Clyde blinked once, then twice, wincing and gawking . The fight was epic as f.u.c.k—and his life mate kicked a.s.s . He knew he'd have to stop it . It'd take zero effort to just brush Harumi and Yuki aside . Did they really think that they could hold him? He wasn't arrogant, but these two clearly needed another demonstration of what he worked hard to gain . All of the training and level increasing—sure it wasn't enough to take on the biggest fish of the pond but was nothing to sneeze .

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"Yes! There you go Alice, show that b.i.t.c.h," he said, raising a fist into the air . "Woo!" He cleared his throat when Harumi and Yuki looked at him with raised eyebrows . The female stare combined with a possibly lowered opinion—every man hated that look .

Winds burst, carrying shards of gla.s.s with it . Clyde protected the women with his Spirit s.h.i.+eld . The annoying cooldown to use it again was what set him into motion .

"You two either get inside or out of the way of this," Clyde said, "no argument . " Harumi put down her protesting finger . "I'm going to end this . And don't a.s.sume that they can easily kill me—you know what I faced . What we faced . Alice can't see reason right now—but I think she's reacting to the past bullying . "

"That's not really it," Yuki said . "This is just how demons do things . Interfering in that will bring dishonor to your life mate and you . "

"So I should let them just kill each other?" Clyde said . "Yeah, sorry, but f.u.c.k that . I like living in this city and would rather they not freaking destroy it . "

Yuki nodded .

"I can repair the damage with magic, but only after you can calm them down," Yuki said .

"Alright, wish me luck," Clyde said then proceeded with caution toward the battle arena of death .

Downtown Lot City…

Yusuke flinched when another strong gust of wind rattle buildings, shattered gla.s.s, pushed cars . The sky darkened, and some aura tinged the area with purple . Just what the h.e.l.l was going on? Something about that power felt familiar . In fact, there were two powers, clas.h.i.+ng as if trying to dominate . The people around him either stayed inside shops, homes, or took a street that somehow lacked obstructions . That magical happening . Yusuke believed it was some half-a.s.sed attempt by whatever being to protect humankind . They simply ignored magic and supernatural beings—probably didn't see anything . How lucky . He wouldn't mind being normal again if it meant not dying . He wanted no part of the supernatural community—and especially after what the reaperess did to him .

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"Ninja, transformation . "

Smoke surrounded the young man as black ninja garb made of magic appeared in place of his normal clothing . He felt his strength double, his body lighten—he'd could run for a day without tiring . Leap from rooftop to rooftop with the greatest of ease . Hold his breath underwater for long periods of time . And of course, use Ninja arts . He didn't ask for this power, but he'd have to deal with it . No ordinary school life for him . And if his sister Kitome found out that he somehow became a delinquent, he'd never hear the end of it . His mom was perhaps even more fiery . He and his dad often suffered unless they were in the mood to argue back . But arguing with a girl was just futile .

[Yusuke's pa.s.sive skill activated: Ninja sense!]

Yusuke could feel the location of the source of clas.h.i.+ng magic . Near…the arcade? Did two witches get into a fight over a game? How childish . He'd have to subdue them with some of his newest techniques .

After some major and deadly supernatural fights—those he got dragged into—Yusuke had trained on his own . Well mostly on his own—the reaperess sometimes gave him advice when he returned from his training spot . At least she didn't pop in on him while he showered . At least he thought she didn't . The last thing he needed was to deal with that while trying to think .

[Yusuke activated Ninja art, ninja sprint . ]

A useful non-battle skill to get to locations without dealing with buses or taxis . He blurred through the city with strides that took him several meters at a time . He didn't abuse the skill as to not risk the MP drainage . All good abilities had limits . He could sense other magic users including the annoying s.l.u.ts: Fireside magical girls—he hoped Clare worked the souls out of them, his sister, the Golden Shot magical girls and some other visiting groups, a witch or two, sorceresses, a druid, sorcerers, wizards, an elementalist, and the list went on . With the demon lord gone, they treated the city as a vacation spot, taking advantage of the nightlife . None of them were dumb enough to openly practice magic . That ran the risk of attracting the attention of a rival or something unsettling . Yusuke just wished they'd all just f.u.c.k off . Let people have their normal lives for once . Use their magic to take out the other demon lords hiding in other cities .

He stopped, a few miles from the destination . Something on the ground glittered .

[Yusuke had found Magic replenisher . ]

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It looked like some kind of transparent…sphere of magic? Suddenly, it shattered into sparkles then surrounded the young man . He felt refreshed—his MP from the sprint, returned .

"Weird," he said, shrugging . His hopes of having everything go back to normal seemed to dwindle away each day—even though the demon lord was gone . f.u.c.k . "Alright, time to stop stalling and get there . And maybe I'll be lucky enough to not die . "

He sprinted forward .

One mile remained .

He sprinted and sprinted .

Half a mile remained .

At last, he approached the scene, not exactly from h.e.l.l, but close enough to it . And was shocked at the combatants . That girl he met—Ruri . She…looked a little strange, besides from the beaten-up appearance, not that Clyde's girlfriend appeared to be in any better shape . The women were strong as s.h.i.+t—but he'd stop this or watch the city burn . f.u.c.k, did he really want to get in between that? Ruri's power level was over ninety . Alice's power level was under a block, though matching the other woman blow for blow . What could he do?

Man up . Start being a ninja art user for once . Use his power—not run from it . The despair was gone, right? He wasn't some d.a.m.ned wuss . The reaperess wasn't here to f.u.c.k him over .

He took a deep breath then exhaled .

Abruptly, Yusuke saw Clyde, striding over the fight, eyes full of determination . He…didn't hesitate . He… . he truly didn't hesitate, not even for a second . The man couldn't possibly be human . Or maybe he was just insane, overconfident, idiotic or all of the above . His power level wasn't that high, yet there was an air about him, something off . Alien? Maybe it was best to get to know him before judging .

Yusuke waved to catch his attention . He forced himself not to flinch when Clyde looked at him with eyes that briefly glowed before winking out . He composed himself, allowed his inner delinquent to take over and hurried over to Clyde .

"Let me help," he said to the leader . "I've got some a ninja art that could halt one of them . Let me try Ruri . "

"You know her?" Clyde said .

"Not really, I met her in an electronics store . Long story—but she…is she a monster girl?"

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"A h.e.l.lhound," Clyde said . "Apparently can control her…urges . Alice blames her for what her pack members did—"

"Pack what… never mind, I know what the h.e.l.l's going on—explain it to me after this," Yusuke said . "Just pull back your girlfriend . "

"Life mate," Clyde corrected, but he smiled, indicating to Yusuke that he was messing around . He read the inner workings to that: lighten up and let's do this . Yusuke relaxed his white-knuckled grip .

"Let's do this, team lead," Yusuke said, realizing that he acknowledged Clyde for the first time, meaning it . He never disliked the guy, though he sometimes felt jealous of him from time to time . Hot Harumi, hot Chika, and the other women seem to give the guy looks of love and l.u.s.t . He had probably done all of them, f.u.c.king lucky a.s.shole . Yusuke shook away the thoughts . Stop being ridiculous, Yusuke .

"I sure wish I was a ninja," Clyde said as he seemingly prepared his magic .

"Trust me, no you don't," Yusuke said . "If you knew where they came from, you'd s.h.i.+t yourself, man . "

Clyde chuckled .

"Now you've got to tell me, but later . "

"What's the relations.h.i.+p of Alice and Ruri anyway?" Yusuke asked . "I need to know before going through with this . If Ruri's some kind of…you know, then I'll have to…"

"They're old friends," Clyde said . "Like I said, Alice blames Ruri, got enraged, but they're really fighting over old times, at least I think they are . Ruri bullied her when they were younger . "

"I see . Okay, I know exactly what we can do to fix them," Yusuke said . "But…do you know any way to clean up this G.o.dd.a.m.n mess . It really sucks for the business owners . "

"Magical demoness at your service," Clyde said, pointing at that super-hot woman named Yuki . Yusuke would give anything to fu—he composed himself again . That one was a mystery to him . "She'll use her magic to repair everything, but only after the dynamic duo are calmed . "

Yusuke nodded then took off toward Ruri . Clyde didn't seem to have to get close to do his binding . He did the light thing—a transformation that appeared to give him an intense aura and strong powers . Yusuke just couldn't understand it . He believed Clyde called it Mystic… something .

He lightly bolted forward, wall-climbed the building behind Ruri and then waited . When the leader unleashed his weird blue magic, he moved—because he already knew it would succeed . The power it radiated seemed to be stronger than the last time he used it .

[Yusuke activated Ninja art, stun grenade]

He released magic that gave off no pulse . Ruri had no idea . When she was. .h.i.t, her eyes widened . A good stun . At the same time, Alice was fighting against Clyde's bind . He worked his calming "magic . " Talking her down, being firm . The girl seemed to melt into him . Was she like head over heels in love? No that couldn't be it . Clyde was the leader—so he had a way of calming his team .

Yusuke pulled off his hood then dropped to Ruri . The anger in her seemed to vanish upon seeing him .

"Yo—you," she said . "What are you doing here? And what's with the getup? I didn't take you for the cosplayer . "

"I could say the same," Yusuke said, looking her up and down . A cloud of mist surrounded her briefly and she took on human form .

"Did you finish the book?"

"Almost done, but we both know I didn't come all this way to deliver a book," he said then pointed at Clyde . "He's a friend of mine . We both know the arts and magical hubla bulls.h.i.+t . " He gestured at the city . "Both of you will end this s.h.i.+t now . There's a fall festival tomorrow evening . You two will make up . And don't think I can't see it done, I've got ninja arts to take away your powers . " He didn't mention the fact that the skill lasted less than three minutes, and the cooldown was long as s.h.i.+t . Kitome somehow taught him how to use it . Maybe compatibility among siblings for magic?

Ruri let out a breath .

"Fine, but you're going to tell me why you're some kind of ninja . Oh, and did you read Ninja Wars Futile Resistance? Ming wrote that one too . "

"d.a.m.n right I did," Yusuke said, smiling . He gestured her to follow, which she did . The Yuki supermodel began working her magic . It was an incredible sight to see the mess jump back in time, reverting to its original fixed state, almost like the rewinding of a video .

He looked at Ruri . She averted her eyes .

"About…my other form . "

"Look, h.e.l.lhound, big deal, so scary," he said sarcastically . "I don't care what you are . Let's be friends, alright?" He held out a hand . She took it .

"Sure—and hurry up with the d.a.m.n book, blueberry head . " She smiled an infectious smile .

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