The loli dashed at the enemy with her orange chakrams ready. Hitomi reached out her hand and almost touched the circle. Her clothes and hair fluttered slightly from the flow of energy.

“Dämon der Grube!” she pronounced the spell.

A loud clang sounded—and a three-headed dog of a considerable size crawled out of a circle as if woven from dark blue fog. Each of its necks were chained in a huge collar, which in the real world would definitely be made of iron. The summoned creature covered Hitomi and grabbed both of Sunny’s disks with its teeth just in time to save its mistress. Yui fiercely resisted while Cerberus tried to tear the magic metal apart.

The Elementalist put her left hand forward: Haydee’s glove tweak with a fire generator finally came out to play. A ball of flame flew towards Hitomi’s dog—it howled in pain and opened its jaws. Sunny immediately rained her blows onto the dog, the magic steel cutting soundly through its nonexistent flesh.

Cerberus was slowly succumbing to Yui’s pressure. Niji noticed how Hitomi, who had stepped back a bit, cast a beam of blue energy onto the creature, restoring its strength. To block the healing stream, the Elementalist erected a wall of fire between the summoner and her pet, then she used the moment to help Sunny deal with the hellish creature: together they were able to burn it and cut off all three heads, so the spirit finally turned into haze.

“Fenghuang!”

No sooner had the fire dissipated than a dark blue bird which resembled a huge hawk attacked the enforcers. Sunny screamed hysterically when the creature landed on her face, clawing her neck and chest. The girl was spinning in an attempt to break free or cut the bird with her disks, and Niji was afraid she would accidentally hurt her partner with a firestrike. Instead, the mage girl ran to Hitomi, but a ball of magical energy was sent in her direction to guard the Summoner. The Crimson’s amplifier worked just in time—the light blue aura of the barrier completely absorbed the azure energy.

“Hmmm, I didn’t expect that,” Hitomi remarked. “But I have my tricks too.”

Hitomi snapped her fingers, and the two lights behind her back flew obediently into her palms. The officer clenched her fists, and an energy aura enveloped them. Hitomi hurried straight at Niji and tried to punch her. She moved much slower than Dasnor, so the Elementalist blocked it without any problems and almost carried out a successful counterattack. Almost—because at the very last moment Hitomi grabbed Niji’s wrist and made her body grow sluggish when the magic of the Unknown damaged her. The public servant added a strong impulse to her aura, and Niji was thrown several feet back. She hit the wall of a house and fell down on a sidewalk. The fire in her hand went out, her limbs failed her, and mana seemed to be completely sucked out from her body. A few seconds later, the defeated Sunny landed next to Niji. The bird made an eerie sound and flew to the girls for another attack.

Niji was not sure that the amplifier would deflect it. With a great effort, the Elementalist raised her tattooed hand over her head and tried to summon the Celestial Shield, as the M.A.G.E healer tried to reach her. However, the barrier didn’t appear.

“Oh, come on! Do it! Oooooh, dammit!” Niji swore, covering her face.

Suddenly the bird dissolved in the air a few inches away from the girls. Sunny and Niji stared in surprise at the dispersing magical dust, which gleamed beautifully in the light of street lamps.

“Told ya I took that name for a reason,” the healer declared with undisguised pride while marching up the street. His cheeky smile was there as always.

“It’s nuts…” the Elementalist mumbled. “It actually works!”

“Oh my Goddess, it’s HIM!” Sunny’s cute face, all in scratches and terrible bruises, beamed with excitement. “My hero has come to save me! Take that, you black-and-white!”

“Why are you so mean to the girls, Hitomi-chan?” Dammit walked closer, hands in his pockets.

“It was self-defense,” the officer’s voice was quite friendly, despite her intimidating looks. “You should teach them some manners, or I’ll sue them next time.”

“I’ll share your concerns with Fiber, but please let them be for now.”

Dammit cast a healing spell over his fallen teammates. The celestial flow of energy felt like a pleasant warm shower. The bruises slowly disappeared, the cuts were healed, and the bones and muscles began to ache less. Niji sensed her arms and legs again, and the mana was partially restored. From Sunny’s relaxed face, one could have thought that she was not on the battlefield, but on a date at the spa. It looked rather comical, considering there were tracks of bird claws all over her face and her clothes were tattered to shreds.

With a sarcastic grunt, Hitomi folded her arms under her breasts, and that pose emphasized her distinctive feminine curves even more. Throughout the entire brawl, not a single strand had been pulled out of her bun, whereas Niji and Sunny, despite Dammit’s efforts, were totally disheveled and stained with blood. In the future, it wouldn’t hurt to add some spells of express styling to the healer’s kit.

“Are you alright?” Dammit asked, helping the girls stand on their feet.

“Fully operational!”

The pink-haired girl touched her tattoos, but Dammit stopped her with his distinct “Yu-i-cha-n” reproach. Suddenly the corners of his mouth went down and his eyebrows crawled to his forehead.

“Uh, Hitomi-chan? Who the hell is there behind your back—and why is he turning into a high-level boss right now?”

“What?” she straddled and spun around.

The already forgotten Violet was shaking uncontrollably in the kitsune’s tails. He convulsed for several seconds and cursed energy erupted through his body. Then he grew much bigger and tore apart the summoned spirit with his huge paws with claws.

“We’re too late,” commented the Azure.

“Quite a big one, huh.”

“Aoi-san, do you hear me?” Hitomi said to a walkie-talkie. “We have an emergency here. The target was found, but he has reached his terminal stage. Dispatch the exorcist to my coordinates.”

“Understood,” the earphone wheezed in response. “Don’t let it hurt the civilians.”

“The M.A.G.E. guys are here; we’ll hold him back.”

“We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

In the meantime, a real monster had grown up in front of the mages—a giant covered with purple growths. His face had lost all its humanity. After its rebirth, the Viol did not immediately understand what had happened to it and froze in confusion for a while.

“Hitomi-chan, do you have something tanky at your disposal? My mana is not full…”

“Moloch will do its job.”

By shouting “Moloch Höllenfürsten!” Hitomi summoned a black demon, half the Viol’s size. Sharp blades were protruding from a mighty cuirass-covered back of the creature, and its aggressive face seemed to consist of the remains of an ancient mural. Its muscular arms ended with gigantic fists— those would be capable of knocking out brains before the victim could realize what was happening. As it had no legs, the demon was hovering in the air, tinkling with numerous chains hanging down from what was supposed to be its waist.

“So, let’s get this party started!” Dammit announced. “Three damage dealers and a healer. Not what I call a perfect team composition, but…”

“Stop fooling around already!” Niji lost her nerve. “We are NOT in an MMO game. Don’t get distracted unless you want to get us killed!”

“Don’t panic, Flare! You were accepted to M.A.G.E. not to faint at the first sight of a mob. Also, a small joke just makes this shit-crazy world less unbearable.”

Dammit smiled radiantly and transmitted some amplifying energy to the mages, then added, “Ganbate kudasai or whatever you say in such circumstances.”

He exchanged glances with Hitomi, and some real excitement flashed in her dark blue eyes.