Ash looked around, trying to see if she could find any means of escape in case this actually was a sort of ambush. There were multiple guards standing by around the square, covering different exits. Varcon continued what he was announcing to the crowd.

"Our new Saviors will show you Magia's living blessings!"

What the fuck is he talking about? Ash asked herself with crossed arms.

"Ah." Satsuhiro nodded to himself. "I get it."

"Well, I don't," Ash told him. "Care to explain?"

"Check her stats."

The half-demon did so, focusing on the girl dressed in gold, and her eyes widened.

Level 9

MP: 10/10

Oh. As Varcon continued saying vaguely holy-sounding things, Ash sighed.

"He wants to humiliate me."

"Yeah." Satsuhiro nodded.

"What?" Keiko asked. "What's happening?"

"Varcon wants me to fight another Savior, only she's already level 9."

"That's... But, why?" Keiko asked, confused.

"Like I said. He wants people to laugh at me... well unless this is a fight to the death. If it is, he's actually trying to get me killed too."

"I don't think he'd go that far," Satsuhiro told Ash. "He should know the value of a Savior. We aren't exactly an easily renewable resource."

"You sure?" Ash asked. "I'm fairly certain he'd burn a city down if it meant seeing me have a bad day."

"I'd like to think so," Satsuhiro replied. "Either way, if it does get to that point, I won't let it happen."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"Of course. Don't get me wrong, you're way too loud, and talking to you is one of the more exhausting parts of my day, but that doesn't mean I want you dead. Nova needs you."

"Aw, I'm touched," Ash responded dryly.

But... really, what the fuck is this? Ash thought. Has he actually gone crazy? She asked herself, seeing how Varcon smiled as the audience grew excited.

"Saviors, approach!" He called out and Ash shook her head.

"So, uh, you mean that, right? You won't let me get my head cut off?"

"Mhm. Go ahead. Brace your pride, it's certainly taking a hit today. But, maybe after this, he'll lay off. I think it's best to just let him get this out of his system."

"Sadly, doesn't seem like I have a choice," Ash said and walked up. The crowd separated and allowed her to pass, gracing her with scowls and a few of them even spit at her feet. Ash didn't care. She simply wanted to get this over with. As she drew closer, she finally got a good look at the other Savior.

Wow. She thought. Yeah, no bias at all here.

Ash wore the iron armor she'd been given when she started this mess of a journey. The other Savior though was covered in the sort of regal golden armor she imagined palace knights wearing. She looked every bit like a hero out of a fairy tale, with her clean blonde hair and the stoic look on her face.

And then there was Ash, whose only impressive feature, as far as what she had on her, was Lust.

The other woman glanced over at her, and Ash met her blue eyes. She got closer and the Savior turned to face her.

---

Kaori

The half-demon didn't look exactly like what Kaori had imagined, but she couldn't deny that she got a weird feeling from her. Her physique was certainly impressive, with toned arms and a sculpted body, but everything else was strange. Her eyes low, her lips a tight line, and her stride uncaring and unimpressed, Kaori felt a sort of nervousness growing inside of her. She looked over to the back of the crowd, where she saw her own family cheering her on. Kaori tried to smile confidently for them.

She'd leveled up quite a bit thanks to Varcon's help, and she'd gotten her Swordstaff Proficiency up, but she hadn't been in a real fight yet. It was strange though, Kaori didn't find herself too concerned with how Ash fought, but rather, who she was. What kind of person is she? Would Magia actually choose someone evil to represent her?

Kaori was a Lumina believer, but that didn't mean she held Magia in low regard.

She looked back at Varcon, standing in the distance, pleased, with his hands behind his back.

The leader of Jade's biggest church wouldn't lie. If he says she's evil, she has to be. Right?

Kaori looked back at the approaching hybrid.

Right. If the leader of the church says she's an immoral, sociopathic person, then I have no reason not to believe that.

"Are you proud?" The hybrid said.

She hadn't expected the hybrid to speak to her.

"What?" Kaori asked.

"Are you proud?" The hybrid asked again. "Of what you're about to do."

"What do you mean?" Kaori asked.

"I mean, does fighting rookies and beating them down make you happy?" She asked. "Is that something you're into? Is that your kink? Is that how you get off?"

Kaori blushed.

So vulgar!

"If you arrived unprepared, that's on you!" Kaori told her. "You had ample time to prepare, didn't you?"

"Uh, no." The hybrid said. "I literally just got a message telling me to come here, and now I have to fight you. Does that sound like I had a lot of time?"

"Y-You're just making excuses," Kaori stated.

"Oh, yeah, definitely. I'm level 3 because I like being this weak before big fights. I'm a masochist." She said.

What? Kaori shook her head with disbelief. She checked the girl's stats.

Level 3

MP: 10/10

How...

"How are you only level 3?"

"I told you. I've only been training for a couple of days." The Savior replied. "I've got a better question. How are you level 9?"

"Varcon helped," Kaori stated and the Savior raised a brow. The crowd started muttering.

"Cease this speaking!" Varcon yelled. "You are here to fight. FIGHT!"

As the crowd started yelling, Kaori felt her hands shake.

"So," the hybrid started, "what are you going to do, Savior?" The half-demon asked, lacing the last word of that sentence with some mockery.

It didn't even feel like it was the woman asking the question, but rather, the world itself. Kaori had lived her life up until now believing in peace and love for all. She prayed about it every night, hoping that she'd live up to what her goddess expected of her. And now, she was faced with this situation. She had a hybrid in front of her and the combined chants of a crowd and an archpriest behind her saying she should fight this woman. Despite the level difference, despite what her conscience was telling her.

Would Lumina want me to fight here?

"I..." Kaori let her sword transform into its cube form. "I can't do this."

"What?" The hybrid asked. Kaori could see the genuine shock on her face.

"I can't," Kaori mumbled.

The hybrid looked surprised.

With a slightly softer tone, the white-haired girl said:

"Thank you."

I... You're welcome. Kaori replied in her mind. She was about to turn around and walk back to Varcon, but something happened.

She heard a straight bink sound and suddenly, the world briefly flashed with red. It was hard for her to understand how she was feeling. It was almost like being between being awake and asleep.

"Attack." She heard something say in her mind.

"Of course." She heard herself say, and she lunged forwards, transforming Love into her swordstaff as she ran up.

"What!?" The hybrid asked as the crowd burst into a cheer. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Kaori didn't answer. Instead, she split her swordstaff into two swords and aimed a slash at the hybrid's head. It was all she could do to dodge it. Kaori stopped. She shook her head, looking down at her hands. What? She thought. What am I doing?

"Attack." The deep, inhuman voice said again.

As she saw the half-demon standing a step or two away, again, all of her thoughts vanished and she ran up and tried to stab her in the gut. She nearly did it too, but the half-demon managed to deflect her blades at the last second.

Kaori hadn't done much in the form of actual combat. Most of what she and Varcon had done was bring in monsters to have her level raised, and a bit of technical learning for Swordstaff Proficiency. But, this, real dueling between two people with weapons, was a new experience for Kaori. The other woman though, Kaori could see had some semblance of how to fight.

Still, Kaori could feel just how much stronger she was. It was exhilarating, but for the life of her, she couldn't tell why she was attacking the half-demon.

The hybrid managed to duck under a slash, but Kaori gave her a knee to the chin for her troubles that sent the hybrid reeling. Kaori walked forwards, fully intent on plunging her sword into the half-demon's body.

"Wait." The voice in her mind said. "Don't end her yet. Let her suffer. Make her feel her failure."

"Alright." She replied in her thoughts, just as casually as if someone had asked her if she wanted to go out and buy lunch.

Kaori stopped her sword just before it reached the woman's neck. The hybrid looked up at her, fear and confusion in her eyes as Kaori loomed. Then, Kaori took a few steps back, giving her space to get back up. She looked down at her hands. She didn't feel like she was doing anything wrong, she just didn't know why she was doing it.

The half-demon slowly stood. Kaori tilted her head at her. She's not staying down. Kaori thought. I think she should be trying to yield.

Instead, growling, the hybrid aimed her sword at Kaori. Kaori nodded and ran forwards. The other Savior actually tried to do her own attack, but Kaori clumsily deflected it, relying on her raw strength to help her push the enemy's weapon away. Her move left the half-demon open for an attack that, if Kaori wanted to, would undoubtedly kill her. Instead, she kicked her in the stomach.

The hybrid fell back, spitting out violet blood. Oh. That hurt her.

Then, Kaori took a deep breath. Oh. I'm getting tired.

"Conserve your energy." The voice said.

Kaori nodded. She raised her blades and waited for the half-demon to approach. If the voice wanted her to humiliate the half-demon, then what she had in mind was a good way to do it.

She waited for the demon to attack, deflected her strikes, and didn't retaliate. She blocked a blow, sidestepped, and shrugged. The hybrid glared at her.

This kept going for almost a full minute. Kaori did as little as she could, while still moving out of the way of incoming attacks. Soon, both she and the half-demon were breathing heavily. The crowd was still cheering, but with some laughter mixed in.

"You fucking pricks." The half-demon muttered. She spat out some blood. The sight made Kaori tilt her head.

She didn't expect what she saw next. The half-demon started changing.

"It's always the same with you..." The hybrid looked around at the crowd. "Fine. You wanted a demon? It looks like you'll get one." A violet aura came out from her body, and she placed her hands on the ground, getting on her knees. Kaori watched as her body began to morph in certain places. She grew claws from her fingers, she snarled at Kaori, showing off a pair of sharp fangs, and her horns grew slightly larger as well.

"Oh... This is unexpected, but... just another blessing." The voice said.

"Look!" Varcon yelled. "The true form of the corruption we face!"

The half-demon, maybe full demon now, was growling at Kaori like an animal. She didn't feel any different. Kaori aimed her sword at the demon as a challenge. The demon charged at her.

She was much faster, but Kaori felt that she still had the advantage. It was harder to block her attacks, but Kaori still believed she was stronger. If she weren't in this strange state though, she knew she'd be terrified.

"Pin her down." The voice ordered.

"Alright."

Kaori dodged an attack as it tried to slash her head, and then punched her as hard as she could in the stomach. The demon fell back and Kaori quickly ran down and put a foot on her neck.

"Now!" Varcon excitedly yelled in the distance. "Magia's true Savior will-"

"That's not happening." A man said to Kaori's left and before she could turn to look at him, she was thrown back by an unseen force. There was a stone wall behind her, and Kaori slammed into it.

The impact knocked her out of whatever trance she'd been in.

"W-What?"

It was like she'd just woken up. She blinked multiple times. What? Where am I? She looked around. She was in the middle of the public square, with a crowd surrounding her and the hybrid. The half-demon was ahead of her, on the ground and trying to recover. Kaori looked down at her hands. She was holding Love transformed into her swordstaff.

What was I doing? She thought. I, right, the fight! She tried to find Varcon. Did it start already?

"A Savior who would kill another Savior. You should be ashamed." The man told her.

"Huh? What, no, I..."

What do you mean? Kaori asked in her mind. That wasn't the plan.

The demon rose up suddenly and went to charge at Kaori. Kaori flinched as she saw her approach but the man cast a spell at her, and the demon fell forwards, landing limp in front of Kaori.

"This is over!" The man told the crowd, earning a chorus of "boo's".

"Satsuhiro!" Varcon yelled at the guy.

"And you," the man glared at the archpriest. "Later, you and I are gonna have a little fucking chat." Satsuhiro spat out, promising that to the archpriest.

Kaori looked down at her hands as her swords linked up and transformed back into a cube.

What was I about to do?

She couldn't remember anything. From the moment she'd told the half-demon that she wasn't going to fight her, to now, when she had the demon pinned down with her swordstaff looming over her. She couldn't remember a single detail.

What happened?

Her family ran up to her as the man, Satsuhiro, carried the demon away through a rabid crowd.

"Kaori!" She heard her mother say. "That was so terrifying!"

"Was it?" She asked. "I..."

Was I hit that hard? It doesn't feel like it. She had too many questions. I need to talk to Varcon. I need to make sense of this.