Holding Alice in her arms, Allura could see that she was deadly pale from the blood-loss of using her first Sigil.
Before she could reach for some healing blood for Alice, a ring of crimson energy surged towards them.
"Oi, take care of your own master first before trying to kill us." Allura clicked her tongue in annoyance as she reached out for the ring and caught it with her fingers.
Widening his eyes in shock, Gallard couldn't believe that it was caught just like that.
'If she is strong enough to do this, why is that half and half girl a slave?' Gallard thought to himself since the woman was more than capable enough of helping Alice yet only showed up now.
Shaking his head, he purged the unnecessary thoughts. The only thing he needed to do right now was to kill Alice! That was the command that his master gave him, one that he couldn't disobey even if he tried.
Crouching down, he activated both first and second Sigils simultaneously as a net of energy rushed towards them.
Placing Alice against some rubble, Allura brought out a cigarette and lit it with her finger.
"F*ck sake. I alright gave you a warning and you don't want to listen." Allura clicked her tongue in annoyance.
With the same fire she used to lit her cigarette, she aimed it towards the net of energy before flicking the small flame towards it.
*BANG!!!!!
Exploding into a giant wall of fire upon contact, Allura rushed through the flames and appeared in front of Gallard. Grabbing him by the head, she slammed in against the ground, forcing him to activate his second Sigil once more as a pulse of energy rushed out.
Snapping her finger, flames enveloped Allura's body as she shattered the pulse of energy without an issue.
"ARGGGG!!!" Roaring out in anger, Gallard ignored the flames and kicked Allura away before activating his third Sigil.
Three rings manifested once more behind him as he designated Allura as the target.
"Urg, don't make me do more work than I need to do." Allura sighed as she dropped her jacket on the floor.
She was currently wearing a sleeveless black shirt, leaving her toned arms exposed.
Taking a big breath of her cigarette, Allura ignited both her hands with fire and charged towards Gallard. Breaking apart the rings with one punch, she flickered in front of Gallard and placed her palm against his chest.
Widening his eyes, he was unable to react in time as a colossal wall of force slammed into his body, sending him crashing against the walls and breaking apart his armour.
*COUGH!!!
Catching his breath, Gallard was bleeding from his wounds as he could feel several bones being broken from just one attack. Gritting his teeth, he freed himself from the wall before glaring at Allura.
He was trying to work out how many Sigils she was using, how powerful she was and what he could do to defeat her.
Noticing this, Allura lifted her head and pulled now the collar of her shirt and grinned.
"I'm using just one Sigil, Mr four Sigils." Allura taunted, causing Gallard to activate his fourth Sigil while also reactivating his third Sigil.
Feeling her body being restrained, Allura had a lazy smile on her face while the rings charged towards her, threatening to cut her in half.
*KRRR
Hearing the sound of the restrains breaking, Gallard was in disbelief.
Little by little, the inside of the restraint started to warp as the ring of energy was evaporated before it could even reach her.
"Surprised?" Allura asked as she simply walked out of his fourth ability while being on fire.
Standing in front of him, she finished her cigarette before blowing a mouthful of smoke into his face.
Immediately drawing his blade, he tried to cut her apart, but the blade was shattered with a single punch.
Kicking him in the side of the body, Allura watched as he slammed against the walls before passing out.
Walking over to the woman who was clutching her throat in fear while also scratching away at her body, she crouched down and stared at the woman before sighing.
"Now, usually I would finish you off as well, Bella. But, since you're the target of her revenge, I'll leave you be. I'm not one to strip others of their revenge. You can also think of me sparing you on behalf of your husband since we used to be drinking buddies." Allura scratched her hair.
"But you f*cked up royally you know that? Look at what you did to that Lilia girl. Alice is going to come for your head if you don't die today. But that's none of my business. I'll be taking her from you now. Oh, you can rest easy though. If you survive today and Alice comes for you again, I won't be helping her."
Standing up, Allura walked over to Alice who was struggling to keep herself conscious.
"You can sleep. I'll take care of you now. I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier." Allura apologised as she was truly guilty that she had taken this long to decide. And this delay caused Alice the pain of losing a friend.
Looking towards Allura, Alice embraced the feeling of safety before glancing towards Lilia's corpse once more. Despite her form, Alice could see the peaceful expression on Lilia's face in her last moments.
Biting her lips, Alice remembered the short time they spent together.
'Sleep well Lilia. May you be reunited with your family.'
###
Seeing Alice fall asleep, Allura sighed before looking towards the ceiling.
Jumping out of the arena, she landed on the roof and saw Gin waiting for her.
"Yo."
"Yo! My ass, what the f*ck happened?" Gin retorted before pausing, noticing Alice on her shoulder.
"She almost died. I'm not too clear but it seems like she's formed a grudge against Bella, one that doesn't end until one of them is dead. Naturally I'm going to take a neutral stance in all of this but I'm not going to neglect my duties in teaching Alice what she needs to learn." Allura shrugged.
Hearing this, Gin widened his eyes.
"Bella?! Theron's wife??? Ah f*ck. He's not gonna like this." Gin face palmed.
"Well, it's a shame but I got my own responsibilities. Care to leave a message to Theron for me?"
"Why me?! You know he's going to be pissed!" Gin gritted his teeth.
"You're the messenger. Of course, I'll have you do it. Who else would I ask?" Allura raised an eyebrow.
". . . Fine. What do you want me to tell him?" Gin sighed, bringing out a flask to drink.
"Just tell him that if he loves his wife then he should spend the rest of this time with her. You can word it however you want but the main message is for him to prepare himself to lose his wife in due time." Allura shrugged.
"Ah speaking of which, I'll give you the report on what happened outside the city later. Now that I'm taking care of Alice, I might go for a little trip to Zadash just so Alice has the time to develop herself."
"I'll come with you once I finish delivering the message. I got a few jobs I need to manage outside of this place anyways. Plus, my granddaughter's been hounding me about you so you might as well keep her with you for a while. I doubt you're taking any more jobs right?" Gin asked, offering the same flask to Allura who shook her head.
"No thanks. And no, I'm not taking anymore jobs for now. Well, unless they have connections to the strange movements we've been picking up. But sure, taking care of two brats shouldn't be an issue. She's on her third Sigil right? Want me to help her find her fourth?" Allura offered while bringing out another cigarette.
"Give it some time. She only recently got her third Sigil after all. I don't want to rush her through Sigil without her understanding their power unlike the silver spoon kids that noble raise. They only know more Sigils equal more power. Such wasted potential." Gin sighed.
"Well you know how they are. Didn't you rush your first 4 Sigils too? Anyways, I'll take Alice to a proper healer and get her body checked out. I also need to buy her some clothes since she only has this. Oh before I forget, help me forge an ID for her will you?"
Before Gin could respond, Allura had already ran away with Alice.
". . ." Feeling his anger rising, Gin gritted his teeth and walked away while massaging his eyes.
He could only hope that Alice wouldn't be influenced by Allura. If she does, he doesn't know how he could deal with two Allura's when one was already giving him this much headache.
"Since we're going to Zadash, I'll need to arrange a carriage, some provisions and clothing for the trip ahead." Gin sighed.
He had retired because there was too much work for him to do and he wanted a break. Yet despite this, Allura kept pilling the amount of work he needed to do.
Shaking his head, he contemplated how to break the news to Theron. No matter how he worded it, Theron was gonna be pissed.
"F*ck it. I'll just blame Allura if it comes down to it." Gin shrugged before leaving the area.