The very next day, all the members were well rested and had had their breakfast early. They were planning on travelling for the most part of the day since it was still three more days before they would have been able to reach Lyon city, their hometown. Since they were not expecting any more surprises or delays, it would take them the same amount of time to reach back to their school.
Since the mission had been allotted by the school, they had to give their debrief regarding the mission to the school as well.
As planned, they all set out as early as they could and kept a slightly faster pace on their way back. All of them had various plans for when they reached home. Valerie had to go for detoxification of the poison that was plaguing her while Calista wanted to take a hot comfortable bath, for she had been out for about the same amount of time that they had, and that was a lot for any girl out in the wild.
Dahila didn't reveal any such wish as she continued to be the ice queen. The person who had been anticipating their return home the most was undoubtedly the person who couldn't bring herself to say it out loud, Alissa. She was both dreading and anticipating the moment when she would bring Zavier along to meet her parents. She had been fidgeting around in the same manner ever since Zavier had asked her to let him meet her parents. She had been thinking about how to introduce Zavier to her parents when she brought him to meet them.
Should she introduce him as a 'friend' or should she straight away tell them that he was the person she liked? She wanted to introduce him as her beloved but she was afraid that her parents wouldn't agree to it or worse still, they might forbid her from meeting him again. Introducing him as a friend was a safe bet but she was afraid of hurting Zavier's feelings. If only she had known the reason for Zavier meeting her parents, she wouldn't have had to go through such mental agony.
Zavier on the other hand was not as free as the rest of them to discuss his future plans. He was busy keeping an eye on the whole situation with the help of his clones.
He was communicating with the clone having the perception system the whole time. The composition of the poison that he had provided had been extremely helpful in the production of the anti-toxin that would be used by Valerie when they reached home. He had to make sure that it was complete by the time they reached so that there won't be any permanent effects on her body. The clone had been keeping an eye on the researchers and their progress. So far, they had been moving forward in the right direction and the antidote was almost within their reach unless they made some blunder.
The other two clones were currently headed his way and Zavier could easily notice that they weren't very far apart. The two parties were headed towards each other as they were travelling towards Lyon city while the two clones were headed towards them from Lyon city.
The distance between them had been reducing with twice the normal speed. At the rate the both parties were moving, Zavier expected to meet up with his clones after an hour at the maximum if they maintained their current speed.
Zavier couldn't let his clones come close to him or his party fearing that Valerie and Calista might take them both to be hostile and might even attack them. Since they were his own people, his clones would have no choice but to surrender and get killed. Wouldn't he suffer a loss in such a case?
Therefore, he had ordered his clones to keep their distance from their party and follow them in the shadows. Since he was acting as the beacon, there was no need to maintain a close distance to keep the party in their line of sight. All they had to do was be available in times of crisis and help out.
Another reason why he wanted the clones by his side was that the clone with the Magus system had finally had a breakthrough in the 'Blood Blade' skill.
Through the clone, even Zavier had received the relevant skill and experience along with the memories. He had become just as good as the clone who had practiced the skill with all his might.
When he received the memories of the skill, only then could he begin to imagine the power that he would be able to wield as he progressed in the skill. As it was a self harming skill, the power output would only increase with the sacrifice that he would have to make for it.
Zavier was not the only happy person in the party. Each of them had been exceptionally cheerful since they had woken up. Zavier wondered what the girls had talked about at night that had made them so giddy in the morning.
The reason was actually nothing more than the fact that there wouldn't be any more attacks since they now had two A rank mages. Even the enemy would have to think before doing anything else.
The sun was shining, the chill from the night had died down and a warm winter morning welcomed them in its bosom as they walked. It was peaceful all around. None of them was expecting an attack after their ranks had been strengthened, not even the most pessimistic of them, Valerie.
But it had been raining bad luck for them ever since they had embarked upon this mission. Nothing else should have been expected as the unexpected event still took place.
Their route seemed to be blocked in front with a huge parasol stuck in the middle of the road, its canopy covering the sky and its shade looming over three chairs. Only one of the chairs had been occupied by a yellow skinned beauty while the other two had been left empty.
Zavier couldn't recognize her in any way.. He had never seen her before but she had an uncanny resemblance to another yellow skinned woman he had seen before. She was definitely a bigger and more blessed version of the girl he knew, Shiranui.
The woman was almost the same as Shiranui, the girl he had previously fought and lost to. The only differences lay in her even more exaggerated posture, her hips that had been pushed out to the extreme beyond their limits, and even larger breasts that were barely contained by the tiny amount of clothes she had been wearing. Her clothes were somehow even more revealing than those of Shiranui.
Zavier wondered whether it was some kind of family custom or some tradition that these girls were following. Otherwise, why would such a beautiful girls dress that way?
If it were anyone else who was so alluring and right in front of him, Zavier would have stared at her until his eyes popped out of their sockets but this woman was different.
Zavier could already sense the tension in the atmosphere. Even Valerie and Calista had broken into a sweat after a single sight of the yellow skinned woman. Zavier could sense that the woman must be a powerful opponent.
Upon casting the very first look at the opponent, both Valerie and Calista had become apprehensive.
"The three of you, no matter what happens you are not allowed to come close. Stay away from it all from now on."
Valerie shouted out to them before she started to gather her own magic power, probably for defensive or evasive purposes.
Zavier was shocked that even Valerie wasn't sure about being able to take care of them.
The last time this had happened, she had cast a boundary around the three of them but this time she hadn't done so. There could only have been one reason for such an action which was that she wasn't sure that her boundary would be able to stop the enemy. In front of the enemy, she had lost all confidence.
Zavier could finally begin to accept how terrible their enemy was this time. She was surely beyond S-rank.
Zavier was a hundred percent sure that this was the murderous older sister of Shiranui who had probably killed her entire family to get her hands on Yasakani no Magatama. Only someone like that could be powerful enough to shatter the confidence of two genius A-rank mages.
Before Valerie could get ready, Calista let out a helpless smile in her direction and said:
"Leave it be. Can't you sense it yet? It is of no use anymore. There is no escaping this."
Valerie heard her words and her expressions twisted out of shape and she stopped taking her countermeasures. It seemed that the enemy had put them in a checkmate. There were no possible moves for them to escape out of the trap unscathed.
Zavier soon understood the reason as well for he sensed two immense auras that were almost as powerful as that of the yellow skinned girl, though they fell slightly short of her.
Three enemies who were as powerful as her could only mean that they had no chance of survival. His legs went weak with fear. Death was once again following after him. He wondered how many times it would take for him to escape the fear of death. Everytime he died he felt the same pain and anguish.
The powerful aura of the enemy was bearing down on all of them equally. Dahila seemed to be the most vulnerable. The strong headed girl was trying to push back against the overbearing aura and resultantly she was heavily suppressed. She almost collapsed in the wake of that suppression.
Alissa, who didn't have a speck of magic in her, could not feel the pressure but she could judge what was happening based on the tense atmosphere and the expressions of her teammates.
She was afraid too which was the reason that she chose to hide behind Zavier until the danger passed. In such an unfavorable situation, only Zavier could give her the sense of security that she needed.
Valerie was feeling the same fear as Zavier but she had been a headstrong woman her entire life. She wouldn't just show her vulnerability to her enemies in any situation.
She acted all nonchalant and asked the woman under the parasol: "Are you trying to buy me and Calista a cup of coffee, Kyouko?"
Valerie wanted to discuss a way out through negotiations if possible. She couldn't put the lives of her students at stake.
"Why not? Come sit."
Both Valerie and Calista moved towards the two empty seats and faced off against Kyouko in the upcoming battle of words. They needed to convince her to let go of the students.
Kyouko used the teapot on the table and poured coffee for the two of them.
"Now talk."
She was giving the two of them a chance to talk it out. Valerie and Calista looked towards each other and gave each other a nod.
"We don't need to fight each other here. You want the wooden box, I can hand it over to you without any trouble. You just have to back off."
Valerie had finally put her pride down and had asked Kyouko to let them all go peacefully in return for the wooden box that they were after.
Valerie had basically laid down her career and her reputation as a mage. Handing over the property that was meant to be escorted would have given her a bad reputation in the industry, yet she had knowingly offered it to Kyouko to save the lives of her students.
But sadly she was mistaken when she thought that Kyouko would back off if she got what she wanted. Rather she had wrongly assumed that Kyouko was after the wooden box.
"Don't act like you have to give it to me for me to take it. If I wanted that box, I wouldn't need you to hand it over. I like taking things my own way. But don't worry I don't need that worthless box anyway. You can keep it for yourselves."
"Then what do you want if not the box?"
It was Calista who had spoken up this time.
"I am looking for a girl…umm…that one." She pointed towards Alissa who had been looking at them after sticking her neck out from behind Zavier.
"Why do you need her? She has no magical abilities at all."
Valerie asked Kyouko because she wanted to know what it was that Kyouko was really after. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Kyouko was really after Alissa. She thought that Kyouko must have a hidden purpose for doing so.
"That's none of your business. If you know then you know, if you don't then you just don't."
Valerie showed a hardened expression on her face. She could have given her everything but she asked for the one thing Valerie couldn't give her, her students.
"Then it seems we are at an impasse. I can't let you take her away, no matter what."
At that moment Zavier had already sensed who the women were talking about. The glances that they cast towards Alissa gave him a brief idea regarding the true purpose of Kyouko. Although Valerie and Calista didn't know what it was that Kyouko wanted from Alissa, Zavier was sure that it had something to do with the monster sealed inside Alissa.
A sense of urgency developed inside him. He wanted his clones to be faster and get close to him as soon as possible. If things came down to it, he would have to step up in order to let them all get away. Therefore, he needed to be prepared.
Both the women had already decided to not concede to Kyouko as soon as she had mentioned that her target was Alissa.
Kyouko on the other hand did not feel any sense of urgency at all. She was taking her sweet time trying to convince the two A-rank mages to back off so she could achieve her ends easily. She didn't want to have to deal with them as that would have only complicated the matter.
Before she could begin to describe their situation to them, Kyouko was startled by the sound of an explosion in the vicinity. In fact, it came as a surprise to all of them.
Valerie and Calista both simultaneously turned their heads and looked in the direction of the explosive sound. They threw out their senses in order to determine what was happening out there.
Both of them noticed the same thing and their expressions changed to that of disbelief.
The two who were tumbling with each other at that moment clearly had the energy signal of S-rank mages.
Apart from the two with Kyouko, there should have been no one else there. Could it be that the two of them had started a fight among themselves?
Before they could ask the question that was bubbling up inside their mind, Kyouko seemed to have seen through their thoughts and delivered the answer to them.
"Of course, it is a given that she would be protected by someone of at least the S-rank. If there hadn't been any such silent protectors, I would have been even more worried."
Kyouko felt that it was only right that Alissa was being protected by someone of S-rank at the very least, given her potential. That's why she had brought the two helpers with her as well, just in case the protectors were too strong for her to handle by herself.
On the other hand, Valerie and Calista were having trouble trying to understand why an S-rank mage was protecting Alissa in secret?
She was just a normal kid with no affinity for magic.
Why would she need so much protection and from whom?
It took a while for Zavier to notice what was happening. He tried to sense the third party as well and could barely make out two energies clashing with each other.
From the looks on the faces of Calista and Valerie, the new participant seemed to be on their side, so Zavier wasn't too worried. It only gave him more confidence to escape with their lives.
He was thinking that this was their chance to escape. While the other two were occupied with the new entrant in the fight, he could try to handle Kyouko for a while so that the others could escape.
At the same time Valerie was thinking of the same thing. How could she have let Zavier stay behind when she was there? She had already made up her mind to stay behind so as to give them a head start.
"Don't feel too optimistic about your situation. All of this is within my calculations. You think that you can escape from me with just your little ability, then dream on."
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