The first to attack was surprisingly Big Junk. He held out his free hand, from within his palm appeared a magical circle. Blue in colour, it caused numerous water droplets to appear in mid-air in a wide cone area.
The droplets appearing from mid-air in a seemingly random pattern surprised the three catgirls. Water directly attacking their uniforms and sticking to their hair and body. They were soaked.
It was an incredibly undignified attack coating the catgirls in water. They had great fire affinity and as felines held great hatred for water. Junk’s action immediately enraged them. It was such an incredible offense that despite their caution and battle stance, the magic enraged them.
It was super effective. But Junk having 5 more casts of the water droplet magic for the day didn’t stop there. He kept casting and soon used up all of the magic. The girls were completely soaked shaking mad with rage.
Roboneko directed all three fire orbs at Junk, who proceeded to jump on the ground and dodged the fireballs that the orbs conjured. Tooty tried to cast a giant fire pillar to dry herself and one at Junk to get revenge, however the princess-y unicorn jumped at her with lightning clad horn shooting a laser made from lightning. Tooty switched the magic in an instant, now casting a wall of see-through fire that stopped the beam.
They started competing who could outlast the other. The barrier of fire held against the beam straining to pierce it.
*whoosh*
An arrow leaving the bow travelled through the air, its target Tooty’s arm casting the barrier.
At the moment just before the arrow reached Tooty, a fiery blur intercepted the projectile and turned it into ash. Batty stood on the side of Tooty looking at the bushes where the arrow had come from.
At that moment the other two unicorns rushed into the fray but were intercepted by a giant fireball made by Roboneko. Standing beside the other two, that she teleported to, she gave them a look and they understood. It was time for the strongest magic they had.
“Burning giant!”
The three merged as one as fire covered all their bodies, evaporating the water and changing them into a giant made of fire.
The fiery creation was as tall as the trees, towering over the clearing. It’s features were not clearly defined except barely resembling a human shape and two small sun-like eyes radiating heat.
“As long as we get the dwarf, we will clear this mission.”
The heat generated by the giant evaporated Junk’s icy cat. Junk himself started sweating due to the heat. A dwarf sweating due to heat, that was enough to display the terrible temperature akin to standing next to a blazing sun. The unicorns couldn’t bare the heat and retreated into the forest from the clearing.
His system overheating Boomer decided to go out with a bang. He rushed to the slowly turning giant and charged inside. The explosion blew back the giant and stunned it for a moment, the fiery outer layer flickering. Boomer had his parts protected by an amazing magic. Not a single part melted.
The giant soon recovered and turned towards Junk. It’s fiery orb-like eyes glowed and shoot two wide rays of fire. The loud rumbling of the blast and the rising heat the rays created made the fire unbearable, combined with the speed of the laser, it made it impossible to dodge.
In a flash water appeared before him, soon turning into his favourite catgirl Pom. She held her staff and put it on the ground. In front of her arose an icy structure. Glimmering in the sunlight it took shape of a cannon. With Pom frowning her small face and a cold look she unleashed her magic. Her twintails dancing in the wind generated by the power.
“Infinite freeze ray bombo cannon!”
“B-bombo!” The girls in the giant were stunned. Only incredibly over-powered spells had such a unique addition in their names.
The cannon fired a solid ray of smooth ice, which took on the two lasers with its larger size. The ice fired from the cannon was the size of a truck and merely stopped for a moment, when it met the fiery rays, before overpowering them and reaching the now icy giant.
The ray of ice still shooting froze the fire and then stopped, with the loli elder rising her hand signalling it. Because of the difference in temperature of the frozen giant and the surrounding air and it resulting in a difference in pressure that created a vacuum, which caused the giant to explode.
The explosion caused by the vacuum, caused the girls, Tooty, Batty and Roboneko to fly into the air each hitting a tree headfirst and getting knocked out.
The dwarf knocked on the ground by the blast and shock of the beams clashing was incredibly happy his master was there to save her disciple. Deciding he had to show his appreciation, he rewarded Pom with a patting on her orange haired head, which she had visibly expected for the job well done. It was the job of a disciple to obey the master. Especially if she could teach him overpowered magic, was a catgirl and a loli. The disciple was happy, and the master was satisfied, receiving the patting with her tail wagging behind her.
Gina the silver-haired adventurer gathered the nazi catgirls and tied them up. Next Junk repaired his friend Boomer, together they minus the three unicorns, along with the captured catgirls went together to Tom’s Snuffle Fluff village.
By now it was already afternoon. It was time for a meal, but first they needed to deposit the prisoners in the dungeon of Junk’s castle. First, they collared them with magic impeding collars that would prevent their escape. For some reason the village elder, Pom decided that while the prisoners were imprisoned in the castle, she would have to accompany Junk.
Seeing the fierce expression on the smaller catgirl, Junk knew he had no choice in the matter. Not that he minded Pom’s company in any way. He thought she was as cute as a kitten.
With the knocked-out prisoners, Junk and Pom, with Gina joining in went to the Adventurer’s inn. Boomer found his previous playmate. A little catgirl that loved feeding him crystals and Boomer in exchange after eating always giving her a ride on his back.
Gathering around the table with the dwarf ordering a bunch of honeyed mead, that tasted like beer but had a nice aftertaste of honey, he leaned back savouring his first victory against the Empire.
They had a roasted monster chicken, and what seemed to be this world’s alternative to chicken wings and fried nuggets made from a rabbit. Together with some quality bread, it was a great lunch.
In the course of the meal Gina warmed up a bit to the dwarf and told him that she ran away from her parents that lived in the empire. The parent’s had golden cat ears, but she only had silver ears. They wanted to force her to serve in the army, but with her becoming independent they had to accept her choice to live as an adventurer. She also mentioned how they were officials in the army and sometimes sent her letters.
In one of the recent letters, they told her that they departed from the continent into the New Continent. After explaining to Junk what that meant, as in the Continents meaning other dimensions when he got confused.
That meant that in short term Empire would not bother to send any troops against Junk. Besides the three officers that were captured. As long as they kept the officers hostage and prisoner in the dungeon the empire would be helpless, unable to stretch their already thin resources, still left on the continent.
“Then why don’t we attack their base? Aren’t the elves leading a rebellion against the Empire?”
The dwarf questioned the adventurer. She explained that Titanite castle, home of the empress Awfur Kittler had great defences as well as many soldiers guarding it and the material it was made fom was the same one, which was used to construct flying castles in legends.
One such castle was depicted in a legend found inside ancient ruins that recorded a castle the size of their ancient city, which were supposedly a size bigger than the cities in this world currently.
A massive castle covered in walls from all sides and flying as high as the mountains, in a rectangular shape on one end and a circular on the other. With a loud sound it destroyed the mountains and the neighbouring civilization, that is what the witnesses had reported the depiction said. Then the “castle” slowly flew into the air disappearing just above where this village was first founded.
The elder interjected informing Junk that the founder of the village was called Tom. Strangely on the same day that Tom left the village the sighting was reported. The first elder named it Tom’s village, in his memory, with the previous ones changing the name of the village to Tom’s Snuffle Fluff village.
“Tom, I was told he was similarly like you, a dwarf. He had also helped the villagers and founded the village.”
What a coincidence Junk thought, my previous name was also Tom. And that flying castle sounded very magnificent. If only my castle could fly, he thought after the meal with Pom in tow going to his castle and him looking at the high castle walls. Maybe I can make that work someday, he looked at his hands thinking. With these hands it just might be possible.
He went down the stairs leading into the dungeon, his friendly catgirl behind him. He brought some food for the catgirls. They wanted to kill him, but torturing prisoners wouldn’t get him anything. He already saw their blind devotion to the empress in action. There was still a chance they had no other choice but to murder for a living. Or it might have been, because they were catgirls and he wasn’t keen on torturing animals, pity wasn’t going to cost him anything but a bit of food.
With the village repaired they were not going to be short with the water supply and tools in order, and the farmers were expecting a great harvest.
Coming before their cell, that had light coming from a window on the high ceiling outside the cell. The light of day was enough to light up the hall, with the crystalline window turning the yellow ray in a gentle white colour. Like the light escaping into the forest from the embrace of the high density of branches. It was soothing to the mind.
The catgirls were placed into a single cell, with enough space for the three to rest on the straw beds and a toilet that was in another room. It was an old styled one with a hole and a covering to cover the hole.
Seeing him appear Batty and Tooty jumped up and gripped the metalic bars. Roboneko, ever emotionless was lying in silent protest on the straw.
The two were looking at him with fiery anger in their eyes. The other one opened her eye then closed it.
“Looks like you slept well.”
The dwarf them taunted with a mocking smile.
Pom showed herself from behind Junk’s back.
“You kitties never learn.”
She smiled giving an “Ohoho~” laugh with her hand mockingly before her mouth.
“YOU!”
The three gritted their teeth, recognizing the savage loli, this time even Roboneko was angrily grabbing the bars. The loli was called Pom but her other name, better known to the empire’s catgirls as the Water Terrorist.
It was not their first encounter with the orange haired Pom. Their tails were stiffly hanging in the air.
Last time they were here on an easy mission, grab the village and force them to join the Empire and take a few girls with them. Having killed the village elder, they could forcefully appoint another one from their ranks as the elder.
What they didn’t know was that the previous elder, was still alive.
At that time the village catgirls thought they could only surrender to the nazis, but the old elder just happened to return to the village. It was Pom.
With the battle merely damaging structures, with the elder’s skilful manipulation she managed to ambush and forcefully gather the catgirl soldiers and the three mage girls, then created a tsunami and wiped them away.
Unfortunately, the attack also destroyed the fields and damaged the village’s drainage and watering system, worsening the damage to the village.
The three black-clad girls seeing the fierce elder ran away with the soldiers. The condition of the village was quite terrible, and it was reported that the village could be considered destroyed. The mission caused them to disappoint the empress for the first time.
Pom was their archenemy, who they wanted dead, even more than the target standing before them.
