Chapter Thirteen
It was still a daunting realization that while an entire day had passed inside Evangeline's resort, only a single hour had transpired in the real world. As such, when the girls and Negi reached the main floor of the log cabin, the rain was still beating down relentlessly.
"We only brought one umbrella." Asakura remarked as she looked out into the rainstorm.
"Well a little running through the rain is good for the soul." Remarked Konoka.
"Konoka-oujosama!" Setsuna protested, "You could catch a cold!"
"Oh, calm down Set-chan, it's the middle May, it's not that cold outside!" She said in her usual carefree tone as she made her way to the front door. "Thanks for having us over, Eva-chan!" Konoka said before bolting out into the rain. Setsuna offered her thanks as well before following after the other girl.
One by one, the rest of the girls departed braving the storm, with Asuna and Negi being the last ones to leave.
"Thank God!" Evangeline finally muttered as they left.
Chachamaru, ever vigilant looked over to her master.
The shorter girl looked up at the android. "What?" She remarked.
"Nothing master," Chachamarus said quickly, "It's just that you seemed to have enjoyed them being around, that's all."
"Rubbish." She said as she turned on her heel and proceed upstairs to her bedroom, "What would ever give you that impression." She said out loud then paused, her brow furrowed.
"Master?"
"Its nothing," She said after a moment, she could have sworn she had just felt a shift in the magical barrier around Mahora. Well, Takamichi said that Mathias would be arriving here sometime, it's probably just that fool. With that, she continued on her way.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Takamichi waited patiently at the entrance to the middle school girl's dormitory for Negi to show up. As Asuna had told him earlier that morning, the boy certainly made quite the beeline for Evangeline's home right after the school day was over. He had hoped to corner the boy in the hallways and discuss with him the virtues of properly pacing one's training, but he had been delayed due to a last minute counseling session that he needed to take with a boy from over at the high school.
He instinctively checked his watch, frowning. Magnus had called him about nine hours ago. Depending on just what sort of errands he had to run, he ought to be arriving at Mahora shortly.
Suddenly, the automatic doors parted to admit a group of students from Negi's class. He smiled and waved kindly, exchanging a few words with the handful of students who stopped and said hello.
"Are you here to see Negi-kun?" Konoka asked looking over her shoulder, "He should be on his way here shortly."
"Konoka-oujosama, you really should go and get changed, we can't have you catching a cold."
"Oh, it's not that bad, Set-chan." Konoka brushed the request off with a wave of her hand an unconcerned smile.
No sooner had their exchange ended, did Negi and Asuna arrive.
"Oh, Takamichi-kun!" Negi said, far more energized than he had been earlier in the morning. "What are you doing here?"
"Actually, I came to speak with you, do you have a moment, Negi-kun?" He asked.
"Um, sure." Negi said looking over to Konoka, Setsuna and Asuna, the last of whom was suddenly flushing deeply.
"Great," He then looked over to the others, "If you girls will excuse us."
"Um, sure thing, Takahata-sensei." Asuna said as she quickly pushed the others towards the stairs to give the two some privacy.
Once they were out of earshot, Takamichi looked over to Negi. "Are you feeling all right, Negi?" He asked sincerely.
"Who me?" He asked surprised.
"This morning you seemed pretty out of it," He stated.
"Yeah, well I guess I pushed myself a little too hard yesterday." He admitted.
"You know you need to pace yourself properly." Takamichi said.
"Well, I know, but there's just so much that I need to do."
"And resting is one of those things, Negi." He countered, "Look, resting is just as important as training. You continue to press yourself too hard, and what will happen is you'll end up overexerting yourself and hurting yourself in such a way that it'll take weeks to recover, even with magic."
Negi chuckled, "Yeah, that's pretty much what Asuna was telling me." He sighed then looked at Takamichi, "Don't worry, Takamichi-kun, I'll try and make enough time for me to sleep, I promise."
Takamichi looked the boy over for a moment, then nodded his approval, "I'll hold you to it."
"Of course, not a problem." Negi replied, "Was there anything else?"
"Well," Takamichi said with a slight smile, "There is someone who should be arriving here at Mahora sometime either tonight or tomorrow, I think you should meet him."
"Is he a friend of yours?" Negi asked.
"Yes, I think there's a lot you two could talk about." He said before shaking his head, "Well, I better let you go so you can get out of those wet clothes, last thing we need is for you to be bedridden with a cold."
Negi seemed for the first time to realize that his clothes were indeed drenched. "Oh, okay, thanks Takamichi, you have a good night."
"Same to you Negi." Takamichi said as he turned and left the dormitory.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Konoka had gone ahead with Setsuna towards the public bathhouse, while Asuna had waved them a good bye and made her way to her room. She was absolutely soaked and still somewhat flustered from the whole experience of dealing with Negi's past.
It explained why he cried in his sleep now, though. She realized as she reached into her pocket to remove her dorm key.
Just as she was about to place the key in the lock, she heard a rattle above her.
She just had enough time to look up before a flood of dark liquid engulfed her and then all she could see was darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wow, he really bounced back!" Natsumi remarked as she managed to pull the thermometer from Kotaro, as the boy said his name was once he regained consciousness, as he began to scarf down more food that Chizuru was continuing to prepare for the starving youth. "He doesn't even have a fever any more."
"See, that's what good old home remedies can do for you."
Natsumi tried not to blanch as she recalled her attempt to stop the boy from being subjected to Chizuru's "home remedies," as she so harmlessly called them. Mentally she thought that the very notion of green onion suppositories should be outlawed.
Thankfully, the boy had regained consciousness before Chizuru could go to work on him. He had only mentioned that he was famished and that seemed to automatically switch gears in the older girl's mind and she immediately began preparing loads of food for the boy.
"You really have no idea just how lucky you were there, kid." Natsumi said under her breath.
"How's that?" The boy asked as he looked at her innocently, those dog-like ears twitching.
Crap! He heard me! She said as she looked at him in disbelief. "Well, um," She slowly approached Kotaro so that only he could hear her.
"Trust me, if you hadn't woken up, Chizu-nee would have done some scary things to you."
The boy looked from Natsumi to Chizuru, then back at her, "What do you mean by 'scary' things?"
"Think suppositories."
The boy's eyes widened and he gulped loudly as he looked at the carefree expression on Chizuru's face. "She wouldn't have…"
"Oh yes she would have."
"You're right, that's scary." He admitted with a visible shiver.
"I'm home!" A new voice caroled from the entryway to their dorm room. "Chizuru, what are you cooking up, it smells positively delicious—" Yukihiro Ayaka stopped dead in her tracks as she entered the main living area to see the boy sitting at their table. "Um, who is this?" 3-A's class president asked as she cocked her head to the side.
"Oh," Chizuru said looking up from the small kitchenette, "This is Murakami Kotaro, Natsumi's little brother!"
"My what!" Natsumi snapped in unmitigated horror.
"Oh, I didn't know you had a brother, Natsumi-chan?" Ayaka said as she approached the small boy.
"Um, Natsumi-chan, who is this old lady?" Kotaro asked innocently.
"Old Lady!" Ayaka snapped, her palms slamming onto the dining table, with wisps of long blonde hair swirling around her face as she glared at the young boy, "I'll have you know I'm fourteen-years-old!" She snapped angrily.
"Fourteen-really? No way, you look much older than—" He was suddenly muffled as Natsumi clamped a hand over Kotaro's mouth.
"Oh, the poor dear." Chizuru said as she came around from the kitchenette. "He's had such a hard life. He wasn't taught proper manners you see, Ayaka-chan. Family life for him was so terrible, he's got no place to go."
"Huh, what…Chizuru, my family isn't that bad!" She screeched.
Chizuru continued, oblivious to Natsumi's protests. "The poor dear ran away to be with his big sister. Natsumi-chan is the only family who accepts him."
"I…er…what!" Natsumi babbled incoherently.
Ayaka seemed somewhat taken aback, looking from Chizuru, to Kotaro to finally Natsumi, "Is that true Natsumi-chan?" She asked her voice quivering as the implication of Chizuru's words settled in.
"What…no…of course its not! My family is not that bad!" She attempted to defend.
"Either way, I think that for the time being, Kotaro-kun needs to stay with us." Chizuru stated, seemingly making the point moot. "Now, Ayaka-chan, I've got more food on the way, please clean up and it should be ready by the time you're done."
"Well, okay." The class representative said casually, knowing full well how much Chizuru doted on Natsumi and her. She knew it was better not to cross the woman, at least not in their dorm room and certainly not before dinner.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well will you look at that," Purin said amazed, "He survived!"
Ameko looked down the small pinprick of a hole in the ceiling over the dorm room that Kotaro was in and looked back at her sister impressed. "Wow, he's resilient." She commented.
"But it looks like that spell you cast on him must have worked," Sumarui stated, "Otherwise, he wouldn't just be sitting down having a good time chatting it up with the ladies now would he?"
"Most certainly not." Purin admitted then looked at her siblings, "Should we finish him off then?" She asked as she saw the other occupants in the room, "Then we could eat the others," She inhaled deeply, "Wow that food smells good."
"You will leave the boy to me," a new voice suddenly echoed through their heads. Immediately, the slime sisters cringed. "How has the capture of Negi Springfield's partners going?"
"We've managed to capture the one known as Kaguarazaka Asuna." Sumarui admitted, "The rest are on their way to the bathhouse. We hope to have them captured within the next couple of minutes."
"Very well, make sure that you do. I'll deal with the dog-boy." Graf Herrmann stated then fell silent.
"Well, looks like we have to go back to work." Sumarui said with a sigh, that food did indeed smell delicious, and after being sealed in a small bottle for the last six years, they were quite famished. Unfortunately, no matter how hungry they might be, it would be no comparison to the wrath that would face them should they disobey the count.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Magnus sighed as he drew the cloak's hood further over his head as the rain continued to pelt him as he crossed one of the runoff canal bridges and was beginning to enter Mahora Academy. The twilight of dusk mixed with the heavy rains made navigating much of the city nearly impossible, and he was simply guiding himself by the merely his own instincts and the Fenrir's own sense of guidance.
His luck had come up short in the rest of his side trips as all of the locations that Nagi and he had hidden the artifactss had either been destroyed, missing or useless. It had been a frustrating day and one from which he wished he could simply forget.
Then the rain had hit, and it had turned Magnus's horrible day into a simple dreadful one.
But it all seemed to be coming to a close as he came to the realization that he was now finally arriving at Mahora City, where he could finally attempt to figure out what Secundium—er, Fate Averruncus, or his lackeys were attempting to achieve here at Mahora.
To be honest, at the moment he would simply prefer to get out of the rain, dry off and pass out on a nice comfortable bed and sleep this whole miserable day away.
He was maneuvering deeper into the city when he suddenly brought the bike to a halt, his brow furrowed. He could sense something here…
It was a sensation that he hadn't felt in a log time, familiar yet distant at the same time.
It was then that he realized what it was and quickly turned the motorcycle around and took off in the direction of the sensation. His thoughts suddenly racing, wondering if perhaps he had actually arrived at Mahora too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Kazumi said with a relaxing sigh as she leaned deeper into the heated pool's water. "Not a bad way to spend an afternoon." She admitted.
"Yeah, but my internal clock is all screwed up now," Yui admitted, "We spent an entire day at Evangeline's resort and only an hour has passed here, I don't think that I'm going to even be able to sleep tonight."
"Yeah, but it was amazing wasn't it Yui?" Nodoka asked.
"Well, yes, it certainly was but still." The other girl sighed as she leaned into the water.
"No complaining." Konoka remarked, "We came here to clean up and relax, that's what we're going to do, no muttering about what we're going to do later okay!"
The other girls seemed to accept that stipulation and reserved themselves to merely enjoying the bathwater. After running through the less-than-warm rain shower, the soothing water was a nice reprieve.
"By the way," Nodoka asked looking over to Konoka, "Where is Setsuna-san anyway?"
"Oh, she had to go back to her room and drop something off." She said. "She should be here shortly.
It was then that all the girls looked at one another as they felt the water suddenly become cold.
"Did the heater fail?" Yui asked.
"I not think so." Ku Fei said as she felt the frigid sensation wash over her.
Then suddenly the girls all yelped in surprise as they were suddenly dragged under the water's surface and disappeared the rest of the bath's patrons completely oblivious of their disappearance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Setsuna sighed as she made her way through the dormitory hallways, carrying her towel and special shampoo that she used for her hair. While they were at Evangeline's resort she had begun to notice slight tinges of gray hair beginning to appear amongst her raven black follicles. It must have been the salt air that had affected it, she had thought and made the mental note to recover the shampoo for when she would bathe next.
"Setchan!" A voice called from down the hallway.
Setsuna looked over to see Konoka approaching her. Immediately, her face heated as she stared as Konoka came running after her.
"Konoka-oujosama!" She snapped, "What are you doing running around the hallways naked!" She said as she took the towel to cover the girl.
As she approached, Setsuna had a momentary sense that something was amiss. She reached for her pactio card, but was too slow as tendrils suddenly exploded from the Konoka imposter and enveloped her. She managed a muffled scream before the darkness consumed her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A knock at the door seemed to settle the commotion that had broken out between Kotaro and Ayaka over dinner.
Natsumi sighed as she prepared to get up only to have Ayaka wave her back to her seat. "Don't worry, Natsumi-chan, I'll get it." She said as she glared at Natsumi's troublemaker of a brother. The boy appeared to be Negi-sensei's age, but he was night and day by comparison to the well behaved and mature young teacher.
She shrugged off the thought as she opened the door slightly to see a tall man standing before their doorway.
He was tall, wearing a long, clad leather trench coat and a large hat that covered much of his salt-and-pepper hair. His expression was gentle and comforting. "Excuse me miss," He said in accented Japanese. "But may I have a word with that young man in your home?"
Ayaka felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, "What exactly would you have to say with him?" She asked.
"Oh, nothing much," the man said unconcerned, "But rather, would you be interested in a gift for such a beautiful woman such as yourself." He said extending a beautiful gold rose from his pocket.
"Oh my!" Ayaka said disarmed by the appearance of the elegant gift. "For me? I don't…" Suddenly she felt light headed.
Before anyone could realize what had happened, the man stepped over Ayaka's unconscious form and entered into the living area.
"What!" Kotaro snapped momentarily alarmed, realizing that something was instantly wrong. "Who are you, and what did you do with Blondie!" Kotaro snapped.
"Oh," the man said dismissively, "She's just resting, now you and I have some unsettled business my friend."
Before Kotaro could even speak, a teeth-rattling punch connected with his jaw, throwing him backwards into the far wall.
"Now, I need you to behave yourself and simply do as you're told like a good boy." The tall man's said in a gravelly voice. "That vessel you took off my associates, I need to have that back before I can pursue my true objective." He took a step towards the disoriented boy. "Well, how about it?" He demanded.
The man paused in his place as Chizuru stepped in front of him. "I don't know who you are," She said in a stern voice, "But at the very least you could do is introduce yourself, as well as take your shoes off before entering someone's home, is this how a proper gentleman behaves?"
"Oh my, please forgive my manners, I forgot about that custom here in Japan." The man said genuinely apologetic as he removed his hat and bowed deeply. "My name is Graf Wilhelm Josef Von Herrmann, and I do apologize for the mess," he looked over at the dining room table, "as well as disrupting your meal, but unfortunately this boy and I have some unsettled business to deal with."
"You can go to hell!" Kotaro snarled as he leapt at Herrmann.
The count had been prepared for the attack, he merely brought his left forearm up to block the boy's attack while he slammed Kotaro with another daunting right hook that sent the boy tumbling backwards.
He rebounded off the floor, using his momentum to guide him as he contorted his body so that his feet landed squarely on the wall which he used to push off for another attack.
"Impressive," Herrmann noted as he once again blocked the boy's attack and this time threw a knee into Kotaro's gut.
The air whooshed out of him from the blow and Herrmann followed with two left jabs before another right hook sent Kotaro to the ground.
"Now, you have some potential there, young man, but you and I are in entirely different leagues. Now won't you please hand over that vessel before I am forced to get serious with you."
Kotaro's expression seemed to change, as if the fog that had been draped over him had finally lifted and he realized where he was and who he was fighting. "You're not too shabby yourself old man. Got a pretty good right too." He said as he massaged his cheek.
He stood and glared at the man defiantly, "But what makes you think that if I even had this 'vessel' I would hand it over to you?"
Herrmann sighed heavily, "Well, if that's your choice, I'm just going to have to beat the information out of you." He said as he approached Kotaro.
"Go right ahead!" The boy snarled as he lunged at the man. Summoning what chi he could to create shadow copies of himself to attack at the man from every different angle.
Herrmann momentarily lost track of the boy, fixing his gaze on where he thought the boy was most likely to attack and he struck, only to see his hand pass through the shadow copy as Kotaro landed his own painful knee to the count's gut.
"Payback's a bitch." He snarled, "That's your problem old man, you're a little too sure of yourself."
"And you talk too much," Herrmann protested as he slammed Kotaro across the head with a deafeningly powerful left punch.
The boy sailed across the room until he made contact with the floor and lay there in a disheveled mess. He attempted to right himself only to find a heavy boot slam into his jaw and force him back to the ground.
"Kotaro-kun!" Natsumi screamed in fear for the young boy.
"Well, lad, it looks like we're going to have to draw this fight to a close. I would have much rather have avoided this, but with youth obliviously comes your irrational stubbornness. Please don't think ill of me for this." He said as he opened his mouth as it began to glow.
Yet before the attack ever came to fruition, Herrmann's head shot back as a well placed, and quite auditable slap made contact with his right cheek.
He looked over in surprise to see the tall girl with chestnut hair glaring at him. "I'm not sure what's going on," She scolded, "But I will not let you treat a child like that here in my home!"
"Well, well, well." Herrmann said impressed, "It is not often that one runs across someone with such fine moral convictions." He massaged his cheek tenderly. "Perhaps you will work as one of my hostages as well."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
All around the dormitory complex, girls were standing outside their doorways looking down the hallway towards where the commotion was coming from. Negi rushed through the crowd, forcing them to part as he ran past.
"I think it came from the class prez's room!" Chamo communicated mentally.
"Yeah, I'm working on it," Negi replied as he rounded the corner and came across the open door, Ayaka laying unconscious at the doorstep.
"Ayaka-san!" Negi yelled as he knelt before the girl. He sighed in relief as he realized that she was alive and just unconscious.
Then he heard the commotion coming from inside the room, he rushed in without thinking and came face to face with a tall man, holding in his arms and unconscious Chizuru. "Naba-san!" He yelled.
"Ah," The man said turning to face Negi, "Young Negi Springfield, it's been a while. You've grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you." He said with a chuckle.
"Who are you!" Negi commanded, "I demand that you put Naba-san down right now!" He gripped his wand tightly; his heart sinking as the man merely chuckled at his tone.
"Along with this lovely young lady, I have captured seven of your companions. If you want them back safely, you will have to fight me." He turned, "Meet me at the stage beneath the World Tree. I'll be waiting for you."
With that, he turned and leapt out the window.
Negi was left speechless.
"Anaki, look over there!" Chamo said, pointing Negi towards the terrified girl with light red hair and a freckled complexion.
"Murakami-san!" He said as he rushed next to the girl's side, "Are you all right, he didn't hurt you, did he?"
The girl seemed dazed, "He attacked Kotaro and took Chizu-neesan." She whimpered.
"Kotaro?" Negi looked over to see the young boy laying unconscious on the floor.
"What's wolf-boy doing here!" The ermine demanded, thinking that they had finally been done with the troublesome kid after they got back from Kyoto.
Negi ignored his companion as he knelt next to the boy and slowly shook him to consciousness, "Hey, snap out of it!" He yelled at the boy.
After a moment Kotaro began to stir, then his eyes fluttered open, his gaze finally settling on Negi. "Is that you…Negi?" He asked disoriented.
"Yeah, it's me Kotaro, what happened!"
It was one of those moments in which the fog lifted from his mind and he remembered one of the central things that happened weeks earlier, when he had first run into the child on his way to the Kansai Association. "Negi!" He snapped grabbing the kid teacher by his shirt, "We have a score to settle, I challenge you to a duel!" He yelled.
"A duel! Are you mad! Get a hold of yourself, there's more important things to worry about!" Negi snapped, forcing the boy's hands off his shirt. "That man took Naba-san!"
"Chizu-neechan!" Kotaro's eyes widened as his memories flooded back to him, he looked around the room quickly, "Where's Natsumi!"
"Murakami-san is all right, it's Naba-san we have to worry about now." Negi lamented. "He's also got my friends, we have to rescue them."
"What," Kotaro asked, "Who'd he take?"
"I can only imagine its Asuna and the others."
"Asuna!" Kotaro snorted in disbelief, "I doubt it!"
"I'm willing to bet he's serious, why would he lie about something like that?"
"To get you all worked up of course," Kotaro pointed out.
"Yeah, but I could just check up on them."
"Well why don't you then!"
Without another word, Negi removed his pactio cards and attempted to make contact with each of them. None of them responded, "This isn't good." He replied, "He has to be telling the truth, otherwise they would answer."
"I just can't believe that they were able to be taken hostage so easily."
"I know…" Negi said his shoulders slumping, then he shook his head, "It doesn't matter. We have to save them."
Kotaro shrugged, "Well, this might come in handy then." He said as he removed a small bottle. "Whatever this thing is, that guy wanted it pretty badly. I grabbed it off these demons that attacked me on the edge of town."
Negi looked over the bottle carefully noting the inscriptions, "This is a artifact for sealing away demons." He concluded after a moment, "They must have been released from this." He gripped the bottle firmly, "Well, now we have a way to defeat them."
"Negi withdrew his wand, "Come on, Kotaro, we need to hurry up." He then realized that Natsumi had been staring at them the whole time.
"Negi-sensei, what's going on?" She pleaded.
Negi sighed, now wasn't the time to involve her in everything that was swirling around him at the moment. He truly wished that she hadn't gotten involved in the first place, but fate was a cruel master. "I'm sorry Murakami-san, but I'll save Naba-san." Then he looked to Kotaro then back at Natsumi, "Then I'll tell you what's going on."
"Please, Negi-sensei, save Chizu-neechan."
"I will, I promise." Negi said as he and Kotaro mounted the wand and they took off out the window towards the theatre stage under the World Tree.
Kotaro could only faintly here Natsumi scream "Be careful," as they flew away from the dormitory.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I'm too damned late!" Magnus cursed as he saw the two boys explode out of the dormitory window on the third floor. The demonic aura—and it was a demonic aura, he was certain of that—had now disappeared and reappeared somewhere off in the distance. And it looked like two boys were attempting to follow after that aura.
Kids these days, Magnus sighed to himself as he throttled the Fenrir up to as fast as he dared on the narrow Western-style streets of Mahora City in pursuit of the two boys and their eventual destination. Those kids can't possibly have any idea what it is they're about to run into! He cursed himself for wasting this day.
If this was Fate's move on the Kanto Association he was praying that he wasn't too late to help, or at the very least gather the information necessary to figure out what the homunculus was attempting to achieve.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Asuna groaned as she felt trickles of water splash onto her face. "What's…" She breathed as she tried to remember what had happened to her.
She had been going to her room after getting back from Evangeline's home. Then she remembered something washing over her and…
Her eyes widened as she remembered the suffocating sensation that had grasped her. She was instantly awake, looking around to see if she were still in the dormitory.
Her luck couldn't have been that good; she chided herself as she realized that she was far away from the dormitory that she remembered. Instead, she appeared to be on some sort of stage.
Then the numbing sensation came from her hands and she realized they were suspended above her head. Her bare arms she noted.
She looked down and realized that she was no longer wearing her school uniform, but instead some sort of sleazy lingerie. "What the hell is this!" She snarled indignantly.
"Ah you're finally awake." A voice said from below the stage. Slowly a tall man walked up the stairs and came to stand a meter away from you. "You must excuse my eccentricities." He chuckled as he leered at her, "But I thought it would set the mood perfectly for you to have that 'damsel in distress' look."
She kicked him in the head, "So! That doesn't explain the damn lingerie you dirty pervert!"
The man looked at her incredulously, "Well, I guess it might have been a bit much, but either way, it does accentuate your natural body."
"Quit staring at me!" She seethed venom.
"Well, it's lovely to see that Negi's friends are as high spirited as he," Hermann chuckled as he turned away from her.
"Well, don't feel bad, at least you have clothes." A muffled voice came behind her. Asuna strained her head to see that Kazumi, Nodoka, Yui, Ku, and Konoka were all trapped in what appeared to be a giant liquid bubble.
"What are you guys doing here!" Asuna said then looked at them deadpan, "And why are you all naked?"
"The perv snatched us in the bath!" Kazumi replied angrily.
"They also have Setchan and Chizuru-chan!" Konoka said, causing Asuna to look away from her friends to the other two bubbles that flanked the larger prison.
"I thought it better that the demon slayer be left unconscious where she couldn't do any harm," Herrmann replied, "As for the other girl, she was more or less a last minute addition."
"What do you intend to do with us?" Asuna demanded.
Herrmann paced towards her once again, "Well, you my dear are going to help me participate in a little experiment."
"You lay one finger on me, I swear you'll regret ever breathing."
"Oh, it will hardly be something that nefarious, my dear. But I am going to enjoy the outcome no matter what." His attention was suddenly drawn away, "Ah, well it looks like the main characters have finally arrived."
Even at the distance, almost half a kilometer, and over the still torrential rain that beat down on the stage's overhang, Asuna could hear Negi yell, "Sagitta magica aer capturae!" as the volley of lightning arrows came crashing down upon them.
The demon count seemed unperturbed by the attack and merely held out his hand. Asuna could not keep the amazement from her eyes as the arrows slammed into a barrier five meters ahead of the demon. Suddenly, she winced as she felt the necklace around her neck suddenly burn intensely. "What the hell is this?" She winced.
Negi and a boy that Asuna didn't recognize landed at the top of the amphitheatre seats. "Asuna!" He yelled, then looked beyond her, his expression suddenly flushing darkly, "Girls! They've got you all vah-vah-voom'd!"
"It's not what you think!" Yui shot back.
"Well, it sort of is!" Kazumi was quick to add, much to the ire of the other girls.
"What's the meaning of all this!" Negi hissed, "Who are you!"
"I must apologize, dear Negi, but I felt that if I had not taken these beautiful girls hostage, you wouldn't be willing to face me at your full-strength."
"Full-strength huh," Negi repeated.
"Yes, actually it is your full capability in combat that interests me, nothing more. If you are able to defeat me in combat, then I will return the girls to you, that is my only condition. What do you say?"
"Why do you want to fight me?" Negi shot back.
"Aw, what an inquiring lad," the count said with a chuckle, "Actually, I want to see how much you've grown over these years." The count then began to stretch his arms, "Given how much potential Kotaro-kun over there has, I'm expecting you to easily surpass him and not bore me."
"Negi!" The boy that the count had identified as Kotaro balked, "Surpass me," He snorted, "Fat chance, I can kick your ass all the way back to Kyoto!"
"What!" Negi countered, "I've gotten a lot stronger than when we fought back in Kyoto."
And that was how it got started, before long the two boys were quickly arguing over who was stronger and forgetting the threat that was standing before them.
Herrmann looked at them exasperated, "Well, looks like we've got to set them straight I guess," He sighed, "Girls, if you would do the honors."
Without further encouragement, the three slime sisters appeared around the two boys, catching them completely by surprise.
Asuna winced as she saw the three slime demons attack with vicious efficiency. In their opening attack they sent the two boys bouncing down the theatre stands until they came to a halt at the base. To their efforts, they recovered quickly and were suddenly refocused on their foes.
Kotaro landed a vicious punch as the slime demons followed through with their initial attack. While the blow was blocked, it was successful in knocking the unlucky demon into her sister and throwing her backwards. While the third demon wrapped a tendril arm around Negi's arm only to be greeted by an open-palm hammer drive into its face.
The demon stumbled backwards obviously disoriented from the blow.
Still that did not seem to deter the three as they continued to play on the realization that their odds were far in favor of the two boys and then came at them again. Attempting to hammer blow after blow into them, most were met with controlled blocks, while some landed, but still there were even a few that were counterattacked properly that left the demons absorbing more damage than they were inflicting.
In the blink of an eye the three slime demons were crashing into the base of the stage in a rumpled heap. "That's the way to do it Negi!" Asuna cheered.
This time, Negi did not lose focus with any distractions; instead he focused intently on the count.
"We can't let ourselves get bogged down by these guys, the count's the only target!" Kotaro stated as they rushed towards the stage.
"Kotaro, keep the slime demons busy, I'll deal with the count."
"Fine with me!" Kotaro said as he lunched at the three recovered demons. Using his chi he summoned to shadow copies of himself. At first the slime demons were unimpressed by the sudden appearance of the copies, believing them to merely to empty apparitions of the real boy, but they soon realized that with the fewer number, Kotaro could regulate more chi into each copy, giving it physical form enough so that the punches that suddenly lashed out from the copies were more than enough to set the sisters back on the defensive.
All the while, Negi removed a small practice wand from his pocket, "Sagitta magica una lucis!" he yelled, as the single magic arrow shot out at the count.
The man standing before him was unimpressed, holding out his palm as the blast was absorbed and negated.
Impossible! He stopped another of my magical attacks, how is he doing it! Negi wondered, No matter that still should have distracted him enough for me to do this…
He swung past the count, appearing behind him as he grabbed the magical bottle from his pocket and threw it at the count. "Lagena signatoria!" he incanted as the bottle suddenly glowed brilliantly, a magical array appearing around it as the bottle's cork shot out and aimed directly at the count.
He could see surprise in the count's expression, but then the expression turned to satisfaction as the bottle's intense light suddenly dissipated and it crumpled to the ground useless.
"What!" Negi said in disbelief.
His stunned disbelief was broken immediately as Asuna's screamed in pain as the spell's effects were transferred from the count to her.
The count merely chuckled, "Well I guess that proves my theory at least." He grinned at the girl, "Looks like the experiment was a success."
"What have you done to Asuna!" Negi snapped his anger rising.
"Well, I've done nothing," the count admitted, "Actually, you're the one whose actually been inflicting all that pain upon the poor lady."
Negi looked over to Asuna, his faced a mixture of horrified concern and seething rage.
"Now, now, Negi my boy," Herrmann continued, "Let's not let this keep us from having that fight that I promised you. I would really be disappointed if that last attack of yours was the best you had to offer, because otherwise…" the count suddenly disappeared from where he was standing.
Negi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he spun just in time to see the count reappear behind him.
"This won't be any fun!" He snarled as he slammed forth a devastating right punch, "Demora pulsea!" he incanted as he reinforced his blow with a magical spell that sent a massive concussion wave slamming into Negi.
He had raised his arms to guard against the physical blow, but his magical barrier hadn't erected itself completely resulting in the massive force cascading over him and throwing him off the stage and back into the rows of seats.
Herrmann had angled his attack perfectly to not only open the distance between Negi and himself, but also to catch Kotaro completely by surprise as well.
The half-wolf boy looked up just as the concussion wave slammed into him throwing him nearly twenty meters until he landed unceremoniously into the bleachers next to Negi.
"Dirty trick, old man." He wheezed painfully.
"Oh I'm not done yet." Herrmann chuckled as he sent another volley of concussion waves crashing at them.
This time though, Negi brought up his magical barrier in time, and the tidal forces merely bent and twisted before washing away from the two youths, sending the daunting force to crash into the amphitheatre around them. Debris and dust filled the air creating a choking cloud that hung about them for almost a minute. Negi waited for a follow up attack, but the count resided himself to seeing the effects of his attack with his own eyes.
As the dust settled, the count chuckled. "Very good, Negi! Very good indeed!" He bellowed genuinely impressed. "It takes a pretty strong mage to redirect a demora pulsea attack. You're continuing to impress me."
Negi didn't say a word, as the spell he had been reciting on in the brief respite that they had been given finished. Thrusting his hand out he finished the incantation, "Fulguratio albicans!" He yelled as he sent a directed lightning attack at Herrmann.
The count merely shrugged as the attack was dissipated before ever touching him.
"How the hell is he doing this!" Kotaro snarled angrily.
"'Magic cancel,' the ability to completely nullify magical spells." The count explained simply, looking over to where Asuna hung, her expression pained and exhausted. "Lady Asuna Kagurazaka, for some reason appears to have the very rare ability to cancel magic." He said with an amused chuckle. "Normally for magic users and demons like myself, such ability would be exceptionally dangerous," Then he grinned, "but thankfully this time around it's certainly worked to my favor."
All this time, he realized, all this time it hadn't been Asuna's pactio artifiact that had forced all those demons in Kyoto to be vanquished, it had been Asuna herself. All those times that my Magic seemed to backfire or become increasingly ineffective when Asuna was around, it was always her!
And now, his enemies had realized it before he ever even suspected it. Negi felt a cold lump drop into his guts as he looked at his friend, "Asuna, are you okay!"
"I-I'm fine, Negi." She whimpered back. "Don't worry about me."
"Now Negi my lad, I think it's time that we actually finished this fight the proper way!" Herrmann said as he suddenly closed the distance separating them in an eye-blink and threw another magically enhanced punch at where Negi stood.
The boy reacted on instinct alone, dodging the attack just as it was about to land. Kotaro and him used the opening to press their own attack, but the count was more than capable of handling two combatants at once.
Herrmann paused in his assault as he realized that the fight was not going exactly as he had wanted. That was not to say that he was losing the fight, only that the Kotaro boy was becoming more and more of a trouble participant.
His right knee shot out, catching Negi in the side of the head and throwing him away from the count long enough for him to contend with the troublesome youth.
"It's time that you bowed out, Kotaro!" Herrmann said as he snatched the kid by his hair, temporarily catching him off guard. He followed through with landing a destructive demora pulsea punch to the kid's face at point blank range.
Without Negi's magical barrier to help protect the child, he absorbed the full force of the attack. The boy flew away almost clearing the upper most rows of the amphitheatre before he came to an unconscious heap. Smoke and energy still crackled from the boy's body even as he lay there.
"KOTARO!" Negi screamed horrified by the attack.
Herrmann merely turned to face Negi. "Well now, my boy, you and I can have that fight we promised without any more interruptions." Then his expression deadened, "Now, quit holding back and fight me for real."
Negi glared at the demon noble angrily, "I swear, I'm giving it my all."
"No, no I think not." Herrmann sighed, "You have a lot of potential, quite a bit in fact, but you're not channeling it right." He grinned, "You don't have the proper motivation to get you properly focused." His eyes narrowed as he gave Negi a once over, "What compels you to fight, Negi?"
"You've captured my friends!" He snarled back.
"That's what compelled you to come here to fight today, but that's not what compelled you to start training to begin with." His grin turned manic, as he pointed at the unconscious form of Kotaro, "That boy, he fights because he enjoys it, I can see it in his eye. He enjoys the challenged, the exhilaration of attempting to face someone who is more powerful than he is and attempt to see if he can surpass that foe."
He then pointed his finger at Negi, "You on the other hand, I think I know exactly why it is you fight." He grinned as he removed hit hat, allowing the rain to beat down upon his hair, "This night isn't all that different from that night, granted it's a little warmer tonight, but still the effect is the same."
Suddenly his face transformed and Negi gawked in horror as he realized for the first time who it was that he was seeing.
His face was relatively featureless, except for two long twisting horns, the left one was chipped, it was the demon from that night six years ago.
"You fight in hopes of escaping the memories from that night in the snow." Herrmann bellowed, his laughter echoing through the amphitheatre. "Of all the demons sent then, I was the only one from the nobility. All those people, your friends and family, who were petrified that day, it was I who did that." he said as he placed the hat back on his face and returned to his human form. "Those demons were there because I ordered them to be there. That whole massacre was because of me!"
"Negi!" Asuna cried from where she was still confined. "Snap out of it Negi!" She cried, her terror evident on her face as she saw the boy's ashen expression. Those brown eyes of his, often so caring and concerned, were now replaced with dread and horror.
Suddenly, she felt the restraints slacken, and her arms were free. She looked up, then over her shoulder to see a man standing next to her, a long cloak masking his features. "Who are you?" She asked as he reached around her neck and removed the pendant.
She stared over her shoulder to see that the others had been released from their prisons as well. The slime demons were nowhere to be seen either, she glanced over to see that clutched in the man's hand was the magical bottle that he unconsciously juggled in one hand as he tossed the pendant to the ground.
"Just watch." The man said softly, his gaze focused on Negi and the demon.
Just as Asuna turned to look back at Negi, her mouth gaped in shock as suddenly Negi wasn't standing, but moving, he closed the distance between Herrmann in an eyeblink.
The move seemed to even catch the demon by surprise as his brow shot up in amazement.
Then the punch landed; an earth-shattering magic-reinforced uppercut sent Herrmann flying into the air. The count was given no moment to recover what had just happened as Negi was already on top of him again, magical energy coursing so freely through his body that his magical aura was actively visible to the naked eye.
He drove a crushing elbow into Herrmann's gut, forcing the air out of the demon's lungs as Negi followed through with a roundhouse kick that sent the count sailing back to the earth.
Negi was relentless, slamming punch after punch into the demon, sending him airborne then crashing him back into the ground, kicking up shattered concrete and dust with each attack.
"This is wonderful!" Herrmann managed to wheeze through broken teeth. "This is perfect!"
Then as Negi was about to follow through with yet another frightening attack, Herrmann transformed once again into his demon form, his mouth glowing brightly as he summoned for his petrification curse. "But it's over now!" He cackled.
Negi was completely blindsided by the attack, he simply stopped and gazed as the light overwhelmed him.
"Negi!" Asuna screamed, remembering what this attack had done to Stan and Negi's cousin.
The attack faded and Herrmann chuckled as he waited to admire his handiwork. Then a frown crossed his features as he stared into empty space.
"What?" He balked then looked down at the amphitheatre.
Negi felt a pair of arms holding him tightly, he opened his eyes to see that he had been grabbed at the last moment by this mysterious stranger, now the man's hooded face looked up to the heavens where the demon count hovered.
His eyes widened in awe as the memories from six years ago again flooded him.
It can't be, he thought as his heart jumped, You can't be…but maybe.
"Father!" Negi said as he looked up into the hooded man's face.
"I'm afraid not kiddo." The man responded as he set the young boy down.
"Then who are you?" He asked as he regained his footing.
He didn't answer immediately, but instead chuckled. "Well if you were to call me anything, I guess I'd be the backup."
"Backup?" Negi said perplexed.
"Well, yeah, here to step in should you get in over your head." The mysterious mage looked over to Herrmann, "Not that I don't think you can't take him." He said, "Although, I would have thought that by now you would have learned that when you're in a fight the last thing you can afford to do is let your head get away from you." The man's voice carried with it the lecturing tone of a seasoned teacher. "What I saw was pretty impressive; up until you walked right into his line of fire. That's where you screwed up."
"And who might you be, sir." Herrmann remarked casually returning to his human form and landing on the concrete floor of the amphitheatre. "Your aura has a very familiar sense to it, but I can't place it."
"To be honest, I'm slightly hurt Wilhelm that you don't recognize me." He chuckled again.
The demon seemed to balk at the mocking tone from the other man. "Well, no matter." Herrmann snarled, "You're interfering and I can't possibly let that stand!" With that the count fired another petrification curse at Negi and the interloper.
The man outstretched his hand, and the spell splashed harmlessly against the magical barrier that he erected.
Herrmann looked back at what little damage he had actually achieved, "Impressive, you're not some too-bit street urchin who wandered off the street."
"Wilhelm, you need to stop this right now." The mage commanded.
The count chuckled, "That pretty high talk coming from someone who just appeared on the scene. What do you think, you can throw up a couple of magic barriers and that will be the end it, we can simply go our separate ways, no harm done?"
"Wilhelm, this isn't your fight." The man cautioned.
"Unfortunately, friend, I was hired for a job, and my honor is at stake here. I will complete it or die trying."
"There's no way you'll reconsider, Graf?" the mage asked his tone remorseful.
"I'm afraid not."
Negi watched in awe as the mage simply stood his ground, unfazed by the demon's banter.
"Very well. Negi," He said, his tenor strong and confident, "You're friends have been saved, you think you can defeat Graf Herrmann or do you need me to finish this?"
Negi was surprised by the man's statement. This stranger had not only intervened to save him from his reckless actions but now seemed to believe that he could stop this demon without so much a care or concern.
More importantly, he was leaving the decision on how to finish off the demon to Negi. For the life of him, he couldn't recall any moment in his life where an adult had treated him, not as some little kid, but an equal. He was honest enough with himself to admit that he felt himself swell with pride that someone would have such respect for him.
After a moment, the boy nodded with certainty, "I can defeat him," Negi said confidently, "But I'll need you to delay him for a little bit. This spell I'm working on takes a little time for me to cast."
The man genuinely laughed as he began pacing towards the demon. "Take all the time in the world, I'll be here." He said as he waved a hand casually and stopped a few meters from Herrmann.
"You seem pretty sure about yourself stranger." Herrmann glared, "is it false bravado or sheer stupidity?"
The cloaked figure merely laughed then his voice changed as he switched from Japanese to a language that Herrmann could not believe any mage knew. "I hope you'll forgive me, Wilhelm, but I'm not going to hold back." He said in the Tongue of the Ancients, the native language of the demons.
"Who…" He managed to say before the man outstretched his hand.
"Hasta Necrum!" he commanded.
Herrmann lurched to his right, avoiding the two-meter long dark spear that soared through where he had just been standing.
He isn't a normal mage! Herrmann thought to himself in shock back peddling to open the distance and hopefully buy himself time to recover from the shock that was coursing through his system. Then the realization of the attack that had just been cast at him sunk in.
Hasta Necrum wasn't an ordinary spell that most Magi could cast, in fact there were only a handful of individuals that Herrmann knew who would be willing to commit themselves to learning such a powerful, but dangerous spell.
"Too slow!" the mage shot back as he threw another one of the dark spears at Herrmann. Opening the distance bought him precious tenths of a second to react. He threw himself once again out of the path of the deadly missile, rolling into a crouch and letting his instincts guide him. He fired another petrification curse at the attacker.
Tthe man seemed momentarily caught off guard, but managed to erect a barrier at the last moment. Still, Herrmann could have sworn that he saw embers of the spell land true.
The mage snarled as he spun, redirecting the residual blast away and launching this time a pair of death spears at the count.
Things were happening too fast. It was in that moment that Herrmann realized that being sealed away for six long years were having its effect on his reaction time. As he dodged the first spear, he realized that he had thrown himself directly into the path of the second spear. Realizing his error all he could do was throw up a magic barrier at the last moment.
The spear halted in mid-air as it met his barrier, and there was a moment of resistance as it just hung there. Herrmann actually entertained a thought that perhaps he might have stopped the attack. Unfortunately that thought died instantly as some invisible force managed to force the missile through the barrier.
Herrmann snarled angrily as the spear lodged itself in his shoulder. His body slacked as the magical array flared from the spear and he felt his body weakening. The spear was sapping his energy, worse yet he realized it was beginning to tear at his very soul.
Negi watched in awe as he saw the mysterious mage work, his attacks were so fast, so vicious, it truly did remind him of that night in the snow when he had watched his father vanquish those demons. Still, this wasn't like that night, and this man wasn't his father, and more over, this time there was something that Negi could do to help.
He closed his eyes, his mind focusing as he perform the spell, his concentration absolute as this time he knew what was expected of him. He knew he could do this, he had to, if for nothing else than to stop this demon from ever hurting anyone else ever again.
He felt his body heat as he brought the rampant magical aura still coursing through him under control, reigning it under his will and focusing it towards the task that he willed it to perform.
It was in that moment of certainty Negi's voice boomed through the amphitheatre, "I'm ready!"
That was all that the mage needed to hear as he leapt away from the demon just as Negi recited the final command, his hands outstretched and aimed at the demon, "Axe of Lightning!"
The mage watched in awe at the onslaught that the young mage had just released. Herrmann attempted to dodge, but his body was too slow, drained from the death spear lodged in his shoulder.
Realizing that there was nowhere for Herrmann to run, he willed forth one more barrier. The barrier snapped into place, and halted the torrent of concentrated electrical fury for the briefest of seconds before the barrier failed and the demon was engulfed. The power behind the manifested attack spell was so strong, so concentrated, that everyone within the Amphitheatre was momentarily blinded from it.
The residual energy short forth from the ground lanced high into the sky and parted the rain clouds that had been continuing its downpour.
When the light had cleared, Graf Wilhelm Josef Von Herrmann lay at the base of the stage. His body smoldering and broken from the attack.
Negi looked at him in shock, but also gratified that his attack had succeeded enough to finish off the demon.
The count coughed painfully as he looked down at his body. "Not too bad." He whispered in Japanese. "The win is yours, lad. You may finish me off as you like." He coughed.
Negi looked at the wounded demon, then back at his friends, now freed of their confinement and covered in towels. "I don't think that will be necessary." Negi said as his gaze rested on the newcomer who stood off to one side, his features hidden by the cloak's hood. Still, Negi could sense the man's gaze upon him.
Herrmann chuckled, "You know, normally high-level demons like myself can only be sealed away, but that attack of yours was a powerful enough ancient spell to completely destroy my physical form." He coughed again, "This might very well be your only chance to finish me off, otherwise I will return to my Kingdom and possibly…" a trickle of blood trailed from his mouth, "I might come back."
"I can't bring myself to kill you though." Negi conceded.
"Why?"
He looked over to his friends, "Because, in all the time you had my friends, you never harmed them. There's good in you."
Wilhelm actually managed to laugh despite all of his pain, "Good! In a demon!" He balked, and then sobered, "You truly are an amazing child, Negi Springfield." Then his expression softened, "For that, I will give you a little bit of information." He pointed to where Konoka stood, "You're powerful, but that girl right there might very well be the most powerful mage in all of Japan. If she trains herself properly, she could probably break my petrification spell and bring all of your friends and family from the village back."
Negi's eyes widened, then they too softened, "Thank you." He said.
"If you'll grant me one last concession though, while I'm still alive." Herrmann winced, "May I have a word with that man." He asked pointing to where the newcomer stood.
Negi looked up to see that the mage had walked closer to Herrmann's body. He looked between the two men for a moment before finally nodding his head and stepping away.
With Negi now several meters away from them to afford them a moment of privacy, Herrmann looked intently into the man's shadowed face. "Is it really you?" He asked speaking in the Tongues of the Ancients.
The mage gave the count a once over, "You're a very long way from home, Wilhelm." He said in their language, deflecting the question.
"That may be, My Lord, but considering that I was able to meet you again, I think it was worth it." Herrmann chuckled.
"I wish it hadn't come to this," the man said.
The demon shook his head, "You are not to blame, My Lord. If there is anything that we must uphold above all else, it is our honor. I was hired for this assignment to repay a debt and I carried it out to the best of my abilities, I have no regrets." He coughed painfully, "besides my physical body is just dying. It is nothing to be concerned about, My Lord." He then looked intently, "When I return to the Kingdom, are there any words you would like me to give to anyone?"
The mage shook his head, "I think it would be best, Wilhelm, if you would keep my involvement in this a secret. Both for my sake as well as yours, I'm still an outcast." He said finally admitting his identity to the demon.
Wilhelm reached up and grasped the mage's hand. "My Lord, there are still many of us who will follow you. You have but to ask."
The mage shook his head, "I'm sorry Wilhelm, but I'm not worthy of that loyalty."
The demon seemed to ignore that statement, "Whenever you need us, you have but to ask. The Momento Mori are yours to command."
"Tell me who sent you then Wilhelm." The man said, his expression hardened.
The count did not hesitate, "I was summoned by a woman, she did not give me her name and I did not ask. She was a Westerner, slim, about average height with blonde hair, blue eyes, a pale complexion and wire-rimmed crescent class." He coughed again, "She has some association with this Academy as she knew quite a few details about the layout and where I could find Negi and his companions."
"Do you know if she was working with anyone?" He inquired.
"She had a minister magi, that much I know for certain. I did not catch all the details, but she did mention someone else, but I thought he had died in the Great War."
"I need a name Wilhelm." He persisted.
"Fate Averruncus." He said.
The mage nodded, "Thank you, Wilhelm. It may not mean anything, but your help is beyond what I could ever have hoped."
"We are here to serve you," Then his expression softened as he winced painfully, "It looks like my time is ending, please take care My Lord." He whispered as his body turned to dust and Graf Wilhelm Joseph Von Herrmann returned to the Kingdom of the Demons.
When Wilhelm was finally gone, Negi approached the mage slowly. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who exactly are you?"
The mage, his face still covered by his cloak, shook his head, "I think you need to check on your friend over there, Negi Springfield." His voice had changed; it was harder, less forgiving than it had been during the fight.
"Kotaro-kun!" Negi suddenly remembered as he raced off towards where the injured boy lay.
Negi found Kotaro, alive but badly injured. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw that the mage had disappeared. Who was he? He thought, but knew that the important task was making certain that Kotaro was tended to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well that was an interesting show." Evangeline growled from where she stood in the World Tree's branches. It had been a perfect vantage point to witness the entire interplay between Negi and the demon, as well as that of the interloper.
"For a moment there, Master, you seemed on edge." Chachamaru said.
Evangeline glared at the android in distaste, "If anything, I'm pissed that that idiotic mage showed up and bailed boya out of the frying pan at the last second. How is that boy expected to learn if he keeps getting his bacon saved at every turn?"
"I'm sure the mage in question had good provocation." Chachamaru pointed out.
"Oh, shut up," She scolded then looked off in the distance as she saw a shadow shift slightly. She smiled; apparently they hadn't been the only ones who had taken an interest in Negi's fight with the demon count.
Magnus thumbed Takamichi's doorbell with extravagance and waited for it to be answered. He leaned heavily against the wall next to the door while he waited. He favored his right arm as the pain continued to surge through it. Already he could feel the pain from his momentary hesitation. He would have thought by now that he would have learned never to underestimate his opponents, especially those like Wilhelm.
His body felt on fire, even with the artifact, the magical array that sealed his power had still flared at his use of magic. He looked down at the artifact, he had used far more power than he had anticipated. Still, there had been little other choice, high level demons were not the sort that you fought at half-strength, well not if you intended to come out of the fight alive.
About fifteen seconds passed before the door finally opened. "Magnus!" Takamich said happily, "You finally made it!" he then looked out behind him, "looks like the rain's cleared." When his gaze finally settled on Magnus though he immediately sobered. "What happened?"
"Not to be rude," Magnus held up a hand as he entered the home pausing long enough to take off his shoes in the entryway, "but it's been a long day, I just need some sleep if that's all right with you." He heaved painfully.
Takamichi looked at Magnus with a puzzled expression, "Sure, I have the guest room already set up for you,"
"Thanks, Takamichi-kun, I'll fill you in on the details in the morning." He grunted as he was guided into the guest room. Magnus's head had just hit the pillow as sleep fleeted him away from the real world.