The Bounty Hunter

April 1st, 2090

Veronica’s POV

I have lost track of time as Rin and I have battled with Ibaraki-doji and Cerberus.  They have a major advantage in terms of bulk, but Rin and I are far superior in terms of long-range firepower.  This has led us to a game of cat and mouse, or I suppose fox and hound would be a more appropriate analogy.  We were in a stalemate, but things changed when Chinese reinforcements showed up.  These mechs had an impressive array of energy-based weaponry, including high-frequency repeating laser guns, plasma missiles, and high precision arc canons.  There were 16 deployed, and I was only able to eliminate 4 of them by the time the JASDF arrived.

After preventing their premature demise, I was back to trying to eliminate the mechs.  Rin was admirably fending off both Ibaraki-doji and Cerberus in order to buy me the necessary time.  I charged towards the nearest machine, which was stomping away at the zombies clawing at its wiring.  Their relentlessness and unnatural strength had managed to already take down another two of the mechs in addition to the four I had already handled personally.

I sprinted forward, dodging the laser barrage.  It doesn’t matter if the shots are faster than light if I can move out of their way by predicting their path beforehand.  I came in close to one of the pinned mechs, using it as cover from its comrades.  I slipped Waymaker in between the armor plating at one of its joints, piercing through the interior.  The mech’s balance was destroyed, and with it the undead swarming it the mech started to fall over.  I turned to face another of the machines while leaving the disabled one to the undead, but a series of missiles flew in and destroyed three of the war machines in an instant.  I turned to see members of the JSDF storming in, with a helicopter providing air support.  The commander shouted towards me “We’ll take care of the tin cans!  You go help your foxy friend!”  I nodded in appreciation before using Waymaker to reappear on Rin’s back.

“Did you get rid of the gear boxes?”  she asked me.  “The JSDF are handling it, so we should be fine.” I replied.  I strengthened my grip on Rin’s fur as she leaped away from an incoming truck thrown by Ibaraki-doji.  She then conjured some black fox fire on her tails and flung it to interrupt Cerberus’s fire breath.  I returned fire with Swarm Shooter, which Ibaraki-doji guarded against with his kanabo.  “Let’s split them up.”  I said to Rin as she scampered away from Cerberus.  The two of them are too powerful to eliminate at range, and when they’re together we have no chance in close quarters combat.  “Alright, I’ll take care of doofus.”  Rin responded.  I stood up on her back, keeping my balance despite her movement as I ran towards her tails.  “Give me a boost, Rin.”  I said as I hopped onto a tail.  “Okay!”  Rin replied as she obliged with my request.

She turned sharply and whipped her tail around, sending me flying like a bullet towards Cerberus.  Rin then charged after me, letting loose a powerful foxfire laser that blew Ibaraki-doji apart from the dog demon.  Cerberus’s center head focused on my fast moving form, while its other two were scanning its surroundings.  It seems that he has learned from our previous encounters.  Cerberus opened his mouth and spat out his acidic spit, while the other two heads prepared to breathe fire.  An enormous glob of acid flew out to meet me, one which I dodged by portal-jumping.  Contrary to Cerberus’s expectations, I did not appear anywhere in his surroundings.  I had created a portal directly behind the acid, skipping over the attack and continuing on my original trajectory.  His mouth was still open from his attack, presenting a perfect opportunity for me to fire away with Swarm Shooter before portal-hopping once more.

No matter how strong Cerberus’s hide is, it doesn’t protect his interior.  Even he could not stomach an explosion without injury.  He staggered and his other two heads lost focus, presenting another opening.  “Now Rin!”  I shouted telepathically.  Rin jumped away from Ibaraki-doji, unleashing a firefox laser that she had been charging.  Ibaraki-doji had dived for cover, assuming that he was the target.  It was a feint.  Instead, Rin’s attack pierced through Cerberus’s left head before entering a portal I had created.  The beam was then redirected into Cerberus’s right head.

Two heads were down, leaving the third to me as I plunged down from the sky with Waymaker outstretched.  The momentum from Rin’s initial throw was still in effect, and I had portal-jumped to the furthest distance above ground that I could manage after shooting Cerberus.  This falling acceleration combined with my initial momentum made me pierce through Cerberus’s head with ease.  I then hurriedly created another portal to avoid getting crushed by his body as the dog demon finally fell.

I bounced across the payment, bleeding away the remaining kinetic energy as my defensive artifact cushioned my landing.  I rammed into a car, getting wedged deeply into it.  Despite the defensive artifact, I saw some stars from the impact.  I’ll need some time to recover.  “Rin, can you handle Ibarkai-doji on your own?”  I asked as I staggered to my feet.  “No problem, Big Sis!”  Rin cheerfully replied.  I had to sit down on the ground as my dizziness from my impact overwhelmed me.  I stared at Cerberus’s corpse as it dispersed back into mana.  Good riddance.

Rin’s POV

“Hey doofus!  Guess what?  All your friends have died!”  I taunted Ibaraki-doji as Cerberus’s corpse disappeared.  The red doofus’s response was to ready his big stick and yell “I SHALL PERSERVERE FOR MY LORD!”  before charging me.  Hmph, it truly is disturbing when lesser demons think they can dare stand against their betters.  I should do a favor for demon lords everywhere and rend him limb from limb.

My bloodlust surged to ever greater heights, and power surged within me as I felt my fifth tail form.  Yay!  Master is going to be so pleased with my progress!  Only one more tail until I’m no longer a kid!  Take that boiler brain!  Then I can get cuddly with master during the night too!  Grrr, it’s so frustrating that boiler brain managed to get to master first.  But I won’t give up!  I have my secret weapon:  fluffiness!  That is something that no amount of optimization can compensate for!  My form grew along with my fifth tail, becoming as large as a two-story building.  By the time Ibaraki-doji reached me, we were standing eye to eye.  I grinned at him before piercing each of his limbs with a tail, using magic to harden my fur.  I lifted him up, ignoring his pathetic struggling, and charged my super-duper foxfire laser.  “Bye-bye, doofus!”  I said before flinging him up in the air and eradicating him with my technique.

Hmph, as I thought, he was weak.  I just got my fifth tail and yet that was enough to reduce him to nothing more than a mere fly.  How unsatisfying.  I can almost see why Dante likes Master so much.  It would be boring to fight with just weaklings all the time.  But Dante clearly doesn’t understand Master’s greatness.  If he did, he would be trying to get him to pet him rather than kill him.  No one is as good at petting as Master after all.

My blood was still boiling, so when I saw that hundreds of the enemy humans were nearby.  I couldn’t help but be delighted.  Master told me to go wild, so I will.  Besides, it’s a lot of fun slaughtering humans.  Not as fun as being with Master or my big sisters, but it’s a close second.  I appeared within the ranks in a flash, launching my fox fire everywhere and watching them burn.  Their screams were delightful, and I had so much fun killing every single one of them!  Rejoice, your sacrifice and life force will help me gain my sixth tail!