"Slayers!" - Talking
'Slayers!' - Thinking
"Slayers!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy
"SLAYERS!" - Screaming
"Slayer Attack!" - Spells
Slash! - Sound Effect
[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time
Chapter 6: A Siren and a Healer
[South of the country of Bosco / 28th July X786]
"So that's Woodwind huh?" standing on top of a hill dotted with trees and bushes, Kris observed the small village that could be seen not far away, close to the sea "It seems like a very peaceful place to me!"
"Yes, that's the place." confirmed Mukuro while glancing at a map, before making it vanish under the purple lined, black hooded cloak he was wearing, with the hood pulled down over his head.
"So, what kind of person do you think this 'Healer of Woodwind' will be?" asked Kris, while walking toward the village with Mukuro at his side "I only heard of them once before joining the guild but never gave it any thought."
Mukuro shook his head "I'm afraid I have no information on this. The guild master asked us to control this person due to their reputation that has now reached even the Pergrande Kingdom, and that's what we will do."
The Iron Dragon Slayer grinned at him "Sounds good to me! I also wouldn't mind doing more missions with you! Four missions in just a week isn't bad at all!"
On that last point, Mukuro had nothing to say. He had been pretty lucky to get four missions while Kris had only gotten one. The two had decided to leave immediately to try to complete them all, with the exception of one of S rank. Kris was strong and more than willing to get his hands dirty and work harder than necessary, which Mukuro liked, but he wasn't yet at the level to take on a mission of that level, plus now they had to go back to the guild to report; checking on that famous 'Healer of Woodwind' was just a personal request from Katharina.
Furthermore, Mukuro had a feeling that Katharina knew something that they didn't know, otherwise there would be no point in sending them to check on a simple healer.
"If the opportunity arises, I'll keep it in mind, Bliviah."
"Great! Now let's get to know this Healer! I hope they have some pieces of iron they can give me, I'm starving!"
It didn't take long before the two mages arrived near the village, passing close to some cultivated fields where there were some farmers at work, many of whom had noticed the duo arriving but hadn't paid too much attention to them. Looking around, Kris couldn't help but notice that it was an extremely quiet place: there were some children intent on playing, a small group of women were sorting out some ruined clothes while the men were working in the fields or somewhere else.
However, he noticed how, even though that village was very far from the nearest city, everything seemed so new and...expensive? All the women had at least one precious accessory on them, the sign of the emporium near the gates of the village seemed brand new as did the cart positioned in front of it, and even the children had apparently expensive clothes, even if they were dirty with grass and dirt.
'Odd…' thought Kris before following Mukuro, who had headed towards an elderly man sitting in the shade of a tree, intent on reading a newspaper.
Seeing the two mages approaching, the man stood up with the help of a walking stick after folding the newspaper "Greetings travellers, what brings you to our humble village?"
"Good day to you, could you by any chance tell me who the village head is? We would like to ask for some information." said Mukuro after bowing his head in greeting, while Kris simply waved his hand with a smile on his face.
"I am the village chief, young man." replied the elder man with a smile "So, what kind of information do you need?"
It was Kris who stepped forward and asked the question "We would like to talk to the famous 'Healer of Woodwind'! Where can we find them?"
As soon as he said those words, a strange light lit up in the old man's eyes "Oh he's currently helping out in the fields east of the village, he always does that when there aren't any people in need of his services. Tell me, what kind of pain do you have and, not to imply anything, but do you have money to pay with?"
"Oh no, neither of us are sick. We just want to talk to this famous healer." said Kris without losing his smile, noticing however how the old man looked disappointed for just an instant. The young Dragon Slayer didn't say anything about it but he was sure that Mukuro had noticed it too and so, after thanking the village chief, they headed towards the fields to the west.
In a matter of minutes they found themselves at the edge of three medium-sized wheat fields and, while they were intently looking for anyone who could even remotely appear to be a healer, one of the farmers shouted "Hey brat come here now! Wheat needs water!"
Looking in that direction, the two wizards saw a young boy with long-ish brown hair moving quickly from one field to another. That young man had a pale complexion and a gaunt physique, perfectly visible from a distance also thanks to the white shirt he was wearing, the legs were mostly covered by a pair of jeans with several tears, that were rolled up below the knees, and finally he had a pair of sandals on his feet and a brown straw farmer's hat on his head.
He approached the farmer who had called him, who seemed rather annoyed with the younger boy, as if he had taken too long to arrive, then he stretched out his arms towards the wheat field and from both hands generated a copious quantity of water which filled a series of small channels that crossed the field. Kris and Mukuro watched him repeat the process a few times before catching the attention of the farmer closest to them.
"The hell are you doing there? If you have nothing to do, why don't you give us a hand?"
Kris showed him a small smile "Oh forgive us, we didn't want to disturb! We are here to talk to your famous healer, could you tell us where he is?"
The farmer looked him up and down before turning away "Oi, sick brat! There are visits for you!"
The two World Slayers members were surprised to see the young boy from before running towards them, while the farmer went back to work ignoring them. When he was in front of them, Kris tilted his head "So you are the 'Healer of Woodwind'? You look quite young!"
"Yes, that's what they call me around here. My name's Bogart Cresthill, but you can call me Beau…" said the young boy, who was a little shorter than Kris, while maintaining a cautious attitude towards them "What do you want to talk about? You are not hurt."
Kris chuckled for a moment "You are the second person to tell us this, even the village head noticed it immediately! Even though he asked us about whether we were able to pay."
"Because he is the one who takes the money…" whispered Bogart while glaring at the ground.
Kris heard him but preferred to give the impression that he hadn't understood well "What did you say?"
"None of your business!" snapped the younger boy, without moving from his spot "So what do you want to talk about?! I don't-!"
"Oi lazy brat! Are you done wasting your time?! We need some water in the other fields!"
While Kris looked towards the farmer in the distance who had called for Bogart, Mukuro kept his gaze on the young man in front of them and saw him clench his fists before running in that direction, without even giving them another word. Crossing the arms over his chest, Kris looked down at his traveling companion "Kind of strange that a healer has to help so much in the fields."
Mukuro agreed with him but didn't say anything about it, and just asked "Have you discovered anything?"
"Yep, a strong smell of earth and water but nothing to cover his true odor. He's a Dragon Slayer. What's the plan now?"
"We will rest until he finishes working so as not to disturb, and then ask him to join the guild. If he refuses, we will report our findings to the guild master and then return home."
Kris nodded "Sounds good to me!"
[World Slayers' Guild Building/ 28th July X786]
"Oooooooh so this is your guild!"
"Yeah. It's a nice sight, right? I've always thought that wall of skulls is really cool."
"I've never seen so many skulls at once! I actually just saw some rabbit skulls and that was it! And those giant bones?! Bigger than a monster! What did they belong to?!"
"They…you know what, I never asked either. I always thought they were a work of art created by Ossian."
Behind Sava and Lugh, while the two were intent on observing the building in front of them, Bridget could only breathe a sigh of relief at seeing the guild, for several reasons. First of all, she hated the cold and being able to warm up near a nice brazier with a cup of hot chocolate seemed like heaven to her at that moment. Secondly, her patience had reached its lowest point ever after spending a week traveling with those two: if it wasn't Lugh with his constant desire to fight, it was Sava with his endless talk.
"Now try to be respectful and don't read other people's minds! The Gods only know what they think sometimes…" grumbled Lugh before approaching the front door, kicking it open with a loud bang "FINALLY! I'M BACK EVERYONE!"
Sava watched him scream at the top of his lungs for a few seconds before looking at the mouth on his left hand "I think he was being sarcastic about respect, I can never tell when someone is being sarcastic!" his expression suddenly became sad "Maybe I'll never understand…" and then he was happy again, running inside the guild "Or I can learn it in here!"
"Your patience must be acknowledged but your persistence in not killing that man-child is beyond ridiculous."
"Now he's not my problem anymore, don't worry about it anymore." was the tired reply of Bridget as she followed the other two into the guild, closing the door once inside. Looking around she then saw that there were only about ten people in the main hall and Lugh was already talking to Palomita about the mission they had just completed, also introducing Sava to her.
Palomita laughed heartily, patting Lugh on the shoulder "It must have been hell for you! At least you got to let off some steam with a good fight! Next time I'll come with you, I'm sure we'll be much faster!"
Paling a little, Lugh shook his head "Hell no! Last time you carried me I didn't eat for two days!"
"Heh! Suit yourself!" she then looked down "So you're the new God Slayer huh? You don't look like much but I'm sure Lugh invited you to join the guild because he thought you were strong! He is the kind of person who only thinks about fighting after all!"
"Hey! The same goes for you, you fucking gorilla!"
Palomita grinned at him "I know, and that's why I'm happy to see you! You're one of the few I can have a proper fistfight with!" focusing back on Sava, she pointed at her own chest "Name's Palomita Alvarez by the way, but you can call me Darling!"
Sava looked at her with sparks in his eyes "Wow! You have five names! That's so cool! I don't even know if I could think of so many names for myself! After all my mouths are called Left Hand and Collarbone!"
"Five names?" repeated Lugh, blinking in confusion "What the fuck do you mean…? Hey don't tell me you read her mind!"
"Sorry!"
Groaning, Lugh shook his head before looking at Palomita "Forgive him, but he doesn't know when to stop using his powers! Seriously though, what does he mean by five names?"
"No worries, he must be a nightmare for poker players!" laughed the Zombie Slayer "I forgot that not everyone knows this, but my full name is Palomita Amelia Martina Rosa Alvarez VIII! Is it or isn't it the coolest name of all?"
Lugh wasn't impressed "It seems more like a fucking tongue twister to me..."
"Ah you're just jealous of my name!" after a short laugh, Palomita gestured towards the girl who had remained silent at her side until then "Almost forgot! This lovely girl is Brigid!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you Sava, I hope you will enjoy yourself here." said Brigid with a smile on her face, shaking hands with the smaller mage.
"Thanks for having me! Can't wait to meet the others! I have never met so many different people all together, not even when we held a party in the village and several tourists had come from some nearby cities and we-!" Sava felt someone put a hand on his head before lifting him bodily, finding himself face to face with an amused Palomita.
"You have a lot of energy, huh? Most likely you will never become as strong as me but I am sure that if you try your hardest during the missions you will be an excellent mage! Spend some time with me and you'll see what it's like to be the best in the guild!" grinned Palomita before adding "It's a shame you're so small, I would have loved to see you in a bar brawl!"
Sava laughed heartily at her words "Yeah I was really unlucky with my height!" he then detached himself from Palomita's grasp, floating until he sat on her right shoulder "You are also taller than Lugh! You're huge! The biggest person I've ever seen!"
"And the strongest, don't forget it!"
"Ah, that explains the reason for all the fuss! It's good to see you again, and I see you've brought someone with you." turning towards the source of the voice, everyone saw Katharina descending the last steps from the upper floor with Rayleigh by her side, approaching them with a warm smile on her lips "I hope the mission went well."
Lugh scratched the back of his head "I can't say if it went well, Boss Lady, but we'll explain everything to you since there were some unexpected events." he then nodded towards their last addition "He's Sava Erunant, the God Slayer we told you about a few days ago."
"Yes, I can definitely sense the energy of a god within him." nodded Katharina as Sava floated in front of her "I'm Katharina Rel Alucard, the guild master of World Slayers, while he is Rayleigh Whitlock, the dad/mom of this place and best chef in the whole country! Feel free to introduce yourself to the others while we start preparing a welcome party, I doubt they will mind celebrating less than two weeks after the last party! Do you think we have everything we need Ray?"
"The pantry is full but we need some beer, we only have six barrels left. I'll go and buy them right away." said Rayleigh with a smile on his face before kneeling in front of Sava "It's a pleasure to meet you dear, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask!"
"Last party?" repeated Lugh while Sava began bombarding Rayleigh and the others with questions of all types "Did anyone else join while we were away?"
Katharina snapped her fingers "Oh right, I didn't tell you since I was in a hurry! We managed to recruit a new Dragon Slayer, his name is Erik and he is-!"
"Erik?!"
Katharina, as well as those close to her, turned towards Bridget, who had remained aloof until then, and was slightly confused to see her with a shocked expression on her face "Yes, that's his name and he is in his room, but he is-"
She never got a chance to finish her sentence as Bridget sprinted towards the stairs that would take her to the guild quarters, leaving a small group of confused Slayers behind.
The guild master looked at the other, blinking several times "Did I say something strange?"
While she was wondering what she had said that was so strange, Bridget had already reached the corridor below the guild and began running towards the rooms at the end of the hallway, since new arrivals were always placed towards the end, occupying one room at a time. She immediately went to the room where the nameplate reading 'ERIK' was now visible above the door and entered without even knocking, ignoring the cloud of steam that hovered in the room.
Someone came out of the bathroom of the room and saw that it was a shirtless guy wearing only black pants, intended to dry his head with a towel, but she almost didn't notice and jumped on him with a hopeful expression on her face, easily knocking him down and ending up on top of him. All the emotions Bridget felt at that moment, immediately gave way to pure confusion when she managed to focus on the boy's face "Who are you…?"
'That's what I'd like to ask!' thought Cobra with a small tick mark on his head.
He had finally managed to take a relaxing shower, after several days spent carrying out missions with Palomita and Brigid, when this red-haired girl had suddenly run into his room and knocked him down without even giving him time to put something on!
Now here they were, with him lying shirtless on the ground and a complete stranger on all fours on top of him! He had to hurry and figure out what the hell she was doing there before-!
"My my~! I didn't know you were so direct, my dear Bridget~!"
Turning pale upon hearing those words, Cobra looked towards his bedroom door along with the girl above him and they both paled even more when they saw Katharina, Lugh, Sava, Palomita, Brigid, and Rayleigh, all looking at them with different emotions across their faces.
Lugh had his chin between two fingers, watching the scene with clear interest "So girls act like this when they need to? I didn't know."
"Ooh so will they do what adults do? My mother always told me that you should only do it with the person you are married to, you didn't tell me you were married!" exclaimed Sava without any trace of sarcasm in his voice.
Brigid, with a dusting of pink on her cheeks, simply covered Sava's eyes, believing him to be a child…even though the damage was already done.
"Way to go girl! I thought you were too cold, but I see that you also know how to be hot when you want! You may not have a sexy body like mine, but I'm sure you can make him scream with pleasure!" nodded Palomita while giving her a thumbs-up with a sincere smile on her face.
Katharina on the other hand had something that could only be described as an extremely lewd smile "And here I thought only Dragon Slayers could go into heat~! Apparently your magic has its advantages huh~?"
With every single comment, Cobra and Bridget's faces changed color, until Rayleigh entered the room completely and then started pushing the others out with a calm smile on his face "Now everyone, please give them some privacy." and when he had finally managed to get them out, ignoring Katharina's comments about him being a killjoy, he turned to Cobra and Bridget "About you two, I'm still too young to be a grandfather so use these okay?"
Cobra's face flushed even more when he saw him place a pack of condoms on the nearby cabinet "W-Why the hell do you have something like that on you?!"
Rayleigh chuckled for a few seconds "Oh dear, you have no idea how many almost-pregnancies I've seen outside and inside this guild! In any case, have fun and don't worry about the noise, each room is soundproofed!" and with those last words, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
After several seconds of heavy silence, Cobra looked Bridget in the eyes "Before I die of embarrassment any further, get off me..."
Bridget immediately did as requested and stood up, taking a few steps back, giving Cobra a chance to get back up "So what the hell is going on? Why did you jump on me?"
"It was a mistake on my part. When Katharina said there was a new arrival named Erik I acted without thinking." explained Bridget with a serious expression.
'For a moment I hoped it was him…'
After listening to her mind, Cobra arched an eyebrow before asking "The Erik you speak of must be an important person to you, but unfortunately it's not me. You could have knocked to prevent…that from happening."
"As said, it was a mistake on my part, it won't happen again." said Bridget before moving towards the door "I apologize for disturbing you."
Once out of the room, the swordswoman closed the door but then realized she wasn't alone in the hallway, much to her annoyance, since Katharina, Lugh and Rayleigh were still nearby.
"Already finished? Hell, I didn't think you were the one-and-done kind of girl! Not even a little cuddle? It must also be said that Erik finished a little too quickly." said Katharina with a smirk on her face before patting her on the shoulder "Are you sure you want to leave your new flame alone~?"
"Please don't get any strange ideas, nothing happened. I was simply wrong." replied Bridget without looking at the guild master before going to her room for some well-deserved rest, closing the door behind her.
"She really needs to get laid." chuckled Katharina for a moment before looking at Rayleigh "As soon as possible, bring her a nice cup of hot chocolate with some marshmallows, better to let her rest for a while."
"I will make sure to do it right before going to buy beer." nodded Rayleigh with a smile before snapping his fingers "Oh I almost forgot! Lugh?"
"Mh?" the younger mage looked at him but Rayleigh vanished instantly and before Lugh could react…
Whack! Whack! Whack!
"OW!" Lugh fell to his knees with both hands on the back of his head and, turning to Rayleigh, who was holding his dreaded chancla with the tip still steaming, asked "What was that for?!"
"Shortly after you arrived you cursed three times." said Rayleigh, looking at him with a disappointed glare "You know the rules, no cursing in the guildhall."
"But you weren't even there! You were with the Boss Lady!"
"So what? I'm a Dragon Slayer just like you, dear. My ears still work very well."
Lugh stood up and looked anywhere but at Rayleigh "Sorry…"
Rayleigh didn't hesitate for a second to ruffle his hair with one hand "All forgiven, now let's go up dear. While I make Bridget's hot chocolate I'll make you a plate of flaming pasta!"
Katharina smiled as she saw them walking away and began to follow them, only to then stop towards one of the doors closest to the stairs. Raising a hand, she knocked gently a couple of times "Yumi it's me, can I come in?"
"Ah! S-Sure! It's open!"
Katharina opened the door and found herself in a cozy looking room with some large framed drawings hanging on the walls and several bowls full of sweet snacks scattered around. Turning her gaze towards the large bed full of winter blankets, she saw the 'landlady', a young girl with snow like skin and dark purple hair that reached her neck, with a few strands of light purple in the middle. She was currently wearing a dark t-shirt with a purple flower on the chest, a black and purple jacket and long pants of the same color, while a pair of black shoes were placed next to the bed.
Approaching her, Katharina noticed the book the other girl was holding in her hands "What are you reading?"
Yumi's purple eyes moved from the guild master to the book and back again "Oh this, it's just an old book Rayleigh lent me."
"Is that so?" Katharina sat on the bed next to Yumi, looking at some of the drawings hanging on the walls "In a few weeks the first Northern Lights will begin, do you think you will draw something?"
"I…I'll think about it, I'll probably have to move to the infirmary to see them properly." said Yumi after thinking about it for a few seconds, trying not to look nervous.
"You can always come to my office, you'd have a great view from there." replied Katharina "Rayleigh probably already told you, but someone else recently joined the guild and another recruit arrived today, plus I think there will be more arriving in the next few days. When you want to meet them, just let me know and I'll bring them to you one at a time, okay?"
Yumi looked down for a moment "All right Kathy, I'll tell you when…I'm ready, sorry about this. I wouldn't want the other me to cause problems."
"No problem, we blood mages have to help each other, right?" Katharina put her arm around Yumi's shoulders, hugging her, then got up and headed towards the door "Oh right, Rayleigh's making some hot chocolate for Bridget, do you want some too?"
Yumi showed her a wide smile "Yes, please."
Katharina gave her the 'okay sign' before leaving and heading upstairs, but when she was close to the stairs she heard the distinctive racket produced by a brawl and, quickly climbing the steps, she got her confirmation when she saw Palomita, Lugh and some other mages fighting in the center of the hall, while Sava was intently watching them from a short distance, occasionally offering a chair, to anyone who needed it, with his powers.
Without saying anything, he headed towards the kitchen, whose door was nearby right next to the bar counter, and advised Rayleigh to bring Yumi some hot chocolate too; closing the door, she barely had time to turn before Lugh fell a few meters from her. Giggling, she sat down at the bar next to Brigid and looked at the boy on the floor "Two weeks on the road has left you rusty."
"I'm not rusty, it's just that gorilla is pretty damn strong!" replied Lugh while getting up.
Katharina looked at Palomita, who was using a guildmate as an improvised weapon, and could only agree with him "Well you know her, even in fights like this she doesn't hold back. Now tell me about the mission, why do you think it wasn't successful?"
"Well we reached the place as requested and Bridget immediately noticed Sava's presence, even though we didn't know it was him yet." explained Lugh while sitting next to her "After reaching the small town we talked to the mayor and discovered that there was a big illusion in that place, so we went back and found Sava, and let me tell you right away, Boss Lady, but he seems a bit crazy to me…"
"Wouldn't you say the same about other mages here?"
"Well yeah…but he seems even crazier to me, starting from his attitude and his changes in mood." he looked at Sava for a moment and saw him go from excited to happy to sad to happy again in a matter of seconds "Anyway, all of a sudden Bridget told me something was happening in town so I went back to look and found this girl named Momonary dispelling illusions, showing off some dead bodies and a destroyed building. In short, I found myself fighting her since she wanted to find and kill Sava, but then he and Bridget arrived and in the end she escaped."
Katharina raised an eyebrow, visibly interested and Brigid seemed to want to hear more too "Was she strong?"
"Luckily yes! If I hadn't fought her I would have gone crazy with boredom! The interesting thing is that she was a Devil Slayer but she seemed to hate mages." grinned Lugh before looking more serious "She also told me that she had faced and killed two like us in the past, an Ice Dragon Slayer and an Earth Devil Slayer."
"Is that so…?" Katharina didn't seem happy about it but didn't comment on it "Then what happened?"
Lugh shrugged "Sava joined us and we returned here. Bridget is certain that he is the creator of those illusions but he persists in saying that he didn't create them, furthermore in addition to seeming a little crazy it seems to me that he suffers from amnesia or something like that. Sometimes he talks, says one thing, then he seems to be trying to remember something and suddenly stops talking or talks about something else."
"Well that's interesting, one of these days I'll talk to him and try to find out something. Do you by any chance know what his magic is?"
"Yeah, apparently he's a Psychic God Slayer, but…how can I say this…it almost seems like he reacts badly if you ask him something about it." he looked back at Sava "When we were walking back I asked him about his magic and to show me something other than levitation, illusions or mind reading and he burst into tears as if his parents had been killed in front of his eyes. I'm not joking when I say that I have never heard such a desperate cry, and the most disturbing thing is that he still showed me other aspects of his magic. After a few minutes I had to tell him that he could stop to make him calm down and, as if nothing had happened, he went back to laughing and joking!"
"It sounds like you've found someone very interesting." noted Katharina with a small smirk, while looking at the short mage, who was now talking with his hands. Rather anomalous as a thing, but she had seen worse.
"Eh, that's for sure!" nodded Lugh before looking around "Tell me, where are the others? The guild seems pretty empty to me."
"Oh mostly everyone is on missions, except Nox who went to the local Magic Council headquarters for some projects." explained Katharina "You'll also be happy to know that we'll be getting another big chunk of missions from Doma-kun these days. While you were gone we received quite a few and completed almost all of them."
"Really?! Finally! I hope there will be plenty of them! I need some proper action after these last few days!" grinned Lugh before throwing himself back into the fray to try to knock Palomita down.
Katharina laughed out loud seeing him fight without any limitations "Oh believe me Lugh, you will get your action." she then looked at Brigid "The same goes for you and the others, I think that soon a new storm will hit Ishgar and I fear that this time around we will not be exempt from ending up at the center of attention."
Brigid looked at her with a puzzled expression "But wasn't that what you wanted, master?"
"That's true! I would have been too sorry to keep you on an empty stomach for much longer!" said the blonde mage with a small chuckle before assuming a deadly serious expression "But there are some variables that I hadn't taken into account and that we still don't know much about, and I don't like that. Precisely for this reason, always be ready Brigid, you are one of my most powerful mages and I will need you."
The magma mage nodded at her words "I'll be ready, master."
"That's all I ask, Brigid. Now tell me, from one to ten how much did Erik scream while being carried around by Darling?"
[Near the Iceberg-Seven border/ 28th July X786]
"This seems like a quiet place to me. You say we'll find the Siren Slayer here?" asked Mako while looking at Mathis, as their wagon approached the village by the sea; even from where they were now, the piers made of wooden planks to which some boats were moored were visible.
The coachman let his gaze wander over the North Sea for a few seconds before shrugging "Well we followed the path that Arnold's brother told us, so I'd say we arrived at the right place. All we need to do is ask some villagers for information."
"Sounds good to me!" nodded Mako before looking out over the vast surface of water "I wonder what the water will be like! It's freezing near the guild!"
Mathias chuckled for a moment "Well we are still further south than the guild's location, but I really think the water will be cool despite the lack of snow or ice in this area."
The wagon finally arrived near the first houses and Mathias attracted the attention of a couple of women nearby, busy tanning hides "I apologize for the inconvenience, my ladies, but do you happen to know if there have been any siren attacks in these parts recently?"
The two women giggled at the way he addressed them, before one of them nodded "Yes, the latest attack happened two days ago. Sirens have always been a problem in these parts, but in recent months the attacks have increased, although fortunately no one has died yet."
The other woman pointed out the sea, where a couple of boats were visible offshore "Some crates containing valuable goods were lost during the attack, so some sailors are trying to recover them, perhaps they will receive help from the Nereid."
"Nereid?" repeated Mako with a tilt of the head.
The first woman nodded "Yes, these are benevolent creatures linked to the sea. In many legends they are also often mentioned alongside the Sea God. We don't know who or what it is, but during the siren attacks, if any of the sailors ended up overboard, they were always saved by the Nereid but, partly due to shock and partly stress, they are never able to clearly remember the appearance of their savior. We only know that it is a girl with long dark hair, or so the sailors say, but many of us know that most of their stories come to life after a few pints of beer in the tavern!"
"I see, thanks so much for the information. Have a good day!" nodded Mathias before moving the wagon forward again "Well now we know that our possible Siren Slayer is around here!"
Mako nodded at the older man "Indeed! We might as well go and lend those fishermen a hand! I can breathe underwater without problems! Rad, are you coming with me?"
"No, fighting underwater is not one of my qualities." replied the blonde mage while reading a book inside the wagon "I'll just wait for you on the shore."
"Fair enough." shrugged Mako while Mathias stopped the cart at a point where it would not disturb anyone. In short, the three headed towards the docks and Mako began to undress, remaining only with his cargo shorts on, placing his folded clothes on a nearby rack, and only then Mathias and Radogan saw what looked like two prongs of a trident transplanted into Mako's back, looking almost like two fins. Taking his trusty Trishula with him, Mako took a deep breath before diving into the sea.
After drinking a large amount of sea water, Mako released some of his magical power before pointing the tip of his weapon forward "Water God's Abyss Arrow!"
The water around his body began to swirl rapidly before he shot forward like a torpedo, hurtling away from land at an alarming speed towards the boats he had seen before diving. It took him a few seconds to reach one of the two boats and, without slowing down, he aimed upwards before jumping out of the water and landing on the deck of the ship, shocking the sailors around him, two of whom immediately took up harpoons fearing that it was an attack by the sirens.
"W-Who the hell are you?!"
"Name's Mako! Nice to meet you!" grinned the young mage before looking around "A couple of nice ladies told us that you are trying to recover some goods that sank during an attack by sirens! If you want I can give you a hand, I'm a mage and I can freely breathe underwater!"
The various sailors looked at each other, clearly confused, until one of them spoke up "We...have not sent any requests for help to the guilds, that's if you are part of a guild." the last part was said after the man noticed the World Slayers guild mark; the country of Seven had some legal guilds scattered across the territory but none of them had a mark like that and there was practically no news of guilds based in Iceberg.
"Oh I'm not here on a mission! My companions and I were looking for signs of a possible Siren Slayer! It could perhaps be the one you call Nereid but we're not sure!" explained Mako with a smile "Since we've come this far, and having heard about your situation, I thought you might want a hand!"
The sailor who had spoken to him scratched the back of his head "Ah if you put it that way then…" he gestured for Mako to come closer and showed him some diving sets "We have enough equipment for six of us, complete with instant buoys needed to lift the goods upwards, however the first ones to dive heard the unmistakable call of the sirens and we had to pull them out of the water. Those damn fish women are definitely lurking down there."
"They didn't attack you?"
"They can't." grinned the sailor "These two boats were enchanted by some mages a few years ago. The enchantments cost us an arm and a leg but they are worth it, whoever is on board does not suffer the effects of any type of vocal hypnosis, such as the siren song, while the part of the hull that is underwater has special runes that cause despondency and nausea to mermaids, so they cannot get close."
"I see...well I can always see what the situation is! What exactly should I look for?"
"Four crates, very large, I would say as tall as you. They're sealed and there are some metal and fabric components inside, so we should be able to salvage everything once we get the crates back." said the man before nodding towards the instant buoys "I know that underwater it is easier to move things but if the coast is clear, don't hesitate to return to the surface and get some buoys, otherwise if you prefer we will send some divers while you watch their back."
Mako nodded at him "Leave it to me!" and without waiting any longer, he dived into the water before looking towards the seabed. Luckily for him the sea was calm and the seabed featured several reefs and rock formations, as well as lots of banks of seaweed and large patches of sand, so he had no problem swimming down and starting looking for the first of those crates.
There didn't seem to be anyone nearby but Mako kept his guard up anyway and continued swimming, keeping very close to the seabed until he saw a shadow in his peripheral vision. Turning quickly in that direction, he just had time to see someone vanish behind some rocks, so he swam in that direction but on the opposite side, and when he got to the edge of the largest rock, he quickly circled around it, keeping Trishula at the ready but froze when his sky blue eyes met the dark blue eyes of a girl with fair skin and long black hair, which floated in the water giving her an almost surreal image.
For several seconds he didn't know how to react, also thanks to the fact that the two of them were very close and that she was staring at him intently with evident curiosity on her face, until he saw her tilt her head slightly and, although they were underwater, a gentle voice reached his ears.
"Who are you?"
Radogan was sitting comfortably on a bench on the seafront, intent on reading a book while Mathias, sitting next to him, was observing the boats towards which Mako had gone. The two had still asked around for some information about the famous Nereid (and that is Mathias had asked for information while Radogan had remained on the sidelines) but they hadn't discovered anything new, so they had decided to stay and wait for Mako's return.
"Do you think Mako will have any problems?"
Radogan's only eye didn't move from his book "He is a Water God Slayer, and is currently underwater. I don't see how anything could go wrong."
The coachman nodded before taking a bite of the sandwich he had purchased earlier, but then seemed to notice the slight frown on the wizard's face "Something's wrong?"
The Dragon Slayer didn't seem to hear him and focused more on the scent he had just smelled; his nose wrinkled a few times as his red eye moved from right to left, watching people pass by them. If there was one thing that people like him were good at, it was picking up particular odors, and despite the salty air and the distinct smell of fish, he was sure he had just smelled something very unusual while still on dry land.
Tilting his head to see beyond Mathias, his gaze fell on the back of a woman with long dark blue hair who was calmly walking away, and focusing on her, he realized that that particular scent was hers.
'How strange.' and indeed it was true, although he had seen a lot of things over the years, a mermaid among humans was new to him too.
Mako remained still for several seconds observing the girl who had appeared in front of him and only when he saw her tilt her head slightly did he seem to recover, shaking his head quickly and trying to clear the slight blush from his cheeks, but when he tried to speak, his voice was easily distorted by the water "M-Mako!"
"So your name is Mako? I'm Livie, nice to meet you!" she said while nodding her head with a smile.
"Y-Yeah, likewise!" he replied, suddenly much more nervous than before, and the fact that she was only wearing a dark blue, short-sleeved swimming dress didn't help much. He looked around for the crates but not seeing any, he decided to focus on the girl in front of him, who seemed particularly intrigued by his presence.
"I've never seen you around here, how do you breathe underwater?"
"Oh w-well, I'm a Water God Slayer and…you know…it's part of my magic."
"I understand!" she said with a nod, surprising him with her quick acceptance, before looking behind her. Mako looked in the same direction but saw nothing even though he concentrated on the darkness of the water that seemed to swallow even the sunlight and after a few seconds Livie looked back at him "A group of sirens are coming towards us."
Mako blinked at her words "How do you know?"
"I can hear them!"
The God Slayer tilted his head before placing Trishula against the rock near them and putting both hands to his ears; concentrating only for a few seconds, he could hear voices in the distance, even though his eyes still saw only darkness "You are right…are they enemies?"
"Most likely." Livie shrugged after a moment "The vast majority repudiate humans and particularly hate me, they have been following me for a long time now, but I still manage to keep them at bay every time they show up."
Mulling over her words for a few seconds, Mako pointed his weapon towards the direction the sirens were coming from "We can try to chase them away if you want! I-I mean, I can help you deal with them!"
Livie nodded immediately without even hesitating for a second "Sounds good! Let's go!" and swam towards the mermaids, surprising Mako, who quickly followed her. The two swam for several seconds, during which Mako realized that Livie was slightly faster than him, before suddenly stopping when the silhouettes of five mermaids emerged from the darkness of the ocean. Mako's eyes quickly moved from one mermaid to another, noticing how they were all very similar to each other but with different characteristics that made them different, such as the scales of their tails, which also covered part of their arms, face and chest, whose shades varied from aqua green to bright blue.
The one in the center glared at Livie, showing her sharp teeth "Still here, traitor's spawn? Aren't you tired of wasting your time among humans yet?" she then shifted her gaze to Mako, looking him up and down with a mocking grin "What's this? A poor fool who decided to face us like the sailors of centuries ago? Or have you finally managed to enchant someone with that beautiful voice of yours?"
Livie stared at her with a calm face "I didn't use any spells on him, but thanks for the compliment!"
"I was being sarcastic!"
"Oh…in which case I withdraw my thanks."
Mako couldn't help but look around and notice that the mermaids were definitely angry with Livie's attitude; which wasn't strange from the way she was interacting with them, despite their obvious hatred towards her. While she and the mermaid at the head of the group were busy exchanging a few words, three of the other mermaids began to swim around them, forming a circle with Mako and her ally in the center.
"You and that traitor will be executed by the Chief as soon as she gets her hands on you!" the siren looked at the others "Kill the human and capture her! The Chief wants her alive!"
Without hesitation, two mermaids lunged towards Mako and the God Slayer barely managed to avoid their sharp claws while moving away from Livie; as fast as he was underwater the mermaids definitely had the advantage. The two did not slow down in any way before once again closing the distance between them and Mako but, while he managed to push one away using the tip of his weapon, the other was able to grab him by the throat and smash him against some rocks, opening several cuts along his back.
Stunned by the impact, Mako still managed to swallow a large amount of water and the mermaid grinned, thinking that he would soon drown, however she was shocked when she saw him puff out his cheeks and look towards her "Water God's Bellow!"
A huge whirlwind of black water erupted from his mouth and hit the mermaid at point blank range causing her to scream in pain and, despite the water and the mermaid's scream, Mako distinctly heard the sound of several bones breaking due to his attack, which threw his opponent against the seabed, destroying several rocks and dyeing the water around her red. Mako turned to focus on the second siren when his ears were filled with an incredibly high-pitched sound that momentarily stunned him, allowing his opponent to dig the nails of her left hand into his side, drawing a lot of blood.
He tried to push her away with his weapon but she immediately moved away and opened her mouth, emitting the same sound that had just stunned him to then attack him again, however the sound seemed to suddenly vanish, enveloping the two opponents in total silence, thus giving Mako the opportunity to react and hit her arm with Trishula, opening a long cut on her forearm. Despite being underwater, the mermaid still managed to hiss in pain before turning her furious gaze elsewhere.
Following her line of sight, Mako saw Livie expertly swim and avoid the attacks of the other three mermaids before thrusting an arm towards one of them and snapping her hand shut "Siren's Grip!"
One of the mermaids was suddenly encased in an orb that Mako couldn't see clearly, but it was as if the water was slightly distorted around her and the mermaid didn't seem to be able to get out, hitting her prison with both her tail than with nails.
"Stay still and don't speak! As soon as there is silence that spell will end!" urged the first siren before lunging at Livie who still avoided the attack, shooting a quick glance at Mako and her opponent.
The God Slayer, now certain that she knew how to handle himself, returned to focus on the mermaid not far from him and tried to attack her with a lunge but she avoided the attack by swimming backwards and then tried to stun him again, however this time no sound came out of her mouth. Noticing her angry gaze directed at Livie again, Mako guessed that she was the reason the siren was unable to produce any sound.
'Wait...sound?'
Stay still and don't speak! As soon as there is silence that spell will end!
'Silence…' his eyes widened in realization 'Sound magic! Livie and the sirens are using sound magic!'
Acting quickly, he swam towards the mermaid who immediately tried to move away from him and his weapon but he gave her no time "Water God's Abyss Arrow!" and in an explosion of water and speed, he managed to pierce her in the chest, just above the left breast, to then extract the weapon from her body, place both feet against her belly and push himself towards Livie and her opponents.
However, he only managed to travel a few meters before something grabbed his left ankle; looking down, he was shocked to see the mermaid he had attacked before him, with multiple wounds on her body and her left arm bent at an unnatural angle. She didn't give him time to react in any way and sank her teeth into his ankle, making him scream in pain; Mako then tried to stab her from above but saw the other mermaid swimming towards him despite the horrific wound in her chest.
He prepared to fight back when Livie's voice reverberated around him "Siren's Cry!"
While Mako was only stunned by the high-pitched sound that cut through the water, the two mermaids screamed in pain as they tried to cover their ears, allowing him to distance himself from them before Livie came up behind him, grabbed his arm and swam away from the five enemies. Looking behind him, Mako saw that the three mermaids Livie had faced were only stunned by the attack and were already trying to follow them but, before he could attack them, Livie stopped after getting behind him and covering his ears with her hands.
Mako turned his gaze towards the approaching sirens but realized how strange it was that the sounds around him had completely disappeared. Sure, Livie was covering his ears but he should have heard something anyway and yet only the purest silence reached his ears. Looking up and tilting his head slightly, he saw Livie absorbing in her mouth what looked like thin gray threads that barely distorted the water around them.
"What the- - -?!"
His voice was gone. He could move his tongue and lips, he could even feel his vocal cords vibrating and yet his voice was completely gone. Keeping his gaze fixed on Livie, he saw her swallow and his eyes widened in surprise 'She is eating the sounds! This means she's about to-!'
"SIREN'S CRY!"
A spiral of sound waves was released from Livie's mouth and all five mermaids found themselves paralyzed with their ears on the verge of bursting, screaming in pain. Despite Livie's hands, Mako felt his eardrums suffer from the attack, despite not having been directly hit, but seeing all their opponents momentarily vulnerable made him act without thinking twice, swallowed a large quantity of brackish water, swelling his chest and cheeks "Water God's Bellow!"
A gigantic whirlwind of black water engulfed the five mermaids, overlapping Livie's attack and making them unable to defend themselves. The attack lasted several seconds, also creating a furrow in the seabed and sweeping away rocks and algae without any difficulty. When he was done, Mako suddenly found himself face to face with Livie who was swimming upside down with her hands still on either side of his head but not covering the ears "That was incredible! You said you were a God Slayer? Sounds like my Siren Slayer Magic! Does that mean that your mother is a god?"
"Huh I-I…" his cheeks had turned a particular shade of pink but he still managed to move just a little backwards "N-No, not really." replied Mako before looking around "Are you by any chance the one they call Nereid?"
Livie rotated until she was 'standing', watching Mako with a smile on her face "Yes, that's me! They started calling me that for several months now, almost a year!"
Well one of the objectives for which he was there had been accomplished, and Livie herself had admitted that hers was Slayer type magic, so Katharina would be interested in a new member of the guild. Looking up at the surface, he saw the two boats a little distant but easily reachable, then he stared back at Livie "I still have to help those sailors, they are looking for some crates that fell into the sea during the last mermaid attack. Could you help me look for them?"
"Sure!"
Together, the two set out to look for the four crates (after Mako had gone to have his leg wound treated on one of the boats) and within an hour they managed to find them all and attach the instant buoys to them, facilitating the recovery, even though Livie had never made herself noticed by the sailors. Once the boats headed for the docks, Mako returned underwater to Livie "I know it may seem strange, but would you be willing to listen to a proposal to join a guild?" he pointed at his guild mark "The guild I'm in is called World Slayers and they're all mages with similar magic to us, so you might be happy there. I-If you want to come, of course!"
Livie's eyes sparkled for a few seconds "That sounds interesting! I wonder how much magics there are! I have to tell my parents about it and then we can all leave!"
Mako blinked at her "A-Are you sure…? That was…fast."
Her smiled did not waver "You said I might be happy there and you seem like a good person! Let's meet in front of my house, it's the last house on the seafront, it has blue walls and a green door!" and without even waiting for a response, she quickly swam towards land. Mako watched her fade away, visibly perplexed, before swimming towards the docks as well. After several minutes he resurfaced and, once the water was removed from his cargo shorts, he fully dressed before running towards the house indicated by Livie.
Sure enough, he saw her a few meters from the modest home, now wearing a long ocean blue dress, simple sandals and her hair was tied in a low ponytail with bangs covering her forehead; besides, now that they were close and on dry land, he couldn't help but notice that she was a few inches taller than him.
Not disturbed by this last detail, she motioned for him to follow her and then enter the house "Mom! I'm back and-oh! We have more guests!"
Mako entered shortly after her and his eyes immediately fell on the sitting room to the right of the entrance, where he saw "Rad? What are you doing here?" he then noticed Mathias sitting on the other side of a coffee table.
"Ah here they are! Good to see you Mako! The lovely girl with you must be Livie then!"
Moving his gaze to the coffee table, he saw the Lacrima used to communicate with Katharina positioned in the center on a pad and the very face of their guild master was visible inside it.
"Ah master! Good afternoon!"
"So you're Mako huh? You seem like an interesting guy! Certainly livelier than your buddy!" a man with short light green hair and dark blue eyes approached Mako extending a hand "I am Florian Marilee, Livie's father! Mathias told me that you were going to help some sailors recover some sunken goods, right? And since the boats are finishing docking at the docks I'd say you succeeded! Oh but you have a harpoon with you! Are you a fan of the sea by any chance? I know some fish recipes that you will definitely like and-!"
"Dear." a beautiful woman with sky blue eyes and long dark blue hair, the same shade as Livie's hair, placed her hand on the man's shoulder "Please try to calm down, we still need to discuss some things and you are traumatizing this poor young man." she then smiled at Mako "Forgive my husband's attitude, when he starts talking it's difficult for him to stop. My name is Delphine Marilee and I am Livie's mother."
"Pleased to meet you!" replied Mako while shacking Florian's hand. After that, Livie and her family went to sit on the largest loveseat while Mako perched on the arm of the armchair where Radogan was sitting.
"Well, now that we're all here, we can continue!" said Katharina before looking at Livie "Now, I don't know if Mako has mentioned anything to you about a guild yet."
"He did!"
"Splendid! This makes things easier! I am Katharina Rel Alucard, the guild master of World Slayers! As I have already explained to your parents, I would like to extend an invitation to you to join my guild, and of course you can refuse. You can also join us and then leave whenever you want if you don't like life here." explained the blonde young woman with a smile "The main reason I would like you to join us is your magic, Slayer type magics are very powerful and rare and I have lost count of how many organizations, groups or individual dark wizards want to get their hands on magics like those, therefore the guild would be a form of protection towards you."
"She also told us that we can come too, the guild is not far from a city and we can settle there, so your father could open that restaurant he dreamed of so much." added Delphine with an amused smile "But more importantly, knowing you are around other mages similar to you would make me feel more at ease."
Livie nodded at her mother "Then I don't see why I shouldn't join this guild! I accept!"
Katharina's smile widened further "Excellent! Mako please help them pack their bags, they will come with you! Mathias, if you could also help I would be very grateful and rest assured that you will be paid adequately for your help." the coachman nodded at the request, saying that he did not need to be rewarded "While as for you Rad…keep doing what you were doing."
The one-eyed Slayer shrugged, not at all disturbed by the obvious dig from the guild master, and left the house to sit on a bench and enjoy the sea breeze with a book in hand.
It took a good couple of hours, but eventually all the necessary things had been loaded onto the Marilee family wagon, and in the meantime Mako, Livie and her parents had put on winter clothes, with Livie now wearing a pale indigo, long-sleeved velvet winter dress, a gray scarf and black gloves, while Mako was once again wearing the dark blue jacket, blue baggy pants and boots he had left the guild with.
"Well, I'd say we can leave!" nodded Mathias before moving the horses, being followed immediately by the second wagon with Florian at the reins and Delphine at his side, while Livie was sitting inside the first cart along with Mako and Radogan.
"So he's a Slayer like us? What kind?" asked Livie looking at Mako while also pointing at Radogan, who was lying with headphones in his ears.
"Well…I don't really know, you know? Last time he fought his bare hands." said Mako with a shrug.
"Mh…I see." she nodded at his words before looking back at Radogan, slightly opening her mouth.
Mako looked at her curiously but had to look back at Radogan when he saw him fiddling with his MP3 and, if his eyes weren't deceiving him, the blond man was pressing the volume up button several times.
'Oh no…' looking at Livie again, he saw her close her mouth and suddenly pop music was heard throughout the wagon through Radogan's headphones, and he couldn't help but wince at the sudden sonic assault on his ears. As the blond turned down the volume on the MP3, Livie looked up momentarily, as if pondering something "That music is...sparkling! I like the flavor!"
"U-Um…Livie?"
She looked at Mako "Yes?"
"Don't eat Rad's music…"
"…okay."
A light laugh escaped Mathias' lips as his eyes were fixed on the road.
'It looks like Katharina's family just gained a very interesting addition!'
[South of the country of Bosco/ 28th July X786]
Not far from the village of Woodwind, Mukuro and Kris were intent on observing the situation remaining in the shade of some trees but, as the masked-faced magician was meditating while sitting cross-legged with his katana placed in front of him, Kris was making some physical exercises to pass the time. A few hours had passed since they arrived in that place and the sun was now setting, so the various farmers would have left the fields shortly.
Catching some of the voices despite the distance, Kris turned his gaze towards the outside of the village and noticed the men gradually starting to walk back towards their homes. Looking across the various fields, he finally spotted Bogart's silhouette and saw him moving away from the village, heading towards the large river that separated Bosco from Minstrel.
"He's moving." said Kris, noting that no one seemed intent on stopping or chasing the healer "It seems like the right time to go and have a chat."
Mukuro nodded after standing up and together with the Dragon Slayer, they headed towards the river. It took several minutes, but they finally reached the bank of the large stream and saw Bogart sitting nearby, on top of a felled log. The young man seemed to notice them immediately and turned back to look at them, narrowing his gaze "Why are you still here? You are not hurt."
"Luckily that hasn't changed since we met a few hours ago!" chuckled Kris "We just wanted to talk to you without the risk of being disturbed by others."
"Well it looks like you will be able to, so get to the point! What do you want?" asked Bogart with a low growl without moving from his spot.
"We're sorry if we're bothering you Cresthill, especially after you've been working all day." said Mukuro, with a small bow.
Bogart looked at the smaller mage "It's not that, and don't call me by my last name!"
Kris grinned at him "Sorry Beau, but no matter what you say, he won't change!" his expression then became more serious "We just wanted to know more about the famous 'Healer of Woodwind' on behalf of our guild master, and since we now know that you are a Dragon Slayer, we wanted to propose that you join our guild!"
Bogart looked alarmed "How do you know that I'm a Dragon Slayer?"
Kris merely tapped his own nose "It's easy to recognize your own kind!"
The water mage nodded, having guessed that Kris was like him, but then shook his head "Well I can't come, I have to work here. My parents need help and have to look after my little sister."
"Don't your parents work? I imagine your father is a farmer like the others." said Kris with a raised eyebrow "I mean, we've seen you work all day, I guess there's no money problem…as long as you get paid."
"That's none of your business!" shouted Bogart and, both Mukuro and Kris, immediately understood where the problem was "I can't leave and that's it! Now leave me alone!" he then turned back towards the river but, before he could say anything else, he noticed a large ship moving up the waterway. Tilting his head slightly, he was confused to see that it was more of a warship than a merchant ship, like those that occasionally passed by, and that the figurehead was some form of demonic face with two horns.
"That's a strange ship…" noted the young mage before noticing a dazzling flash aboard the ship and the next instant he felt himself being yanked backwards by his shirt. He saw Kris move past him just before pulling him close, but before he could even think of what to say, a giant blade of energy slammed into the shore, carving a deep furrow and coming to slam against Kris's body, pushing them back for several meters before dissipating. Bogart was so shocked by what just happened that he didn't immediately realize what Kris had just said, while his entire face was now covered in metal scales "H-Huh?"
"I said, is everything okay? Are you injured?"
"N-No, I don't think so. W-What happened?" asked Bogart while trying to take deep breaths to calm his beating heart.
Kris didn't answer him immediately and looked at his right shoulder, where a thin line had marked his scales, even managing to cut several of them but luckily without hurting him "I think we have company." he then felt a chill in the air and let go of Bogart, turning completely towards the river "Mukuro!"
"I know." the swordsman was already at his side with his katana drawn "They are coming."
Bogart didn't even have to ask who the little wizard was referring to before a large cloud of ash formed in front of them at the edge of the shore. In a few moments, the cloud took the shape of four people and the young mage couldn't shake the bad feeling that was cemented in his heart at the sight of three of them, especially because of their looks.
The only one who didn't seem to give him a bad feeling was a large man with black hair, serious black eyes and a thick metal armor covering his body; at his side there was a disturbing man with orange eyes wearing armor that seemed entirely made of bones, a half-naked young woman with long blond hair, blue eyes and a bloodthirsty grin, and finally a man crouched on the ground with completely black eyes and strange pupils, dark hair and a strange black suit clinging to his body with lines running across it.
"Well, well, well, we thought we'd find a simple snack and instead we find ourselves in front of a double course!" grinned the woman while staring at Kris and Bogart before licking her lips "The sea voyage made me quite hungry!"
Bogart felt a shiver run down his spine, yet that shiver was nothing compared to the wave of cold he felt when Mukuro hissed one and only one word, but with so much hatred behind it that the young Dragon Slayer took a step back in fear.
"Diabolos."
Kris stiffened ever so slightly before growling "The infamous dragon-hunters guild huh? I have never had the pleasure of meeting you, but I know for a fact that our guild master urged you, in a rather kind and not at all aggressive manner, not to be seen in Ishgar again."
"Yes, your guild master's kind manner forced Master Georg to remain out of action for several weeks due to his injuries." nodded the man in the metal armor "However, she never specified that we should all stay away from this place, we are a legal guild after all."
"And with her spending her time stealing Dragon Slayers from under our noses we can't help but move quickly in search of our next meal." added the woman.
"Kiria, Madmole, be silent." said the man with the armor made of bones "Starting a war with them is not in the guild master's plans." he looked at Mukuro "My name is Skullion Raider, leader of this team, and I offer you a deal. You two are clearly World Slayers wizards…" he had noticed the guild mark on Kris's face and had recognized Mukuro from a brief description he had heard years ago "So you can leave and no harm will come to you, but the brat behind you will stay with us."
Kiria looked at him with a mix of disbelief and anger "HAH?! What the hell are you doing Skullion?! The taller one is a Dragon Slayer! We can eat him!"
"Yes! Yes! Smells like dragon! Me eat him!" added the crouched man, with his long tongue sticking out of his mouth.
"At ease Nebaru-dono, it's like Skullion-dono said. We can't afford to start a war with World Slayers, but the young man with the straw hat is not part of their guild, so we can target him." said Madmole with a calm face.
Bogart was quickly turning pale. Those people who came from nowhere, probably the same ones who had attacked him earlier, were discussing his fate as if it were nothing, and they were fully intent on eating him! A sudden metallic sound made him wince due to loud noise and, turning his gaze towards Kris, he saw that the taller mage had just slammed his fists together with a furious look on his face.
"Sorry to ruin your party, but we were just about to recruit him, so you might as well go."
"However, he is not yet a member, so he is still available to us." grinned Kiria "Besides, if you really want to stay and die, we'll eat you too and throw your buddy's body to the bottom of the ocean, then we'll just have to raze this place from the ship and no one will ever know we were here!"
"This is the first and last warning, Diabolos." hissed Mukuro with his katana already wrapped in white flames "Leave now, or perish."
"You are fools if you really hope you can win this fight." said Skullion before smirking at them "In that case we just need to follow Kiria's suggestion. Kill them all!"
Kiria was the first to attack, throwing two large blades of energy from her hands which were immediately intercepted by a horizontal slash of flames from Mukuro. She moved forward to attack again but Kris, who had nullified his armor, hurled a powerful whirlwind of metal shards, forcing her to take cover behind Madmole, while Skullion dissolved into a cloud of ash and Nebaru leapt away to avoid the attack.
Kris couldn't help but notice that Madmole had not suffered any damage from the attack "That's a very tough guy."
"I'm an Armor Dragon Slayer, and the scales of the Armor Dragon will never know pain." said the man while staring at Kris with serious eyes.
"That means we can tear you apart!" shouted Kiria before leaping out from behind Madmole and swinging her right arm upwards "Blade Dragon's Tearing Slash!"
A vertical blade of energy was thrown at Kris who immediately took a side step to avoid the attack, noticing the deep furrow left in the ground. Having established that she had launched the first attack from the ship, Kris looked momentarily at Bogart and then shifted his gaze to Mukuro, who had just used his flames to melt some kind of white sticky substance that Nebaru had spat out of his mouth.
'I definitely don't want to know what kind of dragon has such power…' focusing on his opponents again, Kris saw them quickly advance towards him with Madmole ahead. Deciding it was best not to let them get too close to Bogart, Kris intercepted them just as the first of his enemies charged his right fist. Noticing his opponent's armor, Kris mentally prepared himself for the pain he would surely feel soon and imitated his every move, growing a metal nail on each knuckle, before attacking at the same time.
"Armor Dragon's Steel-Fist Strike!"
"Iron Dragon's Knuckle!"
The two fists impacted with a strong sonic explosion due to the metal parts and all the Dragon Slayers felt a searing pain in their ears, forcing Kiria to stop while Kris and Madmole were thrown backwards. While Bogart put his hands to his ears due to the pain, Mukuro took the opportunity to hurl a wave of flames towards Nebaru but a wall of ash managed to dampen the attack, giving Skullion the opportunity to pull his ally to safety, despite having suffered from the sonic assault on his ears.
Twisting his left arm, Mukuro curled his fingers as if they were claws before engulfing his entire limb in flames and quickly extending it towards the two Dragon Slayers "Fire Angel's Sin Serpent!"
A huge serpent of white flames with glowing red eyes shot out of his arm before launching himself at Skullion and Nebaru but the two managed to avoid his fangs, however the enormous animal immediately changed trajectory and chased the former, forcing him to dissolve into a cloud of ash. The snake then changed targets but Nebaru immediately puffed out his cheeks before spitting a large amount of the white substance onto the ground "Clinging Dragon's Protective Cocoon!"
The slimy substance immediately wrapped itself around Nebaru before solidifying into a large cocoon and when the snake slammed into it, it caused a loud explosion from which Mukuro saw Nebaru jump out, landing safely near the water with Skullion reappearing at his side. The leader of the Diabolos team glared at Mukuro before turning his attention to his teammates just in time to see Kiria take a headbutt from Kris, whose body was once again covered in metal, causing her to stagger into Madmole.
With a wave of his arm, both Kiria and Madmole turned to ash before reforming beside him and the woman was quick to voice her displeasure "What the fuck is your problem, Skullion?! Are you trying to stop me from killing that brat?!"
"It's not that, that mage's flames are too much for Nebaru and my ashes can barely slow them down, so we need to focus on him before we finish off the two dragons." explained Skullion while keeping his eyes on Mukuro, who was now standing alongside Kris "Nebaru, if the mage in the straw hat tries to escape, chase and capture him."
Nebaru grinned "Yes, me catch him! Me eat him!"
"Don't try to eat him yourself! I want a piece too!" hissed Kiria with a glare aimed at her teammate.
While the four members of Diabolos were busy arguing, Kris continued to catch his breath after the brief clash with Kiria and Madmole "I have to admit that two against one might not be the best of situations, especially since that guy tried to bite me when I used my armor…"
"I can keep them at bay, but we have to consider the fact that we have to protect Cresthill." said the shortest among them before looking at Bogart "Can you fight?"
Bogart shook his head "I'm sorry…all my attacks are medical in nature, I can only heal or simply create water but without any offensive power…"
"Well it's certainly useful, I don't think we'll get out of this without a few scratches!" grinned Kris before looking back at their enemies "And considering that they will surely have heard us, I doubt they will focus on you. They're already aiming for Mukuro and the guy crouching on the ground has the task of chasing you and catching you if you try to escape."
Having finally finished arguing, Kiria grinned menacingly "Have you said your last prayers? The more you fight, the more my appetite grows, so I will immediately tear you to pieces and end it!" she then puffed out her cheeks as her allies took a few steps back, before releasing a powerful roar "Blade Dragon's Tearing Roar!"
A vortex of energy blades tore the ground in several places, getting closer and closer to Kris and the others, with the Dragon Slayer moving already to shield the others, when a voice echoed above the noise caused by Kiria's attack.
"Bone Dragon's Ossuary!"
A thick wall made entirely of bones rose from the ground in front of Kris, and Kiria's attack was completely neutralized, leaving only a few scratches on the ivory surface. The woman, as well as the other three, looked at the newly created wall in surprise but they had no chance to react before they noticed a few dozen floating eyes above them. The pupils of the eyes glowed white before another voice was heard in the air "Vision Dragon's Target Barrage!"
Faster than one might expect from a man of his size in armor, Madmole quickly moved in front of the two three companions, clasping his hands in front of his face "Armor Dragon's Shield Wings!"
Two enormous metal wings protruded from his back and then closed around the Diabolos mages, protecting them from the dozens upon dozens of energy beams that caused multiple explosions all around. The barrage of attacks lasted several seconds, raising a lot of dust in the process, and when the last eye vanished, the two metal wings were covered in burn marks but no laser had managed to penetrate Madmole's defenses. The two wings then detached from his armor and then fell sideways, when the first of the two voices was heard again behind Kris, Mukuro and Bogart.
"Because of you we were almost late, damned cyclops."
"If it wasn't for me and my eye we would definitely have been late, you fucking food for dogs!"
Grinning, Kris turned towards the source of the rumors and was more than pleased to see two of his guildmates "Kiro! Ossian! What are you doing here?"
"Apparently one of my sister's agents saw Diabolos' ship as they passed near the coast of the Kingdom of Fiore, so she was notified immediately. Having no idea where they might be headed, she chose to send me and the cyclops here since the famous 'Healer of Woodwind' was the only rumor famous enough around Ishgar since she wasn't aware of any other Slayers without affiliation." explained Ossian while stopping to Kris's right while Kiro stood to Mukuro's left, observing their opponents with a wide grin.
"Oh what do we have here?" asked Kiria, sniffing the air while licking her lips "Two more Dragon Slayers?! It seems we have found a real feast!"
Ossian narrowed his eyes at her "Diabolos, our guild master knows that you are in Ishgar by now, so if you don't want to die you better leave."
"Please stay, I haven't fought properly for a few days now and maybe you could give me some challenge." said Kiro with his third eye already open on his forehead "Also, I know you guys like to hunt down other Dragon Slayers and eat them. No one will miss you if you were to die here and now."
While Kiria did not hesitate to retort to the two newcomers, Skullion kept his gaze fixed on Mukuro, who had never looked away since they had momentarily stopped and his sword was still pervaded by his flames. The leader of the Diabolos mages was certain that the masked mage was just waiting for the moment to attack them and potentially kill them as quickly as possible; now that the numerical advantage was gone, Skullion had to be cautious about how to act.
His mind was telling him to leave and save face, but his hunger...his hunger was slowly getting out of control and the arrival of two new Dragon Slayers had put him in serious difficulty, after all, months had passed since their last meal.
'It's a shame that Wraith decided to stay at the guild, he would have been a big advantage…' Skullion thought before letting a grin creep across his face for all to see "The plan does not change, we will kill you and devour your bodies to increase our power. Even if your master knows we are here, she will never know what happened if none of you survive!"
"Well here's the end of diplomacy." noted Ossian before looking at Mukuro who, being an S-Class wizard, was the de facto leader of their group "Your orders?"
Without hesitation, Mukuro pointed his katana at Skullion "Annihilate them."
No more words were necessary.
As the ground shook from their magical power, the Dragon Eaters clashed with the World Slayers once again!
TO BE CONTINUED…
FINALLY! HERE WE ARE WITH A NEW CHAPTER! I truly apologize to everyone for the long period of silence and absence of updates, but unfortunately where I work December and January (as well as mid-November and February) are two months that prevent me from writing as much as I would like (even reading the fics I follow becomes almost prohibitive), however I have finally managed to complete this new chapter!
We got to know some new Slayers and others were just mentioned but over the next chapters everyone will have their part!
Now, applications are still open and I currently have 17 OCs so I will still accept three OCs and that's it (though keep in mind that there are other people who were already planning to participate but are still creating their Ocs).
With that said, I hope you have a good week!
See you next time!
OC list (created by you!):
- Radogan Elgrave, created by: alucard deathsinger
- Mukuro Murasaki, created by: Lezusia
- Kris Bliviah, created by: Singofffan
- Kiro Jarndyce, created by: theotakureader101
- Rayleigh Whitlock, created by: pricefree
- Palomita Alvarez, created by: JackHammerMan
- Brigid Sorren, created by: News Boss
- Mako Maverick, created by: Sweet brisk
- Bridget Kaelan, created by: Wolf0830
- Lugh Atlas, created by: King0fP0wers
- Sava Erunant, created by: Deadly Animals Are Cute
- Momonary Sachie, created by: klbubblepop786
- Bogart Cresthill, created by: SureJahn
- Livie Marilee, created by: Arrow-chan3
- Yumi Shishi, created by: ShiinIn