Part 1

3rd Person POV

"...how did you even find me here?" Tamamo mumbled in an uncertain tone. "I am sure that I was covering my tracks and even put several barriers that would make anyone following me run in circles if they did not follow a specific pattern..."

In front of Tamamo, who had changed into a unique outfit were two figures with rather contrasting expressions.

"...I only followed Asuna."

Replying first was a figure with dark skin and hazel eyes that seemed to shine bright in their dark location, an underground tunnel full of confusing paths. She seemed slightly exhausted, but that did not appear to be physical exhaustion but a mental one as she glanced at her companion.

"What do you mean? We were supposed to meet with Tamamocchi so we obviously had to follow after her."

Tilting her head in a clueless manner, the other figure did not appear to understand why the questions were asked.

Face-palming, Tamamo took a deep breath before opening her mouth again. The biggest issue was that they were not in the fairyland when Nora and she arrived so how did they get here was a bigger concern.

"...we were obeying our master's summonings."

The tanned one spoke in a slightly timid tone after seeing Tamamo's reaction.

"...Am I not supposed to be your master? I don't recall calling you though..." Tamamo asked with a smile on her face.

The duo could tell that there was something more to the smile, but only the tanned one seemed cautious about it. On the other hand, Tamamo tried to hide her irritation at the thought that she believed to be the real answer to what happened. No, for Tamamo, the answer to the question did not pose an issue, but rather why that person could do that with more authority than her than the one who made it like that.

"Isn't it because Shiki-sama called us here? He was the one to emit an emergency call and summon us. We followed that order and arrived here... but just when we contacted him, he told us to go and aid his fox." Asuna muttered in a bright tone.

With twisted lips, Tamamo must've looked weird, but she did not mind. Even though she believed she was being a simpleton, just hearing the comment that Nora called her 'his' fox caused Tamamo to feel butterflies in her stomach. She felt excited at the prospect of going and sharing an extraordinarily lewd kiss that was bound to leave both of them short on breath and excited to the point that a small trigger would make the two cross the line.

"Karin... is she ok? She is making weird faces since a while ago." Asuna mumbled in a not-so-subtle tone.

"Shhhh." Karin, the tanned young woman, held a finger in her mouth as she tried to signal her companion to not say anything.

"But... she looks lewd. Do you think she is having ecchi thoughts?" Asuna asked with a bright smile.

Hastily covering the mouth of her companion with both hands, Karin glanced at Tamamo and sighed in relief when she saw her daydreaming with a not-very lady-like expression.

"Eh? Are you perhaps getting shy? Last time we found Tamamocchi's secret book where she writes stories you were engrossed in reading that you ignored my warning and Master caught us red-handed." Asuna easily pushed Karin away and spoke. "The face you had once that happened was so funny, but Master looked awkward too so I could not help but laugh even more."

These words however made Tamamo look at the two again as she snapped off her daydreaming.

"Say there, did you perhaps peek in the book that I left perfectly hidden and only my hubby would ever be able to find? The same book I placed several barriers that would stop anyone other than my hubby from reading its contents. The very same book where I wrote many of my most passionate fetishes and ideas for Nora to do to me..." Tamamo asked.

"No." Karin hastily shook her head.

Nonetheless, her companion was more than enough to make the small effort of Karin from avoiding responsibility to fail.

"Yes!" Asuna gave a hearty laugh and a thumbs up. "Haha, we even found a second book where Master is turned into a young boy, and you-"

Using both hands again and applying an even higher level of strength, Karin clung to Asuna for dear life as she tried to stop the young woman from speaking. Karin herself had turned bright red from shame, undoubtedly proof that she read the contents as well.

Shaking all over, Tamamo lowered her head and the darkness in the tunnel took care of hiding her expression.

Drenched in sweat, Karin never saw the fox angry before, and as far as she was aware, someone who can easily laugh about every silly thing and hardly gets angry would be very scary once angered.

Puzzled by her companion's actions, Asuna tried to release herself. The idea she came up with was to let herself fall backward and that caught Karin off guard, nonetheless, the tanned young woman had a great desire to survive because she had dreams she wanted to accomplish.

"There is no way I am dying before doing THAT!" Karin did her best.

If only doing her best was enough, the world would be a better place. Asuna seemed to see everything as a game and she did not want to lose so she pushed herself to roll, her action combined with her own struggle to break free was enough to be released. Laying side by side, Asuna turned towards Karin and grinned. Feeling like it was her turn now, Asuna copied Karin and kept the tanned young woman in check.

"Hahaha, I win." Asuna grinned.

Looking at Tamamo's lack of response, Asuna was reminded that the conversation was cut off and she spoke again.

"Master was quite troubled with what he saw, but he said he will do what he can. Master is just the best!" Asuna mumbled. "We also pitched in some ideas to help so he praised us."

"Oh?" Tamamo raised her head.

Narrowed eyes pointed at her, Asuna did not even flinch.

"Say there... what do you think of your 'Master'?" Tamamo asked.

Doing her best, Karin patted Asuna's hands on her mouth to signal her to not say a word. However, if Asuna had been an individual that followed basic orders from just anyone, she would not have caused Yasaka a huge headache the first day they arrived at Urakyoto and Karin seemed to forget that.

"Master? Master is Master, the best master." Asuna replied.

Finding the answer lacking, Tamamo changed slightly the question.

"Do you like your Master?" Tamamo inquired.

Hoping to get a better answer, Tamamo was disappointed when only Karin seemed embarrassed and covered her face or rather eyes.

"Yes! Master is fun to hang out with! I always find myself in hilarious situations when I follow him!" Asuna answered with a bright smile.

Feeling like she was doing something bad, Tamamo felt herself burning with guilt for trying to set up such a pure child. However, the fox was evil and she would not give up so easily.

"...what did you think about the things I wrote?" Tamamo asked.

"Ecchi." Asuna grinned.

"...have you imagined yourself in that position?" Tamamo followed with that statement.

Tilting her head, Asuna seemed to be picturing that inside her mind as she would furrow her eyebrows. Nonetheless, it was not like there was no reaction. Her white skin made it easier to notice the changes. Tamamo had written enough stories in those books to surpass the thickest book ever written. However, she was a humble fox and decided to make it into different volumes as she called it 'A fox, a cat, and their never-ending debauched life', dividing it into several volumes made it easier to write everything as she did not use a computer but rather wrote everything by hand. All sorts of situations were taken into account and Tamamo had to admit that she took inspiration from the things that Nora experienced in his past life to create all sorts of scenarios.

Slowly, Asuna turned from white to red. Her expression remained frozen but deeply ashamed.

"Yosh, first one get!" Tamamo did a guts pose. "Then..."

In Karin's opinion, Tamamo's smile as she looked at her looked extremely evil. There was no malice but the second intentions behind it were clear as water.

"Amaterasu did not send you with second intentions, did she?" Tamamo asked.

"N-No." Karin replied.

"I mean, I was there, then I questioned you before bringing you to Urakyoto... however, I am still curious. You reacted oddly when meeting my hubby." Tamamo muttered. "Reacting is not a bad thing, there is nothing odd or strange. The problem is how you reacted... to be fearful of even shaking hands with him, I have to question why that happened. I mean, it could simply be your instincts kicking in, feeling the danger."

Looking down at the duo, Tamamo extended a hand toward Karin.

"Was it Tsukuyomi or Susano-o? Both are women who acted quite smitten by my hubby's charms. Well, in the goddess of storms' case, she fell for the sake he offered her to the point she wanted to keep him at her place." Tamamo sounded displeased as she expressed herself. "However, he turned down such an offer and I considered that she might've told you something, perhaps keeping him monitored."

"...N-No." Karin shook her head.

Still afraid, she still grabbed Tamamo's hand.

"Is it something you cannot say? My dear mommy is none other than the great Amaterasu, you can trust me when I say I have your back." Tamamo winked.

Deciding to not mention how unreliable that sounded, Karin stood up and cleaned her maid outfit. Black in color, it contrasted with the white apron and her white pantyhose. Wearing a conservative one was out question given the mobility she needed to fight so it was closer to a miniskirt version. However, compared to Asuna's who left the chest area completely open to the public to see, Karin was fully covered. With a blue ribbon hanging on her chest. That is in contrast to Asuna's which was safely tugged inside her breast valley close to a mole on her left chest.

Hesitating, Karin decided to spill the beans. It was not like Asuna or her had not spilled them already to Nora who 'kindly' and 'gently' made them talk. Karin felt her heart rate go up as she recalled the experience.

"...why are you blushing?" Tamamo suspiciously looked at the young woman.

Raising a hand to ask for some time Karin composed herself.

"Ahem, actually, Amaterasu-sama asked us to get close to Nora- Ahem, Shiki-sama and make an offspring so it would become an excuse for her to visit." Karin said.

"That b*tch." Tamamo gritted her teeth.

Sweating coldly, Karin did not dare to point out how Tamamo should not call her mother, a goddess, like that.

"And? Is that why you acted scared about him?" Tamamo asked in annoyance.

"...it was also to judge his character." Karin said.

"Ho ho? You saying that old hag still doubts my wonderful and one-of-a-kind husband of mine?" Tamamo inquired.

"No... it was our creator, and you could say our mother as well." Karin muttered. "Someone with a great authority."

"I say, you speak like my mommy is not that high in the hierarchy compared to yours..." Tamamo looked puzzled.

"...there are certainly multiple ways, Asuna and I, Raijus can come to exist, from natural phenomena that become unique in some way to the most simple way and that is being created by high-ranking gods." Karin explained. "...Amaterasu-sama never revealed it, no, she was made to forget our origins and made to think she was responsible for it."

"...it is hard to accept all that you are just saying given how loose your tongue has gotten all of sudden." Tamamo did not seem to believe what she heard.

Smiling bitterly, Karin closed her eyes and numerous way to convince Tamamo of her words, but she considered the most simple way.

"He gently coaxed the information from us." Karin said.

"...my condolences." Tamamo felt some pity and jealousy for the girl since she was well aware of the youth's gentle methods.

Sighing, Tamamo could not blame the youth for not telling her about his coaxing.

"...so? Who created you?" Tamamo did not miss the point.

Few individuals could trick goddesses of Amaterasu's caliber without causing a ruckus.

"It is hard to believe, but it was none other than, Izanami-no-mikoto-sama." Karin revealed. "She has been keeping tabs on Nora- Ahem, Shiki-sama since he was born."

"Oh dear me, who is supposed to catch a stalker of the caliber of a creation goddess?" Tamamo dumbly asked.

"...I dunno." Karin shook her head.

"Is it because of his o overwhelming charm? No, it has to be because he has the fluffiest cat ears and tails in the world!?" Tamamo mumbled incoherently.

Awkwardly looking at Tamamo who had kneeled as she held her head and almost pulled off her hair, Karin remained silent and glanced at the still-frozen Asuna in envy for her carefree nature.

"Wait, I should be something like her granddaughter, there is not a grandmother who would deny the request of such a cute granddaughter like me." Tamamo stood up and spoke in a delighted tone.

Deciding not to point out the holes in that logic, Karin decided to speak the last thing she was keeping secret from the fox.

"She only said that her interest in him was because he is one of those individuals." Karin said. "Not a Lesser key, but rather a Grand Key and he has... no attribute."

Face-palming, Tamamo thought that Nora needed to get rid of his habit of pulling new sides of himself like that.

"You are not a goddam onion!!!" Tamamo yelled a reference only she understood.

Only having heard about it briefly from Nora once, Tamamo could tell that he was not aware of being one. However, the fate of most of the keys was never a good one.

---------------------------

3rd Person POV

A golden flash clashed with a white one, the result was the sound of metal being broken.

Clicking her tongue, Artoria discarded the broken iron sword in her hands. Melusine who just clashed against her was ready to attack again and did not seem inclined to give her time to rest.

Grumbling, Artoria pulled a new sword using her storage magic.

"Don't you know how much I will get scolded for breaking these?" Artoria covered the sword in a golden aura. "Nora always nags me so I am used to it, but Akiko can be a pain in the ass."

Melusine had leaped in a straight line towards Artoria, but the young woman had charged large amounts of aura in her sword, her goal was to avoid a direct clash, even if her aura could deal severe damage to anything she considered evil, the problem was that she needed to make contact. Similar to Akiko and the rest of the girls who rely on quickly drawing their swords to deal a swift but powerful attack in a small window of time, Melusine wielded a modified version of a sacred sword Artoria could not recognize.

It was close to a laser beam than a full charge and ram due to the speed. Otherwise, Artoria would not be able to face the brunt of the attack. Nora had made sure to drill such a thing during training, and Artoria would not dare to make the mistake and let Nora see it or she might have to go through that special training again. Never take the brunt force of the attack and always redirect it.

Nonetheless, even if she was not being sent flying, Artoria was not having it easy.

"Hey, I guess you would not be willing to chat for a bit?" Artoria commented.

However, seeing how Melusine ignored her and spread her feathery wings to fly, Artoria clicked her tongue.

"That stupid and womanizer cat, why is it only with you that people are willing to share a conversation." Artoria grumbled.

Even though she blamed him, it was not like she had expected another outcome when she spoke. Artoria had been told that she was too blunt at times and that made people avoid engaging in further conversations. Such a thing happened multiple times when she worked as Nora's escort during social gatherings in the Underworld. Being flirted at by some snob noble was common, but her attitude was enough to push away about 50% of those people. The other 50% always tried to use their higher pedigree to intimidate her, yet, she never cared about such a thing and as cliche as it sounded, Nora would come to the rescue and speak just a few words that left the men drenched in cold sweat. In a sense, Nora would come to the rescue... of the men, otherwise, Artoria was certain that kicking their asses was the obvious outcome.

Keeping her mind busy with idle thoughts, Artoria tried to relax herself. The moment she saw the small white-haired girl, there was an impulse in her body as she felt the urge to face the shorty in battle. She did not like it. The feeling came from the parts that were put in her during her time in the church. Artoria no longer felt discomfort after Nora helped her back then. There was no aching and she did not feel like dropping dead anymore. The youth seemed to have seen his actions back then as a simple treatment, but Artoria had tried looking for a way to fix it multiple times and failed. It pissed her off that her body was giving her trouble again.

"...no, isn't it different?" Artoria mumbled.

Taking a stance, Artoria held her sword with both hands as she got ready to meet the next attack coming her way. Despite the noise of Nora's overpowered summons, Artoria was certain the dragon lady will still aim at her.

There was a sound of cutting through air and it was Artoria's clue.

Compared to Nora's swordplay when they trained which was as crafty and playful as a child playing a prank, or Raikou and Ei's deadly quick draw, the dragon girl did not use any complicated movements. Musashi and Ushiwakamaru had a flexible fighting style that would leave her tasting the floor if she let her guard down even for a second, but the dragon girl was moving on instinct. As soon as the sound came, Artoria swung her sword and released her golden aura. Nonetheless, Artoria herself was vividly surprised when the output suddenly became unstable. In fact, she almost dropped her sword as well.

The area where the aura was released was devastated, but given that the target of her gear was only the dragon girl, the destruction was not complete. Yet, a figure sent flying in that direction caused the earth to leave a hole.

The one who caused this was not happy however since she felt her heart and several places in her body throb. It was not pain, but rather, she felt pressure like never before.

"...no, wouldn't this be the second time?" Artoria chuckled. "I guess the time came, Nora."

Despite her ominous mutterings, Artoria knew that nothing wrong will happen to her. The troublesome youth, Nora who appeared on her mind displaying a grin and a peace sign, had told her about the possibility of what just happened.

There was a sense of discomfort as the aura coming from her sacred gear was combined with her own Touki and life energy. The amounts she released were usually in equilibrium, but not anymore. Her heart was overflowing with energy and the vitality coursing through her veins was intoxicating. Yet, it had only taken her by surprise before. Loading with aura her sword, Artoria swung it to release the excess energy. This was nothing new to her since she had been Nora's guinea pig for his magic LINK.

Nonetheless, not everything was good news.

The attack against her seemed to be ineffective, or rather, the dragon girl's armor was the real deal and protected her. Artoria did not believe the attack would finish her off even with the sudden outburst given that her plan was just to slow down the dragon girl.

"Ahhh, urgh..."

The groaning of the dragon girl was heard as pieces of her armor fell off, the helmet area was mostly shattered but the rest only suffered enough to get a few pieces off.

"Well, well, I guess the mystery of why he wants you to remain alive is out. You seem cute like a doll." Artoria clicked her tongue. "...it's what I would like to say."

Sighing, Artoria saw how her sword seemed to be on its last. The dragon girl in front of her reacted to Artoria's growing aura and her own aura responded as well as the corrupted energy related to the cult.

"...is she becoming stronger to match my new aura outburst? Huh, I guess this is what Nora meant with cheat-like people." Artoria mumbled.

Not really in the mood for waiting for the other party to power up fully, Artoria pushed her body forward. Her speed went up more than she expected and her sword was swung a tad later, only grazing the other party's arm guard. However, Artoria was not discouraged. Taking a move from Nora's skill book, or rather, using one skill he forced her to learn, a foothold was made in the air as Artoria made a comeback that took the dragon girl by surprise. Making the armor break further, Artoria aimed at the shoulder area. Yet, her sword was broken again.

"Tsk, telling me to manage my aura to break these is such a pain, does he want me to train all the time?" Artoria grumbled as she pulled another common iron sword.

Despite her complaints, Artoria still followed Nora's advice and made use of a common sword. Control was not her forte, and Artoria always had an issue with it.

The dragon girl used the moment Artoria was busy pulling out her sword to shorten the distance and both hands were swung while a flash of like in the shape of an X appeared in front of Artoria. The fact that she could see it so close meant that she could not escape. Artoria was aware of it, but she was not going to kick the bucket just like that. Leaving Alice to Nora will never happen.

Her will to survive skyrocketed and Artoria pushed her to go overdrive. Her fighting spirit only got stronger as danger dawned on her so her dragon heart responded by generating a draconic aura like never before.

The method was raw and could barely be called a countermeasure, but Artoria pushed all the aura she could muster in the short interval she had in front of her as she made a motion of jumping back and reducing the area where the attack would hit by curling up. Nonetheless, despite all the orders she sent toward her limps, not all were accomplished in time. The window of time was too short for it to properly work, yet, Artoria managed to avoid critical damage as rolled on the ground a few meters.

"*Cough* If that cat had been the one in place... the sheer quality and quantity of ki would've been enough to avoid the damage." Artoria immediately stood.

Blood was spilled from her mouth given that she took some damage, but it was not to a level that would put her out of combat.

Rather than focusing on the damage she received, Artoria was more concerned about why her method lacked the ability to properly protect herself.

There were several issues such as the quality of the weapon being of a higher grade than the enemies she usually fought. She also took into account the instability of her protection method compared to Nora when he used one of 'THOSE' forms. Yet, she could tell that there was something else. The sacred sword itself had a built-in function or special ability. Above all, she felt like her body was repulsed towards it after her body changed.

"Isn't it nice? Fighting against all odds..." Artoria smiled viciously. "This sure brings back memories I forgot."

Pulling another sword, Artoria took a dual-wielding stance. Her enemy used two, so she might well do the same. She had learned the basics and that was all she would need. Against the dragon girl, speed will need to come faster than technique.

Pushing herself forward, Artoria met the dragon girl's charge. Instead of using her swords to clash against the light spilling out of her strangely shaped gauntlets, Artoria hit the arm guards.

The force behind the charge was unbefitting her small frame and Artoria felt her arms go numb, but they could still move. She stepped back once and repeated her actions. If she was able to react, the dragon girl was just as capable to do the same. The swords in Artoria's hand were loaded with aura produced with her sacred gear and she continued to attack the dragon girl's arm guards.

Just when Artoria felt like the cracks on the armor were going to be enough to destroy it, her swords were the ones to give in first. The first strikes were done carefully to protect the blades, but from there on she had done a sloppy job at protecting them. It did not matter how much she had practiced pulling things from her storage dimension, Artoria was not at the level of Nora's abnormal swapping speed of objects. It still took her time and that was enough for the dragon girl to use the opening. Catching her hands with hers, Artoria came to a standstill with the dragon girl. Despite her smaller frame, the dragon girl was powerful enough to push Artoria back and with her hands sealed, she was unable to grasp her weapons to counterattack.

Looking at the smaller girl, Artoria could not help but feel pity after seeing her distorted expression. The corrupted energy and most likely curses cast upon her were painful and surely put a strain on her, but she was forced to fight. It was not the first time Artoria had seen it and would most likely not be the last one. Nonetheless, pity could only take that much on a fight, Artoria headbutted the dragon girl to make her flinch but it only made her angrier.

"...what is your head made off from?" Artoria grumbled.

Tripping, Artoria fell and the dragon girl ended up on top of her.

"If you want to straddle someone, the cat is over there." Artoria commented. "He would be pleased with girls of any age straddling him..."

It was a simple joke to avoid panicking as she saw the petite girl opening her mouth and gathering large amounts of energy in her mouth.

"...dragon breath in human form is cheating." Artoria complained.

Bitterly looking at the dragon girl, Artoria-

-----------------------

3rd Person POV

"Why are you helping them?" Akiko muttered.

Looking at the slayed cultist around them, Akiko and Jeanne were talking. A group of fairies had left and while Jeanne had stepped in to help, Akiko was reluctant. The cultist were rather weak so dealing with them did not take much effort and soon enough the fairies could finally escape.

"...you say that because they are 'targets', aren't they?" Jeanne asked.

Looking strictly at the gentle-looking woman, Akiko snorted but did not reply.

"You seem to know a lot." Akiko said.

Awkwardly smiling, Jeanne looked away.

"Whether or not they are to be killed, captured, or observed, you should not blatantly ignore people's pleas for help." Jeanne muttered.

"It doesn't matter to me if they are innocent or not. The details of their status are not necessary for me to know, I do what Milord asks me to." Akiko said.

"Did he explicitly tell you to let them die?" Jeanne asked.

Looking away, Akiko did not reply.

"Did he?" Jeanne insisted in a gentle tone.

"No." Akiko answered.

Nodding at that, Jeanne made a sad expression.

"Did he tell you to abandon them?" Jeanne inquired.

Knowing how the young woman will pester her, Akiko replied with a shake of her head.

"You wanted to get rid of them for his sake, didn't you?" Jeanne mumbled. "He will surely have others capture them and do the killing himself."

"...he is not trying to appear like a savior." Akiko muttered. "Acting all righteous on the outside while secretly being the culprit of everything is something he will not do."

"I know." Jeanne nodded.

"However, there have been many times he has been judged and doubted for his actions." Akiko said. "People look at him with distrust, changing their attitudes that used to look at him with awe and respect just because some people did not like his methods or were simply jealous of his success."

Looking with disgust at the dead bodies lying on the ground, Akiko shook her head.

"He is rather simple-minded." Akiko spoke in a soft voice. "Waking up early to make everyone their breakfast after he works out is his usual routine. Watching as everyone eats their fill is enough to bring a smile to his face."

Jeanne reacted to the sleeping part, Jeanne did not comment on it.

Clicking her tongue, Akiko stomped on the body of a cultist.

"Yet, because of people like these... he has to dirty his hands." Akiko's distorted expression showed anger.

"Enough." Jeanne used her polearm to stop Akiko's foot. "Regardless of their deeds before dying, you should respect their corpses."

Glaring at the blonde woman, Akiko obeyed reluctantly.

"...I don't have the right to judge him, I just cannot after I got my hands filled with blood due to my actions in the past," Jeanne muttered. "However, I can at least tell that he is not doing it because he enjoys it. He is capable of bearing the weight of those sins because thanks to his actions, you can all smile with light hearts."

Frowning, Akiko did not seem to agree with Jeanne's words. Whether it was because she simply felt a dislike for herself and wanted to refute her every word or maybe she had other thoughts regarding the topic was not something Jeanne could immediately guess. However, the conversation was interrupted.

Enemies appeared in their vicinity.

"Uncouth enemies came to interrupt us." Akiko muttered.

"Enemies are not supposed to be anything else than bad news so they are doing their job." Jeanne said.

Ignoring the unusually familiar retort, Akiko saw the enemies they had to face surrounding them.

This group of enemies had a human shape, but that was all that made them similar to a person.

A shadowy form that seemed closer to smoke and red orbs to serve as the eyes, the group had a faint presence that felt like it could vanish if they took their eyes off them for too long.

"...these guys again." Akiko clicked her tongue.

"Grave diggers..." Jeanne somberly said.

"You know these?" Akiko inquired.

"...yes. I have been traveling until now and happened to cross paths with these creatures." Jeanne replied.

As they chatted, the new enemies seemed to hesitate to approach. Nonetheless, their attention was placed on the bodies lying down.

"...they are one of the newest inventions of the worst necromancer." Jeanne spoke in a spiteful tone. "They have great drawbacks such as the conditions for them to be able to move or rather, to be summoned in a place. However, they are capable of dragging inanimated objects inside their bodies. No, let me be more specific. By rejecting the possibility of dragging most objects, they are capable of dragging dead bodies inside theirs and immediately sending them to the necromancer."

Speaking in disgust, Jeanne seemed particularly irked by the creatures.

Nodding at that, Akiko did not seem to have a particular reaction to the creatures. However, she could tell they were bad news. Supplying an enemy Nora described as worse than 'My always kind thighs shishou' with one of his weapons in a manner that could not be counted as a recipe for disasters.

"Weaknesses?" Akiko asked.

Among the inventory she carried with herself using magic, there were numerous light swords Nora had 'acquired' in barely legal means so given their attributes of darkness... they would do the trick.

"Unfortunately, they have some level of tolerance towards light and holy weapons. Their bodies are also almost impossible to be destroyed." Jeanne spoke. "What you currently see... it is not their true form. The quantities of this fog are too thin to make it in our surroundings."

Narrowing her eyes, Akiko pulled a pair of glasses from her storage dimension with an ease that was almost as good as Nora's. The glasses on her were worn and Akiko clicked her tongue.

"No, I understand what these are. Milord once came to fight a creature that had once covered an abandoned city with similar properties. The fog itself is the true body, while these 'creatures' are just avatars, isn't that right?" Akiko asked.

"...that summarises everything, yes." Jeanne nodded. "So that already happened..."

Whispering in a low tone, Jeanne thoughtfully wondered why was there a difference.

"Nonetheless, it is not like destroying these is completely useless, is there?" Akiko inquired.

"Ah? What? Oh, you would be wasting your time given the sheer amount of these creatures there are, however, given how difficult is for them to form in places with thin levels of fog... You can delay them." Jeanne mumbled. "Magic users can, however, have more uses than melee fighters against this kind of foe."

"Is that a rule?" Akiko asked

"There are unique cases, although I am afraid our method of melee is not included in those." Jeanne smiled wryly.

Nodding, Akiko pulled out a strange-looking sword. It had a spiral shape and lacked the usual edge swords had. The blade was fouled forming the spiral and a strong demonic energy could be felt from it. Akiko looked at Jeanne who seemed to recognize the sword somewhat so she decided to name it for the other party in a loud tone. Nonetheless, Jeanne also felt the need to do the same.

"Let me introduce you to this weapon, it is called, Caladbolg VIII." Akiko said.

"Spiny and Shiny Sword VIII!" Jeanne spoke out loud.

The two people looked at each other like there was something wrong with their words.

"This is CALADBOLG VIII, one of the multiple versions Milord collected from around the world." Akiko said.

"...no, this is Spiny and Shiny Sword VIII, Shirone- Ahem, anyways, this sword has a different name and period." Jeanne muttered. "Wait... when you say collect, you don't mean 'steal', right?"

Despite her desire to retort about the name, Akiko looked away.

"No." Akiko denied.

"Look at me in the eyes when you are answering me." Jeanne narrowed her eyes.

"Ahem, would you look at that? They seem like they cannot hold back anymore." Akiko pointed at the Grave Diggers.

The creatures were on the verge of rushing in since they saw the duo distracted.

Aware that the situation would not allow her to pursue the topic, Jeanne pulled back.

"Consider yourself lucky, that this is the weakest of the series. Nonetheless, it is the one with the lowest cooldown." Akiko spoke.

Raising it high in the air, she chants in a low tone.

"Let me show you... the true rainbow." Akiko whispered.

Contrary to her gentle tone, everything began to spin. The air gathered and formed a spiral, followed by the fog that become more dense after it was concentrated as well as the Grave Diggers.

"...that Nora, he had that bad habit for so long? I will give him an earful, did he think no one would ever chide him about it? I am not going to let it slide, an Onee-chan has to set the younger brother on the right path." Jeanne grumbled.

Almost dropping her weapon, Akiko decided to forget what she just heard. For her mental health, as a fan like her lord about the deeds of the woman before her, Akiko shall keep the image of Jeanne like it was before meeting her.

In one motion, Akiko send the spiral flying in the opiate direction the Grave Diggers appeared.

"That should keep them away for a while. I took all the fog in a condensed form." Akiko muttered and stored her weapon.

This time, Akiko pulled a short dagger red in color.

One light swung and fire was released from the blade of the weapon, the corpses that had surprisingly remained in place began burning.

"...they could've been given a better burial." Jeanne said.

"I believe this method should be better than leaving here and letting those creatures take them away once we leave and the fog covers this area again." Akiko replied.

"However, if they are gathered and later given a proper burial, they-" Jeanne was cut short.

"They are filthy." Akiko muttered in a sharp tone. "I doubt you failed to recognize them as people who would normally be in jail paying for unspeakable crimes. Rapists, murderers... And many others, you should be aware of what kind of people they were."

"We..." Jeanne sighed.

"DO NEVER, EVER, MAKE THE COMPARISON." Akiko raised her voice. "I am not trying to say we are above the law or we cannot be blamed for those actions. Milord accepts it, he says that he is evil and his end won't be pretty, but he acknowledges it and would bear the sins without hesitation. Yet, those people were dirty individuals who fell from grace and indulged in all sorts of evil actions just for fun, to please themselves."

"Every life has a right to be-" Jeanne tried to speak.

"That is why we are not compatible." Akiko said. "I don't care about their circumstances. I wield my sword not for people I know nothing about. I wield my sword not for people who only care about themselves and indulge in a rotten lifestyle. I picked up my sword for the sake of him, the man who saved me, the man who worked hard to stop my family from taking me away."

"Sorry." Jeanne whispered.

"My troubles are like child's play compared to what you went through so do not apologize." Akiko mumbled. "I... cannot be like you. I have opened up to other people thanks to Milord's insistence, but... I just feel repulsed by others."

"Nora- Ahem, he can come as pushy, but he is doing it for your sake." Jeanne chuckled.

Looking at the other party who did not seem angry at all, Akiko felt complicated.

"...what is your relationship with him?" Akiko asked.

"...I am not sure what you mean. I am his ally, is that not enough?" Jeanne replied.

"I can't help but dislike you." Akiko spoke in a straightforward tone. "I can tell it is just a disgusting jealousy I feel that causes that, but I cannot quite disregard it."

Listening quietly, Jeanne did not interrupt even though wanted to say that there was no need to feel jealous.

"The way you talk about him... makes me think you know him better than me. I, who, am always gazing at his back to learn all I can about him is still lacking compared to a woman who suddenly appeared. I can accept if it is the ladies who have met him since long before me and as reluctant as I am, I acknowledge that Artoria is someone who can understand him since they butt heads a lot, but a woman who suddenly popped up out of nowhere just does not sit well with me."

Briefly pondering how to express herself, Akiko looked at the blonde woman.

"Jeanne D'Arc, your reputation is something I can only dream to match. There must've been a lot of times you overcame the odds against you by sheer luck but many others were because of your unyielding will. They must've looked at you with distrust at the beginning, and perhaps that never changed. The path you wanted to follow... it was for your convictions and because there were things you wanted to protect, isn't that right?"

"Yes. The Lord, no, I guess that is not correct." Jeanne bitterly said. "I heard a voice, and I knew my path had been chosen. I never wavered... is something I would like to say. My sisters were a constant worry so I did hesitate in joining the army. There were many issues but I still pushed forward... I wanted them to live in a country free of conflict, or a least that was what I wanted to believe. There was someone who knocked some sense into me."

Chuckling, Jeanne rubbed her head. Her actions were an unconscious reaction and she could still vividly recall the pain of the smack on her head.

"I can't go into details from there on, but you could say the end of the Saintess of Orleans was not a happy one." Jeanne said. "Yet, I will not regret it."

"...That is what I cannot accept. If he were to follow your example and carry with all the weight alone, a sad ending is all that awaits him." Akiko mumbled. "I... no, none of us want to see that. He will continue to carry the weight alone, that much I know he will not want to change."

"He is unfair, don't you think? He will tell you to not carry the weight alone and will mercilessly take it when you are close to falling." Jeanne grumbled.

"Solving your problems if you seem like you cannot do it... or letting you realize what you have to do so you have a bigger sense of accomplishment and can grow..." Akiko complained.

"Then he never takes the credit." Jeanne cleared her throat. " 'Wowzers, you got this covered before I could even lift a finger...' "

"That is a wonderful imitation." Akiko honestly praised.

While the cat in question would surely say it was nothing like him other than the first word, the two women seemed to agree that it was accurate enough.

"...that is why. I will clear any obstacle I can." Akiko said. "I want, even if it is a tiny bit, to carry the always increasing weight on his shoulders. I want to share his burdens."

"...is it because you love him?" Jeanne asked with a kind smile.

"...he." Akiko chuckled. "There was a time I wanted to desperately confess to him."

"Let me guess, he turned you down." Jeanne commented.

"Yes." Akiko calmly nodded. "Haha, I did not even say the first letter when he turned me down."

"He can be pretty mean." Jeanne smiled wryly.

"I can understand why he did it nowadays, although back then I cried a lot." Akiko sighed.

"You still like him though." Jeanne smiled.

Blushing slightly, Akiko nodded.

"...he has always worried about our well-being." Akiko muttered. "...although he has also been afraid that we relied too much on him."

"It is normal for him to think like that. He is overprotective with all of you so he always worries that he might be depriving you of opportunities to meet other people." Jeanne said. "His delicate current relationship with Yasaka is also an issue, but he must be concerned with you all ending in a harem and having to share your loved one."

"It is not like we did not expect that since we got to know him." Akiko smiled wryly.

"...wouldn't they be happier if a man who respects them and offers them his love unconditionally to just them?" Jeanne mumbled. "I guess his mindset is always like that."

"I will not deny that I abused my situation and relied on him too much, but my heart has not wavered regarding my feelings." Akiko spoke. "These feelings of mine are love and loyalty, my aim is to one day convey that to him. To let him know, that I am not simply choosing him because he is all I know or because my sense of gratitude is telling me to throw myself at him. I will convey my feelings once again, and repeatedly do it until he can no longer find faults and can finally accept it."

Smiling gently at that, Jeanne could understand the heart of the purple-haired young woman. Looking in a certain direction, Jeanne could feel a powerful presence.

"As rowdy as always..." Jeanne shook her head.

"Did you say anything?" Akiko asked.

"Nothing, you just remind me of my younger sisters that I thought I could call you as such for a moment." Jeanne chuckled. "Yes, you seem to understand it well now.

Unsure of the meaning of the other party, Akiko tilted her head.

"By the way." Jeanne smiled. "I hope you can tell me, exactly where did HE go and STOLE that, and many others he surely has, weapon."

Feeling a crushing pressure, Akiko's mind sends her warning signals. 

"Bad habits must be corrected before they are too embedded in someone." Jeanne said.

Inwardly apologizing to Nora, Akiko decided to do her best to delay the Saintess and save him from a lecture.

Part 2

MC's POV

Calmly watching as the big hand descended for the Nth time on Barghest's dog form, I had one thing in mind.

"Did I leave the stove on?" I scratched my head.

"Is that really something you should be mumbling in a time like this?" Baobhan Sith retorted in an amazed tone.

Shrugging my shoulders, I was not sure what she expected of me. I was busy with my shikigamis that were surveying the zone for the strange change in the atmosphere. Very much like miasma pools spread in the surroundings and contaminated life forms while altering them in the process... there was a slight concentration of a black fog slowly swallowing the floating islands. Normally the process would've been much faster, but I guess the Queenie must've had some preventive measures in place to slow down the fog.

Yet, Barghest continued to greedily take in the fog as all the fog was converging here. Her form grew the more fog she took. Nonetheless, despite going past the 50 meters mark... she still felt short.

"Wuahaha, I am going to eat you!"

A figure three times Barghest's once again lowered her open palm on top of Barghest's head and a loud sound was heard.

"Sweetie! You cannot eat her!" I raised my voice.

The earth elemental acknowledged my words by whimpering sadly. Despite being a creature that could grow as long as she wanted, her head was still that of a playful young lady.

"...I feel bad for Barghest." Baobhan Sith looked at the humongous dog with pity in her eyes.

"For the one responsible for turning her into that form, I can only feel sarcasm." I muttered.

"For the one responsible for beating her up continuously, you sure like to talk." Baobhan Sith snorted.

"Oh dear, would you look at that? A girl who does not like to take responsibility, guys do not choose girls like that for anything other than playing around." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Hah? What do you even care, womanizer cat!? This has nothing to do with the topic!" Baobhan Sith scoffed.

"Have you not heard of the phrase 'breaking the ice'?" I asked.

"If that was your intention then you have crappy communication skills!" Baobhan Sith complained.

"Oh dear, aren't we talking? I also managed to change the topic as well." I retorted.

Opening her mouth to speak, Baobhan Sith seemed ready to hurl insults at me but was not able to come up with a proper comeback.

"You are obnoxious." Baobhan Sith gave up.

Patting her head, I looked at my cute contracted elemental that continued to beat the hell of out Barghest.

"You are pretty." I said.

"...urgh." Baobhan Sith looked at me coldly.

"This is THAT, you know?" I continued patting her head despite her trying to step away. "When a hot girl insults you, flirt with her."

"I thought you were missing a screw, but it seems like you are missing a whole box instead." Baobhan Sith scowled.

Nonsense, cats do not use screws.

"So, are you already prepared to face the consequences later on?" I inquired.

Clicking her tongue, Baobhan Sith looked my way.

"You should've started from there and saved the nonsense." Baobhan Sith said. "I will- Ouch! What is wrong with you hitting me all of a sudden?"

"My sadistic nature at work." I spoke.

"...you will one day be on a trial for domestic violence." Baobhan Sith lectured me.

"You were going to say that you will atone with your life, weren't you?" I frowned.

"And what is the problem with that?" Baobhan Sith questioned me. "It got nothing to do with you. If there is a culprit to get rid of, you can always calm down the masses faster and Mother will have their trust as a leader who can get the job done. Leaving me alive will only cause the fairies to distrust her and that will cause her grief."

"Yeah, no." I just left my hand on top of her head. "That is just a cowardly way of dealing with everything. You are taking the shortcut and will leave others to clean your ass."

"...and what do you suggest?" Baobhan Sith smirked. "Do you think all our troubles disappear by just wishing they did not exist?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I could not give a definite answer. There were several ways one could properly crack this problem. Yet, this is me who was speaking. Nora's quality is a thing.

"Is your brain for show only?" I smirked. "How about using it for a change? I believe you got enough time to think of a couple of ideas by the time everything is solved."

"Wow, your advice, you should take it. You are leaving everything to me after talking big." Baobhan Sith retorted.

"I can't let a part of me die since I promised to survive no matter what." I sighed. "You sucked so much from me that is currently all over your body. Now you cannot die either."

Smirking, I dropped my hand from her head and pointed below her stomach.

The fairy slapped my hand with a blush on her face.

"I only sucked blood." Baobhan Sith gritted her teeth. "And I most certainly do not have anything that came out of you down there."

"Heh, if you die you will not be able to get back at me for this." I chuckled.

"...I will get my revenge." Baobhan Sith looked at me with a pair of burning eyes.

Yosh, it is always good to motivate your allies. Her pair of burning eyes (from anger) will certainly be helpful down the road.

All of sudden, a loud crashing sound was heard but no further noise was followed so I turned my head towards Barghest and Terra. The big dog was no longer moving.

"It sure took a while." I nodded.

"Barghest is known to be tougher than Gawain, the original user of her holy sword." Baobhan Sith muttered.

"Terra still beat her up." I replied.

"Don't look so proud, you did not do it yourself." Baobhan Sith retorted.

"MY elemental, MY victory." I said. "Isn't it the same in Pok*mon? You pit your friends in a death match against enemies that would make you shit your pants if you had to face them alone in the game even though the enemies are ten times bigger than your friends?"

"I do not know what Pok*mon is, but it sounds ruthless, and that means something coming from me." Baobhan Sith commented.

Nodding at that, I kept my eyes glued to Barghest's figure. The giant dog was decreasing in size at an alarming rate, but it seemed to be because she reached a limit. I am not certain if it was because of the damage or if the vessel could no longer keep it together, but there was not a sign of a phase two or anything like that.

"Hehehe." Terra laughed happily.

Decreasing in size, the Kaiju girl became two heads shorter than me. An absurd change but nonetheless a sight I had gotten used to after a while.

Her innocent smile betrayed the destruction she caused just seconds before. I just grabbed both of her cheeks as I began to play with them. Gently pulling them a little, I lifted her in my arms and did a twirl in my spot, only to proceed to headpat the little rascal.

"Hehehe." Terra's pleased voice could be heard as I used my legendary dual head patting technique that combined hands and tails.

"You would really lay a hand on anything that moves huh." Baobhan Sith's cold eyes were directed at me.

Rolling my eyes, I felt my cat's senses tingling. Disaster was around the corner despite taking Barghest down. To prove it, Terra suddenly quietened down and began shaking as she hugged me.

The other fairies also appeared and entered my clothes as they used them to hide themselves. The effect was so strong that even a small cat made of purple flames appeared in front of me and it hissed in a certain direction.

"...a cat?" Baobhan Sith looked puzzled.

Frowning at the cat's presence, I did not say anything. I was not too adept in the use of that child given that I did not rely on its abilities too much for anything other than training, but have never used it in a real fight. Despite its weird affection towards me, it is hard to use.

It was then that it happened. The air changed, and not only felt it. Baobhan Sith grimaced as we felt a presence from the distance.

The fact that even at this distance it could be felt, there was only one possible answer.

"...so it has awakened." I sighed.

"...this is different to how I had heard." Baobhan Sith frowned.

"These people deal with evil gods, tell me what did you expect from them?" I could not help but grumble.

Calming down the scared Terra and my other fairies, I looked at the pink-haired young woman.

"Not that, it should've been causing the land to be destroyed." Baobhan Sith mumbled. "The lands, no matter how much the previous queen had meddled with them, are still the body of Cernunnos. By sheer instinct, Cernunnos should've been recovering its body, but..."

"There is a strong miasma being spread, the effects will be more apparent the closer we get to Cernunnos, however..." I clicked my tongue.

The trees around us were beginning to take hideous shapes slowly.

"As you can see, the effects are not limited to the areas where the miasma can be seen as fog. The land, all the way from below has already been affected." I sighed.

Feeling bad for the fairies, I signaled them all towards the magatama and they immediately entered the sacred treasure.

"You do not undo the summoning of that... girl?" Baobhan Sith looked at me incredulously.

"No?" I tilted my head.

"...I see, the miasma you speak of must be affecting me as well. I mean, I just heard that you are keeping THAT child with exceedingly high powers and equally high consumption summoned." Baobhan Sith held her head with one hand.

The black cat indeed complains that summoning Terra can exhaust her tremendously, but I don't have that issue with the amount of energy I have stored.

Thinking that things can get tricky, I decided to give Artoria a hand. She seemed to have grown by facing Melusine, but I am not sure what kind of effect the awakening of Cernunnos might have on her corrupted state. Luckily for us, Barghest was out of commission so the obstacles in my way are lesser. Yet, I would like to have as many people available to deal with unexpected situations. Artoria's abilities are outstanding once she uses her gear so I should lend a hand to speed up her victory.

I won't lie when I say that I hesitated and almost rushed in when I saw her about to receive a dragon breath to her face, but she skillfully escaped.

Right now, I should pull out a certain weapon I 'got'.

"...where did you steal that from?" Baobhan Sith asked.

A holy sword was currently in my hand after I pulled it out of my storage space. The amount of holy power contained in it is not a joke.

"Why do you assume I stole it?" I grumbled.

"You have a cute face, but you act like a total thug." Baobhan Sith retorted.

I was left speechless since I could not retort to anything she said. I mean, I did technically take it without permission. However, given that Artoria is sort of a Pendragon now and I had taken it for her... I am sure there is nothing illegal in my actions. What is hers is mine and what is mine is mine. Such a simple rule explains it all.

"...hey now, don't go calling me a thug." I mumbled. "Hoodlum has more letters so it sounds more menacing. That said, gangster is rather fitting given my businesses..."

"It was not supposed to be a praise." Baobhan Sith clicked her tongue. "That thing, it is a really fancy sword you got there. Is it a replica? It was surely well made-"

"No, it is real." I interrupted the fairy.

The young lady ended up with her mouth open and her expression frozen when I spoke.

"No, no, no... I get it. You are the nonsense master, the man who can leave anyone speechless, but there is literally no way you can get your hands in the original." Baobhan Sith vehemently shook her head.

"Why not?" I asked.

Smirking, I took a throwing pose and sent it flying toward Artoria. The sword landed perfectly between her and Melusine, my blonde underlying immediately reacted and took the sword even as she threw a grudgeful look my way. She looked kind of cute so I was not going to cut short her sweet rations for the little insult she said when the sword landed. She used to curse a lot more so I have been working hard to correct her manner of speech. If she is going to find a place in society and receive proper education, she needs to do it without pissing people off with her vocabulary. 

"AND YOU THREW IT AWAY JUST LIKE THAT!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Baobhan Sith began shaking me after putting her hands on my shoulders.

"I could think of 5 things in 1 second so that means I got a lot of issues, but I will not enter into details. The sword will be better handled by her." I sighed.

"The heck? So you are not able to wield holy weapons..." Baobhan Sith sounded relieved.

"No, I can wield both holy and demonic weapons without a problem. I also pulled that sword from some strange rock so it is not like the sword rejected me." I shrugged my shoulders.

"YOU PULLED THE SWORD OUT OF THE STONE!? DOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU-HMMMM." Baobhan Sith angrily tried to speak but I had covered her mouth with my hand.

"I don't want to be the King of England again so not a word of this to anyone." I said.

"HMMM! EMMMHEMM." Baobhan Sith tried to talk but I prevented that with my hand.

I guess she wanted to ask about that, but I honestly was not in the mood.

Picking her up in semi-princess carry while not removing my hand, I enjoyed the silence... or not. Artoria seemed to be going while against Melusine so there were a lot of noises.

The intimidating presence of the revived god was a lot more threatening than I expected, but it seemed to be staying in place so I will leave it alone for now. I began walking toward Barghest's fallen figure. My mind was full of disastrous outcomes after fighting the god that is possibly going to be assisted by that asshole, but I could not be prepared for everything. My stamina aside, my trump card, Artoria will not be able to give her all if I ended up recovering her stamina via Senjutsu, and her mental state is bound to deteriorate if I meddle with it. It seems only I can continuously move for months without an actual rest just relying on my monstrous vitality.

"Ah, what a pain." I grumbled.

The closer I got, I felt kind of upset with the lady squirming in my arms. I pinched her butt to get at her for filling my hand on her mouth with saliva but that only made her squirm more. My real issue was how she turned Barghest into that huge dog. However, I was not going to give her a final judgment. This was going to be solved by the fairies themselves.

"Could you stop pinching my butt you darned lust incarnate?" Baobhan Sith managed to remove my hand.

"...sorry, it felt kind of nice to the touch so I did it too much." I honestly apologized. "You have a good bum."

A fist landed on my face but I did not flinch given that I deserved it. That said, this is also my way of punishing her.

When I reached Barghest, the bog dog was lying down unconscious. The damage that Terra caused was nothing to scoff at. The paws were bent the wrong way and the tail was gone. Thankfully, this was pretty much a concentration of the disgusting and corrupted miasma. Very much like me in the past, Barghest's real body was inside all this.

Dropping Baobhan Sith, like the gentleman I am, I put my left hand over the black dog.

"You have no manner! Can't you treat a lady correctly?" Baobhan Sith's complaints reached my ears.

Of course, I ignored them.

Calming down myself, I tried to recall the feeling. I had tried this many times before. Unsuccessful, but I had done many trials. 

"<Drain>" I spoke.

My words were the trigger. The miasma covering Barghest began to flow from my hand and her form began changing. Violent urges invaded my mind, but I punched them away. I could not allow them to take over my mind. If I began using this ability out of control, I would devour everything around me. It was not my intention.

The dark thoughts threatened me, insulted me, and tried to tempt me with all sorts of lies. However, This was child's play compared to what I usually dealt with if I tried to fall asleep. The voices coming from the miasma were not the only thing telling me to act upon impulses. This ability itself was a dangerous beast, one that will always make me feel hungry and right now it was seeing Barghest as a good meal.

It was not the way a guy would eat a beauty like her so I ignored it. I could feel the craving and how it wanted to get out of control, but I kept it in check. The ideas it gave me were not bad, I realized long ago that it could do more of what I was using it for. However, I will not have any of that. What if I can take away everything it eats and make it mine, not only the energy, the flesh, magic, ki, and even abilities... all that certainly sounded tempting. I could grow stronger at an alarming rate. I could protect my foxes and cats at home. I could strike horror into my enemies and make them avoid me. Yet... I pushed those thoughts away.

The miasma had thickened before I realized and the negative energy was causing my head to be susceptible to things I usually keep in check. Nonetheless, the magatama in my chest was not for show.

It did not immediately act and removed the negative energy or the miasma. Such a sudden outburst would certainly harm Barghest in her black dog form and Baobhan Sith given her race. This, the magatama began charging its energy and sent it towards me slowly. The green light coming from it was continuously blinking and I recognized how it tried to communicate with me.

With my left hand on Barghest, and my right hand holding the magatama, I spoke.

"Be purified..." I muttered.

Heeding my words, the magatama sprung into action. A blinding but harmless light began to shine from my pendant. I was not harmed despite my unique situation and from a glance Baobhan Sith was perfectly fine as well so everything was ok.

--------------------------

3rd Person POV

"Isn't it faster to just fly?" Baobhan Sith asked as she held for dear life.

With the wind passing by her ears at high speed, the pink-haired young woman had to be careful to not bite her tongue.

Dashing through the woods, a flash of pink and black could be caught as two individuals moved. However, the positions were rather strange. The pink flash was above the black one and it seemed to be clinging to it in a manner similar to how people rode horses. There is also the detail of how she was the only human-looking figure and seemed to be holding a purple figure.

"I am keeping an eye on the 'ley lines' of the island. By touching the ground, I can do that." Nora replied. "Besides, you should be able to see those flashes high in the sky, right? Those are corrupted wyverns and their riders fighting against my allies. I would like to help them out, but it will slow us down. I trust that they can deal with those creatures."

"Heh, funny thing to say after you have been doing that high-speed creation of familiars made from paper to assist them." Baobhan Sith smirked.

Not replying to that, Nora accelerated. Instead of a human form, he opted for a form that could go at high speed while carrying someone. A big cat... it was not wrong to call it as such, but many would like to retort that his usual small cat form had nothing to do with a panther.

"I can't really fathom you." Baobhan Sith leaned toward Nora's ear. "Your powers only get more absurd the more I observe you. The fact you were able to get your hands on such a weapon proves you are resourceful beyond normal means. However, even though you had such a weapon, you easily let go of it. You don't crave for power... what is it that you truly want?"

Baobhan Sith had witnessed something that she could not quite comprehend. Nora's actions were contradictory. He had the perfect chance to eliminate a threat not only once but twice. Baobhan Sith could tell he had more than enough energy to spare to handle her or Barghest, but instead, he used an unusual method to turn Barghest back to her previous form and even healed her.

By the side of the unconscious knight, her sword, different from before was laying and Nora simply grabbed it. Baobhan Sith felt relieved, the youth had finally shown his ugly side, once someone let their guard down and began to act on their evil thoughts, their fake personas will fall off. Nonetheless, despite the sword beginning to emanate a dangerous aura, the youth held onto it with a confused expression. He began tapping his chest, or rather, the stone hanging there and questioning why the sword was still the same. It was a curious and bizarre spectacle, but the youth sighed at the end and put a strip of paper on top of the sword and it began turning back slowly. Once it gained its shine again, something even more bizarre had happened as it seemed to gain life and float around Nora who shook his head and pointed at Barghest. The sword looked visually sad but nonetheless obeyed. Just remembering all that made Baobhan Sith wonder why did they have great hardships getting accepted by their weapons when the son of the cat got the sword practically drooling for him. It scared her just thinking of him touching her bow.

"Waifus." Nora spoke.

Almost falling off him, Baobhan Sith was able to stay in her position thanks to Nora's tail. With one hand to massage her forehead, Baobhan Sith felt a powerful headache bothering her. She was not sure what the word meant exactly but she was certain it was nonsense.

"You have no intentions of answering..." Baobhan Sith sighed.

"...there are people I want to protect." Nora calmly said. "People who are the world to me. I don't care how much I stain my hands for them. Probably, you think the same about the queen."

"...you and I are not alike." Baobhan Sith scoffed.

"My goal was never to greedily take everything for myself. I did not even want to become strong. An easygoing life, a peaceful daily life... those were the kind of things I wanted." Nora muttered. "Far from conflict, I wanted a simple life that I could laugh and flirt with the woman I love."

"That is a wishful thinking." Baobhan Sith snorted. "Where did you read that from? It could not be further from how you act."

"I guess you are right. The naive me from that time is perhaps no more. Staining my hands with blood came with ruthless decision-making of ending other people's lives." Nora said in a plain tone. "Looking at it from my perspective, someone who met me and interacted with me in battle more than in any other manner is free to doubt me. I am not exactly the kindest to my foes after all."

Listening to the youth, Baobhan Sith did not retort.

"However, I don't think my change was a bad thing. I was able to meet many people..." Nora chuckled. "The fates of many have changed... I cannot be certain if that will ultimately lead to a better future for them down the road since I am unable to see the future, but for me, staining my hands is something more, because by doing so, I protected others. I guess I am a simple man since I can be satisfied with just that."

"And you are telling me all this because you want me to have a change of heart? Do you expect me to go back to my naive self? Is it because you like girls like that? Naive and easy to trick." Baobhan Sith smirked.

"...don't live simply for revenge." Nora replied. "You have a long life, there is much to see and to experience. You respect and idolize Morgan, why don't you try to live with the idea of becoming a better person? Someone that makes Morgan say she is proud to call daughter."

"What do you even know..." Baobhan Sith grumbled.

"Haha, yes, I certainly do not know a thing. Perhaps Morgan is already proud of you." Nora chuckled.

Clicking her tongue, Baobhan Sith did not have the energy to retort.

"It is HER HIGHNESS QUEEN MORGAN for you." Baobhan Sith used her arms to choke the youth.

Or perhaps she had the energy after all.

"Ah, ah... you know what? Go and sacrifice yourself. Once you do, I will go and comfort Morgan. Then... guehehe." Nora did not seem bothered by the fairy's action as he spoke.

"I KNEW YOU HAD OTHER INTENTIONS! THERE IS NO WAY I CAN KICK THE BUCKET NOW! I WILL SURVIVE AND MAKE SURE YOU STAY AWAY FROM MOTHER!" Baobhan Sith's yell was heard miles away.

Hearing the contents of the yell were many of the youth subordinates and their minds had mainly one thought. They felt pity for the young woman their lord had decided to mess up with. Mainly from experience, they knew that Nora meant well, but he liked to tease others way too much.

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3rd Person POV

"Perhaps, I shouldn't have been so hot-headed to leave those Valkyries behind. That Rossweisse woman used a spell to keep track of my position, but I believe you have taken countermeasures against that as well." Morgan coldly said.

Surrounded by hooded individuals, Morgan held a staff that looked more like an axe. Her figure stood proudly but her eyes were cold and her face displayed anger. Lying behind unconscious on the ground at her feet was Habetrot, the small one looked disheveled and her clothes had tears here and there.

"Rossweisse, yes, consider her one of his lovers. An outstanding magic user and a tricky spell caster. We did try to recruit her once to our cause, but even Odin got involved during that time. Machinations of that man, I am certain, so we gave up that idea. It is a pity though, even after erasing the mark she left on you... there was a counter spell specifically made to be triggered if the first one was erased." Abe no Seimei commented.

"Didn't you have an idea that it might happen? Why wouldn't you take countermeasures against that? You bragged so much about your abilities when you introduced yourself, but perhaps you are a mediocre magic user." Morgan spoke.

Looking around her, Morgan confirmed that her foes were numerous, but none of them gave her a dangerous feeling like the man called Abe no Seimei. However, there was a more threatening aura coming from a shrine far behind the man. The origin of it could not be more clear to Morgan who knew most of the land's secrets.

"It is not an issue you should concern yourself with. They will be too busy to come to your aid anyways." Abe no Seimei said. "Number 63, 71, 88. Go and stop the Valkyries."

With those words, several figures were left. Before they did though, their bodies transform such as growing scaly or feathery wings that sometimes were mismatched.

"I had already sent some of my subordinates before, but one cannot be too cautious when you are dealing with the women favored by him." Abe no Seimei commented.

"Him, He, His... You keep using that to refer to someone, but... who could make you so cautious? You seem to regard his danger level above mine." Morgan asked. "Is he here right now?"

Despite the obvious hints that Morgan could easily pick up and how she had heard the Valkyries talk about the identity of the person, she wanted to confirm it.

"Is it a tactic to gain some time? It is useless." Abe no Seimei shook his head. "The anomaly known as Nora Shiki will be hard-pressed to come to your aid."

It would be a lie to say that Morgan was not slightly disappointed at hearing that. The Valkyries and the fox woman from before had sung praises about the youth, but Morgan could not easily accept their exaggerated descriptions of the feats and abilities the youth possessed. She could agree that he was much more powerful than he had shown, but it was one thing to overpower her knights and another different one to deal with all the problems in the fairies' way.

"Do you think I, Morgan Le Fay, need someone's help?" Morgan haughtily spoke.

"That is not something that I as your adversary would bother to inform you about." Abe no Seimei chuckled. "However, you aside, are you sure you want to act haughty when you have to protect the small one from harm?"

Clicking her tongue, Morgan had to agree that protecting Habetrot was going to be the point her enemies would exploit and use that to weaken her. The possibility of teleporting away was null after she confirmed that her spells failed. A complicated spell like that could bend space so it was easy to interfere.

"She is not part of your knight's entourage, is she? She was weak compared to the dragon and the dog." Abe no Seimei muttered.

Narrowing her eyes, Morgan did not carelessly begin the fight. She calmly concentrated her magic power on her staff and prepared a spell.

"It seems to me that you had the pleasure to meet my most powerful knights." Morgan mumbled.

"I have indeed. I have also put a curse on the ones I deemed worthy of the bother." Abe no Seimei shrugged his shoulders.  

"Using curses is a dangerous art, if a novice were to use it, the curse could be sent back to himself." Morgan said.

"Oh? You want to take your chances with my cursing skills?" Abe no Seimei curiously asked. "Is it your pride as a magician talking now? No, I guess you want to try your luck to kill me by countering the curse."

"Feel free to ignore my challenge then." Morgan sighed. "I expected something more from the so-called 'strongest ommyouji'."

"I have been taunted by that man before, do you think your words will riddle me up?" Abe no Seimei chuckled.

Maintaining a calm look, he gestured with his chin and the cultist advanced towards Morgan. The young woman cursed Nora in her mind over a dozen times as she prepared to launch her spell, but thought of giving one more try before that.

"Oh? I had my suspicions, but it is most likely been confirmed by now." Morgan spat out. "You don't want to engage in a duel because you are a faker and are afraid to lose."

This caused Abe no Seimei to narrow his eyes and gesture to his people to stop.

"A faker? It seems that you have let the fact that your mother was a terrifying magic user make you think you are at the same level as her just because you now are of the same status." Abe no Seimei said. "Let me show how truly terrifying curses can be."

Pulling five strips of paper, Abe no Seimei used them to form a reverse pentagram as he drew it in the air. Each strip of paper was floating on each corner and a grim aura gathered in each spot.

"<Five fold curse: Miasma>" Abe no Seimei spoke.

The air around the strips of paper turned visually black and assaulted Morgan.

The queen of the fairies instantly understood what kind of spell was used on her. Miasma was also a term used for pollution and the spread of disease.   Her robes were capable of warding off curses up to a limit somewhat so Morgan was not completely worried about being put out of commission in one shot. Nonetheless, Habetrot did not carry any sort of protection against curses.

Multi-casting was a skill that any spell user that wanted to reach the height of magic was capable of so Morgan was capable of doing it.

"<Water Shield> <Wood Shield> <Fire Shield> <Earth Shield> <Metal Shield>" Morgan waved her staff. "<Five Elemental Shield>"

A total of five shields of different elements were cast individually and when Morgan added the last words they changed as the range and strength of the shields grew.

"A composite magic shield? So what? Do you think it will save you?" Abe no Seimei snorted and channeled even more power to raise the curse's effectiveness.

Even if he cursed her to the point she was in the blink of death, he could easily restore her. A specimen like the queen of the fairies was very valuable to kill in a fit of rage, but he could not simply let her go unscathed after her comments.

"Who said I wanted the shield to protect me from the curse? I was looking for an excuse to cast a shield without you interfering. This spell is rather unfamiliar to me and I usually practice with targets far off in the distance. This shield is to protect me from my OWN spell." Morgan said from within the shield.

When her words were finished, magic circles that covered the whole area above them appeared. One second later, lances made of pure and dark magic power fell one after another, the hooded individuals tried different means to avoid the attack, but the sheer amount of lances was not something that they could escape when there were no gaps in the attack.

There were some that tried to feed in Morgan's direction, but to their horror, even her position was being attacked. It was an onslaught where no place was safe, but Morgan was protected by the multi-layered shield while the cultist was not.

The ground below got destroyed and by the time the spell finished attacking, only the half-destroyed shield of Morgan and Abe no Seimei stood in place. Very much like the woman, the mystic slayer had a shield made of strips of paper. The sheer amount of the paper was able to overcome the onslaught despite the sudden casting due to the nature of the paper. 

All around them, devastation was spread all over the land. The ground had been gouged out and pieces of flesh and rocks were dispersed.

"It pays off to have an emergency means of protection." Abe no Seimei muttered in a serious tone. "You could say we both underestimated each other, don't you think so?"

With the shields breaking apart, Abe no Seimei and Morgan's figures were revealed. Compared to Abe no Seimei, Morgan did not look so well. Blood was dripping from her mouth, nose, ears, and eyes and she was short on breath.

"How about it? Do you think a fake could do the same?" Abe no Seimei taunted.

"*Cough* I am honestly quite surprised that your curse was barely lessened in effectiveness after I prepared for it, but I am afraid it will take more than that to prove your status." Morgan fearlessly smiled. "Who do you think I am? I am the Queen of the Fairies, Morgan Le Fay, the daughter of the woman known as a heartless and wicked witch, do you honestly believe this is enough to deal with me?"

"Heh, I guess not. My apologies, your knights were so mediocre that I assumed you were the same. It is bad I cannot quite get rid of." Abe no Seimei mumbled.

"Is that so? How strange, I believe you had to take care of my subordinates one by one, while I destroyed yours all at once... not to mention, the amount is also not balanced either. If anything, aren't I the one who should be disappointed?"

Smiling, Morgan waved her wand again. Her whole body ached and every fiber of her body felt heavy, but it was not the time to worry about such a thing. Morgan had managed to take the curse for herself to avoid Habetrot getting affected, but her robes were unable to cope with the curse. It was not a lie to say that increasing the effectiveness of the spell five folds was not just a decoration.

An array of magic circles appeared in front of Morgan and lances made of dark magic power emerged from them. They were launched at Abe no Seimei but he seemed unimpressed. He waved his hand and from his sleeve, strips of paper emerged in waves. The first wave that emerged was torn apart upon hitting the lances but they did not stop and the strips of paper seemed endless. Morgan had to increase the number of magic circles to keep up with the number that was coming out of the sleeves of Abe no Seimei

Without showing her frustration, Morgan created more magic circles directly above Abe no Seimei but he responded by increasing the amount of paper strips. The number of ofudas coming out his sleeves seemed endless, but Morgan believed that at some point it had to be exhausted. The problem was that her magic power and stamina were being drained as well so it was a battle to see who will last longer. The biggest issue at hand was the miasma inside her body, the curse was eating away her stamina even though she was not moving. She reckoned that once she tried to flee, she would run out fairly fast.

Nevertheless, Morgan did not care. Habetrot was behind her, and her position as the Queen would not allow her to abandon her subject. Above all, Habetrot was her precious friend.

"I would rather finish this fast." Abe no Seimei plainly said.

Using his free hand to reach inside his hakama, he pulled out a small book filled with a grim aura. Morgan felt a chill run down her spine. The book had to be there all the time, but it was only when Morgan saw it that she felt the chill.

"It is said that not everyone that has laid eyes on it reacts the same. The amount of magical knowledge, alignment, and affinities with elements could make someone react differently." Abe no Seimei kindly explained. "You are a magic user so you surely must have a morbid curiosity."

Opening the book, Abe no Seimei recited the words of the book and it happened. The pieces of flesh lying around twitched and churned before sliding on the ground to form piles of flesh.

Feeling disgusted by the bloody spectacle, Morgan did not allow the act to go unhindered, lances made of dark magical power were thrown at the piles of flesh, successfully causing it to explode and the remains to disperse. Yet, it did not take long for Morgan to furrow her eyebrows. The flesh began to form piles of flesh once again and the speed was even faster.

Looking at Abe no Seimei, he seemed certain of his victory and Morgan felt the need to wipe out that expression off his face and it happened briefly. Abe no Seimei clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"I thought he was going to be busy with those knights some more." Abe no Seimei said.

Waving his hand, Abe no Seimei commanded the piles of flesh to attack. Without enough time to form arms or feet, their only remaining option of attack was to fall on top of Morgan. The young woman was about to destroy them with even more magic circles but a voice caused her to briefly pause her actions.

"Mother!!!" Baobhan Sith's voice sounded distant. "I will be right there!!!"

However, it sounded like it was getting closer.

"Wait!? This is not how it was supposed to go! Don't throw meeeeeeee!" Baobhan Sith's tone sounded bitter.

Looking back, Morgan almost rubbed her eyes to confirm if she was seeing correctly.

With tears in her eyes, Baobhan Sith was... flying her way with her bow in hand. A simple sweep of her hands and the pillars of flesh were all cut apart. Baobhan Sith's figure was followed by a black-haired youth who threw a purple cat. The cat, very much like Baobhan Sith hissed loudly but it did its job when it landed near Morgan. The cut pieces of flesh were burned to ashes with the purple flames it let out. The last one was the youth, he leaped at an insane speed that was hard to follow with her eyesight and Morgan saw him go past her with a red spear in hand.

His charge was not slowed down despite the waves of ofudas and he stabbed Abe no Seimei. No, it seemed that way. The figure of the mystic slayer turned into strips of paper and flew away. Morgan no longer kept her magic circles working as she relaxed slightly.

"Hey! Cat! Mother is hurt!" Baobhan Sith yelled.

Sighing, Nora gave one last glance to where Abe no Seimei fled before moving towards Morgan. Hearing that, Morgan could not help but ask.

"If you can truly do what my daughter said, please take a look at Habetrot, she is your friend as well, right?" Morgan pointed at the fallen small figure.

Getting into it, Nora created orbs made with Senjutsu and let them fall toward Habetrot. It was not until the small one began to snore peacefully that he stopped and turned towards Morgan who looked visually relieved.

"Well now, Queenie, you look awful." Nora honestly said as he examined her with his eyes.

"Stop playing around, you can cure Mother easily right?" Baobhan Sith spoke.

"...Queenie?" Morgan repeated his word in confusion.

Storing his spear away, Nora shrugged his shoulders.

"Did he tell you his name?" Nora asked.

"Abe no Seimei." Morgan replied.

Nodding at that, Nora seemed to ponder briefly.

"Oi! Heal! Mother!" Baobhan Sith grabbed his hakama and began shaking him.

Completely ignoring her, Nora pulled out his pendant and gave it to Morgan.

A little doubtful, the queen could not help but mutter.

"If you really want to please a woman, get her a ring." Morgan grabbed the pendant.

Widening his eyes, not only Nora but even Baobhan Sith were surprised to hear this.

"Hmm, I heard that you like to tease women all the time but you seem to be weaker to being subjected to the same. I guess the fox was right about this." Morgan felt the difference just by holding the pendant.

Just holding it in her hand made Morgan realize the absurdity of the object and gave Nora a curious look.

"Hey now, I technically beat your knights so I have the right for a meeting." Nora said.

"Oh, there was something like that. Congratulations... or not. I believe you have yet to face them all that." Morgan snorted.

"Queenie is harsh, can't you be more understanding?" Nora asked.

"I would be going back on my words if I allowed this. However, we can put that aside for now." Morgan was about to give back the pendant.

Shaking his head, the youth did not receive it.

"You should keep it for now." Nora said. "I can take care of myself without it."

"Oh? So you are saying I cannot without it." Morgan coldly spoke.

"Nonsense, I am sure Her Majesty can deal with any trouble coming her way without the need of an outsider such as myself from interfering, but I believe it would hasten the process when dealing with THAT." Nora pointed towards the distance.

While they were chatting, the oppressing presence of Cernunnos began moving, no doubt because of Abe no Seimei.

Snorting, Morgan accepted to keep the pendant. Briefly hesitating, the young woman put it around her neck.

Once that was done, grabbed the purple cat made of fire and threw it towards Morgan.

"Keep this one as well." Nora said. "It should come in handy..."

By reflex, Morgan... avoided it. Nora awkwardly saw the angry cat hissing at the woman.

"I know that I am not the most respectful guy, but that thing is still a Longinus, handle it with care." Nora said. "I will hunt down 'Abe no Seimei', even if the rampaging god is concerning, if that guy is not taken care of, he will just cause more chaos. I also have a debt to pay him off so I will obliterate him completely."

The sheer hatred contained in the last words was so deep that Morgan could not ask Nora to let her deal with him instead.

"Baobhan Sith, I recommend that you stay away from the guy as well. Work with the Queenie here to deal with Cernunnos. Habetrot... ah, I will have some of my people to take care of her." Nora muttered.

Just as he was about to leave, he stood in place and nodded before muttering a few things in a low tone.

"Baobhan Sith." Nora called out.

"...yes?" Baobhan Sith meekly answered.

"...what if my people accidentally destroyed your territory?" Nora asked embarrassedly.

"...the fuck did you just say?" Baobhan Sith dropped all respect.

"Haha, what to say, there was a reaaaaally dangerous guy over there and everything was turned into diamond dust..." Nora awkwardly laughed.

"...was it killed?" Baobhan Sith took a deep breath to calm herself.

Looking away, Nora prepared to leave.

"Oi!" Baobhan Sith yelled. "My workshop was over there!"

"See ya!" Nora fled.

Watching the interaction between her daughter and the youth, Morgan could not help but mutter.

"You have finally made a friend, I am glad." Morgan commented.

"Never!!!!!!!" Baobhan Sith's yell could almost be heard over the whole land around them.

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Author's Notes

Hello there, the Author almost dying here. Poison is quite troublesome.

That aside, I have delivered the chapter finally. I hesitated overextending my time again. Recovering from poison is such a pain, I get all the symptoms I dislike and the usual medicine does not work.

I wrote quite a bit about the interactions of the chapter because I have noticed I sometimes just do not make Nora interact with some characters and it looks like the relationship has no basis.

I also began considering leaving some trivia about Nora to explain certain things.

Such as the fact that Nora has pills for many situations.

It can come to a situation he needs someone to recover blood lost, and the pill helps them restore a good amount of it. There are also antidotes for different kind of poisons or ointments that works on burns and leave no mark. Those might look plain compared to what other medicines can do, but he does have many people he needs to supply them to. There is also a special type of drink that boost someone's strength overall for a limited time or one that can take away the pain, removing the limitations that your body imposes on yourself. Nonetheless, no one under him would abuse those because they have to personally tell him how and why they used them. If the situation is deemed unworthy of it... well, Nora is not Scathatch's pupil for nothing. A hellish training will follow.

 There is one precious medicine that is hard to produce in large batches, but it is not appropriate for everyone to drink. It has similar effects to the Phoenix Tears, but it also boosts the overall strength. It is made of several ingredients with one last extra. Ki in a pure form, turned into liquid. Only one sip can turn someone powerless into an able fighter, but careless use could instead do them harm as the body would be unable to cope with the energy. Those are side effects for those powerless, although there is another side effect that could affect both powerless people and those that would have no issue using the medicine. Ki in its rawest form is the pure energy of life and it is one of the reasons why the users of Senjutsu can remain young for so long. You could say it could make someone younger.

I should also speak about Nora's mastery over spells. It is not like Nora has a heaven-defying talent with every magic possible. He does have a good affinity with almost everything thanks to 'He', but ultimately, it is because Nora practices more than anyone that he can do things as smoothly as he does. He is unable to sleep for certain reasons so all the time one would usually use for sleeping is being used by him to train. He does sleep with the cat girls given their attachment to him and he also acts the part in front of others, but he can still train that way. As for the details of how it will be explained later on.

Need to mention that Nora's weaponry is very wide since he has the habit... of taking spoils of war and going to the auction where they sell slaves he can find many useful artifacts. Pretty much pays with the funds of Zekram so he has almost unlimited pocket money.

I will leave at that, feel free to ask any question below and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next is the climax.

Also, for those that do not know. I added Asuna and Karin from Blue Archive. I had been meaning to add them but did not get the chance.