My luck has always been peerless II

MC's POV

After dealing (?) with my conundrum, we continued checking the stands. There were honest people and dishonest ones, so I acted accordingly, using my drunken disguise, I cheated the cheating ones, although I end up winning even when I did not cheat with the honest ones. I felt kind of bad, but maybe it was the luck of a black showing. I had financial troubles in my old life so I had to find ways to pay the bills. My father tried his best, but our situation never improved given the expenses that paying for my mother's treatment brought us. Thus I trained and trained, many times getting beaten up after getting noticed to be cheating. Many times I worried my parents when I could not hide my bruised body after getting beat, but I did get better with the years, yes, until it was no longer needed since… my parents passed away.

"Nora-kun, you are making a sad face." Lavinia-san's voice pulled me out of my musings.

Smiling wryly, I felt bad for worrying her.

"it is ok, I am sad that this will be over soon." I lied. "We can't play being lovers anymore."

The ritual will start soon and everyone dispersed to check that anything unusual did not take us by surprise. Lavinia-san stayed with me as my guard, since that was a big sister's duty or so she said, although winning against Natsume and Nanadaru-san in rock paper and scissors had to be what earned her the right. That said, this was going to be a temporary measure since those rings were not so simple.

"Geez, Nora-kun is joking again." Lavinia-san chuckled. "I will always wait for the day that you decide to trust me with your worries."

Holding my hand towards her chest, Lavinia-san's determined eyes made me feel bad. However, I… did not want to talk about it.

Looking away, I caught a pair of venomous eyes staring at me.

"He is not hiding his intentions anymore, huh." I mumbled.

"He is the annoying guy that always tries to pester me." Lavinia-san grumbled.

For the easy-going and airheaded Lavinia-san to complain, he must be rather persistent. Well, he had his eyes on her since day one so he must've been trying to approach her even when she was not with me.

"Lavinia-san, remember, we must find the book so leave him half dead." I warned.

Nodding regretfully, Lavinia-san looked away.

What the heck did he do to my Lavinia-san…? I mean, to Lavinia-san.

Since he is still alive, nothing bad must've happened, but he could've said something nasty.

"Nora-kun, are you sure you want to follow their plan?" Lavinia-san gazed at her ring.

The ring that was given to us had a spell imbued, one that would teleport the wearer somewhere. I could roughly guess the coordinates after inspecting the spell, but even if they carry it, it will be ok.

"The teleportation spell is intact, but I did take care of the hypnotic one." I said. "They will be expecting a hypnotized person to show up at the location so they will be dismayed when you guys show up fully aware of your surroundings."

There was some truth to that stand owner's words; the rings did have ties to the land god of this land. The metal looked ordinary, but when you inspect it closely, you can appreciate the craftsmanship befitting a relic dedicated to a god.

I am not completely sure about the original goal of these, but I doubt it had the same use or meaning that we were told.

"It should take you guys closer to the main issue at hand, and the real land god should be sealed somewhere close to that location. There are two Longinus users in such proximity so handling this will be a breeze for you guys." I shrugged my shoulders.

Even if it is fake, that guy has a god resting inside his gear.

"I think Nora-kun could also do it if he tries…" Lavinia-san said.

"Please spare me, a cat cannot kill a god, we are meant to live a life of laziness where we nap seven times a day and eat the finest of the food." I retorted.

"Is that Kuroka-chan's daily life?" Lavinia-san asked.

I indulge her too much.

"Just locate the seal and I will take care of the rest." I muttered.

"What about Aika-chan and your new friends?" Lavinia-san asked.

"They are not my friends." I exclaimed. "They are all pestering Lisa so for now they should be ok, I will take care of them when everything starts so rest assured."

"I am jealous of her." Lavinia-san complained.

"Why is that? Do you want girls to pester you about how to look as pretty as you are? You don't use makeup; neither does Lisa so anyone asking is only going to get disappointed." I smiled wryly.

"I want you to call me Lavinia…" Lavinia-san mumbled pitifully.

Groaning at that, I had accepted that before, but one cannot erase customs.

"The dance will begin shortly!"

An announcement was heard, saving me from an awkward moment.

"Please, get closer to the shrine and witness the dance offered to the god!"

Still looking at me pitifully, Lavinia acted like she did not hear what was said.

"Let's go, Lavinia, it is time we go…" I said.

A bright smile blossomed on her face and she took my hand and interlocked our fingers. Surely because we have to act as lovers, surely for that reason.

Pulling me, she gave a subtle look that made my heart beat for a bit before turning her head ahead.

"I think I should've stayed home…" I knew that I was not being honest here since I did not truly dislike what was happening, but my escapist mind made me utter such a thing.

Our relationship is changing so I could not help but wonder if she would be satisfied with staying as my big sister figure, although I ended up acting more as the older one given that I took care of her.

…

…

…

"Thank you, all of you. This was a performance filled with all my sincerity towards our god, so it makes me happy that not only he will be pleased, but you also enjoyed it."

The miko was speaking to those who witnessed the dance, but there was something odd about her. She was already a strange child with a rather voluptuous body but with a childish and earnest personality, but right now, she looked out of it. Her face did not express any emotion as she was speaking, and the visitors dispersed throughout the place were mumbling in hushed voices. Nonetheless, the villagers did not seem to find anything out of place.

The guy who sold me a flower vase when I arrived, the old lady that gave me candies when I helped her carry firewood to her house or the little kids I played cards with, everyone seemed to take this as a natural occurrence.

"Nora-kun…" Lavinia detected the same as me and raised her guard.

"Our god is…"

Suddenly, like a puppet that got its strings cut, she fell. However, she was caught by a nearby figure. Kamiya effortlessly picked her up and with a snap of his finger, one of the villagers took the stage to drag her away.

"What is going!?"

"Is she ok?"

Worried words were poured out but Kamiya seemed to ignore those.

"My apologies, it seems that our shrine maiden is a little tired. Allow me to take her place." Kamiya smiled meaningfully. "Until 10 years ago, our village dedicated their faith to the land god that watched over nature. It provided bountiful crops and blessed us with healthy bodies. Although it all changed all of sudden, the land god abandoned us and we were on the verge of being wiped out, our crops died and disease plagued us helplessly. Our village hardly had interactions with strangers so we could not simply ask for help. Nonetheless, it was then that they extended a hand to us. They offered us a way to cure the sick and strengthen our bodies, we did not need to worry about getting sick again, and we could do things that we never imagined before. Somehow, thanks to that, we could overcome our situation. Yet, we could not simply accept things as they were, we went to seek explanations, but we found our god's situation. His wife had died while giving birth so he had directed his powers to raise his cubs."

His words caught everyone's attention.

"It was because such a thing that we lost many people, my mother, uncles and grandparents all died because the land god was using the powers he should've been using on us, to nurture his kin." Kamiya said in a somber tone.

Pausing slightly, Kamiya smiled ominously.

"It was unforgivable and as we saw his weakened form after giving most of his power to his kin, a crazy idea formed within our minds. Our benefactors had spoken to us about such a method, to kill a god to harness its powers… it was too sweet to be true, but thanks to their help, we managed to slay it, although his remaining divinity was put somewhere else." Kamiya pointed towards the shrine. "Our benefactors told us that since a god was not willing to live for our sake, we should just create one that does as we please. However, it was not an easy task and the method they offered us was not easy to complete."

An eerie aura began drifting from the shrine and cold air began to spread everywhere.

"Blessed crops, bountiful fishing, and hunting, it all required a sacrifice." Kamiya chuckled. "Nonetheless, we would be too heartless if we just offered to him like that. We are friends after all so I thought of giving you a chance to run away. If you put your heart into it, you can certainly escape…"

Unrest among the people could be clearly felt, but they did not dare to believe Kamiya's tale. For them, he was just spouting nonsense all of sudden.

Like he had expected such a thing, Kamiya snapped his fingers and one of the villagers brought him a gourd of sake. Rather big, you would normally have trouble carrying with both hands, not to mention one. However, the villager, a small girl about 10, easily carried with one hand without even breaking a sweat.

Drinking without reserve from the gourd, he ignored the hopeful look from the little girl. Stomping her foot hatefully on the ground the little girl left while Kamiya chuckled. Changes occurred on him as he did so, small bumps seemed to grow on his head his previous 'gentle' demeanor disappeared and a dangerous and bloodthirsty aura began to emanate from him.

"S-Stop with the jokes…"

"Is this one of those tricks to fool city people…? I must say, you got us here."

Mostly disbelief was heard among the visitors, either because their brains could accept reality, or perhaps they were naïve. Either way, Kamiya smiled at that and picked a pebble from the ground and flicked it towards the nearest visitor. The pebble hit him in the shoulder and he had to take a step back to not lose balance and fall.

"What the hell is this!?"

The shock must've been too much for him because he did not even scream in pain, he only shouted after seeing the pebble lodged in his shoulders as he bleed.

"Don't waste the chance to escape I am giving you, it won't come back if you waste it like this." Kamiya mumbled. "For the lucky ones we catch, we will offer you to our god, but the unlucky ones will suffer a different kind of fate…"

Grabbing Lavinia, I stopped the girl who wanted to rush and help. Shaking my head, I refused to let her end this in one go. Our mission was more important.

"He won't die from that. The book of rituals must be retrieved, and you know it." I whispered.

I felt a certain amount of pain when she looked at me with sadness, but I ignored it. I am not a hero, and I certainly cannot become the ideal person everyone thinks I am.

"Sorry if my choice causes you discomfort." I said.

Lavinia had something to say, but the running visitors interrupted anything that she could say. I lightly pushed away those that ran to pass in our direction as Lavinia and I stood in place. The villagers looked visibly excited and some of them even had watering mouths, but a glare from Kamiya made them get their bearings back.

Briefly closing my eyes, I used my ability and confirmed the position of certain objects I had planted throughout our stay. When I opened them again, I saw Kamiya waving his hand and the villagers spread. Not everyone left since I saw some of the ladies interested in me before trying to shield Kiryuu from everything that was happening. I could spot my people as well and I signaled Ikuse-san and Toujou-san to leave.

"Well, I expected someone with swift movements like yours to leave first, 'brother'." Kamiya sarcastically said.

Shrugging my shoulders, I hugged Lavinia.

"Look at her, I cannot leave her alone, her clothes will not let her get very far so as the gentleman I am, I have to stay and escort her." I mumbled.

"Heh, is that false bravado?" Kamiya smirked. "When you are surrounded by women, you act more composed. I wonder what would happen to you if you were to lose them all at once."

Before I said anything, Azuma appeared while glaring at me. I expected him to carry the book, but he simply carried some weird stone with a shape that screamed 'kon, kon'.

"I would love to stay here to chat, but I have to oversee a ritual, you see? However, my dear brother here will keep you company." Kamiya took the stone. "My brother asked me to leave you two to have a little chat alone so I will be taking your companions with me."

Raising the fox-shaped stone in the air, it gave an unusual glow and the same glow became apparent on the rings of my companions, and in less than a second, they were teleported away. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, but I decided to entrust them with the rest while they were away. I had Kiryuu-tan here so I had to make sure she was safe before I went looking for the others or the book. I won't lie and say that I was not worried since having everyone vanish from my sight like that was concerning, but I trusted their abilities.

Casting one last look at me, Kamiya walked away.

Azuma step forward and opened his mouth.

"You are finally alone-" He muttered.

I ignored him and looked at Kiryuu-tan and the ladies staying with her. They were about to get surrounded by the smirking villagers. Those smiles looked creepy and while the ladies were putting a front to not scare Kiryuu-tan and she was acting tough to not let them know she was scared, although they all had shaky legs.

Looking at the thing hanging on her chest, I nodded. The trump card there will keep her safe, although I am a little worried about the meeting of those two.

"I will be right there!" I waved with a reassuring smile, but they looked ghastly pale and pointed behind me.

"Careful"

One of the ladies, wearing a sweater, exclaimed.

I stepped aside two steps and soon enough a shadow flashed by and a fist struck the ground leaving a small crater.

"Being always hasty is not a good quality, for men, it is good to take our time rather than to go bam quickly, you know?" I sighed.

Sadly, my public was tough and my comment only worked to make him mad.

"Even in this situation you plan to act like a moron? Don't you know what kind of position are you in right now?" Azuma angrily pointed at me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I closed my eyes briefly and began to make a head count. Putting aside the two college onee-sans guarding Kiryuu-tan, there are no other innocent people around. In the distance, I got the feel of my little arrangements activating.

"What do you mean? I always knew you were a di**." I muttered. "You are just a hypocrite that acted nice in front of us because you wanted to attract us to this situation by making us suspicious."

As the villagers tried to plunge towards Kiryuu-tan, I tapped my left foot on the ground and a minimal amount of ki towards their location. It was a rather simple thing to do once you practiced enough and impossible to notice by those capable of using Senjutsu so I used to trick- I mean, to practice and train a pair of humans that Rias-chan had her eyes on. It became my task to watch over them since I put her to look for a certain someone to add to her peerage and until she found him, she can't go around looking for others.

My actions went unnoticed and soon enough, from the ground, the grass grew and wrapped on the villagers' feet, causing them to stop in their tracks.

Everyone froze when they saw and did not know what to say.

"Way to go, Kiryuu-tan, I heard you say that you come from a long-standing family of exorcists, but I always thought you were playing around." I gave her a thumbs up.

"A-An exorcist…?"

"There is no need to be scared; she is just a child…"

"You are the only one with shaky legs."

Not to mention the villagers approaching her, Azuma glared sharply at the girl. Said girl in question only looked at me suspiciously.

"People awake their powers when they need them the most…" I gently smiled at her.

That made Kiryuu-tan look at her hands and smile fearfully. Punching in the air at the villagers, I synchronized with her and made the grass below their feet grow and entangle them.

I did feel something special sleeping inside her, other than her strange ability to measure a guy's di**, but it is obviously not awake.

"We certainly did not account for the child to have that kind of ability…" Azuma clicked his tongue.

"By the way, this entire charade could've been avoided if you just kidnapped people randomly from the city, or to make it more discreet, you could've alternated it by attacking different cities." I inquired. "I am not so sure about your stealth abilities but you move more quickly than a person can and your strength is above a regular adult. I doubt you would find enough resistance from your targets if you went down that route."

"Aren't you pretty calm? Don't you feel restless now that the guy who came with you is not here? I always felt threatened around you people, but now that he is gone, I feel at ease. I am not sure what he has hidden inside his sleeve, but given the child with special abilities, he must have the same origin." Azuma said.

This guy is kind of off-mark since the one making him feel threatened was me. I kind of bullied him since I was bored. Kamiya was harder to bully since he is sharper so I had to settle with this guy.

"I am not sure about that, your brother is one thing, but now there is just you so it kind of takes out the hype." I shrugged my shoulders. "You are just a mid-boss character."

"…I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, but I can tell that you insulted me." Azuma glared at me. "…even a trash like you is underestimating me?"

"I was being kind, you look kind of mob-ish to me." I honestly replied.

My words must've pushed some buttons on him because he was disregarding Kiryuu-tan despite my timed assistance to make most of the villagers entangled. They were toughies that had superhuman strength, but Nora-kun had improved over the years and I could now turn normal-looking grass into super grass… not like it sounds impressive but they have a great ability to propagate and grow they work well as a way to stall the enemy that can destroy bindings at great speed.

"I did not want to use this on the likes of you, but your stupid mouth would not shut up…" Azuma ominously said and raised his hand towards me. "Look at this very well, I will show you something that trash like you would never dream to see. Observe it very well, this is power, dwelling inside of it is a creature that was the definition of fear and even gods were wary of its existence, behold!"

A red glow covered his hand and began taking the shape of a gauntlet, red in color, it looked like scales had taken the shape to form the gauntlet.

"Hahahaha! This is the Boosted Gear! Inside of it, the spirit of the Welsh Dragon, Ddraig, sleeps in." Azuma viciously laughed. "It is one of the Longinus, a tool made to kill gods! I was born with this great power! I was chosen by the heavens to wield this ability!"

"Pffft! Hahahha." I laughed, hard.

Oh, boy.

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3rd Person POV

"Hehehe, we are lucky to find these pair first…"

"I have to admit, that guy has good taste, first time I see a maid, but I like them already."

"Youth these days, you need to show some restrain."

"Seriously, we have them surrounded; you do not need to rush it."

"Don't make a mess of them, the meat tasted funny last time because of it."

"Ino and Kazu must've been skipping work again if they let the two escape…"

"Who cares? They usually have the first bite and we always have to taste them second hand…"

Standing back to back, Felis and Nanami were surrounded by a group of villagers. The males looked at them with lust but even the women had unhidden greed when they gazed at the two as their mouths watered.

The duo had been sent to different locations with a pair of villagers waiting for them, and they quickly disposed of the ones spouting nonsense. As they tried to reunite with the others, they attracted several people along the way.

"Senpai, this situation sounds like it was pulled from a children's book, two maids are back to back as they face a group of man-eating villagers." Nanami said.

"What idiot of parent would read that kind of book to their children?" Felis spoke in a deadpan tone.

"One that wants to prepare his children for situations such as this?" Nanami muttered.

"That is one explicit situation he wants to prepare them for." Felis retorted.

Shrugging her shoulders, Nanami and Felis each pulled a pair of guns from under their skirts.

"Fufu, Nanami has seen it, senpai did not use Aport to make the guns appear on her hands but instead did as Nora instructed." Nanami chuckled.

"Should I write on the report that Nanami's death was an unfortunate casualty…? No, I should just say it was friendly fire." Felis mumbled out loud.

Their actions only made the villagers laugh.

"Look at that, using guns?"

"Ladies, you are wasting your time, do you think you are the only ones with that kind of idea? We had people like that before but we have already tested that those lumps of metal cannot hurt us."

"We have abandoned our humanity long ago, not only our strength surpasses anything you can do but our bodies are tougher than human flesh we could never-"

The sound of gunfire was heard and the talking villager froze in his tracks. Blood began pouring down from the hole that had appeared on his forehead and he incredulously looked at the smoking gun in Felis's hand.

"I have been feeling quite stressed since this mission started so would you mind letting me take care of cleaning this time?" Felis said.

It was supposed to be a question, but Felis did not wait for a reply as she immediately began opening fire. The villagers reacted after the second shot and they were divided into two groups one guy, one decided to run while the other ran towards Felis, except for the oldest man who just decided to observe.

In response, the petite woman did not change her expression but instead rushed to meet them head-on, the leading guy got shot on the knee and lost his balance, and like she had timed his fall, Felis stomped on his head as he fell and used it as a foothold to jump. With swift movements, she landed on one of the woman's heads, her heel hit the nose, but she was unable to cause further damage with her shoe.

Knitting her eyebrows briefly, Felis decided to not engage physically with any of the villagers since it would take more effort than usual to hurt them due to their tough skin. It was only because the bullets she was using had Anti-Youkai properties in the spell engraved that she could hurt them so easily.

Before the woman reacted and grabbed her foot, Felis planted her second foot on the woman's face and jumped back as she did a spin mid-air and before she landed, she shot at the woman's head, leaving another hole perfectly aligned in the middle of her forehead.

There were a pair of villagers close enough to grab her with their extended hands, but Felis hit their hands with the guns. They did not receive any damage worth mentioning, but they got blocked. Using this chance, Felis swiftly evaded them with light footwork. Her small size made it difficult for the villagers to target her. In the meanwhile, Nanami mercilessly shot her enemies without batting an eye, and while both Felis and she looked expressionless, the villagers felt more pressure from her every action and hesitated in their movements, causing them to delay their actions which in turn not wasted by any of the gun-wielding maids.

Everything seemed to take a long time with many movements and actions taken, but in fact, it had taken a couple of minutes since the first shot was made. Once in a while, the villagers' attack would be deflected and dust would fly up whenever a fist struck the ground or the shards of a tree would be get sent away as the trees were mercilessly broken in pieces, nonetheless, their monotonous movements and lack of experience in dealing with skilled individuals caused the villagers to be reduced to nothing but corpses.

"Not bad, you two are pretty good. Even in my days, youngsters like you two would be hard to come by."

Playing with his long beard, the remaining attacker, the old man, looked unperturbed by the death of his fellow villagers.

"Ah, your face might not be expressive, but I can tell what you will say next. I don't have as much connection to this place as the rest of the old folks. I was accepted into this place by the current village chief years before the changes all occurred so I have no real attachment to anyone here. It might sound cruel to you, but I never considered these folks to be in the same league as me."

Cracking a laugh, the old man expected the other party to react by judging his actions, nonetheless, he chose the wrong target.

"Senpai, senpai, do all perverted old fellows like to run their mouths and say things that no one asked?" Nanami curiously asked.

"As their brain cells are used only to satisfy their disgusting habits, I would say that they lose the ability to properly judge what they are saying. In my opinion, they are just a waste of air, so recommend to swift pluck their miserable lives to ensure that they do not taint the innocent with their pointless banters." Felis spoke in a neutral tone. "His speech was seriously a waste of time, and even though no one asked him, he just said whatever he pleased, learn from it a never commit such a mistake. Your dream might be to be hired in the Shiki Household but be aware that it is the dream of many. To refine your abilities so they have no flaws is a maid's duty, never forget it"

Giving an encouraging (?) speech with a dispassionate tone of voice, Felis glared at the older man.

Looking annoyed but still maintaining a relaxed posture, the old man smiled as he took a stance.

"The problem with youngsters these days is that they are too hasty."

The old man put one foot forward and immediately used it to dash forward. The speed was slightly surprising for Felis who was the target, but she stepped aside and easily evaded.

"They had the opportunity to leave behind the weak body of humans and gain strong bodies, thus they get confident."

Firmly planting a foot on the ground, the old man used it as a pivot point to spin in place and sent a kick toward Felis with movements you would not expect from someone of his age and build. Too close to evade, Felis crossed her arms before she was blasted toward a tree with incredible force.

"Those brats never bothered to learn how to fight because they believed that with their strength nothing could stop them."

Watching with interest how Felis simply undusted her clothes even though she had crashed into the tree, the old man narrowed his eyes as he glanced at his leg.

"So that is why I felt like I did not connect the hit. You used the grip of your guns to take the impact and jumped backward as you used the force of my blow to avoid the damage, not bad for a brat."

Calmly analyzing the maid, the old man looked rather amused instead of frustrated that his attempt failed.

"These guns are made of a rather unique material that is hard to find so if they could not do a simple job as taking a hit, I would throw away these junks." Felis muttered.

"But you underestimated the strength behind the kick, right?"

Without any sort of vigilance, he gave his back to Nanami who was glaring at him with a death-piercing glare.

"Even if you are fakes, an oni is an oni. No matter how much your presence displeases me, I have to accept that even an insect like you can be a handful if you let it run wild." Felis said.

"You can't help but spout nasty comments about me, huh, aren't you quite sharp-tongued? Women like that are never popular."

Smirking, the old man checked her from head to toe.

"Well, there are always those who would be interested in your body rather than your personality."

"Too bad, my master believes that the way I talk is a lovely TRAIT!" Felis continuously shot at the old man to kill him, but he just evaded the bullets for the most part as he used his fist to deflect a few.

Continuously using magic spells to change the empty magazines, Felis did not stop until blood began oozing from the hands of the old man and he took a large leap to evade. During his escape, he saw that Nanami had moved away from her earlier position before he could even notice and was currently observing him with her deathly glare from behind Felis.

Lowering her guns, Felis changed weapons using magic and a pair of mini sub-machine guns took their place.

"So you can use Touki as well." Felis commented.

"It might not look like it right now, but I used to be part of one of the so many secret units from the church, one of the so-called holy warrior candidates. Well, I failed the test and deflected."

Shrugging his shoulders, the old man shook his hands briefly and got rid of the blood. On a closer look, there was part of his skin that took a darkened hue.

"You shouldn't be able to deflect my bullets even if you are capable of it. Albeit small, I used a special type of bullet that would trespass most defenses without a substance." Felis muttered. "Is it the oni's trait..?"

"Oh? You know about it? Onis have tougher skin than most youkais so harming them is usually very difficult for anyone who does not use large weapons, although regular onis are not conscious of this ability and only certain onis are capable of using their trait at will, being able to harden their skin to the limit, but those who trained their trait to the limit are softening it if they desire. Nonetheless, it is an interesting ability, when I first got it, I trained for a bit, my defense is a little lacking, but my offense can be pretty interesting and I even capable of making use of it in… hehe…"

The creepy laugh of the old man made Felis want to blow his d-

"You two are quite skilled. I am not sure if you are just using that brat or if you truly like him, but I doubt you are a freelancer. Who do you work for?"

"What is it? Are you jealous of our master? That we have decided to become his women? We are just maids, and maids are supposed to be the strongest." Felis taunted.

Her deadpan expression and neutral tone made it hard to sound like a taunt, but no one pointed it out.

"I am jealous that some brat tasted you first, I always had a bit of taste for strong women, you see? I love breaking them. Women like you are too good to be in the hands of some brat, I will teach you what a true man is, I was the one who taught Kamiya how to break women after all."

Exposing his desires made Felis want to throw up in disgust, he was beyond saving and she only stopped to chat because she was curious about the difference in skills and wanted to obtain information about other individuals like him in the village, but she wasted her time. However, just as she was about to turn him into a hive, a pale hand was put on her shoulder stopping her in her tracks.

"Senpai, would you allow me to take care of this one?" Nanami spoke with killing intent barely hidden in her tone.

It seemed like a simple request, but there was an unusual amount of force on Nanami's hand. Felis could not simply shrug off that grip like her usual playful nonsense so Felis stared deeply at Nanami's eyes and saw that she did not intend to back away so Felis did not even try to fight back.

Sighing heavily, Felis decided to accept her kouhai's offer. Pulling her weapons away, they were exchanged for a white envelope with a cat head as the seal. Nanami's expression turned blank for a moment.

"As soon as you are done, read this without fail. That is an order as your senpai and friend, understood?" Felis handed over the envelope.

Nodding at that, Nanami carefully put the envelope away.

Mumbling something in a low tone of voice, Felis left to hunt down the villagers that ran away.

Nanami stared at the place Felis left with a warm expression before she turned back to the old man she did 180 grades turn as she frostily glared at him.

"You called her senpai, is she your superior in the organization you work for? It must be tough working for someone weaker than you."

Smirking, the old man appraised Nanami.

"She is still young and has many opportunities to grow. Her abilities rely on her weapons and that certainly could be said to be a weakness, but it is not like she is not aware of it. Felis-senpai always strives to train to get stronger, she always polishes her skills-" Nanami explained.

"However, you cannot deny that she is weak. Her armaments are threatening, I will give you that, but without them, she would not be able to even leave a scratch on me. If I had not been wary of you since the beginning, I would've incapacitated her already and minutes later, I would have her panting under me, hehe."

Giving an unnecessary graphic description, the old man hoped to get a reaction from Nanami, but she simply raised her hand forward, and an intricate golden magic circle formed, after glowing brightly, it disappeared and a barrier began expanding around the duo covering dozens of meters.

"If you think that she would've been hopeless without her weapons, I can only call you stupid, but given the number of brain cells you must have, that must be praising you. Even an ameba would be able to conclude to not underestimate your enemy when they are clearly holding back." Nanami coldly said.

The magic circle triggered some memories in the old man so he only half listened to what Nanami said. A feeling of dread enveloped him but he pushed the feeling away and-

"Are you angry because I spoke badly of her? No need to defend her now that she is not here. I am not denying that she has quite the fighting spirit, and her movements are sharp, but you can't deny that she is below you."

"No matter what I say, I would be wasting my time." Nanami sighed. "You have made a great mistake, you know? One that qualifies as a great sin."

A large pressure began building on Nanami, the wind stirred as a golden glow covered her.

"Are you going to tell me that I should not have insulted your friend?"

Even if he tried to act calmly, his body betrayed him and the old man took a step backward.

"That is a mistake, and I will make you pay for it as well. My senpai is the best senpai that can exist." Nanami shook her head.

"Is it because I said I will be breaking you two? It is my hobby so there is not much I can do about it."

Shaking her head again, Nanami simply kept her eyes on him.

"Because I did not care about you killing the other villagers?"

A little feed up, Nanami shook her head.

"Then I am not sure what you mean."

"As expected, my senpai accurately could tell that you had brain problems." Nanami sighed. "You said that we would be wasted on our master, and that is incorrect. You have no idea what kind of individual he is. The depth of his abilities, or his character, a waste of air like you cannot understand a single thing about him."

Pure white wings, a total of six pairs of them manifested while being covered in a golden glow along with a golden halo floating on top of her.

The old man could hardly believe his eyes and he shook fearfully.

"T-This is a lie, you must be trying to fool me, setting as this should be here, you lot have forgotten about humanity and have not appeared in our lands since long ago!"

"What do I gain from fooling you? Although seeing you make a fool of yourself sounds pleasant, I don't feel like being playful anymore." Nanami said. "It is true that the heavens are the most detached type and let humankind do as they please in concordance with God's will. However, I will not deny that some will assume that we abandoned you and that heaven's grace is no longer with you. That much, Nora-sama reprimanded us for the first time we met."

"H-Huh? You are saying that the brat dared to lecture an angel of your standing?"

"Not only me, at that time, but he also spoke in the presence of several high-ranking angels, one of even higher standing than me. His bravery is something amazing and until now I am in awe." Nanami said.

"B-Bravery? Are you insane? No, he is insane. That is recklessness, he does not know his limits!"

Snorting, Nanami flapped one of her wings and like daggers, her feathers flew and stabbed the old man in the legs. He tried to evade while putting in his strongest defense, but it was futile, the feathers lodged into his body and brought him incredible pain.

"Argh!!!"

"Who gave you permission to speak ill of him?" Nanami inquired.

"What are you!? There have not been any documents about this kind of ability in common angels!"

Remaining silent, Nanami just glared coldly at the old man.

"Are you really an angel!? You must be faking-"

"I am a bonafide angel, and deceiving you has no merit. It makes me curious about the fact that the church is keeping records of our abilities, but it is not something that was asked of me so I will not pursue it." Nanami muttered. "I am honestly more fond of the name Nanami, but..."

"There is no such an angel! There cannot be a pure-blood angel with a Japanese name!"

Like he could not accept Nanami's words, the old man threw a tantrum.

"And you have been acting violently without a reason! You are also being consumed by anger and that is why you are not killing me at once, you plan to torture me, right? Haha, you will fall if you do it."

Regaining part of his confidence, the old man stood up, and bracing the pain, he launched an attack. Throwing himself at Nanami, he hit nothing as she floated upwards.

Gritting his teeth, he put his hand on a nearby tree and uprooted it before he tried to swing it at Nanami, but he could only drop to the ground after Nanami flapped her wings and feathers flew towards him, skewering his arms and stomach.

"Urgh."

The pain made him drop to his knees as he held his wounds to stop the bleeding. Gritting his teeth, he hardened his skin and tensed his muscles to stop the blood from spilling.

"Do you consider murder to get rid of an insect you step on? It is the way that nature works, and an angel would not fall from something of that magnitude." Nanami stated.

Getting a chill, the old man pushed himself to run away, but before he even took a step forward, feathers rained on him.

"Anger? Certainly, right now I am very angry. Even though I would like to erase you at once using my powers, I think it would be a shame to end it so quickly so I can only use this method. Nonetheless, I would not fall for the sin of Wrath. Neither murder nor anything related to it will ever be a cause for me to fall. I am a special kind of angel, I was made to be solely a weapon and my purpose was to get rid of enemies threatening the heavens no matter how." Nanami coldly said.

"Haha! I see, so you are that, huh! Heaven's weapon, the Angel of Massacre, Sandalphon! Just my luck, I was hoping to break a couple of women but I found my doom looking at me."

Laughing in resignation, the old man stood up.

"DON'T YOU THINK I WILL LET YOU KILL ME EASILY! I WAS ONCE PART OF THE HOLY WARRIORS' PROJECT! NO MATTER IF IT IS YOU WHO I AM FACING, I WILL NOT DIE EASILY, IF I CANNOT KILL YOU, THAT BRAT-ARRGHHHVH!"

The cries of the old man continued for a while amidst the rain of feathers. No matter what kind of defense he mustered, they were unable to stop the onslaught. Feather after feather tore his flesh apart like a hot knife slicing butter. Blood rained on the trees and feathers lodged on the ground creating a ghastly landscape.

"I told you that you have no right to speak ill of him." Nanami frostily said. "I also hate to be called by that name, although I guess I cannot run away from it."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Nanami landed on the ground. Feeling some discomfort, she touched her face and found a few droplets of blood belonging to the old man there. The blood that had splattered during her attacks made her disgusted.

She tried to look for a handkerchief in her pockets to clean it, but her hand touched something she had forgotten about. Pulling it out along with a handkerchief, Nanami first wiped the blood before throwing away the dirty handkerchief. Briefly hesitating, Nanami followed Felis' instructions and opened the envelope. Half fearful and half excited, Nanami took a look at the letter.

Inside the envelope, there was a letter written by Nora.

"Hello, maid one. You seem to have gone ahead and used your abilities again. I kind of hoped you did not have to do it since I feel like you are going to be burdened by it. I have only read a bit about it and I cannot honestly say I know all there is to know about yourself. Being an angel and all is not something a youkai-devil hybrid like me can grasp, even more, one that was made so long ago with the purpose of fighting and exterminating enemies only. I will not lie and say I did not have bad impressions of you, no, I was small-minded and had a bad impression of angels in general, but you all proved to be good people instead of the type of people I thought you were. Everyone always looks at you by your titles and positions, but for me that is wrong. Whether it is you, Gabriel-sama or Metatron-sama, you lot are more than just high-ranking angels that control things in heaven. You have your individual personalities and each has your wishes. Nonetheless, you were quite the case. Trying to kill me as soon as you saw me because I was not human was surely too much, don't you think? Even though I was technically illegally trespassing the Vatican and was kind of illegally taking photos of books in the forbidden section, you surely could've chosen to not try to kill me at first." Nanami read aloud and felt kind of troubled by what she read. "I did my best, seriously, if Shishou had not been training me since long ago by throwing me Gae Bolg continuously in order for me to be able to avoid the unavoidable, I would've been a dead cat by now. Nonetheless, I was happy that you were stopped back them by Metatron-sama. Teaching him about the place he could learn ninjutsu beforehand saved my life as funny as it sounds. I almost cry when he let us be locked in one room to sort out our differences, but I guess that is when our friendship was born."

Chuckling Nanami felt her heart feeling lighter with each phrase she read. The text was long and it took her a while to read to reach a meaningful part.

"You know? You might get called by that not-very-cute name in the Vatican or in heaven and I can't honestly do something about it. However, I can guarantee that in the maid guild or Urakyoto you can just be Nanami, the mischievous girl that learned about pranks from me, There is no need to act like you were created for because that is not what I want. I just hope you enjoy all that life has to offer for you." Nanami continued to read. "Even if you decide to continue using your powers and continue your old job, I will accept you at home. I will offer you a roof to sleep on, but NOT IN MY ROOM."

Clicking her tongue at that last part, Namami thought that it was unnecessary to add it.

Looking again, the ghastly spectacle that resulted from her actions was still there, but Nanami did not feel as burdened for using her abilities again.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she noticed an addition to the letter. It was not written in the same language and did not follow the previous ink color.

"As your senpai, I might lack the proper understanding about what troubles you sometimes but I... am not the type to let you go now that I have you under me. You decided to become a maid, and I will make it happen. It is forbidden to quit halfway so don't think you will escape from my teachings." Nanami read aloud.

Smiling, Nanami could understand now why her senpai wanted her to read the letter.

"I would be ashamed to be called a bundle of mischievousness if I do not make fun of my dear senpai after reading this, wouldn't I?" Nanami mumbled happily.

-------------------------------------

3rd Person POV

"Sae, stand back." Tobio said.

Raising his hand to shield Sae, Tobio stared deeply at the darkness ahead, and soon enough, an old lady that needed a cane to walk and a little girl came out accompanied by a pair of villagers.

"Hoho, Sae-chan and Tobio-kun, so you were here."

Using a nonchalant tone, the old lady spoke in a gentle and harmless tone.

"I am glad that you two did not get split up, it is heartbreaking to see couples separated, you see?"

"Grandma, I am hungry~"

Pointing at the duo, the little girl did not hide her intentions.

"...I did not expect to see the person who joked about us getting married in this kind of situation." Tobio bitterly said.

"Oh dear, it is nothing personal, sometimes, things like these happen."

Smiling the old lady simply muttered.

Glancing below, Tobio briefly caught his shadow moving thanks to the moonlight shining on the sky.

"You speak as it has happened often." Sae asked.

Smiling, the old lady chose not to answer.

"Can I ask you to give up?" Tobio asked.

Raising her cane and lowering it, the sound it cause made the villagers accompanying her walk forward.

Sighing, Tobio's expression sharpened as he began to step forward. His actions made the old lady narrow her eyes as she could perfectly hear the villagers' steps and until a few seconds ago, Tobio's steps as well, but as soon as his expression got sharper, the sound of his steps disappeared. Not only that, but his speed looked slow but he was covering a long distance and despite not moving at a superhuman speed, he was leaving afterimages.

"You better give up and we could make it painless..."

"For you maybe, the lady on the other hand..."

Smirking, the pair of villagers tried to put a hand on top of Tobio's shoulders to stop him, but he simply passed by them and their expression froze.

"Oya?"

The old lady furrowed her eyebrows, as she failed to properly see what Tobio did.

The villagers fell on spot and Tobio continued to move forward.

"Eh? Everyone just fell forward? Are they playing around? Normally they would've made that Onii-san to cry in pain..."

Looking curiously at Tobio, the little girl walked past the old lady and got in his way. His gait immediately stopped and his expression turned complicated.

"Miyu, come back!"

The old lady called out, but the little girl did not seem to hear her. Clicking her tongue, the old lady banged her cane again and several villagers revealed themselves from behind Sae.

"Tobio-kun, would you mind stopping? I don't want to make a terrible scene the last thing you see. You remind me of my dead grandson so I would rather have you die peacefully at least."

Glancing back, Tobio frostily stared at the villagers and they stopped immediately. Not only his shadow, but the surrounding ones stirred.

"Sae." Tobio called out.

"Yes." Sae pulled out a stack of ofudas.

Splitting it evenly in each hand, Sae let them fall and despite the lack of wind, they flew up towards the villager's feet, and as soon as they touched the floor. The villagers looked below and the ofudas shinnied in gold before chains made of light came out and tied them.

"So Sae-chan was a practitioner."

Sighing the old lady, raised her hands in defeat.

"You got me, I have no more tricks up my sleeve. What's next? Should I bend my neck a bit to make it easy to cut my head? All you ask as long as you let my granddaughter live."

Biting his lips, Tobio looked at the old lady.

"She is an innocent child, I hope you can be considerate, go with the onii-san, I will catch up to you soon Miyu."

"But grandma!"

"Listen to me!"

After the exchange, the little girl walked towards Tobio with tears in her eyes.

"I didn't know you had those kind of skills when I first met you."

"...it is nothing much. Nora-kun taught me the movement technique. I believe it is called Rhythm Echo and he learned from one of his acquaintances." Tobio closed his eyes. "I worry about his the people he hangs with, I cannot deny that whatever he teaches us always helps us."

"Heh, is that so? That child is also more than what he is showing. I always had the feeling which is why I did not dare to get in his way. I considered him one of the most dangerous ones."

As the old lady and Tobio exchanged conversation, the little girl got closer to Tobio. With his eyes closed, Sae could not signal him but despite being able to talk, she did not say anything as she saw the shadow below his feet stirring.

"I think he would not accept that and plead that you change your mind." Tobio commented.

"That is certainly how it might look, but even though I faintly felt that the maid and the air-headed girl were dangerous, I would rate you and him a step higher."

"Why is that?" Tobio inquired.

"At my age, after having lived through what I have, you develop instincts. I just imagined facing you both and I am not sure why, but I could never imagine winning against him."

Already close to Tobio, the little girl lowered her head and her expression was hidden. Shyly standing in front of Tobio, she kept her hands behind her.

"He insists that I am the strongest one." Tobio mumbled.

"That can be discussed, but for me, you are not stronger... because you a too gentle, and naive."

As soon as those words were said, the little girl jumped at Tobio.

Sighing, Sae looked down sadly as the blood began dripping... from the little girl.

"Night Haken." Tobio said.

Numerous blades grew from his shadow and impaled the little girl mercilessly. Following that, blades grew from the villagers and the old lady's shadow. They were all aimed at their vitals and none of them was capable to avoid the hit.

"H..ow...?"

"I don't want to burden him anymore." Tobio pointed to several places.

The old lady, not dead yet, looked in those directions and saw several animals that she had failed to detect before.

"If I had hesitated, those animals, those shikigamis would've stepped in to kill you instead." Tobio said. "They lack the strength to face tough foes, but he made them to deliver deadly attacks by aiming at vitals. He controls them all remotely and they have been spread all over the mountain. Individually, they might not take on you people if you are on guard, but they have enough numbers."

"H..ehe, I knew he was... the most dangerous one."

"I prefer to taint my hands with blood than to let him carry that weight by himself. I can't just hide behind my ethics every time we face a new foe and refuse to land the killing blow, or else, he will do it in my stead. I decided to help him and become his strength, someone he can rely on." Tobio said.

Bitterly smiling, he recalled some of the conversations he had with Nora, but he shook his head and gave one last look at the old lady before stepping in to confirm her death.

"Tobio..." Sae called out.

"It is ok, we got work to do." Tobio smiled wryly.

The 'animals' that Tobio had pointed out before, dispersed without making a sound as the duo continued to walk forward.

Author's Notes

So, I think I mentioned before, but I made a mistake when I wrote about Kunou after Nora was rescued from the lab. She should be about a year younger than Shirone here given that she is a year older than in the canon. I can't recall which chapter had that so I did not correct it. Just think of her like I am describing her now.

I had some troubles with the chapter and the writing app along with Christmas time made my chapter delayed, although the good news I could work on some SS for you guys. Well, those will be for the next year given that I have finished the volume. Although I have planned an intermission next, but it will not interfere with the next chapter since I have been writing a bit of it and it is short.

This chapter covered a bit of Nora's abilities. His luck in this kind of games is unusually high to a terrible degree and even if someone tried to cheat him, he is pretty much a master on that area as well. His past was also briefly touched to explain his skills and believe, one has to learn how to cheat correctly or if you get caught, you will lose big time. I am not a gambler, but the histories my grandfather told me about a friend of his were pretty graphic given that I knew the man.

Some characters got their spot light here while others did not. I particularly added Nanami's part and background.

I hope you liked your chapter and the parties.

Merry Christmas, albeit delayed.

I would like to ask you to suggest me a good writing app given that the one I have been using lately uses too many ads and after trying word, great deal of the chapter ended with no space, something I had to edit for a while.