Spectating

They're honestly doing pretty good.

Those two they're fighting against aren't pushovers by any means. One has Cursed Statue of Radiance Lost, a support-type Sacred Gear that summons a statue. Those in close vicinity will be rendered effectively blind. It has no combat capabilities, but Yoshito Ike is a skilled martial artist, allowing him to make up for it.

The other has Mary-Go Plushed Affection, a summon-type Sacred Gear that either allows the user to summon an army of plush teddy bears, or one giant plush. Both with steel claws and a penchant for killing. Marie Delphine is also a competent mage, flinging ice and wind to allow her summons easier access to their prey.

They're plenty strong on their own, but working together, they can probably face a High-Class Devil without issue.

And that isn't even taking into account their Balance Breakers.

Despite all that, Team Slash/Dog is doing fairly well. Two of their members are already down, but their heavy-hitters are still in the fight. They had some initial trouble adjusting to their lack of sight, but after a while, they started adapting and pushing back against Ike.

Although, to be honest, their fight is kinda slow in my eyes. I could've probably just bombed the two to oblivion from the very first second. Akeno would fry their brains with beams of plasma before they can even turn their heads. Yasaka could set them alight with flames that will only disappear after three days. Even Shikaku can probably cut their necks in mere seconds.

Then again, my group of friends aren't exactly normal. My perception is heavily biased.

I hum. From my estimates, the invaders should lose eventually, though Slash/Dog won't manage to land the killing blows. Those two will escape, and that's perfectly fine.

If anything, if the rest of their allies come here, then there's a higher chance that they'd slip up, and it'd give me some reason to butt into their business.

I continue watching. The intensity begins picking up once the intruders manage to knock out the one magician in Team Slash/Dog. Seeing this, Ike immediately rushes forward, trying to capture one of their main targets and leave.

The martial artist is too fast. Most of Slash/Dog has been wiped out. Sae is barely clinging onto her consciousness. Ikuse Tobio is too injured, his limbs bruised and incapable of moving.

Ike gets closer and closer, his hand reaching towards the unconscious magician.

And then, something unexpected happens.

Tobio screams, and darkness surges out as his Balance Breaker activates. It swirls around the downed boy, wrapping around him and painfully cutting into his skin like millions of swords. The boy screams and screams and screams, and before long, those screams become howls of rage.

The darkness calms, and out from it comes a tall humanoid, with his body covered in dark fur, his head shaped as a wolf's, and with six tails sprouting from his back.

I can't help the wide grin on my face.

There it is. Canis Lykaon's Balance Breaker. The Night Celestial Slash Dog, it's called. The summon-type Longinus shifts into a change-type, turning its wielder into a powerful werewolf-like creature. Enhanced strength, enhanced speed, and the ability to send out shadows imbued with the concept of 'Cutting'.

That is the main reason why Canis Lykaon is one of the thirteen Longinus. And he's contracted under me.

Ike tries to get close anyway, only to suddenly find himself swallowed by shadows. He tries freeing himself, and then screams as the shadows begin cutting into him. It tears through his skin and flesh, cutting deep and scarring even his bones.

He's eventually saved by his partner, but Marie had to sacrifice a large number of teddy bears to pull him out of the cage of shadows.

The transformed Tobio glares at the two intruders, and he roars. The air itself trembles at the sheer loudness.

So, admitting defeat, the two eventually escape, running back into the darkness from where they came. Tobio continues to roar as he glares. He takes a step, then another.

And then he collapses. His transformed body trembles, and before long, the shadow begins bleeding away from him, and out from it comes his original body. His body is still horrendously bruised, and he's now unconscious.

Smiling, I shut off my eyes. I'm more than satisfied with the display. Sae and her company proved their worth, and Tobio has achieved his Balance Breaker.

My smile widens.

Should I finally meet the rest of Slash/Dog? I've only ever met Sae directly, and I think I should finally show myself to my workers. And besides, it should help quell some of the rumors the team has about me.

I carefully pull myself away from Akeno. She tries grabbing me, but my enhanced reflexes allow me to avoid her startlingly powerful grapple. She slams into the wall instead, and continues to snore as if she didn't just cause a crack in the concrete. I sigh wryly at the sight, making a mental note to fix that when morning comes.

I pull the window open, and I leap out into the night skies. It takes me barely a minute to make it to the edge of town, and before long I'm floating right above the downed team of Slash/Dog. I don't bother hiding my presence, and so it isn't long before Sae turns up and gasps. "H-Hyoudou-san!?"

I smile. "That was quite the impressive showing." I say, pulling out six 'Healing' Ofudas from my pocket. I flick them into the air, and magically, they fly and stick into the foreheads of the six members of Slash/Dog. The Ofudas begin working immediately, and the unconscious members suddenly find themselves waking.

"You…were watching us?" Sae says slowly, staring at her quickly disappearing wounds. "All this time?"

My smile remains. "Of course." I give my forehead a poke. "I can see everything that happens in this town."

Sae stares at me with awe.

Eventually, the other members realize that there's a person floating in the sky, and as you'd expect, they went on their guard immediately. One of them—a boy named Samejima Kouki—even tries to summon his Sacred Gear, but Sae immediately bonks the boy on the head before he can do anything.

"Idiot!" She screams, dragging the poor guy by the ear. "He's our employer!"

The moment she says so, five pairs of eyes turn to me, and they gape. I grin in return. "It's good to finally meet you all."

And I only grin wider when I see the five other members begin huddling towards one another, clearly wary. Despite working under me, they've never actually met me until this moment. And so they've dreamt up quite the assortment of rumors. Some of which are correct, and others wildly wrong.

Only Sae can confidently stand before me, but that's mostly because she's just that nice.

Slowly, I let myself descend onto the ground. The grass below gently crunches as I land on the earth. "Don't worry, I'm not going to bite." I say, though I can't help but smirk. "Unlike your team leader over there."

"H-Huh?" Tobio points at himself. "M-Me?"

"Yes, you." I smile. "Congratulations on achieving your Balance Breaker. You were the one who drove back the intruders, though I doubt you remember any of it."

"I…" The boy stares at his own hand. "Woah."

I turn to the other members. "The rest of you did pretty well too. Adapting so quickly to your loss of sight isn't something anyone can do."

None of them responds. They're completely shocked. I frown for a moment, confused, and I use my eyes to see what's going on-

Ah. I forgot to hold back my presence. How sloppy.

With a mental pull, I force the rampant energies inside my body to calm down. The flow slows to a calm stream, and the weight in the air vanishes near instantly. And immediately, they all sigh in relief. "Sorry, folks." I smile apologetically. "I hadn't realized. It seems I got a bit too excited."

Granted, I still am. I mean, come on! I just saw a Balance Breaker! Which is already awesome, but seeing it through the Eyes of God? Seeing a human use a 'bug' on a system created by the previous possessor of the eyes I now have?

It was enthralling. It was so much more than just feeling the stream of information I'd normally get. There was excitement there; a flash of electricity that shot through my veins.

It makes me want to create.

It's a rampant desire, and suddenly I can understand just why the Christian God made so many weapons capable of such mass destruction.

For gods too are creatures of desire, and this beating drum in my heart is a sound too hypnotizing to ignore.

So much so, that a plan suddenly forms in my mind. And the sheer absurdity of it makes me grin in anticipation.

"Toujou Sae-, no, Team Slash/Dog." I begin, my voice amplified using Ki. They turn to me immediately, drawn to me for reasons they can't describe. "I will tell you this: Those intruders had come here under the orders of Augusta, the flame Witch of the East." The glow around my eyes intensifies. "And more will keep coming."

I spread out my arms. "She is one of the perpetrators behind the kidnapping of your friends." I smile thinly. "She is your enemy."

They're all silent, captivated. I let the silence stretch for a moment, before I say, "So I have a proposition."

"...which is?" Tobio asks slowly.

My smile grows.

"Tell me, do you want to be heroes?"