Hellnia, Hazy Mountain Range.
Twang~ ~
Twang~ ~
Twang~ ~
In a silent forest on a particular mountain, a devil sat on a tree stump holding a shamisen, playing it gracefully. She loved playing the instrument; it calmed her mind and soothed her soul.
Her skin was pale, but it was clear to anyone her face was painted a whiter shade. She wore ruby red lipstick, matching her painted eyelids and brows. Two red stars could be seen on her cheeks, obviously painted over, making it difficult to tell whether they were hollow or not.
She wore a light blue kimono, matching the traditional colors of the Hazy Mountain. The golden sash wrapped around her waist was large, tied around her elegantly, as the excess made a beautiful knot in the back.
As she played, the gold ornaments and chimes hanging from her large bunned hair jingled softly.
Baku glanced at the painted devil as he tapped his foot impatiently in front of a red glowing circle. He wanted to snort at this devil's calm and collected demeanor. A farce like no other.
“...”
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“...Noh.” Baku spoke up; he just had to say it. It was clear she wouldn’t address it.
“Yes, elder brother?” the Painted Devil, Noh said serenely, her eyes closed and mind at ease.
Twang~ ~
“...Did you really have to chase the kid all the way out here?” He asked directly, shifting his posture on the log he sat on, a log that previously stood tall in this tranquil forest.
The painted devil stopped her playing; she looked over to Baku, setting down the instrument and pulling out a folding fan. She covered her face with the gaudy item and laughed softly. ”Kukuku, we’re barely halfway down the mountain, Baku. Besides, she needed to learn manners; it’s good to instill that early in childhood.”
Baku looked around at their destroyed surroundings; he ignored the devil's attempts at hiding her embarrassment. All the trees in a twenty meter radius were either cut down or crushed to dust. It was clear a raging battle had taken place here.
“Don’t you think you went a little too far? I mean, she was just joking.” Baku asked, feeling his migraine returning. Everything was going well in the restaurant they were dining at, but Noh just had to open her mouth and talk nonsense the second she saw Hannya showing off in front of the villagers.
“Hmph! Joking? She called me a bitch! Ridiculous!” The painted devil shouted. snapping her fan shut. She gripped it tight, tapping it down on the stump she sat on.
Split
The edge cleanly split in two from the bizarre movement. It wasn’t rushed nor aggressive, yet the result was just as devastating.
Baku rubbed his weary eyes. “Well, you were also making fun of her, so…”
“Of course I would! She was using some skill to pretend to be graceful and elegant! A geija can always tell the difference, and it’s a mockery.” she said smugly.
“She’s a child, Noh…”
“Stop using that excuse! And don’t think I didn’t notice your silence when she called me that. You think that too, don't you?”
The old devil looked out into the distance, pondering something. “...Shouldn’t Hannya be back by now? It’s been almost 20 minutes.”
“Hey!” The ‘Geija’ pointed her fan at the old fortress lord, not falling for his attempt to change the subject.
“Kahuhuhu! I’m joking, I’m joking!” He raised his hands in surrender. He grinned and spoke once more. He decided to use his trump card. “I know you're the kindest devil in all of Hellnia, Noh.”
“H-hmph, you’d better recognize that and be thankful I’ve set up my temporary camp here for the time being!” She lowered her fan, pleased by the praise, but no way would she give Baku the satisfaction of knowing that.
“...” but Baku continued to look into the distance… a bit strangely now.
“W-what?” the painted devil inquired, curious about her older brother's silence.
The old devil samurai looked down at the red glowing sigil in front of them. “Now that I think about it, the kid has actually been gone a long time.”
The painted devil waved her hand lazily. “It’s fine. I've sent Kabuki with her. It's not like with him around she’ll—what?” She asked, noticing the knowing smile on Baku’s face.
“You really are too kind, Noh.” He said, gazing at her with newfound respect.
“D-don’t misunderstand, she practically radiates charm laws; with some reeducation, she could become our next Tayu. But if she dies, I'll never get to see such a thing!”
He ignored her excuse and laughed. “Kahuhuh! Well, I’m sure it’s fine then; she probably just got curious about Neels mainland. Who knows, maybe she made her first human friend already. Kahuhuhu!”
~~~
Hannya stood on the rooftop of a building, gazing down happily at the destruction. Her spell had easily wiped out the surrounding buildings, leaving nothing but rubble and debris in the black liquid's wake.
No bodies were seen amongst the ravaged place, it seems everyone evacuated quickly at the sound of the blaring alarm ringing throughout the area.
She stood there, not bothering to find the wizard hiding amongst the collapsed buildings. If the hero wished to cower, she’d welcome it for now; the longer she stayed hidden, the more her mana would replenish.
Besides…
‘Kikiki, do you think that's the end of the spell, Hero Abigail?’
Abigail hid amongst the broken buildings, drinking a mana potion quickly. Sending Damien away and shielding herself from the black liquid had taken almost all her mana. She felt so angry, she had been reduced to such a state because of this damned curse!
She now has barely enough mana to fight a young devil. With the girl having a special physique, it was obvious she was at least a four-star; anything less was a rarity beyond reason.
As her mana replenished, she drew sigil after sigil, sending it into the circular focus subtly hovering beside her. With her mana flow so chaotic, using the focus beside her was the only way she could multicast efficiently enough for combat now.
As she drew in the air, something peculiar at the corner of her sight grabbed her attention.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
She turned her head to look at the movement. There, she saw the black liquid from the devil's previous attack, beginning to bubble and squirm.
Ssssss
After a moment, the liquid covering the ground and buildings began to hiss and steam. As it did, the concrete and wood in the area began to rapidly melt and liquefy, slowly eating away at the wizard's cover.
It didn’t stop there; the smoke that the black liquid produced caused a notification to pop up on Abigail's system as she inhaled it.
DING
[
Warning! You've been infected with [Blocked by Chaos Law]!
[Blocked by Chaos Law] - Buff: Empowering Gas! The more you inhale, the greater your strength! Keep on huffin’! XD
Duration: Who cares! Kyokyokyo!
]
She ignored the notification and began to draw a new sigil. Whatever was written on there was going to be bullshit anyways. Her system was essentially useless since that day.
It didn’t matter; she was familiar with the numbness in her lungs. A toxin of some kind.
“Buff Magic: [Detoxify]” The wizard cast the spell immediately, then followed up with another using her focus.
“[Mana Barrier].” The focus spun and shot out an array. A circular, thin blue barrier formed around her, keeping the smog and acidic liquids away from her body.
But when it rains, it indeed seems to pour, as the liquid melting everything around her and producing toxic gas began to slowly solidify in several places in the area around her.
Abigail was confused at the development at first, but then urgency set in. The solidified places around her quickly grew and rose, producing inky black tentacles, surrounding the wizard.
Without warning, they shot forward, attempting to capture the magic hero within their dozen clutches.
“[Fly]” Her focus spun rapidly, producing another array. Blue light shrouded the hero as she took to the sky at breakneck speeds.
“Oh! found you!” She was met with the materializing, red-eyed Hannya, bringing down her short sword in a reverse grip, much like a TV killer.
Shatter
It shattered the barrier as the blade met the blue transparent surface and continued forward, aiming to pierce the wizard's heart.
Clang
But the magic hero swung her staff with inhuman speed, parrying the blow. She flipped her staff, aiming to counter the young devil’s attack, but the pink calamity flowed with her off-kilter momentum, twisting her body and picking up speed. She spun like a top as she met Abigail’s strike with a swipe of her own.
Clang
They separated from the clash. The magic hero stayed floating in the air while Hannya landed nimbly on a rooftop a small distance away.
“Kikiki, you're pretty quick for a wizard. Maybe you should have been a warrior instead?” Hannya grinned at the darkened face of the magic hero. She knew the words would piss her off.
The magic hero was indeed angry at the young devil's words. The reason her speed could keep up with that swift ambush was the same reason she had a lowered mana reserve and faulty system.
Abigail wanted to grit her teeth; the curse she got from the devil of irony twisted everything about her. But she kept her cool and shot back, her eyes cold. “Not much of a summoned creature, it seems you offer contracts to just anyone.” Targeting the devil's pride.
Hannya wanted to laugh at the hero trying to act tough. Her senses could feel the mana around Abigail's body struggling to replenish her quickly enough to match her cast speed. “Summoned creature? You mean that?” The young devil shook her head as she pointed to the black sludge a bit away, melting the building and grabbing debris. It slowly expanded outward as it consumed more around it. “That's just dirty water from the depths of Hellnia. A spell I cast on a whim.”
A spell Hannya obviously purloined from the novel. Created by a demon shaman to defend his village from callous and malevolent devils, taking the inspiration from a swamp in the more chaotic places of Hellnia.
Unfortunately, the bog ate anything that didn’t contain sufficient chaos laws. The village was consumed within a day.
‘It took half the village and an entire day to cast this spell. Kikiki, the difference is staggering.’
Hannya looked back to the magic hero and smiled. “Kikiki, but it seems like you humans can’t cast such magnificent spells. What happened to that momentum from earlier, wizard?”
Abigail couldn’t take it anymore; this young devil was far too cocky! All of a sudden, the black focus to the side of her turned bright white.
The hero smiled, the flames of determination reigniting within her. The focus was ready.
“I’m just a little rusty, young one.” She raised her staff high, channeling mana around her, the focus and staff working in tandem. “But make no mistake…”
She brought the staff down, creating a small wave of mana to spread out from around her.
“...the battle is just beginning.” The mana in the magic hero’s immediate area shifted in the air, flowing in a strange orbit to the magician.
Hannya’s playful eyes sharpened at the sight of the change. She muttered. “It seems you're not as useless as you look.”
Based on Hannya’s knowledge, this must be one of the wizard’s special skills.
[Mana Field]
The devil shifted her gaze to the two items on the hero. ‘Using those tools to cut the corners, huh?’ She crouched low, ready to assault the wizard. If she thought Hannya would allow her to do as she pleased, she was dead wrong.
But the little devil was far too late. The banter had long since solidified her failure.
As the pink blur launched through the air, The magic hero waved her staff and spoke.
“Triplecast: [Homing Arrows], [Arcane Barrier], [Guardian Blade]!”
At the words, four blue orbs appeared behind her; they rotated slowly as a dense magic shield encased her, followed by a large greatsword made of mana radiating dangerously to her right.
As the devil closed in, the orbs behind Abigail lit up.
Pew
They fired. Bolt after bolt of magical projectiles rushed towards Hannya at blinding speeds.
But the devil was unbothered; this amount of speed was far below the vicious Baku.
She twisted her body in the air, deftly dodging the first two, and as the third approached, her foot landed on the broken wall of a building, pushing herself off with speed as the orb flew past her. As the fourth approached, she grabbed onto a slanted ledge with her small hand, somersaulting nimbly over the shot, tucking her body, and flipping rapidly.
“Kikiki-”
Puff
But in the devil's excitement, she failed to notice the giant blue blade, tilting and rapidly extending its length as she grew close, piercing her body and turning her to mist.
Abigail clenched her fist in success. This wasn’t an impossible challenge. She did not know how many times the young devil could use that skill, but the rules of the world were known to her.
Skills weren’t infinite.
The small devil appeared again from the large mist wafting around the area; she stood there, some distance away, her short sword now gone. Her face now rather ugly.
“...You know you’re supposed to swing a sword, right?” The devil asked, the ever-present smile nowhere in sight.
Abigail grinned at the little devil. “What do I know? I’m a wizard.” The magic hero shrugged.
But the devil’s smile soon returned as a second Hannya appeared from the other side of the mist, followed by a third, then a fourth.
The face of the wizard hardened. Another skill, it seems. Those weren’t illusions; the seasoned wizard’s eyes were plenty sensitive to such tricks.
“You know there’s only supposed to be one of you right?”
The four Hannyas chuckled and spoke. “Kikiki, what do you know? I’m a devil.”
~~~
ZING
Damien regained his vision, his face etched in urgency and concern. His was master left behind, fighting that monster alone, fighting without his help. He quickly looked at his surroundings.
To his back, mountains of thick, blanketing mist stood. It was like a high barrier shielding the inner regions from the outside world.
In front of him stood a group of guards and a couple of priests. They were surrounding two people, their faces hopeful and filled with respect.
They didn’t even seem to notice his arrival. He could not see who was in the center, but he was more than sure they were important. He moved swiftly, ruthlessly shoving guards and priests away. He had to hurry; his master wouldn’t last long, not in the state that she was in.
As he pushed through the crowd giving him annoyed and disdainful looks, his eyes landed on the two that stood in the center confidently, directing the guards and calming the civilians.
He recognized both. One he met earlier in the day, Matilda, the elf druid.
And the other…
His eyes opened wide as he gazed at the individual. All were familiar with this person.
And Damien personally was a big fan.
“T-the 14th generation Hero, Cherubim Arden!”
Arden turned in the direction of the voice calling his name. He looked at the young warrior and smiled. His black hair and glowing blue eyes the picture of humility and righteousness. Two semi-circular half rings rotated slowly above his head.
An incomplete halo.
The mark of a half-angel.
He spoke softly, his humble smile calming the atmosphere around him. “Be at ease, child; you are all safe now.”
