KON POV

I am The Magical Lilycal Lizbeth of Sky Punk, Champion of Justice desuno!

On behalf of Seika District, I will right wrongs and Triumph over evil,

And that means you, desuwa!

Elizabeth delivered the line with such passion and poise. The hand crossing, the finger pointing, and even the brief dance were done with precise movements that resembled the real thing. It was as if she had just finished transforming from her normal outfit into the magical girl outfit. I could even imagine the background exploding in pink from the climax. On second thought, it was just Zack scattering pink flower petals around.

What the heck was I witnessing? My face was twisted like an abstract painting the entire time I was looking at what that idiot Zack had just created. He dressed Elizabeth in a skimpy cosplay outfit that the main character of Magical Lily of Louvre wears. Even her optic device had been modified into a white half-face mask masquerade with a lens.

My first thought was, ‘I bet it was that crazy pervert’s fault for entertaining the stupid monkey’s idea.’

My second thought was, ‘Is her dad going to see her like this whenever the team participates in tournaments? This is just a one-time thing right?’

My third thought was ‘Poor Elizabeth, what had they done to you.’

I apologize, Elizabeth, but you’ll have to excuse me for putting you so low down the priority list.

Your father warned me to keep you away from my friends’ shenanigans. So, do pardon me for being scared out of my mind right now, facing the possibility of getting buried somewhere deep in the mountain.

That talk about keeping his daughter 2 meters away from these lunatic monkeys? That ship has apparently sailed. I better write my will. Or maybe I can convince Lady Kathy to spare me? I haven’t practiced my puppy eyes as much.

“Kon heads up. We stunned them for 5 seconds but they are readying up.” said Zack.

“You piece of dog poop. You have a lot of explaining to do after this is over.”

I readied myself too, preparing to ramp up my gear if things escalated. Right now the situation is three versus six. We are on the rooftop of the abandoned building. At this point, it’s already customary to conduct a beatdown on top of a rooftop. When it comes to a fight, always try to gain a height advantage over your enemies. That and try to keep the noise and scuffle away from civilians. I prefer to keep my online exposure to a minimum if it can be helped.

Unfortunately, I have to keep reminding myself that we are currently fighting using SpeedGear. Everybody will move at least twice as fast compared to what I am used to. There’s also the problem of me and Elizabeth being a complete beginner when it comes to operating SpeedGear. Even though I have speed, I won’t be able to move the way I want in terms of pivoting and flowing with enemies’ attacks smoothly.

I will be flat-footed most of the time if I bring this into close combat. This will be tough.

I haven’t seen much of Zack’s fight aside from a one-to-one caged fight, so I’m not too sure about his capability to deal with many enemies at once.

I summoned my orange ember and drew in my prana to do several things at once. I equipped myself with a Mask to boost my mental clarity, then I kept my area of intent locked onto the whole rooftop. I didn’t forget to charge a marble Rakansen in my hoodie pocket. A guy is about to open his mouth, so it’s Just nice.

“Look, hand over the brat and nobody’s gonna get -”

PHANG!

He didn’t finish his sentence. I made sure to give him my hardest shot straight to his Optic Gear. The second I finished flicking, I immediately dashed forward. The five guys surrounding us immediately dashed towards us intending to beat us down.

I’m not worried about Elizabeth because Zack is properly protecting her from harm by looking after her back. He is doing a proper job covering the Diva as a Center. Consider myself pleasantly surprised.

On the other hand, I’m dashing straight to the person I just shot in the head. He is still taken aback by the surprise attack, and I want to capitalize on that. A kick and a punch came from my left and right, but I saw it coming a mile away, so I just lowered myself mid-dash, and bolted even harder by leveraging my toe. I shot past both their attacks and tackled the cursing guy with my shoulder.

The impact tossed him away from the rooftop, but I’m not too bothered about whether he would survive or not. I calculated the distance, and he ended up falling down an emergency staircase with his back landing on the railing. Yep, he is going to feel that in the morning.

“GUS!”

These amateurs getting distracted left and right over a falling guy. Even if he doesn’t land on the railing, the SpeedGear system will right his falling posture and have him land properly and end up with broken feet at worst. Do you want to shout your friend’s name like one of those cartoon dramas? Then don’t mind if I do.

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I swept the other guy’s leg with a low kick. The moment he fell back, I prepared myself to fall along with him and deliver an elbow drop straight onto his throat.

BLAM!

“GUHOK!”

The guy is hurting a lot and he is clutching his throat as if he is suffocating. His whole body is writhing around like a cooked worm and now would be the best time to deliver a finishing strike if not for the other guy that’s still standing next to us.

“You piece of!”

I didn’t even need to look back to see that he was preparing a soccer kick after dashing. He intends to punt me over from the rooftop the same way I tackled his friend away from the rooftop. So, without wasting a single second, the moment I finished the elbow drop, I rolled myself over the guy’s writhing form and propped his body up as a shield for the incoming kick.

BAM!!

Whoa, that must have hurt. We even got pushed back a couple of meters away from the kicking force. Hmm, this guy is incapacitated, but I can still use him as a shield as I pepper the standing guy with Marble Rakansen. Only two marbles left. Oh, wait, one left.

I had to shoot a marble towards the guy who was attempting to do a takedown on Elizabeth. Zack could have handled it but I rather not see a guy get stomped to oblivion from Zack’s anger. His attacks are more vicious and brutal towards people who are targeting Elizabeth.

Back to my battle with the guy, we are in a stalemate. I’m propping up the downed guy in a sitting position as a shield, and maybe as a hostage. Haha, it’s like our role is reversed. I made sure to graze the tip of his chin with a punch to keep him down. Shields aren’t supposed to wiggle.

I have one more Marbles left. I wonder what I should do with it. Shot him in the groin? Zack and Elizabeth are finishing soon. Nah, I better keep it just in case there will be more people coming.

See? I knew it.

More people are coming from the Taikan District’s side.

They came from a different path than I previously took. Looking at the Mini Map GPS, Venti finished his battle and is now moving leisurely deeper into the heart of the district. So, he thinks we got it covered. That’s good to know.

“Phew, that was a nice workout.” Zack finally finished his fight and appeared behind the guy I was having a stare-down with.

BANG!

He backhanded the guy so hard he spun half a circle before planting his face onto the floor. Holy cracker, that’s wild. How pissed off was he? Did some guys get too handsy with Elizabeth or something?

“Three more guys coming from Taikan District side. Reinforcements. Wait, on second thought another group is coming from our side. Seika district.” I cautioned.

“You reckon it’s the member of SpeedGear club? It’s currently their patrol time after all.” Zack asked.

“Maybe, how’s Elizabeth, is she ok?”

“OHOHOHOHOOH! JUSTICE ALWAYS PREVAILS DESUWAAA!”

“Uh, never mind. I’m glad she is fine.”

She is laughing over a bunch of downed bodies. Is that something the Magical Lily of Louvre would do? She looks more like a supervillain in the making rather than a heroine. Maybe a corrupted heroine would be more apropos with that pure white outfit of hers in a slight black accent.

Speaking of corruption, I need to confront Zack on what is this all about.

“Oi Zack, do you want to get killed by Mr. Arthur that badly?”

“Now’s not the time. We got an incoming.”

This guy.

Three people arrived at the scene. It’s Benji and the Goto brothers. I’m still keeping my shield propped up just in case they suddenly want to try something. I give my shield another knock just in case it wakes up mid-fight. No, I’m not pissed. It’s just a proper preparation when dealing with enemy reinforcements.

“Good day to you Kon, Zack, and……..Elizabeth? I saw the commotion and came over as quickly as I could. What happened here?”

“Do not feign ignorance desuwa! These evil-doers chased after Kon and Venti desuno!”

“Yea yea, what our Magical Lizbeth says!” the idiot pumped his fist.

Wait…. something is off about the whole situation. Are they not here for a payback seeing all these “BOA” members lying around like these? Yet their stance and their brief glance towards the downed members who are groaning in pain are very…. light.

“You made a ruckus in our district. Regardless of who started the fight first, I can’t let it slide. Goto, ready your gears.”

“On it boss.” “Yes, boss.”

They meant every word that came out of their mouth, but their intent to fight was thin. They are not serious. Hmm…. I need to test something.

Flipping my shield over, I move closer to the edge of the rooftop and swing his whole body with a half-judo throw. After the swing, I immediately grabbed his belt and stepped on his feet making him stand tilted on the roof edge.

All I had to do was release the belt along with my right foot and he would fall. I’m essentially threatening Benji and the Goto brothers by holding him hostage. If they dare to make a move, I will release my hold on the guy and he would fall like a sack of bricks.

“K-Kon, you shouldn’t take it too far desuwa!”

“*Whistle* Our boy is kinda scary today.” Zack gestured for her to stop.

Elizabeth had the proper response, meanwhile, Zack had an idea of what I was about to do.

Then I narrowed my focus on Benji and read his intent. He stopped and didn’t make a single move, but he was not nervous let alone projecting a single care towards the guy I threatened to let fall. Does he know that these people are members of Iron Viper?

If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean I have been designated as bait all along? He smiled a little as I narrowed my eyes at him. He knows, that I know, that he knows.

I pulled the arm of the fainted guy and threw him back to the rooftop floor in front of him.

“And you have the gall to call me shrewd.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about Kon, but I can assure you it is all a misunderstanding. Anyway, my time is up. People from Seika are coming over and I rather not be here to collect complications. Goto, carry them.”

The brothers proceed to lift three people each with PowerGear and book it out of the scene. Benji gave me a smile and a finger salute before running off into the distance too. Damn it, as if making their problem into mine is not enough, they have to use me as bait. Tch, should I go to their headquarters and collect my dues from this Jackal guy?

No. Maybe that’s what they want. To have me talk face-to-face with Jackal himself. This is annoying.

But before that, I have another problem I will need to deal with first. Sera and Joan had just arrived.

“Kon Caspier, Zack Nell, and ……. Elizabeth? Elizabeth Eve Thornfield. Fighting another Guild in their district is a prohibited act. You guys have a lot of explaining to do.”

Sera is not amused at our blatant disregard for the rules, but Joan just gave us a thumbs up.

So I will be talking with the club supervisor later. I wonder if I can get her to divulge more information regarding Arcanum to me.

And afterward, I still need to explain to Elizabeth what I did before and why I did it. But clarifying that would mean explaining the concept of parasitic guilds such as Iron Vipers to her, huh?

And let’s not forget about this stupid stunt that Zack pulled.

I will get an answer from him or die trying.