Minutes after the battle begins, Victoria and Elisa are thrown away, crashing into a rock.
"I have to try to control her; Slady wouldn't like me hurting her at all."
Victoria thought, looking at Shaphira's demonic form, which had lost its control. Elisa gets up with some effort, but bravely faces Shaphira to keep her under control.
"Listen to me, Shaphira!"
She extends Raizer's sword toward Shaphira.
"I won't let this energy take over you! I'll make Slady proud of giving me my father's sword!"
Victoria smiles a little when she sees Elisa, standing up and standing beside her.
"For a Destruction Hunter like me, I'm impressed with you."
Then the two enter combat stances, Victoria using water manipulation and Elisa using blood manipulation.
Shaphira also enters combat stance, the enormous demonic fox becoming more aggressive, glaring furiously at them.
Then the fight begins, with Victoria trying to drive the Renkai Creature further away from Freehold and the Library. Elisa tries to take advantage of Shaphira's distraction to attack her with her blood-infused weapon.
Creating a supersonic jet of water, Victoria fires it at Shaphira, tearing her skin and flesh. Elisa uses her sword to wound the affected areas. to cause Shaphira more pain in her demonic form.
But even so, Shaphira becomes more furious, roaring even louder, causing both of them to feel excruciating pain in their eardrums.
Then Shaphira advances toward Victoria, who, despite her hearing impairment, creates a large wave that hits her. To dodge the attack, Elisa creates a barrier of blood to prevent herself from drowning.
Shaphira sprays the liquid, then spins her tail to launch those droplets of water, which are so fast they hit the two women like bullets.
Elisa stands in front of Victoria, creating a barrier of blood to defend them both. But even so, some droplets break through the barrier and hit them both.
Shaphira rushes toward them, her tail hairs standing on end like blades. Then she tries to strike them both with her tail...
Suddenly...
Shaphira lets out a roar of pain, then, looking up, Victoria and Elisa notice the presence of Slady, mounted on top of her. He pulled the hair on her neck with his bionic arm, pulling hard.
"Shaphira!"
Slady said in a commanding tone. Then, suddenly, as if finally hearing someone, Shaphira tried to control herself at the familiar voice.
She flinched, trembling, and the two other women were surprised by the scene. They knew the man had some control over Shaphira, her Renkai Energy and her demonic instincts, but they didn't know it was so much.
When Shaphira lay down on the ground, causing a small tremor in the ground, Slady carefully lowered herself to the ground and began to stroke the large creature's snout.
"It's okay, it's over..."
Slady's voice was almost... caring, but still firm and cold. Shaphira let out sighs through her nose, as if trying to control her instincts was painful. Then her body began to return to normal little by little, returning to its normal form. "Human."
"I'm... sorry..."
She felt deeply guilty, not only for having to make Slady control her, but also for almost hurting Elisa and Victoria.
"It wasn't your fault, but don't do that again."
Slady gently caressed Shaphira's cheek, which made her feel much calmer and more at peace, closing her eyes and falling asleep.
Even though they were still standing and had managed to fight, Elisa and Victoria felt relieved to understand that Slady could take control of the situation. Even though, physically and otherwise, he was the weaker one.
"I would scold her if we could restrain her, but you managed to do it more efficiently,"
Victoria said, putting her arm around Elisa's shoulder, who watched the scene with some concern.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"Yes,"
Slady said, caressing Shaphira's chest. Victoria walked over to him, crouching down beside him. his.
"Your girl has incredible potential, but she must be very well cared for, considering she's a demon."
She places her hand on Slady's back in a friendly gesture.
"You're the person she seems to trust the most. I would recommend you be present at their training so you can help them improve their powers and control them."
Slady closes her eyes with a tired sigh, unintentionally leaning against Victoria's chest.
"I know, I messed up on that part."
Victoria is surprised by that, but knows it's an innocent gesture. Then she places her hand on his dark hair, stroking it in a friendly way.
"Everyone makes mistakes, my friend. Now go take care of her."
***
After Slady returns to the library with Shaphira in his arms, Victoria looks at Elisa seriously, walking over to her.
"Due to all the tension from the fight, I noticed you seem... different..."
Victoria takes a deep breath.
"You seem to have experienced a near-death experience to awaken your Mana Releaser. Did you ask your father for help to better understand the great power within you?"
"..."
Elisa seemed a little sensitive to this question.
"My father... he passed away a few days ago... Slady ended up adopting me."
Victoria was shocked by the answer, placing her hand on her chest.
"I didn't know, I'm so sorry about all this."
Victoria hugs Elisa, who hugs her back immediately, finding comfort in that moment.
"I miss him so much..."
She starts to cry a little, and Victoria strokes Elisa's hair.
"I know how it is, Faller and I... we've already lost our family..."
***
In the bedroom, Slady had laid Shaphira on the bed, gently stroking her ears.
"Hmmm~hmmm~hmm-hmmmm~"
"She seems calmer, doesn't she?"
Suddenly, Truth appears on his lap, casually resting her elbow on his shoulder.
"Yes, she seems to have lost control *again*."
"The first time you lost control, you almost killed her, didn't you?"
"Yes," he says with a tired sigh. Truth places her hands on the sides of Slady's face, stroking the area.
"You're not to blame for this, but now, you can understand her better to help her control the great power within her."
She leans in, resting her forehead against his.
"And I've noticed you've become more emotional. According to the curse you possess, it should be the opposite."
"I know that, but..."
He places his hand on his chest.
"Even if your existence within my mind ends up making me less human every day, this girl and other people who are important to me end up making me more human."
"That's very interesting."
Truth separates from Slady, just floating cross-legged.
"Even if you can't visually express your emotions, your feelings are always inside your heart... deep down."
She places her hand on Slady's chest, caressing the area.
"That made you not show those feelings with your words, but with your actions. Now I wonder: with my existence, will this also eventually end?" Truth asks worriedly.
Slady closes his eyes tightly, as if that doubt were cruel to him.
"Maybe there is an end. But even if I end up losing all my emotions, I'll try to make the most of my remaining time and show everyone who's important to me how much I care," Slady says.
"Slady..." Truth sits on Slady's lap again.
"I never wanted to put you through all this. I have no control, I'm bad for you, I—"
"You're not." He shook his head.
"You've been with me since we existed. Even if I lose all my emotions, I'm sure I can count on you for advice."
"..."
Truth falls silent, then hugs Slady tightly, her entire body actually heating up.
"Thank you, this brings me immense peace."
Then she separates from Slady, giving a small, loving smile, disappearing from Slady's spiritual vision.
Returning to reality, Slady sees that Shaphira remains asleep. Now noticing that some footsteps echo from the Library.
As she descended the stairs, Slady found Elisa and Victoria sitting on the sofa. Elisa was lying on Victoria's lap, who was stroking her hair.
"You're good with her."
Slady sat beside her, watching the scene with an emotionless look.
"I'm a woman, Slady. We understand each other better."
Victoria looks at him, noticing his somewhat... disappointed look, not with her or Elisa, but with himself.
"What's wrong, Slady?"
"It's nothing..."
He leans back against the sofa, closing his eyes slightly, but feels Victoria's strong but gentle hand on his shoulder.
"I'm your friend, Slady. I know it hasn't been that long, but you can trust me."
Slady looks Victoria straight in the eye, practically reading her intentions through her eyes and body.
"I just... I feel like I'm no good for them,"
Slady says in a neutral tone, almost becoming cold.
"I just make them train and take care of the library, as if they—"
Suddenly, he feels Victoria's arm wrap around him, and she places his friend's face against her chest. Slady feels a little surprised to find his face in her friend's breasts, but he doesn't object or feel any malice toward it. Just closing her eyes.
"Slady, I've noticed since we met, you've been so hard on yourself when it comes to people, as if you don't do enough for them."
"But haven't you realized how much you do for those girls? You care for them, protect them, and do everything and more for them."
She places her hands on his chin, making him look at her.
"And I know why you train them, Raizer told me once a few days before he passed away."
She returns her friend's face to her chest, resting her arm on the sofa.
"You want to make Shaphira strong to protect herself, so she won't be hurt by the bad people in this world, so she can use her potential to defend those she loves, Slady."
Hearing those words of recognition, which he never remembered the last time he was recognized for his actions, Slady's normal eye begins to fill with tears, as if releasing a little, just a little, of all his pain.
And in his mind, it just echoed.
'Faller is a very lucky man.'