CONTENT NOTE: This chapter contains a non-consensual kiss.

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Raven and Ebony simultaneously dashed towards their opponents. As soon as she was within the Princess’s reach, the Succubus whipped out a knife and slashed across Princess Abc’s face. But she wasn’t fast enough. The Princess was able to block the attack with the metal plates covering her mitts. The knife made a sharp sound, as it hit the metal.

Shelly at the same time was involved in a fight with Raven. She fought using her shortsword, while Raven, who for some reason was wearing a suit, had metal claws attached to his hand.

How can he fight in such a tight attire?, I wondered.

Aster stood next to me, watching.

“You don’t want to join in?” I asked him.

“I prefer not to fight, I’m more on the supporting site.” He grinned at me, and then took off his blinds. He seemed to focus on the Princess, who was still fighting Ebony. I could hear him mutter something.

“What kind of cheater is using a knife in hand-to-hand combat?” Princess Abc said.

“What kind of loser is forgetting their knife for a knife fight?” Her opponent replied.

“What kind of dork is not using magic in a fantasy world?” I commented, when suddenly the Princess vanished, and something sent Ebony flying.

“Oh, there we have it.”

Ebony shot upwards, trying to control her direction somwhow, which resulted in her drawing weird circles and finally crashing into the ceiling. Dust fell down and caused my nose to twitch.

“Was that you?” I looked back at Aster.

“I specialize in illusionary magic.”

“But even so, how was she able to send her flying that easy? This room is like three stories tall!”

“Magic of course. She used wind to blow her up. Also, before, when she smashed the entrance to this cave. That was earth magic.”

“Doesn’t she need to chant a spell like you did just now?”

“I know only one thing for sure: Bending the four elements is the easiest way to cast magic. But even so, she shouldn’t be able to do it without at least some magic words.”

“Earlier, she mentioned she was trained in hand-to-hand combat since she was a little girl. Maybe she is really experienced? She is a princess after all,” I proposed.

“That might be possible.”

He put on his blinds again and the Princess became visible, just as Ebony pushed herself off the ceiling towards the ground and onto the Princess. She sat on her hips and started punching into her. Though the Princess somehow was able to dodge some of her hits, few of them hit her. Just as Ebony pulled out another knife, the princess rammed her hand onto the ground and threw Ebony in our direction. Aster pulled me aside, as Ebony was thrown against the metal socket of the machine. She pulled herself onto it and got her wand out of her … cleavage?

“Do all female wizards hide their wands between their breasts?”

“I have pecs that would be enough to hide wands in between them, but I’ve never tried it out.”

“You have muscles?”

Aster would be considered rather slender, and I wasn’t able to really determine whether he was lying or not.

The wand was not the only thing Ebony had in store. Under the few inches of fabric covering her body, she was taking out some kind of weapon and sent it flying towards the princess. They looked like Shuriken, but something about their flight path was really off. Soon I realized, Ebony was actually controlling them with her wand. Just like Aster before, she was muttering some foreign words to herself and together with the movements of her wand she was able to control them at will. Princess Abc saw those Shuriken coming, but due to their random movement, and since it was six of them, she wasn’t able to dodge them. She got a few cuts on her body, before being pinned to the ground at last. Of course, she tried to free herself, by simply ripping her clothes, but that was not possible as the Shuriken suddenly started melting, and forming shackles, anchoring her in the ground.

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“What is this?” She desperately asked, as she tried to free herself.

“My personal handcuffs of course. I’ll come back to you later, honey. First there is something … I’d like to know.”

She ran in my direction and flashed another knife. Barely able to defend myself, I raised my hand. The Grimoire followed the movement of my hand and so it was able to whip the knife out of her hand.

“So, you indeed are in possession of this … Grimoire.”

At this exact moment all fighting noises fell silent.

“He has formed a pact with the Grimoire?” Someone, I think Raven, asked.

“But that’s impossible!” Shelly exclaimed.

“You- Nathan, you aren’t human by any chance, aren’t you?” The Princess asked from the ground.

“Of course, I’m human. Why wouldn’t I be human is the real question here.”

“Well, that’s because-”

“Humankind… went extinct,” Ebony finished the sentence.

I didn’t even have the time to think about what she said, because she already dashed in my direction and tried to hit me. But I blocked her attack again with my Grimoire. In the meantime, Princess Abc managed to melt the metal holding her back. Aster chanted some spells, trying to help me. But that was not necessary since Princess Abc already threw herself at the Succubus. They crashed against the machine, just a few inches away from my face, causing cracks on its' surface.

“Whoa, watch out, Princess Careless!”

“It’s Carelis!” I could hear a muffled voice.

She really is sensitive, isn’t she …

“Sister!” Raven shouted, abandoning Shelly. But she wouldn’t let herself get shaken off. She chased after him, and pinned him down, just a few feet away from me.

“What have you done, you mediocre dunce!” Ebony shouted, pushing the Princess off of her. The crash caused the machine to bend immensely with the crystal ball tilting our direction. Cracks would cross the ball on top, and they kept getting bigger.

“The energy stored in this machine contains the spells of at least a hundred Grimoires! They’ll break away.”

The spells inside the ball could be seen as some kind of multicolored goop leaking through the cracks, dripping on the floor, sometimes throwing sparks. Some of them actually hit me, but they weren’t hot or anything, they… they simply were.

“What will happen if they escape?” I asked, anxiety rising through my voice. But no-one needed to answer, when a spark already hit Shelly and knocked her out in an instant. Raven, still below the weight of her body, had a baffled expression on his face but he seized this opportunity and immediately threw her off of him.

He had trouble building up speed, so for this attack I could prepare. Just as he decreased the distance between us another small crack happened to open up and allowed another spell to escape. One hand in front of me, to block Raven, I instinctively used my other to protect myself from the dripping goop. What happened was… I threw it right into Ravens face. It blocked his view, and he stumbled forward, now standing in the place inhabited by me merely one second ago.

“Shit! What is this crap?” He screamed, trying to tear it off of his face. But it glued onto him, and what’s more, his body seemed to slowly absorb it. Colored sparks left his face in irregular intervals. Then he just stood there, his face in his hands.

“You little brat … what did you do?!” Ebony was shouting at me, while at the same time bestowing her brother with a frightened look. She took his shoulders and shook him, looking at his covered eyes. I wasn’t able to determine, whether they were closed, or opened. But I could sense numerous thoughts running through Ravens mind, and in this case, I figured, they would be open.

Aster knelt next to the Princess, who also was on her knees. They both seemed unsure of what to do with this situation. Sure, they could’ve used the perturbation, to just ditch the whole situation, but firstly, Shelly was unconscious, and secondly: Our initial goal was to find and capture the thieves. Leaving them here would either mean to let them get away, or let them die in case this machine totally spazzes out.

“Princess.” Ebony turned around to face the one she addressed. “I’m not done with you. But sadly, I have to inform you that you’ve slid down a few points on my… priority list,” she announced as she turned around my way.

That’s when I again prepared myself to be attacked, although the only skill I possessed was dodging.

And doing this weird thingy with my grimoire.

Damn, that’s fucking cool. This could probably be able to knock someone out, if used properly. I took my right foot one step back as soon as Ebony opened her wings.

But then she was stopped.

“!” Her startled face turned back. “Raven. What are you doing?” She spoke to the one holding her hand. Raven had let go of his face already and he appeared confused.

“Ebony … I’m really sorry, I have to say this. But I can’t let you kill this boy …” His grip tightened, as he spoke, manifesting his determination.

“Why is that?” Disappointment in her voice.

He pulled her back, pulling himself forward. He was quite a bit taller than me, and suddenly his arms embraced my shoulders. From the corner of my eye, I saw Aster and the princess stand up in an instant, the princess raising her fists, while Aster was clapping his hands together, as if he was to prepare a spell. My reaction time was close to zero, as this sudden attack together with what just happened left me rather perplexed.

And Shelly, well she did nothing, but I appreciate, that she would have probably tried her best, to get me out of this troublesome situation. As the man answered his sister, the overflowing magic absorbing machine seemed to be the smallest problem, at least in this world.

“That’s because …” My energy left my body within a split second... “I’m deeply in love with him.” ... as my lips touched his. I felt the shockwave of at least three jaws dropping.