Chapter 7: Increasing Taxes and legally(?) acquiring a slave

Sirens.

Lots of sirens.

Luna had never heard sirens before.

She looked around excitedly.

"...Music?"

Stefan saluted.

"...I agree, these beats slap."

The people standing around the ruined apartment suddenly began moving.

Not away from Luna.

Away from the road.

Police vehicles.

Military trucks.

Black armored transports.

Within seconds...

The street was surrounded.

Soldiers poured into the square.

Rifles.

Tanks with magic arrays.

Protective talismans.

Mana detectors that looked more like air fryers than anything else.

They moved with frightening discipline.

Luna gasped.

"..."

"...Soldiers."

She smiled.

"...We're playing soldiers now."

An officer stepped forward.

His uniform was immaculate, well... would be had he realised he wore it the opposite way.

His face wasn't perfect.

He looked...

Terrified.

He held a small crystal in one hand.

It glowed brighter the closer he came to Luna.

"..."

The crystal suddenly cracked.

The officer froze.

"...Impossible..."

A witch hurried over.

"What happened?"

"The mana reading..."

He looked at Luna.

"...It exceeded the crystal's limit."

A second witch looked up.

"...That isn't possible."

"...Not unless..."

Silence.

Both women slowly looked toward the little girl.

"...Ancient witch..."

The commander narrowed his eyes.

"No child possesses mana like that."

Another officer nodded.

"It must be body reforging."

"A transformation spell more like, if she's managed to reforge her body that means she's on the level of an Ancestor."

"So what you're saying is we're either dead or fucked, which either way means the same thing since even if she is using a transformation spell, the raw mana emanating from her is more than we can handle alone."

Someone behind them whispered,

"...An Elder then?"

Another shook his head.

"...Probably older."

Luna waved.

"Hello!"

Nobody waved back.

"..."

"...This worlds people really are shy."

The commander lifted a loudspeaker.

"Unknown witch!"

"You are surrounded!"

"Surrender immediately!"

The commanders legs where shaking from fear like cooked spaghetti.

Luna looked behind herself.

"..."

She looked left.

Then right.

Then behind herself again.

"..."

She raised a hand.

"...Who are you talking to?"

The commander blinked.

"...You."

"Oh, I'd like to think I'm pretty young."

Luna is nine.

She smiled though since unlike normal women, she didn't get mad at being called 'ancient'.

"...State your name."

"Luna."

"...Your real name."

"...Luna."

"...Your true identity."

She thought carefully.

"..."

"...Princess, that's what my mother calls me?"

Silence.

The commander frowned.

"...She's mocking us that old hag."

Far away...

Inside a government building...

A man calmly watched a live broadcast.

Smoke.

Ruined buildings.

The little girl.

He smiled.

"...Perfect."

"...Delectable."

He picked up a telephone.

"Label the suspect..."

"... S Rank Terrorist."

No hesitation came from the other end.

"...Understood sir, we will deploy two elders."

Back in the square...

Phones buzzed.

Orders arrived.

The commander's expression changed.

He lowered the device slowly.

"..."

"...Confirmed."

He looked directly at Luna.

"The government has officially designated you..."

"...A Class S Terrorist."

Luna blinked.

"..."

"...What's a terrorist?"

Nobody answered.

"..."

"...Is it a kind of icecream?"

"...We don't have icecream on Neptune, we tried but all the cows drowned."

Luna begged her mother for a few cows on her fifth birthday, but alas to everyones surprise the cows couldn't breath underwater and drowned.

The commander raised his hand.

"Prepare to eliminate the target."

Hundreds of weapons were raised simultaneously.

Spell circles bloomed beneath armored witches.

Mana cannons unfolded.

Snipers took position.

Luna looked around.

Her eyes sparkled.

"..."

"...Wow."

"...This game has really good special effects."

One young soldier quietly whispered,

"...Sir..."

"...She's smiling."

Another swallowed.

"...Tch, she's just full of herself"

The commander shouted,

"FIRE!"

The area exploded.

Hundreds of spells raced toward Luna.

Fire.

Ice.

Lightning.

Chains.

Explosive talismans.

Enough power to destroy a fortress.

Luna blinked.

"..."

"...Pretty."

Stefan floated upward.

For the first time...

He stopped saluting.

His tiny bubble body drifted between Luna and the incoming storm.

"...?"

Luna tilted her head.

"...Stefan?"

The bubble expanded.

Slowly.

The tiny bubble became human-sized.

Then taller.

Six feet.

Seven.

A knight emerged.

Armor sculpted from crystal-blue water.

Ancient runes glowing beneath its surface.

A flowing cape made from liquid mana.

Broad shoulders.

Gauntlets.

No face.

Only two glowing blue eyes.

And...

The moustache remained.

Perfectly magnificent.

Silence.

Every soldier couldn't breathe.

One witch dropped her orb.

"..."

"...An Ancestor..."

Another shook violently.

"...No..."

"...Closer to a Peak Elder..."

The knight raised one hand.

The storm of spells reached him.

Pop.

Every spell vanished.

Like soap bubbles touching the air.

No explosion.

Simply...

Gone.

The knight took one step forward.

The ground trembled.

Not because he was heavy.

Because the sheer mana leaking out of him distorted space around him.

The commander screamed,

"ATTACK!"

Nobody wanted to.

They obeyed anyway.

Elite battle witches charged.

Mana blades ignited.

Protective barriers covered the street.

The knight disappeared.

A blur.

The first witch collapsed.

Many palm marks appeared across her in an instant.

Alive.

Just unconscious.

The second followed.

Then the third.

The fourth.

Fifth.

Sixth.

Every strike landed with absurd precision.

No wasted movement.

One punch.

One kick.

One open palm.

Entire squads fell.

Vehicles folded like paper.

Barriers shattered.

Weapons snapped.

Within seconds...

The street became silent.

Over two hundred trained personnel...

Lay unconscious.

Not a single civilian had been harmed.

Not one.

Luna clapped enthusiastically.

"...Stefan!"

"...You've gotten taller!"

The knight turned toward her.

He gave a single salute.

Then...

Shrank.

Six feet.

Four.

Two.

One.

Until...

He was once again...

A tiny floating bubble.

Like nothing had happened.

Luna smiled.

"..."

"...Neat."

She reached out and patted him.

"...Good job, we should steal their wallets, I saw a bouncy castle, but I don't think they take shells."

Stefan saluted proudly.

Across the ruined street...

One barely conscious officer looked at the tiny bubble.

Then at the destroyed strike force.

Then back at the bubble.

"..."

"...No..."

"...There's no way..."

His voice shook.

"..."

"...It was..."

"...A bubble..."

The smoke started to settle.

The city had become silent apart from a few car alarms blaring in the distance.

Broken streets.

Collapsed buildings.

Hundreds of unconscious soldiers.

In the middle of it all...

Luna happily skipped down the road reaching into the pockets of soldiers on the way and collecting their wallets.

"...Stefan."

The bubble saluted.

"..."

"...That game was fun."

"...Unfortunately."

A woman's voice echoed through the ruined street.

"...Playtime is over."

High above...

Two figures slowly descended.

They stood on air as though on the ground.

Space bent around them.

Long coats fluttered in the wind.

Both looked no older than their forties.

Beautiful.

Elegant.

Prideful.

The sort of witches who could lift a mountain and yeet it at the ocean just for 'funzees'.

The pressure...

Was immense.

Every remaining soldier instinctively stepped backwards.

One whispered,

"...The Council has finally arrived..."

Another bowed his head.

"...The Elders..."

The taller woman adjusted one of her dark gloves.

Her silver hair reached her waist.

Cold crimson eyes examined Luna.

"...Interesting."

The second rested a black halberd against her shoulder.

Pink runes crawled across its blade like glowing veins.

"...Very interesting."

Neither woman looked at the soldiers.

Or the ruined buildings.

Only Luna.

"...Child."

said the woman with the gauntlets.

"...Or whatever you truly are."

Luna waved.

"Hello."

"..."

"...Cute."

the halberd wielder chuckled.

"...She's committing to the disguise."

Then...

Two halos appeared.

One behind each Elder.

Marticia's glowed deep crimson.

Lulith's shone brilliant pink.

The air...

...Changed, it became as thick as honey.

Storm clouds formed from the sheer release of their mana.

Windows cracked.

Everyones bodies seemed heavier.

Even breathing became difficult.

Stefan floated in front of Luna.

For the first time...

He did not salute.

He expanded.

Tiny bubble.

Human.

Knight.

Blue armor.

Cape of flowing mana.

The magnificent moustache remained.

Then...

A halo appeared behind him.

Ocean blue.

Perfectly circular.

The two Elders raised an eyebrow.

Marticia smiled.

"...Quasi-Perfection."

She flexed her fingers.

Dark gauntlets wrapped around her forearms like vines.

"...I wasn't expecting that."

Lulith laughed softly.

"...A summoned creature reaching Quasi-Perfection..."

"...How adorable."

She rested the halberd on her shoulder.

"...Shame."

"...There's two of us who have also reached that realm."

The pressure doubled.

CRACK.

The street fractured.

Stefan took one step backwards.

His knees bent slightly.

His armour groaned.

He couldn't...

Stand properly.

Luna looked up.

"...Stefan?"

The knight slowly turned.

Then...

Raised one hand.

He saluted.

Then pointed toward the distant streets.

Luna blinked.

"..."

"...Tag?"

Another salute.

"..."

"...OH!"

She giggled.

"We're playing tag again!"

Without another word...

She turned and ran.

Tiny sandals pattering across the road.

"...You're not catching me!"

The two Elders watched her leave.

Neither bothered to chase.

Not yet.

The elder with gauntlets rolled her shoulders.

"...My name is Marticia."

Her gauntlets clicked into place.

"I hail from the Nameless Mountain Coven."

"...Tibet."

Lulith smiled elegantly.

She spun the black halberd once before planting it into the asphalt.

"Lulith."

"Heavenly Witch Temple."

"...Brazil."

She tilted her head.

"...And you?"

"..."

"...Do you have a name?"

Stefan answered.

A trident appeared in his hand.

Ocean blue.

He slowly pointed it...

At Lulith.

Lulith laughed.

"...Me?"

"...How flattering."

Stefan twisted the weapon.

The sky darkened.

Above the city...

Water appeared.

Impossible amounts of it.

An ocean...

Hanging above the clouds.

Then—

It fell.

A pillar of water hundreds of meters tall crashed toward Lulith.

BOOOOOOM!!

The impact swallowed entire city blocks.

Steam exploded outward.

Stefan vanished.

Appearing before Marticia.

The trident descended.

Marticia smiled.

She didn't move.

CLANG!

A black halberd intercepted the strike.

Water exploded in every direction.

Lulith stood there...

Completely unharmed.

"...Too slow."

she smiled.

Marticia appeared behind Stefan.

No spell.

No chant.

Witches of her level don't have to order mana, it moves without her needing to tell it to.

Her fist connected with his back.

BOOOOOOM!!

The city shook.

Stefan became a blue comet.

He smashed through the street.

A crater dozens of meters across erupted beneath him.

The shockwave shattered every window for over a mile.

Lulith sighed.

"...Honestly."

"...For a summon of a supposed princess..."

"...You're disappointing."

Then...

She looked toward Luna.

Already disappearing into the distance.

"...I'll retrieve the child...terrorist I suppose?"

She leaned forward.

The world blurred.

Dozens...

Hundreds...

Of afterimages filled the street.

She was already gone.

Stefan slowly rose from the crater.

His armour cracked.

Before he could look up—

Marticia's fist was already there.

One inch from his face.

He barely tilted his head.

The punch missed.

The pressure alone...

Split a skyscraper in half behind him.

It slowly collapsed.

Stefan swung his trident.

Water carved glowing arcs through the air.

Marticia blocked with one gauntlet.

CRACK.

The trident shattered.

She smiled.

"...Finished?"

Stefan looked down.

Then...

Threw the broken weapon away.

Marticia laughed.

"...Giving up already?"

"I was hoping to play with such a big boy a little longer..."

Instead...

Stefan pressed his palms together.

Like a prayer.

The city fell silent.

The ground...

Shook.

Deep beneath the streets...

Water answered.

From rivers.

Pipes.

Reservoirs.

Even the moisture in the air.

Everything...

Flowed toward him.

A pressure unlike anything before descended.

Marticia's smile disappeared.

"..."

"...What..."

A pillar of blue mana erupted into the heavens.

It pierced the clouds.

Pierced the atmosphere.

Pierced space itself.

The shockwave rippled across the Solar System.

Far away...

On Neptune...

Every member of the royal family looked up at the exact same moment.

The Queen dropped her teacup.

It shattered.

"...Luna."

She was already gone before the porcelain stopped bouncing.

Marticia stood frozen.

"..."

"...What..."

The Guardian looked different.

Gone was the body of flowing water.

Instead...

Blue skin.

Ancient runes etched across his arms.

White hair drifted behind him despite the still air.

His armor had become real.

Not liquid.

Metal, carved with images of waves.

Only one thing remained unchanged.

The magnificent bubble moustache.

Marticia frowned.

"...What did you do...?"

Stefan slowly opened his eyes.

They were no longer glowing.

They were...

Calm.

Like an endless ocean.

He looked at Marticia.

Nothing else.

Nothing more.

Marticia clicked her tongue.

"So that's your trump card."

She rolled her shoulders.

"...Too bad."

Her fists distorted space and a deep crimson glow formed around her.

She vanished.

The pressure dented the ground like a crater.

Stefan didn't move.

Marticia appeared directly before him.

Her fist had already reached his face.

Stefan simply...

Raised one hand slowly.

The punch stopped.

Like it had struck the ocean itself, a small ripple went across the area.

Marticia's pupils shrank.

"..."

"...What?"

For the first time...

She looked afraid, there aren't many who can take a direct hit from a legendary gauntlet covered in mana from a peak elder with space distortion added on top...

Stefan slowly lifted his free hand.

No movement beyond a simple downward chop.

His hand descended.

Silently.

Nothing happened.

Marticia smiled.

"...Ha, to think you had me worried for a second."

Then...

A perfectly straight blue line appeared down the center of her body.

Her smile disappeared.

"..."

"..."

"...Ah shit."

Her body separated cleanly into two halves.

She never even hit the ground.

She floated in the air as if she was floating in water.

Behind her...

The road split.

Buildings.

Bridges.

Parks.

Everything for over a mile...

Divided cleanly in two.

A glowing scar of blue mana remained carved into the earth.

Stefan slowly turned his head.

Left.

Miles away...

Lulith.

She had almost reached Luna.

Luna was laughing.

"You'll never catch me!"

She had absolutely no idea someone had actually been trying to kill her.

Lulith smiled.

"...Almost."

A hand touched her shoulder stopping her immediately.

She froze.

"..."

Impossible.

She slowly looked behind herself.

Stefan.

Standing there.

Completely silent.

"...Huh..."

she whispered.

"I was..."

"..."

"...How..."

Stefan said nothing.

He simply placed one blue hand upon her forehead.

Water.

Cold.

Ancient.

It rushed through her mind.

Not painfully.

Not violently.

Like an endless ocean pouring into a single drop.

Lulith screamed.

Blue runes spread across her neck.

Across her arms.

Across her halo.

CRACK.

The violet halo fractured.

Its pieces dissolved into blue light.

Her pink eyes slowly changed.

Cool cyan.

Her dark hair...

Turned the colour of the sea.

She fell onto one knee.

Panting.

Trying to lift her halberd.

Her body refused.

"..."

"...Move..."

Nothing happened.

Stefan leaned closer.

For the first time...

He spoke.

His voice sounded like waves striking ancient cliffs.

Only Lulith heard the words.

Nobody else.

Her eyes widened.

Complete disbelief.

Then...

Acceptance.

She lowered her head.

"..."

"...Yes..."

"...Master."

Stefan looked at her for another second.

Then...

The blue skin cracked.

The ancient armor dissolved.

The halo shattered into droplets.

He shrank.

Six feet.

Five.

Three.

One.

Until...

There floated...

A tiny bubble.

With a perfectly combed moustache.

He wobbled slightly.

Clearly exhausted.

Luna finally turned around.

"There you are!"

Stefan floated over.

He gently bumped into her forehead.

Pop.

Luna gasped dramatically.

"NOOOO!"

She covered her face.

"You caught me!"

Stefan saluted proudly.

Luna noticed someone standing nearby.

She tilted her head.

"..."

"...Your hair changed."

Lulith blinked.

She reached up.

Touched her hair.

Blue.

"..."

"...Indeed..."

Luna smiled brightly.

"I like it."

Lulith stared.

"..."

"...You do?"

"It looks pretty."

Luna nodded decisively.

"I'll take you in, but don't get the wrong idea, you'll sleep with me, I'll feed you, I'll take you to the vet and I'll play with you... we can also get some toys."

Silence.

Lulith opened her mouth.

Her first instinct...

Was to refuse.

Instead...

"...Very well."

The words left her mouth before she could stop them.

She frowned.

"..."

"...How pathetic."

Luna beamed.

"Yay!"

She grabbed Lulith's hand.

"We're friends now!"

Lulith looked down at the tiny girl happily dragging her through the street.

Then at the little bubble floating beside them.

"..."

She sighed.

"...is she really just a kid?"

Behind them...

The city broken, most likely Quadrillions in damages, I wouldn't know.

One Elder...

Dead.

One Elder...

Walking obediently beside a little girl because she is now a slave.

Stefan...

Reduced once more to an innocent-looking bubble which to be far he is innocent if you don't count him destroying multiple buildings and a lovely park or the fact that taxes will be astronomical in the city from now on as to repair it. 

But hey, who's gonna convict a bubble for terrorism?