Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière was having a bad day. The fact that every day was a bad day certainly didn't help, but this one was worse than most, even if her current troubles had started the previous day, with that embarrassment of a display at the Familiar Exhibition.
That had been bad enough, but nothing outside the norm. Which galled her to admit, even in the privacy of her own mind. It had been expected, really, though in a way that had just made it burn all the worse.
And then a giant earth golem appeared and broke into the Vault before making off with the Staff of Destruction. She and her useless Familiar had been there to witness it, but were completely unable to stop it.
A small part of her mind worried that her misaimed spell had somehow made the problem worse, and been the reason Fouquet had been able to break into the vault in the first place, but she ignored that thought. She wasn't able to face that possibility so it was shoved into the corner of her mind with the other things she refused to acknowledge.
She had tried to make up for it by chasing after Fouquet. She was nervous, but that didn't matter. She was going to be a great and powerful mage, the best of the best. She had to. So she volunteered the next day when Ms. Longuevuille had revealed Fouquet's hiding spot.
Kirche and Tabitha had volunteered as well, which equally annoyed and relieved her. Mostly relief that Tabitha, a capable mage whose only bad trait seemed to be that she was friends with Kirche, would be there, and annoyance that Kirche followed them despite not having even been asked. Louise knew that the Germanian just wanted to seduce her Familiar.
Kirche had proven Louise right when she had spent the entire trip to the abandoned hut that Longuevuille had discovered by making a nuisance of herself, pestering Ms. Longuevuille with inappropriate questions, and throwing herself at Saito, who was enjoying the attention far more than was proper. He even accepted that gaudy sword from her!
Not that it had helped in the end. They had arrived at the hut, only to find it empty. As they were investigating they found the Staff of Destruction, but were simultaneously ambushed by the earth golem reappearing.
Louise had tried to fight it, but her spells had done little more than draw its attention, and Saito had to save her. That alone galled her, but he had had the nerve to slap her! A Familiar raising its hand against its master!
After that, she had been handed to Tabitha and Kirche, who were mounted on Sylphid, Tabitha's dragon Familiar, and they took off to the sky where they watched Saito fight the golem from a safe distance.
And Louise burned. Her cheek hurt from where Saito hit her. Her pride hurt as she let her Familiar fight where she was useless. Her shame gnawed away at her patience and reason. She hated it. She hated being useless, she hated being a coward, and she hated being a failure.
Even Kirche's so-called masterpiece of a sword breaking, revealing how cheap it actually was, did nothing to soothe her, not when it placed her Familiar in more danger. Thankfully he switched to the strange talking sword that Louise had purchased for him, and with it he seemed to become faster and stronger, just like when he had fought Guiche. She still didn't understand that, but right now she was grateful for it.
But those feelings of gratitude were buried when the golem simply regenerated the arm that Saito managed to cut off. The situation was clear. Saito could maybe fight evenly with it, but a standstill was the best they could hope for. And Saito's stamina would give out first.
An image of Saito's body, crushed and bleeding, flashed before her eyes. She grit her teeth. Saito might have been a worthless and faithless Familiar, but he was still hers, and that made him her responsibility. As a mage, allowing him to come to harm, or to die, was completely unacceptable.
She didn't have many options… but one idea did occur to her.
She snatched the box containing the Staff of Destruction from Kirche's hands and pushed herself to her feet. The other two girls called out in alarm, but Louise ignored them. "Tabitha! Let me off!"
Louise didn't even wait for the wind mage to use a spell that would see her safely to the ground before jumping off of Sylphid. Thankfully Tabitha was as fast and skilled as she had hoped, and before she could start falling in earnest she felt winds wrap around her form, slowing her fall to a safe level.
So as Louise floated down toward the ground, she turned her attention to the Staff of Destruction. She fumbled open the latch and threw open the case- and then she froze.
The case was empty.
She barely noticed as her feet hit the ground. Her plan had been to use the Staff of Destruction to take out the golem and save her Familiar, but with it gone she had no idea what to do. The shock of it froze her mind, even as Saito noticed her and yelled for her attention.
She only came back to her senses when Saito scooped her up in one arm just in time to pull her away from the golems fist crashing into where she had been standing. "Dammit Louise!" He cursed. "What are you doing?!"'
"The- the Staff!" she stammered, hating out weak and scared she sounded. "I was going to use it, but it's gone!"
Saito leaped to the side and lashed out with his sword, slicing a massive gouge into the golems attacking fist. "What do you mean it's gone?"
"I mean it's gone! The case was empty! It was all a trap!"
Saito grimaced. "Damn. Fouquet really played us, huh?" He shook his head. "Whatever. Just stay back! I'll take it out, somehow."
"Don't you-" Louise started to protest before being unceremoniously dumped to the ground by Saito, who then rushed back at the golem to keep its attention.
Louise rubbed her butt and brushed the dirt from her clothes as she got back to her feet, grumbling. But there wasn't any heat in it. She was too distracted watching the fight, wondering if they could win this, and hoping things didn't get any worse.
Asuna decided, probably for the thousandth time, that she didn't much enjoy being a slave.
It was hardly a surprising conclusion, she doubted many people would enjoy it. Except for Maria, who seemed to be very happy with the situation. But the girl was a pervert, and brainwashed besides.
Still, it was a thought that occurred to her often. And it occurred to her again as she watched a group of teens roughly her age fighting against a monster. Normally she would rush in to help, but she had been ordered not to, to wait, and she couldn't disobey those orders. She shuddered. Doing so would be worse than following Morgan's plan.
So she watched from the treeline and waited for her signal. Boredom and dread and adrenaline all swirled inside of her, a familiar cocktail from her days in SAO from when they prepared for the various boss fights. But she was flesh and blood now, not a virtual avatar. Even though she had shifted to her blue-haired ALO avatar, a process that still felt strange, she could tell that her body was real.
It didn't make much sense, but nothing had made any sense since she was captured. Not her new abilities, not the Stoneblock, and not Morgan. Strangely, the thing that felt the most familiar, that made the most sense to her, was their trip to this world of magic. It felt very much like logging into ALO, though this world lacked the fanciful charm that ALO had.
She watched the black haired boy fight the golem made of dirt. At least she wasn't stuck on the Stoneblock. She had been afraid of that. The place was far more oppressive than even Sugou's creepy literal bird cage. Some fresh air and a chance to stretch her legs was appreciated.
Even if it came at the cost of having to do Morgan's dirty work.
Trying to distract herself, she focused on the golem itself. She hadn't ever fought anything quite like it, though she had fought many similar things. The lack of a health bar floating around it was more disorienting than it probably should have been. She wondered if it even had health. It probably didn't, Morgan had said it was a construct made by a mage.
So how did you defeat something that infinitely regenerated? Trapping it was an option. It usually hadn't been very reliable in SAO, but there had been a few times where she had lured enemies into pits or knocked them off ledges. But she had spent the entire morning scouting this area, looking for the abandoned house that Morgan knew was there, so she knew that there wasn't anything of the like, not big enough for the golem at least, anywhere nearby.
She wondered if perhaps you did enough damage to it fast enough it would lose cohesion before it could regenerate. You would need five people to be sure. One for each limb, and one for the head. Another extra person or two for the torso wouldn't go amiss either.
Of course, even if that did work, nothing was stopping the mage from simply creating another one. So going after the mage that controlled it was the obvious move.
Which is why that was Morgan's plan precisely.
As if on cue, the golem froze midaction and then crumbled into rock and sand, spilling down in a massive pile that almost swept the boy and girl still on the ground away. Maria had taken out the caster then, which was her cue to act.
She activated her wings, the translucent blue appendages appearing on her back with a soft chime, and she took off, heading straight for the two people flying overhead on the dragon.
She was briefly distracted by just how fun it felt to fly with a physical body. There were sensations that made her stomach lurch and her heart race that just couldn't be replicated in a virtual environment. The wind that rushed past her ears and pulled at her hair was so much more. She wanted to whoop for joy.
But she couldn't, and she was reminded why as she quickly closed in on the two girls, one a petite girl with blue hair and the other a rather mature dark skinned girl with bright red hair. The blue haired one noticed her first and didn't waste any time being surprised before she raised the staff she was carrying and pointed it straight at Asuna.
Asuna didn't know the style of magic that was used here, but instincts borne from her time doing PvP in ALO kicked in, and she was dodging the incoming spell before the blue haired mage even finished casting. It was a good thing she did too, because if she had been a second slower, the massive column of cutting wind that originated from the girl would have caught her.
She felt blood pumping through her veins as her adrenaline spiked. Not in fear, not exactly. There was some of that there, but she was used to it. It lived in the back of her mind, carefully contained so it wouldn't interfere with her ability to fight and survive, which the rest of her mind was focused on.
She wasn't used to it feeling so intense though. It drove home that she was no longer in a game, that she was doing all of these things with a flesh and blood body, that everything she was doing was real in a way that even SAO hadn't been.
She kept those thoughts contained as well, too focused on the fight to allow herself to get overly distracted. Dodging the wind spell bought her the time she needed to close in on them, while the blue haired mage was recovering from her spell and was preparing to cast again. The red haired mage didn't seem to be doing much of anything besides panicking, staring at Asuna with wide, frightened eyes and fumbling with her wand.
Asuna spun as she closed in and landed feet first on the back of the dragon, her rapier raised. She hesitated for a moment, the realization of how this was real and not a game pushing its way to the forefront of her mind as she looked at the two girls she had been ordered to attack. But then the blue haired one swung her staff to point at Asuna and instinct took over once more.
Asuna's rapier lashed out, aiming at the red haired girl, who was closer and in range. She shrieked, reeling but unable to move far due to the limited space on the back of the dragon. But before Asuna's rapier could cut into her shoulder the other girl thrust her staff past her friend and deflected Asuna's attack.
For just a brief moment, Asuna locked eyes with the blue haired mage. Her gaze was cold, focused, and calculating. She wasn't panicking like her friend was, she wasn't surprised, or not enough to show it at least. Asuna changed her mental assessment. This girl was a fighter, just like her.
Asuna pulled back before thrusting again, this time aiming for the red haired mage's leg that was opposite of where the blue haired mage's staff was. The smaller girl practically threw herself against the dark skinned mage's back so her staff could reach to block that attack as well.
Having expected her attack to be blocked though, Asuna hadn't put much force behind it, which allowed her to launch her third attack even faster. She didn't need a strong blow anyway, she just needed to encourage them to surrender.
But the blue haired mage was positioned and ready as well, and was still able to protect her friend and continue to block Asuna's rapid fire attacks. Asuna was as impressed as she was frustrated, as it was rare for her to face someone who could keep up with her speed like that, especially from such an awkward position.
So she paused her attacks and held her sword at a very specific position, near her waist and pulled back slightly. The blade began to glow as the system, or whatever governed her skills now, recognized it as the starting position for one of her Sword Skills, Oblique. It wasn't a particularly fast or fancy Sword Skill, and she was banking on the blue haired girl blocking it as well, but she was hoping that it either broke the girl's staff or at least pushed her off balance enough for Asuna to take advantage of.
Unfortunately, her opponents didn't just sit there and let her do it. Well, the red haired one did, still panicking and unable to get her wand up and aimed at Asuna. But the blue haired one remained cool and collected. She yelled something that Asuna couldn't quite catch over the rushing wind, and Asuna quickly unleashed her Oblique.
Just as her rapier started to move though, her entire world flipped upside down. She felt the Sword Skill pull her body in the predetermined motion, further disorienting her as she was, apparently, flung through the air.
Thankfully the Post-Motion freeze effect that kept her locked still after using a Sword Skill ended before she hit the ground, and she was able to use her wings to right herself in the air. She spotted the dragon in the air above her, the two riders still on its back.
She hadn't felt an impact, so Asuna could only assume the dragon had spun or something, flinging her from its back while keeping its wanted riders on. Somehow. There wasn't a saddle or anything they were strapped to. Perhaps the blue haired one had cast some magic. Asuna had seen the pink haired girl earlier fall to the ground wrapped in air that carried her safely down. A similar spell could have kept them attached.
Either way, her period of disorientation had allowed her targets to put some decent distance between her and them, and Asuna took off at full speed to close it. As she approached, both mages started flinging long range magic at her, bombarding her with cutting winds and searing fire.
They were easy to dodge at that range, even the spells that tried to home in on her, but they slowed her down just enough that she wasn't able to catch up and enter melee range again. Several minutes passed as she failed to get closer to the dragon and its riders.
Unfortunately she couldn't afford to play this game of keep-away forever. Her wings had a time limit, and she had used up nearly half of it already.
She stopped chasing the pair, hanging in mid air. The dragon and its riders continued away from her for a bit before pulling into a gentle circle. They maintained a good distance from her, watching her.
If she wasn't able to catch up to them, then she would have to make them come to her. And there was a very easy way to bait an enemy into rushing you as fast they could.
Asuna raised her hand. "Ekku," she intoned, starting a spell. Bands of light formed around her, creating a column of spinning magic words. The topmost band stopped in place, the spoken word shining brightly.
She continued to slowly intone more words, chanting the longest spell she knew. She could see the dragon riders hesitate. But then they made a sudden bank and shot straight at her at high speeds.
Asuna allowed herself a grin. It seemed like even in this world that they knew better than to allow a mage to cast such a large spell without trying to stop them. Unfortunately for them, her spell was nothing but bait, a high level status heal that she finished casting right before they closed in on her.
Asuna felt her body suffused with a gentle wash of a power, cleansing her, just as the dragon entered her range. There was a single moment of frozen time where she made eye contact with the blue haired mage, and she smiled.
There was no way the mage could have recognized the spell or its effects, but Asuna could tell that she understood anyway. Her eyes widened and she cried something out, a warning to her mount perhaps. It didn't matter though, because Asuna was already moving, her rapier lifting into a position she was intimately familiar with. It shone with light as she charged another Sword Skill.
The simple but lightning fast Linear, the very same one that earned her the moniker of The Flash, took the dragon in the wing, tearing into the soft membrane that allowed it to fly.
The rush of satisfaction and victory was cut immediately short by the feeling of blood spattering over her. She couldn't even flinch due to the Post-Motion of the Sword Skill keeping her locked into place, and she barely noticed as the dragon roared in pain and spiraled down towards the ground. Even as she regained the ability to move again, she could only focus on the spots of blue blood staining her clothes.
She was used to fighting, she had spent two years spending every day on the front lines of SAO and months more in ALO. But she had never fought something that bled. SAO and ALO both had some resistance when cutting into an enemy, but wounds were just highlighted red spots that slowly faded.
Tearing through actual flesh was an entirely different feeling, one that made her queasy. She swallowed to keep her nausea down and then pushed it out of her mind. She could process that later.
She chased the falling dragon down to where it had crash landed a short distance away from where the fight had started. The two mages were just now getting to their feet, but Asuna was determined to end this fight, now. Before she had to hurt them more.
She practically dive bombed the blue haired girl, knocking her staff away as she tackled her to the ground. Asuna could hear the girl gasp as she hit the ground, the air knocked from her lungs by the impact. But even so, she immediately started to struggle, to fight back and try to break free. Until Asuna put her rapier at her throat that is. The girl froze then, as did her companion, who had just gotten to her feet.
"I'm sorry," Asuna said, meaning it. "But please surrender."
The blue haired girl stared at her for a moment, face still blank. And then… "Quoi?"
Asuna tilted her head. That… wasn't Japanese. It also wasn't English, which Asuna knew fairly well. "You don't understand me at all, do you?"
The girl just stared blankly at her, and Asuna sighed. Morgan hadn't warned her of a potential language barrier.
She used her left hand to open her menu, ignoring the way the girls looked at her. They weren't making a move, which was enough. She navigated her menu until she found the rope that she had stashed in there and materialized it.
"I'm going to tie you up now, don't resist," Asuna said, speaking clearly and slowly despite knowing that she wouldn't understand her words no matter what.
But the girl seemed smart. She eyed the ropes and then nodded. Her expression was still blank and difficult to read, but she seemed resigned. Guilt churned in Asuna's gut, but she ignored it as she stood up, keeping her rapier at the girl's neck.
"Stand up," she ordered the mage once she was on her feet. The girl stared at her blankly and Asuna resisted the urge to sigh again. She flicked the point of her sword up and pulled it back a little. But only a little. She got the meaning then and slowly pushed herself to her feet, maintaining eye contact with Asuna the entire time.
"Tabitha?" the dark-skinned girl called out nervously. Asuna was able to understand that, recognizing it as a name. In fact, it was a name she recalled Morgan mentioning earlier. "Ce qui se passe?"
"Se rendre. Forte," the girl, Tabitha, replied without looking away. She stood up straight and didn't move.
Asuna wasn't sure what they had said, but the red-haired mage grimaced and tossed aside the wand she was holding, surrendering as well. Good.
Asuna threw the bundle of rope in the direction of the fire mage. It landed on the ground about halfway between them. "Take that," she said, pointing with her free hand. Then she pointed at Tabitha and twirled her finger. "Tie up Tabitha."
The mage glanced between the rope, Asuna, and Tabitha. "Je pense qu'elle veut que je t'attache."
Tabitha nodded but otherwise remained unmoving. The other girl hesitated for a moment longer before nodding slowly and walking over to the rope and picking it up. "Ce n'est pas comme ça que j'aime utiliser la corde," she grumbled. Asuna had no idea what she said, but Tabitha didn't visibly react.
Asuna kept a careful eye on both of them as the redhead tied up Tabitha, internally breathing a sigh of relief. She hadn't had to hurt either of them more than necessary, and they both surrendered peacefully despite the language barrier. It was just about as good of a resolution as she could hope for.
Once Tabitha was securely tied up, and Asuna checked to make sure it actually was secure, she then turned her sword on the other mage and materialized another length of rope. "I'm going to tie you up now. Don't resist."
She wasn't sure if the other girl understood her, but she seemed to get the gist. Asuna sheathed her sword- she needed both hands to tie up the girl, and was glad that neither girl decided to capitalize on the moment by attacking her.
The dark skinned girl got nervous as Asuna approached, and now that they were closer Asuna could tell that she kept looking at her ears specifically. That explained some of the nervousness then, they had probably never seen pointy ears like hers. She wondered what they thought she was then.
It didn't really matter though. Asuna quickly tied her up as well. Once she was sure both of them were secure, she turned her attention to the dragon, which was laying on its side. It was covered in dirt, and its scales were a mess from where it had crashed. It was conscious though, and watching them nervously.
Morgan had said to capture the dragon as well… but how the hell was she supposed to get it back to him? Would she just have to wait here for Morgan to find her?
"Je pense qu'elle veut aussi Sylphid," the dark skinned mage said. Asuna glanced over at them, wondering what she had said. 'Sylphid' was close to a word she recognized, as Sylphs were a type of fairy race in ALO. Was that what they called the dragon? Tabitha just looked straight at Asuna, unspeaking.
Asuna sighed. "I still have no idea what you're saying." She pointed at her. "Tabitha?" The blue haired girl nodded, so she pointed at the dragon next. "Sylphid?" The girl nodded again. Asuna then pointed at the red head and waited.
"Kirche," the girl said.
Asuna nodded. "Asuna," she said, pointing at herself. Then she pointed at them in turn. "Tabitha, Kirche, and Sylphid. We need to go that way." She pointed in the direction of the hut. "Make her follow."
Tabitha considered her for a moment before turning to the dragon. "Marcher?"
The dragon, in a display of intelligence that surprised Asuna, nodded and slowly pushed itself to its feet.
Tabitha spoke again. "Suivre. N'attaquez pas."
The dragon nodded again, though it… pouted? Could dragons pout? It certainly looked like it was. It then looked at Asuna, waiting.
"I'm going to assume you told it to follow us," Asuna said as she looked over the dragon again, getting a closer look at the wound she had inflicted. She grimaced. There was a large tear in the membrane of one of her wings, dripping blood. The dragon was clearly holding it tenderly, away from her body unlike the other wing that folded up against her back.
She sighed once more and raised her hand and started chanting. All three of them tensed, but the moderate healing spell was only a handful of words long and she finished it before any of them could do more than think of doing anything.
Once it did, the bands of light whirled into a magic circle that formed beneath Sylphid's feet and bathed her in a green light. When the light faded, her wing was once more in one piece, no longer torn or injured.
She knew it was probably a bad idea to heal the dragon she was trying to keep captive. But the guilt of seeing it bleeding like that was too much for her. And so long as she held Tabitha, she didn't think Sylphid would cause any problems.
She turned away from all three of them, ignoring the way they were staring at her in shock, and pulled on the ends of the ropes she used to tie up the two girls. "Come on, this way."
They followed obediently and silently. Asuna could feel their stares on the back of her head, like they were trying to puzzle her out, but she ignored them. Sylphid followed behind, its footsteps surprisingly light for a creature of her size.
Asuna once again repressed the urge to sigh and tried to ignore the guilt in her stomach. She didn't like taking them prisoner, especially since she was leading them to Morgan. But she didn't have much of a choice, she had to do whatever Morgan ordered her to do. That was just the way things were now.
As the golem crumbled and Asuna shot out of the treeline and headed for airborne mages, I broke out in a run as well. While I did manage to learn the flight spell I had been studying, my linker core wasn't at the point where I could reliably use it yet, so I didn't have much choice but to send Asuna after Sylphid and whoever was on her back.
And since I had sent Maria off to find and subdue Fouquet, hence the golem crumbling, that left just me to take care of the people on the ground, Saito and Louise. At least until Maria finished tying up Fouquet anyway.
I had my barrier jacket though. I hadn't modified it much from the default look. I wore a short dress that ended at my upper thigh and hugged my body tightly. It had a golden seam running down the front and the edges were trimmed in gold as well. The upper half of my body was covered in a jacket that had puffy shoulders but ended about midway down my midriff. I had a black waist cape with golden armor plates hanging from my hips, black socks that rose up to my mid thigh, and purple boots.
It was basically just Hayate's Barrier Jacket with some colors changed around and a few other minor edits. And just like her, it came with a staff for a weapon. Which wasn't strictly necessary, I could just use the Tome to cast, but it did come with a few minor pre-programmed features that let me cast a few spells faster, and what kind of magic caster didn't use a staff when presented the opportunity? A lame one, that's who.
Armored and armed, I rushed towards Saito and Louise, who were distracted by Asuna starting a fight with Tabitha and the others. Barrier Jackets were very nice, as they were basically woven spells given form. Most of the spells in mine were minor defensive ones, but there was one that made me faster and more agile than a small body like mine would normally be capable of.
So I was able to get pretty close before I was noticed. "Partner! Behind you!" Derflinger, Saito's talking magic sword, called out as I rushed them from behind.
"Shoot Bullet!" I yelled as I raised my staff. A ball of purple energy fired from its tip, aimed at Saito's back. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough, and he was able to leap out of the way of my shot.
"What the hell?" Saito exclaimed as he rolled back to his feet, facing me and his sword between us. "Who are you? Are you with Fouquet?"
"That petty thief?" I replied, coming to a stop and eyeing him warily. I didn't mind buying some time for Maria to show up by monologuing. In fact, I'd call that the best case scenario. "As if. In fact, my associate should be taking care of her right about now."
"So you're with that elf that flew by then?" he asked.
I grinned. I had told Asuna to use her ALO avatar just because it was her best form that could fly. But the fact that she had pointed ears in that form and she could easily be mistaken for an elf to anyone that didn't know better… well, that was a very useful bonus in a world where the humans were terrified of elves.
"That's right, I am," I replied.
"Attends, tiens bon!" Louise interjected, speaking in a language I didn't understand. "Comment parles-tu avec elle, Saito?"
"Eh, what do you mean?" Saito replied, confused. He turned away from me to look at Louise. I considered capitalizing on it to attack him, but decided against it. That would be rude. As the villain, I was obligated to let the heroes have their turn talking and hyping me up.
That and Derflinger would probably warn him in time anyway, and I was still waiting on Maria.
"Je veux dire que je ne peux pas la comprendre du tout, alors comment peux-tu?" Louise replied.
"You can't?" Saito asked. "But I understand her just fine?"
"That would probably be because I'm speaking Japanese," I cut in.
"Eh?!" Saito exclaimed in surprise. "You're not from this world?"
"Quoi?!" Louise was surprised as well. It was interesting that whatever spell she had accidentally used on Saito allowed him to be understood by the natives while still speaking Japanese, but not actually translate anything.
"That's right," I confirmed with a dramatic twirl of my staff. "My name is Morgan, and I am a mage from another world. I've come to take your stuff."
"Wait, are you from my world too?" Saito asked. "But you're a mage? How did you get here, how do you know an elf? What is an elf and why does Louise seem so scared of them?"
"All very good questions," I replied with a nod.
A few moments of silence passed.
"Umm… are you going to answer them?" he asked.
"Nope."
He sighed, shoulder sagging. "Of course not. Well, whatever. I'll just have to beat them out of you then!"
"My, how bold," I replied, unafraid. "I don't think that's any way to treat a young girl such as myself."
"You just admitted you were here to steal!" he countered. "And you tried to blast me with a spell earlier!"
"Hmm, that is true," I admitted. "Well then, if you think you're up to the task…" I raised my staff and magical energy gathered at its tip. "You're welcome to come give it your best shot."
The rune etched onto the back of his hand glowed with power as he dashed toward me, sword raised. I immediately fired off my shot, this one larger than the last. But Saito, empowered by the Gandálfr runes, was faster than before. Derflinger rose up in an arc that cut into the spell.
Normally that wouldn't affect it much, but Derf wasn't an ordinary blade. The compressed ball of mana was torn asunder, the remnants then absorbed into the blade itself.
"Wow, Derf, you can absorb magic?" Saito exclaimed in surprise.
"I can?" he asked. "Oh, right! I can!"
I clicked my tongue in annoyance. He wasn't supposed to have remembered he could do that yet, but in hindsight, I should have known better than to bet against a protagonist's ability to pull a new ability out of his ass in order to save the day.
With my spell absorbed and no time to cast another, Saito quickly closed in. "Stahlmesser," I cast quickly as I leaped back, avoiding his swing, which I noticed was with the dull back of the blade.
A blade of magic generated from the tip of my staff, giving me something akin to a spear, and I thrust it at him. Saito deflected it effortlessly, Derflinger rising up to push it aside, causing my thrust to go wide.
Now inside my guard, he brought Derflinger around in a diagonal slash that I just barely leaned out of the way of. My Barrier Jacket would probably protect me from a blow, but I wasn't eager to test it, especially with Derflinger's anti-magic abilities. I had no desire to find out he could just eat my Barrier Jacket.
I silently used Blitz Action, one of the spells I preprogrammed into my staff, and pushed myself backward in the blink of an eye, escaping his range. I let Stahlmesser, which had partially degraded from contact with Derflinger, dissipate. "Flash Impact," I said, charging another spell. The head of my staff started to glow as I imbued it with mana.
"Watch out partner, she's up to something," Derflinger called out. Saito didn't chase me and instead eyed me warily.
"You know, it's very interesting that I can understand you as well, Derflinger," I commented.
"Wait, why do you know his name?" Saito asked. "Have you met him before?"
"Hold on now, I know my memory isn't the best, but I would remember meeting a girl like this," Derflinger protested.
"But how can she be from my world and still know you?" Saito asked.
"Yet another good question, and yet another that I'm not inclined to answer," I replied with a teasing smile. "You'll have to 'beat it out of me', like the rest."
Saito narrowed his eyes at me and shifted his grip on Derflinger. "Fine. Come on, Derf!"
"Let's go, Partner!"
Saito raised his sword and rushed me, and I couldn't help the grin that formed on my face. The Gandálfr runes might give him power and technical skill, but he was still lacking experience.
Flash Impact was actually a two part spell. The first part was much like my Blitz Action in that it pushed me in a desired direction in a sort of short range super speed dash, which I activated to rush towards Saito, closing the distance between us instantly.
Time seemed to slow down as adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I met Saito's eyes as they widened in surprise once again. I spaced it perfectly, and I was inside of his guard, too close for him to easily swing his sword at me. In fact, we were a fraction of a second from slamming into each other.
But that's what the second half of Flash Impact was for.
My staff, which I had started swinging even before I dashed, came up and hit him in the gut. The magical energy that had gathered there exploded, going off like a bomb between us, though all of the blast was directed away from me, and it sent him flying backward.
"Gah!" He landed on the ground a few meters away with a thump. I grinned, even as I tried to hide how short of breath I was. High speed movement, even over just a couple of meters, was draining, so doing it twice in one fight was a lot. On top of that, I had supercharged the actual attack, enough to maim an unprotected mundane man.
Unfortunately, even that wasn't enough, as Saito quickly pushed himself back to his feet. He looked battered, and his clothes somewhat torn, but he wasn't even limping.
"My, my, so this is the strength of the legendary Gandálfr, hmm?" I mused.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to give up that easily!" He rushed at me again, eyes watching me more carefully, cautious.
However, I had already spotted my win condition. So I just stood there, relaxed, and made no move to defend myself. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I warned him with a confident grin.
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't stop his charge. Not from my words alone at least.
"Saito!" Louise yelled out from across the battlefield. He froze in place mid swing, the dull edge of Derflinger just a few inches from my chest. I smiled at him, unflinching, and he turned to look at Louise.
She had been standing a good distance away from us, not having made a move to interfere in our fight. Whether or not that was because she trusted Saito or she didn't trust herself… well, it was probably a mix, but I would bet money it was more the latter than the former. It was still early in their relationship.
But she hadn't tried to cast any spells, so I had ignored her, and drawn Saito's attention away from her. That was the important part.
Because it freed up Maria to sneak up on Louise.
Maria was in her 'Magic Key' form, a temporary form that quickly drained her magic power but also increased her strength significantly. It was just like her succubus form, with her wearing nothing but black panties, a black top that showed off a gratuitous amount of underboob, and black gloves and thigh highs. And her demonic horns of course.
But in her Magic Key form, she grew taller, more mature, and bustier. Her gloves also turned into large red and black gauntlets that ended in claws. And it was those claws that were wrapped around Louise's neck.
"S-Saito!" Louise yelled again.
"Another elf?" Saito muttered. "Another of your friends?" he asked louder, turning back to me.
"That's right," I said with a smile. "And if you don't surrender, she'll snap her neck, and then you'll be stranded in a strange world without a master, and no one to support you. If you survive, that is."
I hoped it didn't come to that, but I wasn't bluffing. I wanted to keep Louise alive so she could challenge my dungeon later, and fall there so I could claim her. But staying alive and free to complete my objectives in this world were far more important.
I saw Saito's throat move as he swallowed. "I-..." he trailed off.
"Saito, espèce d'idiot! Faites ce qu'elle dit!" Louise called out, both anger and fear clear in her voice.
Saito grimaced, but he backed off and pulled back Derflinger, sheathing him. "Fine, fine. We surrender."
"Excellent. Maria, tie her up. I'll handle the boy." I pointed my staff at him again, and he tensed. "Wire Lock."
A magic circle, more of a triangle really, formed beneath his feat. Thin chains shot from the three points and wrapped themselves around him. Why bother with mundane rope when you had magic?
Also Asuna only had so much rope in her inventory, so I hadn't been given any.
"There," I said, lowering my staff. "I left your legs free. Walk back over to the house and go inside. And don't even try to run." I glanced over at Maria, who was readying her rope.
I spotted another figure by her feet, unconscious and tied up. And not tied up in the way that I had tied up Saito, which was really just a series of loops that bound his arms to his sides. No, Maria had gone full Shibari and hog tied Longuevuille in a way that caused her breasts to push out between strands of rope and spread her legs, between which was free of rope. "And who is that, Maria?" I asked.
Saito glanced over and gasped. "Ms. Longuevuille! What- what did you do to her?! Are you guys perverts?"
"I found her skulking around the woods," Maria reported, ignoring Saito.
"And Fouquet?" I asked.
"No sign of her." Maria replied with a morose shake of her head. I could spot the smile on her lips though. Ms. Longuevuille was Fouquet, and I had told Maria that, but I didn't want to reveal that fact yet.
Why? Well, consider it a favor from one villain to another. I was already screwing her over by stealing the artifact she stole. It was the least I could do to not blow her cover too.
"Well, bring her along as well. We'll just have to wait for Asuna now." Maria nodded and started tying Louise up in a similarly erotic fashion, though she left her able to walk on her own feet, which diminished the effect a bit. Especially since Louise didn't have much of a chest to emphasize. Still, Maria was good at what she did, and the end result was still quite erotic. Louise blushed and looked one comment away from bursting into an angry rant. But whenever she looked at Maria, at her ears specifically, she flinched and kept her mouth shut.
As Maria finished up I spotted a flash of color out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see Asuna, still in her blue-haired ALO avatar, stepping out of the lines of trees. She was holding onto two pieces of rope that led to Tabitha and Kirche. Tabitha's eyes immediately scanned the scene, taking it all in. They briefly rested on Maria before they settled on me. I smiled at her, and her gaze turned even colder.
Then I noticed Sylphid, dirty and battered but not too injured, walking behind them, head low. She wasn't tied up at all though.
"What is this?" I asked. "Why is Sylphid not tied up?"
"How the hell am I going to tie up a dragon?!" Asuna shouted back.
I sighed. "Saito, I'm going to need you to be a translator for us."
"And why should I?" he argued, back stiffening in defiance.
"Because if you don't, this is going to get very annoying. And if this gets annoying, I'm going to get mad. And if I get mad, things are going to get much less civil, understand?"
"...fine. What do you want?"
"Tell Tabitha to tell Sylphid to transform. I know a Rhyme dragon when I see one."
He looked at me in confusion, but he did what I asked. "Uhh… Tabitha? She wants you to tell Sylphid to transform? Something about her being a Rhyme Dragon?"
If I thought Tabitha's gaze was intense before, it was nothing compared to the sharp glare she sent me at Saito's words. I just grinned wider, gleefully surprising her by flaunting my knowledge of things I shouldn't know.
"Illococoo, transformer," she said, softly enough that I almost didn't hear it.
"Mais…" the dragon said, which caused a few people to stare in shock.
"Fais le."
Sylphid, or Illococoo as she was really known, seemed to pout before emanating a great deal of light. It faded after just a second, and in place of the dragon there was now a naked girl. She had long blue hair, a mature and curvy body, but her expression and body language marked her as rather immature.
"What?!" Saito exclaimed in shock alongside Kirche and Louise, who stared at the human form of Sylphid. Even Asuna was gaping at her.
I resisted the urge to sigh. "Asuna, tie her up too and bring all of them into the house," I ordered her.
She shot a glare at me, most likely annoyed that I hadn't told her about the human form, but did as I said. But not before giving the girl a cloak to protect her modesty. I considered telling her to not do so, because I liked seeing naked girls, but decided against it. If preventing me from seeing the dragon girl's boobs made her feel better, then that was worth her being so obedient.
Besides, I was in a good mood. My plan had gone off more or less without a hitch, and I was in position to snatch everything I wanted from this world. The hard part was done, now it was just time to reap the rewards.
Shifty's SubscribeStar: subscribestar com / shifty-s-fiction
Shifty's Discord Server: discord .gg/aWJrmhf4Hy
AN: I'm using the anime timeline for things. I'm not really familiar with Familiar of Zero(get it?) but I found the anime a bit more tolerable than the novels. At least I can see the cute girls in it instead of having to imagine them. Also yes, I 100% just used google translate to get some French for the Halkeginian language. Is that accurate? No idea, but I also don't care. If anything is off just chalk it up to a dialect difference or whatever. I had a lot of fun playing around with the inability to communicate.
Had to split the trip into two, which left this chapter mostly fight scenes. I still don't consider myself great at fight scenes, and in fact I had to rewrite a good chunk of the Asuna one because the first version was… uninspired. But practice makes perfect and all that. Morgan and Saito was a bad matchup for Morgan, at least while he's still so relatively weak, but thankfully he's a clever villain who knows how to work around his weakness. And it won't be too long before he's not weak at all.
Next chapter will finish up Halkeginia and will be a bit less action packed but more fun. It's already half written since I wasn't sure where to split the trip at first, so it should be out soon. Hopefully. And once it is, I'll finally admit that I'm just writing this fic now. I don't plan on giving up on Skyblock, I've got two chapters for that that are half done or more, but I have given up entirely on trying to control my muse. I'll write what I feel like, and not even I can predict what that'll be.