Nothing much to tell this time, other than I encourage constructive criticism. This story is moving along pretty slowly, so I'm going to try and speed things up a bit. I know that my action scenes have been short so far and it's been a while since I've written a longer one, so I'm going to try my hand at one here. Let me know what you think! (Sorry, had to come back and fix some continuity errors. I keep forgetting that Shirou is using Avolon's replica instead of the actual Avolon.)

Sword of the Moon Princess

"So… not only are you working with two vampires, you let an outsider know of our side of the world, the mage's association is coming here to join this clusterfuck of a free-for-all, and you want me not to go out there and end things now even though the church is breathing down my neck and sending executors and more burial agents?"

Shirou scratched the back of his head and nervously laughed as Ciel glared daggers at him. "You know, when you put it like that, it sounds really bad." Behind him, Arcueid, Satsuki and Inui stared at him incredulously.

"Oh, it only sounds bad," Inui snapped at him, causing Shirou to flinch. "Our hometown is about to become a warzone and you think it only sounds bad? I think it's pretty fucking bad!"

Ciel's glare shifted over to him. "And why are you still here? Don't you realize how dangerous our situation is?"

"I'm not going to sit by while my friends are in danger," Inui answered. His expression showed just how stubborn he was being about the subject.

Ciel, however, was in her combat persona. You do realize that any mage you come across will kill you or wipe your memories, right? The church agents aren't much better, especially the burial agency. That's not even mentioning the dead apostle ancestors that will be targeting you too. I also heard the Tohno family will be sending over some of its most trusted allies to watch over Akiha too."

Inui couldn't respond for a few seconds, trembling in fear and uncertainty as he processed the information he was being told. Ciel didn't give him time to finish before continuing. "Your mere existence puts Tohno in danger. Your friend Yumizuka will be targeted by every faction here. Not only will Tohno be killed for imprisoned for revealing the secret of magecraft to normal humans, he will also be hunted for working with a dead apostle. The only people who would help you are the Tohnos and their branch families, and that protection will only extend to Tohno Shirou. They would gladly turn on thew rest of you to protect their own. Heck, we don't even know where the vampire who bit Yumizuka is, or how much control they have over her!"

By this point the three teens were becoming more downtrodden than ever. Inui grit his teeth in frustration, Satsuki looked about to cry, and even Shirou looked around the apartment as he tried to think of something to justify his actions.

"I… Ciel, if you don't want to help me that's fine. I knew your loyalties lied with the church, anyway. But please, if you can, at least direct the church away from us. We all have mutual enemies in the city and if we begin to fight each other we'll only make the bloodshed far worse and expose ourselves even more."

Ciel saw that Shirou was practically begging her and knew he wouldn't relent, even if she tried to force him. She closed her eyes and contemplated her decisions, leaving the people in front of her to sit and wait. Almost a minute later she opened her eyes again, and everyone waited in anticipation. "Leave my workshop while you still can. I can lead the church to the on a hunt for the dead apostles, but they will still attack half of you on sight. We've worked with the mage's association before, and we'll cooperate with the clocktower so long as the hunt continues."

The three teens sighed in relief, and even Arcueid softened up a little bit. "Thank you Ciel. I'll repay you for this…"

Ciel held up a hand to interrupt Shirou. "This is the only freebie I'm giving you. Don't waste it." The message was clear. Ciel would be an ally of circumstance and potential enemy from now on, personal feelings be damned. Shirou's expression hardened and he nodded his head, motioning for his friends to follow him out. "Oh, and Tohno." The red-head turned around one last time. "Take a look at these. Your projection is something unique. Make sure you hone it, because it might be the only thing that saves you over these next few days." Ciel opened her outer robes to show him a plethora of black keys, and instantly Shirou's brain went into overdrive. The information intake made him stumble as he instinctively took in the blades in front of him.

The sun shown of the field, blades sticking out of the ground like grass. A dozen new blades joined his collection.

Shirou recovered in a few moments, but his companions were still concerned. "Thank you." With that final gift he left, many more questions that needed answers on his mind.

Once they left the apartment they calmly but quickly walked down the street, sticking to isolated but abandoned city blocks. It was no surprise that people rarely came outside these days, what with the murders, disappearances and fights. The group of vampires, magus and regular civilian wasted no time heading to Arcueid's hideout, where they continued their conversation from earlier.

"I really don't like her," Arcueid grumbled.

"I know, but I can't fault her for doing her job," Shirou said.

"Do you ever fault anyone but yourself," Inui said, making Shirou give him a deadpan glare.

"Guys, please don't fight," Sautsuki pleaded as she pushed in between them. The boys gave each other one more look before Shirou sighed and nodded his head. Inui loosened up as well.

Arcueid decided it was her turn to take charge then. "Alright, here's how things are going to work. I'm to take Tohno with me to hunt down the dead apostles that have been terrorizing the town. Since Yumizuka and Arihiko can't fight well they'll stay here and hide until we can deal with this mess. I can feed Yumizuka for a bit, but I need to retain as much of my energy as possible."

"So, you're telling us to just hide while you run off into that bloodbath?" Inui made his displeasure known quickly. "We can't do anything to help?"

Shirou shook his head. "Arihiko, you don't have any magic circuits and lack the training and experience to fight mages and executors, let alone vampires. You were helpless when that mage came after us." The reminder of last night's blunder made Inui flinch. "And despite how much natural talent Yumizuka has, she never fought a battle in her life until becoming a vampire. She won't last five seconds against someone like Ciel."

Both newcomers to the world of magecraft looked away. They both wanted to refute the statements made but knew that Shirou was right. They weren't ready for this bloodbath yet. "Fine," Inui hissed, almost like it pained him to say it. "You win. But that doesn't mean I'll do nothing." He turned his attention to Arcueid, who was more quiet than usual. "You, scary vampire lady. Do you think you can teach Yumizuka how to fight? I can go with the sword lover here and learn from him."

That got both Shirou's and Arcueid's eyes to widen. "Yeah, I guess I can give her a few pointers. But that will also make her require more blood, and we still need to figure out what that spell she used last night was." All they knew about the spell was that it had drained almost every bit of magical energy around her, mana, prana, and od.

"Shirou rubbed his chin as he thought. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. They could at least learn how to defend themselves. And besides, you won't mind if Yumizuka feeds on some dead familiars, would you? The dead apostles were also meant to be food sources, so their familiars should work as well."

Arcueid's eyes narrowed at Shirou's words. "Normally I wouldn't allow a dead apostle to roam around hunting anything." She then softened up her gaze, moving it you Satsuki. "But I suppose I could bring back some fresh kills for her. However, I've never heard of a dead apostle cannibalizing another dead apostle. I'll have to make sure she's okay after eating something like that."

Shirou nodded in agreement. "Right, and what about you Yumizuka? What do you think?"

"What, me?" The girl shrunk down as everyone in the room looked at her. "Um, I don't want to fight, but I'd feel terrible if you all went and got hurt while I couldn't do anything. I'd also bad if I couldn't protect myself again." In an uncharacteristic move, she suddenly stood up and raised her voice. "I'd like you to train me Miss Arcueid!"

The vampire princess slowly gave an unnerving smile. "Very well then. We can start immediately." And with that Satsuki's confidence immediately deflated. She dragged Satsuki off to begin training her somewhere with more space.

The boys stood there for a minute before Shirou projected a wooden shinai and tossed it to Inui. "Since you want to learn how to wield a sword I'll give you the basics. I might also show you how to use knives as well." Inui might not have shown it, but the way Shirou looked at him chilled him to the bone.

Shirou left the apartment almost three hours later. The training regime had been brutal for Inui and Satsuki, though Satsuki's healing factor helped her recover quickly. Inui would have to rest for the night.

The sun was lowering past the horizon, painting a red haze over the half dead city. People were hurrying home, and police were setting up perimeters over every city block they could cover. Other first responders like paramedics and firefighters were preparing for a hectic night. News helicopters soared across the skies with searchlights and cameras. Misaki town was a tinder box, and there were a hundred fuses lurking in the shadows.

Shirou made it home just in time to greet Akiha. She was dressed in her nightwear and had no makeup on. That wasn't mentioning the dribble of blood she wiped off of the corner of her mouth. The two looked at each other cautiously, waiting for one or the other to move. Just as Shirou's patience ran out and he prepared to leave, the Tohno head spoke.

"Shirou… Big brother, I would like to apologize." Shirou paused, the surprise barely peeking "past his hardened expression. "I understand that we haven't gotten along well here, but…"

"I don't want to hear it Akiha." Shirou's interruption made Akiha freeze. She almost seemed hurt. "You already said that you were too strict, and I was willing to let you go after the first few times, but you crossed a line last night. I understand that Hisui and Kohaku are your maids, but you threatened them for helping me. I can tolerate you having secrets, but threatening people I care about is taking it too far."

Akiha sighed as she regained her composure. "I… I didn't punish them with anything than a temporary decrease in paycheck, if that's any consolation." Shirou seemed to calm down a bit, but he still seemed frustrated with Akiha. His disappointed look drill a hole right into her chest that pierced her heart. "But yes, I realize that by trying to protect you, I was unintentionally hurting you and making your situation worse. So, I'll answer any one question for you."

Shirou expected this to be a ploy. That she'd try to weasel her way out of answering his questions. But once again there was that fear in Akiha's eyes. The fear and pain that she inflicted upon herself. "Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise. You missed dinner, correct? I saved you some since you didn't say whether you were eating out or coming home." Neither of them saw Hisui hiding behind the corner with a broom as she hesitantly eavesdropped, nor the devious smirk on Kohaku as she lurked at the top of the stairs.

As the siblings sat down to eat there was a tense atmosphere about them. They both knew the maids would be curious, but they didn't care. The twins probably already knew anyway. "So, what would you like to know? I'm already breaking a promise I made to father by telling you this, but I disagreed with how he did things anyway."

Shirou stayed silent, the questions surging through his mind. The magical energy she gave off last night? The blood on her mouth? Shiki Tohno again? No, there was something else of his mind. "What memories were erased form my mind?"

Akiha hesitated to answer, but she eventually regained her composure. "It was when you first joined our family."

Shirou raised his eyebrow. "That's a weird way to put it."

Akiha nodded her head. "Yes, because you aren't really a Tohno. You were adopted."

The house was so nsilent a pin dropping would sound like a dumbbell. "What?"

Akiha continued. "You were adopted into the family. We're not really related."

Shirou felt his perception of the world begin to shatter. He couldn't believe it. There was no way he was adopted. Yet he couldn't deny it if it was true, especially since he couldn't remember anyone in the family with hair as red as his. "You're… you can't be serious…"

Akiha continued her explanation. "It's true. After the Tohnos had defeated the Nanayas, a family that had been our enemies for generations, we took a trip to Fuyuki to talk to some family friends that that been recovering from a centuries long blood feud. However, while we were there, we had come across a magical ritual that resulted in a bloodbath. The mages responsible had started a fire that went out of control and killed about five-hundred people. You were one of the lucky ones to survive. Your parents never came for you, so father picked you up and adopted you before you were sent to the orphanage."

Shirou was still trying to process the information everything as the dots in his head connected. The dreams of fire and death, of a burning city, of the man who saved him. "Did father choose me because of the divine construct I used to have?"

Akiha's eyes widened with surprise. "You know about it," she asked curiously.

"Yes, Arcueid told me about it," Shirou answered. "But everything makes sense now. The fire dream I keep having. Those were memories." A light went on in his head. "The man who saved me! Who was…"

"We don't know for sure, but we suspect it was the mage killer." Akiha didn't even give him time to finish. The way she said 'mage killer' hinted at bad blood with him. "Father adopted you because he thought that your divine construct could help us deal with our family curse."

"What family curse?"

"If you interrupt again I will tape your mouth shut." Shirou closed his mouth and waited patiently. "Thank you. Anyway, your artifact only fully activates with a specific person's prana. Father still kept you around because he had hope, but then the… accident happened."

She hesitated to continue, but urging from Shirou helped her continue. "Shiki Tohno was our… my older brother. He was a great brother, but our family's curse activated within him and he attacked me. You took the blow, but you almost died. I transferred some of my life force into you while father restrained Shiki, but you were in critical condition. Then when Shiki started stealing your life force, causing a chain reaction that drained my life force as well, father knocked him out and took him away to kill him, as is our tradition."

"What?!" Shirou nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Sit down Shirou! Do you want your questions answered or not?!" Another moment of quiet. "Thank you. Father sent you to the hospital when small steel blades began to emerge from your chest. Due to having a unique element of sword that aligned with your origin of sword your body was trying to stitch itself back together with the blades. We took you to the hospital to get you treated and passed off the metal in your chest as a traffic accident. However, when father was considering taking you back… the mage killer returned."

The edge in her voice returned. "He had adopted the last surviving Nanaya child and returned to steal back the divine construct he gave you. Perhaps he thought that we would be the worst holders of the artifact possible. He stole the artifact back, and as a result father thought that there was no reason to keep you. He sent you to live with the Ahrimas, forbade us from interacting and the rest is history."

Akiha instantly regretted telling all of this to Shirou as she saw the torn look on his face. "Father didn't love me? He only wanted to use me?" The look on his face was like that of an abused infant. The look of a child who had his entire world burned down multiple times over. "It's not true. It can't be true. I thought…"

Akiha couldn't stand it anymore and rushed around the table to embrace her Shirou. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Even if Akiha wasn't his blood sister Shirou just clung onto the nearest source of comfort. Neither of them said anything for several minutes, just holding onto one another.

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by an interruption from outside. "Lady Akiha, did we have the mage's association coming over?" That sentence made both adopted sibling's blood run cold.

Shirou was immediately on his feet. "Akiha, get the maids and hide."

Akiha shoved past him instead. "No, this is my house and my family they're messing with!" Shirou paused for a moment as he sensed the smoky sense mixed with a tinge of spice coming off of her. Shirou knew that Akiha was getting more temperamental lately. He couldn't help but wonder what the Tohno family curse was.

By the time they got outside a bounded field had already been set up around the mansion. Two men and a woman stood in front of the front gate. The way that they stood had the entire Tohno family on edge. Man at the front, with brown hair that came down to his neck, radiated even more energy than the other two. He had the smell of smoke and ashes and was dressed in the clothes of an old school English nobleman. The man on his right, who had spiky black hair, smelled of ozone and plasma. The woman to his left, with waist long red hair, smelled of blood and carcasses. These three were dangerous and everyone knew it.

"Forgive me for not being prepared for guests. I was not expecting company today, especially not this late at night," Akiha greeted. She was far from happy to receive these visitors, but she couldn't run them off just yet.

The man in front, probably a fire mage, stepped forward. "There is nothing to apologize for ma'am. We were coming by to investigate claims that a man from the Tohno family had had helped a dead apostle kill a mage from the clocktower. My wife is quite upset about her brother's death." The mage that reeked of blood, wearing a glamorous red dress with frills, sneered viciously before her husband continued. "Their magic crest was just barely recovered from the police station. We would like to talk with the Tohno mage that was present."

Shirou opened his magic circuits, preparing to fire off a spell. Akiha knew this was going to get ugly and prepared her own magecraft. The mage that smelled of ozone, who wore a simple formal suit, kept a hardened and serious expression on his face as his own magic circuits were pumped full of prana. "Pray tell, why would I hand over my own brother? Besides, I doubt that he would willingly help one of his targets kill a bystander."

The fuse was lit, and the rest of the conversation was merely a formality. "I'm sure you understand that we can't just let this go. He could have helped, and he was almost certainly preparing to fight my brother-in-law. He also is working with the vampire that killed my dear brother. I'm sure she killed him in your brother's name." The temperature rose. "Why else would I bring my wife…" Human and animal corpses reeking of blood emerged from the shadows. "And an enforcer friend of mine." The man on his right was covered in runes and electricity.

Shirou immediately ran through all of the weapons he knew of, drawing on Ciel's black keys and the nameless swords he had seen in his life. Katanas, nodachis, wakizashis, daos, longswords falchions, everything he had seen in his life, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice.

He only slightly took notice of the crimson shade overtaking Akiha's hair.

The master of the house and head of the Tohno family was beyond pissed at this point. "Leave. My. Home."

The fire mage was not taking no for an answer. "My lady, you must realize that your mind my not be in the right place. The Tohnos are infamous for their… condition, so I must assume that your family curse is affecting your head. Please, let us settle this in a…"

The air hissed as if something was burning. Shirou's senses were overwhelmed with the smell of exotic smoke and fire. There was a split second where everything was still before the corpse-like familiars around the property writhed seemingly in pain while the woman that smelled of blood screamed. She finally cut her connection to most of her familiars before panting heavily, her husband fretting over condition while the enforcer threw a hand forward, lightning preparing to fly at Akiha. Shirou was already prepared to counter, a katana projected from his memories and firing at him. The enforcer saw this coming and changed his aim to the flying sword, blasting it apart, but was unable to attack Akiha nonetheless.

"I will say it one more time. Leave. My. Home." They knew answer they would receive. While Akiha was flexing her muscles and radiating energy, Shirou kept his blades from fully manifesting in an effort to surprise his opponents. The mages they faced were cautious yet confident. Shirou knew why. Akiha was untrained in her powers and Shirou was a third rate, barely a second rate mage at best, not to mention the numbers.

But the problem with fighting magi was that you never truly knew what to expect from them. The ground beneath Akiha and Shirou seemed to heat up, the wood igniting and splintering before exploding in a ball of blue fire. The pair of siblings was separated to opposite ends of the house. That was the moment the mages were waiting for, the lightning enforcer's runes lighting up as he rushed Akiha with an inhuman speed that Shirou could only compare to Ciel and the vampires. The fire mage and necromancer supported him, explosions rocking the area as even more corpse familiars rose up to attack. Akiha was blasted by another explosion from behind as the lightning mage ran past her, a long knife emerging from his sleeve and slashing through Akiha's stomach and electrocuting her from the inside.

Akiha screamed in agony and fell to her stomach, her own blood spilling onto the ground only to levitate back up and tie around her arms and legs. "There, now be a good girl and stay put," taunted to fire mage. He was interrupted by the enforcer rushing behind him and using the knife to block an incoming barrage of swords. The fire mage raised his arm and began a high speed incantation to obliterate Shirou when the enforcer suddenly stopped, frozen in place.

Shirou had learned a technique from the arsenal Ciel had shown him and thrown a black key into the enforcer's shadow, paralyzing him. The lightning mage was stuck in place as the man behind him was impaled several times over. The fire mage screamed, only staying alive because his wife over to him and began to use a blood based spell to shield all three of them while pulling the swords from his body and healing him.

Shirou was rushed by the remaining corpse familiars, the necromancer having committed whatever she had left in her efforts to simultaneously attacking, defending and healing. It was an impressive display, forcing Shirou to stop his barrage of blades and trace several black keys between his fingers in order to fight off the wave of corpse familiars. He began vaulting over the slow and clumsy familiars, stabbing them in the head and decapitating them as he passed over. The corpses were too slow to catch him, losing arms before they lost their heads. But they served their purpose.

"Shirou, move!" Akiha's words cued him in to the incoming attack that he failed to notice. The stench of blood and rot had distracted him the smell of ozone spiking again. He barely moved out of the way of a bolt of lightning shot from the enforcer, the strike sizzling his hair as it passed by his head. The fire mage was also back on his feet, several holes in his shirt and pants. Before Shirou could get overwhelmed by the three magi Akiha had rushed them from behind, the blood mage just barely saving her husband from a punch to the back of the head. Akiha was furious, her hand almost shattering the barrier, before the air sizzled again. The blood mage screamed as her familiars faltered and the barrier dropped, allowing Akiha to reach out in attempt to grab her. The fire mage just managed to set up a ring of fire around his wife that burned Akiha's hand, forcing her to back away lest the rest of her arm be charred to a crisp as well. The ground beneath Akiha began to heat up and melt into slag, and the teenage girl barely managed to jump away before it exploded again. She proceeded to run circles around the fire mage, her inhuman physique letting her dodge incoming explosions as the air sizzled once again.

The fire mage looked around in an attempt to detect whatever the Tohno head was using to attack him, but found nothing. In a panic he set off a ring of explosions around himself. When he felt nothing and saw the shocked look on Akiha's face he smirked. A new tactic formed in his mind as he shrouded himself in coat of flames. Akiha began to shift nervously, but she had to keep up the pressure, especially with the blood mage recovering.

Meanwhile Shirou was grateful for the incapacitation of the familiars. It allowed him to focus on the enforcer that was currently trying to gut him with a knife coated in focused electricity. The red-haired boy backed away, using his reinforcement to keep up with the runes that were augmenting his opponent. He parried strikes from the knife with his black keys, still flinching as electricity jumped up the blade and stopped short of his hand due to the hilt. He dodged the free hand that shot lightning and countered with a barrage of flying blades, only for those blades to be blocked, dodged or destroyed by a blast of lightning.

"You fight like an enforcer," The man told Shirou, causing the teenager to nervously back away. "I don't know why you're helping a dead apostle, but I'm sure the church won't mind if I dispose of you." Shirou attempted to throw a trio of black keys into the man's shadow, but the lightning user knew how to counter it this time. He began to radiate electricity and eliminated his shadow from the amount of light he created, the black keys swiftly destroyed simply by being near him. Shirou had to look away from him due to the light, and that split second allowed his opponent to blitz him and stab him in the chest.

"AAAAGH!" Electricity burned Shirou from the inside out, yet Avalon's replica just barely kept him alive long enough to stab the man in the arm. The enforcer dropped him to the ground, switching his knife to his off hand, prepared to lunge at him again. That was until Shirou threw a barrage of black keys past him. The mage looked confused until Shirou began throwing black keys around him, forming a circle. A barrage of blades from overhead kept the enforcer from moving too far, up until the final black key was in place and a miniature bounded field was set up. The bounded field was one way, allowing a storm of swords and knives. The enforcer desperately blocked as many projectiles as he could, but there was only so much he could do with one arm.

"HRAAAAGH!" The black keys forming the bounded field were destroyed by an explosion from the inside and Shirou lost focus. The storm of blades stopped as he covered his face to protect himself from the dust and debris. When he opened his eyes almost five meters of ground was scorched into glass and shattered into a crater, with another five seemingly disappeared altogether. And there the mage was, covered in lacerations and punctures, yet still standing and ready. This was when he decided to switch up his game plan. He dropped the knife and prepared to cast.

Akiha meanwhile was not having a good time. The fire mage had found a way to counter her shikigami and she couldn't get close enough for melee. She had no way of effectively attacking him. His wife, the necromancer, had recovered enough to create almost a dozen tentacles of blood from the bodies of her familiars while still being protected by a ring of fire.

As she continued to run, dodging explosions and tentacles, she was tripped up by a surprise tentacle from behind. She rolled to the side to dodge an explosion. Only to get picked up by another tentacle and restrained by the rest. She desperately struggled to break out, but before she could escape, she felt the ground beneath her heat up once again.

A fiery explosion engulfed the Tohno head. As the couple began to let their guard down, confident they had managed to kill the girl, they were taken aback by the sight of a girl standing tall in the dying flames, hair slowly turning crimson. She was scorched from head to toe, a barely functioning healing factor keeping her alive and on her feet, and her remaining clothes barely kept her modesty. Thye air began to hiss and crack with the sound of Akiha's magecraft. She was barely still alive, but the curse of the Tohnos was about to overtake her.

Yet before they could do anything, all three combatants sensed the growing magical energy in the air. Thunder sounded in the distance, yet there were very few clouds, and non of them stormclouds. The fire mage looked over to the enforcer he brought with him. "No… Shit, shit, shit! What do you think you're doing?! You'll kill us too!" Yet the words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

The lightning mage began to speak in a foreign language, Shirou suspected Celtic, and the smell of ozone increased dramatically. The sky darkened even further as storm clouds manifested over the mansion. The mage tossed a dozen stones in the air and they landed in a circle around him, a transparent blue bubble appearing around him. Shirou knew he had to interrupt the caster before the spell was finished, so he overload a black key and tossed it. It detonated against the blue shield but did seemingly nothing. The spell was about to finish if the growing scent of rain and crackling above him was any indication. Shirou braced for the incoming strike, knowing he could do nothing to stop it.

"That's enough!" The storm clouds were parted by a gust of wind as the bounded field around the house was destroyed. All five combatants and the two maids in the house looked on awe as almost three dozen magi had surrounded the house. A young woman with a brown ponytail, a gauntlet on her right hand and a white uniform was approaching the mansion, a powerful looking man with crimson hair on her right. "What in the world do you three think you are doing?"

The three attacking magi all deactivated their magic circuits. Enforcer kneeled before the woman in white, while the fire mage stuttered and the necromancer fumed. "With all due respect miss Barthomeloi, this is our…"

"Did I say you could speak my name?" The woman, a Barthomeloi, snapped. The air around her became a miniature hurricane and her magical signature was almost suffocating. "I told you that we are her to hunt dead apostles, not go galivanting with the locals."

The necromancer was furious, driven either by bravery or stupidity. "These vermin killed my brother! Do you expect…" She was cut off by a wind bullet slicing past her cheek.

"I expect you to follow orders. The last thing we need is to attack an ally of the church and a member of the Tohno clan." The man on her right stepped forward threateningly. He radiated a similar signature to Akiha, expect far more potent.

"But… but… He's working with one of the dead apostles! We can't just let them…" This time she was cut off by a wind bullet scrapping by her eye, causing her to drop to her knees screaming. Her husband rushed to her aid, powering up a healing spell.

"Do not talk back to me. I made our targets and orders clear. Hunt down and capture or kill the dead apostle ancestors. The true ancestor and any other dead apostles are secondary targets that are not to be attacked unless provoked until after the primary targets are taken care of. Try not to antagonize any of the local families or any other organization in the area. Your brother disobeyed my orders, so his death is his own fault." The magi didn't like hearing any of that, but none of them dared oppose her. The Barthomeloi turned to the red-haired man next to her. "Go, Kouma. Tend to your charges. Make sure they stay out of our business."

Kouma huffed irritably back at her. "I will, so long as you keep your subordinates in line," he growled. Two signatures clashed in front of the Tohno mansion, causing all who witnessed it to tremble in terror. The two powerhouses silently turned away from each other, Barthomeloi ordering her magi to clean the place up and Kouma picking up a half conscious Akiha. The mansion and its property would look good as new in minutes.

And all the while a young man with white hair watched eagerly. "Sister… You've grown so much. Brother… I almost don't recognize you. Let's see if you have what it takes to kill me."