Maverick puffed his cigar and stroked his chin. He did that for a minute until at last deciding something. He pulled off his shades to stare at Black Mask with impassive, heartless eyes that glowed gold.
"Black Mask, what was it you told me," Maverick said. "You proposed a question. If strength is justice and then is powerlessness a crime?" He stood from his desk. "Tonight, I want you to prove yourself. Go talk with the princess. Open her mind to the reality of this nation. Use your special ability to deal with anyone who gets in your way. Just remember your limits with it. Give me your vow again."
"If subjects are to follow, the king must move. The king cannot get them to follow by abusing his power. Without the people, there is no king."
Maverick nodded. "Think on that the next time you consider using Ki to pop someone's head off. I'm glad you didn't waste your special ability and command him to do something humiliating. We are professionals, not high school children. Remember that, Black Mask or else, I'll strip away your title and send you back to the scouts. Now, go do your job and show me that we can make this nation change."
"Yes sir!" Black Mask said. He saluted, about-faced and marched out the door.
Maverick puffed his cigar.
"It's always the young ones that fuck up a plan," he said to a guard standing at the door. "Not because they're idiots, but only through misguidance. Black Mask has talent, but not the charisma and humility for a figurehead. Not yet. He must forge that shit through will and fire."
Abruptly, a blue robe rushed into Maverick's office.
"Sir, Pink Allure was captured by Team Stone. They've notified the android police and should be arriving in less than twenty minutes."
"Fuck!" Maverick stood. "Where is Layla?"
"She set off to rescue her," the blue robe said. "She was the one that sent me to relay the message."
Maverick put out his cigar in the ashtray. "Fine. Since Team Stone will not comply, they are on the side of the government. We'll send the gold robes to deal with them. Get them mobilized now. Tomorrow I want them dead, unless of course Black Mask's plan succeeds. We won't have to waste any resources on those outsiders."
"Sir! I'll go let the gold robe leaders know."
Maverick shook his head after the blue robe left. He invested way too much for some ignorant foreigners to ruin his plans now.
Alon's economy depended on his actions alone.
**
Hotel….
Night…
Gargoyle- Yasha
Level: 532
Type: Monster
Work under: N/A.
Special: Rock Solid All Night Love! [Gargoyles will rock you all night, but turn to stone during the day. You will too if you're in the middle of some outdoor loving. The good news is that you'd feel the sex and be able to communicate with the gargoyle until the sun goes down. At night, the party begins again.]
Weaknesses: holy, ice, physical, solar x 5000 (chance of turning a gargoyle to stone)
Resistances: all magic except ice and holy
Secret: she's absolutely terrified of the sun and hides in a dark, anti-sun building during the day, while her fellow gargoyles accepted petrification as a part of their lives.
"A power level of five hundred thirty two," Clyde said, "damn."
Yasha grinned. "Now that you know the deal, who's going to volunteer? We've got a long, fun night."
The few hotel guests that were still out, watched in fascination.
"You idiots may want to go," Kitome said to them, "unless dying is on your night's agenda." She was in magical girl form.
Thankfully they got the memo and fled the main lobby. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com <a href="https://www.webnovel.com">www.webnovel.com</a> for visiting.
"Welp, another big fish to face like usual," Seth said.
"A mini-boss," Clyde said.
Seeming annoyed at being taken so lightly, the gargoyle lurched at Kitome.
[Your party has entered combat!]
Kitome nimbly dodged, even performing a cartwheel, before returning fire using her cutesy wand.
[Kitome activated Silver tier skill: Silent Heartbreaker Explosion.]
Yasha tried to dodged—she had the nimbleness, but Kitome's heart bomb actually honed in on her like a missile.
[Yasha's HP has dropped to 940% of 980%]
Yasha blurred toward Kitome, snarling. The blue-haired magical girl dodged her punches and blocked her kicks. She didn't anticipate the tail grabbing her by the leg and slamming the young woman into the wall.
[Kitome's HP has dropped to 130% of 250% Her magical barriers still hold fine.]
Clyde still stood in place, arms folded, at first watching the scrapple. Then he remembered the creature's level was much higher. Since wizards were more than likely going to attack them, Team Stone needed to conserve their energy. He also wouldn't be surprised if they sent someone to attempt to rescue Pink Allure. Yuki set a special trap just for that occasion.
The young man warped Bloodlight from his inventory, preparing to cast its solar special that would surely one-shot Yasha.
Kitome's attacking intensified.
[Kitome activated Gold tier skill: Magnifying Solar Ray.]
Despite the attack being a golden beam, rare for Kitome, it still gave off tiny floating hearts. Yasha dodged it, but from the utter terror in her eyes, she knew that skill was concentrated solar magic.
"No, no, no," she said, then in one large leap, jumped out the open window. The sound of fading flapping signified a flee.
[Battle completed! Victory? Reward: nothing. Your query ran.]
"Wellllll, that was a bit anti-climatic," Noona said.
"You can say that again," Fuyoko said, pushing past Amina and Nina. Neko, Ako, peeked from the hall, Maki, Sophia, and Hinako behind them.
Airi sighed. "Damn. I was seconds away from unbinding her from this plane. Ah well, it's good to see Kitome kick the ass."
"Let me guess, you have questions," Kitome said, her frown deepening.
"Nope, Kitome, I've known you long enough to not bother. You're more stubborn than the elves," Airi said. "However, I think I'll switch from asking questions to just observing. Feel free to come to me of your own accord everyone." She winked.
"Aren't you supposed to be the wise and great druid," Clyde said. "I mean you don't have the wise old man thing going on, but you know how the movies are."
Airi snorted in amusement.
"What's taking those damn android police so long," Alice said.
"Never mind that," someone said.
They turned to see Dera walking toward them, a serious expression on her face. Then she grabbed Kitome's hands, eyes starry.
"You had cute little hearts floating from your beam. And all of your attacks were so cute. My sensors detected a skill called, Adorable Wink. You've used it only once. Come o—"
Kitome attempted to shove her away, but the android was all over the young woman.
"Get off me, you bucket of bolts."
Kitome dashed behind Clyde. "Do something about her."
Dera gave him a Gin smile. The young man secretly hoped she'd say, "ara ara." She made groping gestures toward the magical girl.
"See. She's clearly defective," Kitome said.
"Alright, alright, enough playing around." Clyde turned to Yuki. "Do you mind giving this place a quick rewind." He looked thoughtful. "You know, we should figure out a way to create a portable barrier for every hotel we travel to. I'm really getting tired of—"
Clyde and Kitome immediately turned to the new intruder that hopped through the window, landing at the side of the tied-up terrorist.
"No, Layla, it's a tra—"
Yuki actually gave a small snort of amusement as tendrils of magic burst from Pink Allure's ropes and tangled themselves around a familiar woman.
"Hey, I've seen you before," Ruri said. "You're that gold digger lady from the restaurant."
"I'm not a gold digger lady," Layla snapped, struggling with the ropes. Yuki walked over and pulled off her mask. Tear took pictures.
"Upload them," Natalia said. "Just in case the booby cow lady escapes."
"You know, I found the man you were with off-putting, but only assumed that he was some kind of CEO or bigshot," Clyde said. "He probably is and is either leading or backing the terrorists." He grinned. " Bold of you guys to go out in public." Clyde stretched. "Ah, I love it when a plan works. The gargoyle wasn't a part of it, but hey, we have a masked voluminous woman to turn over to the cops."
Clyde walked over and knelt at her side.
"You charged in here, believing that you could easily beat a bunch of amateurs. But honestly, you're a fucking idiot." He shook his head. "Did your spies not give you our numbers? How arrogant can one be to just charge in here…Never mind. Let's hurry up and get them to a room before some bullshit Deus ex Machina happens for them."
Alice shot him a blank stare.
"What?" Clyde said.
"Oh nothing," the half-demoness said.
Dera twirled over to Clyde.
"My sensors detect the approach of lifeforms in vehicles, but the androids…" her voice softened to a sadness. "Were destroyed."
Layla grinned.
"I didn't come alone."
"So what's to stop me from just killing you now?" Clyde said, causing her to flinch. He wasn't in the mood for giving the terrorists handouts. "We'll handle this. Dera." He looked into the android's eyes. Life-filled, glistening eyes. "Your kind are just as alive as we are." He did take notice of her gasp as Clyde turned to give Team Stone orders.
"Wipe them out," Clyde said. "No mercy. Protect this hotel, its guests, and make damned sure they don't pull that bullshit where they somehow end up barely escaping with our prisoners. Remember, they are terrorists and the killing kind."
"You don't have to tell us twice," Chika said. "In fact, just leave it all to me."
Clyde laughed.
"Noona, give her all the buffs she needs."
Noona nodded.
"Okay. Oh—why didn't I dress up as a fairy godmother?"
Seth whispered to Clyde, "Did you like roleplay things when you have sex with Noona? Is she your horse and you, her cowboy?" He performed a terrible motion of a horseback rider, grinning.
Clyde actually anime-fell to the side.
**
Smaller city of Alon…
Night…
Terrance parked his motorcycle, then took one look around the grocery store's parking lot. It was just a quiet night with few cars, one or two people trailing in and out of the building, handling everyday matters. Where the fuck was his client? He wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be a hoax. His own services were simply mundane under the bullshit guise of an implied, but not declared psychic. Sure, he delivered better results than the quacks, but every method could be done by anyone with the proper schooling and training.
And Terrance educated himself in as many things as possible, including the high-end technology from the Nation's Seat.
"Are you Him," someone said from behind Terrance. He flinched, turning around to see a woman dressed in some kind of gray and white robe with a golden cross on the left breast.
"Are you Nurin?" he said.
"That's my code name," she said. "Others call me Crusader Researcher Tiffia."
Terrance's eyes widened. His day just had to get weirder. First that strange man with the long hair, handing him some kind of business card and now a crusader. Why. Just why was this shit happening to him? He didn't believe in the supernatural, but at that moment, the man considered the concept of karma.
"What do you want, crusader," Terrance said.
Tiffia's smile brightened. "It's not about what I want, but the will of the Great Ones. You're psychic filth, dabbing in forces without permission. I offer you a cleansing out of kindness."
"I never claimed to be a psychic," Terrance said. "I offer services. Nothing more, nothing less. A businessman. Not that you would understand the concept of such a thing."
Tiffia shook her head and poked Terrance's nose, her smile odd and cheerful. The deadly aura stripped away the playful woman illusion.
"Terrance, Terrance. Oh, yes, don't look surprised, we know your name. We dug deep into your past. We know all about you. After all, the old man who kept telling you about yourself is actually one of us. Also, I didn't give you a choice."
Maverick puffed his cigar and stroked his chin. He did that for a minute until at last deciding something. He pulled off his shades to stare at Black Mask with impassive, heartless eyes that glowed gold.
"Black Mask, what was it you told me," Maverick said. "You proposed a question. If strength is justice and then is powerlessness a crime?" He stood from his desk. "Tonight, I want you to prove yourself. Go talk with the princess. Open her mind to the reality of this nation. Use your special ability to deal with anyone who gets in your way. Just remember your limits with it. Give me your vow again."
"If subjects are to follow, the king must move. The king cannot get them to follow by abusing his power. Without the people, there is no king."
Maverick nodded. "Think on that the next time you consider using Ki to pop someone's head off. I'm glad you didn't waste your special ability and command him to do something humiliating. We are professionals, not high school children. Remember that, Black Mask or else, I'll strip away your title and send you back to the scouts. Now, go do your job and show me that we can make this nation change."
"Yes sir!" Black Mask said. He saluted, about-faced and marched out the door.
Maverick puffed his cigar.
"It's always the young ones that fuck up a plan," he said to a guard standing at the door. "Not because they're idiots, but only through misguidance. Black Mask has talent, but not the charisma and humility for a figurehead. Not yet. He must forge that shit through will and fire."
Abruptly, a blue robe rushed into Maverick's office.
"Sir, Pink Allure was captured by Team Stone. They've notified the android police and should be arriving in less than twenty minutes."
"Fuck!" Maverick stood. "Where is Layla?"
"She set off to rescue her," the blue robe said. "She was the one that sent me to relay the message."
Maverick put out his cigar in the ashtray. "Fine. Since Team Stone will not comply, they are on the side of the government. We'll send the gold robes to deal with them. Get them mobilized now. Tomorrow I want them dead, unless of course Black Mask's plan succeeds. We won't have to waste any resources on those outsiders."
"Sir! I'll go let the gold robe leaders know."
Maverick shook his head after the blue robe left. He invested way too much for some ignorant foreigners to ruin his plans now.
Alon's economy depended on his actions alone.
**
Hotel….
Night…
Gargoyle- Yasha
Level: 532
Type: Monster
Work under: N/A.
Special: Rock Solid All Night Love! [Gargoyles will rock you all night, but turn to stone during the day. You will too if you're in the middle of some outdoor loving. The good news is that you'd feel the sex and be able to communicate with the gargoyle until the sun goes down. At night, the party begins again.]
Weaknesses: holy, ice, physical, solar x 5000 (chance of turning a gargoyle to stone)
Resistances: all magic except ice and holy
Secret: she's absolutely terrified of the sun and hides in a dark, anti-sun building during the day, while her fellow gargoyles accepted petrification as a part of their lives.
"A power level of five hundred thirty two," Clyde said, "damn."
Yasha grinned. "Now that you know the deal, who's going to volunteer? We've got a long, fun night."
The few hotel guests that were still out, watched in fascination.
"You idiots may want to go," Kitome said to them, "unless dying is on your night's agenda." She was in magical girl form.
Thankfully they got the memo and fled the main lobby. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com <a href="https://www.webnovel.com">www.webnovel.com</a> for visiting.
"Welp, another big fish to face like usual," Seth said.
"A mini-boss," Clyde said.
Seeming annoyed at being taken so lightly, the gargoyle lurched at Kitome.
[Your party has entered combat!]
Kitome nimbly dodged, even performing a cartwheel, before returning fire using her cutesy wand.
[Kitome activated Silver tier skill: Silent Heartbreaker Explosion.]
Yasha tried to dodged—she had the nimbleness, but Kitome's heart bomb actually honed in on her like a missile.
[Yasha's HP has dropped to 940% of 980%]
Yasha blurred toward Kitome, snarling. The blue-haired magical girl dodged her punches and blocked her kicks. She didn't anticipate the tail grabbing her by the leg and slamming the young woman into the wall.
[Kitome's HP has dropped to 130% of 250% Her magical barriers still hold fine.]
Clyde still stood in place, arms folded, at first watching the scrapple. Then he remembered the creature's level was much higher. Since wizards were more than likely going to attack them, Team Stone needed to conserve their energy. He also wouldn't be surprised if they sent someone to attempt to rescue Pink Allure. Yuki set a special trap just for that occasion.
The young man warped Bloodlight from his inventory, preparing to cast its solar special that would surely one-shot Yasha.
Kitome's attacking intensified.
[Kitome activated Gold tier skill: Magnifying Solar Ray.]
Despite the attack being a golden beam, rare for Kitome, it still gave off tiny floating hearts. Yasha dodged it, but from the utter terror in her eyes, she knew that skill was concentrated solar magic.
"No, no, no," she said, then in one large leap, jumped out the open window. The sound of fading flapping signified a flee.
[Battle completed! Victory? Reward: nothing. Your query ran.]
"Wellllll, that was a bit anti-climatic," Noona said.
"You can say that again," Fuyoko said, pushing past Amina and Nina. Neko, Ako, peeked from the hall, Maki, Sophia, and Hinako behind them.
Airi sighed. "Damn. I was seconds away from unbinding her from this plane. Ah well, it's good to see Kitome kick the ass."
"Let me guess, you have questions," Kitome said, her frown deepening.
"Nope, Kitome, I've known you long enough to not bother. You're more stubborn than the elves," Airi said. "However, I think I'll switch from asking questions to just observing. Feel free to come to me of your own accord everyone." She winked.
"Aren't you supposed to be the wise and great druid," Clyde said. "I mean you don't have the wise old man thing going on, but you know how the movies are."
Airi snorted in amusement.
"What's taking those damn android police so long," Alice said.
"Never mind that," someone said.
They turned to see Dera walking toward them, a serious expression on her face. Then she grabbed Kitome's hands, eyes starry.
"You had cute little hearts floating from your beam. And all of your attacks were so cute. My sensors detected a skill called, Adorable Wink. You've used it only once. Come o—"
Kitome attempted to shove her away, but the android was all over the young woman.
"Get off me, you bucket of bolts."
Kitome dashed behind Clyde. "Do something about her."
Dera gave him a Gin smile. The young man secretly hoped she'd say, "ara ara." She made groping gestures toward the magical girl.
"See. She's clearly defective," Kitome said.
"Alright, alright, enough playing around." Clyde turned to Yuki. "Do you mind giving this place a quick rewind." He looked thoughtful. "You know, we should figure out a way to create a portable barrier for every hotel we travel to. I'm really getting tired of—"
Clyde and Kitome immediately turned to the new intruder that hopped through the window, landing at the side of the tied-up terrorist.
"No, Layla, it's a tra—"
Yuki actually gave a small snort of amusement as tendrils of magic burst from Pink Allure's ropes and tangled themselves around a familiar woman.
"Hey, I've seen you before," Ruri said. "You're that gold digger lady from the restaurant."
"I'm not a gold digger lady," Layla snapped, struggling with the ropes. Yuki walked over and pulled off her mask. Tear took pictures.
"Upload them," Natalia said. "Just in case the booby cow lady escapes."
"You know, I found the man you were with off-putting, but only assumed that he was some kind of CEO or bigshot," Clyde said. "He probably is and is either leading or backing the terrorists." He grinned. " Bold of you guys to go out in public." Clyde stretched. "Ah, I love it when a plan works. The gargoyle wasn't a part of it, but hey, we have a masked voluminous woman to turn over to the cops."
Clyde walked over and knelt at her side.
"You charged in here, believing that you could easily beat a bunch of amateurs. But honestly, you're a fucking idiot." He shook his head. "Did your spies not give you our numbers? How arrogant can one be to just charge in here…Never mind. Let's hurry up and get them to a room before some bullshit Deus ex Machina happens for them."
Alice shot him a blank stare.
"What?" Clyde said.
"Oh nothing," the half-demoness said.
Dera twirled over to Clyde.
"My sensors detect the approach of lifeforms in vehicles, but the androids…" her voice softened to a sadness. "Were destroyed."
Layla grinned.
"I didn't come alone."
"So what's to stop me from just killing you now?" Clyde said, causing her to flinch. He wasn't in the mood for giving the terrorists handouts. "We'll handle this. Dera." He looked into the android's eyes. Life-filled, glistening eyes. "Your kind are just as alive as we are." He did take notice of her gasp as Clyde turned to give Team Stone orders.
"Wipe them out," Clyde said. "No mercy. Protect this hotel, its guests, and make damned sure they don't pull that bullshit where they somehow end up barely escaping with our prisoners. Remember, they are terrorists and the killing kind."
"You don't have to tell us twice," Chika said. "In fact, just leave it all to me."
Clyde laughed.
"Noona, give her all the buffs she needs."
Noona nodded.
"Okay. Oh—why didn't I dress up as a fairy godmother?"
Seth whispered to Clyde, "Did you like roleplay things when you have sex with Noona? Is she your horse and you, her cowboy?" He performed a terrible motion of a horseback rider, grinning.
Clyde actually anime-fell to the side.
**
Smaller city of Alon…
Night…
Terrance parked his motorcycle, then took one look around the grocery store's parking lot. It was just a quiet night with few cars, one or two people trailing in and out of the building, handling everyday matters. Where the fuck was his client? He wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be a hoax. His own services were simply mundane under the bullshit guise of an implied, but not declared psychic. Sure, he delivered better results than the quacks, but every method could be done by anyone with the proper schooling and training.
And Terrance educated himself in as many things as possible, including the high-end technology from the Nation's Seat.
"Are you Him," someone said from behind Terrance. He flinched, turning around to see a woman dressed in some kind of gray and white robe with a golden cross on the left breast.
"Are you Nurin?" he said.
"That's my code name," she said. "Others call me Crusader Researcher Tiffia."
Terrance's eyes widened. His day just had to get weirder. First that strange man with the long hair, handing him some kind of business card and now a crusader. Why. Just why was this shit happening to him? He didn't believe in the supernatural, but at that moment, the man considered the concept of karma.
"What do you want, crusader," Terrance said.
Tiffia's smile brightened. "It's not about what I want, but the will of the Great Ones. You're psychic filth, dabbing in forces without permission. I offer you a cleansing out of kindness."
"I never claimed to be a psychic," Terrance said. "I offer services. Nothing more, nothing less. A businessman. Not that you would understand the concept of such a thing."
Tiffia shook her head and poked Terrance's nose, her smile odd and cheerful. The deadly aura stripped away the playful woman illusion.
"Terrance, Terrance. Oh, yes, don't look surprised, we know your name. We dug deep into your past. We know all about you. After all, the old man who kept telling you about yourself is actually one of us. Also, I didn't give you a choice."
