Chapter 87: Interlude II

3rd Person POV

The hooded man tried to escape as he ran past the stone hallways. It did not matter how far or deep he ran inside the base, or how tricky the layout of the hallways that appeared to be simple could be. The illusions set to trick the intruders had been useless and the guards outside were taken down before he knew it. He only managed to escape the bloodbath due to his sharp sense of smell which let him discover the corpse of his coworker.

"That shithead never paid my money back!"

Even though it was a crude comment, the snots and tear running down the man's face would make it sound like he cared for his coworker and could not express it, nonetheless, the real reason for it was because he could feel a figure approaching at a higher speed than he could run.

His instincts warned him of his demise if he was caught so his mind worked in overdrive to save himself, to survive another day. Despite wishing that he had another pair of legs with every step he took, he managed to reach the place his brain directed him to. A faraway room with a magic circle that was ready to use, it was locked for people of his rank in the cult, but he managed to rummage through the corpse of one of his superiors while the enemy was busy with his allies. The fact that he stopped to do that while his allies were massacred was a giveaway that he was not that close to them, but it was not an important detail.

Just as he was to activate the magic circle and step on it, his pursuer caught with him. He hastily stepped forward but the dual-wielding pursuer did not stay idly in place, she swung her blades and the right arm of the man fell. His scream was not heard as he was finally teleported away and leaving the sword woman alone.

"One escaped."

Lamenting her blunder, the figure tapped an earring on her right ear. It was not a normal earring given that she only carried the right one and the fact that the simply designed earring glowed after being touched.

"Yukari-sama, the enemy managed to escape on my end. I leave the cleanup to your side for now. I will reunite with our... collaborators."

"Is that so? I guess we didn't account for that lucky fellow to run so fast." Yukari's voice did not seem bothered but it was tinged with weariness. "Chen will hunt him down on we confirm there are no other escapes on his route. Musashi, I believe you have your qualms about them, but I can give you my word that they are our allies."

Frowning at that, Musashi did not share her thoughts regarding the matter

"The other teams will be finishing their raids soon as well, this should prevent reinforcements from arriving at our next location." Yukari muttered through the earring.

"...is it ok to not tell him?" Musashi asked.

"Oh dear, I believe that the knight riding a white horse is the role that fits him the best, but I doubt he will be able to act rationally when rescuing Saya is on the line. There is an opportunity of failure even after pulling all of our forces as well so the blow for him would be devastating." Yukari chimed. "...you don't want to see that, do you?"

"...very well." Musashi sighed.

"Do take care of yourself, Miss Light. If you were to carelessly get hurt like before when you almost died in front of him, he might break down before getting Saya." Yukari added. "...losing an eye just at that time when he had lost his healing abilities was not your fault, but he is the type to assume the responsibility for those matters without asking for anyone's permission. He also acts without caring about how others feel. You probably heard already how he ripped off his own eye to give it to you regardless of the possibility of never regenerating it again."

"...I am indebted to him in a way I can never repay him." Musashi mumbled.

"Oh dear, do not get depressed like that. If you want to repay him, you should be well aware that dressing in a skimpy maid outfit that can barely hide the important parts will make it up to him." Yukari giggled. "If you do that, there would be no debt to pay anymore."

Biting her lips as her face turned bright red, Musashi left the room.

 "...I am indebted to him in a way I can never repay him." Musashi repeated.

"No, if you wear the skimpy maid outfit and ask him to forget about the matter, the man will-" Yukari's voice was cut off when the earring was tapped again.

"...I would die of embarrassment if I wear that." Musashi covered her face with both hands.

"Is that so? I don't see the problem of doing it. You want to make him happy and it is a great opportunity to change the way your relationship is at the time."

A teasing voice could be heard as a young woman spoke up. Her outfit was rather ambiguous on the lower area as she showed off her legs completely but did not seem embarrassed at all.

"Lina." Musashi glared at the figure.

"Scary~ Scary~" Lina giggled. "What to do~ It seems I am to be attacked when I am just a helpless young woman..."

Rolling her eyes, Musashi ignored the nonsense.

"I would recommend using a garter belt, he absolutely LOVES them. His eyes would wander to my legs a lot the last time I showed up wearing them." Lina commented.

Feeling a knot in her chest, Musashi only glared at the other party, but contrary to her words, Lina did not seem to feel that it was scary. It was a jealous glare, but it was undoubtedly cute compared to other women when jealous.

"That said, I think he will appreciate it as much if you wear pantyhose or thigh highs that leave a minimal absolute territory." Lina tapped her chin as she pondered. "On the chest area... well, you have so many options that will make him crazy. Trying one every day will make him pay attention to you more often. I recommend underboob cut or sideboob cut, this will make him go crazy if you 'use' it right."

At some point, Musashi had put her blades dangerously close to Lina's neck. Her eyes were sharply glaring at the young woman, but Lina did not seem to find an issue with it. With an expression that to Musashi's chagrin, Nora would call a characteristic but charming smile, Lina smiled confidently.

"Oh dear, what could you be doing? Did you forget we are allies?" Lina spoke in a light-hearted tone that betrayed her 'precarious' situation.

"Do not speak like that about him." Musashi said. "None of you know him well enough."

Narrowing her eyes, Lina seemed to have been bothered by that comment.

"...oh." Lina ignored the blades as she reached to tap her chin to ponder briefly before turning toward Musashi with a taunting smile. "And you say you do?"

"...I know that he is not a bad child, but he suffers every day from the mental pollution if the magatama he carries is removed." Musashi said. "The ritual you used... I heard that it was the only choice to save him. I was thankful about it, but that ended when I learned about the kind of ritual you used. The steps you took, they were so that Nora could become a proper vessel for one of your Gods. What happened back then... I doubt it was your doing, however, you took full advantage of the situation."

"Is that what he told you? No, I guess this is all your own assumptions." Lina replied. "Before you make any more guesses, I will have to inform you that he is well aware of what happened and exactly what the ritual was about."

"Is he really?" Musashi mumbled. "You are also the culprit of that cursed ability of his."

"...that was a rather unusual turn of events." Lina confessed. "It had never tried to do that before and when the higher-ups learned of what Nora became capable of, they tried to make it do the same to other cultists but the experiments were unsuccessful. It is quite amusing how Nora was able to decimate dozens of cultists without lifting one finger."

Chuckling, Lina seemed to find the events amusing.

"Why do I not believe you..." Musashi furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh dear, I am not trying to get you to believe me." Lina giggled. "My sisters and I have our goals to accomplish, and perhaps, you will never believe what I tell you regarding those goals. However, you and I are not so different. No, I guess we ARE different."

Confused about the sudden change, Musashi looked at the other party doubtfully.

"I will only say this." Lina began to turn into mist. "You are light, undoubtedly, you have lit that man's way."

"What man?" Musashi asked.

"We are darkness." Lina ignored the question.

As she lost her physical form, Lina was able to escape from Musashi's grasp before turning back a few steps away.

"I will, as promised, help you all to reclaim Saya because that aligns with our goals. My sisters will also do the same so make sure to not fail. Alcor... along with most of my sisters will deceive the Bishops and other higher-ups to prevent a direct confrontation while we weaken them. Once they disperse after learning of the multiple attacks, we will have a free pass to access the location where Saya is being kept."

Not bothering to reason more with Musashi, Lina turned her back to the other party. As she recalled her words, a bitter smile formed on her face. Looking at Musashi who could openly be at the side of that person had sprung jealousy in her. It was unbecoming of her, but she could not always control herself.

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Yukari's POV

"Yukari-sama, Chen has taken care of the escapee just now. There were some other targets but per your orders, they were eliminated." Ran reported.

Looking at her loyal subordinate who did not seem fazed at the numerous deads reported, Yukari felt a pang of pain and guilt. This was not exactly the kind of life she wanted her to live when she picked her up. However, her desire to serve her in order to repay for the simple action for her was impossible to end.

"Well done, we have managed to clear more locations than we originally set to thanks to the new additions to our ranks these years." Yukari spoke in a languid tone. "I believe that soon our little helpers will be unable to hide the news."

"This is all possible due to your delicate calculations, Yukari-sama. However, I advise against going in after all." Ran said.

The worry on the fox-eared maiden was not unfounded and Yukari could understand what she was getting at. Even now, Yukari was burning through her reserves of magical power and ki at an outstanding rate. The number of gaps in space currently being used was beyond what Yukari would normally use. After three days of hard work, however, the number of variables had decreased considerably to levels that were between the reasonable margin. Most members took shifts to rest and reduce the number of variables and even then, only 30% of the cultist were hunted down.

Normal humans were easy to hunt given that they leave traces easy to detect by Kaoruko's Youkai abilities, but there were other Youkais who could also detect humans based on their instinct from way back.

"Facing the higher-ups is an almost impossible task. Their powers are beyond the understanding of many." Yukari spoke. "And the number of youkais of the level of Great Youkais that can actually move is limited. Being bound to land is both to protect the land and to protect the youkais guarding it. Last time... many of us were wounded severely, Forest Wraith barely managed to save our lives before we died, but that does not mean there were no sacrifices or side effects."

"If only I had been strong enough..." Ran bit her lips.

"It is nothing to concern yourself with, Ran. It was not something you could've changed. The population of youkais decreased considerably and most surviving members were those tasked to protect the land or those whose strength was not up to the task of fighting the cult." Yukari sighed. "The younger ones are privy to this information so it was assumed that a great catastrophe assaulted the land, although the summoning of one of the lesser outher gods into our land can only be described as such."

Closing her eyes briefly, Yukari let go of the bitter memories in her head.

"This is the kind of people we are going to face, are you still willing to go? Your abilities are nothing but a blessing to your allies and a nightmare to our enemies. Poison is a deadly weapon and only a handful of individuals can claim to survive a head-on attack from you."

Standing in a corner in silence, a young girl with purple hair and tanned skin listened until now.

"...a blessing for my allies, is it? That is incorrect. I am... well aware that I am also a nightmare for my allies."

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The soft and gentle tone betrayed the bitterness in her face.

"However, he made it possible for you to walk outside again, and as long as you do not needlessly try to harm others, it is possible for you to touch other people." Yukari spoke.

"I am not trying to deny Nora's efforts. I have nothing more than gratitude in my heart towards him. If I had not met him... I believe I would've become another casualty in the list of individuals deemed to be dangerous by the fallen angels."

Without interfering, Ran left the room even though she sent a wary look toward the young girl. Brewing tea for guests was something that her master had taught her since long ago.

"...do you resent them? The fallen angels..." Yukari asked.

"Not at all, they helped to bring me out of that cult of assassins where my life was only making poison for their own means."

"But they still considered you too dangerous and locked you." Yukari said.

"It is not strange given that only their leader could withstand my poison for long periods of time."

"Yet he still suffered greatly from it." Yukari mumbled.

 

"I know."

Smiling weakly, the purple-haired girl looked pained.

"Then the man came." Yukari said.

"Man...? Nora was the one who appeared before me."

Confused the young girl tilted her head innocently at Yukari's words, but before she could ask the meaning, Ran had appeared with a tray of tea in porcelain teacups.

"He struggled a lot." Yukari muttered.

Accepting the tea, the young girl offered words of thanks to Ran before looking toward Yukari's languid figure.

"I was honestly surprised that someone of such a young age could withstand my poisonous room without any sort of protection. He just nonchalantly opened the door and said: Hey cutie, would you like to chat about life with me while we have a cup of coffee."

The young girl did her best to imitate the tone, even as going as far as copying the expressions, nonetheless, she was not good at it. It managed to get a giggle from Yukari, but the biggest reaction came from the other person in the room who after delivering the tea to everyone else and began sipping her own share.

"Pfffft!" Ran spat out the tea.

As soon as that happened, Yukari grabbed a parasol she kept near her and smacked the fox maiden's head.

Ran put on a wronged face but Yukari only snorted. The fact that she liked that phrase was a secret to everyone.

"I believe he did not have what it took to stay for too long." Yukari mumbled.

"He stayed until his skin turned purple and his voice did not come out. I tried to warn him many times, but he kept coming."

"He is reckless." Yukari sighed.

"I was able to walk under the sun again, to feel the breeze on my skin, and to smell the earth again. He did his absolute best to prove I was not a hopeless case and should not be killed and not only me. All the people held on the floor I was, he helped them and has been working to integrate them again in human society."

"The crows were not happy." Yukari chuckled.

"...He threatened them with all sorts of childish things like leaving them bald and impotent if they did not agree."

A strange silence settled in the room.

"...The fact that he has been repeatedly using laxatives on Azazel without the fallen angel finding out and being unable to resist the effects sure worked as an incentive to make that man's threats look scary." Yukari sighed.

"This is why, I, no, all of us have decided to do what we can for him."

With a resolute tone and a resolute face, there was not a piece of hesitation on the young girl.

"How do you know I am not trying to use the feelings you have for him to make you do my bidding?" Yukari asked.

"You are taking your time talking to me because you are hesitating to send us to the battlefield."

"...he wants you to live a normal life." Yukari muttered.

"Sometimes he can be even more naive than us. We have all seen the ugliness of the people around us, we have been hurt and hurt others. Even so, we would like to return the favor somehow. If he believes we have the right to live a life where we can smile from the bottom of our hearts... we also would like to offer him the same."

"You will go with Kaoruko. The person she will be facing will be the most brutal one, but your abilities will be what gives Kaoruko an edge." Yukari snapped her fingers.

A gap in space appeared beside the young girl.

"Good luck." Yukari muttered.

Smiling in response, the young girl jumped into the gap and disappeared.

"Is it ok to let her go?" Ran asked.

"Saya has become an important piece for their plans, enough that Abdul Alhazred has not taken any action for almost a decade." Yukari replied.

"Last time he appeared... he dug the graves of many great people as well as assisting the escape from the prison of dangerous individuals such Medea, the Witch of Betrayal..." Ran mumbled.

"He has taken many people under his wing but none of them were heard of again." Yukari said.

Despite her nonchalant conversation, Yukari kept working on providing easy entries and escapes for her allies as well as assisting them in battle.

"Should I head out to assist Kaoruko-sama?" Ran asked.

"You should be in bed, you were ambushed by Baron La Croix." Yukari sighed. "If it wasn't for the sacrificial doll activating despite the Baron's commands to not to, you would've lost your life already."

"However, I can still fight-urgh." Ran covered her head pitifully.

Lowering her umbrella, Yukari glared at Ran who left the room with her ears dropped.

"...rescuing Saya is tiresome in more ways than one." Yukari complained. "As a punishment, I will make her receive that man's massages for three hours while preventing from- Kaoruko? No, Team 10, 115, and 247 will be joining Martha's squads. There were evil dragons in her location as we expected, but their numbers were higher than estimated. To make it to the scheduled time, we-"

Keeping track of everyone's movements, Yukari never closed one particular gasp in space where one could see a black-haired youth that she would look at from time to time.

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Author's Notes

Wuahaha! You expected the chapter next week? Well no, no can do!

Wuahaha... Sorry, too much work.

Kind of busy so I could only write this for now.

This is something that is happening even as Nora is at the fairy land. A rescue operation.

What do you think of the chapter?

See ya.

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