"...Right," he mumbled, slouching down.
"You two. Do either of you have broken bones?" I asked, checking the brats over.
"Heh. So you can torture us more?" The male brat glared at me, despite his butt still twitching from the spanking.
"Haha. Yeah, try that again when your butt isn't glowing red," I said with a laugh. I glanced over at his sister, who was sitting silently, quietly sobbing.
'Well... they deserve this,' I thought. Still, I walked over to her and crouched down.
She flinched hard.
"Hey. "Don't move," I said gently.
"Please stop."
"No." I placed my hand on her head and channeled healing magic. She froze.
"Huh?" she muttered.
"I just asked if you needed-"
"What? Heal me too, then!" her brother barked from across the room.
"You just said-ugh. Shut up. We've got company," I muttered, hearing heavy footsteps pounding toward us.
'I guess I can try out my devil rock bullets,' I thought, summoning my hand cannon with a grin. Time for a test run.
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Chapter 152:
"It's probably our military," the Kuni head said, a flicker of hope lighting up in his otherwise pale and panicked face.
"Nah," I said casually, already grinning. "Your little military are cowards. They won't even think about coming to your aid."
"What are you talking about?" The man frowned at me, his voice rising with tension.
"You haven't realized it yet? You people... You've already been abandoned." I looked over my shoulder toward the door. The noise was getting closer.
"...That doesn't make sense, though." The man muttered, but his tone had shifted. It wasn't denial. It was dread. He stared at the door, shoulders trembling slightly.
"Shut up before they hear us." I raised my gun, narrowing my eyes at the wooden door.
"Ah, too late," I added calmly, hearing the faint scuffle of boots.
"What are you talking ab-"
"You fucking fool!" I yelled, slamming the butt of the gun into the side of his head.
"OW!" he groaned, clutching his skull and slumping to the ground.
I ignored him. My focus was already at the door. Without hesitation, I fired a single shot straight at head level.
Bang.
"Agh!!" a voice yelped on the other side of the door, followed by a loud thud.
"Tsk. I missed his head," I muttered, immediately unloading the rest of my clip-thirteen rounds total-through the door in rapid succession.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"What the fuck is going on!?" someone shouted in a panic on the other side before I heard the sound of footsteps retreating.
"Tsk. Just two?" I grumbled, sliding the empty clip from the handgun and slamming in a fresh mag.
"Blow the door open!" someone roared down the hall.
"Well," I sighed, extending my arm and conjuring an ice wall just in front of us. Thick, reinforced. It wouldn't hold forever, but it would do for now.
Boom!
The door exploded in a shower of wood and fire as a blast charge blew it off its hinges.
"Kill all of them now!" An older voice barked-commanding, enraged, and bitter.
"Good luck with that," I said with a smirk, tossing half a dozen ice orbs over the wall. As I turned to the Kuni family, I raised both hands and summoned chains of ice, wrapping them tightly around all four of them.
"What are you doing!?" The Kuni head barked, glaring at me like I was the enemy now.
"Shut up before I leave you behind," I snapped, already dragging them toward the broken window.
"Cheers, guys!" I yelled just as we leapt through. The moment we cleared the room, the ice orbs detonated behind us.
Boom!
"Kyaa!!" one of the twins shrieked as we tumbled from the window.
"Sigh, you guys are so distracting," I muttered, dusting myself off as we landed. The four Kunis were sprawled on the ground, their faces frozen in pure horror.
"Mom!?" Apricot shouted, running over as she caught sight of us.
"Oi, you dumbasses! How could you let them into the mansion!?" I yelled, glaring at her and Chinada.
"Ugh! "Could you please make the landing a bit easier?" The high dwarf brat groaned, trying to stand.
"...So. How did they get past you guys?" I asked Apricot, ignoring the dwarfs completely.
"We didn't let anyone pass us. I'm sure of that!" Apricot said this with her fists clenched in conviction.
"Hmm. Are there any tunnels under the mansion?" I asked, turning to glare at the Kuni Househead.
"That is a family secret you're asking about," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Great, so there is," I muttered sarcastically. "Thanks for confirming."
"I guess we'll need to go and secure the tunnels," Brenda said, resting her sword on her shoulder.
"Nah. They might actually be after the family. "Not sure though," I said, tossing the Kunis to the side like sacks of grain. My clones blinked into position around them and began forming a dome of transparent ice.
Not indestructible, but more than enough to block stray arrows or low-tier spells. If someone wanted to get through that, they'd have to work for it.
"T-There's more of her," the Kuni head muttered, eyes wide and haunted.
"Are you sure you want to split yourself up like this?" Chinada asked, casting a nervous glance at the barrier.
"Don't worry about me. "Worry about yourselves," I said, my voice low as I eyed the battlefield. Nekro's undead were dying one after another, the sounds of bones cracking and bodies falling growing louder.
"Hmm. They work well together," Nekro said softly from my shoulder, her tone unusually tense.
"They are? How many?" I asked, scanning for movement. I haven't seen anything yet.
"I don't know. I can't see them. Hoped you'd be able to." Nekro frowned.
"They have a focused approach?" I asked, glancing sideways at her.
"In front of us. From the mansion," she said, pointing to the entrance.
"Good to know. Everyone, drop now," I ordered, forming a long odachi in my hand, mana swirling around the blade like fog.
"Hup!" I swung the sword wide, unleashing a horizontal arc of raw mana toward the broken entry path, tearing into the wall of corpses in front of us.
"Ugh!?"
"Do-Agh!"
Screams burst from unexpected places. I flinched. Some were behind me.
"What the fuck?" I turned to find a half-rotted corpse lying a few feet away.
"How did you see me?" A man's voice rasped.
A grey-haired old man staggered into view, one hand clutching his hip, a monstrous humanoid devil child supporting him from the side.
"Aah, for fuck's sake... they didn't die," I grumbled, glaring at the pair.
The old man had faint devilish markings on his skin, but unlike the others, his features still resembled humans. Barely.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter. Matt-kill everyone here. "Especially her," the man said while pointing directly at me.
"Heh, will do mast-"
Before the monster could finish, its head exploded in a burst of gore and smoke.
"What!" the old man gasped.
"Sigh, this is as addictive as always," I said, spinning my gun in one hand before glancing back at Apricot. "Get them out of here."
"A-Are you sure we should leave?" Apricot asked, staring at the thick red-black aura radiating off of me.
"Pfft. You'll only be dead weight right now. So shoo. Fuck off," I said with a grin, turning my attention back to the monster and its master.
"R-Right." Apricot hesitated but nodded and moved to follow the order.
"Well, thank you for waiting so we could finish," I said to the devil child, whose body had already regenerated.
"Heh. This will be fun," it said before vanishing with a sonic snap.
"Huh?" it said, confused. It had landed in front of nothing.
"Do you really think you're faster than me?" I said, reappearing beside it. I grabbed its arm, twisted, and flung it out of the mansion's courtyard like a piece of trash. I didn't even watch where it landed. I was already charging the old man.
"Matt! Ugh-you bitch!" the old man screamed, falling backward.
"Just die already," I muttered, bringing the staff down in a clean arc.
"Matt! Help me!" he shouted, trying to crawl away.
"Yes, master." The monster reappeared from beneath the earth, blocking the strike.
"Fuck sake," I cursed, jumping back just in time to dodge the devil's punch.
"Hehe. You'll be enjoyable to rip apart," it growled, summoning two long black sickles from the ooze dripping from its hands.
"Tsk. You can make weapons too, huh?" I replied, summoning an ice staff.
The thing lunged at me with a savage grin. I blocked its first strike and flipped the staff, cracking it under the chin and stunning it.
"I already know cutting you up only makes things worse," I muttered, keeping pressure up. A clean kill wouldn't be possible-not with this freak.
Seeing an opening, I turned toward the old man again. He was still there, holding his bleeding stump.
Not wasting a second, I swung my staff straight at his neck.
"Heh. Do you think that'll reach-" His words died in his throat. My staff had sliced halfway through before he could blink.
"Master!" the devil screamed, catching him as he fell limp.
"Yeah, as if that would work on me," I muttered, stepping back and launching two ice orbs at their feet.
Boom!
"ARGGGGHHHHHHH."
"Man... he's still alive?" I muttered, scowling at the thick smoke left behind.
"Aaaagh!"
"Right." I jumped into the air, shielding myself as a blast of force ripped up the ground below.
"How dare you!" the devil howled, its eyes bloodshot and wild.
"Heh." I didn't answer; I just raised both hands and flipped him off.
"Grrrrr!" It roared, charging at me.
"Try again." I sidestepped and swept his legs with the staff. He crashed hard.
"Come on, big guy," I said, taunting.
Then I froze.
A sharp, searing pain bloomed in my gut. I looked down slowly, my eyes widening as I saw the arm sticking clean through my torso.
"...Ugh. Old man... You're not dead?" I muttered, blood spilling from my mouth as I glanced back over my shoulder.
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Chapter 153: Hehe Tooys
"Don't look at me like that. I know you knew; I wouldn't have died from that. I can't say the same for you." The man said, swinging his short sword through my neck.
'Fuck... huh? No way.' I thought, blinking as I waited for pain or death-or at least for my head to hit the floor. But nothing came. No pain. There was no loss of sight. Just... stillness. I touched my neck, feeling perfectly intact.
"Haha, I guess your information is old," I said, forming a grin while forcing myself to hold back the pure surprise and confusion coursing through me.
"What did you do?" the old man asked, backing up. His voice cracked slightly as he stared wide-eyed at me, beginning to realize the body he had just struck didn't feel right. Didn't move like it should. Didn't bleed like it should.
"Hehe," I chuckled, letting the sound bubble from my throat while my body slowly started turning to ice in front of him. Bit by bit, my form crystallized into shimmering frost, smiling all the while.
"This fucking fox," the old man roared, swinging his blade in frustration before the entire illusion of me shattered like glass. Too late.
Boom!
The ground shook violently as the explosion engulfed him from below. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a crater.
"Okay, now I am sure he is dead," I muttered, brushing dust off my shoulder as I stepped out from the debris the monstrous child had created trying to hit me earlier. The bastard really wasn't concerned about friendly fire.
"Master!" a voice cried out in panic. The monstrous child descended rapidly from the sky, eyes wild and bloodshot, throwing multiple black weapons in my direction without hesitation.
"Woah!" I instinctively jumped back, but I was not fast enough. One of the weird, jagged weapons clipped my left arm, ripping it clean off in a spray of blood and mist.
"Shit!" I hissed, watching the limb vanish into the chaos behind me. The weapon had sliced through me like butter.
'Those are stronger than before... or is it him?' I thought, clenching my teeth as I summoned more mana. The speed, the force-it was different now.
"Agh!" I shouted, slamming my staff sideways in a wide arc. The air cracked, and the monstrous child was flung off course, missing his tackle. But even in that successful defense, his claws caught my side, tearing into flesh and muscle.
'This fucking bastard.' I thought, glaring at the black spikes still floating around him. I could feel the blood soaking through my side. That's going to scar.
"You, you, you killed him! You killed my master!!" The creature screamed, its voice warbling with hatred and grief. Its body trembled, twisted by rage. Its aura distorted the air itself.
"Yeah , I don't care about your little BDSM shit," I grunted, flying forward and slamming down on him with the full weight of my staff. His body cratered the earth below.
"Ugh! You-how!?" He growled, more confused now. He was slowly regaining clarity. His eyes weren't as wild. That worried me. The smarter he got, the harder he'd be to kill.
"Hehe, how? You don't need to know," I giggled, spinning my staff and cracking it across his head, which exploded into chunks of blackened flesh.
"This is..." he whispered.
"For fuck's sake, now I know how people feel fighting me," I muttered, half-laughing, wiping blood off my mouth. My eyes gleamed with delight. "Hehe... but it doesn't matter. I got a proper punching bag."
I cackled, my voice becoming higher, my throat dry, and half my face hidden behind my free hand as I peered down at the twitching mess.
"Die!" he screamed, vanishing from sight only to reappear behind me.
Without looking, I stabbed my staff backward-straight through his skull. A wet crunch echoed out.
"Hehe, you are a slowpoke, hehe. I wonder how much you actually can take," I cooed, looking over my shoulder, watching him writhe on the end of my weapon.
"Tsk! KILL!!!" He shouted again, jumping back, his voice sharper, more focused.
"Hehe, more. Hehe, more! Yes, more. You brought me more toys, hehe!" I laughed uncontrollably, eyes glowing, as shadows started flickering into view around us. One by one, more devil children arrived. Dozens.
'Hehe... I'm losing it, aren't I?' I thought distantly, barely holding onto my sanity as my body trembled with anticipation.
"Kill her now!" one of the devil children hissed.
"Oh, but these can die, can't they?" I asked, my voice soft, almost disappointed, before I twirled and sent one of them flying into pieces with a flaming strike. Their body exploded into ash midair.
"Kitsuna!! Stacy and Kayda are on their way back. Just hold on for a few more minutes!" Nekro's voice echoed from across the mansion, reaching me perfectly.
