Claire growled. She pointed at the men behind her, "All of you," Claire then pointed vaguely towards the direction Chris was thrown in, "-go apprehend that thief. Do not fail!"

They all saluted her and immediately made their return back down the stairs. The clattering of their armor made less noise as they ran away in proper formation. The woman felt they would inevitably fail as the other thief would have a massive head start on them, but she would be damned if they didn't at least try.

Turning towards the boy who had bested her before, she spits out next to Rain, "You have stolen a sacred treasure from the Royal Family and for that your life is forfeit."

Annoyingly, he merely tilted his head. "Oh, was I not in trouble before?" Claire could feel herself grinding her teeth into dust. The nerve! To make light of his situation in a moment like this either showed blind overconfidence, or someone with deadly ability who knows they have it. Sweat dripped down Claire's face at the realization. He thought this was a game. A test for himself. She hoped someone in their forces could bring him down for all their sakes. A man who would face the might of the castle's defensive force with no fear spelled trouble for their future if the word got out, much less how easily a spy could infiltrate if they felt so bold. If nothing else, Princess Iris was the strongest fighter among them aside from the Wielder of Gram, so one of them should do the trick in the end. Still, Claire didn't want to involve the Princess unless necessary.

Mitsurugi put his non-dominant hand out in front of both her and Rain. "Allow me, ladies. Princess Iris, please allow me to serve you." Iris nodded at him but did not lower her sword or stance. "Lady Aqua, please watch me!"

"Uh, sure."

Kazuma noticed Mitsurugi run forward without another word. Internally, he scoffed at his fellow Japanese reincarnate. Kazuma was no sword expert, much less with one as big as that guy used, but even he could tell that telegraphing your attacks a mile away was asking to get countered. The fool was probably some sports guy before he was brought over here, and never touched a fighting game. Unfortunately for him, Kazuma grinded fighting games like Smash Bros. and Mortal Kombat, and he could use some of that knowledge now.

Allowing Mitsurugi to approach him, he waited for the predictable diagonal swing the swordsman hoped would slice him in two. He dodged backward with an agile jump and dodged the follow-up horizontal swing aimed at his midsection. Kazuma wasn't a fool, he knew fighting styles in games didn't exactly translate to real life most of the time, but the principles did. The best part is that real life made it easier. Mitsurugi wore heavy armor and swung a considerably heavy sword with only a single arm, fatigue would set in eventually. Darkness was an anomaly of endurance and Kazuma was sure that the swordsman couldn't hope to match it. Every gamer knew that all you had to do with an overzealous opponent was wait for them to make a mistake. As such, the game continued for a few minutes, with Kazuma dodging each swing with a taunt of his own at almost each one.

"You almost got me there!"

"A swing and a miss."

"Is this all you can offer?"

"Talk about boring."

The supposed hero was breathing hard and that last jab must have hit home because Mitsurugi's eyes got frantic in anger. "Stay still!" Mitsurugi surged forward and attempted a flurry of strikes to no avail. Kazuma stood a ways away, undisturbed.

"What good is all that strength if you can't hit the broadside of a barn with it?"

Suddenly, the swordsman ceased his attacks and took a deep breath. "Fine then, you've forced my hand." He held his sword in both hands now with his eyes closed as if in a trance, pointing towards the floor as he moved it in a counter-clockwise direction until the sword was pointing at the ceiling.

Kazuma could recognize a ranged sword attack from a mile away. It was such a common trope in games. He was almost offended the other man would try such an attack in a fast-paced fight. It would only take a moment to capitalize. He gripped Chris' dagger in his hand tightly.

Mitsurugi opened his eyes and swung his blade heavily quickly with multiple swings, creating an almost checkerboard pattern in his magic swing as it rocketed forward. The attack was much bigger than himself, clearly designed not to allow him to dodge in any one direction in time. It crashed into the wall creating a large cloud of debris and smoke. He smiled to himself at a job well done and gazed toward the women present to gauge their reaction.

Claire and Rain were in awe at his power and he smirked. He wasn't a narcissist, but it felt good to show off every once in a while and get recognized for it. Shifting his focus to the princess who looked surprised at the turn of events, Mitsurugi found himself frowning, did she not think him capable of the match-up? Well, Mitsurugi hoped he would change her mind about that. Finally, he turned to the three party members of Satou Kazuma. He was well aware they weren't on good terms, but he was happy to see the child's sparkling eyes focused on him. At least he could make a good impression on her this time. Lady Lalatina and Lady Aqua did not seem as enthused. Lady Aqua looked bored and Lalatina almost looked like she wanted to jump out of her skin. How peculiar. And just where was Satou Kazuma? Surely, he couldn't be too far off from them.

"Is something the matter, Lady Aqua?" He asked. "I understand I could have put on a better performance but-"

"Mitsurugi-dono, look out!" Rain screamed.

He turned to her, "Wha-hrrk!" He attempted to speak but couldn't due to the pain inflicted by the dagger embedded in his abdomen. "You-?!"

Below him, slowly losing his invisibility was the thief, grin beared wide. "Closing your eyes before doing your special attack?" Kazuma pulled the blade out of him with a few twists for good measure, "Sloppy."

Mitsurugi stumbled back as blood seeped from the wound steadily. He was at a loss. How could a measly dagger slip past his armor so easily? It wasn't even dented.

The thief caught on to his lingering question as he spoke, "Confused? Wondering how I pulled it off? Take a closer look at yourself." He gestured in Mitsurugi's direction as if presenting him with the answer.

The swordsman clamped a hand over his stab wound and thought about it. After a moment, he understood. The bastard had aimed at the small space between his chest plate and armor leggings, exactly where the armor was weakest to allow for some form of flexibility. Without it, anyone wearing this armor would be unable to maneuver themselves in a battle.

"Good job, now I don't mean to alarm you," Kazuma held up the dagger to face level, "but this green tip isn't just for show."

Sucking in a breath, Mitsurugi felt nauseous. He used his other hand to keep his vomit down as he involuntarily dropped his sword. He fell back on his behind as the heat bouncing on his skin made itself known. "Y-You bastard, I should have known," a shallow breath was taken, "a lowlife like you would resort to underhanded tactics like poison."

Kazuma frowned. "Underhanded? This isn't some stupid spar, we're fighting to win," Kazuma stepped forward with the dagger raised high, "and it looks like you lose."

Megumin decided to interject then, "So cool!"

Helpless, Mitsurugi closed his eyes for the blow that never came. Puzzled, he opened his eyes and looked up to see Claire standing above him.

Before Kazuma could complete the swing downward, a sword had met it to block. The sword Claire held bucked a bit from the pressure but stood firm enough to buy time for Rain.

"Rain-san, take Mitsurugi-dono away from here." Claire glared at the thief who sucked his teeth and stepped back. "Now!" Rain took the opportunity to pick up the hero and run off, presumably to be healed before he keeled over. Her healing magic was powerful, but it was widely known that healers couldn't fix illnesses. Antidotes were still needed for those cases and Claire couldn't be happier that the castle had an alchemist as part of their staff.

"Well, well, well. You came back for seconds, huh? Do you plan on beating me with your weak arm? C'mon, who are you trying to fool? Let's not waste each other's time."

Claire gripped her sword in her off hand as hard as she could. "It matters not. I won't allow you near the princess!"

"I'm already pretty close to her as it is..."

Rather than dignifying his comment with a response, Claire readied herself for another fight. She knew his trick now along with his defensive fighting style, all she had to do was avoid his hands and aim for something vital like the throat. One slice was all she needed.

He gestured with two fingers toward himself, "Come." And she did.

Rather than trying for decapitation like before, Claire swung so only the top of her blade could make contact. She was taller than him and had considerably more reach, this way he would be forced to grab the blade or move backward. The thief attempted to close the distance but Claire had been learning the sword since her youth and she could keep an attacker at bay.

"I see an old dog can learn new tricks, after all."

Her eyebrow twitched at the comparison. A swing from her and a dodge from the boy. "You should have more respect for your betters." She could see the boy starting to get fatigued, and though she was tired as well, Claire would go on until victory was already in her grasp.

The boy smirked as he ducked a wide swing from her and attempted to sweep her legs out from under her. Claire saw the attack coming and jumped above it quickly, and thankful for her light armor, threw a kick forward hoping to catch him in the chin. Unluckily for her, Kazuma moved his chin back in the nick of time. Once she saw him with his hands down on the ground looking up at her, she went down for a fatal swing.

Or she would have if he hadn't propelled himself forward with his high strength and driven both feet into her face. The blow rocked her vision and she could taste blood on her tongue.

"Urgh!" Claire stumbled back. "You little shit!" Her normal composure was lost and she quickly wiped her face with her arm coming back with a thick patch of blood. Judging by her distinct lack of ability to breathe through her nose, she wagered it was broken.

"Swearing in front of the princess? How crude." He commented and Claire grew shocked as he was right in front of her. He threw a harsh kick into her stomach and sent her flying backward onto her back. She grunted from the impact and could hardly move as she tried to regain her breath. Kazuma wasted no time and ran forward only to break Chris' dagger on a powerful piece of white armor.

"What the hell?" Jumping back from the broadsword swung unskillfully in front of him, he looked up and saw Darkness standing in his way. "If all of you are gonna keep saving each other, you could have saved me all the trouble and attacked at once."

"My apologies, Claire-san. But I can't allow you to be hurt any longer."

Claire weakly lifted her head, "Lalatina..."

"Aqua, can you please heal her?" Darkness asked their arch-priest as she held her sword in both hands. "Your opponent is me now." Aqua lazily walked to Claire in the background as she sipped at her alcohol more and more.

Shit. Kazuma thought himself in a bind. His dagger was broken, not that he thought it could penetrate Darkness' defenses either way, but it did limit his options. Based on what he saw when Claire took a swing at her, Darkness' defenses came primarily from her stats and tough body, not her armor. Even still, her armor was some of the highest-quality money could buy and his swing didn't even make a dent in it. Had the dagger not broken, he could have poisoned her, but she probably had ridiculous resistances to every form of damage as it was, poison included. Even if it did hurt her, she could probably last long enough that it wouldn't even matter. Her stamina was unmatched and the only saving grace was that she was somehow destined to miss every swing she took.

He didn't mind hurting her, his mind told him, she could take tons of damage without getting seriously hurt. She took an explosion at point-blank range for God's sake, Kazuma doubted he could inflict that level of damage. But he let his eyes wander to Megumin and Aqua, who stood a fair distance away closer to the princess. While both of those girls could be a pain in the ass, especially Aqua, his heart wouldn't allow himself to truly hurt them. That complicated things. Kazuma felt like he might just shatter his bones trying to inflict blunt force trauma on Darkness, and he couldn't harm the rest of his party.

To make matters worse, some clouds were beginning to cover the moon again, with only eighty percent or so of it visible. Kazuma felt the adrenaline leave him slightly and he grew alarmed. His muscles were starting to feel sore. He was on a time limit.

Kazuma needed something to escape. The hope of defeating everyone was out of the question regardless with the Princess nearby and Aqua ready to heal everyone at a moment's notice. He couldn't jump high enough on his own to reach the window that Chris got sent through without a boost or some form of help. He searched his surroundings for some kind of weapon, only finding Mitsurugi's Cursed Sword. Kazuma considered using it before remembering how Aqua told him that the sword was virtually useless in anyone else's hands. Not to mention, it was likely too heavy to even wield at this point.

'Damn!' He thought to himself.

Perhaps he could use some form of protection? He didn't have time to find some armor lying around... but protection came in many forms. Like in people. But who could he use as a hostage? Darkness was out of the question, she could break out of any hold he put her in, and even then his threat of harming her would be fruitless with her defenses. Claire was with Aqua, and getting past that banshee would be a fight in of itself with her seemingly infinite mana and maxed-out stats. Iris? No, she was ready for him at a moment's notice. That only left...

Quickly, Kazuma side-stepped a swing from Darkness that would have probably missed anyway and ran toward the Crimson Demon still in awe of him. Her glowing red eyes dimmed for a moment as he approached her and he didn't miss the flinch as he got behind her, wrapped an arm around her neck, and put a hand behind her head.

"Everyone stay real still, or this kid dies." It was a bluff, of course. Kazuma wouldn't kill her even if it meant his death, but they didn't need to know that. "If I see anyone try to get close, I snap her neck." Megumin's breath hitched and she attempted to try and move his arms away, but the little strength left in him allowed him to maintain his hold temporarily. "Stop struggling or I make good on my promise." That made her cease her movement immediately.

"Okay, okay!" She cried out.

"Good. Now, the rest of you, step back to that corner of the room," He nodded his head toward the corner adjacent to him on the other side of the doorway. Darkness and Aqua stared at him with such intense hatred that he felt shivers running down his spine. If they ever found out he was the one behind this attack with Chris, he was a dead man. Permanently. Seemed like his nerve left him as well as power as time passed.

It felt like an eternity as everyone slowly moved away from him. He could feel his heartbeat going wild in his chest and the fatigue was rapidly setting in more than before.

"Except you, Lalatina." The crusader did not react in an embarrassed fashion as she normally would, instead gripping her sword so tight that he thought she might just break the handle. "And throw the sword away, we don't want any 'accidents' to happen." Darkness obliged and she tossed it a ways away from him. Kazuma moved towards the broken window with Megumin in tow with his back always facing the wall, he wouldn't let anyone out of his sight for a second. "Stand five feet across from me."

Once Darkness was in position, he set his last plan into motion. He pushed Megumin forward as hard as he could and Darkness quickly moved to catch Megumin in her arms. While that was happening, Kazuma ran forward and jumped just as Darkness caught the smaller girl, planting his foot right on the taller girl's face and flipping backward out through the window.

As he fell into the water below, he caught sight of the moon being fully covered once again, and his arms felt like lead. It took every last bit of energy he had to even swim out of the water, but he was spent by then. His legs remained submerged as the rest of his body lay right at the edge of the water. He could hear the sirens going off as the castle remained on high alert. If something wasn't done soon, he was going to get caught. Kazuma started to accept his situation just as two hands pulled him out of the water.

"You stupid idiot! What the hell were you thinking!?" Chris yelled at him as loudly as she could get away with. "We are so going to have a long talk about this!" She pulled him onto her back and he barely had the energy to wrap his arms around her neck for stability as she held his legs and ran off.

They made it back to their inn with nobody noticing them. Kazuma knew he was going to be yelled at once again, but he was not ready for how passionate Chris would be.

"What the FUCK was that, Kazuma?" She yelled in his face as he laid his back against his bed on the floor. "I mean, we had a simple plan!" She caught herself and lowered her volume to a normal speaking tone as she started pacing back and forth in the room. "All we were supposed to do was take the necklace, that's it! What possessed you to start fighting everyone there!?"

He could tell she was about one stupid response away from throttling him. As she turned to him, expectant of an answer, he groaned. Kazumed felt like shit. If he had to compare it to anything, it was like when Megumin used her explosion magic and was effectively dead to the world. Just with more pain.

"I-I don't know! Something just came over me." He truthfully told her.

Chris frowned at his basic explanation and heaved a deep sigh. "First, you hurt those people more than you had to, " she listed each thing in front of him by raising a corresponding finger, "then, you broke that woman's arm for no reason. Third, you almost drowned those men to death. Lastly, you threw me through a WINDOW." That last one had some particular bite to it.

"Look, I'm sorry. I won't let myself go like that again."

At his genuinely remorseful face, Chris relented in her tirade and nodded.

"Why are you still wearing that stupid mask?" She asked him with her hands on her hips. Chris squinted her eyes as she studied it in more detail. "There's something I don't like about it."

Kazuma tried to move his arms but they hardly left the ground. "Oh, I kinda can't move right now, so could you take it off for me?"

Chris moved forward and ripped the mask off his face with zero care. She stared at it for a moment before crushing it in her hand.

"Oi! That mask was specially made!"

The silver-haired thief ignored him and dropped the mask on the ground before stepping on it and kicking it into the corner of the room. "Good riddance."

Kazuma sighed. "I guess I deserved that."

She pinned him with a hard stare. "Yeah, and I should give you way more flak than I am right now. But... I'm just glad you're okay."

The boy's heart skipped a beat at her words. He didn't think Chris cared that much, in all honesty.

"Don't get the wrong idea. After you tossed me out of the window," she adopted an annoyed expression then, "I stayed nearby in the hope you would come out. It's only because of the lurk skill that I managed to avoid the few guards that ran by. The longer you took, the more I thought you were caught, or dead, or whatever else!" She waved her hands around as she finished before her face softened. Dropping to one knee, she surprisingly hugged him. Somehow, Kazuma felt like Eris herself was making him feel better through one of her followers.

She pulled away from him but stared hard into his eyes while holding his shoulders. "Don't ever make me worry like that again, okay?"

He gulped but nodded. "Um, yeah, for sure. Sorry."

"Good." Chris stood up and turned away towards the door. Picking up the crumpled mask, she opened the door a tad before turning her head back to him, "I'll get rid of the mask. Next time, I won't let you off the hook so easily."

"Next time?"

She managed a small smile. "Of course, we're partners!"

The End.

A/N - I had another section here of Kazuma having to deal with the aftermath of everything at the mansion, particularly with Megumin being shaken up after being taken hostage like that, but felt it was too serious for this story. But if anyone wants it, I can post it as a third epilogue chapter if anyone's interested. Either way, thanks for reading!