ENTER

Passerbys and residents residing close enough to see sparks of the battle from afar were drawn in to the light show, stupidly they approached the shaking grounds with only curiosity on their minds.

Because of his shop's popularity, numerous rich folk took it upon themselves to build their own homes on the borders of his land so that they may be the first one to procure his goods early in the morning.

So when the shop that they dedicated their recent life to seemed to have something going on despite the more than a week length it had been closed, they took it upon themselves to check it out.

Hell on earth, a battle between the divine and machine, those were the words they were most aptly able to use to describe the scene. At least before they locked eyes with some of the apostles, each of whom gave them a stare that would haunt them even in their dreams.

The devotion they felt looking at their holy figures all but vanished in a single instant, replaced by an insurmountable fear. Whether it be the mechanical bodies that littered the fields, or the soulless mass produced soldiers that rained hell on them, each of them inspired a fear in the hearts of the residents.

Fearing that they may become the ire of the unfeeling apostles, the residents scrambled into a mess deep into the dark, running home either by foot or horseback as fast as they could.

Apostles who caught sight of this only snorted before turning their attention back to the scene.

"Freida, Alicia, any word on how you may be able to take down the barrier from within? We cannot afford to allot the Irregular any more time…"

"I apologize captain, however we have come up with nothing. What I assume to be the Irregular's teammates are steadily approaching our location, preparing to intercept!"

The captain scoffed before removing her left hand from her ear, her fellow apostles have managed to infiltrate the Irregular's camp and yet they have been unable to do anything about the barrier protecting it.

"These are my orders, focus our attacks on a single point. Once the six within the compound take care of a sufficient amount of dolls, we'll be able to pierce through…"

"Yes, Captain…" Several hundred voices resonated in her mind. The apostles who had received her message via telepathy shifted positions and all stood on one side of the barrier.

Their master was expecting the mission to succeed, the last thing they could do was fail to meet that expectation.

=====================================================================

CLANG CLANG!

Claws crossed swords, Tio grunted in pain as two apostles bore down on her from the front. Sparks erupted before she opened her maws to release a startling amount of flames.

However the apostles with their outstanding bodies simply backed away without trouble, entering the fray the moment the flames disappeared.

Her dragon mode provided her with the most defense but at the same time against swift foes like the apostles it only made her a large target. Tio's scales glowed a void black as the rays and magic launched at her ricocheted and flew off in different directions.

'Thankfully I managed to get a better grasp on evolution magic before we left…' Tio released a relieved sigh, shaking her head whilst approaching her enemies who were caught off guard by the deflection.

The transformation was temporary, and as time went on it served to drain her mana reserves by a ton. But with it she was practically impervious to magical attacks— her scales growed even brighter, residue of mana flaking off like snow.

"Tio-san! Do you need our aid?!" From the mask Tio heard Claire's voice. Making up her mind, she determined that Claire and Ari would only serve as liabilities to her destructive abilities.

"Focus on the two apostles in front of you, I'll handle things over here!" Tio's voice resolute, Claire nodded inwardly before turning her attention to the two apostles in front of her and Ari.

Like Noint they each held a pair of white longswords, and like Noint they weren't very fond of waiting.

"Hmph!" Ari responded to one of the apostle's attempts at casting magic by flinging her chain toward the magic circle formed of feathers, Her eyebrows narrowing as the other apostle stood in her way and deflected the blow.

Claire jumped in with her vacuum blades, even if her swordplay was nowhere on their level she knew that all she had to do was break their cores like one would with any golem.

With how close Claire was to her body, the apostle resorted to hand-to-hand combat, swinging her longswords so closely would only leave her at a disadvantage. Though that proved to be a fatal flaw, as the moment her hands passed through the area Claire had swung her daggersm, they were ripped off from her arms in a single instant.

The apostle didn't allow Claire another moment to attack as it wrapped itself in its wings and dove back toward its comrade's side.

"Tch!" Claire clicked her tongue loudly, now that an apostle knew what she was capable of they would likely decide against ever approaching her again.

With no other options she nodded toward ari before charging in, behind her a chain bathed in flames and along its end a single sickle.

Claire put her total faith into the chains, allowing them to coil around her body while she charged in bravely. The apostles met her head on, one providing covering fire as it backed up. The apostle that still had hands equipped her own swords.

However, the moment she got close to Claire the chains that had been wrapped around her body shot forward like snakes.

Taking the moment where they locked the apostle's arms to her sides, Claire dug her daggers into her chest. "Grahhh!" With a yell she plunged them in as deep as she could, only retreating when the other apostle rushed in to stop her.

BANG BANG BANG!

Noticing that her partner had her core destroyed, the remaining apostle launched magical spells without restraint. Two magical arrays made of feathers littered the sky, from one erupted a sea of flames, from the other a wind so foul it threatened to root up trees.

The intensity of the wind only made the flames more intense, the little forest residing within the compound was about to be destroyed in a single move. Ever plant and vegetable Ari cultivated would be gone forever.

STAB!

"Huh...."

The apostle looked down at its chest, three extremely sharp and blood soaked blades protruded from it. Confusion painted her eyes, then doubt, and finally, something that resembled regret. The apostle slumped over, a hole in her heart.

"Yo, sorry for being late~!" Felis posed proudly, whoever her sudden entrance was ignored by Ari who sighed in relief as trh death of that apostle spared her farm from being obliterated.

"Um, Felis, where's your sister?" Claire voiced out after not seeing the lazy feline anywhere nearby.

"Oh her, we got separated. Last time I remember… She said something about an apostle following father…? I'm not sure, she left in so much of a hurry that I immediately lost her with all the robot guys around…"

"....."

Claire stared at Felis with a blank expression, then in shock. She got up from her kneeling position without a word and charged back toward the manor with great haste. Leaving behind a confused Felis.

"Hey Ari-nee, let's help Tio-sensei!"

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U-Ugh, my eyes are so strained. This is my third chapter today... Way past my bedtime, my damn brain is all muddled up. So with that being said there ain't much for me to report on. So, thanks I suppose.

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