The plan was simple. Perform the ritual in the altar room and have enough bodies patrolling the mansion to slow down any intruders. And so, there were more than thirty demons moving between the various dark hallways and rooms. Keeping the lights off surrounded the mansion with an eerie silence. No one would approach it without a very good reason.

  In one such room, a large group of demons stood on standby, barely illuminated by the light of the moon. “Did you guys hear that?” After hearing a loud noise coming from the lower part of the city, a horned, black-haired man standing near the balcony moved his head around, trying to find the origin of the noise through the window. “It sounded like an explosion. Was that one of ours?” The man opened the window to go to the balcony. The rest of the group was on edge, and some of the others gathered around the window.

  “Did you see anything?” A woman, who was the closest to the man, called out to him but received no answer. “Did something happen?” She went outside, and a chill ran down her spine. “No one’s here? Hey! Where did you g- Ughhg!”

  “Hey! Are you okay? What happened?” The next in line was from a white-haired man with long hair and an unevenly large right horn. “Guys, we’re being attacked!” When he didn’t receive an answer from the woman, he turned to the group, and everyone drew their weapons. “There’s someone outside! Get ready. Let them get in- Sahh!”

  *Thud!* The furtive mood quickly vanished. All of them could tell. A storm had entered the room. It threatened to kill all who fought with anything but their all. “Ki- kill ‘em! The bastards are already inside! Get them!” A fiery cry transformed the tension into desperate bloodlust. It’s on now. They cannot rest until their attackers are dead.

  “Gaaah!” “Guhhh!!” It took less than a second for their numbers to start going down. The cries of pain caused panic to spread. If they don’t do anything, they’re gonna die. They gotta go on the offensive! “Yahhh!” “It’s not me, you idiot!” “It’s too dark! I can’t tell who’s who!” “How many of them are there? How can they tell us apart?!” A shadow… All any of them could see was shadow jumping from person to person. Their allies fell one by one, until only a few of them remained. “Retreat! Pull back and turn on the lights! Arrgh!” Realizing their loss, the remaining demons run out of the room while they can. “Are they getting faster?!” The last to reach the door keeps looking for the shadow. “I- it’s a bloodbath! They’re getting faster and fast- Errrhh!”

  It’s a disaster. Everyone in the room is dead, and the enemy is in. The commotion alerted everyone in the mansion. The demons gathered in the hallway between the attacker and the altar room. The few survivors joined the rest in a rushed formation. One of them raises a light, and everyone looks to the door, waiting for the attackers to pop up at any moment.

  “It’s just one girl…” It’s only a moment, but the sight of the blonde girl walking out of the room gets burned into their eyes. “It’s glowing?” The blood. Vibrant red. It made no sense. It was pure madness. And just like a delusion, the girl disappeared. A burst of wind passed by the demons, and their lantern was broken.

  “The darkness works better for me.” They heard a sweet sounding voice. The hallway returned to darkness, and the moonlight reigned supreme once more.

  “Gyahhh!” The screams of demons returned right as shadows covered the hallway. The formation stayed together to not lose track of their members, but that singular girl seemed to be attacking them from every side. “Stop her! Stop her at any cost! We cannot let her interfere with the ritual!” The tight formation worked against them. No one wanted to take a step forward and attack. The man in the middle was annoyed and shouted a second order. “Go get her! We can see her now, so we can fight her!” It was still dark, but it was different from before. The bright red. The blood. And the shining red eyes. They could all see it now. A monster. Reveling in the massacre. The fear stopped everyone in their tracks. “The red! Attack the red glow! Go! We’re all gonna die at this rate!” The ‘commander’ bravely ordered his men, but he wouldn’t move either. Shouting was the extent of his bravery.

  We’re all gonna die. The last part resonated with the demons, and the formation loosened up. Instead of helpless screams, two new sounds joined the fray. *Clink! Snap!* It was the sound of their short swords clashing against metal, and the sound of them snapping. “It’s impossible! We’re no match for her! We’re getting overwhelmed!”

  “This is payback!” Between the screams, the echoing sweet voice could be heard. “This is what you get for touching my girls!” The red glow grew faster and faster. Becoming completely unstoppable. “I promise… Every single one of you is dying tonight! I’ll take back what’s mine!”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  …

  The commotion was heard by those deeper into the mansion. In the altar room, Armand and his men were working to start the ritual. “What’s taking those idiots so long? We’re the best of the best. Why are they struggling to stop some measly intruders?” Armand turned to the girl on top of the altar, who got put to sleep. She went on an impertinent rant, but she was right about one thing. There were people crazy enough to come save her. But who? Those girls the princess brought with her? It didn’t matter. “No matter who it is, if it comes down to it, I’ll stop them myself. No way I’m letting someone interfere with the ritual.” Armand crossed his arms, looking off to the hallway, where the rest of his men were fighting.

  “A- Armand-sama, e-everything’s in order. We’re ready to start at any moment.” A cowardly man crouched near the altar spoke.

  “Get started then! We have no time to wast-” *Step… Step…* The echoing screams died down. A set of approaching footsteps took their place. Everyone in the altar room turned to the entrance, and their hearts began pounding. Then, a hazy red figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

  “A- a girl covered in pulsating red blood… Th- th- that’s her, sir! It’s the Violence Witch!”

  “Shut it, you fool! The Violence Witch isn’t real. Your fear’s making you see things!” Armand silenced his cowardly subordinate and took a step forward. “I don’t wanna hear any more nonsense from any of you! Start the ritual and hurry it up. I’ll take care of this!” Armand unsheathed a pair of short swords and faced the approaching figure. The men and women behind him gulped but did as he ordered. The altar was at the center of a circle drawn with blood, and the markings started glowing. “Good… Let’s finish this once and for all.”

  Armand looked at the figure with a confident, eager smile, but that was pure arrogance. The figure instantly disappeared from his sight. A red blur passed by him before he could react and headed straight for the altar. “Gahh!” His eyes opened wide as he heard the screams of his men from behind.

  “Ririna! Ririna!” Everyone died. Instead of going for his neck, the monster who swept through the room stopped next to the altar. She clutched the alchemist’s hand. She checked her pulse and her breathing, then heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad.”

  Armand was surprised by this development. “Someone really did come for the alchemist…” The girl caressed the alchemist’s head with a gentle smile. “I never expected that it’d be you.”

  “Armand…” She looked up without letting go of the other girl’s hand and locked eyes with him. Iroha was nothing but a speck when he first met her, but it was different for her. Even with his different looks having his horns exposed, Iroha recognized him as the one who framed her friend. “Ririna’s mine!” Iroha pulled out a small object and pointed it at him from the other side of the altar. “I won’t let you jerks do with her as you please!”

  “A pistol? How did you get that? We didn’t bring anything like that into human territory.” Armand was worried about demon weaponry falling into human hands, but he noticed something upon closer inspection. “No, wait… That’s not one of ours… It’s just a replica!”

  “A replica?”

  “Yes, a replica. And a poor quality one from the looks of it. What the hell is that even? Whatever the case, I should take that from you. Allowing even a replica of our great weapons in humans brings immense shame to our-” *Bang! Clink.* “People…” With just his arm, Armand swatted away the bullet aimed at his head. “You have no manners… But that’s good. No hesitation. Firing while I’m in the middle of speaking… It’s a good idea. Would’ve worked if you had anything but a shitty replica.” Armand bent over and grabbed the bullet from the ground. “I mean, look at this! This bullet isn’t even imbued with magic! Something this worthless wouldn’t even have hurt me. Is this seriously the best you can do?”

  What’s wrong with this guy? What a snob… I’m not surprised he knows what a gun is. They existed in the game. After all, I have a skill tree just for them. But my pistol is damn cool! Who gave him the right to talk trash? Also, it was a gift from Katja, so insulting it is the same as insulting Katja, right? I can roll with that. Just another good reason why this fucker has to die. “I can do much better. Don’t worry. This isn’t my main weapon.” I put my gun back in the holster and stood up. The altar with Ririna was in the way, and I couldn’t risk getting her caught in our fight. I stepped to the side, and Armand moved in the same direction.

  Dammit… My Violence stacks are almost all gone… I got tunnel visioned when I finally saw Ririna. I completely ignored Armand and went straight for the people surrounding her. I should have killed him right away.

  “Hmm…” Paired short swords… Just like the woman who I fought before… Since he’s their leader, does he have some kind of movement skill as well? I gotta keep an eye out for that… Well, it’s just one person. How strong could he be? Let’s finish this! I raised my sword for a thrust and shot towards him with my skills.

  “Not so fast!” Armand stopped the tip of the blade by crossing his swords in front of him. “Hey hey, what’s this? Are you holding back on me now? You’re fast, but you were much faster when you got here. Did you already tire yourself out?” Armand pushed back my sword and swung downwards with both his swords. “If this is your best, then you’re no match for me!”

  I held my sword horizontally above my head and stopped both his blades. He talks a lot, but his attacks are nothing special. Why is he so confident? Is he about to teleport behind me? With his attack blocked, we were back in a neutral position. “What about this then?” I accelerated my sword to the max with Slash Flurry and hit him with a rain of blows. “And another one!” My attacks were getting blocked, but his cocky look was gone.

  What’s going on? The woman I fought was much better than him. Is he really their boss? Maybe it’s one of those cases where subordinates are stronger than their boss. Either way, he’s clearly sweating now. It’s hard for him to block all of my attacks. “I see why you’ve been causing us so many problems… That’s a lot of skills you got there… Maybe it’s about time I show you my own.” Armand created an opportunity to catch a breath by taking a step back, but I immediately pursued. I had to keep up the pressure to stop him from doing anything. Gotta stay on guard. He might teleport at any moment.

  “Grrr…” He groaned after blocking another one of my flurries. They’re cracking. His swords are about to break! Was I worried for nothing?

  “This is it! You’re done!” *Shatter!* Ahahaha! What was all that talk for? This was much easier than I expected! I shattered his sword with an upward slash. His hands were forced up along with his shattered blades, and his chest was completely exposed. Heart Piercer should finish him.

  “!?” A shadow? There’s something tall in the way of the moonlight. A tower? Dodge!

  *THUD!* “Ehh…?” What the hell is that?!”