Bless This World With A Stranger

by RhineWrites

Arc 8: Konosuba Inferno (chapters 37-?)

25. A5-5: Heroes of the Crimson

Chapter 5: Heroes of the Crimson

==================={Part 1: Death, With Just A Single Thought}===================

I had arrived outside what appeared to be an old barn like structure.

According to the tracking 'bite' my spy had placed onto one Satou Kazuma-

He was currently located inside this place, something I couldn't help but find rather strange.

Just why would someone who had already dispatched several of my fellow General's lower themselves into staying in some flee ridden dump like this one?

Was it possible that my tracking ability was off somehow?

The village alarm then goes off, alerting me to my army of modified beast having begun their assault.

Well, seeing as I was already here and all, might as well stick around a few more minutes and...

From the opposite side from where I had positioned myself, a small petite figure comes running into view.

I recognized this figure immediately as the smaller mage, the one Satou Kazuma had said was mainly responsible for taking out Verdia, Vanir, and Hans.

And, oh boy, did she not look happy at all.

Upon our eyes locking onto each others, the small mage comes to a stop, her crimson eyes glowing from the intense rage that was evident to be burning within her.

I wondered just what had happened that had made this little girl all pissed off.

"YOU!"

Said the mage, her voice slightly shaking from the furious rage her face was clearly showing she had.

A part of my greater instincts warned that maybe this plan had been a bad idea, a very bad idea-

And that maybe it would be wise to turn 'round and make a run for it.

But instead, I didn't move, instead giving the little mage girl a smirk which only made her madder.

"Do you have any idea about what it is you have just done? What you just ruined for me?"

Asked the mage, her voice soaked in deadly aggression that sounded like it was just barely being kept under control.

"And why would I know such a thing, little girl? Tell me, just what did I... oh!"

The moment I saw the next figure emerge, they very figure I had come to find, I focus my full attention onto the little mage and I gave her a smile.

"I see, I see. Tell me, did I interrupt your mating ritual with this man by any chance?"

"YES YOU DID AND FOR THAT, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE HERE AND NOW!"

To her side, the target had finally reached her only to jump at hearing her words.

He then ask her-

"So, does this mean you had planned for us to do more than just almost kiss each other back there then?"

She snaps her head to the side to look at him and shouts out-

"Not now with that, Kazuma. If you really want to know what could have happened, then hurry up and help me kill this woman so we can get back to it, alright?"

She then turns back to me and begins chanting out some spell.

To her side, I could see the target, Kazuma, begin to panic as he tells her that they were to close for that.

Hm, if my memory is accurate, this little mage must be the one who uses Explosion magic.

Definitely need to avoid being on the receiving end of that if at all possible.

"I have an idea about what you're planning on doing now, little girl. I would advice you to rethink that plan, less you get both yourself, the boy, and your little get-away love shack all blown to little bits too along with me."

Kazuma agrees with my words which seems to calm the little mage girl down some.

Just then, several other figures emerge from the building; a young woman dressed in armor, a shorter girl dressed in a monks attire, and two older individuals, one of whom was holding a small child.

The older individuals and the child then split off, heading off down the path away from us while the other two come up to join Kazuma and the little mage.

"Megumin, your parents are going to get back up. All we need to do is just keep her busy for a little bit."

Said the armored woman.

The little mage, no... Megumin I think I heard her say, which is a rather dumb sounding name if you ask me though I guess it fits considering she's part of this clan of fools.

Anyways, Megumin turns her head to look at the armored woman and yells-

"Wait, are you saying that both of them are going, Darkness? Couldn't one of them have stayed behind and added a little firepower to our attacks?"

The armored girl, Darkness, only shrugs while the other girl simply says-

"Your mother insisted that it was her duty to protect your sister and your father insisted it was his job to protect his wife and daughter. So..."

Kazuma cuts in and finishes by saying-

"... So they decided they would leave us to deal with this current big bad while they make a run for it, right Cielo? (Cielo nods) I wished I could say I was surprised here, I do but... (sigh) Megumin, is leaving people hanging when they're in a pinch something that's normal with your family, if not your clan as a whole?"

He asked the little mage. While I couldn't be sure here, I had a feeling there was more being insinuated with his words that what I was aware of.

Perhaps my target was very familiar with being 'left hanging' in the past by either the little mage or perhaps all of his friends.

"Grrr... Those people, can't be worried about wanting to keep their OTHER daughter safe as well. Fine, if they expect me to go deal with this clam jammer here by myself ("Hey, we're here too, ya know"), the that's exactly what I'll do here."

She then turns to look at Kazuma and then-

"Kazuma, go out there and kick her ass for me. Push her back away from the house so I can blow her up without any issues."

She ordered him, making both Kazuma and the other two girls jump in surprise.

"Wait, you're wanting me to...?"

"Megumin, that's being rather risky here, don't you think. Asking Kazuma to..."

"Cielo's right. If anything, I should be going first with Cielo backing me up and then Kazuma."

Megumin shakes her head at that, the fire in her eyes never once going out since this had started.

"No, I want Kazuma to launch the attack here. You two stay back until I tell you to go at her as well."

"But why?"

The two girls asked in unison.

"Because like me, he has a reason to want to make her suffer. Damn it, because of this woman, something I didn't know I wanted so badly until I was just seconds away from getting it was ruined. And if not for her showing up, me and Kazuma could be doing even more in this moment as a follow up."

This makes Cielo shout out an "Eh?" while Darkness gets all excited and start asking Megumin questions about what she meant.

Megumin ignores her, as well as Cielo then asking if Kazuma agreed with this idea.

When Kazuma didn't immediately respond to her question, she then yells at him, saying-

"Well, what are you waiting for, Kazuma? Hurry up and get this started so we can get back to see where we'll finish."

Kazuma sighs, grumbles something, then pulls out his rather cool looking sword before charging me.

"Well, seeing as she has such a hard on for me doing this first, guess I have no choice here. Sorry, general, but you only have yourself to..."

As he says this, he brings his sword slashing downward at me, making me bring my left arm up defensively, the two colliding...

And his sword easily bouncing off and leaving him both confused, and open.

"... blame?"

Behind him, the girls also had shocked looks on their faces.

I then begin to laugh, making them become more confused here.

"What's wrong, did you all think I was going to be cut down here? Seriously injured or maybe even killed on the spot? Sorry, but I'm afraid it won't be that easy with me here."

"How did you do that? Is you skin made from steel or something?"

I heard him ask me.

"Even better, dragon scales. (I then lean forward to get a better look at him) You know, up close like this, I can't help but find that you look rather cute. My type of cute to be exact. How about you ditch these three dull and boring looking girls and come hang out with me for a bit..."

"EH?"

He said as he tries to pull away, but I immediately latch onto him and force his body against mine, his face between my ample breast.

"Kazuma?"

I hear his three female companions cry out as they move to come at me as well.

I hold one of my hands out, telling them to stop while I move my other hand up higher, close enough to his neck so I could have one finger hovering right over it.

I then press said finger against the back of his neck, and then into it which makes his whole squirming body go rigid.

"Make any more sudden and unwanted moves here and I will kill him."

My words stun the three of them, making me follow it up with telling them to drop their weapons at once, which they do without hesitation.

I then decide to explain the situation to them.

"Just in case you are entertaining any thoughts of trying to be heroes, know this. At present, I have connected myself to his central nervous system by way of touching the back of his neck. If I wanted to, I could mentally issue the kill command and end his life with just a thought. Now, I hope there won't be a need to do that here... right?"

I could see them all take a step back from me, a good choice there.

I then hear the one named Cielo say-

"See, this is why we leave it to Kazuma to be the plan maker in situations like these. All our plans tend to suck and go poorly."

"Shut up, how could I have known that was going to happen here. I was pissed and I needed Kazuma to help me vent!"

"That just makes it even worse, Megumin."

"Now's not the time, you two. Save it for later. In any event, you should know, Devil King General, that you aren't good at bluffing here."

Said the one named Darkness, surprising me.

"OH! And how do you figure that?"

She gives me a confident smirk then says-

"Because your boss wants Kazuma alive, right? From what we've gathered from our dealings with your fellow generals, the Devil King has taken an interest in our Kazuma here. While we don't know the details exactly, we do know he is very much interested in meeting him. Would you really deny him that here, just for the sake of some plan?"

Hearing her words makes the other two become more confident, more sure of being able to turn this around.

My response was to laugh, confusing them.

"I see, you do bring up a good point there, my dear. But I think there has been a misunderstanding on some things. Not that I blame you for making these mistakes as you clearly lack certain bits of information on this matter. So please, allow me to enlighten you. First, I shall reintroduce myself-"

"My name is Sylvia, General to the Devil King. Despite my appearance, I am chimera; a creature that is made up of many different things. The form you see before you, is not my original form but one I have crafted to make interactions with your kind much easier for me."

"And as for my boss? My boss isn't the Devil King! No, he was never my boss or my master. I serve another master. Me being part of the Devil King's forces is just an act, if you will. While I am a member, I am actually a spy sent to keep an eye on him and his people. To make sure things go the way MY true master wants it all too."

Hearing my confession takes them all by surprise, making the one named Cielo say to me-

"Wait, why confess something like that to us? If the Devil King found out, wouldn't that put you spy work in danger?"

I laugh again before saying-

"Who said any of you will ever get a chance to tell him? Why would he even believe the words of some humans over one of his own trusted generals here? No, I'm not worried one bit. Now, I suggest you three listen closely."

"I wasn't ordered to kill this man by my true master, but I was told killing him would be fine if I needed to. In truth, I would rather not kill him if I can avoid it as I find him to be rather cute. Maybe I should keep him and make him my pet."

Hearing me say this angers those three girls, especially the little mage.

I then extend a large pair of wings from my back and begin to flap them as I add-

"I will be going now, having found what I was looking for. Seeing as this boy knows how to gain access to the mage killer, I will have him open the way for me, even if he doesn't get a choice in the matter."

I then fly into the sky, then look down at the three of them and say one final thing.

"If you value his life at all, then I suggest you don't follow me. Remember, I can end him with just a thought. So please, don't give me a reason to do so here."

I then laugh down at them before flying off in the direction of the structure my prize was located at.

The screams of those three fading into the distance as I moved further away from them.

=========================={Part 2: The Konami Code}=========================

As my feet touch the ground, I take a moment to marvel at the structure standing before me.

Truly, this was the work of one from some far off land, much further away than any of these fools could even imagine.

Not that I personally knew anything about those distant lands myself beyond what my master had taught me.

All I had ever really known personally was this one.

I then turn my attention down to my little captive that I still had pressed against my breast.

I wonder if those three had figured out my actions were a way of rendering him unable to resisted me as I merged his central nervous system with my own by way of my touching the back of his neck?

Speaking of, I wonder if those three had listened to my warning?

I turn back in the direction I had come from and sniff the air, what I picked up made me frown.

I then look back at my little captive and say to him-

"It must be ruff for you, boy. Having to deal with those three who clearly don't seem to have the ability to listen to the warnings they are told to heed."

If my nose was accurate, those three were already coming this way as fast as they could.

Guess I couldn't blame them, though.

Their desire towards rescuing him must be overriding their brains ability to make use of common sense at the moment.

Oh well, no matter. If my guess is correct, it'll take them around twelve to fifteen minutes before they can get here.

Plenty of time for me to finish up my work.

And if they do show up before I'm done, then I guess I can have a little fun with them by way of our mutual 'friend' here.

I then proceed inside, following the map in my mind my spies had managed to map out for me during previous investigations.

It wasn't long after that I reach the door that separated me from my great prize.

Looking around, I spot the device I had seen the boy looking at before then walk over to it before releasing him down onto the ground before it.

"Now then, if you would be so kind, my friend. Enter the code for me, please!"

I have to extend my hand that was still connected to him a little as he takes a step forward before reaching out and taking the device into hand.

He then begins to press the weird protrusions coming out of it as I hear him quietly say-

"Up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A!"

Interesting, such a devious code that was indeed.

No wonder even these insane mages couldn't even begin to hope to unravel it.

I then hear a clicking sound as the massive doors slowly begin to creak open.

As they did, I could feel a blast of weird smelling cold wind coming from within.

Reaching my free hand out, I could quickly tell that room awaiting me was going to be a cold one.

Perhaps it was another security measure one would have to overcome?

If so, then hopefully this boy's mind would be able to get around it too.

I then turn my attention back to the boy, in order to pick him up when a sudden feeling starts to come over me.

It was a strange feeling like nothing I had ever felt before.

If I had to take a guess, I would say it felt like... decay, rot... death?

A sudden horrifying thought comes over me, making me look at the finger that was connecting me to him.

Upon my finger had formed pulsating veins with a purplish hue slowly growing outward onto me.

And around the connection point on the boy were lines of a teal color.

I knew immediately what was happening; the Lich curse that was within him was trying to infect me as well.

Immediately, I break the connection between us, the act sending me into a spasm of pain I didn't quite understand.

Perhaps a punishment for my invading his body like I had?

All I knew, I needed to recover quick before...

(Kazuma's POV)

What was going on here?

At Megumin's demand, I had charged at Sylvia with the intention of taking her out or at least injuring her.

Probably not the smartest move in hindsight, seeing as she had easily stopped my attack.

As I had considered my options, she tried to do some sort of flattery play with me, not that I was stupid enough to fall for it.

I mean, why would I when I already have those beauties around me nearly twenty four seven?

She then pushes me into her ample chest, which I normally wouldn't mind so much if this was happening under different circumstances.

I try to struggle but I find my will being sapped by the scent she was giving off.

I can only assume her scent acted in a similar fashion to Apathy, robbing the user of their will to act.

That's just what I need here. Here's hoping those three don't go assuming I'm just letting myself enjoy the moment by acting as her 'hostage.' I would never hear the end of it if that's the case.

I then hear her say some things to my friends, including something about her not actually being loyal to the Devil King, but to someone else while acting as she was loyal just so she could spy on him.

She then tells them they if they try anything funny, she would kill me here.

After that, I felt her take flight into the air with me in tow, and I had a good idea where it was we were going here.

Once I go the impression that we had touched the ground again, I heard her say something about them not being good listeners.

I could have told you that much if you'd move my face away from your chest, lady.

Soon enough though, I found myself finally being pulled away from her chest and made to stand before a very familiar looking device.

I'm then told to use the device to open the door and as much as I try to resist, my body does as she ask me to and enter the Konami Code, making the door open.

["Hm, quite the pickle we seem to have found ourselves in, huh?"]

Came a voice from the back of my mind.

A voice I had no trouble remembering as it had been this voice that had spoken to me when I was a captive of those horny female Orcs.

["Seeing as I don't like the idea of being at her mercy here either, please allow me to deal with this myself..."]

Wait, are you going to make me go all Lich again here?

That didn't happen, thankfully. Instead, I could feel a weird tingling sensation in my neck, around the spot she was touching me at.

I then feel her touch vanish from against my skin, returning full control of my body to me.

As I quickly test to make sure I had indeed regained full control over everything, I could hear her cry out in pain, making me look back at her.

One of her arms, probably the one that's connected hand that had been touching me was covered by the same lines that I had been covered with when I had been a captive of Verdia's, along with no small amount of pulsating veins.

Her other hand had gripped onto her contaminated arm, possibly preparing to rip it off if need be.

Fun times, huh?

She then turns her head towards, a look of absolute anger present as she yells out-

"Damn you... just what did you do to me?"

I smile as I lean in close to her and say while taking hold of my sword which, for some strange reason, she hadn't properly discarded before-

"Don't blame me, blame my inner Lich with a dose of Entropy mixed in for what's happening to you here. Do you want me to make it better for you?"

She nods though I could tell she wasn't happy about needing to rely on me here.

"OK, just remember that you asked for this..."

I then send Chunchunmaru slashing upwards hard, easily taking off her infected arm, as well the hand of her other arm, making her scream before I come around and plant my blade right into her chest.

"Sorry, but you did have this coming when you invaded my system and threatened to kill me back there. And, on a side note, you threatened the village two of my closest friends called home. Hope you understand!"

I then pulled my sword from her chest, making her start to collapse forward.

I catch her, before pushing her backwards, sending her limp body down the stairs that awaited beyond the now opened doors.

I then gaze beyond, watching as her body faded into the dark before making my way back over to the controller and reentering the code to trigger the doors to close.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I hear a voice, a different voice than that of the Lich, warn me that I would regret my choice just now.

I, however, just shrug it off. I mean, she's dead now. What harm could knocking her body down there do here now? I do reenter the Konami code though, making the doors into the inner room close up, just in case.

I then start to leave the room before a sudden wave of exhaustion comes over me, causing me to collapse onto the ground.

Damn, I guess this was either an after effect of her hacking into my body or my Lich power once again popping up, even if it was in such a minor way here.

Or maybe it was both?

I'm not sure how long I lay there before I heard Megumin's voice yell out-

"Kazuma? Oh no, Kazuma..."

The next thing I knew, I found myself being turned over onto my back, my head once again finding itself resting on Megumin's lap.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm still here, everyone. Can't really move though. Strengths kinda sapped, ya know."

I felt a tear land on my face as Megumin smiled down at me, her face full of relief.

I then spot Cielo's features come over me as well as she begins applying a little healing on me.

I then hear Darkness say-

"What about Sylvia, where is she?"

"Oh yeah, her? I don't think we'll need to hurry about her now. My Lich curse became rather useful just a moment ago. Didn't like her trying to control my body so it invaded hers in kind. She was forced to let me go and I, as a thank you, sliced an arm and hand off her followed by letting Chunchunmaru make sweet love to her chest so as to make a point with her."

"And thus the legend of Chunchunmaru grows ever greater!"

Proudly proclaimed Megumin, making the others sigh and shake their heads.

Oh yeah, that reminds me-

"Megumin, I can't recall if I said this before, but back when that crazy former senpai of your had be join your former classmates for... 'fun times', I learned the truth about the meaning behind Chunchunmaru from a girl named Nerimaki. Do you have something you want to say to me here?"

Hearing me say that makes Megumin go wide eyed with shock, then fear as she looks away.

"Megumin what did you do to Kazuma's sword?"

Asked Cielo as she finishes her healing of my body, making me sit up.

We both say her name again together, finally getting her to look back at us and say with a panicked tone-

"Don't believe anything she told you, Kazuma. In fact, don't believe anything anyone else here in the clan tells you about the name Chunchunmaru. They don't know what they're talking about!"

I give her a hard glare which makes her look away from me again.

I finally sigh, deciding to let it go for now, but this wasn't done yet.

Once we meet up with Yunyun, I'll ask her about this and depending on her answer, I may have to dish out some much needed punishment upon you, Megumin.

Once I was back on my feet, I hear Darkness, who had walked over to the sealed doors, ask-

"So, Sylvia's remains are in here, huh?"

"Yeah, figured it would be as good a place as any to leave here for right now. The other Crimson Demons can come by in the morning to collect her if they want."

"Yeah, they probably will as my clan love to 'study' strange creatures."

We all nod, understandingly, at Megumin before Cielo ask-

"So, what now? Should we go find the others and help with clearing out those invading beast?"

Before any of us could respond, the ground begins to shake... badly, making us decide to play it safe by leaving the building.

Good thing too as just moments after we had exited, the whole facility goes up in a massive blast that sends us flying through the air, to make a rough landing upon the ground.

"What just happened, an Explosion?"

Asked Cielo.

"If it was, then it was one hell of a crappy one if you ask me!"

Said Megumin.

When then see a figure begin to emerge from the smoke.

"Its Sylvia... but..."

Said Darkness, her words alerting us that something was off about her, which was obvious.

The upper half of her body, from her lower belly to her head, was all Sylvia, excluding her left arm and right hand which were now metallic in appearance.

But everything below her belly was all machine, line the long body of a snake covered with octagonal shaped scale like plating.

Hm, could be worse I guess. At least it doesn't look like some super long set of anal beads!*

I then remember the voice in my head's warning from before, making me say to myself-

"God damn it, Kazuma. You just had to go kicking her body down there, didn't you?"

The girls turn to look at me; Darkness giving me a bemused look.

"I'll be damned, for once it was Kazuma who screwed up here!"

"Oh shut up, Darkness!"

I yelled at her.

The sound of laughter draws us back to Sylvia who was cackling like mad before looking at us, at me specifically.

"I find myself feeling quite conflicted with myself here, Satou Kazuma. On the one hand, I really want to kill you after what you did to me, tried to do to me. But on the other hand, you did help me reach my prize, even if it wasn't your intentions to do so. Furthermore, you injuring me like you did seemed to trigger its awakening and allowing me to bond it with myself..."

"I'll tell you what, boy. I'm going to go destroy the Crimson Demon clan now, in order to test out this new little toy. If you are a good boy and don't try to ruin my fun by interfering here, then I will go ahead and let you live. On the other hand, if you do try to get in my way, then I guess you'll have to join them. Anyways, time to rain down some chaos on this clan of insane mages..."

Sylvia laughs again before taking off at high speeds, leaving us there to ponder what our next move would be here.

Well, shit!

========================={Part 3: Yunyun Unchained}=========================

I was having without a doubt the BEST dream I had ever experienced so far in life!

In my dream, I and Kazuma had started to become even closer.

Then came him asking me out on a date, followed by an amazing first kiss.

Then, he made his proposal and soon came the wedding day here in the village with all cheering for us.

My father told me that as soon as we got back from our honeymoon, he would be stepping down and allowing me to succeed him as chief of the village.

Megumin finally admitted defeat, proclaiming that I truly was the best among the Crimson Demons.

And then, came our wedding night and just as Kazuma moved to turn me from being a shy and innocent maiden into a mature and confident woman-

The alarm went off, alerting the whole village that the Devil King's forces had launched an attack.

I had shot straight up, my hair all frazzled as I shakily looked around.

For a few seconds, I had expected to find Kazuma laying at my side if only because I was still under the assumption that the dream had been real.

But as soon as it became clear that it had all been just a dream, I grabbed my head and screamed out in a rage.

Moment's later, the door to my room flies open as father comes rushing inside.

"Yunyun, what is it? What's wrong? Did someone try to sneak in here and do something to you? If they did, I'll..."

"Dad? GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!"

I yelled at him, still understandably pissed at having my perfect future dream ruined for me, and right at the best part too.

Dad didn't listen to me, instead pressing his worried concern for me even more.

"Yunyun, what's gotten into you? Tell me who snuck in here and tried to have their way with you? Was it that boy, that perverted outsider you've been hanging out with? I swear, if he did anything to you I'll..."

Dad didn't get to finish as a sudden blow to the back of his head, coming from a large and thick metal pipe that was held by mom, knocking his ass out with ease.

"Dear, now's not the time to be going back to sleep. We have an emergency here, after all!"

She said with a playful tone in her voice. She then looks at me and ask-

"Seriously though; is everything OK, Yunyun? What made you scream like that?"

By this point, I had calmed down and had managed to regain my composure somewhat.

"It's nothing... I'm fine. I was just having an amazing dream that was getting to the best part when that damn alarm went off and ruined it for me."

Mother nods her understanding, saying to me-

"Yeah, I hate when that happens. Between you and me, that's OUR family's curse. To always have something come along an interrupt us just when things are getting good."

After that, mother explains to me what was going on as I quickly got dressed.

After I was done, and we had taken a few moments to wake dad back up, we raced outside to see several of the General's beast rampaging around the village.

As well as my fellow clansmen already having a field day with wiping them all out.

"Yeesh, if what we're seeing here is any indication of just how many enemies we're dealing with here, then this won't take to long to deal with. Well, let's hurry up and join in the fun, girls. Can't let the others show up the first family after all."

Dad then goes running into the thick of things, laughing like a mad man as he does so.

I then turn my eyes to mother, seeing her smile happily at watching dad act like a little kid trying to break his new toys.

"Ah, to see your father getting so excited about playing with the neighbors kids. It really warms my heart, you know! (mom then turns to look at me) Well, what are you waiting for? Shouldn't you be on your way, Yunyun?"

On my way?

Seeing the confusion that had to have been evident on my face, mom elaborates by saying-

"Aren't you planning on heading over to Yuiyui's place, in order to check in on our special guest? Especially... a certain boy I know you were dreaming about!"

Did mom really know what I had been dreaming?

That thought makes me fidget nervously for a moment before she adds-

"There's nothing wrong with having dreams like that, Yunyun. Helps you to better realize what your desires for the future are and maybe even give you the strength to see them made real!"

"So, does that mean you had dreams about dad when you were my age?"

Mom's gaze on me wavers for just a moment before she tells me to hurry up and be on my way.

I nod as I break off from her, heading towards Megumin's family's home.

As I ran, I couldn't help but wonder about mom's strange reaction to my question.

Was dad actually not her first choice in life? Had she actually originally had her eyes on another?

Perhaps I can get her to tell me one of these days.

As I neared the path that led to Megumin's place, I decide to cut down on the travel time by taking a short cut, moving between the trees as her home soon came into view.

As soon as I reached the small converted barn, I banged on the door but got no reply.

I then tried the door, finding it unlocked which allowed me to step inside while I called out for anyone to respond.

There was no response, of course and it quickly dawned on me that there wouldn't be either, or at least there shouldn't be.

Taking a moment to think about it, while Megumin's family did live a little ways outside the village proper-

They were still living within the area of effect for the barrier that surrounded the village.

Because of this, they would have heard the warning alarm just as easily as anyone else would have.

So then, if they had headed into the village to help out, why hadn't I...?

I chastise myself for the sudden bout of stupidity I had just suffered here.

I had taken a shortcut in order to get here quicker. Because of this, I must have ran right passed them and not have even noticed it.

I'm going to blame that goof on the dream and me being ever so rudely awaken from it.

I rush back outside, preparing to head back to the village and look for them when-

A sudden explosion off in the distance catches my attention.

Could that have been..? No, that sad little blast couldn't have been done by Megumin.

She wouldn't accept anything that pathetic sounding as something that came from her.

I look around, seeing a ball of smoke rising in the distance, coming from where the old factory should be at.

Once again, I was running; now in the direction of the old factory.

I hoped I would find the others there, for whatever reason there would be behind it.

However, the light of fires off in the distance makes me stop and look to see the village going up in flames.

I then saw a massive snake like beast amidst the flames. Was that the general I had heard about?

I didn't know the general had a snake like body.

It takes me only a few moments more before a scary truth came over me. What if the general had...?

I get my answer as I see spell after spell being launched out at her, all of which seemingly being negated by some sort of invisible shield.

I go to run in the direction of the village, having decided to go join my clan in taking this general down when...

She begins to spin around rapidly, causing a dome of light to expand outwards, the after effect of which leaves visible particles floating in the air.

Luckily, I had been just far enough to avoid being caught up in the dome as it had been made.

I then begin to run forward, coming to a stop again just before the particles.

My gut told me to not to touch them, one I wisely followed as I hear just barely moments later-

"Impressive, so this 'mage killer' really can negate the use of magic for any who are caught within the nullification field. With those particles flowing inside your bodies, I'm afraid it will be impossible for you to defend yourselves with. Now, how about we play some games here?"

My eyes then look around, seeing the entire village go into a panic as everyone begins to run all over the place while the female general laughs manically as she toys with them.

What should I do here? I can't just stand to the side and let this happen.

I needed to step up and save my people before the general could kill anyone.

But how can I do that when... Oh!

I then notice that the particles in the air had started to lessen and soon, were no longer present at all.

I then run forward again, hoping that I wouldn't find myself being effected here too.

The sound of thunder rumbles above me as I reach a drop off, giving me a decent look down at the actions happening.

Despite being momentarily depowered here, my clan was doing rather well with avoiding being caught by the general, something I could tell was making her become angry with them.

I then make a quick test with a little Intermediate magic, making sure I could still use spells.

I then smile before becoming serious and shouting out as loudly as I could.

"That is enough, Devil King General. I will not allow you to treat my village with such disrespect anymore."

My shout must have worked as she came to a stop, turning her attention onto me.

I could also feel the eyes of the village fall onto me too as well as hearing Funifura's voice yell out to me.

"What's this? Did I, by chance, happen to miss one of you annoying flies here?"

My response was to send my cape flowing back as I announce myself to her with all the dramatic flair one of my clan could muster.

"My name is Yunyun, archwizard and wielder of Advanced magic; she who will one day lead the village and best her rival in the biggest of all our battles."

Just as I finish saying this, a bolt of lightning strikes the ground behind me, adding to the effect I was wanting to achieve here.

It had also made me almost jump in surprise but I managed to maintain my pose without fail.

I then hear the clan cheer for me, an exhilarating feeling I had never had with them before.

Not the greatest, mind you, but it was ranked within my top five at the moment.

I could barely manage to hear the general chuckle before she says to me-

"So, you name is Yunyun, is it? Another silly name from a silly clan. I can tell that you somehow managed to avoid being hit by the 'Null Magica Field' effect I unleashed before. You know, I could just go ahead and fire it off again... but I think I'll let you keep hold of your power as it would become boring if I didn't have at least some challenge to overcome here."

That's right, I need to be wary of her unleashing that upon me here.

OK, I should be ready to run as fast as I can should I get any indication of it being used.

The general then smiles at me, saying-

"Well, are you going to make the first move here or should I?"

Right, what should I do against her? I already know launching a spell won't work here.

She'll be protected from any direct hits. In fact, I doubt anything less than an Explosion or even Light of Spear could have a chance at working against her.

What would you do in a situation like this, Kazuma?

At thinking his name, an idea takes form in my mind, making me smile wide and proud.

He really had become an influence upon me, both good and bad.

"Well, if you aren't going to be doing anything here, I guess I'll..."

Said the general as she goes to make her move, but before she could do that...

I form a ball of glowing yellow energy in my hands before launching it at the ground before her.

"Earthquake!"

Hearing my shouting the spells name, the other villagers were wise to immediately back further away from the battle site, far enough to ensure they wouldn't be caught up in what I was going to do here.

Immediately, the ground around the general begins to shake and quake, causing her to begin swaying back and forth at an ever increasing speed.

"What's this? Trying to knock me off balance? Not a bad idea but what will be your follow up I...?"

"Earthquake!"

I say again, sending another ball of magic into the ground, this time to her left, then another to her right, and finally one I manage to successfully toss into the air so it lands behind her.

The combination of the four quaking spells causes the ground beneath her tail, as well as a good ways around her, to shatter and collapse a good ways inwards, creating a deep bowl like shape to its overall form.

It was a good thing the villagers had backed away otherwise they would have been caught up in it all too.

As all the shaking finally came to an end, the general returns to her standing posture as she looks up at me, asking-

"OK, that was an... interesting plan here. So, what's you next move? Planning on trying to bury me beneath the earth?"

As I focused my mana for the next part, I consider using 'Bottomless Swamp' against her, but I already knew that wouldn't work as she would probably be powerful enough to get out of it before drowning.

Assuming she could even drown of course.

So instead, I'll...

"Cascading Seas!"

I shouted, pointing the the sky above her. Within seconds, a massive torrent of water came crashing down onto the general, forcing her back onto the ground as the massive hole I had made on the ground was quickly filled up with water.

After that, I began to pant a little, all this was starting to tire me out as I was sure I had already drained myself of half my overall mana here.

But I had no time to rest as I still had three spells in this plan to fire off before it would hopefully be over here.

As I began to prepare for my next attack, the upper half of the general's body, specifically her head and chest area, emerged from the newly formed lake I had created.

"Ah, now that was refreshing, little girl. I really must thank you for such hospitable treatment given. Maybe I should keep you alive as you have prove to be quite the entertainment for me. So, what comes next?"

You really want to know, well...

I point a finger into the sky as I shout out-

"Lightning Storm!"

Immediately, the skies above us began to crackle and serge with bolt after bolt of lightning strikes before several massive blast come slamming into the lake around the general.

While I doubt she would be effected if any hit her directly, having them strike the water to electrify her with a secondary effect seemed to work as the general lets out a shriek as he body goes rigid with shakes and spasms.

But I was done here yet as I already had my next move all ready to go.

As the final blast of lightning strikes the waters around her, splashing her good with H2O, I fire off-

"Crystal Prison!"

The blast of ice magic from my hands hits the water, immediately freezing it up as well as sending the frozen blast racing up the general's body, turning both her and the mage killer into an ice cube.

I find my knees beginning to waver as I barely had enough left to keep my standing, but I couldn't falter here yet. I had one last attack to unleash, one I hoped would work as the perfect finisher.

As I began to chant my spell, the sounds of the villagers cheering me on filled me with renewed energy as I finished my chant, swing my hand out in a wide arc-

\

"Light of Saber!"

My aim was for the frozen general's neck, hoping I would take her head off with this last attack.

Please, please, please, don't let the mage killer's power here activate...

Just as the attack was going to hit, the ice shatters and the general just barely managed to duck under my last attack.

I had failed, if I had just been a second faster here...

I collapse onto my knees, no longer having the energy to stand and fight.

Moments later, I feel myself being grabbed my the general hands, which had expanded in size to now hold me in death grip.

I could hear the sounds of the villagers, my classmates, and parents all yell out my name in fear as the general laughs.

"I gotta say, little girl. That was rather impressive what you just did back there. Using the bulk of you attacks to turn the environment around me into a weapon to use against me. I must thank you for helping me learn of some of the weak points this mage killer has to be mindful of. Hell, even a direct attack with magic could have worked when I am rendered immobile through such things. Good to know!"

"So glad I could be off assistance to you here!"

I spat out at her.

She chuckles before saying-

"Question, what do you think I should do with you, little girl? Seeing as you did make me aware of somethings here, I feel like I must reward you in some way. What do you think?"

"If you want to reward me, then how about leaving now and letting my clan go free here?"

"Hm... no, can't do that I'm afraid. If I left them to their own devices, I'd run the risk if them finding some way to counter the mage killer here eventually. After all, the nullification effect I hit them with will only last a few hours so it stands to reason they would eventually find a countermeasure here if I spared them and we can't have that now, can we?"

So everyone losing their magic power isn't permanent, that's good to know.

"Oh, I know what to do with you. Seeing as you have some powerful magic skill as well as a keen mind to use it creatively..."

Thanks to my time being around Kazuma!

"... how about I just absorb you into my body and add you capabilities onto my own here?"

"I'd... rather not if you don't mind!"

"You say that now, but I feel you'll change your tune once you and I are one..."

I try to struggle as she begins to pull my closer and closer to her, an opening along her chest and stomach appearing to welcome me inside.

Was this really how I was going to go out here? Someone, anyone... please... save...

The next thing I know, I couldn't feel the general's death grip crushing me, instead I found myself being held in someone's arms.

I look up and my cheeks immediately flare up pink as I see Kazuma's smiling face looking down at me.

"Yo!"

His voice, the confidence I heard there, I couldn't help but swoon just a tiny bit here.

But how did...?

"Wait, Kazuma... can you really use Steal to kidnap anyone you wanted to? I thought you could only do that with Megumin?"

Came the voice of Cielo.

"And why is it Yunyun appeared in your arms in the princess carry style while when you've done it with me those past two times, I always ended up getting my chest felt up by you?"

Added an angry sounding Megumin.

I then hear Darkness address her, telling her-

"Don't act like you don't like it when he does that, Megumin!"

I, meanwhile, just look up at Kazuma as he smiles at me again, making me ask-

"Kazuma, how...?"

"Combine Farsight, Steal, and a little Demi-Mana together can make all sorts of things possible. Still though, didn't think even with a Demi-Mana empowered Steal mixed in with Farsight would actually work like this. Heh, the more you know!"

Kazuma then places me on the ground, something I wished didn't need to happen so soon as he then goes and pats me on the head.

"By the way, I was able to see you in action against Sylvia, thanks to Farsight. You did an amazing job, Yunyun. And now, I'll take it from here."

His words, along with his head pats, had just made my day... or night here!

========================{Part 4: The Mage Killer Killer}========================

(before, with Kazuma and the others)

"I'll tell you what, boy. I'm going to go destroy the Crimson Demon clan now, in order to test out this new little toy. If you are a good boy and don't try to ruin my fun by interfering here, then I will go ahead and let you live. On the other hand, if you do try to get in my way, then I guess you'll have to join them. Anyways, time to rain down some chaos on this clan of insane mages..."

Sylvia laughs again before taking off at high speeds, leaving us there to ponder what our next move would be here.

Well, shit!

Before any of us could even react, she had already disappeared from sight.

"Well now what do we do?"

Asked Darkness.

"What do we do? What do we do? I'll tell you what we're going to do here. We're going to chase after that freak of a woman so I can fire an Explosion right up her tail."

Shouted Megumin, already waving her staff around with a look that shouted she needed to blow stuff up.

"But she has the mage killer now? Can you even hit her with an Explosion now without it being deflected or canceled out, which ever one that thing does?"

Megumin stops her ranting as she considers Darkness's words.

She finally lets out a sigh then says-

"Honestly, I don't know here. We know next to nothing about the mage killer, except that it can stop us from using magic against it. Does that mean any spell fired off at it would be useless or does it just mean anyone within a set distance of it would be useless? We honestly don't know what options, if any, are open to us in a situation like this."

There was silence for a moment before Cielo finally break in and ask-

"Kazuma, what do you think? Is there anything you can think of that we can do here?"

I could feel the eyes of Darkness and Megumin join Cielo's at looking at me.

Geez, why do you guys always need me to come up with the plan to save the day? Don't you have brains inside your heads you could use instead? Cut me some slack here for once.

Sigh, who am I kidding. This is my role in the group after all, and besides...

"Well, seeing as this incident is my fault and all, give me a moment to think here..."

"Kazuma, it... it's not your fault. You didn't help Sylvia willingly."

Said Megumin, getting a nod of agreement from Darkness and Cielo.

Thanks for that, you three. But even if you say that, it doesn't change the fact I did have a hand in it so I need to take at least some of the blame here.

Still, how can we stop her now if magic isn't an option?

I see Cielo turn her attention towards the old factory and ask-

"Does anyone think we could find an answer inside what's left of that place? I mean, if that's where the mage killer was being held at, then maybe there was something else there, like instructions on hos to turn it off should it ever go crazy."

"If there was, then I doubt anything would be left after Sylvia went crazy with getting out of there.!"

Said Darkness.

Megumin then takes a few steps forward, then stops and looks back at us and says-

"Even if there's nothing left that can help us, we should still go and look anyways. I mean, we don't have any other option here, right?"

As Darkness and Cielo go to join her, I finally recall something I really need to remember we have as an option during times like these.

"Actually, we do have a little something... (I then retrieve Know-It-All from my pouch) OK then, tell me if there is any way for us to defeat the mage killer?"

The Know-It-All glows followed by me opening it while the girls quickly gather around me while I begin reading what was said.

"Hm, seems the mage killer was commissioned by the king of Norse, out of fear that his army of invincible battle mages would one day go out of control. A way to tame them if you will. When the battle mages learned of it, they broke into the factory it was being held at and stole it, along with running away from Norse themselves."

"The creator came to visit them and allowed them to hide it inside his personal 'game' production factory before honoring a request from his 'children' to forge a mage killer killer so that they could counter this threat if it were to ever get out and run amok."

"Hey, that must be a picture of what it looks like!"

Said Darkness, pointing to an image that was drawn onto the page I had turned to.

Wait, was that... a sniper rifle?

I decide to put that off as I continued reading.

"The 'MKK', as the creator came to call it, uses powerful magic in order to fuel its power which can bypass the shields created by the mage killer. It's current location is within the Crimson Demon village, being used as a flag pole... wait, a flag pole?"

Me, Darkness, and Cielo turn to look at Megumin who looks at us and ask-

"What?"

Darkness answers her by saying-

"Is what we were just told here true? Do you Crimson Demons really use a weapon as powerful as this MKK as a flag pole?"

"What? Don't think it was all my idea, you guys. I'm sure my people had a very good reason for doing what they did back then?"

"Like being stupid?"

Asked Cielo, giving her a deadpan look which makes Megumin become aggressive.

"Say that again! I dare you to say that to me again here!"

"OK you three, we can debate this in a committee later..."

I yell at them, making all three return my yell by saying-

"Don't call us a committee, Kazuma!"

I ignore them as I go back to my musings.

"OK, its being used like a flag pole. Question now is where would they put... (I then recall the strange looking flag pole I saw when Megumin was showing us around) … huh? That explains that, I guess!"

"What do you mean, Kazuma?"

Asked Megumin as I go to stand.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to get to the village and retrieve the MKK quickly, before Sylvia has a chance to destroy it without even realizing it!"

Those three nod as we quickly begin to run towards the village, arriving soon after only to find it already in ruins and flame.

"Oh no, the village? Do you think everyone's alright?"

Asked Cielo.

Megumin gives us a confident smile, saying-

"Don't worry, it'll take more than what we're seeing here to wipe out my clan. And as far as the village is concerned, we'll be able to bounce back really quickly. I mean, wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened. Well, first time its involved the mage killer, but you get what I mean, right?"

"That's good to know! Anyways, where do you think that MKK thing is at?"

I was already scanning the area, trying to see if I could determine where that bell tower would have been in all this chaos.

It was hard to be certain when I wasn't even sure what parts of the village I was looking down at.

Megumin must have guessed at what was doing as she goes to point me in the proper direction when...

"Hey, I think somethings happening here!"

Said Darkness, getting us to look to Sylvia as she was beginning to glow. Well, the part of her that was the mage killer, amidst the continuous attacks being sent her way by Megumin's clan.

I immediately knew what it must be before grabbing Cielo and Megumin and throwing them over my shoulders while yelling at Darkness to start running.

We barely managed to make enough distance before the nullification blast had been unleashed, the dome of magic symbols coming to a stop just seconds before it would have overtaken us.

Once I had put Megumin and Cielo down, I turned back to look at the now particle filled air and said-

"That was to close there!"

"Well, now what do we do?"

Asked Darkness.

"Just wait a few moments. I can tell those null particles have already started to fade out."

Said Megumin.

Sure enough, it only took a few moments more before the particle field had faded entirely from sight.

To make sure though, I stepped into the area the particles had been at and tried using one of my skills, finding it to work fine.

"OK, so what now?"

Asked Cielo.

I looked around, spotting a rise of stone nearby which gave a good vantage point from which one could watch what was unfolding in the village.

A vantage point that would also make a good spot from which to snipe that bitch!

"OK, here's the plan. I'm going to go find and grab the MKK, then I'm going to go to that spot over there. You three go ahead and head over there so I'll have an easier time finding it on my way back. Once done, we'll get that MKK working, take out Sylvia, and so on."

"Kazuma, we can't let you just go by yourself down into the thick of it."

"Yeah, we'll go with you!"

Said Darkness and Cielo which makes me shake my head.

"It'll be faster this way. I can use Sprint to help me get in and out faster. Don't worry, I'll stay safe down there. It's me, after all."

I probably shouldn't have said that last part as the looks those two gave me said that they were so confident about this as I was.

I then feel Megumin's touch upon my shoulder, making us look at her as she says-

"Kazuma's right. He'll be able to do this quickly if he's by himself. Kazuma, go back to where we were at, then look a little to your right and head straight from there. The bell tower at the center of the village will be dead ahead at around seven hundred feet or so."

I give Megumin a nod before walking away, only for her to stop me and throw me into a tight hug.

"You better not get hurt down there, otherwise I will get very upset with you, understand!"

I nod before moving away and activating sprint.

A few seconds later, I was back at the spot we had been standing at before we had been forced to do a retreat. I then turn in the direction Megumin had instructed me to look towards and activate Farsight.

Scanning the area, it didn't take long before I spotted the remains of the bell tower. I couldn't see the MKK anywhere but hopefully, it would be around the fallen tower.

I then Sprinted down into the village, making sure I was keeping out of sight of Sylvia and just as I reached the fallen bell tower...

"That is enough, Devil King General. I will not allow you to treat my village with such disrespect anymore."

That had been Yunyun shouting out, making me look in the direction of her voice just in time to see her strike a pose as she announced herself to Sylvia.

"My name is Yunyun, archwizard and wielder of Advanced magic; she who will one day lead the village and best her rival in the biggest of all our battles."

As she finishes her introduction, a bolt of lighting comes crashing down behind her, greatly adding to her commanding presence.

"Heh, your parents must be over the moon with happiness right now, Yunyun. I know I'm impressed!"

But enough wasting time here. I began to sift through the surrounding rubble and soon find my prize... buried under some heavy looking stone.

I try to lift the stone off the MKK but find it being very stubborn here.

Guess I have no choice...

"Specter!"

I said, feeling my body become ethereal and ghost like.

It had been a good while since I had last activated this power and as such, I had forgotten how it made me feel cold and detached from all things living.

I remind myself that I needed to move quickly here as maintaining this form for too long could be hazardous to my health so I phase my hands through the stone, feeling the difference between the stone and the MKK.

Now came the time to try something I honestly hadn't had much practice with doing before; trying to interact with a physical object while I was in this state.

It took a few tries, but I was finally able to phase the MKK into this ghost like state as well, allowing me to easily retrieve it and pull it free.

Once I had returned to normal, a sudden spike of pain rushed through my body though it fades quickly.

I examined my arms, see teal colored lines forming for a moment before fading away again.

Hopefully, that meant I was still safe here. I then examine the MKK, seeing no sign of physical damage present.

With everything looking good here, I begin to make my way to the spot I told the others to wait for me at.

I almost didn't make it though as Yunyun had begun firing off a few earth based spells at the ground, creating earthquakes and causing the ground around Sylvia to break and collapse upon itself, sending the general falling into a hole made by all the quakes.

As I continued on, I said to myself-

"Good thinking, Yunyun. If you can't use magic against her in a direct way, then do in indirectly by hitting her with environmental damage."

Once I reached the others, I placed the MKK down and turned my attention back towards the show Yunyun was putting on, just in time to see it rain lightning down around Sylvia followed by a blast of ice magic, making the general turn into a frozen Popsicle!

"Man, I wish we could have been a little closer to see Yunyun in actions. It looked like she was putting on quite the show there."

Said Cielo.

Megumin, off to the side, just mumbles as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"I... guess she did... OK just now."

"Looks like someone's jealous!"

Said a joyful Darkness, getting Megumin to send her an angry glare.

That joy was short lived as Sylvia suddenly breaks free from the ice and, thanks to Farsight, I was able to easily see Yunyun being captured by her.

"Crap, Yunyun's now in a bind... literally!"

"We have to do something, Kazuma!"

Said Cielo.

"If only I could trade places with her, I wouldn't mind being in a bind..."

"That can be arranged, Darkness!"

Yelled Megumin before looking at me and asking what are we going to do here.

The way I could see it now, we had two options. We could either try to run over there to save her, which I doubt we'd be able to make it in time, even if I used Sprint here, or...

Man, I really hope this will work here for her sake as I've only ever been able to get it to work with Megumin.

But I didn't have Demi-Mana back during the incident with Lynn and those goblins so...

I activate Demi-Mana and Farsight while holding my arms out before me.

"Kazuma, what are you...?"

Asked Megumin as I said at the same time-

"STEAL!"

Immediately, a surprised Yunyun appeared in my arms, confirming that if I was using Demi-Mana, I could not only hit targets from far away, but also steal whole people in the process.

Wait till I can brag to Chris about this one!

I then look down at Yunyun and give her a smile as she ask me-

"Kazuma, how...?"

"Combine Farsight, Steal, and a little Demi-Mana together can make all sorts of things possible. Still though, didn't think even with a Demi-Mana empowered Steal mixed in with Farsight would actually work like this. Heh, the more you know!"

I then place her on the ground, an action I could tell she didn't like all that much so I give her a pat on the head as compensation.

"By the way, I was able to see you in action against Sylvia, thanks to Farsight. You did an amazing job, Yunyun. And now, I'll take it from here."

I then called Megumin over to me as I placed Yunyun down.

Megumin then begins to support Yunyun as I pull the MKK off the ground and take aim at Sylvia who was busy looking around, probably confused over Yunyun's sudden disappearance.

Works for me as it will give me an easier time with taking this girl out of the picture.

The layout seemed easy enough for this thing, though the scope was rather weird... wait, does this thing have a tracking feature included?

Guess that means even if she tries to dodge here, it will adjust its course to make sure it lands without fail.

Not that I have any doubts, especially with my Snipe skill and high luck stat.

"Sorry, Sylvia. But this rampage of yours ends here. SNIPE!"

=================={Part 5: The Shot Heard 'Round the Kingdom}==================

I pull the trigger and... NOTHING?

"Kazuma, now's not the time for joking around here!"

Yelled Cielo.

Megumin and Yunyun were giving me a deadpan look here as I looked at them and shouted out-

"It's not my fault. There must be something wrong with this damn thing!"

Darkness then comes running up and grabs the MKK away from me as she says-

"Let me have a look at it, Kazuma. I remember my uncle once telling me that in a situation like this, the best thing to do in order to get something that's being difficult to work properly is to..."

She then begins to pound her fist into the MKK repeatedly, making me panic as I shout out-

"Hey, don't go doing that now. With those hard muscles and brute strength of yours, your gonna break it even more before you get it to start working, Lalatina!"

Darkness goes from hitting the MKK to trying to beat me up as she starts yelling at me about both my words and calling her Lalatina.

"Guys, stop being so loud. You're going to draw..."

"OH! That's where you were, little girl. And look, it seems you aren't alone!"

Me and Darkness stop going at each other as we all look to see that Sylvia had finally spotted us.

Even without using Farsight, I could tell she was smiling deviously.

She then shouts out towards us-

"It seems you chose to ignore my warning, boy. Guess that means you'll have to join this clan of insane fools in death. But don't worry, perhaps my master could still find a use for your corpse once I deliver it to him."

She then begins to move towards us, going slowly which I assume was merely because she was treating this as some sort of game.

Guess when you have an anti magic weapon merged with your body, you'd be overconfident about things too.

"Kazuma, what are we going to do here?"

Asked Yunyun.

I close my eyes, taking a moment to think before I look at Cielo and Darkness.

"Darkness, Cielo, I need to ask you two to go do something rather dangerous for me. Do you both think you can keep her busy long enough to allow me enough time to figure out how to get the MKK to work for us?"

They both look at each other, nod, then look back at me with confident smiles.

"Leave it to us, Kazuma. I won't let her get close to any of you!"

"We'll both make sure of that. When you're ready to go here, just let us know and we'll get clear!"

And with that, the two of them broke off and began to charge at a surprised Sylvia who came to a stop.

"What's this? Are you two planning on engaging me in some sort of death battle?"

Once they had reached her, they take up their battle poses as Cielo says-

"Battle yes, death... are you really so eager to give up the ghost here?"

Darkness grins at her as she adds-

"You may be able to cancel out magic attacks, but neither of us are mages. Let's see how you can handle taking on a Crusader and a Monk in combat!"

Sylvia smiles before swinging her snake-like tail around, aiming it at the two, probably planning to swat them and send them flying with that simple move.

Instead, Darkness spreads her arms, braces herself, and catches her tail with shocking ease, only being pushed back a small bit before coming to a stop.

This clearly shocked Sylvia; becoming doubly so as she tries to withdrawal said tail but Darkness was able to somehow keep hold, keeping her tail pinned and unable to move.

"Hey, let go. I said, let go this instant!"

Darkness just grins at her before saying-

"To your left!"

Sylvia, realizing that Cielo had vanished, jerks her head in said direction, only to see Cielo slam her Blast Fist gloved fist right into her face with an explosive impact, sending her jerking back in the opposite direction with clear cuts and scars present on the spot that had just been hit.

Darkness uses Sylvia's backward motion to do an impressive feat; actually lifting the tail up, spinning her around, then slamming all of Sylvia into the ground.

Cielo follows that but jumping into the air, bring both her Blast Fist slamming down into Sylvia's stomach, an act that makes her cough up blood...

And really piss her off as well as she quickly recovers and makes some space between herself and those two.

She then tells them, anger clearly present in her voice-

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy killing you two. And it's going to be nice and slow... and truly painful!"

Darkness and Cielo respond by smiling at her before their battle continues.

"Wow, They're doing better than I was expecting. Do you think they may actually have a chance here, Kazuma?"

Asked Megumin, turning her attention back to me as I worked on getting Yunyun back in the game by giving her some mana.

Megumin then glares at her, quickly adding-

"You better not be enjoying his touch right now, Yunyun!"

Yunyun, who clearly had been enjoying it, quickly tries to hide that fact from her face, saying-

"I-I-I wasn't..."

I role my eyes at them before saying-

"Save it for later, you two. We need to hurry here as I doubt they'll be able to hold out here for much longer, much as I wish otherwise. Megumin, hurry up and ask Know-It-All about the MKK!"

"OK, OK, I'm doing it."

I had handed Megumin the Know-It-All to see what might be wrong with the MKK while I saw to Yunyun but she was clearly more focused on watching the others play around with Sylvia.

She then places a hand on Know-It-All, saying-

"Please tell me why the MKK didn't fire off earlier?"

She then opens the book, then says-

"It's blank?"

Eh?

I stop sending mana into Yunyun and have Megumin hand me back Know-It-All, then I ask it the same question, this time seeing the book glow before opening and reading what it was saying.

Yunyun stands as Megumin goes to stand by her, then asking me-

"What does it say, Kazuma?"

After a momentary pause, I say-

"Quit being such a dumb-dumb here and start using that brain of your for every once in a while!"

"WHAT?"

They both shout out.

I then see the words fade before new words take its place. I then read those words aloud.

"You already know that I can answer any question you ask so long as it doesn't involve the future. But, I refuse to answer any question for you that you either already know but are to dumb in the moment to realize you know it, or if it's something you can find the answer to so long as you put a little work into figuring it out though I will make an acceptation if there's a time limit at play and I have my doubts about you being able to get an answer within that time limit."

Both girls before Megumin ask-

"Wait, is that book of your sentient, Kazuma?"

I shrug then say-

"Um... I don't know? Are you a sentient life form, Know-It-All?"

"That's a secret! On a side note, only you can use me Kazuma! Anyone else tries to ask me a question, I will not respond. Now then, stop goofing around and think back to what I told you before about this little toy here. It's really not that hard to figure out, especially for someone like you."

"Well, looks like that magic book of yours has a bit of sass to it, huh?"

Said Yunyun as I slam the book shut and go to throw it away before looking back at it and say-

"You're very lucky you've done some good things here recently or I would fine myself being very tempted with setting you on fire here!"

["Just for that, Kazuma, I'm not going to answer any questions you ask me for a full month!"]

The three of us blink at hearing the clearly female voice come from the book before we all say together-

"Wait, you can talk too?"

After a moment, Yunyun then ask-

"What are we going to do now? Darkness and Cielo are starting to lose ground out there."

I look out at them, seeing that it was indeed true; that those two, while still doing good with keeping Sylvia busy, they were starting be pushed back closer and closer to us.

Megumin then begins to laugh as she steps forward, bringing her staff out and to the ready.

"It seems it's time for me to finally step out and claim the spot light here. I will unleash an Explosion and wipe both that general and the mage killer off the map."

"Wait Megumin, I don't think unleashing an Explosion is going to work here?"

Megumin glares at Yunyun.

"You believe that, huh Yunyun? Then just set back and watch as I show you that I can make the impossible possible!"

Just as Megumin begins her chant-

"Ah, there you are. I've been looking for you..."

We all turn to see Komekko come running towards us. There was no sign of Megumin's parents with her anywhere.

Megumin stops her chanting as turns to look at Komekko.

"What are you doing here, Komekko? Where's mom and dad at?"

Komekko doesn't answer as she gets closer and closer, making Megumin sigh as she opens her arms, ready to accept her little sister into her embrace and...

Komekko goes running right past her, jumping towards me, forcing me to take hold of her.

"Big brother, big brother, I was so worried about you!"

She cried, hugging me tight.

This makes Megumin mad while Yunyun seems to have trouble with deciding if she should be worried here or start laughing.

"Komekko, what are you doing? Where's mom and dad at? Why did you come here alone? And why..."

"Big brother, I was so scared!"

Said Komekko though something in the tone of her voice told me she was lying about that.

Megumin then becomes REALLY mad here as a vein pops on her forehead.

"That's enough of that, Komekko. Stop doing that at once. Besides, you don't have big brother. You have a big sister and that's me here. Quite goofing off and bothering poor Kazuma!"

Komekko turns her head to look at Megumin, giving Megumin a confused look before saying-

"Big brother, just who is this strange looking girl? Why does she say she's my sister? I don't have a sister, just a big brother who I love very much. Is she trying to kidnap me, trying to steal me away from you?"

Hearing those words makes Megumin "urk!" back as Komekko goes back to hugging me, making me scratch my head, unsure what to do here.

(Megumin POV)

I can't believe what has just happened? My own little sister, saying all that to me...

And after all that I have done for her in the past.

Why would she do this to me? Doesn't she know just how important she is to me?

And you Kazuma! Did you do something to my sister when I wasn't looking to make her act like this?

For your sake, you better not have or...

I then realize Komekko was looking at me again...

And she was giving me the smuggest look I had ever seen in my life before once again going back to hugging MY Kazuma here.

{Insert Image 1}

Oh, so that's what this is all about, huh?

Fine then little sister, you just stand there and watch as your REAL family shows you something so amazing and awesome that you'll come running back to me and beg me for forgiveness here!

I hold my staff out as I begin to chant, my focus solely on making the biggest and most bombastic Explosion I had ever achieved.

(Kazuma POV)

Oh crap, this was bad, very bad!

I've known Megumin long enough to know when she was mad and right now, I could tell that she was furious about something here.

And my gut was telling me it had something to do with what her little sister was doing right now.

I paid attention to her words as she chanted, knowing just how close she was to being done.

I then turn my head away and shout out-

"Darkness... Cielo, RUN!"

They clearly heard me as Darkness jumped forward and slammed her shield into Sylvia's stomach to use its repulsion power to knock her back which Cielo quickly followed up with another explosive punch to her face to further disorient her before getting clear.

Megumin, luckily, wasn't so mad that she didn't just fire off her Explosion all willy-nilly here, instead waiting till those two were safely away before-

"EXPLOSION!"

Sylvia had recovered as Megumin said that and, hearing her words, had quickly gone into a panic as she had turned and was trying to get away, clearly worried that even the mage killer may be unable to handle taking an explosion attack.

Not that she had to worry as the energy only made it a quarter ways to her before suddenly reversing and coming right back at us.

"GAHH... Cheese it, run..."

I shouted as I grabbed onto Megumin, carrying both her and Komekko as Yunyun ran beside me as we tried to get clear of the incoming explosion...

Which didn't actually come, which confused us and made us look back, only to see the last of the energy being sucked inside the MKK that was still lying on the ground.

We all just stand there dumbfounded for a moment, our eyes blinking quickly from the confusion.

"What just happened?"

Asked Yunyun.

Megumin follows up by saying-

"Did the MKK just... absorb my Explosion spell into itself?"

I then put Komekko down before approaching the MKK, seeing that glowing lines were now present running along its long barrel and a meter on the thing was saying the words 'FULL!'

"Wait, why is... (I then recall what had been said before, about how it used magic to fuel its power, and I remember what Know-It-All had also said about me already knowing the answer and saying I needed to use my head more often, which makes me sigh) … I'm such an idiot!"

Megumin and Yunyun just look at me, asking me what I was on about.

I ignore them, as well as Komekko asking me what this cool looking thing was; said thing I pick up and ready again.

Sylvia, meanwhile, had realized something was off as she had stopped and was looking back at us again, a hateful sneer present on her face.

"Did you... was I just tricked? Damn you, DAMN YOU! No one makes me look the fool, do you hear me? NO BODY! That's it, no more games, I'm going to kill you all right now!"

And with that, moving at the speed a snake can slither at, which is surprisingly very fast, she came at us quickly.

Didn't matter though as I already had a lock-on with you, Sylvia. I activate my Snipe skill and go to pull back on the trigger when...

Komekko reaches out and flicks a funny looking switch, making the front of the barrel open up just as I finish pulling the trigger.

The resulting blast that was fired off was much larger than intended. Instead of a bullet, the MKK had fired off a cannon ball sized blast, taking most of Sylvia's remaining organic parts, specifically her chest and head, into oblivion.

The rest of the body shudders before collapsing onto the ground, the blast meanwhile continues onward off into the distance before a massive explosion can be seen just beyond that distance.

Me, Megumin, and Yunyun remain still, unsure of what we had just seen while little Komekko simply says-

"Wow, that was so cool. Do it again, do it again!"

========================={Part 6: Medusa, the Origin}========================

Darkness and Cielo had finally reached us as I was examining the remains of the MKK.

Turns out it had something called a 'cannon mode' which allowed it to fire off an even bigger blast of energy at a target. The only downside was that firing it off in that mode would leave the MKK damaged beyond the ability to be used again without serious repairs... or just flat out replacing it!

We could also see the rest of the Crimson Demons coming our way too, their loud cheers of victory resounding across the night.

"Well, this has been a fun night."

Said Darkness.

"Indeed. We battled and took down yet another general of the Devil King's forces. At this rate, the kingdom's gonna start calling on us to come to the front lines and help out with fighting his main forces."

Adds Cielo.

I can feel Megumin's eyes on me, giving me a sly grin as she says-

"The kingdom's gonna have its work cut out for them, seeing as our lazy leader is gonna turn down any offer they send his way, even a mandatory one. Right, Kazuma?"

I look at her, giving her a cheeky grin as I say-

"Damn straight. I'm tired of having to run around, risking my life for people. I've already done enough of that to cover several life times here. The only reason I did it this time was because it was sort-of my fault this all happened to begin with. Thank Eris we can finally relax and rest for a bit..."

"Hey, everyone... I don't think it's over yet!"

Said a worried Yunyun, making us all jerk our heads back to looking at the fallen mage killer, seeing it begins to glow and jerk violently.

God damn it, every single fucking time! Why can't situations like these just be over when they look like they should be over here?

We then hear a strange voice come from the mage killer; it says-

[Initiating organic assimilation protocol! Beginning final phase of formation and awakening!]

The remains of the mage killer then begin to lift into the air before a sphere covered in glyphs appears around it, covering it enough to hide what was going on inside though it was obvious that it wasn't anything good here!

"What do you thinks is happening with it?"

Wondered Darkness aloud.

I then notice a glow come from the corner of my eye, making me look to see that Know-It-All had decided to answer that very question for us.

After picking it up, I read what it was saying aloud here-

"During the development of Project Medusa, it was found that there would be a critical piece missing in order to help it achieve the full potential envisioned by its creator. And in order to achieve that potential, it would need to assimilate the DNA of a chimera, one who had developed human like qualities to it. Because of Sylvia bonding with it like she did, it has now gained those missing elements needed in order to become complete. And now, with Sylvia dead, its true will she complete its development and truly awaken into its truest potential here!"

We all once again look at the floating sphere, having gone nearly jet black with the glyphs glowing a dark purple as pulses of energy began to shoot out like the beating of a heart.

I then say aloud what everyone here must be thinking right now-

"Well, shit..."

==============={Part 7: The Beautiful Combination of the Two Rivals!}===============

(3rd person POV)

"Komekko, there you are. Did you have any idea how worried your father and me were when you just went all MIA on us earlier?"

Yelled the voice of Yuiyui as she and Hyoizaburoo came running up.

Behind them, the rest of the clan was also running with them to join us.

Komekko leaves my side, running into her mothers arms as she says in response-

"Sorry mommy, daddy, but I was really worried about big brother and wanted to make sure he was safe."

Hearing Komekko say that makes Yuiyui hug her tight as she says "Ah, that's so adorable. You're such a good little sister, aren't you? Wanting to protect your big brother like that!"

Hyoizaburoo nods as he gives his daughter a few head-pats.

Beside Kazuma, Megumin begins to fume in a terrifying manner as she yells out-

"Hey, what are you three saying here? Have you ALL forgotten that I'm Komekko's big sister here? She doesn't have a big brother... (quietly to herself) At least not yet. (Says loudly to them) And where's your concern for me? The daughter who has been out here in the thick of things!"

The three of them look at Megumin, blink a few times, then all say in unison-

"And you were again?"

Megumin grabs her head and screams into the air, the sound of thunder rumbling being perfectly times with her scream.

The rest of the party wondered if they were simply messing with Megumin, or if this was just some sort of Crimson Demon style joke... or if they were actually being serious here?

Hiropon then steps forward, asking what the hell was going on, all the while pointing to the sphere that held the soon to be born TRUE mage killer.

And so, Yunyun took the lead and explained everything to her father and the others.

"... And now, the real mage killer is inside that dark glowing sphere there. We don't know how long its going to take before its finished and fully awakens here, but something tells me it won't be to long now!"

Hiropon nods, as do many of the other Crimson Demons, as they turn their attentions towards the... well, let's just go ahead and call it the 'egg' here, shall we!

"So, it's proper name is Medusa, right? Do we know anything about what it can do once it awakens?"

Asked Hiropon as he looks back at the group.

After a moment, Kazuma finally speaks up and says-

"Medusa is an old Greek myth. The story on how she came to be isn't relevant for now so I'll skip that here. Based on the old myth, I'm guessing she's going to be fast seeing as her lower half with be part snake and snakes can move very fast. Her greatest threat comes in the form of her eyes as she can make anyone she looks at turn to stone. In this case, she'll probably have a petrifaction beam she'll fire out you'll want to avoid, especially seeing as we don't know if it can be cured after the fact. Beyond that, who knows if this version will have any additional features added in here?"

They all nod as the Crimson Demons began to chat amongst themselves over what to do here.

"Guys, I think it may be getting close to waking up here. Those pulses coming from it are starting to speed up!"

Yelled Darkness, making all of them look to see that she was right, the sounds like a heart beat were accelerating as were the glowing glyphs had now started blinking.

Rikarika then steps forward to address Kazuma, asking him-

"Kazuma, seeing as you know more about the historical tales of this Medusa creature, is there any chance you can think of a way to defeat her here? After all, as of right now, you have the best chance of coming up with a strategy here to deal with it!"

Kazuma looks at her, then to the gathered Crimson Demons, then to his own party, seeing that they all had eyes filled with expectation which made him sigh.

"Oh yeah, this takes me back to those old Fezarhelm playing days, when the various party's I was with would always ask me to come up with a strategy to save our butts, and the loot. I've forgotten just how annoying it was, being the 'reliable one' of those groups!"

He quietly mumbled to himself before looking at everyone again, seeing the hope they had in him.

Kazuma sighs again before saying aloud-

"Guess I have no choice now, huh? Give me a moment here to think. I'll figure this one out and clean up the mess I made after all."

Kazuma does just that, think. He gives this more thought than anything he ever had before, putting all his gaming knowledge to work while trying to recall if he had ever faced something like this during those gaming days before.

He doesn't fail to hear some of the clan chattering about what he meant when he said 'clean up my mess' though he also hears his party and Megumin's parents surprisingly tell them that it wasn't important right now.

Kazuma thinks... and thinks... and thinks... until-

"OK, here's my plan. First though, I want to say I'm not sure if this is going to work or not as there are a LOT of unknowns about 'this' Medusa here, so I want everyone to keep their ears open and listen for any sudden call outs from me on what they should or shouldn't be doing here, got it!"

Everyone nods then Kazuma finally goes into his plan.

"OK, as soon as that thing awakens, I'm going to need someone to go down there and keep it distracted until the actual attack can be unleashed. Darkness, I hate to ask, but can you...?"

Darkness gives Kazuma a confident nod as she pounds her fist over her chest.

"Don't worry about me, Kazuma. No matter what attacks this Medusa may have that we don't know about, no matter what she may try on me, I won't let her do anything to disrupt whatever else here you got planned to do!"

Kazuma had to give her credit as she didn't seem to be letting her perverted nature out in any way here though time will soon tell if she could stay in this proper knightly state.

"We'll go down there and help her too. Even if we don't have access to our magic right now, we still have other ways of fighting at our disposal!"

Shouted one Crimson Demon from the crowd while another says-

"And if push comes to shove, there are none in the world better at turning tail and running for their lives like us Crimson Demons too!"

This makes the entire gathering cheer excitedly, while Megumin and Yunyun deadpan at hearing that.

I then turn my attention to the to of them and say-

"Megumin, Yunyun, I'm gonna want the both of you to fire off your best attacks at it once you're ready to go and I give the signal. Megumin will go first with Explosion magic. If we're lucky here, you'll be able to take it out just with that though the odds are that its anti-magic shield will protect it. In that case, I'm hoping your Explosion will at least weaken the shield enough for Yunyun's attack to work!"

"Yunyun, you will use Light of Spear on it should Explosion be unable to one shot it. Once the smoke from the blast clears, fire it off at whatever spot looks to be the most vulnerable, understand?"

Megumin nods, making Kazuma happy that she wasn't complaining about letting Yunyun go after her or that he wasn't confident that her spell wouldn't be enough. It showed that in this moment, even she was taking this extra seriously.

However, Yunyun did looked worried and nervous.

"Kazuma, you really want me to use Light of Spear here? I-I-I mean, I can try but have you already forgotten that I haven't mastered it yet! What if I can't maintain it? What if I fail?"

Before Kazuma could answer her, Megumin takes in initiative by taking hold of Yunyun's hands which maker her in turn look at Megumin. Off within the crowd of Crimson Demons, several of their fellow classmates start chatting about how they knew those two would be a thing, which everyone ignores.

"Megu..."

"Yunyun, listen to me here. Kazuma's putting all his faith in you here. In you AND in me. Are you going to tell me here and now that you don't have faith in Kazuma's faith in us because if you are, I won't ever forgive you!"

Megumin then squeezes Yunyun's hand confidently before saying-

"It's like Kazuma always tells me... Believe in the Kazuma who believes in us! You CAN do this, Yunyun. Do it because we all need you too. Do it... because Kazuma knows you can do it!"

Yunyun just stands there, stunned for just a moment before she returns Megumin's grip on her hand, then gives her a confident smile before looking at Kazuma and saying-

"I won't let you down, Kazuma!"

Kazuma nods before stepping forward and holding both his hands out.

"And, for a little extra luck, I'll give you both some demi-mana here!"

Both girls nod as they take his hand, letting it rest against their pink tinted cheeks while resting their own hand over his as he begins to channel demi-mana into them.

To their credit, they try their best to hold in their enjoyment and pleasure from feeling his mana flowing into them but soon enough, it became more than they could hold back and their reactions got the whole village talking.

This led to the voice of Panyatopi and many of the girls from the class that day explaining what had went down and what Kazuma seemed to have the ability to do with his 'magic touch.'

Kazuma then says quietly to the girls-

"Once this is over, we MAY have to make a run for it. The big secrets out now and I fear I won't be allowed to leave when all is said and done."

The girls, not surprisingly, were to busy getting off from receiving Kazuma's mana to respond though they had heard him at least.

"Everyone, I think its about to 'hatch' here!"

Yelled Cielo, getting everyone to look at the sphere again.

Indeed, it was about to hatch alright as cracks had begun to form around it.

"OK, time to get to work here people. Anyone wanting to join me down their with distracting it, let's go and give them the time they need here!"

Shouted Darkness before running down the side of the hill with most of the Crimson Demons following right behind her.

Cielo goes to follow as well, but is stopped as Kazuma says-

"Wait, Cielo. I'm gonna need you to hang back with me as I'm going to need your help with something as well!"

Cielo hesitates for a second before nodding and walking back to join Kazuma as he finishes giving Megumin and Yunyun mana.

"Damn it, always has to end so soon. Just when it was about to get to the best part!"

Complained Megumin with Yunyun nodding in silent agreement.

Kazuma smiles at them and says-

"How about this; once this is over and we get back home to the mansion, how about I spend a few hours with you both, letting you have as MUCH as you could ask for... or until I run out of mana, whichever comes first!"

Probably not the best choice of words there at the end, but seeing the big smiles those two had on their faces, Kazuma guessed that they didn't much mind or care at his choice of words.

With that done, the two of them then ran a short ways away and begin to chant their spells, Kazuma then turns to Cielo and hands her the Know-It-All before reaching into his pouch and pulling a familiar looking item out, sliding them onto his hands.

"Kazuma, is that... the Mason Gloves?"

Kazuma nods as he then grabs the remains of MKK and activates the gloves, creating a glowing sphere covered in green glyphs around the damaged weapon, small particles begin to rise from the MKK as it begins to grow smaller and smaller till there was nothing left.

"Yeah, this is going to be my last resort plan here, Cielo. If Megumin and Yunyun's combined attacks still aren't enough, then I will use MKK to finish the job... or rather, it'll be up to you as I'll charge it up with my own Explosion and I'll leave it to you to fire off should I be unable to do it myself after!"

Cielo nods before noticing the Know-It-All suddenly glow, making her open it and read what it was telling them.

"Kazuma, there may be a problem here."

She then turns the book so Kazuma could read it, his eyes narrowing in annoyance at what he was reading.

Know-It-All was telling him that it would be impossible to restore the MKK to what it was due to the current physical state it was in unless new materials were added in to compensate for what was missing.

Luckily though, there was another configuration Kazuma could work it into in order to make it work.

"Guess that will have to do, though I hate having to get up close and personal with this things! OK Cielo, new plan here for us two..."

Their attention is drawn out into the open area Darkness and the bulk of the Crimson Demons were waiting as the 'hatching' finally happens and the new, fully realized Medusa emerged.

{Insert Image 2}

Her lower, snake like half, still more or less looked the same with an upper body shining with a metallic sheen, large hands, and long snake like tendrils for hair.

It then shrieks into the air just as rain begins to fall before turning its attention towards the gathered force around it, its yellow glowing eyes narrow menacingly.

Kazuma quickly turns his attention back to Cielo, explaining his new plan before focusing on the task at hand to create the object the Know-It-All had instructed him to make as the MKK's successor.

Cielo found focusing very hard here. On the one hand, she was trying to keep track of Medusa's eyes, looking for any sign of said eyes beginning to glow which would indicate it was about to unleash its "Gaze" as Kazuma had called it in his explanation.

On the other, she couldn't help but watch Darkness and the Crimson Demons running around it, keeping its attention clearly on them. All of which seemed to having the time of their lives and the Crimson Demons were showing that they indeed knew how to run around quickly.

And then were the occasional glances she would send towards Kazuma, taking quick seconds to glance over and marvel at his work in making the new MKK, seeing it be constructed out of thing air within the particle filled construction sphere connected to the Mason Gloves.

It made her wish she had more eyes to focus on everything at once as she didn't want to miss any of it!

Down below, the Crimson Demons would shout out things, or throw objects like rocks at Medusa, making it glare at them as it would either try to smash them with its tail or it would fire off explosive balls from holes in its hands.

Darkness would jump in the way, intercepting most of these and even managed to repel a few back at Medusa using the repulsion effect of her shield.

And then, Medusa's eyes began to glow, making Cielo shout out that the Gaze was coming.

It only took a few seconds from the start of the glow before the eyes fired off an intense beam of red energy directly ahead. Luckily, all the Crimson Demons were able to avoid being hit as everything that was upon the ground was instantly turned into stone.

Even Darkness had wisely jumped clear before she could take the hit.

"Ninety seconds!"

"Kazuma?"

Asked Cielo, turning to look at him.

"How long it took from it's awakening to it unleashing Gaze at them. I think the interval is ninety seconds. Please keep track here for me Cielo, I'm almost done!"

Cielo nods as she turns her head back to watch, not doing her own countdown in her head.

Moments later, Medusa revealed another new attack as well; firing laser beams from her snake like hair. Darkness jumped in to block which was successful, but it also sent her flying back. Cielo warns everyone to try to avoid being hit by that if at all possible, if only to play it safe here.

Over with Megumin and Yunyun, Megumin had just finished chanting her spell as she looks to Yunyun and says-

"I'm ready to go here. What about you?"

Megumin could see the strained look on Yunyun's face, then looks up at the Light of Spear. As much as Megumin hated to admit to it, she did think the spell looked rather cool. Not as cool as an Explosion, of course, but still cool in its own right.

"I-I don't know if it will be able to sustain itself long enough to be any good here. I-I..."

Megumin looks up at it again, her crimson eyes being able to perceive the mana nature and its flow within the spell, a talent all Crimson Demons had but rarely shared with outsiders.

From her observation, an idea pops into Megumin's head.

"Make it spin around, Yunyun!"

Her words get Yunyun to look at her with a surprised "Eh?"

"I'm serious. Try to make it spin like a drill. The rotation may help to add both stability and longevity to the spell."

Yunyun looks at her for a few more seconds, then nods as she begins to picture inside her mind that image of the spear spinning like a drill.

It takes a few seconds, put the spear does finally start to spin; slow at first then quickly accelerating till little streams of mana begin to swathe from the tip like a running river, only to be absorbed back into the spell at the tail.

Yunyun's eyes go wide with excitement as she says-

"It's working, it's working, Megumin!"

Megumin nods before turning to Kazuma and Cielo, shouting out that they were ready.

By then, Kazuma had just finished up his work as well, powering down the Mason Gloves picking up and admiring the new MKK for just a second, then he stands as he shouts out-

"Darkness, everyone... SCATTER NOW!"

Hearing Kazuma's orders, all that were keeping Medusa busy did as told as they broke away to make plenty of space between them and the clearly confused weapon. It then finally takes notice of the two mage's standing on the hill, their bodies glowing with mana and the huge magic spear hanging above them.

It become clear, by the glow that was coming from Medusa's body, that it was preparing to unleash another anti-magic nullification blast, making Kazuma yell out-

"Megumin, do it now!"

Megumin nods as she holds her staff out before her, putting her whole being into her shout-

"EXPLOSION!"

The blast of magic races forward towards Medusa, forcing the mage killer to switch from nullification to its anti-magic shield in order to protect itself.

The massive blast envelops Medusa in an earth shattering blast that causes the ground to shake violently.

As the force of the blast finally starts to abate, Megumin quickly brings her staff down onto the ground, using it as a brace to keep herself from collapsing completely here. She then looks at Yunyun and says-

"The moment you are able to see any part of it from the smoke cloud I made, use your spear. No matter what, use it!"

Yunyun looks at her and nods, waiting... waiting... waiting...

She then sees its head, as well as the anti-magic shield but with plenty of cracks present.

"LIGHT OF SPEAR!"

{Insert Image 3}

Yunyun fires off her spell, watching as the spinning attack makes impact with the cracked shield, the shield struggling to keep it at bay as the spear begins to slowly, but surely, cut through it.

"Yunyun, don't let up. You can do it."

"A little more, just a little more..."

Shouted the two mages as the spear moved deeper while Medusa seemed to struggle to fend it off.

And then... Darkness, with the help of several rather muscular Crimson Demons, is sent flying into the air right at Medusa's back. It's shield may defend against magic attacks, but not physical as Darkness reaches the back of her head, slams her shield into said head...

And the repulsion sends an unsuspecting Medusa jerking forward while the surprise action causes the shield to fail as Light of Spear cuts right into its forehead, resulting in a spectacular burst of light that sends Medusa flying back before collapsing onto the ground.

The fight was over... right?

====================={Part 8: Bow Before The Thunderclap!}=====================

Around the area, all the Crimson Demons had begun to cheer in celebration.

But not all were cheering as some were smart enough to know that this may not be over yet.

"Hey, you idiots, don't be celebrating until we examine the body there. What are you all trying to do, raise some flags?"

Yelled Rikarika, showing that at least there were some Crimson Demons that had some common sense with in them. Guess Yunyun got all that she was from her mother, huh?

By this time, it had started to rain, and a rather hard rain it was at that with plenty of thunder and some lightning mixed in.

Hiropon looks at his wife and says-

"What are you talking about, of course we defeated it. And it's all thanks to our amazing daughter there too. Great job, Yunyun! I knew you could do it!"

"Hey, are daughter played a part too or did you forget that?"

Shouts Hyoizaburoo, making the two men get into a head butt focused staring contest with one another.

Yuiyui looks at us and explains by saying-

"Old rivals!"

Cielo begins to run over to check on Yunyun and Megumin, to see if they may want some healing as they had both finally collapsed by this point, but Kazuma stops her, making her look back and ask-

"Kazuma, what..."

She stops, all of them now hearing the sounds coming from Medusa as her body begins to twitch before slowly rising back up again.

She was indeed still alive, but it was clear she had also been damaged as well.

All along her body were surface level signs of battle damage, with some even showing the innards beneath the outer plating. Had that also been caused by Light of Spear or had these been done by portions of Explosion that had managed to leak in through the shield?

Or a combination of the two?

But it was clear that the greatest of all damage was done to its head; a massive hole was present in its forehead, revealing a glowing object deep within. One of its eyes was also gone, consumed into the massive scar that ran down its face.

And they could hear, albeit barely, a set of words being said-

[Auto repair unit damaged, must return to master for... static... unable to follow through]

Hearing that be said by it... from it(?) made everyone sweat just a little here.

"Looks like we're not done here yet. Cielo, remember what I told you before?"

She nods as Kazuma hand her the new MKK to hold before he returns both Know-It-All and the Mason Gloves to his pouch, then he pulls Megumin's old staff out.

"Watch for my signal."

He tells her, making her nod as she twist a nob of the hilt shaped item she was holding, making the words "Absorb" appear above said nob.

Kazuma then begins to chant, then gives the signal by holding the staff high into the air.

Cielo then tosses with all her might the new MKK into the air directly above them as Kazuma fires off his Explosion, the furious energy shooting upwards only to be absorbed into the hilt shaped object.

Kazuma then holds his right hand out, catching the MKK in said hand before flicking a switch, making a beam of energy extend out like the blade of a sword.

Yes, the new MKK; Kazuma's very own Lightsaber!

"Big brother, that looks so cool. Can I have one too?"

Shouted Komekko off to the side.

The others also looked at this new toy with awe and envy in their eyes.

Kazuma then returns the mage staff to his pouch before removing his pouch and tosses it to Cielo.

"Keep a hold of that for me, OK? Just in case things get a little bit dicey out there, I don't want to risk seeing it get destroyed, along with all the crap I have in there!"

"Kazuma, will you be OK? What about your mana levels? Do you even have enough left to..."

Asked a clearly concerned Cielo.

Kazuma thinks for a second, then nods at her.

"I'm down to about twenty, maybe twenty five percent. It's going to be risky, sure. But risk is part of the game to live the life we live here. Do or die and all that shit!"

"Well said, kid. My daughter was right about you. You really do have the heart of a Crimson Demon!"

Said Hiropon approvingly.

Yuiyui then steps forward and says to Kazuma-

"Be careful out there, we don't want our future son-in-law dying before he helps give us some grand kids, alright!"

Kazuma nods as he goes to head down to face Medusa when...

Cielo stops him, turns him around, and places a quick kiss on his cheek. She then pulls away, gives him a smile and says-

"For luck!"

Kazuma nods before hopping down, finding Darkness and the other Crimson Demons join him. Kazuma then looks up at Medusa, seeing it was watching them closely.

"Seems very considerate of it to just wait there for US to make the next move, don't you think?"

Said Darkness.

Kazuma smiles as he says-

"She ain't in any good shape right now. Probably only going to act if she feels it needed. Either that or the damage is having a greater effect than we had thought? Anyways, everyone but Darkness clear back aways. I'm going to go a little nuts here. Darkness, be prepared to send my flying if I need to make some air."

Darkness nods, already getting what Kazuma meant. The Crimson Demons, meanwhile, look at him, then at each other before backing away, doing as he asked.

Kazuma then approaches Medusa, bringing his lightsaber into view.

Medusa must have known what it was as she does back off just a little as he walked closer and closer...

Kazuma smirks up at Medusa as he comes to a stop. He then tilts his head up at her as he says-

"What's wrong, big girl? Don't tell me you're afraid of this here blade of mine, right?"

Medusa just looks at me for a second, then its eyes go a dark blue color as I hear it say-

[Warning, threat level raised to Omega, initiate All-Purge protocols now]

Kazuma's eyes go wide as Medusa aims her hands out at him, making say-

"Seriously, why do I push my luck like this? Do I really have a..."

He didn't get to finish as Medusa fires multiple blast of those blast bombs from her hands, which he barely manages to dodge, only to find her tail swinging around, connecting and sending him flying.

"Kazuma?"

Yelled Darkness, trying to run over to him, but is forced to go the opposite way as Medusa tries to nail her with a Gaze from her one remaining eye.

As Kazuma picks himself up, he mumbles out the last of his words from before.

"... die here? Yeah, it's me so probably... yeah!"

"KAZUMA!"

Came the shrieks of Megumin, Yunyun, and Cielo, bringing him back to reality and seeing that not only had Medusa reached him already, but she was already bringing her tail down upon him.

Before he could even react, the tail seemingly crushes him into the ground.

"Kazuma...? YOU! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!"

Screamed Darkness as she tries to charge in at Medusa, only to take being hit by those tendril lasers and sent flying back into the ground.

Darkness survived but her armor was clearly badly damaged by the hit and would likely fail to protect her if hit again.

For the next few seconds, the air was tense as no one knew what would happen next. And then...

Kazuma, having activated Specter at the last second, jumps through the tail then back flips to being just out of its reach before turning to look at Medusa once again, this time with a angry glare.

Cielo, who was busy healing Megumin and Yunyun now, places a hand over her heart as she says-

"He's OK, thank goodness. Right... Megumin... Yunyun?"

Cielo notices that both girls had shocked looks on their faces. Not because of what had just happened, but because of what they must be seeing here.

Before Cielo could ask what was going on, Yunyun says-

"Megumin, are you... are you seeing what I'm seeing here?"

Megumin nods, her whole body shaking as she replies with-

"Yeah... Kazuma's eyes... they're..."

'His eyes?' wondered Cielo, looking back at Kazuma, finding she couldn't quite make them out.

Did Crimson Demons have superior eyesight alongside superior magic ability?

And what about his eyes? Were they showing off any Lich like features? The next words Megumin spoke answered that question for her-

"His eyes are the same as master Wolbach now!"

It was true, Kazuma's usual green eyes had been changed somehow, now taking on the appearance of Wolbach's yellow cat like eyes, except in this case, there was a glow coming from them.

Medusa makes a growling sound before sending her tail right at Kazuma, likely aiming to impale him straight through.

But, from Kazuma's perspective, Medusa's movement was slow. He turns his attention to his side, seeing the ghostly visage of the girl he had seen only twice before, the first being the day he had day and the second in that weird place he found himself in the day he nearly died after meeting the Winter Shogun.

Yes, the girl who was dressed in Goth themed clothing, with black hair that had a red sheen to it. But this time, he finally took notice of something he hadn't before. Her eyes; yellow, perhaps golden irises with a cat like slit for pupils. Yes, eyes he had seen before not to long ago, when he had met the woman named Wolbach in Arcanretia.

The unknown girl turns to look at him, giving him a strong, confident smile.

'It's you again!' thought Kazuma, getting her to nod in response before he feels her take hold of his hand.

He could then feel her mind... no, her intention here flow into his mind.

'Are you saying you want to help me win this one?' he asked towards her.

Her smile gets bigger, making Kazuma feel a sudden wave of nostalgia well up from within him.

He then looks back at Medusa, seeing her tail slowly move closer and closer as he says-

"OK, let's do it then!"

He feels her merge with him, filling him with both power and confidence as time seems to finally return to normal.

Just as the tail would have reached him, impale him, Kazuma's body suddenly jerks to the side in a spin, bring his laser blade slashing down, slicing the end of the tail as easily as it had been butter, making Medusa howl out before Kazuma leaps onto the tail, running along it as he slashes into it, cutting it into piece shorter and shorter pieces.

(I've come here from nowhere,

Across the unforgiving sea!

Drifting further and further,

It's all becoming clear to me!)

Medusa jerks her remaining tail back suddenly, forcing Kazuma to jump off, all the while Medusa tries again to use her blast bombs on him, but Kazuma pulls Chunchunmaru out with his free hand, then spins it around, an act that somehow bats the bombs safely away before they could detonate.

He then sends Chunchunmaru up, impaling it into one of Medusa's hands before using the special elastic nature of the metal chain to send up up at said arm, using the laser sword to start slashing said arm into pieces as he races up towards Medusa's head.

(The violent winds are upon us,

and I can't sleep!

Internal temperature rising,

And all the voices won't recede!)

Just before Kazuma could reach her head, the tendril hairs all fire at him, forcing him to activate shield to block that attack though it does send him flying back onto the ground. He recovers quickly before activating Sprint, zooming around Medusa while using Intermediate magic's Lightning to fire off long range attacks.

"Kazuma, how's he doing all that? And his mana levels? Even with demi-mana, he shouldn't be able to do all this."

Said Cielo.

An astonished Yunyun says-

"Who knows how his doing this but he's looking so cool with doing it, right Megu... Megumin?"

Cielo, hearing the confusion in Yunyun's voice, also looks at Megumin and sees...

Megumin's eyes were half lidded and she was speaking as if she was in some sort of trance. And also, there appeared to be a strange, almost golden glow coming from her eyes as well.

"Good... now, aim an ice attack at its remaining eye, weaken its vision!"

As if following Megumin's orders, Kazuma did indeed fire off Icicle, sending multiple shots of ice shards shooting out at Medusa.

But before it could make contact, Medusa fires off another Gaze which negates the spell, forcing Kazuma to just barely succeed in dodging in time. And yet, he couldn't help but smile all the same!

(I've finally found what

I was looking for!

A place where I can

Be without remorse!)

(Because I am a stranger who has

found an even stranger war

I finally found what

I was looking for!)

Kazuma then begins to race around Medusa, making it follow his movements to the point where it looked like it was starting to get dizzy, even though it shouldn't be possible.

With its one remaining arm outstretched, it tries and fails to successfully hit him with more of those blast bombs and even its laser shooting tendrils fail to make contact as he was moving faster and faster, to fast for it to work.

Through it all, Darkness was able to hear the words Kazuma shouted at her at each close pass he made to her-

"Get! Ready! To! Give! Me! A! Boost! Up!"

There was no need for further explanation as she brought her shield to the ready; having known him long enough already to know how his mind worked. She concentrates all her remaining mana into the shield in order to make sure he can get as high up as possible.

Medusa tries to use Gaze again, coming close as she sends it scream in his direction with Kazuma barely managing to jump over it.

He then shoots at Darkness, jump onto her shield while spinning back to face Medusa. His feet make contact and Darkness yells out "DO IT!" at him as the repulsion effect sends him flying high into the air, a good ways above Medusa who turns its head to look up at him.

(I sharpen the knife,

And look down upon the bay!

For all of my life,

a stranger I remain!)

(A STRANGER I REMAIN,

A STRAGNER I REMAIN!)

As Kazuma angle allows him to begin to fall towards Medusa, a combination of thunder and lightning flash behind him as he brings his laser sword up and at the ready to stab it right into the deep head wound.

"OK Medusa, please allow me to introduce you to blade Kirin!"

Medusa's one remaining eye narrows before it begins to glow, preparing to unleash another Gaze at Kazuma, believing that it will be impossible for him to dodge while both in the air and so close.

Kazuma then uses his thumb to turn a wheel at the hilts edge, making the blade turn into a deep red color which also makes the blade start to hum intensely.

And then, Kazuma says along with another voice mixing his own, a voice that sounds similar to that of Megumin's... if not Megumin's herself-

"And now, I command you to... BOW BEFORE 'OUR' THUNDERCLAP!"

"GAZE!"

They both said together as Medusa releases its eye beam point blank at Kazuma who, in the same instant, thrust Kirin right into the deep wound on Medusa and directly into the exposed core within.

The next thing anyone present to see all this knew was the massive explosion that consumed both Kazuma and Medusa with an intense, ground shattering blast...

{Insert Image 4}

Next time: Their time in the Crimson Demon village finally comes to end. But what state will Kazuma and the rest be in for their return for Axel? And will Kazuma even be there to go with them? The answer awaits in the next chapter.

Image 1: Left side of image has adorable little Komekko showing why she is the true smug lord of Konosuba and the right side has Megumin reacting to her sisters smug with a shocked face

Image 2: A smaller image of the 'egg' hatching and the bigger image of Medusa in all its glory

Image 3: Left side of image has Megumin firing off her Explosion, right side is Yunyun unleashing Light of Spear

Image 4: Kazuma in mid-air, preparing to thrust Kirin into the damaged head of Medusa

AN: The song played at the end here was 'A Stranger I Remain' from the video game "Metal Gear Rising Revengence.'