Jiro grabbed the girl as her arm froze mid-swing. "Let me go!" The girl demanded as she swung her legs. Jiro took the hits, pulling her backwards.
"Can't ya tell we won't hurt you?" Jiro sighed in defeat. The girl squirmed in his arms as Ritsuka moved over to check on Lee Seng. He had somehow gotten a knick.
"Are you okay?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng wiped the blood away. His body had already healed the knick.
"I'm fine." Lee Seng replied. He shifted his attention to the other end of the hallway. "I think it's time to go."
"You're leaving with the coins?" The girl shouted. She clearly had the coins on her. "All you adults are the same! Liars! Give me my coins!" Ritsuka looked down the hall. A woman slid across the hall entrance, raising her arm up. Lightning crackled as it fired from the woman's hand.
"Holy Shield." Lee Seng's words conjured a yellow shield that covered most of the hallway.
"Let's go!" Jiro shouted. The girl screamed as the three men started to run in the opposite direction.
"Let me go! Let me go!" The girl shouted.
"Not now! Can't you see we're going to die to other people who want the coins?!?" Jiro shouted at the girl. The girl opened her mouth and bit down on Jiro's fingers. Jiro screamed as he released the girl, almost tumbling over her as she hit the floor. Lee Seng and Ritsuka moved forward, slowing to a stop as they turned to look behind them. "Dammit!"
The girl grabbed the coins and stuffed the shifting coins into her pockets. They had readjusted themselves to fit her small pockets. The girl summoned her dagger and began to swing for Jiro's neck as Ritsuka summoned void energy to stop her. The holy shield exploded in flame and lightning.
Lee Seng cursed underneath his breath and pulled Jiro and the girl towards him. "We don't got time for this!" He turned and lugged the girl with him, leaving Jiro and Ritsuka to follow after.
"What do we do about them?!?" Ritsuka asked, loudly. Jiro turned and counted. There were currently four enemies. Two of them were Glass. The woman's arms and legs crackled with lightning. She was catching up to them. She pointed at them and fired another blast of lightning at them. The lightning blasted a set of lockers, exploding in smoke and metal shards.
The three men with the little girl in tow continued down the hall. "That way!" Jiro pointed to the right and they all moved.
"Let me go!" The girl shouted. "I'll take all of them on!"
"I don't think you can! We're outnumbered!" Ritsuka shouted back.
"Says you!" The girl blinked out of Lee Seng's hold, surprising all of them as she appeared in the intersection of the hallways.
"Hey, she's going to kill herself at this rate!" Ritsuka stopped and turned. Lee Seng and Jiro came to a stop, turning to watch as the girl brandished her dagger, making the same pose.
"Hmph, a little girl? Doesn't she know she's up against adults?" The lightning woman asked.
"If she thinks she's all that, then she clearly has a death wish. Just knock her out and take the coins on her." The fire man responded. A wild-haired man moved past the two Glasses and summoned a sword.
"I'll take care of her." The wild-haired man told them. "You guys go after the others." The two Glasses and a strange woman with a heart mark on her cheek moved to the right side of the hallway, to follow after. "Sorry little girl, don't take this the wrong way, but the strong get the coins and the weak… Well, they stay weak."
"Adults are stupid. They lower their defenses because of children." The girl smirked. The wild-haired man dashed forward, lifting his sword. The sword shimmered, splitting in eight different fractured pieces. He swung downwards as Lee Seng started to lift his arms up for her. "Mom and Dad said to not do this, but… Distorting Form: Six Fold Strike!"
The girl distorted into six after images. She swung forward, blinking out of the first strike and quickly slashed the wild-haired man in one go. The man erupted in blood, falling to the floor and the fractured image of his sword clattered on the ground. The lightning woman and fire man turned their attention onto the girl, pelting her with attacks. She blinked forward, throwing her dagger at the man.
She blinked, reappearing right behind the man with her dagger disappearing from the man's hand and into her hand. She swung, knicking the man as the woman gasped and shot her attack at the girl. The girl blinked again, giggling as the man slammed into the corner of the hallway, electrocuted.
She reappeared in front of the lightning woman, swinging attacks and watching as the woman's face grew with panic. The girl flared with energy, distorting her image as she slashed the woman six times before disappearing.
"Holy crap, she's scary." Ritsuka whispered.
"Do you think she needs help?" Lee Seng asked.
"I, uh…"
The girl grunted as she flew past the intersection and slid to a stop. Her aura was cracked and her body was radiating… hearts? She gritted her teeth and lifted her dagger up as the woman with a heart on her cheek stepped into view.
"Just because you're a little girl, doesn't mean I'll hold back." The heart woman smiled. "Now, give me your coins and maybe I'll keep you alive." She stuck her hand out, raising her eyebrows at the girl. The girl did her best to hide her pain as she waited.
"She's a tough one." Jiro complimented the girl. "Do you think we should—" Ritsuka shouted as he summoned Obsidian Glass and his shield. He rushed for the heart woman, drawing attention onto himself.
The woman raised her crooked finger and pointed at Ritsuka, releasing a heart blast at him. Lee Seng watched as Ritsuka flew backwards, tumbling on the ground as the girl blinked forward. She appeared in front of the woman, swinging her arm horizontally through the air with a loud yell.
The heart woman dodged backwards, releasing another blast of hearts at the girl. The girl flew backwards, slamming into the ground. Jiro sucked in a breath and dashed forward. He summoned his longsword and whispered in Japanese. Lee Seng watched as swords appeared all around him, firing at the heart woman as Jiro slashed upwards.
The woman dodged the attack, blasting the swords away and meeting Jiro's next swing with her hand. Energy rippled from her hand, sending Jiro's longsword backwards and leaving him open.
"Distorting Form: Twelve Fold Strike!" The little girl blinked in front of Jiro, slashing the air. The woman began to back up as the little girl blinked again, reappearing behind her and slashing. The girl blinked and slashed, catching the woman off guard as her speed increased.
"I see why now." Lee Seng commented. "She's pretty good. Her DM may be small but she's effective." The heart woman grunted in pain as she blasted the girl into a locker.
"I'm going to kill you, little girl!" The heart woman growled. She turned and raised her hand, only to find a sword pointed at her throat. The heart woman froze as Jiro let out a hiss.
"I get that kids can sometimes be the devil… but killing someone who's caught you off guard? Do you not have any conscience? You would kill a girl just to get out? The real enemy here is that announcer girl. We should band together and knock her out of her seat so we can leave this place, not kill each other."
"What would you know? Are you some kind of white knight? Look around you! It's only chaos here. At least if I get those coins, I'll be safe out there!" The heart woman shouted.
"It isn't safe out there." Lee Seng strolled over. The heart woman looked at Lee Seng. "Trust me. If it's a shit show here, just use that for out there. It isn't any better. Those D31 guys - the Deimons - are running about while resistance teams run amok trying to secure the city from losing its walls. You're better off staying in here."
"So you're telling me I should just subject myself to these pointless games? Ha, yeah right bub. I want out and I'm not afraid of killing some little girl for it!" The heart woman blasted Jiro away, only to watch a golden blade, radiating as bright as the sun, meet her arm.
Thud. Step. Step. Step.
The young man who was spouting nonsense to her earlier was now behind her and her arm… "Ahhh!" The woman screamed. Her arm had hit the ground but her wound! She looked at it and realized her wound had been quickly cauterized. She clutched her arm as Ritsuka rushed over, glared at her and then plucked the unconscious girl from the locker and ran to Jiro.
"I really don't like killing humans." Lee Seng sighed. The heart woman turned to Lee Seng. He looked at her with his strange eyes. It would be enough to spook her. "All we do is fight amongst each other over senseless things instead of banding together and fighting the true evil that's orchestrating all of this. Well, no matter… I may not like killing humans, but they do, sometimes, give out good souls."
'Souls?' The heart woman thought to herself. 'What does he mean by that?' For a split second, Lee Seng unfurled his form. He revealed what he truly was to her and the woman… She could only scream as the monster in front of her pounced on her.
"Ahhh!" The woman screamed on the ground. Lee Seng stood over her. She thrashed like she was being ripped apart.
"Well… I guess that'll do." Lee Seng shrugged.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦