At last, the newcomer finally descended onto the battlefield. She aligned with my aim with Ace, and I pulled the trig-

"Nyaa! W-Wait! Don't shoot!" she cried, before landing on the ground next to me. "I'm here to help you!"

I narrowed my gaze. "You are...the catgirl we saved last time?"

"Yes! That's me! Nyow, mind myoving the gun away from my forehead?!"

I frowned. "How can I trust you?"

"You saved my life! I'm here to repay that debt! I have nyo reason to hurt you!"

Well...I suppose that is true.

Reluctantly, I move the gun away from her head, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, so, I just gotta kill all those baddies out there, right?" she asked, pointing at the gang members currently shooting at the other girls on the various staircases.

I nodded. "Uh...yeah? But don't just jump out ther-"

By the time I could finish my sentence, it was too late. The catgirl leapt out of cover and dashed straight into the crowd of enemies below, who were using the various benches and tables laying around as cover.

"Ah...damn it..." I muttered, before opening up the comms again. "Listen guys, don't shoot that catgirl, she's our ally!"

"What? Where did she even come from?!" Feng Mian asked exasperatedly, before I heard the mechanical sounds of two reloads coming through the earpiece. She had twin pistols, so she had to reload twice, after all.

"Save the questions for later!" Xiang Peng exclaimed. "For now, let's take care of these guys first!"

I reloaded Ace, and peeked over the pillar. The catgirl didn't seem to have been hit so far, by some miracle. I noticed her insanely quick reaction speeds and movement, blinking behind enemies before they could even react. I then spotted a guy behind her, about to shoot his gun, but I wasn't about to let that happen. I aimed Ace perfectly so that the bullet would pass right above the catgirl's hair, and indeed, it did. My shot struck true, hitting the guy trying to sneak attack the catgirl square in the forehead.

Meanwhile, I couldn't help but admire how the catgirl was slicing open throats and severing arms like it was nothing. Instead of a gun like the rest of us, she used some kind of unusual mechanical claws, equipped on both her hands. I figured she fought better this way - everyone had different tastes and combat styles, after all. I knew from reading textbooks that demihumans have great agility and flexibility, so this method of fighting probably suited her quite well.

What I didn't expect, was Mei Gui, who had jumped into the battle at around the same time as the catgirl. She wielded her sword magnificently despite this being the first time she was using it - she couldn't practice using this inside Old Man Leng's shop, after all. That would destroy the entire place.

But despite this, she was wielding the sword effortlessly, launching crescents of pulsating purple energy at the Bloodthirster gang members. Bullets stood no chance against these violet projectiles. Mei Gui also moved swiftly, on par with the catgirl. In fact, Mei Gui had an easier time dodging bullets, since she had a smaller frame. Using every object in the area as cover for herself, Mei Gui elegantly blew away anyone in her way. Combine that with the other girls' cover fire from above, and in no time, all the gang members had been cleared away. The only guy who was left, was their leader, still hiding within that damned dome of his.

The girls all leapt off their respective staircases, including Obsidia. The ten of us stood, confronting the final boss.

"You're the last guy," I muttered. "Give up."

"D-Damn it...who the hell even are you?!" the man cried in anger, hands trembling as he held his auto rifle.

"That is not important," I replied stoically. "Now...you have two options here. One, kill yourself. And two...let us do the killing. It's only a matter of time until we take down that shield of yours."

"N-Now that it's come to this...I suppose I'll just have to use it..." the man muttered under his breath.

I frowned. What is he talking about...?

"Watch out! He's trying to blow this place up!" the catgirl exclaimed, but it was too late.

I noticed the detonator-like device in his hand, and my eyes widened. The man himself, grinned hysterically.

"Ha...hahaha! Die in pieces! Remember my name - Syox! Fear me, even in hell! Level Three Space Magic - Teleport!"

With these as his parting words, he disappeared from sight, just as he pressed down on the detonator.

"Damn it...Old Man Leng didn't tell me about this...!" I muttered as a loud boom resounded across the night, the entire building began shaking, and the pillars began to collapse from the various explosions.

"N-Nya! Gyet close to meow, everyone!" the catgirl suddenly yelled, and unable to do anything else, we followed her orders. Once we were all near her, she continued as a pillar threatened to fall right on top of us. "Hold on tyight! Level Three Space Magic - Warp Gate!"

A blue portal opened underneath us, and we sank.

*****

- Somewhere in the Slums Between District A and B -

A blue portal opened in mid-air, and the ten of us fell through it, landing on the ground. I ended up being the one on the very bottom, with the girls landing on top of me.

"Ow-! Damn..." I muttered, trying to get up. But alas, how could I, with the weight of all these girls on me?

"A-Ah, sorry!" Lan Xiao Su was the first to react. She immediately got off, blushing deeply.

The other girls, seeing this, immediately reacted as well. They all got off me, and at last, I could breathe again...not.

"Oy...get off of me..." I muttered. Indeed, one girl had remained lying on top of my body, even when all the other had gotten off already.

The catgirl - who was the culprit - yawned and didn't budge. "Nya...I'm tired. Let meow rest here fur a while, 'kay?"

I cringed. "No. Get the hell off of-"

But the nearby watching girls were quicker. They forcibly dragged the poor catgirl off of my body, then let her collapse onto the pavement.

"Ouch...what was nyat for?!" the catgirl demanded angrily.

"Even we are not lying on top of him, what makes you think you can?" Qing Yue shot back, crossing her arms. Somehow, she was still holding her gun. I tried not to think about what would've happened if she accidentally shot while she was on top of me.

"Grr....I was jyust tryna rest!" the catgirl protested, crossing her arms in a similar fashion. I noticed that her mechanical claws had retracted, and she now had human fingernails.

"Yeah, well...you can rest someplace else," I muttered. "Where are we anyway?"

I could still hear distant explosions, so I assumed we weren't far from where we just were.

"This is my house!" the catgirl declared proudly.

I blinked. "Okay...why did you bring us to your house? And besides, you call this a house?"

I pointed at the doghouse in front of us.

"I-I mean, I fit inside it!" the catgirl tried to defend herself.

"Well, yeah, but..." I only felt pity towards her all of a sudden. "Is this...really your living conditions? Where did you even come from...?"

"Meow...that's nyot something you get to nyow!" the catgirl exclaimed secretively, refusing to tell us any info. "Nya, you saved me once, and nyow I saved you. We're even! Nyow, get out of my house!"

"..." I just shook my head in exhaustion and turned away. "Well, whatever..thanks for saving us, I guess."

"Yeah yeah! Now go away!"

The girls and I retreated, leaving the catgirl to herself. I opened up the channel with Old Man Leng, and reported everything that happened to him. I didn't tell him about the catgirl, though.

"So...ya mean their leader got away?" Old Man Leng confirmed through the earpiece.

"Yeah...sorry. We weren't expecting him to teleport, and that shield of his..."

"Shield, huh? I'll tell ya more about those later. For now, just head on back to the main city. Even if ya didn't kill their leader, ya pretty much wiped 'em out. The Bloodthirsters are gone fer good."

"Copy that. We'll be there in about half an hour or so," I replied, and cut the comms.

"So...where exactly are we?" Feng Mian asked, looking around.

"Er...I don't know these slums very well either," I responded meekly. "H-Hold on. I'll get an aerial view."

Level One Sky Magic - Flight.

I rose up into the air, above the buildings, and took a good look around.

"Alright, let's see...there's smoke coming from over there...that's where we fought just now. That means...District A should be to the north...that way."

After a while of confirming our route, I landed back on the ground. "I figured it out. Follow me."

Man...this would be so much easier if I could use Level Three Space Magic. Xiang Peng and Obsidia don't have an affinity for the Space Element, either...that catgirl from earlier did, but I couldn't exactly go back to her and ask her to teleport us now.

...Come to think of it, I forgot to ask for her name, huh? Oh well. It's not like we'll ever be meeting again...right?