"Oh, you so fucking do not escape, frigging murderer! [Lesser Consecutive Follow-Up II]." I didn't like where this was going. This had to be said first.
Just when my wings couldn't bring me further because of the damn restriction squeezing my soul, the paladin caught up to me and of course showered me in his love.
I never liked these creatures praying to light without rhyme or reason while their very essence didn't allow them to embrace their object of faith.
In my opinion, it was as if a fist hoped to grow legs and come ashore, happily dancing in a disco. It simply wasn't in its nature.
Evading all the slashes was an easy undertaking. My magic had been dragged through the cocoa, not my physical might.
"Argh..." I might have spoken too early. While the inertia released by fast movements this high up in the air didn't do anything to my powerful body, the youth was a different story entirely.
As a consequence, the constrictions on my soul made me lag behind and a flurry of slashes landed on my body. They didn't do much besides hurting my pride.
"Stop," I demanded. "Stop this very instant." Of course, like any other believer of light, even this paladin lacked brains.
I was fairly certain he believed me to be the schemer bringing ruin to this place, not the damn aristocracy merely seeing in a prospering village of non-humans an insult to their insufferable pride.
"There's a youth in my arms," I tried to reason nonetheless. It failed of course. "Cleanse yourself of your sins, daemon!" Was the only answer I got.
Yes, blood was followed by even more blood. Made perfect sense. Seeing his slashes doing nothing but serving as a gentle breeze, the paladin changed gears.
"Archangel Chamuel, bless your fervent servant. To vanquish the indomitable evil, bask this undeserving mortal in your holy presence. [Conjecture: Equipment Release]!!"
I could've done him in while he was chanting, sure. But the problem was that the damn contract mistreating my soul demanded much of my attention.
I had to gauge what was expected of me before it happened. Therefore, I simply reacted too late to make use of this glorious opportunity.
Many more radiant slashes came crashing into me one after the other. Faster, hotter, brighter... yet useless the same.
But not for dealing with the youth. I could protect her from blows and inertia, but even I wasn't faster than light. At least not in my deplorable state.
The youth shrieked as she brawled its eyes out, her small, barely furry ears inclined, running parallel to her head.
"Urrwaaaahhggg!!!!" And I followed suit. I swear, this contract...! "Master Roches, status report!" Meanwhile, reinforcements came.
Of the dumb-looking kind, too, who thought nothing about reasoning or so it seemed. "Remain where you are, cadet. I'll have this settled soon."
As if! The best reaction in this case wasn't another tongue-wagging contest, though. It was an instance of close-quarter brawling.
And so fist met head, sword met scaly stomach, horns tore through armour and a sword got stuck. I obviously had the upper hand and he was bleeding.
"What's a daemon doing here?" I heard the more dumb-looking of the two screws acting as reinforcements utter. "To seek the murderers go west. Under the insignia of three wheels..."
I muttered silently before interrupting myself. They simply wouldn't care. I was just this close to powering up my lecturing mode for real when her next words convinced me of the uselessness.
"This cruelty, only wicked creatures are able to think of." The description of their species. Then the other one also added her piece. "Master Roches, your armour won't hold long.
Huggenritt will give you an earful, be warned." Interesting, really. They weren't of one mind. Even in the heat of the fight, I perceived the paladin wince.
He might have had some retorts on his tongue, but I cared not. This time, the opportunity was one I'd take advantage of.
The madwoman down below also conjured some slashes of light she then sent my way. But hers were even less of a problem than the ones of the paladin blocking my escape.
Not for a lack of trying, of course. A groan escaped my fangs-filled mouth. With the youth's emotions negatively impacted, she failed to keep her waste.
I smelled it. The stench was awfully similar to deadly trouble. And of course, the contract didn't let me wait for long. "Uuhhhsssssss..."
And that was it. I was positive I couldn't hold up any longer. Not without a break. So the next time the paladin came close, I punched away at his face while completely ignoring his slashes.
Then I kicked at the armour and sent him flying down into the rubble. I was sure he'd cast a healing spell at the last moment, but I didn't care any longer.
"[Lesser Earthquake I]" The ground shook under a sudden nasty tremor and dust and ash rose into the air. "[Poison Cloud II]" It was still too little commotion for my taste.
"[Lesser Whirlwind II]" Now the sight in front was what I deemed a healthy mix of chaos, a great smokescreen I could make use of.
After filtering through a couple hundred coordinates in my head and excluding those who obviously weren't a great place to be for a youth and those I lacked the juice to tackle, I was left with a handful of choices.
None were really attractive, and only two seemed likely for me to acquire the bare minimum necessary in terms of clothing and other necessities indispensable for this youth.
As well as a comprehensive record that'd teach me the ins and outs of how to take care of one. The intelligent knew when to call it quits and submit. It certainly wasn't easy, but so what? Pride, begone...!
Only one place ticked the most boxes on my imaginary wish list. "[Greater Teleportation III]." And so we were gone, leaving behind some cursing suckers. My essence hurt like hell...