(Kitsuna POV)
"Everyone, the mission has changed. Kill the Demi-Fox at all costs! We can't leave a carrier of a Deadly Sin skill alive!"
The commander's voice rang out like a death sentence, and instantly, all eyes turned toward me. Dozens of them—wide, trembling, filled with something between fear and disgust.
And then it clicked.
They weren't just looking at me like I was the enemy. They were looking at me like I wasn't even human anymore.
I laughed. Loud. Ugly. Too loud for someone who was supposed to be their execution target.
"Why are you all so scared of a thirteen-year-old?" I smirked, twirling my chakrams, ice already crystallizing along their edges with a faint hiss. "Really? This is what terrifies hardened soldiers? I've seen scarier faces when I looked in a mirror after just waking up."
Their fear didn't vanish. If anything, my laughter made them shudder more.
The closest fool made the mistake of stepping forward, weapon raised. I didn't give him time to finish the thought. A single flick of my wrist and the chakram tore into him, faster than his body could react. He didn't even get to scream—just crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.
That woke them up.
"She's not normal!"
"Kill her!"
"Surround her!"
A barrage of spells and weapons flew at me like angry hornets.
I pivoted, slipped sideways, and felt the heat of a fireball skim past my shoulder. Before the mage could launch a second, I lunged forward, grabbed him by the face with my right hand, and unleashed black flames straight into his skull. His scream cut short as the flames ate through flesh and bone, leaving only a twitching husk.
Another soldier was already rushing me. I didn't even glance—just hurled my left chakram, the edge glistening with icy light. It cut through him mid-step, leaving the top half of his body still trying to run before gravity remembered its job.
The chakram returned to me like a loyal hound, slick with blood.
(Expanding Environment & Humor)
The battlefield was chaos. Smoke and fire mixed with the unnatural cold of my magic, forming steam that hissed across the ground. The stench of burning flesh layered over the metallic tang of blood. Soldiers shouted orders that nobody followed, their neat formation dissolving into a panicked mob.
Some still tried to rally. "Form up!" one yelled, but his voice cracked halfway through. Another muttered a prayer under his breath loud enough that even I could hear it.
I tilted my head and gave him a wide-eyed smile. "Hey, if you're praying, at least pray for something useful. Like me missing my next throw. Spoiler: I won't."
His face went pale. He bolted before finishing his prayer.
(Back to Combat)
I spun my chakrams lazily, enjoying the way their icy glow lit up terrified faces.
"So," a deep voice cut in—the commander, stepping forward. "You can use more than one element. And that ice… top-tier, isn't it?"
I raised a brow. "Oh? You can tell? Congratulations, old man, you win a prize."
He didn't look amused. His men stepped back, giving him space. They weren't dumb; they knew cannon fodder wouldn't cut it.
The problem was—I knew I couldn't take him head-on, not yet. My muscles tensed. If Stacy wasn't still keeping him distracted, this might've been my last stand.
Then, like an answered prayer—
"Oi! Who said you could leave me behind!?"
A blur of motion, and suddenly Stacy was right beside him, her blade already slicing through his left arm. The commander stumbled back with a grunt, clutching the stump, blood spraying across the dirt.
"That's what you get for ditching me." Stacy grinned, her tone dripping with mock cheer. Then her eyes flicked toward me. "Who's in control?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" I tilted my head, still half-focused on a soldier sneaking up. He tossed a knife at me, and I casually flicked a chakram in response, splitting his head like an overripe melon. I looked back at her. "We're talking here. Rude."
Stacy frowned. "Kitsuna, you should stop killing for now. You might lose control."
I shrugged. "I'll try. No promises, though. You know me."
(Dark Humor Rising)
Holstering my chakrams, I formed jagged ice knuckles around my fists. "Alright, cannon fodder. Who's first? Step right up. Don't be shy."
They hesitated.
I waved mockingly, putting on a fake smile. "Come on, guys. It's not like I bite. Well, okay, sometimes I do, but that's not the point—"
"AAAHHH!"
One finally broke and charged, sword raised high. I caught the blade with my left hand—ice sparking around it—and smashed my right fist into his face. The crunch of shattering bone was almost satisfying. He dropped like a sack of rocks.
Another tried his luck. I ducked under his swing and uppercut him so hard his jaw practically left orbit.
I grinned. "Geez, your faces break so easily. Is everyone here made of glass, or is it just a discount army thing?"
Behind me, I sensed another. I swept his legs out from under him and kicked his stomach with an ice-reinforced boot. He went flying backward into the crowd, knocking several others down like bowling pins.
"Ice bowling!" I called out cheerfully. "Strike!"
(Enemy Adapts)
The surviving soldiers had backed up now, forming a wide ring around me. Their breaths were ragged, weapons trembling.
'Smart,' I thought. 'Took them long enough to realize close combat was suicide.'
"Pull back! All of you!" the same annoying officer shouted. "Mages! Take her out of range!"
I fluttered my lashes at him. "Aw, thanks for the breather. You're making me blush."
The first spell was already flying—a sphere of water hissing through the air.
I rolled aside, just barely missing it, and popped up with ice knives forming in my hands. With a flick, they embedded themselves in the mage's skull. She dropped like a ragdoll.
"Penny!!" someone screamed. "You monster!"
"Monster?" I repeated, tilting my head, then giggling. "I kind of like the sound of that."
(Escalation)
The soldiers were rattled now, their fear feeding me like a drug. Every panicked shout, every wide-eyed stare—it was intoxicating.
One idiot ran at me in rage, ignoring his comrades' warnings. I caught him with a punch to the gut, making him cough blood. Before he could recover, my tail whipped out, coiling around his legs.
"Hey, thanks for volunteering!" I chirped, swinging him like a club into the nearest group. Their screams echoed as bodies crumpled together.
Without missing a beat, I made more ice knives and peppered the downed men until silence fell.
The officer shouted again. "Fall back! We can't fight her up close!"
He was really starting to annoy me. So I grabbed my makeshift "club"—what was left of the soldier—and hurled him full force at the officer.
"Catch!"
The man screamed as the corpse smashed into him, sending them both into the dirt, a crater forming beneath.
The survivors froze. Someone whimpered. "She's a monster…"
I giggled again, this time darker, sharper. "Monster, huh? Doesn't sound so bad, you know."
And then something inside me shifted.
(Stacy POV)
'Damn it.'
The moment I heard Kitsuna giggle like that, I knew it was too late. Telling her to stop killing now was like telling a wildfire to cool down politely.
The commander glared at me across the battlefield, his left arm hanging limp. "Why are you protecting a Sin holder? You know what kind of being they are. We had to team up to kill the last Wrath holder. You were there!"
I exhaled slowly. Memories surfaced—thirty high-levelers against a monster of wrath. Sixteen dead, the rest broken. Dean and I finished the job ourselves. Or so we thought.
I stared at him. "How did you survive? We killed all of you."
He smirked. "I faked my death. And I'm not the only one. The rest will come for you too."
"I see…" My grip on my blade tightened. "Well, that was ten years ago. You had ten years to improve."
"And I did." He raised his sword. "I'm level nine-sixty now. Rare class. Stronger than you were then."
I blinked at him. Then I tilted my head. "You think you're a match for me now? That's cute."
He smirked. "Why do you think I was sent here?"
"Hah!" I laughed right in his face. "The Federation sent you on a suicide mission. That's hilarious."
"You won't laugh once you feel my aura!" He unleashed it, a heavy pressure spreading across the field.
I yawned. "Pitiful. Honestly, I think my daughter over there could kill you if she actually went all out."
His eyes narrowed. He turned his killing intent toward Kitsuna.
"Bad move." My blade blurred, intercepting him before his aura could distract her. Sparks flew as steel clashed. "Don't bother. I already trained her under full killing intent. Your cheap tricks won't work."
He pushed back, snarling. "You're making a monster. Do you think you'll be able to control her?"
I shoved him back with a single strike that rattled his bones. "That's not my goal. Why would I want to control her? She's my daughter. She'll live her life how she wants."
His lip curled. "She'll destroy the world if you let her exist."
I felt anger tighten in my chest. "Call her a monster again. See what happens."
And then—
A roar shook the battlefield.
We both turned.
There, standing tall and furious, was Kitsuna. A massive nine-tailed fox, eight meters high and sixteen long, with tails whipping behind her like living weapons. Her eyes burned with primal fury.
The soldiers screamed in unison.
The commander's face drained of color. "Y-you found a host for the Nine-Tailed Primordial blood!?"
"Yeah," I said flatly. "Playtime's over."
I vanished from my spot, reappearing behind him. With a single strike, I knocked him out cold.
The battlefield fell silent except for the ragged, terrified breaths of the few survivors.