17 Chapter 17

(Play Yakuza 0 OST - Pledge of the Demon)

CRASH-BANG-SMASH-SLAM-CRASH-BANG-SMASH-SLAM-CRASH-BANG-SMASH-SLAM-!

The sounds of conflict rang true across the room in which Presea Testarossa had barricaded herself in so she could buy time to achieve her goals. These sounds came from said woman as she battled against her daughter's clone, a homunculus as it were, launching singular and area-effect type magic attacks at Fate like they were running out of business. She'd already tried to grab her right arm to reattach it to her body via healing magic, but Fate in a show of sadistic malice had shredded the arm to bits the moment she'd tried to reach for it, thus Presea had to resort to her left arm to hold her Staff to cast her Spells.

On the other hand, Fate seemed to act more like an entirely different person right now, both in her attitude and her way of fighting. The first came from how she would always have this polite, almost docile smile on her face like she didn't mind anything that was happening. However, that smile would then slip right off her face like a mask being lifted, resulting in a rather crazy to downright psychotic grin of twisted glee forming on her face, usually whenever she had gotten and exploited an opening in Presea's defenses. It was the kind of look that Presea recalled a few times in her youth, as there had been times when serial killers disguised as colleagues working with her would act like before they tried to claim her as their latest victim. Yet hers… hers felt over a thousand times WORSE… as if she had been taught by one of the worst serial killers in history or something like that.

Going back to the thing about her strikes, Fate's battle tactics had ALSO gone under a DRASTIC shift in intention and methodology, something which she attributed along with her personality shift to that strange Scythe she now wielded in place of Bardiche, which no longer could be seen since she'd stored it away in favor of this new weapon. The girl's fighting style now seemed to have integrated the concept of 'killing' into it, merging with her previous style to the point where she now struck at any opening Presea exposed with the intent to leave fatal injuries to her, none of the previous hesitation having been observed.

Furthermore, the Scythe itself seemed to possess abilities that Bardiche did not, as instead of shifting into different Modes for different Spells like intelligent Devices were built for, this Scythe seemed to possess the ability to summon forth these long, twisted-looking black chains at seemingly random intervals. She could summon them either from her own body and use them as whips or Tentacles to strike at her from range, something which Presea had a bit of trouble with since they came at her so fast and fro numerous different angles making predicting their movements difficult, forcing her to resort to performing multiple defensive barriers spells in order to thwart them off. However, her Scythe also seemed to be able to generate those chains from the space around her too, resulting in them attacking from even more locations which Presea struggled to deal with. Destroying them with area of effect Spells didn't do too much since they could just be generated by that damn infernal Scythe.

Then, as if to FURTHER prove how much of an annoyance that Scythe could be, it had the damned ability to split it's form into smaller segments connected together by a single Chain, turning it into a Chain Scythe which Fate could use to terrible effect. Still, as good as Fate was in close combat, the eldest Mage didn't believe that this was completely Fate's doing, these skills, this bloodthirsty demeanor… they weren't that clone, not the one she knew. Plus, these skills weren't something she had learned to be a more useful tool for her, far from it. If anything, it almost seemed as if that Scythe itself was… guiding her, much to Presea's dismay since she didn't believe something so absurd could happen.

It didn't help that, sometimes, she saw the faint image of a spectral figure wreathed in black mist behind her either, acting like a puppeteer guiding her movements.

Jumping to the side, Presea managed to avoid a couple chains that tried to impale her from below whilst putting up barriers to defend against their follow up slashes. Presea then turned her direction back to Fate who had flown at her with her Scythe set in a horizontal swinging motion from the right to the left. When she swung, Presea hopped back to avoid it then swung her Device to launch a wave of Mana backward, sending her sliding away. "You DARE to strike back at me… deny me my deepest wish… that just proves it! YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE MY DAUGHTER!" The woman, frustrated at this outcome, yelled at her daughter's clone. Since the fight had endangered her capsule-encased daughter and the few Jewel Seeds needed for her plans, Presea had levitated them away to the back of the room. She didn't trust this… thing before her to not try and break them whilst fighting her.

A good choice, on her part.

Said 'thing' however, just gave a polite little chuckle of amusement, having seemingly found her statement funny whilst twirling her Scythe over her head like it were a set of helicopter blades. "Now, let us examine that statement for a moment, shall we milady?" Fate questioned, although something soon became apparent both to her as well as the observing Vali and Albion: that Fate's voice didn't sound COMPLETELY like her own. In fact, it sounded like a mix of her voice alongside someone else's, a man's voice, causing no small amounts of discomfort for both of them. "You say that me striking you is something to be ashamed of…? Why is that? When an animal is beaten repeatedly, eventually it bites back… this situation is similar. This is a dog eat dog existence, after all. Second, you call me something that I never was to you in the first place… how wasteful of this precious air we breathe. You must have breathed in too much methane for how wasteful and destructive you are."

SCHWING-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-!

Before Presea could retort to that, Fate swung her Scythe in an under head arc, driving it into the ground which resulted in the Scythe cutting through it like it was slicing through flesh. During the swing, the whole weapon split apart into its Chain Scythe form, resulting in Fate launching a rising sweep across the ground over to her so-called 'mother'. Presea's eyes widened at this as she hastily threw up a barrier to defend herself, watching as the Scythe's blade slashed across the Magic Circle in front of her before she proceeded to sneer at its wielder and made to insult her once again. However, that got stopped before it could even begin when Fate proceeded to bring the Scythe down for a downward sweep, then multiple diagonal strikes after that one got defected…

SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-!

Which then started a chain of sweeps launched by the Chain Scythe which Fate commanded, her eyes wide with insane glee at how defensive her 'mother' had begun to express herself as. Not only that, but the more strikes she launched, the faster they became till they reached a point where they began leaving afterimages of themselves as they struck from all kinds of different angles, sometimes curving around to strike at otherwise unprotected areas only for Presea to generate more Barriers to defend those said areas.

For a while, this fight remained in this stalemate…

CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…

...Until fate seemingly decided to end it in a cruel twist where, to her horror, Presea suddenly felt herself being cut off from her power source, her Mana Generator. 'Wh-What?! IMPOSSIBLE!'

'Well-well, look at that. Looks like the others have done it, Albion. They've sealed up that Mana Reactor.'

'Indeed, Vali. Now that her external power source is dealt with, she can no longer fight at her full power and will pose less of a threat to the dimensions now. This fight should end rather quickly now…'

True to the Heavenly Dragon's words…

SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-

SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-!

.... The moment that Fate saw her opponent weaken, she grinned like a savage beast, throwing away that 'polite' demeanor for the remainder of this battle as she increased the intensity of her assault, her arms like blurs thanks to her high-speed movements. That is, until finally the strikes shattered the barriers like they were made from paper mache before they proceeded to land themselves across Presea's body, making her scream louder than a Banshee as the blade constantly chipped away at her. Blood and bone fragments splattered across the ground in a gory mess thanks to Fate's onslaught, with the girl avoiding the fatal areas in favour of ones which wouldn't kill her…

But would still hurt like a bitch.

After a couple minutes, Fate's grinch shortened into a similarly feeling smile as she retracted her weapon, the segments reconnecting to form the Scythe once again whilst she stepped forwards towards her mother's blood-covered form on the ground. Said woman, even as pain wrecked every nerve in her body thanks to the barrage of blows, still tried to claw her way over to the Jewel Seeds and Alicia's corpse with an almost demented look in her eyes, only for Fate to step in front of her, kicking her in the face and making her fall onto her back. "Gah!"

"Poor, poor Presea… looks like the others were able to seal away your precious Mana Generator. That is most unfortunate indeed…" the blonde girl remarked with a fake solemn look on her face… one which vanished seconds later as she gleefully smiled down at Presea like a slasher would when tormenting his or her victim. "Unfortunate in that it would seem that it ends our little playtime together. Kihihihihihihi…"

'...Should we step in? If this continues…'

'If this woman lives through this, she'll not stop until she meets her objective, Albion. She's one of THOSE people, people who would do anything and everything to do what they want without a care for those who they hurt. Such people like her… like my grandfather…. They NEED to just disappear from this world…'

'True, that.'

Whilst this brief mental debate went on between Vali and Albion, Fate swing her Scythe downwards in a diagonal angle, in order to wipe it's blade free of the blood still splattered on it, all the while she raised her right leg and stomped on Presea's chest. This got her to not only gasp for air, but also discard her Staff to use her remaining arm to try and relieve the pressure on her lungs by grasping the limb. She COULD have strengthened herself with Magic to pry the smaller girl off her, however multiple Chains had emerged from Fate's body which restrained her entire body, limiting her ability to move further.

"Now then…"

Fate hummed thoughtfully as she looked upwards to the ceiling, wondering how she should end this. A sinister idea then came to her however, and a twisted grin spread across her face as a result. Another Chain then burst out of her, shooting towards the capsule containing Alicia in it and wrapped around the whole thing, before it then rose the Capsule into the air… directly above them. All the while, Fate grinned like a crazy person on a bloody rampage, pointing upwards with her free hand to the capsule. "Why not try reaching for it? Your goal, that is… struggle. Struggle like the pathetic maggot that you are, woman. Show me just how truly incompetent you truly are."

Fate's words caused Presea's eyes to shrink to the size of saucers as she weakly tried to take in breaths of air. All to get as much oxygen into her body as she raised a shaking left hand up to the ceiling, where her daughter's corpse remained suspended by the Chain. She tried to reach for it like a man did when they dreamed of taking to the skies on their very own wings, uncaring for anything else as shown by the demented to dowright demanding gaze her eyes gained. Her lips curved into an insane form of twisted glee as she reached forth, since according to her gaze, she saw a silhouette of her daughter happily smiling at her, falling down into her waiting grasp.

"Alicia… my Alicia…"

"Don't worry mother… ALICIA is DEAD!"

"?!"

CRUNCH!

However, as if by some twisted joke, Fate laughed as she had mimicked Alicia's voice thanks to her having some of the original's memories, all the while many more Chains instantly converged on the capsule from all over the place, forming a cocoon around it. This only lasted a second though, before the Cocoon of chains clenched tightly, crushing and destroying the container, and by extension Alicia's corpse, which lay within.

"....Ah…...Ah…"

At first, Presea couldn't believe it, her eyes wide and her jaw agape as her face looked like one which had laid sight upon a monster which she had feared all her life. All the while, liquids from the Capsule mixed with the blood of the corpse fell down onto her like rain, covering her form alongside that of Fate's in its embrace. This not only served to turn her whole body red, but it also served to wake her up to te ugly truth which Presea had been denying this whole time. That her daughter…

Was DEAD.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGH!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Seeing how her so-called 'mother' screamed in absolute despair and sorrow at her actions drove Fate over the edge. She burst into explosive, hysterical yet insane laughter whilst holding on to her gut with her free hand, bending over as she savoured the screams of her former tormentor. "YES! YES, THIS IS IT! EXPOSE WHO YOU TRULY ARE! YOU'RE A PATHETIC, ROTTEN, SOULLESS CORPSE OF A WOMAN, JUST LIKE YOUR DAUGHTER! HAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The blonde girl exclaimed between her bouts of laughter, plus considering how her voice currently was it made her laughter all the more tisted, horrific and malicious.

Hearing this laughter shifted Presea's despair into anger, frantic anger that pretty much dove into the maniacal category as she gnashed her teeth and yelled like a beast towards the clone of her daughter. "YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU ACCURSED USELESS BRAT! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU TAKE ALICIA FROM ME, I-" She began to say whilst reaching forth for her Staff, intending to use the last of her Mana reserves to blast Fate into nothingness. However, her gaze shifted into confusion and then horror when she couldn't feel the Staff Device with her hand, causing her to look to where she'd discarded it reflexively to see it ensnared by a bunch of Chains…

SNAP!

Which then proceeded to snap it in two, effectively rendering it useless.

"Ah…. Ahhhh…"

"So sorry…"

Fate began to say, before she trailed off and grabbed Presea by the sides of her jaw with her free hand…

SCHULUCK!

"...Nah, not sorry."

Then decapitated her with her Scythe in a horizontal swing, finally ending that woman's life.

Once it was done Vali then walked towards her as she took deep breaths before putting his hand on her shoulder gaining her attention "How was it Fate, was it satisfying or it wasn't?" he questioned, noticing the Scythe turn into a black mist and then enter her hand. The chains around them also disintegrated, making him realize that they were likely part of the Sacred Gear, too. As for the capsule and the remains of Alicia, that stuff just splattered across Presea's corpse, a truly symbolic end to such a wretched woman, in his eyes at least.

All the while, as she recovered from the experience, a lighty panting fate looked down at her right hand. Now that she wasn;t using the Scythe no more, she began to feel… perplexed, by the stuff that she did. Part of her felt horrible about what she'd done, but an even BIGGER part of her didn't. "I..... don't know. I was feeling so happy that I went against her, but still...… she was..... My mother."

"....... if your mother truly cared for you...…. Then tell me: when was it that she ever told you that she loved YOU, not that dead girl's memories but YOURS?" Vali questioned, arching a brow as he glanced downwards at her back. Parts of her clothing, likely from both those chains, and the battle itself, had been shredded to allow him a view at her naked back… to which, Vali noticed something which nearly caused him to lose it once more. However, he didn't cause instead he figured that what he'd seen could be a means to help Fate move forwards.

Hearing his words, the girl's eyes widened as she looked at him in stunned surprise. "I.... Just don't know. All I ever wanted was to gain my mother's love back, but now... I just don't know what to do." she replied, shaking her head.

Only to meekly squeak when she got turned around by the silver haired Hybrid and forced to look into his hard eyes. "Fate, let me ask you this: are you gonna just wallow out in sorrow and blaming yourself for killing your mother? Well are you, are you gonna just be a pathetic little girl who this bitch put down for her own needs? Well are you?! Are you going to try to convince yourself that 'girl'" He spat, gesturing to the liquid-like remains still existed of Alicia. " Is what you meant to be?"

"........ No… no, I won't...…. I will not be a pathetic girl that my mo-that bitch, put me down! I won't blame myself that I killed my mother!! I'M NOT ALICIA, I AM FATE AND I AM MY OWN PERSON!!"

"Heh...…. That's what I wanted to hear, Fate." Vali declared once he saw her steeled expression, nodding in approval since he had been proven right about her. That her resolve had been just like his own back in his situation. In order to compound this notion however, another step needed to be taken and he knew JUST how to take it. "By the way… you have scars from when she likely whipped you right?: The boy remarked casually, not letting his inner emotions show on his face.

"Eh?! How did…?!"

Fate made a response to that, only to stop when she recalled her Barrier Jacket's current state as well as where he had once been standing. This made her realize that he likely saw her partially naked back, to which she realized that there was no hiding it. In the end, she nodded her head silently, remembering those times well.They'd occurred many times after all so the scars had been driven deep into her skin.

"... Here, let me show you something."

"Huh, what are you…#GASP#"

Thanks to her response, Vali turned so his back faced her, before taking off his coat. He also took off his upper body's clothing, much to her surprise… although it became horror at what Fate saw on Vali's back. Scars, twisted and vicious looking scars that were engraved onto his back seemingly by a viciously sharp object, not like ones made by a whip like the ones on her being. "You're not the only one whose had an abusive lifestyle, Fate, nor are you the only one who had them inflicted upon you by a family relative." Vali explained, stunning the blonde Magical Girl into silence. "However, as much as I hate the one who did this to me… I see these scars as something else: a source of PRIDE."

"Eh?! But Why?! Why would you see them as something like that when…. Wait…?!"

Seeing the look of realization on her face, Vali let a small grin creep onto his features as he proceeded to explain. "It's as you're thinking. These scars may have been inflicted upon me, but I see them as a form of pride, I take pride in them because despite these scars on my person, I'm still here today, thriving. They're a testament to my endurance, my ability to persevere and wait for my time to come, and it did. You should take solace in your scars too, Fate, for as much as they may urt, they also tell a story: a story of a young girl struggling to live her life under oppression, only to truly take flight to the skies of freedom with her own power."

Fate remained silent, too dumbstruck by what the boy had told her whilst he put his clothing back on. To see his scars as a form of pride and perseverance, like they were some heroic deed that deserved much reverence… Fate never saw the ones on her person as such before, she had seen them more as a form of shame for not doing well enough on her missions. Yet, the more Vali had explained it to her, the more she began to realize… that there was indeed truth to his words. That Fate indeed was still here, herself, despite the torment inflicted upon her by that bitch…

Combine this with the revelations that she'd gone under, albeit by a twisted maliciousness which had stripped her of her previous feelings, and Fate truly felt like she could go on living right now. To truly live her life the way she saw fit...

"Ok I…. I see.... Thank you for that."

"........ your welcome Fate. Now then, lets get the fuck out of here or else Great Red will destroy everything."

Timeskip 4 days

It's been a few days since the raid of Presea's base and things went back to normal...… well almost normal.

Since Vali, Nanoha, and Xun Er had collected all of the Jewel seeds that were roaming across their Earth, they had given each of them back to the TSAB so that they could contain them for good, to never let them be seen again. It would be for the best that type of power to not be used ever again, since people like Presea existed all across the world, and perhaps beyond if the TSAB had anything to say about it.

After they escaped Presea's base they managed to get the ship and left that place before seeing a giant red dragon appear there, it was terrifying and yet relieving that they had escaped the death list but Nanoha, Fate, Xun Er and everyone on the ship got horrifically shaken over the site of the dragon. Vali, for the first time, felt fear in his life that the dragon could end them instantly, but they escaped before the dragon could look at them.

When they escaped only a few of their soldiers were transported to the ship, being healed in the infirmary and Fate was directed back to her cell with Alph. Nanoha was against it because Fate helped them stop Presea and gathered the Jewel Seeds, but it was still not enough, for Fate had been one of the ones responsible for stealing them in the first place as Presea's accomplice, so she would have to take responsibility for that. However, as Nanoha had begun sulking about that, especially since this meant she would be parting ways with Fate soon Chrono told her that their organization might consider Fate joining them once Fate's trial was completed. After all, with the evidence that they had found after a quick raid on the Castle led by Chrono himself whilst they were dealing with Presea, a large amount of stuff had been uncovered to guarantee a swift trial for the girl.

Furthermore, Lindy awarded the trio of Vali, Xun Er and Nanoha for helping in retrieving the Jewel Seeds despite Vali being rude to them, she told them that they might stay here in their world due to the unique energy it has. Who knows, maybe Vali might have Hathor give an interview with them in the spirit of cooperation, plus even with the reputation that she had, the fact that these people seemed willing to talk with her made both Vali and Xun Er smile internally. Perhaps Hathor could be seen as a decent person by some people, after all, even if to some she may always be known as her monstrous side, Sekhmet.

Speaking of Hathor, when she heard that all of the Jewel Seeds have been contained she was very happy that they were gone, so that no god could ever use them. She was surprised at the state of Xun Er's new arm, to the point where she had questioned her about what had happened. As such Xun Er had explained to her mother about the cyborg samurai, two which the mother began leaking bloodlust that is GREATER than any opponents Vali has faced. It made him sweat from the intensity behind it, but eventually Hathor managed to calm herself, satisfied in the knowledge that her daughter had at least learned a valuable lesson, and had promptly changed her attitude. She had thanked Vali afterwards for protecting her daughter, something which the boy felt a bit surprised by since this had been the first time someone thanked him for something, and told him that if he needed anything he only needed to just call her.

Afterwards, Hathor had then asked Xun Er if she wanted to come home and that her objective was over. Xun Er thought about it before she gave an answer that Vali was surprised at. She told her mother that she wants to continue her journey with Vali. She wants to explore the world, experience new stuff that she has yet to discover. Hathor was surprised but also happy that her daughter has finally grown up and she no longer needed to look after her. Though, the Goddess DID mention that her daughter's few childhood friends may be coming over to visit her when she got the chance, since they hadn't seen her for a while. Afterwards, the Goddess had said her goodbyes and told them that she had become VERY proud of them, especially Xun Er, before it ended

Once all this had happened, a bit of normalcy had returned for the group, with Nanoha having returned to school, whilst also occasionally training with them. This had mostly been because of how, due to being a part of the supernatural world forever, Nanoha would have to grow stronger to at least protect other people from danger. Of course, Vali still held great annoyance for her naive outlook on the situation, but had to keep it to herself since he believed that, sooner or later, she would experience for herself, just how CRUEL the supernatural world can be.

Right now though, Vali and Xun Er decided to go to go to a cafe and relax a bit from all the Jewel Seed business. This time though, Xun Er did not ONCE showcase any of her previous bratty behaviour. Instead she demonstrated restraint on spending their money (To much of Vali's and his tenants relief of his wallet).

Whilst she enjoyed herself, eating some sweets while texting to her friends like a normal girl would (She'd bought a phone so that she wouldn't miss any conversations with her friends from other parts of the world), Vali drank coffee and ate some muffins while having a conversation with his tenants. Mostly war stories between [Glavenus] and Albion.

One thing of note however, was that she had to put up illusion magic to hide the real appearance of her arm, wouldn't want any civilians to know that she has a demonic arm.

While she texted about, Xun Er's eyes flashed when she got a new text from an unknown receiver, one that said to meet them at the mountains, the first place where they met. She didn't know who it was until her eyes widened in sudden realization before having a determined face. She got up from her, not before catching Vali's attention

"Hmm? Where are you going Xun Er?"

For a moment, the girl didn't answer him, and when Vali asked again she beat him to it. "...... Some place where I will settle something."

THIS caught his attention, as evident by the raised brow he gave. "Settle something?" He wondered, before something came to his mind after a few seconds, and a light of understanding shot through his eyes. "Fine, but this time….. Make it out alive. Wouldn't want your mother screaming or killing me for not being there for you."

"Don't worry Vali, I'll make sure of it."

"Alright, be safe."

With that said Xun Er left the cafe, leaving Vali alone at his table. He ate his muffins and drank his coffee before leaving a bill to pay for it. He then talked to his tenants.

'What do you guys think?'

'Hmmmmmmmm, my guess is that she must've been contact by an enemy that wants to settle their differences. If I were to guess, I would say that this enemy may be the same one who took off her arm before. That 'jetstream Sam' if I remember her story correctly.'

'Is that so..... Then I'll have to go trail her, then. I'll stick to observing them before getting involved if things get too out of hand.'

'Good luck then, Vali.'

'Like I said before. I don't need luck, I just need to survive.'

Later on...

Xun Er landed on the ground after having arrived at the bridge, the very same place where she had first met Fate and that cyborg samurai Jetstream Sam. To her surprise, the place didn't look like it had seen much activity, and there weren't any signs of life in the vicinity either according to her senses, which immediately made Xun Er go into an alert mode. 'Looks like something was set up to keep normal people from coming here...' the dark blunette thought to herself.

She looked left and right before seeing something in front of her, calmly approaching as she remained emotionless. Jetstream Sam walked towards her before stopping some distance, a hand on his Katana before giving out a smirk at her. "Well-well, look at the balls on you, keeping me waiting young lady." he greeted cheerlily.

Of course, Xun Er could hardly be called the same, since seeing this man reminded her of their first battle and her consequent humiliation. Her formerly severed arm twitched as the phantom pains of that night briefly returned, before she clenched that arm's fist to disperse them. ".... Fancy meeting you here, old man. How did you even figure out my phone number?"

Sam laughed in amusement, like she had just told him a funny joke… although to her, it wasn't funny at all. Rather creepy, actually. "Well I had some connections and used them to find you, don't worry I didn't tell them that you were involved with the meteorite."

Hearing that made a scoff erupt from the girl's mouth, her eyes riddled with contempt. "How sweet of you old man, I suppose I should thank you for that."

"Heh well not if you say that. Say...… you've gotten yourself a new arm, most impressive and with modifications on it." Sam remarked, noticing her arm as it shimmered briefly, before the magic hiding it got dispelled by Xun Er's will. This resulted in the demonic arm, of which she had aptly named it the 'Devil Bringer' due to how she used it in battle, as well as how a hybrid of human and Devil had brought it into existence for her as a form of salvation.

All the while, Xun Er held it out in front of her, pointing the back of it's palm at him with each digit in a claw-like stance. "I got it from a friend of mine, but anyway why are you here old man, come to avenge your comrades?"

"Heh, they got what they were coming when they underestimated the new future generations."

".....Right. For a hired killer, you must've been convinced by your superiors that they will give you a big load of cash if they managed to even get ONE of the meteorites.��

"I'm not talking about money young lady, I'm talking about ideals."

"......excuse me?"

"....... Forget it. We've both heard plenty enough speeches about higher causes by now. History will decide who's right. End of story."

Once again, Xun Er rolled her eyes before narrowing them, taking a step forward. "..... hmph, I don't care who thinks I'm right, and besides I've got cause enough for killing you, old man." she spat, her gaze becoming one of infernal anger.

Something which surprised the cybernetic Samurai, but it also seemed like something which he liked to hear judging by the delighted grin that spread across his face. "Wha-?! Oh good, heheheheheh. Why that's very good, young lady. Yes, I like that! Finally, I've found the steel of determination which I've been looking for."

"Steel of determination huh, old man.... Well then, that will end here, too." Xun Er declared, getting into her fighting stance.

In response, Sam did the same as his grin widened. "Hehehehehehe Let's dance!" he bellowed, all whilst he brought out his red Katana as his mouth was covered by cybertronic parts.

(Play OST - The only Thing I Know is Real)

Afterwards, he burst forwards with his Katana positioned behind him perpendicular to his right thigh, implying an upward slash.

Something which Xun Er noticed and responded to in kind, promptly holding her Devil Bringing out and projecting it's Spectral Arm to block the slice. The moment that the Katana's edge hit the arm's spectral scales, it bounced off which prompted Xun Er to swing her Devil Bringer in a reverse back hand, the spectral arm mimicking this movement to force her opponent backwards. However, this wouldn't be the end of this exchange, for Xun Er jumped forwards to press her advantage whilst Sam hadn't regained his balance yet. With a loud war cry that escaped her lips, Xun Er rose her Devil Bringer and made an overhead smashing motion with it, the Spectral Arm following suit.

BOOM!

Barely managing to avoid the strike by rolling to the side, Sam got back to his feet and dashed forwards, appearing behind Xun Er and swinging at the back of her neck horizontally, intending to behead her. However, the girl dismissed her Devil Bringer's spectral arm and got onto all fours, letting some of her hair get cut in the process but nothing too major. This not only let her avoid the attack though, but it also let her get into a handstand and push herself into the air, planting both feet into Sam's face and send him down the floor. Seeing her chance, the girl twisted herself into position whilst at the height of her jump, summoning the Spectral Arm again and bringing it down as if she were a drunkard banging his fist on a wooden table. However, Sam managed to get out of the way by rolling across the floor then performing multiple slashes whilst getting into a crouching position, ones which cut deep through the Spectral Arm's being. As a result, Xun Er gritted her teeth when wounds appeared across her demonic-looking arm, exactly where the larger version had been cut earlier. "Ahhhh, I see. So that fancy looking arm of yours and your normal one are connected. Damage one and the other follows suit…" Sam remarked thoughtfully, eyeing the demonic arm un Er sported as she quickly got back into her stance.

'Tch, looks like my Devil Bringer's weakness has been exposed… I wanted to hide it at least for a while longer...' The blunette thought as she sent energy into her Devil Bringer, healing the wounds with her power as the scratches that adorned it closed up until the limb looked like it had never been injured. It was a good thing that her Devil Bringer could repair itself like this using her energy, as one time during that 'testing' she'd done against the Golems, the entire hand got cut off when a stray beam shot through the Spectral Arm's wrist like an energy blade. Sending her energy into it after a moment's worth of panic had shown her this little trick, as well as its ability to heal from normally crippling wounds. Likely a result of her wish that the Jewel Seed had granted. "Heh, well then let's see who gets the other first, your toothpick or my FIST!"

Not one to let her original techniques go to waste, Xun Er manifested a bunch of golden fiery fists around her, then launched them whilst running forwards. Seeing them coming at him, Sam chuckled behind the plates hiding his mouth, promptly getting into his default fighting stance. He raised his sword up high, then performed a standard two handed stance which sliced the first fist right in half vertically, which he then continued till it had reached the ground in a diagonal angle by his left thigh and twisted his grip on it. This was so that he could follow up with a rising slash that cut through the second fist. Twisting his sword hands, Sam cackled as he swung his Katana horizontally in a slight diagonal angle then did the same kind of slash from the opposite side again. This allowed him to see that all the fists had been extinguished, but their launcher was nowhere to be seen.

'Hm? Now, where would the little lady be...?' He began to wonder… before his instincts told him to step to the side, allowing him to avoid a spectral fist which smashed into the space he had once stood from above. He then hopped about a few times, twirling into a roundhouse kick into the girl once she had landed, getting a gasp out of her as he sent her tumbling across the bridge. "Not bad, but not good enough little lady. Try and be better!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch!" Xun Er exclaimed, a smirk on her lips as she threw her human arm downwards after raising it above her head. At first, Sam didn't know what that would do to change the battle, before he blinked and then looked up to see a dozen or so golden fiery fists descending down upon him from above.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-!

The sounds of explosions, mixed with the roaring and crackling of golden embers, filled the air thanks to Xun Er's little tactic. A tactic which she had derived from the one she'd used against Monsoon when they had fought before, when she'd accepted herself and her 'Sekhmet Mode'. The smell of burning tar also filled her nostrils and made her want to gag, but the girl didn't let that bother her for she had seen things WAY worse than this, instead she looked into the flames to see where her target had once been… yet, as the smoke cleared, Xun Er's eyes widened when she didn't see a corpse where Sam had once stood. This prompted her to quickly get on guard and deploy her Spectral Arm, only to quickly raise it and block a sword slash from the side that sent her sliding across the road about 20 meters.

As for the cause, Sam wasn't done yet as he continued his offensive, almost skating across the road as he made multiple upward slashes by twisting his wrists about to re-angle his Katana, then performed a thrust which Xun Er blocked with her Devil Bringer's Spectral Arm, as the last couple strikes she had side stepped to avoid those. Finally, Xun Er performed a rising upper cut, slamming her Devil Bringer's fist into Sam's chin and knocking them both into the air, where she pumped energy into her legs and planted both her feet into his gut, causing him to gasp as he got sent crashing onto the floor. For good measure, Xun Er slammed her Spectral Arm into the man's own sword arm, forcing him to drop his Katana which Xun Er landed beside, kicked away then used her Spectral Arm to jump back by jumping, then palming the road beside her and push, using the propelling force to launch herself away. It vanished as she landed and slid to a halt, though.

Getting up and dusting himself off, Sam looked towards his sword behind him, where it lay horizontally on the ground waiting to be picked up. However, instead of going for it like Xun Er had theorized, Sam suddenly burst forwards like before, slamming his fist right into her gut before she could react, knocking the wind out of her. "Heh, far too easy, girlie! Soldiers have to have more than one weapon on the battlefield!"

'Argh! He knows close combat, too?!" the Demigoddess exclaimed in her mind as she got back into her fighting stance, ignoring the painful sensations in her gut to do so. Good thing she did too, cause Sam had already launched his next offensive which consisted of a couple of sweep kicks which she dodged by hopping above them, which she responded with a spinning elbow strike to his head that Sam blocked by placing his palm in the elbow's path. Raising her left leg, Xun Er launched another kick, one which Sam also caught before twisting his arms around, launching her spinning into the air like a beyblade only to drive both fists into the side of her hip like a double palm, launching a gasping Xun Er away from him.

"Heh, looks like I beat you in close combat…" Sam remarked as he jumped back and retrieved his Katana, picking it up by the hilt and getting into his default fighting stance. "Remember this girlie, it ain't enough to be good at fighting, you have to LOVE it, to THRIVE in it, if you want to achieve victory."

"Gee, thanks for the lesson, old man…"

A scoff escaped Xun Er's lips as she ran at him once again, making Sam get into position for a thrust towards her face. However, right at the last moment before their collision Xun Er summoned her Spectral Arm and slammed it's closed fist into the ground whilst hopping, propelling her above the man whilst smacking him in the face with her right foot. Though this had been a preparation move to get her opponent dazed so he couldn't react to the REAL power play that came next. With a smirk on her lips which had a trail of blood going down the left corner of, Xun Er grabbed her adversary whilst in mid flight with her Spectral Arm, lifted him above her head and SMASHED him into the ground upon her landing. She didn't stop there though even as the man himself gasped, as Xun Er rose her Spectral Arm and repeated the process, then flipped him into the air before grasping his leg…

SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-!

And then repeatedly smashed him into the ground like a baby smacking it's toy into the floors of it's room.

After a while, Xun Er threw her opponent into the side of the bridge, feeling a surge of satisfaction and glee in the sight of his form crashing into it. "Heh, how'd you like that, old man?!" she bellowed, raising her human arm and pulling down her eyelid, all while sticking out her tongue at him. To his credit, the cybernetic mercenary didn't stay down for long as he stood back up, then raised his head and swung his sword in a reverse upward slash that travelled in a slight diagonal angle. This allowed him to slice through a large, golden fire fist which Xun Er had launched… only as a distraction so she could slide along the ground, slide right past him and use her Spectral Arm to perform a lariat, smashing into his neck and launching him flying into the air before she scooped him up and smacked him down onto the bridge once more. Afterwards, she jogged up and pumped divine energy into her right leg, kicking him in the side with said limb to launch him tumbling across the bridge.

"Yes… yes, that's it, little girl! Now I'm feeling ALIVE!" In spite of his injuries from this fight, Sam didn't look anything like disappointed or furious, instead he looked absolutely DELIGHTED, especially when Xun Er's eyes widened when multiple slash marks appeared up her leg that she'd used to kick him earlier. 'When did he-?!'

SMACK!

"Guh!"

A shocked gasp escaped her lips when Sam appeared before her and smacked her in the face with the reverse end of his blade, then twirled around for an overhead smash which Xun Er held her Spectral Arm horizontally to block, causing sparks to fly from the constant grinding the two weapons made. "Yeah… I can see it… your little arm there constantly saps energy from you to maintain it's form, which is why you only keep it out briefly…" Sam remarked as he watched the Spectral Arm's shape start to flicker. Something which caused Xun Er to gnash her teeth since, as much as she hated to admit it, her opponent had hit the nail on the head.

The thing was, whilst the Spectral Arm called forth by the Devil Bringer was indeed powerful, not to mention that depending on her preferences it's size could vary, it took a lot of energy inside the Devil Bringer itself to maintain. She'd discovered that the said demonic limb had its own reserves of power, Demonic Power, that it used to form this arm for battle, and only demonic power could be used for its stability. However, to compensate, Xun Er had figured out how to send her own energy into the arm itself to enhance the arm's blows as well as its effectiveness. On the other hand though, aside from that it only succeeded in repairing its wounds sustained by the Spectral Arm itself, not actually refilling its reserves. Sadly, this arm also served to drain the demonic power inside her Devil Bringer quite quickly, and as much as she wanted to believe otherwise, Xun Er knew for a fact that without it, she couldn't even HOPE to beat this guy by herself without it since whilst her TRIGRAM PALM technique was powerful and she could use it in tactical ways, it meant nothing if her opponent could simply cut through them.

"So… this will be the END...!"

"...You know what? I think your… RIGHT!"

Xun Er yelled that out as she threw her arm to the side to break the deadlock, catching Sam by surprise. She had to get this done quickly though, since this moment would only last a couple seconds so, with all the power she had left, Xun Er augmented her Spectral Arm for one final jab, the clawed digits on it's fingertips being used like the blade of a sword as she shaped the hand into a chopping potion. With one quick war cry, Xun Er howled as she stabbed the arm RIGHT into Sam's chest before he could react in time, causing him to gasp out in shock and dismay.

(OST End)

"U-u-uhh… Ugh...... w-well played... young lady.... hhhhhaaaaa finally..... a success…..or."

Xun Er pulled out her Spectral Arm, the phantom limb having pulled out a heart before crushing it via mimicking her hand movements. Sam stayed still before dropping down to the ground, resulting in the atmosphere becoming silent once again as the conflicts of battle ceased. Xun Er stayed silent as she looked at the side, eyeing something that remained unseen. "You can come out now, I know that you're there.... Vali."

"Heh looks like you've got better at sensing Xun Er."

From behind a nearby building, Vali walked out and approached the newly made corpse. He then took the red blade inspecting it, before going for the sheath. He looked at the body of the samurai as he was surprised. "Huh… how interesting. Looks like this one barely had any of those so-called cybernetics, unlike those other Winds of Destruction we have faced, Xun Er." he remarked.

Surprise also crossed over onto her face as she looked the corpse over, noticing the same thing that he had. It seemed that the only cybernetics the man DID have seemed to be contained within his right arm. "..... looks like it Vali... what are you going to do with that blade?"

"Hmmmm..... I think I'll give it to you, Xun Er." Vali decided after a moment's worth of deliberation.

Something which DEFINITELY caught her by surprise if the look on her face was any indication. "Huh? Why is that?"

The boy then rolled his eyes at her, mentally suppressing his annoyance at her for not getting it, so he explained it himself. "Because you won the battle, so you get the spoils. Besides, I have my Devil Arms, them and my Sacred Gear will be all that I need.." Vali then swung the sword, getting rid of the blood it had accumulated thanks to cutting through his companion, then put it back in the sheath in front of his face before going to Xun Er, handing the blade to her. She stayed silent before taking the blade from him as she looked over it before putting it at her side.

".... thanks, Vali."

"Your welcome, Xun Er. Now then, let's go home before Miya gets angry at us and brings out that..... #SHUDDER# hanya mask."

"(SHUDDER)! I agree with you there. Let's go!"

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