Phantom crouched in the shadows, every muscle taut, a sheathed blade in each hand. Beside him stood Wicked Luna. Ahead of them, a wave of enemies in helmets approached. There were dozens, and more poured through the cabin borders.
“Non-lethal isn’t my name.” Phantom disappeared from his spot like a shadow slipping through cracks. His blades flashed in the afternoon sunlight, slamming through the first wave of armored men. He spun, ducking under a sword swing, driving his dagger into the attacker’s side. Another tried to catch him from behind, but Phantom slipped to the left, rolling away and delivering a precise strike to the man’s throat.
Meanwhile, Wicked Luna took a deep breath, extending her arms. With sheer flexibility, she ran towards the enemy and swung her staff vertically down, casting an area-of-effect gravitational spell without a chant. Countering a surprise attack from behind, she jumped over a sword swing and spun a whole rotation to the right. She landed perfectly, crouching on the ground, as her staff pointed towards the attacker. “Boom,” she whispered, and the attacker flew back.
More soldiers surged forward, but Phantom was already among them. He moved like liquid, flowing from one target to the next, his non-lethal blades singing with each strike. A sword came for his head, but he ducked, spinning low and stabbing the legs out from under his attacker. As the man fell, Phantom drove a knife into his stomach, then leaped back, narrowly avoiding a spear thrust. He countered with a throwing knife wrapped in cloth, burying it into the spear wielder's forehead.
Wicked Luna conjured a swirling vortex of light around herself. She pushed her hands forward, and the vortex expanded outward, knocking back the surrounding soldiers. They screamed as the impact was too much for a person to handle.
Still, the enemies kept coming. The two stood back-to-back.
"It’s just unfair! There's no end to them," Wicked Luna hissed while Phantom repeatedly pokes her chin. Irritated, she pulled Phantom’s hand away from her face and exclaimed, “Read the room, imbecile!”
Phantom narrowed her eyes and grinned. "These limp wimpy wimps don’t do anything but throw pillows. A sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who have strength in numbers… They’re more like a religion."
“Are you calling me weak-minded?”
“Oh, I forgot! You’re Haloed Chicken temple’s saint before.”
Wicked Luna raised her staff high, and the air around them grew heavy with magic. Phantom recognized the shift and darted away from the thick of the battle, giving her space. The combatants sensed it too and tried to rush her, but it was too late. In the middle of the battle, a voice from their transmitter came into their ears and interrupted the action.
“Aren’t you enjoying non-lethal poke wars too much? Why aren’t you moving at the next recon point? Let me guess. Suppose, you two seem to have your romantic comedy moments.”
Wicked Luna, offended by what Nebula said, slammed her staff into the ground while her face flushed red. A shockwave of energy exploded from her, throwing the mercenaries into the air like ragdolls. The ground shook but didn’t dent. Wicked Luna stood in the center, her staff dimming as the magic receded, leaving only a faint shimmer within the staff’s crystal ball.
“Never! Don’t lump me with that racist. We just finished putting the children to sleep.”
The area around the cabin fell silent. “Sounded like a real orphanage babysitter, which would make sense ‘cause you’re dealing with orphans. Make sure that you tie them tight, not a shoelace tie. Behind the scenes, there’s still far that I don’t know. If what the dead ol’ man said was 100% fact, I’ll be depending on you for the cure.”
Phantom stepped over the bodies, checking if they were still conscious. “Miss Suppose, do you know the cure of life? Death! Yeah! Oh god, I wanna kill myself for that joke.”
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“Then die now. I’m in the Arena now, and I need death-longing volunteers to save two or three crybabies.”
“Never mind him, Nebula-sama. He lacks attention. What shall we do now? Secure the stone to Rox first or venture towards the Crestbramble Den?”
The Crestbramble Den, like the Arena, is a labyrinthine network of caves nestled deep within the forest. In its heart lies the central chamber that was once used in the past. Due to the dangers of crumbling debris and locked pathways, the kingdom banned entry within its vicinity… not at least for one person.
“Proceed with the latter. We don’t have much time until the full moon. We’ll have a nice talking session with that person.”
***
“I told you not to look back! Do you want to become the public god of perverts like Ellen?”
“I’m not looking back!”
Gavin faced the wall while Melani and I swapped our clothes, my casual clothes in exchange for her elegant princess dress. I constantly told and scolded Gavin not to look back. If he wasn’t disciplined, he’d get used to it. While changing, I frequently tickled Melani’s body to calm her. I used the free worn-out sword from the stash to cut the skirt, which swerved onto the ground, down to an inch above knee level.
“We’re done. You can look back now. How was I?”
“Wow! You look like a real princess, Quimora.”
“It’s a fair comparison to my dream dress back when I became a queen candidate.”
Gavin rotated back and darted his widened eyes at me. It might be too bold to move in this revealing outfit, but he might be thinking of a different vision of me. Stunned, like paralyzed to the extreme due to his uncontrollable trembling, he stuttered, “T–That’s…”
“Ohoho!” I laughed like a noblewoman and covered my grin with my fingers. “Did I catch your lust?”
“W–What are you saying!? Never!”
Giggling, I approached his side. His full-body trembling escalates. For every step that I make, he steps back. We’re like doing Samba until we reach the end of the corner. With a warm-looking smile, I slowly leaned over his face until we could hear our breaths an inch between our faces’ distance.
“D–Don’t tease me, you menacing grandma–” He halted when he felt my soft lips touching his cheek. His face appeared more red up to the extreme due to body heat. He pushed me back as he shook his head vigorously. “Argh! I’m going to be sinful, you insolent devil,” he growled, scratching his cheek with force.
Striking him with the prank, I laughed as my lungs forced me to exhale pulsing breaths. “Choosy, aren’t we? You have a pretty weak tingle for women. You’re in denial, it may only mean something, right?” I asked, shifting my pupils toward Melani. He doesn’t want me to do those things because of this alien girl.
“Shut up!”
There’s a reason we did this. Some of our target audience, the orphans, haven’t met the princess yet. Knowing that she lived in a gated family, it’s safe to play with this bet. This plan would mostly work if I declared myself as the bait. Unlike these kids in YOLO, I can die any time and do a buyback.
I announced, “Can you two hold your horses? You’ll be choosing your loadouts.”
We gathered before a trove of metallic weapons, most of them rusted and worn out, most of them were prototypes forged with a smith’s lack of determination. If one’s a seasoned fighter, one can always judge a weapon’s quality in a leer. The sharp bladed weapons, including the one I used earlier, contained cracks and patchworks of red and brown corrosion.
Gavin had somewhat of an ability to fight for himself due to the recent crisis. A weightless sword would prefer his style. He took one that was compatible with him and scanned it side-to-side. When he swung it, his muscles didn’t tense as the sword swiftly traced its intended trajectory.
“Woah! Are you experienced with a sword, Gavin?”
“Not really, princess. However, I have an experience.”
“I told you, you can call me Melani,” she exclaimed and pouted.
“I’m sorry, Me–Mela… I can’t say it! I’m sorry! Somehow, I felt like I’d soon be punished for disrespecting a royal.”
“I told you, it’s alright!”
“Okay… M–Melani.”
“Good!” Melani smiled with warmth, completely turning Gavin’s cheeks to puffed red.
Melani, however… I’m concerned about her. She never had any experience with fighting, more so adventuring. If I could only say wimp in her face, I would. Since she won’t have any after effects in my plan, I let her choose as she wished.
A nearly-breaking spear, which will soon teach her the lesson of life, would be suitable for her. She took a spear, a completely worn-out and discarded prototype. If she uses it, it will crumble with ease. Her lesson would be a pinch, a near-death situation that will be decided with her decisions, a convenient way of telling what she thinks of the world.
On our departure, I stayed for a moment with my hands extended behind the sac’s walls, completely hidden from them. Out of nowhere, Gavin asked, “Come on! What are you doing there?”
“A checkpoint, just for additional security. I’ll be there soon,” I replied while staring at my open hands that glowed and generated a soulless body of me, connected into my palm like a joint, and soon disconnected. For a minute, I left a clothless mannequin without them knowing.