“Whew,” I said to myself, “that was a close one.”
Still, I broke out in a cold sweat. There was absolutely no murderous intent emanating from the figure; it was probably just a villager or something, and I’d almost attacked whoever it was by mistake. That had been a close call.
“But…huh? Wait, did I make a mistake?”
Something was wrong. The villagers were running away as fast as their legs could carry them, like they were trying to escape from that new figure. That figure headed toward the Fire God idol, and Filia and Ashley stood in front of it to block the way.
Wait, was this the person who was gonna attack Moichi’s shop? Bad thoughts popped into my mind, and I hurriedly kicked through the air to head back to the ground—though, irritatingly enough, I couldn’t get much speed in the air.
By the time I somehow managed to land on the ground near the Fire God idol, the figure was about sixty feet or so away.
“Ashley, is that someone from the village?” I asked.
“No, you can tell just by looking! Those horns… It’s a majin.”
There were definitely two small horns growing out of the figure’s head. And their skin was the same shade as Bezegamoth’s. However, this one looked like a little girl. She was even smaller than Ashley. She had brown skin and long, richly blonde hair. Her eyes were clear and blue, and she was dressed from head to toe in a Gothic Lolita outfit.
So this was why people were running away. Now I knew. A majin was a symbol of great power…and of great terror. They were like living natural disasters; it would’ve been stranger if people didn’t run.
“Wow, this is awesome!” the majin cooed. “I mean, it was already amazing even from up above, but it’s even more awesome seeing it from up close!” The majin approached the figure of the Fire God, almost as if she didn’t care one bit about the villagers fleeing in terror. For that matter, she didn’t seem to care about us either, even as we stood on high alert.
“Hey, you!” shouted Ashley, stopping the majin in her tracks. “Don’t come any closer!”
However, the majin puffed up her cheeks indignantly and shouted back at her. Her voice was shrill and lingering. “Why? You’re close to it! Why am I, Loli Loli, the only one who can’t see it?”
“Because you’re a majin!” shouted Ashley. “If you come any closer to the pride of our village, you’re going to regret it!”
For a moment, the majin Loli Loli looked at the ground. Her fists shook. Then, she looked back up and shouted in a voice so loud that it echoed throughout the entire village.
“You people…are so rude! Always calling me majin this, majin that. My name is Loli Loli Lukis Isarett, thank you very muchly, and you are all so rude! Such rude people!” Loli Loli took one step closer—
And flames blasted her. “I’m not interested in your name!” Ashley shouted. “You’re a majin. I won’t allow you to terrorize everyone in the village, and don’t you dare lay your hands on the Fire God!”
Ashley looked back at Filia and me.
Hey, hey! I thought. Don’t take your eyes off your enemy in the middle of a fight!
“Big Sis, Yuri, please don’t get involved in this.”
“But your opponent is a majin,” said Filia. “Even if she’s little, taking it on by yourself is…”
“I’m sorry, but please,” said Ashley. “I’m an S-rank, and I’m going to protect my own village.”
Ashley didn’t listen to Filia’s warning. I had a feeling it had to do with pride—pride in her own power, pride in not relying on Filia and me—even though she looked like she was breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Do whatever you want,” I said. Honestly, I didn’t really like the idea of fighting someone like Rolly Rolly or whatever she called herself.
“How dare you?!” Loli Loli snarled. Despite getting completely slammed by Ashley’s fire magic, Loli Loli was completely unharmed. Majin were just way more physically durable than humans.
“I’m your opponent,” said Ashley. “Are you going to come at me or not?”
Ashley and Loli Loli faced one another. They were both short in stature. To an average person, this might have looked like a fight between children, but to the trained eye, it was clear they were both uncommonly talented. Only a small number of people could ever hope to win against either of them, including adults.
The villagers fled. The two girls stood motionless. You could have cut the tension with a knife.
Ashley was the first to make a move. She created eight spears of flame behind her and launched them.
“Whoa, that’s amazing!” shouted Loli Loli, surprised. But a moment later, Loli Loli manifested a shield of ice in front of her. All eight spears hit the shield, and all eight left the shield intact. “But I, Loli Loli, am even more amazing! My ability, Absolute Zero, is super amazing!” she boasted, hands on her hips.
“Are you making fun of me?!” Ashley snarled, furious. “Wait a minute, could you be the person who threatened to attack Moichi’s shop?!”
“What are you talking about?! Don’t say stuff that’s hard for Loli Loli to understand!”
For some reason, I was starting to feel a bit of a kinship with this Loli Loli. But for Ashley, an answer that wasn’t really an answer at all just wasn’t good enough. Even if she was an S-Rank, staying calm in the face of a powerful foe while her fellow villagers were in danger was next to impossible.
“All right,” said Ashley, her pupils dilating. “Let’s get dangerous. Infinite Flame!”