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Later That Night

"I must admit," Yumi said, "the prospect of charging headfirst into a portal filled with demons is becoming more frightening by the minute." 

"Eh, you get used to it," Ash replied. 

After the minor meeting that Ash and the group had regarding Kaori\'s situation, the half-demon had approached Yumi and asked her if she\'d help close at least one of the portals tonight. To ash\'s surprise, the masked woman said "yes", as she recognized the need for this, and now, the two of them were getting ready in Ash\'s room. 

Putting her armor on again was strange. It almost felt heavier, though, that might have just been the fact that Ash was exhausted.  Can\'t rest yet,  Ash thought. Too much shit needs doing. 

"I hope I never do," Yumi replied. "Such a thing would mean that demons become a common part of my life." 

"You mean, you don\'t want to spend all your time fighting them? But it\'s so fun!" Ash said, sarcastically, as she strapped on her boots. Her golden armor was clean, shining under the nearby torch burning dimly. 

"Hehe," Yumi chuckled. "No... I... I\'ve been doing quite a bit of thinking lately and, well," she sighed. "I\'ve been locked up in that shrine for too long. I would very much like to explore a little, after all of this." 

"Hm. I don\'t know, take it from someone who\'s been in four different cities in under four months, I\'d say it\'s overrated." 

"I will find that out for myself, thank you very much," Yumi replied light-heartedly. "Are you prepared?" 

"Yeah, just one last thing. Head out though, wait for me by the gates. I\'ll be out in a sec." 

"Very well," Yumi replied. 

With that, Ash was left alone with no one but Kaori, asleep and peaceful, to keep her company. Sighing, Ash sat down by the bed and took her Savior\'s Weapon, looking down at the golden cube. The symbol of her occupation. She closed her eyes. 

"Tonight, we take the first steps in helping you out," Ash muttered. 

She looked over at Kaori, wondering if she could hear her from wherever she currently was. Or, if she was just asleep and her mind was currently filled with dreams, without any clue as to what her soul was going through. 

Nah, stop it, 

"Rest up, we\'ll have you back with us in no time," Ash promised and so, she tied her  Lust  to her waist and walked out. 

With the nighttime having fallen upon the city of Onyx, the city\'s soldiers were mobilizing, finishing up their preparations as they anticipated another siege. The biggest question on everyone\'s mind though was regarding the level 90 demon. Would it make an appearance? If it returned, they were frankly screwed. 

She went into the main hall and spotted her friends sitting by the right side, on their own. She walked up to them, and Luvine quickly stood up when she saw Ash approaching. 

Ash noticed that Keiko wasn\'t there, and she raised a brow at that. 

"Uh, where\'s Keiko?" Ash asked. 

"She\'s with Yumi, by the palace gates," Metsumi replied. "Probably asking Yumi to take care of you, if I had to guess," she said with a chuckle. 

"Yeah? Hmph. I don\'t think either of us needs taking care of... Anyway, though, I\'m heading out," Ash told them. "I wanna get this over with already. Hopefully we don\'t run into a mob of those fuckers." 

"Mom... She said a bad word..." Opah whispered to Metsumi, who held back a laugh. 

"Good luck out there," Satsuhiro nodded. "Keep yourself calm, Ash. Panicking has never helped you." 

"Yeah, yeah," Ash replied. "I\'m aware. I\'ll do my best." 

"Ash..." Luvine walked up. 

Taking a deep breath, Ash knelt down in front of her. 

"Hey, Lu. You ate already?" 

"Uh, yeah... But... w-why leave?" Luvine asked, with an honest pair of eyes that were intensely worried for her. "It\'s dangerous..." 

"... Yeah, no shit," Ash mumbled, feeling her heart beating just a little faster. Luvine was right to be concerned for her. "It\'s my job though. Plus, some... someone I really really care about is relying on me, so, I\'m shit outta luck. See ya kid," Ash said, patting her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw Metsumi watching on with a smile. "Stay strong." 

"Um..." Luvine looked on as Ash stood up and began to walk away. "G-Good luck!" Luvine said and Ash raised a thumbs-up behind her. 

Moving past the crowd, a few of the civilians tapped their friends and family, pointing at Ash as she walked by. Now that it had been properly cleaned, Ash was reminded of how flashy this armor was. 

... I really need to tell them to paint this shit black or something, I hate it.  Ash thought as she saw Yumi and Keiko in the distance. 

"... And, the Gluttony demons," Keiko was telling Yumi, "um, well, you\'ve fought them already, I\'m sure, but remember, they can be deceptively fast." 

"Thank you for the tips, Keiko," Yumi replied placing a hand on her shoulder as Ash reached them. "I will burn them into my memory." 

"I\'m all set," Ash stated. Keiko looked over at her. "Keiko, still feeling alright?" Ash asked. 

"You\'ve asked me that about fifty times today alone," Keiko said, with a little giggle. 

"... Can\'t help it," Ash shrugged. "I... Nothing," she looked away. "Just... Make sure you\'re drinking water and all that other bullshit I said the other 49 times." 

"Understood," Keiko responded before she gave Ash a kiss on her cheek and a hug. "Stay safe." 

"Will do," Ash told her as she hugged the shorter girl back. Breathing in her scent, Ash wished she could just stay like this for the rest of the night. However, she had a mission and she intended to see it done, so, she separated herself from Keiko and nodded at Yumi. "Let\'s go." 

"Very well," Yumi replied, putting on her mask. 

And, with that, the two of them began to walk towards the heart of the city. Ash felt Keiko\'s eyes on her, watching from the palace\'s gates, for a little while before the Zayama finally turned and walked inside. 

"I have not seen the Lord lately," Yumi said. "Is she fighting?" 

Ash scoffed. 

"I\'d pay everything I have to see that," Ash said. "No, I\'m guessing she isn\'t. Anyway," she pointed ahead, "we\'re heading for the western one since that one\'s blocking the main road to Jade. That\'s what those big-brain scholars suggested anyway. Apparently, since Jade\'s reinforcements got here last night too, we should have it a little bit easier for us heading into this." 

"How much will we be fighting with Onyx\'s forces?" Yumi asked. 

"Not much. Just enough to clear a way to the portal. Once we\'re inside, we don\'t even really need to fight at all. Just make a straight run for the beams in the sky, you\'ll see them, and there will be these weird things at the base of them. We break those, the portal closes and spits us right out." 

"... Hopefully, these things you\'ve just said will make a little more sense once we are in there," Yumi chuckled. 

"Yeah, just follow my lead," Ash told her. "It shouldn\'t take more than a few hours." 

"By all means, lead the way." 

And so, the two of them continued on their path down the street, and it didn\'t take too long at all for the sounds of combat to enter their ears. They drew closer to them, intentionally making their way to the fighting and when they reached it, Ash looked around. 

Between the soldiers and demons, she made a quick search for the level 90 creature. 

Level 34

MP: 140/140

Level 30

MP: 100/100

Nah, doesn\'t look like it\'s here. Might run into it at the portal though. Need to keep my guard up.  Ash thought as she changed her  Lust  into her gauntlets, and as Yumi charged towards a nearby demon with her naginata, the two of them entered the fight. 

"This is a place of piety, let our faith be rewarded and our wounds become old memories, soon forgotten!" Ash spoke the incantation for  Land of Grace, healing every nearby soldier. 

"A-A Savior!" One of them noticed her and exclaimed, and as Ash ran up to a demon and stabbed through its head with her gauntlets, earning an EXP message, the soldiers began to rally, their morales apparently raised by her presence. 

EXP Gained: 140

EXP: 140/500

Ash had leveled up two times after all the previous fighting, bringing her up to this status (unaltered by Niven\'s Blessing):

Level 50

MP: 230/230

EXP: 140/500

---

STR: 41

DEX: 21

CON: 20

INT: 20

WIS: 23

L: 100

With Niven\'s Blessing, most of her stats were only increased by around 10 as this entire battle was fighting outside of the portal\'s influence. That was, after all, the part of this plan that had surprised Onyx\'s army. The fact that he hadn\'t even waited until the portals had fully covered the city to attack. 

As for Ash, Now that Kaori was... out of commission, she understood that she\'d need to be able to take more hits in fights since she didn\'t have the blonde there to protect her. So, Ash had made a mental note of investing at least a few points into her Con. 

"Drive them back!" Another soldier cried out and slowly, the tide of the battle began to turn. Next to Ash, she saw a soldier pinned down on the ground with a demon biting into his neck. She ran up, kicked the demon off, and mounted it herself. Then, with repeated punches to the face, with her gauntlets\' blades, of course, she killed it. The soldier quickly stood back up. 

"Thank you!" He said. 

"Hm? Uh, yeah, whatever," Ash replied, ignoring the guy as she casually looked around for more easy kills. 

That\'s what this was to her, after all. An opportunity to steal away some EXP. She needed to get stronger, after all. This was one way of doing that. So, she continued searching until she found another soldier who was in the process of being swallowed whole by a Gluttony demon. Ash ran up and stabbed it several times in its bloated gut, as quickly as she could. The demon spat the soldier out as its violet blood filled the street and Ash walked away before the soldier even thanked her. 

By the time it was all said and done, Ash had leveled up again. 

Level 51

MP: 230/230

EXP: 90/510

---

STR: 41

DEX: 21

CON: 24

INT: 20

WIS: 23

L: 100

Keep \'em coming, Ash thought, as she narrowed her eyes at the nearby demons..  I\'m not taking this shit easy anymore.