The door creaked open, emitting light that brushed against the feminine silhouette holding something head-sized in her left hand.
The faint glow illuminated the face of a black-haired woman whose emerald eyes disguised behind a set of boxy glasses. Her eyes, and tiny smile paired with her sharp jawline gave the attractive impression of a matured woman.
"You're back in one piece. I was worried you died since you were gone for six days."
The girl by the door's shoulders lightly shook as she chuckled. "Demitrius-sama, I can't die to the likes of [her].—Simply put, we just went.. Sightseeing for six days straight."
Demitrius gazed at the mysterious object in her left hand. "You brought a souvenir?"
"(Naturally) Tōzen. Just for you~" The girl walked forward. Demitrius snapped her fingers. As if the air bent to her will, traces of flames engulfed the tips of the candles hung by the cobblestone walls.
Her brows raised to the sight of what was put before her at the table.
Tan-skinned with black marks running down her eyes to her cheeks, and smoke grey-hair running down from the top of her head.—That's right, it was a severed head that left no traces of blood at the neck's wake.
"This is.."
"(Yes) Ee. I severed my opponent's head. Pretty clean, isn't it? For the bayonet of my gun meant for piercing.."
She sighed in response to her giggle. "You're insane."
"Am I? I believe I'm in the natural line of thought." she weakly tugged the hair of Ayuna's severed head. "Unfortunately, she regenerated her head, so she's still alive and perfectly fine."
Demitrius met her gaze, spotting a flicker of confusion and amusement in the young one's eyes to her own words.
She let go of the questions she desired to ask, the reasons unknown even to herself.
This girl who stood before her in a grey and burgundy dress was unhinged.—But to her, that's fine.
"Your reward will be handed soon." A flicker of something—relief? Excitement?—sparked in Demitrius' chest. Was the West Capital Organization blessed to have insanity in its ranks? "For now, I'll give you another mission."
"Hm?"
Her faint smile returned as her chin rested on her clasped hands: She couldn't help but feel like her husband, Demeter at this very moment. Such a position where she commanded excited her heart furthermore.
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"Come out, Gun Girl! I don't have all day!" exclaimed the smoke grey-haired girl, her jaw clenched as if irritated, her fingers snapping repeatedly as if impatient.
She rapidly shifted left to a click. Was it the Gun Girl? It had to be. She braced her body, ready to swerve and attack.
The grumbling bang erupted as she expected. She swerved right the moment she caught a glimpse of a spark.
Her body shifted forward, her arms extended to finally reach the pest she'd been longing to kill for the past six days.
She herself couldn't grasp how the fight dragged on this long, and how it could get any longer. Her heart clenched in shock and frustration as the same bang erupted from behind, cleanly piercing her shoulder.
The girl in grey and burgundy before her disappeared through the same bullet that pierced Ayuna's left shoulder. With nothing to cling onto, she thumped to the ground, face-first.
A dissatisfied "ugh" escaped her mouth. She quickly pushed herself up and turned to the sound of pleasant—no, unpleasant giggles that could only be taken as mockery.
"You've been fighting me for six days, Saiko-san. You haven't learned a thing or two?"
"I have." she wiped the dust off her face.
"Then—"
She dashed again at incomprehensible speeds. Yasume needed only to blink once for Ayuna to stop right in front of her, but even she couldn't grasp it in time, falling victim to the swift yet deadly blow of the polymorph.
The swing of the fist was in one fluid motion.—It was as if the burning weight came off Ayuna's shoulders, growing a smile of relief in her face as she cleanly smacked the smile off Yasume's face.
The girl in grey and burgundy limped to the ground, as if lifeless.
She stared the body down with as much as a triumphant glare she could muster, her fist still clenched. "I shattered your face as collateral.. Hope you don't mind."
She shifted around, only to stop halfway as she noticed the fading of the body from the edge of her vision.
Her tongue instinctively clicked, for it only meant one thing.
"You're still alive!?" her voice echoed, her brows furrowed and heart raced once more.
"..I am~" the sultry whisper to her ear spiked Ayuna's already heightened senses. A shiver raced down her spine to the intimate intrusion.
Before she could react, a firm yet disturbingly gentle grip seized her crotch, sending electric shockwaves blended in confusion, vulnerability, and discomfort. Her gasp, a primal reaction, was unmistakable. Her muscles froze, and the next thing she knew, a shadowy object wrapped around her neck and materialised as an arm and an antique pistol pressed against her temple.
The pistol's familiar grumbling bang pierced her ears point blank. Her ears rang loudly as if blown, her vision spun, and her head stung like a thousand migraines attacking at once.
In the blink of an eye, her vision turned upside down.
Was she somehow flipped over? If so, then why did her peripherals catch the glimpse of her own body?
FIrst of all, how did the girl in grey and burgundy catch her on high alert, especially when she spoke and revealed her position from behind? How didn't she react fast, when she was previously fast enough to dodge a literal bullet?
Was it the darkness of the area that brilliantly masked her shadow-bending silhouette?
Was it the suggestive touch that caught Ayuna distracted for even just a fraction of a second?
Did her emotions get to the best of her at the wrong time?
Her head painfully thumped to the ground.—The natural weight of her heart now seemed weightless, as was the tension of her whole body. She gasped for air to her brain's demand, yet it was as if there was no air at all.
The sight of the antique and cobblestone houses before her was as deformed as clear yet turbulent water, paired with the overwhelming lightness and tension her head felt at the same time.
To her left, a headless body limped to the ground. Little to no blood poured out of the tan-skinned neck covered by black clothing.
There she found the answer.
She was decapitated.
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"So you're telling me.. You lost?"
It was as if the raspy and experienced voice was the only one able to weigh Ayuna down in a trickle of sweat, pressure, and every word she could conceive negatively.
"That's.." Her throat clogged in speechlessness.
The man before her crossed his legs and relaxed against the chair. His long and blonde ponytail resting over the golden epaulette on his shoulder. "[Muspelheim], I am very forgiving if you come to me transparently.—Accept the fact you lost to a mere human, humiliatingly so."
She tilted downwards to hide her clenching teeth. Her clenching fists never trembled as intensely as now, and for all the wrong reasons.
A moment of silence ushered in the thick air, the light above that illuminated their spot amidst the otherwise pitch darkness didn't help.
She gulped everything down and met his gaze. "I.. I lost to a mere human." She hated it.
"I forgive you." She hated it above anything else: Admitting defeat.
"That said, you're very lucky you come as a polymorph. If you were an ordinary human, you would've lost your head permanently. Let's put aside the fact she took your head as a trophy and continue forward."
Choiceless, she nodded despite her heart's clenching pain from his realistic words.
"Within the frame of the past six days, I assume you accomplished your original goal. May you confirm?"
She nodded.
"Very good." He leaned forward resting his meagre-bearded chin on his intertwined fingers. "With your accomplishment, we can finally take the next step forward."
"You.. You're really so keen on obtaining [Enlightenment]."
"Naturally." he moved the chair back and stood, his hands shifting behind. "I am like any human, make that any sentient being: I have desires that need to be fulfilled. Aren't you the same, despite being a polymorph?"
"I suppose I am."
"Our desires differ, yet some are identical. The only real difference is how willing we are to accomplish it."
The man walked behind the chair, the light expanding as if tailing. "I seek [Enlightenment] above anything else. As for how far I'm willing to go?"
The light caught up, brushing against a golden intricate frame. Within, a meticulous flurry of light and dark capturing the image of a high and mighty palace engulfed in [Tana and Admani's Gift] of flames. "I'm willing to do lots." The hail of stars from above, the dark void of the sea and the mightier yet distant peak northward, and the bright lights of civilization just as orange from beneath all bore witness to the disaster, that is, the burning of the palace.
His gaze landed on the tiny tag beneath the grand painting: [The Grand Swarm].
That would naturally be the case. He has gone against [The Harmony] of society countless times, that much she was aware of.—She herself had turned against it through his supervision.
Of course she had accepted this already. As if to show her steadfast allegiance, she stood up and pressed her fist against her heart. "And I'm willing to follow you all the way."
Half his face, bored with a smile turned to meet her gaze. "I expected no less from you. That's why, I'll make sure [she] will never take you away from me."
"I've always wanted to ask.—Who is [she]?" The mystery behind "she" had always intrigued the smoke grey-haired polymorph. When he spoke of the female, he always addressed her as "she". Only "she". At the same time, for being his servant, she felt the right to know.
His cryptic smile told nothing to her. "You will know in due time." he gracefully sat. "For now, let's bask in victory and wait for everything to unfold."
"Okay." she nodded.
"How's [Theia]?" the slyness of his tone disappeared, as if blurring into keen curiosity.
"She's doing great as usual. Nothing to worry about."
"Good. I want you to report to me immediately if you notice even the slightest mishaps."
"Your wish is my command,—[Lord Bernard]."