《World of Astella》


 Day of the past

    It was a scene from hell


    Fire, fire everywhere, the whole village is on fire, that house over there is burning, I wonder if there¡¯s someone still stuck inside? Oh right, the owner is dead, his family is dead too, their corpses scattered all over the ground in front of me, dyeing the ground red with their blood


    That sister from the nearby orphan, took a [Water blast] directly , her head exploded, her brain matter scattered all over the children she¡¯s trying to shield from the ever closing in knights


    The old married couple next door, couldn¡¯t muster the strength from their aged bodies to run away, died when the horses ran over them


    The men from the village, bravely stood up against the knights, holding all sort of tools like hayknives, short scythes, sickles, forks, sticks and pickaxes to defend themselves and their families, all ended up dead, creating a pile of corpses


    Being slashed apart at by swords, flattened by huge war hammers, beaten to death by maces, battered by morning stars, hacked to pieces by axes,  skewered by spears, mauled to death by the knights¡¯ hunting dogs, reduced to ash by fire magic, exploded by explosion magic, suffocated with water magic, burried alive with earth magic¡­


    There were all sort of deaths, but they all pale in comparison to the figure of a young girl in the middle of the village


    The small girl, probably about 14 years of age, is being tied up to a tall wooden pole, surrouded by stacks upon stacks of fire wood with oil splatterd on them, on her body, there are numerous bruises and cuts, the knights which has formed a circle arround the girl, were throwing stones at her, and from their mouths, only jeers and curses were being spat out.


    The flame is burning brightly, even at this distance, I could still feel the heat of the excecutional fire on my skin


    The vicious flame is eating into her flesh, turning her pristine white skin into ashes, her short adorable legs has turned into charcoal, everything else under her belly is almost gone


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    Yes, she¡¯s being burned at the stake, while being stoned at the same time, but on her face, there was no trace of pain, fear, or anger, not even hatred. There was only a smile.


    Even while letting out an immeasurable amount of sweat, she¡¯s still smiling


    In the face of all the pain she¡¯s experiencing, it must have been excruciating, so why


    Why did she not scream??! Why does she still have that happy face on despite all those stones flying at her??! Why does she still seems so happy with all the flame licking at her body????


    It¡¯s like none of those things matters to her,


    She¡¯s trying to say something, her lips, dried by the fire, is moving


    I tried to decipher those movements, she said ¡°¡­¡­it¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry about me anymore, it¡¯s already too late for me, so forget me, save yourself¡­¡±


    Idiot!!!! How can I forget about you and run for my pathetic life here??? I shouldn¡¯t be the one alive, it¡¯s me who should be at your place right now


    I could not protect you, I¡¯m not strong enough to protect you, I could not stop those monsters wearing human skin from harming you


    How can you smile like that, shouldn¡¯t you curse me for my imcompetence?? For not being able to save you?? Why are you smiling and telling me to forget about you??!


    So I ran, ran, and ran, as fast as I could, as hard as I could


    I mustered all the strength I have in my leg to sprint toward her, even just a second faster, no, even just half a second faster to relieve her of those pain


    Yet that place keep drifting further away from me, my feet keep getting heavier and heavier like I was dragging an invisible chain. I couldn¡¯t get close to free her from the fate of being burnt to death, I couldn¡¯t, I couldn¡¯t¡­.


    Then darkness came like a tidal wave, it washed over me, leaving me with no strength left to run, and slowly, I sunk into the darkness¡­

 Chapter 1: The two childhood friends (part 1)

    Asahina Mirai, 16 years old, is a tall girl with a slim figure, her long smooth black hair extended to her waist, althought it was the slim figure of a model, but her boobs were so massive as if to tease the male heart, she is also a very kind girl


    Her house is the Ise grand shrine, or more accurately, the inner shrine, it''s located in the town of Uji-tachi, south of central Ise, and is dedicated to the worship of the god Amaterasu.


    Ever since she was a kid, she has been helping her parents with their work at the shrine, and she often help the neighbors as well, if you ask the adults arround the neighborhood, 9 out of 10 of them will say she''s a good kid.


    And so, due to her usual habit, she rose her sleepy body off the soft bed early in the morning, shook her head a few times to shake off the temtation of lying down and sleep again, then proceed to wash her face. After that, she does her usual morning routine work of sweeping the shrine ground


    The shrine ground is very big, so even with the help of the stay-in miko apprentices, it still took quite some time to finish the work, although it''s tiring, she can feel a sense of fulfillment welling up inside her.


    Then next is the "work" that she secretly enjoys every morning, the "work" of waking up her beloved childhood friend, Ichinose Souta


    Upon arriving at the entrance of his house, it is a normal 3LDK modern house with 2 stories, that seems a bit too big for just 2 person. The smell of food faintly wafted into her nose


    "this must be Saya-chan''s cooking, it smells good!" she thought


    When she entered the house, suddenly, Saya poked her head out from the kitchen


    Ichinose Saya, is Souta''s little sister, 15 years old, she a cute girl with a  beautifully shaped body, it caused one to have an illusion of a display of a goddess sculpture.


    However, the difference between the sculpture and the real thing was obvious, you could notice the smooth and soft skin texture in a single glance, in addition, her beautiful black hair and mesmerizing black eyes would never fail to grab anyone''s attention


    she was wearing her school uniform with an pink frilly apron on top, she look exactly like a housewife cooking breakfast for her husband if not for her age


    "oh! Mirai-neesan, you''re here to wake up Onii-sama? He should be still sleeping in his room"


    "got it, I''ll wake him up real fast and help you make breakfast"


    "ah, don''t worry about it, it''s already done, just wake him up and join us Nee-san"


    "got it!"


    *tap tap tap*, her foot step reverberates on the floor as she made her way to the second floor of the house


    Then she went into Souta''s room, it''s still dark so she opened the curtains, and the morning sunlight shone into the dark room. But even so, he still slept, and showed no signs of waking up


    "my my, what a sleepy head he is"


    Then she lifted up the blanket, but the sight in front of her made her speechless


    He was sweating profusely, and she can faintly here his murmuring


    "floria... floria... don''t....please..."


    It seems that he''s having a nightmare, so she gently shook his body to wake him up


    "hey Sou-chan, breakfast is ready, wake up"


    But still, he showed no sign of waking up, so she shook a little bit harder


    "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"


    Suddenly, he sprang up like a spring and let out a loud scream, Mirai was startled by his scream and fell on her but


    "ouch, what was that for? Sou-chan"


    He woke up, with a face that showed he had no idea what was going on.


    "wh... what?... oh, it''s you, what am I?


    "huh? Mirai? Oh, that''s right, I had another nightmare hadn''t I?


    "was it that bad of a dream?"


    "ahh, it''s fine, don''t worry about it, thanks for always coming here waking me up everyday, and sorry!"


    "it''s okay, it seems that you were having a nightmare so I woke you up. Breakfast is ready, so wash your face and get down okay?"


    "yeah, thanks again Mirai"


    He got up from the bed, while rubbing his temple, then proceed to wash his face to get rid of all the sweat, looking into the mirror, he found a haggard face of a youth with unkempt black hair, and a pair of black eyes staring at him


    "shit!, that dream again!"


    He made his way down to the first floor, his little sister and Mirai is already there, waiting for him to start eating


    "ah, you''re here Onii-sama, what was with that scream from earlier? Are you okay?"


    "it''s nothing, we gotta eat and hurry to school or we''ll be late!"


    "hmpf, say the one who always sleep in, ah, forget it, lets dig in everyone"


    " Itadakimasu!"


    The breakfast menu was grilled fish, spinach as a cold salad, white rice and miso soup. It was an extremely common Japanese breakfast


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    "it''s delicious, your cooking is as good as always Saya-chan, you would be a great bride!"


    "fun~ thank you for the compliment!"


    "yeah yeah, it was good, and your nose is inflating, stop or it will burst"


    "dummy Onii-sama, stop teasing me already"


    "you too are really close as always eh?"


    Just like that, the breakfast ended with a ruckus like usual, after that, they washed the dish, made sure to lock the house properly and go to school


    <hr />


    On their way to school, having noticed Saya''s complexion, Mirai worriedly asked


    "are you feeling well Saya-chan? you looks a little pale, do you need to take the day off?"


    "I''m fine, just a little tired from the lack of sleep"


    Saya answered with a sleepy look


    "remember to take care of yourself okay? Ever since you''re small, you have been taking a lot of day off from school after all"


    "yes yes, I know"


    With Mirai in high spirit and going a head of them, Souta slowed down his pace a bit to match Saya''s pace


    "how''s your body condition?"


    "I''m perfectly healthy,there''s nothing to worry about Onii-sama!"


    With a light knock *kon*, a fist descended on Saya''s head


    "idiot, just how long do you think we have been together, I can tell you''re lying at the first glance"


    "really, nothing can get pass your eyes isn''t it? My body should be able to hold up for a while, your magic was effective"


    While rubbing her head, Saya made a sulky expression, then she made a worried face


    "But is it really okay to leave tomorrow? Don''t you need to say goodbye to Mirai-neesan first?"


    "I want to, but I shouldn''t, rather, she will definitely insist on coming with us no matter what,  it will just make it harder for us to go. We should quietly leave without saying anything, so pack up your stuff, we''re leaving tomorrow at midnight"


    "I understand, I just don''t want you to be hurt again, in the first place, you chose this place to settle down because she looks like that girl, didn''t you?"


    "........."


    Souta froze because of the sudden question


    "Come on you two, hurry it up or we''ll be late to school!"


    And Mirai''s urging saved Souta in the nick of time


    "yeah, right, lets go!"


    ''That was close'', he thought


    "walk a bit slower Mirai, you''re going to trip on something and f........"


    Just as Souta''s warning came up halfway through, Mirai tripped over a pebble and about to land on her face, his body acted faster than his thoughts as he ran straight forward to catch her. He kicked up a small dust storm and ended up tackling Mirai around her waist while dragging her down on the spot. But seconds before that, he instantly extended his arms with all his might and put them around the back of her head and her waist, which cushioned her fall, so Mirai wouldn''t be hurt


    The moment they fell, something black fleetingly flashed over the edge of his vision, and then it covered his whole face, his vision was pitch black regardless of his eyes being open, there was a warm and a soft sensation on his face. Moreover, a sweet and aromatic fragrance wafted into his nose and tickles his nasal cavities


    ¡°Yahn¡­ Sou-chan¡­ Not¡­ ahn¡­ there¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but get a bad feeling and the imaginary alarm sound in the corner of his head urged him to get out of there, so he did


    When the light finally return, after reassessing the situation,  he found out that he had plunged headfirst into Mirai¡¯s skirt, with Mirai still defencelessly spreading both her legs, her black panties, white and glossy thighs, as well as her tempting crotch were freely exposed


    While being mesmerized by that scene, he rememberedwhat he need to do


    "sorry about that, I used to much force to run and ended up doing that"


    "I know, you cushioned me so I didn''t land on my face, thank you Sou-chan!"


    "Anyway you''re wearing black today huh, that''s pretty bold, Thank you for the meal!"


    "Hyaaa, it''s not... it''s just that... ah geez, Sou-chan you pervert!!!¡­"


    "what are you doing Onii-sama? Sexual harassing a girl first thing in the morning..."


    "it couldn''t be helped okay?!"


    Just like that, the trio''s merry conversation lasted until they reach the school.


    <hr />


    end of part 1

 Chapter 2: The two childhood friends (part 2)

    Kirigaoka Highschool is a school with a joined education program of both middle school and highschool in the same school premise, that''s why Saya can go together with them to school without seperating, despite having to study at different grades


    "have good day at school, Saya-chan"


    "you too Mirai-neesan, and please don''t create any trouble okay Onii-sama?"


    "yes yes, you have a good day too"


    After throwing back a listless reply, Souta proceed to the 3rd floor of the school buding together with Mirai, because they''re in the same class 3-E


    As they enter the classroom, since the teacher is not here yet, all the student are still chatting with each other, creating an atmosphere so noisy that it makes one wants to plug their ear


    Just when Mirai and Souta proceed to their respective seat and sat down, a girl approached them


    "you guys went to school together today too huh?"


    That girl was Kitamura Yuuko, a moderately short girl with shoulder-length green hair, she''s an enegetic girl who has been Mirai''s best friend for a long time, and precisely because of that she knew how Mirai feels about Souta, so she often teases Mirai for that


    "morning..."


    "hi Yuuko-chan, good morning!"


    Mirai with an excited voice replied back, Souta on the other hand was wearing a bored face, the stark contrast between them astonished Yuuko


    "that must be nice huh? Having your boyfriend escort you to school everyday"


    With a *whoosh* Yuuko closed in at an amazing speed (as expected of the Track team''s captain), and start whispering into Mirai''s ear.


    "as I said, we are not like that.....We''re just normal childhood friends okay? Beside, Saya-chan was there with us"


    "oh really? Too bad, if you guys were alone, you could have confessed to him huh?~~"


    Suddenly, the mood turned dark, with an awkward smile, Mirai muttered


    "I... wanted to confess to him, but I don''t know how he feel about me, probably just a childhood friend? And I tried my best to appeal to him all this time too, that dense guy..."


    Noticing the suddenly gloomy atmosphere, Yuuko tries to change the topic


    "Our class''s girls don''t have that much interest in him since he doesn''t socialize much, but I heard that the underclassmen girls of the middle school section adores him a lot, I can''t see why though"


    "You haven''t known him for long, so you don''t know his kindness, it''s just that he doesn''t really show it outside. Beside, he is the school''s strongest, he even beat me in Kendo you know?"


    Yuuko''s jaw almost hit the floor out of surprise


    "you? The champion of the Kendo club? You even made it to the semi final of the national last year?"


    "yes, and it was an overwhelming victory too, I couldn''t even graze him! He was so strong that it made my heart beats so fast I thought it might break!"


    With shining eyes, a proud pose and an almost audible *don*sfx , Mirai stood out like a sore thumb, and all the eyes in the class focused on her


    "yes yes, you looks like religious believers talking about their god, we get it, so sit down already!"


    Flustered, Mirai sit down while holding her cheeks in embarrassment


    "I''m just saying you need to reel him in fast or he will just get snatch away by other girls, don''t be complacent just because you''re his childhood friend"


    "thank you Yuuko-chan!"


    At that moment, the homeroom teacher walked in, the class instantly quieted down


    "okay, return to your seats, homeroom is starting".


    After the 3rd period comes the break time, there''s a young girl standing in front of the 3-E classroom door, fidgeting around with a nervous face, she seems to be looking for someone


    Some guys in the class found it unusual so they went to check her out


    "is...is Ichinose Souta-san here?"


    "Souta huh? He''s over there. Hey Ichinose! There''s someone from the middle school section calling for you!"


    "I wonder who''s that girl". Yuuko whispered to Mirai


    "I think I saw her with Saya-chan before, ah! That girl is Saya-chan''s class rep!"


    The little girl spoke something to Souta, her face looks grim, then suddenly, Souta rushed out from the class with a large stride, Mirai was left dumbfounded, wondering what to do


    "you''re worried about him right? Go with him, I''ll tell the teacher you feel tired and went to the infimary"


    "thank you Yuuko-chan! I''ll treat you to some ice cream as thanks later!"


    Mirai dashed out of the classroom, left a stream of dust behind her


    "really, those two are so alike...  I guess I''ll look forward to that ice cream"


    At the infirmary, Saya is lying on one of the bed,  sweating profusely, she seems to be in great pain, while the school nurse is frantically running around in confusion


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    "who are you? I''m really busy here, go sit on the chair or lie down on the bed over there and wait for me a bit, I need to treat this girl first!"


    Seeing Souta entered the infirmary, the nurse told him with some tears at the corner of her eyes, maybe due to the unexpected situation, she couldn''t keep up with the treatment


    "I''m this girl''s brother, here''s my student ID, she has a rare disease so you can''t treat her with the school''s facilities, let me take her to the hospital!"


    "I can''t!, according to the school rule, I need the principal''s permission to transfer a student to the hospital"


    "ugh, this is so bothersome". As he thought that, his hand let out a weak glow


    [Hypnosis]


    "why don''t you go get the permission? I''ll stay here and wait"


    The nurse instantly settle down, with a blank expression and rigid standing pose, she resemble a doll being forcefully made standing up, the panic expression she showed until now has vanished like a dream


    Normal people doesn''t have much magical resistence, so getting past their natural barrier is a trifle matter to Souta


    The infirmary is now vacant, only two silhouettes, one sitting and one lying down remained on the curtain at the bed in the corner of the room. Gently, Souta sway the girl''s shoulder


    "Hey Saya... Saya... wake up...."


    "hmm... Onii-sama?... Good morning"


    The unbelievably beautiful girl let out a small moan, a lovely voice escaped from the mouth of the lovely girl and she opened her previously closed eyes


    "it''s not morning anymore you know? What happened?"


    "I... don''t know, when the break came, I wanted a juice so I went to the cafeteria to get one, but suddenly I felt nauseous and... I don''t remember anything esle, when I opened my eyes, you''re already here"


    "the curse got worse huh... I tried my best to delay it, but it seems that even my magic has reached the limit... Change of plan, we''re leaving tonight! I''m taking you to the center, we need to get you cured as soon as possible, ".


    After following Souta when he dashed out of the room, Mirai was not able to keep up so she lost sight of him, then a text came


    "Saya collapsed, I''m taking her home to rest, don''t worry, she''s fine, just focus on studying"


    "geez, that Souta, focus on studying? How can I do that when Saya-chan is feeling unwell"


    <hr />


    Meanwhile, at Souta''s home, under the 1st floor is a basement, inside the dark room with almost no light, are numerous strange looking devices, weapons of various kinds, armours lying around in piles and what seems to be research equipments


    A wand looked like it was made from wood but shining in a metallic luster, a sword resemble a Japanese Katana with the length of over 2 meters long, the upper torso of an amour with jewels and gold embedded all over, a bloody-colored gauntlet embedded with diamond, a scimitar with the blade part continuously changing, and more


    Other than those, there are various strange item like giant piece of crystal, a normal looking mirror which totally looks out of place in the whole room... But in the corner of the room, is a jet black stone table, with countless bizarre and intricated shapes carved upon, with twelve cables connected to it, on the other end of each cable, a cylindrical tube big enough to contain a human is placed, some kind of vicous liquid shining with a bright blue color is rotating back and forth like a maelstrom. And on the table, lies Saya


    Straight long hair that shone a beautiful black like the night sky, gentle eyes, attractive light-pink lips that were shaped nicely, the fair-skinned, black-haired girl is lying on the stone table


    "I''m okay Onii-sama, you just checked me last week, so this is unnecessary"


    "How can you say that after collapsing just now?! Just be quiet and stay still, I''ll run the diagnosis right now"


    Souta was standing beside the table, operating a tablet on the stone pedestal, at the tip of his fingers, a faint thread of light could be seen linked directly to Saya''s body, on the tablet, the result of the diagnosis was displayed


    "this is bad, the curse is progressing faster than I thought, my magic wasn''t able to hold it back completely, I couldn''t stop it even though it''s my curse"


    The culprit of the curse, surprisingly, is Souta himself, but that story is for another day.


    "it''s fine Onii-sama, both my body and soul belongs to you, you can do w.h.a.t...e.v.er you want with it~~"


    With a mischievous smile on her face, Saya showed no sign of unrest at all, this is just how much trust she have in him


    "what a carefree fellow you are"


    "ehehe, ever since that day 400 years ago, I''m yours and you''re mine Onii-sama, so don''t think you can escape that fate~"


    "yes yes, I get it, now stay down and rest, I''ll activate the healing device"


    "goodnight Onii-sama"


    "night~"


    As he left, the second closest cylinder from Souta started swirling stronger and shinning brighter than before, pumping some kind of liquid through the cable into the stone table, and the whole table lit up with a golden light, it slowly encased Saya''s petite body in a soft golden shell, her expression turned peacefully, and she dozed off into the land of dreams....


    <hr />

 Chapter 3: The farewell... or not?

    That night, on the Utae mountain, between the thickets of densely populated trees, two shadows could be seen moving at high speed, they nimbly jumped from one tree to the next like squirrels, even though they were moving at high speed, there was no sound emitted from their movement, only the sound of leaves rustling due to the wind could be heard, and occasionally, blue faint light could be seen here and there in the woods


    Those shadows were Souta and Saya, the two of them are heading to one of the many spots on the world with high density of mana that can power devices that uses a large amount of mana to operate


    "we''re here, you can rest over there, I need some time to set up the warp gate first, I''ll call you over when I''m done with it"


    "yes Onii-sama"


    Souta then moved  away from Saya for a bit, standing in the middle of a thicket, from his body, a thin transparent film spread out into the surrounding wood


    All sounds and signs of life slowly disappeared, not even insects in the ground or birds on the trees remained, it was as if everything has been banished from the small encased world.


    From the tip of his hand, a blue disk about 30 centimeters in diameter appeared, with a hollow center and sparkling edge, the disk was like a mini black hole, Souta stuck his hand inside the disk, and pulled out a metal rod with a button on it, when he pushed the button, light extended from the metal rod and formed into a shining blade, reminiscent to a neon tube.


    It was a light saber, with a scorching hot blade created by containing heavy metal particles within an electromagnetic field, creating the shape of a sword


    The sword kept extending longer and longer, until it reached 10 meters long, Souta took an attack stance, and mowed down all the trees around him in one fell swoop, the tree offered no resistance against the high temperature of the blade, instantly creating a clearance in the middle of the forest


    He then pulled out another disk-shaped device from the black hole and put it on the ground, the device started running and emitting a blue light that illuminated the surrounding , a magic circle was formed on the ground. On top of the device, a bigger version of the black hole Souta use to get his light saber was formed, it was big enough for a person to pass through


    "Saya, the gate is done, lets go"


    "waaaaaaaaaiiiiittttttttttttt uuuuuuuuppppppp~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!"


    Suddenly, a scream reverberated from the distance reached where Souta and Saya was


    "Onii-sama, this voice... It couldn''t be right?"


    "...., It can only be her, I can guess why she knows we were here... "


    "Sou-chan you idiot!!!!!! Wh..whaat were you tryng to doo~??! Whe didd yu suddenly leaving without telllling me anything??! Do yo~u haet mee or somee~thing?


    Mirai suddenly stormed out of the wood with all her might into the clear space, with a floods of tears were flowing on the soggy face, her shrine maiden outfit was all tattered, and the place that shouldn¡¯t be seen for a woman was faintly visible, and with the awful crying face she kept yelling at Souta and punching his shoulder


    "wait wait, speak slowly, I can''t understand what you''re saying at all!"


    It took half an hour before Mirai stopped crying, maybe because she was running was all her strength, coupled with the mental exhaustion, she fell asleep in Souta''s embrace, a faint breathing sound could be heard from her lovely mouth


    "too bad for you Onii-sama, now we can''t leave anymore, can we?~"


    "I can''t even move right now... she''s sleeping without a care in the world like this"


    He couldn''t keep staring at Mirai with her outfit looking like that, so he covered her with the jacket he was wearing


    While Souta was wandering his finger through her hair, Mirai''s expression loosened into a peaceful one, it was a truly relieved expression. He wanted to let Mirai sleep a bit more, but they couldn''t stay here forever, so he gently shook her shoulder to wake her up


    "¡­ ¡­Nn u¡­ ¡­wha?... Sou-chan?"


    While letting out that lovely voice, Mirai slowly opened her eyes, with a blank expression she looked upward and confirmed Souta was there, then she quietly parted from Hajime and straightened her appearance


    "now explain to me why you''re here, no... nevermind, it''s Amaterasu''s work wasn''t it?"


    "yes *sob*.... I received a divination from Amaterasu-sama, she said you''re going to leave me.. *sob"


    "I knew it, that damn busybody of a god... I''m gonna get her later!"


    "how can you be so cruel? Leaving me without saying anything *sob* am I so unimportant that you think you can just leave me behind?"


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    "You must be really desperate, running after us through the forest like that. No matter how you think about it, isn''t it a little reckless?"


    "I...I just wanted to catch up with you guys..."


    "and why were you in a hurry?... Could it be..? A special reason? Or is it... a special person?"


    With a smirk, Saya mischievously teased Mirai


    "I....I...It was... Ahhhhhh, I give up... hey Sou-chan, I have something to say, please hear me out"


    Blushing up to her ears, Mirai hurriedly cover her face, *inhale* taking a deep breath *exhale*, after several deep breaths, she screamt on top of her lung


    "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.......LIKKKEEEEEEEEE.........YOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!~ "


    "yeah, I knew that, I like you too"


    "There! I said it! You only consider me as a childhood friend right? Now you can just reject me and be over with..... Wait. What?"


    "I said I noticed that you have feelings for me from a long time ago, I''m not the dense type you know"


    All expression fell from Mirai''s face at the sudden revelation, because it was too abrupt, she didn''t understand at first, but her brain finally caught up with the reality


    "wha...what? You knew? Since when?"


    "a long time ago, since you went to the efford to wake me up almost everyday, you wouldn''t do that for just anyone right?"


    "y...yes..."


    "but you know? I''m not a human but a monster, Monster. Do you get it? Even if you love me, it would not go where you wanted..."


    "I noticed that long ago, I  knew you are not normal from the first glance. But I don''t care about that!"


    With tears at the corner of her eyes, Mirai blurted out her heartfelt feelings


    "then why? Isn''t it better for you to date a human male rather than a monster like me?"


    "It hurts Sou-chan.... It hurts because I don''t want to go another day without telling you how I feel about you. I wasn''t ready to tell you I''m in love with you , because I''m a coward. But whatever this is I''m feeling. It''s so much more than just like . It''s so much more..."


    Under the moonlit night, her black hair shone brightly like a river flowing in the night, her sparkling hair even illumitnated the forest, creating a mystical sight that was totally out of this world


    "Onii-sama, perhaps you should just accept her love quietly, even I who was once your enemy fell in love too you know~"


    Saya barged in and whispered through telepathy


    "but I.... fine, I get it. Mirai, can you close your eyes for a bit?"


    Surprised, Mirai was dumbfounded for a moment, but she did as he told and closed her eyes, then she felt a tender sensation on her forehead


    When she opened her eyes, there he was, the dark-haired youth was in front of her, with his face so close that she can even feel his warm breath on her skin, the youth who have been her childhood friend for over ten years, and with his usual kind smile he has given her a kiss on the forehead


    "I can''t promise you anything, but if you still wanted to be with me, then I too, wanted to be with you"


    He slowly pulled Mirai''s body toward him and gave her a strong hug


    "really?... Thank you *sob*. I''m very happy right now...*sob* Sou-chan loves me too... I''m so happy...."


    Her face broke out into a smile, the happiness within her couldn''t be contained anymore Mirai hid her damp eyes while her cheeks turned redder and redder from embarrassment. She slowly guided her hands around his neck and accept his embrace


    *Cracks Cracks*


    Suddenly, the sounds of glass breaking could be heard from the direction of the city. The air shook and trembled violently and the impact could be felt even at this distance


    "Onii-sama....I..."


    At the same time, Saya collapsed...

 Prologue 2: World history

    In history records, it was stated that a giant being descended upon earth


    The landscape, crushed. The town which housed thousands of people, trampled. The neigboring town, wiped out


    The sky shook, flocks of birds frantically fled for their lives. The ground cracked, swallowing up trees and houses. Rivers drained away, taking the aquatic life with it.


    Giant feet that easily flatten towns when it moves. Long arms that nonchalantly swept away mountains when they were swung. Six pair of huge wings that created a storm each time they flaps. The pair of crimson eyes shone from above, dyed the surrounding in a deep shade of bloody red


    Its whole body was covered with red scales, and a short horn protrude from its head


    And came along with it, were thousands of monsters, with all kind of shapes and sizes. But they all shares something in common, that is, the hatred for living being, and the insatiable destrudo


    The giant being. And it''s minions roamed the land for hundreds of years


    Unfortunate villages, towns, cities, and even kingdoms in their path can do nothing but wait to be destroyed, those who lived there could only run away before they were trampled


    But human was a strong race, in the face of extinction, they banded together, and they fought together. Soldiers, rations, weapons, means of transport, and resources were contributed from every countries for the hardest battle since the dawn of human history


    Rivers of blood, mountains of corpses, innumerable weapons and wartools littered the battlefield


    The battle went on and on for days, then weeks, then months


    After sacrificing most of the subjugation armies, they finally succeeded in vanquishing the detestable being


    They thought they''ve won the war, but reality was not so merciful


    The moment the giant being fell, an invisible shockwave spread throughout the world, each and every single monsters on site, and all over the world went on a rampage.


    It was as if the monsters were mourning the giant, they circled its corpse and created a dome from their own bodies. Big enough to overshadow the sun, the beehive tomb has been towering over the land ever since


    The rest of the monsters scattered all over the world, destroying anything and everything on their paths


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Humanity  won the battle, but lost the war. They have no choice but to retreat inside barricaded cities, awaiting their final moment


    But at the same time, strange girls with mysterious powers started appearing within the populace


    These girls, with their superpowers began to be born among humans, were called witches


    At first witches were misunderstood, feared and  condemned. Lead by the Christian churches witch hunt, they were hunted down and executed for being worshipper of the Devils


    It was a hellish world, even when facing exticntion, human still have the time to kill each other among themselves, and many innocent young girls were murdered


    Amidst the chaos, when all hope seems to be lost, the silver lining still exists. One man stopped it all. He who saw the benefit of magic to human, promulgated the benefit of witches


    Magic is something unexplainable with the science viewpoint


    Magic is not restricted by any scientific laws or principles


    Magic can even warps reality itself


    And with the emergence of the <Witches Management Organization> (WMO), the long and bloody witch hunt was stopped, and witches were recognized as protectors of humanity


    But being protected doesn''t mean humans have escaped from extinction, so they have to focus on finding a solution, a way out of this situation


    So they turned to science for salvation. How to enhance a human being - mainly, how to make themselves stronger, and they found it


    Pooling whatever scarce resources they have left, after an extensive period of researching, their effords finally bore fruit


    The


    was born


    It marked the evolution of humanity. By removing the <natural limiter> imposed on them, humans can finally exert their full potential


    The birth of a new kind of human - Espers - humans who possess ESP (extrasensory perception) and psychic powers, was the moment they''ve been waiting for. Now they have the power to oppose their fate


    Henceforth, humans began fighting back the threat named <Stella>

 Chapter 4: The disturbance in the city (part 1)

    Sorry for the long delay, I was busy pla... *cough* Nekopara *cough*... I mean busy with RL stuff so I couldn''t release this sooner


    Well, without further ado, enjoy


    <hr />


    WOOO, WOOO, WOOO, WOOO, EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT!............


    In an operating room, the sirens were continuously blaring like mad


    "Principal Sophie! A warning just came, the <Stella> has invaded the city!"


    "damn it, there hasn''t been an attack for over a hundred years, why the hell are they showing up now?! How many of them are there?!"


    "multiple <Stella> signatures confirmed, West side of the City, 5 Ground type, four Category 2 and one Category 3!"


    The <Stella> are divided into two type: Ground and Air, it shows that whether the <Stella> is capable of flying or not, and five Categories. Begin with Category 1 as the smallest, then Category 2 etc... up to Category 5, with each Category, their sizes, toughness and power increases exponentially.


    "What? How did a few Category 2 get through the wall? It was designed to withstand a Category 4'' attack. Order the subjugation squad to sortie immediately!"


    "Yes ma''am!"


    "Do I look that old to be called ma''am? I''m still young!! Don''t you ever call me that again!"


    "Yes ma..... I mean Principal!"


    A young, petite girl with short brown hair was yelling at the operator. Though the girl was petite and looked even younger than the operator, she has a calm air around her, her expressions, her posture suggests that she is not just a normal girl but a seasoned veteran who has experienced many battles


    "This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! Multiple <Stella> have invaded the city. The subjugation squad is to move immediately, the details for the misson will be delivered to your terminals. All other related personnel, man your station and ready for combat!! "


    At where Souta and co was


    "wawawa, wh...what happened to Saya-chan? Is she okay? What is happening? What do we do Sou-chan??..   How did it get like this?"


    "calm down Mirai! Saya is fine, it''s nothing to worry about. More importantly, wasn''t that explosion near the shrine?"


    The west side of the city was swallowed up in a sea of flames, smaller explosions can be heard even from here


    "Ah, the Shrine! My mother was still there!"


    "You need to go and protect Sanae-san, I''ll take Saya to a safe place and join you as soon as possible!"


    "okay Sou-chan, I''ll be going now!"


    "wait Mirai! Take this with you, you didn''t bring the Masamune with you right?"


    Souta stopped Mirai from running off and gave her a metal bar, it was the beam saber from before. Swinging the sword around a few times to check the weight and sharpness, Mirai gasped


    "what''s with this sword? I can''t even feel its weight, and it''s incredibly sharp too"


    "it''s a light saber, don''t leave it too close to your body and don''t mix up where the front and back or you will harm yourself"


    "geez! I''m not a kid anymore, I know how to swing a sword okay! *hmpf*"


    "just in case~". (Since you ARE an airheaded girl). He thought


    He then carried Saya with a princess carry and stepped inside the blackhole, vanishing instantly from sight.


    ******


    At the border of the City, there is a wall, a boundary to separates the <Stella> from human. Towering over 20 meters tall, the wall was there for a very long time, it just stood there, silently protects the city from the threat of extinction.


    Outside the wall, all signs of human activity ceased from this point, the outer area is a waste land, filled with abandoned houses and destroyed skyscrapers, there were numerous vehicle in bad shapes, covered in rust and have weed growing on them, scattered around the area.


    Now, there was a big hole on the wall, numerous buildings and houses were flattened, and the silhouettes of three huge monsters could be seen, the smallest one has a height of 6 meters and the biggest one is over 15 meters tall, each one has a different color, but all of them were hideous monsters.


    One has a green colored skin, 2 pairs of dragonfly like wings on its back and a long, forked red tongue just like a snake''s that kept flicking in and out


    The other two have grayish colored skin, but one was bigger than the other, and they both have a horn protruded from their head


    In the dead of night, with only the weak artificial light from the roadside as the only light source, dozens of figures were moving through the street at a breakneck speed, they were riding some kind of vehicle that looks like the smaller version of a hovercraft


    The fast-moving vehicles suddenly separates into 2 group, and headed for different directions


    "2nd squad break off and head for the smaller group, 1st squad come with me. We''re taking on the big group. I''m not gonna let anyone die today! Not on my watch!"


    "Ou!!!!!"


    All the soldiers on site gave a big shout


    "Central command, this is 7th platoon reporting. Targets sighted. Your order?"


    There were three monsters at the place where the big explosion was


    "Central here. You are to engage and destroy the target, remember keep the damage to the surrounding at a minimum"


    "Roger that! Engaging the enemies now!!


    "ASS (Anti-Stella squad) spead out and keep them busy. Espers take down their barrier. Witches concentrate on your spell and strike them at the appropriate timing. These guys are just small fries, but don''t be negligent, else you will hurt yourself or your comrades"


    "Yes ma''am!"


    The captain of the subjugation squad - Iris Amaryllis gave out battle orders. Each and every member of the squad knew what they have to do, they instantly moved to their respective positions and started attacking


    A few human wearing strange suit flew up into the sky and surround the <Stella> on site, bullets and missiles flew towards the monster from all directions. But just before they hit their target, all the missiles and bullets floated unmoving in the air above the <Stella>, creating a dome-shaped barrier that emits a pale white light


    "Tch, their barriers are up as expected. Second volley, start firing now!"


    The soldiers starts attacking again, one after another, bullets and missiles rained on the <Stella>.


    All the <Stella> possesses a special trait, that is the barrier they emits. It''s a special type of barrier that either stops or repels any and all attacks against them, so they are virtually invicible until the barrier is taken down. That was why each and all of them are hard to kill


    "I''ll take down their barriers! Please cover me"


    A blonde girl broke the formation and ran towards the <Stella>, her sparkling golden hair was fluttering in the wind, as the sun brushed through it an iridescent glow emitted through the blonde mane, sparkling like a running stream.


    "Uryaa.. Take this!"


    Suddenly, the girl disappeared from the spot she was running. In the next second, she appeared right next to the gray <Stella>  and made a straight thrust with her weapon, a pale white light emitted from the spot that was struck


    The monster howled, its red eyes were flaring up with anger as it search for the attacker, and swung both of its pincered claws while raising an angry roar.


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    However, just before the giant claw that can easily bisect a human into two hit the girl, she vanished. Appearing behind the monster, the blonde girl struck it again


    The blonde girl - Lieselotte Elly was holding a weapon that looks like a huge Jackhammer with thrusters in the back - The SS.01 Shieldbreaker, rapidly appearing and disappearing around the monsters. With each time the girl appears, a white glow accompanied by red sparks shone out as she struck the barrier with her weapon


    Gradually, the barrier started having signs of breaking down


    The blonde girl thrusted her weapon towards the <Stella>''s defenceless back again, the barrier resisted at first, then quickly gave in and the high frequency stake sunk deeply inside the monster''s flesh.


    "Lotte-chan, get away from it now!" A girl with long purple hair yelled from behind


    "got it, it''s all yours Rize-san"


    At that moment, a giant stone pillar fell from the sky, piercing straight through the <Stella>, nailing it on the ground like a piledriver. The monster let out a final howl, then crumble to the ground


    "few, that''s one down" muttering Rize


    "good work Rize-san, you are strong as always"


    Lieselotte, while panting heavily, leapt away from the <Stella>¡¯s body and landed next to Rize


    "I''m nothing special, look at the captain over there, she''s the one you should call strong"


    "uwaa, that''s captain Iris for you, <Stella> of this level didn''t even make the <Invincible> break a sweat. Scary~"


    Fifteen meters away, a girl with long silver hair that was tied up into a pony tail was facing two <Stella> on her own


    The green one jumped using it insect like legs at Iris, trying to pounce at her. But Iris just stood there umoving, she showed no sign of trying to dodge the incoming


    Halfway through its course it was stopped by a huge pile of concrete - a fragment of a building slammed hard into its face.


    The monster was blown back several dozen meters, tumbling repeatedly before stopping. It let out a muffled cry, trying to get up, only to see it was surrounded numerous debris floating in place like they were held by invisible hands


    With a flick of her finger, hundreds of sharp rocks with all kind of sizes and shapes rained down on the monster from every direction, piercing it all the way through its body. The monster let out its death throes and stopped moving shortly after


    "captain! The last one is trying to do something strange!"


    Seeing two of its fellow died, the last and also the biggest <Stella> slammed all its legs, digging deep into the ground, and from its mouth, a ball of light was slowly forming, it kept getting bigger and bigger by the seconds


    Seeing that spectacle, suddenly Iris felt a chill running up her spine. Shaking her head to clear up the unpleasant feeling, Iris point her hand at the <Stella> that was nailed into the ground by Rize and activate her power


    The ground slightly trembled , and the giant stone pillar floated up with the corpse of the monster still stuck on it. Then like an arrow that was shot from a bow, it flew with an incredible speed towards the last <Stella>.


    At the last second before the stone pillar hit the monster, the ball of light on its mouth transform into a thick beam of light. The beam with tremendous output was fired toward the silver haired girl, it instantly vaporized the stone pillar along with the corpse stuck on it, and kept going.


    But the beam of light did not reach Iris, as if hitting an invisible wall around her, the beam spread apart in all direction and exploded like a firework show


    Moments later, a huge black orb flew from behind Iris and hit the monster directly, an instant later, a blinding flash came, and a huge ball of varicolored fire belched upward, the heat radiated from the explosion can be felt even from afar.


    "that was close, luckily I prepared a few magic bomb just in case. Maybe that was how they blew up the wall, what a nasty attack"


    The girl with purple hair - Rize Rosemary sighed in exasperation


    "An attack like that is unprecedented, when did the <Stella> develope an ability like that?" Amelia chimed in


    "I don''t know how, but we need to head for the second squad immediately. I have a bad feeling about this"


    "you heard the captain! Move out!"


    They moved in an orderly fashion, with the ASS formed a circle around the entire formation, witches in the rear and espers in the middle


    "this is where the signal of the 12th platoon is, but why is it so quiet? Is the battle already over?"


    "Over there captain! There''s someone on the ground"


    When the 7th platoon arrived at where the second team was, there was a huge trench on the ground, 5 meters deep and 10 meters wide, it looks as if a giant fissure has formed after an earthquake. Nothing remains inside the colossal trench, but they came upon something horrifying


    Laying on the damaged ground, was a charred corpse. Her skin intertwined with her suit, the stench of the burnt flesh filling the air wafted into their nostrils, the smell of burning skin and hair, quite sickening and disturbing to the senses made some of the soldiers vomitted on the spot.


    "wh...wha...what happened here?"


    "where is everybody? Wasn''t there 6 people in the 12th platoon?"


    The girl - probably from the ASS, was lying on the ground, or more accurately, only her upper body was, everything below her breast was gone. But not even a drop of blood remains, the wound has been charred black by something with high temprature. This is what would happen if you took that beam attack directly


    "how...how could this happen? They''re all dead...."


    "Melisa-senpai.... *sniff* please don''t leave me alone *sniff*... didn''t we promise to go for karaoke after this? *sob* Why didn''t you keep your promise??!...." *sob*


    A girl with red hair stood there in a daze - Amelia Fortza, hugging what''s left of her comrade, bawling her eyes out, she couldn''t stop her tears from overflowing. She sobbed into her hands as the tears dripped between her fingers, raining down onto the parched soil


    "get up! This is a battlefield, save your crying for later"


    "I can''t... I don''t want to fight anymore ..."


    *smack* a dry sound rang out as Iris slapped the girl. The slap was as loud as a clap made her face stung, it was an open-handed slap and it even left a red welt behind. The girl fell on her butt due to the recoil of the slap, looking up, she didn''t even know what happened to her


    "GROW UP!!! Look around you! This is what happen when a <Stella> attacks us. Do you think you''re the only one who lost your friend? Many other in the squad are friend with each other.... I lost my friend too"


    "Iris-senpai... so how? How can you say that?  How can you still be so calm as if nothing happened ?!"


    "Because that''s our duty. This is a battlefield where we may die at any moment, and our job is to make sure no citizen is harmed beside us, we will even give our lives for that. So if you don''t want more innocent peole to die, then STAND UP AND FIGHT!"


    Swallowing her grief and sadness, the girl stood up


    *sniff* I''m sorry captain, I''m fine now. I''ll fight, so that no one will have to lose their loved one anymore *sniff*


    "good, now stand up Amelia, the next battle is waiting for us"


    "you heard the captain! There''s only one <Stella> corpse here. We need to find the other one right away, before it kills even more..."


    <hr />


    End of part 1

 Extra chapter: Floria Memoria

    Note: this chapter contains gore and mature descriptions, viewer''s discretion is advised


    <hr />


    Located on the outer border between the Naples empire and the Imereti kingdom, to the north of  the Beroth mountain range, is a vast forest called the Endia forest


    The forest was so vast because the land is fertile, enriched by the river flowing through it for hundreds of years.Within the close proximity of the river, lay Cain village


    The village of Cain is a secluded village which is populated by about 200 people, divided into 34 families. For a border village, this number is normal


    This village is an outer border village, which is to say the only people living here are the villagers and sometimes, the tax collectors from the kingdom, not even adventurers wander to this place in the middle of nowhere, the villagers lives in peace, and yes, porverty. Their source of income is mainly their crops, and products from their cattles


    They lives the life of farmers, being busy from the moment the sun rises, until the moment it sets, and in the evening they settle down, they enjoys a cozy  dinner with their family and hurry to bed to prepare for another tiring day


    Floria Memoria was a simple village girl, living with her family of four, her day starts with drawing the water from the village well, then prepare breakfast for her family, once they''ve woken up, they would enjoy breakfast together, her parent would always praise her cooking even though the meal only consist of black bread, soup with mince meat and some vegetable, the leftovers will be packed for lunch


    After breakfast, her parents would go to work on the field, she and her sister would stay at home and either do the chores or helping out their parent with the fieldwork. Then came lunch, everyone in her family would enjoy lunch together out on the field, have a short break and continue working. Dinner is similar as well, with a bit of extra meat if they managed to buy some from the hunters.


    Their lives were stable, boring but fulfilling, and Floria thought it would be nice if this life can continues forever. But you can never know what life has in store for you...


    That fateful day was a sunny day, the sky was so blue and clear that it made one want to forget about work, go out and play. But Floria wanted to pick the berries in the woods, so she went a little deeper than the usual route for picking firewood.


    The forest was full of life, birds chirping , squirrels chasing each other made the leaves rustle, a couple of rabbits making love nearby made Floria blush, she covered her eyes and ran back to the village


    "Is that.....smoke? why would there be smoke...?"


    On her way back she can see smoke rising from the village, inside her, a feeling of dread suddenly welled up


    "please be safe Agnes! Please be safe!"


    Throwing the basket she was carrying away, she rushed toward the village with all her might


    Tripped over a branch on the road, she landed on her butt, but she has no time to lose here, quickly stood up, she ran again with all the speed her legs can give out


    Closer to the village, the sounds of horses neighing and peole screaming could be heard, and numerous figures moving in the village could be seen, they were wearing full plate armours, armed with swords, shields spears and all kinds of weapons... In addition, flashes of light could be seen further away in the village


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    On the way to her house, Floria could see a man was pointing his sword at a villager, the tip of the sword pierced through his abdomen, the blood from his wound formed a puddle on the ground.


    "sav....me...." she saw his mouth moved


    "I''m sorry... I need to get my family first... "


    That was Korama, a farmer in the village, he was an annoying man, but he was a person with good nature, he doesn''t deserve to die like this...


    Floria wanted to stop and help him, but she couldn''t... she couldn''t prioritize him over her family...


    Finally, her house came into view, it was still standing there, looking like it normally would, it was as if all this killings has never happened


    "father! mother! Agnes! are you okay?!"


    Shouting for her family at the top of her lungs, but no answer came from the house, she reached for the door, trying to push away the thoughts of what might be on the other side....


    Inside the house, the normal smell of dirt and grass it usually has was no more, only the smell of blood slowly crept out from the hell like scene...


    Her father was sitting at the corner of the house, but at a closer look, only his upper half was sitting , the lower half was on the floor, his innards was spilling out from the lifeless body


    Her mother, with tattered clother and a viscous liquid flowing out of her lower body, has a spear tip coming out of her chest, her face was a mix of shame and horror


    Her sister... was nowhere to be found, the only thing left was the grass bracelet they made together on a sunny day like today


    She couldn''t breathe, her breath stuck in her throat like a lump of meat as she tried not to retch at the sight, she wanted to look away, she needed to tear her eyes away from this wretched scene, but she couldn''t...


    As she was standing rooted to the spot, the figures of a few men drew closer to her, with a sack on their hands and weapons on the other, they knocked her out with a spear shaft and stuffed her into the sack


    The man who knocked Floria out was a burly, thick man, armed with a bastard sword and a net, he looks just like a bandit from the old stories


    "Kekeke, that man was right, there is a  village in the middle of nowhere like this, we are gonna be rich. Let''s move out boys! We''re gonna get some booze after this"


    "Ou!!!!!"


    His underlings raised a joyous cry


    That day, Cain village disappeared from the map


    <hr />

 Chapter 5: The disturbance in the city (part 2)

    Sorry for the delay, I was quite busy so I couldn''t really write, also, this chapter is twice as long so it took longer to write than normal. After all, I writes in my free time


    Now, without further delay, enjoy!


    P/S: with the appearance of: The Autonomous Bartender</a> , this novel will be demote into a secondary project, since the World of Astella is quite complex. I''ll focus on TAB for the time being


    <hr />


    Mirai was on her way to the shrine


    "--The <Stella> has invaded the city, all citizens are advised to evacute to the nearest shelter or hide in your basements immediately! Please do not leave until further noticed! I repeat--"


    "get the fuck out of my way!!"


    "did anybody see my child?! Please help me find him!"


    "stop pushing!! The shelter has enough space for everybody"


    Alarms can be heard throughout the city, people were frantically trying to reach the shelters as the Emergency Rescue staffs tried to guide them to safety


    When Mirai arrived at the shrine area, it was burning in a sea of red, yellow and orange. The cries of the people echoed into the night. Tendrils of smoke reaching high upon the sky, as if trying to escape the blazing inferno below.


    "please remain calm everybody, no need to panic. Proceed to the West gate and take the shortest route to the shelter"


    Amidst the flame, Mirai could see her mother''s figure trying to evacuate the visitors


    "Mom! Are you okay?"


    "Mirai? Why are you here? You went after Souta right? Ah, it doesn''t matter right now, help me evacuate the visitors!"


    Mirai''s mother - Asahina Sanae is the current head of the shrine. When the explosion happened, a festival was going on at the shrine so there were many visitors at the shrine ground currently


    BOOOOOM!!!! *rumble* *rumble* *rumble*


    Suddenly, a part of the shrine collapsed, raising a cloud of dust and embers


    Through the curtain of flame and smoke came the glow of two yellow eyes, like a lamplight casting an eerie glow down the street, eight feet off the ground, covered in an ashen colored hair, the huge monstrosity slowly climbed through the pile of rubbles


    "mom, you take the guests and run as far as possible from here, I''ll hold that thing back!"


    Mirai is the only one here who could fight, she needed to buy some time for her mother to run away


    "it''s okay Mirai... you don''t have to do this, you''re still young, your future awaits, just prioritize your life first"


    "what are you saying mother? How can I leave innocent people to their fate and run here? Especially when you''re one of those people..."


    "can you really defe... No, nevermind.... Don''t push yourself okay Mirai? If things gets tough then just abandon us and run"


    "Don''t worry about me mother, I can handle it! Definitely!"


    Realizing how powerless she is, Sanae could only swallow her tears and pray for her daughter''s safety


    "geez, you''re too much of a worrywart mother. Beside, Sou-chan will come and save me if bad things happens"


    With her mother out of danger, a small smile broke out on Mirai''s face as she prepares for battle


    "hey monster-san, you''d better be ready for a heavy punishment for interrupting my confession with Sou-chan!!"


    Even though the creature doesn''t understand the language, it knew that it''s being mocked, raising a loud roar, it sprinted toward Mirai


    Each step it took made the earth trembles, the massive monster charged at Mirai with its head lowered, trying to skewer her with its sharp horn.


    "it''s fast!"


    The monster was fast in contrast to its huge frame, having underestimated the monster''s strength, Mirai was taken by surprise, but she somehow managed to dodge the attack at the last moment by jumping back.


    The <Stella>, having missed its mark began to circle back. Mirai tried to dodge a swing from its massive claws, but she wasn''t fast enough this time, it only grazed her side but the wind pressure behind it alone was enough to send her tumbled on the ground


    "I''ve fought Youkai before, but this thing is much faster and stronger than all of them, what a monster"


    Struggling to stand up, Mirai could feel the cold sweat on her back and the fear slowly creeping up her spine, but she can''t lose here, not when the silhouettes of the group that was trying to escape is still visible, she needed to buy more time for them


    "TORRRYAAA!"


    Shouting out loud to suppress her fear, Mirai swung the beam saber at the monster''s leg, but the attack was ineffective because of the barrier is still active, the feedback made her hand numb instead


    "ouch~ what''s with this thing? It''s so hard~"


    But Mirai didn''t stop attacking, and after a few attacks, the barrier was broken, accompanied with a spray of blood, the saber cut through one of its hind leg.


    While letting out a pained roar, the beast jumped back a long way, and from its back, numerous tentacles sprouted up. Agitated by the injury to its leg, the <Stella> furiously charged at Mirai again even faster than before


    Mirai tried to dodge it by jumping back, but from the <Stella>''s back, the cylindrical shapes of tentacles leaped out, and they entangled Mirai with a perfect timing when she was still in the air and couldn''t dodge


    "no way!! My clothes are meltingggggg...!!!!!~"


    The tentacles were covered in slime, wherever it touches immediately started to melt where the slimy mucus made contact with her clothes


    "stop it you perverted beast!!!!!!~"


    *Nyuu~Nyuu~* Countless tentacles with black luster that just by looking at it would make you wrap in disgust were twining around Mirai''s limbs and wriggling around with a disgusting sound, they eventually found their way inside her half-melted clothes


    "My body...is not your play thing!!!!!!!"


    The beam sword, as if giving its consent, extended into a 3m long sword. With a round cut, Mirai severed all the tentacles in one go, rotating her body while still falling, Mirai severed another leg. Kicking at the huge body of the beast, Mirai jumped a long way to distance herself from it


    The monster let out a crazed howl, it was emitting a murderous aura, as if saying killing Mirai wouldn''t be enough to soothe its rage. Stomping the ground, the monster opened its mouth widely, a ball of light was slowly forming again, it was preparing to release another beam


    "mother and the others are in the way... I can''t dodge!"


    Mirai did not know what the monster was trying to do, but she can tell it was a ranged attack. She leapt away from her position to avoid the attack, but while jumping, she saw the silhouettes of the party who were trying to flee in the direct path of the attack


    A mysterious sound was reverberating in the air as the monster was charging up for the attack. Pressing the ground with her leg, Mirai held up the beam sword and stood between the monster and the group, preparing to intercept whatever comes this way to protect the innocent people, and above all, to protect her mother.


    A few seconds later, a straight, bright, laser-like beam was fired from the <Stella>, the attack with a tremendous output that even made the air scream was making its way to where Mirai was.


    Any attack would just be annihilated


    Any attempt to block would be futile


    Anything she does would be useless


    Mirai''s hand trembled


    Mirai knew she couldn''t get out of this unscathed.


    She knew if she were to take that attack it would instantly vaporize her without even leaving a speck of dust behind


    Even so Mirai stood firm


    It was not that she wanted to protect someone because she can defeat the monster


    She had to stop the monster because she has someone she wanted to protect


    But no matter how much she struggle she wouldn''t be able to stop this kind of attack


    "ah.... am I... going to die here?"


    A sense of regret started welling up inside Mirai


    But, at the same time a sense of fulfilment surged up


    "at least I confessed how I felt to Sou-chan. Thank you for returning my feelings, I''m... happy... And sorry Sou-chan, I won''t be able to repay your kindness..."


    A torrent of regret, her words of gratitude and apologies would never be able to reach him now.


    The brilliant white light was shot out, the blinding light thick enough to swallow her entire being annihilated the surrounding darkness was heading toward her


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    "huh? I''m... still alive?"


    Mirai waited, waited, and waited... But the attack never came


    In the instant when she was to be vaporized entirely in the beam along with all her regrets


    A deafening sound that rocks the heaven echoed into the night sky as the beam collided with an invisible wall


    The heat released from the attack melted the ground around her, the stone-paved shrine ground was shining red hot. The trees were uprooted, the soil and rocks were blown away by the impact


    But on the other side of the invisible wall, Mirai was unharmed. Furthermore, she can''t even feel any difference in temprature


    "M...ai... irai... Mirai... Are you okay?"


    "eh? Sou-chan? Where are you?..."


    Inside the safezone created by the barrier, Mirai heard the voice of her beloved childhood friend


    "what happened? The barrier spell on your keychain was activated. The barrier is strong but it can only be maintained for a limited time. Just throw your keychain on the ground and recite <Release>, I will be there immediately"


    "huh? Keychain? You mean this?


    Mirai pulled out a bear keychain from her pocket, it was vibrating and shining brilliantly with a bright light that illuminated the surrounding


    On  her 10th birthday, Souta gave Mirai a keychain with a cute bear design, it looks just like a normal keychain you can get at any gift shop


    "ehhhh, how do I use this? Like this?.... RELEASE!"


    Mirai threw the keychain under her feet and recited the key word. It suddenly stopped shining and vibrating


    "eh?"


    "Did I break it? Wawawa... What do I do now? Sou-chan is gonna be mad at me!"


    After a few seconds later, the keychain started shining again, this time it was shining in a light blue color. A blue disk with a hollow center and glowing outer rim with the height big enough for a person to pass through appeared, it was Souta''s teleportation magic that he used earlier. And from the black hole, Souta''s figure emerged


    "Hanya!?"


    "seriously! Don''t just yell at my face the moment you see me..... Are you okay?"


    Mirai let out a surprised voice, since she threw the keychain at her feet, the gate was right next to her, the distance between her face and his''s was just a few centimeters apart, she can even feel his warm breath


    "I...I''m fine, just a few bruises. You came just in time"


    Replying happily, Mirai tried to hide her embarrassment


    "I can see that you''re okay already, I was talking about something else"


    "what are you?.... IYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"


    Souta was pointing downward, following his finger, *poof* Mirai instantly turned into a red tomato. Crouching down to hide her body, her eyes were spinning as steam puffs rose from her head, even her ears and neck were bright red


    "Thank you for the feast!"


    Bowing his head and clapped his hand twice, Souta made it look like he was praying at a shrine. On a further note, he IS at a shrine currently


    "geez~, what are you even doing at a time like this?"


    "don''t mind it, I was just thanking somebody for the wonderful sight"


    Earlier, when Mirai was sprayed with the clothes dissolving fluid, her clothes were mostly melted, and she was in a half-naked state. The tattered clothes that hid her body half-heartedly made her look excessively erotic


    There were a few cut at the front of her chest, making the smooth curves of her breasts visible. Her slender body coupled with a pair of abundant hills would make one¡¯s heart throb at a glance


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "here, take this. You''ll catch a cold with those rags"


    Souta gave Mirai the shirt he was wearing, his gentle warmth wrapped around Mirai like a gentle breeze on a warm day


    "these aren''t rags, they are my Combat Shrine Maiden outfit"


    Japan has always had spellcasters or spiritualists who passed down their skills, and Mirai was one of their descendant


    Combat Shrine Maiden is a type of spiritualist that protect a specific area, their tasks comprised of exorcism, spiritual cleasing and most importantly, destroying Youkai that emerges within their region


    "anyway, you can rest assure, I''ll handle that thing"


    "okay, be careful Sou-chan, it can shoot beam from its mouth"


    Worried about him, Mirai tried to warn him about the <Stella>''s ability


    "got it. Oh, one more thing, do you remember what I said before about me being not a human? Well, after this, decide for yourself if you still want to follow me or not"


    <hr />


    "Come here you disgusting insect, you''re going to die for what you just did"


    Souta turned to the abominable monster, declaring its ineluctable fate for hurting his important friend


    GRUUUOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!~


    The <Stella> loudly roared before charging at Souta at a breakneck speed


    If someone were to be hit with that, it''s over for them. Not mentioning being skewered, a human body would no doubt be mercilessly torn into thousands of pieces


    "WATCH OUT! SOU-CHAN!!!"


    "don''t worry, just stay there and watch"


    An explosive sound like the ground is breaking apart rang out from under his feet as he left a crater on the ground. Souta had jumped up to its upper body and hit the <Stella> so hard that its huge body flew backward for dozens of meters


    "No way!~"


    Her voices was filled with shock, a monster with the height of over 10 meters must have been incredibly heavy, and yet he punched it hard enough to knock it back that far. That power has far transcended the limits of human capabilities


    Struggling to stand up, realizing Souta is not its [prey] but an [enemy], the monster opened its huge mouth, trying to swallow him whole. A shockwave burst forth as Souta blew the monster away with just a swipe of his hand


    "we''re not done yet!"


    Kicking the ground again, Souta jumped in an arc. Rotating his body while in mid air into the upside down position. Stomping the air, Souta launched himself toward the ground like a meteor and landed a straight punch on the <Stella>''s back.


    The punch was already insanely strong to begin with was accelerated further by gravity and his jumping power. A huge crater was formed under the monster as it was pulverized instantly without even giving it the chance to let out a death throes.


    "So? Do you understand that I''m a monster now?"


    "You are so strong Sou-chan~!!!!!!"


    Mirai who was astonished by Souta''s overwhelming power was flailing her hands around with an excited mood


    "eh?"


    In front of the excited Mirai, Souta was stupefied and didn''t know what to say


    "what was that? You punched it like BANG! BOOM! And flew like WHOOSH~! It was incredible!!!!"


    The bloody mass of flesh nearby that was still twitching has nothing resemble to what it once was did not even faze her, not even a tiny bit


    "ahhh... Who am I kidding?~ She''s an idiot"


    "that''s rude! I am not an idiot! You''re the Idiot here!! Stupid Sou-chan!!"


    Since Mirai was an air-headed girl, of course she doesn''t mind that Souta is a human or not. Souta just gave up on the idea of showing his monstrous strength to scare her away


    "pffft.... puhahahahaha! Yeah I''m an idiot, I was stupid to even try to scare you off"


    The girl''s face, beautiful enough to make anyone''s heart throb was dyed with discontent, but her cute way of expressing it only served to make Souta laugh like mad


    "but still... thank you Sou-chan, you really came to save me...~ *hic* thank you *hic* and I''m glad you''re okay..."


    The danger is now gone, she doesn''t have to fight for her life or her mother''s life anymore


    It wasn''t tears of sadness but happiness. Even though she''s happy, her tear wouldn''t stop flowing.


    "come here... It''s all okay now... don''t cry"


    Souta pulled Mirai into his embrace, trying to comfort her


    *rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*


    Suddenly, from somewhere close by, the sound of engines running came


    A few minutes later, numerous light came from the sky, and the silhouettes of humans wearing mechanical suit can be seen. Also, many small hovercraft-like vehicle were moving below. The group of soldiers stopped near where Souta and Mirai were


    "Which of you was the one who killed this <Stella>?"


    A silver haired girl who was wearing a full body suit stepped forward. She had smooth, flowing silver hair with a hint of purple that reached her waist. Her hair swayed in the wind as she walked, leaving a bright silver trail behind her. She had gentle blue eyes, pale white skin that shone like wax, she looks like an exquisite doll


    "That would be me, and you are?"


    Souta stepped forward to answer the question, as well as to shield Mirai from any probable danger


    "Captain Iris Amaryllis, we''re the subjugation squad from <Aegis>. Identify yourself!"


    "oh, you''re from <Aegis> huh? I''m a Special Commissioned Officer. Lieutenant Ichinose Souta, I don''t belong to any organization. But I do have a contract with Arlington"


    Special Commissioned Officer (SCO) are a term for people who don''t have the obligation to accept a mission from the higher ups but holds the same authority as the rank suggested


    "Arlington...the academy''s principal!? You have a contract with the Dusk Witch?"


    The Dusk Witch - Sophie Arlington, is a highly respected individual and also a central figure in the <WMO> who proposed the idea of combining both Espers and Witches power together to protect humanity


    "yeah, here''s the proof. Anyway, is there any <Stella> left?"


    "no, the one you killed was the last one"


    While examinging the relevant paperwork, Iris said


    "Sou-chan, who are they?"


    Mirai who was staying silent until now timidly asked


    "don''t worry, they''re from <Aegis> academy, the place I was about to go earlier. But I must ask, do you really want to follow me there?"


    If Mirai want to follow Souta, she have to transfer from her old school and part from her friends. Especially her best friend, Yuuko


    "... yes! I want to be with you wherever you go, about Yuuko-chan, I''ll explain it to her later, I''m sure she''ll understand"


    "then you should go get your mother''s permission. I''ll arrange the transfer procedure"


    "Actually, I already got it. But I want to tell her what happened just now! Tell Saya-chan to get better soon for me okay?!"


    Mirai ran off in a flash, leaving a trail of dust behind


    Souta didn''t know, but Mirai already consulted her mother about that matter after she received Amaterasu''s divination, but that is a story for another time


    "sheesh...What a happy-go-lucky girl.... Anyway, Captain Iris! Take me to <Aegis>, I have fulfilled my part of the contract, now it is Sophie''s turn"


    "Roger that Lieutenant! You can use one of our Scorpion."


    Iris pointed toward one of the vehicle they brought along


    "All team! Return to the Academy!"


    ******


    Back at a certain operating room


    "What''s the battle result? Hurry up and report!"


    Sophie Arlington was yelling at the operators again


    "ye...yes.. right away ma...I''m sorry.... I mean Sophie-sama"


    Sophie heard a certain forbidden word, but because of the situation, she decided to let it go...for now


    "four Ground type <Stella> have been neutralized, two of them exhibited an unprecedented ability. The beams of unknown nature they released earlier had a power level of over 30 Gigawatts, that''s four times more powerful than our most advanced particle cannon!"


    "30 Gigawatts? That much is enough to power the whole damn city for a month! Furthermore, how did they even get past the wall without being noticed in the first place?!"


    The wall that surrounds the city is always monitored by numerous cameras, motion sensors and heat sensors. And there are espers with detecting related ability constantly patrolling, as well as many spells put up by witches to detect any <Stella> approaching


    Moreover, outside the wall, the city is protected by the autonomous defense system <Aegir> that is nigh impregnable by human hands


    But even so, the fact is the <Stella> have broken in, and there was nothing about the previously demonstrated ability in any past records, there is something about this that makes Sophie feel uneased


    "Agrh! This is giving me a headache! Issue an order to investigate this incident immediately and report back to me later! I''m going for a nap!"


    Flailing her short arms around and pouting, Sophie showed the rare behaviour that matches her appearance


    After Sophie have left, the operating room turned quiet, only the sounds of keyboard clicking rapidly remains


    <hr />


    At a certain place located in a quiet residential neighborhood


    A Caucasian teenager was striding on the empty road, heading for a certain mansion


    Inside a garden with a multitude of trees, the mansion itself is obscured from the outside view. Covered in vines and mosses, it looks like the mansion hasn''t been used in years


    There is a wide atrium hall after passing through the front door and there was a huge staircase leading to the 2nd floor inside. The youth walked cautiously up the stairs, and eventually stopped in front of a big door.


    Pushing open the heavy door, the youth entered the murky room


    "oh, you¡¯re here, youngster"


    "I''ve arrived and ready for your instructions"


    A tall and lean old man, probably about 50 years old, were playing with an ashtray talked to him, the old man''s appearance was very intellectual, with a wide forehead and deep-set eyes, sitting with an upright posture, he was emanating a heavy and overpowered presence.


    "how did our little experiment go?"


    "yes, the portable teleportation equipment <Unit> was a success. Although we couldn''t test the maximum capacity, we were able to confirm that there is no problem with the transference of the [goods] to anywhere you wanted"


    The youth presented a strange looking device to the old man


    "Wohoho. That¡¯s good enough! Now we can proceeds to the next phase of the plan"


    The lean old man let out a crazed laugh while playing with the ashtray


    "now all we need is to secure a [bait] for our Queen''s descent. Can I leave this matter to you, <Black Phantom>-kun?"


    "your wish is my command, this humble servant shall complete your order without fail!"


    "good! Then I''m counting on you"


    As the old man¡¯s chess piece, the devil¡¯s servant took off


    In order to sprout the seed the devil planted


    "those filthy ingrates, I''ll show them how we cleanse this god forsaken world!"


    The old man that was left alone in the room, mumbled to himself


    Dark happiness was filling his heart as he stared at the equipment which was close to completion


    The dearest wish he wanted was about to be achieved, he can feel the savage delight, joy and rapture were swirling inside of him


    "Ha...haha¡­¡­..fuhahahaha!! Ha----haha!! Ha---hahahaha!!¡±


    The emotions mixed together soon turned into madness and poured out like raging currents in the form of a hysterical laugh


    The devil laughed alone in the darkness...