AIYA had always pictured himself dying from a woman's wrath. But a kid?! Somehow he felt incredibly disappointed. He tried retreating, but the silver dagger quickly reached his throat. 

SLICE! 

KASHA!

SPLURT!

A few meters away, AIYA's neck was spewing blood like a fountain. But, he was still clutching to dear life. He had already popped a healing dan in his mouth. He tried saying "Cover me" (probably), but only a garble and blood came out. 

The exchange had been so fast that Josh had barely seen it. The cute Ness had sneak-attacked AIYA. Just as he was about to die, a shining golden barrier had appeared and blocked most of the hit before loudly shattering. 

The girl could be seen grinning. Her smile was one that was void of any warmth. It was full of malice, playfulness, and expectation for the fun that she would have. The point was, she would have fitted perfectly in a horror movie. 

By now, every team member was fully geared and in a defensive formation around the wounded. The entire reorganization had taken them 1 second. Josh had to agree that it was pretty good. 

"Thanks for the save, Minor. Without your barrier, I'd be dead." AIYA was finally able to speak. 

"You should be thanking Josh. He's the one that told me about it. I didn't believe it at first but…." Minor admitted with slight fear in his voice.

"It doesn't matter. Let's clear this, shall we!" Emsee confidently declared. 

That's when they went silent, and the atmosphere became oppressive. Before, they had been in a defensive state, but not anymore.

AIYA signaled the beginning of the fight. He readied his bow, which looked more like a ballista. It felt especially weird as a small human was carrying it. AIYA explosively sent an enormous 2-meter long arrow toward Ness. 

But, a tilt of the head was all it took to dodge it. She perhaps looked like a child, but the composure in these eyes of hers gave her away. Well, another good hint was her eyes turning a glowing beast-like yellow.

That's when the charging Joe reached her and angrily screamed: "DIE YOU BITCH!" 

He was loud! So damn loud! Actually…what the Hell was that weapon?! In his hands, he had what one could only describe as a steel beam! He swung it around so madly that it generated wind currents! 

It felt as if he had abandoned all technique whatsoever and was just randomly swinging. He looked to be on a mad rampage. But then Josh realized something. Joe was only attacking at first glance, but he was defending the path leading to his allies. 

Then Emsee came in reinforcement. In his hands, he had two red metallic rods. What were these for? He instantly attacked the target violently, but once more, she dodged with minimal effort. 

As his weapons collided with the ground, a deep GONG sound came out of them. Were these things hollowed inside? Wouldn't there be lots of power lost this way? He kept attacking over and over without success. Wait, wasn't this guy a bard? 

Ah, that's what it was! As he kept "missing", a deep melody began reverberating. Josh could suddenly feel his whole body heat up slightly. It was as if he had just gotten an energy rush. It also seemed like the girl was slowing down too. 

That's when she charged at Emsee. Yet, he didn't show any fear at all. He still kept attacking and producing his weird music. He even did it as she stood right in front of him. Her dagger could be seen tracing an arc toward him until…

WHOOSH! 

Joe's beam came crashing down toward her head. He had been waiting all long for her to be in this perfect spot. But so had she. She instantly changed her center of gravity and darted toward Joe, rapidly closing the distance. 

His arm was extended fully, leaving his body vulnerable. She plunged her dagger toward him, and just as it seemed that she would succeed, another golden barrier appeared to thwart her plans. 

Minor had given perfectly timed defensive assistance. What were the limitations to his barrier magic? Could he apply it to anyone? What about using it offensively? Was that possible? 

CLANG 

She retreated because Joe's attack was already heading her way. AIYA took this opportunity to shoot a few arrows. Somehow he managed to shoot five at once! All stayed true to their path and reached the girl. 

But she played with her thin knife, sending all of them flying. It collided with a support beam nearby. Even the thing that was made of metal got pierced like tofu. How much power was behind these?! No, how much power was in these thin arms of hers?! 

It was the first time in the fight that she blocked rather than dodged. They had thought she lacked raw strength, but that was obviously wrong! The party couldn't help but furrow their brows. 

What would Josh do in her place? Emsee was applying a debuff over time and needed to be stopped. But, he was protected by Joe, who in turn was protected by Minor.

The girl would need to target the backline, but it was just a question of time at this rate. 

She decided to dash all the way toward Minor. She raised her small blade high up before slashing at him. How long would he survive in such an intense fight?! Just as Josh was wondering, something amazing happened! 

Minor began showing his real value. Yes, he could protect allies. Yes, he could increase the defense of anyone drastically and save lives. But, it was nothing compared to his own self-buff. 

He began glowing golden. A golden radiant armor covered his entire body. What was this?! Sparks were created as the enemy's dagger collided with it, but he did not move a single step. 

He even counter-attacked, trying to grab her head with his gauntlet-like magical-looking arm. She did a backflip to avoid the grab, dodging the arrows that were flying her way at the same time. But, that melody in the background was only getting stronger. 

That's when she resolutely charged at AIYA. An archer in close range could only be a sitting duck. She grinned as she tried unleashed Hell upon him. For some reason, he was extremely mobile and had had no issue shooting right next to himself. How?! 

Thus the fight kept going. It wasn't even that they were that strong. No, what made them great was that they were conscious of their weaknesses and had worked on them. 

The all-attacking berserker had a full attack style showing defensive properties.

The bard's attacks couldn't be avoided and would help either directly or indirectly.

The Vanguard was near impenetrable yet had learned to share his power with others.

Finally, the archer was fighting close-ranged. 

Josh couldn't help but be glad that he had the prescience to prepare accordingly. Yes, he wasn't just watching this happen. He was also eating delicious brownies in the meantime! It perhaps wasn't popcorn, but it would do the trick nonetheless. 

Yes, while Josh was blissfully enjoying himself, the rest of the team was fighting for their lives. It seemed like they had the upper hand with all that fantastic teamwork, but it was but an illusion. Josh knew it. 

All this while she had coped with every new technique in the same way. Either a slight dodge or straight-up blocking. Chances were, the enemy had received directives from the Tower itself to collect data on their fighting style. 

What was Josh going to do then? Absolutely nothing. They were moving with extreme speed, using magical abilities left and right. It wasn't his place to enter such a battlefield. 

Sure enough, soon it began. After a few minutes of no new techniques appearing, she revealed her true power. She began gaining the upper hand. She was slowly pushing them to their limits. The whole time she felt incredibly slippery to catch. 

The party could be seen panting and exchanging worried glances. How were they supposed to win this?! 

"You guys are pretty much a failure, eh? You can't even defeat one little girl. Pretty shameful." Josh snickered on the sides. 

It's only then that they remembered that he was there. Somehow they had forgotten about him. How was this possible?! They wouldn't commit such an easy mistake usually! 

"You guys are acting like you are fighting against a monster. That's why you are losing. If you aren't ready to improvise a bit and surprise the opponent, then you might as well quit now…." He casually uttered. As if they would gain anything from it, he didn't know. 

He just resumed eating and watching. When the girl stared at him, he simply shrugged. He gave her a look that said: 'If you attack me, I won't show mercy, you know.' Well, she was incredibly stronger than him. 

They seemed to be racking their brains to come up with a strategy. Surprisingly it's the berserker that came with a solution. It was possibly the crudest strategy of all time. He changed his attitude. 

Instead of going for defense, he went full-on attack with the intention to go for a Pyrrhic victory. This wouldn't work on a monster that was bigger and had extreme vitality. But, this time, they were dealing with an enemy with human characteristics.

Would just this win? Nope. Ness just scoffed as she managed to land a hit due to his recklessness. But just as she was about to finish him for good came something weird. 

On a flying arrow, a golden silhouette could be seen. Of course, she initiated a dodge, but then the melody hit a crescendo and slowed her movements. The now fallen to the ground Joe also grabbed her heels.

That's how Minor managed to bear-hug her solidly. Once she got restrained, this fight turned into a one-sided massacre. Soon enough, her gory remains stained their bodies and the floor alike. It was everywhere. 

That's when they fell to the side and began vomiting. Even if she was clearly a monster, they had just killed a little girl, a human one. They could be seen livid and despairing. The madness of the combat was leaving them as they began trembling. 

That's when Minor slowly got back to his feet. He looked at the calmly eating Josh, dumbfounded. "How?! How did you know and since when?!"

"How did I know? It was obvious. I knew from the very beginning. There were signs, but you probably disregarded them unconsciously. Am I right? You didn't wish for this outcome." 

"Why did you only tell Minor about it? You did so with that Nebulabucks bill, right?" AIYA added. 

"Why? Would you have believed it if I had told you? As for Minor, It didn't matter how much disbelief he had. He would still protect you guys because that's what a vanguard does. Am I wrong?" Josh explained. 

"This is so crazy! We still have one more task mission even now…." Joe sighed. 

"Indeed!" Josh was grinning. For some reason, his smile seemed scarier than the grin of the previous enemy. 

As they all watched the bloody mess on the ground, they couldn't help but wonder. What kind of madness would come next?…

Creator's Thought

The Alter Tower had always been very curious. It just happened that it had an interest in seeing their reactions to the murder of a young girl. It didn't really change anything that she was obviously an enemy. The unconscious would still be screaming about how wrong the whole killing was the whole time.