Svenja and Sylvie stared each other down. Svenja was unflinching and stood firm, but Sylvie was relaxed and wore a huge smirk all the while.

“Enjoy that grin, ya ain't gonna have it for long!” Svenja touted. She dashed at her opponent, swinging her blade. Sylvie teleported behind her before the sword made contact and attempted to counter with a punch, which was dodged with a flip. After landing, Sylvie followed up with a kick. Svenja ducked and backed away.

“Oi, this is supposed to be a fight, not a breakdance competition!” Svenja joked with a mocking laugh.

"Heh, the only thing you're gonna break is your back when I'm done with you!" Sylvie responded with a mischievous laughter. As soon as she spoke the words she rushed towards svenja, grabbing her foot and sweeping it. As Svenja crashed into the ground, Sylvie kicked her in the leg, before grabbing her by the clothes and picking her up. "Let's see how far I can toss you!" she teased as she threw her in the opposite direction.

"What?! How dare you?!" Svenja shrieked as she crashed into the ground, the pain of impact coursing through her body. She got up, looking around before seeing an approaching foot. She rolled out of the way to dodge the kick, then another. Sylvie's relentless attacks were a blur of movement, it would seem she was on the offensive. Svenja had to think of something quickly.

"You're pretty good with those legs of yours!" Sylvie said as she went for another kick, but this time Svenja grabbed the leg in the air, throwing her off balance. "Not bad!" she responded, taking advantage of the momentary loss. She grabbed one of sylvie's arms and swung herself onto her, mounting her in midair. "But not as good as me!" she smirked and grabbed her opponent by the head with both hands, then proceeded to slam her down.

As the dust and debris from the slam settled, Svenja got up and looked to see that Sylvie was nowhere to be seen. "Damn..." she muttered as she prepared to fight back, unaware that Sylvie had already approached her from behind with a drop kick. The powerful strike caused Svenja's vision to go blurry. The sudden hit on her back made her go flying, slamming her into a nearby tree.

"Did you forget about my speed or something?" Sylvie taunted as she looked at her opponent, now propped against a tree. Svenja groaned and shook her head before trying to get up, though failing to stand.

Sylvie giggled at the pitiful sight before her, cracking her most smug smile yet. “This is getting so boring! Let me just end this already!”

Sylvie flew in and crashed her leg into Svenja, sending her in the air. She continued to land a flurry of hits from all directions while Svenja was airborne, until one final kick barreled her opponent back to the ground. Svenja was as good as out cold, her eyes struggling to stay open before she finally gave in to her beating. Sylvie landed and stepped on Svenja's chest before she sniggered at her.

“Well? What happened to the big bad Alliance leader who was so confident in herself seconds ago?! Sweet dreams!”

Sylvie stepped off of Svenja and flew off, her entire being brimming with confidence after her easy win.

…

“Svenja?! Please, come back to me!”

I let out a low moan as I blinked my eyes open, seeing Trixie shaking my weary body. All my muscles were aching and even turning my head to face my friend was painful. With a creaky voice, I called out to her.

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“Tr…Trix?”

“Yes, it's me! Oh thank the Goddess you're awake! Who did this to you?”

“Ngh… Some super strong demon lass made a holy show out o' me. She'll get hers one a' these days. Now, what's the Alliance up to?”

Trixie hesitated before speaking up. “Fritz, that wild guy… Draley gave us the scoop on the whole Chami thing, and he had the bright idea to go to the Castle to fight that demon himself.”

I jumped up, trembling from my injuries but suppressing the pain as I looked up at my companion. “Feck off! If we don't stop ‘em, he'll get left banjaxed!”

“But wait, there's more,” Trixie continued. “The Nexus is back at the HQ. Ahina and some others helped bring it back.”

I sighed, relaxing my body. “Ahh, that's swell. Now we just need to see what Draley's up to…”

I caught a huge aura signature coming in. I heard a landing and looked to my right. It was Draley, sighing at the sight of my beat-down body before turning to Trixie.

“Well, if it isn't Trixie… I see you found Svenja, she's in horrible shape! Any news on Fritz?”

“Ehh… I've been trying to hunt him down before I came across Svenja. No luck so far, though.”

Draley nodded and turned to me with the glare of a protective mother, summoning her staff. “Svenja, I told you Sylvie was extremely dangerous! Please be careful next time, we cannot lose our Alliance's dear leader. Allow me to heal you…”

Draley pointed the staff at me, and a soothing aura covered me from head to toe. The bruises and scrapes all over me disappeared in a matter of seconds, my pain and weariness being replaced with vigor.

“Thanks, Draley. All right! What's up with Chami? Is she still back at the HQ?”

“No need to worry, Svenja. She's still in peak shape, safe and sound.”

“Well that's good. So how in tarnation are we going to take down Sylvie?”

“I honestly don't know. You couldn't take her on your own, but perhaps you'll do better with our help.”

Draley looked off for a second, turning back to me with a raised finger. “Ah, I forgot that we have Nana on our side. She'll be very effective against Sylvie, as handling demons is her specialty.”

I snapped my fingers, pointing at Draley. “You're bang on! All right, let's go grab Nana and some others to handle this!” I said before I erupted in a whirl of aura and soared off.

…

“D-D-Demon…?!” Nana stuttered, her eyes wide. I never knew why she dresses as a mortician, but this lavender-haired young lass has always been the strange one in my Alliance. Her purple left eye stared back at me. The right one was covered up with bandages, which were wrapped aroun’ her forehead as well. They were worn an’ dirty, so I should give her some more to replace ‘em later on.

“Indeed,” I replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We must stop her or we're all done for!”

Nana’s entire body was stiff now. Her breathin’ was shallow, and the color in her face was gone. I need'ta do somethin’ to help her!

"Calm down, it’s just a demon! We can defeat this thing together.”

"But, if she touches me, she'll dr-dr-rag me to Hell!" Nana said, trembling with fear. "You'll never-er-rer see me again! I could die and never-rer come back…!”

"That’ll never happen on my watch," I said. "Nana, relax, take deep breaths. Stay with me; we are not leavin’ without ya. I will protect ya, I promise." I wrapped my arms around her, trying to calm her down.

Nana's breathing started to become more regular as she felt my embrace. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, allowing my words to soothe her fear. Her breathing became steady, and her color returned. I smiled at her, hoping that she could trust me to keep her safe. "Feelin’ better?"

Nana nodded, coming out of her panic. "Yeah, I am feeling a bit better-rer now." She gave a shaky sigh. "It's just that I r-really don't like demons. They scare-er me a whole lot.”

“Yes, I understand. But we must not allow Sylvie to flood the world in darkness an’ doom us all. With your powers, we will fight her together, an’ we will win."

Nana gave me a determined, yet soft eyed look. “Okay, we got this! Demon hunting is what I was made for-or!”

"I like that attitude," I replied. "Let's get a few others and take on this foe, even if I haveta bring out the Ace Ops just for good measure. It will not defeat us, especially with the Ace Operatives helping us out; that is a guarantee. We are stronger together, an’ I will keep all of you safe. I promise."

★

Fritz's body tumbled across the cold stone floor, holding his stomach as he got on his knee and looked up at his opponent, Sylvie.

“Gwahahaha! Is that really all you got?! You're a member of the big bag Alliance, aren't you? Show me some attitude!”

Sylvie kicked Fritz in his face with a crazed grin. Landing flat on his back, Fritz leaned back up and glared at the demon before him.

“You think I'm scared of some demon? I'll slaughter you!”

Sylvie giggled at the words of her trembling opponent, shaking her head. “Oh, how pitiful! Just look at you, unable to even stand anymore after only a few kicks! You Alliance bitches aren't even worth the effort!”

Fritz tightened his fists and forced himself to get back up, his face wrinkled as he blocked out the pain and stared at Sylvie with fury.

“You'll take that back after I'm done with you, grimy demon!” he shouted as he ran at her, cocking his arm for a punch.

Before his attack could even connect, Sylvie kicked him square in his stomach, this time sending him flying back. He flew out of the window, leaving Sylvie alone as she cackled with smugness in her voice. “Booooring~! Now, where was I?”