I stretch out my right hand as a great wall of guns appear behind me. They are my projections, my magic. I saw the witch flick her wand as I yelled from the top of my lungs, "FIRE!"
There was a mass volley of bullets that fired directly at her. They went on for what seemed like minutes, an intense energy bubbled up inside my body and I summoned more guns. Like rank fire of ancient warfare, when one side runs out of bullets, another takes its place.
Soon, the firefight ends. The domain which she erected is filled with smoke, and as it settled, I saw nothing of her. Then, in the corner of my eye, the faint radiance of her hair drove past.
It took me less than a quarter of a second to form a shield in my hands and block her attack. A beam of terrible red light, magnificent and hot even behind steel. "Guess you're not just a knife boy after all!" she spoke from everywhere inside the domain.
I posed up, a grand number of guns appeared in a circular area all around me, "You offered me an arena. I just think it would be a disservice to not utilize it."
"Thank you. I know any mage worth their salt would see this as a fun playground!" Numerous seals appear all around me, farther up than where I summoned my weapons. They all spun as if to charge up the mana that surrounded them.
"It is a fine place." I fired at the numerous seals that surrounded me, as they fired back. Fiery beams of light were deflected by the bullets like fireworks in the night sky. In that beautiful nightscape, the witch tried to sneak below.
I quickly dodged her next attack, the same beam of flames aimed at my liver. I pivoted my legs, and as my right leg anchored to the ground, I summoned a sword in my hands, "--Shall we test your CQC?" I smugly remarked.
She giggled as her wand dispersed into sparkles of mana, "My mother trained me primarily on CQC!" She emphasized and posed up, as if there was something out of it. Though, to be fair, I don't know her mother, nor anyone else for that matter. But if she was trained on it primarily, then--
I stepped forward and swung my sword. She ducked under it and immediately threw two hits to my side. Again and again, I swung, yet she continued to weave under it. I let go of my swords and summoned ones that are more manageable with her speed, knives, "Seems you are pretty good."
She nods, "Thank you! I remain the best." And smugly remarked, "Now come," Her wand appears in her hand once more, "Let's see what you're made of!"
I dashed forward and tried to catch her with the knives. Though she weaved through my attacks, I attempted to limit her movements. I summoned guns with each swing of my attack, following them to her possible dodges and weaves. However, she fought back by summoning attacks of her own with each punch she threw.
It wasn't a fight. It didn't seem like a fight.
It seemed like a dance. A terrible tango to the death.
The cacophony of spells casted and guns fired were our orchestra. Step after step, a killer waltz, knives near throats, punches near livers. Scratches on our body as bullets and flames graze across our skin.
Her eyes were on fire, they stared at me blindly. I can stab her right now and bring her ideologies to ruin, but we share the same. If I were to kill her. I would be killing another person like me. Would I be able to do that?
I've done it already.
Yes. I've already killed someone that carried what I needed the most in life and yet.
I can't bear to do it now, as I stare into her eyes, and the knife can cut so cleanly down her neck. And… Why is there no fear to it? Why does it seem so blinded?
Ah.
I've miscalculated, have I?
Terribly miscalculated.
A great seal formed up from behind. It was going to fire a beam directly at me, potentially piercing through, potentially hitting her as well. She knew the danger and yet it seemed as though she was willing to take it.
I wasn't.
I wasn't really keen on dying, much less tonight, much less to her. So, I summoned a shield to surround us. The seal fired and was summarily deflected. Everything was deflected. Every bullet fired; every spell thrown. And we were set back down to the ground.
"It's my win." She says as she lies on the ground. I was above her, the knife still in my hands, yet her eyes seemed very sure of that concession, "Is it not?"
I sighed, "It was." I let go of the knife, yet remained above her, "I suppose you've convinced me to join your night parade."
"Wonderful! Then I suppose it's time to handle them, no?"
"Them?" I unsummoned the shields and looked around the domain. There were fifteen or so orcs that surrounded us, perhaps allowed entrance within the domain by Yuki herself. They looked confused, some scared. But others quickly noticed us.
Yuki pressed against her ear, I never noticed that she had an earpiece on, "Great job, Laida. That's all of them, right? Mhm. I'll handle them quickly. As for you." She looked at me, "It would be best if you explained yourself to them."
"Huh?"
Before I could blink, she had already disappeared. I was there, alone in the middle of the plaza. I stood in front of the great christmas tree when two people. One of them, a woman with long hair whose colors are mixed with gradients of black and white. She was pretty, and an elf.
The other was an orc. He wore a suit and wore thick glasses, he seemed well mannered compared to the ones that followed us earlier, he spoke first, "Greetings! Thou art John Zegrus, correct?"
"David, can I talk to him first, please?" The woman asked. David, the orc, seemed to just nod and calmly apologized for speaking first, "I'm sorry, he was just excited to see you. It's not always that we get a new recruit. In any case, I'm Laida. Kozeki Laida, Head Marketing agent of the Night Parade."
"Uh, thank you." I shook her gloved hand; she seemed like a fashion designer by the way she dressed. Or perhaps it came with the whole 'marketing agent' job that she was assigned to. Presentability is a priority.
She took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled out a stick with her mouth as if she was simply taking candy and offered it to her orc partner. David declined, Laida shrugged, and she proceeds to light the cigarette placed between her lips, "Thank God that little witch finally has a partner. Take care of her, alright?"
"I… will? What does she do anyway?"
"I mean, apart from dealing with those bad guys. Field work, mostly. That's why she needs an assistant that can handle themselves quite well. Most of the time the recruits could barely keep up. You can keep up, right?" She stared into my soul with her beautiful kaleidoscopic eyes.
"Yes! I believe I can." I responded, half-heartedly. She seemed to take the response well as she just ignored it. In any case, these were the people I'm working with now, huh? It wasn't that bad really. They seemed to get along well with each other, "Oh, and, nice to meet you too, David." I reached out to the orc and shook his hand.
"Oh, thank you. Nice to meet you too, John."
Strange, he lost the old English dialect he wore earlier, "--I apologize for my orcish brethren for their terrible welcome towards you tonight. I assure you; they are not all that terrible."
I nodded, "Don't worry now, David. That you are such a polite individual is proof enough of your words."
He smiled, canine teeth extended outside his mouth. It was almost cute, "In any case," Laida interrupted, "She should be done soon."
As soon as she said that, Yuki popped into existence right next to them, "Agh!" She grunted, "They almost ruined my dress, those stinking brats. Might we pay a visit to Lord Grakthur soon?! He is really starting to piss me off!" She rattled on.
"Now, now, Yuki. We need to greet them properly." Laida commented.
"Huh? Oh!" She turned around and saw me, "Right! The new assistant. Well done, and welcome to ah-- hey!"
Laida grabbed her by the head and forced her to bow, as Laida herself, and David followed suit, "Welcome to the Night Parade!" They all said in unison.
I let out a pathetic chuckle, "Thank you." And all was back to normal. The snow fell, the crowd moved and danced around, and in the distance, the fireworks sparkled along the night sky. It was a holy night.