Fighting Abnormalities could sometimes be a messy and complicated thing. You'd have to find some unique way to vanquish them or weaken them.
So far, I'd encountered mythical beings, invisible apocalyptic dragons, mysterious pixies, and intangible shadow security guards.
They were all beings that couldn't be dealt with by normal means.
However, there were obviously exceptions. Abnormalities, like the T-Rex I had fought in the Lost Forest were all physical, and could only be ended by being killed.
Well, perhaps every Abnormality could be killed through an appropriate level of raw power and physical force, but I'd sure like to meet the monstrous person who could summon that sort of strength.
No, seriously, it would save me more than a few deaths.
Still, the allies that I had happened upon weren't bad when it came to dealing with purely physical threats.
Liliana and Viola were undeniably strong. Viola especially was a complete powerhouse. However, if I had to make a ranking, then the Saintess was certainly a strong contender for a #2 spot.
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"It's so beautiful seeing her holiness back to normal..." Jay spoke in an almost dreamy-like tone of voice, their usually black eyes sparkling.
"Back to normal? No, this is more like she's way past normal..." I said, while watching Alyssa.
"DIE, DIE, DIE! HAHAHAHA!!!"
Alyssa's gleeful voice echoed through the ruins of the city as she practically flew through the streets, jumping from building to building while her guns continued firing off endlessly.
She had to stop to take breaks, but even when she was, her guns were still going off.
Strange shape after strange shape fell at her feet and further away in the distance, some falling away before they even had a chance to materialize.
"Yes, die, if you're going to inconvenience her holiness!"
Jay followed behind, mostly cheering the Saintess on. I stayed at the rearmost of the group, mainly handling killing off the stragglers with simple, precise stabs of my trusty mop-handle.
Yes, I really did keep it all of the time as my main weapon. What can I say - I was used to holding brooms and mops all day as an ex-convenience store clerk.
More importantly, I was watching the Saintess as she blew the...brains, and other exotic matter out of any Abnormality unfortunate enough to get in her way.
I had always known Alyssa to be a loose cannon - but her particular brand of battle-craziness had been a bit more reigned in. How should I say it...she had still been at my level just a few weeks ago.
Sure, she had been fast, had good reactions, and was pretty nifty with her guns...but not to this level. And she definitely hadn't been this obsessed with enjoying her fights.
She was ducking and weaving under attacks with impossible grace and reflexes, while firing off her guns at the perfect moments to accurately destroy Abnormalities in a shot or two.
Then, there was a change in the air. The small fry stopped appearing, giving way to a suddenly empty street.
"I feel something big coming on..." Alyssa murmured, her senses sharp as ever.
Something like one of the T-Rexes I had fought dared to approach her, lumbering down the street.
She did have to stop for a moment, facing the creature down while simultaneously smoking a cigarette. It glowed with the bright light of burning Material powder, and the dinosaur-like thing roared, charging her.
"Oh, shit yeah! This is gonna be good!"
Alyssa had a crazed smile on her face as she ran right towards it, leaving Jay to again, keep cheering her on.
"Well...I'll step in if it looks bad, I guess." I murmured, as I stabbed the wooden pole through the head of some entity that was trying to grab my arm. I kept my eye on Alyssa as she neared melee distance of the tall creature. I was curious to see just what sort of power she had gained.
She dodged under its' claws with an impressive display of acrobatics, shooting up at its' underbelly. The thing roared in defiance, and lowered its' weight entirely - it meant to crush her under its' stomach.
Alyssa didn't falter. She just twisted herself to the side, quite literally flinging her body through a nearby building's wall, as the creature's stomach drove into the ground with enough force to shake everything nearby...
Jay and I didn't even flinch. After all...the both of us believed in her power.
Alyssa just emerged from the wall of the same building like it was nothing, but at a higher floor - no doubt she had been running up the steps the whole time, gaining a massive height advantage on the Abnormality
She jumped out, now landing on the lowered creature's head. The fall alone was a large impact, forcing the thing's head down even further towards the ground.
She wasted no time, immediately pointing both guns at the back of the thing's skull. The hood of her habit fluttered in the air, alongside locks of her silver hair.
"Checkmate, scaled bastard."
With a single shot from the both of her pistols, the Abnormality went quiet, and began to dissipate into the air. Alyssa ended up on the ground again, like she hadn't just killed something which I barely survived by having it run itself off a cliff...
She walked away from it, ignoring the slight scratches and bruising on her body with a slightly psychotic smile.
"You did so well, your holiness! Do you need any medicine? A bandage?"
"Just some water...I'm getting tired after killing so much of these things. Seriously, it's like they're infinite...not that I mind killing them over and over again."
Jay quickly brought out a water bottle, which Alyssa started chugging from without care.
Yes...this nonchalant strength was what made her the Saintess. She had a ridiculous combat power that you'd struggle to find anywhere else in the city.
It was this combat power that made me hesitate to confront her so much when Liliana and I were together.
There was only one thing to criticize.
"Still, you haven't been using your ability."
I spoke up, my words immediately causing Alyssa to frown.
"Screw that. The way it works is just too convenient...I mean, making me pray, and be faithful, and all that? Just sounds like another attempt by that thing to take me over."
Alyssa muttered. She wasn't even entertaining the ability of using 'Divine'.
It made sense. Even back when we had become allies in preventing the end of the world, she only used it in the very last battle. And she didn't pray to the 'idea of God' that was infatuated with taking her over, but rather used the faith of those in the Sistine Chapel guild.
"It's fine. Even without her ability, her holiness is the strongest there is." Jay said with the utmost confidence.
"Haha, see? At least Jay gets how great I am. Seriously, you're such a shitty Manager." The Saintess frowned, but that was just her way of throwing a little bit of a lighthearted jab at me.
"..."
Under normal circumstances, I would've laughed along with them. But I couldn't, in good conscience, take it that easy.
There was now just a month left until the Flood Dragon arrived to destroy this world again.
Meaning, I only had a month's worth of time with Alyssa and Jay before losing it all once more.
In the grand scheme of things, if the Flood Dragon was going to be defeated, I needed to find a way to have Alyssa get over her fear of her own ability.
And, after seeing what even the mere 'idea of God' had done to her, my job was cut out for me.
"Well, anyways, we have a guild, but we're still the only members..." I folded my arms while we walked, to which Alyssa rolled her eyes.
"That really a problem? I'd rather the three of us just keep hanging out and kicking ass like this instead of looking after a bunch of weaklings."
Jay nodded, though they were out of 'Saintess fan' mode, and back to their usual analytical, but mysterious self.
"The Saintess is correct. I mean...frankly, while we are a guild in name, I wasn't really intending on gathering more followers..."
There was a hitch in Jay's voice that made me think they weren't being entirely honest, but I decided to leave it alone for now. I couldn't read their mind, after all. Especially not with those empty eyes.
"..."
I wondered if it even made sense to force them into putting together a guild just to satisfy my own desire to fight the Flood Dragon.
Then, I thought about how the last Regression had ended.
Frankly, if I was going to die without learning much, did it even make sense to fight it...?
...
No. There was really only one thing I wanted to try, and in any case, it was impossible without Liliana here. I'd have to try another time.
In a way, this Regression life was already doomed. This would be...the fourth.
If it was going to be a doomed world anyways...then I might as well focus on just enjoying it with Jay and Alyssa.
"Alright, fine. But since you're not going to be working on a guild, that means you actually have to do some scavenging instead of just letting Jay do it for you, Alyssa." I add, which makes Alyssa immediately turn red with some mix of embarrassment and anger.
"H-Hey, I can scavenge on my own just fine! I would've cleaned out your dumb convenience store way back then if you hadn't barged in and started beating the crap out of me."
Jay sighed, shaking their head at the Saintess's words.
"Indeed...Mr. Manager does have a knack for using violence to get his way..."
I rolled my eyes, looking up at the setting sun over the horizon. "Yeah, yeah. Come on guys, it's getting late. We don't want to get caught outside when the sun's down, no matter how strong we are."
I took the lead, and Alyssa grumbled.
"Hardass...fin-...huh?"
I couldn't hear it well, but Alyssa was pulled back to walk in step with Jay. The two seemingly discussing something in hushed whispers. I didn't interfere, just focusing on my own thoughts as I led us to our shelter for the night.
While the Saintess was strong, and Jay, an analytical mind, neither had the experience that I did. Critical decisions like where we'd stay for the night were always up to me.
...maybe if I'd known what the two of them were planning for that particular night, I would've chosen somewhere with good soundproofing. Just for peace of mind.