«Ugh... - Ichika let out a sigh full of fatigue and discouragement.
As Akeno-sempai had predicted, their visit to the Forest of Familiars had not ended in anything useful. In nearly four hours of active wandering, they hadn't come across any suitable familiars, either not to her or Sanji's liking. It wasn't like the trip had been useless, though.
First, she was able to fully appreciate all the "fantasy" fauna, i.e. all the fairies, mermaids, unicorns and other magic. And not to say that she didn't like it, on the contrary, she was absolutely delighted. After all, now she could get "proof" of the existence of another world, besides all the kung-fu-anime magic tricks she had been shown and taught herself. A real magical critter!
Secondly, Sona was kind enough to tell a lot of hilarious stories about her favorite President today. About his childhood, his habit and other mostly incredibly funny features. Really, not only funny, but also very "cool" with their details. For example, Emeric, who always left the impression of a real gentleman, didn't really like to mince words. At first he would happily wrap his interlocutor's ears in a tube, and then, when his fists itched, he would just routinely start breaking him physically. And he liked to do this to those who considered themselves superior to him. That is, those who had the courage to look down on Emeric, whether it was status, age, or strength. Emeric took great pleasure in "breaking" such individuals.
So much for the Gopnik of Destruction!
«Hee hee hee hee," Ichika couldn't help her own thoughts and started giggling.
He hadn't done anything like that in front of her yet, but I guess there was no one else to do it with. She was already looking forward to seeing such an "aggressive" Emeric.....
"Partner! Stop dangling in the clouds and pay attention to the person ahead!" - The dragon's irritated voice echoed in her mind, bringing Ichika out of her wet fantasies.
She followed Draig's directions, perplexed, and saw an ordinary-looking homeless man ten meters away, barely hanging on to the wall, walking toward her. He looked like a scruffy drunk who could barely keep up, but when she turned her full attention to him, something was wrong.
She couldn't pick out what was wrong exactly visually, there was nothing surprising, but there was some bad feeling that grew stronger with every step with which this unknown man shortened the distance between them.
Ichika took a little air into her chest to gather herself. Draig's incomprehensible warning had sobered her mind completely. She now knew that the world was far more dangerous than it seemed at first glance. And the fact that it was some member of the supernatural was obvious; Draig wouldn't just warn her.
The man abruptly froze in place when he realized she had stopped where she was and was gazing at him.
«R-r-r... - Some unintelligible sounds were heard from his mouth, as if it was not a human mouth but the mouth of some insect.
Ichika got into a full fighting stance as she had been taught in training. She had no doubt that right now she was going to test her fighting skills in a real battle.
«R-RA! - The man lunged at her, but she, surprised at herself, playfully shifted away from the path of his jump and landed a good punch right in his liver. The blow was so strong that the man crashed into a small stone fence with a scream.
«Wow," Ichika looked at her fist with shock. She didn't realize she had become so cool!
She was not surprised for long, for the man began to pull his body out of the stone indentation with jagged, unnatural movements. It was clear that this creature was only remotely related to human anatomy.
«Now, lad... - Her address was interrupted by the abrupt metamorphosis of this "man" as she had thought earlier.
Why did it seem so? Because the skin along with the clothes naturally tore from the inside, under the pressure of this monster's "real" form. A beige, chitinous covering on a huge carcass, which also contained the head of this "creature". An ugly mouth with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. On the road, loudly clawing, were exposed thin disgusting "paws" that resembled spider's. The whole monster looked remotely like a spider.
«Ohre-fucking-lutely... - Ichika muttered. She'd been prepared for a lot of things, but not for this freak, who looked like he'd crawled out of some horror movie.
Yes, there was a sudden rush of fear, but Ichika cheered herself up. She hadn't just been working up a sweat all this time to just piss her pants at the sight of her first enemy. Actually, purely theoretically, there was an option for her to run away right now, since she has wings and flight. But she feels the silent support of the dragon in her soul. If Dryg realizes she has to pull through, then retreating is not an option.
She had been prepared for just that, and as the new bearer of the Heavenly Dragon, she would not fail!
«Reinforcement! - A familiar voice, which at the moment gave her even more confidence, came from the glove that had appeared abruptly. The usual rush of strength spilled over her bones, and the general desire for action jumped to unprecedented heights.
«RHGA!
The creature ran straight towards her with an incomprehensible roar, clacking its teeth and imagining how it would eat her dead body.
He won't!
Ichika, who had already made a rough plan in her head, ran straight towards him. It wasn't smart, but that's how dragons fight.
Fierce and fearless!
At the last moment, Ichika, inspired by numerous movies and stories, did a backflip that, thanks to her inhuman acceleration, allowed her to "skid" right across the pavement.
The spider-like shape of the monster allowed her to get right under its belly. Correction, under its completely defenseless and open belly!
«Reinforcements! - It seemed to her for a second that Dreig's voice had added a touch of combat excitement to it. She was in complete agreement with her partner!
The second enhancement had instilled simply incredible power into her arm in a fairly short period of time.
Ichika didn't hesitate and instantly charged with a punch right above her.
«GHA-A-A-A!
The monster jumped a few meters to fly into some clump of bushes. Ichika watched in triumph as the spider's mouth spewed out a rather large amount of green liquid, which, for all intents and purposes, was the creature's blood.
Pride overflowed her chest as she realized that she was able to mount a brilliant attack on the unknown creature.
She was already imagining bragging to the Presidents and him declaring his love for her in sentiment!
How, as he throws Valerie into the dump truck, he picks her up in his arms and goes into the bedroom to do things to her things!
Ichika's wet fantasies were interrupted by a familiar grunt from the back of her mind.
"Partner! Partner!"
"What do you want?!"
"Your target is gone!"
Ichika instantly came to her senses and could see the monster jumping from rooftop to rooftop in the opposite direction from her at full speed.
Holy shit! She made that scarecrow run for her life! Even though just moments ago she was thinking about running away herself!
But this very scarecrow is about to run away! And cried her "stuff" from the President!
«You're not leaving! - Ichika yelled at the top of her voice and released her wings to instantly lift her mistress into the air. Motivation overflowed her veins and she was able to keep up with the spider monster without expecting such skill.
They played catch-up together. The monster, who turned out to have the ability to weave webs, hopped deftly from building to building, dodging her blows as he went.
At one point he was able to establish a short distance and hide in some abandoned warehouse.
In fact, Ichika was on the verge of losing it. But the sounds of the mayhem let her know that the creature had taken up residence there. It was strange, but shouldn't it have gone into hiding right away?
Ichika quietly flew in through the broken window and was able to see an amazing picture.
A picture of someone already fighting a monster!
The unknown man in the dark cloak moved skillfully between the creature's numerous attacks. He held a flaming sword, which occasionally left very nasty wounds on the spider's body.
«Ave Maria! - A loud battle cry came from the unknown figure that was circling around the target. It seemed that only such a cry made the monster scream even harder, for it was only with this phrase that steam began to escape from the numerous wounds.
"Hello, Maria," was how her internal Google translator roughly translated it. It was strange, because before the other speech had been translated instantly, as if the phrase was being "analyzed" right in her ears, but right now the translation appeared separate from the phrase. She even roughly suspected why. Most likely this health address was addressed to the holy Virgin Mary, so the monster was beginning to receive some form of damage, and she felt a pain in her temples.
These weren't just any ordinary monster hunters. They were exorcists who knew how to fight evil!
The unknown exorcist took advantage of the monster's slight delay and instantly moved closer to the monster's legs. The sword in his hands acquired some abnormal glow, which literally, like a knife through butter, cut through the limbs. This glow, by the way, was very disturbing to her, and she even suspected why. What exorcist doesn't use light against demons?
Another painful cry from the monster rang through the empty warehouse.
«Deus Vult!
Another triumphant roar from the exorcist was accompanied by a final attack. A huge energy attack simply opened the monster's carcass in the middle. There was so much light in this attack that the remains of the monster began to quickly evaporate from reality.
Ichika was brought out of her shocked trance by Draig's warning of the new guests. Two more female figures landed a meter away from the exorcist, covered by the same cloaks.
While she was thinking of a way to get out of here quietly, the only man in the company turned to her.
«Señorita Demonessa," the unknown man's voice was calm and courteous. - I hope we didn't interfere with your "hunt"?
«Huh," Ichika grinned nervously, thinking of ways to escape. - I was just passing by!
The man turned fully toward her. A beautiful face with blue eyes and blond hair became visible from under the cloak.
«Don't be so nervous, señorita," the exorcist raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. - We came to this city for other purposes. This wandering demon just happened to fall into our lap. Allow me to introduce myself... - The man put his hand to his heart. - My name is Izaya de Guisor, Knight of the Templar Order, and I would be very grateful if you would arrange a meeting between our humble company and your "king"...
One of the female figures suddenly stepped forward abruptly and removed her hood.
«Ichika, is that you?!
Ichika examined the figure with widened eyes, recognizing her childhood friend in her.
«Irina?!
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