My Servant System

Chapter 1134: Chapter 1133: Rising Pressure

 n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yes... I can see why you might need some help here, whelp... However, that doesn't mean my displeasure isn't great."

The woman screeched "To hells with your displeasure!" as she erected a barrier of mana around herself, preparing to defend against the Death Jackal and I as her help appeared right beside her, turning this from a rather casual battle against some decently skilled and threatening thugs into something that required a lot more caution.

Unlike the majority of the Fiends I had come across, the one standing beside the female mage was barely different from a normal mortal in terms of appearance; roughly six feet in height, two arms and legs, a normal torso, no extra oddities on their head, relatively normal eyes... The only thing that was 'odd' was the cerulean skin tone and brilliant sparkling blue eyes, and even then... I wasn't really the one to call this appearance odd, now was I?

Raven black hair pulled back into an elegant ponytail that revealed their fair, thin neck while a loose robe was draped over their thin body, making it impossible to figure out which way this amalgamation of the World's will swayed in terms of mortal sex.

Not that it mattered, and apparently the Fiend thought so too since it's voice was silky smooth but treading that line between masculine and feminine perfectly, and as they turned their bored gaze towards me they said "A simple meathead caused such distress? Pathetic." Raising a dainty hand and flicking their wrist, the Fiend tried to use raw mana to blast me away again, but I could tell that the lazy movement was going to be an attack, allowing me to brace myself and take the brunt of it on my shield, which did earn some emotion from the Fiend.

"Ah, I can see why... The bones of one of my peers so crudely thrown together as a primitive shield? If you're going to be so brutish as to utilize the bones of your enemies as materials, at least have the class to-"

Before they could finish, a gleaming silver blade sliced through the mana barrier the female mage had created and streaked down towards her skull, while a barrage of thin, slimy needles whistled through the air towards both the mortal and the Fiend.

The Fiend grabbed its mortal charge and flickered, the two moving almost instantaneously to the other side of the room as they avoided death by a fraction of a second, though before they could try and escape from the room all four of us overlapped our mana into a very chaotic Domain.

With so many different mana types writhing together in the same space, trying to use mana to push through it and 'leap' like that using magic was going to be very difficult, and our opponent let out a reluctant sigh as it released the woman's shoulder.

"I admit that this is a very effective, if crude method to counter that; I really must derive a way to negate this counter..."

"I have plenty of class and skill, Fiend; you just don't have an eye for functional craftsmanship!"

Anput ignored the Fiend's current words and focused on what she had interrupted, earning another sigh from it as they shook their head slowly, though before the Fiend could speak the mortal beside it raised her hands and threw together a rather adept Ritual Circle.

"I will NOT die easily!"

Her shout filled the kitchen before the roar of flames overwhelmed any other sound, her spell activating and sending a river of fire spewing out towards us in a concentrated, deadly blast; wherever the flames landed, they began to consume the materials regardless of their flammability, and even as I blocked some of the fires that leapt at me as I dashed to the side they remained on my shield.

A quick wash of Light Mana extinguished the worst of it, and I had just enough time to block the brunt of another wave of compressed mana before I had to rush to cover when the woman turned her spell towards me again.

As those flames spilled forth and blossomed towards me from her hands, the Fiend flickered again and appeared behind me, their own hands alight with a chilling cerulean glow that promised death.

"It is a shame that such a rarity always has to appear in such a tactless mortal... however, rest easily knowing that your Core will do wonders in my hand, Demoness..."

My Gladius tried to cut through the Fiend as I spun towards them, keeping the shield presented towards the mortal while my sword arm swung backwards, but a flick of their fingers sent another blast of mana at me, diverting the swing entirely.

It took all I had to push through that force and not have my arm snapped from the colliding forces, so even though the blade sliced harmlessly through the air and eventually cleaved through a table, I took that as a win since I could try to attack again.

"This is what I mean, Demoness."

That lazy tone as the Fiend stared into my eyes was enough to send another shiver down my spine, and I couldn't do anything but watch as it's hand reached for my chest, that cerulean aura around its limb singing my exposed hair while it charred my armor and set the simple cloak I wore aflame.

Before I could learn what that hand would have done to me though, three needles whistled towards the Fiend again while a giant blade made from the bones of its peer threatened to cleave it in two, drawing a sigh from the Fiend as it flickered once more.

It didn't travel far, simply moving a few feet to the side and allowing it to lunge towards my exposed back as those needles sailed harmlessly by, but even as it tried to grab at my back and plunge its hand into my torso, Anput displayed her versatility as she turned that horizontal cleave into a thrust.

Sensing the pattern, another barrage of needles moved towards the space in front of me, while my burly chaperone forced the Fiend's hand as he rushed for the woman, a thick shield of rock covering him from the flames.

"This is tiresome..."

Appearing beside it's charge once more, the Fiend grabbed her and flickered to a new spot, but instead of resuming its attack, the Fiend clapped its hands and sent a wave of cerulean flames straight towards the wall, blasting a hole through the bricks and eviscerating the overlapping web of mana that prevented its movement spell.

"Hm... you did better than I thought you would, Demoness. Or should I say... all of you."

The two disappeared, but the voice lingered as the Fiend continued to speak, keeping us on guard as we searched for them, not knowing if they were still nearby or if this was something within it's arsenal of spells.

"Alone, you mortals always tend to be quite... weak. Disappointing. Together though... I suppose that is a change I rarely account for; I dislike the unpredictability of groups, be they of morals or Fiends.

So know this; if you had been alone, Demoness, you would be dead. Offer a prayer to your God that you are not alone... and pray that you will never be alone with that pathetic showing. If that was all you have... then I am quite pleased with what I have learned. I'll be seeing you soon. All of you."

Just like its visage, the Fiend's voice faded away before leaving the building completely quiet save for the crackling of flames and the rushing of blood inside of my body as I looked around

for something, anything...

Only to find nothing now that the Fiend was gone, save for the demolished building and the charred corpses of the other Fingers, who had been consumed by the flames their comrade had unleashed; whether it was on purpose or not, I was unsure, but the facts remained that

they were dead now.

"Damnit..."

I didn't relax my posture entirely - after being in a 'battle' against someone with movement like that, there was no way I could relax just yet - as I turned around and positioned myself with the Death Jackals in mind, overlapping our lines of sight and range of attack. "Barely even thirty seconds and they're already gone. What kind of Fiends do they have allied

with them?"

The burly Death Jackal just grunted while the thinner one rested a hand on her dagger's pommel, looking around as she said "No idea... We'll need to add swiftness enhancers to the list though; I could barely keep up with the bastard."

We all grunted this time at that, and I raked a hand through my hair before smiling wryly as I felt the ground shake a little, the sudden explosion coming from the edges of the city suggesting that the time had come for everything to get wrapped up.