"W-wait, wait, wait, wait," the angel yelped, holding on for dear life. "Can't go back in there yet. Too fast. We'll land in that waste, and—S-slow down, damn it. This is madness."
But Lilith wouldn't.
If anything, her eyes lit up at that phrase.
"Madness?" she asked with a grin. "THIS IS SPARTA!"
Not that she'd expect this filthy casual to have seen the movie, but it fit her mood well.
She erected a quick barrier and divebombed into the sewers again.
The space was tight, especially while princess-carrying an angel at that speed, but—
"They're trying to escape," Lilith said, sensing the shift in the mana. "We can't slow down."
That made her cargo stop struggling, too.
"They?" Gabby asked, a ball of nerves, sighing in relief only after realizing she was still clean. "So the spellcaster's here, too? He's strong. I've felt him before. We must—"
"Kick his butt?" Lilith interrupted, taking tight turns without slowing down. "Already on it."
She had to distort space here and there, lest they crash.
Too bad visibility was still poor, barrier or not.
She didn't think she'd need to put a freaking windshield sweeper on that thing.
Or at least a muffler on the angel.
"N-no, I mean," Gabrielle gasped, "we must be careful. He might be even stronger than Maou."
Lilith laughed, a maniacal sound, intoxicated by the adrenaline of the chase.
"It's not that our resident Demon Lord is that powerful, sweetheart. I can deal with anything as long as they don't have any inconvenient cheat spells—"
Unlike that measly fireball stumbling towards them.
She didn't even bother dispelling it, flying straight through the flames.
It freaked Gabby out, but that fact only added to her enjoyment.
Burning off all the filth that stuck to her barrier, she could even see better.
But what she didn't expect was the glowing-hot steel ball flying straight at them.
"Duck," she yelped, not sure to whom.
She was the one doing all the flying. She was the one crashing into the wall to avoid the collision, too. But she couldn't risk the head-on impact. Those things were scarier than magic.
The ball left a huge crater behind in the concrete, its thunder echoing in the sewers.
"The hell can he still throw with his hands?" the demoness yelped, her momentum broken. "I burned them to a crisp earlier, damn it."
And now she didn't even have time to shift reality. Despite her strong barrier, her shoulder hurt.
"The other one must have healed it," Gabrielle moaned. "Told you, he's strong. Ugh."
Though even after all this, her main focus seemed to be on herself.
She got up in a half-panic, dusting herself off. She'd let out a long sigh of relief, too, that she was still not covered in the ever-present smudge. The girl sure had her priorities straight.
"Well, I'm fine with a two-on-two," Lilith said, cracking her knuckles. "They're close now."
This section of the sewers wasn't that huge after all.
But it felt like a labyrinth.
Not that it mattered. She could feel the mana and follow it even with her eyes closed.
"Wait," the angel yelled, yanking her back after the first step. "You know anything about them?"
Huh? Was she actually scared of these guys?
Sure, it was dark, and everything smelled terrible, but—
"Don't have time for your trick questions," the demoness scoffed. "I know one's throwing balls, and the other, uh, summoned those imps before, I guess. They're Ballsy and The Controller."
There. Question answered.
Gabrielle would only rub her temple, though.
"Idiot," she mumbled. "I didn't ask what name you gave 'em. But, like, how do they have mana?"
Right. They were still on Earth. She didn't think of that.
"The Controller must be some idol living a secret double life," Lilith made up a story on the spot. "He plays for the masses in the day, luring innocent little girls into the sewers at night—"
"Those concerts tend to be late in the evening, too, moron," the angel snapped.
Which gave her a pause.
"Oh? So you're not completely clueless, either?"
The brunette glowered, looking very un-angelic without her wings and halo in the dark.
"Is this a joke to you?" she demanded. "Or you know something I don't? What little girls?!"
"What, what?" Lilith pouted. "He lured us here, didn't he? And I'm only twelve—"
"Thousand," Gabrielle yelled, but then took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Anyway, don't burn through all your mana at once. Don't know how they get theirs, but we can't recharge."
Ugh. Was she the sound of reason or something?
"Hah," was all the demoness had to say to that. "By Konny's system, I have like a million points."
The Sun would have gone cold before she used up all her essence.
Though now that she thought about it, she did run out when she lived here as Kaede.
"They'd have to wake up a few millennia early to—"
A steel ball interrupted her train of thought, and this time it was the angel yanking her out of harm's way. The projectile smashed into the filthy water, splashing waste everywhere.
"For the heavens," Gabrielle moaned, looking mortified for a second.
But even when she let her guard down, Lilith's barrier was still up. They didn't get dirty.
"Let's focus on the task at hand," the angel scolded her anyway.
"Okay, fine," Lilith pouted. "Any grand ideas on how to find them, then?"
She had no clue where that ball even came from.
Did the guy throw it from behind the nearest corner, or from miles away?
Its trajectory made no sense at all.
"For what I can tell, the sewers are like a maze," Gabrielle stated the obvious. "And even if Ballsy is still nearby, The Controller is already far. Splitting up might be the best course of action."
"And of course, I get the dirtier half of the job," the demoness guessed.
Not that she'd mind.
As long as she had an ass to kick and didn't have to babysit this squemish princess—
"You're better with these impossible projectiles. When you pay attention," the angel pointed out. "And we'll stay in contact. Coordinate as they do. But don't blow up the city above,"
And now she pretended to care about all those innocent lives, too?!
What a pain, this woman.
"A heads up, you're out of my barrier now, so don't get filthy," she warned her, grinning.
The angel shuddered.
"I'll follow The Controller this way. Call me if you need help locating Ballsy," Gabby offered.
"Yeah, yeah, go on already," Lilith waved her off, trying to guess where that throw came from.
Working alone fit her better anyway.
"Stay safe," the angel muttered before running off the other way, and then—
Silence.
Too much of it.
No footsteps, no echoes, not even the disgusting water sloshing by her feet.
She couldn't hear Gabrielle's thoughts, either. And there was no way she wouldn't have said something about this sudden change.
"So that's how you're going to play?" she mumbled to herself, but no actual sound came out.
It seemed like splitting up was exactly what they wanted them to do.
"A trap, huh?"
Well, it's not like that would stop her.