Final Chapter: The Hero of Nexus City

“Guess who’s got helado!?” Juanita called, as Winnie sloppily rose from her slump on the bench.

“What? Oh, ice cream. Man, Juany… you need to learn to speak more American.”

“I’m sorry, I only learned to speak English.”

Whether it was the language barrier, or Juanita just being weird, Winnie’s dry sarcasm seemed to miss its mark.

“Whatever… I can’t believe there was a big ass line just for fucking ice cream.”

“But the wait just makes it más dulce.”

“What? Are you doing that on purpose?”

Winnie never received an answer, Juanita was too busy savouring her chilled treat, so she shrugged it off, to enjoy her own helado.

“You think Darma is close to winning Snekky…?” Juanita wondered.

“We’ve only been gone, like, ten minutes.”

“I know, but I feel bad, eating ice cream while she’s stuck playing that estúpido game.”

“If she wants to play that dumb game to win that snake, then I say, let her.”

“What if she isn’t having fun? What if she’s all alone and frustrated? What if she’s upset because we abandoned her!?”

“God damn, Juany, it’s not like we forced her to do it. She can quit whenever she wants. I wouldn’t blame her. Game’s dumb.”

“Maybe you should give her a call, just to check up on her.”

“Why me!? You’re the one who’s concerned, you do it!”

“I don’t have her number.”

“What!? Why not!?”

“Um… no estaba escuchando.”

“Hey! No hiding behind your taco speak!”

“Que?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, fine! I’ll do it!”

Winnie called Darma, embittered that she was the only one who bothered to take their boss’ number. It rang slightly longer than she expected, before Darma finally picked up.

“Yo, Darma! How’s the-”

“Dammit, Winifred!” Winnie pulled the phone away from her ear before she was deafened by Darma’s cry. “You couldn’t have picked a worse time!”

“What? I was just wondering if you were close to winning that snake yet?”

“I was until you called.” She ranted, muffled by the sound of chatter. “You completely threw off my game!”

“Oh! Well, excuse me for actually giving enough of a shit to… wait… that noise… is that a crowd?”

“What? Oh, right… It seems some enthusiasts gathered around once they caught wind of me going for the record. They’ve been quite supportive… even if the smell is somewhat distracting.”

“Oh, hear that, Juany. Darma’s made some friends. No need to worry.”

“What about you? Are you staying out of trouble?”

“We got ice cream.”

“When this is over, I’ll need something a lot stronger than ice cream.”

“Sounds awesome. Maybe you can get some for-”

“Winnie! Look!” Juanita interrupted, shaking her tiny friend.

“What? I’m on the- FUCK!”

The two stared in awe at a towering pillar of flames, flaring into the sky from the other side of the park.

“What!? What is it!?” Darma called.

“Talk to you later, Darma! There’s some cool shit going down!”

“What are you-”

Winnie hung up, her priorities had shifted.

“You think it’s part of a Magus show, or something?” Juanita suggested.

“Whatever it is, it looks fucking dope and I don’t want to miss any of it! Let’s go!”

Winnie lifted herself with the force of the air, ready to ride the wind.

“Grab on, unless you wanna get left behind.”

She gave her hand to Juanita, but she declined.

“Are you implying, you’re faster than me?”

“Well, duh.”

Juanita gave a confident smirk. “Prove it.”

She bent down into her starting position, as a torrent of water blasted from her feet like jets.

“What!? That’s bullshit!”

Winnie gave chase, soaring close to the ground, frantically rushing to catch up. Using her Magus she created walls of wind around the people for her body to slip through, without the need to exert any effort in maneuvering herself physically. The wind simply carried her along its current.

Juanita continued skating through the park, confident she had clearly proven which of them was the fastest, but her lead didn’t last long.

“That’s a neat trick you got there.” Winnie complimented, already drifting beside Juanita, casually laying on her back as the wind carried her.

“Imposible! How are you flying so fast!?”

Winnie grinned smugly. “Flying? Not quite. I’m just carrying myself along the air current I created between me and the ground. Like riding a treadmill.”

“I just use Water Magus to ski across the ground.”

“Bleugh. That’s so much effort and who needs effort, when you can be a lazy fuck like me?”

“Wouldn’t using more Magus require more effort?”

“Not when you’re a freaking genius.”

Absorbed by her own brilliance, Winnie slammed the back of her head into a tree on the side of the path, failing to notice it.

“Oh Dios mío! Are you okay!?” Juanita cried.

Winnie sat at the roots of the tree, rubbing her head, holding back tears. “I-I’m okay… I used the wind to cushion the blow… because I’m such a fucking genius… o-ow…”

“Maybe we should walk the rest of the way.”

“Walk where?”

“To the fire pillar.”

“But, where is it?”

Juanita paused for a moment. “Huh? I hadn’t thought about that.”

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of screaming, just barely breaking through the ever present noise of the amusement park.

“Did you hear that?” Juanita jumped, concerned by the voice.

“Sounded like that bitch, Faye. Forget her.”

“But, she sounded awful.”

“Yeah, her music career isn’t going anywhere with a voice like that.”

“I don’t like it… it’s giving me a bad feeling… I think she’s in trouble.”

Juanita looked at Winnie with fear in her eyes. Suddenly seeing her usually cheery expression turn frightened, tugged at Winnie’s cold heart strings.

“Fine… let’s go look…”

Upon arriving at the scene, the two kept their distance, behind a tree, as they analysed the situation.

“Holy shit. What the fuck is going on?” Winnie commented.

“That pale man is holding Layla, and she’s all golpeada.”

“And Faye looks like she’s about to rip that guy a new asshole.”

“We need to help them.”

“I don’t know. Looks kinda dangerous…”

Juanita tugged her friend’s arm.“Winnie! We are part of a defense agency. It’s our job.”

“Oh goddammit… fine. Sneak around the other side of the building. I’ll blow Layla out of Elf Boy’s hands and you catch her. Alright?”

“Sí.”

Quick as a flash, Juanita quietly surfed to her position and created a bubble, as Winnie whipped up a whirlwind that caught Hunter off guard. Freeing Layla and providing Faye with a much needed opening.

“GET FUCKED!!!”

After Faye’s exceptionally explosive exhibition, and some stinging banter from Winnie, Faye fainted from her fatigue, leaving the wind and water duo to finish the fight.

Hunter attempted to stop Juanita from saving Elle, but Winnie threw him to the ground with a gust of wind.

“Hey, Fuck Face! You’re fighting me now!”

“Who the hell are you!?” Hunter yelled, lifting himself from the dirt.

“Who the fuck are you?” Winnie retorted.

“Don’t play games with me, dammit!”

Hunter slammed his fist into the sphere of wind shielding Winnie, but it was like shoving his hand in a shredder. The veil then burst, pushing Hunter out of Winnie’s personal space.

“Back off, Christmas elf! I don’t want you poking my eye out with those big ass ears!”

“More Magus users!? Where the hell are you kids coming from!?”

“Your mother.” Winnie smirked.

“What the hell makes you think you can throw cheap insults at me, you tiny brat!?”

“What makes you think you can get away with beating up a bunch of girls, you fucking loser!?”

“I’m getting real sick of dealing with you kids!”

Winnie confidently leaned back, safe in her wind bubble. “Aww… What's wrong, tough guy? Are you mad? Your feelings hurt? Can’t deal with a few pesky children and their mean words?” She taunted, laughing to herself.

Hunter punched Winnie’s wind bubble again, this time powered by his Dark Magus. The force of his blow far exceeded Winnie’s expectations, bursting her bubble and throwing her against the back wall of the building, beside Faye.

“Fuck me, that was a big punch!”

A black serpent latched onto Winnie’s neck, holding her against the wall as Hunter approached.

“Try insulting me now, you little shit!”

“God, did something fucking die in your throat? Your breath smells like rancid crap.”

Hunter punched Winnie’s gut, who cushioned the blow with her wind. She tried kicking back, but Winnie’s tragically short legs could barely graze him. She looked over to Faye, worried that Hunter would finish her while she was defenseless.

Fortunately, Hunter noticed. “Don’t worry about her. I’ll make it quick.”

The moment he looked down at Faye, the wind immediately tossed her away, landing safely with Juanita, who had gathered Layla and Elle. All of them wrapped up safe in her water bubble.

“What!? You little-!?”

He looked over to his captive, only to find she had already escaped. His black serpent, now latched onto a veil of wind that was protecting her neck. The veil had expanded to the size of her head, allowing Winnie to slip through during Hunter’s brief moment of distraction.

“Hey, Fuck Face!” Winnie called, off to the side, lying upside-down and pointing finger guns at the demon, without a care. “You got played.”

Juanita already made a run for it, carrying her friends to safety in her water bubble, while Winnie continued assaulting Hunter with verbal abuse.

“Dude, you look pissed. Then again, I’d be pretty pissed too, if I was losing to a couple of children. Maybe you should quit while you’re ahead. I won’t judge. Promise.”

Hunter was hellbent on shutting Winnie’s mouth, but he knew she was just further distracting him. He turned his attention to Juanita and gave chase.

“Fuck! You bastard!” Winnie followed.

She glided across the ground on a jetstream, easily passing by Hunter, blocking his path.

“Dammit! Didn’t think you’d be that fast!”

“I didn’t think people dressed as elves unironically, but here we are.”

“Didn’t anyone teach you to respect your superiors?”

“Like I’d respect some punk trash who beats up girls for no reason.”

“As if I need a reason to destroy pathetic little humans like you!”

“Ugh… edgy much? Go eat an entire ass.”

A swirling tornado surrounded Hunter. He reached out to break through the storm, only for his fingers to be shredded with cuts, trapped in a razor sharp prison of wind.

“You can’t keep me in here forever!” Hunter yelled.

Winnie leaned in, cupping her ear while mouthing the word: “What?”

Hunter yelled again, but Winnie continued to mock him, as he realised the sound of the roaring typhoon was drowning out his voice.

Being mocked by a small child drove Hunter to intense anger. A dark pool expanded underneath him, reaching outside his tornado prison, as a black tendril shot out and rammed itself into Winnie’s gut.

The overwhelming, numbing pain of the impact, silenced Winnie’s boasts, as her tornado dissipated. She fell to her knees, coughing up blood, the sight of which made her want to scream obscenities, but she was suffering far too much to speak up.

“Who the hell are you kids? Are you all part of the same group?” Hunter questioned.

“I’m not telling you shit… “ Winnie coughed, finally regaining her voice. “All that matters is that Juany’s escaped with the others.”

“You sure about that?”

Juanita ran to Winnie’s aide.

“What…? What are you doing, you fucking…”

“I’m sorry.” Juanita explained. “ But, I promised not to run away when things got tough. I can’t leave you all alone with him.”

“Why…?”

“Because we’re amigas.”

“What…?”

“Friends.”

“Friends…?” Winnie’s eyes lit up, shocked by Juanita’s honest loyalty, secretly overjoyed. “You dork…”

“Ew…” Disgusted by their sappiness, Hunter attempted to kick Winnie, but a protective bubble kept her safe from harm, softly rolling her away.

“Another fucking Magus user… am I gonna get an answer to how many of you bitches there are or what!?”

Juanita was shaken, she could practically feel the hatred radiating from this man, but her devotion to her friend and her promise, kept her from running.

“Why did you hurt them?” She asked, sincerely.

Hunter was in no mood to explain himself, answering facetiously. “Because I’m an asshole! Is that what you want to hear, Little Miss Hero?”

“Why are you so angry, and so violent?”

“Because I’m the big bad demon, that’s why.”

“I don’t understand. You’re clearly not having fun. This violence doesn’t make you happy. Why can’t you just walk away and leave us alone?”

“Because, Miss. Amateur Psychiatrist, work isn’t fun. I don’t get paid unless I finish the job. Now, get the hell out of my way!”

He smacked Juanita aside with his forearm, but unfortunately she didn’t fall down. She quickly slipped to his side, her entire body wrapped in a veil of water.

“Aw fuck… here we go…”

Juanita grabbed Hunter’s arm, tripped him over and delivered a swift chop to his back, knocking him to the ground, face first.

“Basta!” She declared, arms folded.

Humiliated again, Hunter was seething, as a giant black pool expanded around them followed by sharp, black tendrils shooting out of the ground.

Juanita barely reacted in time, as one tendril sliced her arm, leaving a bleeding gash just under her shoulder. She continued dodging, sliding away with her Magus, until she was out of the tendril’s range.

“Dios mio! What were you thinking!? That could have seriously injured me!” She held her arm, but the bleeding persisted.

“You’re just lucky I’m only supposed to kill one of you! But, I’m getting pretty fucking close to ignoring that order! Who cares what the boss says, dealing with you brats is already punishment enough!”

Juanita was in shock over the sheer level of animosity and malice coming from the elf man. She’d never met such a repulsively violent individual before.

“What kind of boss would order you to do all this!? You’ve ruined everything! This was supposed to be a bonding exercise! We were supposed to have fun together! Talk to each other! Make friends! But, now… everyone’s hurt! They could be dying! Why!? Why would you do this to us!? What gives you the right to ruin our fun!?”

“Fun!?” Hunter burst into laughter. “What the fuck are you talking about!? No one cares about your fun! What are you, a literal child!? Are you gonna call the teacher on the mean bully who beat up your friend on the playground!?”

“Why are you… laughing?”

“Because you’re so stupid! You think the world cares if your little day out is ruined!? Grow up! This only happened because the goth bitch murdered a member of our organisation and your other friends were too dumb stay out of our business! You’ve got no one to blame but yourselves!”

“Murder…? Faye… did that?”

“Oh? She didn’t tell you? That tramp from Veritati is a killer! The only reason she’s not in jail is because someone pulled some strings behind the scenes. God knows why.”

Juanita was in disbelief. She almost didn’t want to believe it, but it was the only way she could make sense of Hunter’s actions.

“Faye… why?”

Juanita lost the will to fight, looking completely dejected.

“Well, if you’re just gonna stand there, I’ll get back to work.”

Hunter waltzed over to the unconscious girls, when the bubble protecting Winnie suddenly burst. For a second, he assumed it was because Juanita had given up, but the strong gust of wind he felt proved otherwise. A roaring sphere of air encompassed Winnie.

“That brat!” Hunter gasped. “She wasn’t unconscious! She’s been gathering her Magus this whole time!”

“EAT SHIT, ASSHOLE!”

A powerful burst of razor sharp wind tore through Hunter like a beam, ripping his clothes and skin, leaving torn cuts all over his body while slicing the earth beneath him. Once the blast ended, Hunter was left with searing gashes all over his body.

With the last of her strength, Winnie called out to her friend.“Juany! Why the fuck are you just standing around!? I don’t care what you do! Keep that promise, break it, whatever! Just don’t let this son of a bitch win!”

Winnie fainted, leaving Juanita to finish Hunter.

“God!” Hunter yelled. “That wasn’t even fatal, but it stings so fucking much! I’ll kill that brat!”

“Winnie is right, I should forget about Faye for now. There’s something much more important I have to do.” Juanita summoned her water armour, determined to defeat the monster threatening her friends.

She skated toward Hunter and delivered a flying kick to his side, smacking him away from Winnie.

“Stupid bitch! I’ll tear you apart!”

Hunter charged in, with black serpents coiling around his arms, planning to pierce through her armour with their fangs, but what he didn’t plan on, was Juanita blasting herself toward him like a bullet and tackling him like a torpedo, striking his chest with her elbow, throwing him to the ground.

“This is ridiculous!” Hunter’s pain was superseded by his raw anger. He immediately leapt back up, the cuts on his body already healed. He stretched his arms out, clasping his hands together, as he charged a powerful dark blast.

“I’m gonna blow you to pieces!”

Juanita took his challenge head on, summoning a spiralling torrent of water onto her arm, forming a whirling, aqua drill.

With a determined roar, she thrusted her drill as Hunter fired his blast, the two bursts of Magus collided in a powerful struggle. The fighters pushed back against each other, with Juanita’s drill splitting open the stream of dark energy rushing through Hunter’s palms.

Soon, their fatigue caught up with them, as the dark energy exploded and the drill burst into a downpour of rain. Throwing them both away from each other. The water droplets pelted the surrounding area, splashing on Layla’s face as she started to regain consciousness.

The two combatants stared each other down, both desperately trying to regain their strength to finish the fight, but it was Hunter and his superior demonic stamina who recovered first, as he made his way over to Juanita.

“You’re not looking too hot.” He taunted. “Another stupid human, throwing all their Magus into a big flashy finishing move, without thinking.”

Juanita couldn’t reply, it took all her strength just to catch her breath and keep her arm from bleeding out.

“Let me show you something a little more practical!”

Hunter threw a sudden sucker punch across Juanita’s face, but she was still standing. He threw a second one, but she took it just the same. He grabbed her head with both hands, to stop her from stumbling and headbutted her in the face, grinning in satisfaction from the sound of her nose snapping.

“I can’t… I won’t…” She mumbled in a daze.

“That’s right. You won’t be doing anything for a long time.”A dark serpent spawned from Hunter’s back and belted Juanita, pinning her to the ground.

Just as he was satisfied with himself, a blast of light struck Hunter’s back, eviscerating the serpent and ruining his mood.

“What the fuck now!?”

He found Layla, kneeling on the floor.

“The blondie again?” He thought. “Dammit! I need more time to recuperate before I can finish them. How are these kids so persistent!? Who are they!?”

Layla’s serious expression suddenly changed to shock, as another person had just arrived.

“What the hell is she looking at?”

“Snekky…?” Juanita called.

“Snekky?” Hunter was utterly confused. “Who the fuck is Snekky!?”

“OI! What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing!?”

Hunter turned to find a formally dressed, black haired woman, with an intense glare and distinct scar on her cheek, holding what appeared to be a stuffed snake plushie.

“Is this a joke!? Six!? A sixth fucking person!?”

As Layla struggled to get up, Darma quickly addressed her.

“Stay down, Layla! For your own safety! I’ll finish this fight!”

Layla wasn’t so sure, but Darma seemed certain, so she obeyed, but remained vigilant.

“Finish me?” Hunter laughed. “Step any closer and the only one who’ll be finished is the spasticated spaniard.”

“What a sad display of cowardice. You must truly have no self worth to jump to such drastic measures.”

“What!? Who the hell do you think you are!?”

Darma fixed her glasses as her eyes suddenly changed to piercing white. “Darma Melanie.”

“Those eyes…” Hunter muttered to himself. “They’re just like his eyes… God, do I hate those eyes… but why…? Why does she have the same eyes?”

“I’m already well aware of who you are, Hunter.”

“Well, I’m flattered. So, you already know just how deep in shit you are, right?”

“On the contrary. As you are now, you won’t even lay a finger on me.”

“Do you know who you’re dealing with!? It doesn’t matter how hard you hit me, if you don’t finish the job, I’ll always get back up, like it was nothing!”

“Well, you certainly are nothing. I’ll give you that.”

Insulted by such brazen boasting, Hunter immediately attempted to assault the beaten Juanita, only for a tendril to shoot out of the earth, decking him in the face from below. He didn’t even notice Darma’s dark shadow had already travelled along the ground.

“Juanita!” Darma ordered. “Move! Take Winifred to Layla’s position and stay there! And for God’s sake, cover that wound!”

She did as she was told, as Hunter tried to stop her, but another tendril wrapped itself around his leg, lifted him into the air and slammed him into the ground, by Darma’s feet.

In another fit of spontaneous rage, Hunter fired his own spiked tendrils out of the ground to impale Darma, but she refused to move. Satisfied that his attack finally connected he looked up in horror to find a wall of darkness covering Darma that his tendrils were powerless to penetrate, as she glared back, unflinching.

He quickly jumped away from Darma anticipating a counterattack, but she did nothing but stare in contempt.

“I heard Apathia’s Demon Hunter was a force to be reckoned with, but you’re no different from the others, you just hit slightly harder.”

“You… How dare you!” Hunter’s black aura surged, crackling with dark energy. ”This mission has been a total shitshow… these stupid kids have left me beaten and wounded and my clothes are ruined… if I had known there were more of you, I wouldn’t have played around so much. I would have killed you all the first chance I got!”

“But, instead you were consumed by your own arrogance, driven purely by ego. You may be an elite, but deep down, you’re the same as every other grunt in your little gang.”

“Oh yeah? Well, unlike those grunts, I’m a demon! I’ve got more than enough strength in reserve to kill you!”

“Even if that were true, there are far too many witnesses present. You’d never get away with it.”

Hunter’s bravado ceased as he checked the surrounding area. They were no longer fighting behind a building in a secluded area of the park, they were out in the open, for all to see. A crowd had gathered to watch the fight, keeping their distance from the danger.

“I imagine the people here have already called the authorities. It’s only a matter of time before the Magus Knights show up and capture you.

Whether we live or die, no longer matters. You’ve already lost. Not that you slaying me here is even a possibility, but if you’re honestly that deluded, I welcome you to try.”

“Cocky, scarfaced, skank!” Hunter launched a black serpent from his arm.

It lunged at Darma, preparing to rip her apart with its fangs, but she countered using the same technique. However, Darma’s serpent was twice as large and twice as feral, more a leviathan than a snake. It opened its gaping maw and devoured Hunter’s serpent like a cannibalistic savage, before climbing up his arm and latching itself onto Hunter’s shoulder, having swallowed his arm whole.

For a brief moment, Hunter was overcome by fear, shocked that another human was capable of conjuring such nightmares, but he quickly powered up his Magus and fought off the monstrous basilisk until he could destroy it from the inside with a burst of raw energy.

Through all of Hunter’s frantic flailing, Darma remained still. Her attacks were calculated and effortless. Her lax approach to fighting only angered Hunter further, as he threw caution to the wind and rushed her.

In response, Darma generated a pool of darkness, where black tendrils sprouted all around her, like overgrown vines. Encompassing her in a black web.

“You bitch! That’s my move!”

“Oh? You’re familiar with this one? So you must know what happens in the second phase?”

“There’s a second phase?”

“Phase 1: Viper’s Den.”

The surrounding vines suddenly revealed dripping white fangs and fierce white eyes, all twisting to Hunter’s position.

“Phase 2: Viper’s Violation!”

The swarm of vine serpents darted wildly at Hunter, rapidly swiping with their fangs, while ramming their rock hard skulls into his body, like jackhammers. It was a brutal assault that ended with the serpents fusing together into one large viper that locked its jaws around Hunter’s waist, lifting him into the air and savagely slamming him into the ground.

Even with his demonic resilience, Hunter could just barely stand. He was out of options, he had no choice but to unleash a final, all-out attack, but the moment he even attempted it, the area suddenly became pitch black.

The crowd disappeared, as did the trees, the rides and all available light. It was total darkness. All he could see before him were Darma’s piercing eyes, glaring from the abyss. Trickling from above were a pair of massive fangs, dripping from a mouth large enough to swallow any human whole.

“No… not this shit again…” Hunter muttered in utter terror.

Just as quickly as it came, the darkness vanished. Hunter was back in the real world, with Darma still staring intensely, until she turned away in revulsion.

“I detest killing. Get lost.” She ordered.

Hunter laughed at her foolish mercy, as he desperately tried to hide his panic induced fear.

“I-idiot. Showing mercy to a demon? It won’t take long to recover from these injuries. If you won’t kill, then allow me!”

“The Hero! The Hero of Nexus is here!” A man in the audience yelled.

“Our Hero!”

Darma and Hunter both stopped, as the crowd suddenly got rowdy, chanting the name of the supposed hero who just arrived.

“Yuudai! Yuudai! Yuudai!”

From out of the crowd, a tall, black haired man, with a grey Magus Knight coat, casually walked onto the battlefield without saying a word.

“Cassius? What are you doing here?” Darma questioned.

Without even looking, nor showing her any signs of concern or enthusiasm, he bluntly answered.

“I was sent to deal with the Demon of Apathia.”

“Oh please, I can handle this monster.”

Cassius thought for a moment, looking over the crowd to get a read of their general mood, as they continued to chant his name.

“This is my job now. Prioritise helping your friends.”

Darma was about to argue back, but she caught herself. She knew protecting the other girls was far more important than satisfying her ego.

“Fine. Take all the glory.”

“Seven! That’s fucking seven!” Hunter cried. “I’m sick and tired of you fuckers butting in on my business! This was supposed to be between me and the goth chick! Who the fuck do you think you are!?”

Cassius drew his rapier sword, pointing it at Hunter, completely unfazed by his aggression.

“My name is Cassius Yuudai. If you continue to threaten the peace of this city, then I swear on my name: You will die.”

The crowd cheered upon hearing Cassius’ famous catchphrase, signalling the defeat of all those unlucky enough to receive it.

“Bet you were real proud of yourself when you came up with that one.”

“No. The people gave it to me. They seem to enjoy whenever I reference it.”

“I’m sure they’ll enjoy it even more when you’re the one who dies!”

Once again, Hunter recklessly charged at his opponent, but his ferocious assault was immediately put to a stop by a single swipe of Cassius’ sword. A horizontal slash that ripped through his clothes and Magus like they were nothing.

Ever since she regained consciousness, Layla had been watching Hunter’s battles. Even though he and Darma both used the same Magus, to Layla they felt very different. One was violent and aggressive while the other felt calm and composed, although they were both equally as feral upon striking their target.

However, what she felt from Yuudai was indescribable.

“It’s blank… total nothingness. I don’t get it. Even when he attacks, his Magus stays the same. Like a constant void. That’s not how Magus usually works. What is this? And why does it feel so… empty?”

“Bastard! That was a lucky shot!”

Hunter’s words fell on deaf ears. Yuudai simply watched for his next move, without so much as twitching.

Angered by his lack of a response, Hunter continued his attack. His dark serpents lunged at Yuudai from both arms, but with a single swipe, Yuudai beheaded the black beasts. Their remains dropped to the ground and crumbled away like ash.

“Wha-? What happened?”

Hunter received no answer, Yuudai was dead silent.

“Say something! You freak!”

Hunter’s black aura erupted into a frenzy of sparks, his lack of patience driving him to yet another desperate ploy. Unfortunately, whatever Hunter had planned was struck down in an instant.

With one thrust, Yuudai’s sword plunged into the darkness, punctured Hunter’s gut and pierced through his back, like a needle through thread.

“How…? How did…?”

Yuudai yanked out the sword and rapidly slashed away at Hunter’s body, stripping the Dark Magus from his being until, by the end, his Magus fell around him like torn cloth, indistinguishable from his shredded clothing.

The shock and agony from such a precise and meticulous defeat shut Hunter down completely. He collapsed, unconscious.

“That was unreal…” Darma commented.

As the crowd cheered for their hero, Yuudai looked on with the same blank stare and total ambivalence he always had, never so much as smiling, before he took his leave.

Soon the authorities arrived and Hunter, still knocked out, was arrested and put under heavy watch, while Layla and the girls were rushed to hospital, all conveniently sharing the same ward.

The girls sat patiently in their beds, wrapped in hospital gowns and bandages. Juanita’s arm stuck in a cast, Elle’s face poking through the bandages around her head, with all of them having regained consciousness.

Akachi suddenly burst through the door in a panic. “What in the holy hell!? I leave you girls alone for one day and you’re already hospitalised!? What in God’s name happened out there!?”

“You know what happened.” Faye responded.

“I got the gist, but I still don’t know why that guy attacked you!”

“You know damn well why he came after me.”

“What!? Oh right… I suppose Apathia would be pretty pissed after the stunt you pulled.”

“Wait a fucking minute!” Winnie interrupted. “You mean to tell me this is Faye’s fault!?”

“Hey, I ain’t blaming no one.”

“Faye, you dumb slut! You nearly got us all killed!”

“Yeah!” Faye replied. “It’s too bad you survived, you fucking cockroach!”

“Fuck you! I saved your stupid, cunt ass!”

“Watch your fucking mouth!”

“Only if you watch your weight!”

“What’d you say, you fucking-!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Akachi yelled. “Goddamn… I hired you to work together, not scream at each other! Lay off the cat fights!”

Akachi sighed in exasperation. “How are you holding up, Darma?”

Darma was sitting in a chair, watching over the girls, completely unharmed from her encounter. “I’m a little cross Cassius stole my thunder, but I’m glad they all made it out in one piece.”

“And how are their wounds, nurse?”

The nurse had a look of dismay on her face. “Well, we fixed up their injuries with Healing Magus, but they’re gonna have to stay here for a few days before they’ll be as good as new.”

“I see… thanks.”

“Just don’t make this a habit.”

“Oh, I’ve got a feeling you and the girls are going to become quite acquainted.”

“Thanks for the healing!” Juanita waved.

“Yes. My skull is much less achy now.” Elle added.

“Don’t wave your arm like that!” The nurse yelled.

Juanita’s bandage suddenly turned red. “Ah! What did I do!?”

“You reopened the wound! It won’t heal properly unless you keep sudden movements to a minimum.”

“But, I love sudden movements…”

The nurse proceeded to use her Magus to heal the wound again. Seeing such advanced usage of Light Magus made Layla reflect on her own performance during Hunter’s attack and how she botched it, again. She compared the tiny speck of light, illuminating the palm of her hand, to the constant stream the nurse could produce.

“I had it… it was there… but then he hit me… and I lost it… it disappeared… How am I supposed to fight if I can lose myself so easily like that?”

“Are you okay, Layla?” Darma asked, suddenly standing beside her.

“H-huh? Yes, I’m fine.”

“It’s just, you haven’t said a word since you got here. Is something troubling you?”

“I-I’m… just thinking.”

“About what?”

“I just… I’m not sure if I can still do this…”

“Do what, exactly?”

“U-um… fight I guess…”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because I couldn’t win. I choked… I failed…”

Darma laughed. “So did everyone else.”

“But… after all those years of studying and training… I-I… I still couldn’t do anything…”

“Forget about that bull.” Faye interjected. “Hunter damn near shat himself when you stood up to him.”

“Yeah! And you still saved us when we needed you most!” Elle added.

“Sí and me too!” Juanita echoed.

Layla was baffled. “But, we were supposed to bond and have fun, but Hunter still ruined everything! I failed…”

“He didn’t ruin everything, look!” Juanita pulled out her precious snake toy. “See, it was worth it just to get Snekky!”

“Snekky…?” The sight of the goofy, noodle plushie, being thrusted around like it were a trophy, rewarded for their efforts for not dying at the hands of a violent, sadistic demon, broke Layla.

It was so absurd, that what started as a nervous breakdown devolved into genuine laughter, as Juanita and Elle joined in. Suddenly, all of Layla’s fears of failure just melted away.

“Aren’t you gonna say anything nice for once?” Faye asked Winnie.

“No. I didn’t see Layla do shit. Besides, I don’t wanna overstep my boundaries around your girlfriend.”

“You little piss stain!”

“Emo slut!”

“It’s not emo, it’s punk!”

“Punk? More like puke!”

Akachi sighed. “Oh for God’s sake, not this shit again.”

Layla’s first day at the Magus Defense Agency was full of anxiety, self doubt, fear and a torrent of pain and trauma, both of the physical and mental variety, but whenever she looked at her fellow Magus users from that day onwards, a new feeling wormed its way into her heart: Joy.

Whether it was Stockholm syndrome or genuine happiness, she’d have to find out later, but as of now, to Layla, these girls were what she had always wanted.

They were her friends.