"Sure Lau--" Katsu's sentence was cut as he dodged and slashed an arrow that almost hit him.

"This mission is mine!!" Shouted a female, holding a bow with another arrow aimed at them.

"Wha--"

She shot another arrow as a warning.

"Back off losers!"

"That was close, miss, you almost hit my sister!" Katsu glared at the woman as he tightened his grip to his sword.

Amane and Hyoukyou went in front of Laura defendingly, while the new necromancer just vanished.

"If you want to pick a fight with one of us," He pointed her sword to the girl. "That will be me."

"Swordsman?" She raised her eyebrows, chuckling as she shot another arrow aimed at his forehead.

Katsu moved away to evade the shot and dashed forward to the archer.

"Back off, loser, I need to accomplish this mission alone!" She casted a spell and aimed an arrow to the sky which multiplied before falling to the ground, some even wounding Katsu yet the he just ignored it until he was close enough to the long-ranged archer.

"That's my line!" He yelled as he managed to unarm the archer of her bow.

The archer's eyes widened as she stumbled backward. The swordsman pointed his sword towards her neck arrogantly.

"You must know the name of the man who brought you to your death," He smirked as he raised his sword in attempt to slay her. "It's Katsu Kirigaya."

"An-Chan!"

"Kirigaya-san!"

"Katsu!"

He swung his sword down aimed at the selfish archer's neck yet it hit a broad steel shield held by a huge, manly figure in white hooded cloak. He recoiled, surprised.

"God Smash!" yelled the hooded man, pushing his shield against Katsu that caused him to be thrown a meter away from the two, leaving his hp be halved. The archer regained her composure and picked up her bow, aiming another arrow at the swordsman.

"Who is brought to death now, loser?" The archer smirked, releasing the arrow at Katsu. Hyoukyou instinctively threw a dagger which cut the arrow in half, causing it to miss.

"I won't let you kill my brother!!!" Laura cried, casting a healing spell at her brother at the same time producing an almost blinding light which stopped the three from fighting. The ogres took notice of the light, and started heading to their direction.

"Gah, such a careless brat" Akrilaem grumbled before uttering a spell to hide them from the ogres.

"Khhh two on one?" Katsu glared at them, clenching his sword. "That's not fair."

"Stop." Laura went amidst the three. "We don't need to fight here. We don't need to kill each other!"

"You can go now, I don't need your help." said the archer, gritting her teeth to the hooded man.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Be grateful I'm here, or else you could've died." The hooded man lended a hand to Katsu, helping him to stand up. "I'm sorry for my actions Ms. Saint and Mr. Swordsman. My name's Akashi Ichinose, a crusader."

"Akashi Ichinose...." Amane recognized the name. "Wait, aren't you my classmate?"

Akashi looked at Amane, amused and shocked.

"From section six of the third years?"

"Hitsugaya Amane." Amane said, nodding.

"The pervert lolicon who had beaten up a senior and started a commotion by picking on our class representative?" Akashi chuckled.

"Hey, that's not a nice way to remember me! And I'm not—"

"He's not anything near to what you described, good sir. In fact, Hitsugaya-san actually saved me from that senior jerk." Hyoukyou butted in.

"I understand." Akashi nodded, "My apologies for the stereotype."

"It's alright." Amane flashed a little smile. "Laura is our classmate too."

"I almost didn't recognize our class representative eh" Akashi turned to Laura. "My apologies for hurting your brother."

"Nah, it's alright now" Laura replied.

They all turned to look at the archer slowly sneaking away.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Laura yelled which startled the archer.

"Ah hehe.." The archer turned to look at them, scratching the back of her head with her free hand. "I-It wasn't like I'm running away or something—"

Katsu shot a deadly glare at her.

"Tell us your name."

She frowned.

"Gah, shut up you insolent fool. I hate your voice" She heaved a sigh, touching the bridge of her nose. "For formalities, I am Aki--- I meant, Sagiri."

"You look sooo familiar." Laura narrowed her eyes as she stared at her. "What's your whole name, Sagiri-san"

Sagiri gulped, averting her eyes.

"S-Sagiri Akihiro."

"Oh, I thought you're the golden arrow" Laura sighed in disappointment. "You look so much alike to Akira-senpai, except for the hair eeehh"

"Who's Akira-senpai?" Sagiri faked a cough, hiding a little smile.

"Akira is a popular, skilled, and a such a beautiful archer from our school. She won countless medals since she was a kid" Hyoukyou said dreamily.

"Wait, Hyou-chan, you're also from Vanguard Academy!?" Laura exclaimed.

"Yes, from the first section of the third years." She chuckled. "I've always admired Akira-senpai from the distance though."

"But I heard her personality is the exact opposite of her appearance." Amane popped in. "A demon that hides behind an angelic face, I've witnessed it m--"

"Gah! Why the hell are we all chit-chatting here?" Sagiri blurted out, frowning. "I'll be going now."

"Wait Sagiri-san!" Hyoukyou stopped Sagiri just right before she turns. "It's dangerous to pursue this mission alone. If you may allow, we can add you to our party since we still don't have an archer. "

"I think I have no choice then." Sagiri heaved a deep sigh, observing the numerous ogres roaming about.

"You too, Ichinose-san" Hyoukyou sent party requests to the two.

"Sure. I guess I'd be useful as a tanker and initiator." Akashi smiled.

The two accepted the party request and they all moved sneakily past the ogres with Akrilaem uttering spells to keep a 'moving barrier' to hide them.

They reached the Ogre Kingdom shortly. A gigantic bastion with an enormous entrance 'hidden' inside an old huge tree and tall dense trees to hide the kingdom itself.

There seemed to be no one guarding at that moment and they could freely roam. Strange. The inside was the typical of a castle— but pretty much larger. Its walls were mossy and the carpet was green. Vines crawl up all around, which created an eerie ambiance.

"So this is the kingdom of ogres" Amane said with glimmering eyes, roaming around the hallway but making sure his allies were still on sight.

"Yes, the place where the throne of their king lies upon." Akrilaem said in reply to Amane. "I still can't fathom how these ugly creatures choose their ruler though."

"You're Kirigaya Katsu, right?" Akashi uttered, putting his mace on his back. "I apologize for my actions earlier. I didn't really intend to hurt you. Truth be told, I don't wish anyone to get hurt."

"I don't mind it, I went a bit out of control earlier." Katsu accepted the crusader's apology. "If there's anyone to apologize, it shouldn't be you. Instead, that wom--"

Sagiri overheard the conversation and walk past between the two, still with a gritted teeth, obviously not wanting to swallow her pride.

"Wait..." Katsu stopped dead in his tracks. Not by Sagiri walking past them, but because of a strange feeling of being watched. Everybody turned their attention to him.

"What's wrong, An-chan?"

"I think... we're surrounded--"

His sentence was cut by the shaking of the ground followed by the grotesque creatures with gleaming pink orbs and stout slouchy composure cornering them from their current positions.

- To Be Continued