Around her, four people were seated.
This was greatly different than the usual.
There were no other adventurers around them, or wait staff, or even police officers or guards. The only observer that was likely to be looking in would be a rat or two.
There was also no great view of the interior of the guild. No skeleton could be seen hanging from the low, squat ceiling above them. No plants dotted the interior of this small room, and no windows could be seen around the room.
The only thing that was similar to the guild was the good lighting, but even that was different, considering it came from the candle-lit lamp at the center of the table instead of the popular and efficient mana-fueled lights.
Of course, all of this was familiar and expected of the group that had decided to hog the backroom of a local eatery for the fifth time that week. Chris hadn't wanted this conversation to be overheard, especially not with what was going on in this town.
The Atheist was being hailed as a hero. She'd found those potions, and she'd given them to the guild, and she'd helped people when they were fighting, and she took the time to talk to everyone.
The town thought that she could do no wrong, and they'd even begun supporting that girl's charity.
Oh, there weren't any connections that she could find, but it was named Mithril and had no connections to a religion. She scowled down at the table.
No one else could be that pompous.
Charities, when they did pop up, were always connected to a noble trying to do something for their own gain, or to the church attempting to garner more followers.
Since the thing had no connections to anyone – as far as anyone could tell conclusively tell – it was the real deal.
It didn't want to do anything but help people.
She clenched her fist. As if that Demon would do anyone to help others without some plan for her own gain.
A sound outside of the room alerted the occupants to another that was coming to join them. The door slowly opened, and Darkness walked in. She looked hesitant to enter, but Chris could see the resolve shining in her disciple's eyes. Chris smirked, and then turned to the other four.
They were different; with the funds she had – sorrowfully – stolen from the lock box in her own church, she'd been able to keep providing for her students.
They were all decked out in relatively high-level gear, garbed in fitted clothing that matched each of them to a tee. Each of them were also holding onto various relics.
Rin, the only Mage among them, was holding onto the three relics that channeled mana: The Typhoon Staff, which he'd been reincarnated with, Evan's Book of Spells, and the staff of someone they didn't know.
It had a distinctive fire and ice motif, but none of them knew where it came from. They'd written it off; they didn't care, as long as it helped.
Kei, the Thief among the Reincarnates, had two: his Knives of the Fortieth Thief, and a huge sword that hung by his side. Like the staff, none of them knew who had owned it, and they had once again chalked it up to a former Reincarnate that Degurechaff had killed.
Hiroshi was also holding onto two relics: his own Extendable Spear, and a much hardier looking lance. It looked like it had once been pure white, but it seemed to be stained red on one end.
While the stain was concerning, it was also useful, so they ignored the blood and planned on what they'd be using it for instead.
The last two relics had been handed out appropriately. Jin had taken back his Never-Miss Bow, and Chris had decided to wield Saki's sword. She didn't technically have access to the skills necessary to wield swords, but it was short enough that she could use it as a dagger and face no negative effects.
They had spent a week training. A week making sure that they could win this encounter.
Chris knew that, in a one-on-one fight, or even a five-on-one fight, they wouldn't win, not without preparation, planning, and Luck, all of which they now had in spades.
That was what they'd been doing. Preparing, training, and making sure to level up their skills. Now, with Darkness's help, they'd be able to win.
Darkness sat down. "Thank you all for helping me get to the bottom of this. With your help, I'm sure we'll be able to talk sense into Tanya and-"
Kei choked, and Rin and Jin both looked at Darkness skeptically. Seeing as their Spearman looked to be trying to say something he shouldn't, Chris jumped across the table to silence Hiroshi, and then turned to Darkness, fighting to keep a nervous expression from her face.
"No problem, Darkness! We have a plan, and you'll help us complete it, alright?"
Darkness stared at them, and shook her head slowly. Chris explained Darkness's part in the plan.
"You'll be distracting Viktoriya. She's probably eager to trick more people, so if you present yourself as being willing to listen to her explanation, I'm sure she'll wander off with you. After that, we'll surround Tanya and gets some answers from her."
Darkness nodded, a ghost of a smile gracing her lips. "Alright! I'll help out!"
Chris, after giving her a bit more of the plan, as well as the all-important potion that would help in their endeavor, urged her to give them information on Tanya. She nodded, and rushed off to a nearby room, looking for something to write all of the locations Tanya frequented.
Chris turned around as soon as the door shut, to face four angry looking adventurers. "What was that about?" Kei asked.
Chris rolled her eyes. "Darkness doesn't know what we're really doing, but we need her, just like how we're going to need all five of us to pull this off. We definitely won't win with both there; we can take out Serebryakov afterward."
One by one, they nodded, and then they began to go over the plan again. It would require precise timing, and screwing up anything would most likely result in their deaths.
Well, in their deaths. Not hers. Chris was sure she'd be fine, with how much of her was still in Heaven. Degurechaff would have realized she was a Goddess by now if she still had a lot of it.
-OxOxO-
Tanya and Viktoriya walked towards the Blacksmith's. It was time for them to part ways, at least for now.
She knew she'd have to visit again eventually; their Computation Jewels would still need maintenance occasionally, and she was sure that she'd be able to recreate another gun with some more work – maybe the first Sioux's submachine gun?
However, she had to say goodbye for now. She'd take anything she'd left in there and leave it with the Succubi, and she would wish him the best of luck and hope he did the same.
Chris was gunning for her, Darkness was unlikely to help Tanya, and Tanya had no doubt the Thief might try and attack her at any time with the help of whichever Reincarnates were stupid enough to join her.
She reached the shop, and went in. The windows were clouded again, and Tanya had the vague desire to find a Mage and learn Create Water, just so he wouldn't be able to keep them dirtied up with her around.
As it was, she sent a Wind Breath towards them, blowing some of the dust away. She looked inside, and saw that he was standing in the back, working at his forge. The bell above the door rang, and he looked towards her.
A nostalgic look crossed his face. "Ah, Tanya. How nice to see you again."
She shrugged. "Yeah, sorry about my absence. As it is, I'm thinking of leaving Axel soon, so I thought I should get rid of all my stuff…"
He waved a hand. "Nonsense! You can leave the stuff here. I don't know what it is for, but some of it's been helpful in making some more intricate weapons." he said, gesturing towards some of the tools she had invented in order to make her gun, as well as the more mechanical portions of the Type 97s.
Tanya shook her head. Maybe she'd introduce helpful things like this to this world later, but for now, she couldn't risk this stuff getting out. Not after her second contract. "Sorry. I really shouldn't leave this stuff laying around…"
She walked into the back, and began picking things up. The latest batch of 'gunpowder' laid sealed up, and all her tools looked to be in pristine condition. She picked it all up, handing off some to Viktoriya.
It seemed the Blacksmith was staring. "That's a lot of stuff to carry."
Tanya heard Viktoriya respond. "Not really. We've got… buffing spells, so it's not that bad."
Tanya picked up the last of it – a bunch of metal she'd left lying around - and saw that Viktoriya was holding a large number of metal parts, tools, as well as the gunpowder case above her head with one arm.
Tanya swept passed the Blacksmith, pausing as she reached the door. She turned around.
"Thank you, for everything…" she trailed off, and then she began to laugh.
Honestly, the way they had met well over a month ago had startled her so much that she'd forgotten a basic tenet of introducing yourself to someone. It wasn't even some small thing, either.
He looked confused, and she answered his unasked question. "I never even found out your name. What is it?"
He smirked. "You know, no adventurers really care. They just demand that I make them things, or they call me by my profession. Nice to see that you're flustered about taking so long, at least."
Before she could say anything else, he said, "The name's Bill Smith."
Tanya blinked. That seemed… very appropriate for a Blacksmith, and she supposed that people were often named after what they looked like or what their profession was. It was a common enough occurrence back in the Empire, even a lot of the Aerial Mages she commanded had a von in their names.
She nodded. "Then thank you, Bill." With that, she left the shop, carrying her things with one arm and waving the other.
Viktoriya thanked him as well, and then they walked out the door.
Tanya sighed as they walked. She still needed to make arrangements with a caravan of some kind in order to travel to a different town – perhaps the Capital that Luna had mentioned was requesting more forces from Axel? – but things were almost wrapped up.
Viktoriya, meanwhile, was idly wondering if the capital had any coffee. The stuff here was so bad that even she couldn't make anything out of it – and she had been able to do a lot with the terrible stuff the General Staff often foisted onto them – and she wanted to have something good around when she broached the delicate subject of 'talking about the war' with Tanya.
Both continued to contemplate their latest schemes when Tanya bumped into someone. She was stopped, the things in her hands crashed to the ground, and Viktoriya bumped into Tanya, dropping her own things.
The person made to apologize. "Sorry, I-"
They stopped, and they became as stiff as Tanya and Viktoriya already were when they realized who it was. They hadn't ever looked down at the stuff
It was Darkness. Her sword, apparently clutched in her hands instead of in the scabbard at her side, had gone flying.
She stumbled over to the items she'd sent flying, gathered them up, and roughly pushed them into Viktoriya's hands. She bent down to grab her sword, and, as she made to leave, Tanya grabbed her. "Darkness-"
She shook off Tanya easily. "No, Tanya. You were the one who used magic on me, right? To stop me from volunteering to save the town and get ravaged by monsters? I hadn't thought you'd stoop to that level, to deprive me of pleasure, but-"
Tanya shook her head. "I was saving you. That potion is going to attract monsters, and it lasts forever, as far as Wiz can tell. When the capital sends in some Hero Candidates to chase Verdia off, they'll fade into the background with no future to speak of."
Darkness's anger seemed to fade. "You mean… you were looking out for me?"
Tanya scoffed. "Of course. What do you think I am, some Sunday morning cartoon villain who revels in the suffering of others? I have reasons for what I do. You didn't let me explain before you seemed like you might try and accost me."
Darkness looked embarrassed and perplexed, and Tanya could feel the inquiring gaze of Viktoriya at her odd turn of phrase, but Darkness sighed regardless, as if she were about to continue.
Tanya didn't let her. She was having to relocate thanks to her, after all, so she'd get in a bit of petty revenge. "Honestly, that you would assume I charge off into a meeting with a Demon King's General with no plan is brain dead. That's your job, after all, Lalatina."
She began to blush, and Tanya smirked as the Crusader began to blush from embarrassment instead of her usual shame and pleasure.
She'd finally found a way to punish the girl without also getting her off.
Tanya's thoughts were interrupted by the Crusader's next words. "Then, you had a reason to make a contract with Verdia?"
Tanya sent her a glare, and then looked around. There weren't any people out today – odd for a Tuesday, but more regular when you realized that trade hadn't picked up quite yet. It was getting better, but on a street this far into Axel, it wasn't unexpected.
She grit her teeth. "Yes, I have reasons for doing so. I managed to get information on each of the Generals. Nothing too important, but valuable for someone like me, who doesn't have access to whatever you nobles have that constitutes as your information network."
Darkness looked somewhat upset – Tanya would be too, if she ever jumped to false conclusions about other people and her surroundings. Eventually, she shook her head. "Fine. I can accept that you had your reasons, and I can't exactly ask you to give up your life fighting for no reason, but…"
She hesitated, and then turned to Viktoriya. "Serebryakov. Can I talk to you," she asked, glancing at Tanya and adding, "alone?"
Tanya felt a bitter, angry – it had to be angry, because she was not afraid of a monster she hadn't seen in nearly four months, she wasn't – ball of emotions well up inside her, but before she let it show, she pushed it down.
Viktoriya was nice to have around – an understatement that would only grow more understated if she ever got a hold of some coffee beans – but Tanya wouldn't get to have her around for ever. She would eventually find someone she wanted to settle down with.
Tanya couldn't lean on the girl for support forever. Eventually, their interests would diverge. Tanya would have to deal with her messy emotions and life on her own.
Viktoriya sent an inquiring glance at Tanya, and she responded as kindly as she could with her emotions swirling, "Make your own decision."
The woman let her gaze linger on Tanya for a moment, and then she smiled, nodding.
"Sure thing, Darkness!"
Viktoriya offered the things she was carrying to Tanya, who took them without complaint. With that, the two walked off, leaving Tanya standing in the middle of the street as they walked down an alley. She gazed around.
There really was no one here? The shops, restaurants, and businesses all seemed to be locked up tight.
Her eyebrows furrowed. She looked up, and noted that it was nearly midday. It wasn't a holiday, and it wasn't Sunday…
And yet, Darkness had managed to run into Viktoriya. She was clumsy, sure – she couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with her sword, even if she was inside it – but even she could spot the two of them walking down the street.
She strolled towards a light post, and set down the pieces of metal and tools in her hands. Silently, she poured mana into the Type 97 and began to activate her Observation spells.
Nothing. None of the shops had anyone in them, and the nearest people were Darkness and Viktoriya.
Tanya cursed herself for not testing the Lurk skill with her Observation spells, but she could guess that they were using it.
That left her to try and figure out their location. They were hidden from her sight, and their mana was also be hidden. There were other ways to find them, since the skill only made the imperceptible.
They still existed physically.
Tanya sighed, and resolved to start carrying around more items. Some sort of smokescreen would help-
The idea to use that spell briefly drifted through her mind, but she shook it out. Even if she could direct it with Wind Breath, Viktoriya might get caught in it, and extreme pain, if not death, was guaranteed if you got caught by that spell.
She shook her head and sat down against the front of a fruit store, leaning her head back against it. They might try and do something rash if she looked defenseless.
Still, nothing came. Tanya had no doubt the attack would come if she started to head towards Viktoriya, but she wanted to upper hand, and surprising them would definitely give her that.
She looked down at the ground, and saw the loose cobblestone that paved nearly every road in Axel. She smirked, and began to pry one up.
She was sure that Chris and, if Aya was to be believed, the other four Reincarnates were wondering what she was doing. But they couldn't ask each other, or the Lurk would come crashing down.
She held a pile of them and shouted "Reinforcement spell: Strength." Then, she began to crush the stones to dust with her bare hands. This would probably intimidate them at least, even if her next plan didn't work.
She was sure it would, but it was always nice to have backups in mind.
She whispered, "Smith," and the process took only a few seconds. She surveyed what she'd created, and what she had to work with.
A pile of dust, a bunch of metal, a box of gunpowder, as well as her rifle, pistol, two Computation Jewels, and her Circlet of Greatness.
She smirked. Against only five people, none of which had a bullet or gun between them, she was sure her victory would be laughably easy.
She frowned and shook her head. Getting cocky, especially with people who had Divine Relics, would mean they could surprise her.
She didn't like surprises, especially when they were from her enemies.
She sent one last look at the pile of dust on the ground in front of her, stood up straight, moved her things from the Blacksmith shop behind her, and took a deep breath.
She activated her Passive Shield, and she shouted, "WIND BREATH!"
The pile of dust scattered practically detonated, sending particles of crushed rock and sand across the alley. She was protected, her things were protected, but the storefronts weren't. The window of each and every building were caked in dust if they weren't broken, and Tanya was sure that dust had most certainly blown into the windows that had.
Most assuredly, the cart that had been hidden from her view, where she could see several dust-covered figures materializing, certainly hadn't been protected.
The coughing figures shortly stopped coughing, and Tanya sighed tiredly. Chris's trademark silver hair was clearly visible, even under the cover of dust. She could recognize the others as some of the ones as well, even if she didn't know their names.
They were Reincarnates. She could see that the three that had given her the most trouble in her taking of their weapons were there, as was that Mage that had helped her out the last time they'd tried this.
One she did know by name, however. She smirked at the glaring figure. "Kei, right? How are your legs? I've shot them so much that they must be tired from carrying around so much dead weight all day."
He glared, but he said nothing. Tanya couldn't see much of his face due to his stereotypical, ninja-like clothing, but the blades in his hands were fairly recognizable. Tanya turned to Chris. She opened her mouth, tempted to ask her why she'd done this.
Then she remembered the last time she had been mouthy with an enemy, and she shook her head.
Then, she reconsidered. It wasn't like Tanya wanted to fight, and if she could convince the others to stop, she might be able to use them as a shield, if things went badly.
"So, you all have decided that attacking someone with a rifle is a good idea, when all you have is magic and Medieval weapons? What makes you think you can win?"
For a moment, they were all quiet. Then, Kei spoke up. "I'm sure you're aware of it, but taking during a fight is a very stupid idea."
Tanya smiled widely and shrugged. They didn't have to know-
"Besides, stalling for time won't help you. That bitch of yours is sleeping deeply, along with the Crusader," said Chris.
Tanya grimaced at that. Well, maybe they already knew. She continued to stand stock still, waiting for one of them to either move on her or start talking.
The man with the bow stepped forward. "My family would have been much better off if the Japanese were not bombed by the Americans at the end of the Second World War. I just wanted to take the place of some alternate version of myself."
She stared at him for a moment. Then she looked at the others, wondering if they really thought he was right in the head. Disconcertingly, none of them batted an eye at his words.
"I really don't want to know anymore…" she muttered as a hand drifted towards her rifle.
She looked at the Mage, hoping he wasn't criminally insane or something. He just shrugged. "Eh… maybe it sounds like I'm aiming a bit high, but being the Pope was a lifelong dream of mine. Getting placed in that position would be pretty convenient."
She looked to Kei, sure that he'd be just as… odd. "Oh, nothing like that for me. I wanted to see if they've got any openings in Heaven though. Eternal life and worship sound pretty nice."
Sure, Tanya's wish wasn't exactly the most… humble one to exist, but she had had over sixteen years to fuel the fantasies of what she'd do to that self-proclaimed god if she had the chance. None of these kids looked to be older than twenty five.
Shaking her head to get back on track, Tanya looked to Chris. "What do you want?"
Chris was, at this point, a bit of a conundrum. Was she a Reincarnate Tanya had missed on accident? Was she some self-righteous adherent to Heaven…
But no, then she wouldn't have known about Tanya, and Tanya was fairly sure that the Reincarnations were fairly consistent – no more than one a day, always before noon and mostly in the morning.
Tanya scowled. If she wasn't a Reincarnate, though…
Tanya's eyes widened as she gave the girl a hard stare. It couldn't be…
Tanya's thought process was interrupted by the man with the spear. "Jeez, you guys want such extravagant stuff. All I want is the ability to get away with pedophilia."
Tanya's thoughts did not resume after he finished her sentence, and she stared hard at him. He smirked as he scratched at his beard.
"Hey, stop staring at me like that. I can only get so hard-"
Twitch.
Tanya took off from the ground, but none of them flinched.
Tanya nodded; the contract she'd taken from the first reincarnate had outlined her powers. They must have a vague idea of what she could do.
She studied them as they began to surround her, taking special care to note the movements 'Chris.' Most of them seemed to be better outfitted than even her – she could see metal or leather armor covering almost every inch of each of them.
The archer was left in front of her, covered by Chris and Kei.
Tanya took her gun from her back, building up a spell.
The Mage – dressed in greens and yellows, with a hood on his head and rings on fingers that clenched a staff in one hand and a book in the other – shouted. "She's charging!"
Chris and Kei both held out a hand. Tanya made her choice, and pointed her gun at the three of them, choosing to shoot an Artillery Shot and to apologize for the damage later.
Her safety was paramount. Collateral damage was acceptable.
Twin cries of "Steal" erupted from the pair in front of her, and Tanya gasped as she felt her spells collapse with the removal of the Type 97.
She didn't have to look down her shirt to guess what had happened. Both the Thieves were holding onto her Computation Jewels. She snarled, and continued charging. No jewels meant she was disadvantaged, but-
Both of them jumped out of the way, and Tanya growled. She pushed the built-up mana into a Reinforcement spell, pushing herself to reach them.
"Jin, now!"
The archer – dressed in the leather's typical of any Robin Hood lookalike – released his arrow, shouting "Please, Goddess Eris!"
Tanya felt her entire body spasm at the stupid, pathetic cry for help, and she aimed her gun again.
She deployed a weak Active Barrier, and smirked as she felt a spell wash over it. Someone had attacked her from behind. She'd get to them after she took care of the person in front of her.
Jin's arrow twirled through the air.
This projectile had been part of their plan, which amounted to having the Thieves steal her precious weapons.
After that, she'd be defenseless. They'd all attack at once and finish her as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, they hadn't counted on the value of either of her Computation Jewels being as high as it was. Jin was currently hoping he might slip it passed her shield somehow, with the help of the blessing of the Axis Cult that Chris assured them would work.
He wouldn't have been able to. The arrow, had it impacted a shield that had no problem eating up punishment from guns, would have bounced off.
But that blessing still worked.
It twirled through the air and impacted the only portion of Tanya not protected by an Active Barrier.
Tanya lurched as she felt a force slam into her gun. Dumbfounded, she looked at her rifle, slack jawed in awe at what had happened.
His arrow had…
It had sneaked into the barrel of her gun and jammed itself inside. Tanya looked up from what had happened, to realize that her opponents had also stopped to stare.
Tanya eyed Chris and Kei, and she burst off to the side with what weak Reinforcements she could use without the Computation Jewels.
Viktoriya was likely incapacitated, if she hadn't already come to help. That meant she needed to finish this to get back to her, which meant she needed a Computation Jewel. She focused on Kei.
The ninja-like male brought up his blades to oppose her. Tanya smirked, and raised her gun, thankful that she had worked with Dust so much. As he began to thrust his blades forward, Tanya sneaked a boot under his guard and into his midsection.
The Thief doubled over, groaning, and Tanya pulled back her rifle, intending to skewer him. Then, the whizzing of something sliding through the air told her to move.
She jumped over the Thief, and watched as a spear had narrowly missed her. She looked up and found that the man with a staff – clad in knight's armor – was brandishing a spear in one hand and a lance in the other.
She almost spat out a derisive comment about the impracticality of trying to hold two weapons like that, when she recognized the one in his off hand.
It was that weapon she'd been nearly killed with, still stained with blood. Her blood.
Her blood…
She shook her head. NO! Now was not the time to have a flashback and PTSD and-
Tanya glanced behind the man as she felt sweat begin to build on her body, and saw that the others were approaching. The thought of running crossed her mind, but the thought of Viktoriya, wherever she was, stopped her.
Her stare grew pointed. She dropped her dysfunctional rifle and shoved her hand towards her belt, brandishing her pistol.
She wasn't leaving Viktoriya.
The man's eyes widened behind his helmet, but Tanya didn't wait for him to recover from the shock of seeing a second gun. His words from earlier brought images to her mind.
Red and yellow and extravagant hallways and not being able to stand and a sharp, bitter smell and hopelessness and weakness and failure and-
BANG! BANG BANG BANG!
One, two, three, and a final fourth shot left her gun, and while the first ricocheted off his armor, the next two sneaked between the weaker portions of the shining metal, while the last blasted through his exposed nose.
One down. Four to go.
She looked down at Kei – who seemed to be recovering admirably, for someone who hadn't been in a war – and pushed mana into her Active Barrier as he attempted to knife her from his kneeling position. They didn't penetrate, but they did make an ear-splitting screech.
All of them winced for a moment, but Tanya recovered fastest. She deactivated the barrier and watched as Kei tripped forward without the force of the barrier to block his attack. Tanya smirked, and aimed her pistol.
Shots entered his body, again and again and again and-
Until Tanya realized her gun was out of bullets. She jumped back, watching as the three remaining fighters eyed her warily.
Tanya shoved a hand into her bandolier, and retrieved a clip of bullets. Chris extended a hand. "Steal!"
Tanya grunted as she watched her pistol appear in the Thief's hands. She put the clip back into her bandolier and picked up her rifle. Fine, then. It seemed she'd need to use her-
"Steal!"
Again, two voices rang out. Tanya grit her teeth as she felt the hat on top of her head, along with the Circlet of Greatness, disappear. She looked down, to see that her rifle was clutched in the hands of Kei.
He was chuckling like he wasn't full of holes. How-
Tanya looked at him again, and realized that he had another weapon in his off hand. A sword, from the first reincarnate she'd killed. The one that blocked pain.
She sent a violent kick at his back, sending the sword flying. He cried out, but instead of pain, it was an order. "Use Steal!"
Eyes wide, Tanya bent down and tore something away from the almost-corpse. Before Tanya could get her rifle back, it was gone, clutched in Chris's hands. The Ranger, the Mage, and Chris all looked relieved.
Tanya looked at her hand, and chuckled. She'd torn the Type 95 away from Kei instead of her rifle.
Typical.
"Are you watching even now, Being X?" she asked the air. She watched as they all stiffened.
They shook off whatever shock they might have felt at knowing a 'god' was watching them, and they looked cocky.
She didn't care.
Tanya grit her teeth, and she picked up a dagger that Kei had been using. She plunged it into his back, noting that he didn't even seem to be mad about finally getting killed.
Two down. Three to go.
They looked less cocky, but the superiority returned when Tanya reached into her glove and retrieved a small knife,
It was small; smaller than the short sword Chris was wielding, and only two times as big as the slim, long arrowheads the archer used.
Chris had the gall to laugh at her. "What do you think you can do with those? You haven't put any points into using daggers or knives."
More memories assaulted her. A woman was flying above her, staring down at Tanya's empty hands and aiming a rifle at her face.
Tanya snarled at the gall. The Superiority.
Tanya gripped the small knife by the blade, and she threw it towards them. Discouragingly, it flew passed them, into the cart behind them.
The Mage chuckled once. "You missed us, you stupid-"
The Ranger spun on him, glaring angrily. "What did I say about flags? Don't say stupid shit like-"
BOOOOM!
Before he could finish his thought, the knife impacted the cart they'd been hiding in, and the whole thing went up in flames.
All of them spun around, and Tanya sent another dagger towards them, a grin on her face and a laugh bubbling up from her throat. She was finally getting to use the explosive knives she'd made!
This one landed to the left of the Mage, and it detonated, engulfing him in flames. The other two were sent in opposite directions.
Three down. Two to go.
Tanya took a moment to bask in the quickly dying flames – it was starting to get cold out – and then she turned her attention towards Chris.
Tanya moved quickly. Tanya brandished her Type 95, and she began to spout the words that she hated and relied on in equal measure.
"Oh god, grant this disciple the power to destroy those that would worship any other than thee!"
She felt her exhaustion fade away, and she flew over to Chris, picking up her Type 97 and her rifle.
She looked down at the Type 95, and she felt an eye twitch as she looked between it and the Type 97.
Why… why hadn't Tanya gotten rid of it? Hadn't Tanya wanted to toss it in a ditch on the Eastern Front? Hadn't Tanya only kept it around because the General Staff would get mad?
Why, because it was the only shot she had here, of course. What other reason would she have?
Tanya blinked wearily, and she deactivated the Type 95 and carefully placed it in a pocket. She looked down.
Chris was writhing from the fire and flames that were so close to her, and Tanya kicked her in the side. As she recovered, Tanya placed a knife on top the writhing girl's thigh.
Tanya stilled the writhing Thief by smacking her on the side of the head, and she smiled cruelly. "Don't move; these things are pressure sensitive, and I bet you really don't want to activate it, unless you want to be reunited with your precious god so much."
She stilled, her eyes widening, and Tanya walked to the Ranger. He was also writhing on the ground. Tanya sighed.
"I said I'd kill you if you became a threat."
The Ranger seemed to understand the situation he was in, but before he could beg, she plunged her gun's blade into his neck. She looked around, ignoring the blood that came gushing out and how his body was still struggling.
Four down. One to go.
All of the Reincarnates' weapons had landed within the range of the supplies from the Blacksmith's. All nine of them. Tanya smiled at her good fortune, and turned away, towards Chris.
She saw that Chris was fighting the pain in her twisted ankle trying to balance the knife on her thigh. Just as she calmed enough to try and reach it, Tanya lunged over and sank her blade into her hand.
The girl screamed, but Tanya looked on furiously.
"I know who you are."
Chris froze for a second. Her anger and hate fled as panic replaced it. How could she have possibly-
She grinned. "Mary Sioux."
Chris stared, her shock draining away, and Tanya continued. "It's been a few months since I beat you last, and here you are, following me around. It's almost like I'm your god instead of Being X."
Chris blinked. It was about all she could do as the girl standing above her laughed. "Oh, it's quite obvious. You aren't a Reincarnate – I would have sensed you after I came here, and you would have moved on from this town if you came before I got here."
She shook her head. "How didn't I realize it? Being X hasn't ever helped me out, so his 'advice' that he wouldn't be sending down anymore Reincarnates was to throw me off long enough to smuggle you in."
Tanya continued to stare down at her. "Who else would be this enraged with me? Who else would have the dedication?"
Tanya shook her head. "Well, whatever. I win again, I guess. I don't really care – he'll obviously send you down later. I just want to know one thing: how involved was Darkness?"
The hateful thought to poison The Atheist's relationship and to cause The Atheist even more pain crossed her mind, but the urge died as she imagined how she might brutalize Darkness if she thought the Crusader was complicit.
She turned her head away. "No. We tricked her. She thought we were going to get rid of whatever influences she thought were on you. We gave her a potion to give to Viktoriya to knock her out, but it activates the moment it opens. They're passed out in that alley."
Tanya gripped the girls face, leaned in until they were inches apart, and stared into her eyes.
Yes, this was Sioux. No one else was this passionately hateful of Tanya, besides Being X and the first Sioux.
Chris stared at Tanya, searching for an inch of compassion or something that might allow her to escape anything at all-
She found nothing in the girl's steely gaze.
The girl's gaze…
The girl's gaze…
That… was an idea. But…
Chris felt revulsion build up in her stomach, but she fought to keep it off of her face. She couldn't give it away. No matter how much she hated the idea, the action, it was her one chance.
Tanya inhaled and shook her head. 'Chris' was too angry to tell anything but the truth, then. Darkness was probably fine, and if they made up, Tanya probably wouldn't have to flee.
Tanya began to rise, and Chris saw her chance to get away slip away slowly.
Before she could think about it anymore and become too disgusted in herself to act, she moved, pushing her body from the ground, fighting through the pain of her still impaled-hand and the soreness she felt in the rest of her body, trying to keep her lunch down, and closed the gap between them to what it had been moments ago.
Chris saw the beginnings of shock building up on the girl's face, but Chris pushed passed the three inch barrier of air that had separated them.
She locked lips with Degurechaff.
She kissing her.
Hard.
Tanya dropped her spells, relaxed her grip on her rifle. This was…
Different. Interesting. Her face was turning red, and memories of her first life and the wonders of not having to constantly debate about her own sexuality that she'd tried to repress shot to the forefront.
Everything from when she'd first lost her virginity to just two days prior to her first death.
Just as she gathered her thoughts again and quashed the memories, Chris had already moved.
Her free hand gripped the dagger on her thigh, and threw it towards the pile of junk Tanya had set down.
Chris pulled away, face green but a triumphant smirk still dominating it. "You really shouldn't label explosives so obviously, Atheist."
KABOOOOOM!
A rocking explosion, fifty times as hot as any of the earlier ones, propelled Tanya off of Chris, her side full of shrapnel. Tanya felt her vision blacken for what might have been a second, and she shot Pain-Reduction Reinforcement spells through her system.
Immediately, Tanya shot up, and surveyed her surroundings.
A hole had taken the place of her supplies, engulfing the surrounding four shops. Tanya cast a furious gaze around herself, and began to curse herself out as she realized that Mary was gone.
She took a deep breath, and she gathered mana in the Type 97. "HEAL!"
She didn't feel the holes in her side disappear – Pain-Reduction Reinforcement spells had removed most of the feeling there – but she had to assume they were gone. She looked around, trying to take stock of the situation.
Four dead, variably burnt bodies surrounded her. All of the relics had been engulfed in the explosion. She had nothing to show for this stupid, stupid encounter besides some wounds.
Tanya stalked towards the alley she'd seen Viktoriya disappear into. No, she knew that Darkness wasn't intrinsically against her, just wary of her motives. She could deal with that.
Tanya sat down next to the two of them, and growled as she saw the blue potion bottle which was slowly billowing a light-blue smoke. She threw up a few Oxygen Conversion spells to ward off its effects.
She knew who target number three on her list of enemies was now.
Number two was, for the time being, the Demon King, and number one was obvious. She settled down, ready to wait all day for them to wake up.
She needed to review her battles with the Bloody Valkyrie.
-OxOxO-
Tanya stared into the broken eyes. Gerrard usually looked haggard on a good day, and right now, he just looked defeated. Still, she wasn't budging.
She wasn't going to say a word. She was just… too tired. That battle had been draining, and she could feel a pain in her side, now that the Reinforcement spells were fading. The fear that she might have sealed shrapnel inside of her in her rush to fix herself had come to mind, and it wasn't leaving.
Viktoriya would need to check that, and-
Gerrard slammed on the table, jolting her out of her thoughts. "Just tell us, Tanya! Who were they? Were they trying to kill you?"
Tanya answered that question. "Yes. All of them were trying to kill me."
Then, the other occupant interjected. "Who cast that strong Heal? Was it you? Did you choose to take up the Priest or Archpriest class? Why were you fighting on the street that had been cleared by people dreaming of Eris telling them of a great calamity?"
Tanya leveled a glare at them, and tried to lean forward threateningly. The grimace of pain from moving her side ruined some of it, but the Priest she had met back during the festival, Ashley, backed down.
Of course Tanya was one of the only person that hadn't heard of that stupid dream. No doubt, that so-called Goddess was following the orders of her superior.
Gerrard opened his mouth again, but before he could say anything, a voice began to echo through the building and the rest of the town. "All adventurers, please report to the guild! Emergency Quest! Please report to the guild!"
Tanya smirked, and the two people interrogating her scowled, but he waved her out. She took off, wincing at the pain in her side and activating her Pain-Reduction Reinforcement spells again.
She soon left the building, and was soon joined by both Viktoriya and Darkness. Both looked sheepish, and after the talking to she'd given both of them, she expected as much.
Viktoriya opened her mouth, but Tanya shook her head. "Not now. Just hand me my stuff, and we'll be off."
Viktoriya handed Tanya her rifle. She tried to fire, or to even cycle through to the next bullet, but nothing worked. She shook her head; that stupid Ranger had managed to accomplish something, at least.
She was sure he would take solace in inconveniencing her, regardless of whether he was in heaven or being reincarnated again.
Before she left, she remembered something. She ran back in, and towards Gerrard, who was speaking to his forces about patrolling the town. "Release Dust and any other delinquents you have."
He groaned and grabbed at his face, but he waved one of his subordinates off. A minute later, they came back with a downtrodden looking Dust following behind.
"I don't want to go! It's way better in here than being outside with no work to do!"
Tanya grabbed him by his forearm, and marched out of the police station. All four of them headed off towards the guild. They met up with several other adventurers on the way, but changed direction at the next announcement.
"Report to the front gates! All adventurers, report to the front gates now!"
Tanya muttered angrily under her breath about conflicting orders, but she did so anyway. Dust tried to twist out of her grip, but she didn't give him an inch.
Soon enough, they got there, panting.
All of them quickly straightened themselves at the sight of what was before them. Massing outside of the gates, a massive force was gathering.
Rotting, decaying flesh, turning purple, white, or green. These were the majority of the faces Tanya could see in the crowd of Zombies. Behind and among them, however, she could see faces that stood out.
Undead Knights, armored in a familiar shining white, stood among the Zombies, blackened skin pulled taut over their skulls. She couldn't see what weapons they had, but she guessed that they had the same assortment of swords, clubs, and spears that she had seen during her last visit to Verdia.
She could spot things she didn't recognize, too; corpses that looked freshly dead, that occasionally gestured to the Zombies in their immediate vicinity.
Tanya scowled, fighting down the tired whimper that threatened to escape her throat. None of the others around her, besides the ever-faithful Viktoriya, seemed hopeful.
She sighed. It seemed she'd have to pull this off nearly on her own, if the way everyone else was too stunned to do something was anything to go by.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: And so, the Goddess Eris tried to fight against The Atheist it went…
Better than one might expect, honestly. They managed to hurt her and force her to use her hidden daggers, and-
Oh, did you forget about them? Are you wondering why they explode?
Well, you should remember Tanya is paranoid about a whole lot – mostly Being X-related – and that she has created gunpowder. She might as well use it in more… creative ways, right?
Speaking of Tanya and her items, she sure does rely on her items quite a lot, and she hasn't really considered what fighting other adventurers might entail. Her poor Luck means that they can take her most valuable possessions rather easily, most of which allow her to do magic easily.
Unfortunately, things aren't done for yet. They've got some invaders to deal with.
In other news, Tanya's having more flashbacks to some horrible occurrence, and she thinks Chris is Mary Sioux. Too bad she's wrong. Ehehehe.
Anyway, I'll be posting the next chapter quite soon – the folks at AO3 met their goal quickly, thanks to GremlinJack, and I promised to post two chapters early.
A/N 2: Bill is, of course, short for Billiam.