Kanabo’s body jolted after hearing this familiar and disturbing voice. Noticing her reaction, an unnoticeable smile formed on Shina’s face. One that she had never shown before, just glancing at it would send chills down one’s back. Her eyes turned momentarily cold and contained numerous type of emotions.

The source of the voices finally showed up, it was a group of humanoid creatures covered with scales and fully equipped with spears and revealings armors that simply protected the articulations and other parts not protected by their scales.

The one leading them was a toad-like humanoid creature dressed in a simple long green robe. The toad’s mouth kept making a disturbing noise with his mouth as if he was chewing something and every time he opened his mouth, he exposed his long tongue while his saliva dripped on the ground.

Shina couldn’t help but pinch her nose at the odor, moreover, the humanoid toad was covered with a thick mucus which made his robe stick to his skin. Whether it was his appearance, the noise he produced or his odor, everything about it was disturbing.

“*Kroak* We’ve kronally found her, krome with us back home!”

(We’ve finally found her, come with us back home!)

As she heard his disturbing, Kanabo’s body trembled as she took a few steps back. Memories kept flowing in her mind as she looked at the frog’s angry expression, she wanted to run away but as she was about to move, Shina’s voice stopped her.

“Do you intend to run?”

She looked completely different from the girl she met before to an extent that shocked Kanabo. When Shina’s eyes laid on her she trembled, despite lacking any kind of ill intent, she felt something strange and terrifying hidden deep inside them. It was something that was even scarier than the toad’s arrival.

“Kroanabo, give us the krourd or…”

(Kanabo, give us the gourd or…)

A cold breeze crossed through the scene, making Shina’s hairs flow with the wind while her eyes remained fixated on Kanabo.

“Are you going to run away?”

Run, of course, I need to run… If I don’t run they will catch me again, and they will take it away...

Her hands on the gourd, Kanabo gripped it very hard, giving the impression that it was going to be crushed. It was something she had gotten ever since she was born, the sole memento from her mother who helped her escaping death by sacrificing herself to force her father not to execute but exile her.

But even if I run now… In the end, they’ll probably catch me, it’s only a matter of time.

She wasn’t willing to hand it over, she wasn’t going to hand it over… She would rather die than handing it.

I don’t want it… Why do I have to keep running away from them? They are weaker than me yet I have to flee!

Her teeth were grinding so hard that she felt that they were going to shatter. Threads of blood were flowing from her lips. She was scared but also angry at herself for not being able to even defend herself. The hand holding the gourd slowly relaxed.

Wait… Why should I run?

“I understand now… I really am stupid.”

A dubious expression arose on the toad’s face which then turned into anger as he spits out on the ground while his small tail kept making circles.

“Krohat are you smiling kror?!”

(What are you smiling for?!)

“Huhuhu~…”

She was smiling… No, Kanabo was heartily laughing out to her heart's content.

“Huhuhu~ Huahaha~”

It was a loud laugher containing countless emotions, anger, pain, sadness, every kind of feeling as well as resolution and strength. A single tear fell down from her eyes as she drank a sip out of her gourd.

Run away? Why should she run away? Once she realized the meaning behind Shina’s words, she realized that by running away she was going to turn into a coward who would hide from every kind of dangers. If she was in a crisis and left in a situation where running was her only option then it would be acceptable, retreating in front of an insurmountable situation was normal.

But the people in front of her were all weaker than her, even Shina could feel it. The group of soldiers behind the toad-like man were only slightly stronger than regular humans, they weren’t much of a threat to her.

Even if they brought stronger people, they could now depend on Listae. Running away in front of creatures far weaker than herself, she would indeed be nothing more than a coward if she did.

Shina nodded, she found Kanabo’s laugher pleasing to the ears. Her finger fell on Kiel which she gently caressed.

“Kröte, I suggest that you turn back. You alone can’t capture me.”

The humanoid toad, Kröte looked at Kanabo strangely. Just a moment ago she was shaking in fear and after just a few words of the girl at her side she gained confidence and now was glaring at him.

Feeling humiliated and having his prisoner challenging him angered him so much that his tail repetitively hit the ground. He didn’t care about who Shina was and didn’t even bother glancing at her as he extended his hand toward the girls.

“Charge and kroapture them!”

(Charge and capture them!)

At his words, the scaled soldiers charged out with spears made of a coral-like material. Their two meters tall body made it looks like they were overwhelming with strength, compared to the girls small figure, it seemed that it was going to be a one-sided battle.

Throwing her head backward while laughing, Kanabo charged at one of them and grabbed his spear. In her hand, the spear refused to budge which made the soldier’s eyes open widely as veins were appearing on his bulky arms.

“Hufufu~”

As she laughed, Kanabo slowly raised the spear in the hairs and with a powerful impulsion of her arm, sent the soldier flying in the sky.

“Oh? You forgot something…”

Seeing the spear still in her hand, she smiled and threw it back at him. With the strength of an Oni King even if she was still a child, the spear completely piercing through his scales like they were made of butter and impaled him on a nearby tree.

No matter how courageous the soldiers were, this display of strength still froze their back as they momentarily hesitated. Kanabo’s wide smile as she slowly walked toward them scared them and their hands were shaking.

It didn’t matter if she was a child, it didn’t matter if she was a woman… The one standing in front of them is an Oni King, a terrifying demon that rules over the underworld through strength and blood.

“What are you all doing? *Hic*”

Taking a sip out of her gourd, Kanabo coldly smiled while cracking her knuckles.

Kröte never expected that the girl he could torment so easily whenever he wanted, that appeared so weak when she was enchained and whose worth was next to none was actually a monster that could crush any of his men with her bare hands. The mere idea of how he would have ended should she had freed herself during her torture with him scared him so much that his legs were trembling.

A memory surfaced in Kröte’s head, a warning from his father when he brought Kanabo for the first time. He warned him to never fight her head on, the power of an Oni King even young isn’t something even his father would dare to take on.

Kröte whispered to a soldier close to him and had him leave discreetly.

“You, kro back and krall father!”

(You, go back and call father!)

Shina noticed the soldier leave and Kröte giving him instructions, but even though she realized what was going on she didn’t do anything to stop them.

None of the soldiers actually went after Shina once Kanabo displayed her strength. They recognized her as their main opponent and didn’t pay any heed to Shina.

Clenching her hands, Kanabo charged forward and threw one punch after another. Like a raging demon, everything around her shattered. Under her ferocity the earth shook, under her frail hands the spears shattered into pieces and the soldiers' scales and armor were crushed.

“M-Monster!”

“We need reinforcement!”

“Young master, help us!”

“We need backup!”

Under the screams of his subordinate who fell down on the ground one after another, Kröte glared at Kanabo with hatred and fear. Under Shina’s surprised eyes, his tongue came out of his mouth and started vibrating, emitting a disturbing sound which resonated all around them.

Kanabo, on the other hand, was being surrounded but didn’t even care about this. Every time she attacked, the encirclement was broken as the scaled men were sent flying one after another.

“There’s quite a large amount…”

Taking a sip of her gourd, Kanabo smiled as she was hit by a great idea. Opening her hand, black and purple smoke were gathering in her palm which soon transformed into a blazing and beautiful blackish flame. A hellish flame which came straight from hell.

“Do you guys want a taste of hell?”

Grabbing her gourd, Kanabo waved her hand and scattered the liquid it contained in the airs like a waterfall. The gourd could produce an unlimited amount of whatever it contains, the liquid scattered around like it was raining.

The soldiers looked at the darkened sky with awe, when the liquid hit their skin and after finally realizing what it was, their face darkened.

Kanabo opened her mouth and drank a few drop with a wide smile.

“Humu~ I hope you guys like sake made of calea? It has a pretty high level of alcohol…”

Madness suddenly filled the field, everyone was trying to run away as fast as they could. They were pushing each other, bumping and stamping on each other while trying to flee for their life. Kanabo simply smiled and opened her hand containing the hellish flame.

“Are you trying to suicide with us?!”

Kanabo sneered “Idiots…”

The black flame set the alcohol ablaze and produced a flame that burned everything around. The grass was quickly reduced to ashes and the land was devoid of life, the scaled men didn’t even have a chance to resist as they melted under the terrifying temperature.

Shina who was standing far enough not to be hit but either the alcohol or being burned by the flame watched the flame shot up burn everything with a strange smile. Once everything was burned to the ground, the flame suddenly gathered and formed a small black orb of only a few inches large and shot up in the sky.

Kanabo looked at the small orb with seriousness and followed it with her eyes as it ascended.

“May you repent in your next life…”

The fireball exploded in the sky in a similar way to fireworks, it was a beautiful scenery which made Shina excited.

“Tamaya!”

Shina felt the urge to say it a few time as the fireball repeatedly exploded before leaving behind just a trail of smoke in the sky.

“Shina, what did you say?”

Kanabo who didn’t understand what she was doing looked at her strangely.

Only a few soldiers were lucky enough to escape, the ground was burned to a crisp and nothing remained of their comrades. Under these circumstances, how could they be willing to also risk their life? As soldiers they were ready to give up on their life whether it was needed, but who would be willing to die for nothing? If their life could be used to injure an enemy or save their leader then it would be worthwhile, but going in right now was nothing more than just dying for nothing.

*Sniff Sniff*

Sniffing the odor permeating from the area, Shina felt hungry.

“It smells great…”

“You think so too?”

“I once heard that you can eat frog and toad as long as you cook them slowly, moreover it seems that they go very well with alcohol.”

“Really? Might as well try some *Hic*”

“But there’s almost non-... Never mind…”

A large pack of scaled soldiers suddenly arrived from all directions and surrounded the girls. Compared to the few dozens of guards annihilated by Kanabo before, there more at least more than a hundred encircling the girls with their spears aimed them.

“That’s quite a lot… *Hic*”

“Right… I remember that toads reproduce rather quickly, don’t they? Moreover, in some cases, they can be pretty harmful to the environment.”

“Humu~ Then we need to reduce their numbers, don’t we? *Hic*”

As Shina and Kanabo were talking to each other, the soldier that Kröte had sent away earlier came back alone which made him frown but after whispering a few words to his ears, Kröte started laughing madly.

“Kroapute her!”

(Capture her!)

Ordering his soldiers to advance with a sly expression, Kröte began to whisper a few words under Shina’s eyes who suddenly had a bad feeling.

Kanabo who resumed her fight was reducing the scaled men to ashes as black flames were surrounding her hands. Each punch could set her targets ablaze and burn them within just a few seconds.

But as she was killing them, a green light suddenly emanated from the surface of her stomach in the form of a magic circle. Her body suddenly hardened, unable to move a single muscle, Kanabo fell to the ground with unwilling eyes while glaring at the laughing Kröte.

“*Kroak Kroak Kroak* I completely forgot the seal father made!”

Kröte continued to laugh madly and his laugh slowly started to affect his surrounding. Everyone soon started to laugh, some out of relieving, a very few mockingly and most of them simply tried to follow the mood.

The laughter of more than two hundred people at the same time was oppressing and made Kanabo even angrier as she tried to free herself of the magic, but it was useless.

Among the laughs, one could hear the voice of a girl who slowly made her way through the crowd. Nobody even paid her any attention from the beginning and even Kröte had forgotten her existence.

Despite having a child’s voice, her laugh was bone chilling and terrifying. Her red eyes didn’t even seem to see them as living beings, above her palm, a crimson marble shining with an ominous bloody color was floating.

The girl slowly made it through the soldiers, with each step she took the soldiers opened the way without even knowing why. They simply didn’t want to stand in her way.

“Shina?...”

When Shina arrived in front of Kanabo, she simply smiled and said a few words.

“It’s fine, now just leave it to me…”

At the same time as the words left her mouth, Shina used magic for the very first time.