You beat me up, I beat you up, thus friendship (?) is born

Part 1

3rd person POV

At a speed that would put to shame most racing cars, a figure was advancing through the air using invisible footholds. Her suspicious outfit covered her body with a hood and a large cape, but due to her speed, the wind would allow anyone watching to peek inside. A modified female armor with a long skirt was plain to see, but what would draw people's attention were her features blue eyes that kept looking ahead with some objective in mind and carried some worry but her expression did not show any of that. Her blonde hair seemed shorter on the sides, but one failed to fully observe her hairstyle due to the hood still clinging to her.

Soon enough, amidst the clouds in the sky and the blue sea below her, the figure saw something in the distance. Despite the distance being still far, the figure failed to grasp the total size of the island ahead. She marveled in wonder at the sight in front of her, but she shook her head to focus and raised her speed.

"The barrier is down already..."

Biting her lips, the figure felt somewhat anxious. By no means she should be going towards the island, her actions were against what was expected to happen, but she could not ignore it.

Once she was close enough, she noticed that she was not the only one trying to reach the island. Another party that should've noticed her at the same time she noticed them had just arrived riding wyvern-like creatures. They were far bigger than what those lesser dragons should be and lacked eyeballs, but these wyverns did not have trouble flying and followed the orders of whoever was riding them.

A volley of magic attacks headed her way, or it could be said that she was heading straight toward it, dozens of magic attacks of all elements failed to injure her or even graze her a little. With graceful movements, she evaded each attack headed her way without breaking a sweat.

The closer she got, the figure had to move more and more to avoid being hit mid-air. The other party kept increasing the number of attacks but the figure only acted differently until she had stepped on the island floating above the sea. With a wave of her hand, a large polearm with a frag attached at the end appeared, the flag was not unfolded but that did not impede the figure from using it in a different way than what was intended.

Upon a closer look, she briefly observed her attackers a confirmed her next course of action.

Barely looking human, there were vestiges of their previous appearance on their faces as a blackened shell was growing all over their bodies. Noticing this, the figure regretfully close her eyes and offered a prayer for her enemies. It was brief and she was soon swinging her polearm with a force unbefitting her frame. A dull sound was heard each time she hit her enemies despite theirs. struggles, they were soon lying on the ground with their heads destroyed. The wyverns still retained a small part of their instincts intact as they fled the scene once the young woman glared at them.

"If small groups such as these are boarding this side already, the shrines must be crawling with monsters. Cutting their path should be equally beneficial, but the area to cover is wider than what a single person can cover."

Pondering briefly, the young woman noticed the sound of rustling leaves. She would normally notice presences that could endanger her or pose a problem, but regardless of the slight animosity directed at her, the figure found it refreshing. After all, the person heading towards her was under-

"...who are you?" Akiko asked in a strict tone.

Holding a katana in a lowered stance, it would take only one second to attack depending on how the situation developed.

"I did not mean to come as threatening to you."

The hooded young woman raised her hands after stabbing her polearm into the ground in a sign of not wanting to fight. This action did not cause Akiko to lower her guard since she was inwardly sweating coldly. The person in front of her was not normal to have arrived at the location they were and she was obviously aware of the island even before the barrier was released to have arrived just moments later after the barrier was down.

"Answer my question." Akiko said plainly.

"...you might not believe me, and perhaps you will doubt me even more after I answer you, are you sure?"

With a wry smile on her face, the young woman asked.

"Tell me who you are and what you are doing here. You are already a suspicious individual to me." Akiko spoke.

"Haha..ha... I guess I am. Would you believe me if I said I was here to sightsee? No? Haha... It was worth the try."

Chuckling awkwardly as Akiko glared at her sternly, the young woman inwardly reproached that certain person who told her he could always get away when he acted suspiciously by saying random things. The excuse she mumbled was one of his favorites already.

"I have a reason to be here and that is because I believe my abilities will be of use. Please let me go."

There was a strong conviction in her tone that ultimately made Akiko sheath her weapon.

"...do you believe me?"

The young woman asked hopefully.

"No, there is no way I can believe your words. However, I have been gauging your abilities and I am unable to see a way to suppress you. I cannot stop you thus I will simply follow you. Regrouping is more important, but allowing you to run rampant is a danger I cannot ignore. I can also lead you towards my comrades as you wish." Akiko nodded.

"...so you can join hands and deal with me?"

Still with a wry smile on her face, the young woman added.

Without feeling any shame, Akiko nodded again.

"Haha... Very well."

Shaking her head, the young woman lowered her hand once Akiko approved and grabbed her polearm. She walked past Akiko before glancing back.

"Do you think you will be able to deal with me even if you all try your best?"

Sounding a little playful, the young woman taunted Akiko.

Tilting her head, Akiko pondered briefly what to reply before chuckling.

"My lord is an extremely abnormal being. He can say the strangest things or act timid when one can least expect it. Despite wielding considerable strength, he can underestimate what he can do or can do. Nonetheless, he is aware of how to deal with tricky situations no matter what he has to do." Akiko smiled. "It must be the influence of his teacher, but even if the situation is despairing and we all know that he has reached his limits, he would often smile and say... 'Wow, hitting my limits again? Yosh, let's do my ultra best. There is no way I will die here. I still have my arms attached to my body, my legs can still move and my head is not rolling on the ground far from my torso. I can still move, I can still fight.'"

Confused over what Akiko was trying to say, the young woman did her absolute best to act like that and not react to those familiar words.

"My point is... I still have my arms attached to my body, my legs can still move and my head is not rolling on the ground far from my torso. I can still move, I can still fight. What if you are strong? Unless we reach the absolute peak, the pinnacle of this world, we will always face someone stronger than us. We will always struggle. Yes, you are strong, I am probably helpless against you even if my comrades and I join hands. However, can you confidently say you will not lose? We will absolutely stand up as many times as possible to stop you if you happen to even show the slightest ill will against Milord." Akiko raised her katana to the young woman's eye level. "Are you willing to try? Whether you will survive or not is not set in stone."

Unable to help it, the young woman smiled fondly. The wind happened to blow strongly and the hood came off, her blonde hair shone brilliantly when the sun rays landed on it. Akiko was briefly baffled why after hearing all she said, the young woman reacted that way.

"Your loyalty and attitude never changed."

Pondering briefly, the young woman concluded that she could allow this given how much she has decided to get involved.

"My name is Jeanne D'Arc, I have decided to aid N- your lord on this occasion." Jeanne spoke.

Part 2

3rd person POV

Stepping back, Nora avoided a spinning kick that landed on the ground. The strength behind it caused the ground to be destroyed as cracks spread from the point where the kick landed. They reached several meters.

"Fufu, I guess you are not so tough now. The only thing you can do is barely avoid me." Baobhan Sith giggled.

There was excitement in her tone as she looked down on Nora.

Smiling at her obvious taunt, Nora just backed away, even more to gain some distance as he observed Baobhan Sith. The overflowing power kept pouring out of her body with no end in sight, it was like aura was protecting her body and he had tested that his fairies were unable to hurt her with low-level magic.

"Aren't you the same? Speaking all high and mighty but you can't even hit me." Nora smirked.

Irked by that, Baobhan turned into bats and approached Nora at high speed. Before he dodged like before, she caught his arm by making her hand turn solid while the rest of her body remained in the form of darkness shaped like bats. This prevented Nora's automatic reaction of punching where her face would be. Despite fully avoiding the hit, she felt some damage reaching her, but Baobhan Sith ruled out that possibility since she could not be harmed physically in her intangible form. Instead, she focused on holding onto Nora's wrist with a tight grip. Tightening her grip slowly, Baobhan Sith was disappointed when Nora's face did not twist in pain, but he look rather amused as he continuously punched the darkness that formed her body. Baobhan Sith felt some pain each time he did that and the more it happened, she could feel like something was surrounding Nora's figure yet she did not care about it. Annoyed by his lack of reaction, she simply crunched his wrist using her newfound enhanced strength. It was a simple matter for her, but she did not pay it any mind. Her grip was so hard that she acted on impulse and literally pulled off Nora's hand.

The blood dripping from his destroyed wrist was extremely alluring and she once again felt an uncontrollable desire to consume his blood. However, all that disappeared as soon as she felt a chill running down her spine. There were several scalp-chilling killing intents directed her way. From a distance, the blonde young woman that resembled someone she could not put her finger on seemed to be one of the owners of it. Baobhan Sith was curious how she could spare enough time to see what was happening on this side given that she was dealing with Barghest at a distance away. Another surprising thing was how the others aiming such a thick killing intent were the fairies hovering around Nora.

The fairies were small and they mostly looked like floating lights of different colors but they caused her to be surprised by the level of animosity they displayed. Until just now, they had hidden inside Nora's body.

"Hmmm... not a bad grip." Nora light-heartedly commented.

When she pulled away, Baobhan Sith had dropped Nora's hand, and he picked it up without any hurry with his healthy hand. He slowly checked to see the state it was in and even Baobhan Sith, the one who caused the injury, found it unnerving. His blood continued to spill in the ground and Baobhan Sith was forced to watch the tasty blood to be wasted just like that. Nonetheless, a strange scene happened briefly as she focused on the small pool of blood forming below Nora. Baobhan Sith clearly remembered that the same position had been scorched due to a spell not long ago, but the grass was growing wildly again.

"Ops." Nora looked down and tapped the ground.

After his actions, the growing plants stopped. The same seemed to happen to his arm which no longer bleeds. Nodding to himself, he just put his hand over his wrist.

"What are you doing? Only a vampire can..." Baobhan Sith was prepared to mock the youth but she had to fall silent.

The regenerative abilities of vampiric creatures were without a doubt among the best among supernatural creatures. Even without the buff she got from drinking Nora's blood, Baobhan Sith could regrow limbs easily. It was a racial advantage that could not be matched easily. After taking in the blood, Baobhan Sith could regenerate body parts at an even faster rate than before, regardless of their size of it. Yet-

"What are you...?" Baobhan Sith could not help but ask.

As soon as the two body parts came in constant with one another, the tissue, the blood, and the skin all came together and regenerated Nora's hand.

Like it was not a big deal, Nora gave her a middle finger when he noticed her staring dumbly at his hand.

"I am a cat, you moronic girl." Nora said.

Shaking her head in denial, Baobhan Sith could accept that fact so easily. For most people, they can just wrap it up since they could not understand in depth what happened, yet Baobhan Sith was aware of how abnormal what she just saw was. Patching up the skin and tissue was not the most pressing issue when regenerating from an injury, the nerves were. The way vampires were built made it easy for them to fix their bodies. Their ability to control their blood played a big part, but knowing their body was just as important. That said, just because you knew your body did not mean anyone can fix it. Baobhan Sith came from a long-standing clan and they had many books that talked about humans who used to worship them and tried to replicate a vampire's healing factors. However, none of them were capable of doing it without becoming one themselves.

"You will never stop annoying me, will you?" Baobhan Sith scowled.

"Hehe, I pride myself in my ability to cause others to lose it." Nora smugly said.

Anything more and Nora could perhaps annoy Baobhan Sith enough to make her faint so Baobhan Sith changed her tactic and dropped her intention of torturing him as she slowly killed him.

Spreading in a wider form, Baobhan Sith covered Nora and began attacking him. Her nails which could grow at will became as sharp as razors and would not even bend after she absorbed Nora's blood. Digging her nails in Nora's flesh, she tried not to enjoy as she inflicted pain in the youth. A prickling sensation made her wonder what was going on since it was the first time she felt like that while attacking someone in a current manner. To her disappointment, Nora did not seem interested even in evading her or trying to do anything. He crossed his arms with a bored expression as she continued to attack. His blood leaked and the fairies were oddly quiet after Nora whispered some strange words in a language she did not know.

A couple of minutes went by and while blood was being drawn out from Nora with each attack, no wounds remained on his skin. The rate at which he was getting injured was slower compared to which he regenerated.

Founding such a thing absurd, Baobhan Sith added more of the power she gained from Nora's blood and it was then that the wounds grew in size and depth.

"At least spare my clothes, you perv." Nora's fed-up voice was ignored. "I like to pay back two-fold."

His upper torso was bare to see in a matter of seconds and Baobhan Sith paused slightly when she noticed his body.

"Never seen a man naked?" Nora sighed. "This is why virgins are..."

Inwardly blushing at that comment, Baobhan Sith would never admit he was correct. He was unusually buffed compared to how he looked with clothes and the muscles looked incredibly hard. Baobhan Sith was surprised by the fact that she could pierce his skin so easily despite that. She reckoned that the muscle lover Barghest's mouth would water if she saw him and would make several comments about it. Nonetheless, Baobhan Sith only stopped briefly. Her attacks looked vicious, and in fact, anyone else would find themselves in. A predicament if they shredded their backs as she did to Nora, but as annoying as it was, she had to admit that Nora was not simply taking damage. He would not let her attack his neck despite aiming at it on several occasions.

Given that he would avoid critical damage, Baobhan Sith materialize behind and kicked the area behind his knee. She expected some sort of resistance, but his left knee bent forward smoothly. His balance was lost and Baobhan Sith sank her teeth in his neck again. Faster than before, a large amount of blood was drawn, she felt more power coursing through her body plus the invigorating and slightly intoxicating elixir gave her the feeling that she could do anything. Even the world around her began to feel in slow motion and just a small movement caused Baobhan Sith to understand that she was breaking her limits fast enough to notice it in plain sight.

Nora's arm was reaching towards her and the pink-haired young woman only smirked. Swinging her hand towards the arm with her elongated nails made for a sharp blade that cut off his arm from his elbow. Before she got any drunker from her actions, she felt a pain in her guts and was sent flying, the strength from the blow left her frozen for a second and only after slamming into a tree that she was certain was not there a second ago.

Her eyes widened and she had to duck fearfully to avoid Nora's fist that went through the tree like it was made from butter. His eyes locked onto her as he pulled out and caused her to shudder. She changed shape and flew away several meters as she formed herself again.

"Don't you regenerate pretty fast? Why did you avoid me? Even if I crush your heart, you can still live to tell the tale." Nora asked. "As far as I am aware, not only you can put your body together through that darkness of shadow form, but you can take a bloody form as well. I once saw a vampire lady turn into a mash of blood, with all her innards all spread in a hundred-kilometer radius actually forming herself again."

Speaking in a curious tone, Nora gazed at Baobhan Sith confusedly. On the other hand, the young woman looked at Nora like he was a madman. That information was not recorded anywhere, the way to kill a vampire usually revolved around using sacred weapons so no one had bothered to study that sort of limits before.

"I was honestly surprised, I am sure her brain splattered the hardest, but she was later able to come back to life." Nora looked at the arm of his a few meters away before extending his healthy hand and making a bandage extend like an arm, grabbing the arm and pulling it closer. "She said she was a direct descendant of one of the first vampires or something, but she was surprisingly weak compared to some of her minions. She was hard to kill, I will give her that though."

"...how do you know that?" Baobhan Sith inquired.

"You know, this and that." Nora smiled.

Acting like everything was normal, he attached his arm and it was moving like it was always there as soon as it connected.

"Are you the vampire or am I?" Baobhan Sith felt an identity crisis.

"Woman, I am a cat." Nora checked his arm a few times.

Slowly regaining her calm, Baobhan Sith hesitated over using her last resort. Vials of blood from all the fairy knights that she had gotten through the years and had made sure to condense them. They would lack the effects of Nora's blood, but they could not be underestimated.

"Now everyone just ignores my comment." Nora complained. "Whatever."

Without a hint whatsoever, Baobhan Sith lost sight of Nora. She had just seen him moving as slowly as before but he has disappeared from her field of vision. No, that was impossible.

Shaking her head, Baobhan Sith denied that possibility. He would not simply vanish and escape, he had to be nearby. Her ears caught nothing, she could not see a thing and her nose-

The scent of Nora was nearby, close enough.

She raised her head but found nothing, lowering her gaze, Nora's figure became visible.

"Hi~" Nora lightly said.

In the perfect position, Nora was already performing an uppercut. The youth did not hold back and Baobhan Sith was sent high into the air. By the time her eyes adjusted to her surroundings that went too fast to focus, the first thing she was the humongous black dog that was Barghest as she tried to kill a certain blonde young woman.

The blonde woman would let out bursts of energy in the form of slashes hitting Barghest, but the dog form was tough. Baobhan Sith was not sure what kind of principles were behind it, but it seemed to be gathering negative energy around it to gain more strength.

There was something else, but the young woman only felt a force sending her straight to the ground. Her neck almost snapped from the strength of the blow and perhaps it did not since the youth had used the back of his hand. By the time she thought he was being lenient, she saw him up in the sky, using the air somehow to crouch and push himself down. Like a bullet, he shot toward her, and in mid-air, he changed positions until his foot was aligned with her stomach.

Extreme pain almost made her scream, but Nora was savage and did not allow it. His hand moved like a snake after its prey and caught hold of her throat. Her mouth opened, but no screams of pain were heard. The tight grip on her throat stopped any sound from coming out.

"This is not all you can do, can't you?" Nora asked. "Give it your all, use every single trick you have. I will crush it all. This is all part of the trashing I will give you."

Feeling the threat, Baobhan Sith changed shape again. However, she did take a distance this time. Taking a page of his book, she punched his face while putting all her weight on her right arm. After connecting, Nora's face twisted to one side.

"HOW ABOUT THAT!?" Baobhan Sith yelled. "YOU LIKE THAT!?"

Unusual for her, she discarded her way of fighting to go from a more brutish approach from her point of view.

Despite continuously receiving her punches, Nora had a wide smile on his face.

"That's more like it! Throw away all pretense." Nora stopped Baobhan Sith by holding each of her hands with his own. "Shall we do this!?"

Showing an excited face, he pulled the pink-haired woman and slammed his forehead with hers.

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3rd Person POV

"Who in the world are you...?" Melusine held her injured shoulder.

She had no physical wounds whatsoever, however, ominous energy covered her like chains. A terrible curse was used on her while she killed a group of people that called themselves believers in a cult from some sort of unusual deity.

"You were quite troublesome. Despite preparing in advance against you, you have been keeping a strange level of resistance, far more than what I expected. I guess it cannot be helped when one deals with dragons. These kinds of illogical creatures are an eyesore for any plans you might have."

Snapping his fingers, a hooded figure called several of his minions standing obediently behind him. About ten people stepped forward as a large opening close to a creepy shrine was made. The opening had a circular shape around Melusine that covered a 100-meter radius. The man and his minions were standing just outside that zone, but as soon as the minions stepped inside, Melusine swung one of her hands, and a flash passed by. The minions were slashed in half without any sort of resistance. The upper parts of their bodies slide down but before they could touch the ground, they disappeared and in their place, human-shaped strips of paper remained. Those strips of paper fell down into a pile that had formed already from previous attackers.

"I guess I should be thankful for your ineptitude in using the abilities of the divine diving that Albion had."

"...what do you know about him?" Melusine gritted her teeth.

"Nothing I am willing to share."

Snapping his fingers again, several of his minions pushed through again. The result was the same and they were soon falling to the ground as pieces of paper.

"Who are you?" Melusine asked.

Instead of answering, the man formed several hand signs as his minions surrounded the area around Melusine. Their form changed and the human-shaped strips of paper floated in a circle. A reddish barrier began forming as the man lowered his hands.

"I am someone who has faced mystics countless times. Humanities greatest Onmyoji. Abe no Seimei."

Summoning a skull-shaped tome, the man recited the contents in a low tone. The barrier pulsated and Melusine slowly lost consciousness. The last thing she saw as everything turned black and her body got cold was darkness emerging from the man's shadow ready to engulf her. Her limbs would not respond to her and in her mind, a small wish had appeared.

"...it's cold... Nora, let's cuddle again... I hate cold..." Melusine called out.

---------------

3rd Person POV

"Make sure to capture them alive."

A man wearing a hooded cape spoke.

In front of him, dozen of men with similar outfits were listening to him.

"Can't we just kill them? Taking live prisoners is a hassle."

"The necromancer only needs their corpses."

"Do you think he would mind if we tasted a few of those fairies? I heard that their meat is tender and sweet like no other while their blood makes a perfect wine..."

As the last man chuckled creepily, the other men did not seem disturbed, gulping sounds were the most common followed by smirks. Nonetheless, the man who spoke found himself unable to laugh anymore as he saw everything spin. The last thing he saw was his own body as large amounts of blood spilled from his neck.

The leading man had only snapped his finger and the creepy man had been beheaded.

"Do not forget what you have in your neck."

Snorting, the leading man gestured towards their necks. The ones gulping a second ago gulped again but out of fear this time.

"The living has their uses, do not concern yourself with matters that are not of your business. Failed products such as yourselves can only live another day by following orders. Disobey, you die. Think of disobeying, you die. Irritate me, and you die. The moment you proved to be a failure and a waste of resources for the cause, your fate was sealed. However..."

Pulling a small pill, the man held it so everyone could see.

"Even someone like me was able to overcome being a failure."

Removing his hood, dark spots on his skin looked like they were alive as they moved. He had no shirt, perhaps because he could not get one that fit. Half of his body was deformed. He had form arms, the pair of extra arms were extremely small though, child-sized but crooked and thin like branches, his whole skin had a gooey texture except for an area that looked like normal human skin. The man took the pill and there was a change as the area of the normal skin grew.

"Defective products can become useful ones as long as you get these. You can raise the chances of you turning into a proper follower of our God as well as getting great amounts of power."

The people that heard that did not dare to express their excitement, but it was hard not to notice as their faces showed it.

"Go. Catch 'em all."

At those words, the men ran past the leading man with enthusiasm, the inside of the hoods could be seen as they each displayed different deformation such as numerous mouths dripping with saliva on their stomachs or eyes that would not stay still.

The march came to a stop, an abrupt one when a doll, about the size of a chill, floated until she was shielding the fairy city from the men. She carried a shield and an oversized lance used in calvary.

Comical as it looked, the men had warily stopped moving. Many began sweating coldly, not because of a single doll.

Looking past the small doll, hundreds of dolls kept appearing as they formed an actual wall.

"Oji-san, I did not expect you to play P*kemon too."

A giggle was heard as a young girl with blonde hair and a colorful dress appeared. She had a book fastened to her waist using a leather belt and she held a small pink fox in front of her chest. The small creature looked bored and it lazily dozed off.

Everyone turned their heads toward the voice and saw the young lady with a smile on her face. Beside her, a pair of dolls slightly bigger than the ones blocking the other side, were floating. Compared to the weapons the other dolls carried, one only held a shield divided in each hand that would form a larger structure while the other one held a two-handed sword about the size of the young lady. Both weapons seemed to be far from ordinary.

"...you are?"

The leading man sent a suspicious look toward the young lady.

"Ah, my apologies. Nora-nii-sama has properly instructed me everything regarding manners all the time, but your comment caught me by surprise and I forgot to introduce myself. I am Alice, a pleasure to meet you." Alice raised the helm of her dress with one hand as she did a courtesy bow.

On her face, a smile was plastered as she spoke and only made everyone besides her feel unsettled. Her appearance was that of a well breed young lady, but she did not fit the environment at all.

"Attack."

Without bothering to ask or question anything else, the man ordered.

The group of men hesitating until now were wary, but rather than facing the absurd amount of dolls near the city, they found easier to attack the lone girl.

Two men were the fastest, they were nimble and they each pulled their own weapons. One of them had a butcher knife full of dried blood while the other pulled a crowbar so rusty that you could smell the scent from the distance. The pair of men did not hesitate, the man with a butcher knife aimed at the throat while the crowbar man swung from above his tool with the intention of crushing his skull of Alice. Their actions were vicious and without considering how Alice's mind up after the attack, but the young lady did nothing to move, her dolls, however, acted. The wielding shield one stood in front of her ready to take any blow in Alice's place while the one holding the sword swiftly met the attackers. One swung of her sword and the butcher knife was on the ground and we'll as the arm of the man. A second later, a headless body dropped down as well. The crowbar man hesitated for a second and felt a chill when thanks to stopping due to that causing the doll to miss his neck. He sweated coldly as a second attack came over, but his first reaction was not to flee but rather to block the sword, nonetheless, his actions led him to his demise. From the upper left shoulder, the man was split diagonally. The sword cut through the crowbar easily and cleaved the man.

The rest of the men felt their necks being gripped tighter as the collar around their necks worked to signal them what the man leading their group would do if they faltered.

Without any other choice, the group braced themselves. The collar was impossible to remove and would not give them time to resist, however, they still had a chance against the girl given their numbers. Their minds consoled themselves with that despite feeling dread when looking at the girl's smiling visage.

A tacit understanding thanks to their time 'working as a team' made them split up into 3 groups. The first group immediately stopped and pulled firearms. This made Alice's expression shift slightly but just at that time, the small fox sneezed cutely and Alice put back her left hand that was going towards the book in her waist. The ones behind pulled smoke bombs and threw them towards Alice and smoke of different colors soon covered the area.

Narrowing her eyes, Alice immediately noticed that the 'smoke' was not simple as it looked.

The remaining groups each began shooting, bullets rained on Alice's position but due to the smoke, the men could not see a thing. By the time the smoke dissipated, six dolls were around Alice, four holding shields and two holding large swords in their hands.

The men were baffled by appearance of the dolls, they recalled perfectly the number of dolls that were originally beside Alice and the group observing from afar could not when the dolls entered the fray.

Blinking confusedly, Alice's body swayed from one side to another and the dolls began losing altitude. The men from afar smirked and one of the whistled to signal the others to resume the attack. Unfortunately for them, only the dolls holding the swords had come to a stop after falling to the ground while the ones holding shields were covering any of Alice's blind spots. Without any other choice, each of the groups took a different approach. One decided to go around her and attack from the back while the other group stepped closer slowly.

Despite looking at the girl who failed to keep her body still and had to use one hand to not fall, the group felt tense. Their backs were drenched in sweat and a chill running down their spine kept getting worse with each step. Their instincts told them to flee, but that option did not exist for them.

Once the group that tried to get closer upfront was a few steps closer almost about to reach Alice, an agonizing scream that was could short could be heard.

"AHHHHHHHHH-."

The first group hastily turned their heads just in time to see dozens of small dolls about the size of fist attacking their comrades in arms. These dolls viciously stabbed their comrades with only their arms that had sharpened fingers. The other group could not even ask for help before being overwhelmed by the dolls.

A small giggle almost made the closest man to Alice wet himself. He shakily looked towards the girl and saw her standing straight like the symptoms she displayed before were a lie.

"Run-"

The man could not warn any longer as his head was easily detached from his body thanks to one of the sword-wielding dolls that had grabbed her weapon at once.

Only one doll had easily taken care of two people, but two were not efficient. Alice had not opened her mouth to give orders, but the men could tell that she was the one giving the orders. Not only the sword-wielding dolls attacked the group, but even fist-sized dolls had joined the fray. The only group that remained threw more 'smoke' bombs towards Alice but she just smiled at that action.

"That kind of gas could put to sleep an elephant with just one drop of the liquid, and the dose is ten times more powerful! How are you still standing!?"

Perhaps knowing that fighting would be meaningless, the man throwing 'smoke' bombs spoke. As the one had thrown anesthetic bombs and even poisonous ones mixed in the gas, he could not accept that Alice remained unharmed.

"Oh, that? Nora-nii-sama has carefully nurtured our resistance to that kind of concoction for years. I would not have a face to look at him if I felt into this sort of trick." Alice muttered.

With his expression twisted unsightly, the man continued to see his companions being chopped in pieces. Their screams of agony and pain could not be registered in his head.

"...what is the point-"

A defeated expression end up plastered on the man's face and the sword from one of the dolls cut him in two from head to toe.

"...we are still lacking compared to him though." Alice added.

Adding the small dolls to the two sword-wielding ones, the rest of the men were swiftly defeated. Several pools of blood formed from their remains, but the man who led them just stood in place with his arms crossed and a neutral expression.

"Oji-san, your people died, you can stop pretending." Alice giggled.

Snorting, the leading man began to change slightly as his skin no longer looked blemished. The two small arms decreased in size until they disappeared and soon his face, as plain as it could be, appeared. His complexion was rather large and rough despite his plain face.

"...I am only 18."

With eyebrows furrowed the man spoke.

Blushing slightly, Alice embarrassedly looked down.

"Sorry." Alice honestly apologized.

"...those dolls, they came out of your shadow."

Not bothering to accept the apology, the man crossed his arms and gestured with his chin toward Alice's feet.

"...what makes you say that?" Alice chuckled.

"I can't say to be the best at sensing my surroundings or detecting auras, but I have confidence in my conclusion. I watched from the beginning how everything happened. I had scouted the area before these guys arrived and I had definitely not seen any of these dolls, not to mention sensing them."

"I could've been concealing their presence using magic or some kind of artifact." Alice muttered as raised her left hand and displayed several rings on each finger.

"Child. Even talent has its limits. You could be the most talented individual of all the time, but you are far too young. Assuming you could conceal a random number of these dolls good enough for me to miss it, the sheer amount of dolls present here makes that unlikely."

"Am I being looked down upon?" Alice asked.

"Hardly. However, concealing is not simply hiding a presence, since you leave a suspicious spot. You can't find an enemy there, but it feels like something is there. Just like this!"

Suddenly, the man used his right leg to kick something while his left arm was swung horizontally. A dry sound was heard as two dolls were thrown away viciously.

"Even if I cannot tell what is there, I can still trace the empty space you concealed."

Hugging the fox tighter, Alice narrowed her eyes.

"...would you consider ending this here?"

Raising an eyebrow questioningly, Alice scrutinized the man. Before stepping away slowly with a cautious look.

"I have legally prepared already a marriage certificate for me and my sister to take on the surname Shiki in the future, I am sorry, but I will most definitely decline." Alice shook her head. "Things like 'I cannot continue fighting you because I fell in love with you' are too cheesy to be used by anyone other than Nora-nii-sama."

"...I would like to avoid a confrontation from a walking disaster like you if I can. After it was split into different fragments, the Annihilation Maker weakened considerably but even then, the danger it poses cannot be dismissed."

With a serious expression, Alice snapped the fingers of one of her hands and the dolls forming a wall near the city moved towards Alice and the man, they formed a humongous dome while floating in a fixed location. They soon joined hands as a magic circle shone above their chest, and immediately a barrier sealing the space was formed.

"Your people tried to get your hands in these fragments in the past, why would you avoid me now?" Alice inquired.

"There is no need to go after all of our goals all at once. We are aware of your existence and we know where to find you, for us that is enough."

Walking forward, the man picked up a gun lying around. Belonging to one of his men, the gun had not even been shot since it was a secondary weapon.

"Aren't you awfully honest?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"As things stand, only of us will survive and walk away. We both have techniques that could kill each other if aimed at the right spot..."

Confirming it was fully loaded, the man removed the safety of the gun.

"You would probably try to capture me and interrogate me to obtain information but having received a certain level of information already you will not desperately try to capture me as you would without knowing anything."

"Isn't that wishful thinking?" Alice asked.

From her shadow, small dolls about the size of a fist emerged.

"Don't we all have wishful ideas? You, for example, wanted to capture me 'alive'."

"'Wanted'?" Alice's dolls were about to follow her command to attack when-

A dry sound was heard, a gunshot coming from the man's gun made Alice widen her eyes. Blood splattered as the man's brain matter was blasted to one side.

Instead of being surprised, Alice clicked her tongue.

"Go." Alice spoke in an urgent tone.

Several of her dolls moved at once to cover the man, but before they could reach him, his body started to melt and a pool of darkish and repugnant liquid was left in place. Slowly the liquid went down to the ground. By the time only a small amount of liquid was left, the dolls arrived and exploded. The shock wave was enough to destroy the inner organs of a normal person three times over, but the man's remains were not there anymore.

More dolls holding shields had been summoned as well as a barrier to protect Alice and the small fox, but despite staying unscathed, Alice did not seem happy.

"...are you aware of your mistakes?"

A light-hearted voice spoke in a tone that did not fit the moment.

"I should've attacked without trying to have a conversation." Alice replied sulkily.

"No, I believe the result would've been the same."

The small fox that Alice was holding struggled to escape from her grasp and did so after Alice loosened her grip.

"Liking him has made you copy him partially. While he can recklessly charge forward and kills his enemies, he also knows when properly bind them or knock them out."

"A little advise beforehand would've prevented him from running." Alice complained.

"Worry not, my dear. I already accounted for your little mishap and had some people who would appropriately catch him."

Ending her sentence with a laugh, the small fox shape shifted and turned into a beautiful pink-haired woman with a severely modified shrine maiden outfit.

Smiling meaningfully, she stood taller than the blonde-haired girl. With a side glance, she seemed to enjoy how the younger girl pouted. Her fox ears were tucked down, but she did not let out her tail to show.

"Miko-nee-sama, even if it is to teach me a lesson if he escapes..." Alice reproached the fox lady.

"Hmmm, you shouldn't doubt my abilities like that. I put several people on the job of hunting that man, or rather, waiting for him. 'THAT' child is also here." Miko smiled.

"Shinkaku..." Alice mumbled.

"Pack your dolls, there are others. Oh...?" Miko suddenly tilted her head. "This is interesting..."

Noticing how a smile formed on the fox lady's face, Alice inwardly face palmed and prayed for the people who will become entangled in the plans that were forming on the pink-haired woman's head.

"I guess this one is on him, asking for help so blatantly... so many women came." Miko chuckled.

------------------

3rd Person POV

"It was a mistake to engage in a conversation with her for so long."

A large with a plain face was walking through the woods. One of his hands was slightly charred and caused the man to grimace in pain.

"Undying body, heh, I guess this still needs some modifications. This is what I get for being a guinea pig from that crazy man."

Halting his steps, the man was forced to smile wryly.

"You have to be kidding me."

Standing with a slightly absentminded expression, a young woman stood there looking at the sky she slowly chewed something.

A black body suit accentuated her voluptuous figure and had openings in her hips. A white vest covered her chest and it matched long her white hair that was in a side lock and a bang covered one of her eyes. Only one of her blue gradient eyes could be seen and she turned her head to see the man.

One look and the man understood. He would not be able to exchange words with his new foe.

"...freeze."

Muttering softly, the young woman pulled a talisman. The man tried to pull a collar full of black beads, and they gave an ominous shine, but it was useless. A burst of cold air was directed at him, this caused his body to freeze immediately. The surrounding area was frozen as well.

"...was that is?"

Tilting her head, the young woman asked but did not get an answer.

Knitting her eyebrows slightly, she shook her head before snapping her fingers.

Out of nowhere, several women with bountiful figures wearing bodysuits of different colors appeared.

"Take him."

Giving a simple command, the young woman glanced at the frozen man.

"Yes, Shinkaku-sama."

The oldest among them spoke and all the women moved to take the man away.

"Should we take him with the others?"

"No, Miko said that he is different. Put him on B2."

The young woman replied to the other's party question.

After hearing that, the group disappeared with the man.

Left alone, the young woman closed her eyes and waited for new orders.