Chapter 9: The (Un)Forgettable

It was a nice sunny day in the Apricot Orphanage. The building carried the vague smell of pasteries and cranberries. A thin veil of dust was always strewn about the windows and ledges, the particles dancing in tune in the sun's embrace.

Children played and ran throughout the narrow hallways, yet the young Pam Fuller stood still. She looked behind her at the hill of stone, blood and the purple wine of a king.

Gilsong, the Devil of Miyo, sat upon his throne.

"So after all this…why haven't you accepted my power?"

"Are you playing me for a foul? I know what you're really after. You've never been in my best interest since the moment this contract began."

Gilsong grinned a devil's grin.

"Oh come now, dear Pam. I'm only offering the power you so obsessively desired, so whats the problem? Prove your worth and accept it!"

"If I were to do that, you'd override my spirit with yours and I'd never had my body back. You're doing it right now." The floor beneath her had slowly been consumed by Gilsong's corruption, replacing the creaky wooden panels with a bloody battlefield litered with corpses.

"…clever girl!"

"Even so...what other option do you have? That Heavenly General was once a servant of mine and I can say with 100% confidence that you can't beat her. She will eviserate you without me."

"...I can't deny what you're saying, but I also can't have you taking my body."

"You really are stubborn aren't you..."

"Thanks, it's one of my strong points."

"You arrogant bitch..."

Pam looked outside of the window and saw the wreckage of the forest, along with her enemy, Toura Eria. Heaving a heavy sigh, she sat back and relaxed.

"Looks like all I can do for now is stall your influence on me and wish for the best."

"Do you really think you can beat her all on your own?"

"I know I can, because I'm strong."

The typically arrogant and smug grin on Gilsong's face was replaced with a bitter frown. After all, he was a god and she was but a spoiled brat. The gall of her words and care-free attitude harbored a distinct repulsion in Gilsong. However, he had no choice but to follow along, as per the will of the contract.

______

The echos of the battle rung throughout the Sanctuary, the carniverous animals awaiting outside the barrier for their freshly killed feast. However, the battle took another direction as Pam Fuller's body began releasing excess amount of heat.

"...?! This heat!"

It came in the form of steam that arouse from every pore in her body. It was so hot that the pressure alone forced Toura of the Heavenly Generals back into a nearby stream of water.

"Huff...huff...man I hate this contract...I wish I chose a different Magic Beast instead." Pam's horrifying body had now completely shedded off and revealed her human form. The excess mass of flesh and bone quickly rotted away as a calming aura surrounded Pam.

"Hey...who the hell are you? One moment you're a raging monkey monster, the next you're a beautiful woman. What gives?"

'Beautiful...?' The word persisted in Pam's mind until she fully cleared her head.

"Sorry about that nasty first impression, my Magic Beast is misbehaving himself quite a bit. I suppose you know a Gilsong, right?"

"...?!" Toura's eyes filled with terror at the utterance of his name. "How did you manage to even establish such a relationship with him? Some woman like you couldn't handle him..."

"What's bein a woman gotta do with this? I'd kick your ass regardless of my contract or my gender."

"That so..."

Toura compressed the water in the stream into small air bullets and fired them rapidly at Pam.

Although she wasn't mentally present for most of the battle, her body had gotten used to the long ranged technique. She compressed the magical energy inside of her body and formed a protective shield around her. With ease, she deflected the attacks and closed the distance between herself and Toura.

Her physical ability was the strongest among everyone in squad 12 of the Black Dogs, even among the other units as well, her talent for combat was top notch. Her diligent effort and discipline was rewarded with excellent skill.

She forced the Heavenly General into a close-quarters scenario and led with a quick combination of straight punches and a right low kick. Toura, unfazed by the combination, grabbed a few droplets of water in the air and threw them downward.

The impact drilled small holes in the ground like a water cutter, but Pam narrowly dodged to the right, drawing her combat knife and landing 3 solid stabs into Toura's right thigh.

"Ngh-" Toura recoiled in pain.

Pam's thought process rushed a mile a minute as she processed every last piece of information around her.

'I roughly know how her ability works now…the compression of the object is the first step, and the second is the actual throwing motion. If those two conditions aren't met in order, then her ability won't activate. My best option is to maintain this range and aim for her hands and eyes.'

Toura and Pam exchanged equal blows, yet Pam seemed to be gaining ground with each hit. Though her physical prowess couldn't match the Magic Beast infront of her, she would stand her ground regardless using knowledge and skill.

"Tsk- this girl!"

Toura leaped back and analyze her surroundings. A rock? A tree branch? Some vines? There must have been something to throw!

However, Pam did not let her freely move about. She ran up a broken tree branch and bound Toura with thick vines, slamming her into the ground. The attack kicked up debris and Pam was unable to identify the Heavenly General's body.

She rushed towards the cloud of dust as Toura exhibited an inscrutable bloodlust. In that moment, Pam's steady progression had been grinded to a halt.

BAM

A heftly blast of compressed air was released as an explosion. By compressing the shredded up pieces of plants, animals and wood within the air, the small particles were under a monumental amount of pressure and the specific surface area was much higher than usual.. As such, even small frictionous movements such as tossing wood with one's hand could turn the useless scraps of organic material into a highly explosive bomb.

Being pressed into a corner, it was a technique conjured on the spot in order to contend with a situation. Not an ounce of prior planning and consideration had been put into the attack, Toura was merely operating under a single notion engraved in her mind.

"I'll kill you!"

The traitorous monkey, Gilsong of Miyo, grinned at the sight of his seemingly defeated partner. Pam's arms were scorched from the extreme heat of the blast and her knees were so weak that her body nearly collapsed with a single footstep.

"There is no more time, you know~ If you don't come up with something, you'll surely die."

Pam scoffed at the tyrant's taunts. "Just shut your mouth for a second, self-righteous king. This is where the interesting part happens."

The intense tension and silence between the two combatants had ensure one fact to be true.

The final confrontation would now begin.