Mad God

It was still only around sunset when Ren, Ariana, and Kyu arrived in the same place from the previous day. Sitting at the same table on the second floor, Kyu happily ordered the same amount of food as yesterday.

"Master…" Ariana transmitted her voice as she sipped on some cold, icy tea while Ren did the same. "Throughout the day, I had a feeling we were being watched. I couldn't pinpoint it, but I am sure about the fact!"

"We were," Ren replied calmly, enjoying the refreshing, cool drink after a busy, hot day, feeling like a tired parent. Kyu was dragging them along the way to check out everything she found interesting. "I am curious as to how it will play out."

"Is it the Sect of Dawn?" she asked, not letting it show on her face, but inside she was already battle ready.

"I am sure of it. One of them was the same one who greeted us, and the other was a new one. Anyway, it is two demigods, so you need to be careful! I'll bog them down if it comes to fighting, but you need to be on full alert until they die by my hands or I cripple them."

"Don't worry, Master, I won't be a deadweight!" She answered with a firm conviction.

"I am not worried about that~" Ren smiled, putting down her cup.

When the sun was almost halfway down, the group of Kolkat arrived, walking up to their table, cupping his hands, and greeting Ren.

"Senior!" Kolkat smiled. "I received news from our Sect, and they also confirmed your idea! They were born exactly on that day, making them prime candidates to use in ritualistic sacrifice in some dark spells!"

"Hm?" Ariana tilted her head because as soon as the word dark left his mouth, he glanced at her for a brief moment.

"Oh." Ren's eyes flashed, immediately catching the minute change in his voice. The accusing tone was barely there, but before her, it was just the same as if he would spat to the side while speaking. "My disciple has a dark affinity, yes, but that does not mean she is someone who practices evil!" Ren chuckled, shaking her head.

"Ummmhm!" Kyu also said something, but her mouth was stuffed to the brim, and she had to hurriedly munch and gulp it down to repeat it. "Sister Ariana is my first real friend! She is my sister! She is not evil! Take it back!"

"Are you suspecting us?" Ren asked blatantly, leaning forward, resting her chin on the top of her palm, watching the increasing nervousness in the four disciples, even on Kolkat's face. It was clear that the teenage-looking girl before them enjoyed how panicked they were getting with every passing second. "How interesting! I can guess why though…" she closed her eyes, stretching her hand toward her cup.

It was that moment when everything slowed down, at least for Ren. As soon as it looked like she relaxed her attention, letting her mind wander towards what to do with Kolkat and his group, the ambush she was waiting for finally arrived. Solas and Nubes teleported next to her at the same time. Solas aimed a palm strike toward Ren's head while Nubes did the same with another palm strike towards her stretched-out hand. It was to make sure she had no time or chance to move it and block the lethal strike of his comrade. Ariana was still looking at Kolkat with cold eyes; Kyu's mouth was still moving, telling them off as the four's eyes barely shifted towards the sudden appearance of the red-robed figures.

"Not bad!" Ren's voice echoed with praise as her figure 'slowly' distorted, teleporting away not just herself but Ariana and Kyu too. By the time Kolkat reacted, they had stood before an empty table and chairs. They gently rocked a little, not even damaged, showing the control of the two demigods over their powers. Turning backward, they only saw Ariana and Kyu standing, facing the opposite direction. The latter was still blinking her eyes, surprised as to what happened, confused why she shifted place from the table and where the four bullies went. Ariana was much calmer, holding Kyu's head, turning it backward as she faced the four, ready to battle.

"Where is mom?" Kyu asked, question marks appearing in her eyes.

"Dealing with the baddies," Ariana whispered.

"We must capture them alive, so the Elders can question them!" Kolkat recollected himself, raising his hand as his party spread out, surrounding the duo.

"Kyu," Ariana looked down at her, smiling a little, "I'll not tell Master if you rob them blind and eat whatever they have on them~."

"Nyahahaha!" She laughed loudly, hearing her words, "You are the best, big sis!" as she said it, she was already stepping forward, releasing the vast amount of energy stored inside her belly. With the countless things she had consumed since she arrived at the Field of Flowers, her aura at that moment resembled that of a disciple of the Lotus Mandala Sect Elders. The garden was the primary source of the ingredients for all the pills and ointments used in the Sect, helping their cultivators advance, and now, her aura was mostly the same as their disciple brothers and sisters.

"This feeling…" Dina whispered, receiving a nod from Kolkat.

"No doubt about it now, she consumed our own! Support me!" He shouted, summoning a blade that glimmered in a bluish, metallic luster, attacking Kyu head-on.

Feeling the four's strength, Ariana stepped back with her arms crossed, deciding to leave them to Kyu. At least for now, only stepping in if anything was about to go amiss. On the other hand, she couldn't help but constantly scan her surroundings, afraid of a demigod ambushing them. Even if Ren drew them away right now, it did not mean they were not a target anymore. Kolkat noticed her behavior but could do nothing about it, not that he minded at all. Having to fight only one enemy was desirable. They had the advantage; taking down an overconfident cultivator was easier than fighting two cautious ones. Their teamwork was seamless. Clearly, they had worked as a team for multiple years by now. Kolkat led the attack, swinging his blade at Kyu's body diagonally while Dina and the three others used the same formation the other group used against Ren when she first arrived in this part of the world. Yet the effect of theirs manifested differently. When the symbols on their clothing lit up, instead of unifying their own strengths, they formed a shining bubble around the two. It had the effect of weakening their enemy and strengthening their ally with the combined power of the other three. It should have made it so that Kyu feels much weaker and given Kolkata an ample chance to finish her off quickly.

"Woah, that seems yummy!" Kyu laughed, ignoring the weight pressing down on her, watching the blade coming at her, glittering in the light of the formation around her. She was completely unbothered by the sharp wind it pushed forward, enjoying it like a slight breeze. She simply turned towards his weapon, opening her mouth as wide as possible; her tiny teeth shone brightly, reflecting the lights around her.

"Is she insane?" everyone from Kolkat's group thought, especially Kolkat himself. The sword of his was crafted by an exceptionally talented disciple in the Sect, hailed to be the next Forgemaster when he reached the demigod realm. When he ascended to Harmony, he was immediately made an Inner Disciple. By now, getting the 2nd stage of it, he was crafting weapons and armor at a level even the 3rd stage Harmony experts desired to have them. Kolkat could call himself one of the lucky ones as he obtained this blade in a martial competition between water affinity disciples, where he came in first decades ago. Since then, it had accompanied him everywhere, and until now, nobody could even damage it! "Insane or not, don't blame me for losing your head!" He shouted, infusing his strength into it, letting the blade 'flow' through the air, ready to cut through everything.

"Slurpy-slurpy!" Kyu giggled, taking a deep breath, and all the blue energy surrounding the blade itself was suddenly sucked off of it, leaving only a loud, slurping sound behind. Before they could react or Kolkat could change the movement of his hand, his sword had already reached Kyu, who just chomped down on it.

"You're de-," but he could not finish it as he felt his mind blacking out at what he just saw next.

The bite of the little girl simply broke his sword into multiple pieces, like it was some kind of dog treat. Kyu quickly opened his mouth again as her tongue lashed forward like a chameleon's, grabbing the multiple pieces and dragging them inside before chomping again at the remaining broken part, biting it off from the hilt itself. By then, Kolkat was skipping backward, but he only held the useless hilt of his destroyed, treasured sword. Everyone in his group was dumbfounded while watching Kyu standing before them, munching on it with loud, cracking sounds of metal, being ground down as if it was nothing but a carrot.

"Mmh! It's a bit soggy!" she said, gulping down the whole thing, tilting her head. "Like overdone noodles! Ehehehe! Do you have more?"

"M-m-more…?" Kolkat trembled, filled with deep rage and despair. A sword like that is worth years, if not decades, of resources! "JUST DIE!" came the loud, desperate shout as his hands lit up with blue light. His spell produced two water columns blasting forward in the shape of dragons, heading straight at Kyu. Their force was exceptionally destructive; the inn's wooden floors were already being torn apart wherever they passed as the hurricane-like blast from his hands blew off even the rooftop above them. "Mm? I'm not thirsty!" Kyu said with a pout, once again slurping it up completely. Her whole figure expanded like a balloon while doing so and when it was gone, she just reopened her mouth, and a white circle formed inside it. "Back at you!" She burped, sending back all the water energy, blasting away not just Kolkat but the other three too. The explosion destroyed the remains of the inn in a second, blowing apart the formation that Dina and the rest tried to keep up until the last moment. It threw the four Lotus disciples to the ground, burying them under the collapsing inn's wreckage. When the dust and smoke settled, Kyu and Ariana were standing in the middle of the rubble while the latter walked up to her, landing a flick at the back of her head.

"Watch out for your surroundings!" She scolded her while the nearby civilians appeared, as they were protected by black tentacles that slowly receded back into their shadows.

"You are here, big sis! I was sure you would do that!" Kyu grinned, happily skipping forward like an excited little girl, finding the shocked and shaken bodies of the four still in the middle of climbing out from the rubble. "Nyahahaha, yum-yum!" Kyu grabbed the ring off of Kolkat's pinky finger.

"Don't you dare!" He screamed, but Kyu popped it into her mouth, gulping it down in a blink of an eye. He tried to grab at her but now realized his body was tied down by black strands, acting like powerful chains. The others soon realized they could also barely move as they were captured and tied down by Ariana's powers. This made Kyu incredibly happy as she simply robbed them blind, taking everything that even faintly smelled nice and throwing it into her mouth. "You…!" Kolkat groaned, watching Kyu pick out his own master's seal from his clothing, flipping it between her fingers.

"This feels funny!" She smelled it, turning towards Ariana, who just nodded.

"It has to be some kind of seal or identification, proof of someone's authority. I can feel it is infused with a strong power!" She answered her questioning gaze.

"Stronger than you?" Kyu asked again, looking at the gently glowing jade seal.

"Yes." Ariana's reply came immediately but without fear.

"Stronger than Mom?"

"Not a chance!" She smirked, watching Kyu laugh as she just bit down on it and then ate it all, shocking Kolkat once again.

Back in the Lotus Mandala Sect, Kolkat's master was inside the Disciplinary Bureau's building. As one of the enforcers of the Sect, he was responsible for meting out punishment to those who broke the rules. Right now, he was relaxing, enjoying freshly brewed tea, deciding that he would deal with nobody's problems today. From the outside, he looked like someone in their twenties, with lush, long black hair and golden-colored eyes, reflecting his smiling expression on the surface of his tea.

"Thank the Elders that the newcomers left…." He moaned, letting out a long breath. Even though he never met with them, the number of complaints arriving at the bureau was staggering. All of them were related to a girl who ate their precious resources. For the past week, he did not even see the sun, being buried under an avalanche of paperwork he was told to deal with. The elders did not have it any easier as they took it upon themselves to deal with the problems, but everyone knew even they were powerless. The three were the direct guests of Her Excellency, The Lightbringer! What could they do against them? Now that they had seemingly left, the Elders gave a day to rest for every other sub-leader, finally letting them catch their breaths. "Hm?" He flinched, just about to raise his cup, feeling his seal being destroyed, making his fingers shake. "Someone dares to disrespect… Me? Hurt MY disciple?! On my DAY OFF?!" He roared before flying up and disappearing with a shockwave, leaving the Sect, quickly traveling towards Solarum, leaving behind a golden trail in the sky.