Episode 23- The limits that had to be broken.   

Zero-One could not help but stare at the sight of the girl awakening her ki, the girl was shining in resplendent colors, an aura that was mixed with some of the unusual colored elements. The aura was a chromatic color that was mixed with beautiful pink and purple with a hint of blue in it.

Her mana was mixing with her magic creating the power a power that was beyond some of the elements she used, and her once bright red hair, turned into a silver color and her eyes turned from sapphire blue into the same color her aura was representing.

There the girl stood in front of the demon, with a power that was above both magic and ki a power that was the mixture between the two, people called it the unknown power… a power that could not be named.

"So, you have unlike the abilities to be a magic-knight colored me impressed… but even if you did awaken that power, you have not mastered it so there is no use being worried about your streng–"

Zero-One was interrupted, by a presence that was standing behind him, there was no way that somebody could have reached his blind spot without him noticing but—

"Damn, you have gotten faster! How the hell did you get behind me so fast?!"

"I'm using the power of both the magic and ki. Ki boosts the physical strength countless times depending on its user, and magic gives me the ability to use the elements as a source of power."

Tenka swung her sword, faster than lightning could strike, a strike that was so beautiful yet so dangerous if it managed to hit someone. The strike was enough to sever the arm of the form in an instant.

The sword in her hand was the sword Caliburn, and it looked like it had undergone a major evolution. The sword was the same color as her aura.

"Caliburn… No that's not your name anymore, so I shall name you…" Tenka briefly paused before she shouted. " Zaraphon!"

Zaraphon started to glow brightly, and the aura that was around her started to fade into the wind.

"What the hell?! Did you just power down?"

"Zaraphon, radiate with the stars and pierce the man before me."

With that, Zaraphon started to glow brightly, and the aura that was around her was strong enough to rip the whole earth in half. Tenka's strength went from that of an ordinary mage to that of an A-rank adventurer.

"The strength you wield would be enough to kill most of the demons in the demon realm… Well, I guess it is time for me to get serious with you!"

Zero-One aura burst out of his body, and he started to take another form, a second transformation of the demon clan. The demon clan were people that went to war with the gods, of course, they were not as weak as some ordinary humans. That was why the demons were feared, the strength they get when transforming is unimaginable. A strength that should not exist.

"Damn, I forgot about the demons being able to transform more than one time, they had a total of three transformations, and they were strong enough to destroy the stars."

"You know your stuff little lady… too bad you are going to have to die here. The newfound power, you had will not be able to help you now."

"Are you sure about that, I'm not going to back down without a fight."

Zero-One stuck his arm out, channeling mana in the area where Zero-Two was trapped, and he opened his mouth. "Fly over towards me… Zero-Two."

The ice cracked and Zero-Two began to fly towards him, the demon grabbed Zero-Two, holding her by the face in front of Tenka. He started to grip her face, putting a little bit of force into his grip.

"Give up and let me kill you or… the girl will be killed off."

Tenka dropped to the ground, the was no way she could let the little girl die. The girl had too much to experience, and she was going to have no fun if she did not get free from the demon.

Demons were known for their underhanded acts, and their manipulation to achieve whatever needed to be done. They were cruel deep down and they would betray their comrades and some demons even killed their own families to survive.

"Zero-Three kill her now, she let her guard down."

Zero-Three popped up from behind her, and he had a sadistic grin on his face, he already knew that Zero-One was a demon and went along with him for the sake of killing people.

His blade was nearing the face of the completely defenseless vermillion princess until—

"What do you think you are doing? How dare you attack her."

Hearing the voice, Tenka looked up and noticed a familiar figure standing over her, the beautiful sandy-blond hair that was glowing in the night sky, the transfer student, Shito Mahinu stood in her presence.

—The blade of the assassin was in between his fingers, and the assassin jumped back, trying his best to put some distance between him and Shito.

"How did you know that I was here, Shito?"

"You do not need to worry about that… I see you became a magic knight."

Hit with a sudden realization, Tenka looked up at the demon, noticing that he still was holding Zero-Two by the face.

"Shito... Can you please get that girl out of his grip?" Tenka asked, politely, "I don't want the girl to die."

"Ok, I can do that for you."

Shito stuck his hand out and mana started to flood the area, he channeled it into a single point and aimed it at Zero-One. His finger shined in a bright blue light, and the mana was getting heavier and heavier stopping the two assassins from moving.

"Mana Shot."

With that, Shito shot a beam of pure light out of his finger that was condensed out of pure mana, hitting Zero-One on the arm causing him to release the girl from his grip.

"Come here," Shito said with a tone that was full of authority.

The little girl started floating in a bright green light, moving over to where Shito and Tenka were at. Only a couple of words needed to be said and the world abides by everything single word that came out of his mouth… it was as if he was manipulating the world to do his bidding. The words 'come here' are not a magic spell. A tone full of authority, it was like he was demanding for her to be handed over to him.

Shito looked at the girl and tapped her on the face, trying to wake her up. After a couple of seconds of tapping the girl's face, the little girl, Zero-Two, woke up and looked at the face that was in front of her.

"Don't make no sudden moves, I'm not here to hurt you."

Zero-Two nodded her head, looking at the man standing before her, she was a girl of a few words, matter fact the time she talked to Tenka was the first time she had ever spoken to a person in years. Even though the people she traveled with were her 'comrades' she did not trust them one bit.

"...Go sit back there and watch the fight!"

Immediately jumping out of his arms, Zero-Two walked back to where Tenka was sitting and sat down beside her.

"How did you knock me out so fast?" Zero-Two asked the Vermillion Princess who was sitting beside her. Even though she was a strong assassin, the ice that she was trapped in instantly put her to sleep.

"I forced you to sleep by dropping your body temperature to sixty degrees… it was once in a book that if you dropped the temperature that low then people would fall asleep."

"How did you know that I didn't have resistance to ice?"

In battle, Tenka could figure out the weakness of her opponent in an instant by analyzing her opponents while fighting. All the battle experience she accumulated paid off whenever she started to fight. She saw that the girl's movements started to get sluggish after she dropped the temperature. Thus, she determined that the girl was not resistant to the cold.

"I could tell by your movements… they got sluggish once I released ice, and just by noticing that I figured out your weakness to ice."

Zero-Two nodded her head, looking away from the Vermillion Princess. The girl's hair was an assorted color... one that was different than she saw when they first started fighting, the girl's long silver hair shined brightly under the moon.

"It has gotten dark, hasn't it."

"...Yeah."

Zero-Two looked up at Shito and the two assassins, she quickly noticed that Zero-Three was covered in a strange aura, one that was the same as his companion, Zero-One. Thus, she quickly figured out the two assassins were demons.

"Do you think that man is going to be all right fighting with the assassins from before, Zero-One looks like a demon right now… and Zero-Three looks like he is about to turn into one too."

"Wh-what… are you talking about…"

Tenka looked at the two assassins and saw that they were covered in the same aura, the red aura that was mixed with black, an aura that was unique to demons. Zero-Three had started to transform but he was not transforming to his first form… he was going directly to his second form.

I should get up and help him… There are two assassins now and they are both demons. Would he be able to handle them alone? That does not matter right now since he is not alone.

Tenka was about to get up, but she was grabbed by Zero-Two, who was holding her down stopping her from moving. Zero-Two already heard what Shito said and knew not to let her leave.

"Stay here…! The man said, 'sit back and watch the fight' …so that is what we should do..."

Tenka nodded her head, relaxing herself, and trying to see the fight that he was going to show them.

…What are you planning to do… Shito!?