141-150

141 Assassination

"Well, seeing as we have free access thanks to Freja's security bypassing mark, we just walk right in?" Elysia was unsure if the mark would really work.

"We don't have much choice, I will use [Shadow walk] to get us in." Shaman grabbed Elysia and Clara's hand before activating [Shadow walk]. Wolfy jumped off the roof landing on the ground entering his own [Shadow walk].

They all slipped past the gate going past many statues of the target, each passing statue raising their urge to destroy. The girls opinion of their target was at an all time low and they were rather happy that they were killing this noble.

Guards wandered the premises all being half lions. When Shaman inspected them, she found they were stronger than the noble.

[Bob]

Race – Lion

Tier 7 – level 100

'That's kinda sad, you would think in this kind of world, people with power would actually have some kind of fighting power.' Shaman found it rather pitiful that the guards were a higher level than the noble.

They continued to go through the front garden, making sure they were not too obvious as seeing a moving shadow in the light is rather easy.

.....

They made it to the front door, which had a lion's face for a handle, but since they were in a shadow they slipped under the door. Thankfully no alarms went off and they assumed that the mark must be working.

Inside the mansion everything was decorated in orange and gold which was not pleasing to look at. On one side of the hall there was a set of stairs going up with a doorway underneath. To the right were some rooms and a half-cat maid could be seen walking out of them.

Since Clara and Elysia had no control on where they went, Shaman had to make the decision on where to go.

'There is probably a door with his face on it.' Shaman guessed by how his face was everywhere, his room most likely had some gold version of his face on the door.

Moving up the stairs Shaman was instantly met with a door that had a golden version of the target's face.

'You can't be serious.' Shaman was utterly unimpressed as the target's ego must extend further than Freja's libido.

Elysia and Clara who were watching as well, were also pondering how far gone the target was.

Wolfy who followed behind them was rather disturbed by the constant imagery of the target.

While hiding in a shadow out in front of the door, a cat maid rushed out half naked screaming.

"Oh come on don't be scared~" A male's voice came from the room.

The cat maid kept running with clothes in hand.

The girls were now at their tipping point for how much they can bear the half lion. Even Elysia who only cared for Shaman was rather aggravated by what she just saw.

"What a shame." The half lion shook his head while putting on some clothes.

Shaman moved into the bedroom with haste and went into a dark corner of the room.

Wolfy stayed outside the room to keep watch and let Shaman know if anyone came near.

The bedroom itself was once again furnished in the red and gold theme, but this time there were paintings of the lion all over the walls. This made the girls want to throw up as everytime they thought it couldn't get worse, it did.

The half lion turned as he thought he saw something move across the ground but found nothing out of the ordinary. He found it suspicious but did not think much of it.

However, soon after he saw it a second time and this time he took it more seriously.

"Who goes there, you face the great Maximus Maxor jr the second!!!" The half lion yelled out his name to whatever being was in his room.

"Who names their child that?" Shaman appeared behind the half-lion confused as she wasn't even sure which part of it was his name.

"Wha- who are you!" The half lion turned around to find a fox girl in a fully cloth body suit.

"Me? You could say I provide the end of the road services." Shaman wanted to toy with him but it ended up back firing.

"Services? What kind of services?" The half lion licked his lips and Shaman looked at him with disgust.

"Go to hell!" Shaman pulled out Kotetsu and stabbed the man in the heart.

Elysia and Clara had also come out of the shadow behind the half lion stabbing him in the back.

"Garrghhhhh!" The lion gritted his teeth as blood poured out of his mouth.

Unable to speak from the amount of blood that filled his mouth, he slowly died trying to get his last words out.

The half lion's body finally went limp and the girls pulled away their weapons.

"Thankfully he is dead, what an awful name as well." Elysia looked at the dead half lion on the floor in disgust.

"We should try to steal his money as well while we are here." Clara thought back to the door under the stairs which possibly led to the basement.

"Good idea, let's steal this man's fortune and move on to the next target." Shaman liked the idea of no longer having money troubles as stealing directly from a noble's personal vault surely had enough to last them forever.

Wolfy came into the room quickly popping out of the shadows.

"We have to leave!" Wolfy quickly jumped into [Shadow walk] after delivering his message.

Shaman quickly grabbed a hold of Elysia and Clara pulling them into [Shadow walk]. They quickly hid themselves in the shadows and as they did, a group of guards rushed through the door. Each of the guards looked exactly the same making it impossible to tell who is who.

"Sir Maxor!" one of the guards ran to Maxor's dead body checking if he was dead.

"H-he is dead." The half lion guard spoke these words and a relieved look was seen on everyone.

"Finally! We are free from this bastard."

"If it wasn't for the high pay I wouldn't have even bothered taking the job."

"We should let the maids know, I'm sure they will be happy to hear they are free from this filthy bastard."

Each of the guards spoke leaving the girls a little dumbfounded.

'I guess nobody will be missing this Maxor guy.' Shaman thought there would have been a sad emotional response not a happy one.

'No matter, at least people are happy.' Shaman knew some would be happy but she did not expect everyone to celebrate the noble's death.

"Quick, let's split his money before it gets taken away." One of the guards suggested taking the money and a smile appeared on all their faces. Without hesitating they all ran to the mansion's vault.

'DAMNIT!' The girls in unison mentally screamed as they wanted to take the money for themselves, but they couldn't take it away from the guards who sounded like they were struggling.

'I guess we just have to rob the next noble.' Mentally sighing in defeat, Shaman made her way to the window escaping the mansion unnoticed.

*

The girls and Wolfy emerged on the same roof from which they infiltrated the mansion when Shaman fell to the ground. Shaman was exhausted and needed a moment to regen her mana as moving 2 other people was quite taxing. Wolfy took this opportunity to sit down next to Shaman and use her back as a head rest.

"I really wanted that money." Shaman had already come to terms with it, but she still wanted to complain.

"Not much we can do plus they need it more than us. At least we have Freja who can probably buy us anything we want." Clara was keen on getting the money, but she also considered how Freja is a tier 10 and probably has a bigger fortune than the entire Freya forest combined.

"True, but Freja is scary." Elysia found Freja to be rather intimidating and would rather not ask her.

"We could always ask Kiruya, She seems to act like her secretary." Shaman saw Kiruya as the person to talk to about anything Freja related, so Shaman figured they could ask her.

"She is definitely a lot more approachable." Clara agreed with Elysia that Freja was rather intimidating and that Kiruya sounds much better to ask for things.

"Anyway, we should figure out where our next target is." Shaman was still laying on the floor, but knew they really shouldn't be wasting any time.

"Oh yes, well the next target is just a street over and this time we are dealing with a half insect." Clara looked at the target list reading out their next target info.

"A prey mantis who is also a tier 7 and is around level 60, his mansion is all green with dangerous plants outside the mansion and deadly traps on the inside." Clara read out the information and already saw this being harder.

"Well, let's hope we can just zoom past the traps with Shaman's shadow walk." Elysia was unsure if this would be just as easy or did they have to be more careful.

"We will just have to find out. At least killing him will be easy. It's a shame they are not higher in level, otherwise we could have gotten some levels." Shaman found that the lion gave a pitiful amount and that tier did not seem to factor in exp gain unlike the level.

"Just give me a few more minutes then we can head out." Shaman was not too worried for the next target since she could go solo if needed to.

'Let's hope these aforementioned traps are not triggered by shadow walk like Elysia said.'

142 Pitiful guards

The group found themselves in front of another mansion that looked like it was owned by a botanist. The entire place was covered in plants, with many plants looking rather exotic and dangerous.

"Seeing as there are a lot of plants and bushes, surely this works in our favour as it will be impossible to see the shadow." Elysia did not like the look of some of the plants and would rather sit it out than get all tangled up.

"Well I doubt they can sense mana so we should be able to get through the garden rather easily." Shaman was rather doubtful that plants could affect her so she figured it should be fine.

"We just have to take the path to the door, it isn't like we are going through the garden." Clara also thought there was no need to worry about the plants as they were completely avoidable.

"True, let's not waste anymore time then." Shaman grabbed Elysia and Clara's hands pulling them into [Shadow walk] while Wolfy used his own.

As expected they got past the gate with no alarms and were now on the main path to the front door.

'So far so good, but something doesn't feel right.' Shaman felt a little uneasy so she proceeded to move slowly towards the front door.

Even as Shaman got closer to the door, the uneasy feeling would not go away.

'Why am I feeling like this now.' Shaman trusted her abilities to keep her hidden, especially after being able to not get murdered by the pope.

.....

Shaman got closer to the door, when she noticed the world around her started to spin.

'Oh fuck.' Realising that they were being affected by a sort of drug, Shaman tried to move back.

'I thought we were not affected by the outside, but I guess we wouldn't be able to breathe if my skills were to cut off oxygen.' Shaman didn't expect nature to be their worst enemy. Too late she realised [Shadow walk] was only effective against mana based elements, and was therefore useless against chemicals and other natural phenomena.

'Wish I knew that sooner-.' Shaman felt light headed and ended up passing out releasing [Shadow walk].

Shaman, Clara and Elysia appeared on the main path passed out from the gas.

Wolfy who lagged behind freaked out as he was unsure what the hell happened. He was about to come out of the ground until he saw a noble with a snake's head opening the front door.

"My, my some sneaky vixens and a demon girl this time, how many thieves do they have to send before they understand it is almost impossible to steal my plants." The half snake walked up to the girls with half snake guards in suits following behind her. The guards picked up the girls and started to drag them inside.

"Make sure to get as much information out of them, they have been sending a lot of low levels lately so standard chains should be fine." The half snake gave orders as they walked back inside.

Wolfy wanted to follow them in but he was still unsure if he would end up knocked out as well.

'Damn it what do I dooooo.' Wolfy was freaking out. Since he was always following Shaman's lead, he wasn't the most battle savvy.

'There must be another way in.' Wolfy looked around, but the only path led to the front door as everything else was just a massive garden.

'Lets try getting behind the building.' Wolfy backtracked making his way behind the building to find a way in.

**

Shaman suddenly woke up as she felt cold water be splashed on her face. She found herself handcuffed, but from the sudden jolt of being woken up she broke them.

Shaman wiped her face while getting up from the ground, breaking the shackles which bound her feet in the process. This time Shaman noticed and looked at the floor to see the broken pair of shackles.

'Wait, where am I?' Shaman looked around, noticing Elysia and Clara who were also cuffed to the ground, as well as a bunch of guards looking at Shaman dumbfounded.

The guards snapped out of it and pulled out their weapons, getting ready to restrain Shaman again.

"Oh, how nice of you to welcome me." Shaman summoned Kotetsu and unsheathed it.

The guards were surprised to see the sword appear out of nowhere, which finally made them realise that the fox girl in front of them was a lot stronger than they thought.

Shaman inspected all the guards finding they were the same tier and level as the guards in the lion's mansion.

'I may be just barely stronger in level, but I shouldn't underestimate them.' Shaman was up against at least 4 guards, which was rather daunting. Not knowing if they use an element added another layer of danger.

'I should just try to be as quick as possible. They don't know how strong I am guessing from their reaction, so I better take advantage of that.' wanting to reduce the numbers, Shaman made the first move.

Shaman used her spatial rift to appear behind one of the guards in an instant decapitating the half snake's head.

Shaman used her other hand to create an ice spear and threw it towards another guard, who was able to just redirect the spear, only getting clipped in the shoulder. Shaman went back into the rift this time appearing in between the guards.

Shaman covered her sword in flames and spun around spreading her fire across the room. Shaman made sure to not spew any flames towards Elysia or Clara by putting up a water wall in their direction. Whenever an ember hit the water wall it would fizzle out, becoming harmless.

The fire did not kill any of them, but it was good enough a distraction to allow Shaman to kill another guard. Shaman ran up to a guard who was using his own water element to put out the fire. Covering her sword in wind, she created a chainsaw effect, which moved with enough intensity to be visible to the naked eye.

This also amplified any flames near the blade making it harder to put out.

Shaman sliced the guard in half with ease and jumped into her rift once again.

Just as she jumped into the rift, one of the guards summoned an earth spike right under where she stood. Knowing she might appear behind them, he also preemptively created a spike behind him and the other remaining guard.

However, to their surprise she did not instantly appear again. The guards assumed Shaman was using some kind of instant teleportation skill, not a dimensional shift, and therefore were surprised when they failed to locate her.

"Shit where is she?" The guard looked around the room, but was unable to see her.

"Maybe she ran?" It wasn't uncommon for them to see a foe that was unaffected by the sleeping agent to run away.

"Maybe she could be above you?" Shaman wanted to have a little fun as these guards were doing a poor job at fighting.

"Good point, wait who said that?" The guard looked up and saw a pair of fox ears vanish into the shadows.

"Shit she is in the walls!" The guard then started manipulating the walls and roof to try to pull her out, not knowing it was pointless.

The other guard, being unable to do anything, pushed his back against the other guard's back to make sure they had little to no blind spots.

Shaman who had changed to using [Shadow walk] went underneath the guards, poking out her black dyed fox ears again.

Shaman then poked up with her sword, which was covered in fire, stabbing the guard in the ass and setting him on fire. Shaman quickly pulled her sword back and moved away from the ground.

"AHHH!" the guard screamed while patting his ass to try and put out the flames.

The screams woke up Clara, who was still being protected by the water wall Shaman left up.

Waking up in a bit of a daze broke the weak handcuffs without even trying.

"Who the fuck is making all that noise." Clara did not appreciate being woken up in such a way so she became rather grumpy.

After looking around she realised that she wasn't in her room and was actually in some sort of dungeon with cobblestone walls.

"No wonder my back hurts." Clara got up from the ground stretching. She saw that Elysia was still asleep and that there were 2 guards fighting for their life.

'Looks like Shaman is toying with them.' Clara saw that one of them was running around with their ass on fire.

"Oi Shaman let me have a shot." Clara knew Shaman was probably in the room somewhere and just as she assumed Shaman's head poked out of the wall next to Clara.

"Sure, I had my fun, they are rather weak despite having a high level, which makes me think they boosted their level." Shaman was rather disappointed in the lack of a challenge, but was also grateful.

"Perfect, well lets hope it stays that way. Still, this doesn't excuse the fact that we were caught. We really need to be careful next time, otherwise we won't be so lucky." Clara was glad it was easy but they could have been killed on the spot.

"You're right, next time let's be more careful and not be so reliant on me and Wolfy's shadow skills. Now go have your fun, they will soon realise you are awake." Shaman disappeared back into the wall to watch.

Clara smiled and pulled out her blade whips from her inventory, slowly approaching the guards.

143 Burning the garden down

Clara's whip blades dragged along the floor bringing the 2 guards to finally notice her. Lightning crackled around Clara as she walked up to them.

The guard that had been rather useless in dealing with Shaman sent a fireball toward Clara.

Clara kept moving forward as a loud crack of lightning boomed and the fireball was instantly destroyed. The guard paled, seeing Clara's sinister grin.

"My turn~." Clara cracked her whips leaving deep cuts in the floor.

The earth guard put his hands on the ground raising spikes from both ground and roof, converging on where Clara stood. A bolt of lightning, which should have been impossible indoors, crashed down on Clara, leaving her spot empty as if she disappeared.

One of Clara's whip blades swung around the fire guard's neck and the other slashed the earth guard's back. The earth guard fell to the ground in pain while turning his head to see where Clara was.

"Now let me ask you some questions and if you don't answer his head goes flying." Clara slightly tightened the blades and blood started dripping from the fire guard's neck.

"Like I would tell you anything!" The earth guard couldn't care less about the fire guard. Even if he did, they were bound by a contract, so he was not allowed to speak unless he wanted to die from the curse of binding.

'What a shame." Without any hesitation, Clara pulled on her whips and cut the fire guard's head off.

.....

"Now let's have some fun~." Clara stepped on the guard's back where she cut him.

"Arggghhhh!" The guard grunted in pain, disrupting his focus and leaving him unable to use his spells.

"I will give you one more chance, are you going to answer my questions?" While saying this, Clara twisted her foot, making him scream some more.

"Burn in hell bitch!" The guard insulted Clara in one last act of defiance.

"Saying that to a demon, how ironic." Clara retracted her blade-whip back to its sword form and stabbed it directly into the guard's heart.

'Clara is kinda scary when she fights people.' Shaman who was watching from the shadows was a little terrified of Clara.

*sigh* "What a hassle, did not even bother to hear me out." Clara whipped off the blood on her whips.

"What were you going to ask?" Shaman poked her head from the roof wondering what she was going to say.

"I was going to be funny and ask how his day was, but it seems like they are hiding something." Clara, wanting to get a good laugh from seeing the confused guard's face, found out that there may be something very valuable hidden.

"Also he may have been bound by some sort of contract, I have seen them before and they put a seal on you to make sure you do not spill any information. This is used a lot when hiring people to better protect the master's secrets." Clara guessed this was the reason why the guard refused to talk, which would indicate that there is something special in the mansion.

"I see, let's try to get it out of the noble snake, but I think we will have some company soon." Shaman could hear running outside what she believed to be a basement, indicating a bunch of guards were rushing in.

Elysia had also woken up and just like Shaman and Clara broke the chains that were holding her down.

"Where the hell am I?" Elysia, waking up a little dazed, tried to gain her bearings.

'Hey sweetie~ we were tied up by some snake men who are about to rush into the room, do you want to kill them?" Shaman quickly went to Elysia's side and while she explained what happened a bunch of guards barged in.

"Wait, we were tied up?" Elysia looked down to see broken handcuffs and shackles on the ground.

"Yep."

"Did they touch you?"

"How else would they tie me up?" Shaman, taking advantage of Elysia's protectiveness, made sure her anger was directed at the guards who entered.

Elysia's face went dark and Shaman could feel a sudden spike in mana.

"I'm allowed to burn the place down right?"

"Yes, we are allowed to." Shaman gulped as she didn't quite know what kind of destruction Elysia was going to do.

'Maybe getting that item Clara mentioned will no longer be possible.' Shaman believed that there was a high chance of it being destroyed, especially if Elysia goes through the entire mansion killing everyone.

Shaman walked back, going next to Clara to watch the show that was about to happen.

"Uhh, that item may be ashes by the end of this."

"Oh well, looks like we really will end up asking Freja for money." Clara felt like this was going to be a repeating theme of losing the riches of their kills.

"Yeahhhh." Shaman did not want to admit it, but at this rate, they would have to if they wanted to get things from the auction house.

A group of 6 guards rushed in, all holding different kinds of weapons.

Shaman was worried for Elysia, but seeing as how destructive she can be, Shaman figured it would be okay.

Elysia pulled out her spear and flames bursted all around her. Elysia's eyes glowed red and the guards felt a wave of fear.

Flames wrapped themselves around Elysia's spear while she took a stance ready to launch herself at the guards.

The guards readied their weapons and started conjuring up some spells to launch at her.

"Die."

Elysia pushed the ground with all her strength and dashed towards the guards, surprising them with her speed.

Elysia stabbed her spear into the first guard's head and let the flames burst out from her weapon, setting the entire guard's body on fire. A few of the guards swung at Elysia but were blocked by a fire wall.

A guard who had the water element started filling the room with water, but what he did not expect was Elysia's flames being so hot that any water that went near her got vaporised.

Elysia spun the spear in her hands for a moment before throwing the spear towards the water guard. The guard was unable to dodge the spear and had to take the hit.

The spear pierced through his chest pinning him against the wall. Upon contact with the wall, the spear exploded with flames, roasting the guard. More of the guards tried to throw spells of their own with one sending a wind slash.

Elysia made a bow out of flames, using it to fire an arrow towards the wind slash. The arrow made contact with the wind slash overpowering it thanks to its higher mana concentration, and feeding off its winds, becoming even more powerful. The arrow made a hole right through the wind guard's face, killing him instantly.

Another guard using the earth element tried to trap Elysia in an earth dome. Elysia, being unable to move, got caught in the dome and the guard mentally celebrated.

However, just as he was about to tighten the dome cracks started to form around the dome. Trying to speed up the process, the guard tried to compress the dome, but before it could get any smaller, the dome was smashed open.

Elysia had punched through the earth dome, her hands covered with blood. The earth guard was in awe at how she was able to punch out through rock.

Elysia quickly went to her spear, pulling it out of the wall while covering it in flames. She turned and glared at the 3 guards that remained making them all flinch. One of the female guards decided to make a run for it, but before they could reach the door a firewall blocked the entrance.

Elysia stabbed the startled guard from behind, piercing through her chest and burning her insides. The woman guard rolled on the floor screaming in pain as she was burnt inside out. Elysia flicked the blood off her spear while slowly walking towards the 2 remaining guards.

Wanting to finish things off quickly Elysia did something similar to her exploding arrows and condensed the flames on the spear to the tip.

The guards fell back not knowing what to do as it was a one-sided massacre.

Elysia, doing one last dash forward, stabbed into the stomach of the earth guard setting off the condensed flame.

Elysia, never being able to gauge how much power she puts into her spells, caused a massive explosion within the basement. A massive fire pillar rose from the ground, killing the other guard.

The roof of the basement was destroyed, exposing what was above them which seemed to be the garden.

"Elysia! I know we can burn the place down, but I thought you weren't actually going to." Shaman called out as she didn't expect her to cause as much destruction with how she was fighting and figured the place was not going to burn down.

Elysia by now killed all the guards and returned back to her "normal" self, losing the deathly glare.

"Oops, I may have started burning the garden down." Elysia looked up and saw a fire was beginning, but she had no regrets.

144 Raising the flames

"Elysia, just burn the place down." Shaman gave up on trying to continue things as discreetly as possible.

"Really?" Elysia was shocked to hear Shaman as it was rather rare for them to let loose.

"Go ahead." Shaman sighed as she contemplated this being a more effective way of dealing with the nobles.

"Mother?" Wolfy's voice suddenly rang out from above as he appeared from the hole.

"Wolfy?" Shaman looked up and saw him poking his head through the hole in the roof.

Wolfy, seeing that it was Shaman, jumped down the hole. After landing he went up to Shaman, getting on his back legs and licking Shaman's face.

Shaman was surprised as it was a first for Wolfy to do this. Wolfy, realising what he was doing, quickly backed away and turned his head.

"I-i don't know what came over me." Wolfy lowered his head embarrassed.

"Awwwww, Wolfy, that was so cute!" Shaman found Wolfy adorable, knowing it was rare for Wolfy to show this level of affection.

.....

Shaman went up to Wolfy and started to give him pats just for how adorable he was. Wolfy's tail wagged as Shaman was patting him. Meanwhile, Clara was holding back the urge to pat Wolfy as well.

"Can I burn the place down while you play with Wolfy?" Elysia was more eager to cause destruction and kill their target.

"Yes, go on ahead." Shaman waved Elysia off, who immediately dashed off up the stairs.

Elysia covered her spear in fire and dragged it along the wall leaving a trail of fire.

Shaman had stopped patting Wolfy and turned to Clara who was patiently waiting.

"Seeing as Elysia will be taking care of the target, did you want to get out of here and watch the building burn to the ground?" Shaman thought they may as well just watch from a distance while they waited for Elysia to finish.

"Sounds good to me." Clara liked the sound of it, but also was worried about how Elysia would react to them going off on their own.

'Hope Elysia doesn't murder me.' Clara felt uneasy, but it seemed that over time Elysia had opened up to Clara making her safer from Elysia's wrath.

Deciding to take the hole as their way of escape, Shaman made a ladder out of ice. Wolfy, being unable to climb, went into a shadow on Shaman's body.

Climbing out of the hole, Shaman was met with a garden that was slowly burning away. Wolfy got out of Shaman's shadow and Clara climbed out of the hole.

"I thought it would be more violent, but I guess the best of it is yet to come." Clara thought the mini jungle around the mansion would be up in a blaze.

"I will kickstart the flames a bit more then." Shaman clicked her fingers and fire appeared in her hands. Throwing small balls of fire around the garden started to create bigger fires.

"That should do it, now let's leave before we are surrounded by flames." Shaman knowing this mission was too far gone decided to add more fire to the mix.

The small fire that was slowly burning the garden had turned into a proper bushfire.

Shaman, Clara and Wolfy ran out of the garden, this time not passing out from the plants. By the time they reached the front of the mansion, the fire behind them was getting larger and more violent.

Jumping over the fence, Shaman landed and pulled Clara into [Shadow walk]. Going up the wall of the building they re-emerged from the shadow just before they started the infiltration.

"Now let us sit back and watch the show." Shaman came out of [Shadow walk] and sat on the edge of the building. Clara, taking the risk, sat next to Shaman, but not too close for safety measures.

Wolfy came out of his own [Shadow walk] and sat on the other side of Shaman.

"Hopefully she doesn't attract any more attention." Clara thought how a massive fire at a noble's mansion was going to cause a lot of eyes to be drawn to it.

"Well if Freja said we can go this route, I'm sure it would be fine." Shaman was not confident, but she believed in Freja's words.

"Hopefully." Clara looked through one of the windows of the mansion just as a burst of flames came through them.

"Looks like it started." Shaman knew it was Elysia and that the inevitable destruction had begun.

***

Elysia emerged from under the staircase into a hall that was filled with more plants and overgrowth. The hall also looked identical to that of the lions but the decor represented that of the snake.

'Now let's find this snake.' Elysia made it to a large hall only to find a bunch of guards waiting there for her.

One guard attempted to slash Elysia from behind with a sword, but was blocked by a fire wall. Elysia spun with her spear, sending it through the fire wall and slashed across the guard's chest.

Because her spear was covered in fire, it had also burned the half snake guard alive.

The guards around all flinched and were rather terrified of Elysia.

Elysia turned to face the 8 guards that all had their weapons drawn.

"Pffthahaha, this is going to be fun." Elysia spun the spear in her hands while stepping back. Her smile sent shivers down the guard's spine as they thought she was insane.

Some of the guards were shaking, but one managed to build up the courage to move, charging at Elysia with an axe. The fear could be seen in his eyes, but desperation took over him.

Some of the other guards sent spells towards Elysia. A water wave, fireball and a wind slash were sent in her direction, trapping her from moving.

Elysia, being able to fully let loose, allowed her flames to go wild. Flames started flying around her and the tip of her ears and tail were burning like candles.

Elysia, not caring for the spells that were fast approaching, dashed forward towards the axe wielding guard. Once in front of the guard, Elysia stabbed directly into his face, killing him and setting his head ablaze.

The elemental spells were fast approaching and Elysia had no time to move out of the way.

Elysia stood up straight and stomped her foot on the ground, creating a pillar of fire around her. The spells hit the fire pillar, but were ineffective. The flames were simply absorbed by her pillar, while the water evaporated.

Elysia overloaded her fire pillar with mana, creating a small explosion, breaking windows and setting fire to the mansion.

Elysia emerged from the flames, already partly transformed as she did in the dungeon. However, this time Elysia was in control and was not in a mindless craze.

Her transformation also enhanced the flames that were on her ears and tail making them more violent.

'It seems like I can use it, ever since fighting the skeleton knight I have been meaning to try it again.' After fighting the skeleton knight, Elysia had seen a new skill pop up in her system about her transformation.

The guards fell down in fear at the sight of Elysia. Their legs gave out making it impossible for them to even run, making it easier for Elysia to kill them.

"Well I don't have much time to waste so let's get this done quickly." Elysia disappeared on the spot and reappeared back in front of the groups of guards.

Elysia covered her fist in fire, condensing the flames to make it an explosive punch.

The guards had no time to react and before they knew it, Elysia punched the floor.

An explosion erupted from Elysia's fist, engulfing all the guards in the flames and turning them to ash in an instant. More of the mansion was set on fire and parts of the mansion started falling apart.

"Now where is that damned snake, let's hope he hasn't run away." Elysia turned to the stairs and started to run up, looking for the snake noble.

*

Most of the mansion was falling apart because of the fire, but since Elysia had control over the flames, they did not affect her and were easily shoved out of the way.

Elysia kicked away some fallen wood that was blocking a door and then opened it. The snake noble that was inside fell back realising that what came to "save" him was one of the girls he caught. The room was a study that had no windows and was filled with books from top to bottom. A single desk was in the middle with books sprawled across them.

"S-stay away." The snake noble was crawling backwards till he hit the bookshelf behind him.

Due to the flames, Elysia had caused, by the time the noble noticed something was wrong, the door had already jammed, making it impossible for him to leave.

"My, look at who we have here, why don't we play with some fire." Elysia smiled while covering her hands in fire.

145 Killing spree

"P-please s-spare me." The noble snake was currently being held by the neck.

Elysia slowly tightened her grip, slowly killing him. She also set her hands aflame, burning the snake noble's neck.

"Sorry, but you need to die." Elysia saw the life drain from the noble's eyes. Deciding that she had her fun, she fully closed her hand into a fist, instantly finishing off the noble. Blood ran down Elysia's hand and through the fur that covered her arm.

"Now that's over with, let's get out of here." Elysia, finishing off another target, now needed a way to escape the mansion. Doing what she does best Elysia went up to one of the back bookshelves and condensed the flames on her fist.

Elysia punched the wall causing an explosion which turned the bookshelf and the wall behind it to ash.

A blast of fire erupted from the back of the mansion, followed by a fox girl coming out of the hole.

Elysia got onto the roof of the mansion to look for Shaman, which Elysia assumed would be waiting outside. Spotting Shaman sitting on the roof of a side building, watching over the front of the mansion, Elysia ran in her direction, then jumped off the edge of the roof.

Shaman spotted Elysia coming in her direction and saw that she was in her fox form.

'Damn, she looks cool.' Shaman was in awe of Elysia's new form. Despite taking a more beastly look, the fire that came off her fur made her look like a video game character.

.....

Elysia landed in the garden which was completely covered in flames, but she was able to move the flames out of the way creating her own path out.

Jumping over the fence, Elysia made it below Shaman and started to climb up the side of the building. Once Elysia was at the top she launched herself at Shaman giving her a hug while turning back to her humanoid form.

Shaman fell back as Elysia jumped on her, waiting for praise.

"I assume you managed to kill the target?" Shaman just wanted to make sure she did not just cause a house fire and left without finishing the job.

"Crushed his neck like I was scrunching up paper." Elysia spoke in a cheerful voice, sounding extremely proud of what she did.

Shaman gulped and started patting Elysia, glad that she was on their side.

"We should probably leave. I see people already trying to investigate what happened." Clara heard the streets getting noisy as all the noise Elysia made woke people up.

"Should pick up the pace though, the quicker the better." Shaman wanted to move on as she still needed to choose her new element and memories of her past to go through.

"Don't get too cocky! We were literally captured and could have possibly died." Clara did not want Shaman getting ahead of herself as they only survived by pure luck.

"I decided we will no longer be discreet, we will just nuke the places." Shaman gave up on being sneaky, since the loud and quick approach was easier.

"Didn't Kiruya say keep the casualties to a minimum?" Elysia out of all people remembered a key detail Kiruya told them before they headed out. Elysia also sat up still on top of Shaman, but was no longer hugging her.

"…" Both Clara and Shaman went silent for a moment before realising Elysia was the worst offender.

"Wait but you have killed the most people here?" Shaman was the first to point it out.

"I call it self defence." Elysia tried coming up with an excuse.

"Technically they are the defenders." Clara quickly refuted Elysia's point as indeed they were the ones attacking them.

"Okay, okay how about we try to find the noble from the outside and try to kill him by sending a massive strike into that room." Shaman saw how most of the mansion had windows so if they could spot the noble, they could target that room with a skill and kill their target.

"Fine." Clara could not oppose it as they all had long range capabilities, so killing the nobles would not be a problem.

Elysia nodded while averting her eyes as she could no longer argue that the guards needed to die.

"Alright let's get moving, night time only lasts for so long." Shaman slid out from under Elysia's legs and got up.

Pulling out the map, they oriented themselves and located the next target they had to kill.

*

The group shortly arrived at their next destination. This time they were dealing with a half rhino. The mansion had a grey theme with a lot of the building being made out of a grey stone.

"Alright let's not waste any time." Shaman jumped off the roof and then over the fence.

Shaman and Elysia ran around one side of the mansion while Clara and Wolfy ran around the other side looking through the windows for their target.

Shaman and Elysia were the first to find the target on the first floor of the mansion in some kind of dining room which had a massive window looking out the backyard. The half rhino sat at a table with a bunch of books laid out across it and looked like it was filling things in a journal.

'Why doesn't he do it in a study?' Shaman thought they would do this kind of thing in a more private space, but nonetheless it made things easier for them.

"Alright Elysia I will take this one, I will use [Flamesicon] and wipe him out in one blow." Shaman figured using her most powerful skill would do the trick and provide enough distraction for them to get away.

"Isn't it kind of telegraphed when you use it? Won't they notice?" Elysia remembered it took time for Shaman to cast the skill so seeing a bright fire outside a window would be kind of obvious.

"It's an instant cast now don't worry." Since Shaman was now able to handle the skill she could freely use.

Elysia did not question it and moved backwards to get out of her way.

Shaman got in position and took a deep breath before activating her skill.

Shaman pulled out Kotetsu and the gem on the hilt glowed a bright red. Shaman activated [Blade of flamscion] and Kotetsu was engulfed in fire.

In an instant a massive blade of fire was created, lighting up the area around Shaman.

Shaman rushed straight into the window, smashing her body through it. The half rhino had not realised what was happening and fell back into his seat as he watched Shaman.

Swinging her sword towards the half Rhino, a massive slash of fire flew towards him. The flames crashed right into him and flames engulfed the entire room. The half Rhino burnt to ash without even letting out a scream.

Shaman landed on the floor and quickly dispelled her fire before she wasted any more mana. The guards were rushing to the room as the explosion had shook the building, drawing their attention to the dining room.

Shaman quickly jumped out of the window, returning to Elysia who was hiding in a bush.

"Let's go." Shaman grabbed Elysia's hand leading her to the back of the backyard before they jumped the fence.

Shaman sent a system message to Clara to let her know where they were.

"How about we go in groups of 2?" Shaman thought it could be quicker if they split up instead of doing one by one.

"Since we can communicate, if someone is in trouble we can always run over, so i don't see why not." Elysia was not opposed as it would mean she would be alone with Shaman which was always ideal for her.

"Hey Rea, can we send images through the message thing." Shaman, who had not spoken to Rea in a while, finally acknowledged her existence.

[Oh, ummm yes I can do that for you.]

"Cool, send the map and list of targets to Clara please."

[Sure can do]

Shaman was glad that they did not have to meet up each time to see the map as Clara and Shaman's inventory were not connected.

'I wonder, how close do I have to get to Clara before our inventory gets linked.' Shaman knew entering a relationship combines your inventory, but did not know if that was the only way since she skipped a lot of steps with Elysia.

[Thank you Shaman, I assume you want us to head to a different target?] Clara sent a message back asking about the map and list.

[Yes, I will head to the monkey. Just let me know which one you chose and if you need help shoot a message so me and Elysia can run over.]

[No worries]

Shaman was happy with the amount of progress they should be making if they keep up the pace.

'We might be able to finish tonight, although the sun may be rising by then.' They had only killed 3 out of a long list of targets, but with 2 groups going they should be able to finish in time.

'Time to speedrun and hope we don't run into any more trouble.'

146 Chaos in Freya forest

"Alright Wolfy, let's head to the half prey mantis." Clara was on a side building next to the rhino mansion, looking at the map that Shaman sent through Reia.

Wolfy nodded, a little anxious that he isn't with Shaman, but he trusted Clara which helped him calm down.

Clara quickly sent a message to Shaman on where she was going to make sure they didn't cross paths.

"Let's go." Clara, with the map in front of her, started to run along the roofs of the buildings with Wolfy beside her.

*

Approaching a mansion that was bright green, Clara saw some statues of prey mantises with a lot of vegetation around, telling her she was at the right place.

"Alright Wolfy, I will run around the outskirts of the mansion and try to find the target through a window, but if he is nowhere to be found we will go in with your [Shadow walk]."

"What do you want me to do in the meantime?" Wolfy was unsure on what he should be doing.

"Either wait for me here or try to find a safe way in." Clara did trust Wolfy's skills, but she still wanted to keep him out of danger as much as possible.

.....

Wolfy nodded and his tail started to wag, as he was going to be relied on which was rather rare for him.

Clara found Wolfy adorable and could not resist giving him some head pats before jumping down.

"Good boy~" Clara smiled at Wolfy and jumped off the roof, landing right by the fence.

Wolfy was filled with joy and was extremely determined to do his best.

Wolfy entered [Shadow walk] and went to investigate safe ways to enter the mansion.

*

Clara ran around the mansion trying to find the target.

Unlike Shaman, Clara was not able to spot him in any of the windows, with some being blocked by curtains.

'Looks like we have to sneak in.' Clara was at the back of the mansion, seeing if they could enter through a window.

In the back it was filled with bushes and vegetation, like a garden that has been unkempt for years, letting all the plants run wild.

'That window seems to be open, I need to get back to Wolfy so we can enter.' Clara wondered if Wolfy found another place to enter which could be safer.

However, just as Clara was about to head back to the roof there was rustling in the bush behind Clara.

"Wolfy?" Clara's first thought was Wolfy, but it was odd as usually, he would appear at your feet not nearby.

What came out of the bush was not Wolfy but a half prey mantis. The prey mantis had the same arms and head as a prey mantis with the rest of the body being human. It also wore a lab coat which indicated that it was not a bodyguard.

The prey mantis lunged at Clara with its arms, in an attempt to kill her with one swift blow.

Clara quickly went to pull out her whip blades to block the attack, but due to the speed of the half prey mantis, her forearm got slashed.

"Bitch!" Clara jumped back holding her forearm which started to bleed heavily.

"Tch, seems like I am getting rusty." The prey mantis spoke, cursing itself for not being faster.

Clara pulled out a bandage from her inventory to quickly wrap around the wound to stop the bleeding, while her demon regeneration healed it slowly.

Clara quickly pulled up the list of targets. After comparing her opponent to her target's description, she confirmed that the target had come out to fight her directly.

'I can't use my enhanced demon form yet. Last time I used it against Elysia I was out of energy after only using it for 30 seconds.' Clara thought about using it as the prey mantis seemed to be oddly stronger than the opponents she faced so far despite having a lower level.

'It might be because he is more beast than he is human, giving him an advantage.' Clara knew there were different degrees of beast people, where some would almost take their full form as a beast. Most half beasts resembled that of a human with some only having small features, these two types making up the majority of the population. It has been said that the more you resemble your animal side, the more powerful your animal traits, which is why generally half-humans are stronger than normal humans.

"Now vixen, how shall I kill you, will you become part of my experiment or would you rather I eat you instead for a nice midnight meal." The mantis was cleaning the blood off his serrated arms, getting ready to attack.

"I prefer the third option where I burn you to a crisp." Clara grabbed her blade whips, slamming them against the ground. With the added effect of Clara's purple lightning, the ground was burnt by her whips.

"Don't get cocky! Just because you can use magic doesn't mean you can't be beaten." With incredible speed, the half prey mantis dashed at Clara swinging his arms.

Clara, being more prepared this time, was able to successfully block the attack of the prey mantis. Retracting her blade back into a sword, she collided with the serrated arms of the prey mantis.

'Here I thought all the nobles would be easy to kill.' Clara was not expecting a noble to be able to fight back.

"Tch." The prey mantis clicked its tongue. Although Clara was unable to read his expression she could tell it was getting frustrated.

The prey mantis pulled back, jumping slightly back before attempting to go for another attack.

Clara however, took the opportunity to keep up the pressure and swung one of her whips at the prey mantis. Since he had not jumped far enough he was in the range of Clara's whips, which moved at high speeds thanks to the lightning infused in them.

The prey mantis attempted to block the whip with one of his serrated arms. What he did not expect was for his arm to be cut clean off while an electrical shock went through his body. Feeling his insides burn from the lightning, he screeched in pain.

"Heh." Clara found it amusing how quickly the prey mantis went down with that one attack.

'Let's try something new.' Clara had something new to try as the help of her new system allowed her to create new skills.

Clara manifested lightning in her hands and created a javelin out of it. Threads of loose lightning danced over her spear, lighting up the night and burning anything it touched.

Holding it over her shoulder, she threw the javelin towards the prey mantis that was still affected by the electrical shock.

The javelin made contact with the prey mantis's chest, creating an explosion of lightning. The prey mantis was fried to a crisp, turning his entire body ash-black and killing him.

His body fell to the ground twitching and falling apart, slowly being blown away by the wind.

"I was really worried for a moment there, but it seems like he has never been hurt in his life." Clara thought she had come up against a strong noble, but it seemed to rely too much on its speed and the strength of its bladed arms.

"Wolfy?!" Clara called out hoping that wolfy was nearby so they could move on.

After a minute Wolfy appeared out of the shadows.

"Sorry I was at the front of the mansion." Wolfy poked his head out and spotted the burnt body of a half prey mantis.

"Was that our target?"

"Yep, we can move on." Clara smiled and tried to hide the wound on her arm so Wolfy wouldn't worry as it was almost healed already.

"I haven't got a message from Shaman so we can assume they are still dealing with their target, so let's go with the crocodile." Clara opened the list of targets choosing the next one to face.

"Sounds good to me." Wolfy had no issues and fully came out of [Shadow walk] waiting for Clara to move.

"Now where is h-" Just as Clara was speaking a massive explosion went off in the distance.

"Oh please don't tell me that was Elysia." Clara's thoughts went straight to Elysia as the likely reason for the explosion.

Clara was about to send a message to Shaman when one appeared in front of her.

[I know what you are thinking, so before you ask yes, it was Elysia. Let's just say she thought placing a bunch of bombs around an empty mansion was a good idea.]

Clara stared in disbelief at what she was reading.

[Since when is blowing an entire place up a good idea.] Clara quickly responded.

[Since Elysia existed, now don't worry, no one was killed, and the only body we found was that of a monkey. We hope it is the target, but you can guess why we can't tell.]

Clara's face palmed as there was no way that there weren't casualties, as they were all probably turned to dust in a matter of seconds.

Screams and yelling started to be heard throughout the city as the explosion had woken up everyone, drawing a lot of attention.

'Let's hope Freja doesn't punish us for this.' Although Freja said they could go rather wild, this kind of wild may have been out of the question.

***

"HAHAHAHAHA, THEY ACTUALLY DID IT!" Freja, who was sitting in her bed watching the girls on the screen, could not believe that Elysia blew up a mansion.

"Oh my, I wish I could keep them here forever, they are just amazing." Freja was smiling as the performance they were putting on amused Freja greatly.

"You do know we have to pay for repairs right?" Kiruya who was sitting next to Freja had a worried look thinking about the paperwork and repairs that would need to be done.

"That isn't an issue darling~ just enjoy the show and worry about it later." Freja, who had made Kiruya her personal secretary, tried to distract her from the oncoming work.

"Fine." Kiruya let out a sigh and snuggled into Freja watching the chaos alongside her.

147 Final target

Shaman was face palming, wondering why she let Elysia put condensed balls of fire around the mansion. In front of her was the destroyed mansion of the monkey and Elysia going through the rubble looking for anyone alive.

"If he was here, I think he would be dead." Elysia yelled out after finding only dead body parts crushed by rubble.

"We should get moving, it doesn't matter at this point." Shaman sighed, giving up the hope of keeping a low profile as this would have alerted all the other targets.

'They might think they won't get targeted, but if they have something to hide then there is a high chance they will be on high alert.' Shaman wanted to take the silent approach, but with each target it seems like they were getting louder and louder.

"Okaayyyyy~" Elysia dropped a piece of rubble she lifted up then ran to Shaman.

"Where to next?" Elysia asked with a big smile. Shaman shook her head in defeat as she could already see the next target getting similar treatment.

"Well, Clara is heading to a crocodile, so that leaves us with the eagle." Shaman saw that they were about half way through the list and hoped that at this rate they'll be able to kill them all tonight.

"Hope they can fly, so I can shoot them out of the sky." Elysia figured it would be good target practice .

"Let's find out, the quicker the better I guess." Shaman gave up and was going to let Elysia have her fun.

.....

Elysia pulled out the map and took the lead to the next target.

Elysia began to run and Shaman followed, wondering what Elysia was going to do next.

*

On top of a platform of ice that looked over a mansion made out of wood, Elysia was charging up a massive fire arrow.

"This could not be any more perfect." Elysia had a massive smile while she was preparing the arrow.

Elysia held her bow which was coated in fire, making it appear much bigger than it was. The bow was almost double Elysia's size so it can hold the massive arrow she was creating. The ice platform she was on was created by Shaman and was constantly melting, forcing Shaman to keep putting ice under Elysia's feet.

Elysia funnelled her mana through her bow and into the arrow that was growing more violent and slightly bigger, till she was at her limit.

Letting go of the string, the Fire arrow flew towards the mansion at a high speed.

The fire arrow burnt everything that got near it and anything the fire touched was turned to ash. As the arrow got closer, the mansion was set ablaze even before the arrow made contact.

As the mansion began burning to dust, the cries of the half eagles rang out, yet they ended as abruptly as they began. Once the arrow reached the ground, a small explosion occurred, engulfing the entire place in flames and turning it to ash. Part of the road and almost the surrounding houses were caught in the blast.

Where the mansion once resided was now just a black burning pit. Meanwhile, the neighbours checking out the commotion through their windows were starting to freak out.

"What the hell is happening!"

"Somebody call the Empress or the guards!"

Chaos was ensuing throughout the different areas of the freya forest, creating a lot of confusion. Some people had put the pieces together and were celebrating, but many saw it as an attack on their turf.

The heat from the arrow was too much for Shaman to keep maintaining the platform, forcing her to let Elysia fall. Elysia lost her footing, and started falling to the ground without any chance to brace for it.

"Shiiit." Elysia did not think this through, but Shaman was ready to catch her.

Shaman jumped into the air just before Elysia was about to crash into the roof of the side building they were on. Shaman caught Elysia and landed back down on the roof, feeling a wave of pain go through her legs from the impact.

"Hehe, thank you darling~" Elysia was now in a princess carry, although a little awkward since Shaman was smaller in height.

"Shush Eli." Shaman's face was red from hearing the words darling.

"I have to say that was amazing, but I can only do that a few more times." Elysia having a much larger reserve of mana could produce a few more massive explosive arrows.

"We will quickly move to the other targets then. After that I will do something that can destroy the entire building." Shaman figured she could join in on the fun and come up with a way to destroy an entire mansion.

*

Moving on to the next few targets, Elysia used the rest of the arrows she could produce until she was unable to walk anymore.

While carrying Elysia, Shaman received a message from Clara, reporting that 3 more targets were killed, leaving 2 left.

Deciding to take one each, Shaman made her way to the final mansion.

Arriving at the mansion of a half bear, Shaman sat Elysia by the edge of a side building letting her watch.

"Goodluck~" Before Shaman moved away Elysia gave Shaman a quick kiss.

"Aha thank you." Shaman was a little thrown back by the sudden shift in mood lately, but she wasn't complaining.

Shaman jumped off the roof and approached the front gate of the mansion where a group of guards were waiting.

Shaman decided to practice some close combat as she rather enjoyed fighting with people.

"What are you doing here?" One of the guards yelled, suspicious of the fox girl dressed fully black.

The guards had given the signal as well, pulling out all their weapons, waiting on what the fox girl would do.

"Not much, I'm just here to destroy the entire mansion." Shaman summoned Kotetsu, pulling it out of its sheethe.

The guards expected that answer, as explosions had been raging throughout the freya forest and the guards were told they were going to be a target.

With no further words, the group of 4 guards charged at Shaman.

The first guard to swing had a pair of long claws for weapons, with which he attempted to strike Shaman in the chest.

Shaman redirected the hit to the side, forcing the guard to go past Shaman. The next guard went to follow up with his great sword swang straight down onto Shaman.

Shaman blocked the hit while creating an ice knife on her foot and kicking the half bear in the groin. The guard froze on the spot, trying to keep in his screams and started falling to the ground.

Another guard with a spear tried to stab Shaman in the back.

Shaman grabbed the bear that was falling, using him as a shield and making the guard stab him right through the heart.

"Tch." The guard with the spear quickly pulled away, jumping slightly back.

"Oops you killed your own friend~ how could you~." Shaman put one of her hands to her mouth acting shocked. This aggravated the guard with the spear and he charged at her again.

Shaman dashed forward facing the spear head on, but before getting in range, she flipped into the air and using her foot stomped down on the spear. Her foot pushed it to the ground, halting the movements of the guard.

Not giving any time to react, Shaman decapitated the bear while hopping off the spear. Unfortunately, just as she hopped off she was met with a mace to the face. Shaman was confused as she did not see the guard in her field of view when she turned.

Getting hit in the face with a blunt mace Shaman slid back on the floor, holding her nose.

"Fuck that hurt." Shaman did not take a lot of damage, but it still hurt a lot and blood came from her nose.

The bear that had hit Shaman was not actually there but used a portal of some kind. Shaman saw in the back that the bear's arm was missing, and yet it appeared right where Shaman was.

'He has space magic?' Shaman was amazed as it is an element she wanted for herself but was not sure if it was actually possible.

Shaman pulled up the list of nobles to make sure that it wasn't the target pretending to be a guard. Looking through the list she spotted an important note about the bear which confirmed to her that it was actually the target.

[Target uses spatial magic, this one is the most dangerous target so proceed with caution]

Shaman was in a little bit of disbelief as the most dangerous target was the last one on the list, realising it probably would have been smarter to go for them first.

'Damnit, I might need to get Clara over just to make sure this one is killed quickly.' Shaman was not confident that she could fight the bear with ease. Spatial magic had many applications and if she wasn't careful she could find herself getting killed in an instant.

'Let's play it safe and try to poke the bear with a stick first.' Shaman using [heal] fixed her nose before facing the remaining guard and the target

148 Walk back home

Shaman stared down the target waiting for him to move, anticipating a similar attack.

The remaining guard with the claws went for another charge, probably aiming to distract her.

'I wonder if I can see anything in my spatial rift.' Shaman saw that the target was using portals, so she wondered if she could use them against the target.

'Wait, if he can use his portals like that, does that mean I can use my spatial rift to achieve the same thing?'

'Let's try it.' Shaman figured using the charging guard as a guinea pig would be a good test.

While slashing down with her sword, Shaman opened up a rift in front of her and opened the exit behind the guard.

Shaman's sword went through the portal, its blade coming out on the other side and slashing across the guard's back. The guard fell down on the ground, bleeding and barely able to move. To finish him off Shaman opened an exit above his head and pierced it with her sword.

'Wow that worked a lot better than I thought, but it drains my mana like crazy.' Shaman thought it wouldn't work as it seemed to open a portal to a different dimension, yet it would not alter the distance between its entrance and exit points.

'Maybe that space is to help visualise where I am, but really I just need to think where I need to go and I can open a portal to that area?' Shaman pondered on it for a moment before Rea spoke up giving an explanation.

.....

[Well done, Shaman you have accidentally evolved your skill even though you do not possess the element. You gained a new understanding of the skill, forcing it to change. I have no idea how you did this but it is what it is.]

Shaman was surprised to hear she accidentally evolved her skill without realising it.

'If I remember correctly, the better my understanding of an element, the easier it is to improve and create new skills.' Shaman thought back to how she made her Flamescion skill and acquired the ice element.

'Anyway that is good news, maybe I should try it with my other skills.' Shaman, recalling the baseline knowledge of her home world, wanted to use it more so she can improve even quicker.

'Now back to the target, I almost forgot about him.' Shaman looked up to see the scared face of the target.

Not wasting any time, Shaman opened up a portal and prepared to throw Kotetsu in. The target realised what is likely to happen next and tried to open a portal to escape. Yet, just as he opened his portal, Shaman connected her entrance to his, throwing Kotetsu in straight for his neck.

Shaman was exhilarated from the success of her ruse, watching Kotetsu stab through his neck. The target stared at the sword in horror as he started choking on his own blood.

"Wow, that was cool despite the gruesome death." Shaman felt rather proud. Although her mana was significantly drained due to the new application of the portals, she was still happy to see improvement.

Shaman walked up to the dying target who had fallen to the ground, grabbed his neck and pulled out kotetsu. Blood started to profusely come out of his neck and Shaman quickly backed away to avoid it.

'Despite seeing blood so much lately, I can't help but feel a little bit disgusted by this scene.' Shaman stared at the target trying to speak, but with each second the life was draining from his eyes.

'Anyway, the target is dead and I want to get into a nice bed already.' Shaman realised that they had finally finished killing all the targets in one night.

Elysia, who was watching from the side, had regained enough strength to move and so she quickly made her way down to Shaman.

"Kyaa! That was so cool, Shaman. what you did with your portals, I never knew you could do that." Elysia ran up to Shaman giving her a hug.

Shaman tried to respond but she was completely smothered in Elysia's chest making it hard to speak.

"Oh and is your face okay? Can't believe that piece of trash was able to hit you." Elysia slightly pulled away from Shaman to examine her face to see if there were any damages.

"Y-yes, but can you let go? We need to get out of here." Shaman Did not want to stick around the crime scene, as sooner or later more guards would arrive.

"Oh yes, let's go." Elysia let go of Shaman and instead held onto her hand.

Shaman quickly sent a message to Clara, letting her know that they had killed all their targets.

[Sweet, me and Wolfy just finished up here, so I will see you back at Freja's mansion]

Shaman smiled, glad that they were okay and there were no more complications.

*

Taking their time, Shaman and Elyia found themselves walking hand in hand through the streets. The sound of yelling and confusion spread throughout the Freya forest while Shaman and Elysia calmly made their way to the mansion

"How long do you think we will stay here?" Elysia wondered what Shaman's plan was as it seemed like they found a place to settle.

"It depends. We could stay here and do more missions for Freja, but sooner or later we may have to make our way to the demon lands for Clara and Himeko." Shaman had a similar feeling of wanting to find a safe haven, but they could not stay for too long.

"Do we really have to go to the demon lands for Clara?" Elysia pouted as although she did not mind Clara, She wasn't a fan either.

"Well she is possibly a demon queen so who knows, we may be able to get a demon army on our side." Shaman already guessed what Clara's identity could be.

"You do have a point, although we can't see her status fully, it is kind of obvious what she is." Elysia had also assumed the same thing since the explanation of demon horns given by Clara told them everything.

"Indeed, so let us not waste this opportunity." Shaman had a good feeling about Clara, but she also expected it to be very difficult.

"We also have Himeko somewhere in the Demon lands that we have to find." Elysia remembered the cave that was mentioned to them where Himeko was supposedly recovering.

"It is going to be a mess. Honestly, I'd rather not think about it until the time comes." Shaman was still unsure how Clara was going to react but assumed it was not going to be nice.

"I'm still not happy that Himeko hid the truth from us, but I can't imagine how Clara feels having her very identity come into question." Elysia, despite her animosity towards Clara, still felt bad for her.

"We have to hear Himeko out first. If what Freja said is true, Himeko wanted the best for us, so I don't think we should just throw her away." Shaman was willing to hear out Himeko and was more concerned about how it will turn out for the others.

"Oh well, all we can do is hope that Clara doesn't overreact." Elysia sighed, understanding why Shaman did not want to think about it.

"At least now we should have some free time to ourselves." Shaman wrapped around Elysia's arm giving her a smile, instantly lifting the mood.

"Hehe~" Elysia felt extremely happy and had a grin all the way back to the mansion.

*

Arriving back at Freja's mansion, Shaman and Elysia were at the front gates with Shaman still clinging to Elysia.

Clara and Wolfy were sitting on a brick wall by the gate waiting for Shaman to arrive. Seeing them come up to the mansion Clara and Wolfy made their way down to them.

"You guys took your time." Clara stared at them unimpressed for taking so long to get back to the mansion.

"You didn't need to wait for us, you know." Shaman was surprised to see Clara and Wolfy waiting for them, as she expected them to go to bed.

"Well, Freja wanted to see us before we went to our rooms." Clara sighed as she would have much rather gone to bed, but there were still things to do.

"Alright fair enough, let's get this over with then." Shaman could not argue with that and sighed before moving.

The group made their way into the mansion, entering the throne room where Freja sat in her throne with a sleeping Kiruya in her lap.

"Well, Well my little cuties~, you seem to have completed your mission already." Freja grinned while she slowly patted Kiruya's head.

"We wanted to get it done quickly so we ended up doing it as fast as we could." Shaman moved her gaze to the side as she remembered that they had destroyed many mansions.

"I must say, the way you went about it was absolutely a blast to watch."

"Wait, you were watching us." Elysia suddenly felt her heart drop as she was the main perpetrator of the exploding mansions.

"Fufu~ yes dear, I watched you all destroy the mansions and cause chaos throughout my forest." Freja's gaze went cold and the girls all went silent, scared of what was going to happen.

"Now for your punishment for causing me so much trouble."

149 "Punishment"

Shaman, Clara, Elysia and Wolfy all froze from hearing the words punishment.

"U-uhh, but didn't you say we were allowed to burn down the mansion." Shaman, being brave enough to speak up, hoped that Freja was only joking.

"Oh yes, but I changed my mind." A sadistic grin appeared on Freja's face.

"I-, okay." Shaman bit her lip and looked towards the ground, waiting for the verdict.

"Now I shall lock you up in your rooms for a week as punishment."

"Huh?" The girls and Wolfy looked at Freja, perplexed by what she just said.

"Fufu~ did you really think I would punish you for putting on such a magnificent show? Go on and enjoy your little break, the next mission will be a lot longer." Freja's cold gaze disappeared as she let out a giggle.

Elysia fell to her knees out of breath as she was terrified of what was going to happen. Clara put her hand to her chest and let out a sigh of relief. Wolfy rolled over onto his side, thinking that the end of them was just around the corner. Shaman took a deep breath while looking up at the roof and exhaled, a little annoyed but also glad.

"Tomorrow we will deal with Wolfy, so make sure you are rested." Freja got up from her throne, lifting Kiruya in her arms. Freja then left through a blood portal leaving the girls and Wolfy.

.....

Wolfy had poked his head up hearing what Freja said and his tail started to wag.

"Looks like you will be getting your human form tomorrow Wolfy." Shaman went up to Wolfy and gave him some head pats.

"Finally, I can use that scythe." Wolfy had not forgotten the weapon they received from the skeleton knight and was eagerly waiting for the day to use it.

"Oh! the demon weapon we got, I forgot we had it." Shaman opened up her inventory, spotting the demon scythe as well as the skill level up and select.

"Elysia and Clara, we forgot to use the skill rewards we got from clearing that dungeon." Shaman got slightly annoyed for not remembering, as it would have been nice to have some extra skills.

"Hmm, I think we should save them though." Clara didn't think it was worth wasting what was essentially a free pass to a higher level skill.

"How come?" Elysia was eager to use them right away and was about to reach for her system menu.

"Well think about it, if we reach max level with a skill, what happens when you use the skill level up on it?" Clara was not sure if there was even a max, but it would only get harder and harder to level so saving them could be very useful in the future.

[It wont work] Reia quickly interjected crumbling Clara's point.

"Damn it, either way I think we should save the skill level ups. At least so we can level up our skills when it starts taking too long to level them up."

"Damn can't argue against that." Elysia who was about to use the skill level up reluctantly closed her system knowing it would be better to save.

"Hmm now that you mention it, it would probably be a good idea. What about the skill select then?" Shaman liked Clara's idea as levelling up a skill is still rather easy at the moment.

"Well I'm not sure about that, I haven't used it so I don't know how it works." Clara could tell what a skill level up is, but she was unsure what it meant by skill select.

"You can choose any skill you want as long as the skill is not above your tier. It gives you a long list of skills so it's rather hard to choose."

"If that is the case, why not use it as a way to get more skills for the elements we already have. What I mean by this is that if you look at the name and description, you could replicate the skill on your own." Clara was a little shocked they had not thought about it before.

"Ah, you make a very good point, but one thing I noticed though, is my ice transformed into something that allowed me to do whatever I want. If I could do that with all my elements then I would have no need for a bunch of skills and my imagination would be the limit." Shaman looked at her skill [Ice free form] that pretty much allowed her to create anything, with the only limit being her imagination and mana pool.

"I still think it's worth a shot looking through, to give you inspiration." Clara figured there would be skills on the list that would help facilitate more ideas.

"I guess so, but right now I just really want some sleep, it's morning and I hear the bed calling." Shaman liked Clara's idea. However, Shaman and everyone else were exhausted from killing all night.

"You can say that again, my entire body is sore." Elysia got up from the floor and then pretended to stumble into Shaman.

Shaman caught Elysia by holding her shoulders to make sure both of them did not go falling to the ground. After getting caught, Elysia darted behind Shaman, giving her a hug from behind.

"Aha fair enough, Well goodnight." Clara felt tired as well and so she took the initiative to leave first. Wolfy had also followed along, since he was suspicious of what Shaman and Elysia would do tonight.

'Better be safe and go with Clara tonight.' Wolfy, using Clara as a scapegoat to escape the potential nightly activities, actually started to grow closer to Clara.

Clara did not mind this as he was still a wolf, but things would change once he got his human form.

'It's going to be hard to see him as a normal wolf once he becomes half human.' This thought went through Clara's mind, who started feeling a little uncomfortable by this fact.

'At least he will get his own room, but I don't know if he will be able to manage on his own.' Clara was worried that Wolfy's habits will no longer be acceptable once he has his human form which will take him a while to adjust..

Clara shook her head, banishing those thoughts. After all, by the sound of it, Wolfy would be able to switch between the different forms easily.

Wolfy and Clara both left the throne room heading to Clara's room.

"Sooo~ how about tonight." Elysia cut to the chase clearly wanting her night.

"I wish Elysia but honestly it's hard enough to even walk right now, my legs feel like they could fall off after all that running." Shaman was too exhausted to do anything intense and would rather be at full energy so it would be more enjoyable for Elysia.

"I don't blame you, but if you ever change your mind don't be afraid to jump on me hehe~" Elysia was willing to wait since she was exhausted as well.

"We can still snuggle though." Shaman grabbed a hold of Elysia's forearm while looking up at her face.

"Let's get going then." Elysia grabbed Shaman's hand and then started to walk towards their room.

**

Afternoon came with a knock on the door of both Shaman and Clara's room, waking them up.

"Shaman, it's past noon and Freja wants to see you." What sounded like a maid called them, requesting them to come out.

Shaman opened her eyes, still tired and wanting to go back to sleep, yet she forced herself to get up. Elysia still clung onto Shaman's arm, refusing to let go or wake up.

"Yep, I'm awake, I will go see her in a moment." Shaman rubbed her eyes, trying to think why Freja wanted her.

Then it hit her that this was the day that Wolfy was going to get his human form.

"Oh shit, that is today." Realising that they should probably hurry, she poked Elysia in her side to wake her up.

"Kyaa!!" Elysia jumped from the sudden poke in her ribs.

"Sweet, now that you are awake, we have a Wolfy human form to go see." Shaman got straight to the point while getting out of bed.

However, as she got out of the bed, she stumbled on her legs which were not fully recovered and so she fell to the ground.

"HA! Karma." Elysia giggled as Shaman was instantly paid back for the rude awakening she just recieved.

"Ow! I was not expecting my legs to still be so sore." Shaman pulled herself up from the floor and slowly stood up.

"Okay, it is not as bad as I thought." Shaman, still able to walk, did not bother to change out of her white t-shirt and black shorts.

Shaman went to the door and turned around waiting for Elysia to get up. Elysia wore a red t-shirt with a black skull on it and a pair of blank panties which were barely hidden by the red shirt.

"Hurry! I don't want to miss this, my son is growing up." Shaman was excited for Wolfy and could not wait to see how handsome her son was going to look like.

"Yes, yes I'm getting out of bed." Getting out of bed, Elysia went and put on her stockings but didn't bother putting on anything else.

When Elysia was close enough to the door, Shaman grabbed Elysia's hand and rushed out of the room to go get Wolfy.

150 Silver

Shaman and Elysia went past the maid who was at the door, going straight to Clara's room.

Swinging the door open, Shaman was greeted with Clara and Wolfy about to exit the room.

Clara wore a dark purple t-shirt alongside her thigh high socks and a pair of shorts.

"Ahh, somebody is eager." Clara was still half asleep, so the sudden opening of the door made her jump.

"Aha well my son is finally growing up, how could I miss this!" Shaman quickly knelt down and started to pat Wolfy.

"Hehe~ finally." Shaman gave Wolfy a hug, unable to contain her excitement. Wolfy who was extremely nervous for the transformation couldn't help but wag his tail vigorously out of excitement.

"Let's not waste any more time and hurry." Shaman quickly stood up and grabbed Elysia's hand, dragging her through the hallway to Freja's throne room. Clara and Wolfy followed, having to slightly jog to keep up with Shaman's pace.

"Do you have to drag me?" Elysia was almost stumbling over her feet and wanted to know why she was getting dragged.

"Yes because as the second mother of Wolfy we must get there as quickly as possible." Although Shaman may not have been too excited when she first heard that Wolfy could evolve, now that it was finally becoming a reality she couldn't help feeling like a helpless fan girl.

.....

"I can move on my own though." Elysia protested but Shaman did not listen, forcing Elysia to be in a constant state of almost falling over.

Clara giggled watching Elysia struggle while also trying not to be too loud to avoid distracting Shaman from her excitement.

*

Arriving in the throne room they met Freja dressed in a casual white shirt and black plants standing near her throne.

"Just on time girls and little Wolfy, follow me." Not wasting any time Freja opened up a portal and walked through it.

Shaman looked at Elysia then back at the portal, a little cautious of where it led. However, being too excited for Wolfy's evolution, she quickly followed suit while continuing to drag Elysia.

Going through the portal, Shaman found herself in a cave with a pool of water which was glowing enough to provide ample light. In the cave's ceiling was a hole that let sunlight in, providing nourishment for the vines that grew nearby. Similarly, the edges of the pool were also filled with overgrowth, giving the cave a very picturesque feeling.

By the side of the pool Freja knelt down looking at the water and seemingly using her system to analyse it.

Shaman and the group looked around in awe as the small cave they were in was a beautiful sight.

Wolfy walked up to the edge of the pool assuming this is what he will be entering to activate his transformation.

"Hold on Wolfy before you enter, give me a second to explain what this pool actually is." Freja, still looking at her system, put her hand up gesturing at Wolfy not to go any further.

"Okay so, this pool has some special kind of mana, probably divine mana, but all I know is that this pool is an abnormality in this world. I have tried to figure out what it is exactly, but I can't seem to find a resemblance to anything else from this world." Freja went to explain what the pool was, making it sound like something that should not have existed in the first place.

"Okay and so how is that relevant?" Shaman was curious why Freja was telling them about the pool and assumed there might be a catch.

"Well I don't just want Wolfy to enter it, I want you three to also go in." Freja stood up and moved towards the girls.

"Wait, have you tried?" Shaman was rather sceptical as she knew there was a high chance gods existed and it wouldn't surprise her if it had an effect on her.

"No~" Freja clicked her fingers, closing the portal.

Elysia and Clara looked around and saw that there was no exit other than the hole in the roof.

"I'm assuming there is no second option and we have to enter the pool." Shaman sighed as although it was most likely not dangerous, she did not appreciate being a guinea pig for an experiment.

"Fufu~ yes." Freja wore a smug grin.

"Well, speaking of who should go first, how about Wolfy first then us? He's becoming human and I don't know how comfortable Clara would be being in the same pool with him naked." Shaman was completely fine with being with Wolfy but she also had to consider Clara who was more of a friend than a mother to Wolfy.

"Hmm, well how about we go through the process with Wolfy first and then we will get you three to jump in." Freja did not expect them all to jump in once and was fine with them taking turns.

"Fine." Shaman was okay with that. And so, the moment of Wolfy's transformation was only a few moments away.

'I need a new name.' Shaman had a few names in mind, but she was rather undecided.

'Silver, Leo or Azure.' Shaman thought out some of the names that she had come up with or were recommended by Clara.

'I like Leo, but Silver is more symbolic.' Shaman was jumping between names trying to decide what would be best for Wolfy.

"Alright Wolfy, all you have to do is enter the pool and swim to the middle where the light is the strongest." Freja went to Wolfy's side pointing at the pool.

Wolfy looked over the edge a little hesitant as this was a life changing thing for him.

'Finally, I can be like mother.' Wolfy hovered his paw over the water, knowing that once he steps into the pool, his life will change.

"Comeon Silver! I want to see my new handsome son!" Shaman yelled out calling his new name and Wolfy looked back shocked to hear it.

"Yes mother!" Silver, liking his new name, went into the pool and swam to the middle.

For a moment nothing happened and Silver was rather confused for the lack of a reaction.

However, suddenly Silver's body started to glow a bright silver. This blinded everyone, forcing them to cover their eyes.

"Shit! Is SIlver okay!" Shaman was worried as the sudden holy light was rather concerning.

"Yes he will be fine, it was the same with a few others that had a transformation." Even Freja was affected by the light despite being able to protect her eyes with magic which supported her theory it was some kind of divine mana.

After waiting for a minute, the light began to die down, allowing them to check whether Silver was okay.

In the pool of water was a naked boy with short silver hair alongside a pair of silver wolf ears and a tail. The boy was about 5'6″ and looked like a young teenager. He sat in the pond slowly opening his eyes for the first time as a half human.

Silver opened his eyes revealing his crystal blue irises surrounded by a thin circle of violet, showing that Freja's blood was indeed present in him. Silver looked around, getting his bearings and looking at his hands. Moving them around fascinated him with this new range of movement.

Silver puddled to the edge of the pool and tried to stand up on his own two legs.

Everyone was watching with anticipation, witnessing Silver's first steps. While Silver attempted to stand up, Freja took the initiative to use blood to wrap a towel around Silver's waist.

Using the ground for support, Silver attempted to stand up straight, slowly raising his hands off the ground till his back was straight. Looking at Shaman, a big smile appeared on Silver's face as he finally managed to stand.

"Yes!" Shaman was excited and seeing the smile on Silver's face melted her heart.

However, the excitement got too much and Silver tried to run towards Shaman, only to instantly fall over, landing on his face.

"Ow!"

Shaman seeing this quickly ran over to Silver, lifting him up and giving him a hug.

"Silver, you okay?" Patting his head, Shaman made sure there wasn't a scratch, even using [heal].

"Aha yes im okay mother, just not quite used to walking." Silver looked up at Shaman a little embarrassed, but it was a completely new sensation.

Elysia had also quickly ran over. She may not have been as excited, but could not help feel proud of Silver.

Shaman seeing the smile on Silver's face up close could not help but start to cry.

"Mother? What's wrong?" Silver instantly got worried as it was rare for Shaman to cry.

"Oh I'm okay Silver, it's just I'm so damn happy right now." Shaman held Silver tighter in her embrace. Shaman felt bad for not giving Silver more attention, but he had been her first companion and she had always seen Silver as a son. The first time Silver called her mother was a shock, but it had made her extremely happy.

"Thank you mother, but please don't cry." Silver started to tear up himself.

"I know it's a very touchy moment, but I need you to jump into the pool." Freja wanted to let them have their moment, but they still had things to do.

"Oh yes, aha sorry, Come on Silver let's get you up." Shaman got a little carried away with her emotions, but she knew she had all the time to dote on Silver.

Wiping away the tears, Shaman stood up, becoming Silver's support for walking. Silver took his time slowly taking step after step, slowly getting used to his legs while they made their way to the wall.

Elysia had taken to the other side of Silver to provide that extra support.

Sitting Silver up against the wall, Shaman gave a quick kiss on his forehead before walking back towards the pool.

"Alright let's get this experiment over with, I have a son to dote on."