"Although I'm neither a police officer nor an Attack Mage, you scared my little sister. It'd be pretty pathetic of me to just stand there and let you run off, so think of me as a helpful, public-spirited citizen doing the right thing."
As she spoke, the slender girl casually lifted a compact car high over her head—with one hand.
Then she threw it onto the empty road. Its roof hit the asphalt first, scraping across the pavement with a shrill hiss and a shower of sparks.
Ciel walked slowly toward the smoking car, both hands in her pockets.
After a crash that hard, an ordinary person might already have lost consciousness... Of course, that only applied to ordinary people.
BANG!
The slightly warped car door was smashed open by brute force, and five robbers awkwardly squeezed out through the narrow gap.
"Tch! Nosy little brat..."
They were all wearing masks, so their expressions were hidden, but the anger in their eyes was plain to see... People said cutting off someone's money was like killing their parents, and right now, the way they looked at Ciel was probably no different from how they would look at the person who had murdered theirs.
They all had guns in their hands. Ciel, however, acted as if she hadn't noticed and continued toward them with elegant, unhurried steps.
"Stop! I said stop! Can't you see I've got a gun?"
"Oh. And?"
Ciel's teasing words were like hot oil poured onto flames.
"Damn it... How dare you look down on us!"
The masked men stopped holding back and pulled their triggers without hesitation. In an instant, scorching tongues of flame burst from the muzzles.
A dense hail of bullets struck Ciel, but not only did they fail to leave so much as a scratch, they could not even slow her steps.
Facing the incoming bullets head-on, Ciel calmly walked up to one of the masked men, reached out, grabbed the barrel of his gun, and pointed the muzzle at her own forehead.
There was the faintest hint of a smile on her face.
"Well? Want to try firing again? I'll give you one more chance."
Her contempt was written all over her.
The robbers felt like clowns in a circus.
"Damn you!"
The masked man in front of Ciel let rage take over and tried to smash the gun into her. But his fist had only swung halfway when Ciel's kick landed first, sending him flying backward to crash heavily into the overturned car.
"Tch! An Attack Mage?"
"Didn't think they'd get here this fast..."
Ciel heard the other robbers' furious, gritted exclamations.
"I already told you, didn't I? I'm not an Attack Mage. I'm just a public-spirited citizen."
"Cut the crap! We don't have time to play with you."
Including the masked man Ciel had just kicked away, four of the five robbers began to transform.
Their swelling flesh tore through their clothes and masks, shifting into half-human, half-beast forms. At the same time, the magical power inside them was released, growing far stronger than before. The Demon Registration Bracelets on their wrists lit up, and an alarm rang out through the street.
[ABNORMAL MAGICAL POWER DETECTED. CIVILIANS IN THE VICINITY, PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. REPEATING, ABNORMAL...]
Demons who lived legally in the Demon Sanctuary generally wore bracelets on their wrists that either limited their abilities or triggered alarms. Although many demons looked no different from humans in daily life, those bracelets made it possible to distinguish demons from humans.
A few civilians had still been watching after noticing the bank robbery, but the moment the Demon Registration Bracelet alarm sounded, every last one of them ran.
Not only that, the Gigafloat Management Corporation had surely received the report by now as well... That was also why these five demon criminals had been using only guns and explosives all this time, unwilling to expose their identities as demons.
It would cause too much commotion.
"Why bother getting up? Staying down and playing dead would probably be easier."
Ciel closed her eyes and shook her head as if in regret, her expression saying, "I'm only thinking of your best interests."
Clearly, however, these beast men had no intention of appreciating that.
One beast man charged first. Judging by his thick, powerful legs, he seemed to be the speed type, easily bringing to mind an agile wolf or leopard.
In Ciel's eyes, however, he was still far too slow.
"If you come on too strong, people are going to hate you."
The instant he lunged, she nimbly hopped onto the top of his head, the sole of her shoe stepping on the beast man's forehead as she vaulted into the air like a gymnast and executed a sideways flip.
With her head pointed downward, eight long, slender, spike-like weapons were held between her fingers. Suspended in midair, Ciel looked like a bird spreading its wings.
"If I let you do too much damage, Natsuki-oneechan will scold me, so... be good and go down!"
She threw the eight Black Keys. They stabbed into the middle of the road like stakes, surrounding the four beast men.
The next instant, a sudden, crushing pressure descended and warped space, pinning all four beast men to the ground so they could not move.
"All right. Your accomplices have enough trouble saving themselves now, so I hope you'll make the correct choice, save me some effort, and spare yourself a beating."
Ciel held fresh Black Keys in her hand and looked at the only masked man who had not transformed.
He was also wearing a Demon Registration Bracelet, proving that he, too, was a demon.
"Those bizarre weapons, and enough strength to suppress four beast men in an instant... and you still dare say you're not an Attack Mage!"
Ciel had emphasized earlier that she was not an Attack Mage, but an ordinary public-spirited citizen. This demon criminal had probably thought she was trying to deceive him, and that filled him with resentment.
"But I really am not an Attack Mage... If I had to put a name to it, I guess I'd be an exorcist nun?"
"A nun? Hmph, fine. I don't care who you are. Since you dared ruin my plans, you can die here!"
Spouting something no different from a small fry's line, the masked man in front of Ciel also began to transform.
The changes to his body were even more exaggerated than the beast men's. In the blink of an eye, he stood over three meters tall. His abnormal muscles were bluish gray, and his weight was probably close to four hundred kilograms. Like a wall made of muscle, he radiated an intense pressure.
"I see. So you're a Gigas??"
"That's right! I'm a Gigas! Well? Scared now? Frail humans like you can only run for your lives before me! Hahahaha!"
His powerful laughter rang out.
After giving the Gigas a single glance, Ciel seemed to lose interest and turned her eyes toward the empty road.
"Strange. The alarm's been going off for a while now, but the Corporation still hasn't sent anyone? Natsuki-oneechan did say they're all idiots who spend every brain cell they have on infighting, but at least they usually put in plenty of effort for appearances. Did something hold them up...?"
"Don't ignore me, damn you!"
The hideous Gigas raised his arm high overhead, then brought it crashing down like a heavy hammer.
The swollen muscles of the Gigas were naturally not just for show. Each of them possessed considerable physical strength and excellent self-healing abilities. Faced with their monstrous strength and advantage in size, even beast men had to give them a wide berth.
The enormous fist came crashing down, but Ciel did not even look at it. She simply raised one hand without the slightest hurry.
The Gigas's fist slammed into Ciel's palm with a thunderous impact. The girl stood there without budging. She was neither crushed into a pulp nor blown away by the shock wave. Instead, she steadily caught the Gigas's heavy blow.
The Gigas's mouth fell open as he froze in place. What brought him back to his senses was the sharp pain coming from his wrist.
Ciel was gripping the Gigas's hand. He tried to resist, veins bulging all over his body, but the strength transmitted from her hand far exceeded his imagination.
In the end, he knelt on the ground. The most direct possible gap in strength filled his heart with a deep sense of helplessness.
"This is impossible!"
The Gigas's face was full of disbelief, and he instinctively denied the reality he had witnessed with his own eyes.
"Even at the end, you still talk like small fry... Is it really that hard to accept being beaten at your own specialty by a mere frail human?"
The Gigas's features twisted together. He had already used every ounce of strength he had against Ciel, yet she, by contrast, still wore an easy smile and even had the leisure to mock him.
As if they had timed it perfectly, once Ciel had subdued all the criminals, she sensed the Island Guard vehicles arriving from far away.
There was no need to meet them. Ciel rendered all five demon criminals incapable of moving, then left before the Island Guard arrived.
Taking her phone from her pocket, Ciel did not call anyone. Instead, she spoke directly to the phone.
"Mogwai, were you slacking off? Didn't I ask you to contact the Island Guard and have them hurry over? Why are they only arriving now?"
"Now that really is a false accusation, little lady."
A synthesized voice sounded from inside the phone. A burst of colorful static, as though caused by electronic interference, appeared on the screen. The next second, an unidentified blue creature appeared on Ciel's phone display.
Ciel's gaze turned meaningful.
"Plenty of people want to be virtual idols on the internet, but to this day, I still don't understand why someone important like you would use such a ridiculous, bizarre form. Was this some kind of mascot from your era?"
"What are you talking about, little lady? Isn't this form of mine adorable?"
"No. Not in the slightest. You're on par with that sharp-toothed rabbit-doll mascot from that one game. I still don't understand how that mascot called Homu became popular in the Honkai world... But let's set that aside. Let me hear your excuse. What do you mean I'm falsely accusing you?"
Ciel began chatting with the electronic creature inside her phone, not showing the slightest trace of surprise at its existence.
Clearly, the two had known each other for a long time, and judging by their tone, their relationship seemed quite good.
"An hour ago, MAR's research facility suffered an illegal intrusion, and extremely important research materials were stolen. The Gigafloat Management Corporation's attention seems to have been drawn over there. Compared to an attack on MAR, a mere bank robbery really doesn't count for much."
"An hour ago? Ah... No wonder Natsuki-oneechan left in such a hurry. So that was it..."
MAR, short for Magna Ataraxia Research, was a world-famous magical-industrial conglomerate, a giant corporation representing the East Asian region. Its business ranged from military weapons to ordinary food products, and it also had medical research institutes and affiliated hospitals.
"Extremely important research materials? Don't be so vague. Just say it clearly. What exactly was taken?"
Ciel did not believe for a second that Mogwai had failed to investigate that information. Within Itogami Island, there was no information it did not know.
As she asked, she already had a guess in mind.
"You already guessed it, didn't you, little lady? It's exactly what you're thinking. What was stolen was the twelfth vessel of the Fourth Primogenitor, 'Kaleid Blood,' code-named Sleeping Princess... Ah, you've already given her a name, haven't you? Avrora Florestina. Such a lovely, fairy-tale name."
"When MAR took Avrora from the Gigafloat Management Corporation, I guessed this day would come. Someone wants to use Avrora as an invitation to attend the Blazing Banquet, but in MAR's hands, Avrora was nothing more than research material."
Back on Gozo Island two years ago, Natsuki Minamiya had forcefully taken Avrora away and brought her to Itogami Island. After some deliberation, Itogami Island's Gigafloat Management Corporation had handed the sleeping Avrora over to MAR, the largest corporation in East Asia, for research.
As part of the Fourth Primogenitor, the strongest vampire, Avrora had one of the Fourth Primogenitor's twelve star Beast Vassals sleeping inside her. At the same time, she possessed magical power and physical abilities on a Primogenitor level, giving her immense research value.
"..."
Mogwai on the phone screen suddenly sighed.
"Actually, the person I most hoped would look after No. 12 was you, little lady. I think you're the most suitable person to entrust her to."
"Give me a break. I don't get along with vampires, much less Primogenitors. Avrora's very existence only makes me think of a certain annoying person. If it weren't for your request and Natsuki-oneechan's wishes, I would've killed that child back on Gozo Island two years ago... Tch! And she just had to be blond..."
Would things really have turned out the way she said?
Mogwai always felt that even without its request or Natsuki's supervision, this girl from another world would not have killed Avrora.
Their existence was more like a suitable excuse, or a suitable way out—a reason the girl could use to convince herself, a step that allowed her to save face.
So if it spelled that out, she would have no way down, and that would only run counter to its plans. It was not something it wanted to see.
"All right. That little lady from the Kingdom of Aldegia is waiting for you up ahead. I wish the two of you a pleasant time together. I won't be a third wheel. Bye-bye."
Mogwai vanished, and the phone returned to normal.
Ciel raised her head and saw Kanon Kanase in the distance... Because of Ciel's instructions, she had remained there waiting the whole time.
Seeing Ciel slowly walk over, Kanon took a deep breath, then let it out. A happy smile appeared on her face.
"Ciel-oneesama... Thank goodness you're all right."
"Of course I'm all right. Your Ciel-oneesama is ve~ry strong. They were just a few petty thieves. They thought they could hurt me? Hmph, hmph~! They're a thousand years too early!"
Ciel smiled and patted her own arm, striking a "look how strong I am" pose. Kanon burst out laughing with a soft pffft, her light, bell-like laughter echoing pleasantly.
Ciel stepped forward and gently took Kanon's hand.
"Come on. Let's go buy ice cream. It's fine that the one from earlier fell on the ground. I'll just buy you another... Though the shops around here all seem to have closed. We might have to walk a little farther before we find one that's still open."
"That's all right... Actually, I'm happy. I get to go shopping with oneesama."
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T/N: mmmmmmm so hunrgyr