There he was, standing right before them as they exited the haunted house. Though, given who he was. That haunted house was looking a lot more inviting. Now there was a tense standoff between the two and this unknown figure.

“Seems you’re better at surviving than I expected.” He said to them, impressed by the quick little move that Juuto pulled off earlier. “I was hoping to snuff you without too much attention.”

“Who are you?” Rame asked, preparing herself for another battle. However, unlike last time, she wasn’t going to be nearly as strong as she was back then. If there was going to be a fight, then things would look pretty bad for her. Perhaps, she thought, that they might be able to buy time for Asaga and Mifuru to arrive and give them aid.

“…” The person sighed in response to that question. Something about the tone of that sigh sounded as though he was… Disappointed. “Oh come on!” He yelled out in frustration.

“Huh?” The two of them looked at him in bewilderment. That was quite different from the way he presented himself the entire time. Instead of that cool demeanor, he seemed rather upset.

“How can you not tell who I am?” He said it as if that should be an obvious fact. Yet Juuto hadn’t even seen his face before. He ripped off the hood to reveal himself. To which that still didn’t aid in telling either of them what his identity was.

For starters, he was a lot younger looking than Juuto was expecting. Sure, the voice didn’t lend itself to suggesting he was an older man, but this person here looked like a kid in high school. The only feature that he’d say stood out about the boy, would probably be his snow white hair.

“I still got nothing.” Rame responded to the sight. To her, this was the first time she was certain they met.

“You still don’t recognize me?” He looked at her in shock. “I’m the great wizard? You know, the wizard Merlin?” While that name had shown up to Juuto before, that was of course in reference to legend on Earth. And he certainly didn’t look like the wizard that aided Arthur in those stories. “I even live under your apartment, you’ve never even noticed me?”

“Can’t say that I have. Not really sorry about it either.” She replied.

“That’s it, I’m killing you now.” He put out his finger like a gun and shot off a bolt of ice at them. Rame dodged it by ducking, which caused the attack to pierce through the top part of her hot dog costume. It was time to make a run for it.

Quickly, Juuto grabbed her arm, and dragged her out towards the roads.

“Where are we going?” She asked him as the chase began. They were running away from the festival now, heading out to the empty streets of the town. “There’s no one around here.”

“Exactly.” He responded. As dangerous as it was for them, they’d cause more suffering for everyone if they ran through the crowd. There was no chance that he’d ever consider using the people close to him as a shield. Not that the guy chasing them seemed to care. And so they ran through the dark streets of the town he grew up in. The only edge that Juuto could provide in a situation like this was that he knew these routes well. Even in dimly lit area’s he could get them through quickly.

However, Merlin was moving fast himself. As well as the fact that the two of them were burdened by these bulky costumes that slowed them down. He was following closely on their tail, all the while taking pot shots hoping that one would hit. However, being on the run while using magic means that one won’t be as accurate as they’d like. Though they were still close, as shards of ice shattered along the walls near them.

At this rate, they both knew that it was only a matter of time before they fell. However, what could they do in response to this attack. It was a shame that they agreed to be prepared for a situation like this, yet were caught with their pants down. Well, if either of them had pants on at the moment.

However, thanks to the intuitive thinking by Juuto, he was able to lead them through a few alleyways. Through the winding paths, they’d soon lose sight of the man chasing them. Rounding a corner, they were able to stop and catch their breaths for a moment. Running was already tiring, but when you’re wearing a ripped-up hot dog or fountain drink costume. It’s even more of a workout then usual.

“What are we supposed to do?” He asked her. There was no way they’d avoid him forever, so they needed a way to beat him.

“He said he’s a wizard.” She started to explain an idea after she stopped breathing so heavily. “That means I can seal his magic. I think I still have enough juice to pull off that spell.”

“Great.” He responded very glad to hear that. It sounded like their troubles were about to come to an end. “So go and do that.”

“One problem with that though… I have to grab him to do it.” Now, if she had her normal abilities, then it wouldn’t be too big of a challenge. Even with his skills, she’d be able to fight with her own magic and create her own openings. However, there was no chance she’d be wasting the little energy she had. All of it was going to be needed to seal that boy’s magic.

“Darn it.” He cursed their circumstance. “If we didn’t have to deal with these stupid costumes, then we could try sneaking up on…” He stopped talking, as an idea had popped up in his mind. “I got an idea.”

***

Merlin couldn’t believe his luck. He had lost the demon lord he had been hunting and stalking these past few weeks. Why was that human helping her? It made little sense to him, as she slowly walked through the alleyways of this area. He clearly knew the truth, yet continued to act in this manner. It was absolute madness to the wizard.

Not that the boy was all that much better. After all, in his quest to chase after the demon lord, he didn’t care who got hurt. To him, all that matter was bringing her down. Thought not for revenge or anger at the things she’s done. No, it was so that he could return back to Enatis with some fame. The amount of people that had never heard of him despite all the feats he’s achieved in his young life. That really upset him, and it felt very unfair.

“I swear I’ll be better than her!” He yelled out in frustration, working ever harder to try and spot them. This place was dark, but he didn’t want to use his flames to light the way. That might give away his position.

Just like how when he saw the silhouette of that hot dog. The boy had on a huge grin when he saw what he believed to be a blunder by that demon lord. Now he had her right where he wanted her.

Quietly, he sneaked up to the corner where he saw the shadow was coming from. He figured that they must be trying to hide, not realizing the light which was giving them away. Then, with a quick and sudden movement. He leaped out around the corner and shot out a powerful blast of fire at her. It was more than enough to kill, and it blew away his target.

“ahahaha!” He laughed out loud at finally bringing down the demon lord. Oh how the people will remember his name when he got back to Enatis. They would celebrate, and perhaps put up a statue of him for future generations to remember his name. However, that joyous celebration would come to an abrupt end. “Huh?” While looking at the burning hot dog and drink, he saw something was missing.

“Gotcha!” He felt a hand grab the back of his neck. In dread, he turned to look at the person who caught him off-guard. It was Rame, wearing nothing but her cheap underwear. She had on a plain bra and white panties with a kitty cat face on them. Her face was flushed red from stripping down like this, but it was according to Juuto’s grand strategy. They had laid the trap, and Merlin got baited right into it.

Her eyes glowed bright red once more, as she performed the spell. In response, he screamed to in pain. Everything ended when he passed out.

“Did you get him?” Juuto revealed himself as he was hiding behind another wall. He himself also had to strip near naked and was stuck out in the cold with nothing but his boxers. While his question was directed towards her, his gaze wasn’t. As it was a little to embarrassing to take a look at her almost naked body.

“He’s out cold for now.” She said, as her eyes went back to normal. Now she had gone out and used the rest of her powers. Even a simple spell to check for danger was too much for her body. In fact, just standing up was a little bit too much for her, as her legs buckled under her body. The girl would’ve fallen down to the hard pavement if he didn’t catch her.

“Are you all right?” He asked with concern in his voice. At this point, his insecurity was overridden by his worry for her well-being. Good thing to, since he had caught her with a hand over her modest, yet perky breast.

“I’ll be fine.” She worked hard to get steady on her feet. For she did notice the special touch. “We need to get back home… And I guess we can’t really leave him out here. I can walk myself, just carry him.”

“Right.” Juuto went down to pick up the unconscious body. It was a good thing that this so-called wizard had yet to be done growing. It wasn’t a challenge for him to carry him over his back. “We should get going before someone sees us.”

After all, what would you do if you saw a near naked man and woman carrying a passed out boy?