Melted Metal

My fist crashed onto the floor, dust flew around and debris was thrown all over the place. If I hadn't controlled the amount of power I put into this punch…well this whole house would've just collapsed, I think.

But that's the least of my problems right now.

The floor shuddered at my impact, the wall decorations and the rooms above and next to us all moved and shook. The distant noises of objects crashing or falling echoed through the floor as The dust began to settle. Yet, something was off.

Something quickly jumped out of the dust, skidding across the wooden floor and standing right next to the front entrance door. A large metallic arm dug its ways into the flooring to stop itself from moving, and a surprised man looked at me.

"You almost got me." Victor finally spoke. "If I hadn't moved in time, I would've taken some heavy damage from that." The large man stood tall, his head standing taller than the door frame behind him.

"Then stand still, I'll make sure the next one does." I said coldly, ripping my hand from the wooden floor. Burnt wood debris riddled my hand, but I quickly swiped it away. "I'm not letting you go anywhere until I get our answer."

The sound of footsteps behind me caught my attention for a moment. Glancing to my right, I saw Korbyn making his way to Kale. Kale was still fighting off the humanoid monsters, killing them and watching as they evaporated into the air. Somehow he was able to make them evaporate, unlike me when I killed the snake monster earlier.

"Lilith, You handle Victor! Me and Korbyn will handle these humanoid things and Elena!" Kale called out to me as he went into for a fast thrust, his two swords piercing another humanoid. "We'll chat about that burning arm of yours later! But for now, just use it!"

"Kale, I hope you're making the right decision!" Korbyn threw his curved sword, watching as it spun in the air and sliced the heads of the humanoid creatures. "Are you sure she can handle him?!"

"She fought a fucking demon from the demon continent and is really piss! I think she's more capable than the both of us at the moment! Now let's hold off these things!"

"Ok, Noted! Did not know about the demon thing, nor did I know her left arm could do that!"

"Neither did I for a bit, but It's helping us!" Kale said before focusing on the humanoid monsters.

Kale gave me the clear go to fight this guy. Last time I did, there wasn't even a fight between me and him. He managed to crack my rib with a punch…I need to watch out for that metallic arm. Better yet, I need to rip it off.

I twirled my black shortsword around between my fingers, holding it backwards now as I stared down the bigger man. Victor looked back at me with cold eyes, his right arm flexing with intensity while his left arm whirred to life.

"You are digging your own grave facing me, little one. Even if you manage to find their whereabouts, you'll be too late." Victor said, he lifted his head with content. "I've done my part for Mandy, so I suppose I'll indulge in this fight."

My left arm flared with heat, the fiery aura swam up to my knuckles. My fingers carrying patches of scale around them, my nails sharpened and looked ready to slice through anything. My left arm was becoming more dragon-like, but I didn't care.

"I'll get it out of you. Even if I gotta rip every finger off of you…" I said in a low voice. "And whatever that pink haired freak is doing, Kota will stop them. I know he can." I lowered myself into the Fire King style stance, ready to fight this man.

"Then do it."

[Victor]

The plan was simple enough for me. Kill the rest of the group for Mandy, and ensure that they have time to do whatever they need to do.

When we first noticed the beacon activating Last night, I recall Mandy smiling and calling out to her necromancy monsters. The excitement in their eyes as those creatures whisked themselves in the darkness to the location of the other stone. It came to their dismay that those monsters didn't finish the job, I suppose this group was something to not take too easily.

However, we used this moment to enact Mandy's plan. To take the Mallory children, that was the plan. Whatever their significance is, I never questioned. In fact, This seemed like a typical thing Mandy would do. In our time together, Mandy would take these jobs to take people for slavery. It was our primary resource of rubees. But this job we took for Adam Mallory…It is not like Mandy to not take money for it.

So that night we Took the Mallory children from their home, Taking them to our base. It wasn't the hardest thing we've done, in fact it was easy. No one put up much of a fight, especially that old Dwarf servant they had…

But…I suppose Mandy had some other ideas, as they also grabbed Adam and the other Servant to bring back to our base. It confused me, but…Whatever Mandy has planned, I will follow. And just this morning, she awoke me to her new plan. Take the boy.

Which brings me back to the present. Standing against the door Frame of this home as a young girl stands in front of me. We had met much earlier before, back at the river. A fire king style apprentice? That's something I've dealt with before,

Fast and aggressive was their key so she'd probably want to end this as quickly as she could.

I raised my right arm, taking a stance. I had no use for my old swordsman skill. Ever since I got my metallic arm, the usage of it was more useful than my sword. The raw strength of it often overpowered any swordsman, whether it be someone who knew of Earth king style or any other style. As nimble as she could be, my own speed should be superior thanks to Mandy's enhanced necromancy…

The fiery aura her left arm emanated didn't frighten me, it was perhaps another way of mana cloaking. It shouldn't do much to me. Though her left eye, on the other hand…I'm not sure what that could do.

"Then do it." I said to the silver haired girl. I could easily counter a fire king style move, too many times I have fought them. Focus on where she'll attack, follow the blade. If she's so desperate to get something out of me, the-

!!!

The silver haired girl lunged at me at an extraordinary speed. Her blade was ready for a strike, and yet…she didn't swing it. It seemed like a second had passed when I realized she had stopped right in front of me, clenching her left fist for a swing to my body.

"What?!" I exclaimed, moving my left arm to block it. But the girl was faster than me. My reaction to this was too slow to act!

"You better talk!" I heard the girl say as her left fist propelled itself and struck my body. The impact of the punch blew me back, destroying the entrance door and sliding me into the open space of the building.

A singing feeling rippled through me as I looked down. Right to the left side of my ribs, a burnt mark was placed onto me as It sizzled and burnt the flesh off me. Suddenly, I felt blood pooling from my iron mask. It must be Internal bleeding, whatever that girl just did really packed a punch…This body of mine may not feel the pain that is happening to me, but it has a limit.

I wiped the blood that was coming out of my iron mask, staring down the entrance of the house. The silver haired girl shook her left hand with ferocity, the anger in her eyes seemed to have increased. As soon as she spotted me again, she lunged once more.

I could react to this, I quickly moved my left mechanical arm and grabbed the ground floor. Gripping the floor, I tore off a piece of the ground right at the girl. The mass of dirt and rock hurled itself to the girl, but she sliced it right in half. That was when I readied for a mighty swing down, one that would crush the girl.

"Too late!" I yelled, my mechanical arm slamming right into the ground. The ground shook and dirt flew into the air, a loud cracking noise was audible.

I hit her.

Killing wasn't something I was afraid of. In fact, it was something I've gotten used to ever since I tagged along with Mandy. If killing was the only option, then I'd obliged. With this silver haired girl? It was necessary. The plan was to kill this group for Mandy to do their plan, and this girl…She was dangerous.

Thinking to myself long enough, I looked down at the crater I made. It was a sizable one, but I've done bigger ones before. I guess the impact of this slam was strong enough to eviscerate the girl, no signs of a body…

Wait a minute! The sound of feet shuffling and a blade led me to quickly turn my head around. A flash of silver hair waved in the air, her blade readying for a swing as her body shined with her mana cloaking. I tried to turn around to defend myself, There wasn't time for me to block this. This girl…had gotten faster!

"Hrragh!" The girl yelled, she swung her blade and slashed at my right leg. She went right for the back of my leg, slicing my calf.

"You brat!" I swung my mechanical arm at her, but she quickly dodged it. She ducked underneath my arm and moved to the side of me, and just when I thought she was going for another slash…she positioned herself and hopped into the air, raising her right leg. The impact of three kicks rippled through my body as the final kick was sent right to my head. The hit left me dazed, forcing me to stumble and with my leg slashed, I fell to the ground.

"Gah…"I let out a groan, more blood pooled from my iron mask as I tried to get back to my feet.

How did that girl learn that? Never have I seen someone use their body like that when it came to swordsmanship. She's fast, agile, moves like…a dragon. Hell, her own long claws on her left hand could prove dangerous weapons too. She's something else…incorporating physical combat with swordsman skills.

A blade Drew itself around my neck, the girl managed to piggyback onto my back in this short period of time. Her face entered my peripheral, her eyes wide with focus and anger.

"Talk. Or I'm sending your head back as a gift to that pink haired freak." She said with a cold tone. She pressed her short blade closer to my throat. "Where did Mandy take Kota and the Mallory?!"

"I…Will not speak! It is for Mandy's sake!" Putting my hands into the ground, I pushed myself. Getting back to my feet, I grabbed the girl's arm with my right hand and yanked her off. The whole thing caught the girl by surprise, she tumbled on the floor momentarily before getting back to her feet. I felt some of my blood drip down my chest, I noticed that she somehow managed to get some hit on me…

The mechanical parts of my left arm whirred to life again. Even with my leg damaged, I could still fight! If I can take the girl out, the rest of them will be easy!

My right leg buckled under my weight as I ran towards the girl. But I couldn't feel the pain I should've, so I continued onward. My left mechanical arm scraped against the floor as I got closer and closer to the girl, dirt flying around as I readied to uppercut the girl.

The silver haired girl eyed me as she readied herself, she looked to be readying for a jump. But as my eyes focused on her, something towards the iron gate entrance caught my eyes. An older looking man seemed to be passing by, looking through the gate. His gray beard and monocle glasses matched his with his more rugged look.

No…I recognize this man. I've seen him before, before I died. It's…The doctor.

My own distraction from the combit left me vulnerable, to which the young girl saw. The next thing I knew was her left fist connecting with my head, my iron mask cracking at the impact. To think, even with necromancy…I could somehow feel the heat coming from her fist.

The impact of her punch caused me to fall to the side, rolling on the ground before I found myself staring at the sky. My vision clouding, perhaps I was losing consciousness? Or maybe the necromancy spell was breaking at the moment…

The last thing I saw before my eyes shut, was the silver haired girl raising her blade to plunge into me.

[Lilith]

I stood before the tall man, ready to kill him. I got no answer from him, so he proved to be of no use to us. We'll find Mandy somehow without him. We still have the beacon with us, so we could eventually find them.

"Good riddance." I said, about to plunge my sword into the disfigured man.

"Wait!" A voice called from the iron gate of the Mallory home. Wait, was someone watching us?

I stopped my blade, the tip of the blade close to Victor's forehead. I looked up from him to notice a very old man looking through the iron gate. The gray beard and monocle he had made him a interesting stand out from anyone else I've seen here In Ozoth. His rugged brown clothing looked to be stained of black ink of sorts while somehow giving off a scent that I found very smelly, even from this distance I was from him. His long shaggy hair almost covered his eyes, but he seemed well groomed enough to keep his hair from looking competitive messy.

"Who…are you?" I said, confused. Who was this guy? Maybe someone who just noticed us fighting? Wait…now that I'm thinking of it, this whole neighborhood should've noticed this fight…

"Don't kill him! He's mine! My masterpiece!" The older man spat. "To think he'd end up getting his ass whooped by a girl like you!"

"Say another word about me and I'll cut that head of yours too." I squinted my eyes at him.

"Eep! Hold on! Maybe I could help you with this, and in trade…I get to keep that fella!"

"Help us? You know where Mandy is?!" I got up to my feet, walking towards the old man. "Where?!"

"Woah, woah! Look, I don't know who Mandy is. But…I do live in the sewers, and That big fella roams down there a lot. Been keeping track of him ever since I managed to find him again after I lost him."

"Sewers…?"

"Lilith!" I heard Kale call out of me. I turned around to see Kale, Korbyn and Elena running out of the house. "You okay?!" But once he looked down to the unconscious Victor, he slowly began to nod his head "looks like you are fine…I hope."

The three adults looked fine, besides Korbyn, who had blood on himself but I don't believe it was his. Elena looked fine as well, her wound seemed to be healed up and she also managed to grab her Whipsword. And Kale seemed to be well too, which I found relief in.

"I'm fine, just some scratches." I then pointed at the main at the iron gate. "There's a guy here though…who's been eying Victor."

"Oh, a witness." Korbyn said, looking at the old man. "Uh….As the Noble guards of King Vergis, Please move along. There is nothing to see here!"

"Bullshit! You can't cover up this destruction of a home!" The old man spat. Korbyn scratched his head, unsure of what to say.

"Uh, sure we can! House explosion! You saying things like that, I'll arrest you myself! And maybe tort-"

"No!" I stopped Korbyn. "He said he knew where we could find Mandy!"

"Did he?!" Kale looked at the old man. He quickly lived away towards the iron gate, pointing at the man. "Are you able to give us this info?"

"Of course! But I need that big tall man with the mechanical arm before we get to business!"

"Eh…why?"

"Because I made that damn mechanical arm! It's my masterpiece, the best thing I've made since I was thrown into this damn place!" The old man snapped at Kale.

"Are you…you're the man that manufactured it." Elena spoke out.

"Yep! Call me Bulrath! Or…Call me B!" The old man nodded as he said his name. "Yeah…Bulrath…Haha!"

Korbyn gave Elena a weird look, one that was uncertain. "…is he crazy?"