To think that she would be having another adventure with Manzo so soon after the events that unfolded in Joya... Even now it felt like a dream of some kind. Not that it was a bad thing, something told her that she could truly trust Manzo, but there was even more that had happened since then. Nyancelot looked a bit nervous as she stood near the small bulletin board where she had arranged to meet her mentor, or rather old friend.

Because right now Lily was not exactly Lily. "You seem a bit nervous Nyancelot~" She chimed softly, causing the Exceed to jump lightly in a fit of panic while he turned around to face her. He looked at the obsidian-haired elf as he muttered feebly. "I didn't expect for you to awaken so soon Master. I... I thought we would have more time before The Witch of The End would awaken."

Yet upon hearing these words the elf smiled, a gentle and pure smile as she crouched down to pet the Exceed on his head. "Don't worry my cute little Puck~ For the time being you can retain your role, for I am merely Esperia~"

The Exceed's eyes started to become filled with tears as he clung to her arm. "MAAAAAAAAAASTEEEEEEEEEER!" he exclaimed in a wailing sound while Esperia patted the Exceed between his ears. "Hush~ Hush~ I'm sorry for putting you through so much my dear. For now let's simply have some fun while we wait for our dear friend to come?"

The Exceed nodded his head firmly while Esperia rose back onto her feet, a hand brushing up to her eyes as she gazed at the beautiful sky above. "If this is really her choice, then we got no choice but to play our role to the utmost perfection~"

Yet the familiar presence she noticed through her magical eye made the elf turn around to face him, a teasing grin on her lips. "Overslept again? sleepyhead~"

WC: 300
Total WC: 300/1500

As day broke in the town of Magnolia Manzo let out a yawn, walking down the street toward the agreed meeting place. Esperia had awoken within Lily due to the events of Joya, which was a sign of the end of lily for the moment. As well as the beginning of Esperia. The witch of the end, the maiden of time and space herself. Esperia went by many names. Though when the pair got together the two made up the Blue Pegasus tag team of Cloak and Dagger. Manslayer and the Maiden, a literal force of nature.

Though he felt badly about poor lily, he hoped in his heart he could find a way for both to exist equally. He loved them both, and losing one and gaining the other was not something he was willing to accept. It was a sacrifice that didn't make sense to him. Not in this day and age of magic and exploration. But those were thoughts for later, right now he had to make the most of the time he had with Esperia in case she went to sleep again.

Another perk of him having gone to Joya and face the demons of his past, he reawakened his dragon force ability. Something that hid dormant within him for some time. "Alright Manzo, let's get a move on, we are running late." He said as he picked up his pace in order to meet Esperia in the town square. While he knew she would find his tardiness on brand. It still wasn't something he liked about himself, but he seemed to always get lost on the path of life.

He finally made it to the meeting spot finding Esperia standing with Nyancelot, and for some reason it looked like he had been crying. "Weird." He thought to himself. Esperia's words greeting him were a serious blast from the past. "Yeah sorry about that, what do we have on the docket today?" Mnazo asked.

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Esperia took a step closer toward Manzo, a hand raised in a karate chop that she tried to bring lightly, albeit playfully down onto his head. "Hehe~ Too busy overthinking and spending too little time sleeping, hmm?" Teasingly poking out her tongue the witch took a step backwards and pointed at the nearby bulletin board. "It's a simple job request all things considered~ Some of the stores in Magnolia tend to function under a 'protection fee', pay it and your store is safe, don't pay it and they send people to rob you dry. Some of the stores have gotten enough of this whole nonsense and started hiring people to deal with the threats. This store in particular is a bit special."

She motioned for Manzo to follow her as she continued her explanation. "It is a store that deals in antiques and magic items, very precious ones which makes them a huge target for robberies. As a result they asked for more experienced mages to handle the protection of the store."

And with these words the Exceed chimed in return. "Usually it's just a bandit or two, but we can expect an entire gang to show up tonight!" Sounded like serious business indeed!

WC: 200
Total WC: 500/1500

"So extortion is how this city runs huh, and with a light guild in the walls. Sounds like the whole place has gone to shit." He said as he took a cigar from his coat pocket and put it to his lips. Snapping his fingers to light it, taking a quick drag off of it he flicked a bit of the ashes off as he put it back to his lips.

"So we have a high value target, and more than a few combatants to worry about. Makes me wonder what this store has inside of it that they want so badly." He said as he grabbed the flier from the bounty board and looked it over for a moment. After reading the description, it became clear to him, that this place dealt in old magic, the kind that with one misstep could blow this whole city to kingdom come.

"This is gonna be interesting, or completely boring, no way of knowing until we get there." He said as he folded the paper into a square and put it in his pocket. "Well there's no time to waste. Let's be off." He said as he began to head in the direction of the shop in question. This was an odd thing, especially considering how it all went down in Joya. He wondered just how long it would take before Lily was healed enough to take control again so that what ever energy Esperia had left wouldn't fade away from keeping her going.

"Also Sir Cat, do you need a tissue, it looks funny for a Knight to walk around with a snot bubble coming from his nose. Not trying to be rude, I'm just saying." Manzo said as he took out a handkerchief and handed to the iron clad feline.

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Esperia chuckled mischievously in return to these words, chiming teasingly in return. "I doubt you'll consider anything involving me boring~" With these words spoken the duo started to move into the direction of the shop they were planning to visit. However, when Manzo suddenly stopped to address him, Nyancelot smiled briefly at Manzo as he accepted the handkerchief. "Thank you Ser Manzo." The Exceed mused softly as he wiped away the last hints of his tearful reaction from before.

With the entourage soon arriving at the aforementioned store, Esperia opened the door and peeked inside, spotting the elderly woman at the end of the shop. "Ah~ Miss Lily, and oh isn't this young Manzo from Blue Pegasus?"

The inquiry brought a brief smile to Esperia's lips. "The one and only~ So you can expect your store to be in good hands madame~" The elderly lady nodded her head in appreciation as she continued. "Excellent~ Truly perfect, I will just grab my stuff then and be on my way. I will return in the evening, but stay on your toes~ them nasty lads been up to no good lately, and even gotten bold enough to do it during the day. It's giving Fairy Tail truly a headache."

And with that the elderly woman was off, leaving Esperia and Manzo alone with the Exceed in the store. Meanwhile Esperia had taken a seat at the counter, humming softly. "It's been a while since we went out on adventures like this~"

WC: 250
Total WC: 750/1500

"True you're about as dull as a funhouse mirror, which only dull to those who dislike funhouses, I am not one of them." He said with a chuckle of his own as the entourage continued their walk through the streets of magnolia. It was true of course, the two of them always found themselves up to some kind of mischief, all of it good natured of course. Well most of the time, but the two were not as destructive as he and Alisa used to be back in the day of course.

"Think nothing of it Ser Cat, anything for a comrade." Manzo said with a smile as he put his cigar back to his lips. Taking another drag off of it he found himself lost in the flavors of cherry and tobacco it was enough to whisk him away, from all care and worry. Though very irresponsible, it had happened before, and it was sure to happen again. These were just simple facts.

As they entered the shop Manzo flicked his cigar before walking in, it was only polite after all. That and he knew most people hated the smell of smoke. Even if it was a sweet smoke like from a cigar. That was their right of course, as it was the property of someone else. Not everyone can own a bar like he did.

As they walked in they were greeted by the shop owner, she was an old friend. This was the shop where he learned that Totsuka was inside the blue pegasus vault. So when it came to helping out, he had no problem with it. "Yeah I bet it's giving fairy tail a headache, don't worry ma'am, Blue Pegasus is on the job." Manzo said while giving her a thumbs up.

It wasn't that he didn't respect the fellow light guild, he just knew they were stretched then, as where when it came to Blue Pegasus, one or two mages was enough to get the job done regardless of the challenge. Not a brag it was just a fact. Not many people liked that fact, but at the end of the day, truth hurts. That's why it's the truth, there was comfort in lies. Of course, he wouldn't subscribe to such notions.

"Yeah, we hadn't properly done anything together since I went into semi-retirement. Had a nice cushy shop and home, but at the end of the day, I'm still a wanderer. Some old habits died hard." He said as he began to peruse the shop for a bit. There were still some interesting pieces in this place after all this time.

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Esperia nodded her head lightly in response to these words. She could understand the alure of adventure all too well. Even after she had gotten married and tried to settle down she still couldn't resist the call. There was simply something about adventures that made her feel alive, not that she minded the more peaceful days either but to her life was an adventure of its own. While Manzo went to peruse the shop for anything of interest Esperia decided to instead take the opportunity to relax a bit. It was likely only the calm before the storm if the rumors were to be believed.

"Oh~" Esperia chimed softly as she opened her eyes, her white eye pulsing lightly with energy to hint at her usage of it. "Interesting~ it seems our visitors aren't just regular thieves this time~" She sat upright and continued to speak, her tone still cheerful and playful despite the dire nature of her revelation. "Seems there are at least two Daemons and a disguised Demon among them~"

And indeed, if Manzo would look outside the window he would no doubt notice the small crowd of cloaked figures having gathered outside the store they were in!

WC: 200
Total WC: 950/1500

The shop had undergone a bit of changes since his last visit. There was even an expansive library, one that he did not expect. Perhaps in his off time this would be a nice place for him to relax when the job was done. But of course such things would need to wait. After all, they were on the job, but that didn't mean he couldn't muse about it for a moment. What would it be like to spend all day in such a place. Maybe with a nice cup of sake and a fantasy novel, seems this place had a lot more to offer than what he initially expected.

It was then he heard Esperia begin to identify their targets. Daemons, men, and a demon. Interesting he thought to himself. That means the shop keep has some kind of occult item there they were looking for. Given his recent interaction with alternate espy, it made sense that she would be sending her minions out on retrieval missions such as this, anything to grow her power and army. Which made sense, he did tell her to bring everything she had. I guess that also meant bring what everyone else had too.

No matter, demons or not, no one was going to be taking anything from this place, he wouldn't allow it. Not now, not ever, he had never failed a mission and wasn't going to start now. He pulled his pack from his back and took out a large container of salt, the ashes of a priest, and holy water. It was time to sure of the defenses. Which he would, no matter what. Being a hunter meant he had to be prepared for everything, and demons were far more common now than they were previously. Which was good fortune for him.

Seeing as demons were the creatures, he had the most time spent with, in terms of killing them at least. He began to open the salt jar, walking around to the window seals and entrances placing down lines of salt to keep them at bay for as long as he could. At least so they could set up the rest of the defenses. With the salt layers down it was time to move on to the ashes of the dead saint. He took out a bottle of water and began to stir the ashes into it until they were completely dissolved.

He threw one of the bottles over to Esperia for her to drink as well. "This will keep them from being able to possess us." Manzo said as he downed his entire bottle, making a sour face in response to how badly it tasted. Which if he had to describe it, was something along the lines of sulfur and rotten fish. Which considering it was the ashes of saint was almost comical to say the least. But it should work out just fine for them, as long as they weren't dealing a hell knight class demon, that would be troublesome.

Now it was on to the holy water. He went into the back room of the store and grabbed a bucket. He poured an entire container of holy water into it, walking back into the room he found himself singing one of his favorite tunes to himself. "Carry on my wayward son, they'll be peace when you are done." He sang as he rigged a hook above the door with a leverage point for the bucket to drop on the demons as they entered. Odds are they wouldn't be expecting him to be this prepared. Unless they knew he was there, but those were very low odds.

Back to the bag of tricks, a container of lambs blood. "Lay your weary head to rest." He began to paint a demon snare onto the floor, this was the last line of defense of course, on the off chance everything failed, low odds, but with a disguised demon in their midst it would behoove them to at least thing of every possibility, it was his job after all. Upon completing the demon snare he let out one last line from his favorite song. "Don't you cry no more." With that it was back to the group with some small trinkets to ward off curses.

He threw a crucifix over to Nyancelot, it was talisman of his homeland, he was sure to appreciate being thought of in that way. Manzo tried to be respectful of everyone's personal beliefs, it was important to him. He didn't believe in division based on differences. He truly believed in his heart there were more similarities between peoples that focusing on differences was pointless and a waste of time. "Wear that at all times comrade cat, if anything happened to you I'd never forgive myself."

"Now Esperia, this one is for you." He said as he pulled out rosary beads from the priest who closed one of the portals in Asteria during the incursions. "This will amplify your good feelings to most your magic when fighting the abominations of the night." Manzo said with a smile as he placed it in her hand gently. Somethings never changed, he knew she could handle herself, but he refused to allow any more harm to come to her than already had. There will be no more lost loved ones on this day, not without one hell of a fight.

"Alright now for the final touch." He said as he walked over to the closet again and dragged out a massive rug to cover the demon snare. Had to be just a bit sneaky sneaky in these moments, demons were cunning creatures, so you have to out think them before you can out brute force them. Hard to believe that infernal beings such as them possessed such wit. But they did, and that had to be respected above all other things. "Alright, we are ready, let's snuff out their light." Manzo said as he crossed his arms and simply waited to see if the traps would be enough to do the trick.

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Esperia couldn't help but blink in bewilderment alongside Nyancelot as Manzo began his preparations of setting up a proper defense after hearing there had been a Demon among the cloaked figures. She wasn't going to do something ridiculous like laughing at his concern for her wellbeing, to the point she was even willing to consume the unpleasantly flavored beverage he handed her. "I guess I do have a different body now, it would be dangerous to presume I can still wrestle control over a Demon Lord~" Although dear god, that beverage was truly one of the worst flavored drinks she ever had the displeasure of sampling!

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Ser Manzo." Although the Exceed did feel a bit guilty that while he pulled the crucifix around his neck, the feline wasn't able to reveal the fact that a demon trying to possess him would be in for a world of misery if they knew what he truly was. However, Esperia did command him to keep his true identity a secret from the outside world.

Either way, with Manzo's trickery in place Esperia decided to add just a little touch herself to it all: Raising her bow the elven maiden whispered an elven chant as her mana started to manifest around the pulled string, causing the arrow to appear while lightning energy cackled to life. And then it was time to see whether their efforts would pay off.

The door opened as the first of the cultists tried to enter, the bucket of holy water raining down onto the group as they yelled in a mixture of pain and surprise. However, their presence was followed by a sudden zooming sound as Esperia's arrow collided against the head of one of the Daemon cultists, making them collapse backwards while the holy water conducted the electricity to his companions, making the group let out pained screams! Some of the human cultists tried to climb in through the window, an effort that proved to be in vain as Nyancelot slammed his sword onto the cultist.

"Damd it! What is taking you all so long?!" a Masculine voice called out from the back of the group as a hulking demon stepped over the bodies of his fallen companions. The holy water might had weakened him slightly, but even a second arrow of Esperia did little to halt his advance, until the demon entered the store and the snare activated, forcing the fiend onto a knee. "grr... What matter of trickery is this?!" He yelled in anger as he turned his gaze toward Manzo, attempting to use the last of his strength to sweep a claw toward the hunter.

Meanwhile one of the Daemons their body seemed to turn back to human as a ghostly wisp started to surge toward the feline, attempting to possess them but the crucifix kept it at bay, making the wisp let out an eerie screech.

"Nyancelot, you can eat them if you want~" Esperia mused softly, causing the feline to grin knowingly at her as he inhaled sharply, causing the wisp to be sucked into his mouth while the feline chewed contently as if he had just eaten a candy bar. "Mhmm, been a while since I had some low level demon souls to eat~"

Now there was just the matter of the leader for Manzo to deal with. Perhaps it was indeed very fortunate the man had been so well prepared, lest they'd be forced to fight a way more complicated and difficult battle!

"Guess it was worth drinking that nasty stuff~" Esperia hummed teasingly as she watched Manzo deal with their leader.

WC: 600
Total WC: 1500/1500

As the chaos unfolded, he laughed to himself watching the chaos. So much for them being a superior race to mortals, that was laughable in and of it's own right. At the end of the day were no better than animals. Giving in to their natures like that without any sense of respect for life. It was disgusting, so were they. "Sad to see the so called superior race reduced to mere by standers isn't it." Manzo said to himself as he watched the big hulking brute enter the room.

As he did so he foolishly stepped into the snare, what an absolute moron he thought to himself. If your other men couldn't make it past the door step what made him think it was safe for him to enter the room at all. It was sad to see, but not completely surprising to say the last. "It's like you didn't learn your lesson the last time you idiots tried to invade our realm." It was true, thier species rarely learned from their mistakes, never content with their own realm, always the usurpers. Though rarely ever victorious to say the least.

He walked over to the demon in his trap and readied his blade. "You had better hope this kills me." The demon yelled out at him in defiance. "Oh it will, trust me." He said as he stabbed the demon in the shoulder with the blade. The smell of searing flesh filling the room. Manzo's eyes hadn't changed the entire time. He looked upon them with disgust, which of course made the demon all the more angry about the situation he found himself in.

"Now while I have you here, who are you working for?" Manzo asked as he drove the blade in further, twisting it slightly to really drive home the point that he was not here to play any kind of games with the fiend. "Fuck you." The demon exclaimed. Which only served to make Manzo laugh, he grabbed his bottle of holy water and pour it into the mouth of the demon.

"Such language, maybe this will loosen your tongue." He smirked, but the ever-tight-lipped demon would not budge, a pity really. But now he had to do what he had been hired for. He removed his blade and with one fell slice, decapitated the demon.

"We are done here."

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