Nightmare Lilith [Job]

It wasn't long after Leila's little test of courage and self-knowing that a certain letter arrived at the doorstep of the rented room where she was staying. From time to time, she would get mails, but never one this fancy. Finding something like this addressed to her was most bewildering at the moment, especially after flipping the envelope only to find that the ones who sent this message were members of the magic council itself. That either meant that inside of this pristine, white envelope lied a warning about her destroying personal property during one of her jobs, or it was a direct request. And as she didn't remember doing anything that would lead to the former, it surely was the latter. And request like that were never to be denied, unless the mage wanted to look like a proper coward in the eyes of the highest authority that the council represented. With an audible and wet gulp, Leila slowly and carefully opened the envelope with her small, slightly rusted letter opener. Unsurprisingly, she would a beautifully written letter inside. Of course she knew that this was not written directly by any of the council members, but by one of the secretaries... but the handwriting was still nothing to be frowned upon, that was for certain. And looking at the letter, the young mage got rather mixed feelings about the content. High-ranked mage appearing out of nowhere and massacring entire guild, leaving nearly no witnesses at all. It all sounded rather scary, task unfit for one of Leila's standing. But there was something even more strange that mage like that appearing. Apparently she was meant to be no more than seven years old. Now, that sounded more like a joke than anything.

Even through magical changes in one's body, there was simply no way that a child that young could attain so much power. But again, the letter was indeed sent from the magic council and it certainly wasn't fake, that was something Leila was sure of. Putting the letter into the inner pocket of her midnight blue coat with puzzled expression, she searched her own room for her usual traveling bag. Despite the dangers, this was more than worth investigating. The truth must have been a bit different from what she read in this contract, and she wanted to find out how exactly things stand. Once ready, she would give a last pat to her little furry companion, who was peacefully resting atop of an empty shelf. Even with his ability to take nearly indestructible form of a small, crystal ball, this job might have been just a bit too dangerous for him to be taken along. Bidding him farewell, Leila left the room and headed out of the hotel, straight to the stables. The target village was far, and going on foot would take her a bit too long. With a murdering fiend walking about, completely free and unrestrained, every single second counted. Like a grains of sand, falling through the small opening in the middle of hourglass, time was now her enemy and it was running out faster and faster. Thoughts about this nightmarish child mage willed her mind as the gusts of wind slash on her face in the high speed of her horse galloping on the road. No matter how she thought about it, there was simply no way that a child could have enough power to slaughter regular mages by themself. Either she wasn't going against a human... or there was some evil power at work, using the poor thing like a puppet, tool of destruction and murder.

It indeed took at least few hours for Leila to get to the walls of the village, where she hopped from the saddle on top of the horse that carried her this far. But now that they were here... there was something clearly wrong. The atmosphere... it was simply not right. Even the horse, reacted quite badly, kicking to all sides and even trying to turn around and gallop away. But unfortunately for him, he was the only means of travel for the young, female mage right now. So she had to mercilessly tie him with a rope to a nearby tree. And then, she could face those walls again. That unsettling aura was quickly getting to her, almost making her afraid of entering that eery place. It unpleasantly reminded her of all the times she almost failed, or even nearly died... especially during her exam that put her into the higher ranks among members of Golden Phoenix. And as a reward, she managed to get herself this new outfit, too. Not only she felt way safer and waaaay more stylish with it... it was actually connected to the gardens. The world sure was filled with surprises. And yet, there was still so much she didn't know about Eden, she felt like a newborn baby that couldn't even talk. Yet, here she was standing tall, B-ranked mage on her first job of the appropriate ranking. But before she had to head straight into the village, she wanted to look around where she was right now some more. There was always a chance she could find someone who could help her, be it with simple information or with actual skills. Having some company would certainly sooth her mind at least a little bit in place like this one. After all, it was always important for one to retain their sanity and act with calculated decisions, never acting too rashly. Something like that always lead to no more than early demise.

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Jiyu had started that day like any other, waking up in her new very fluffy blanket, which she had almost died to obtain! Ever since she'd braved the spooky forest and fought against numerous strong or average anything but weak enemies to come out with the big bad sheep? She had been able to sleep restfully once more, instead of jumping at every shadow movement and seeing images of her two years in captivity when she closed her eyes. Upon waking, she was once more content and happy with the world, thinking how good it was to have gotten a full nights sleep once more! However she couldn't revel in her old victory for long, she had more pressing goals, those being to become a much better mage than she currently was, and the other one was to complete her work in the silvermoon restaurant, since no jobs for her had come in.

It was about halfway through her day of working in the knee long, short sleeved maid like dress with an apron tied around her waist, jerks staring at the blemishes covering her frail appearing body, a normal day in every sense, when she first heard tale of it. When something like a child massacring an entire guild and village happened? It was hard for even the magic council to keep a lid on it! Slowly the female collected information on the event as she served tables, eventually hanging up her apron only hours after going on duty, telling everyone another job that interested her had come in. Of course? It would take time for her guild-mates to figure out she was actually going to check this village and child mage out, Marschal was going to be mad at her for sure, but she didn't really care, they were the same rank now and all he'd done was saved her life...

Once she'd changed into her bikini top, jean shorts and thrown Marschals jacket on top of the whole thing, she grabbed Night Hunt and was out very swiftly. A few hours of travel later? She was in the haunted village and wandering a bit on her own, an arrow in one hand and her bow in the other, ears twitching every few seconds as she sniffed the air. "I guess it was too much to hope the council hadn't already sent someone." she laughed it out upon detecting and seeking out the higher ranked mag. The sight that Leila would be greeted with? Was a woman at least ten pounds too thing, bruises that looked from shackles around her wrists and legs, her leg bruises almost looking like leg warmers, the rest of her body being covered in burn marks, and scrapes the worst being the left side of her face which while healing nicely was almost completely scratched up. However this girl was also clearly a mage, the symbol for black rose guild there glaringly clear on her stomach, the bottom of the rose dipping into her shorts. "Mind any assistance than? I really don't want to go home doing nothing when I came all this way to check it out." this woman was rather incredibly brave, even headed or just stupid.

After only brief moment of searching, her hopes, or perhaps worries were confirmed. Although not in a way she quite imagined, as she sense a magical energy of another person. And that person clearly had enough to be considered a wizard, albeit weaker than Leila herself. Running towards it's source, she would soon meet a young looking girl of the same height with rather flashy appearance. Already from the distance, she would make some remark about the magic council handling this situation. Which meant that she was her for the very same reason, but not sent by the same contractor. Hopefully something like that would not brew any problems later, when the job was done. And before she could even say anything proper, this girl already offered a helping hand, gesture quite appreciated. "Assistance would be appreciated, but... who might you be?" Looking at the girl more closely, she would find the mark that covered her belly quite easily. Recognizing that emblem without any issues, Leila sighed internally. She was from black rose, no doubt about it. Hopefully this wouldn't evolve into a battle of two guilds, as her own mark of Golden Phoenix was clearly visible on her thigh. But her attitude was friendly so far, meaning that she either didn't know or wasn't interested in showing others that her guild was better. Though her attire was somewhat ragged, having nothing more than a bikini-like top and an open jacket to cover the upper part of her body. Sure, it was still an outfit, but... Leila never understood that style too much. And her body too, covered with wounds that certainly didn't look pleasant at all. At first, she even thought that this girl might have been on a brink of death. But the fact that these wounds were long since inflicted quickly became clear.

"Name's Leila Vergious, mage from Golden Phoenix. And I'm here to bring down the nightmare, which should not be far." Leila started suddenly explaining, introducing herself and her goal. That was the basic courtesy after all. If these two were to work together, they should at least know the other one's name. "Judging from your words... you've just arrived, right? Then I guess we should explore the village together." She'd offer to her, extending her hand in a welcoming gesture. Regardless of her response, wasting time here wasn't much of an option. They had to move quickly if they wanted to prevent more deaths at the hand of this murderous child. Turning around, Leila would start walking towards the entrance to the village, examining it once more. It was all silent, too silent. It almost seemed as if there was not a single soul inside of this place, which was not a good indication. They were supposed to get information about the nightmare here, but if she got to the villagers first... only the words possible scenarios would come into her mind. Shaking her head, the young mage would bravely start walking through the gate, entering the village with confidence in her heart and sharpness in her mind, ready to defend against anything at any moment. It was sure that something would appear soon, very soon. It was only a question of when exactly. Her hands were also ready to quickly reach into the inside pocket of her coat, where all of the Eden keys were kept, along with the golden one in case of emergency.

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The aura of this place had settled itself on Jiyu's shoulder's, finally making the hair on the back of her neck stand up, as her normal waist length hair swayed from side to side. Even if the atmosphere was creep? Kazehime was barely, if at all, alarmed by it, she guessed it was one of the gifts of being determined as she was, thought one of these days that same stubbornness was likely going to get her killed. Passing her bow from hand to hand, hearing it clank against the arrow in her left hand, Jiyu awaited the response of this other girl. Hopefully? She was correct in assuming this was who the magic council had legitimately sent to handle the little girl and not the little girl herself, the both of them were honestly nearly short enough to be children. Soon enough her suspicions were confirmed and she grinned, her fangs gleaming.

        "Jiyu Kazehime, From Black Rose. We're from allied guilds aren't we?" she provided in her smooth, hypnotizing voice, her playful grin turning gentle.With the way this place seemed to be? They didn't need to worry about mischief or anything else besides the mission, even if officially it was not Jiyu's mission, the female knew that what they were up to was dangerous and they would need to trek with care. Thus? For now she put away her playful behaviors, a serious expression etching it's way onto her fine facial features. "I'll be able to tell when she gets close, smell her scent or hear her foot steps before she gets right to us." even if she didn't tell her guild openly about her extremely sensitive, well senses, Jiyu used them plenty on missions, it was one of her strongest traits after-all, since her fighting style often meant she did better if she got the first hit and knew the field.

       "Yeah, and don't judge my strength based on my body, I'm a range fighter anyways. You should tell me how you fight so I can cover you better." she seemed slightly bitter over the fact Leila had been staring at her bruises and scrapes, self consciously zipping up the jacket she wore, shoving her nose into it for a second and inhaling to calm herself, taking in Marschals scent. Once she was composed? The wind user twitched her ears again as she tried to find the sounds of life in the village, sniffing for any human scent that was not stale. However soon enough she was falling into stride right behind Leila "I don't like this, something is very wrong, I can't hear or smell anyone." a mage like Lilith was smart enough to stay out of Jiyu's sensory range until she wanted to face them, just like how Jiyu did to her enemies. That? Unnerved the female slightly, gripping her bow tightly, looking like an upset dog. "I can't even locate an animal, everything is silent and stale."

Stopping just few steps after entering the village, Leila crossed her arms on her chest, her expression becoming rather worried. But at least she had this companion now, who could calm her mind with simple words. Honestly, she did not know much about the state of guilds right now. While she was member of Golden Phoenix, she cared little for the guild's actual standing. She was a free spirit above all else and that mark meant very little in reality. But still, she replied, assuming that the girl knew more and her statement was indeed correct. "I suppose we are." She tried to keep her voice from shaking from the cold atmosphere that was all around them, sounding as gentle and friendly as she possibly could. They continued talking and this Jiyu would slowly disclose few pieces of information about herself. But that little bit about hearing or smelling the murderer was a tad bit odd. Was this girl another slayer or something? If she remembered correctly, those were traits of one of her partners, the ice dragon slayer. The thought of working with another destructive force like that managed to send shivers down her spine. But she also revealed that she was fighting from distance. That, on the other hand, didn't quite fit with the magic of slayers. Shrugging slightly, Leila simply decided to wait and see what her magic actually is when she shows it. "If that's the case, then I'll take care of close and mid range. Stay as back as possible, I wouldn't want to have you hurt." She smiled at Jiyu teasingly. Even though she said that she should not be underestimated, it was more than clear that they should be very careful against their opponent. And hurting someone who isn't even part of this contract, that would be just about the last thing Leila wanted.

"I see that you're using a bow. Just... shoot whenever we get chance. My style of fighting doesn't really have any tactic and tends to be a bit random, so..." it was a bit painful to actually admit, but it was the truth. Eden's magic was wast and had many uses, but that also meant that there was no correct way of going about it. Every enemy had their weakness and required different approach. Which is why Leila always formulated strategies only once the actual combat started. Naturally, that made teamwork with her a bit harder, given how often she could change fighting styles. But at least this girl was long-ranged so they should not get in one another's way too much. "There were no reports about nightmare having any minions either. Once we find her, I'll be going all out, trying to end it as soon as possible. If you want any kind of strategy... wait for my signal." With new tricks up her sleeves, she should be able to boost even Jiyu's attack that had currently lower magical value than her own. Not that it was a bad think in any way. But just as she said, something was very wrong about this place. They were here already for a while, someone would have already greeted then if the situation was under control. It clearly wasn't. "Just... stay close to me at all times... okay?" She tried to make sure that Jiyu would not run off somewhere where she could get suddenly attack. With an audible gulp, she hardened her resolve and started walking further into the village. A strange, dark mist quickly surrounded them, making it all the harder to traverse this place in peace. And it was no ordinary mist either... it felt... magical.

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'Monster Dice' :

Before she had been captured and held by people she never even saw for two years? Jiyu had not cared where her guild stood or anything, she just wanted to become a great mage, do things her mother had never gotten to. However once she was rescued by Marschal, entered round two so to speak, she became much more concerned with the world's state and it's affairs, which was part of the reason she worked in the restaurant at the silver moon, it was a good place to hear news from far and wide, since people came from everywhere for the 'romantic' aspect of it. Thus the once reclusive and only worried about herself wind user became an educated and ambitious wizard, one who also had the drive to accomplish things and now had the presona to help with it. Of course? She could be a plain bitch from time to time still and she often lashed out at the very man who saved her for thinking of her as helpless, but all independent women should be like that.

      "That's good." she was no slayer, and actually the young woman had no idea where her advanced sense's came from, no clue it was because she happened to carry a decent amount of dog demon blood in her body. Sadly? Her mother had been murdered before she could disclose that much information to her precious daughter, and maybe that was best, Jiyu was relatively safe if she didn't know the truth. However when the other mage mentioned her not getting her, the woman's eyes widened, and forgotten words fell out of her mouth quickly. "You'll have to be careful, most of my spells are explosive and I can't control their damage too well, I'll contain the range but you need to get at least ten feet between her and you for me to be able to get an attack in without causing you damage as well. Since I use wind magic." So while she was no slayer, her magic was still a very destructive kind when not used right, and with someone who did not have it totally mastered, extra care was required.

       The rest of their conversation? Would have to wait, because suddenly the wind user straightened up, her ears twitched as she looked around, as if she'd heard something. Second's later? She looked up, and looked frightened for a second, cause something was moving through the air but she couldn't pin point it "Uh.. That's not normal right?" the girl finally found the source of the noise when she looked at a persons level to their left, down an alley made by the huts, a blade just floating there, slowly coming closer to them. As they had suggested, Jiyu got behind Lelia, thought for some reason she could still see the knife, they were the same height, if she was really behind this girl, why could she still see the knife? "Maybe if we keep moving it'll follow us like a puppy before going away like a dejected puppy?" her hand moved to grip Leila's sleeve, her own sleeve coming to cover her mouth in a gesture that could be seen as cute, her arrow making a line on her face.

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Finally getting to learn the girl's magic, she was apparently just a wind mage. But enhanced senses of smell and hearing did make a bit of sense with that, as both would travel on the winds that she could control. Though her spells were still apparently quite destructive, even when being just wind-based. "I don't think you have to worry about that too much, I always somehow manage in the front lines. Once I do give that signal, there will be absolutely no need to hold back, I'll just make sure to get away whenever I see you attacking." With her new spells, Leila was capable of becoming mighty quick. Closing distance between herself or an enemy was hardly problem, the same for dodging smaller explosions. As long as she wasn't casting anything that could erase this whole village from the face of Earthland, they should be fine. And since Jiyu told her about her own magic, it would be only normal that Leila introduced her own as well. But before she could say anything, the girl was commenting something in rather odd matter. "Huh? Not normal...?" Following her gaze, she would soon see the ethereal sword slowly coming towards them as well. Jiyu followed her order as she hit behind her body for additional protection too, that was good. And perhaps she was a little scared as well, given the fact that she soon grabbed on of her sleeves. After dropping a cute remark about a sword that was seemingly wanting to pierce them, Leila started thinking. If this was direct attack, it would already move towards them at much higher speed. "Puppetry? Hold on..." Thinking of something, Leila moved her held hand a little bit up, indicating to her partner that she should step back a little.

Once there was enough room, she made a strange gesture with her other hand towards the ground. And soon, a small tree branch would unearth, almost looking as if a new tree was to erupt from the dirt. But this branch was far from ordinary, as it seemed to have appearance of human hand holding another, sharpened piece of a wood. Suddenly twisting, the summoned wooden hand would fling the blade at high speed towards the danger that was still moving closer with each second. And what do you know, the wooden piece went through the flying sword completely, as if it wasn't even there. That certainly gave them a little bit of insight on the type of magic this thing was. "I don't think it can actually hurt us. But as you said... let's not pay any attention to it. Try to ignore it to the best of your ability." Smiling at Jiyu, she approach the girl and offer her her left hand. The gesture of her grabbing her sleeve before was rather cute, and Leila wanted to help any way she could. "Want to hold hands? It might help you in ignoring that silly blade." With a warm, motherly smile she awaited her response. This all felt a bit odd, interacting with others like this. Perhaps that was only because she didn't do it very often. And even thought it was strange, it also felt comforting. And it was somehow placing Leila into the position of protector. Not that she doubted this girl's abilities... but those injuries all over her body, they just made her look so fragile. And with that, her sense of protection kicked in. Companion like this one, Leila just wanted to protect, even if she barely knew her. "Anyway, let's move forward. I'm sure Lilith has more surprises for us along the way." With those words, Leila started walking toward the center of this village, be it with or without Jiyu's hand in her own.

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The member 'VindStot' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Wind could be an extremely destructive force of nature, something to be reckoned with, violent and temperamental, even if it could also be a soothing companion! Considering she'd inherited her magic from her deceased mother? Jiyu took extra pride and comfort within it and also practiced these days as if she was just learning it. However she had already agree to wait for her mission partners que's and signals, to listen and be a good team player! No matter how much the internally ticked her off sometimes, she knew it was wisest in this case, and thus would obey that promise she'd made. "Hmm?" as the other mage seemed to think of something, Jiyu almost seeming reluctant let go of her sleeve and took the required steps back, odd eyed watching for what her ally would do.

      Watching as Leila proved the magic to be nothing more than an illusion? Was almost no comfort to the totally not scared mage, as it was not the sight that caused her behavior; Instead it was the sound of the blade moving through the air, which she guessed was part of the  illusion, but still she trusted her ears and nose more than her eyes after having been blindfolded for two years. "Alright." however when she mentioned holding hands, implied that Jiyu was legitimately scared? The wind mage seemed ticked for a second, an emotion of anger in her eyes, before she looked away and grabbed the other girls hand. Seemingly she had trouble admitting her own problems and needs, or rely fully on someone in this way. However Jiyu knew that it was probably best they ensured they could not get separated, mental and illusion magic was always more effective against a single target as opposed to multiple targets. "It's not the sight so much as it is the sound of it, you proved it's an illusion, but, it's annoying." she huffed it out, her ears twitching and clearly still picking up on the sound of the blade, gripping the other girls hand slightly as she tried to focus her ears beyond sliced air.

       "Oh what do you know, does this girl have any other tricks? We already know that the blades won't actually cut us, I'll test these two." just to make sure that the twisted child mage was not controlling real knives now, Jiyu crouched and picked two rocks from the ground, holding one between her finger's as she flung the other one at the closer knife. Easily? Both were proved to be illusions as well by her second throw. "Does she honestly think the same illusion will work twice in a -MOVE, IT'S RAINING SPEAR'S." her ears twitched sharply and she glanced up seeing the spears starting to shower down, and aimed to pull herself and Leila into one of the nearby huts where they would be safe from the falling sharp objects.
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For some reason, the girl looked almost angry when Leila offered her hand. If annoyed, then she would understand. But angry? Well, whatever her reasons for that were, she eventually complied. And so, squeezing her hand tightly, the two continued on together, at least for some time. "It certainly is a bid distracting, seeing that thing everywhere." The nightmare apparently didn't care if she scared her victims, or just made them sour from annoying visions. Especially when another two swords appeared out of nowhere. If one didn't work, just throw more at them! That was apparently the code they were going by right now. It really was more distracting that threatening at this point, perhaps even a little comical. But Jiyu still had her doubts, as she tested if they were illusions as well the same way Leila did. And suddenly, her voice picked up on volume drastically. Before she could even process what her words mean, her hand was being dragged towards the nearest door. Shouting something about them having to move quickly, they were soon inside of a building. "W..what...?" Leila only asked in confusion, but with her next words and several louder thuds from above them, she realized what had just happened. Opening the door again, she would reveal a display of a path covered by spears that were all buried into the ground, exactly where the two girl's footsteps were. Sighing, she would take another few steps outside. Hearing a fast movement through the air, she stomped a ground and made a strange gesture with her hands, a sudden small tree unearthing from where she stood and creating a shield above her.

The spears greedily dug into the wood, but did not manage to penetrate it. With those last few late ones, the rain was quickly over with at least 30 spears sticking out of the ground now. The newly created shield of wood quickly dissolved as Leila looked around. "An actual lethal trap. And I have a feeling that it's not the only one we will encounter either. If there isn't any shelter nearby when this happens again, I'll create another shield, so stay close. I won't let you get hurt by them." She would try to reassure the girl who seemed to freak out when she noticed the incoming attack, and rightly so. This type of attack was quite brutal. But perhaps it also meant that Lilith was reluctant to face the two mages head on. That gave Leila quite the amount of confidence. "Anyway, we have to continue..." Going further into the mist, it was hard to tell if any of these things they were encountering were caused directly by the nightmare, or if there were actual trigger seals on the floor that they were accidentally stepping on. But she never noticed anything, so it was entirely possible that the nightmare was watching them from afar, waiting for the right moment where she would strike and dig into them when they were most vulnerable. Indeed, a tactic worthy of murdered. And the magic she was using, it all fit her theme of the 'nightmare', but in a little different way. Perhaps... all those slaughters that were apparently done by her might have not been directly done by her. She simply caused them, using her magic to turn mages against one another as they slowly lost themselves in the madness that this magic was capable of bringing. Or maybe not, there was really no way of knowing until they actually encounter her.

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The member 'VindStot' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

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It was merely an odd thing about Jiyu, she adored being looked after by someone and she was a very cute little girl, despite being nearly an adult. However? She hated being such, because in her youth she'd been so unable to rely on those in her village, that eventually it drove her to run away at the age of fourteen and after that she'd been utterly on her own until joining Black Rose at the age of seventeen. Having to rely on someone these days, made her upset with herself very easily, and it often showed, heck she went off on Marschal almost daily because he was giving her the exact safety and care she craved, but did not want to desire. Luckily, she was smart enough to not go off on her current partner, and keep quiet, continue seeming like a cute and frightened little girl. Of course? One glance at her chest was enough to convince most that she was anything but a child.

"Yeah she seems to think that this trick is a catch twenty-four." the prior knives were fading, vanishing from their sight, but it was not long before two more managed to come into their view. This time? She didn't think to check them, if three had proven to be illusions there was no reason number's four and five should not be, even within a hut that could have real knifes laying around? Jiyu was certain the two new blades were fakes as well, or maybe she was more confident due to the grip on her hand. Odd eyes gazed at Leila and a small smile passed the young mages pale pink laps, her free hand, the one holding an arrow, since she'd secured her bow to her shorts, brushed through her own hair, flicking it softly.

"Alright, I'll make sure to keep my ears out for another shower." the female spoke up, letting herself be guided by the Eden Mage out of the hut, and further into the village. By now? Jiyu was sure that their opponent was watching them, she could not smell or hear her and everyone would be heard or scented, unless they were out of range! "I'm fairly certain she's trying to break our mental state before coming close, there is still no scent or sound of her, but she has to be able to see us to be doing this, we should head towards the highest point in town." Jiyu looked innocent and sweet as she looked at Leila with large doe like eyes, gripping the other mages hand reassuringly, thought it seemed she herself was the one doing it for comfort.

Leila usually tried to avoid other people, and yet, here she was... holding another girl's hand like it was no big deal. At least Jiyu calmed down, no trying to break the hold or anything. Even vocally she did not protest in the slightest, which left her looking calm and cute, just like when they first met. Though it did not take much time for another blades to appear in the air, at least one of the previous batch finally started fading away like a ghost who was finally able to rest in peace, enjoying their afterlife in heavens. But rather than watching those floating weapons, Leila tried her best to focus on the girl standing next to her instead, even if it didn't quite work due to the nature of those illusions. Her hair was long, but definitely not as long as her own... and black like the darkest of night. For some reason, that orange color which was mixed in along with the black reminded her of foxes. Would this girl fit description of fox, be it appearance or behaviour wise? She did not want to make that judgement yet. In any case, there was no denying that she had quite the history behind her, just telling from all those scars. And even thought she did not ask her age, it wasn't that hard to guess she was younger that Leila, yet old enough to actually be standing here, trying to find a murderer. If one ever was old enough for something like that, that is. Leila was hardened traveler, and yet, she still felt that this task was perhaps not really suited for her. But the magic council chose her for a reason, and now she was here, trying to solve this mystery. She could already feel that they were close... almost there, but not quite yet. There was still more in the store for them before they could call this case closed, unfortunately. But at least they were ready to face anything together for now, that counted for something.

Jiyu had a point when she mentioned that the enemy was probably using a scaring tactic. "Certainly, most innocent minds would probably shake in fear in this situation, their mind half broken just from the fact that they were getting targeted by a nightmarish mage who slaughtered so many people already." She confirmed her words, placing her free and on her chin and a gesture that clearly indicated that she was thinking about this predicament. And apparently she was still not close at all, which was a bit concerning. How long was she planning to keep this up exactly? Surely she would get bored of this game eventually... hopefully. "Those who rely on tactics like this one are usually not very strong by themselves. Once we actually do find her, I'd wager that our team will have the advantage over her solitary posture. So once that does happen... fear not, for we will not loose." More reassuring words, Leila did not even know anymore who they were meant for her. Were they really just for Jiyu? Or were they for her as well. It would be a big lie if she said that there was no fear at all in her heart right now. Even though she seemed cool, collected and strong on the outside right now, she was still a bit reluctant. Even after all this time, she was still not completely confident in her ability... but it definitely was much better than when she started with magic. Back then, she was afraid of touching enemies at all, and slowly she managed to defeat one after another. With that, she was now much higher in the ranks of an actual guild... Still, it seemed like facing an actual murderer who was also a mage was a bit much.

With a small sigh, Leila caught a gimps of something in the sky. "Ugh...!" Not even bothering talking too much, she would squeeze the other girl's hand tightly as she pulled her closer, nearly making her trip and fall into her embrace. But instead of doing something like that, her free hand moved over their head, leading a big tree that suddenly left the earth. Creating a temporary shield, more spears started falling from the sky all around them, covering the entire area as their pointy ends digged deep into the dirt and stone. Doing her best to make the tree withstand the sheer number of spears, she quickly regretted that there was no stronger defensive spell on her disposal. The deadly rain would soon subdue, but their defense did weaken as well, the few last spears breaking through and nearly hitting the two girls. Thankfully Leila was very aware of the magical flow inside of all that she summoned and knew the exact moment where the shield would break. On the very last second, she pushed both her body and Jiyu out of the way, letting those last few spears cover the space where they were just staying. And just like that, the assault was over in mere seconds. "Good grief, she really is trying. How does one summon so many weapons at once anyway...?" She would ask, mostly herself. It was some food for thought, that for sure. Perhaps this Lilith was also wielding something along the lines of reequip magic, the Knight. Or perhaps these were just magical traps that were prepared beforehand, something that didn't require her direct involvement. It was hard to tell, but the two girls were still unharmed at this point of time... that was what mattered most. With spears sticking out of their backs, it would be pretty hard to battle anyone. "Sorry, the barrier broke... you're unharmed I hope?" Leila's attention suddenly shifted to the younger girl, her eyes expecting that fragile body with great care. And for that whole time, she did not let go of her hand, not even a little bit. It was also then that Leila felt a little bit of pain around her shoulder. Looking at her own body, she noticed a small, bleeding wound that suddenly appeared. As they were dodging, one of the spears actually managed to graze her. In the heat of that moment, she did not even realize that. But it was small enough to ignore, just a minor inconvenience.

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622 words
Most people within Black Rose itself, likely did not consider the Wind User as a cute indivdual, sure her apeparance was cute and she could behave cute. However? She had this side to her that Leila had not seen yet and might not see in this job, a side that was sassy and tempermental, domeriring and agressive! Thought, she was sometimes giving that up these days to be a sweet little team player, it felt better sometimes, like now. Instead of blaming Leila for granting the comfort they both needed? It felt amazing to just embrace the other female's hand and let the postive emotion sweep her up, causing no fear to show in her odd colored eyes and her fragile looking body to be relaxed."Considering she hasn't faced us yet, I doubt she actually directly killed them with her hands, she might have ways to do that, but I have a feeling she speared them or drove them mad." the short girl expressed her thought's, clearly still alert and paying attention to what was going on around them, ears twitching every few seconds as her nose did too. Honestly? She looked like a tiny puppy or rabbit when she did that.

      "I believe that too, and I'll be very careful not to hurt you with my magic." the hand she was holding her arrow in rose to fiddle with her long black hair, grabbing one strand and curling it around both her finger and the arrow before releasing it, repeating this several times, finally ending with her flicking her hair behind her should once more, smiling gently at Leila. It was always comforting to have someone seem to hold blind faith in you, and jiyu was good at doing that, even if she didn't believe, telling her father so many years in a row that she wasn't practicing mother's magic, being his sweet girl even thought she was growing up faster than he could handle, she was good at being a comfort with her presence.

        "Hmm?" she heard the annoyed noise from Leila and did not truly connect the dots to yet another rain shower, until the other mage pulled on her arm. Easily? The beneath hundred pounds woman fell into the semi-embrace of her current protector, eyes widening, and she almost pushed away, until she heard the spears falling, the barrier erupt from the ground. Once she heard those things? What was going on clicked in her head, and she let her body get closer to Leila's, feeling comforting heat radiate off her, biting her tongue. Honestly, Le must think she was weak, but the female was anything but helpless, thought she was comfortable with the higher ranked mage providing them both with protection, it worked better. Once the barrier was steady, she went to move to stand, but was pushed to the side again, man handled by her female companion. "Wha!" she looked cute in her shock, but she also looked like a wet cat as well, until she realized what had happened.

      "I wish I knew healing spells of my element, there might be some, but I don't know them, sorry." the wind mage spoke up, almost going to touch the small bloody wound, her companions efforts having proved valiant enough to keep her from harm. Even it worked this time? If Jiyu was innocent and helpless as she looked, the scarred woman was in trouble when the fight actually happened, but for now all they could do was venture forward and take over this job, beat their opponent. "This time, yes, I can cover the next barrier if you want, I have one barrier spell." the female offered, as it seemed Leila's might need a break.

Covering the little crimson opening on her skin with one hand, she smiled back at the girl as radiantly as she possibly could. "No need to worry, my clothes absorbed great deal of that damage. And, well... there is another barrier I could try to summon, but I fear it would protect no one else but me. So, if you're feeling confident... Next time spears come out way, I'll get behind your protection." Giving the girl chance to shine next time they would be under attack. Something like that would hopefully give her more confidence, rip out any feelings of uneasiness and helplessness from within her. Until now, it was mostly Leila who protected them. But Jiyu was a mage too, she was no civilian. And surely, her skills and abilities were nothing short of amazing. After all, she had that keen sense of smell and hearing, which was something rather impressive on it's own. So, letting her demonstrate exactly what she can do, it would help them both in more than just one way. And as they talked, one of the early swords disappeared completely, along with other two that were slowly becoming transparent. They were constantly nearing them, trying to bring uneasy into their fragile hearts, but they clearly could only stay visible for so long. All spells had their duration, and Lilith's magical traps were nothing different. All they had to do was to wait patiently and all would subdue in time, not having the desired effect on their sanity. If someone like Leila had to break, the nightmare would have to try much harder than just some cheap circus show like this. Still keeping the hold of Jiyu's hand, they both started walking forward again. They were quite deep into the village now and still no sense of any living being. Only the feeling of dread that filled the air.

Given the opportunity when not much was happening, Leila looked around before asking rather intriguing question. "Hey... you're not here because of an actual contract, are you?" That much was clear from her words before. She came here on her own, no actual job with reward involved. But why would someone so young do that? That was what plagued Leila's mind right now, and she wanted to know the answer rather desperately. Which was why she was actually asking this. "So... why would you come her? On on your own too. Were you actually planning on trying to face this murderer one on one?" Deep down, she was hoping for a negative answer. Something like Jiyu loosing her way and just finding this place by accident, or that she was to visit a relative here. Not that she was here to hunt down a murderer. Because if that was the case... who knows what would have happened to her if Leila didn't arrive when she did. Sure, she had a decent amount of magical energy... but their opponent was supposed to be on a level of A-rank mage. That was even higher than Leila. Mage like Jiyu, if she was to fight here alone... it would surely not go very well. Even though she did not want to doubt her abilities in the slightest, those things were just simple facts that one could not ignore. It was like comparing it all to a fight between a bug and horse. Obviously, the horse could never loose. With a single stomp, the bug would meet it's cruel demise, having to hope in achieving victory, ever. "If you ever feel like pursuing dangerous situations... you should remember those that hold you dear. And never make them sad by suddenly disappearing. Heh, sorry for my ear-tainting words... I just felt like saying them for some reason." Laughing it off, Leila scratched the back of her head, continuing to walk at the same pace she had all this time. Her clear blue eyes reflected the faint light that was coming from the skies and penetrated the magical fog. Apparently she felt old and experienced enough to be giving these useless lessons that no one liked. Who knew that she would play old nagging granny at this age.

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The member 'VindStot' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

736 words
Another blade danced in her vision, doing it's little tango and trying to beg for her attention, but she only smiled softly and kept her eyes on Leila as the girl covered her bleeding shoulder. For now? The only thing the wing mage could do was believe the other woman she'd joined up with, that the damage had been taken by her clothing instead of the mage herself. However Kazehime did have a subtly doubtful look in her bright optics, something of deep concern as she breathed, standing there ready to face this little murder, who seemed to really like casting blades in their vision. Honestly? She was at the verge of snapping on this bratty little child who kept casting distance things and illusions at them. However? Dropping things on people who could not predict her attacks was the exact same thing Jiyu did, so she was mad at someone for playing her own tricks on her, sans the illusions since she did not use those.

"Nope, I just heard about it while working the silvermoon restaurant." she heard about it and decided to set off before anyone in her Guild really had the truest idea of what she was doing. By now? They'd likely figured it out, just like when she went to the spooky forest after the big bad sheep on her own, but she was also too far out for them to reach and help her if she needed it. Honestly Jiyu liked it this way, she had to prove herself to them, otherwise those she cared for would always put themselves in extra danger, because they thought she needed them to do so! All she needed was help staying out of and getting away from close combat, she was a powerful mage just like the rest of Black Rose, and one day Marschal would have to see it.

"I figured I'd find someone after arriving, and I did, I found you."she figured that at one point this topic would be covered, holding her hand over her mouth once more, glancing down and looking at her bare toe's, unclothed feet wiggling slightly. Even if she had found the mage sent by the magic council? She admitted this still had been quiet the risk, but it was one that Jiyu knew she had to take, if she was ever going to rise above what had happened to her! She also needed to do such things to become a better mage, and always asking her guild-mates for help would only enforce the idea some of them had already, the ideal that she was helpless and actually needed them, when she did not, it was just easier with them! Leila had been treating her at least partly capable, but than there was someone like Marschal who flat out basically said he did not trust her to protect herself and she couldn't one day lose him, just because he wanted to keep her safe, she needed to be able to protect him just as much as he strove to protect her!

"It's because I remember them that I came, in my own regards I am strong, but until they see that, He'll keep putting himself in danger to protect me if we go on missions together. I'll keep your words in mind thought." she honestly just wanted this conversation to be over, while her flustered appearance was cuter than anything else so far, the red blush across her face when she mentioned a gender, suggesting she held feelings for whoever she spoke of? Jiyu clearly was uncomfortable with these facts herself, her odd eyes slightly wet as she forced another smile. It hurt that she was seen as so helpless, despite having her own strengths, on day thought she promised, she'd protect people like Marschal and Leila who protected her now.

"She's Coming!" suddenly the female's head whipped around, her finger lifting to point and everything else vanished so to speak, her ears tilted forward slightly and her eyes dilated forward. "I can hear her and she just entered my scent range, I'll get on top of one of the building's, it gives me a better vantage point for my first shoot."the female spoke, as she removed her bow from her pant's, scaling the side of a building before she sat atop it, and drew and arrow, ready to fire when it was time.

The village was still quiet. And with only few of the ethereal blades dancing around them, it was actually pretty peaceful and relaxing walk right now. The wound on her shoulder already stopped healing, and if she was to be wounded some more, she had a little trick that would make her all better again. So there truly was nothing to worry about, this was nothing compared to some situations she already went through not that long ago. Ever since that dubious mirror incident, she was reluctant to summon her fallen angel to aid, still remembering how she almost perished at her hands. Shaking that thought from her mind, she focused on Jiyu's words instead. And it truly was as she thought at first, this girl simply came here with no back up and the ideal that she would get some recognition for defeating a murderer. Her words were someone unframed, even mentioning certain someone at point, along with a big and clear blush that was slapped across the young girl's face. That sight made Leila honestly smile, only thoughts hinting on the fact that this little mage could have a boyfriend. "Still, you risked a great deal by coming here. Proving that you are capable of taking care of things by yourself is one case, rushing into something that is simply too much for you right now is another. Mage should always know their limits, and while it's good to be constantly breaking them and improving yourself... you must never overdo it." Few words of meaningless wisdom, she might have as well stayed silent. She herself heard those words from her father, and yet, here she was, risking her own life for people she didn't even know. Everyone would go against command like that, going wherever they want anyway. That was simply how it worked these days.

Half expecting another shower of wood and metal, Leila was instead rewarded by a shocked expression entering Jiyu's face, as she suddenly faced a certain direction, her index finger pointing clearly. There was nothing, only thick mist... but she confirmed. The nightmare finally got tired of playing around and decided to join the fun herself. That fact alone quickly changed the mood to rather serious one in a blink of an eye. Tearing away from Leila, her partner would quickly run off and climb one of the nearby houses. Little did she knew that there was much easier way of doing things. She would surely soon witness it, along with Lilith. Who, by the way, finally showed herself. Her little childish frame appeared as a menacing shadow, closing the distance between them as loud claps of her boots hitting the stone path echoed through the village. And finally, there she was. Shadow still covered most of her body, almost as some kind of camouflage. Only a pair of bright, crimson eyes shone through the purple mist, along with her sharp teeth that formed unsettling smile. "Hehe... you sure are strong, making it this far. I got bored of watching... so let's play together~" The little girl would speak towards Leila in playful tone, licking her lips as she did. Taking one clear step back, the Eden's mage faced her confidently, one of her hands reaching beneath the coat that she was wearing. "And don't even try to think about running. You've entered my world... there is no escape now!" Laughing maniacally as she uttered those words, Leila simply smiled and pulled out a small, wooden key from an inner pocket of that coat of hers.

"Your world? Then allow me to steal it and reshape it as I see fit!" Sending those strong words right back at the nightmare, she flung the key in the air, pointing it to the side as a briliant light emerged from it, slowly forming a magical circle. "Gate of mad lunatic! I open thee!" As those words sounded, a strange laugh echoed through the entire battlefield. It clearly belong to a boy, not someone who was currently present. Only, he appeared few seconds later in the air, landing on his feet gracefully as his boots clanked against the ground. The unknown spirit of Eden arrived, and with him, the entire village started shifting. It's shape would quickly change in rather dramatic fashion, all of the houses and roads disappearing, only to be replaced with a wooden floor that was littered with strange liquid. Instead of houses, high platforms with seats appeared, putting Jiyu on much higher spot than the one she had only few seconds back. And finally, a curtain created barrier roughly 50 meters away from the spirit. All four were now imprisoned in this fabricated arena. "Ahaha, I hope this is to your liking queen. Theater for a witch most vile!" As the boy spoke those words, he pointed at Lilith with his crude staff. The girl was clearly confused and shocked by the sudden change of situation, as she tightly held her teddy bear in a gentle, yet strong embrace. "Oh my, she looks angry, does she not? I better get somewhere safe too, lest I become her toy too! Hahaha, be careful not to go mad, my queen.

A black liquid started gathering beneath the boy who had shadow for his skin, and soon, a beautiful butterfly made out of ink was formed, lifting him into the air and on top of another platform, much like the one Jiyu was standing on. With a sigh, Leila brushed all the dust that landed on her attire during the transformation. "Always so fancy with your tricks, I never know what to think of it... anyway. Time to entertain the witch  then!" Borrowing her summon's words, she would jump few meters back and point her hand towards the sky that was now pitch black with a giant moon right in the center of the barrier's ceiling. "The blessing of the moon... lend me your strength!" With a little prayer, a silver light filled Leila's hands, forming a majestic looking bow made out of pure silver, or so it seemed. Bow of the fated moon! Uttering it's name, the bow suddenly lit up with magical power. And with a simple gesture, an arrow of similar looks was conjured in Leila's hand. The only difference was that the tip was made of no metal, but a pink crystal that shone with bright, magical light. Not wasting any time at all, she shot that very arrow with little hesitation, aiming right at Lilith. The little nightmare finally came back to her senses and quickly sidestepped, dodging the flying arrow. "Hah, don't think it will be that-" Not even capable of finishing, another arrow that she shot quickly behind the first one buried itself into Lilith's shoulder. It disappeared as quickly as Leila created it, and it left no damage at all. Instead, a pink seal was now visible on the child's shoulder. And that mark was more important than it actually looked. "Attack now!" The mage shouted those words at her partner, finally giving her the signal. Now was the time to showcase her spells, when Leila was still far away from the target. The mark that was on Lilith was making sure that all hits landed would have increased damage too, which was why Leila wanted Jiyu to wait a bit in the first place.

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Wood and some straw like material scraped against her bare leg's uncomfortably, body pressed flush against the roof in a big to hide her form as much as possible. Making a sniper sort of a shot with a bow and arrow? Was harder than most people gave those capable of it credit for, but she figured that Leila would understand as so far the other girl had been very mature and clever! Honestly this other small mage was someone she could get used to working alongside of, in the end Jiyu's ultimate goal was to go on tons of missions with Marschal, but Leila just kept making the impression of someone else she could come to count on. Despite being irritated when she found herself relying on people? The wind sorceress liked having people to rely on nonetheless, and would slowly get used to actually relying on people, she could see this Eden Mage becoming one of those people, despite them not being from the same guild.

      .. there is no escape now! she shivered slightly with the words, bow and arrow cocked at the ready for when Leila would signal her. Honestly? The darkness surrounding this child told Jiyu close combat was impossible for her, since the wind mage happened to actually rather fear the dark, which she'd been forced to live in for two years. However Kazehime reminded herself she had Leila to help protect her and that she was not going to get involved in close combat this time. Then allow me to steal it and reshape it as I see fit!" the female was slightly confused as her companion spoke, glancing over at her, keeping one eye trained on the little girl, to ensure she did not go randomly getting attacked by the A ranked murdered. However she nearly jolted and almost gave away her location when the field started to change, suddenly she was at a height vantage point much better than her prior one. Was this Leila's magic?! Oh gosh, it complimented her own very nicely if the spirits summoned by her new friend could shape the field, giving Jiyu places to cast her magic from, clear vantage points to see enemies and also avoid striking allies! They would make a good pair to fight!

        "Attack now!" it was time to show Leila that she was not just some C ranked mage who was in over her head, especially standing beside such a decent ally! Honestly, Wolf Shot would have let her stay hidden longer, but the female knew she might not be able to use Explosive Breeze later on, so she chose to save all her twelve arrows for Wolf Shot "Explosive Breeze." she let the arrow go and it landed in Lilith's shoulder almost just like Leila's shot had, the little girl looked entirely pissed off "Why You-" however the wind mage stood up, slashing one of her arms outwards "I never said I was done yet, Wind Slash!" the wind mage had a light sweat but she had one more trick to show case before she was done. Standing up all the way, she waved both her hands outwards, and the area around Lilith suddenly exploded with tornado's. "aaand Wind Dance." while most of her spells had long cool down's? She could fire Wolf Shot after a seconds rest, also wind dance and wind slash would be recovered in only a matter of two breaths.

      "Storm Howl." she had pointed her finger out and lifted the circle above her head, it exploded but did nothing else. "Enjoy the 15% buff Leila." however with leila's 50% buff and Jiyu's ambient 50% buff to magic power due to her recent captivity? The wind mage had turned into quiet the annoyance for Lilith, especially since she has just boosted Liela another 15% and was somewhat out of range! Jiyu than noted the butterflies popping up around the field. "Hey Leila the butterflies are real right?" she was on cool down, so Jiyu now knew she had to keep moving around the field so that

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Damage dealt by jiyu's moves
Wind Slash totaled 80 points
wind dance did 40
explosive breeze 87 damage, I don't know if Jiyu's natural ambient 50% covers this, so I'm going to go ask someone when we finish this.
Total damage done by Jiyu this turn: 207
Lilith's total health: 720
Lilith's health after Jiyu's attacks: 513

All her range moves expect Wolf Shot are now on two post cool down.

680 words.

While the angry child was too focus on enemy who was right in front of her, the sniper took her chance and finally showed her true strength. With only few attacks, Lilith was left standing with her body injured and the dress she wore tattered. Her eyes shone with a crimson light, much brighter than before, which only confirmed that her playful mood from before disappeared completely and was replace with wrath instead. But Leila did not let that bother her, instead, she simply lifted one of her hands and showed thumbs up. "Great work! And of course, those butterflies are just as real as anything in this word of mine~." She would answer her with a playful note in her words, only to tick off the nightmare more. It was funny, the child's appearance somewhat reminded the mage of Fleta, as she could get this angry too in certain situations. But at least her spirit wasn't a murdering psychopat... hopefully. In any case, it was now Leila's turn to do some damage. "Right, now that the explosions are out of the way... guess I'll start working too." Moving one hand in front of herself, she made few more gestures and summoned another magical circle. "Winds of Eden, come to my aid! And the withered rose, still chocking from her own poison, come forth, too!" Calling forth, she enhanced her speed and all of her attacks by adding some mild poison. The blue petals quickly started generating around her body, disappearing when they got too far, but not before they would create a grand spectacle of a dance in the wind, just like all leaves and petals were meant to do as they fell.

But it was not enough, this girl... nightmare Lilith, she was way more durable it your average mage. Even after all those attacks from Jiyu, she did not show any signs of being defeated anytime soon. Bending forward a little, Leila started gathering energy from within her... from withing the sacred gardens of Eden. Imagination was it's key, and she unlocked all locks with it. She needed all the strength she could get... so to activate it fully, she imagine a pedal, much like the one you would find in a land vehicle, and stomped on it inside of her mind with full force. Green aura erupted around her, strengthening her body. It was a risky state, as her defenses dropped... but her attack increased dramatically, too. The rewriter's gear activated... commencing wrath of Eden! As those words sounded, her figure was no longer where it was before. She bolted toward the child mage at incredible speed, trying to get her down as soon as possible. "Tsch... s..stay away!" Perhaps a semblance of fear, or at least something similar to that. It filled the nightmare, as she could feel her enemy's magical energy. She knew that Leila had enough power to end it all right now. And she could not allow that! The eyes of that teddy bear she was holding shone bright all of a sudden too, and then it transformed. Instead of a plushy toy, a golem was standing in front of the young mage. "Fath-" She did not finish the word, instead, she just shook her head drastically. This was not her father by any means... for he was long dead. And she already faced a fake in the past, who tried to kill her as well.

This was doing nothing! She knew that it was a mere illusion, something that was only disgracing the memory of the one she spent most of her life with. But the golem did not play his attention to her right now. It was still the teddy bear inside that now focus on Jiyu. "You too! I'll mess you up bad for what you've done to me!" Her voice angry and directed at the black-haired girl, several ethereal chains suddenly swooped in and tried to bind Leila's partner. Hoping that she would get out of that situation just fine, she focus on Lilith and her toy still. "I'll just power through then...!" A black shadows suddenly started gathering around her body, creating bubble that protected her body perfectly. And with that shield, she started rushing the golem, bore his fist in the air, trying to strike her small frame. But to no avail, the barrier was capable od deflecting even attacks of rank higher than Leila's own. And with the golem stumbling backwards, his attack completely ineffective, the bath to Lilith was clear. Touching the ground as she ran, several sharp roots unearthed and trapped the child, crushing her limbs mercilessly. Her tongue clearly clicked, as she watched the threat coming in. Leila's hands transformed into wooden claws that started slashing, tearing Lilith's dress into pieces as well as damaging her smooth skin. But the A-ranked mage quickly freed herself from the bind of roots, trying to evade and strike back. Thankfully, Leila's speed was boosted, making her fast enough to avoid all incoming counterattacks. Getting behind the nightmare instead, she punched her back, planting a seal to her and showing her towards the golem. With a smirk on her face and snap of her fingers, Leila got very close to the ground and watched. The seal erupted into a storm of sharp branch blades that started rotating around Lilith, damaging both her and her little toy in form of a machias. But as the golem was hit, a crude scream sounded on the entire battlefield, making Leila retreat temporarily.

Her spirit, Unknown, was watching it all from afar, resting on a chair atop one of the platforms. Her clearly had little care in involvement as long as his summoner didn't command anything. And now she was too busy fighting on her own, so he simply watching this play unfold, smile slapped on his pitch-black face just like always. And from time to time, he would throw few glances towards the other girl too, seeing how she was doing with those chains. But his peace didn't last too long, as he suddenly heard his master's voice. "Unknown! Mess with that transformed teddy bear!" His already wide smile grew even larger as he got up from his chair and pointed that stick of his towards the golem. "As the queen wishes then! The enemy is not a living creature, but still a sentient one, so let us show them the most horrific future of them all! It didn't look like anything happened at all. But soon, the fabricated golem grabbed his head, as if he was in great pain and despite the flying blades, he slowly made his way towards his master, the young nightmare. She simply looked at him with a pained look, still suffering from the earlier attacks. And what she was rewarded with was a friendly attack that knocked her back towards Leila. It wasn't at full force, since the spell that teddy bear used to transform itself was of higher rank, but it was still painful enough to deal solid damage. Now it was clear that the end of this fight was near. Murderer or not, this little kid had no chance against two trained mages. And as she was slowly trying to get up from that punch, two big trees appeared on either side of her and started wrapping themselves around her tiny frame. Squeezing at incredible force, it didn't take too long for Lilith to pass out. Once that happened, the trees released her once more, letting her unconscious body hit the floor. The golem also transformed back into an innocent looking teddy bear, since there was no one to feed it magic that it required to maintain that form. With a sigh of relief, Leila stretch and walked towards the defeated enemy. Victory was now theirs to celebrate.

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671 words.

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Letting someone grab your sole attention when there happened to be two enemies on the battle field? Was always a drastic mistake, Jiyu knew that much, but it appeared Lilith did not, so the two mages had gotten extremely lucky in this regard. Seeing the murderous child this pissed off was actually a boost to the C ranks ego, considering someone did not get mad unless you hurt them or seriously put a dent in their health! For the sake of proving herself, just like always? Kazehime hopped the A rank mage was mad at her for both reasons, but she was too far away to seriously know what exactly her attacks had done. The only thing Jiyu could know for sure? Was that Leila seemed pleased with the effects that her attacks had come to have on their opponent; Right now, that was more than enough for the young wind mage. So now that she'd been informed the butterflies happened to be equally as real as the platform she was standing on, the female jumped onto the next one she saw fly by her, pushing it's side slightly to direct it's flight towards the platform she wanted, which caused Lilith to loose sight of her for the moment, since Leila started her barrage of attacks after that fact.

      However the tiny child had one last stunt that neither of them had predicted coming, one where the form of a loved one was taken by that stupid stuffed bear! The moment Leila was distracted by that, Jiyu wished her cool down's were not the length they were, she couldn't really help attack the bear and return it to natural state for the current moment. kazehime failed to notice the bigger draw back to her companions distraction, and that was the fact it left her own form wide opened to being attacked by Lilith. Prior to right now? Her new friend had been able to divert all the murderous mages attacks and such, but now before Jiyu even realized, the chains had wrapped around her wrist's and leg's, unlucky for her falling right over her bruises. "NO, STOP PUT ME DOWN, NO, LET ME GO!" the wind mage started shrieking, eyes wide as she looked at the chains and struggled vainly against them, trembling as she hung there. Little did Lilith know? All she'd have to do in order to break the feisty sorceress now was blind fold her, black out the light. However Jiyu was not going to let that happen! Kazehime would not let this bitch call the shots! "TORNADO DOME!" her barrier sprung to life, and the chains where severed by it, sure it was stupid to subject her body to that fall, but in the end she'd rather that to being chained. When both Jiyu and the barrier hit the ground? She was weakened to a degree, but it was clear to say her barrier had taken a good degree of the hurt, shattering on impact. Also Lilith had just pissed off the wind mage.

And it was all over.

        "Good job, sorry I wasn't much helped and freaked out when she grabbed me." the wind user chuckled slightly, trying to brush her sudden screaming in terror episode off, rubbing her bruised wrists, a distant look in her eyes. For a second? When Lilith grabbed her in chains, it was almost like Marschal had never rescued her, and she had lost it, she couldn't be tied up like that again, she just couldn't! "So now all we do is get her in cuffs and take her back to the council, right?" not that she may actually come with to the building or anything, unless Leila invited her, but the female doubted the other mage had such a high opinion of her now that she seemed shaken and curled into herself slightly, gaze averted in shame. She'd have to watch for enemies with chains in the future, because she never wanted someone to see her scream like that again.

Once everything was done and good, Leila quickly hurried towards her partner who managed to get down from the platforms. Quickly grabbing her by shoulders, her eyes inspected the entirety of Jiyu's body in mere moments. "You don't look hurt, oh thank goodness." She got so absorbed in fighting that she completely forgot to check if she was okay. But she did manage to take a good care of herself, that was what she wanted to no surely. And her help counted for a great deal too, as it helped Leila defeat this enemy greatly. With a sigh of relief, the young mage looked towards the body that lied on the wooden floor. And with a loud clap of her hands, the barrier they were in started collapsing, returning them back to the village they were in before the fighting actually started. The mist was gone too, confirming that it was indeed connected to Lilith and possibly all those illusions that they encountered. Only the spears remained scattered about. They sure as hell weren't about to clean them, someone else would do that eventually. For now, the job was done. "Hm? You were great help throughout this entire time, take pride in that~." Leila would speak teasingly towards Jiyu's remark, maybe even kinda hoping that she would receive praise about how cool she was during that fight or something. But just as she thought, her fighting style was not something you would exactly praise. It was destructive and far from elegant, leaving much to be desired. But at least it was effective, at last in fights like this one. Taking rope from one of the nearby homes, she tied the little child and looked around.

It didn't take her long to find that cursed teddy bear. Not even wanting to touch it, she stomped on the damn thing and destroyed it for good. "This was the source of all that power she had. Without it, she should be completely powerless. And who know, maybe this item even possessed the little kid and forced her into all those terrible crimes. But... that will be decided by the council." Mages were only here to do the dirty work, not to pass judgement. Picking up the girl, Leila beckoned Jiyu to join her on that another little journey to the far away land of holy magic and the council. At least she had a horse nearby, who hopefully did not fled yet. If the other girl joined or not did not matter much, as Leila had to deliver Lilith no matter what. The ride took a while, but she arrived safe and sound, along with the screaming little girl who woke managed to wake up on the back of her horse, tied up perfectly. The guard took her to one of their jails, doubting slightly if it was right to treat little girl this way, or if she really was the said murderer. Regardless of their thoughts, she did a fine job along with her partner and got rewarded appropriately. That was what mattered most, truly. If there were no rewards, there would be hardly any point in doing these dangerous jobs. Unless one wanted to be hero. Thinking about it, she wondered if people would start recognizing her as the one who stopped the slaughtering nightmare. Some recognition would be nice, especially after being alone all that time. But it was not needed, Leila was just a little loner after all. Loner, but also pretty rich now. And that, no one could steal away from her.

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