The wind picked up, making Gabrielle sneeze, then froze.
Not only had the trace become more layered, meaning the target frequented this path, but—
Right when she reached a shady alley, a much stronger trace had completely overwritten it.
"The guy with the imps?" she mumbled. "This might be my lucky day."
As difficult as it was to track down Lucifer's minions, she might have killed two birds with one stone today. That said, Earth shouldn't have had such powerful magic users like this second guy.
And to make things worse, the traces led her deeper into the alley, only to disappear.
"What?" Gabby blinked, looking around.
No doors or even windows anywhere near.
Only a manhole cover.
Another gust of wind made her shudder, bringing the stench of human waste with it.
"You have to be kidding me," she moaned, her feet rooted in place. "Who in their right mind would live in such a place?! Even to hide there—ugh."
She wanted to throw up.
Her brother must have been laughing somewhere in the multiverse.
"S-should I wait for that stupid demoness, or—"
Gabby shook her head.
Her pride as an angel wouldn't let others do her dirty work.
It also wouldn't let her go to such a filthy place, but well. She wasn't the sickly little princess in a frilly blue dress today. She came here to get things done, period.
"There's no helping it," she sighed, covering her nose before grabbing the heavy iron cover.
At least her halo provided some light down there.
She had to hide it earlier, alongside her wings. Tokyo might've had a fair share of cosplayers, but the real thing must have been too much for humanity.
Like the stench was for her. Urk.
At least she didn't actually need her nose to follow the mana traces. She could wrap an incense-drenched fabric over her face against the worst of the smell.
But this choice of location must have been deliberate.
Lucifer mocked her. And it also limited her movements.
Dark, narrow, slippery.
Not that it mattered.
She wasn't a martial artist, but the Princess of Time.
Another shudder.
Okay, the name was still pending, but she was a mere thousand years old.
Plenty of time to figure something better out in the future.
Focus. The residual mana was leading her along a narrow ledge into the dark.
She couldn't risk touching anything here.
Unfiltered human waste was flowing inches below her feet, after all. She didn't even want to think about what might have been swimming in that smudge.
And she didn't have the time to think about it, either.
A steel ball crushing the concrete a hair's breadth from her face was a rude wake-up call.
She couldn't even see the attacker.
He must have curved the throw from behind a sharp corner.
But she sent a lightning bolt around it the same way.
It lit up the sewers for a moment, the thunder ear-shattering, then silence.
Crap. Did she kill the bastard?!
But such an ambush was too much for her maiden heart.
There was no movement. She took careful steps to reach the corner, peeking around, and—
Another ball flew straight towards her face.
Worried about nothing.
Lucifer's puppet was very much alive. His eyes glowed red in the dark, and she had to freeze the moment, to—
Watch the ball flying towards her completely unaffected.
"Fuck," Gabrielle yelped, jumping back.
Another close call. She lost her balance and stumbled way too close to the billowing waste for comfort. The ball flew past her into the concrete wall again, crushing it on impact.
The moment unfroze.
"Thought I injected all that essence into my throws for nothing?" a hoarse voice cackled in the dark. "Lucifer-sama taught me how to deal with your kind, Archangel Gabrielle."
She blinked.
"You know who I am?" she shouted around the corner in disbelief.
Of course. Why did she think this would be easy?
And if that other spellcaster was also nearby—
She needed backup. Now.
"I've heard of your abilities," the voice answered, but now, it came from behind.
How?!
All she had time for was to spin around and blast whatever she'd find with—
A strong gust of air washed over the dark sewers, but there was nothing for it to hit.
It only caused some disturbance in the flow of filth.
Did that bastard use an illusion on her?
She turned again to see the next ball flying at speeds defying both logic and physics. How did Konrad knock these out of the way?! Gabrielle erected a barrier in the last moment—
Only to have it shatter on impact as well.
She had to jump, and the only way to go was towards the sludge.
Damn it.
No time to hesitate. She pushed herself off the edge, and—
"Whoopsie," a familiar voice chirped, catching her mid jump. "Gotcha."
The looks did not match the sound, but she'd worry about that later.
"He's behind—"
"I know," Lilith said, flying through the sewers while princess-carrying her. "Hold on tight."
She wasn't using her wings. She wasn't in her dragon form, either.
She had a face the angel didn't recognize.
But she'd ask questions later. There wasn't even enough space to maneuver here.
"He'll hit us," Gabrielle warned her as they sped past the bastard's hiding spot.
But the demoness smirked.
"I'd like to see him try."
Almost on cue, an ear-shattering scream caught up with them.
Was it the same raspy voice?
"What'd you do?" the angel yelped, holding on for dear life.
"Made her balls crazy hot," Lilith grinned. "Might tear off his other pair if it still wasn't enough."
The same chaotic energy as always.
But that face—
"Why d'you look so different?" Gabrielle demanded. "And where are we going?! We need to capture that pawn, not escape—"
She didn't have as many freckles as usual, and her hair was black for some reason.
"Don't worry," she ignored her. "All in due time. But if we get covered in that—"
"Covered in what?!"
No answer. But then, she heard it.
A splash. A rumble. An explosion.
"Y-you did not—"
"Nope, wasn't me," Lilith confirmed, taking a sharp turn. "It's the imp-guy. Brace for impact."
Before she could ask what, they've hit a manhole cover from below. Hard.
Right as the cold night air hit her face, a filthy fountain erupted from below.
As if the sewers didn't want to let them go, but they were already high up in the open again.
Still in a dense part of Tokyo, almost covered in all that filth.
Almost.
But Gabrielle was still shuddering like crazy, in the little—well, right now, not a ginger's—arms.
She could have fainted from the relief right then and there, but they weren't done yet.
Not even close.
"As for my face," Lilith said. She had already forgotten. "This is how I looked as Kaede. According to Konrad's memories. I transformed so Sorakumo-san wouldn't freak out."
Right. She must have had a long discussion with that man.
"How did it go?" the angel asked, not even sure why.
The demoness shook her head, smirking.
"Later. We've some sewer rats to hunt."
And the moment that fountain of filth disappeared, she'd turn into a dive again.