48th chapter : Lack in ability .

As the red mermaid deployed its members around for an all out war against Vanica’s team, the balance of powers had shown that a lot was hidden from the entire battle as it was just a one versus one all the way.

An hour earlier on Alice’s side,

“Sigh, why do I always end up with a guy who looks like he loves to get his hopes high!?” Alice complained as she was looking around to check if there’s any people around.

“I hate to break it to you but I’m not a guy who does that. I prefer to keep my expectations low so I won’t be stunned by what will happen after that. Rather than that, I work on facts!” Nora smiled at her as he was acting friendly.

Alice sighed as the two were facing each other without moving a thumb, waiting for the good timing to start an attack. A few seconds passed then Alice sighed as if she was letting her guard down.

“I’m not sure if this is really a good thing to do, so let’s just get it over with you going down!!” she said in a rush as she released her serment.

Nora kept smiling as he released his serment that looked like an old and long smoking pipe that had a mark on its side. Alice’s serment also changed shape as it was almost the same purple scales but at that point it turned into a crown of horns around her head.

Nora might’ve not shown it but her serment’s dense release left a frightening image about Alice in his mind.

“You’re looking like a princess in that thing!!”.

Nora started the attack, dashing at full speed, straight at her trying to land a clean hit. Alice grinned at him as she was about to guard the punch heading towards her but Nora switched acts instantly and blew smoke onto her face. As the vision was hazy, Alice ducked down on instinct avoiding a kick then went outside the smoke to get a clear vision on him again.

After seeing what he did Alice was impressed as she didn’t let her guard down and kept it vigilant for any surprise attacks.

“You have quite the cocky serment there!” she said, grinning at the situation in front of her.

“I thank you for that, at least I don’t have a princess crown as a toy!” Nora answered her words with mockery as well as trying to get on her bad tempered side.

Alice kept on smiling calmly then looked around.

“I’ll make sure that you know what this crown toy can do!!” Her words made it blunt that she was angry.

“Things are a little advantageous for me I guess, we’re in the middle of somewhere where air flows pretty much in a good way. I’m a smoke user so calculate with me a little!!” Nora grinned cheesily at her as Alice twitched a brow. “If we say that I would release all my locked up smoke around!! Since I smoke a lot during the day, you can say I’m pretty much aware of any battle situation, I can move around the smoke and as I said I’m the one that has the advantage here!!”.

Nora’s true expressions showed up finally, swinging the smoke pipe to release a huge amount of smoke at Alice’s direction. In that second, Nora was only thinking that he won, letting his guard down and focusing totally on landing a fatal strike on Alice.

Therefore looking like she was in a pinch, Alice sighed as she held her hand toward the smoke calmly, the next second that Nora realized her intentions, he got blown away by Alice as he saw blue flames eating the smoke he let out from his serment.

Alice on the other side didn’t move an inch and only made a few scales materialize on her palm to release her blue flames. she smiled at him confidently as he was shocked about what happened to him, Thus the blue flames didn’t reach him on purpose. Alice looked like she was keeping her thoughts together, Nora on the other side was acting the opposite of his words and had high expectations of winning the battle with a single hit.

“Are you scared!?” she asked, smiling at him however before he would reply Alice instantly leaped to his front, taking a stance to hit him hard on his guts “I’m only just starting!!”.

Thus she was sure that the hit had landed directly, her fist pierced through his body as if it was a smoke cloud. As it was an all act, Nora appeared standing far from behind her.

“Sigh, I told you! I never make my expectations high!!”.

Vigilantly talking, Nora jumped away from Alice’s blue flames that she unleashed at him again. Leaping away from the area, Nora ended up in the middle of Xavier’s and Minerva’s battle area along with almost getting hit by Xavier’s arrows just to Alice to follow after him.

After changing the place quite a few times to run away from Alice. Nora had stopped as he looked around, studying his surroundings.

“Getting tired from running?” Alice asked him as she caught up to him.

Nora smiled “I’m not really tired but I realized that your blue flames are something that I need to deal with carefully!”.

“Heeh? Is that so!? just so I’ll let you know! my blue flames aren’t only my good point”,

She replied, grinning again before vanishing from his sight. Nora wasn’t expecting a full speed attack as he unleashed the smoke everywhere then leaped inside it first before going out of it, from a different direction. It was a clear decoy.

Alice was acting like she bought the bluff of him going to the back therefore she had a quick reaction as threw flames at the decoy to boost her speed and catch up with Nora who was hiding behind the smoke.

Unlike the first time, this time he got shocked by how fast Alice was going on battle, to the point where he didn’t have time to react to her punch that smacked him down on the floor. The hit dealt some damage but Nora couldn’t catch himself from trying to land a hit on her too. That second the smoke blew Alice up and was about to crash her as if the smoke turned into a giant hand.

Nora stood up wiping the blood off his nose with a smirk,

“You seem like you got in the nerve to make me use that trick, my smoke can…” Nora chuckled little as he thought that Alice wouldn’t break free from the smoke hand but he stopped talking, the second that Alice burned all the smoke and landed on the ground while wiping the dust from her jacket. he sighed after that and looked at her approaching him, yet he averted his gaze to a different side.

“I hate to break it for you but you can’t beat me. Even if you fire me your best shot” Alice said while looking towards the direction where Nora’s gaze was.

Upon seeing no other options, Nora sealed back his serment and took out a cigarette, he smoked some then burned it all. Alice was surprised to see Nora suddenly fall off the battle, resigning the way he did. The two looked at each other steadily then Alice pointed to the way of their destination for the meantime, Nora agreed to go too.

“I’m in no position to really talk about it but at some point, Can I believe that you won’t kill Vanica sama?”.

he asked out of the blue as Alice was surprised when he mentioned Vanica, showing his loyalty to someone who Alice believed was responsible for the current situation.

Nora was determined in his own way of question.

“I’m not sure but I can’t say that I’m not mad at her. At least, I know that I’m the person that you should ask this, our master is the one who usually makes the orders, but…”

Alice responded as she felt like his hostility went away.

Nora thought it was useless to argue with her either as he sighed, after hearing his sigh Alice continued talking,

“It’s not that we can’t really give the orders, instead of him doing it, if what you said, that was out of loyalty and I know that you are one of the few that the council deemed to be thrown in the middle of this realm, so for now…Errm, how I should say it again!! Just let’s meet with the rest of my friends !! I’m sure that they will understand your situation although we beat your asses!!”

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Alice tried to act cool but at some point didn’t have the right words to speak.

Looking at how she flustered, Nora grinned awkwardly as he realized that the other two of his friends already lost the battle.

Soon after meeting with Alex and the rest, he realized that the vibe around them has changed a lot from what they got as information from the bandits.

“Say, what are we going to do for dinner?” Xavier asked as they were walking down the alley.

“Are you really asking for dinner?” Alex responded.

Minerva and Nora found it weird that they’re more calm than normal.

“Aren’t you afraid that Marco would lose?” Nora asked them.

The red mermaid looked at him flustered over their conversation.

“Now you mention it, I bet he’ll say that he wants some spaghetti for dinner!!” Xavier answered but for a different matter as he showed that they’re not worried about him.

“As long as he returns alive then everything is good, it won’t be really a problem if he returns beaten up either!! and there he is another one that we forgot about!! Arthur!!”.

Alex spoke, answering Nora’s question then looked up to the rooftops, calling for Arthur who was jumping from roof to roof while holding Sophie on his back.

Arthur noticed them too then he caught up to them. After looking around, Arthur unleashed a bloodlust as he saw that Nora and Minerva were with them. Xavier and the others calmed him down though.

“Where’s Carla?” Alice asked.

“She said that she has to go back, because she still has work to do!! Anyway!! Why are these two here!?!” Arthur replied angrily.

Alice and the others sighed as in the moment that they were about to answer his question, a sudden huge black gale appeared out of nowhere in the direction of where Arthur was coming from.

As they saw the uprising gale, they all sighed as Minerva and Nora were worried the most.

“Uhm, I guess this concludes the fight for today. Arthur!! don’t think of doing anything funny until master says it’s all clear, for now it’s up to him to decide!!” Alex flicked Arthur’s forehead as they were walking, it was to stop him from going back to the gale’s location.

Minerva and Nora felt like something was off, the two were worried as hell, seeing the red mermaid calm about this whole situation and not really feeling the need to fetch anything about it.

“Wait!! Does this mean that Vanica sama is dead!?” Nora asked as they stopped walking right after hearing his question.

“Yes and no I guess,” Alice replied.

“if Carla’s there, then I guess nothing will happen to her mother.” Zack added after.

“So! Case closed for now!!” added Xavier.

“She’s the only one who can control Marco’s willing to kill I guess, so don’t worry and let’s go” Alex delivered the last say, as Arthur finished it.

“If Sophie’s safe, Carla’s safe then there’s nothing he would try to fight for, at least for the meantime”.

Arthur was composed as he gave Sophie to Alice, Sophie was still unconscious because of the loss of euro in her body. Arthur in that order, used Karma and gave her a little to regain some of her health thoroughly.

It didn’t take them a lot to reach the restaurant. With everything getting cleared, the defeat of one of the seven star lords was announced, and so another big guy appeared with the intention of revenge, rampaging in the middle of the peaceful district.

“That guy is Guner!! What is he doing here?!! I thought he was in the eighth district!!” Minerva yelled worriedly as Guner was in the middle of their road to the restaurant.

The red mermaid members looked at him as they sighed, they formed a circle about to start doing something but Arthur interjected,

“Let me take care of him please!!” Pleaded Arthur.

The four didn’t mind at all as they saw him having a smile, walking towards him however that smile soon turned to a pout because another person stole the victory from them.

“ Don’t tell me you were willing to let Arthur fight him?”.

Marco said as he appeared from the sky smacking Guner down while holding Carla and Vanica on his back.

“Put me down, I might vomit any second!!” Carla shouted, tapping his shoulder hard.

Marco was holding both of them with chains so they wouldn't be falling from his back when he was using chains to travel. He was holding them carelessly, indeed, which resulted in Carla’s current condition.

“You really don’t have the delicacy of holding a lady, blurrghh!!” Carla scolded him again as she vomited on the knocked down Guner’s face.

“You’re the one that should know the delicacy of where to vomit”,

Marco responded as he let go of Vanica who was in a bad state at some point from fighting him. After seeing that Marco returned, everyone from the district was surprised to see Guner getting knocked down with one strike from the sky.

“You’re reckless!!” Carla yelled at him as they all approached them.

“Yeah, welcome back” Marco sighed in her face as they all felt relieved that the problem had been solved.

While the red mermaid were having some calm moments, they all heard the cries of Minerva who rushed to Vanica so she could help her.

“Vanica sama!! Are you ok?! You’re not badly injured right!? Say something?!” Minerva screamed, frustrated upon what she was seeing.

In the middle of that, Vanica was ashamed and only patted Minerva’s head,

“You made her calm in only one fight. What did you do?”.

Emilis whistled as he stood next to Marco who responded with a sigh before saying only one word to him,

“well….” thus falling to the silence of the event recalling its start.

Back to when the assault started, on Marco’s side.

“Are you sure you can keep up?” Marco asked as he was heading with full speed alongside Arthur who was following him.

“Of course I can!! I use lightning, you know!! So have some faith!!”.

Arthur responded as the two were heading south, right after arriving, Arthur stopped because of noticing that there was an enemy on the roof therefore Marco didn’t stop.

“Oi!! There’s a guy there!!” Arthur complained as he wasn’t expecting that his brother would go into battle so recklessly.

Soon that shocked expression turned to an impressed expression as Marco vanished from Arthur’s side speeding up. Meanwhile Larg, who was guarding the building on the roof so he could get a proper look, saw him Coming clearly.

Marco, who had full control of his serment after that week of training, had unleashed his chains at Larg as a decoy. Larg avoided it with ease by jumping to the left side, right after leaping to the other side, the next thing he realized was seeing the world upside down after.

Marco beheaded him with the black sword then caught his head. It was as fast as an arrow which Marco jumped up then boosted his speed with chains again, smacking the body down to the first floor while still holding the head. Marco’s entrance made a big ruckus along with some smokescreen.

Vanica with everyone who was inside that room looked towards the dust as they only saw the head of Larg slowly crawling out it along with the sound of breath exhaling, later then the green glow of Marco’s eyes in the dark where he was standing.

“Oh!! The boy has come back to life!” Vanica grinned at Marco as he stepped out of the dust.

Nora and the other two were surprised as they saw Larg’s body being stepped on by Marco.

“You damn kid!!!”.

Xander was the first one to move and try to attack him but Marco was quick to dodge the hit, grabbing him with chains along with Nora and Minerva who surrounded him too. Marco didn’t waste his time and threw them all out from where he entered as they couldn’t break free from the chains.

Vanica whistled as she saw them being blown away easily, They couldn’t even flinch a thumb to resist.

“I’m impressed boy!! or I should call you Marco kun!! or even my little snow white’s boyfriend!!” she smiled at him.

Marco looked around, studying the area then sighed,

“First of all, I’m not dating your daughter so don’t call me that, second”, Marco stopped for a moment as he smiled at her with a calm smile, he then was about to speak but Arthur who appeared next to Vanica holding Sophie interjected instead,

“Carla nee is our family!! so you don’t deserve her love!!”, these words ticked off Vanica for a reason.

Vanica was late to notice Arthur but quick enough to send her tentacles towards him. In that aspect, the tentacle made a big impact as she wasn’t expecting Marco, who was far from where she was standing, to appear right in front of her stopping the tentacle barehanded.

“You’re unusually late, are you afraid?” Marco addressed Arthur who was already far from where the attack was done.

“I’m not!! you’re the one who rushed in recklessly!!” Arthur responded as Marco dodged an attack from a familiar shield after that.

As the shield appeared, Marco sighed and looked aside to see Carla mostly like a zombie, fighting unconsciously. He kept dodging the hits while making sure that Vanica wouldn't lay a hand on Arthur who was watching. After a few movements Marco got annoyed then flipped through Carla’s defense to catch her from the head and knock her down with a single hit to the floor.

“You stay asleep for a while, goddamn it, what a persistent girl”,

Marco said as he held Carla then threw her outside to Arthur along with blocking the tentacles that Vanica sent towards them, barehanded again.

“Sigh what a mess, believe I should’ve ju-!!”,

Vanica spoke however before she could even get to finish her words, she barely dodged the punch that Marco tried to land on her with full power. The afterwave of that punch unleashed a strong wind, she leaped to the back and made some tentacles as barriers, looking at him as she felt a different vibe than earlier.

Marco on the other side kept a composed face, continuing his talk with her.

“Sorry my bad, I missed. Next time I won’t,” He was vigilant.

Vanica looked at him as she felt angry for the first time in ages.

“I’ll make sure to kill you with my own hands, boy!!” she coldly blunted these words.

Marco looked at her straight in the eyes, exhaling his breaths

“and I’ll make sure to erase that smirking face from yours!!”.

The two looked determined on killing each other however Vanica couldn’t remove that uneasiness from seeing his cold look even in the middle of the battle.

Marco felt like it was the start of a boss battle event.

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