WITH THE DEATH of Poppy weighing heavily on her mind, General Fiora Elyra decides to take her anger out on a massive goblin nest. However, an old memory surfaces—distracting her from the fight.
Something manages to land a critical hit, sending her flying. Breaking several bones, and rupturing her organs.
Lying on her side, Fiora coughs up blood. "Well this fucking sucks." Pain is written all over her face as she makes the small transition to her back. "Never thought these little bastards would be my end."
The pale moon and faint outline of goblins are the last things she sees before closing her eyes, bracing for the worse.
"GGBG!"
"GBBRG!"
"GORGB!"
Confused by the sounds she's hearing, and the sudden warmth spreading throughout her body. Fiora tentatively opens her eyes, and finds herself inside a double barrier.
The outer barrier is blue. It's a defensive barrier meant to keep things out. Unless the castor allows entry. While the inner green barrier is used for healing. Kneeling beside her is Holly.
"It's not like you to get distracted during a fight." Said Corin, standing beside her.
In a weak voice, "I thought Holly told everyone that I wanted to be left alone?"
"She did. But we came anyway." Silver flutters above Fiora.
"Then leave."
"You're in no position to give us orders. Now shut up and let me finish healing you."
Once she's done, Holly wipes her brow and drops the green barrier.
Corin holds out his hand. "Let me help you up."
Fiora looks away, "leave me be. I'm nothing but a failure who couldn't even save her husband or one of her closest friends. Just leave me here to die."
Whomp!
Holly had hauled off and punched Fiora in the stomach.
"You idiot!" Screams Holly, tears flowing forth.
Everyone is taken aback at her outburst. The quiet girl who kept her feelings and emotions in check is gone.
"You're a dumb, stupid, stupid, dumb, stupid, stupid head!"
Holly punches her with each word uttered, but her child sized fists don't do much.
"I was right there beside you when Poppy died! I'm just as much to blame as you are!"
Corin said, "we're all grieving over Poppy's death."
"Did you ever consider how the rest of us would feel if you just gave up on life?" Questioned Silver.
"Just leave me be." Fiora rolls away from them.
"Fine be that way. I guess you're fine with losing another friend." Standing, Holly walks out of the barrier.
Corin and Silver try to follow, but the barrier stops them.
"Holly, let us out of here! Holly!" Corin pounds on the barrier.
"Are you crazy! Those goblins will violate you endlessly!" Shouts Silver.
She ignores them both. Doesn't even put up a barrier to protect herself. Just marches forward, letting the goblins pull and rip at her clothing. It's not long before the sea of goblins swallows her up.
""Holly!""
"Stubborn jackasses, every single one of you," said Fiora, getting to her feet, "then again," she cracks her neck, "as leader of said jackasses, I'm no better."
"Finally done with the self pity party are we?"
"Shut it Corin. Now, where's the bastard who hit me?" Fiora slowly turns, taking everything in. Her eyes eventually landed on the thing that hit her. It's the goblin lord she'd read about.
"Silver, boost us. Corin, go get Holly."
"How are you gonna fight? You dropped your sword. And what about the barrier? Unless Holly releases it we're trapped in here."
"Silver, did you forget what makes Masamune one of the rarest swords there is?"
Masamune: There are two things that make this katana one of the rarest swords there is.
First, it chooses its master. Without its approval you can't even touch it, lest you risk losing a limb. If it does accept you, then no matter where you are just hold out your hand, and it'll come to you.
Second, it has an ability known as Barrier Breaker. Making it able to destroy any barrier; physical or magical without fail.
Fiora holds out her right hand. A glint of metal comes spinning like a top, cutting through the goblins. Flipping end over end Masamune rapidly approaches. It slashes through the barrier with ease—destroying it. Landing in Fiora's outstretched hand, hilt first. She instantly takes up a Ichi-no-Kamae stance.
"Round two, fuckers."
****
Walking through a field of what was once full of beautiful wildflowers. Like: yellow rudbeckias, orange eschscholzias, blue centaureas, and red asclepias that are now covered in glistening goblin blood from the morning sunlight.
Seated amongst the mountain of goblin and hobgoblin corpses, plus one goblin lord corpse are Fiora, Corin, Silver, and the undefiled Holly.
"You four look like absolute shit."
Fiora looks over at her son. "Oh good you didn't lose your eyesight. Just your damn mind. So did your little gamble pay off?"
"Yes. I found all five of them."
"Five?"
"I found Aria."
"Where is she?"
"She's in The White Forest. Home of the elves—our former home"
"Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure?"
"Yes."
Fiora stands, pulls Masamune out of the goblin lord's skull, preforms chiburi, and returns it to its scabbard. "We need to freshen up and then we'll plan our next move."
Chiburi: The symbolic clearing of blood from the blade before storage.
"I need to put on some proper clothes." Said Holly, getting up.
She's currently wearing Corin's dress shirt. The sleeves are rolled up. And she has to be careful not to raise her arms up too high otherwise she'll be putting on a peep show for all to see.
"So, um, what happened to your clothes, Holly?"
"Your mother was being a stubborn ass, so I marched out into the mass of goblins and allowed them to think they could have me."
"She also kept Corin and I prisoner while she did this."
Corym looks at mother. A what the fuck expression written all over his face.
"I don't want to talk about it. At least not right now."
Turning back to Holly, "how did you escape the clutches of those little bastards?"
"I placed a thin barrier over my body like a second skin. If it were anything stronger than goblins I would've died already."
"I didn't know you were capable of doing something like that." Said Corin.
"Neither did I. It was the first time I tried it."
"Enough chitchat," said Fiora, "it's time to head back."
****
Once Fiora, Corin, Holly, and Silver have cleansed themselves of goblin blood-and-guts, they join the others in the sitting room.
After a brief silence Oz speaks up. "I know Aria is important to you guys, just like my girls are to me. So what do we do?"
"When I spoke with Emperor Po, he strongly suggested I make a contract with Aria. And for whatever reason he wanted… son of a bitch. He knew where Aria was this whole time."
"How would he have known where Aria is?" Inquired Corin.
"I honestly don't know. But he was insistent that mother help me find her."
"So if you guys are going home then what are we supposed to do?" Dale asked, "Because I'm pretty sure us non-elves aren't welcome."
"Nor are we." Replied Fiora. "But that's not gonna stop us from getting Aria back."
Bonaluria then asked. "Can you say for sure that Aria doesn't want to be there?"
"Absolutely," replied Corym. "Before I was banished from my homeland my parents tried speaking with the Eladrin on my behalf. But their pleas fell on deaf ears. I was labeled a deserter and promptly banished.
"Kerym, my father, my mother, along with Corin, Holly, Silver, Poppy, and Aria all swore to never return, even if they made a formal request of any kind."
"What if she didn't go back willingly?"
All heads turn to Oz.
"What makes you think that?" Holly asked.
"Based on the information I've heard, why would she go back at all?"
"Regardless of the reason Corym and I need to go get her. Which is why I think we should split into two teams."
"Actually, mother, we need to split into three teams."
"Explain."
"While using my World Sight skill, I found Aria, in our homeland, Oz's girls are in the Marijuana Empire, but for whatever reason Dale and Bonaluria's daughter is over in Hyacinth City."
"Are you certain of this?" Asked Dale.
"Yes. There is an aura signature that closely matches yours and Bonaluria."
Oz speaks up, "Because Hyacinth City is massive and a tourist hot spot because of the colosseum. I recommend getting in touch with the Mercenary Guilds GM, Misty, and Colosseum manager Eric. Both of them have underworld connections."
"Got it."
"Alright listen up," said Fiora, slipping into serious mode, "Dale, Bonaluria, you two will head for Hyacinth City. Corin is going with you, no arguments.
Oz, Silver, and Holly will head for the Marijuana Empire. Lastly, Corym and I will go get Aria. We'll communicate via Lapis Stone. Questions?"
"Any chance I can change out of this pink outfit and can I keep my bow?"
"Yes. But don't make me regret it. Anyone else?"
No one does.
"As general of the Templars, I need to report what happened here. I don't know how long it'll take, so while I'm handling that the rest of you can depart when you're ready."
****
Netherlands Empire
Kiyomaro
It's early morning and the sun has barely risen. Kiyomaro opens his bedroom door. To find Satan standing there fuming.
"You have a lot of nerve keeping me waiting, Kiyomaro. Now fight me."
Looking at her through blurry eyes. I asked, "can I go pee first?"
"You can pee outside. Now let's go." Satan marches off down the hallway. Kiyo goes in the opposite direction heading for the bathroom.
Now fully awake Kiyo stands before both Satan and Lucifer.
(𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒐)
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒓
𝑨𝒈𝒆: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑵𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒎
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 1.75 𝒎
𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 68 𝒌𝒈
𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒓: 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒎, 𝑷𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒆 𝑪𝒖𝒕
𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔: 𝑹𝒆𝒅
𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅: 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒏
𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓: 𝑩𝒍𝒖𝒆
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔: 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚
𝑱𝒐𝒃: 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒓
𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔(𝒆𝒔): 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒌: 𝑺𝑺
𝑮𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔
𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒗𝒆
𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅
(𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒐)
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏
𝑨𝒈𝒆: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑵𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒎
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 1.77 𝒎
𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 68 𝒌𝒈
𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒓: 𝑹𝒆𝒅, 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕
𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔: 𝑹𝒆𝒅
𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅: 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓
𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓: 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒕-𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔: 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍
𝑱𝒐𝒃: 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓
𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔(𝒆𝒔): 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒌: 𝑺𝑺
𝑮𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑, 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒔
𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒊𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒏
"I'm fighting him today!" declares Satan.
"No! I'm fighting him! You've already lost to him!"
"So have you!"
As the two continue to bicker over who'll fight first Kiyo opens his inventory, and pulls out Onyx and Snow. He barely has them out when he blocks an attack using Onyx's scabbard.
"Dammit! Thought I had you there for a second." Said Lilly, pulling down the hood on her assassin's long vest.
"You let your intent slip just before you attacked." I said, securing my blades to my waist.
"But I am getting better."
"You are. Do you know where the others are?"
"Luna is still studying, and Alice and Leo went for a run."
"Don't tell me Luna stayed up all night again?"
"Then I won't, buuut she did."
"Shock Wave!"
Satan slams her sānjiégùn into the ground, sending an expanding wave of energy towards Kiyo and Lilly, forcing them to jump out of the way.
"It's been decided," announces Lucifer, pointing her glaive first at Kiyo and then at Lilly, "you two versus us. What do you say?"
I draw Onyx and Snow from their scabbards. "I'm in. Lilly?"
"Of course. This'll be fun." She said pulling her hood up — vanishing.
(𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒐)
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: 𝑲𝒊𝒚𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒐 𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒊 (𝑲𝒊𝒚𝒐)
𝑨𝒈𝒆: 16
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑯𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 1.75 𝒎
𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 67.6 𝒌𝒈
𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒓: 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒕
𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔: 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅: 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝑷𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆
𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓: 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆
𝑱𝒐𝒃: 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒓
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓
𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔(𝒆𝒔): 𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒆
𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒌: 𝑺𝑺
𝑮𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑪𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕, 𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒔 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔
𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑶𝒏𝒚𝒙 (𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒂)
𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑺𝒏𝒐𝒘 (𝑾𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊)
(𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒐)
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: 𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒗𝒂
𝑨𝒈𝒆: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒊-𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒉
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 1.67 𝒎
𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 53 𝒌𝒈
𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒓: 𝒀𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉-𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑭𝒖𝒓
𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔: 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅: 𝑺𝒍𝒊𝒎, 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔: 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌
𝑱𝒐𝒃: 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒓
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑨𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏
𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔(𝒆𝒔): 𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓, 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓, 𝑻𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓
𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒌: 𝑨
𝑮𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒘/ 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓, 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒖𝒇𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒔, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑺𝒖𝒆𝒅𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔
𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊-𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒔
During Lilly's first sparring session with Satan, her black chain whip was broken. She now uses her kusari-fundos.
"Hey Belial, drag your sorry ass out of hiding and referee this sparring match!" Shouts Satan. "Oh and if you interfere I'll kill you."
Belial appears saying, "and why should I listen to you?"
Satan motions for him to come closer. He reluctantly does.
Throwing an arm around his neck, Satan pulls him in even closer and whispers, "this is your chance to study Kiyomaro up close. You may find a way to beat him. Something not even Lucifer has yet to accomplish."
Satan lets Belial go and walks away.
Belial falls into thought. "Hmm. This would be a good opportunity to not only see first hand how Kiyomaro fights, but when he wears down and defeats Lucifer, I can then attack and beat her."
Unbeknownst to Belial, Lucifer is standing right behind him listening to him once again speak his true feelings out loud.
"I heard that dumbass." She said, kicking Belial in the ass with such force he's sent flying.
Satan howls with laughter at the comedic sight. Her laughter quickly dies when she senses someone attacking her from behind. She reacts, nailing Lilly with a back fist.
Lilly's unable to avoid it, and takes it on the chin. Bright dots dance across her field of vision as she falls unconscious.
Satan scratches her head, "shit. I acted on instinct and reflexively struck out."
"She's improving, isn't she?" I said. More of a statement than a question.
"Huh, now that I think about it you're right. She was able to force me, me of all demons, to react to her. I guess she's finally showing some incremental gain."
"Did you kill her?" Lucifer asked, squatting down to check on her. "Oh good she's alive. Well so much for our two on two fight."
"Would anyone object if I took her place?" Princess Shiori asked, walking up to the group.
"Um, are you sure…"
"Let me stop you right there Kiyo. If you're about to spout some chivalrous nonsense about how a princess shouldn't be fighting, or how I could get hurt, or blah blah blah, I don't want to hear it. I'm a warrior and I will not be taken lightly."
"Should a warrior princess be wearing high heels for a sparring match?"
"Oh?!" Shiori looks down at her choice of foot wear. "I suppose you make a fair point." She kicks off her ruby red heels. "Happy?"
"What's your weapon of choice?"
"You're not the only one who uses twin blades." Shiori holds out her hands, materializing her swords. "These are my twin hook swords. Feel free to be impressed."
(𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒐)
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊
𝑨𝒈𝒆: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 1.53 𝒎
𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 53.9 𝒌𝒈
𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒓: 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒉, 𝑨𝒒𝒖𝒂 𝑩𝒍𝒖𝒆
𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔: 𝒀𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘-𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏
𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅: 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒆
𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓: 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆
𝑱𝒐𝒃: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓
𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔(𝒆𝒔): 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒌: 𝑺𝑺
𝑮𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎-𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕-𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍-𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌-𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝑲𝒏𝒆𝒆-𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕, 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕
𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑺𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔
While Kiyo is examining the swords, Satan whispers to Lucifer. "Is it me or is the princess acting… odd?"
"No, she's definitely acting odd. That is not the feared 'Reaper of the Battlefield' we know her as."
"You don't think the princess has taken a liking to Kiyomaro, do you?"
Lucifer nods her head. "That would explain her odd behavior."
"Hey! If you two are done talking strategy; let's get this fight started!" Shouts Shiori.
"We were waiting for you to finish talking with your boyfri…"
Satan's teasing is cut short when Shiori is suddenly right in her face. "Double Slash!"
Satan blocks with her sānjiégùn. Lucifer uses that moment to attack Shiori from the side.
"Helm Splitter!" She shouts, swinging her glaive down.
Only for it to bounce off of nothing.
"Gedan-no-kamae: Air Wall!" Kiyo had put up a defensive wall composed of air, halting Lucifer's attack.
Shiori kicks Satan in the stomach, or so she believed. Satan had caught Shiori's foot with her left hand, and using her right she swung her sānjiégùn, aiming for the head.
Using the crescent guard on her sword, Shiori blocks the attack. It's at that moment Kiyo chooses to attack.
He channels darkness into his katana and with a downward slash, "Iaijutsu: Phantom Slash!" releases that darkness, targeting Satan.
Satan doesn't even bat an eye as Lucifer intercepts it. Using her shield she reflects Kiyo's attack back at him. He just side steps his own attack.
Shiori kicks off the ground, strikes Satan in the face, and using that momentum starts to flip backwards, freeing herself.
Just as Shiori descends, Satan goes for a leg sweep. Only Shiori uses her twin hooks as stilts to avoid the attack, but that move brings the sparring match to a grinding halt.
While balancing upside down on her makeshift stilts, Shiori's skirt fell revealing two vertical smiles.
Now back on her feet, Shiori's face is beat red. In a small voice she asked, "d-did you see?"
"Hard to miss." States Lucifer.
"What possessed you to go commando in the first place." Satan asked.
"It was one of Lilith's harebrained ideas."
"Why would you listen to Lilith when she suggested something as ridiculous as not wearing underwear?"
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"How interesting," I said, "you had no issue showing off your body in the bath when I came out of a coma, but me catching a peek after your skirt fell embarrasses you."
"Well…um." Shiori is too flustered to answer.
I just roll my eyes, "Hey Lilith, release me from this dream already."
Lucifer, Satan, and Lilly's unconscious body disappear as Lilith takes their place. "When did you figure it out?"
"Oh I figured it out immediately."
"Then why play along?" Asked Shiori.
"Because I wanted to see how you fight, Rien"
Lilith snaps her fingers.
"Hey lover. Did ya enjoy seeing my goodies?"
I side step her question altogether, "why the game?"
"This is actually how I pass on information without blowing my cover. And it was a great excuse to see you again." Rien explained.
"You pass on information in dreams?"
"You got it."
"Using Lilith's succubus abilities?"
"Two for two."
"How? I thought succubus entered the dreams of men, not women. Wait Lilith, are you really a concubus?"
"Nope. All women." Replied Lilith, fondling her tits.
"Then it's your extremely rare skill."
"No one likes a know-it-all, Kiyo."
"Never claimed to be one, Lilith."
"Would you like to guess what the name is?"
"Dream-walker." I say not really giving it any thought. But the stunned look on Lilith's face says I nailed it.
"How the hell did you figure it out?"
"Lucky guess."
"Bullshit. No one can be that lucky."
"What can I say? It truly was a shot in the dark."
"Fine whatever." Lilith turns her back to me — pouting.
Ignoring Lilith I ask Rien, "did you actually have anything to pass on or did you really just come here to mess around?"
"Why can't I do both?"
"Lilith let me out of here."
"Actually you need to hear what Rien has to say." she replied, turning back around.
"Fine, I'll hear you out. What is it you have to tell me?"
"There's someone who's impersonating you."
"I know."
"You know. How?"
"Headmaster Brett informed me. Apparently my look alike already qualified for the Fight Festival Tournament."
"And no one found that odd?"
"According to Brett, the instructors overseeing the qualifications are fairly new to the Warrior School. They've never met me.
"What about Headmaster Brett?" Asked Lilith, "wasn't he present when you supposedly qualified."
I shook my head, and after getting their solemn vow not to repeat what I was about to say, I told them what I know.
"Awfully convenient, don't you think? Any idea as to who's behind this, lover?"
"I'm gonna beat your ass if you call me that again."
In a seductive voice, Rien says, "I'm down for a little foreplay."
"You're a nut-job, you know that right?"
"Guilty. Now how will you punish me?"
Ignoring her, I continue, "I might know who it is."
Rien and Lilith fixed me with their gaze.
"Empress La-Tif was informed by Emperor Arsenio that One, leader of The Black Archers, has developed a fixation with me."
"Whose the sources of this information?" Inquired Rien, a serious tone in her voice.
"Five, she turned traitor. Gave them all up."
"Do you have a plan?"
"I do. But I'm gonna need Asmodeus' help."