As the first wave of phantom Ashigaru crumbled, Arisa took stock of what had occurred as quickly as she could. While the ashigaru certainly weren't human, or any properly-living entities as far as she could discern, 'ghost' too appeared to be inaccurate. Even non-magical formsof damage had been able to harm them.

But that wasn't all. The black, tar-like substance stretched across the floor, all that was left behind by the ashigaru that had been destroyed.

That most certainly wasn't typical of most ghosts, either.

But there wasn't very much time to analyze what she was seeing, not when the second wave of defense had already arrived.

There looked to be more of them, now. And their position was certainly more difficult. The arquebus-wielding ashigaru had arranged themselves more carefully, and there were more of them. While A-188's aggressive assault had smashed through the main formation once again, it didn't account for every opponent that had now entered combat.

As Agent Amano moved up on their left flank, Arisa took the right, pouring magical energy through her legs, across the fibers of her muscles to put on an additional burst of speed as she exited into one of the gardens.

Bracing one hand against the flat of Ifrit's blade, she turned the enormous sword sideways, hearing shots impact on its surface only to be sent skittering off into the darkness uselessly.

While a barrier spell would have been more reliable, it was harder to cast and maintain while she was moving.

As she reached her first target, the fire mage twisted her wrist, retaking Ifrit's hilt in both hands and swinging it in as harp arc that swiftly tore through the arquebus-wielding ashigaru's armor and split its body in half. Her swing continued, immediately striking the second nearest of the phantom soldiers and cutting it apart in the same motion.

But that wasn't her only goal.

She'd cut through the crumbling wall.

Now she'd make her way around the Ashigaru's formation, and attack from the other side---!

Agent Mae's efforts produced a curious result.

While the 'living' phantom ashigaru simply reacted, stepping back and swinging at the incense as it was tossed, or moving to avoid it wordlessly, the piles of ooze had a considerably different response.

There was a faint, but noticeable hissing sound, as if something was burning from the initial contact. And then, suddenly, the piles of ooze were moving, as if pulled by some other force, dragged into the darkness to be moved away from potential source of damage.

Almost as if something else was aware of what was occurring. But why attempt to conserve ashigaru that had already been destroyed?

Unless---

[@Rune_Alchemist][@Eisenhorn][@Izurich][@OwO][@Raineh Daze]