‘’The center...here, right?’’ Rosa asked as she stepped onto what she considered to be the most centric point of the fifth floor. ‘’Yeah, sure, sit there or whatever, we’ll go find that fox,’’ Hiona agreed with her, prompting her to sit herself down quickly. ‘’By the way, the barrier I placed no a lower floor might disappear, so try to be quick, i’m tried enough,’’ Rosa requested, holding herself up with her arms behind her back, placing her palms on the ground. ‘’Don’t pussy-foot the situation; you could kill them in a swoop,’’ Hiona called out her bluff, causing her to scoff as she and Yohiro began walking off, leaving her to sit there. ‘’You’re a little too carefree, master, you noticed the blood under my nails, but then chose to ignore it, full-well knowing what happens when I overuse my spells. Then again, they’re a bit on the overwhelming side to the body…’’ Rosa thought to herself as she raised herself in front of herself, watching small drops of blood drip from her long, sharp nails, hitting the floor, leaving Rosa smiling pitifully, thinking, ‘’When’d I get so out of shafe, damn it…?’’

Clous stepped onto the sixth floor, finding it brightly lit, to the point of it feeling like he had just woken up, staring at the bright sun, only it the feeling wouldn’t fade away. ‘’Okay then, more of the goons? Someone with magic bullets to block out the magic I don’t even use?!’’ He shouted as he scratched his right arm with the nails of his left arms, watching as a door opened on the other side of the room, a man entering through it with a gleeful look on his face. He looked plain; wearing a sort of uniform: the shoes were long and black, his pants were colored brown and all generic-like to Clous, and his top was buttoned up. ‘’I’m a little surprised you didn’t destroy the cameras, you fox,’’ the man said in a smile, annoying Clous.

‘’Look here, bastard, the way your cameras were placed didn’t give me a reason to; you’ve placed them in a simple, not too cautious way. It wouldn’t have made a difference!’’ He explained to the man in a loud shout, clearly lacking enthusiasm. ‘’Ah, I suppose I can agree to that claim, but the again... I didn’t place the cameras, my friend…,’’ the man grinned, shocking Clous as he raised his fore and middle fingers at the same time. ‘’One touch,’’ he started, his finger twitching as a small wound suddenly appeared on Clous’ leg, clearing the fur on it and pushing him down on one knee. ‘’I was informed that something suspicious had been occuring around these parts, therefore here I am: Hiuh Rokenson, though it’s a little weird…,’’ he introduced himself in a gentle manner. ‘’W-weird, huh? The fact you family’s army’s total shit or that a fox made it up here? Which one?’’ Clous smiled at him arrogantly as he pushed himself off the ground with his other, healthy foot, opening his tome immediately.

‘’Memento mori: article 12. Conn--’’ Clous suddenly felt an incredibly amount of pain in his neck, unable to finish his spell, looking down and finding the same kind of would he had on his leg. ‘’Two touches. No, furry friend, what I meant was the fact I have to waste using my spell on you, a short, mostly pathetic-looking pest of a living creature. It feels like I don’t deserve that honor, in all fairness, as a lowlife myself!’’ Hiuh explained to Clous, with him falling to the ground, doing his best to soften the landing by rolling on impact, gasping and holding his throat in pain after landing, unable to let out an audible incantation.

‘’That, I believe, is the problem with you casual mages and magic users: you have to speak. Though it’s the easiest and most painless way of working you magic, what would happen if you got a sore throat and couldn’t speak properly? Maybe you would die before being able to do anything at all…?’’ He began speaking in a harsh tone as he walked towards Clous, watching him stand up on his one foot, shaking as he tried to maintain balance. ‘’I see. You don’t want to, no, you cannot choose to let yourself be killed or something along those lines? Then may I torture you until your teammates come along? I do not enjoy murdering superior species, to be frank,’’ he smiled happily, widening Clous’ eyes as he extended his hand towards him, making his heart thump quickly, faster and faster with each second. ‘’Khyu mghic…,’’ Clous groggily forced the words out, feeling as if his throat was being stabbed from the inside. ‘’My magic? Is that what you said?’’ Hiuh asked him as he pulled his hand away, forming the same motion with his two fingers.

‘’This, you mean? I believe explaining your capabilities to your adversary is moronic, unneeded and quite honestly cliched, going by the story books my parents read to me; all of them had the villain reveal their evil plan to the hero, leading him to defeat him in a weird, unbelievable manner. I would be very displeased if I ended up doing that,’’ he explained it, pointing his fingers upwards as he spoke, helping Clous realise that Hiuh was one to ramble. ‘’Now I will ask you a question, if that is okay?’’ He asked as he sat down, placing his arms on his legs in a respectful tone, causing Clous to nod. ‘’If I can’t do a thing to this son of a bitch, maybe I can buy a few short seconds for master to come and kill ‘im…!’’ Is what Clous thought. ‘’Say, while sitting down, of course, are your subordinates strong at all?’’ Hiuh asked as he leaned over, staring Clous dead in the eyes, not even at a three centimeter distance, his eyes looking tired adna narrowed, thin with a small iris in each one.

Clous nodded, not wanting to take any risks about the young man’s judge of character. ‘’Your turn, ask me something. This is fun~!’’ Hiuh said, trying to be enthusiastic, ending up sounding dull. Clous placed both his hands of the floor, getting his attention, beginning to write letter with his fingers, making a slight scraping sound with his nail, making out the message of ‘’Are you alone, then?’’ Hiuh hummed slightly, poking Clous’ nose slightly, completely ignoring the question, leading for Clous to slap his hand away in anger. ‘’Don’t be rough, p-please…!’’ Hiuh begged, slapping his hands together and bowing. ‘’What am I, this guy’s deity?!’’ Clous thought in embarrassment as he heard heavy-footed steps each the top of the stairs, making him grin happily. ‘’Okay, time to kill them. Thank you very much, my furry friend, for killing some time with me until they arrived!’’ Hiun expressed his gratitude, bowing in front of Clous again, shocking him. ‘’He realised I was stalling?! That fucking bastard!’’ Clous clenched his fist, slamming it against the ground in anger, feeling as if he had ruined the entire operation with his moment of idiocy.

‘’Ah, Clous, hey there!’’ Hiona waved at the wounded Clous, staring at him with a happy expression, as if she couldn’t even see his pathetic state. ‘’You’re his accomplices, no?’’ Hiuh asked nonchalantly, pointing at Hiona with his two fingers, causing Clous to wave his hands at her inaudibly, with her ignoring him completely. Yohiro ran over to Clous, beginning to pull him away, Hiuh pointing his fingers at him in the blink of an eye. ‘’Don’t touch him, young one! Let him lay there, now!’’ His calm persona broke down as he began shouting at Yohiro, attempting to maintain his polite tone. ‘’And you should lower those fingers, big boy, you might regret it if you don’t,’’ Hiona whispered to the man, standing behind him, widening his eyes as she had locked him in place, pressing the edge of a knife against his back. ‘’Look away from me and you’ll end up looking worse than those motherfuckers I ended up slaughtering down there. Moreover, you fucking tool, point those fingers at the fox and not at the kid, right now…,’’ Hiona continued whispering in his ears, causing him to react accordingly, pointing them directly at Clous’ chest.

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‘’You inferior, brute!’’ He yelled, feeling the top of the knife pierce through his uniform as the material began ripping, filling him with fear as he started shaking. ‘’Yeah, i’m a brute, that’s for sure, but wanna hear something funny? Do you? DO you~~~?!’’ She megan smiling as she spoke in a mocking tone, leaving Clous and Yohiro speechless as Hiona gave them a sign not to move with her free hand. ‘’That fox lowlife is my companion, along with that boy there. He’s actually one of my best, more than that, he could be almost as good as me, but I gave him a low rank, just because I like hating him! Isn’t that funny to hear, huh?!’’ She escalated the situation, pushing the knife inside Hiuh’s back, causing him to screech, with her refusing to let him fall on his knees, keeping him up with her other hand.

‘’You’re not human, you bitch…!’’ He muttered to her as she began moving the knife inside his would violently, soaking the uniform’s top in blood. Clous grabbed Yohiro by the shoulder, pushing his head down, making him take his eyes off from the scene unfolding before him, from which he couldn’t look away until that point. ‘’I figured it out, you know. The way you help up your fingers gave it out to me! You’ve got a weapon transferred into magic essence and them put into your blood. Sounds dumb every time I hear about that stupid trend!’’ She yelled, putting the entire blade of the knife inside his back, making him scream loudly. ‘’S...St,’’ Yohiro muttered under his breath as he kneeled down, confusing Clous. He picked up a piece of rubble from the ground, clenching it inside his fist as he stood up. Hiona’s eyes widened in shock as the gem on Yohiro’s chest began emitting a strong light through the shirt as he cried loudly, wiping the tears with his hand. ‘’STOP THAT ALREADY!!!’’ He shouted in desperation, throwing the little rock, with it flying out of his hand quickly, hitting Hiona on the side of the head, tilting her head to the side from the unbelievably strong blow, causing her to let go of Hiuh, holding the side of her head with both her hands in pain, still smiling maliciously.

Clous looked at Yohiro in shock, watching him pant as he fell to his knees, breaking into a waterfall of tears, the shine of the gem disappearing as he slammed his flittle fist into the floor. ‘’Die, you wretch!!’’ Hiuh yelled as he pointed his fingers, causing a wound to appear directly on Hiona’s forehead, putting her down immediately, her body falling on the ground in a loud thud, leaving the room silent, the only sound coming from Yohiro who was gagging at the horrific sight. ‘’You fucking demon! Was that enough for you?! Huh?!’’ He yelled as he did it again, rapidly shooting, landing on in her palm and another in her thigh. ‘’Stop that, please!!’’ Yohiro shouted as he ran forward, grabbing Hiuh’s leg. ‘’Let go of me, runt! You and I are both humans, meaning we’re both lowlifes! I wouldn’t care if I killed you now!’’ He continued yelling at Yohiro, unintentionally spitting in his face, acting on adrenaline.

‘’Aww, but i’d care if you did…,’’ they heard a bratty tone, looking down at Hiona, finding her fully conscious, looking at them with frustration. ‘’Wh-what?! How the fuck are you alive?!’’ He pointed his fingers at her again, starting to shake as his arm muscles began pulsating under his sleeve. ‘’I’m out?! I’m out of magic essence?!’’ He screeched, beginning to feel desperate. ‘’See, when you chose to call me a demon, you were slightly off, my guy,’’ Hiona said with nonchalance, pushing herself off the floor, standing up. ‘’I’d say more of a… Hmm, let me think for a second actually. I’ve never named my being,’’ she mumbled, watching Hiuh and Clous’ shocked expressions, both of them confirming that Hiuh had shot her. ‘’Let’s call it an Etersus, maybe? Doesn’t have a real meaning in the language department, but it’s just a name, it doesn’t matter…’’ She quickly exterminated the smile she previously had on her face, turning it into a frown. ‘’Though i’m not dead, I didn’t wanna waste another one of me; it’d leave me with only two more of me, you know. That’s not enough by far,’’ she explained to him vaguely, crouching down in front of him.

‘’It’s funny how you insulted me up until now, but you appear to be a sadist. What’s that, five and a half inches? Close to six?’’ She asked him as she stared at him from below, angering him. ‘’You really ARE a demon! How did that not kill you?!’’ He yelled, watching her pull out her tome, having lost the ability to raise his arm. ‘’I just explained it to you, dumbass, I don’t know what I am; i’m a creature.’’ She said again, annoyed that her cool ‘’explanation’’ hadn’t been understood, flipping through her pages and placing her hand hand on the book. ‘’I’m angry, both at you and that boy I enjoy cuddling with so much, so i’m gonna take it ALL out on you,’’ she warned him in a soft tone. Hiuh snapped, raising his foot in an attempt to kick her, instinctively getting his foot caught between her head and shoulder as she tilted her head, completely trapping it. ‘’Come now, you think anything you do is gonna harm me? My reflexes are quite superior? While on the topic, what’s your trigger word? Inferior or superior?’’ She stalled, increasing the pressure on his foot, beginning to break it, with him not being able to even let out a scream at that point. ‘’’Aian Yosei: article 20. Connect~~~!’’ She let out, as if trying to sing, causing wing to begin coming out of her tome, strong enough to blow Hiuh back, pushing him to the ground along with Yohiro, who had already stepped away slightly.

She stood up, taking a step next to him and turning the book on him, taking his hand and placing it on top of it. ‘’You’re so scared and confused that you can’t even move, how adorable. I’ll keep you unsafe, and I won’t look after you. Goodbye.’’ She said in a half-serious voice, watching ruthlessly as his hand began getting absorbed into her tome, the entire room beginning to shake as it began pulling him in, quickly sucking his entire body in. She closed the book, relieving the room from the strong stream of wind as she sighed. ‘’Hey, you guys stay back, i’ll finish out assignment…,’’ she ordered them with a smile as she turned her back to them. Clous had never seen her do such a thing; a thing so inhumanly horrifying, but then again she herself had said she wasn’t human, which inclined him to know more, yet he couldn’t ask her anything. Yohiro stepped back, feeling as if he didn’t he would die in an instant; his heart would stop or his eyes would stop working, that’s what he felt. Both of them felt an inexplicable feeling, a stronger version that they had never felt before: mortal fear towards their master.