This is a work in progress... and I will be tweaking it here and there later, maybe.
But for now,
Lets Begin...
Lights,
Camera,
Action!
Mission 7 : The Thief and the Gunslinger
／人◕ . ◕人＼
Fantasy Pic: Tabitha in her panties, wearing only Dante's Crimson Longcoat over her body, while she sits on the bed reading a book.
／人◕ . ◕人＼
After getting the finished clothes and paying the seamstress handsomely, courtesy of Dante giving her a small bag of jewels…
Which answers the question, why is the devil hunter not in want of cash as of late.
／人◕ . ◕人＼
'Somehow we ended up here,' Dante thought as the two Academy students face each other off on the school's field.
"Are you sure about this, Valliere?" Kirche asks, looking a bit apprehensive
"Just get your wand already." Louise huffed impatiently as she held hers in such intensity, Dante is sure the thing will break in twain if the pinkette held it just a tad tighter.
He shook his head as he thought "This Middle-age thing is beginning to get to me, I'm even start thinking 'Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe' style."
／人◕ . ◕人＼
Let us pause for a moment and see what else is happening at the same moment nearby as well as a certain someone's tale….
When Fouquet heard that a noble in the North had a jeweled crown, he would go all the way there to steal it. When Fouquet heard that a noble in the South had a staff bestowed by the king as a family treasure, he broke through walls to steal it. In the East, none of the best pearl rings by the artisans of the White Islands remained in any mansion. Fouquet also eagerly took possession of a priceless bottle of well-aged wine from a winery in the West. The thief was everywhere.
Fouquet's tactics range from stealthy infiltration to outright breaking in. The national bank had been attacked in broad daylight, and houses were silently frequented in the depth of night. In any case, Fouquet's tactics simply left the royal mage guards in the dust.
Fouquet was identified only by the use of alchemy to enter targeted rooms, turning doors and walls to dirt and sand, then walking through the gaping holes. The nobles were not stupid, of course, they had tried to magically "solidify" everything around their treasure in an attempt to stop the alchemy, but Fouquet's magic was simply too strong, nullifying everything, fortified or not, into dirt.
If Fouquet decided on breaking the way in, a 30-mail tall dirt golem was used. Tossing aside mage guards and shattering castle walls, it let him boldly take prizes in broad daylight.
No one had ever seen Fouquet's appearance up close. Nobody even knew for sure whether he was a man or a woman. All they knew is that Fouquet was an earth mage of at least Triangle class, that he left insulting notes, such as "I got your treasure. –-Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt" at every robbery scene, and that he preferred treasures and artifacts of great magical power.
／人◕ . ◕人＼
Two huge moons shone down on the walls outside the fifth floor of the Academy of Magic, which encased a treasure room. The light stretched out a shadow, standing straight against the walls. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.
Fouquet's green, long hair moved with the wind, and Fouquet briskly stood, openly showing the figure that strikes fear in all the nobles of the country.
Pressing a foot against the wall, Fouquet felt the wall's power and could not help but admire it. The main tower of the Academy is as strong as it looks… is a physical attack really its only weakness? I can't break through something this thick without attracting attention. It was not hard for an expert in earth magic like Fouquet to check a wall's thickness with their feet, but breaking a wall was completely different. It looks like they used only hardening spells on it, but I can't even break this with a golem. It's got a very strong hardening spell… my alchemy won't do much.
"Damn it… and I already got this far." The thief's teeth grit in frustration. "I'm not leaving the Staff of Destruction, no matter what." Fouquet crossed his arms and went into deep concentration.
Meanwhile, standing on the walls of the central academy tower, Fouquet felt footsteps. He jumped off towards the ground, and just as Fouquet reached it, he whispered "Spell of Levitation", landing like a feather, absorbing his momentum. Fouquet then disappeared into the courtyard bushes.
Meanwhile, Fouquet watched them from the bushes. The thief saw the crack on the walls from Louise's blast, as the two students duelled. What kind of magic is that? She asked for a fireball spell, a fireball did came and the wall blew up. I've never heard of a spell that can make things explode like this, even from a fireball blast. Fouquet shook his head. More importantly, I can't let go of this chance. Fouquet started chanting a long spell, waving his wand at the ground. When finished, a mild smile formed on his face. Following Fouquet's voice, a bulge formed on the ground. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt was showing his talent.
The duel is running in full steam with neither of the two giving an inch as they cast spells against each other.
"Not bad, Louise. Looks like I'm not calling you a zero anymore." A rather dishevelled Kirche grins at the pinkette, who is at the same condition,
"I'll take that as a compliment, Zerbst."
Kirche was pleasantly surprised that Louise can actually cast spells properly now and could go toe to toe against her.
Although Kirche loved to tease the mini-mage, she….
Right then, Kirche felt something behind her. She turned around. She couldn't believe her eyes. "What… what the heck is this?" Her jaw dropped. What she saw was a huge earth golem moving towards them.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" Kirche ran away screaming.
That left Dante and Louise looking at the towering behemoth of dirt.
Dante just looked the thing behind her,
He wasn't in a panic. After all, he had seen worse things than an enormous golem, and it was heading towards him.
"Nice!"
Dante wanted to just go all out and stuff, but since the discovery of the activities that his father did here, it seems that it's not yet time for this world to see another devil with powers such as Sparda's.
Louise recovered her senses and ran towards him.
"You…what are you standing around for?"
"Just taking in the sights?"
Above them, the golem raised its foot.
Dante then began to formulate a plan, but first,
"Louise, get out of there!" He yelled.
"Dammit… I won't run away…" Louise couldn't get her body to move for some reason.
The golem's foot descended.
Louise closed her eyes.
In that instant, Tabitha's wind dragon veered from the skies grabbing the two with its talons and pulled them out from under the foot with only inches to spare, before it came down crushing everything under it in a heartbeat.
Hanging under the wind dragon, Dante and Louise watched the golem. Dante then asked, "…the hell is that thing doing here?"
"I'm not sure… but it's one gigantic earth golem! Somebody must have summoned that!"
"No duh?" Dante deadpanned.
"…whoever summoned this must be at least a triangle level mage." Louise said
Dante frowned, and thought of Louise, who tried to stay with him despite her danger. "That aside… why didn't you run?"
"No respectable master would desert her familiar like that." She answered frankly.
Dante watched her quietly. For some reason, he found her quite cute… just now.
Fouquet, standing on the golem's shoulder, smiled and paid no attention to the wind dragon or Kirche escaping. A dark cape covered him from head to toe so they could not make out his face. Fouquet transformed the golem fist to a metallic composition, and ordered it to punch the wall. A dull thump sounded as the metallic fist hit in the wall, collapsing it. Under the dark cape, Fouquet smirked.
The golem transported Fouquet in with its hand, and the thief entered through the hole and into the treasure vault. It stored valuables of every kind, but Fouquet had only one target.
The Staff of Destruction.
A row of staffs of many sorts hung on the wall, but one came to Fouquet as completely unlike a staff. It was two mails long, and made with a sort of metal that he had never seen before. He looked at the metal plate right under it, reading, "Staff of Destruction, do not remove." His smile grew to a grin.
Fouquet picked up the Staff of Destruction, and was shocked by its lightness. Just what is this thing made of? He had no time to ponder and ran back on to the golem's shoulder.
Fouquet burned a message onto the wall before leaving: "I got your Staff of Destruction. –Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt."
With its caped summoner sitting on its shoulder, the golem leaped over the Academy walls, landed with a huge thud, and moved toward the grasslands and beyond.
Above the golem, the wind dragon circled around. Tabitha, sitting on the wind dragon, waved her staff for a Spell of Levitation, moving Dante and Louise onto the dragon's back.
"Thanks," he said to Tabitha in gratitude.
Her face remained blank, only nodding in acceptance.
Dante watched the gigantic earth golem, and asked Louise, "That mage… broke the wall. But what for?"
"The treasure vault." Tabitha answered.
"He was holding something when it came out of that hole."
"It was a thief. But… that was quite bold."
They watched as the giant golem suddenly crumbled in mid-run, into a large mound of dirt.
The crime was perfectly executed, and was swift.
They descended to the ground.
Brightly illuminated by the moons, there was nothing else besides the mountain of dirt. Just like that, the summoning mage had disappeared into the night.
"That is one smooth criminal." Dante whistled as he surveyed the damage.
'But he won't get away with it.'
／人◕ . ◕人＼
The next morning…
At the Tristain Academy of Magic, there was much commotion from last night's events, just as though a wasp's nest had been stirred.
Why? Because the Staff of Destruction had been stolen.
And it was brazenly stolen by using an Earth Golem to break through the wall of the vault.
The teachers of the Academy of Magic gathered inside the vault were speechless when they saw the gaping hole in the wall.
The inscription on the wall etched by Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt said it all:
[I have acquired the Staff of Destruction. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt]
At this point in time, all the teachers at the academy could do was gripe and whine
"It's that thief who had looted the nobles clean, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt! How daring of him to target the academy!"
"What were the guards doing?"
"Even if the guards are around, they're useless! They're only commoners! Speaking of which, which noble was supposed to be on duty last night?"
Madame Chevreuse felt anxious. She was supposed to be on duty last night. "But who would steal from the academy?" she thought while sleeping soundly in her own room instead of being next to the vault door like all nobles on watch duty must do.
One of the teachers immediately pointed out and said, "Madame Chevreuse! You were supposed to be on duty last night! Am I right?"
Madame Chevreuse broke into tears, "I'm very sorry… Very sorry…"
"Even if you cried your heart out, would it come back? Or are you going to pay for it?"
"But… but I just finished paying for my house." Madame Chevreuse knelt down on the floor and wept.
Just then, Old Osman arrived. "Erm… This is not the best time to be hard on the ladies, right?"
The fellow teacher who reprimanded Madame Chevreuse retorted, "But Osman, Madame Chevreuse failed in her duty! She was sleeping soundly in her bed when she was supposed to be on watch!"
Old Osman gently stroke his long beard while looking at the very shaken and stirred teacher.
"Erm… What's your name again?"
"It's Gimli! Have you forgotten?"
"Oh, right! Gimli! Well, M'sieu Gimli, don't get angry. Honestly speaking, how many of you here can say that you're always vigilant throughout your tour of duty?" Old Osman replied.
The teachers looked at each other and hung their heads in shame. There was silence.
"Well, that's the situation that we're in now. Talking about responsibility, I think all of us, including myself, have to be held accountable for this incident. Why did we think that a thief could never infiltrate the academy? Is it because of the number of mages we have in the academy here that gives us the assurance that we won't be attacked? This type of thinking is wrong from the beginning."
Old Osman gazed at the hole in the wall and continued, "It's our complacency that has given Fouquet the courage to trespass, and steal the Staff of Destruction. We're all at fault."
Madame Chevreuse looked upon Old Osman with gratitude and said, "Oh! Osman, M'sieu Osman! Thank you for your benevolence. From now on I'll look upon you as though you're my father."
"Well, that… Hehe… M'selle…" Old Osman started to stroke Madame Chevreuse's bottom.
"If that's okay with you… It's up to the headmaster then."
Old Osman, not wanting to put the blame on anybody, decided that was the best way to loosen the uptight atmosphere. Besides, this afternoon, the Familiar Presentation must proceed as well.
After that he proceeded to clear his throat, with everybody remaining solemn waiting for him to speak.
"Well then, who were the ones who witnessed the theft?" Osman asked.
"It was these three." said M'sieu Colbert while pointing to the three people behind him.
It was Louise, Kirche and Tabitha. Dante was also present but due to the fact that he's a summoned being, he wasn't counted as a "person".
If he only knew...
"Oh… It's you guys…" Osman said as he looked at Dante with great interest.
Dante, who probably knows why he was being stared at, but remained courteous nonetheless.
"Please tell us about the event in depth."
Louise stepped forward and described what she saw. "Mm… A great clay golem appeared and broke the wall. The hooded magician standing on its shoulder went in and took something… I think it most probably was the Staff of Destruction... After that the hooded mage rode on the golem and escaped beyond the school walls… The golem became a big mound of earth in the end."
"After that, what happened?"
"Later, all we saw was a mound of earth, with no sign of the hooded mage."
"So… that is what happened…" Osman said while stroking his beard.
"Even though we wanted to carry on the chase, but without any leads we couldn't. So…"
At this point in time Old Osman suddenly remembered a question to ask M'sieu Colbert, "Ah, Where is M'selle Longueville?"
"I'm not sure, I haven't seen her since morning."
"Where could she have gone to during these trying times?"
"That's right, where could she be?"
In the midst of those mutterings, M'selle Longueville finally appeared.
"M'selle Longueville! Where have you been? Something terrible has happened!" said M'sieu Colbert anxiously.
M'selle Longueville spoke to Old Osman in a very cool and calm manner. "I'm extremely sorry to be late! I was doing some investigations. So…"
"Investigations?"
"Yes. When I woke up this morning there was already a lot of commotion happening, so then I went to the vault and saw the inscription on the wall made by Fouquet. I knew that the thief infamous throughout the land had struck again. Therefore, I immediately started investigations."
"You're really very efficient, M'selle Longueville." M'sieu Colbert then asked again in an urgent manner, "But in the end, did you find out anything?"
"Yes, I have gotten hold of the whereabouts of Fouquet."
"What!" Mr. Colbert spoke with amazement. "Where did you get this information from M'selle Longueville?"
"According to the commoners around the area, they saw what seemed to be like a person wearing a black hooded cloak entering an abandoned house in the nearby forest. I think that the person is most probably Fouquet and that abandoned house is most probably his hideout."
Louise upon hearing that exclaimed, "A black hooded cloak? Unmistakable, that must be Fouquet!"
Old Osman too got psyched up and asked M'selle Longueville, "How far is it from here?"
"By foot it takes half a day, by horse it should only take four hours."
"We must report this to the Imperial Court right away! We must seek reinforcements from the imperial army!" M'sieu Colbert shouted yet again.
Old Osman shook his head and stared at Colbert and with a vigor unfitting for an old man and shouted, "You fool! By the time we report this to the imperial court, Fouquet would have gotten away Scott free! Besides, if we can't even handle such a small problem on our own, we're not fit to be called nobles! Since the staff was stolen from the academy, then it's the academy's responsibility to get back the staff ourselves!"
M'selle Longueville smiled, as though she was waiting for this answer all along.
Old Osman coughed for a while, and then started recruiting volunteers. "Now, we're going to organize a search team to find Fouquet. Those willing to join, please rise up your wands."
All of the nobles looked at each other awkwardly, not one raised a wand.
"No one? That's strange. No one wants to be known as the hero who caught Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt?"
Louise was among those who lowered their heads but she decided to raise her wand.
"M'selle Vallière!" Madame Chevreuse exclaimed in surprise. "You mustn't do this! You're still a student! Please leave this to the teachers!"
"But none of you are willing to help…" Louise muttered.
Dante looked at Louise with a knowing smile. With the rather serious look on Louise, she looked like she could accomplish anything.
And she CAN, Dante will assure it.
Seeing that Louise had raised her wand, Kirche too raised her wand, with a little reluctance though.
M'sieu Colbert even more surprised, exclaimed; "M'selle Zerbst! Aren't you a student too?"
Kirche replied nonchalantly, "Well, I simply cannot lose to the Vallière family."
Seeing Kirche raising her wand, Tabitha did the same.
"Tabitha! You need not do this! This does not concern you at all!" Kirche said.
Tabitha just answered, "I'm worried."
Feeling touched, Kirche looked at Tabitha with gratitude.
Louise at the same time also muttered, "Thank you… Tabitha."
Seeing the three of them, Old Osman laughed and said, "Well then, it's all up to you three now."
"Sir! Headmaster Osman! I strongly object! We must not put the life of a student in danger!"
"Well, would you then go in their stead, Madame Chevreuse?"
"Ah... Erm… Well… I'm not feeling very well recently, so…"
"They have seen Fouquet before plus, even though M'selle Tabitha here is very young, I have heard that she has already been conferred the title of chevalier, am I right?"
Tabitha did not answer and just stood quietly.
All the teachers looked at Tabitha in astonishment.
"Is that true, Tabitha?" asked Kirche in similar astonishment.
Even though chevalier is the lowest title that the Imperial family can confer to a person, Kirche was still amazed that Tabitha could attain it at such a young age.
If it's a title of "Baron" or even "Marquis", the titles could be obtained by purchasing large amounts of land. However for a person to be called a chevalier, the only way is to render great service for the country. It's a title that can only be conferred by merit.
Once again, there was great commotion inside the vault.
Old Osman went on and looked on Kirche and said, "Miss Zerbst from Germania comes from a family of distinguished war heroes, and she herself has a very strong background in fire magic."
Kirche flicked her hair with confidence.
Louise, thinking that it was time for her to be praised too, cutely stood to attention.
Old Osman was now in a pinch. There was almost nothing to praise about Louise…
"Ahem!" Clearing his throat, Osman veered his sight clear of Louise and said; "That... M'selle Vallière comes from the prestigious Vallière Family, a family renowned for their mages. And… She'll be a promising one in the future… and as for her Guardian…"
Placing his gaze on Dante, Osman continued saying; "Even though he's a commoner, he has defeated General Gramont's son, Guiche de Gramont in battle." Old Osman thought to himself: 'and if he really is the related to the legendary Sparda… Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt should not be a match for him.'
M'sieu Colbert also enthusiastically added; "Yes! Yes! Because he is the legendary Da…"
Old Osman hastily covered M'sieu Colbert's mouth before he could finish his sentence. "A.. Hahaha… He's talking nonsense! Haha!..."
Then there was silence again.
Then Headmaster Osman in a solemn tone spoke, "If anyone thinks that they're more capable than the mentioned three, please step forward."
No one stepped forward.
Therefore Old Osman turned to the group of four and said, "The academy awaits the capture of Fouquet then!"
Louise, Kirche and Tabitha stood to attention and said, "We swear upon our wands to capture Fouquet!"
After that they pulled the edges of their skirts and made a curtsy. Dante also hastily followed. As he wasn't wearing a skirt, he just bowed stiffly.
"Well then, ready the carriage and set off right away. You must conserve your energy before you reach your destination."
"M'selle Longueville, could you go with them, too?"
"Yes, Headmaster Old Osman. I had wanted to go with them as well," said M'selle Longueville.
So under the lead of M'selle Longueville, the four quickly set off.
Even though it was considered a carriage, in actual fact it was just a cart with wooden planks attached as a seat. The good thing about it though was that if they were attacked, they could easily jump out of the carriage right way.
M'selle Longueville was in charge of driving the carriage.
While the other three are properly seated, the devil hunter just laid and took a nap, his swords propped beside him, much to the pinkette's embarrassment.
"Wake me up when we get there, will ya?" Dante told his "Master" earlier.
She's a bit peeved by being ordered like that in front of people, by her summoned being nonetheless.
The thing is, knowing Dante when pissed off...
Kirche asked the silent Longueville who was concentrating on the reins, "M'selle Longueville, this type of job could be done by a commoner. Why do you have to do it yourself?"
M'selle Longueville smiled and answered; "It's all right. I'm not a noble anyway."
Kirche paused for a while, and asked again, "But aren't you Headmaster Osman's secretary?"
"Yes, I am. But Old Osman isn't a person who is concerned by a person's status when looking for help. Whether if he's a noble or commoner."
"If it's possible, tell me in depth how you lost your status, please."
But M'selle Longueville just smiled at Kirche. It seemed like she did not want to speak anymore.
"Just tell me please, even if it's just a little." Kirche pestered as she began leaning closer to M'selle Longueville. Just then she felt someone grabbing her shoulder. It was Louise. Kirche then turned around and said, "What is it that you want, Vallière?"
"Forget it. Stop raking up someone's past."
"Humph, I'm bored, that's why I needed some one to talk to". Kirche replied while placing her hands behind her head and laying against the side of the carriage.
"I do not know if this applies to your country, but in Tristain, it's a shameful act to force someone to reveal something that he or she does not want to say."
Kirche did not answer her. She got up and sat in a cross legged position and began saying, "It's all because of your impetuous that got me into this mess. Capturing Fouquet…"
Louise gave an angry stare at Kirche, "What do you mean by that? Didn't you volunteer yourself in?"
"If you had came alone, wouldn't Dante be in danger, too? Am I right, Louise the Zero?"
"Why do you say that?"
"Anyways, if that large golem appeared again, you would surely run to the rear and let Dante do all the fighting, right?"
"Why would I run away? I could use my magic now!"
"You, fight alongside Darling? What a joke!"
The two started bickering again. Tabitha continued reading her book.
"That's enough! Would you both please shut up?" Dante interrupted, cracking an eye open.
Kirche did a gesture and said, "Humph, I'll stop. I'm not the one at fault anyway."
Louise bit her lips.
"Well then darling, this is for you." Kirche looked at Dante seductively, and then placed in his arms the sword that she had bought for him.
"Thanks." Dante said while taking the sword.
Louise stared at the both of them, but kept quiet.
Suddenly, it turned dark. The carriage had entered the forest. The darkness and the weird smell present in the forest sent shivers down their spines.
"We'll have to walk from here onwards." M'selle Longueville said. The group then disembarked from the carriage, and proceeded to the small path into the forest.
"I'm afraid of the dark and don't like the feeling around here…" Kirche said while wrapping her arms around Dante's.
Not that he minded the harassment, as the fleshy globes pressed against his chest, but he deadpanned,
"Could you not keep so close to me?"
"But I'm afraid!" Kirche said with exaggerated reaction.
Anyone could tell that she was lying…
Dante felt something tug at his senses, danger.
Dante, worried about Louise's safety, glanced at her.
Louise turned her head away. Apparently, only thinking of how the redhead is currently sticking close to her guardian being.
"Humph"
The group reached a clearing in the forest. It was roughly the size of the Vestri Court and in the middle was an abandoned house. The house was built from wood with a corroded stove. Next to it was a completely rundown warehouse.
The group hid behind the bushes and observed the house.
M'selle Longueville pointed to the house and said, "From the information I've gathered, that should be the place."
"Looks like no one is inside. Is Fouquet really hiding there?"
The group aside from Dante started discussing, using sticks to draw their battle plan on the ground. They agreed that ambushing him was the best way.
All the better if he was sleeping.
Firstly, they would need to scout around the house and know what is going inside. After that if Fouquet is inside, the scout will draw him out, because there is not enough earth inside the house for him to create an earth golem. Once outside, the rest would all cast their magic against him, without letting him have a chance to summon his golem.
"So who is going to lure him out?" Dante asked, instantly grasping their plan.
Tabitha replied, "The one with the best reflexes."
All stared at Dante.
"Me, huh?" Dante sighed. He drew out the sword that Kirche gave to him.
'As if this thing could do damage, but well...'
Dante casually walked closer to the house and peered through the window in the house.
There was only one room in the whole house, with a table and a reclining chair that were both covered in dust. There was also a bottle of wine on the table and in one corner of the room there was firewood.
There was no one inside and there did not seem to be any place to hide inside the house either.
Had he already left this place?
But their opponent is Fouquet, a triangle mage. So he may still be hiding inside even though there did not seem to be a hiding place inside.
So Dante decided to call everyone over.
Dante used his hand to make thumbs-up sign on top of his head, a sign that means the house is empty.
The rest of the group who were hiding carefully approached the house.
"There's no one inside," Dante said while pointing at the window.
Tabitha waved her staff at near the door and muttered, "There's no trap." She then opened the door and went inside the house.
Kirche and Dante followed suit and entered the house.
Louise told the rest she would stand guard and stayed behind.
M'selle Longueville said that she would investigate the area around the forest and disappeared.
Dante's group went into the house and started to look for any clues to Fouquet's whereabouts.
Then, Tabitha found inside a box...
The Staff of Destruction.
"The Staff of Destruction." Tabitha said while waving it around.
"Isn't this too easy?" Kirche exclaimed.
Dante looked at the Staff of Destruction and said, "Kirche, is this really the Staff of Destruction?"
Kirche nodded and said, "Unmistakably, I saw it once during my tour of the treasure vault.
Dante brought the staff closer and examined it closely. "If I'm not wrong this is a …"
Dante then recognized the said "staff" and smiled inwardly.
'Damn...'
Just then, Louise who was standing guard outside gave a chilling shriek. "Ahhhh!"'
"What happened, Louise?"
Just as everyone looked outside the house, a loud sound could be heard. Crack! Suddenly the house was without a roof and everyone looked up.
In place of the roof was a giant earth golem.
"It's an earth golem!" Kirche screamed.
This one looks a lot meaner than before.
Tabitha was the first to react. Waving her staff, she started chanting her magical inscriptions. A whirlwind appeared out of her staff and struck the golem.
After the whirlwind dissipated, the golem remained unscathed.
Following Tabitha, Kirche took out her wand hidden in her cleavage and started chanting.
A fireball shot out of her wand and engulfed the golem. Even though the whole golem was on fire, it did not seem to be affected by the fire at all.
"It's too tough for the few of us!" Kirche shouted.
"Retreat" Tabitha said softly.
Kirche and Tabitha went different ways and ran out of the house.
Meanwhile, Dante was looking for Louise.
"Over there!"
Louise stood behind the golem, chanted something and pointed her wand towards the golem.
Something exploded on the surface of the golem. It was Louise's magic! The golem realized this, turned around and faced Louise.
Dante, standing near the door of the house 20 mails away from Louise shouted, "Run, Kid!"
Louise refused, "No! If I subdue this, no one will ever call me Louise the Zero ever again." Louise appeared to be very serious. The golem tilted its head, pondering whether to deal with Louise or Kirche and Tabitha who were escaping.
"Look at the size difference between you and the golem! I'll handle that thing!"
"You'll never know if you don't try."
"Damn it, It's impossible at your level!"
Louise stared at Dante and said, "Haven't you said this before?"
"What?"
"It's about time I show off."
'What the heck, where did that line came from?' Dante thought.
"Yes... I did say that… "
"I feel the same way. Even though I cannot accomplish anything, this is a matter of pride. If I run away now, people will say, 'because she's Louise the Zero, that's why she ran away'."
"Does it matter? Let people say whatever they want!"
"But I'm a noble. Nobles are people that can use magic." Louise tightened her grip on her wand. "And nobles never turn their backs on their enemies."
The golem decided that it would deal with Louise first, it raised its leg, preparing to crush her.
Louise raised her wand towards the golem and started chanting again…
But it failed, even though Louise used 'fireball'.
She forgot to channel her natural element, in her haste.
Then a small explosion occurred on the golem's chest and small fragments of earth fell out from its chest. The golem was not affected by the attack at all.
Dante sighed, grabbed Rebellion and dashed towards Louise.
Louise saw the golem's foot getting nearer and nearer. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.
'Didn't you say it's time for you to show off?"
A staccato of gunshots peppered the golem in such force that the construct was actually forced to shield itself from the onslaught of bullets,
Meet one of the most favourite tools of Dante's trade, the overly customized .45 guns; Ebony and Ivory.
Shot after shot after shot, Dante pressed on his attacks as the golem if forced on the defensive, and tries to swat the devil hunter like a fly,
Unfortunately for it, Dante is much more agile than a fly, and even more annoying.
He fired his weapons in such speed that he is actually being lifted into the air by the guns' powerful recoil.
Whooping like a boy riding a rollercoaster, Dante kept on firing like a maniac, and in points he manages to double jump, using the demonic energy to create a platform in the air to jump from.
As a finale for his, gunslinger style, Dante triple jumps high above the golem, dives headfirst to his gigantic target, points the pistols, spins rapidly as he fired the guns, raining a storm of lead upon the enemy construct.
Taste the Rainstorm.
Those who are watching the spectacle unfold were unable to express the awe of what Dante has been showing them thus far.
'What the heck are those guns made of?" Kirche asked herself, as it looked like Dante never reloaded the weapon at all, and continuously fired at the golem.
Guns she knew of only shoots once before reloading.
And the rate Dante shoots are enough to bring down an entire army.
Though in the heat of danger, a different heat arose within her.
She would so want to spend wonderful nights with Dante , exploring him within and without.
The golem is getting its ass kicked, leaving it confused for a while.
At that instant, Dante approached her at the speed of a whirlwind, grabbed her and instantly sped away from the golem's stomps.
Dante gave a flick on Louise's forehead. flick!
"Do you really wish to die?"
Louise looked at Dante, stunned.
"To hell with your noble's pride! Once you die, nothing really matters anymore!"
Tears began to flow out of Louise's eyes like a waterfall.
'Crap, I made her cry.'
"But… but I cannot take this lying down… I'm always being treated like a fool by others…"
Looking at the crying Louise, Dante felt hapless.
He hated it when girls cry.
Being constantly called "Zero", being treated like an idiot, no one could take that lying down.
He recalled his fight with Guiche. Louise cried that time, too. Albeit that has something to do with how scary he was that time.
Even though Louise is stubborn and haughty, in reality she actually hates fighting and she's not good at it either.
She's only a girl… Louise's beautiful face was now covered in tears, just like a crying child.
'Damn it.' Dante cursed inwardly as he dodged the incoming stomps of the golem.
This was not the time to console her. Dante turned his head over and saw the golem raising its fists, ready to pound them.
"Can't you even console me a little?" Louise protested as Dante carried her and escaped.
"Sorry kid, consoling isn't one of my forte skills at the moment."
The golem chased after them, even though the golem was nowhere near agile, its speed was still on par with Dante, at the moment.
Tabitha's Wind Dragon landed in front of devil hunter to help in their escape.
"Get on." Tabitha said.
Dante placed Louise on the dragon's back.
"You too, quickly!" Tabitha said to Dante with urgency unlike her normal self.
"And miss all the fun? No thanks," Dante grinned as he suddenly disappeared from Tabitha's view.
"Fast." She breathed.
"Dante?" Louise shouted.
"Fly away now!" Dante shouted.
Tabitha stared at Dante emotionlessly for a while, and was forced to make Sylphid fly up as the golem was approaching them.
Bang!
The golem's fist smashed onto the place the devil hunter stood on.
Dante didn't even bother moving as he goes to a stance to block the golem's attack with his right hand.
A crater a meter wide was formed as the force of the golem's blow connected with the devil hunter.
Too bad for the construct that the attack was completely blocked.
Dante's using his Royalguard skill.
The golem removed its fist from the ground, its controller thinking that it has crushed its target.
Dante mumbled to himself,
'Don't cry if you can't take it lying down. Stupid kid! This really makes me feel like doing something for you!'
Dante faced the golem and said, "You don't look so big from where I'm standing. Show me what you got, you big pile of dirt! Bring it on!"
"Dante!" Louise attempted to jump down from Sylphid which was in mid air, but was grabbed by Tabitha.
"Please let me go to him!" Louise pleaded.
Tabitha shook her head.
"Impossible to get near."
Whenever Sylphid tried to get near, the golem would try to attack it. So Tabitha was not able to approach the devil hunter at all.
"Dante!" Louise shouted again.
Louise saw Dante casually doing fine in a stand-off against the golem.
Fist against Fist,
Louise wondered what sort of being Dante is...
The golem moved and threw a punch. In mid-flight the fist morphed into steel.
Dante saw this, and parried the attack with his palm.
BOOM! BOOM ! BOOM!
Resounding crashes echoed through the forest as the golem pounded the devil hunter who simply blocked the punches and stomps.
Dante carefully bided for time to strike.
Seeing Dante in a seemingly stalemate, Louise was desperate. Wasn't there anyway to help him? Just then, Louise noticed the "Staff of Destruction" held by Tabitha. The item is quite large and heavy for a magic staff, though a magic spell cast on it made it a lot lighter and easier to carry.
"Tabitha! Pass that to me!"
She nodded and passed the Staff of Destruction to Louise.
The Staff of Destruction had an unusual shape that Louise had never seen before.
But since Louise's magic did not work, all she could depend on now was the Staff of Destruction.
Louise closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening her eyes again she said, "Tabitha! Use levitation on me." And jumped off the Sylphid's back.
Tabitha hastily casted "Levitation" on Louise.
Under the effect of the spell, Louise slowly descended and facing Dante and the golem, waved the Staff of Destruction.
Nothing happened at all. There was no response from the Staff of Destruction.
"Is this really a magical staff?" Louise shouted urgently.
Were there any special requirements in order to activate it?
Dante looked at the descending Louise and sighed.
'Why did she come back? It would have been better for her to stay on the dragon!'
At the same time, Dante saw the Staff of Destruction that Louise was holding.
Looks like Louise did not know how to use the staff and she was just waving it around…
'For Pete's sake... That's not how to use it.'
BOOM!
Dante then suddenly unleashed the Royal Release, completely destroying the golem's left arm, leaving it stunned for the moment.
Dante rushed towards Louise, who's still waving the "staff" like crazy.
"What the heck are you thinking, Louise?" Dante berated the pinkette.
"Dante!" Louise shouted to Dante who suddenly appeared in front of her.
The devil hunter grabbed the Staff of Destruction away from Louise.
"I don't know how to use this!"
"It's supposed to be used like this!"
Dante grabbed hold of the Staff of Destruction, which is actually a weapon extremely close to him before, checked the safety as he looked over the missile rack.
'It's still in good condition.' Dante thought as he aimed the launcher at the now recovering golem.
But now this is not the time to think.
He flipped up the telescope sight on the tube and aimed.
Seeing his proficiency in handling the Staff of Destruction, Louise was too shocked to say anything.
Dante placed the Staff of Destruction on his shoulder and pointed the front of the staff towards the golem.
Due to the short distance between him and the golem, he decided to aim directly at the golem.
As the distance was very close, the arming range might not be attained and therefore even if hit directly, it might not explode, or worse the missile might even explode right in front of his face.
But then again this 'girl' has a tendency to do that now and then when he used it before.
'Forget about that, just try it!' Dante thought while shouting at Louise, "Don't stand behind the staff, there will be a back blast!"
Louise hurriedly moved out of the way.
The golem approached closer and closer to Dante.
"Say hello to my little friend!" Dante crowed.
Dante released the safety button and fired the weapon.
Immediately, a loud thunder came from the staff and a projectile with wings flew towards the golem.
The projectile met with the golem with a terrific explosion.
Dante just stood there and enjoyed that explosive moment, while the rest shielded themselves from the shockwave.
A deafening roar occurred and the upper body of the golem pulverized and flew out in all directions, causing a rain of earth.
The rest slowly opened their eyes.
As the smoke from the explosion cleared, only the lower body of the golem was left standing.
What was left, took one last step forward before it finally stopped moving, and knelt down.
Then slowly from the waist, it crumbled… and returned into what it originally was – dirt.
Just like last time, the golem was reduced into a mound of earth.
Louise, who witnessed everything, felt her legs weaken and sat on the floor.
Kirche, who was hiding near the bushes, came running out.
As he put down the weapon, Dante finally gave a sigh of relief.
Kirche hugged Dante and said, "Dante, My darling! You did it!"
Sylphid, who was carrying Tabitha, descended. Tabitha looked at the mound of earth and asked, "Where is M'selle Longueville?"
Just then everyone realized that M'selle Longueville was missing.
Just then M'selle Longueville came out from the forest.
"M'selle Longueville! Did you find out where Fouquet was controlling the golem from?" Kirche asked.
M'selle Longueville shook her head.
The four of them started searching the mound of earth for clues. Dante looked at them, and then looked at the Staff of Destruction, thinking to himself: Why did this thing appear in this world?
Just as he was thinking, M'selle Longueville took the missile launcher.
"M'selle Longueville..." said the exasperated Dante.
M'selle Longueville widened the distance between the group and then said,
"Great job, people!"
"M'selle Longueville!" Kirche shouted. "What's the meaning of this?"
Louise stared at M'selle Longueville, too shocked to say anything.
"The one controlling the golem was me all along."
"What? That means… You're…"
"Yup, she is…" Dante began to explain but was cut off with the next move the school secretary made.
M'selle Longueville removed her glasses, her once gentle expression had changed into one full of killing intent.
"Yes, I am Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt. The Staff of Destruction is really powerful; it actually can defeat my golem in just one hit!"
Fouquet held the Staff of Destruction on her shoulders like Dante did just now.
Tabitha waved her staff and began chanting.
"All of you don't move! I have the Staff of Destruction pointed towards you. Drop your wands now."
They had no choice but to obey. Without their wands, they could not cast any magic.
"M'sieu Agile Familiar, please drop your weapons, and just stay where you are. You don't want me to destroy your master to dust."
Dante shrugs but obeyed, keeping a close watch to what this woman planned on doing.
"Why?" Louise asked angrily.
"Hmm… I'd better explain to you all in order for you all to rest in peace." Fouquet said with a coquettish smile on her face.
"I had gotten hold of the Staff of Destruction, but I did not know how to use it."
"The way to use it?"
"Yes. No matter how I waved the staff or applied my magic on it, there was no response at all. That frustrated me. After all, if I do not know how to use it, it would be just as useful as a decorative item. Wouldn't it?"
Louise wanted to dash out towards Fouquet, but was stopped by Dante.
"Dante?"
"Let her finish."
"How considerate of you, M'sieu Familiar. Then I would continue. Since I did not know how to use it, the only way was to let other people show me how to use it."
"So therefore you brought us here." Dante deadpanned, looking at the thief with his arms crossed.
"If it's the students from the academy, there may be a chance that someone knows how to use the staff."
"If none of us knew how to use the Staff of Destruction, what would you do?"
"If that was the case, you all would be crushed by my golem. After that I would bring the next group of students here. But thanks to you, I finally know how to use the Staff of Destruction."
Fouquet smiled and said, "Even though the time spent with you all was short, I'm really happy. Goodbye."
Kirche feeling hopeless, closed her eyes.
Tabitha and Louise closed their eyes, too.
But Dante just grinned.
"You're really brave." Fouquet compliments the devil hunter.
"Well, actually it's not bravery." Dante replied, as he took a step forward, "I'm just that cool."
Fouquet pressed the trigger as Dante had done before.
Then Kalina Ann launches another rocket.
This time, towards the Dante's group.
Dante then does the inexplicable; he actually rushed towards the rocket in blinding speeds.
He then leaped, landed and actually rode the rocket surfer style. The rest of the group goes bug-eyed at the scene.
All the while Dante laughs like a kid at play as he deftly shifted the direction of the projectile away from the girls and gets it to explode harmlessly in the air, leaving those watching the devil hunter in a state of shock and awe, which included Fouquet.
"Dodge this then." Fouquet hissed as she is about to press the trigger again, this time aiming at the vermillion coated man, while he's still 100 mails in mid-air.
"I don't think so." As Dante flicked his coin towards the thief and hits the safety button of the weapon, rendering it useless.
"Huh? How? Why?" Fouquet shouted deliriously, as she pressed the trigger but the launcher won't fire at all.
Dante lands two steps in front of Fouquet, who is fumbling with the launcher.
"Even if I explained, you would not be able to understand how that works. That is not a magical staff from your world." Dante states boredly,
"What did you say?" Fouquet dropped the Staff of Destruction and took out her own wand.
Dante moved as fast as lightning, delivering a blow to Fouquet's stomach with his fist.
"This is a weapon from my world. To be precise, it's named Kalina Ann; a friend of mine's personal rocket launcher."
Fouquet fell onto the ground, unconscious.
Dante then picked up his coin and the Kalina Ann, inspected it for damages, but thankfully he found none.
'But the implications of this...Seems like the situation is even deeper than I imagined.' Dante thought,
"Dante?" Louise and the other two all stared at him.
Dante answered as he turned to them grinning, "We've caught Fouquet and retrieved the Staff of Destruction. So, can we go now?"
Louise, Kirche and Tabitha looked at each other, and then ran towards the devil hunter.
Dante was glomped and hugged by the three girls together,
He is just glad that the girls are safe.
／人◕ . ◕人＼
Notes:
Mail - Length / height - measures roughly close to one meter... by how much... : )