The cavern lead to a tunnel which seemed to be collapsing as spikes descended around them . He dodged them and noticed a few side tunnels that opened on the walls of the cavern . It was a short flight before Ayano began to push against his shoulder .
"Stop! Kia..."
Suddenly , He remembered her falling unconscious, lying beneath him looking as if she was sleeping when in fact she could have been dead ...and he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference .
"Shut up ! princess !"
He heard a sharp intake of breath . He felt her aura and the pressure of her fingers digging into her shoulders increase .
"Kazu..."
In a split second he covered her with a barrier and twisted before practically tossing her into opening in the next side tunnel , watching her eyes (which were bright , sharp , Alive... ) open with surprise and indignation ...before a wall of rock separated them .
The beast wanted him .
And he was counting on that to keep her away .
With a deep breath , ...he released his barrier .
"THERE YOU ARE !"
'Come and get me ! You psycho '
A spike came right at him , focused instead of random , now that Kazuma stopped hiding his aura . He dodged it before sending a few wind blades to clear the path ahead of him .
'A little further ...come on... '
"GIVE UP CONTRACTOR !..."
"NAH ! SORRY ! I'M A BIT TOO STUBBORN FOR THAT !"
A spike from below shot in front of him and he dodged before shattering another that came from above , he was pushed to the side and the second his foot grazed the wall , a layer of rock covered his ankle before other spouts of rock extended and covered his hands and his other leg.
'Sh*t ! guess this will have to do .'
Slowly , the ground in front of him began to crumble open and a humanoid creature covered in dirt rose from the rock . It's face cracked open to give a wide creepy grin with two blackish holes in the area where is eyes used to be , seemingly staring right at him as one dirt-crusted arm rose from his side towards Kazuma's face .
The monster opened his mouth , his voice still seeming to come echoing from around the tunnel.
"...Time To Accept Your Fate !"
Kazuma shook his head with a chuckle.
"You know something ?..."
Then raised his head to look at the monster with a smile , his eyes shining as clear and blue as a cloudless summer sky .
"...I Hate that line ."
.
.
Ayano did not blame Kazuma for her current situation .
No Really!
She was a mature adult and should really have known that that stupid , bloody , idiotic Moron would would go do something like that , especially after she herself was ( admittedly) stupidity caught off guard .
That overprotective fool .
After Kazuma stopped hiding his aura , the wind dropped her to the ground and she proceeded to destroy everything in her path ( with was rock , rock and , you guessed it , ...more rock ) in an attempt to get to him .
But he was flying...fast ...until he suddenly stopped.
Two seconds later , she sensed his contract being awoken .
And in the next blink , she clearly sensed both the dirtbag's aura and Kazuma's aura rise in strength and shoot even Further away from her that they already were .
Which she has no doubt was his plan in the first place .
That bloody idiot .
"Honestly, ..."
Ayano spun around startled , pointing bloody rose right towards the shadow in the conner on the cavern she had burned out , right below a ash rimmed hole through which light seemed to enter but was getting slowly closed off , covering the woman below it in darkness .
"...boy's been in town , what ? , one day ? ...and already this ?...you two really are made for each..."
"KIARA !..."
The next second , Ayano launched herself at the woman before enveloping her in a hug .
"...YOU CAME !"
The woman raised an eyebrow as the cavern shook with the strength of the battle taking place at the distance .
"Of course I did ! I presumed it was urgent considering You , of all people, asked for help ."
Ayano pulled away and rolled her eyes .
"Yeah , yeah ! Taichi and you did make me promise not to do this myself unless you were completely unavailable . Now , would you Please kill that dirtbag before he kills my bo...I mean , Ren's bodygau...I Mean , ...Ren's brother ."
A small smirk grew on the woman's face .
"You don't mind if the contractor sees my face ?...it may come as a ..bit of a shock ."
Kazuma's aura began to weaken , as did the dirtbag's , the only difference being , the dirtbag could regenerate , though , since he activated his contract , Kazuma can probably sense the dirtbag's aura so strength wise , they'd be pretty even ...for now .
Even contractors have limits .
Ayano gave an annoyed and sadistic fake smile .
"Let him suffer . I don't owe him anything, let alone answers ."
The woman let out a small laugh before vanishing in a burst of light , the only remnant being an ash covered hole in the direction of the two auras .
Summoning bloody rose , Ayano continued her mining towards her idiotic ex-bodyguard , already knowing she was going to regret her decision , but far too annoyed to care .
.
.
.
Kazuma had a plan ...kind of...
He had noticed the monster's hesitation to destroy any part of the more building like structures ( ie. The parts that looked like rooms instead of an underground cave ) , such as the lab they had first entered into and the the rooms he had reached and pushed the fight to that area to limit his movements .
He had underestimated the monster . Once he invoked the contract , he could sense the creature but his aura was ...unreal . Not as in amazing, but as in... Not . Real .
He felt like a dead man who's body stopped degrading and was held together by incredibly pure spirit energy .
That ...Thing wasn't ,...isn't ...really ...a person and Kazuma didn't know how to destroy the creature's core energy .
He couldn't win.
But he could buy time ...and hopefully , Ayano won't tell her 'friend' to let him die be caused he ( most definitely) pissed her off .
Not the ideal option , but it's the only one he's got .
A sharp pain shot across his shoulder as one of the stone-missiles broke through his wind-shield . The creature may hesitate to destroy the structured room , but he did not refrain too much .
"You are weakening, contractor."
Kazuma pushed backwards before sending a powerful wind blade infused with pure wind energy right at the body . The creature tried to block it , but the wind just split and surrounded it before shattering it within the wind cocoon and breaking apart .
The creature , with it's arms and legs practically pieces held together at the tips and it's body and face crumbling , collapsed ...and slowly began to reform ...Again! .
'F*CKING SH*T ! THAT'S ANNOYING!'
Kazuma didn't waste a second . The monster had gotten a few hits in and though he minimised the blood loss , He Needed To Escape .
...
...But he couldn't , because then the creature would go after Ayano .
Sometimes he wishes he really was still as much of a heartless , selfish bastard he's accused of being . It would make things so much easier.
Kazuma went deeper into the broken down building . It looked like a lab inside . His wounds slowed him down but he kept going . A part of him wondered if he would actually die there . But another part , which sounded suspiciously like a hot-tempered enjutsu artist promptly threatened to kill him if he did .
He paused at the dead end in front of him as he sensed the creature once again moving towards him and for a brief second ...he froze .
His contract ...tugged at him ...as if , ...as if the pure spirits ...sensed something.
And suddenly, he felt a powerful energy , equivalent if not greater than the amount he receives through his contract coming straight in his direction . The next second , a brilliant flash passed by him and when he looked forward , he saw that the wall in front of him was smoking with a small opening surrounded by ash.
"You are a pathetic opponent ."
'That voice ! ...No way !...'
He turned to see the monster being held in mid-air , a small , but firm hand clamped around his throat . A hand belonging to...Ayano?
No ! ...her hair ...it was shorter . But ...apart from that , that girl was a carbon copy of Ayano .
"WRETCHED BEAST ! WHY DO YOU PROTECT THE WIND CONTRACTOR ?"
The girl gave a sadistic smile that showed her canines and replied in a voice filled with twisted amusement .
"I was bored."
The next second met with a piercing scream as the said monster burned to a crisp from the inside out . His body creaking as fire burst out from within him until it completely destroyed him , leaving nothing but ashes .
The creature that nearly killed him was destroyed in literally seconds by that...Thing.
No , It wasn't Ayano , although it bore an unnaturally high resemblance to her , similar height , same hair ( though shorter ) , It definitely was not her . The girl turned to face me with a blank face ( Ayano's Face ) on which a smirk broke out .
"Are you not scared of me , contractor ? Surely you must have realised that I am not a simple spirit-user ."
Yes, He had realised that . Somehow her power was similar to that of a spirit king. Her aura felt faintly familiar . Even a contractor cannot hold such power so how did...What was she ? ...and Why did she look like Ayano?. He raised his head to look straight into her glowing , yet dark eyes .
Another difference . Though he must admit the princess's eyes looked similar when she was particularly angry , but these eyes looked at him like he was an amusing toy she couldn't decide whether or not to play with .
"Who are you?"
She seemed surprised , not at the lack of recognition , but at the fact that He dared to ask Her questions . The surprise gave way back to a look of amusement .
"Why dont you ask me your Real question, contractor? "
"...What are you?"
The girl simply grinned before turning away and walking to the side of the wall below the broken roof . Kazuma reached for her shoulder ...
"HEY! WAI..."
...and quickly retracted his hand due to the immense heat radiating from her skin .
...and he hadn't even touched her yet .
"You should cover your eyes , contractor"
Her body burst into Bright flames and he had to form a thick layer of dust in front of him to keep from going blind . It looked as if her skin was burning off and fire was emerging from inside her . For a second , she looked like nothing but a ball of flame , then wings of fire burst outwards from it and 'It' jolted up and landed on the ledge of the broken wall bordering the room , it looked like...a ...a ...beast . It had a humanoid body but had claws instead of hands , It's entire frame was blurred with fire which rose up to look like wings . It's face showed arrogance and amusement though it was not clearly visible . It's eyes were bright crimson and it's body seemed covered with blazing scales .
That...that was the girl , ...that was her true form .My lips moved on their own .
"Why did you look like her ?"
What do you have to do with her?.
The beast grinned showing it's canines and said.
"I am the beast-child of the flame king..."
The sound seemed to rebound of the walls , the authority was apparent in her voice . All traces of similarity to Ayano had disappeared .As it turned to leave , it said .
"...or as Ayano calls me , ...Kiara ."
...and in a swish of flames she was gone , leaving a hole covered with ash behind her.
'That's Kiara ?' Kazuma leaned against the battered wall and fell to the ground covered in the ashes of the monster , temporally worried he might regenerate ...but the ashes remained ...dead .
'That was Ayano's 'friend'?'
A small chuckle passed his lips .
'Ayano's friends with the beast-child of the flame king ...and she calls her Kiara...'
He looked to the sky through the burned-through roof .
'...But why did she look like her? Seriously , exactly how much do I not know .'
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AN :-
So ...yeah ...
This is Reeeeaaalllyyy late and in third person and I'm kinda readjusting to the story so ...
Hope you like it .
Please review ( seriously, feedback will be Very appreciated).