Chapter 34: IQ Test

Things could certainly be better.Despite the little stature… That Imp sure could throw!Feeling the air sail through her hair her brain was frozen for a while as she tried to compute what just happened. Another factor brought a chill to her as she realized something she didn’t have the time to understand previously.<That Navy & Zandman both must’ve been following me but for how long have they been doing so and how… No, if that Navy is Jeeves it’s not that surprising but… Wait! I have more important things to worry about! Holy shit I’m going to end up as a pancake on the wall and go down as the most embarrassing death of a hero ever!>Reaching the ‘apex’ of her parabolic curve she found herself slowly lowering in height as she felt that nothing about this job was easy as it was meant to be! Currently the sheer momentum when she lands - inside a wall or on the ground - would likely turn her insides into a fine liquid. Not only this but she still didn’t understand anything about what was going on around her!<Wait… Momentum!>One could practically see the lightbulb light up as her forcefully opened eyes gleamed with understanding. If this was a dangerous situation because of the momentum she was building up then…With her new understanding that she was a bit of an idiot her momentum quickly declined which allowed her to finally close her watery eyes and pull in her sore lips with a bit of a pout.<Of course I can’t die from impacts like that… I fucking control momentum, dumb so dumb!> Soon pulling her legs in front of herself and arms behind she touched the ground after passing through the foliage. With a simple bending of the knee’s into a shoulder roll she had a soft landing with no complications.However, she did have crimson ears as she remembered her worry.It was akin to an Ifrit being worried over getting a sunburn! <Luckily nobody was around to->Suddenly she felt a ‘thump’ of something slamming against her back as two familiar arms wrapped around her back. The cute little face rubbing against the crevice of her back while her hands felt up and down Eel’s abbs.From that milky vanilla scent she was addicted to it was easy to guess who it was.“M-Milly!” <Eel>“Mmm~ you're safe…” <Emily>To that soft voice filled with relief and openly displaying Emily’s anxiety… How could she do anything but let the girl quietly hug her back? Eel just let out a soft sigh - feeling the heat of embarrassment from her breaths as the blood from her ears gradually fell down onto her cheeks.“Of course I’m safe - I’m a {Hero} after all~!” <Eel>“Mmm, hehe~♥” <Emily><Ah, the sweet bell of serenity makes getting pelted across a couple miles okay~♥ I don’t even mind she’s rubbing her tail against my butt~!>Eel just enjoys the sweet melodic giggle of her very own personal ‘best girl’. Soon said serenity was robbed as the thumping of armoured boots gave Eel a shiver as she turned over only to see a familiar paladin.“Emily, what’s up, why ya suddenly run o- Oh! How the hell did’cha get here?!” <Fuka>“A strange little man picked me up, whispered about some secrets I’m not allowed to know to me and then smacked my back~!” <Eel>The Fuka who was running towards her paused for a solid section mid jaunt, staying perfectly still as if time was frozen, before going on as if she heard nothing. Deciding with determination that sometimes it was better to not say anything.“So ya managed ta run away from them sub-dragons fine?” <Fuka>“Nope~!” <Eel>“Wait! Then how’re ya-?!” <Fuka>“Fufufu~ I killed the Green Bastard but then a OP walking armour with a double-cross-guard sword spear tried to execute me! I mean, when I say OP, I mean ‘could totally level this country by herself’ OP! Even though she was only toying with me since it was only the suit of armour and it hardly moved much despite her being fast as lightning! Literally~!” <Eel>It was time for Fuka to be frozen again as even Emily joined in this time.Both just slowly turned their eyes back to the storm clouds in the far off distance and then back at Eel. The same Eel who had a smug smile on her face as she basked in the glory of nearly being killed and killing her bitter enemy for attention! It almost seemed like she wasn’t just on the verge of death.This sudden realization caused the sensitive Emily to tense up before shivering - hugging Eel even tighter than before and even clinging onto her back like a bear cub - refusing to let go even when it seemed like Eel was about to tip down at the sudden additional weight. Eel of course didn’t mind being hugged by a cute girl though so just moved her right hand back to softly pat Emily’s head.“W-wait what? How are you alive then! No, scratch that, how come you don’t even have a scratch on you! Oh… Right, regen-” <Fuka>“Nope - the short person healed me (I think) - I couldn’t regenerate quickly enough and would’ve likely taken me days to recover even with my spee- oh! my regeneration has hit max rank though on the plus side~♥” <Eel>Fuka just stared at Eel like she was looking at an idiot.The thought of ‘does this fool know how to be scared? But, she simply shook her head. Of course she didn’t understand what it meant to be ‘scared’ as a person - she wasn’t a ‘human’. In fact, she was less human than the half-goblin for sure and perhaps even more than the Cow Succubus that seemed to actually be taking advantage of her…“Forget it, let’s jus’ go home already…” <Fuka>Setting out a tired sigh after she mumbled her final reply as she began to lead Eel over to the trail back to the city. Just silently following the route back for a while when a thought passed through Eel’s head.<Wait… Where did my brand new uber sword go!>Looking around her body to see if she had it on her and then back against she couldn’t help but frown.<I can feel it but I can’t find it… I just hope nobody else takes it or I may have to steal - though it was mine so I won’t feel bad for it!>Letting out a sigh as they had nearly arrived close enough to see the city - having cut off a lot of time due to them rushing with the world now being on the cusp of dawn. A soft smile appeared on her face as her mind wandered back to that mighty woman, floating in the sky like a force of nature. The storms of the world obey her as their one true ruler…<I still have a long way to go.>Compared to the dread a human may feel she felt nothing but excitement.If she still had so far to go that meant there was far more to experience, far more to see and most importantly far more to hunt!As if answering that thought her instincts took over suddenly as she noticed something approach her from behind - whipping her right hand backwards a gleam of red light gleaming with accents of gold and grey formed into a familiar sword - hitting the dagger that was being thrust towards the back of her head in hopes of puncturing her brainstem.Of course, sneaking up on a creature specialized in hunting is far harder than something like a human!A familiar gasp of surprise came out of the cloaked figure before they found themselves even more shocked as Eel leaned to her left; using her left hand to support herself before following through with lifting her right leg into the sky. The still surprised assassin tried to back away only for Eel to make up for her short range by pushing against the floor. Hooking the assassin's neck with her right leg while using that momentum to help with the assassin’s wish to go backwards. Of course, not without keeping her muscle taught, choking out her assailant in a way some would pay for when she’s older.Riding the attacker to the floor with a ‘thump’ she used her left leg to bind the woman's right arm while she lifted the right hand up and over her shoulder - the sword attached easily piercing the arm behind Eel if the outcry of pain and scent of pain was anything to go by.“Well, well, well~ what do we have here~? I know you never did like you but I didn’t think you’d go as far as to kill your friends only daughter~ fufufu~♥” <Eel>Although she was an excellent assassin, that only meant Eel didn’t realize she was there till she made an action. In truth, the hunter job could be considered the bane of any rogue as they nullify any attempts to run, hide or remain unknown.For the other two this was sudden as Fuka looked back in shock and surprise and Emily… Emily dropped off Eel’s back and went over to the bush to ‘make some rainbows’.“Ugh… Erm sorry?” <Eel>Looking at her motion sick girlfriend it was hard to not feel bad but she mostly moved on a mixture of instinct brought forward by her inheritance so it was hard to blame her. She was also impressed with how smooth that move was though.<Damn I’m a badass now~! Like a real one that doesn’t just rely on raw force… Well I will be when I make use of my new bloodline at least...>She was soon forced to shake her head at the shocked shout of Fuka.“Kat, what the hell?!” <Fuka>“Urrrgh!” <Kat>Shaking her body with what little movement she had - including kicking her legs.Of course, her thrashing around only worsened the wound caused by having her left arm pierced through to the floor. Words were also rather hard to form due to being choked out anyway so all that was released were grunts of anger, pain and desperation that only Fuka really saw. Confusing her.Though, upon thinking about it, if a tiny little psychopath had pinned her she would also be desperate to get out. It just felt… Weird. For the usually cold Kat to be so desperate just felt odd even though it made sense as a person more normal than anyone in this posse.“S-so what are we going to kill her or interrogate her first?” <Emily>The soft, timid voice saying something so bloodthirsty was shocking but since she was the official waifu of the self-appointed murder hobo it wasn’t too shocking to Fuka. On the other hand she simply shook her head with a sigh before speaking up.“I don’t think we should kill her - we should let Ali & Lisa handle this - I’d feel bad if we just killed her out here…” <Fuka>Eel just shrugged her shoulders at the surprising event - waiting a bit more before getting off the passed out Kat. Fuka just threw over some ropes before throwing the bound Kat over her shoulders as the now quad made their way back - Eel & the woosy Emily hand in hand.

<Didn't expect her to be dumb enough to actually jump me though...>

And, with that thought they were on their way.