This doesn’t look good, I need to do something, always being dead weight when it comes to dangerous situations. It happened with Marisa at that auction, and now with Heather, more so with her current condition I want to help in any way possible!

  I quickly put my back next to hers to at least cover each other’s blindspot, not that it can help since they’re invisible to begin with, it’s most likely a spell like Heather mentioned but we need to find the caster first, or we won’t get anywhere.

  I look around, scanning for anything that could be of use to us in such a dire situation, I’m sure Heather it’s racking her brain as well to get out of such a tough spot, for now we’re on a disadvantage, if only we could change rooms, the assaints would have to all funnel through the entrance, that way we could easily pick them up, or maybe find the spellcaster among them.

  Think, think! What could be of use to us? There’s the bed and all the bedsheets, there’s burnt candles and Marisa’s wooden stakes, and finally the dim lights that we used for st night’s mood setting.

  Ugh! It’s hard to think of something, I’m sure they must’ve removed or taken away from easy access anything that could pose a threat to them! If only there was a way to make them lose track of us as well!

  “Ah!”

  Heather immediately swung her cane, at midair, I couldn’t feel anyone but from the small thud I could hear from what I’m guessing is someone having to jump back for a second tells me she managed to locate another one.

  They don’t want to receive any hits from her either, it’s just a testament to how strong Heather is, even missing limbs and armed with nothing but a walking cane, getting whacked would probably leave you with broken bones if she can strike a non armored part!

  There has to be something I can do! I-

  Idea!

  “Heather, can you cover me for a second?”

  “What? Do you have something pnned!?”

  “Yes, but it will take a second, can you do it?”

  “Leave it to me!”

  “Good, react fast at my signal!”

  I said as I left running to the desk next to the bed, my belly still hurts from Heather’s punch and I’m trying my best to not colpse to the ground, probably the adrenaline is helping but I really, really want to bend over in pain!

  “As if I let you!”

  Mentioned the only visible assassin, before dashing towards me I would assume, I turned my head around for a second, and saw Heather dodging the bde, hitting him in the back of the head with the cane, and then jumping towards me, or so was my thought but she managed to hit someone else it seems!

  I need to focus! I believe in Heather, enough to trust her with my life, I will reciprocate even if I don’t know if this is going to help!

  I managed to reach the desk table, and quickly picked up the cylinder lights I created, they’re very simple as I pced a small catalyst and light spell, for now I open the bottom lid showing the little shiny rock and the wooden pque where the spell was edged into, it’s surprisingly simple so-

  “Stop!”

  I turned around and saw Heather moving very, very much. If the enemies weren’t invisible I’m sure it would’ve been an incredible dispy, don’t get distracted! Heather it’s panting and visibly tired, she won’t st long in those conditions.

  I disconnected the catalyst, and then I used my nail to quickly mark the little wooden pque. It's difficult but I don’t need anything too complicated, just tear the little symbol that prevents the catalyst from dumping everything it has into the quartz fiment on top that produces the light!

  It took just seconds, but it felt like an eternity! Either way it’s done!

  “Heather, EYES!”

  I said praying that she manages to understand my meaning as I reconnect everything, close the lid, and throw it to the ground, I know for a fact that these lights pack a punch, when I created them I blinded myself for a second when testing, that was during the day, they must be even more effective at night!

  I covered my eyes with my arm, it should st for a second to five tops, but it’s essentially a fshbang! After the time transpired, I saw the little light smoking and Heather with her arm on her face as well, the intruder was on the floor covering his eyes as well, I can only hope it works!

  “Heather!”

  “R-Rushka! Give me more of a heads up next time!”

  She mentioned, uncovering her eyes, she seems a little dazed, but probably fine, hopefully this worked!

  “It’s now or never, let’s run away!”

  “Ok!”

  And so we both dashed out of the room!

  —————————————————————————————————————————

  ***Heather’s POV***

  We managed to escape a potentially dangerous situation, bless Rushka’s intellect, what would I’ve done without her help! From what I manage to count there’s at least four people, five counting the spellcaster!

  “Where are we going!?”

  “We need to prepare! I’d say to my study!”

  “Ok! Oh but a quick stop first!”

  On the way to her study is Ellie’s room, I quickly opened the door and saw her sleeping peacefully on her bed!

  “Ellie! Wake up!”

  “Wha!?!”

  “Sorry, no time to expin it’s an emergency! Come with us, now!”

  “I-wh! Ok big sister!”

  She got up from bed and started dashing next to us. She's keeping pace while rubbing her eyes, I forget how physically fit my little sister has become!

  “Where are we going?...”

  “To my study! We don’t have much time, if they look at the fshbang straight up, that will give us a minute or two of time at best!”

  Dammit my missing leg, I’m still managing to keep running with the help of the cane but, I can’t fight as well as I once used to!

  Still, we managed to reach Rushka’s study, we entered hurriedly and then locked the door behind us!

  “We made it!”

  “Yes *pant* but let’s not dwindle now, the window!”

  “O-ok! It does have a lock as well!”

  “I’ll lock it!”

  Ellie then did as she said, and closed the window pcing the little lock on it so it can’t be open anymore, it just crossed my mind how weird it is that the windows of the pace have locks. Did the piggy do so for security reasons?

  Something tells me that, like the adult content in the study, I don’t want to know the reason behind the window locks...

  “Ok, they’ll have to enter from either the door or window, I’ll prepare properly! Do you have a sword or a weapon here Rushka?”

  “It’s a workshop not an armory! But I do have something important, which is why I asked you to come here!”

  “Ok, if you say so! What did you want to pick up?”

  Rushka it’s rummaging through a trunk while Ellie is just looking outside the window, probably looking if someone approaches? It’s dangerous and it gives our position away!

  “Ellie, hide somewhere in the room please!”

  “Ok!”

  Good thing Ellie is so obedient when it’s urgent matters, she simply looked around, and pced herself in an opening between a drawer and a table, ‘hiding’ in between, not really hidden but, it should do the trick to not be in pin sight, given that’s the position I’m taking!

  “Ugh... It was supposed to be a surprise but it’s an emergency so I’m sure Marisa will forgive me!”

  “What? Why would Marisa be angry?”

  I asked, as Rushka pulled a couple of very rge boxes, she seemed to be having a very difficult time carrying as I saw her flinch with every step.

  “Haa! Here!”

  Pcing it on the floor and opening the top of the first box, what came to view was something I did not expect to be seeing!

  “An arm!?”

  “Yes! It’s not complete and a prototype yet but, Marisa wanted to surprise you once it was completed since she said you probably wouldn’t be happy if you knew I was building this!”

  “Oh! Me and my stupid pride! It’s ok, sorry for being unreasonable, does it work?”

  “From what I’ve tried but it’s far from finished, still better than nothing, the other box is a leg!”

  “If you built them Rushka, I’m sure they’re a work of art! How do I put them on?”

  “For now just use these!”

  Said Rushka, handing me a bundle of leather straps...

  “I haven’t gotten to the part where we can test it with your leg, so it’s way open on the end, just strap it as best as you can with those! It has little holes for the straps as well!”

  “Ok!”

  I said, bending down to put my stump on the metal arm not before running the strap under it, and then trying to use my teeth and other arm to strap it completely!

  “Ellie! Be a dear and help your sister please!”

  Rushka it’s rummaging through different pces, pulling different sorts of machines, and cables. I have no idea what she’s doing!

  “Ok!”

  Ellie came out of her hiding hole, and approached me as quickly as she could.

  “This! You finally did it Rushka!”

  “Did you know about this Ellie?”

  “Un! But sister Rushka told me that it was a secret!”

  Seriously you two, I’m not mad if anything, I feel my heart getting squeezed knowing that Ellie can make friends on her own...

  “Now the leg!”

  “Un!”

  It took a minute but we finished strapping myself to this, the arm and leg are...

  Dead weight, I can’t move them and they’re a little bit heavy!

  “This-”

  “It’s not ready yet! Give me a minute!”

  Said Rushka, connecting them both through a lot of ports into what I remember was the other device Rushka used to keep Marisa’s heart beating, no idea what she’s doing to be honest, but after more connections to a giant quartz sb, she sat down in front of it!

  “Ok! Testing the automatic movement! Hopefully, praying, you can move them now!”

  “I’ll try!”

  Oh! I can move them! In a very, very janky motion, and it’s rather stiff!

  “I doubt we have a lot of time to practice! Can you make do with it like this!?”

  “I’ll try! It’s better than nothing!”

  At least the extra leg support if anything is enough to compensate, so at the very least, it’s not actively hindering me!

  “I’ll help as well! I might not have weapons, but I keep vials of acid for etching and other rather noxious things! If you can point me to the fighters, no amount of strength can beat acid to the face!”

  “Ok I’ll-!”

  Before we knew it, the door was being banged up aggressively, as they seemed to be trying to force the door open. Before we knew it, a sword came through the door, breaking it while the weapon got stuck in it!

  “Ellie hide!”

  “Heather! The arm’s metal is pretty tough on purpose! You should be able to stop bdes with your new hand and arm!”

  “Really!? This helps!”

  I said, picking the bde that came through the door, and then pulling my new arm back, I managed to take the sword, quickly rotating it in air, changing my grip from the bde to the handle proper!

  “I- Waa!?”

  “Sorry! I’ll get it under control!”

  My arm suddenly bent upwards without my input! Had I not moved my torso sideways, I would’ve sliced my face in half!

  “Still working on it! And-”

  “Big sister! To your left!”

  “Whoa! Close one!”

  I managed to dodge, at least the leg is not acting up, but also!

  “Ellie, can you see them!?”

  “N-no! But I can somehow tell where they are!”

  “Ok! Guide me Ellie!”

  I managed to regain control of my arm, and then proceeded to slice at where they tried to attack me, I was surprised by my movement speed, I knew he would try to dodge, so I gave a step forward that sounded quite heavy since my leg is made of metal, and sliced, the invisible man continued to be non visible, but the sprayed blood tells me it was a hit!

  More than a hit, his invisibility turned off and now he’s gutted on the floor, I can fight like this!

  “Big sister! Behind you!”

  Next! Twirling was easy and without a second thought I swung again, but it was only a superficial slice, I felt only the tip of the bde having resistance!

  “Rushka, in front of you!”

  “Oh!”

  She spshed the vial on her hands in front, and indeed, I could hear a gut wrenching screech coming from thin air. I don’t have mercy on criminals, so knowing where the liquid fell, I stabbed him, my bde going clearly through his chest!

  “Wha!”

  Ellie then threw the table next to her towards somewhere, and it got sliced in half, which means there’s the next one!

  I almost tripped with the cables as they were tangling around me, I need to keep them in mind, or I won’t make it far! For now I ended someone else’s life with another clean horizontal cut!

  “Are you two doing two!?”

  “Un!”

  “Yeah!”

  The room is small and I’m the closest to the door so they have issues getting through me to begin with, that and I’m more mobile now so I can reach them easily as well!

  “How many are there left Ellie!?”

  “E-eh!? There’s 4 people! They all regrouped at the door!”

  “Got it!”

  Without a second thought and a fsh of speed, so fast I couldn’t even react quickly enough! My arm lost control and without knowing it, the prosthetic jerked open, stiffening the elbow bend, and the strength was so ridiculous that the door, brick wall and the man in front all got sliced into half, the hand opened and the bde fell to the ground, shattering into bits!

  “Wow...”

  “Big sister is amazing!”

  “I didn’t do that! The arm jerked like that on his own!”

  “Oh fascinating! Maybe we can make that a functionality for the final product!”

  “Is there anyone left Ellie?”

  “No! They’re all on the floor...”

  The invisibility wore off, and one of them was clearly not a fighter, he must’ve probably been the spellcaster, which means we should be ok for the time being.

  “Phew, safe for now, but we can’t sit in our urels!”

  “Ok! How do you like the arm Heather?”

  “It felt like my shoulder was gonna come off! Maybe lower the strength and jerky movements?”

  “Those are not on purpose! It’s not finished...”

  “I think it’s pretty close! It works mostly as intended!”

  I said, making a thumbs up with the metallic arm, only for it to give up on the elbow joint and falling to the ground.

  “Waa! It broke!”

  Rushka went to my side to pick the half of an arm piece, but flinched and buckled to her knee on the way!

  “Are you ok?”

  I said, going over to check on her, that’s when I noticed the bruise on her torso, I gently touched it but Rushka screamed in pain at my touch!

  “I-I think I broke something!”

  “Can you endure for a second?”

  I gently passed my finger and realized she has a cracked rib...

  “I, we need to get you to a medic! Ellie, help me out carry Rushka please!”

  “Un!”

  And so we both headed out, not before taking the prosthetics away, and walked to the infirmary!

  “Big sister, one question”

  “Yes Ellie, what is it?”

  “Why are you two in your undies?”

  ““Ahaha...””

  Rushka and I ughed wryly, how do I expin this to Ellie, and how am I gonna expin to Marisa that I accidentally cracked Rushka’s ribs...

  —————————————————————————————————————————

  ***Celestial’s POV***

  “Going anywhere?~”

  “No I guess not, you two must have a death wish then!”

  “Ha! If you kill us, you won’t be able to get the information you’re after, are you sure about that?”

  “I think I will take my chances!”

  Now that no one is around, I can go full strength without a worry in the world. I started by letting myself be comfortable, not holding back my mana at all, before they could realize it, the forest began to freeze in pce, the cold aura permeating through the air.

  “She’s going seriously, we better do too”

  “Ah, what a pain, and I didn’t woke up in the mood to fight!~”

  “For now we need a way to protect ourselves, or we’ll be frozen solid in no time”

  “Yeah, yeah, I got you~”

  The hooded woman then used a spell and bck tar started bubbling on their feet, the grass that was frozen just a second before, not only did it thaw, it wilted completely leaving nothing but the dry cracking dirt around their feet.

  “How do you two know to invoke the Anathema, who taught you such a vile spell!”

  I said angrily, their spell is imposing, but it’s nothing compared to what I’ve dealt with before. I lifted my head and the forest started to freeze so severely, even the air itself it’s turning to mist, not only that but their little dark bubble started to freeze as well!

  “Tch!”

  The man took his companion and jumped in the air, while she in turn swung her staff and they started floating in pce!

  “You’re seriously trying to kill us!”

  “Wasn’t that obvious!?”

  Now that they’re airborne, I opened my mouth, preparing a bst capable of turning them to dust, this won’t be enough however, as I prepare spells near my cheeks, so that the bst homes in and they can’t dodge it!

  “Dammit!”

  “Brother! Now!”

  *Booooooom*

  I shook my head, dissipating the smoke, and looking at the two figures, they decided to not try to dodge the attack, it seems they knew it would be pointless, plus they can’t teleport right now, instead in its pce stands the man, his robes were burnt from the elbow down, and his hands were cd in the cursed fluid, while his companion hides behind his back!

  “We need to react properly, or she’s really gonna kill us!”

  “I got it, what a party pooper!”

  I’m not gonna let you get away with your attacks! Creating ice spears, enough to cover the sky, they rain down on them, each one thin as a sewing needle, and fast enough that they sink effortlessly deep into the ground!

  “Cover me!”

  A fire ring appeared on top of the both of them, while the man rushed towards me, I swat him away like the fly he is with my tail, or so I tried but he managed to dodge in the st second, or rather, the woman used wind magic to accelerate him so he could move out of the way!

  “GRAAAH!”

  “You’re a big target!”

  I roared in frustration, he’s blitzing around my body, nding blows on my skin, he’s weak, enough that he can’t do real damage with such quick flurries, but strong enough that I feel the hits regardless!

  “You little pest!”

  I created Light around my body, it’s simir to fire, if he touches the spheres surrounding my body, then he’ll be burned to a crisp, realizing this, both of them retreated back to prepare, their support is impeccable, her magic can cover and help the absurd physical strength of the man, and I’m sure he won’t allow me to try and tear the woman apart.

  “This is bad!”

  “It is, let us retreat at once, I think we stalled her enough!”

  “Understood!”

  “AS IF YOU COULD GET AWAY!”

  I nded on the ground, spreading my legs and wings open, furling my neck and head down, this is sure to get rid of you pests, blue lighting bolts start to strike around us, the pce they touch instantly turns to ice and crackles into nothingness, but those are just side effects from this spell, a ball of blue light formed on top of me, this will be enough to freeze to absolute zero an entire town and several kilometers in the vicinity, I might hit a couple of vilges but it’s imperative they don’t get away!

  “Waaa!!”

  “This is! we’re done for!”

  “We’re not! I have that! On the count of three, you toss it and we leg it immediately!”

  “O-ok!”

  I have no idea what they’re pnning but it’s futile, unless they can run away at the speed of light, or teleport, this will hit them without a doubt!

  “I’ll remember this you stupid dragon!”

  They then proceeded to open a rge gss vial, which the man then threw towards my spell, in a millisecond the whole sphere was engulfed into bck fmes!

  “WHAT!?”

  The st I could see was the hooded woman signaling insults with her hands, before they both teleported away!

  The spatial lockdown is gone, it was broken down forcefully by the spell they just used, and in fact, this is looking really bad if I don’t get rid of it!

  I released the spell I was creating, the blue light shone with enough force that this forest looked like day for a split second, it managed to turn off the bck fmes, a different expression of the Anathema’s curse, this one whoever was not a simple and weak like the fluid one, the mana signature however cleared any doubts I had in my mind, I doubt I’ll be able to catch them now, but...

  *ROOOOOOOOOOOARR*

  I can’t hold my anger any longer, pissed off I roared to the sky but that’s not important, Marisa could be in danger, I have to go back to town, and leave this winter tundra of a forest behind, I need to calm down lest I turn the town into a snowy ndscape as well!

  Gritting my teeth, I teleported to the edge of town, and after a minute I managed to calm myself down, dashing towards the church where Marisa headed to before we separated!

  —————————————————————————————————————————

  Somewhere in a forest far away from town, two hooded figures, their clothes completely tattered and burnt, spoke between each other, agitated and on the verge of colpsing from exhaustion.

  “Ah! We managed to flee!”

  “Barely! That was dangerous, I forget how imposing and strong she really is!”

  “At least we now have a good scale of her strength I want to believe~”

  “It will be hard to assess if she went all out or not with just this”

  “I shudder to think she has more strength saved up...”

  “She’s the celestial dragon for a reason, let’s not be so careless next time”

  “Definitely!~”

  “You’re one to talk, it slipped your mouth for a second that you called me brother on that fight”

  “Sorry, sorry! It shouldn’t matter that much anyways, we’re almost at the end of our mission here in town anyways~”

  “Should we head back to ensure that the pn worked as intended?”

  “And risk getting pulverized by Celestial!? Nah, leave it, I don’t think she’s gonna be able to make it back in time, that foolish priest will kill Gwendal, and then Marisa will take care of the church, it’s a win win!”

  “Funny how things turned out like this? Do you think our lord pnned everything?”

  “But of course you dimwit! How else would such a lucky streak of events happen?”

  “But we did not receive any orders for involving Marisa with the church or engaging her at all! Was burning those empty orphanages really a good idea?”

  “But of course! If we didn’t, Marisa wouldn’t have found out about Ecir’s te night escapades, and by the time she investigates, the church would probably have moved their braindead fighters away!”

  “What would his highness think of this? I can’t help but worry about our actions”

  “He would praise us of course, plus this way, The princess would have more of a reason to come with us~”

  “I just hope you’re right”

  “Of course I am silly! I’m always right!”

  Once again, the two figures regained their composure, and with a shake of a wrist, they teleported once again, their destination unknown to everyone but them, leaving the quiet of the night and the sound of the forest echoing in tranquility where they once stood.

  Joanne_carper