The next day, Shokei, along with Rei, Tanais, and Naoko, are about to walk back to Woundcw's hideout. With the Diamond Light Idol in their possession, Naoko stands out by the door to see Shokei.

  "Say..." Naoko said to get her attention.

  "Huh?" Shokei looks up to her.

  "Can I ask you something?" Naoko asked.

  "What's that?" Shokei asked.

  "I don't mean to be rude but..." Naoko scratches her head and then asked. "Why are you bringing back that treasure to...that cn you guys don't know?"

  "I did say to you yesterday that it's a long story." Shokei said. "I already mentioned my purpose."

  "I mean I know the name Woundcw, but..." Naoko wanted to continue but paused.

  "Hmm?"

  Shokei noticed a different expression on Naoko's face. Naoko did not want to say anything else further and then looked away from Shokei.

  "Naoko?" Shokei calls out to her, seeking her attention. "Naoko?"

  "Umm..." Naoko speaks to Shokei feeling uneasy and looks slightly nervous.

  "What is it?" Shokei asked. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

  "Umm, no. Never mind." Naoko replied. "Excuse me..."

  Naoko walks away from the door. Shokei felt confused by this conversation.

  "What was that about?" Rei asked.

  "I'm not sure..." Shokei replied in a whisper. "I think there's something more to Naoko that we do not know."

  "You think she's hiding something from us?" Rei asked in a whisper.

  "Maybe." Shokei replied, whispering back. "It could be a secret."

  "Hmm, whatever it is, we won't know for sure." Rei said. "Then again, we need to return back to Woundcw's hideout."

  "Yes." Shokei nodded. "And free our allies while we're at it."

  Shokei and her party prepared themselves and they left the cabin. They are all heading for the Woundcw's hideout.

  When the party have made their way back to Woundcw's hideout, Shokei reveals the Diamond Light Idol in front of Cyril. The leader of the bandits, along with Editha and Lucreita, stares at the treasure that Shokei have brought back to them. The trio stared at the Diamond with eyes widened and are admiring the features of the item.

  "Wow." Editha said, checking out the soft glow of the treasure.

  "Amazing." Cyril said.

  "It's beautiful." Lucreita said, getting a closer look.

  "I must hand it to you." Cyril said to Shokei. "You and your ally must have spent a long time fetching this treasure, but it shows that you pulled through."

  "And you guys couldn't do this yourselves?" Rei asked them. "So pathetic."

  "Hey! WATCH IT!" Lucreita shouted at her, getting her sword out and points directly at Rei.

  "Now, now!" Cyril said, making Lucreita put her sword down. "You wouldn't want me to strike back at them after what I put them through now, do you?"

  Lucreita sighed and lowers her sword down.

  "Ok. We gave you want you wanted. You made a deal since yesterday." Shokei said to her.

  "Eh, what deal?" Cyril asked.

  "Returning back the goods that you have stolen from the people of Egesul and freeing our friends." Shokei responded.

  "Oh that!" Cyril said, recalling what she said before. "Since the both of you have successfully brought back this treasure, I would be happy to give you back the goods that we stole along with your comrades..."

  "You will?" Shokei asked, hoping for a positive remark.

  "...under one condition..." Cyril said to her.

  "Grr! What?!" Shokei asked, getting annoying.

  "I need you to do something else for me." Cyril said.

  "WHAAAT?!" Shokei and Rei shouted angrily.

  "Sorry?" Cyril said, looking at them with a weird look.

  "Dammit!" Rei yelled angrily at her. "Just because of all the trouble we went through into finding this treasure, you mean to tell us that we have to do some..."

  "Woah woah woah! Calm down for a moment, will you?" Cyril tells Rei extending her hand to her face.

  "No bitch! Can't we just get the loot that you bastards stole and free our friends?!" Rei continues to bark at her. "Our allies are trapped by your hands, and we are desperate to see them again!"

  "Rei, please." Shokei said, trying to get control of her.

  "Watch it! Or I'll have to assume you're a threat and kick your ass!" Cyril said with a warning.

  Rei takes a breath and sits back down on her chair.

  "Now, as I was saying...," Cyril continued. "Just because you did a small task for me does NOT mean we will let you and your allies off easily. In fact, a task that we told you two to do should not have been long to go fetch, but I take that you have some encounters along the way."

  "You can say that." Shokei said.

  "And on top of that, what do we have here?" Cyril looks to see two more figures that are in her view. "I see that you have help along the way. However, this is supposed to be a job for both of you and no one else."

  "For your information, I tagged along after Shokei and her friends saved me in a cell." Tanais tells Cyril.

  "Really?" Cyril asked her. "This is a true story, right?"

  "Ye-yeah." Tanais said, feeling a bit nervous.

  "Hmm, you look familiar." Lucreita said, looking at Tanais and takes out a flyer. "I bet you're the little girl with a sweet-lolita outfit with your face on a flyer."

  "Why...why yes, that's me." Tanais said, seeing the flyer that Lucreita held.

  "So, I see." Cyril said. Then, she has her eyes on Naoko. "And you...how did you come into py with their task?"

  "I...I just met up with them and I was going after my cat until I saw them in person." Naoko tells her, turning away to not look at her face.

  "Hehe...don't give me that look." Cyril said, going over to her.

  Shokei, Rei, and Tanais sees the Woundcw leader approaching Naoko.

  "I know who you are." Cyril said to her. "In fact, I have seen your face before, but never thought I would see your face in here again."

  Naoko closed her eyes and feels disappointed.

  "Don't give me that you traitor." Cyril said to her. "You were once a part of us. Now I see that you helped these two sses into finding that treasure. A failed sap you are for being a former member."

  "Huh?!" Shokei and Rei said and looked at Naoko. They could not believe what they heard.

  "I...I..." Naoko paused and held her breath.

  "It's been a long time that I have seen your cat-like face, Naoko." Cyril said. "You were such a fool into helping others and not following our little league. Yet, you were against our orders and then you had a change of heart into turning against us. I know that face of yours and I know that me and my cn will never forget that."

  Naoko felt nervous. And embarrassed. She could not find the courage to say anything in front of her friends that she met since the treasure hunt mission. She stands there as Cyril is staring down at her. She waits for a response, but Naoko was keeping herself silent, too ashamed to tell the truth.

  "C'mon Naoko! Is it true?" Cyril asked her.

  "...ye-yes. Yes, it is true." Naoko said, admitting the truth. "In fact, it was true. I used to be a part of your cn Cyril. I was with you and your bandits, and I have done harm towards the innocent. But after learning about things in life, I realized that I did hurt people in a very bad way."

  Everyone listened.

  "Yes," Naoko continued. "I did choose not to become a part of Woundcw anymore. I have learned a lot of mistakes that I have done as a former bandit. I swore to myself that I will not do your sinful deeds anymore. Joining a group through you was a mistake."

  "Pfft! Was a bandit, always a bandit." Cyril said, brushing off her excuse. "Better yet, you are indeed the worst bandit we ever had. And yet, you still act more like a mere child than a grown figure."

  "I don't care what you call me. I did the right thing by leaving you bastards." Naoko argued back.

  "Anyways...," Cyril said, ignoring Naoko and focusing on Shokei and Rei. "About the deal. What should I do with my little deal? I know! How about this? Since you really want me and my cn to return back the things we have stolen, how would you like to duel against us in a two on three battle?"

  "As in we kill you guys easily and then we overthrow your damned hideout?" Rei asked. "Cause that's easy for me to do!"

  "Hey now!" Cyril interrupted Rei. "No! Let's just try not to kill each other, shall we? For our duel, I have decided to make our fight a little twist."

  Shokei and Rei hears what Cyril has to say.

  "The first person who gets the first blood on them loses." Cyril said. "First blood as in one cut and you're out. If you two are capable enough to give us a simple scar on any part of our bodies, then I will give you back the items and your friends from our cells. I am not pying with you. I am being for real this time."

  Shokei thinks about this for a minute. Recalling the st time, she had a duel was against the Necromutant leader and lost greatly. Knowing that she has a major task that she promised the mayor of Egesul, she knows that by doing this will be the only way to retrieve back the goods and retrieving the special artifact.

  "Ok...it's a deal." Shokei said, looking directly at Cyril.

  "Hee hee! No problem." Cyril said, extending out her hand to accept the deal.

  "Wait!" Naoko calls out to Cyril.

  Naoko moves up to where Shokei and Cyril are standing. First, she sees Cyril and then looks at Shokei.

  "Although you have learned about my past with this bastard of a cn, I don't think you would be able to take them on easily." Naoko tells Shokei. "In this case, count me in."

  "Excuse me?!" Cyril asked her. "What are you..."

  "Shut up!" Shokei tells Cyril off and then looks at Naoko. "Despite that you used to be a part of their group, I can tell that you really want to help us. We don't know what these trio are capable of but..."

  Naoko sees Shokei paused for a second.

  "...who cares about your past? Join in with us." Shokei finished.

  "Really?" Naoko gasped.

  Shokei nodded.

  "Fine then! It will be a three-on-three battle. No more, no less." Cyril said to them.

  "I bet you're going to use your bandits to cheat your way through this duel." Rei said.

  "Oh no no no!" Cyril said to her. "Why would I ever do that? For us as a small group, there's really no need for that. We fight against each other. Fair game."

  "Sounds fair enough for us." Shokei said.

  "As for you little girl," Cyril said to Tanais. "You can just watch the fight, but you will not participate."

  "I don't fight...but I'll be cheering for you Shokei." Tanais said.

  Outside, Shokei and her party and Woundcw are at another location that is not far from where the hideout is. Since they are fighting against each other, the setting is at a wide space area for them to go at each other. Shokei and her party are at one side whereas Woundcw is at the opposite. Tanais sits on a solid rock as she is spectating the fight.

  "I'm all set and ready." Shokei said to her party.

  "Who should go first?" Rei asked.

  "I don't mind going first." Naoko said.

  "I'll go second." Rei said.

  "I guess I'm st." Shokei said.

  "Are you sure you want to go first Naoko?" Rei asked her.

  "I'll be all right." Naoko replied. "It's my decision."

  "Then again, there's always a choice..."

  "Hey, are you maggots ready over there?!" Cyril called out to them.

  "Hell yeah we are!" Rei shouted.

  "Greaaaat! Remember now, there will be no crying for your mommy if you get at least one cut to your body." Cyril said to them. "Now, let's go!"

  Naoko takes the initiative to be the first one to step up against Woundcw. Editha became the first member of the trio to go up against her. It is the first pair that will be facing off at each other.

  "You two can start fighting at any minute now." Cyril tells them.

  Naoko looks at Editha. She can see that her opponent has noting on her but her bare hands. Editha is standing there with an evil smirk on her face.

  "Why are you smiling like that?" Naoko asked her. "What's funny?""Hehehehehe!" Editha ughed.

  "Stay on your guard." Naoko tells herself. "Evade at will."

  Naoko and Editha stares at each other for a second. Then, the fight started.

  Naoko made her first move by rushing after Editha. Editha stands there as she waits for her opponent to attack. Just as Naoko is about to hit her, Editha made a swift move by evading her attack and then she takes out a weapon from behind which is a small pocketknife.

  Huh?! What the?! Naoko thought with her eyes focused on the knife.

  Naoko turns to see Editha is trying to attack her with her weapon. She quickly avoids contact with the knife as Editha is quick enough to use her weapon. Editha is going for the stabs as Naoko guards her attack with her tonfa bdes and flips back to stay clear from her opponent's weapon. Shokei, Rei and Tanais are spectating the fight in progress.

  "Jeez!" Shokei said. "She's really that fast with the knife."

  "And she can use her knife skillfully." Rei added.

  "C'mon Editha!" Cyril calls out to support her member. "Nail that traitor with a slight wound!"

  "Arrrgh!" Naoko grunted as she finds the fight against Editha difficult.

  "Hehe, you should know squirt that Editha does rely on being fast." Cyril tells her.

  Naoko takes extra caution during the fight. She knows that getting at least one cut on any part of her body would make her lose instantly. Editha wields her knife and positions it directly at Naoko and charges after her again. Naoko did the same as she rushes to attack her opponent. Both opponents exchange moves as they try to nd a cut. Breaking apart between sides, neither of them had any luck on nailing each other with a single cut. Both of them inspect each other if there was a sign of a scratch and seeing that there is none, the fight resumes.

  The fight sted for a while and neither of them managed to get at least one hit. Naoko is on the verge of losing to Editha. She could not keep up with her quickness as Editha is taking advantage of winning this fight.

  "I'm...too tired..." Naoko panted, trying to catch her breath.

  "Don't give up Naoko! Hang in there!!" Shokei calls out to her in support.

  "Give it up while you can traitor!" Editha tells her. "This is the moment where you lose."

  Suddenly, Naoko looks up to see that Editha is about to make another attack. Then, Editha pulls a fast one by tossing a smokescreen in front of Naoko. Naoko is trapped in the smokescreen as she rolls out of the way and gets lost in not finding her opponent. Editha sneaks up right behind her and goes for a swift knife attack. Naoko then sense the attack near her and gets away from being touched by the knife. Editha saw her evading and then she makes a quick dash to where Naoko was trying to get away. Finally, the bandit nails her by sshing the side of her right knee.

  "AHHHHH! NOOOO!!" Naoko cried out in pain.

  Naoko trips and falls on the ground. Then, the smokescreen vanishes, and the outcome was not viewable. Shokei, Rei and Tanais are shocked as soon as they see Naoko on the ground. Naoko winced in pain as she felt the blood coming from her fur skin.

  "YES!! GAH HA HA HA HA HAAAA!!" Cyril ughed and shouted. "You lose Naoko!"

  "Arrrrgh!!" Naoko cried on in pain.

  "Naoko!"

  Shokei and Rei have a disappointed look on their faces. They are not pleased with the result as Naoko was the first to be eliminated from the fight. Both can see Editha is quick on her feet, and she was capable to win a match with just a small pocketknife. Naoko, fortunately, gets up on her feet and returns back slowly with the pain in her knee affecting her.

  "Naoko..." Shokei said with a disapproving face.

  "I...I'm sorry I let you...Ugh, down you two." Naoko said, feeling the scar on her right knee. "I couldn't get it done."

  "No, it's ok." Rei said to her. "We understand."

  "Guess it's your turn then." Shokei said to her.

  "It is." Rei nodded.

  "I'll be ok..." Naoko said. "It's a good thing I brought my first aid kit for this."

  Ghiso sees Naoko in this condition and did not purr. The cat showed symphony for her loss to a fight.

  "Good luck Rei!" Tanais calls out to her.

  "C'mon Rei! You need to win this." Shokei said.

  Rei walks up to where Editha is waiting for her. Rei can see the smirk on her face, and she gets in pce for herself to take her on.

  "...are you ready to dance around with my quickness?" Editha asked her.

  "I'm not amused." Rei tells her off. "I've seen stuff like that before. But I'm a quick learner, and I'll prove to you that agility isn't everything."

  "We will see about that." Editha said, wielding her pocketknife and gets ready to fight again.

  "All right, all right! You two should know how this works." Cyril calls out to them. "Round two beings...right now!"

  Editha takes the initial move and rushes to strike at Rei. Rei sees her coming and she quickly dodges her sharp knife with ease. Rei thinks of a way on how to nd a hit as she takes caution of the Woundcw members actions. She thinks carefully and checks her surroundings, which is a circle of trees.

  Maybe if I can use the environment to my advantage..., Rei thought.

  Thinking about this, Rei goes right after Editha, and she tries to move in for the assault. Editha jumps over to get behind Rei and she tries to strike at her with the knife. Rei saw her do this and then she avoids the attack. She tries to grab at least one part of Editha and wanted to try to throw her into one of the trees. However, Editha is fast on her feet and quickly tries to stab Rei. Rei dodges the attack and the enemy's swift movements were just near misses. Rei gets back into her fight stance and directs her attention on her target.

  I am learning a pattern against this bitch..., Rei thought. There has to be a weakness to prevent her from nding one cut at me with that damn knife...that's it! The only way to keep her from going offensive is by distracting her! Ok, here she comes.

  Rei looks carefully where Editha is using her knife against her. She can see how quick she can really charge at her with the knife in hand and goes in for a direct thrust. At that moment, Rei sees Editha making another attempt to ssh her and there, she moves aside in time and grabs her arm to quickly struck her with an elbow. This move distracted Editha in the face and the impact was a hard hit. Rei managed to hit the sides of her body with side chops by the palms and this made Editha stunned by feeling the sharpness staggering her body.

  "Ahhhhh!!!" Editha cried out.

  "What the?!" Cyril said in shock.

  The knife drops from her hand as she is feeling the force of the pain touching inside her body. Being stunned at the moment, Rei grabs her and swings her into a seismic throw. The throw sends her straight to a tree nearby and the tree rammed right into her head. The head to the tree was a direct hit as Cyril and Lucreita watch in surprise to see one of their members being thrown by the distance. Editha fells to the ground and lies on the floor.

  "Yes!" Rei said with success. "No mercy!"

  Cyril goes over to check on Editha. She can see her Woundcw member trying to get up from the fall and there she can see her spitting out blood from her mouth. The impact was effective as she can see that Editha lost the match.

  "All right Rei!!" Naoko cheered.

  "Awesome move, Rei!" Shokei said proudly.

  Editha gets up from the ground and she coughs out more blood as she tries to catch her breath.

  "Are you...kidding me?!" Cyril asked, feeling angry from the result. "Geez, you're totally done your task Editha."

  Editha coughed again and she goes over to prevent her contagious blood from spreading.

  "Fine!" Cyril said, looking at Rei. "You won that easily you little bitch. But I am not facing you yet. Lucreita, get in there and show her what you're made of."

  "A-again?" Lucreita asked, slightly nervous.

  "Of course, again!" Cyril shouted at her. "It doesn't matter how you failed back at stealing treasure from these scawags since the day you went off on a treasure hunt. Now do as your told and make me proud!"

  "O-oh o-ok!" Lucreita said.

  Rei looks to see Lucreita coming up to her. She can see that her enemy has her trusty short sword with her. Rei sees her looking nervous and smirks with humor.

  "Oho! You again?" Rei smiled, giggling as she sees her.

  "There's no way I'll lose to you since that treasure hunt days ago." Lucreita said, showing some courage. "B-but I'll be sure to have my r-revenge!! And you're blonde-haired friend too!"

  "Heh! Not like you have the testicles to hurt me." Rei said with a shrug.

  "WHAT?" Lucreita shouted angrily. "You dare to insult ME?!"

  "I'll be happy enough to defeat you again if you want to face more humiliation." Rei said with a tease.

  "I won't put up with this insult! Bring it on!!" Lucreita shouted, getting her sword in position.

  Rei gets ready as Lucreita rushes up at her with her short sword. Rei can see the attack and rolled away from the sshing move in time. The enemy rages as she is trying to hit Rei with her sword. Lucreita's sword skills are not the best, but her skills are partially average. Both opponents engage in the battle as they try to hit each other. Simir to the first match with Naoko, neither of them made at least one hit as both of them is trying to avoid getting blood.

  Within ten minutes into the third round, Lucreita and Rei are nearly tired as both are not successful in nding a first blood hit. Lucreita takes another swing with her sword and Rei dodged another attack. Then, the enemy made an additional tactic by swinging her sword counterclockwise by aiming the sword out towards her. Rei can see the sword is about to strike her. Instead of evading, she instantly blocks the attack right before it touched her. She quickly used her right palm and tries to prevent the sword from cutting her skin, thanks to the energy of her chakra.

  "Holy hell!" Cyril said in shock. "And that didn't cut her?!"

  "It must be her spirit energy flowing inside of her." Naoko said. "That's why she didn't get cut."

  "But that's not fair!" Cyril shouted. "That's cheating!"

  "Actually, she has not received a cut after all." Shokei said to her. "She was being tactical in saving her own skin."

  "Argh! C'mon Lucreita! Do something!" Cyril calls out to her.

  Rei continues to focus on her energy with the chakra effect flowing inside. She did not suffer damage by the sword and the bde did not cut her palm. Lucreita lets off her sword from her and she inspects it quick to see that her sword did not cut her with her blood on it. Rei checks her palm, and she was fortunate for no blood cutting her skin.

  "Shit!" Lucreita angrily said to Rei. "You have to be super lucky enough to defend yourself with a cut that could have cost you the match."

  Lucreita goes at it again as she cries out to swing her sword with an overhead smash. Rei rolls out of the way, but in front of her to dodge the attack. That is when Rei goes behind Lucreita, held her by the shoulders and then she pulls her back by carrying her by the knees and falls down in this position.

  "What the...AHHH!!"

  Lucreita cries out in pain as soon as she fell for the execution by Rei's attack. She can feel her whole back, as well as her lungs, aching in pain as she is unable to fight. Both sides are surprised to see a sudden twist that took pce in the matchup. Rei rolls aside and she gets back on her feel to see Lucreita paralyzed on the ground.

  "The hell?! Lucreita, are you all right?!" Cyril calls out to her.

  "AHHH!! Ughhhhh!!" Lucreita winces in pain as it continues to build up inside the back.

  "No...oh no!" Cyril said, not happy with what she sees. "Get up! Get up!!"

  Lucreita tries to get up from the ground. Unfortunately, she can still feel her back immobilized and unable to move at all. Shokei, along with Naoko and Tanais, watch as Lucreita was trying to get up. Rei waits for her to make a move, but she knew that the fight would not continue at this point. Cyril shakes her head in disappointment and still could not believe what was happening.

  "Forget it..." Cyril tells her. "There's no point if you're going to cry in pain like this."

  "Uhhhh...w-WHY!!" Lucreita cried out loud. "I-it's so not faaaaaair!!! Ahhhhh, owwwww!"

  "Quit you're whining!" Cyril argued at her. "You had ONE job. ONE! And you could not nd this bitch with a single cut to a wound! That is totally pathetic!"

  Lucreita has tears in her eyes as she could not get up from the paralysis to the back.

  "Look, this match was long enough despite no signs of blood from you or her." Cyril tells her and ordered. "Crawl yourself away from here."

  "Pleeeeeeease!!" Lucreita whined, able to get into a crawling position. "C-c-can you...help-p me?"

  "Hell's no! You can crawl back yourself!" Cyril refused.

  Still suffering from the sudden attack, Lucreita crawls on the ground with the pain still bothering her. She still feels saddened and humiliated by losing to Rei.

  "Should we feel bad for her?" Naoko asked Shokei.

  "Not really." Shokei replied. "She deserves it. Right now, it's just Cyril herself that Rei needs to defeat."

  With two Woundcw members down, it was time for Cyril to take on team Shokei. Rei can see that the leader of Woundcw approaches Rei and stands there from a distance. Cyril takes her time to look back on her two allies as Editha sits down, lying on a log and Editha is feeling calm and takes a drink of water after recovering from coughing up blood. In addition, Editha feels two of her teeth coming out from her gums. Seeing her allies downed, Cyril faces back to Rei.

  "I am your st opponent." Cyril said. "I am really impressed that you made it far into defeating my allies. From seeing how fast Editha was to Lucreita with her average job of sword wielding, you then ask yourself 'What can Cyril do?'" I love to see how much you can muster to go against me."

  "Huh?" Rei looks at her, slightly confused.

  "You don't have a clue to what I am going to do against you, right?" Cyril said, smiling evilly. "I guess its best that you prove yourself and go against a big wad like me. Now come forth you, destiny awaits us!!"

  Rei looks at her and then she tries to go after Cyril. The Woundcw leader stands there, waiting to make her first move. Suddenly, before Rei could attack her, Cyril fought back by taking out a three-sided throwing star directly at Rei. The throw of the star was at a very fast pace and Rei sees the throwing weapon aimed at her and makes a dive for it. Luckily, the attack missed as she was fortunate to dodge the deadly star.

  "Woah!" Rei cried out. "Seriously?!"

  Rei gets up in time to see Cyril revealing more throwing stars in her hand. The enemy's throws more stars, directly targeting Rei as she threw them in rapid speed.

  "No way!!" Rei cried out as she immediately moves out of harm's way. "Shit!"

  Rei makes a run for it to avoid being touched by the flying stars that are being thrown at her as she does her evading techniques through flips and turns to say clear from the throwing stars. Cyril takes advantage by putting more pressure to the fight by moving around to aim more stars out on Rei by fancying out herself through athletic and acrobatic moves, building up the process. This makes it tougher for Rei as she has to be very quick to avoid the throwing projectiles being aimed at her. Many of the stars struck through the ground to the trees by a distance. Shokei and Naoko steps back to avoid contact with the enemy's throwing weapon as Tanais takes cover from getting hurt. Rei could not keep up the pace of avoiding the throwing stars that are thrown at her. Cyril stops throwing as Rei stops in her tracks to catch her breath. Sweat boils on her face as she takes time to redeem herself.

  "What's the matter?" Cyril calls out to Rei. "Can't handle the heat? Shuriken's on fleek."

  "Dammit! That's too many stars you got on you." Rei shouts at her.

  "Oh gee, you don't look so tough now." Cyril said to her. "After defeating both of my cohorts, you think you can easily get at me that simple? Ha! You're so dense right now. Don't think that you can touch me."

  "Grrrr..." Rei growled.

  "Come at me little bitch!" Cyril taunted. "If you dare..."

  Rei felt fired up and then she charged at Cyril to hit her. Cyril got herself prepared and throw at least five stars toward her, aiming her at different positions. The setup became a hidden technique as the stars she tossed differently are homing in on her target. Rei sees the throwing stars coming at her and she managed to dodge four of the stars successfully. When she made a cartwheel flip on the st one, she did dodge the attack but then the star turned and nailed Rei at an unusual target.

  "GAHHHHHH!!!"

  Rei felt the sharpness of the cut being aimed at her butt as the throwing star struck her into the skin. Rei cried out in pain as she fell ft on her stomach. The cut made her bleed behind the butt as Rei instantly takes the throwing star right out of her rear.

  "Direct hit on fleek." Cyril said with success.

  "Rei!!" Shokei, Rei, and Tanais shouted at her.

  Shokei and Rei goes over to Rei in support. Rei gets up and feels herself in an unusual position as she felt the blood coming out of her behind. She pces her hand to feel the sharpness that has done damage to her rear end.

  "GRRR! It hurts!" Rei winced in pain. "Shit! It hurts!"

  "Easy Rei. Easy..." Shokei tells her.

  "Take it easy? Are you kidding me Shokei?!" Rei yells at her. "She threw a star up my ass!"

  "All right! You're making yourself even worse." Shokei said, trying to calm her down.

  "I can treat you to that wound." Naoko said to her.

  "That's fine. You can heal my ass while you're at it." Rei said to her, still feeling the cut on the rear.

  "O-hohohohoooo, I am so, so sorry to see your friend taking the fall by just a shooting star." Cyril said in a sick joke of voice. "It's so sad that she's out and I can cim my victory."

  "Shut up!" Shokei shouted at her. "Why the hell do you care? You don't care about her injury, do you?"

  "I don't rely on the pain of others." Cyril replied. "I rely on me."

  "Selfish prick!" Shokei said in a threat.

  "Speaking of that, you're the only one remaining of the group." Cyril said. "You better fight me now...or you can kiss that promise we made goodbye."

  Shokei sees Rei being bandaged by Naoko. Rei blushed as she feels Naoko healing the wounds with a dressing and then patches it with a bandage. Then she gets back at Cyril.

  "Fine...I'll take you on." Shokei said to her.

  "I hope you were paying attention." Cyril tells her. "I am known in creating throwing stars through magic. Yes, I am capable of that, no lie. I don't take one on one fights lightly, so you better be ready."

  Hearing the dangerous situation that she is about to go in, Shokei takes her sword out, the Mithrodin, and she is already prepared to take on Cyril.

  "En garde!" Shokei tells her.

  "Time to dance!" Cyril said, getting ready to fight.

  Shokei, gripping the sword in her hand, goes off to fight against Cyril. No turning back now.

  Cyril sees Shokei rushing up to her and she tosses a few throwing stars, aiming at her target. Shokei sees the flying stars coming at her and she used her sword to fend off the projectiles that was aimed to her face. She continues running up to where Cyril is and then the enemy leaps over her. In the air, Cyril turns around and aimed more throwing stars down at Shokei. The stars were raining down, targeting Shokei, and Shokei makes a dive to the ground and rolls around with her body in a form of a rolling pin. Cyril nds on the ground and then she quickly tossed three more stars at Shokei. Shokei quickly avoids the attack, and the stars touched the ground as it nearly touched her.

  Damn! Those stars nearly touched me...huh?

  Just then, Shokei looks up to see Cyril is performing something else. She can see that the enemy is making a direct jump kick rather than throwing another star. Shokei quickly evades the attack on time. She even avoids the throwing stars that were impnted on the ground.

  No way! Is she luring me into her weapon?! Shokei thought.

  "Dance with me girl!" Cyril calls out to her. "Because you won't win."

  There must be a way to defeat her. All I need is an opening to strike her back with one scar and end this. Shokei thought.

  While Shokei thinks of a strategy, she can see that Cyril is throwing more stars at her. Shokei continues to keep moving around as she side steps from getting hit.

  Minutes into the fight, Shokei is dealt with more throwing stars being thrown at her. Shokei feels tired from dodging most of the enemy's projectiles. A lot of stars are scattered all over the field and this made Shokei has limited space around her feet. She can feel that it was going to be over in an instant.

  "Your time is short walking!" Cyril tells her. "You won't st long in this heated battle!"

  Shokei is nervous to the point where she is about to lose to Cyril. She is unable to come up with an idea to win this fight. In a case scenario, Shokei has to do something.

  Time for the Homing Stars of Defiance, just like I did to her ally. Cyril thought.

  Cyril pulls off the technique by unleashing five powerful throwing stars. This was the same move that she pulled off against Rei a while ago. Shokei sees the enemy's attack homing directly at her.

  "Here goes nothing..." Shokei said to herself.

  Shokei takes her sword, and she treats it in a form of a bat. Then, she knocks away the throwing stars right back at Cyril. The enemy can see her own weapon being backfired against her and she tries to avoid her projectiles being sent back. She was able to dodge her own stars, but the st one, she turns and then she was too te. The throwing star made contact on the side of her right cheek and cuts her. Cyril felt the sharpness as she senses the touch.

  "Yes! Bullseye!" Shokei gasped in surprise.

  Shokei looks at Cyril and now sees her pausing in pce. Cyril then looks at Shokei with her hand on her right cheek. Silence came to the field as Rei, Naoko, and Tanais awaits the outcome as well as Editha and Lucreita spectating. Then, Cyril sighed in anger and then removes her hand away from her cheek to reveal the blood being shown on her cheek. Shokei felt satisfied as the price of victory has been achieved.

  "YAAAAY!! WE WON!! WE WON!!" Naoko yelled out happily.

  "Target achievement Shokei." Rei said, feeling gd that it was over.

  Cyril stands there with a bnk expression on her face. She stands there senseless as she feels the slight blood running down her cheek. She then looks at her hand with the small blood being tainted on her palm.

  "No...way...I...I lost?" Cyril said sadly.

  Cyril...its over... Shokei thought.

  Later, Cyril and her he chem are returning the stolen goods that they have stolen from the people of Egesul. The items that they have stolen are being put in bags. After all the goods are being pced in the bags, Cyril confronts Shokei.

  "I have to admit that a twat such as yourself got guts to go against me." Cyril said to her. "Never would I thought that someone would break through my Art of the Flying Hornet skill to defeat me."

  "A fair battle is a fair fight." Shokei said to her. "Otherwise, I would have suffered defeat."

  "Pretty much." Cyril said, blows wind from her mouth. "All the goods that I have taken are yours and your own allies are free from our grasp. However, the Diamond Light Idol stays with me for the taking."

  "You can have it." Shokei said to her. "It's not like we cared for the item even if you..."

  "Shush!" Cyril interrupts her. "Oh that's right! Here."

  Cyril hands over a book to Shokei and Shokei receives it.

  "This little thing...yeah, The Capitol's Cultural Chronicle. This is what that poor town wants from us right?" Cyril said.

  "That's it." Shokei replied. "At least this is still in good condition."

  "Shame on you for stealing something that belongs to a town!" Marie tells Cyril.

  "Whatever." Cyril said and turns her back. "Now leave and don't ever show your face here again."

  Cyril walks away along with Editha and Lucreita and the rest of the bandits left.

  "I...guess that takes care of them." Naoko said, seeing them walking away.

  "We got what we needed." Shokei said to her party. "Let's head back to Egesul."

  With her reunited party altogether, Shokei are leaving the Maple Forest as they are heading their way back to Egesul.

  "Oh, my dear sister!" The said to Tanais. "It feels good to see that you're alive! I was terribly worried for you!"

  "I'm still in one piece sister." Tanais said, hugging her. "Thanks to Shokei and her friends, they were able to save me."

  "I'm happy to be out of that coop back there." Tamiko said. "Hell, it was too dark in there st night."

  "Same here." Saeko added. "Never fall for these traps ever again."

  "At least Shokei was able to save all of us." Beatrice said to them. "We would not be walking again if it was not for her and Rei."

  "Speaking of that, hey Shokei!" Marie said, getting Shokei's attention, and asked. "Who is that feline being you brought with us?"

  "Oh! I forgot!" Shokei said and presents her new ally. "This is Naoko. She was the one that lead us into finding that Monastery during the task for getting the treasure."

  "Hi everyone!" Naoko greeted the party.

  "I see." Kichiro said. "Hello there."

  "And you have to go through all that trouble to find some treasure that neither of us would know." Obsidian said to Shokei. "Those bandits could have found it themselves."

  "I know, but what would I do if I did not find their treasure for them?" Shokei asked. "How would I bail you guys out from the cells?"

  "We should have fought all of them." Obsidian said. "But I am a gentleman and I do not enjoy fighting a woman."

  "Oh, really?" Rei asked him, pcing hands on her hips.

  "Rei, please." Shokei said to her, giving her the 'not now' gesture.

  "Oh noes!" Lei said in a slight shock, seeing her cut. "Rei, are you injured?"

  "I'm..." Rei notices that her walking was strange due to the cut on her rear. "I'll be ok. It's just a scratch."

  "Did something happen?" Marie asked. "The way you're walking sounds more like a scratch."

  "Ok, ok! I had a throwing star on my ass." Rei admitted.

  "Ehhhhh?!" Marie eyes widened. She tries not to ugh.

  "No joke." Rei said, still pcing the spot where the throwing star had cut her. "The wound is still covering my pants, but it'll heal eventually."

  "Not anymore on my behalf!" Marie said. "Let me cure you right away!"

  Listening to Marie, Rei walks off from the road and Marie followed her. The party waits for a minute to give them privacy so that Marie can use her healing magic. Rei felt the warmth of Marie's magic as she can feel the cut vanishing from her. After the healing is done, Rei returns back to the party.

  "All right! That's much better!" Rei said, walking normally.

  "Oh snap!" Naoko said. "You guys have a healer in your group. Nice."

  "Shokei," Tamiko asked. "What just happened back there when we were trapped in our cells?"

  "Me, Rei, and Naoko fought against Woundcw." Shokei tells her. "It was a tough battle and long story short, we had to win in order to free all of you guys."

  "I see." Tamiko said.

  "I know we took too long to come back to you guys." Shokei said. "But I am gd that's over with and we are all back together."

  "It's ok, Shokei." Saeko said. "We understand."

  "Thanks." Shokei said with a nod.

  The party continues walking through the Maple Forest until they reach to the exit.

  "Shokei, can I ask you something?" Naoko calls out to her.

  "What's that?" Shokei asked.

  "Is it possible to join you and your friends on your adventure?" Naoko asked.

  "Why?" Shokei asked her. "Do you think you'll be away from home for a long time?"

  "It's not that I will miss home or anything, it's the experience of hanging with your and Rei from our journey into the Monastery." Naoko said to her. "It was fun but dangerous, and I enjoyed it. Except for that Necro who-in-the-world-cares broad, whoever she is."

  "Heheh." Shokei giggled. "I did enjoy your company if it wasn't for you."

  "But still, I wonder what her purpose was?" Naoko asked. "Why does she want to stop you? Is there a reason behind this?"

  "There is, but..." Shokei paused for a second. Then said, "It's a long story."

  "Oh. I see." Naoko said with a shrug.

  "I need you to ask me one thing." Shokei said to her and asked. "Why did you join Woundcw in the first pce?"

  "Eh...oh..." Naoko takes a deep breath and then replied. "It's because that I was such a loner in life. I have no friends. No family. I have no one at all. Then, I met that leader, Cyril, who wants me to tag along with her on some quest I did for her way back then and then I felt not so alone at all."

  The party listened to her.

  "Until then," Naoko continued. "I realized that everything that I have done through Woundcw, I see myself in a dark pce and unaware of the danger of staying within those bandits as I saw them as fake friends."

  "I see." Rei said.

  "I thought I could fit in to get to know people." Naoko said. "Instead, I was wrapped within a group that are known for thievery and terrorizing travelers into traps. That's when you came in Shokei."

  "I understand." Shokei said. "You are new to us, but we would have never known about your past with Woundcw. Then again, we are close to think about your differently from what Cyril brought up."

  "Hmm?" Naoko looks up to Shokei.

  "No worries." Shokei said. "We can see the look on your face. You did not want to admit it and I know that you confessed to us about your troubles. However, you became helpful to us and gave us hospitality. I believe that you are a trustworthy companion."

  "Ohhhh..." Naoko blushed as she made a warm smile on her face. "You're welcome..."

  Silence. Shokei waits for Naoko to have her comfort for a minute. Then, she stares at her.

  "So, what are you staring at Naoko?" Shokei asked her.

  "Ahhhh! Nothing!" Naoko said to her in a quick panic.

  "Hahaha!" Shokei ughed. A few of her party members ughed at the awkward moment.

  "I was really wondering if you have anything else to say to me." Naoko said.

  "If you want to join us, then come on!" Shokei said.

  "Really?" Naoko said in excitement.

  "I am serious." Shokei said to her with a smile.

  "All right!" Naoko said jumped for joy. "I'll be with you every step of the way!"

  Shokei nodded and thus the party heads back to Egesul.