World Slayers

by SoImAWriterSoWhat

With the disappearance of Fairy Tail's strongest members, there has been an increase in the activity of criminals and dark guilds, however the legal guilds can't keep up with this wave of evil, so the Magic Council decides to resort to one of their secret weapons: World Slayers, a secret guild composed entirely of mages with a form of Slayer Magic! [ SLAYER SYOC - CLOSED ]

7. A queen and the church!

"Slayers!" - Talking

'Slayers!' - Thinking

"Slayers!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy

"SLAYERS!" - Screaming

"Slayer Attack!" - Spells

Slash! - Sound Effect

[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time

Chapter 7: A queen and the church!

[ South of the Kingdom of Bosco / 28th July X786]

On the banks of the Grand River, powerful explosions shook the ground, sending debris flying and raising huge clouds of dust. As the entire area was subjected to the wrath of powerful mages and their magic, Bogart could only watch in shocked silence as the four cannibals who wanted to eat him for his powers battled those who wanted to protect him.

'H-How did I end up in this situation?!'

That morning he had woken up thinking that it would be a day like any other, spent using his powers in the fields or healing people in need of care, yet now he was faced with the most chaotic scene he had ever seen and, as some pieces of rock fell around him, he could only swallow in nervousness.

'What am I supposed to do now?' His eyes shifted to the battlefield and, not for the first time, his instinct told him to flee towards the village, but what if those maniacs followed him and attacked his parents and his little sister? He had also heard what they had said before the other two Slayer mages arrived, and he was sure that the creepy guy with the black eyes would do everything to chase him, kill him and...devour him. The thought alone made him shiver.

"Blade Dragon's Cleaver Strike!"

Instantly turning to where he heard the voice of Kiria, Bogart saw a large blade of energy coming at him, cutting through the ground with ease, but before he could dart aside to avoid the attack, Ossian stepped between him and the spell, crossing his arms in front of him. The large blade of energy impacted against him, pushing the Dragon Slayer back several meters before he managed to destroy it by opening his arms, completely covered in bony scales, outwards.

"Your fight is with me! Bone Dragon's Scale Bullets!" and by pointing both arms at Kiria, he shot dozens of white scales that forced her opponent to avoid them with rapid movements; without giving her a chance to catch her breath, he then lunged at her however Kiria threw other blades of magical energy, smaller but faster than the previous one, at the albino who punched the incoming attacks to neutralize them, still managing to close the distance between the two of them.

Ossian tried to hit her with a quick series of punches, but Kiria was more agile than him and gracefully avoided the attacks trying to attack him back, however the energy blades around her hands failed to penetrate the albino's defense, leaving only a few thin marks on his white scales. Gritting her teeth at her lack of progress, and the complete lack of bloody wounds on her foe's body, Kiria leapt backwards, landing on her hands before spinning rapidly, building up magical power in her legs.

"Blade Dragon's Gyro Slash!"

With a violent horizontal kick towards Ossian, she released a gigantic ring of golden energy that quickly shot towards the other Dragon Slayer who brought an arm forward, positioning the forearm vertically in front of his face. As large bones began to grow from his limb, Ossian shouted "Bone Dragon's Bastion!"

A huge shield formed from his bones and the ring of energy crashed into it, stalling for several seconds before dissipating into magical dust and leaving a large horizontal gash on the bones Ossian had used to defend himself, which then receded into his arm. The albino then looked at the blonde witch with challenging eyes "You may as well surrender now. Your blades cannot pass through my defenses."

"Ah! You speak big but I have noticed very well how with each of my attacks your bones have become worse and worse!" replied Kiria with a large grin "All I have to do is keep attacking and eventually I'll reduce your body to bone meal!"

"So why don't you try?" Ossian asked, motioning for her to come forward with one hand, which she did not hesitate to do, once again shooting energy blades from her hands. The albino moved forward and struck the incoming blades with quick, precise punches, destroying them one after the other, before focusing on Kiria, who had gotten close enough to try to cut off his legs at the ankles. Ossian leapt to avoid the attack before spinning around and hitting her with a spinning kick covered in bone scales.

Kiria raised her arms to defend herself but was still thrown away and after bouncing on the ground a couple of times, she managed to regain her balance and open both hands "Blade Dragon's Hunting Net!" and quickly crossing her arms, she hurled forward a net composed of countless energy blades.

Seeing the massive attack getting closer, Ossian arched his back, puffing out his cheeks before releasing a large tornado of bone splinters from his mouth. His attack countered Kiria's before unleashing a loud explosion that shook the ground, but the Dragon Slayer didn't let his guard down and with his keen hearing, he heard Kiria quickly approaching from the right. He saw her emerge from the cloud of dust that had formed after the previous explosion with two blades of red energy around her hands and a wide grin on her lips.

"Let's see how you do now! Strength-Cutting!" and moving her arms quickly, she launched the two energy blades towards her opponent.

Ossian immediately raised his arms to protect himself but to his shock both blades passed through him without causing any harm, however he immediately found himself weaker and more defenseless, as if he was no longer able to defend himself. Falling to his knees he heard Kiria's laughter as she approached with a leisurely pace.

"You're not so much of a braggart anymore, are you?! Now that you're a weak and pathetic little boy, I can kill and eat you with complete peace of mind, and then it'll be that other brat's turn!" she said pointing a finger at Bogart, who had watched the fight with shocked eyes, unable to understand what had happened to Ossian. She then returned her attention to the albino at her feet "You said you had a sister, right? You know, I think once I've devoured you two, I'll go to her and keep her as a slave for a while before I kill her!"

Ossian felt a strong anger fill him but no matter how hard he tried he didn't seem able to reply or react to Kiria's words, who raised an arm creating a large blade of energy, preparing to decapitate him. The Dragon Slayer brought her arm down for the fatal blow but Skullion's alarmed screams alerted her to the impending danger, making her take a quick step back before powerful white flames incinerated the spot where she had been standing, escaping with only a lock of burnt hair along with the piece of cloth she had around her waist. Turning towards the direction the attack had come from, Kiria barely had time to avoid Mukuro's katana before he kicked her in the abdomen, knocking her away.

Mukuro then pointed an arm at Skullion who, in a form halfway between ash and solid, was flying towards his opponent to stop him and generated a large burst of white flames that forced the Dragon Slayer to retreat while trying to counter them with his ash. Afterwards, Mukuro moved his arm towards Ossian "Fire Angel's Purification Flame."

White flames delicately enveloped Ossian's form and he was instantly filled with an invigorating power, and the mental weakness he had felt just seconds before instantly vanished, allowing him to rise to his feet. Looking at the masked mage, he nodded gratefully "Thanks for your assistance, Dokuro. That spell caught me off guard but it won't happen again!"

"Don't worry, I'll still try to support you and the others. You focus on your opponent." the Angel Slayer replied before engulfing himself in his white flames and leaping towards Skullion.

Ossian looked at him for a moment before returning his attention to Kiria, who had just stood up "Don't think I'll forgive you for what you said about my sister, I'll kill you here and now!"

Kiria looked at him, clearly pissed off about her missed meal, and released a large amount of magical power "Talk all you want! In the end, you'll be the one to die, and I'll enjoy every single bite of your flesh as I tear it away! Strength-Cutting!" and immediately reused the previous spell, but this time she saw Ossian wrap himself in a magical ivory aura without trying to defend himself.

To her surprise, the two blades of red energy shattered against Ossian's aura, who looked at her with a sneer "Bone Dragon's Soul Shield. Don't think that my magic is only for protecting my body! Now that I know the effects of your spell, you will no longer be able to influence me with your magic!"

"In that case…" she immediately created two large blades of energy around her forearms "…I'll just have to go back to plan A and slice you to pieces with my blades! Now die!" and with a cry of rage she lunged at the other Dragon Slayer again.

While the two Slayers were engaged in a melee, two other Dragon Slayers were engaged in a close-range battle towards the river, and the impact of their blows generated powerful shock-waves that shook the ground and violently stirred the river's water.

Kris had a few bruises on his arms and one on his right cheek while Madmole appeared completely unharmed except for a few smudges of dirt and mud on his armor. The Iron Dragon Slayer stepped forward at that moment with metal nails on each knuckle to strike his opponent in the pit of the stomach with an uppercut that made Madmole stagger for a moment, but he responded with a hook to the head, forcing Kris to raise an arm to protect himself, being moved several meters by the force of the blow. After stopping, Kris looked at his opponent while taking deep breaths 'I'm hitting him with all my strength and yet he doesn't seem to take any damage, that's one hell of an armor.'

"It would be wise to give up. My armor cannot be overcome by weak attacks like yours; perhaps you should have faced Kiria-dono with your skills." said Madmole with a calm face before looking at his teammate not far away "She seems to have the same problems as you with your white-haired friend."

"Maybe you're right but I still can't stomach the fact that you tried to bite me first." replied Kris with a serious look before focusing on his opponent 'Hitting randomly won't do any good, if I want to hope to defeat him I have to play smart.'

The most obvious option was to aim for the head or thighs, the only parts not covered in metal, but Kris had already hit his opponent in the face with several blows and they had been of no use. Deciding to try a focused approach, Kris dashed forward for another exchange of blows and managed to hit Madmole in the sternum before stepping back to avoid the counterattack, after which he repeated the action starting a game of strike and dodge and always aiming for the same spot, occasionally striking other parts of the body.

Madmole became increasingly frustrated at his inability to land any shots, his size made him a perfect tank and heavy hitter but speed remained one of his weak points and Kris was significantly leaner and more agile than him. Trying to surprise his opponent, he tried to grab him instead of hitting him but Kris leapt backwards before creating a long metal chain with a spiked ball at the end. After swinging it around for a few seconds, Kris began to rain down a series of heavy blows on Madmole's body, but the Diabolos mage was not intimidated and advanced undaunted without trying to avoid any attack.

"Your tenacity deserves admiration, but no attack will have any effect on me!" quickly raising a hand, Madmole created plates of an armor-like substance around Kris to prevent him from moving backwards before lunging forward with his entire body, however Kris still managed to crouch and move sideways. Just as Madmole crashed into the plates he had created, Kris managed to slide to his side and wrap the chain around his left leg before pulling with all his strength; Madmole couldn't keep his balance right away and fell face first, but Kris didn't let go just yet and launched himself onto his back, hooking an arm under his chin in an attempt to choke him from behind.

"Let's see how you respond to this type of attack!" hissed Kris applying more and more force on Madmole's throat to make him collapse sooner, however he was surprised when his opponent managed to get to his knees and then tried to free himself with brute force by grabbing the arm that was trying to choke him. Kris used all his strength to hold on, which prevented him from avoiding the elbow that struck his right side, knocking the wind out of him. Gasping for air, Kris barely managed to cover his body in metal scales before another elbow hit him in the same spot, generating a shrill sound of metal against metal.

When Madmole tried to strike him for the third time, Kris moved backwards to avoid the blow, but received a headbutt on the nose from the opponent that left him momentarily stunned; deciding not to risk it any more, Kris was forced to let go of his grip but instead of distancing himself from the other Dragon Slayer, he quickly moved around him, letting his scales vanish and his right arm transform into a sort of large sharp blade.

"Iron Dragon's Lance!"

Before Madmole could get up, Kris hit him in the center of the armor with a quick series of four thrusts with his arm before leaping back when his opponent tried to grab his spear-limb, crouching against one of the bulkheads Madmole had previously created and then launching himself like a missile at him, hitting the mage of Diabolos in the center of the armor with a dropkick. His speed combined with the strength of his attack made Madmole fall to the ground on his back but Kris wasn't finished yet and raised his right arm high causing it to change shape again until it became a long block of red-tinged metal.

"Iron Dragon's Girder!"

Bringing his arm down with all the power he could muster, Kris struck Madmole from above, kicking up a large cloud of dust on impact before flying away a few feet. As his arm returned to its normal shape, Kris remained focused on his opponent 'I doubt that a combo like that could have defeated him, he will certainly get back up but at this rate I should make some progress sooner or later.'

As expected, Madmole stood up shortly after and immediately looked at Kris "Haven't you figured out the difference between us? Your attacks are useless, nothing but a waste of magic power."

"Well if there's something I'm proud of, it's being determined." Kris retorted before assuming a fighting stance; it was true that he was consuming more magical power than Madmole but he was counting on his plan to succeed and if he had to go to extreme measures, his opponent's armor looked inviting to an iron eater like him.

Madmole narrowed her gaze (more than usual) before gathering her magical power inside herself and puffing out her cheeks; Kris immediately noticed this detail and did the same before attacking at the same time.

"Armor Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Two vortices of metal shards collided between the two Slayers before creating a powerful explosion that forced Kris to cover his face with both arms to protect himself from pieces of rock and metal; when he lowered them he was shocked to see Madmole already close to him ready to hit his opponent with a shoulder, whose armor had become larger and more intricate with two large curved horns on the sides.

"Armor Dragon's Shield Ram!"

Kris barely managed to take a side step before spinning and punching his foe in the chest, but it did nothing to slow him down; Madmole however planted a hand on the ground and used the entire limb to drift and manage to turn one hundred and eighty degrees before crashing into the Iron Dragon Slayer who this time was unable to avoid it. The impact rattled his bones before Kris was thrown into the river, just a few meters from the shore. Standing up, coughing up water and blood, Kris watched as his opponent's armor returned to its normal shape; cracking his neck, he covered his hands in metal scales with many small, sharp spikes on the palms, before he lunged forward.

Madmole waited for him with his fists raised, ready to strike, but when he tried to defend himself, Kris went around him before grabbing the limb he had attacked with, using the spikes in his hands to keep his grip. Before the Diabolos mage could free himself from Kris's grip, the latter sank his teeth into his enemy's armor but after only a second he pulled his mouth back with a disgusted expression on his face.

"What the-!?" he leapt back to avoid a kick from Madmole "That's not just plain iron."

"My armor was commissioned by our guild master to a famous blacksmith, it was forged using various metals as well as the scales of the dragon whose flesh I devoured." explained Madmole with a calm face "No one but another Armor Dragon Slayer can hope to bite it and tear a piece off."

'Well there goes plan B.' thought Kris before narrowing his gaze, as his almond red eyes had seen something on Madmole's armor, at the height of the sternum: scratches. They were small but clearly visible from where he was standing and it seemed the Armor Dragon Slayer hadn't noticed. Grinning, Kris coated his knuckles in metal nails and slammed his fists together, his plan was working but he had a little more effort to do "Well I was hoping for a snack, but since I can't eat, how about we pick up where we left off?"

Madmole didn't say anything in return but preferred to prepare to fight and Kris didn't wait to attack him, immediately trying to hit the Diabolos mage with quick punches, but every time one of his attacks landed without causing any apparent damage, Madmole was ready to respond and with each exchange he was closer and closer to hitting Kris. The mage of World Slayers avoided a punch from his opponent at the last possible second before hitting him again with an uppercut to the center of the chest but grimaced when he saw his metal nails crack in several places.

'Time to take it up a notch!' taking quick steps back, Kris clenched both hands together and at the knuckles and fingers formed what looked like thick metal studs with metal scales all around. Stepping forward again, he ducked under Madmole's arm and punched him square in the face, but Madmole didn't flinch and tried to elbow him from above, forcing Kris to roll away to avoid the attack. Getting up immediately, he tried to attack again but this time he found himself on the defensive as Madmole tried to hit him with extremely powerful punches that generated strong gusts of air, preventing him from getting as close as he wanted. Growling, he caused metal spikes to sprout from the soles of his feet before planting himself firmly on the ground and waiting for another attack.

Seeing this, Madmole brought back his right arm, wrapping it in magical power "Are you finally ready to put an end to this farce? Very well, take this! Armor Dragon's Steel-Fist Strike!"

Kris raised his arms to defend himself but as he was about to be hit he tilted his body to the right and placed his left arm against Madmole's chest, transforming his limb into a large, pointed metal pole that slid back, confusing the Diabolos wizard.

"Iron Dragon's Pile Driver!"

The metal pole slid forward sharply and its tip impacted against Madmole's armor. Between the force of the attack and the momentum built up from his previous attack, he felt the air being knocked out of his lungs and as he was thrown back coughing up saliva, a single noise reached his ears.

Crack!

Eyes widening in shock, Madmole saw a crack open in his armor at the level of his sternum; it wasn't very large, only a few inches long and less than an inch wide, but the mere fact that his armor had been shattered was something absurd to him. Looking back at his opponent, he saw Kris' satisfied smile "Don't think you're the only one in the world with a spell that's heavily focused on defense; Ossian is one of the ones I've trained with the most in the last two months and I know well how to act with the most resistant defenses." he pointed a finger at Madmole's face "You don't wear any helmet and yet I haven't left any marks on your skin despite all my attacks, you may be incredibly tough and resistant but there is a limit to everything, also I'm quite certain that your defense is a sort of aura that envelops your entire body, giving the impression that all of you is nearly indestructible."

Madmole was silent for a few seconds, putting a hand over the crack in his armor, then looked at Kris with complete seriousness "Your deduction is correct, mage of World Slayers. However, that does not change the fact that you used a lot of magical power to open a single chink in my armor, without even drawing a drop of blood."

"Well one step at a time, the first goal of my plan was to break your defense and I succeeded." Kris said with a confident smirk, though he didn't have the same confidence inside that he was showing on the outside. As Madmole had seen, he had used a lot of magical power, not to mention all the hits he had taken since they had started fighting.

'If I want to aim for a potentially fatal attack I need to use one of my most powerful spells, but in my current state it will take me several seconds before I can build up enough magical power.' thought Kris before a particular idea occurred to him. What if he challenged him? It was a crazy idea but at that moment he couldn't hope for any miracle, so he brought his right arm back before transforming it into a metal drill covered in serrated blades and metal scales; as the drill began to spin faster and faster and slowly became enveloped in a gray and green aura, Kris looked at his opponent with a challenging look "So, how about we see if I can make you bleed?! A guy like you should have no problem putting up a solid defense, right?"

Madmole closed his eyes for a moment, assuming a rigid pose with the right hand placed vertically above his left hand, which was instead placed horizontally "Very well, I will accept your attack and make it crash against my defense." but when he opened his eyes again, there was a sinister glow in them "That's what you wanted to hear, right? I feel sorry for you, but I'm not naive enough to let you attack me without doing anything to stop you!" and leaning forward, he then lunged at Kris to strike him again with his shoulder where the armor was once again changing shape "Armor Dragon's Shield Ram!"

'Damn it! I'm not ready yet, but if I hesitate too long I risk taking too much damage and I don't know if I'll get another chance! My spell may not be as powerful as I hoped but I have to try!' gritting his teeth, Kris flexed his legs to prepare to intercept his opponent, when a huge amount of heat erupted from behind him followed by Mukuro's voice.

"Fire Angel's Sin Serpent!"

A giant snake of white flames streaked past Kris, aiming straight at Madmole, whose eyes widened in shock at the sight of the massive attack, which he couldn't avoid due to the momentum and speed he had gained with his own attack. The flaming serpent opened its jaws and swallowed Madmole in one bite, making him scream in pain and even managing to push him back several meters until he ended up in the water, where his now boiling armor gave birth to a large column of steam. As the flames dissipated, the Diabolos Slayer mage slowly stood up with several burns on his armor and facial skin but his attention immediately shifted to Kris, who had a wide smile on his face "I own you one, Dokuro! Now, here I come!" and lunging forward destroying the ground beneath his feet, Kris quickly closed the distance between him and Madmole, thrusting his right arm forward "Iron Dragon's Drill Claw!"

'No time to dodge, I have to block it!' gritting her teeth, Madmole spread his legs slightly, releasing a large amount of magical power in the form of a gray and white aura "Armor Dragon's Absolute Fortress!"

When Kris hit his opponent in the center of the chest, where the crack in the armor was, he generated a violent shock-wave combined with a very high-pitched noise produced by his attack that attempted to completely overcome the metal armor of Madmole, who remained completely immobile screaming at the top of his lungs just like Kris. After just a handful of seconds, shards of armor and iron began flying in all directions, opening small cuts on Kris's body, but he didn't care in the least, instead trying to push his arm deeper, until the crack became wider and wider and drops of blood joined the shards. However, when Kris was finally about to fully pierce Madmole's defenses, the drill slowly stopped spinning and the magical aura around his arm, which returned to its normal shape, vanished along with the one that had enveloped his opponent.

Coughing up blood, Madmole managed to raise his right fist before punching Kris in the face, knocking him back several feet and landing on his back on the ground before falling to one knee himself. Bringing a hand to his chest, when he pulled it away he saw that it was stained with blood, his blood.

"What did I tell you?" Kris asked with a light laugh as he sat down on the ground "One step at a time, first I broke your armor and now I managed to hurt you until you bleed…" after a deep breath he stood up "I'm making progress, right?"

Clenching his fists, Madmole stood up as well "I can barely sense any magical power coming from you, you're practically empty. It's my win."

"Maybe…or maybe not." grinned Kris before grabbing the zipper of his red jacket and ripping it off, bringing it to his mouth. In a few bites, he chewed that small amount of metal and immediately felt some of his magical power returning "Now...were you saying?"

Madmole narrowed his eyes "Simple tricks like that won't help you defeat me. In the end, I'll be the one left standing and you'll die so we can eat you."

Re-coating his knuckles and fingers with metal studs and scales, Kris raised his fists "Only one way to find out, right?"

Spitting blood on the ground, Madmole raised his fists in turn "Aye, I can agree with you on that." and without waiting any longer, he lunged at his opponent again, being instantly mimicked by Kris, but as their fists collided, creating new shock-waves, a series of explosions shook the entire shore a few dozen meters away, and from the dust caused by those explosions, Nebaru jumped out, turning in mid-air and shooting a large amount of sticky substance from his mouth.

Landing on all fours, he paused to catch his breath and his distinctive black and white eyes darted across the cloud of smoke looking for his opponent, but instead of his foe, a dozen floating eyes emerged from the smoke before fixing their gaze on him and firing a long series of white energy beams, forcing him to jump from side to side to avoid them. After the last attack failed, Nebaru heard a laugh and, turning in that direction, saw Kiro staring at him with a mocking face.

"I thought I had found a challenge after a long time, and instead I find myself watching a horrible frog-man who thinks he is a dragon as he desperately tries to escape like a coward!" stopping a few meters away from his opponent, Kiro shook his head "And you are the ones who eat dragons and Dragon Slayers? AH! If that's how it goes, you must have found a dragon that had been dead for months of starvation and eaten its flesh! You're just a bad joke!"

Nebaru gritted his teeth almost to the point of breaking them "Me no joke! Me kill you! Me eat you!"

"Well I'd like to see you try, you fucking tadpole man!" shouted Kiro before dashing towards his opponent, who jumped high before spitting out a large amount of viscous material from his mouth but Kiro easily avoided it thanks to his speed before jumping and kicking Nebaru in the face. His foot struck the Diabolos wizard on the left side of his head on the cheekbone, but Kiro was surprised when Nebaru managed to close a hand around his ankle before being thrown away. Normally anyone would let go after being hit and knocked away, however Nebaru didn't let go of Kiro and even managed to spin in mid-air, slamming his opponent to the ground before crashing himself due to the previous attack from the white-haired mage.

Shaking his head, Kiro almost immediately stood up and saw that Nebaru was back on all fours with a wide grin on his face; the green-haired wizard then raised a hand to show the palm to his opponent "Me sticky! Hands no let prey escape! You prey!"

"Oh so I'm the prey huh?" repeated Kiro with throbbing veins on his face "Unfortunately for you, I am the All-Seeing Hunter...and now I'm going to show you what it means to be my prey!" he then lunged at Nebaru who puffed out his cheeks again before spitting out a large amount of viscous goo but Kiro side-stepped before accelerating further towards his opponent with his third eye briefly glowing white and purple "Vision Dragon's Astral Projection!"

Nebaru prepared to defend himself from a possible spell but was confused when absolutely nothing happened; Kiro was still running towards him and had not attacked him in any way. Deciding not to think about it too much, the Diabolos mage lunged forward to intercept him and even attempt to bite his opponent in the shoulder, however he was caught off guard when his teeth closed on Kiro's right shoulder only to bite air.

Kiro had completely vanished into thin air only to reappear a few meters back, still running towards Nebaru, who was so confused and disoriented by what had happened that he was unable to avoid the front kick that hit him in the face and knocked him back; Nebaru tried to grab Kiro's leg again but he had already retracted it before leaping forward and hit his opponent with a kick to the stomach, making him vomit a large amount of saliva, and then quickly rotate and land a spinning kick to the head. That quick series of three strikes was enough to knock Nebaru to the ground, with him then trying to get up but without much success, completely stunned by the final kick to the head. He didn't have a chance to recover however as Kiro ran towards him before kicking him in the face, showing a smug grin as he felt Nebaru's nose break from his kick, sending him tumbling a few feet away.

"So what? Didn't you say I was prey?" Kiro asked in a mocking tone of voice "I guess you can't expect too much from a weak tadpole like you!"

Bringing a hand to his face to try to reduce the pain he was feeling at that moment, Nebaru managed to get to his knees before turning sharply towards Kiro with his cheeks already swollen "Clinging Dragon's Sticky Roar!"

Kiro grinned at the attack before leaping backwards to avoid the sticky substance, then returning the gaze to his opponent who had finally managed to get back to his feet. Puffing out his cheeks again, Nebaru then pointed his face upwards "Clinging Dragon's Glue Rain!" and fired a large amount of small egg-sized spheres made entirely of white viscous material; after a short ascent, all those projectiles rained down on Kiro, who brought back his right arm, already wrapped in black magic power, while his eyes moved rapidly in all directions, as if to spot every single incoming shot.

"Vision Dragon's Seeker Claw!"

Sweeping his right arm forward in a wide arc, Kiro released five blades of dark energy that began to shoot through the air, moving freely in all directions, striking and destroying most of the incoming attacks, allowing Kiro to avoid the remaining ones with quick sideways steps. Focusing back on Nebaru, he saw him point his hands downward before releasing a large amount of sticky material from his palms that adhered to the ground, before raising his arms and peeling off several chunks of dirt and rock. Without hesitation, Nebaru began swinging his arms wildly, using the blocks of rock like flail heads in an attempt to strike Kiro, who was forced to step back to avoid all of the attacks.

Deciding to use a single attack to resolve the situation, Kiro pointed an arm at him "Vision Dragon's Target Barrage!" to then summon dozens of eyeballs whose irises began to glow white but, before they could fire, Nebaru destroyed a large amount of them before throwing the blocks of rock towards Kiro, forcing him to move even further away.

'It looks like he's trying to keep me at a distance...normally this wouldn't bother me but that damn tadpole is pretty agile, from this distance I'm just risking wasting magic power.' thought Kiro before attempting to quickly approach his opponent but as soon as he had taken a few steps, Nebaru leapt backwards, encouraging him to try to close the distance.

However after he lunged forward again Nebaru showed him a wide grin "I catch you! You fall into trap!" and moving his hands rapidly, he brought to life the slimy material on the ground that he had been spreading throughout their fight, managing to block Kiro's arms and legs before controlling it again and wrap it even tighter around his limbs. The World Slayers mage tried to yank both arms to free himself but was unsuccessful, then returning his gaze to Nebaru who looked at him amusedly, sticking out his long tongue "Now me eat you!"

Kiro didn't seem disturbed by the situation and showed a sharp grin "Do you really think you caught me? I'm sorry for you but I-!" he didn't have time to finish before he heard a sound getting closer and closer behind him and, turning slightly, saw two streaks of white fire dart across the ground towards him, melting the viscous material on the ground before passing too close to him and aiming at Nebaru, who leapt away to avoid being burned alive. Thanks to those flames, he easily managed to free himself, however he did not seem happy about it and, after turning around completely, he gave voice to his annoyance "Hey who the hell told you to help me?! I don't need support from you!"

Mukuro ignored him completely, dodging a tornado of ash created by Skullion before moving away while throwing several blades of white flame. Gritting his teeth, Kiro returned his full focus to his opponent "Damn midget. Now I'm in a bad mood, you fucking tadpole man, prepare to feel a lot of pain!"

Rushing towards Nebaru, now that the flames had removed much of the slime on the ground, Kiro quickly closed the distance, forcing the Diabolos mage to leap back to avoid a kick to the head, only to then create a large spear from his right hand, which however was made of completely hardened slime material. Kiro took a side step to avoid the attack before his third eye glowed purple "That left shoulder of yours is in pretty bad shape, huh?!" Nebaru's eyes widened in surprise at hearing those words but he had no way of understanding how his opponent discovered the damage as Kiro pointed a hand at him.

"Vision Dragon's Destructive Impact!"

A magic circle formed in front of his hand from which he released a blast of explosive air that immediately hit Nebaru's left shoulder, making him cry out in pain as he was thrown backwards. The three-eyed wizard then created dozens of floating eyes again, which immediately fired a long series of white lasers at Nebaru, causing several explosions and raising a large cloud of smoke and dust.

With his third eye still glowing, Kiro kept his gaze trained on the column of smoke until he clearly saw the white cocoon in the center of all those little craters caused by his spell. The cocoon was damaged in several places but, after a few seconds, it shattered, allowing Nebaru to stand up without having suffered any damage. The green-haired wizard stared intently at his opponent, starting to run out of ideas on how to capture and devour him, but he couldn't afford to fail now, not when he could finally devour a Dragon Slayer after months and months of fasting.

"Me hungry! Me eat you! Me won't fail!" out of nowhere, Nebaru pulled out three balls of bubble gum and tossed them into his mouth before starting to chew them. Kiro raised an eyebrow but was more surprised when his opponent swallowed them shortly after, feeling a surge in his magic power with his pupils becoming more reptilian.

'So this tadpole man can eat sticky stuff to regain energy?' thought Kiro before noticing Nebaru puffing out his cheeks more than normal.

"Clinging Dragon's Sticky Swap!"

Nebaru spat out a huge amount of white sticky material that seemed much thicker than what he had used previously, and it quickly covered a large area around him as Kiro leapt onto a large rock to avoid the substance, carefully watching his opponent. Grinning, Nebaru began to rapidly move his hands to create and control tentacles of viscous material with which he attempted to attack Kiro, but his opponent avoided them by leaping and landing on another boulder while the previous one was completely covered.

"No use running! Me getting you eventually! No place to hide for you!"

"If there is no place to hide, then I will come straight to you! Vision Dragon's Astral Projection!" shouted Kiro before leaping towards his opponent who at the last second took a quick step backwards.

Kiro landed right in the middle of that mass of goo that reacted instantly by enveloping his entire legs and torso leaving the surrounding ground exposed, but Nebaru wasted no time and immediately used another spell "You fool! You jumped into trap! Clinging Dragon's Sticky Roar!" and within moments, Kiro was completely engulfed, leaving only his head and neck exposed. Without giving him a chance to react, Nebaru then leapt forward and bit him viciously in the neck.

Only for Kiro to instantly vanish into thin air, like an illusion, leaving Nebaru shocked.

"W-Where-?"

"That spell you just used. I finally learned it." said a voice to his left and, turning in that direction, Nebaru saw Kiro with his cheeks already puffed out and a strange glint in his three eyes.

"Clinging Dragon's Sticky Roar!"

"WHAT?!" completely taken aback, Nebaru had no chance to react before being completely engulfed in a thick layer of sticky white goo. The Dragon Slayer immediately tried to free himself, even trying to bite into the material, but Kiro was already in front of him, an eye with a reptilian iris already created at the entrance of his mouth.

"Vision Dragon's Roar!"

A giant typhoon of black looking energy shot out from the eye, wiping out Nebaru and much of the ground behind him, creating a path of destruction several dozen meters long. Kiro ceased the attack after a few seconds, then cracking his neck as his eye instantly focused on Nebaru's form, currently on the ground with several wounds on his body. Grinning at his opponent, Kiro began advancing towards him just as Nebaru stood up on shaky legs "Not possible! You stole my power?!"

"No, I didn't steal it. I'm not a small-time thief, but even if I explained to you what happened it wouldn't change anything." said Kiro with his third eye glowing with power "After all, such knowledge is of no use to a dead man walking!" and without wasting any more time, he sprinted towards his enemy just as a large column of white flames burst forth from the ground not too far from them.

A mass of ash piled up a few meters from the column of fire, forming the body of Skullion, who glared at the flames as they dissolved, leaving Mukuro in the center of a large patch of scorched earth. The leader of that Diabolos team wasn't doing well, and it was all the fault of the masked mage in front of him; not only was he holding him off from killing Bogart, but he had also managed to assist the other World Slayers wizards several times, while Skullion had barely managed to keep up with him.

'How the hell is this possible?' thought Skullion while gritting his teeth 'We've been fighting since the beginning and he's even used his magic to help his guildmates, yet he doesn't seem tired in the slightest!' he had no time to think about anything else as Mukuro immediately lunged at him brandishing his katana whose blade was engulfed in white flames, forcing him to turn back into ash to avoid being beheaded.

Reforming part of his body several meters in the air, Skullion pointed a hand at Mukuro and fired several ash blasts that impacted the ground, reducing the earth to ashes but the swordsman quickly leapt back avoiding them all before sending a large blade of flames at Skullion, who quickly ducked to avoid it.

'Even more annoyingly, I can't turn those flames into ash fast enough to be out of danger; avoiding his attacks is the best strategy but useless if I can't hit him either!' looking around, Skullion noticed to his dismay that none of his three teammates were gaining the upper hand on their respective opponents and found himself missing Wraith once again. Being 'invaders' they were at much greater risk than the World Slayers mages and, even though they were in a fairly isolated spot, it was certain that all that chaos would surely attract the attention of other guilds or soldiers from that kingdom.

Swooping down suddenly, Skullion dodged several fireballs before vanishing into thin air and rematerializing behind Mukuro to attempt to kick him in the head, but the swordsman ducked and then spun around to attempt a slash from below, however Skullion turned to ash again and avoided taking damage, reforming a few meters away. Crouching for a moment, Skullion placed a hand on the ground, turning the earth before him to ash, before swinging his limb upwards "Corpse Dragon's Decaying Fangs!" and hurling forward five large vertical blades that cut through the ground like a hot knife cuts butter, leaving a trail of ash in their wake.

Mukuro twirled his katana between his fingers before thrusting it into the ground in front of him "Fire Angel's Aegis." creating a wall of white flames that the ash blades crashed into, soon being destroyed by his spell. When the flames dissipated he noticed that Skullion had disappeared but he immediately sensed his presence behind him, just in time to see him turn a large clod of earth into ash before bringing both hands in front of him.

"Your presence here is not required, Angel Slayer, for we feed only on dragons! Vanish and never return! Black Ash!" and creating a sphere of dark energy between his hands, Skullion made all the ash converge on Mukuro with the intent of turning him into ash and teleporting him away from that place; however, the World Slayers mage did not give up and pointed his katana towards the sky, surrounding himself with a white magical aura.

"Fire Angel's Smite!"

Under Skullion's astonished eyes, a huge pillar of white flames fell from the sky onto Mukuro, eradicating every last bit of the ash that was surrounding him. The massive amount of flames lasted for several seconds before dying down, revealing Mukuro perfectly unharmed except for a few thin columns of steam rising from his body.

'Damn it, that spell failed too!' clenching his fists in anger, Skullion then noticed a detail: Mukuro was breathing with more difficulty, taking deep breaths and with small, almost imperceptible tremors in his legs. Narrowing his gaze, Skullion focused on his opponent's body and noticed that his arms were also shaking slightly, making him smirk 'So there's a limit to his power, specifically there is a limit to his body. Judging by his height he must be a young boy, so his body is not used to all that power yet.'

Deciding to test his theory, Skullion pointed both hands at Mukuro and fired more ash blasts; his opponent dodged the first attacks before destroying the last ones with his flaming katana, giving Skullion the chance to confirm that his opponent was, albeit slightly, slower than before. At that moment, Mukuro reached under his cloak and pulled out a metal canteen, then under Skullion's watchful eye he removed the cap and, after pulling off his hood, poured water over his head, causing even more steam to rise from his body.

'So his magic overheats him? That's some useful information, now I know he can't hope to fight much longer unless he wants to risk self-destruction.' thought Skullion while Mukuro put away the canteen and adjusted the hood on his head 'If I have any hope of defeating him, I have to push him to use more magical power, but I still risk wasting my reserves of power. Well it doesn't matter...once he's dead, killing that Dragon Slayer will be a breeze!'

Turning part of the ground into ash, he then shaped it into a large scythe with which he attacked Mukuro, forcing him to defend himself given the radius of his weapon, but without managing to hurt him; after several slashes, he held the scythe with one hand and fired ash blasts with the other, alternating them with melee attacks, causing Mukuro to increase the intensity of his weapon's flames to protect himself from multiple attacks at once. The two exchanged blows for several seconds but Skullion noticed to his dismay that his opponent was not retreating, but was even slowly counterattacking, forcing the Diabolos mage to step back.

Mukuro then began to press him with a series of rapid slashes that gave Skullion no chance to respond, forcing him onto the defensive. Much to the Dragon Slayer's annoyance, his magic failed to turn Mukuro or his katana to ash due to those angelic flames, however there was one way he could speed up his victory so he let go of his weapon and prepared for another slash from his opponent. The masked wizard did not wait and tried to strike him with a vertical slash despite the difference in their heights but, instead of turning his body into ash, Skullion wrapped his left arm in ash and used it to hit the katana sideways before it could reach his body; the heat of those flames spread even through the ash, making him gnash his teeth in pain, but he still managed to deflect the blow and extend his other arm forward.

Mukuro took a quick step back to distance himself, but Skullion turned part of his arm into ash to extend it and, ignoring the pain that those flames caused him, managed to grab his opponent's canteen before pulling it away, and then distanced himself several meters. Shaking the canteen, he felt it was still quite full and, with a smirk on his lips, he did not hesitate to turn it into ash along with the water inside.

"Now one less way to cool down, Angel Slayer. Of course there's always the river if you want, but if you decide to go there…" pointing behind himself while looking at Bogart, a dozen meters behind Mukuro "...who will protect that Dragon Slayer?"

Mukuro looked behind him before returning his attention to his opponent, then pointed an open hand at him with his fingers angled inward in a claw gesture and his entire arm engulfed in white flames "Fire Angel's Sin Serpent!"

Summoning a giant flame serpent once again, Mukuro unleashed it on Skullion before making quick backward movements and, taking advantage of the fact that his opponent was busy with his spell, he slightly turned his head towards Bogart "Cresthill, you can create water, right?"

Bogart blinked, surprised by the masked wizard's appearance before him, as he had been concentrating on the fight between Ossian and Kiria "Y-Yes, I can. I can also heal you if you need it."

"That won't be necessary. I just need you to cool me down for as long as possible."

"Corpse Dragon's Ashen Jaw!"

Both Mukuro and Bogart turned to Skullion just in time to see a large mass of ash rise from the ground and engulf the serpent made of flames, covering it completely in seconds. The Diabolos wizard screamed as he released a great deal of magical power, and although Mukuro's spell was on the verge of breaking free several times, he finally managed to suppress it within his ash. Taking deep breaths Skullion then looked at his opponent with a smirk on his face "You must be worse off than I thought if you have to rely on that lousy mage to win. This is the first time I've heard of a Dragon Slayer who can't attack. Truly pathetic."

"So what if I can't use my powers to attack, you damn skeleton man?!" shouted back Bogart only to fall silent the instant he felt a strong wave of killer instinct explode from Skullion's body and crash down upon him.

While the grin was still on his face, there was now a more sinister glint in the Dragon Eater's eyes "I would be careful with my words if I were you, for when I have rid myself of your protector, I will kill you and consume your flesh!"

Swallowing with difficulty, Bogart still managed to retort "I'd like to see you try!"

Mukuro then raised his sword, holding it horizontally pointing to the right; turning his head slightly he asked "Are you ready?" and when Bogart hesitantly said yes, Mukuro released a large amount of flames from his body, causing the young Dragon Slayer to recoil from the immense heat. Gripping his weapon tightly with both hands, Mukuro took a step forward before unleashing two swift ascending slashes, sending out a trail of flame with each slash. His white flames raced across the ground at great speed but did not aim directly at Skullion, instead starting to circle around him before creating a perfect circle from which a large spiral of flames shot up hundreds of meters into the sky.

'What is this? A way to keep myself busy while he recovers?' thought Skullion before raising an arm and hurling ash blasts at Mukuro, however, beams of white flame instantly branched out from the spiral, blocking all attacks in the blink of an eye. He didn't get a chance to try again as he saw Mukuro take another step forward and deliver a wide horizontal slash that sent a wave of white flames along the ground, forcing Skullion to turn part of his body to ash in order to stay in midair. Looking down he noticed that the ground inside the spiral was completely covered in flames, thus preventing him from escaping underground by turning the soil into ash.

Extinguishing the flames on his body, Mukuro nodded towards Bogart, who pointed both hands at the shorter mage "Water Dragon's Healing Sphere!" and within moments, a sphere of water engulfed Mukuro's entire body, leaving a small pocket of air around his mask so he could breathe, but Bogart was shocked as thick columns of steam began to emerge from the sphere as the water slowly began to bubble. Shaking his head he concentrated on his spell and used more magical power to try to cool the water, however a wave of magical power drew his gaze towards Skullion as he opened his arms outwards.

"Corpse Dragon's Utter Ash!"

Surrounding himself in a sphere of dark energy, Skullion unleashed a storm of ash that slammed into Mukuro's spiral of flame, pushing his magic back until it created a gap that the mage of Diabolos used to escape from that prison, immediately focusing on his opponent. Mukuro was just inches away from Bogart but he couldn't risk the Dragon Slayer cooling him down too much "I'll try not to turn your body into ashes too, but I can't risk that now! Corpse Dragon's Roar!"

Bogart's eyes widened in shock as he saw a huge vortex of ash shooting out towards them and he knew that even with the best of his abilities he wouldn't be able to avoid such an attack, however his attention was immediately diverted to Mukuro who released a burst of magical power.

"That would be enough, Cresthill. Release the spell." not having to be told twice, Bogart broke the concentration on his spell by letting the water fall to the ground and Mukuro immediately raised his head, puffing out his cheeks behind the mask "Fire Angel's Howl!" before releasing a torrent of white flame from his mouth that countered Skullion's ash vortex, canceling the spell entirely within a few seconds. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Skullion returned to the ground but Mukuro dashed forward with much more speed than before and his sword was already engulfed in flames, only for these flames to send a shiver down the Dragon Eater's spine.

'What the hell is going on? It's the same flames as before but the intensity of the magical power is completely different!'

"Angel Slayer's Secret Art…" Skullion's eyes widened as Mukuro brought his blade back before starting a wide lateral slash "…Purgatory's Blade!"

'They are just flames, I will just have to turn into ashes and-!' Skullion's instincts screamed at him that this attack could not be avoided by using his magic, urging him to avoid it at all costs. As the blade of white flames drew ever closer, the Dragon Eater had the presence of mind to turn the ground beneath his feet to ash just as Mukuro's katana would have severed his neck; a gigantic blade of white flames shot out from Mukuro's attack, illuminating the entire area in white and reaching and clearing the clouds in the sky, drawing the attention of all the other fighters who froze momentarily as they felt the Angel Slayer's magical power on their skin.

When the spell ended, Mukuro looked down and saw a hole in the ground, and after a few seconds, a several meters away, he saw the ground turn to ash and Skullion emerged, reverting to his human form just as a small object fell next to him. Looking in that direction, the Dragon Eater was surprised to see a portion of his left horn, its base glowing and smoking; bringing a hand to his helmet he quickly retracted it when it touched a burning spot where Mukuro's blade had severed his horn. Feeling an uneasy sensation in his chest, Skullion turned the base of his horn to ash so that the damaged part fell off, while turning his gaze on his opponent "What the hell…are those flames?"

Mukuro didn't respond and simply moved his weapon to put out the remaining flames before assuming a fighting stance again. Not too far away, Ossian looked at his guildmate with a drop of sweat running down his cheek "So that's the power of one of my sister's S-class mages…those flames could melt my bones too."

Kris and Kiro were not exempt from being impressed by such display and, while the former seemed excited at the sight of so much power, the latter seemed almost bothered at the idea that Mukuro was so powerful, aware of the fact that he had known about it for a long time and therefore had never challenged the Angel Slayer.

'No wonder the guild master isn't concerned about quests involving S-class mages...they're all damn monsters.' thought Kiro while Nebaru looked visibly intimidated by Mukuro.

"Oi Skullion! Why the hell did you dodge! Those were flames and you can become ashes!" shouted Kiria, visibly pissed off with her teammate who didn't even look at her.

'Skullion-dono must have had his reasons. Until now he had used his magic to avoid taking damage from those flames, but if he decided it was better to avoid that spell…' Madmole shifted his gaze to Mukuro, still feeling the heat in the air from his attack 'What a dangerous mage.'

Skullion gritted his teeth, suddenly feeling less confident in his success. If it were just the other Dragon Slayers, he and his team could have won and feasted on their corpses in a matter of minutes, but that damned swordsman was making it too difficult. A shiver ran down his spine when he thought about what would happen if he returned to the guild with his tail between the legs and not even one Dragon Slayer consumed in the entire journey.

'Master Georg would not be happy at all...I would risk being severely punished for my failure since I am here against his orders!' thought Skullion while getting ready to fight again. He couldn't show weakness, or he and the others would be at too great a risk once they returned to the guild!

Now about to attack again, with Mukuro ready to receive him, the Diabolos wizard stopped the moment his enchanted hearing caught a distant, high-pitched sound, similar to a whistle. Standing still, he looked around, his gaze wandering along the riverbank, seeing how the other Dragon Slayers had also noticed the sound judging by their confused looks, yet he saw nothing but that whistle was getting louder and...closer. Eyes widening in realization, the Dragon Eater snapped his head up to look up at the sky and immediately saw a large figure swoop down from the sky without slowing down. Skullion didn't even have a chance to voice his surprise as the mysterious figure crashed into the ground between him and Mukuro, shaking the surrounding area and sending chunks of dirt and rock flying all around.

Everyone's attention was immediately focused on the large mass of dust that had risen from the ground, and in the silence that had followed the crash, slow metallic groans could be heard as if something heavy made of metal was moving outside of their vision, yet one among them could see everything crystal clear.

All three of Kiro's eyes were fixed on that figure cloaked in thick, pitch-black armor with heavy dragon motifs. As that person rose to their feet from the crater they had created when they hit the ground, new details became more and more defined, such as the helmet which was shaped like a closed dragon head, the greaves and gauntlets with clawed fingers, and the entire surface of the armor apparently covered in dragon scales, paired with the huge black greatsword they carried on the back, which looked like it was made with the bones and claws of a dragon judging by the detail on the guard and pommel.

'Who the fuck is that?' Kiro wondered, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, as he noticed the white hair sticking out from under the knight's helmet as well as the grim red glow in the helmet's eye sockets; now that they were fully standing, he couldn't help but compare them to all the others and was immediately certain that they were much larger and more imposing than the other Dragon Eaters, with not even Madmole able to hope to come close in height and muscle mass.

"Oh, what a bummer not to be as young as I used to be. Thirty years ago, a landing like that wouldn't have made me feel anything." said a deep male voice as the cloud of dust slowly cleared, allowing the others present to see the black knight cracking his neck, with loud 'pops' that everyone could hear, but while Bogart and the World Slayers mages remained alert after his arrival, the Dragon Eaters couldn't help but be nervous and uneasy when they recognized the man.

"G-Genbu-san…" said Skullion, barely having the voice to speak "W-What are you doing here…?"

The black knight stood still for a few seconds before slowly turning his head and looking him straight in the eyes "You mean, besides trying to find the Diabolos members who had the bright idea to ignore Georg's orders? I'm pretty sure your brain hasn't completely turned to ash yet, Skullion, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't ask any more idiotic questions."

Skullion immediately closed his mouth, making his teeth chatter before quickly bowing his head "My sincere apologies, Genbu-san, we were looking for-!"

"For what, Skullion?" Genbu asked, turning fully towards the leader of the Dragon Eaters, and suddenly everyone in the vicinity felt a strong oppression weighing on them, to the point that Bogart began to sweat and took a few steps back. With controlled calm, the knight began to advance towards Skullion "Were you by any chance looking for dragons in this place, where none have been seen for hundreds of years, when in our lands those beasts still exist, ready to be killed and devoured?" when Genbu stopped in front of him, Skullion had to raise his head due to their height difference, feeling the beads of sweat running down his cheeks "I had hoped that your team would be free from shame by now, yet here I find you in this faraway land, squabbling with some miserable Dragon Slayers who have never tasted dragon blood."

"We came here hunting!" shouted Kiria, looking at Genbu with furious eyes "What the hell would have been the point of sitting around the guild doing nothing?!"

Genbu turned his head and the blonde immediately took a step back, feeling the knight's gaze on her "Ah Kiria, I see your mind is not yet as sharp as your blades or your tongue." he shook his head before moving his gaze to Madmole and then Nebaru "Georg had expressly ordered all Diabolos members to remain at the guild for the upcoming hunt. When he didn't find you, he sent us to look for you, wasting my time." he then looked back at Skullion without saying anything and Skullion sensed the veiled order, then using his magic to turn his team to ashes and have them reappear at his side.

Ignoring the fact that she had been transformed and transported against her will, Kiria's eyes widened in shock "So you want us to go back to the guild?! Now that we can kill and devour four Dragon Slayers?!" she then seemed to realize what the knight had said "Wait, did you say 'us'?"

"Indeed he did, Kiria. Thou art lacking in awareness, as per usual." said a calm, male voice, and everyone except Genbu suddenly looked up and saw two figures slowly descending towards the ground.

The first one, who was literally floating, was a boy with extremely pale skin, white hair, white pupilless eyes, deep dark circles under his eyes, and rather casual clothes consisting of a long cloak with a hood, the sleeves of which were longer than his arms, black pants, dark shoes, and a black collar around his neck; his companion on the other hand, standing on what looked like ghostly white flames, was a young man with dark red eyes and long, maroon hair tied into the back using a white hair tie, in addition to having bangs in front of his forehead, dressed in a black kimono with what appears like bird wings designed on the sleeves and tail feathers on the bottom, paired with feather earrings and a katana, with a particular handle, positioned on his left side.

"Suzaku? Wraith?! You too?!"

"Yes Kiria…" said Wraith with a calm, almost bored tone of voice "I had to use my powers to travel here with Suzaku and Gen-san, since you took the guild ship with you. The spirits are not happy with you all..."

"I don't give a shit about the spirits! If you had been with us from the beginning we would have been feasting by now!" shouted Kiria while pointing a finger at Wraith, who merely looked at her with unblinking eyes.

"Master Georg had ordered us not to move."

While Kiria was on the verge of having an aneurysm yet still continued to insult her guildmate, Mukuro stared intently at the scene 'Who is she talking to?' and that thought was perfectly legitimate, since in his eyes Kiria was talking to someone who wasn't there, acting as if she was receiving answers, yet no one was talking to her. Narrowing his gaze, the swordsman concentrated intently before sensing something, like an incredibly faint presence beside the newly arrived samurai.

'An invisible enemy? No, I would sense the magical presence at this distance. Could it be an illusion of some kind visible only to her?'

"Is it me or that guy with white hair...is it not exactly corporeal?" Kris asked, having rejoined the other members of his guild now that all the Diabolos mages had gathered together.

Ossian shook his head "No, I see it too. His legs especially are slightly transparent."

Mukuro looked at them for a moment before focusing back on their enemies "Alucard, Bliviah. Can you confirm that someone else arrived with that samurai and the knight?"

Kris looked at him, visibly confused "Yes…? There's also that guy with white hair, he said he used his powers to get here and that the spirits were unhappy with the others." he then looked at Bogart, who was right behind them "You can see him too, right?"

The young Dragon Slayer nodded immediately "Yes, I see seven people in front of us."

'Seven.' thought Mukuro 'Yet I only see six, why? Bliviah said this person mentioned spirits...could it be a ghost of some kind? But then why can others see him? This enemy could be problematic.'

"Enough with your complaints Kiria." said Genbu with his voice now much colder, making her shut her mouth immediately "Playing with fakes will not make you stronger in any way, it will just make you soft and weak."

"Vision Dragon's Roar!"

A giant typhoon of black looking energy dug a large furrow in the shore heading towards the group of Diabolos mages but while some of them made to avoid it or respond to the attack, Genbu raised a hand pointing it towards the attack without even looking at it "Black Vortex." and a swirling mass of darkness came to life in the palm of his hand with Kris, Bogart, and Ossian watching in shock as Kiro's attack was completely absorbed within the vortex, leaving Genbu and the others completely unharmed.

"Did you want to prove something, you brat?" asked Genbu while looking at Kiro, who was glaring at him "Because if that was your goal, I applaud you, you've reaffirmed that fake Dragon Slayers like you are worth nothing but a few laughs. Oh and don't take this the wrong way, I'm giving you some serious praise after all."

A vein began to pulse on Kiro's forehead "I just felt like you were talking a little too much. I wanted to see if you could back up your claims and words." but while on the outside he looked ready to fight, his mind was racing at a hundred miles a minute as his third eye failed to see beyond the darkness used by Genbu, as if the magic employed was virtually impenetrable.

'My eye can also see through Nox's shadows and the magic of other guild members, yet I could not get past that spell.' a grin slowly spread across his face 'Maybe this guy will be more interesting than that weak tadpole man.'

Genbu snorted, shaking his head "The world has truly gone to pieces. Dragon Slayers were once warriors hardened by battles with the carcasses of those beasts at their feet, but now even a wet-behind-the-ears child who has never seen a dragon can go around proclaiming to everyone that he is a Dragon Slayer." the knight sniffed the air for a few seconds before looking back at Kiro "Yes, not even the slightest smell of blood coming from you, just the stench of breast milk. The nauseating smell that all you second generation fakes have in common." he gestured toward Ossian, Kris and Bogart "I smell the same stench coming from them and that little guy with the mask, he's not even a Dragon Slayer, but a being inferior even to someone as banal as you."

Kiro saw red and immediately released a large amount of magical power but before the young Dragon Slayer could attack in any way, Genbu closed the hand he had used to defend himself before, pointing only two fingers at him "Hex: Weakness." and a yellow aura immediately appeared around Kiro, confusing him and the other World Slayers mages, but the three-eyed mage couldn't observe it for more than a handful of seconds as Genbu closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye.

The Vision Dragon Slayer tried to avoid it using his agility but realized too late how his movements seemed more awkward and slow, and he could do nothing when Genbu hit him with a devastating punch to the pit of the stomach, making him vomit blood and saliva before throwing him several dozen meters away, making him crash into a large boulder. Genbu didn't even wait a second to see his work, immediately turning around and opening both hands, just in time to block the fists of Ossian and Kris, whose bodies were now covered in bony and metallic scales; snapping his hands shut, Genbu shocked them as he managed to break through their defenses with incredible ease before swinging his arms outward and then closing them again, sending them crashing into each other on their backs.

With the air knocked out of their lungs, the two didn't even manage to let out a strangled cry of pain before Genbu forcefully slammed Kris down, cracking the ground, before repeating the move with Ossian on top of his partner; he then raised his right foot and stomped forcefully on Ossian's chest, opening new cracks underneath them and causing the albino to vomit a lot of blood. The knight then quickly brought his right hand to his back and drew his greatsword to block a slash from Mukuro, causing several sparks to dance between the two blades. Genbu looked at the smaller opponent before pushing him back with his physical strength, then attempted a side slash that the masked mage easily blocked, but was pushed back anyway.

"Mere mortals like you should learn to stand in their place." hissed Genbu before releasing a large arc of flame-like dark energy from his weapon with a single slash. Mukuro enveloped his katana in the white flames of his magic and attacked back, sending a wave of flames at the knight's attack, barely managing to neutralize it. Mukuro didn't have a chance to catch his breath before he was forced to turn and parry a lightning-fast series of slashes from Suzaku, who had joined the fray in the blink of an eye, succeeding in his intent but still suffering a cut on his right shoulder.

Even though he managed to attack by surprise and injure his opponent, Suzaku watched Mukuro with interest "He was able to react to mine blade?"

"That's enough Suzaku." Genbu said before taking a step forward, remaining perfectly balanced for a few seconds on the foot still resting on Ossian's chest, causing all his weight to transfer to the two Dragon Slayers beneath him "Your blade shouldn't even touch such a low-level opponent."

Suzaku immediately took a step back and bowed his head "Mine deepest apologies Genbu-sensei. I hadst no intention of denying thee the respect deserved."

The black knight didn't add anything else, casting a final glance at Mukuro before heading towards the other members of his guild "We've wasted enough time already, Skullion take us to the ship. We have a long journey ahead of us."

Skullion nodded but, before he could use his powers, Kiria stepped forward again "But why?! You just defeated them without even breaking a sweat! We can finish them off and then eat them to become stronger!" she pointed a finger at Genbu "You yourself recently encouraged us to hunt down and kill Dragon Slayers who were not like us, and now you want to let them go!?"

Madmole stepped forward in turn, though with less grit in his words "Forgive my disrespect, Genbu-dono, but Kiria-dono raises a valid point...we could kill these Dragon Slayers before returning to the guild, so that we are stronger and ready for a new hunt."

The knight could only shake his head at their words "Wasting time away from Guiltina has really taken a toll on your cognitive abilities, but rest assured that once you return to the guild I will ensure that you are brought up to the standards Georg sets." both Dragon Eaters gulped, both at his cold tone of voice and at the veiled threat in the form of arduous training "To answer your impertinent questions, it was a simple matter of time and image and, thanks to your constant complaining, now we no longer have time."

Kiria was about to ask him what he meant by those words, when she suddenly stopped. Perking up her ears, she could hear a deafening sound in the background getting louder and louder as the ground beneath her feet began to shake, albeit slightly, and, like her, the others also noticed that strange phenomenon. Bogart, closest to the hinterland, saw some small rocks near him shaking and his hearing told him that the source of that sound was approaching from behind him, so he turned in that direction while in the air he began to hear the unmistakable sounds of several horses combined with the clatter of their hooves against the ground.

In a matter of seconds, at least forty heavily armored knights emerged from the small forest near his village and spread out along the road leading to the beach, shocking Bogart as much as everyone else, but the young Dragon Slayer quickly noticed one thing: these were not knights from the Kingdom of Bosco. Their armour was mostly silver, with closed helmets that prevented their faces from being seen, with even their horses boasting armour to match their bodies with large pieces of red and yellow cloth covering the sides of their legs and throats. All the knights had a sword on their left hip and a lance held in their right hand, although just below the tip of some of those lances was fixed a flag that fluttered freely, drawing the attention of the various wizards to them.

"That's not Bosco's flag…" said Bogart, looking at the yellow and red flags in the center of which stood a black dragon with outstretched wings and open jaws "Those are-!"

His words died in his throat as a beautiful white horse came forward, making the young golden-eyed young girl riding it perfectly visible to everyone. The knight had pale white skin, long, flowing fuchsia hair that slightly curled outwards, with the locks on either side of her face curling inwards, while her entire body was covered in fine armor made of a peculiar light blue metal, on whose chest was depicted the same dragon visible on the flags behind her, with large pauldrons, fingerless gauntlets, which together with the leggings had a few tips that curled inwards almost resembling the scales of a dragon, ending with high-heeled boots and a blue cloak with a white fur edge.

The young girl brought out her right arm and in a golden flash an elegant sword appeared in her hand; simple in design, it was a weapon with golden cross-guard, a blue hilt and golden pommel while the entire blade was made of fine metal that reflected the light of the sunset.

"Members of Diabolos!" the swordswoman thundered, keeping her gaze fixed on Genbu and the other Dragon Eaters "I am Lunafreya Lacrima, Queen of the Kingdom of Seven!" that simple statement was enough to make Bogart's jaw drop to the ground as the Diabolos mages looked at her in surprise (although it was impossible to discern Genbu's expression due to his helmet), all the while Ossian and Kris stood up with small grins on their faces, happy to have received reinforcements "Your guild is not authorized to operate in Ishgar, and you have attacked a legal guild, which is against the rules of the Magic Council, so I order you to surrender immediately!"

A tense silence followed her words but when some of the Diabolos mages were ready to reply, Genbu raised a hand to silence them immediately. The black knight kept his gaze fixed on Lunafreya and the sword from which he could sense a great magical power "Queen of Seven, I can assure you that our intentions are among the most harmless possible; it was in fact my duty to come here so as to bring the lost sheep back to the fold." behind him Kiria bit her tongue so as not to reply to his words "However, I find it almost funny that a prominent person like you would say such important words with the sole purpose of distracting us. Black Vortex!"

Skullion and the other members of his team were surprised when they saw Genbu point an arm to the left and create that swirling mass of darkness again, just in time before dozens of red feathers could hit him; all the projectiles stuck in Genbu's spell before being absorbed into it. When Genbu finished neutralizing the attack completely, canceling his spell immediately after, they were able to see a young man several meters away, hidden among some rocks with his right arm still pointing towards them and his cold red eyes focused on their group.

"Who the fuck is that?!" shouted Kiria while looking at the attacker who merely lowered his arm. He had a pale complexion with long black hair tied in a high ponytail, but unlike Lunafreya, he wore very simple clothes, consisting of a red t-shirt with a rose in the center, a red and black jacket, pants with the same colors and comfortable black shoes.

"A nuisance." hissed Genbu while raising his weapon, now wrapped in black flames; without hesitation, Genbu struck three quick slashes, aiming respectively at that mysterious attacker, Bogart and Kiro, who was only just getting up, holding a hand to his chest where the knight had previously struck him, hurling a large blade of dark energy with each swing.

Mukuro was the first to respond to the attack and, seeing that Ossian and Kris were still recovering, he himself rushed towards Kiro while shouting "Queen Lacrima! Protect the boy!" and at the same time letting his flames completely envelop his katana, with which he then slashed horizontally to intercept Genbu's attack aimed at Kiro. At the same time, while the one who had attacked Genbu and the others nimbly avoided the attack with a sideways leap, Bogart didn't even have time to move before Lunafreya landed in front of him after jumping from her horse's saddle, her sword already engulfed in a strong golden glow.

"Holy Sword God's Punishment!"

Grabbing her weapon in both hands, Lunafreya swung a swift slash that intercepted Genbu's attack; her holy blade and the darkness spell stalled for a few seconds before the light began to weaken the spell enough for Lunafreya to step forward and finish the slash, dispelling Genbu's magic entirely just as Mukuro prevailed over the blade of darkness he had blocked. Her golden eyes immediately searched for Genbu's form but she was surprised to see that he and all the other Dragon Eaters had vanished into thin air along with their ship.

"They vanished thanks to the power of that guy in the skeleton mask." Lunafreya turned to her left and saw Ossian approaching her, with Kris right behind him "Sorry we couldn't stop them."

She shook her head smiling, while sheathing her sword in an intricate blue and gold scabbard that appeared in her left hand "Don't worry, Sir Ossian, the important thing is that you're all well...more or less." she added the last part after seeing Kiro approaching along with Mukuro, one hand still on his chest and a facial expression that was a mix of annoyance and pain "Sir Kiro, everything is fine?"

"Of course not! Those fuckers managed to escape!" growled Kiro before wincing when he felt a jolt of pain in his chest "Damn it, that bastard must have cracked some of my ribs."

Mukuro gave him a quick glance before shifting her gaze to Bogart "Cresthill, please use your magic to heal him."

"I don't need a fucking healer!" snapped Kiro, only to double over when Mukuro touched him on the chest with the pommel of his katana "Oh you son of a-!"

"Heal him."

Bogart, who had approached in the meantime, nodded with a nervous look on his face and pointed both hands at Kiro before engulfing him in a bubble of water, leaving his head out so that he could speak and breathe freely. Ossian snickered at Kiro's expense before looking over at the black-haired wizard who had helped them earlier and who had finally joined the group, standing slightly apart from the others "Hello Romain, haven't seen you for a while."

The shadow of a smile appeared on the face of Romain, who nodded towards the albino "Hello Ossian, my last missions have kept me away from the guild unfortunately."

"Well, that was to be expected, especially now that we have a constant stream of missions!" said Kris with a smile "I hope I can do one with you in the next few days! Everyone told me you know your stuff!"

"I'll see what can be done about it."

Ossian said nothing about Romain's tone of voice, now colder and more detached, having known him for years, and preferred to return his attention to the others just in time to see Bogart finish treating Kiro, who took deep breaths to check his ribs "Well I admit it's better now."

"You're welcome."

Kiro looked at Bogart, who had crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him with a raised eyebrow "What's the fucking matter? If you don't get a thank you you can't go to sle-ACK!" he doubled over again after Mukuro had just hit him in the belly using the pommel of his sword "Will you stop that?!" he then glared at Bogart before rolling his eyes "Thanks. Happy now?"

Bogart said nothing, though there was the shadow of a smirk on his face, but then he seemed to remember something and quickly bowed before Lunafreya "Forgive me for my impudence! I didn't mean to offend you in any way, Queen of Seven!" he bowed his head even more "You saved my life and I didn't thank you! Please don't blame the village, it's all my fault!"

"Oh no no no! Please raise your head!" Lunafreya quickly put a hand on his shoulder so he could look up "I may be the Queen of Seven, but I'm also a World Slayers mage, just like Sir Ossian and the others!"

Eyes widening in surprise, Bogart looked to his left and saw Ossian and Romain nodding at him, confirming Lunafreya's words.

"Also in certain situations you may not even think of me as a queen, in fact I'm fine if you-!"

"Soldiers! Who do you serve?!" Kris thundered, raising his arms towards the knights who had arrived with Lunafreya, making the aforementioned queen jump and turn to look at him along with everyone else.

"LUNAFREYA LACRIMA, QUEEN OF SEVEN!"

"S-Sir Kris, that's-!"

"Soldiers! Who is the best ruler in all of Ishgar?!"

"LUNAFREYA LACRIMA, QUEEN OF SEVEN!"

"Sir Kris! Please stop! I-!"

"Soldiers! Who is the sexie-?!"

SBAM!

Everyone (including Mukuro) flinched as Lunafreya's fist hit Kris' head, knocking him face first into the ground.

"Sir Kris, I would appreciate it if you would stop using certain phrases, and also stop inciting my soldiers!" said Lunafreya with her cheeks painted red before turning back to Bogart, albeit with a nervous smile on her lips "A-As I was saying! You can safely think of me as a normal mage! You are the Healer of Woodwind, right? Which means you are important too!"

Oddly enough, despite her words, Bogart did not seem entirely convinced.

"By the way, Luna…" said Ossian, tearing his gaze from the twitching form of Kris still lying on the ground "How did you find us? Last I checked you were off on a couple of missions with Romain and then had some diplomatic meetings."

"Well you have to thank the guild master for our arrival!"

"My sister…?"

Lunafreya nodded "Yes, she was the one who contacted us a few hours ago!" and as Kris finally got up from the ground, the queen began to explain to them what had happened…

---

[ Sherwood - Capital of Bosco / 28th July X786] - [ A few hours earlier ]

The town of Sherwood was the town where nature and civilization had reached the perfect balance. Along all the main streets made of white stone there were always two rows of trees whose branches were always full of leaves except during the winter, while a good part of the buildings had part of their walls covered with green ivy which left windows, balconies and doors free, as if they had some sort of agreement with the citizens. Groves and gardens could be found everywhere in the capital, which was crossed by the a river whose water was pure and crystalline, while the extensive royal gardens were a source of envy for many nobles from all over Ishgar, with their rare plants, ancient trees and even the fauna that resided within.

The royal palace was like a monument to the balance of that place, since it was also built of white stone and partly covered with ivy, but there were also trees that grew in certain points of that enormous castle, as if it had been built around the plants themselves; on the four towers placed at the corners, in fact, there were wide branches that extended from the conical roofs, full of foliage and the chorus of birds could be heard in the air even while one was on the ground floor.

Lunafreya had the opportunity to admire that beautiful castle as she approached with her armed escort, receiving surprised looks from the citizens who expected anything but to see the Queen of Seven, a kingdom with which they had a history full of wars and blood, riding into their capital.

Her appearance exuded elegance and nobility, with her long blue dress with several curves that covered her legs, long blue silk gloves, a necklace with a sapphire in the center, a white collar with two extensions that reached her chest, sapphire high heels and, of course, a golden crown on her head, all complemented by her cloak that fell down her back. A look fit for a queen, there was no doubt about it.

'Please stop staring at me. Please stop staring at me. Please stop staring at me.'

These were the surprising words that Lunafreya was repeating in her head like a mantra while her face remained impassive. Even though she had been queen for two years, she still struggled in her role and, if now her subjects were more accustomed to her presence and greeted her with a smile before returning to their duties, the citizens of Bosco were much more surprised and disoriented, staring at her without ever looking away, whispering among themselves as the monarch advanced along the main avenue, closely followed by Romain and her soldiers.

'I already know this meeting is going to go terribly, I can't relax at all!'

She could feel the eyes on her, but while the younger people were simply curious, the older ones had eyes filled with hatred and uncertainty, since no one had announced to them that a queen would be arriving in the capital. Luckily for her, there were no incidents of any kind and after several minutes she finally arrived in front of the metal gates, also covered in ivy, which separated the castle and the royal gardens from the rest of the city.

Soon she was standing at the steps leading into the castle, where a dozen knights and a very well-groomed butler were waiting for her. After getting off the horse with Romain, Lunafreya took off her cloak and placed it on her saddle, then approached the butler, who immediately bowed his head along with the knights "Queen Lunafreya Lacrima, we are honored that you have come here. I sincerely hope that your journey has been pleasant and without danger."

Lunafreya nodded with a small smile on her lips "It was, you have a beautiful city. The gardens are truly a joy to behold."

"Your words fill us with pride, Your Highness." the butler then raised his head before gesturing with a hand towards the castle door, which was already open "The King and Queen are already waiting in the private study, I will take you to them immediately." his black eyes rested for a moment on Romain and Lunafreya's soldiers "I must inform you, however, that for security reasons, you will not be able to bring all of your soldiers with you into the palace."

"Don't worry, I know what it means to visit another monarch." she nodded at the black haired mage behind her "Romain will be the only one to come with me, my soldiers will remain here waiting."

"Very well. Now, please follow me."

The two World Slayers mages followed the butler along a series of corridors and stairs, quickly reaching the highest floors of the building, until they found themselves in a corridor that seemed even more elegant than the others, with tall windows on the right from which one could see the entire city, and a wall filled with valuable paintings on the left. At the far end was a double door flanked by two heavily armed guards, who seemed to straighten up even more when they saw Lunafreya approaching.

The butler approached the door before looking at the young girl "Behind this door is the King's personal study. May I announce your arrival?"

Mentally thanking him for that little moment of respite, Lunafreya took a deep breath to try to calm herself.

"It will be fine."

Lunafreya looked to the side, her gaze settling on Romain who had his eyes fixed on the door in front of them, his face completely serene. Smiling at him, the queen looked at the butler before nodding.

The man nodded in response and motioned to the two guards, who opened the door as he announced "Her Royal Highness, Lunafreya Lacrima, Queen of the Kingdom of Seven." he then entered the study and immediately stepped aside, bowing his head, while Lunafreya advanced with a calm and controlled step together along with Romain, who remained a couple of steps behind her.

The moment she stepped inside that warm and elegant study, her golden eyes immediately locked onto the blue ones of a man sitting on a sofa. He was a broad-shouldered man, with long, wavy black hair and a perfectly trimmed beard, wearing regal white, black and gold robes, as well as the ever-present crown that made it clear to everyone who they were dealing with: the King of Bosco, Alexander Gladio.

Lunafreya kept her gaze fixed on him and his face, carved in stone so impassive was he, for several seconds before turning her attention to the woman sitting next to him, who was watching the Queen of Seven with a serene smile on her lips; Maria Gladio, Queen of Bosco and wife of Alexander. She was a small woman compared to Alexander, almost fragile in appearance, with straight brown hair and eyes of the same color that, unlike those of her husband, overflowed with kindness and warmth; like Alexander, she also had a golden crown on her head, while her clothes were white and gold, with some parts of a particular light brown.

After several, interminable seconds, Lunafreya bowed her head slightly "King Alexander, Queen Maria. Thank you for agreeing to participate in this meeting and for inviting me to your palace. It means a lot to me."

Alexander looked at her without blinking but, when his wife nudged him with her foot, he let out a silent sigh, then bowed his head along with his wife "Queen Lunafreya. Thank you for agreeing to meet us here. In your letter you mentioned several aspects to discuss, all very important and sensitive; I could never have declined a meeting without feeling guilty. Please take a seat."

"Not to mention that we finally get to speak face to face with the woman many consider the Savior of Seven."added Maria with a smile, making Lunafreya blush as she sat down on the couch in front of them, with only a dark wood coffee table separating them.

"Angelo, please make us some tea; the Seven brand if you could." said Alexander before noticing Lunafreya's surprised look. As the butler left the study to do what was requested, the king hastened to add "Think of it as an olive branch. You have come to us, intending to solve many of the problems that plague us as well as all of Ishgar. The least I can do is serve you the tea you are familiar with."

Maria giggled, covering her mouth with one hand "It may not seem like it, but my husband was really looking forward to today. Until this morning he was a bundle of nerves." ignoring her husband's embarrassed look, she added "Furthermore, there was never any possibility of dialogue with your predecessor."

Lunafreya tightened her right hand around her left as she held them in her lap, barely managing to maintain a calm expression, even though she felt the anxiety rising up her throat and a cold shiver down her spine "My father has caused much trouble and harm during his reign; the idea of having to make up for all his mistakes may not be appealing, but I am the Queen of Seven and it is my duty to protect my kingdom and my subjects. I can only hope that this meeting will make up for some of his mistakes."

Maria showed her a warm smile "Believe me, my dear, with that willpower you will be able to make your kingdom a wonderful place to live." those words were enough to make Lunafreya smile back, however her counterpart wasn't finished yet and leaned forward slightly "Now, while we wait for tea, I hope you can satisfy a little curiosity of mine. Are the rumors that you are part of a mages guild true? Several of our informants have told us of rumors of a young, fuchsia-haired woman with golden eyes in armor helping troubled villages, defeating demons, and then vanishing into thin air."

Lunafreya seemed to get nervous under Maria's gaze, but then took a deep breath to calm herself, having received the green light from Katharina before leaving for those diplomatic meetings; after all, World Slayers was becoming much more active and it was only a matter of time before the guild's existence became public knowledge.

"Those rumors are true, Queen Maria. I am indeed a member of the World Slayers guild, a mage guild located in the Kingdom of Iceberg."

"Fascinating!" said Maria, looking at her in awe "To think that a queen can join a guild and still run her kingdom! You are truly resourceful, my dear."

Alexander looked at Lunafreya with a raised eyebrow "Wouldn't it have been better for you to create your own guild? With your position you would have had many more advantages, starting from having the guild in your kingdom and not in another."

"Oh well I actually thought about that! My idea was a knights guild called Round Table, but then I met my current guild master and decided to join her instead." Lunafreya explained, feeling slightly more comfortable in their presence.

"Round Table huh?" Maria tried the name before smiling again "It would have certainly been a successful guild."

"Yeah, but this time it went like this and then who knows, in the future I could always create it."

The tea arrived shortly after and the three nobles drank the first sips in a comfortable silence, when Alexander then placed the cup on the saucer, observing Lunafreya with a serious look "I think it's time to get to the main reason for this meeting, Queen Lunafreya."

The young witch nodded "I'll be straight to the point, King Alexander, I would like to form an alliance with your kingdom, but I am prepared to back down on a simple non-aggression pact."

While Angelo and the two knights positioned behind Alexander and Maria widened their eyes in shock, the royal couple did not bat an eyelid, having received Lunafreya's letter in which the young queen explained what she wanted to talk to them about, without going into too much detail, however.

"So you say, but could we know why? As you well know, Bosco and Seven have a bloody history, the last conflict took place just twenty years ago and is still fresh in the memory of many of us." said Alexander, now fully in the role of the king; for they were not making small talk to pass the time, but were discussing the future of his kingdom. Although Lunafreya inspired much more confidence in him than her megalomaniac father, he could not take her lightly and had to carefully consider every single aspect that would be covered in a moment.

"I am fully aware of this, yet I am not like my father. I do not desire war. I do not seek conflict, nor do I desire to expand my kingdom." Lunafreya never took her eyes off Alexander, even though her heart was pounding in her chest almost to the point of pain "As you well know, my father's actions caused the gods themselves to punish the entire kingdom and only recently, during my mother's short reign, also thanks to the help of the Magic Council, have we managed to defeat the effects of the plague but Seven is still weak and my only wish is for the kingdom to get back on its feet. I am not seeking this alliance to exploit your resources, I only want my people to live in peace...that is why I am ready to accept even a non-aggression pact."

"I imagine that, given where your guild is located, the Kingdom of Iceberg has made a similar agreement." said Maria, now with a more serious expression on her face.

Lunafreya nodded "Yes, they were the first to agree to an alliance with my kingdom but I am the first to admit that my guild master played a key role in that meeting. The Kingdom of Fiore is also another possible ally, but its king is a man of peace and would never try to take advantage of my kingdom's situation." after a moment, she added "Not that I would consider you capable of so much, but given the history between our kingdoms I wanted to heal an old wound or at least try."

Alexander said nothing, watching her carefully. Her gaze, her facial expression, even the smallest tics of her body, nothing escaped the ruler of Bosco and although he did not want to admit it, he was surprised at what he saw because it was obvious that Lunafreya lacked experience and yet she was not reluctant to step forward to protect her kingdom. For a moment, she reminded him of himself as a young man when he had just ascended to the throne and had to meet Lunafreya's father.

Closing his eyes, he sighed "That won't do." reopening them, he saw Lunafreya's shocked expression and it was obvious that she was thinking the worst, so he offered her a small smile to reassure her "I cannot, in good or bad conscience, consider myself an ally of Seven without helping you or your subjects in this difficult time. If we truly want to be allies, I demand that you at least accept humanitarian aid in the form of food and medical supplies, also by allying myself with Seven I will be able to remove many soldiers and knights from the various forts along the border, so that I can reassign them to other places. As you know, the crisis that hit Ishgar has spared no one, and bandits and monsters roam freely in my lands despite the interventions of the legal guilds."

Lunafreya quickly licked her lips, feeling them suddenly dry, and still managing to show a small smile "My own thoughts, King Alexander. Without having to constantly protect the borders, I will be better able to focus on securing the kingdom's hinterland."

"Then it's settled." Alexander stood up, offering her his hand "It will take a while to put this all down on paper and I am sure that many of my subjects will not approve of my choice, but in the meantime allow me to shake your hand as your ally."

Her heart was about to explode in her chest but the young queen took courage and after standing up, Lunafreya, although more fearfully than Alexander, shook his hand while Maria and Romain watched the scene with small smiles on their faces.

"Now all that's left to do is move on to the boring part and put everything in writing." said Alexander with another sigh.

Lunafreya chuckled at his words "Believe me, I know exactly what it feels like to have to sign too much paperwork." and so the two sovereigns, with Maria's support, discussed for at least two hours their alliance, the problems caused by the crisis that had struck Ishgar as well as the situation of the other kingdoms. It all ended with another handshake after officially signing the documents that validated the alliance between Seven and Bosco.

"Dear me, I thought my heart was going to explode in there! I was sure I was doing something wrong!" wined Lunafreya as she exited the city gates with Romain and her soldiers "I still can't believe she managed to form an alliance with Bosco! Wait until my mother finds out!"

Beside her, Romain remained silent, albeit with a small smile on his lips, when a soft beep brought his attention, as well as Lunafreya's, to the travel bag hanging from her saddle. The young swordswoman reached inside and pulled out a small spherical Lacrima, in the center of which Katharina's face appeared "Hello there! I hope I'm not disturbing you!"

"Nurse Katharina!" said Lunafreya now with a big smile, before blushing deeply "I-I mean, guild master!"

Katharina giggled at the sovereign's expense when she saw Lunafreya's face so red "Still referring to me like that, huh? Well you already know it doesn't bother me, so don't be ashamed. Since you were particularly happy before, I assume that everything went well during your missions?"

"Yes! I managed to form an alliance with Bosco! They are our allies now!"

The guild master smiled warmly at her "I'm happy for you Luna, I told you you would become a great queen in a short time." her face suddenly became more serious "However, I regret to inform you that I have a big favor to ask of you, and since you are still in the Kingdom of Bosco, you and Romain are my best bets."

Lunafreya and Romain exchanged a quick glance before she asked "What favor do you need?"

"Diabolos. They are back in Ishgar."

While Romain's eyes widened in surprise, Lunafreya paled. The young ruler knew that name very well, for when she was still a child and her days as a queen were far away, she had heard stories of a young Dragon Slayer who resided in a village in the north of the kingdom. Apparently he was a man who loved to help others but one day, a small group of strangers came to his village and killed him; the villagers only reported how those strangers attacked him out of the blue, then killed and devoured him.

She had nightmares for days after hearing that, and it was only months later that the name Diabolos came up, with Katharina mentioning them again shortly after she joined World Slayers.

"What do you mean, master?" asked Romain.

"One of my agents stationed on the coast of the Kingdom of Fiore saw their ship pass by and head down the Grand River; normally that shouldn't put me on too high alert, but in that area is the village of Woodwind, where a famous healer is located." explained Katharina "To see what it was, I sent Kris and Dokuro to check it out, and a little while ago Ossian and Kiro also left to provide support if needed. I ask you to do the same, as I have a bad feeling about this story."

"We're leaving right away! Where is the village?" asked Lunafreya. If that famous healer was a Dragon Slayer, there was a risk that they would be killed and devoured, and she would not allow that!

Katharina thanked them before giving them the necessary directions and ending the call. Putting away the Lacrima, Lunafreya turned to Romain "It will take a long time from where we are now, do you think there is anything you can do to make us faster, Sir Romain? My magic can't help such a large group of people."

Romain nodded before turning his horse so he could see Lunafreya and all the other knights. Putting his hands together, his body was enveloped in a red and white aura and when he opened them, there was a sphere of red blood with white highlights floating between his palms "Blood Angel's Body Blessing!"

From the blood sphere, several strands of red liquid came out and touched all the horses; the animals seemed to become nervous before calming down as bright red veins began to pulse on their bodies. Once the spell was over, Romain petted his horse "This spell will make them faster and more resistant for a few hours but then they will have to rest a lot due to the accumulated fatigue."

"In that case there is not a moment to lose!" reaching for a bracelet, Lunafreya activated it and in a flash of light her dress was replaced by her armor "Knights of Seven, with me!"

"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!"

---

"So we covered the whole route at maximum speed and, just before arriving, Romain broke away from the group to try to strike our enemies from the flank, since we had sensed their magical power." said Lunafreya, concluding her account of how they had arrived there.

"Well, let me thank you again for coming at the right time." replied Kris with a smile.

"Yes, that's all very nice but what should we do with him now?" Kiro interjected, pointing a finger at Bogart while sitting off to the side.

Everyone turned to the boy in the straw hat, making him nervous, but then Kris said "Well we invited him to join the guild! We might as well hear his answer!"

Bogart looked at Kris "I already told you I can't leave the village! I have to-!"

"What the hell happened here?!"

Everyone turned toward the village, with Bogart suddenly looking more worried and fearful, and they saw the village chief advancing toward them along with several villagers. His frightened black eyes were moving erratically along the river and indeed the whole area was reduced to a battlefield, with large gashes in the ground, some parts reduced to ashes and an unidentified white liquid covering a small part in patches.

"Oh! Hello there!" said Kris waving at them "For a moment I thought you were all very heavy sleepers!"

The village chief didn't seem very happy with the attempt at humor "We had to hide when the ground started shaking before all those explosions and end-of-the-world noises! Now what the hell happened here?!"

"A group of wizards from Guiltina attacked with the aim of killing Cresthill." explained Mukuro, shocking the villagers "When they refused to leave, we confronted them and they later retreated. The sounds and explosions were due to our collision with them."

The village chief seemed speechless, but then he saw Lunafreya's knights and the banners on some of their lances "W-Why are there Seven knights here?! Don't tell me you're invading us!?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because the Queen of Seven is here?" asked Kris with a grin while gesturing toward Lunafreya, who shot a quick glare at him.

"T-The Queen?!" the village chief and the others quickly bowed their heads "Please forgive us for not bowing right away!"

"It's fine, it's fine. Please raised your head!" Lunafreya said trying to reassure them "I was returning from a diplomatic mission and I came to support my allies!"

"I…I see…" the old man didn't really know what to say, so he looked at the various mages "Are any of you hurt? I'm sure Bogart can heal you in a heartbeat!"

Lunafreya shook her head with a smile on her face "Oh that's not necessary, he's already used his magic to heal those who needed it."

"R-Really? Well then in that case we can discuss the payment!" said the old man with a smile on his face.

On the other hand, the smile on Lunafreya's lips instantly disappeared "Excuse me?"

The man ran a hand over his neck, visibly nervous as were the other villagers "He is our healer, you see? I think it's only right that he gets paid for his services!"

Lunafreya narrowed her eyes "So why did you speak up for a possible payment? Are you his employer?"

"W-Well no, but-!"

"A relative then, perhaps the closest one?"

"N-No no! That's not-!"

Lunafreya ignored his words and turned to Bogart "How much do you usually get paid to treat people?"

Bogart was surprised by the question but his gaze immediately went to look for the elder and the others, as if he was scared at the thought of speaking without their consent, however Lunafreya immediately put a hand on his face to keep him turned towards her so that he could not see anyone from her village. The young queen had immediately noticed the clear symptoms of persistently abusive behavior, something she was all too familiar with; another reason to help the young Dragon Slayer.

"I want to help you, Bogart, so please tell me how much you get paid when you use your magic to heal others."

"I…I don't know." he admitted keeping his eyes fixed on Lunafreya's "The village chief always deals with those I have to treat and then they pay him, but by doing this I help my parents!"

Lunafreya slowly lowered her hand, while turning her head towards the village chief and glaring at him; behind her, Ossian, Kris, Romain and even Mukuro had a look very similar to hers and, even if no one noticed, Kiro was no exception, as were Lunafreya's knights who had heard the conversation. The Queen of Seven remained silent for a few seconds before opening her mouth again "Care to explain, village chief?"

The man swallowed hard as the villagers behind him tried to distance themselves from him "I-I swear it's not what it seems, Your Highness! You must know that years ago I gave a Lacrima to Bogart's parents so that they could try to save him since he was suffering from poor health! It was a very precious Lacrima and it seems to me the least that should be repaid, r-right?"

'So it is that Lacrima that gave him his powers.' thought Kris while still keeping a furious look on the old man.

"And when exactly did that happen? Since when did Bogart become your healer, pray tell?" asked Lunafreya, now with a cold tone of voice.

The village chief swallowed again, now aware that he could hardly get out of this without risking his face or his life "N-Nine years ago…more or less…"

"Bogart." said boy turned his gaze towards Lunafreya again "How old are you?"

There was a long moment of silence, in which Bogart didn't know exactly what to do, but then…

"I'm sixteen..."

Crushing, agonizing, sudden. Three quick words to describe the pressure the village chief felt on his body the moment Bogart said that word, to the point that he fell backwards, unable to stand up anymore and when he looked up, he paled visibly because in front of him there were no longer human beings but something much worse.

Three mighty dragons loomed over him with jaws bristling with sharp fangs, enormous wings and paws tipped with sharp claws, the first completely covered in thick bony scales, the second with more curvilinear features and heavy metal plates and the third more slender but disturbing, with black scales and a large eye in the center of its forehead. Above them, in mid-air, were two figures that should have been synonymous with heaven and yet those two angels were just as disturbing as the dragons below, as the first had long red hair and eyes completely bloodshot, while his wings were completely soaked in that red liquid, while the other angel had eyes filled with white flames, the same element his wings were made of. Finally, behind them all, there was an imposing knight-like figure, wearing intricate golden armor and carrying a greatsword of light as tall as he was.

Helpless before that sight, the village elder could only raise his arms to protect himself.

"S-Somebody-! He-Help-!"

"Now listen to me, and listen carefully." in the blink of an eye, that monstrous vision vanished and Lunafreya was once again before him, her golden eyes glowing with power "Bogart is coming with us and you won't do anything to stop him, okay? I think nine years of continuous work have been more than enough to repay you for that Lacrima, and before you think about reporting this to your King, know that Seven and Bosco are allies as of today…in fact, I would really like to know what King Alexander would think of this situation. He might not do anything himself, but I'm pretty sure Queen Maria would be knocking on your door within hours."

With every word spoken, the village chief grew paler and paler, able only to nod in absolute silence.

When Lunafreya finished, Kris put her arm around Bogart's shoulders "Well look at this! You are free from your debt and now you can join us! Aren't you happy?" noticing that Bogart was still unsure of what had just happened, he gave him a gentle push forward "Come on, go home and pack your things so we can leave."

"I can't…" said Bogart while clenching his fists "If I'm not here, if I don't work…my family, my little sister-!"

"If you are worried that they might not earn anything, you can always send them part of your earnings with guild missions." said Kris with a smile, before glaring at one particular couple along with a little girl in the crowd, having recognized their smell as very similar to Bogart's "Although it would be better if they rolled up their sleeves and started working too, without having to always rely on you."

Having met her gaze, the man of the couple was quick to look away before returning to the village along with his wife and little girl, as well as a good portion of the villagers.

"So I can help my sister without having to stay here?"

"Of course!" grinned Kris holding out his hand "So what do you think, want to join us?"

Bogart looked around momentarily, noticing the smiling faces of Lunafreya, Ossian, and Romain; Mukuro was standing next to them but judging by his body language, he didn't seem opposed to the idea of him joining the guild. Kiro was still standing off to the side, staring up at the sky as it darkened, ignoring him completely. Turning his attention back to Kris, he raised his hand uncertainly before shaking the Iron Dragon Slayer's.

"Yes, I'd like to."

---

[ World Slayers Guild Building / 29th July X786]

"So they were really aiming for the Healer of Woodwind?" Katharina asked, sipping a cup of coffee while sitting in her office. It was just after nine in the morning when she received a call from Lunafreya, whose face was visible in the center of the Lacrima on her desk, and she learned what had happened the day before.

"Yes, but from what Kris told me it seems like they already knew he was a Dragon Slayer, so someone must have informed them."

"It's possible, after all they might have informants in Ishgar just as I have in Guiltina, although none of them seem to be able to dig up anything about that cannibal guild." Katharina huffed, clearly annoyed by that small detail "I suppose you'll be returning to Somnus first?"

Lunafreya nodded "Yes, we camped because the horses needed to rest but now we are heading to the capital, after which Romain and I will arrive at the guild. Your brother and the others should already be on their way home."

Katharina chuckled for a moment "Hmm. I guess they won't use the Port Chamber closest to them, Ossian hates traveling that way. Well, have a good trip and thanks for helping them."

"It was my pleasure!" replied Lunafreya with a smile before ending the call.

Katharina closed her eyes for a moment, massaging her forehead "Those fuckers…apparently I went too easy on their guild master last time."

After a few seconds she placed her hand on the Lacrima and sent a magical pulse into it. After less than a minute, the crystal glowed and Gran Doma's face became visible "Katharina. What is the reason for this call? If I'm not mistaken, the new missions should arrive tomorrow, so it's not a matter of delay. Did something happen?"

"Diabolos." Katharina said surprising him "They returned to Ishgar to hunt down the famous Healer of Woodwind, who was none other than a young Dragon Slayer. Some of my mages stopped them and now the young man is coming here to join the guild. If what they heard is true, the initial group was here against the orders of their guild master but that doesn't make the situation any better, Doma-kun."

Gran Doma pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed "Looks like I'll have to contact the chairman of the Guiltina Magic Council MИP again…"

"Be glad I contacted you instead of solving the issue myself, because you know very well what would have happened!"

Gran Doma had no trouble picturing the scene. Katharina could be considered 'at his beck and call' even though they both knew it was more of a symbiotic relationship, but he knew full well that she would not hesitate for a single moment to march on the Guiltina Magic Council headquarters and burn it to the ground.

"Yes, thank you for listening to the voice of reason…I have too many worries on my mind already, and an Ishgar-Guiltina diplomatic incident wouldn't have helped."

Katharina arched an eyebrow "Did something happen?"

"Edward Lergon, do you know who he is?"

"Yes, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, although we could call them nine since you haven't yet filled the spot left empty by the disappearance of Makarov Dreyar." said Katharina before sipping her coffee "An interesting fellow, if I'm not mistaken he had magical powers off the scale for someone so young and I think he was ranked seventh out of ten."

"He was found dead yesterday, in his private villa on the coast of Midi."

Katharina narrowed her gaze before placing the cup on the desk "Tell me everything."

"As you said, Edward was a young man with unbelievable magical power for someone so young and he was also talented, however he always preferred to study magic in solitude and for this reason he went to live in that small kingdom, in a rather isolated spot. The capital is over an hour's journey from his home." explained Gran Doma while reading some documents "He received a regular delivery of books and food, and when the courier arrived yesterday he found his villa mostly destroyed along with much of the surrounding forest; his body was in the center of a crater with a hole in his chest, several broken bones, and his left arm missing from the elbow down."

"So he fought someone, it wasn't a spell or an expression gone out of control."

"Yes, the Rune Knights surveying the area revealed two distinct sources of magic in the air, one of them matching our data on Edward Lergon."

"And the other one?"

"Unknown."

"Want me to come and take a look? I could bring some of my Slayers and see if we can find anything."

Gran Doma nodded "It would be appreciated, I will notify the Midi Branch of your arrival and then I will devote myself to the Guiltina matter."

The two discussed some topics for a few more minutes, then Katharina ended the call, rising from her chair and heading towards the main hall of the guild, taking the now empty cup with her. Arriving at the top of the stairs, she noticed how only a couple of mages were sitting at a table, busy eating their breakfast, while Nox was behind the bar counter, cleaning some mugs and Bridget was sitting by the lit fireplace with a steaming cup in her hands.

"Good morning master!" said the two girls when they saw her coming down the stairs.

"Good morning Annabelle, Mitsuki. Good morning Bridget!" smiled Katharina waving a hand at them, with Bridget greeting her back, before looking at Nox "Good morning Nox, any idea where the others are? I know half of us are on missions but the guild seems particularly empty."

"Good morning to you as well, master." said Nox with a nod and a little smile "Yumi is still in her room, Rayleigh is making some cups of hot chocolate and the others…" he left his sentence unfinished, turning his gaze toward the guild entrance. Raising an eyebrow, Katharina went to open the door and, despite the news she had just received, she couldn't hide her smile as she saw some of her mages playing snowballs since the sun had risen anyway and there were no clouds or wind to ruin everything.

On the right he could see Palomita along with Brigid throwing snowballs relentlessly at Lugh, Sava and Fulior, a blond-haired Demon Slayer in a rock music outfit, while not far away he saw Margherita, a Dragon Slayer with long green hair sitting on a large root and…was that Erik lying in front of her with a cloth over his eyes?

Chuckling, she approached the latter "Care to explain what happened?"

"Darling had a sudden urge to play snowballs and dragged Erik along. When she saw that he wasn't trying, she covered him in snow and threw him at Lugh. Too bad he dodged it and Erik rolled several meters before stopping." said Augusta with a small laugh while Cobra cursed in a low tone of voice.

"That woman is crazy."

"Glad to see you're settling in." laughed Katharina sitting down in the meantime on the grass next to him, courtesy of Augusta who had made it grow after removing the snow. The guild master watched the snowball fight for a few minutes, wanting to let her guild members relax, when Rayleigh arrived with two trays filled with mugs of hot chocolate.

"Everyone! The hot chocolate is ready!" called Rayleigh with a smile on his face.

"Ooooh! I haven't had hot chocolate in ages! Last time we tried to make it ourselves but we burned it all and then our old neighbor gave us-!" Sava immediately launched into one of his long speeches after perching himself on Lugh's right shoulder and Katharina couldn't help but smirk as she saw that the Dragon Slayer seemed to have already gotten used to the little mage's presence.

"Ah your hot chocolate is always the best, mom!" said Palomita with a huge smile and a chocolate moustache above her lips which she quickly licked off, with Brigid doing the same by drinking it all in one gulp, not at all bothered by the fact that it was extremely hot; having lava-related magic had its advantages after all.

"Always happy that you like my cooking!" said Rayleigh before looking at Erik who looked away mumbling a quick "It's good."

Katharina took a cup of her own and after taking a sip, looked at her mages "I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself. I know we were supposed to have a banquet tonight, but I warn you it's being moved to tomorrow, maybe the day after."

"Huh? Why?" asked Palomita with a raised eyebrow, her confusion visible on the faces of others as well.

"I got a few calls between yesterday and this morning. Rad and Mako are coming back with a new recruit, same story for Dokuro and Kris, also Luna and Rain have to go through Seven's capital first before coming back here. I'd say in a couple of days they and other Slayers will be back so we can organize an even bigger party." explained Katharina and the others seemed to accept the reason for the postponement of the banquet.

"Wait, does this mean we can't go on missions these two days?" asked Lugh already feeling his mood rapidly getting worse.

Katharina looked at him with a grin "Well you can always go on patrol. Being a Dragon Slayer you are still needed for the group! Erik and Sava will have to come with me instead."

Sava looked extremely happy about this and Cobra tilted his head, not expecting it "Why do you need us?"

"We have a quick job to do for Doma-kun, something quick, a few hours at most once we get there. We should be back by this evening, so you don't even need to take a backpack with you." Katharina said before going back into the guild and going down to the basement, then going to knock on a door in particular "Yumi! Are you awake?"

After a few seconds, the door was opened from the inside and Yumi stuck her head out, although Katharina still saw the sleeves of her pajamas "Y-Yeah, I'm awake. Do you need anything Kathy?"

Katharina nodded "Actually yes, I have to go do a little job in the Kingdom of Midi, it's a small thing but I would like you to come with me. It's been a few days since you went out and some fresh air will do you good, plus you won't have to worry about the other you as long as I'm at your side."

Yumi didn't seem particularly convinced, in fact she seemed more inclined to refuse but in the end she nodded, knowing that Katharina was still her guild master and, even if she wasn't the type to do it, she could make it an order. It took her a few minutes, but she was finally ready to go, even though she seemed particularly nervous about going out and going on a mission. Returning to the hall with Katharina, Yumi saw that the few remaining mages in the guild had settled down at various tables or near the fireplace, but there were also two people she had never seen before: a small boy, who almost looked like a child, with violet eyes and black hair, and a young man with maroon hair and purple eyes, both standing near the door, with the smaller one who seemed intent on telling something very interesting, even if the other seemed to want to be anywhere but there.

"We'll have some company during this little mission." said Katharina while looking at her with a very small smirk "I'm sorry to tell you that your angel is still on a mission and won't be able to join us."

Yumi blushed suddenly, looking away "I-It's not a problem…"

Katharina giggled before stopping in front of the other two members of the group "Guys, this is Yumi Shishi, she has been a member of the guild for over ten years and I can assure you that she knows her stuff! She will accompany us on this little expedition." she then looked at Yumi "Yumi, this is Sava Erunant and Erik, they joined us recently."

Cobra nodded to Yumi in greeting, but Sava was of a completely different opinion and much more vocal "Oooh I haven't met you yet! Nice to meet you! You must be really good at hide and seek because I haven't seen you the whole time I've been in here and I've looked everywhere even in the kitchens, although Nox had to grab me because he didn't want me touching some bottles of wine and-!"

Yumi felt almost overwhelmed by that avalanche of words, sensing something dangerous moving inside her, but then Katharina patted Sava's head, attracting his attention "Now now, Yumi is very shy so it's better if you don't bury her in words okay? How about you chat with me while we go into town? We haven't had a chance to talk properly yet!"

Sava nodded enthusiastically "Oh I would love that! You told Lugh earlier that he could go on patrol! What did you mean? We had two hunters who patrolled with dogs to protect us from wolves when I was little!"

"Oh that's easy. You see, at the moment the entire 'peninsula' north of the kingdom is my domain so to speak, so it's free of bandits, monsters, demons and so on! For added security, every two weeks or so, a patrol goes to check the entire territory, and normally a Dragon Slayer is always present due to their sense of smell." explained Katharina "By doing so, the kingdom's army can cover other areas more easily and in case of need we can immediately solve any problem. Precisely for this reason, Iceberg is currently one of the safest kingdoms.

Sava seemed interested in the matter and immediately began asking her a long series of questions to which Katharina responded by smiling at him, while Cobra and Yumi followed them out of the guild, remaining a few meters away. Cobra could already feel his ears stopping ringing after the barrage of words he had to endure with Sava, and luckily Yumi was extremely quiet so he had already decided that he would stay by her side, leaving Katharina to handle the shorter wizard.

'If he talks like that again I'll bite off his vocal cords and watch him choke on his own blood!'

A shiver ran down Cobra's spine, and he quickly turned his gaze to Yumi; the purple-haired girl was walking, admiring the view, and her face showed uneasiness and insecurity, yet the words he had just heard were the most different thing there could be. Was it possible he had imagined them?

"I-Is everything okay…?" Yumi asked, noticing his gaze on her. Hell, even her speaking voice was completely different from what he had heard.

"Yes…yes everything is fine. Sorry for staring at you." said Cobra while returning his gaze to the road.

He didn't know why, but he had a very bad feeling about the 'simple mission' they were about to undertake, and for just a moment he thought if it wasn't better to stay close to Sava rather than Yumi. That girl smelled like blood, too much blood...

Pushing those thoughts away, he watched Katharina as she laughed at something Sava said as he held her hand. Huh, from that distance they almost looked like brother and sister.

"U-Um…" he looked to his left, where Yumi seemed to be undecided whether to speak or not "S-Sorry for n-not introducing myself e-earlier. I…I am very shy…"

Cobra shook his head "Don't worry, it's not your fault. Katharina warned me that it could be weeks before I met all the guild members."

"Y-Yeah, sometimes it happens…" nodded Yumi "I…I haven't seen a friend of m-mine for almost a month n-now…"

"Really? Who is it?"

"Her name is Keira, and she left for a mission in Enca…I really hope she's okay…"

'And if she isn't, I'll kill whoever did something to her. She is a strong mage, so whoever is able to harm her will consequently be very strong!'

That voice again, with a vocal timbre similar to Yumi's but much more cruel and bloodthirsty.

'Oh come on…can't there be a normal person in this guild?!' Cobra thought, wondering if this mission would really go smoothly but if his experiences with Palomita and Brigid had already taught him anything, it was that in this guild he should expect the worst from the very beginning.

Even though one could always hope for a nice, peaceful mission.

---

[ Lily Town / 29th July X786]

In the south of Fiore, there was one of the many jewels of that kingdom. Lily Town was famous throughout Ishgar for its endless fields of white lilies that surrounded the city and extended along the coasts of the kingdom, earning it the nickname White City. Given its position, it was also a very important logistical hub for maritime trade and its ports were always filled to the brim with merchant ships and galleons.

For this reason, there were a large number of inns and hotels scattered throughout the city, and one of these was the 'Night Lily', famous mostly for its alcoholic evenings where special drinks were served at the internal bar; this fame had the downside, however, that during the day it was quite empty or at least not very frequented.

'There would be a lot more action in here if I could serve those drinks during the day, too.' thought the bartender, a middle-aged man with short brown hair, resting his head on one palm while with the other hand he held a folded newspaper in front of his face 'Nothing exciting ever happens around here after all.'

So absorbed in his thoughts and reading the newspaper, he did not notice the tavern door opening, nor the footsteps coming ever closer to the bar counter behind which he was standing, until a young female voice reached his ears.

"Excuse me, do you happen to have three free rooms?"

The man turned to answer the one who had spoken, but the words died in his throat the moment his mind went blank, for in front of him was one of, if not the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She had long, gleaming silvery colored hair tied in a ponytail, their color momentarily reminding him of the shine of the full moon, matching her creamy, fair skin perfectly. Her face was beautiful, as he had already noticed in a drastic way like a bolt from the blue, partly thanks to the large blue eyes framed by thick dark lashes, in whose irises multiple silver flecks were visible. As if her face wasn't enough, the young woman also had a perfectly matched body, with an hourglass figure and a medium-sized chest, covered by a padded, black shirt under a double-breasted coat of the same color with river trimming, while on her lower body she wore black pants and black battle boots.

"Ah…I…er…" his mind seemed to finally reset after a few seconds, allowing him to formulate some meaningful words "Y-Yes, w-we have three empty rooms! A-All of t-them with a double beatutif-I mean bed! Double bed!"

She giggled, sending a series of pleasant sensations down his neck "I'm glad. How much would the total be for one night only?"

"That's s-six thousand jewels per room per night so…so…" she winked at him with a decidedly flirtatious smile on her face and suddenly doing math became incredibly more difficult "T-T-That would be s-six thousand jewels in total…"

"Oh that's a very generous discount, but I would never want to take advantage of a handsome man like you." she said, making him blush a little "How about ten thousand?"

"T-That would be p-perfect!"

Her smile widened just a little, yet it was enough to make his heart beat a lot faster; reaching into her jacket, thus showing the black fingerless gloves that covered her hands, she pulled out a wallet and after a quick check she took out ten bills, all worth a thousand jewels each, and slid them across the bar counter.

"Thank you very much, may I have the keys now? My companions and I have some errands to run before we can come here to rest." the silver-haired beauty asked and he found himself nodding immediately, not realizing how this went against the rules of his tavern. Turning his back to her for a moment, he fiddled with a small noticeboard where the room keys were hanging, risking dropping them several times, and finally turned back to her, handing her the three keys.

"Breakfast…breakfast is included if you are interested!"

She nodded without losing her smile "I would be very interested, thanks for the offer." and after winking at him again, she headed for the exit.

When the door closed, the man blinked, unable to get the girl he had just seen out of his head "Wow…she was very beautiful…"

"Almost like a goddess right?" asked a man sitting at the counter, not far from him.

"Yeah."

"A goddess huh?"

A cold hand closed around the bartender's heart when he heard those words and, turning slightly to the left, he saw a woman with her eyes completely filled with red light and a ladle in her right hand.

'Oh shit…'

"Could we have a chat in the kitchen, dear husband?" the woman asked with a cold smile.

"H-Honey, I can explain!"

"Oh trust me." she hissed walking toward him "You will."

While a scream of despair and pain could be heard inside the tavern, not far from the entrance door the young woman with silver hair had just put away the three keys in her jacket.

"So? How did it go, Keira?"

She smiled as she turned slightly and looked up at the same time, letting her eyes meet the blue ones of another woman. This one was six feet tall, making her about four inches taller than Keira, with short, bob-shaped black hair held back by a white hairband, exposing her forehead where the guild mark of World Slayers, golden in color, was visible. Compared to Keira's more sober outfit, the raven-haired woman wore a full plate armor covered by a red surcoat on which the symbols of World Slayers and the Zentopia Church were embroidered, and, though mostly unseen, a black bodysuit underneath the armor.

The most peculiar thing about that person, however, was without a doubt the pair of small white wings that came out of her back, through special holes in her armor; it was no coincidence that many of the passers-by seemed to slow down their pace to look at her with surprised eyes but she didn't seem to notice.

"I took three rooms and I already have the keys with me, at least we're sorted for tonight."

"Great work as usual, Keira."

"Thanks, though it doesn't beat what you did two weeks ago, Lita. I don't think I've ever stayed in a church-run hotel but I have to say the service was impeccable." said Keira before looking around "Where are Kannon and Carolina?"

Lita, better known by her name Litavis, gestured towards the end of the road "Carolina wanted to see some stalls before going to the church."

"You mean 'drive some seller of rare or antique items crazy', right?" chuckled Keira while walking in that direction with Litavis at her side.

"Possible, especially since this city is full of antique shops." nodded Litavis while waving her hand at a group of children who were staring at her with wide eyes. The two walked for a few minutes before they saw the third member of their small group, a man with ripped muscles, black undercut hair and orange eyes. From his tight tank top to his black cargo pants and combat boots, everything about him screamed 'military life'.

He was leaning against the wall near a shop door with his arms crossed over his chest, exposing the silver scales that covered his limbs from elbows to wrists, and when he saw them coming he nodded at them once, maintaining a very serious facial expression.

"Hey Kannon." Keira smiled at him "Is Carolina inside?"

"Yes. Been arguing for five minutes."

Nodding, she and Litavis entered the shop, ringing the small bell above the door, but its sound was easily drowned out by the exasperated voice of the elderly merchant, who looked like he was about to have a heart attack judging by the pulsing veins in his throat.

"For the last time, I can't sell you this bracelet for less than four hundred thousand jewels! It's incredibly rare and it comes from the lands overseas!"

"And I'm telling you that more than two hundred thousand is a complete scam!" a petite girl, with an athletic build and a fair complexion, retorted loudly. She also had curly brown hair with long bangs while the back of which went down to just below the base of her neck "In Desierto you can find trinkets like this in dozens of markets and they are not so greedy! Overseas lands?! Please, the design is typical of Enca!"

"So why don't you go to those places and buy jewelry, instead of coming here and ruining my day?!"

"Know that I'm doing you a favor by buying it for so little! At this rate you'll never sell anything!"

Shaking her head, Keira approached the two before placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, which was currently covered by a maroon-red, almost brown crop top with a matching hood, which had a golden trim, and a skin-tight black undershirt; her final pieces of clothing were tight black pants, brown sandals, and a gold sash belt, with the small addition of a hunting knife strapped to her right thigh.

The young girl turned sharply towards Keira and her blue eyes widened slightly. Smiling at her, Keira then turned her gaze towards the merchant, who was now staring at her in awe "Forgive my friend, she can be a little caught up when it comes to buying and selling certain items."

"Ah…no no, it's…it's fine…really."

Giving the young girl a light pat on the shoulder, Keira nodded toward the exit "Come on Carolina, we have an appointment after all."

Huffing loudly, Carolina took one last look at the bracelet in the merchant's hand before walking toward the shop door, her hair swinging with each step. Shaking her head again, Keira waved goodbye to the man before exiting the shop with Litavis. Once outside, she looked at Carolina with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile "Still looking for some bargains?"

"This was good, that guy was going to give in sooner or later!"

"Or maybe he would have called the soldiers and had you escorted out of the city." replied Litavis with a calm voice "Was that bracelet really worth what you said?"

"...no, it's actually worth probably five hundred thousand jewels but I didn't want to spend that much and get little after eventually reselling it." admitted Carolina with a shrug before glaring at Kannon who was still leaning against the wall "You could have come in and given me a hand!"

"Helping you buy useless items is not part of the mission."

"We're not even on a mission! We're only here because Lita got a letter!" replied Carolina while flipping him off, although he didn't seem to respond to the provocation. Rolling her eyes, Carolina then turned to Litavis "Where are we supposed to go?"

"To the church located in the western part of the city." replied the taller girl with a smile before setting off with the rest of the team "A cardinal of the Zentopia Church lives in this city, and it was he who sent that letter, although it went to the Archbishop first."

"Couldn't the letter have been sent directly to you?"

"Not all the cardinals are aware of my position, so they have to rely on His Holiness." explained Litavis "Archbishop Able Deckard would have attended such a meeting, given its nature, but he is currently traveling around Ishgar. It seems that the Zentopia Church may finally be expanding beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Fiore."

Keira looked at her guildmate "I guess that makes you happy."

Placing a hand on the Zentopia symbol embroidered onto her surcoat, Litavis nodded "I'd be lying if I said no. There are many people throughout Ishgar who could benefit from Zentopia's intervention."

"So why did you receive that letter? You haven't told us yet." asked Carolina while eyeing a stall with some trinkets on display "They want you back?"

"Oh no, even though I was once a member of Zentopia, I am now part of World Slayers. Apparently the cardinal wanted to talk to me about a young girl and the possibility of her coming with me." said Litavis before adding "As mentioned, only the Archbishop and a few others know of my current location and affiliation, so they assume I'm just traveling or something."

Carolina arched an eyebrow "If they want to talk to you…do you mean this girl has magic similar to ours?"

"Very likely."

"Oh great…we were missing another Lost Magic user, our guild only has about thirty. Why don't we start a petition to rename it to Almost Lost Magic?"

Chuckling at Carolina's exasperated outburst, Keira then asked Litavis "Think she's a new member of Zentopia? I imagine you would have learned of another Slayer during your days in the Legion Corps."

Litavis shook her head "Not necessarily. Even though it's an elite group of soldiers, it has several squads; I was in the main one but this young girl could be in another squad, or she joined when I left." her smile seemed to brighten when she saw the church in the distance "But whatever her story is, I am sure she will be a girl of faith and a sunny personality suited to the Zentopia Church!"

---

"An interview with a fucking legal guild? What the fuck do you take me for?"

Cardinal Helton pinched the bridge of his nose. Why? Why the hell did she have to end up in the region under his jurisdiction? He had always been a man of faith, who put the needs of others before his own and prayed every day for their well-being, yet it seemed his faith deserved a test.

A test in the form of a young girl with long, light brown hair and round, light blue eyes, currently sitting on the other side of the desk in his small study. Casting his weary gaze upon his interlocutor, he could not help but admit for the umpteenth time that she looked like an angel or a saint, with her white skin and her small figure, being five feet five tall, and yet as soon as she opened her mouth that aura of saintliness was shattered into a thousand pieces.

Not to mention her dress and accessories, god the accessories! Sure, it was the clothing she wore when she went on missions, but he'd had enough complaints about it to last him a lifetime, and in a way he couldn't blame the people who were outraged by her choice of clothing.

The girl in front of him was in fact wearing a form-fitting nun's habit consisting of a black undershirt with a white chest, long white gloves, and a long black and red slit skirt that partially revealed her right leg and completely revealed her left; she was also wearing black belts around her left thigh (where four throwing knives were visible along with throwing stars), along with black shorts, black tights, and black high-heeled boots.

The clothes alone would have caused a scene in any church but the worst were the accessories, god the accessories!

Her outfit was adorned with multiple silver and white gold accessories embedded with red gems; including a silver tiara on top of her coif, a silver pendant on her white top, a white gold brooch on her left shoulder and left hip, multiple silver claw rings on her fingers and a small silver censer tied to her right wrist with a long piece of black cloth.

Cardinal Helton could only send a small and harmless curse to whoever had directed her towards that choice of clothing.

"Kozune, I know you don't look kindly upon me or the rest of the Zentopia Church…"

"No shit."

He took a short breath to steady himself "…but I think this could be a golden opportunity for you! You can't just spend your whole life hunting demons!"

Kozune raised an eyebrow "If you can choose a life where you wake up every day at seven to pray, why can't I choose one where I do something I enjoy? Besides, killing demons is a good deed for everyone, and you have to admit that I am pretty damn good at killing those bastards!"

"Yes, I can't deny the results…" admitted Helton with a tired sigh. Demons weren't exactly rare but they weren't common either, not to mention the small communities of harmless demons that lived isolated from everything, yet Kozune had hunted down every last demon in the region on her own and for a few days now, the south of the Kingdom of Fiore was completely devoid of demons. It was a temporary situation, both he and Kozune knew that, but it was a start nonetheless.

"See? In that case I don't understand why I should waste my time in a guild where even idiotic quests like dog sitting or finding a lost doll arrive." huffed Kozune "Besides, if I were not here, what would happen to your churches? Need I remind you of the attack I repelled the other day?"

The cardinal's face immediately became more serious. Roughly three weeks ago, about fifty minor demons had attacked a church structure located in the countryside, a place where there were young priests and nuns who had just begun their spiritual path, making it a poorly defended place. By pure luck Kozune was right there and had killed all the invading demons, thus saving everyone at the cost of damaging the structure in several places.

"I have already sent a letter to His Holiness regarding that incident, and it seems that a large group of soldiers from the kingdom have been stationed right there; the same will be repeated for other churches and holy places outside the main cities." said Helton "It also seems that with the church's impending expansion outside the kingdom, many more mages will be recruited into the Legion Corps."

"Bah…if they're all like that Dan Straight, it won't be a week before they're wiped out by a mob of angry women."

'She has a point…' thought the cardinal "Listen, can't you at least try to meet these mages? It seems that among them there is also a former member of the Legion Corps, maybe you can find some common ground."

Kozune looked at him in silence for several seconds before throwing her hands up in exasperation "Fiiiiiine. I will meet these mages, but if I say no I don't want to hear about them anymore, okay?! For fucking sake, I can't believe I'm wasting my time like this."

Helton breathed a sigh of relief, at least she had agreed to give it a try. In his heart he only hoped that the situation wouldn't escalate too much, since in addition to the letters full of complaints about Kozune's clothing, there were also several reports of the damage caused by her spells…and as the cardinal of that area, he had to take care of it since it was damage caused by a member of the church.

"So, when will these mages arrive?"

"Oh they should arrive today according to the last letter I received. No time was specified but I think they will show up before lunch." said the cardinal while rereading the letter in question "Of course you can always go and relax if you prefer not to stay here. I'll have someone call you when they arrive-!" by the time he said the last words, Kozune had already stood up and was now near the door "You could at least pretend to care…"

Kozune put a finger on her chin and looked up "Mmh…no, I don't really care. If you're looking for me, you'll find me at the pastry shop near the square." and without adding anything else, she left the study, closing the door behind her. The young girl walked through the corridors of the monastery that was attached to the town church, nodding to two priests she passed near the exit door, before finding herself back in the streets of the town. Raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun that was now over the rooftops of the houses, Kozune looked around momentarily before heading towards the heart of the city, but when she turned into a side street, she only felt a sharp pain starting from her nose as she hit something metal.

The impact was so sudden that she staggered backwards, immediately putting a hand to her sore nose "Oww! What the fuck did I just…crash…in…to…?"

Her voice trailed off as the sun's rays illuminated the armor plates of the young woman in front of her, who was looking at her with a warm smile, making her heart immediately beat. The pain in her nose seemed to fade into the background along with everything else as that person took a step toward her, offering her a white handkerchief "Oh, forgive me, sister. I wasn't looking where I was going. You're not bleeding, are you?"

"Ah…I…I…"

"Oi Lita, I think she took a bad hit. Do you have to go around wearing that armor?"

Next to the black-haired woman, a smaller, young-looking girl appeared, but that didn't help Kozune, who blushed even more. If the armored woman looked like one of those heroines from the literature books she occasionally saw in bookstores, the younger girl had a very exotic look, helped by her clothing.

"It was to be prepared for any eventuality, but maybe I should take it off and wear something less dangerous to others." admitted Litavis with a nod, but as Kozune's mind went more and more haywire (not counting the beating of her heart), a third figure appeared from behind Litavis and Kozune could swear she felt her face catch fire, because that new person was not just a simple girl with a disarming beauty, but rather a…

"G-G-Goddess…"

The 'Goddess' widened her eyes a little before smiling at her "Well thank you for the compliment, you are very pretty too."

'Oh now I get it. I died when I hit my face and went to heaven…' thought Kozune, certain that her soul was leaving her body in the form of steam that was currently leaking from her ears and skin.

---

"Keira…? I know you're very good at flirting and your beauty helps…but I think it's the first time I've seen someone reduced to that state. Are you sure she's okay?"

Keira looked at Carolina for a moment before returning her attention to the young nun in front of them, who had not yet managed to utter more than a single coherent word, and had not yet lost the blush on her face. Maybe she had really hit her head too hard?

'Maybe I should use my magic to heal her? But I don't see any wounds.' taking a step ahead, Keira tried to reach out to her "Are you okay? Do you have any pain somewhere?"

"N-No…! I-I mean-!"

Though on the verge of recovering (perhaps), Kozune was interrupted when Kannon gently pushed Keira aside and stood in front of the shorter girl, before grabbing her chin with one hand and lifting her head up, then pointing a small flashlight that he had taken from a pocket of his cargo pants into her face.

"Follow the light." he ordered in a voice that would have been suitable for a drill sergeant and Kozune found herself reluctantly following that light for a few seconds before roughly swatting his hand away.

"What the fuck is your problem?! Are you trying to blind me for good, you bastard?!"

"Normal pupil dilation, stable balance." said Kannon while looking at the others "No signs of head or brain trauma. She's good to go."

"Well I can see that." said Carolina with a raised eyebrow "Never heard a nun let herself go with such language."

Kozune turned to her but, to their surprise, the blush that had vanished from her cheeks the moment she had interacted with Kannon, returned with much more force "Err-! I-I'm sorry-! I d-don't-! Ugh!" she spun around burying the face in her hands "A-Anyway, how…how can I help y-you?"

Litavis and Keira exchanged a quick glance before shrugging, then the armored woman cleared her throat slightly "Sorry to bother you, sister, but could you tell us if Cardinal Helton is currently here? We have an appointment with him."

"Y-Yes, he is in his s-studio a-at…the moment…" said Kozune, pointing the way she had come, and keeping her back turned towards them "C-C-Can I ask what k-kind of a-appointment?"

"Oh we should discuss a member of the Legion Corps I've been told is here, one Kozune Mura." said Litavis with a smile, not noticing the stiffening of the shoulders of the nun in front of her "We would like to talk to her about joining our guild, I was in the Legion Corps myself. In fact, do you happen to know where we could find her, or if she is in town anyway?"

The young nun remained silent for several seconds and when Litavis began to think that she had not heard her, she saw her turn around with a big blush on her cheeks (again), holding out her hand "I a-am K-Kozune Mu-Mura…pleasedtomeetyou!" the last words were said quickly in an incredibly high-pitched voice but the others still understood the meaning.

"Well the pleasure is mine, Kozune." said Litavis, shacking her hand, unaware of how her light grip was on the verge of making Kozune's heart explode "I'm Litavis Deckard, and these are my companions: Keira Everstern, Carolina Course and Kannon Rubia."

Carolina watched from the side as Kozune nodded shyly at her, Keira, and Litavis, and then more confidently at Kannon, who nodded back. With a silent sigh she rubbed her forehead 'Good God, if this girl is like this now I'm scared of how she will behave with Katharina and Palomita…those two will kill her with teasing and what else!'

Keira was having very similar thoughts, and that's why she avoided teasing Kozune too much 'She reminds me a lot of Yumi, she's as shy as her…maybe even more, yet she doesn't seem to have any problems with Kannon. Maybe she's had some traumas with women?' she then noticed at that moment how Kozune was shooting very quick glances at her, at various points of her body, and a small smirk graced her face 'Ah, no trauma, more like personal tastes.'

She thought of letting Kannon do the talking, since Kozune didn't seem to have any problem with him, too bad the ex-soldier was one of the most rigid and taciturn people she knew, so the conversation wouldn't go so well. However, she was forced to put those thoughts aside when a series of explosions were heard in the air, making the ground tremble slightly beneath their feet. Quickly, they moved to the center of the street and immediately saw columns of black smoke rising into the sky, while the cries of the citizens began to be heard in that direction.

"The port area is in that direction if I'm not mistaken…" said Carolina as passers-by near them began to move as far away as possible from those imposing columns of smoke.

"Demons…" the four World Slayers mages turned to Kozune and were shocked to see her face twisting into a mask of hatred and anger, with a black and white aura surrounding her body "I can feel their horrible presence, there are demons at the port! I will fucking kill them all!" and without waiting a single moment, she darted forward at full speed, cracking the ground beneath her feet. Not even a moment passed before Keira and Litavis were right behind her, with Kannon and Carolina not far behind.

"Are we really running at breakneck speed towards those explosions when we don't even know what awaits us?" shouted Carolina, narrowly avoiding a crate dropped on the ground by a worker.

"You heard her! There are demons at the docks!" shouted back Keira, while the citizens' screams grew louder and louder, mixing with inhuman cries and roars "We must help everyone we can while the city's soldiers organize!"

The group of five ran for several more seconds, with the smell of burning wood and flesh in the air, until they emerged into a small square at the edge of a series of large warehouses and saw at least a dozen monstrous-looking demons killing a group of sailors; they were all red-skinned, with elongated heads adorned with horns, sharp teeth, and each demon wielded a sword engulfed in flames.

One of the demons noticed the approaching wizards, pointing them out as it turned to its kin, roaring in an unknown language.

"Holy Demon's Laughter!"

Quickly turning its attention back to the arriving group, the demon saw Kozune point her hands at them and create a black magic circle with white edges and details, before firing dozens of white laser beams at the demons. The beams crossed the small square in a flash and the demons were unable to defend themselves, being pierced and killed instantly, except for one who however lost its right arm and part of its left leg, but before it could even fall to the ground, Kozune was immediately in front of it and hit the demon in the head with a fist wrapped in white and black energy, crushing its skull and making it explode in a shower of blood.

"Yep, definitely a Devil Slayer!" said Carolina, watching as Kozune didn't even slow down and continued running towards the port.

Litavis had also watched the scene in front of them, but more than Kozune's skill it was her magic that had surprised her 'That was holy magic…but a Devil Slayer? A Holy Demon? Is that why her magic feels so strange?'

Keira quickly looked around, noticing the bodies of other people, all killed by the swords of those demons, and could distinctly hear the cries for help coming from various points around them "If we stay too close we won't be able to save many people. Carolina, follow Kozune and make sure nothing happens to her, I don't like the way she's started acting at all and I'm afraid she won't stop even if it means dying."

Carolina had to concede that point to her and after nodding she ran in the direction Kozune had gone.

"Kannon, with your magic you should be able to operate unnoticed, so try to lend a hand to the people who are trying to escape, Litavis and I will take care of the larger groups of demons." said Keira before sprinting towards the port alongside Litavis, while Kannon quickly turned invisible, vanishing into thin air.

"These are pure demons, they are not the usual demons you can find around Ishgar!" said Litavis following her guildmate "Someone must have summoned them!"

"This explains how they managed to pop up right here!" Keira slipped into a passage between two warehouses and saw some demons on the other side, running towards her with swords raised.

"Allow me!" Litavis moved past her before raising her left hand "Earth Angel's Rush Rock!"

Several white jagged rocks sprouted from the ground in front of her and thrusting her hand forward, she fired them all at the demons, and the first of the group were crushed without any way to defend themselves. While the now dead demons fell to the ground in a mass of rock and blood, those behind did not hesitate to crush them under their feet in an attempt to reach the two sorceresses. In a flash, a large bastard sword appeared in Litavis' hands, with which she slashed vertically at the first demon that managed to reach her, before raising the weapon and parrying two vertical slashes from as many demons.

Litavis pushed them back against the other three remaining demons before slamming her left hand into the ground "Earth Angel's Ground Burial!" and at the same time the ground beneath the demons began to quickly shatter and twist, swallowing and crushing them in a matter of moments. When Litavis raised her hand, the ground stopped moving and she saw only a hand and some horns emerging from the ground.

Nodding to Keira, Litavis started running again and in no time they found themselves along the docks, where several ships had already been devoured by the flames and the corpses of many humans were scattered across the landscape. Looking around they saw that there were demons busy destroying the ships or the few shops present, or killing the few remaining humans, until a scream caught their attention and they noticed a woman running away with two children in her arms, followed by five demons.

Keira immediately rushed towards them with the magical power already flowing within her 'The sun isn't too high yet but I can't afford to waste time or magic power!' when she passed the mother with the two children, she activated her magic "Falling Star Shot!" and both her feet and hands were immediately enveloped in a layer of dark energy with shreds of silver.

The first demon roared and tried to stab her but Keira stepped to the side before spinning around and kicking it in the face with a high kick that ripped its jaw off. She then leapt towards two more demons who tried to strike her from above but she managed to jump between their blades and landed on the fourth demon with a powerful punch to the chest that blasted it into the fifth, knocking them both to the ground. Spinning around, she low-kicked the demon on her right, and the blood-curdling sound of breaking bones filled the air as the demon fell to its knees screaming, but she paid no attention and crouched down in front of the other demon who had turned toward her, before striking it from below with a powerful uppercut that was enough to sever its head from its body, sending it spinning away.

Keira then looked back at the other demon and slammed her left fist into his skull, smashing it into a building, killing it. Turning her attention back to the two demons she had knocked down earlier, she saw that one had already gotten up while the other was vomiting blood on the ground. Leaping up, she dodged a horizontal slash from the demon and landed on the other's body, crushing its head with a stomp before delivering a quick, heavy series of punches to the other's back, killing them both. Finally, she saw the first demon she had attacked running towards her, not caring that he had no jaw with his long tongue hanging out and covered in blood; she waited until the last moment before dodging a slash and kicking him in the chest. The impact was enough to break countless bones before he fell to the ground, lifeless.

A slight tremor in the ground made her attention focus on Litavis, who had just erected some stone spikes to pierce several demons and protect a small group of sailors, then escorting them towards her and the mother with the children, who had remained hidden behind some crates.

"You all have to go towards the city centre, the port is not safe." said Litavis before creating another magic circle "Earth Angel's Twin Colossi Knights!" and under the astonished gazes of the civilians, two large white rock knights rose from the ground brandishing massive warhammers before flanking Litavis "These golems will escort you to your destination, they are strong enough to take on these demons."

Keira watched as the two golems moved away along with the civilians, then returned her attention to the demons who seemed to have noticed them by now "I don't see any kind of portal or strange light. Is it possible that they aren't summoning any more?"

"Hard to say. They may be summoning them in a warehouse, out of sight, but I don't sense any evil magic yet." she gripped her weapon tightly "Right now we have to deal with the demons already summoned and protect the city."

"That's good for me, so I can count on the fact that an accidental attack from you won't end up hitting me?" asked Keira, looking at her guildmate with a small smile.

Litavis raised an eyebrow before shaking her head "I may despite your kind, but we're on a mission and civilians are in danger. You should know by now that I can keep my hatred in check."

"It never hurts to be safe." chuckled Keira while several demons where running towards them "Now let's kill these demons and move on!"

---

"Where the hell did she go?!"

Carolina turned into a small alley and then emerged onto one of the main roads leading to the port and found it filled with dead demons, a clear sign that Kozune had passed by, yet the young Devil Slayer was nowhere to be seen. Looking around, the World Slayers mage then headed towards the docks hoping to find her when she heard an explosion to her right, so she changed direction and started running down a side street. The sounds of battle grew louder and she could clearly hear Kozune's voice, but when she emerged into a circular plaza filled with broken stalls she had to stop when a demon's head fell not far from her.

"What the-?!"

"COME AT ME YOU BASTARDS!"

Looking up at the center of the square, her eyes widened in shock as he saw the young Devil Slayer fighting over a small pile of dead demons as the others attempted to kill her. One attempted to stab her from behind with its sword, but Kozune hit the flat side of the blade with the back of her hand, knocking it away, before driving her right arm into the demon's chest and then kicking him away with a front kick. Three more demons tried to attack her now that she had her back to them, but Kozune sensed them moving and immediately turned towards them "Holy Devil's Light Sabre!"

Light seemed to focus in the palm of her right hand before quickly taking the form of a sword whose blade grew even larger and longer once Kozune had fully turned, using it to decapitate the three demons in one fell swoop, sending their bodies slumping onto those of their kin. By now, there was only one demon left who still tried to fight only to immediately lose its arms thanks to two quick slashes from Kozune, who then hit it with a kick knocking it to the ground; without giving her enemy a chance to react, she approached the demon and began to stomp on its skull with increasing force.

"Is this the best you can do?! HUH?! You pathetic and insignificant demons are worthless and you even have the nerve to attack the city?!" she continued to stomp it without caring about the blood that was staining her legs and dress "I will kill you demons, every last one of you! Do you hear me!? I will kill you all! AHAHAHAHAH!"

Carolina watched the scene in absolute silence. And she was supposed to help that Devil Slayer?

Shaking her head, she quickly turned back "No thanks. I choose life."

Unfortunately for her, six demons arrived at that moment from the very road she had come from, and so she found them right in front of her.

"Just my luck." Carolina took a few quick steps back as the demons began to advance towards her before pointing both hands towards them "Desert God's Sand Bullet!" then firing a long series of black sand bullets from her fingertips, managing to hit the first three demons in the head, with them immediately putting a hand on their faces where the bullets had blinded them. The other three ran towards her with one arm in front of their faces in order to protect themselves, but this allowed her to easily avoid them before sprinting towards the three still blinded demons.

"Desert God's Seth!"

Black sand formed in the palms of her hands before taking the shape of a large black scythe with which she managed to decapitate the first of the demons, then delivering a series of slashes which eliminated the other two as well. Turning to the other three, who were trying to attack her again, she threw her scythe at them before controlling the sand it was made of and throwing it into the faces of all the demons, managing to slow them down.

'Okay they are as stupid as those dune sharks in the desert, now I have to hit them hard!' thought Carolina before firing another volley of black sand bullets, aiming for their body. Having used more magical power than before, she managed to make them faster and more piercing, managing to pierce them without too much difficulty, and within a few seconds they collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.

When she was sure that they were all dead, Carolina sighed in relief only to then hear a noise above her. Looking up immediately, she saw a demon launching itself at her from the roof of a building but as she was already wrapped in black sand, ready to defend herself, a large beam of holy light instantly obliterated the demon, leaving nothing of it. Blinking, Carolina looked towards the point of origin of the beam and saw Kozune with one arm still pointing towards where the demon had been eliminated.

"Uh…thanks for the save." said Carolina walking towards her, secretly hoping that the Devil Slayer had calmed down. She didn't even have to wait a second before Kozune blushed a lot, looking away.

"Y-Y-You are…we-welcome!"

'Good God, she really is like Yumi…' thought Carolina with a sigh "Um…from what I saw before you were able to sense the presence of demons. Are there any others around here by any chance?"

That seemed to be the right question to ask her as Kozune seemed to lose some of the blush on her cheeks, focusing on her surroundings. Carolina looked at her in silence, not wanting to disturb her and risk making her fall into embarrassment or stammering again, but then she saw her stiffen completely, slowly turning her head towards the direction of the docks.

"What is this…sickening presence?"

Carolina didn't even have the chance to ask her what she was referring to as Kozune immediately ran in that direction. Surprised by her behavior, Carolina immediately started chasing her, soon finding herself along the docks but Kozune did not stop and continued running towards one of the edges of the port; not knowing what to say, the God Slayer simply followed her and after several seconds she also saw Keira and Litavis not far away while they killed the last demons around them.

The two mages saw Carolina and Kozune coming but were confused when the Devil Slayer moved past them without even looking in their direction.

"Don't ask!" shouted Carolina running past them "She sensed something and immediately started running!"

Keira and Litavis immediately started chasing them and luckily they only had to do so for a handful of seconds, when they saw Kozune stop in front of a large damaged warehouse with the emblem of the Zentopia Church visible on the main door.

Keira looked around, not noticing anything strange, only to hear a demon dying nearby and see Kannon appear from an alley, his clothes stained with blood "You okay?"

He nodded at her "There are no more demons, the soldiers are blocking the roads."

"Well, that's already good news." said Keira, focusing back on the warehouse "What's this place?"

"A warehouse used by the church to store emergency supplies, as well as blankets and other items for the needy." explained Litavis "But something is wrong…I sense a vile presence, but it is not that of simple demons. There are others inside, but equally different…"

"A vile presence?" repeated Keira, looking carefully at the warehouse, when suddenly they all started to hear something. Footsteps, with a regular and precise cadence and among the shadows inside the warehouse they saw a silhouette becoming clearer and clearer, until that person came out into the open and, despite the situation they were in, Kozune and Carolina were the first to blush like tomatoes, followed closely by Keira and Kannon, although in a much more contained manner.

The one who came out of the warehouse was a girl with bright pink eyes and long violet hair styled in two big drill curls. However, what caught the eye most was her clothing, if it could be called that, since apart from her blue high heels and long gloves of the same color, she was wearing only a tight leotard with a wide neckline that left nothing to the imagination, completing it all with a little blue bow on the throat and a hairband with bunny ears.

The girl looked at them and smiled "My my~ what do we have here~? New slaves for me, perhaps?" she took a few steps forward, making her chest jiggle while also licking her lips "Mmh~ yes I have to say that you are much better than my last toys, definitely more beautiful and with much more attractive bodies~"

"Who are you, and why are you here?" asked Litavis, pointing her weapon at the girl.

She looked at her and raised an eyebrow "Mh? How strange…you don't seem to be affected like your friends."

Confused, Litavis looked at her guildmates and saw that Kannon and Keira were breathing heavier than usual with a light blush on their cheeks, while Carolina's legs were shaking and she seemed to be struggling to breathe while her face was still all red like Kozune's, with the latter not looking much better.

"In fact, I find it strange that none of you have yet knelt before me, begging to become my slaves. Now let's see…" the violet-haired girl pointed at Keira "I can distinctly sense a god's blessing on you, so he or she is protecting you, and I feel it getting stronger with every passing second." and as if to prove her right, Keira managed to regain control, returning to normal breathing.

She then looked at Kannon "My my, is that a wedding ring I see on your finger? Your wife must be very lucky to have a husband like you, especially when you have such a strong will, but I imagine that little blessing from God in that ring is helping you a lot. Are you sure you don't want to come with me, dear? I can give you a better time than your wife~"

Ignoring the wizard's furious glare, she turned her attention to Carolina "You too have a divine presence, but much fainter and more imperceptible…I would say it's just a miracle if you're not here yet kissing my feet."

Glaring at her, Keira placed a hand on Carolina's shoulder, momentarily enveloping her in a black and silver aura, managing to bring her back to her senses, although the blush never completely disappeared from her face. However, the newcomer didn't seem to notice and looked at Kozune "Oh my~! You, my dear are an incredible element! As far as I know you should have been the first to capitulate, and yet…something is preventing you, no it's not like that…it's more like…oh now I understand, holy magic. You lucky girl~"

The Devil Slayer couldn't answer, only managing to swallow while her face remained as red as before, but Keira went to put a hand on her shoulder as well, managing to relieve that strange sensation she felt. Needless to say, the blush remained permanently on her cheeks.

"And finally…you." the violet-haired girl stared at Litavis without losing her smile "Actually, you are the easiest of all! You are not human, are you? And not a demon either, otherwise you would not have lasted a moment in front of me, so…a fairy? No, your magic might be similar but there's something strange about your body…ah silly me! Forgive me but I haven't met someone of your kind for a while, you machias are very rare after all!"

"Do you happen to have a problem with my race?" asked Litavis, not at all bothered by the fact that the girl had found out.

"Oh no, not at all, my dear~" said the girl with her smile widening a bit "You machias are the perfect sex dolls, with your vitality, the ability to remove and add accessories you are perfect for the bedroom~"

Litavis narrowed her eyes "You still haven't told us who you are, and what you were doing in a church warehouse."

"My my, you're a very curious machine huh? If you're really interested in knowing, I'm Vasia Kimber, the Lust Sin Slayer!" announced the girl, surprising them "And I'm here for several reasons! First of all, I wanted to see if I could find the Devil Slayer who killed the demons unleashed not far from here and I am very lucky, since I just found her~" the last part was said as her gaze shifted to Kozune, who was surprised by her words. She was looking for her? Why?

"Then I also needed new toys after the last ones broke, so I took the opportunity to test something and the results were more than satisfactory." continued Vasia before raising her right hand and snapping her fingers. Moments later, the walls of the warehouse behind her were destroyed and four more monstrosities landed in front of her, surprising the mages.

The first was very similar to the demons they had killed up to that point but with the difference that it was bigger, had two large wings, a smaller head, a long tail and six arms.

The second monster was larger and more muscular, with a completely black body, curved horns, spines all over its body and a long, spiny tail.

The third, the most aberrant-looking one, looked like a cross between a human and a spider, with a green body and multiple, brown legs, plus a multitude of red eyes on its face and chest.

The last one instead had white skin while much of its body seemed to be fused with metal, including its claws, horns and even the countless curved blades that seemed to emerge from its back, concluding with a single large eye on its face.

"What…are those?" asked Carolina, then noticing a small detail that they all had in common as well as a strange pink mark on their chest "Am I wrong or are they wearing rags?"

"Those are not rags…." whispered Litavis, her eyes fixed on the first monster and the mark of the Zentopia Church visible on a piece of black cloth around its neck "Those are church clothes!"

"Ding ding ding! That's correct!" chuckled Vasia "These four are, or rather were, faithful priests of the Zentopia Church but with a little persuasion and a very amusing ritual, I convinced them to give in to their lust…and now they have become demons that belong to me, and the funniest thing is that the process is not reversible!"

"Earth Angel's Rush Rock!"

The black monstrosity moved quickly, interposing itself between Vasia and the jarred white rocks that struck its arms, but did no serious damage. With a laugh, Vasia moved sideways to look at Litavis "What's up sex doll? Are you jealous of my success with men? Or maybe you want to join me and my toys~? I never say no to a bit of exercise~"

"How dare you do this to men of the church? Didn't you say you were a Sin Slayer?! Your job is to purge sins!" shouted Litavis with an angry face.

"Perhaps…or perhaps no." Vasia shrugged "What matters is that I achieved my main goal, but now that I look at you better…there is something you can do for me~"

"I won't do anything at all for you." hissed Litavis before looking at the others "'ll take care of her, you stop those monstrosities."

"Are you sure?" asked Keira, keeping her eyes on their new enemies.

"Yes. It's clear by now that she was stimulating your lust before, but her magic has no effect on me."

"Okay, if that's what you want…" Keira pause for a moment "I'll deal with the red one."

"Black one is mine." said Kozune with an angry look. Her face was still red from Vasia's presence, but knowing that the others were demons, even if they were human before, gave her the boost she needed to focus on them.

"Then I'll take on the green one." said Carolina, albeit vaguely disgusted by its appearance "And here I thought that Tomb Spiders were ugly…"

Kannon simply looked at the last one "White for me."

"Well, that's fine with me!" said Vasia with a smile while caressing her chest "I've never had a problem with orgies, but it's in intimate one-on-one moments where I give my all~! Now my pets, go and have fun!" and at her words, the four demons rushed forward, each aiming at their opponent and even managing to push them back several meters, leaving Litavis to deal with the Sin Slayer.

"Ready to have some fun, sex doll~?"

"I'm ready to kill you for your actions." said Litavis taking a fighting stance.

"Oh I'm sure you can't wait to penetrate me with your sword~ perhaps you're equipped with one between you legs~?" chuckled her opponent "However, although I am a strict believer in the motto 'Pleasure first, duty second!', I fear I will have to make an exception, after all you know what I want to know." she pointed a finger at her "You know, a good friend of mine asked me a favor. He heard about a possible guild, or maybe a solitary group, that uses a particular symbol, and he asked me to find out everything I could about it. The funny part? That symbol is exactly like the one on your forehead and surcoat~"

Litavis narrowed her gaze. Someone wanted to know more about their guild? Who could it be?

Vasia took a step forward, releasing a large amount of magic power in the form of a blue aura around her body "Now, you're going to tell me everything I want to know, but feel free to resist. I love it when they resist, it makes it so much more exciting~!"

In a burst of speed, she closed the distance between them, shocking Litavis.

"Now, dance for me, little sex doll~!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Suzaku's Vocabulary:

- Thou art = You are

- I hath = I have

- Thee = You

- Ye art = You are

- I hadst = I had

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Hoooooooooooooooly Shit! Fifty-seven pages of writing and many weeks of delay…that's what this chapter contains! I hope you enjoyed this wall of words (I could have actually split it in two, but then I was like 'Naaaaaah') and as usual I apologize profusely for not updating in so long.

Between new games, work, suppressing ideas for new Syocs (I swear I have a text file with at least a dozen ideas for Syocs in it), and more I've only just managed to update now (and I still have to finish the chapter for my poor Mass Effect fic!)

Anyway, with this chapter we have officially met all the official members of World Slayers (there will be other OCs in the future obviously but the guild is done) plus some extras, OCs created by me who will be there from time to time, such as Kannon. We've also wrapped up the Diabolos front for now, and soon we'll be able to move on to the actual story, without having to do separate missions all the time!

With that said, I hope I did your OCs justice and that you enjoyed the chapter!

See you next time!

OC list (created by you!):

WORLD SLAYERS

- 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

- Bogart Cresthill, created by: SureJahn

- Livie Marilee, created by: Arrow-chan3

- Yumi Shishi, created by: ShiinIn

- Kozune Mura, created by: Sempi

- Keira Everstern, created by: RevolutionaryCleo

- Romain Housing, created by: NyescoBlaze

- Lunafreya Lacrima, created by: Bluestar076

- Litavis Deckard, created by: Warmachine375

- Carolina Course, created by: ArcaneQuil09

OTHER Ocs

- Momonary Sachie, created by: klbubblepop786

- Genbu, created by: King0fP0wers