"Hmm," Nix hummed, tilting her head, ears swaying lazily. "That structure up there looks dangerous. Maybe I'll save my questions for later. Don't want to get blasted into ash for nagging." She smiled as if the idea amused her rather than scared her, then cheerfully went back to tying the prisoners inside the cell.
The one she was working on snarled, his voice venomous. "Bitch, you're hurting me." He twisted against the chains, trying to spit at her.
Nix froze for just a fraction of a second, her ears going stiff, before she turned her crimson glare on him. "Oh? Says the one who raped a teenager to death. Shut up." Her tone was flat, like stone grinding.
The man smirked, defiant even in chains. "She loved it, and you know it. Don't you remember her face? Ah, you know what? I'll forgive you if we-augh!" His words cut off into a gurgle as Nix's hand snapped out, ripping his jaw free in one smooth, brutal motion.
Blood spattered the frostbitten ground. His jaw hit the ice with a sickening clack.
"I guess you die first," Nix said coldly. Without ceremony, she smashed his head against the ground, cracking his skull like an eggshell. The body went limp instantly.
I let out a slow breath, my lips quirking into a wry smile despite myself. "Hmm, you've got a temperament on you. But try not to kill more. We might need them."
She didn't answer at first, her hand still pressed against the corpse, fingers twitching. Then, finally, she stood, brushing her gauntlets clean. "I am not like the other rabbit demis. I don't take shit lying down." Her glare lingered on the broken body.
"That's not as rare as you think," I said, shrugging. "I've met a few rabbit demis with just as much bite as you."
Her head snapped toward me, ears perked, eyes wide. "...You have?"
"Yes. Kitsu actually has one in her personal squad right now. Though she's too weak to be of much use at the moment." I tilted my head thoughtfully, remembering how Kitsu had dragged Nekro back, half-dead, and how stubbornly the girl had clung to life.
"How interesting," Nix hummed, eyes sparkling with fresh curiosity. "A fox who collects strays. And a rabbit among them too. I want to meet her."
Her expression made me uneasy-like a child discovering a new toy she wanted to pull apart. I turned away, unwilling to indulge her. "Well, anyway, let's get this started, shall we?" I strode out of the cell, leaving her and the corpse behind.
"Finally. I was getting bored just standing here and watching," one of the adventurers muttered off to the side, leaning against the tower's base.
"Hmm, Jerry?" The guild master appeared like a shadow, his massive hand descending to smack the man over the head. "Are you so eager to get killed?"
"Ha-ha, come on, guild master, is it wrong to make some jokes? Every one of us is nervous. That black fire is as eerie as it gets, you know." Jerry rubbed the new lump on his head and jogged away, laughter a little too sharp, too hollow. Fear bled through his attempt at humor.
"That brat," the guild master growled under his breath, grinding his teeth.
"Let him be. Even I'm nervous," I admitted, shrugging. My chest felt tight, my wings restless. It wasn't a lie. This would be my first time facing devils directly, not just creatures tainted by their power. I'd seen horrors before, but this... this was something else.
"Sigh. True. We all are nervous," Nix said, stepping up beside me, voice oddly calm.
"Well, send them in then," I said, jerking my chin toward the prisoners.
"Okay!" Nix's face lit up like a child being handed candy. Her ears wiggled in excitement.
"You sound a little too happy about this," I muttered, my skin crawling at her enthusiasm.
"...I'm interested in how it will happen," Nix said softly, her gaze locked on the fortress. The black flames licked the air like living shadows, waiting. She wanted to see the moment their souls were torn free.
I said nothing, just nodded. She went back into the cell and soon returned, dragging a prisoner by the chains, her gauntleted hand firm around his collar.
"Same here," I mumbled under my breath, then bent and picked up another criminal by the scruff. With one beat of my wings, I launched into the air.
The fortress loomed below, cloaked in black fire, its twisted towers barely holding their shape. The heat was unnatural-more like a psychic pressure than physical warmth.
"I am getting tired of waiting," I said, halting above it.
"I agree. I just wish this day would end," the man in my grip said suddenly, shoulders slumping. His voice carried no fear.
I blinked, surprised. "Well, it's close to being night, but you won't be seeing it."
"True. Cheers, dragon woman," he said. And then I let him go. His body tumbled, small against the enormity of the flames, vanishing into the black maw.
"Sigh. Strange he didn't show fear," I murmured, folding my arms. "Well, whatever. Nothing to worry about."
Then it began.
"Raaaaooorrr!!!"
The roar tore through the air like a storm given voice, inhuman and primal. My bones rattled. My heart skipped. Terror flooded me, cold and sharp. All across the field, adventurers froze, their spines rigid.
"Shit, that scared the hell out of me!" I shouted, beating my wings hard to fling myself backward, putting distance between me and the fortress.
"Get ready, everyone! It's starting!!" The guild master roared, his voice cracking but commanding.
"Sreeeeek!!"
"Sreekk!!"
The shrieks rose like a chorus from hell itself. Transparent black hands clawed up from the earth around the fortress, dragging themselves into being. Their forms were vague, humanoid shadows, their eyes empty voids.
"So those are devil thralls?" I muttered. There had to be more than a hundred already, crawling out in seconds. Weak, yes-but sheer numbers made them horrifying.
"Well, let's see how easy they are to kill." I cracked my knuckles, readying a spell-
Zap!
The sound split the air, sharp and sizzling. My eyes widened. Down below, the fence Kitsu had made glowed as lightning crackled through its wires. Any thrall that came within a meter convulsed violently, their shadows unraveling like smoke before disintegrating.
It was almost comical-the way they reached out, only to crumple and vanish the instant they touched the barrier.
"Hmm. It seems the adventurers already realized how effective the fence is," I said, noting how none of them had lifted a finger yet. They were just staring, wide-eyed, hands idle at their sides.
"That's not good. The thralls might wear down the durability of the fence," I frowned.
"Oi, you fucking shitbags!"! Start using your fucking magic! My fence isn't going to do all your fucking work!!" Kitsu's voice thundered across the field.
"Wow," I muttered, genuinely startled. "Didn't think she could yell that loud."
"Pah, like she can-Boom!"
The adventurer beside me didn't finish his sentence before Kitsu fired her railgun. The thunderous blast shook the ground as the fortress shuddered, another section ripped apart in a violent explosion of black lightning.
"I am fucking watching you!!" she bellowed.
"She sounds pissed," I muttered, lips twitching. I conjured four scorch balls around me, each floating and glowing faintly, then set them firing thin beams of heat into the thralls. Small lasers cut through them cleanly, each hit making a shadow collapse.
"Skreeek!!"
Another cry echoed from the fortress.
"...Wow, what is-"
Boom!
"Dead." I finished my own question, watching as a larger thrall-something like a shrieker-was obliterated instantly by Kitsu's railgun. Nothing remained but twisted ash.
"Oi, fucking dog, get your people to carry their weight! I am not working for free!!" Kitsu screamed again, her voice sharp as a blade.
"What is going on over there to make her so angry?" I muttered, flying sideways to get a better view. My stomach twisted when I saw it-the thralls were pouring out thicker on her side, swarming the fence faster than ours.
"Weird. Is it because that side has-"
Boom!
"Has more firepower?" I guessed aloud, watching her blast another shrieker into oblivion.
"Brat! Call me "dog" again, and I'll rip-"
Bang!
"Argh!!!" The guild master yelped, a gunshot grazing his ear, blood spraying.
"Shut the fuck up and work!" Kitsu snarled from her tower, still aiming her gun at him.
My scroll vibrated suddenly.
"Kayda-"
"Don't even think about dragging me into this. Just get your adventurers to work properly, and all is good, okay?" I interrupted the guild master before ending the call, my patience gone.
I glanced at the far fence again and frowned. The glow was weakening, the magic fuzzing in and out. They weren't feeding it enough mana.
"Sigh. Guess I have to help." I muttered, disappointed, and began flying to each mana conductor. I pressed energy into each, enough to stabilize them, my body prickling from the constant drain.
"Kayda!"
I turned. Kitsu's sharp eyes were on me.
"Yo, something wrong?" I landed beside her tower.
"A lot. But... are you sure you're fine using your mana like this? You still have scorch balls active on the other side, and now you're fueling these too. Do you need to rest? I can take over for you, at least for a while." Her tone was softer, worry lacing every word.
For a moment, I just looked at her. The fierce, snappy fox glaring at everyone else was looking at me with real concern. My heart fluttered despite the battlefield roaring around us.
"Whoa, whoa, hold your horses. I'm fine. My mana regeneration can handle this much," I said with a smile.
"Yeah, but this might go on for hours," she pressed.
"True. Then I'll tell you when I need rest, okay?"
"Uh... please do," Kitsu said, finally nodding, her gaze shifting back to the battle.
I couldn't help it-I pressed a hand to my cheek, grinning like a fool as I looked at her back. She's so worried about me. And so damn cute.
"Well, see you later," I said, patting her shoulder before spreading my wings again.
"Be careful."
"Same to you," I smiled and soared back to my side of the field, heart a little lighter despite the chaos.
avataravatar
Chapter 130
[3 Hours later].
[Kitsuna POV]
"Well, Kayda wasn't wrong when she said devil-related things give a lot of experience," I muttered, leaning back in my ice chair at the top of my tower, arms folded as I stared at the glowing number on my status screen. Level forty-nine. Just one more and I'd break fifty. The chair creaked faintly under my weight, and beside me my glorious railgun hummed softly, its barrel steaming slightly in the cool night air.
I grinned at it. "Heh, still awesome."
My grin faded as I looked down. "Sigh, forget about that. It's been easy after the dumb pup finally got his adventurers doing their jobs properly."
From up here I could see almost everything. Roughly three hundred had started the fight-right now maybe a hundred were still on their feet, flinging spells or loosing arrows through the fence. The other two hundred sprawled across the grass in little clumps, some resting, some nursing wounds, others just staring blankly at the battlefield as if they couldn't believe they were still alive. My fence crackled faintly, black lightning sparking along its icy wire. More than a thousand thralls had already died to its bite.
"Ooh, another seeker," I murmured, spotting a pile of rocks rolling unnaturally out of the summoning fire. I shifted the railgun into place, its weight comforting against my shoulder as I aimed. "Come on, come on, show me the eye..."
Boom!
The shot lit up the night like a second sun, shattering the rocks and the creature hidden inside them. I smirked. "There we-ugh!" My victory grin twisted into a grimace as pain lanced through my head. "A headache now!?"
I dropped the gun, clutching my temples. A moment later, my back flared like fire. "Agh, fuck, now my back hurts too. What the hell is going on?" I shouted, doubling over, my face pressed against the icy floor. My claws dug grooves in it as I trembled.
Time blurred. Maybe seconds, possibly minutes. The pain kept rising, crawling through my veins like molten lead. And beneath it, something worse-an urge. My throat vibrated, my chest tightening with the overwhelming need to roar. Not from the pain. From something else. An instinct was clawing its way out from my core.
"This... what is this?!" I hissed, sweat dripping down my face. "Fuck... hold it in. Can't let them know. Grrr..."
My teeth ground together, jaw aching.
"Ugh... roar-" The sound broke from me anyway, half growl, half whimper. Heat flushed my cheeks in embarrassment, even as my body shook. And then it hit-information. Like a river pouring straight into my skull, drowning me in knowledge I hadn't earned.
"Fuck-rawr!" Another humiliating noise ripped out of me as more of it filled me: blueprints, diagrams, the very structure of weapons and how they interfaced with magic, how to reinforce steel with mana, how to bend fire into a blade, and how to make lightning carve its own circuit. Then came magic itself. How it moved. How it wanted to move. How to coax it to dance more smoothly, more brutally.
'What is this? Why am I getting this info? Wait. No way. Is this... how we get classes?' My lungs burned. My fingers dug into my thighs as I pulled up my status.
Status
Name: Kitsuna Draig (Shiro Adachi)
Age: 14 (Immortal)
Race: Primordial 3-Tail Demon Fox
Bloodline: Primordial 9-Tail Fox
Gender: Female
Level: 51
Class: Weapon Sage (Wrath)
HP: 4,312 / 4,738
MP: 68,652 / 71,938
Str: 2,469
Vit: 2,369
Def: 1,969
Int: 35,969
End: 3,769
Agt: 4,169
Skills: Dimension Storage, Devil Fire, Devil Lightning, Fox Ice, Analysis, Short Distance Teleport, Sword Domain, Mana Sense, Fox Golden Lightning, Fox Golden Fire, Healing
Passive: Heightened Senses, Soul Regeneration, Eyes of Intimidation, Human Form, Mana Tails, Night Vision
Tail Abilities: Clone, Spiritual Magic, Illusion Magic, LOCKED
"Huh, three tails? Rawr." Another noise slipped out, making me want to bury myself in the ice out of shame. "That is such an embarrassing sound."
Sure enough, when I twisted around, three fluffy tails swished behind me. So, that's why my back hurt. I was growing new tails.' I dragged them around to the front, staring like an idiot before stroking them experimentally. Silky. Warm. Too fluffy. My cheeks burned harder.
"Hmm. Weapon Sage? I also got a class. Never even heard of it. Must be like Weapon Master, just with a sage twist." My voice dropped into a growl without my permission. "Grrr."
