A lone swordsman with blue hair stood under the sweltering red skies of hell. Far behind her was a sea of barren soil, and far in front was an ocean of demons. Each of them, moving step after step, nearing her with every breath she took.
She held nothing but her sword.
The ocean of demons approached.
The woman took in a deep breath.
"W-what in the world? A human!?" At the head of the army, the commander moving the demons from the front stopped in his tracks.
The woman adjusted her blade and stared at the demon. Her face was as cold as ice and her breaths as calm as a pond.
"Human! Move out of our way and disappear right now. This honorable army shall make no turns."
"Where, is your destination?" The woman asked.
"You dare! We offer to leave you on your way and you dare pose a question to this proud army of Lord Agares headed to his castle!?"
"Commander! Commander stop!"
"Please don't say you won't and then answer her!"
The woman's calm face almost cracked.
"Why would you be going to Agares' castle?" She asked.
"YOU DARE! You dare question us on our purpose, when we take our steps on the noble command of our lord to invade the schools of your kind?"
"COMMANDER!"
"Please stop! Commander!"
The woman let out a deep breath.
She pulled her sword out and glared at the army.
"In that case… I will have to stop you right here."
"YOU DA—Kahk! Kahaak!" The commander coughed after screaming. His soldiers rushed to bring him a glass of water. Loud gulps resounded over the quiet barren field as the commander sipped on the water.
"Aaah.." He sighed. "Yes, um where were we… YOU DARE!"
The woman, the academy's swordsmanship professor, Lady Victoria von Egret, took a stance in front of the ocean of demons.
"You wish to hurt my students," she said. "I cannot allow it, demon."
And so, far away from where her student actually was, the third of the academy's faculty started her own war against the corps of Agares.
***
"Eugene Hall, do you have your feet on the ground?"
The dry wind chapped our skin as we sped through the dunes of barren ashy soil. With my hands placed over Noa's, she turned the accelerators as far low as they went and the motorcycle dashed ahead on the path.
"Eugene Hall!"
"Yes, yes, I have my feet on the ground."
Of course, I didn't.
"Alright, alright."
Noa nodded and kept driving on.
The faster we went, the smoother the ride got.
I slowly lifted my hands from hers.
"Hey! Hey!"
"I'm here, relax!" I said. "It's just the hands, you won't fall. Keep at it."
The motorcycle whirred more as Noa kept at it. It felt very wrong to teach her in such a dangerous way since the motorcycle was fast enough to graze us if we fell, but it was pretty fun too.
We neared a bump in the ground.
The ride lifted off slightly before falling back down.
"Eu-Eugene Hall! Did you fly off?" Noa screamed, her hands moved haphazardly, sending the motorcycle slithering like a snake.
I hurriedly wrapped my arms around her waist.
"Relax. It's under your control, I have my feet on the ground."
Of course, I didn't.
"Alright, alright…" Noa sighed and got a hold of herself. The motorcycle moved normally again. In no time at all, she was starting to get a hang of it.
As we neared a plain path, I let go of her waist and leaned back. We were probably doing about three-hundred kilometers per hour, it was a pleasant pace and offered a great view.
Noa would ask every now and then if I still had my feet on the ground and I would reply with a simple yes.
She eventually started enjoying too.
"WOAA!" She screamed as her hair fell right on my face. "Eugene, this is spicy! This is too spicy!"
"Blublub— I know bah." I clicked my tongue, snapped my fingers, and pulled out the hairbands I used to use. "I am tying your hair, stay still."
"What? Ah, is it smacking you? Sorry about that."
I gathered her hair and started tying it in a bun, at three-hundred kilometers per hour.
Noa grew a lot of guts as she kept going and even left her hand off the handles. Wedged in between us, Titania was unable to feel the thrill of the speed due to her small size, but that didn't stop her from having fun.
And soon.
"Eugene Hall!" Noa shouted. "It's a city!"
"Perfect! Hit the brakes, let's go—"
Noa slammed the breaks all at once. The motorcycle came to a sudden stop and flipped forward.
"AHH!"
"Woah!"
The two of us flipped ahead and the motorcycle skidded to the side. Before I could hit the ground, I jumped over Noa and let her cushion my fall.
"Ouch, ouch, you did it on purpose, bitch…" Noa screamed below me. A cloud of dust had risen up and covered both of us.
"Why the fuck would you stop like that!?"
"You told me!"
"You dumb bitch!"
"What was that? Should I kill you right now?"
I rolled off from over her and sat on the ground. The sudden stop shook my head. When I looked ahead, we had left a slide mark of well over fifty meters, and the motorcycle was another hundred away from us.
Titania popped out from my pockets.
"Yo, Eugy! Guess you had too much fun."
I held Titania in my hands and turned her around. Seeing that she wasn't injured, I let out a sigh.
"Noa, you alright?"
"You ask now?"
"Well, I saw how bad the fall was now." I gave her a hand and pulled her up before checking for any wounds on her.
Noa snapped her hand away.
"I'm fine," she said, turning her head away as well.
"Hey, it's your fault for being in a good spot to be used as a fall breaker. I didn't do it on purpose."
Of course, I did.
"What a bitch. You got a taste for lying or something?"
My eyes widened.
"You're right…"
Without realizing it, I had gotten used to the convenience that lying offered.
"I am sorry. I definitely did it on purpose. I also didn't have my legs on the ground at any point—"
I was smacked on the head.
Well, at least we had reached our destination. Demon Lord Dantalian's city, the largest city in Hell.