Chapter One-Hundred and Ten . Five: Don't Interrupt! It's my Dazzling God!
Whispers and murmurs were heard all around Aono, but her eyes and focus were honed on the individual standing at the front, holding a female by the arm.
"Is this the, 'What are you doing scene?!'" Aono whispered, pulling her stylus from thin air, her Mana Paper slowly materializing in front of her.
"What is it Miss Aono?" a man next to her asked, pushing up his glasses.
"Shhh!" another snapped, "Do not interrupt our god when she holds the holy stylus!"
Several other men pulled the louder man backward, melding into the crowd. The one who reprimanded the man standing tall and proud next to Miss Aono, silently guarding her.
"Oh, ohhhhhh!" Aono squealed, wildly tracing her stylus from one side of the paper to the next, "The approach of the stout-hearted but foolish boy! Magnificent! How will my knight respond?!"
On the field before them, more and more people gathered on Shigure's side, as both he and Drake discussed something in the center.
Soon a chill fell on the air, and an enormous man appeared between them, holding back the teen.
"And a third?! Is it a love triangle moment?! I must record this!" Aono murmured, her hand increasing the pace as the scene unfolded on her paper.
On her Mana Paper, she depicted a drastically different picture than the events she was witnessing. Flowery scenery and chiseled jaws of men reflected the glean of the morning sun. Drake and Shigure are torn apart by the hulking figure of the third man, his dark orange hair and beard with matted gray armor appearing as an imposing mountain between them.
Suddenly the chill on the airlifted, and it seemed all was fine. There was no following battle leaving Aono surprised.
"It is still fine," she said, slurring the word as she wiped the drool from her mouth with her sleeve, looking down at the masterpiece she had just created, "This will do just fine…"
But once again she was left surprised as a howl sounded from the center of the field.
"Kenzo, Shigure! Kensei! Maeru!"
Aono's head snapped to attention, the paper she had just been admiring ripped from the Mana Board it was attached to, flying backward in the air where the man next to her grabbed it, placing it into his inventory.
She looked on hyper-focused as best her stats would allow, seeing Shigure disappear only to hear a clash of thunderous proportions.
Her head jerked following the sound, seeing Drake holding Shigure's blade, his red mask smiling with its pearly whites and blade held within them.
A shriek of joy escaped Aono's lips as she suddenly forgot herself, her thumbnail finding her teeth as she bit down, unable to reel in her anticipation.
Shigure suddenly unsheathed his secondary blade, forcing Drake to release the previous one, with a sharp soft whistle Drake shifted his hair color, and a stylish staff suddenly materialized in front of him.
"You're a mage?!"
"I'm just full of surprises. Let me enjoy humiliating you!"
Aono only heard bits and pieces of the verbal exchange, but the motion and back and forth of the battle left her breathless, her head suddenly snapping back as her sleeve went to her nose.
"Miss Aono?!" the man next to her asked concerned.
"I have a nosebleed… B-but no matter!" she shouted, suddenly attracting the attention of the people around her their looks filled with concern.
Aono ignored the sudden expulsion of vital energy due to her excitement, switching drawing hands leaving her blood-soaked sleeve to clog the flow.
Her eyes stayed peeled on the battle. Their exchange of words here and there, as she took it all in, marking it down with one stroke of her stylus after the other.
"I am the storm that…." Drake began but was forced to move as Shigure gave chase.
Aono continued to lose blood as she saw the battle unfold, every passing moment filled with Drake dodging and running as he appeared and disappeared from view. The magic circle below him expanded and brightened.
"The spell it's changing color?! He has become even more elegant in his use of mana manipulation! As expected of my knight!!" Aono shouted gleefully.
Then the mood on the battlefield shifted once again, as Drake was in a standoff against Shigure.
Shigure refused to move, or possibly couldn't move. Just like on the battlefield, a wave of fear and deathly cold crashed over the crowd, momentarily freezing Aono in her tracks. But her Artist's will would not let her be impeded for long as she forced her way from the grip of the fear, making sure to recount the events accurately.
The magic around Drake flexed and molded, turning into an enormous ball of lightning. In moments it shifted forming the face of a demon behind him.
But within that time, Shigure had surrendered. Dropping to his knees in clear despair.
Aono's body could take no more, her body on the brink of collapsing as she illustrated the last thing she saw, her vision darkening, but her hand desperately putting the image to paper.
"Such… elegance… my… dazzling god…..!"