**Other locations**
The explosion could be heard from all across town.
From another section of Pardem, Jo and Nyx turned casually around as she viewed it with a mouthful of sweets and a bag full of them in her hands.
At another section, Code had faced the direction of the sound from an alleyway. Scattered across the path, dozens of 'citizens' were flayed before him.
"Well, that's not a coincidence…" he said as he lit a cigarette.
As he attempted to walk away, one of the citizens—bandits grabbed his ankle. When Code noticed, he darted his eyes to a pigeongull nearby about to land atop a dumpster.
He snapped his fingers, and the bandit switched with it, toppling gracelessly inside, with the top closing after him.
"That's what happens when you try to sell a chef dirty meat," he spoke as he finally exited the scene, and the pigeongull that the bandit switched with landed gracefully aloof by Code's boot. "You end up in the trash instead."
**The bell monument**
Smoke exited the open room of this high up place. The aftermath of a large explosion.
As it slowly subsided, Ophelia and Alice permeated from the ground.
"Shit… There's a barrier preventing our escape," Ophelia said as they fully emerged.
"Nullifying barrier?" Alice responded. "Did she cast this? Or maybe an item she used?"
They both looked ahead where the woman was on the throne with the odd creature behind her.
"What the hell was her magic again? Spirit… what?" questioned Ophelia.
"Spirit Grace," Alice replied. "And I have no idea what that is, so I'm as clueless as you usually are."
"Gee, thanks missy. Unlike that explosion, I can't permeate that burn."
Then, without warning, slabs of large stone flew at them.
Ophelia touched Alice's shoulder, and the chunks passed through them entirely.
"Keeper! I'm still getting used to that!" Alice gasped.
"Don't worry, missy, I got you. Though… It would be a lot easier if I could just switch with Raeyn."
The smoke faded even more, and the lady on the throne revealed, sitting slack with an arm and fist propping her head up, looking down at them.
"Full-Body Ghost magic, huh? How annoying," she uttered as she flicked a hand, and the light from the Lotis crystals detached and hovered around them.
From behind the woman, the odd creature made another hand sign with another pair of its many hands; the first hand sign it cast was still in place…
"Spirit Grace Magic: Lightbeam Pact!"
The lights stopped hovering and locked in the air. Ophelia whipped her head to them and clicked her tongue. "Hold tight again, missy," she told Alice as she threw her hand toward her and they both began to sink into the ground again.
"As I thought," said the woman.
Right then, the odd creature made another—third hand sign and she chanted,
"Spirit Grace Magic: Contrary Pact."
When Ophelia and Alice attempted to sink, the ground rippled beneath them, and shot them upward instead.
No! Ophelia thought in a panic as the lights closed in like beams toward her and Alice.
The lady's violet eyes burned their reflection as a wicked smile grew on her face, and the beams struck the two girls.
Another explosion sounded, though not as intense as the first, and the impact caused both girls to flail back down—dirtied and bruised.
They both gasped, landing roughly, clothes in near tatters as they staggered on the ground.
Ophelia spat, "Missy… you okay?"
Alice lurched, managing to raise her head. "Are you?"
"Barely… Sorry, I can't pass through light."
Then hideous, sneering laughter filled the air.
"There you go," the lady said. "That look suits you better."
Ophelia struggled to her hands and knees as she responded, "What's your deal, lady? Who are you, and why are you attacking us?"
The lady halted her glee and found her. A look of scorn etched on her face as she lurked from her throne.
"My deal?" She gritted her armrests and began to rise slowly. "You have no idea what kind of town you entered, do you?"
Ophelia and Alice only clenched their teeth in response.
And when the woman finally stood, she held her chin high and looked down at them like insects.
"Nearly every town in the Mountain Kingdom is overrun by bandit groups. We are in the Mountain Kingdom, after all. Not even its capital cares what happens to random scrap towns like this. So, we bandits take refuge here. With no one stopping us, it's like walking into an unlocked abode. And the one you lot happened to walk right into, just so happens to be Bloodtusk territory. The baddest group of bandits in the Mountain… My territory!"
An ominous aura emitted from her as she spoke, causing both girls to wince in her presence.
"I am Lady Evalyn. Leader of the Bloodtusks, and 7th Head Officer of Riot Gang."
Alice clamped her hands. "Fuck," she whispered. What luck that her and the second weakest of the group—Ophelia, get unwantedly tasked against another Head Officer.
It was like she was a magnet for them. First Drakthor two months ago at the Den, then at the Dead Forest where she had followed Star to two other Head Officers, and then now…
"Hey, missy," Ophelia interjected Alice's spiraling thoughts. "Sorry for dragging you into this mess."
Alice's eyes trembled as she viewed Ophelia, who held a cheerful closed-eyed smile back at her. And in an instant, Ophelia whipped out a pistol from her sub-space and began firing at Evalyn.
The bullets zinged, but right before impact, a hand from the odd creature shielded her, and they maneuvered to the side almost automatically—as if being pulled to that direction.
Evalyn twitched an eye at the disrespect, feet away now from her throne; the bullets cracked, and left marks on her beloved seat. "You tacky bitch," she uttered as the hand from the creature moved back into place behind. "How dare you raise a gun at me!"
Ophelia heaved, pistol panning with each unstable breath she took.
That was weird… she thought as Evalyn continued to gripe inaudibly in the distance. That didn't look like a spell. Was it just quick reflexes? No… it looked like they were both pulled away from the shots.
She then focused her eye on the odd creature behind Evalyn. It looked like she was griping at it now…
"And you! How could you let my beloved throne get vandalized by such filth! What good are you if you can't even protect my things!"
The creature merely hovered expressionlessly, it was like it could hear, but could not act upon. Like a deity trapped in a mouthless puppet.
All the while, the first hand sign it made from the beginning of this scuffle was still in place above its head, along with the last one, 'Contrary Pact,' that prevented Ophelia from permeating—though not fully inhibiting her from accessing her sub-space for items such as the pistol in her hands.
Spirit Grace… she pondered as Evalyn's voice pierced its way to their ears.
"I was hoping to attract Daz here with that bell gong, I was told he's a sucker for beautiful monuments, but instead I got the bottom of the barrel scraps from that useless Black Wolves Guild. I don't even know your names, that's how much you don't matter." Evalyn looked more intently at Alice. "Though, you look strangely familiar, girl…" she thought of Drakthor right then, and recalled a blonde girl in a cage next to him some time ago. "No matter."
Ophelia fired a few rounds once again at her, but just like a moment ago, the creature behind Evalyn shielded her, and they maneuvered to the side. It happened again and again, to and fro in the same area as they effortlessly dodged each bullet.
"Stupid, tactless bitch. You will never touch me," Evalyn scoffed as the creature attempted to make another hand sign.
But before it did, Ophelia fired again, forcing it to protect Evalyn and shift elsewhere once more.
Evalyn clicked her tongue, lone sweat trailing down the side of her face. Just how many bullets does this bitch have?
"I see," Ophelia remarked. She staggered to a rise, wobbling a bit before finding her balance, holding her pistol in place so as not to lose her mark. "Seems 'Spirit Grace' is a Conjured Spirit, and one of its conditions is that it can't be targeted for an attack. And since you're in the way of it and these bullets, you go along with it, too. It's no wonder why it's always behind you…"
Evalyn ground her teeth, but then got over it just as quickly. "So what, you figured that out. That's only a fraction of what it can do!"
As soon as Evalyn finished speaking, the creature behind her touched her shoulder and disappeared in a blink—leaving Evalyn at last to her lonesome.
Trying to react just as quickly, Ophelia aimed her gun and attempted to fire, but her eyes widened as she felt a presence from behind, and she saw the silhouette of eight arms protruding out from her shadow.
She turned slowly as the creature's arms closed in.
Then from the side…
Two Morning Stars swung down onto it, and it maneuvered away.
When Ophelia turned to who swung them, she was pleasantly surprised by their wielder.
"I'm tired of always needing to be protected… I'm tired of being useless!" Alice said defiantly.
The Morning Stars retracted and found themselves by her sides. They glitched and distorted as she held them there, but nonetheless, they were real for the time being.
"Missy, you managed to access your Pink Room?" Ophelia asked giddily.
"Barely…" she replied with a smirk.
Ophelia kept her smile as she said, "I think I understand what her magic ability is. And I have a plan, but we have to accomplish it quickly."
Alice nodded. "I'm all ears."
The creature reappeared behind Evalyn as she watched disgustedly. "What a pathetic display of bravado. If you think you can win this, you are both living in delusion."
"Our comrades beat two Head Officers so far. If they can do it, why can't us?" Ophelia remarked.
Evalyn laughed hysterically. "If you're referring to that poor excuse for a dragon and that insecure monkey, they didn't deserve their title." The air thickened and that ominous aura from before escaped her, releasing like manifested, invisible weight onto the ground of this bell monument that was now their battlefield.
"Not only will I give you a lesson on true elegance, I will show you the power of a true Riot Gang Head Officer."