle continuing outside. She wasn't interested in it, Agatha only cared about Lorcan.

A strong light shone next to her. The young woman looked away for a second and found the scepter covered in a golden light that radiated heat.

It was the ultimate power of the ancient light.

Agatha moved her hands away from Lorcan and held the scepter above him. Following her instinct she unified her healing energy with the light. A golden layer covered Lorcan and little by little the wound began to heal.

"Hold on a little longer. I made it, you were right. I promise I'll take care of the rest."

Agatha was ready to fulfill her role in battle.