18

The sun was in the sky as the two humans and spirits continued walking down the lone road in sight, not a single other to be seen with only the beauty of nature being the sole other source of interest other than themselves. There were snowy mountains in the distance to the right whilst a few trees and bushes lined the somewhat hilly road.

"I still can't believe this…" Cecily mumbled, only giving the witch that walked with them a glance before hastily turning her gaze back to the road ahead.

"It can't be helped now," Leo replied, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry Master…"

"I don't see why you apologize to him," Pandora said, whilst Leo only vaguely listened to the witch she successfully gained Cecily's ire as she glared at her through the corner of her vision. "It wasn't as if you did anything, I would have thought that it would be Leo who would be making the apologies. He is the one who struck you after all."

"You should be the one apologizing! You tricked them into thinking I was you!" Cecily rebutted.

"That is one way of viewing it." Pandora nonchalantly replied, "My humblest apologies then."

It had already been a few hours since the group had awoken and continued their journey, with an instant agreement to continue making their way to Kararagi, however, their morning wasn't without trouble…

"Master, Master!" Cecily said in a panicked, hushed voice as she rapidly shook her contractor awake, much to his annoyance at the abrupt awakening.

"What is it, Cecily?" Leo asked as he finally began to open his eyes, his mind steadily beginning to function.

"What is she doing here?! What happened last night?! I thought we were… but then I was, and you!" Cecily continued to go on to Leo's initial confusion, failing to understand what had got the spirit so worked up until his eyes finally wandered over to the sight of Pandora resting against another nearby tree, still asleep with all the grace in the world.

The moment he saw her, everything came rushing back to him as he hastily hugged Cecily close to him, much to her surprise before hastily returning it, the two squeezing one another for assurance. "Cecily, are you feeling alright now? I mean completely alright, nothing feels strange, Zeam didn't cause any lasting effects?"

"Yes, I feel perfectly healthy for a spirit! Thanks to you for saving me!" Cecily cheerily replied.

"But I shouldn't have cut you in the first place, I nearly lost you…"

"But you're so amazing that even Zeam couldn't cause an injury that you couldn't heal! It wasn't your fault, it was her's, wasn't it?! She must have tricked you!" Cecily replied with her usual vigour, pulling away slightly to point towards the unknowing Pandora with burning resentment. "Why is she here though? Is she dead? What happened after you saved me?"

"That's…" Leo hesitantly said as he looked over at Pandora with a troubled expression, causing Cecily to naturally adopt a worried look as she peered up at him.

"The witch managed to force Leo into a contract with her, Great One," Kou interjected as it made its presence known, hovering beside the pair.

"She what?!" Cecily exclaimed. "How?! I thought Zeam was working! What did she want?!"

"Zeam wasn't working and she used you," Leo replied, his voice bitter with the memories before he was shocked at his own words. 'Wait, that's not what I wanted to say?!' He thought to himself in confusion before an idea crossed his mind.

"We could only hurt her, but it wasn't strong enough to finish her," Leo said, bitterness returning to his voice as he realized what was happening. 'The contract is preventing me from revealing it… seems like we really can't go against it.'

"Oh… I see… but, how did she use me?" Cecily then asked with a disheartened expression.

"She managed to take you away from me as we continued fighting, holding you hostage. I couldn't save you a second time, much less if she completely destroyed your body so I had to accept… but her terms strangely weren't really that bad at all."

"What do you mean? What did she ask for?"

"We can't harm one another, including you two, and we can't lie to one another and also… she'll be travelling with us. She got me to agree to stay together without leaving the other behind." Leo sighed as he reviewed the general terms that he had mentioned. She was basically asking to be travel companions on a completely equal playing ground so it wasn't like he lost unless one were to consider putting up with Pandora a loss at least.

"Huh? She wants to come with us?! Why?" Cecily questioned, completely taken aback by the unexpected term.

"She wants to earn my trust again. She still hasn't given up on whatever she wants me for I guess…"

"One could say she removed her only possible source of suffering whilst also betting her freedom to gain Leo's faith," Kou said.

"But you would never trust her anymore, I mean we all saw what she was like! So she's trapped. Doesn't that mean you've contained a witch, stopping her from harming the world anymore? I don't know if I'm proud of that or not considering you're also stuck with her…"

"We'll see how it goes, it's not like we have much choice… But she isn't as bad as she might have seemed last night. My current thought of her is that she's a nutjob needing a few more morals…" Leo said with a sigh to the confusion and concern of his spirits.

"Um, what do you mean Master? She tried to harm us last night and nearly killed me! But… what does nutjob mean?" Cecily asked with a tilt of her head.

"It means that they're crazy," Leo answered. "Last night after forming the contract she became forced to speak truthfully to me she said that she never had any intention of killing you and that she thought nothing of it since it would only be temporary. Apparently, she could have reversed and undone everything with just a sentence including your death so that's why she never thought anything of it since she didn't intend on leaving it that way. In her words, "When you regularly use a power that can overcome death, your perception of it changes." She's perfectly happy to temporarily off you as a solution but not necessarily want you dead."

"In the end, there is no loss and you manage to get what you want. There shouldn't be an issue." Another voice cut through the air as they realized that Pandora had now awoken. "You of all people will likely one day come to think as I do surrounding death. After all, how many things are truly dead whilst you are around?"

Leo couldn't respond to her question despite her look that was silently asking for something out of him, but he knew no response to say. It was an awkward feeling of conflict that ultimately he disliked. Whenever Pandora spoke her logic, she was typically correct even if it betrayed what typical morals would otherwise say. Perhaps it was all stemming from inner conflict about how he could perfectly understand where she was coming from, yet at the same time, he felt a sense of wrongness about the way of thinking.

"I'm also pleased to hear that you don't dislike me quite as much as I thought." Pandora then said, "Although being called a 'nutjob' certainly is a first. When have I made the impression of a crazy person on you?"

"You're moral compass maybe? Yesterday was a great example." Leo quickly replied. "But that still doesn't mean I have any trust in you. I'm still believing in what Emilia said, so unless the years have changed you then you're not someone I want to be around."

"With how much you keep going on about believing Emilia all the time makes it sound like there's something else going on," Pandora said with her typical cool smile making it hard to tell if she was teasing or beginning to think of something else.

'It's likely best to just keep quiet else she might start asking, and then I'll have to explain meeting the other witches… not that I know how that will affect things but I won't be able to take things back.' Leo thought to himself in silence as he broke eye contact, getting to his feet and helping Cecily up.

"So if everyone is awake, isn't it time to start moving? I don't want to get caught up in anything caused by news or rumours about me." Leo said.

"Very well, there is no reason to remain here anymore." Pandora agreed, likewise getting to her feet as the group began to take their leave from the forest…

"Well, it doesn't matter. You're stuck with us and that's never going to change. We can still say that Master won because you can't do anything anymore!" Cecily said with pride, puffing her small chest out to the faint amusement of Pandora.

"There is a final part of the contract so that when we both wish for it, we will be free of it." Pandora corrected the spirit, "Currently I wouldn't want the contract to end, but the day will hopefully come someday that we are both content with what we got out of this."

"It's almost amazing how you make it sound like you're not under some sense of imprisonment or something…" Leo replied in a dull voice. "Who knows, if I can tolerate you enough then maybe I'll never end the contract just to keep you restrained like this since I assume you wouldn't let the contract end so long as you feel endangered by me."

"Like I said, I wish to gain your trust," Pandora said.

"But you'll never get it! We would never trust a witch no matter what!" Cecily refuted.

"But time changes people, does it not? Who knows the kinds of people that we shall be later down the line?"

"You'll always be horrible!" Cecily said with a pout, "And Master will always be kind, and we're here with him to help him as well, it won't end like that."

"You never know, but I would have thought a great spirit such as yourself would also be greatly acquainted with the effects of time and the numerous changes that can happen across it?"

"Can you stop antagonizing us already?" Leo asked, soundly only mildly annoyed, getting Cecily to nod her head several times in agreement.

"It wasn't my intention but instead genuine points that I thought important to consider. My apologies either way." Pandora replied.

'It is interesting however the amount of confidence the spirit has. But it doesn't matter how long it takes, he will eventually succumb and change." Pandora thought to herself, her eyes tried on Leo in the corner of her vision.

"Changing the subject, how do you plan on dealing with travelling supplies? The amount we have shall not last you much longer and an opportunity seems to arise." Kou asked, its voice sounding through the minds of everyone in the group making them take a look around to notice what the quasi-spirit had, a small village in the distance, a little ways off of the path they were currently walking.

"That reminds me, how did you survive then? Did you go to villages and such or did you sustain yourself some other way?" Leo then asked, turning his attention to Pandora.

"I made use of my authority to help sustain myself but I have made brief visits to smaller villages as well. I never stayed, however." Pandora answered, "I imagine that you would be capable of doing that as well considering the nature of your authority, if you are willing you could merely live off of the life force of the world around you. Not that I know for certain you wouldn't begin to feel such things as hunger."

"I'll leave it as a last resort… I don't think I want to rely on my authority for everything." Leo sighed, "You at least have the advantage of being unknown, I'll be ousted from everywhere once the news gets around…"

"Does that mean we'll avoid everywhere then?" Cecily asked with a frown. "Maybe you could win the trust of people?"

"It's just best to go somewhere where I'm not known, hopefully going to another country is enough for that. Going to that village would just cause people to hunt us down, although everything would be so much easier if we could."

"There is also a chance that the smaller villages across the country won't know of you, news most often is limited to the more major and involved places in the world. If a small village were to receive news it would simply be because of frequent travellers, being located near a main road, city, a nobles residence or other cause of importance or traffic." Pandora chimed in. "A village such as this is considered relatively out of the way."

"Well, that's nice to know… somewhat," Leo replied with a troubled expression. "Then maybe we could try visiting quickly… I want to try restocking a little at least."

'Not to mention getting something for Pandora, her appearance has had me on edge for a while. How does she live like that? Why? I'm just hoping that all her years of living away from civilization is why she doesn't have much clothing…' Leo thought to himself, concealing his exasperation towards her. Of course, there was also the question of if she would be willing to wear it…

"Then let's go!" Cecily cheered, glad for the chance to head to civilisation despite their initial exile.

"Alright, just don't draw attention when we get there..." Leo replied as the group altered their path, making their way towards the small village. Whilst the girls were calm about the decision, Leo and Kou walked along cautiously and worried about how things might go…

"It seems that there is no need to worry," Pandora mentioned as they passed through a wooden arch that was the main entrance of the village, only the odd person casting a glance at the uncommon occurrence of travellers.

"Nice that you were right." Leo hummed in response with a small smile, pleased with the lack of alarm that their presence brought to the few who saw them.

"Is there anything that you wish to do here in particular?"

"Food, and maybe a ride… and something like cloaks as well." Leo quickly replied to the witch.

"Planning on entering more crowded areas?"

"It would kill to not at least be prepared…"

"Mm, we might have benefited from it here as well. You do draw some attention." Pandora noted as she saw the occasional onlooker before examining Leo who seemed to not care.

"I'd say you're the attention drawer, you're basically an expositionist."

"And do you think clothes like yours exist in this world?" Pandora countered.

"I'll bet you draw in more."

Whilst he wasn't about to completely disregard Pandora's words, remembering how people viewed him when he had first arrived in the world, he was still certain in his words. Whilst a scarcely clad woman already held the ability to draw in plenty of attention once noticed for what she was, Pandora's natural beauty was also completely unignorable. It was hard for Leo to tell if

she was even aware of her own beauty with her ideas of him being the cause for attention when he was sure that before anything else, Pandora was a natural hook for attention before they began noticing anything else about them. Perhaps clothing didn't even come in at that point.

The village was sparse as they walked through, with only a few spaced-out homes and a well, central in the plaza all encased in simple wooden fencing. "Hey, do you think that is the local store?" Cecily suddenly said breaking the observations of the two, instead pointing their direction to a slightly larger building with a quaint sign nailed to its wall.

"Unless it's a home, I don't think it could be anything else," Leo replied as they steadily strolled over towards it.

"Hello!" Cecily said having already opened the door and walked inside, holding it open for Leo and Pandora to join her in entering the building. There were only a few shelves that were lined with various products but mostly food items and sweets, proving itself to be the general store on sight.

"Hello, little one, and hello you… two." The gentle-looking woman behind the counter said with a warm smile that briefly faltered at the sight of Pandora and Leo. "It's not every day that we have travellers, is there something you need?" She asked with her cheery demeanour.

"Did she not like seeing?" Leo asked his spirits.

"It did not seem that way, but considering the way that Pandora dresses, she may just be the reason." Kou quickly answered, "If you are worried about her recognizing you, perhaps we should consider things from the aspect of hostility and fear rather than such disturbed reactions."

"I hope that I'm not being judged for her,"

"Yeah, we're just hoping for some food supplies currently, and perhaps cloaks or something for worse weather," Leo answered the shopkeeper who had been waiting for his response, getting a delayed nod from her.

"Please feel free to pick what you want on the shelves then, most of the non-perishables that we sell are on display. However, we don't do cloaks here. I don't think there is anywhere in this village that you can turn to for them…"

"That's fine, we'll just have to figure something out," Leo said before turning his attention to the selves, skimming along them for anything that seemed good to bring for a long journey, alongside Cecily and Pandora.

But it wasn't long before the sound of screams filled the air…

"That was Lady Pandora." One man said in a hushed voice whilst another nodded in response, the two having just watched the three travellers entering the village.

"It's finally time then. We must report back." The other man said as quickly and silently dipped into the shadows of the village, managing to go completely unnoticed despite the stunning speed they managed to take off, escaping the bounds of the village with astonishing speed that was far beyond the capabilities of the normal person.

Such speed easily carried them to the nearby forest in mere minutes, hastily making their way through the woods whilst at the same time donning new robes. After all, their mistress would never approve of seeing their bare faces.

"What have you maggots come crawling back for? Is it so beyond you trashy meat-brained fools to do as much as stay in one location?" A skimpily dressed blond girl asked the robed pair that bowed before her as they were quickly surrounded by countless more like them.

"Lady Pandora was sighted." One of them said, deliberately keeping his words as brief as possible, not looking up to see how the girl froze for a brief moment before pulling out and hastily flicking through a small black book, reading its contents as quickly as possible.

"It's finally that time? She couldn't keep people waiting any longer…" She said with a massive, exaggerated huff. "Well, what are you fools waiting for them?! Go and give those maggots out there what they deserve!" She suddenly snapped back with a rather gleeful voice, resulting in all the robed individuals quickly bowing and promptly vanishing into the shadows.

"But what is she doing here… she nearly never gets directly involved…" the girl couldn't help but muse to herself before her form began to rapidly increase in size whilst turning pitch black whilst rugged to the touch.

"What's going on?!" Leo said as he burst out of the shop's door to witness countless black-robed people rushing about the village, knives in hand as they mercilessly cut down everyone in sight, some even taking the time to steadily draw out the agony of their prey whilst people attempted to flee but their attempts were futile.

In comparison to the superhuman physos, the average countryside villagers were nothing but powerless. Unable to fight back, panicking and helpless, their fates despite their desperate attempts to save themselves no different to having waited for their demise instead.

"Witch cultists!" Cecily exclaimed as shock, horror, disgust and fury all found their way into her voice.

"These are the cultists?!" Leo said in shock before noticing a looming shadow from above, enabling him to draw his sword in time to block the dagger of a cultist who had jumped down from the roof in an attempt to kill him. There was no hesitation from Leo to quickly flourish Zeam, spinning it in his hand resulting in his aggressor's weapon flying into the distance before slashing at him, striking them down. "What are they doing here?! Is this another faction of them?"

"It is not known how the witch cult operates, all their attacks prior have been viewed as random and sporadic, their reasonings normally unclear adding to their unpredictability. There is likely no telling why they are here." Kou quickly answered.

"I beg to differ slightly, Pandora," Leo said as he turned around to see the platinum-haired beauty walking out of the store, looking completely indifferent to all the havoc and tragedy unfolding before their very eyes from the witch cults. "I know that you had the sin archbishop of greed listening to you before, you head the cult don't you?"

"You're thinking that I'm the one responsible for this?" Pandora replied with faint amusement at the accusation. "It is true that I once had Greed accompany and aid me in Elior Forest long ago, it would be untrue to say that they are the obedient types. Even back then, Regulus was upset and attempted to kill me. Then I simply sent him away as he had already fulfilled the role that I wished him to carry out."

"I haven't been in contact with the cult in any way since joining with you. I most certainly haven't arranged anything, or else it would be in opposition to our contract, as setting up such encounters is a hindrance to your travels, no?"

"Can't you at least just tell them to stop and leave?"

"Were you not listening just then? They likely wouldn't listen, especially if their leaders' goals are not currently about the cult. And sending them away wouldn't work either I'm afraid, there is a good chance they would simply return. I do have a likely reason as to why they are here, however."

"Really? What would that be?" Leo asked in shock.

"Because of the same offer I made you before. An item sure to guide its owner to whatever their goals and desires may be. I don't know the intricate reasoning, like what that goal is until I meet them, but I can say they are simply following its instructions."

"So you have some idea about who the leader is?"

"It would naturally be one of the sin archbishops. It is quite unlikely to be Greed as he rarely makes use of the cultists in attacks, and Sloth to my understanding was recently slain whilst Wrath is still located in another country. It leaves only the Gluttony Siblings or Lust."

"Well, that's just great…" Leo groaned, not sure about which of the two he wanted to face. Whilst he had already met and faced off with Gluttony, Lust he had yet to even hear anything about and nor was he sure how much he wanted to hear about someone from a cult bearing such a title. 'Then again… the witch of lust wasn't so bad…' he briefly thought to himself. If anything she seemed cute and innocent, yet according to the witches was more powerful than Pandora making him sure there was some kind of catch to her that he didn't know of yet, or else why was someone like that considered a witch?

But it was getting lost in his thoughts, despite the carnage was what nearly cost him as Cecily's shouting snapped him out of it. "Ul Jiwald!" she cried out, quickly forming multiple shining lights around them that quickly unleashed rapid fire of countless rays of light that pierced through and killed waves of cultists that were now coming for them. "Master, what are you doing!"

"Right, sorry! I was just trying to think about who the leader might be!" he replied, properly readying himself for the onslaught of hooded figures. 'At the very least, I might be able to beat Gluttony. Even if last time I got a little lucky with him getting sick over my Name or whatever…'

Countless cultists rapidly moved in on them, seemingly as if they had detected a capable fighter that posed an actual threat compared to the villagers who couldn't even so much as escape them. "Akra." Leo calmly stated, making use of the spiritual arts to tap into Cecily's great magical power that far surpassed his own.

While Cecily continued to fire countless lasers at the opposition. Kou made itself known as many large icicles formed around the small blue light that was the quasi-spirit, before rushing and impaling a bunch of the cultists, despite the few that managed to dodge, deflect or even shatter a few of the attacks. However, many of them weren't prepared for the sudden strikes from Leo who with magically enhanced abilities closed the gap in an instant, slashing straight through them with ease.

Despite doing more than merely holding their own against the swarm of cultists, they never stopped coming one after another, each only as skilled and powerful as the ones that came before them.

"How many of these guys are there?" Leo asked in exasperation, even feeling the tension in his body begin to leave him from how many he had already cut down in his wake. Yet as if in some sort of answer to his question several more cultists appeared on the rooftops, jumping down at him as he lept up at them.

Meeting them halfway in the air, through sheer strength it wasn't hard to repel two of the cultists, casting them aside before grabbing the remaining one by the face and slamming them into the

wall. Using enough force, the wall cracked under the pressure before the body slumped to the ground, unclear if it was dead or uncountious but Leo didn't take chances as he made sure to activate his authority to drain whatever life remained.

Remaining unfazed at the sight, the two remaining cultists lunged at him with surprising speed but it wasn't fast enough. "Fura!" he commanded, dropping Akra in favour of the wind spell, unleashing a gust of wind that knocked them backwards off their feet whilst covering them in multiple lacerations. Once more before they could hit the ground, Leo made sure to grab hold of them before slamming them into the ground, draining all their remaining vitality until they were cold and still.

"It seems you're getting much more accustomed to using your authority," Pandora noted as she walked over to him, not caring in the slightest for all the dead cultists that supposedly worked under her.

"It's not like I was opposed to it before, it's just that doing so would have exposed me or I didn't want to cause lasting harm" Leo replied as he stood up again, sheathing Zeam as he did so. "Just how many of these guys are there?"

"I don't know." Pandora quickly replied, "Even if I knew the leader, I wouldn't know how much of their fraction they decided to mobilize."

Just as Pandora finished talking, several explosions quickly went off in succession as ice rained down, promptly followed by a rush of freezing cold air. "It seems your spirits aren't to be underestimated," Pandora said as the two calmly turned towards the chaos before noticing a looming figure in the sky that likewise had its attention caught by all the ongoing magic.

"What's a dragon doing here?! How common are they?" Leo exclaimed at the sight of an enormous black-scaled dragon flying directly overhead and towards where they presumed his spirits were.

"True dragons are rather rare in this era, but that isn't one of them," Pandora answered. "We should return to your spirits swiftly, that is the sin archbishop of lust after all."

"That's Lust?!" Leo exclaimed again before shaking it off. If there was a whole dragon after Cecily and Kou then he needed to get to them before it was too late, not that he knew how a great spirit compared to the strength of a dragon but he wasn't willing to take risks with their lives so soon once again.

"Akra!" Leo said, making use of the spiritual arts to call upon Cecily's power as he flared up, glowing with magical power. Not wasting any time, he instantly swept Pandora from her feet before rushing the two of them in pursuit of the dragon.

"Al Jiwald!" Cecily chanted whilst a column of ice abruptly rose out of the ground beside her. The almighty blast of light magic accompanied by all the ice that Kou could muster raced into the sky together before striking the dragon clear in its chest, much to its agitation as it road out in pain from the large, bleeding wound. Yet to their disbelief, the wound began to heal before their very eyes, closing in a matter of seconds as if they hadn't even done anything to it.

Immediately after, the dragon's chest began to swell making it clear what it was about to do yet before anyone could do anything Leo appeared on the scene, slamming into the dragon's side and knocking it off balance before landing on the ground with a neat enough landing.

"Master!" Cecily happily cheered, at his appearance whilst he put Pandora down who quickly stepped aside.

"Nothing happened to you, right?" Leo hastily asked as he accepted a brief hug from Cecliy before noticing plenty of cultist corpses littered around the town, many with burned holes through them or icicles sticking out.

"We're fine, they never touched us!" Cecily said with pride, "But then all the remainders left just before the dragon appeared."

"I think it's because that's the sin archbishop of lust," Leo replied to the shock of his spirits and even the dragon in the air.

"Oh? Who would have thought that some crude garbage pieces of meat had the capacity to recognize this magnificent little lady!" The dragon suddenly, laughed in amusement as it landed on the ground staring down the three. "Were you hoping that this lovely lady would give you apes some praise? Or perhaps some saliva? You must be very happy with my saliva, for you it must be a coveted treasure!"

"God you think highly of yourself, are you sure you're not pride instead?" Leo quipped in exasperation much to the dragon's infuriation.

"Such bags of meat have the nerve to talk up to this lovely lady?! Such rotten eggs! You putrid filthy things! You all should die! Everyone except me should just die!" The dragon proclaimed as its chest began to swell whilst a rush of hot air began to emanate from it to the group's shock.

"Maybe could have held my tongue… Kou, work with me a moment!" Leo shouted before quickly holding up his hands towards the dragon. "Huma!" He shouted out, instantly summoning forth an ice barrier between him and the dragon in preparation for the inevitable.

"Ul Akra!" Cecily chanted, covering Leo in a sparkling shimmer that soon resulted in the ice forming the barrier thickening as the very air around them began to chill from the powerful spell.

The following moment, the dragon's flames lept forth from the dragon's jaw and flooded over the ice barrier, instantly causing it to shrink in size and craze from the sudden force and heat of the blaze that they desperately attempted to hold back. The heat continued relentlessly wearing away at their barrier that continued to steadily give way until the dragon finally ran out of breath, causing the stream to end freeing them of the danger.

There was no hesitation from Leo to quickly grab hold of Cecily and increase the distance between them and the dragon that had already swiped at what remained of the ice, shattering it to pieces. Yet there was little place to run as the dragon's flames continued to burn all of the surrounding space, the only reason for it failing to spread was the distance between each of the buildings in the village.

"Fusha!" Cecily said, unleashing a wave of frost that ran across all of the flames in an attempt to smother them, yet to her spirit's shock they continued to burn. "What?! How are they still burning?" Cecily said as they looked around and the small firestorm occurring around them.

"I imagine that dragon fire is special, and not so easily extinguished." Kou replied, "Without making use of a substantial amount of power you likely will not be able to quell the flames"

"Fire needs three things; heat, oxygen and energy. Unless it's outright magical then just take away one of those elements completely and the fire will stop." Leo quickly answered.

"Oxygen? What's that?" Cecily asked.

"No time! You can't cool it so we're gonna have to remove all the air from them to stop it!" Leo instantly replied before another idea came to mind. "Wait, where's Pandora? She could just undo this right?" he said looking around for any sign of the platinum-haired beauty only to fail to so much as spot a trace of her.

'Is she hiding? Our contract forbids her from just leaving us." he thought to himself.

"The witch won't help us, we have to do it all ourselves! But you're the only one with wind magic so you have to do it…" Cecily said

"Is making a new magic spell in the heat of the moment easy or are we going to have to let this all burn?" Leo asked in alarm only to receive Cecily's troubled look.

"Well… you've been getting used to magic so you might be able to try something, but if you can't do it the first time then no…" Cecily said with a disheartened expression. "It's the same basic principles of magic! Envision what you want, how it will work, gather the necessary magic and unleash it, guiding it to that purpose!"

"Right!" Leo said before they noticed another flood of flames coming for them, forcing them to jump into the air to evade it.

"Ul Jiwald!" Cecily chanted, unleashing several lasers at the dragon, multiple of them managing to pierce its body and wings whilst two in particular managed to score direct hits with its eyes.

"GRAAH!" The dragon cried out in pain before its body already started to regenerate, leaving the group with precious little time before they fell back down into the remaining flames of the dragon's previous breath attack.

Relinquishing Akra, Leo immediately got to focus on what he hoped to achieve. He needed to suffocate the flames to efficiently put them out, then he would need to draw the air out of them to create a vacuum. If he could create enough of a vortex then it should manage, and Fura already allowed him to form blades of strong winds, but now he wanted that to do something slightly different.

With his desires in mind, he immediately began to summon up whatever mana he felt necessary before saying the first name that came to mind for the potentially unique spell.

"El Cycla!" He eventually said with an outstretched hand towards the ground, at first only managing to cause a breeze of wind before it continued to get stronger and stronger until it steadily became a raging tempest, swirling around a point beneath them. The flames within the dome all quickly extinguished whilst those around them seemed threatened by being sucked inside and dying.

As Leo and Cecily fell onto the winds, they instantly found themselves harshly repelled by the spell and sent tumbling across the ground until they finally came to a stop. "I should have guessed it might have reacted like that… Cecily, are you ok?" Leo asked, looking down at her whilst being silently thankful that he hadn't ended up in any of the nearby fires.

"I'm fine, but you managed to make your own spell!" Cecily cheered with a gleeful smile despite the predicament they were in.

"Ul Cycla!" Leo hastily said with an outstretched hand, quickly causing a mass of winds to swirl around them forming a barrier just before more flames washed over them. Whilst the temperature began to rapidly increase, and the dome quickly began to become a firestorm from all the fire that it picked up, the flames themselves failed to get through and harm the pair much to their relief.

But unlike the previous spell, the winds were far more ferocious as Leo continued to put his strength into the spell, hoping that it would manage to accomplish what he wished for. Whilst Cecily didn't seem phased, it immediately became hard to breathe from the lax air that filled the dome leaving Leo hoping that Lust would run out of breath before he did air.

On the outside Lust was in shock from the strong winds occurring before her. Before she realized it, she found even her large mass being steadily drawn in by the winds forcing her to

need to dig her claws into the ground to fight against it. Yet all it took was her tail to touch the raging tempest to get instantly repelled again, now covered in a multitude of cuts.

Eventually becoming unable to maintain its flaming breath, the dragon finally stopped resulting in the flames that coated the wind barrier quickly fading much to the relief of Leo. Relinquishing the spell caused the winds to quickly burst away from them, sending blood splattering outwards as Leo and Cecily stood in a circle of unstained and unburnt land. Only a little bit away was the dragon, the ground beneath it showing signs of struggling to hold its ground as it began to stand tall once again.

"I'm happy that spell worked as intended but this fight isn't going to end at this rate if it can regenerate from anything…" Leo grumbled as he thought about what they would do.

"Kahahaha! It took you dumb foolish pieces of meet this long to figure that out? Wasn't it obvious? This lovely lady is immortal!" The dragon cackled as it got back on all fours again. "If you have finally figured that much out then you should understand you're helpless! But this compassionate lady shall give you a chance to run first! Or beg for mercy! Either way you rotten eggs shall end up the same!"

"I think you'll find the immortal one here is me, " Leo retaliated. "Cecily, can you keep yourself safe for a moment? Or maybe handle the cultists elsewhere? I'm going to end this now."

"Huh? Do you mean?" Cecily asked with a shocked look before glancing at the dragon and looking back at him. "Alright! I know you can't lose so show it their place! You can do it Master!" she cheered with a smile before following his request, making sure to quickly hurry away from the fight leaving the two to finish their fight.

"Brainless meat! Do you have any intelligence? This gracious lady even told you she's immortal, and you think you can win? Stupid little maggots have the capacity to understand I'm the undying one here, not you!" The dragon roared before stepping forward.

"I think it takes a special kind of delusion to confuse arrogance with immortality. Because trust me, you're far from that." Leo said with a small smirk that hid his fury towards the winged creature, its attitude getting on his nerves. "Akra."

The moment he said the spell, he rushed forward towards the dragon with a single plan in mind paired with the determination to do so. As the dragon lashed out at him with its claws he merely jumped up the dragon instead. As it moved to avoid him he pulled out Zeam, stabbing it into the dragon's side to get some grip on it, quickly swinging himself up onto its back.

"You lustful filthy ape! Unable to contain your urges you dare touch this wonderful lady!"

"You can just shut it already, I don't even know where you got such an overloaded sense of self-worth compared to everyone else, because if were you I wouldn't have any!" Leo shouted

as he once again stabbed Zeam into the dragon's back, making sure to hold himself where the dragon was completely unable to reach him. 'I could just use Zeam to cut her soul, but that would mean fighting a dragon without Akra when I can just do this instead.' He thought to himself as he held onto the dragon, activating his authority.

The effect was instant as the dragon instantly began to stagger under the effects of its Od bring drained away. "You dare?! The audacity! You dastardly, no-brained piece of meat!" The dragon roared before suddenly the strangest sensation filled Leo fill him as he lost his sense of touch in his arms. They felt soft at first before altogether losing feeling and the same could be quickly said for the whole of his body until he realized what was happening too too late. "Now that is an improvement from the hideous thing you were before! This gracious lady has given you a little improvement to cover up your disgusting self!" The dragon declared a lump of meat now fell off its back and to the ground, completely helpless and without form.

Leo was in a state of panic and fury. He wanted to shout, to scream, to do anything but he was powerless. He couldn't channel magic for whatever reason, and he had no limbs any longer leaving only his authority available yet even that was powerless to do anything about his change in form. 'Just what kind of crazy powers do they all have?! Was I really being reckless because I was supposed to expect anything like this was possible… but now I'm trapped like this…' He thought in dread, the idea that he couldn't even die driving home his building misery and horror.

"That shows you for daring to rebel against me!" The dragon spat distastefully before turning around back to the village. "Now I shall teach the same lesson to the other disgusting thing that thought to assist you."

Upon hearing the fact the amount of rage that Leo felt skyrocketed, wishing nothing more than to completely eradicate the dragon with whatever and all power that he could muster to do so, but it didn't do anything to change his predicament. He couldn't even properly tell what had become of him beyond what remained of what he could feel of himself and hear as he was now without eyes to see or even a mouth or nose to taste and smell. Powerless to do anything but merely listen to the sound and feel the vibrations of the dragon thudding its way back into the village.

'Is this how it all ends… just like that?' He thought to himself.

He only held the thought for a brief moment however before his vision suddenly came back to him, yet it failed to blind him from the sudden amount of light, however. It was jarring and disorienting how rapidly his form was being played with as he already felt himself suddenly return to normal. Wasting no time he quickly patted himself down, examining himself in shock, joy and immense relief.

"But how…" He wondered before the answer quickly represented itself.

"You shouldn't have been so reckless against Lust like that. I admit, out of all of the archbishops

she is the only one capable of giving you such a horrible fate, besides the witch of envy and the Sin Archbishop of Greed killing you again and again." Pandora said as she gracefully walked over to him with her usual faint smile. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah… thanks to you…" Leo said in disbelief but his gratitude was both immense and genuine.

"You're welcome, and you shouldn't need to worry about that again. If she ever manages it then I shall undo it like this time." Pandora replied, her smile widening ever so faintly. "Now don't you think you ought to save your spirit before something happens to her? Lust certainly won't be expecting you now."

"Yeah… You'll really save me from any repeats of that?" Leo asked.

"She will either change her form or whoever's touching her. I shall revert whatever she does to you, please do not worry." Pandora said with a smile.

"Good…" Leo said as shadows began to cloak him whilst forming fists so tightly that they began to shake. "I'm taking revenge for everything she did." He simply said before turning and rushing away after the moving of the black dragon leaving Pandora gracefully smiling as she watched before beginning to walk after them.

Leo didn't even say anything as he landed on the dragon's back, striking it with a kick to its pain before he grabbed hold of Zeam, pulling it out of its back before jumping again and landing just before the dragon once more.

"Who… You?! Intolerable meatbag, how did you return to that despicable form?! You dare cast aside this gracious lady's gift?" The dragon practically spat in disgust.

"You can't do anything to me. Give it up." Leo grumbled with a glare, no longer having any tolerance. "All you can do is give me a brief yet horrible time, but you're powerless."

"You… arrogant worthless meat!" The dragon merely grumbled in response before preparing another breath attack but Leo didn't give it a chance as he immediately lept towards it instead, slashing at its throat with Zeam causing a stream of blood to come forth as he landed on its back.

The dragon was in a state of shock from the sudden serious, killer demeanour of Leo who without hesitation grabbed hold of it as he used his authority. At first, it thrashed before quickly using its authority once more on its attacker yet seemingly true to Leo's words, he never fell off as a piece of meat. Instead even as his form began to distort and change, it instantly reverted back to how it was, allowing him to continue his merciless assault.

"This… this can't be!" The dragon struggled to say before finally stopping its thrashing. 'Curses… this disgusting violator… I'll be back!'

At first, Leo merely thought that he finally saw it dead, only to be proven wrong as the whole dragon rapidly began to shrink and vanish resulting in Leo suddenly dropping to the floor before hastily looking around for any sign of the dragon reappearing, yet it never did.

"Where did it go?" Leo asked as he continued looking around the village.

"I believe she fled to escape you," Pandora said as she approached him, getting him to relinquish his authority and magic at the news. "Congratulations, you managed to make even a sin archbishop feel that there was no hope of winning against you."

"That's only thanks to you. If you hadn't been here…" Leo said, unable to suppress a shiver at the memory of the experience. No matter how brief it had been, it wasn't something that he ever wanted to have to consider being trapped like that for potentially eternity. "You've saved me again."

"You're welcome."

"Master!" Cecily's voice was suddenly heard as the spirit came running over before tackling him with a hug. "You did it! It didn't stand a chance against you! You even made a new spell!"

"I don't think that it was that impressive though, I mainly just took Fura and altered it a little bit." Leo said as he hugged the spirit back.

"Even if it's a basic spell, you still came up with it quickly! People usually need to experiment a couple of times before casting one seriously,"

"You could have led with that if it was likely that I would have failed! Besides, it wasn't all me. If it wasn't for Pandora then I'd be doomed…" He said, giving the witch an appreciative smile while Cecliy nearly recoiled in shock.

"Huh? Really?" Cecily said in disbelief.

"The sin archbishop of lust has the power to alter the forms of those she touches, or her own. She had trapped your contractor in the form of nothing more than a lump of flesh, and since that became considered his 'natural state' no amount of healing magic could have saved him. He would have never died, forever living as a blob of flesh, until I used my authority to revert it." Pandora explained yet Cecily remained sceptical instead looking up at Leo for confirmation who merely nodded slowly in response causing a brief flash of fear to appear on her face.

For a few moments, Cecily seemingly struggled with the news, mulling over something whilst only making the odd sound as she pressed her head into Leo's chest before finally slowly turning to peer at Pandora. The witch merely silently watched the spirit, waiting for her until she finally spoke.

"Thank you… for saving Master…" Cecily hesitantly said before she hid her face once more as if in refusal to acknowledge the witch any more than she had to. Leo was stunned whilst Pandora was pleased with the spirit's gratitude but they were all unaware of their onlookers.

Whilst lives had been lost from the sudden attack, the group was watched from a distance all around from the many people who still lived, each of them watching with a mixture of feelings towards them. Yet all of them couldn't find the strength to approach them, instead pleading that their lives would be given the chance to return to normal…

"I'm shocked that they're still willing to be so accommodating," Leo said as they walked into an empty room. It was obvious at first glance that the house they had entered had been well lived in, yet upon asking the villagers for a place to rest they had pointed it out to him in little time.

"I believe that was simply a matter of pure vacancy," Pandora said as she walked through the small living room and into what was one of the house's bedrooms.

"I think I get what you are trying to say, but it's actually a lot more shocking because of that." Leo sighed in response. "Most people aren't so suddenly willing to lend out a house temporarily just because the previous owners just died making it free… if anything no one would do that…"

"Mm, perhaps normally," Pandora said to herself. She found it obvious the true reason as to why they were lent the house so easily but apparently, he hadn't caught on to any of it yet.

"Maybe because they were grateful for saving them?" Cecily then suggested with a smile. "At least you were proven wrong! Hey maybe we can just stay here instead if we can continue to get along with everyone, we could be like the village guards or something!"

"Wouldn't it be only a matter of time though before someone comes along and recognizes me? And then there might be a whole host of trouble…"

"If one were to be serious about considering staying here instead of pressing forward with your journey, then you would be best off introducing yourself with a different name and lies to cover most of the villager's curiosities about you. Whilst you may be fine for a few nights, I believe that you would be found in inevitably." Kou said as it made itself known again.

"Right…"

"Why do you have to keep putting out any hope…" Cecily pouted at the quasi-spirit.

"Do you wish for him to be ousted once more in the future? Or even worse, betrayed?" Kou countered.

"That's enough, the pair of you. I wasn't thinking of it anyway. It just takes one wrong person to come here and it's all over no matter how much I try to make a life here. Leaving the country is just easiest for now." Leo sighed as he sat down to rest on one of the four chairs around a small dining table.

Merely being in the house gave him an off-put feeling, but he did his best to ignore it. He knew that if he dwelled on it or the thought of the house having been someone else would inevitably lead to thoughts that he wasn't prepared for. 'It's too late, nothing will change… and I need a place to rest.' he thought to himself.

"I might just go to bed early." Leo thought aloud as he looked out the window and into the amber sky. He knew they had spent a good amount of time travelling this far already, and a little more exploring the village before the witch cult came. As a day that was filled with far more action than he ever planned for, it left him feeling completely whipped.

"You won't even eat first?" Pandora asked as she came back to the main room. "Our shopping may have been interrupted but we still have some supplies."

"But we don't have anything?" Leo questioned, not understanding Pandora's point until she revealed a small fabric pouch that she set down on the table, allowing its knot to unravel to reveal its food contents. "When did you… wait, did you take this from the store?"

"I believe that you deserve something for your efforts, no?" Pandora said with a tilt of her head, "At the very least, if you are so upset about this then you can just pay them tomorrow."

"Whilst stealing is something she shouldn't have done, it is correct that you ought to not skip out on a meal currently as you will need your strength. You can also go shopping in the morning like we planned for today." Kou added on.

"I… fine." Leo sighed as he gave in to their words, unable to deny his hunger after going the whole day without anything to eat.

That evening the group all sat around the table, quietly and contently eating a basic meal of bread and meat until they finally decided to retire for the night…

The moon was high into the sky, its light shining through the window as Leo continued to sleep with Cecily lying beside him in bed. The house was quiet until the faintest creak could be heard before the shadows of three individuals carefully entered the room, looking around in caution before shakily nodding to one another as they forced down their hesitation.

They had no other choice, it was their only chance.

They continued to creep through the house, never letting down their guard as they steadily began to split off from one another. They didn't know the house perfectly, but they knew it well enough. As one person gently opened another door to find the figure of the platinum-haired sleeping beauty, the other two began to climb the stairs to continue to find their other targets.

They internally winced at the faint creaks and groans from the stairs under their weight but they knew they couldn't stop. They didn't know whether or not to be pleased at the fact that the other two of their targets were together or not, but it wouldn't change the circumstances. They merely continued to make their way to the bed, carefully revealing small daggers prepared to end the lives of the monsters.

But the moment they even began to lift their blades in the hope of ending everything in one quick strike each, the screams of pain only came from them instead.

Leo and Cecily instantly awoke to the sight of two random villagers slumped against a wall, blood trickling down their chests from large icicles that had gone right through their chests. "What the hell is going on?!" Leo asked as he immediately leapt out of bed, his eyes fixed on the corpses.

"They had come to attack you during the night, it seems this village sees you as something hostile or dangerous," Kou answered them as Leo and Cecily noticed the quasi-spirit hovering beside the window that was above the two corpses. It was enough to lure them over to look outside only to be shocked about the number of people that were waiting outside, many of them with different kinds of makeshift weaponry like pitchforks.

"That would be one of the most interesting welcome parties i've ever saw… we need to go." Leo sighed before instantly reaching over to throw on his large, hooded cardigan and grabbing hold of Zeam knowing there was no time to waste.

"B-but why is everyone?" Cecily started to ask in shock before hurrying after Leo who was already leaving the room.

"I don't know…" Leo replied.

"It's because they're scared," Pandora answered them as they finished coming down the stairs to find the dainty girl waiting for them with a dead man at her feet. "It might be because they recognize you as a warlock, fear your power, or perhaps think you have something to do with the cult."

"Did you do anything?" Cecily asked with a scowl.

"I did not," Pandora said as she shook her head.

"They're dead, aren't they?" One muffled voice said from outdoors followed by a couple of more hesitant voices whose words couldn't be made out amongst one another.

"We've got no choice." Another voice said.

"It seems they're coming," Pandora observed whilst Leo grit his teeth in frustration before making up his mind.

"Well, come on then… I'm sure we can just send them flying and leave. If Pandora weren't here could just go invisible and stealthy leave that way." He gloomily sighed, giving in to the situation at hand. 'I just have to wait until we get to Kararagi, everything should be fine then…' He reminded himself.

His spirits could not bring themselves to say anything as Cecily looked at him with a troubled expression, yet knew there was little that she could do to help ease the time that Leo had in escaping yet another hard circumstance.

The moment they opened the door all the villagers that had been waiting outside with their weapons raised attempted to lunge at the group but failed to do anything. "El Cycla." Leo calmly chanted, resulting in a barrier of wind around them that launched back all the villagers that touched it leaving the group plenty of room.

"Cecily, can you get yourself out of here with Akra? I need to grab Pandora." Leo telepathically told his spirit who nodded in approval, already having silently cast the spell which caused her to glisten with shimmering light.

"Akra." Leo calmly said, allowing a similar effect to cover him as well before scooping Pandora into his arms again. Only a few of the villagers managed to get back up again in time to witness the three beginning to jump away onto another of the rooftops before going out of sight, leaving them all in confusion about their fate.

"This should be far enough," Leo said as they came to a stop within the forest, finally putting down Pandora to rest before taking a few steps away, merely looking onwards into the rest of the forest they had arrived at.

"Are you ok, master?" Cecily worriedly asked despite not feeling able to approach her contractor.

"I'm fine…"

"You aren't," Pandora replied with a firm voice that shocked everyone yet Leo still refused to turn around and face them or even answer the claims. "Things won't change, this is the unfair

treatment that witches and warlocks face. You can only accept it." The witch said with frighteningly little compassion in her voice.

"Unfair? I'm pretty sure that any such treatment like that which you receive is justified." Leo replied in a quiet voice, only barely looking over his shoulder back at the witch.

For a few moments, there was silence again as everyone waited for whatever the witch would respond with, and only when Leo began to think that she didn't have any argument his his words did she finally speak. "Do you truly believe that this is how I always started off? That I gave the title of "Witch" its reputation instead of being judged like that from the beginning?" She said to Leo's shock.

"Are you saying you used to be better behaved?"

"Depends on what you call that. Was I always like this, however, then likely not? I can't recall who I was back then."

"I see…"

"The sooner you can accept the fact of how the world will treat you now will help determine the kind of person you will be in the future."

"Are you just telling me to become like you now?" Leo asked as he finally turned around to look at her exasperated.

"No, I'm just aiming to give you advice," Pandora said with a shake of her head. "How many betrayals can a person take before it changes them?"

Once again Leo was quiet. Even though he didn't know anyone in the village, the experience of being hunted down and chanced out still stung, the way that so many people simply automatically wished him dead and from the look in their eyes it was made clear there was no chance of changing that.

"People can't betray you if you give up on them first. The only people you can be confident that they won't are us, who are all bound by contracts to you." Pandora continued. "It would be in your best interest to simply do as you please, and stop caring about those who wish to hurt you."

"I get it, I get it." Leo said, turning away from the group again with a sigh, once more frustrated at understanding where the witch was coming from. "But I'm not giving up, just accepting a fact. There are people like those back at the Felt and Emilia camps in the world, I just… won't be hopeful over it."

"I don't believe that is much better. Won't it be a matter of time before that changes or they forget you? Or what about learning that you travel with me now?" Pandora said.

"Well, the Felt camp wouldn't know who you are and I can easily explain things to you, although the Emilia camp might need some calming down first…" Leo said with a dejected look before spinning around with a harsh glare. "You didn't want to come with me to make my life even worse, did you?"

"Not at all." Pandora quickly yet calmly replied, "I have already explained my reasons for traveling with you, have I not?"

"Fine," Leo sighed again.

"Leo, perhaps you should aim to rest again. You didn't get much before we were attacked and the situation has taken its toll on you. " Kou then said, breaking the moment as Leo tiredly looked at his two spirits, spotting Cecily nodding her head in agreement before making up his mind. He certainly lacked the energy to do anything currently either way.

"Alright…" Leo said, accepting their advice before slowly making his way over to a nearby tree, and slumping down against it as he prepared to go to sleep Cecily quickly went to join in, quickly lighting a small fire with a snap of her fingers to keep them warm.

For a few moments, Pandora merely watched the two, her never-changing smile making it impossible to read her true feelings or thoughts. 'Of course, the treatment is hardly the only thing that makes the witches as they are. With time, you'll certainly change.' She thought to herself before settling down to continue her previously interrupted rest, feeling content with the development that had occurred…

Yet, far away from the peacefully slumbering group, a village continued to burn as an enraged, skimpily-dressed blond stood in the middle of carnage and flames caused by her hooded subordinate. Not a single life was spared, and not a single one did anything to quell her hatred for her disrespectful missing meats that had escaped her…