Бесплатный фрагмент - Your wish

Your wish

Prologue

The near future, which arose through the fault of man. People could not live in peace and harmony. Their fault was the Third World War, in which they were able to protect the Earth — the Spirit of the Earth Gaia. After such a shock, all living creatures could not stand it: elves, gnomes, devils, witches… And even the inhabitants of Hell could not stand it.

But, unfortunately, many cannot draw conclusions from their mistakes, and everything is moving towards the last war — the Fourth, in which the Earth will perish. And everything can be stopped thanks to the Chronicle of Variable Years. But no one knows where she is. And even if someone knows, then this Chronicle must also be deciphered.

A simple old story with a slight revision. Purely for the evening, pure variety.

Chapter 1

Kawaii girl

What is a “kawaii girl”?

She must be beautiful

weak, helpless

and depending on the guy.

What if it’s just on the outside?

“Ninja are powerful warriors who own martial arts and certain magic. Someone teaches dark magic, someone light, and some the magic of the elements: fire, water, earth or air …”

Necroline tossed the book into the urn with a precise movement of her hand. Why does she need her? She is a ninja herself, has mastered a bunch of techniques, such as Jutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and devoted ten years to dark magic. The girl is now eighteen, but due to some genetic features, outwardly she can be given fourteen years. For three years she has already been traveling the world, and at this point in time she was in a tavern full of people. While the people were calm, but soon they will fill in another liter of forty degrees and everyone will be drawn to exploits.

Necroline lived with her older sister Melania, who from birth “driven” dark magic into her younger sister. They lived in a small settlement of Haya. When the girl turned eleven, then according to local customs, she had to leave her home, and then become famous and now proudly be called — NINJA. Women, on the other hand, were often called kunoichi — mysterious, dangerous and at the same time beautiful warriors.

Necroline turned out to be quite tall for her age, a beautiful girl with a bust of the fourth, turning into the fifth, size and wide hips. Her white hair was styled in a rounded hairstyle that barely reached her shoulders. Narrow, long almond-shaped eyes of a devilish color — dark purple. The girl was wearing a long dress with wide straps and a deep neckline, and long slits on the sides of the skirt, just above the hips. The dress had a dark green color, which in the light became poisonous green. On the left shoulder is a black metal bracelet with a red pentagonal star — the insignia of a ninja. On his feet were the usual blue sneakers, but instead of laces, there was a silver zipper. Above the sneakers, the calves of the legs were bandaged with white bandages to the knees, however, without covering it. On a chair next to him was a dark cloak with a dull green tint, and two katanas in black lacquered sheaths. Usually Necroline fastens them behind the back crosswise.

“You can’t treat books like that,” the girl sitting at the table with Necroline said reproachfully.

“I don’t care, blonde,” Necroline cut her off and, putting her hand on the table, drummed her long nails on the wood of the table-top. On the right wrist was a wide, simple but beautiful dark leather bracelet.

The Fair One was sitting across from Necroline, and her name was Caroline. Such is the distinctive feature of the Haya settlement that they have the ending “line”. Caroline lived with Necroline, but became a medical ninja and left the village with Necroline. Caroline and Necroline are good friends despite their differences in magic.

Caroline had a pretty appearance and bright green eyes that stood out against a pale face. A tall girl, but not as “embossed” as Necroline in terms of complexion. Caroline seemed, on the contrary, rather thin and flat, reminiscent of dystrophy at an early stage. She had long, to the waist, blue hair with thin selective strands of white. Dressed in a black bodycon overalls with red inserts on the sides. Also, a long dark raincoat of an incomprehensible marsh color was attached to the shoulders, and high boots with tight lacing with a rather large platform, for the army, were on the legs. On her left shoulder, she also wore a silver metal bracelet engraved with the astrological image of the Sun, also a hallmark of medical ninjas. Nearby, leaning against the wall, stood a spear.

Necroline pushed her long bangs, “broken” into thin strands, from her forehead and frowned at the already drunken regulars of the tavern. This meant only one thing — they are hungry for adventure on their tough iron armor. And most importantly — they will find it!

— Were there any more news from your sister? Caroline asked worriedly.

“No,” Necroline replied coldly. — She made it clear in the last note that she was getting worse and worse.

— In the last note? Three days ago?

Necroline didn’t answer, just nodded reluctantly.

Her older sister got into an unpleasant story — she ran into chimeras and ghouls. Melania survived, but was seriously injured by the angry evil spirits. In this case, death seemed more merciful. To cure Melania, Necroline went in search of a healing root, along the way, from the village, meeting Caroline. Although, she just followed her. The root was found and teleported two days ago. Now Necroline was waiting for news from her older sister.

Necroline touched a silver chain with an open book pendant. It was the only gift from my older sister. This amulet was a store of magical energy.

Melania always treated Necroline with care, like her mother, and therefore was very worried about her, sometimes overprotective. But still, Melania could not completely replace her mother, and therefore they remained very faithful and friendly sisters, ready to tear anyone for each other.

Some troll, pretty drunk or completely without brains or coils (in general, this is the same thing) went to “glue” the beauty. “Beauty” was Necroline. How do trolls “explain” that they like you? Let me explain for the uninitiated. The troll comes up and starts growling menacingly, tearing the hair on the head of the “beauty”, believing that she should really, really like it, so to speak, make a new stylish hairstyle.

“Get back, freak,” Necroline snapped.

She said not very quietly, but not loudly either. The most amazing thing was that in her voice there was an awesome power.

The troll hesitated only for a moment, and then, with a wild roar, rushed at the girl. Nobody even noticed the impact. The guests of the tavern saw only a troll flying out the window and Necroline standing on one leg, and the second was bent at the knee, after a lightning kick.

A few more trolls got up to avenge the “flight” of their brother, and some, whose fists were “itching” badly and the soul, demanded a dressing down.

— Don’t, Necroline! Caroline screamed and hung on her friend’s arm.

She understood that her friend would now blow everything to pieces, and then she would not even repent of her deed. The last time, in a drunken tavern fight, Necroline got very angry and, having created a powerful Darkness spell, destroyed the tavern. It would be more correct to say — erased from the face of the Earth. Due to her drunken state, the girl mispronounced the last phrase of the spell and, by this lucky chance, did not kill anyone, but she could have.

Now Necroline was sober, and that made her especially dangerous. “Mercy and humanity are the strong points of the fair ones,” the dark friend sometimes said.

But bloodshed was temporarily avoided. A guy stood between the kunoichi and the brawlers. He released some kind of spell that puts everyone present in a stupor. The guy grabbed the girls by the hand with force, leading them out of the tavern deeper into the forest.

— Stop!

Necroline stopped abruptly, surveying the unexpected defenders with contempt. There were four of them in the forest: Caroline, Necroline and two guys, one of whom, judging by his appearance, was an elf. It’s only now that they’ve been seen.

Tall, impossibly tall. Necroline only reached him up to the shoulder, and then with great difficulty. He has a handsome face, slightly elongated, wise in life, although the guy looked no more than fifteen, the kunoichi knew that he was her age — in this world, everyone who owned magic kept their appearance several years younger, a side effect, so to speak. On the left shoulder was a dark metal bracelet with a yellow burning star. “So he is also a dark ninja, and even a shaman. And the sword is not simple, obviously magical and, most likely, some kind of powerful artifact, Necroline thought, briefly assessing the guy. The sword was truly delightful, with a gilded hilt, and a silver blade shining with purity. Simple yet expertly crafted. The guy, to the envy of the girls, turned out to have a stylish hairstyle — long black hair, reaching to the waist, with a diabolical unnaturally white sparkling in the light of the sun. The eyes are narrow and grey. The shaman was dressed in a comfortable dark brown jumpsuit with high lace-up boots. A cloak is also attached to the back. It was skill and experience.

The second, as expected, turned out to be an elf. A real pointy-eared wood elf. The features of the oval, elongated face were rather straight and pointed. The eyes are narrow, dark green with an incredibly strongly curved upper eyelid. His costume is simple, but well-tailored and probably extremely durable. On the knees and elbows are light armored shields and bracers. Behind him was a good bow and a quiver of arrows. The cloak fluttered in the wind. Necroline could have sworn that throwing knives were additionally hidden under the cloak and in the folds of her clothes. The elf was of indeterminate age. He looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, but that’s only relative. Why has no one seen little elves or retired elves? They are simply hidden from the eyes of strangers and released into the world by teenagers already prepared for a harsh life. However, this elf, for some reason, was released a little ahead of schedule. He could have been fifty years old.

— What do you need, sharp-eared? Necroline asked.

The boys opened their mouths in surprise. They were at least expecting “Thank you for saving us!”, but then…

“My name is Ten Zander,” the elf said slightly reproachfully. “And this is my friend Shiro Dale.

Necroline snorted.

— I’m Caroline, — tried to maintain a relationship “fair”. “This is my friend Necroline.

— Why did you interfere with us? Necroline asked coldly.

“They thought they might kill you,” Dale replied calmly.

The elf’s ears twitched nervously.

— We got caught up. Stand back, I’ll shoot them.

Zander pulled his bowstring lightly.

“Better step aside, pointy-eared,” Necroline advised, and went out to the forest edge, from where it was already possible to see the enemies. Trolls and offended guests of the tavern fled, yelling, cursing and thirsting for revenge.

Dale, Zander, and Caroline stood a little way off. The guys are calm, but Caroline noticed that they were ready to rush into battle at any second.

“Don’t worry, she’s a professional,” Caroline reassured them.

— Are you from the Haya settlement? Zander quickly clarified.

“Yes,” Caroline nodded, smiling.

— Didn’t you become a professional ninja three years ago after passing the last exam? — also quickly asked Dale.

“Yes,” the girl nodded again. “Necroline will destroy them with one spell.

Meanwhile, a friend was standing, surrounded by drunken guests of the tavern, who, having reached the desired condition, decided to “catch” the girl. They didn’t know who they were facing. A black-purple clot of magic began to gather in the girl’s right palm.

“Necroline, you promised me,” Caroline suddenly shouted in fright. There was desperation in her voice.

Necroline shuddered.

“I remember,” she said irritably, and suddenly released an attack. — Sparkling ice!

All the trolls and other fighters were frozen by an avalanche of shining magic.

— In five or six minutes they will thaw. And now, Levitation.

Kunoichi easily took off, as if finding a foothold and kept on invisible wings. The rest followed suit.

— Remind me what you told me in the tavern? Zander asked in a whisper.

“I said she was kawaii,” Dale replied. But I take back my words. Kawaii is cute, weak, in need of protection and therefore dependent on the guy. This one, although cute, is very strong and will not let herself be offended.

Zander smiled.

Chapter 2

Absolute power

Is there an absolute power?

Perhaps there is. But…

Do you need her?

The whole company sat in the old cemetery, around a lit fire, and chatted merrily. Although only Caroline, Zander and Dale were chatting. Necroline remained silent and did not even seem to be listening to the conversation. However, nevertheless, everyone managed to make friends, and Necroline’s silence was taken for granted, ordinary. Caroline mostly spoke for her, but Necroline seemed to be the least of her worries. They are used to doing things like this.

“We were going to cross the Haya settlement and, having reached the settlement, participate in ninja fights for the main prize, representing our village in those competitions,” Zander said.

“Are you, sharp-eared, claiming to be the Strongest Ninja!?” Necroline dropped it with irony and open disdain.

“No,” the elf smiled. “I went to support Dale. He is my friend, after all.

“How touching,” Necroline turned away with a grimace. “And what are you going to do there, Dale?”

— I want to know the Absolute power. This is the goal of my whole life, — Dale sat on a log and smiled too. For some reason, he was very amused by the behavior of Necroline.

— Where are you going? Zander asked.

— We are also in this competition, and also through the Haya settlement. Necroline wanted to check on her older sister, Caroline immediately replied. “Her sister was hurt, and we want to make sure she’s okay.

“How touching, taking care of your sister,” Dale scoffed.

— Hardly. She will train me. We will stay in Haya for two days,” Necroline remarked coldly.

For a while, everyone was silent. “Dark” sat on a log next to Caroline. Sharp flashes of fire beautifully illuminated the face of the kunoichi girl. The bandages on my legs looked dark.

— Are you hurt? Your feet are bandaged,” Dale asked.

Caroline made a scary face, implying that this topic was taboo, as if after this question there were only corpses.

But this time, Necroline condescended to answer. She spoke, as always, with irony and a strange composure.

— Four years ago, I was in love with a guy from our settlement. He was the strongest among the ninja. He seemed to love me, but then… Then he said that love had passed, the tomatoes wilted and met another. Yes, it was hard for me to hear it, but I could handle it.

Necroline chuckled and brushed back her white bangs that had fallen over her eyes.

— Then he said that he was cursed, and his legs should have been taken away. And he said, I should give my legs, and he would visit me. I refused, and then he tried to take my legs away.

Necroline looked bitterly at the rising orange flames.

In general, with the help of magic, you can engraft any part of the body, even six arms and six legs. True, no one was in a hurry to get hold of two heads, neglecting extra brains.

— I was left with terrible scars on my legs.

Necroline slightly unwound the bandage and showed part of the lower leg. The skin was mutilated, burns mixed with bloody streaks from claws and swords.

The girl looked at it all with irony and smiled strangely. Rewinding the bandage, Necroline clicked her tongue thoughtfully.

“All the wounds were inflicted by a magic blade, and therefore such scars remained,” the kunoichi girl snorted. So now I have made a vow. I will leave the Haya ninja clan if I really find someone who loves me and is willing to risk everything for me. But this doesn’t happen in real life. These are fairy tales.

Necroline smiled openly. She was beautiful, and now it seemed a crime that the girl rarely smiled. Most likely, only on special occasions and for special people.

The wood in the fire crackled softly. The birds didn’t sing. Old cemetery. It created a terrible atmosphere — a cursed place. Once upon a time, there was a war between vampires and humans. People imagined themselves above all and challenged the vampires. There are no winners in this war — only corpses.

The bushes stirred. The company of ninjas twitched. Necroline and Dale were already preparing to launch attacks, and Zander suddenly stood up and calmly walked somewhere to the side.

— Hey, what are you thinking? Caroline asked fearfully, standing behind her friend.

— What about girls? The elf purred softly.

Dale waved his hand and explained:

— Zander dreams of appearing heroically, saving some beauty. But, alas, every time he has a bummer. I think this time…

The shaman did not have time to finish, because the pointy-eared elf flew out of the bushes at the speed of a rocket.

— There was a mistake. There are vampires,” Zander explained.

There really are vampires out there. Slender with pale skin and black robes. The unnatural eyes glowed with a bright scarlet, almost uncontrollable, bloodlust. Without thinking, Necroline tossed the head of garlic. The nearest vampire grabbed him and swallowed him in one fell swoop, not bothering to chew his food, causing the ninja girl to make a displeased face.

— So you choke, — Necroline said, somewhat offended, realizing that the mutations are affecting, and the old weapon does not work so effectively, which means there was only one left.

***

They fled from the vampires briskly, overtaking each other. The fact is that over the several thousand years of their existence, vampires have adapted and are truly afraid of only two things: holy water and sunlight.

Our heroes “flew” and “jumped” to the village in such a short time that any Olympian-athlete would envy.

When only three hundred meters remained, the whole four stopped together, hiding behind the trees to take a breath. They are still ninjas, and they need to look decent, and not like out of breath siskins.

It has already dawned, and the air is unusually fresh, invigorating and raising morale.

— And we would have reached the village only tomorrow evening, — Caroline shook her head sadly.

— A peculiar plus, — Zander forcedly smiled.

The village of Khaya turned out to be small, with a dozen houses, but quite strong in appearance. All houses are made of stone from two to three floors. Joyful and smiling children ran through the streets, dogs walked, adults went about their business, old people gossiped on the benches.

The little girl rushed towards the kunoichi girl and hung on her waist demandingly.

— You’ve come! The girl exclaimed.

Necroline looked at the child somewhat puzzled, as if bewildered. She obviously did not know the girl, and was not used to such treatment from children.

— Will you save me?

At first glance, the girl was about six years old, in her hands she held a small wicker basket with flowers. She handed a chamomile of these flowers to the “dark one”. Necroline’s violet eyes showed such incomprehension that Caroline involuntarily giggled.

— My deceased mother predicted that you would save me tomorrow.

“I’m a mercenary and I don’t do anything for free,” the kunoichi replied coldly. It might even give the impression that the girl has no human feelings, only “money”.

“If you don’t save me tomorrow on the roof of the fourth house, then I will die with my head held high, and I won’t regret my life,” the girl’s voice was serious. “So just remember me. I am Lesya.

Leia turned around and ran away. She didn’t look upset at all. Rather resolute and confident, but what??

Dale, who took a step forward and caught up with Necroline the fastest, noticed a strange understanding in the eyes of the ninja.

— Necroline, well, how long can you wait? BUT? The voice that called out to the ninja sounded loud and demanding.

On the threshold of one of the houses stood an almost exact copy of Necroline, only a little taller and older, and most importantly — the eyes. Melania’s eyes of an unusual green color looked at the world harshly and demandingly.

Necroline smiled and rushed to her sister.

— How do you feel?

Thanks, you saved my life.

— Meet me. My new companions are Shiro Dale and Tan Zander. And this is my older sister Melania, — Necroline smiled slightly.

Why isn’t the ending “line”? the elf asked.

— My real name is Meline, but I like Melania better, — the girl explained.

— Understood.

— Remember Verdandi? Melania asked her younger sister, who immediately nodded. “She wants to challenge you and enter the Best Ninja competition. From today on, you will be training. We can’t fall on our faces. And we can’t do it with a face, either.

“Okay,” Necroline nodded obediently.

During lunch, the shaman became more and more surprised at the oddity in Necroline’s behavior. She was completely different. Before that, the kunoichi seemed rude and insensitive, but now, on the contrary, she demonstrated unprecedented obedience, bordering on submissiveness. Of course, a person is not unambiguous, but here the principle is different. At home — a good girl, and outside the threshold — a bully. Maybe the girls call it romance, maybe stupidity, maybe something else… it turns out ambiguously.

Melania or Meline turned out to be cheerful and sociable. It turns out that their parents were slaughtered by the Hounds. Then only a few children survived. The Haya settlement was preparing ninjas in order to take revenge on the Hounds and revive their kind.

The reason Melania didn’t like her real name was only known to Necroline. In fact, the name Melaine reminded her of the former wars with the Hound and Shinigami clans.

“Dark” also gave hope that it would help to exterminate the enemies and return the clan to its former glory and power. Her “brake” was Caroline, who constantly fought for the “light side of the soul” of Necroline, tuning in to world peace.

***

Caroline, Zander, and Dale woke up almost at the same time, three seconds apart. After breakfast, Caroline took everyone to the place of training — a picturesque rock with a waterfall.

Necroline, dressed in a blue cotton miniskirt with a black top, was concentrating, putting her thoughts in the proper order necessary for magic. On her feet were excellent suede boots with open knee-high heels. Only a leather bracelet on the right wrist, a metal bracelet on the left shoulder and a chain with a pendant in the form of an ajar book remained unchanged.

The girl was preparing for some kind of spell. On the rock stood a huge cobblestone, four times the height of a man, in which there was one minor dent. Such boulders were often used to practice powerful techniques. Necroline clenched her hand into a fist, and it glowed with grave blue light. Necroline ran up and struck the cobblestone with a light blow, leaving a decent-sized dent with a network of large and small cracks.

— It seems that this is your maximum, — Melania said thoughtfully. “Unfortunately, you can’t hit harder. But Verdandi was able to split a similar stone. Oh well, absolute strength is not in magic and not even in physical training.

This phrase alarmed Dale. He just thought that if he became the most powerful ninja, then only then would he be able to know Absolute power.

Necroline dropped to one knee wearily, her clothes and hair dripping as if she had taken a dip in a waterfall. Caroline smiled involuntarily. She realized, as always happens in such training, it was the fall into the waterfall that took place. For training, Melania forces Necroline to wear the most uncomfortable clothes. In a skirt, you don’t especially jump up and take a step (you have to mince). That’s why every time Necroline slips and cannot keep his balance when he runs across a log or at the moment of casting another spell on the move, well, you have to fall and “swim” over and over again.

Necroline’s legs and arms shook. The girl was barely holding on. But still, Melania was satisfied with the training and its results.

Necroline dropped to her second knee, panting, trying to catch her breath.

— And this brat wants to stop me?! Thundered furiously over the waterfall, and a moment later another observer of the training process appeared.

Cute and according to the complexion of the figure, it is immediately clear — kunoichi.

— Get out! Necroline instantly jumped to her feet, becoming cold and hard again.

— Fi, how rude. I challenge you! The girl waved her hand.

— Verdandi, leave in a good way. I gave my word to my girlfriend that I would not kill for no reason and I do not kill crazy people. But you interrogate, and I will have a serious reason.

Verdandi rushed forward, preferring action to dialogue. Violent hand-to-hand combat ensued. Both girls did not spare each other and fought seriously, trying to get each other out of the “civil war”. They moved quickly, almost imperceptibly to the human eye. Suddenly, Verdandi tripped and Necroline collapsed, and her opponent used…

— Perfect capture!!! Caroline exclaimed.

Calm in such a situation remained only Meline. She hoped that Necroline could get out by some means or a miracle. For example, strongly kick Verdandi with a knee in the stomach or chest.

A “perfect hold” is a hold on an opponent when he cannot move. In this case, Verdandi held Necroline’s chest and left limb with both legs, twisting her palm with her hands. The defeated kunoichi gritted her teeth.

“Move more, and I will break your arm,” Verdandi smiled bloodthirstyly, wanting her to disobey.

As expected, Necroline listened to only two people: Melania and Caroline. Verdandi’s order or request did not impress her, and so the kunoichi jumped to her feet with all her might, throwing off Verdandi, breaking her arm. The left limb limply hung along the body. Without waiting for the opponent to get up on all fours, Necroline slightly threw her back and punched her good hand next to her opponent’s temple. The first left a decent imprint in the ground in the rock, serving as a terrible hint.

“Don’t get in my way anymore,” Necroline spoke softly and decisively.

Rising to her feet, the kunoichi, without looking back at the loser, went to her friend. The medical ninja immediately started whispering a healing spell, unable to bear the pain and violence. Verdandi left silently. They’ve had similar fights before, usually ending as abruptly as they started.

— Stupid! Caroline gave her friend a resounding slap in the face.

Did I break my promise? Necroline’s eyebrow arched in surprise.

— Was it necessary to break your arm with a jerk?!

“We should have done it gradually,” Zander suddenly laughed nervously.

— That’s right, pointy-eared, — Necroline smiled, defusing the situation.

— Listen, can I ask a question? Dale suddenly asked.

Kunoichi turned serious again and nodded in agreement, froze in anticipation of the question.

— Why are you trying to seem ruder than you really are? Dale continued. You are very beautiful when you smile.

— It’s just that when you start treating everyone in a good way, everyone starts to be rude, and it will be bad for me later. It’s better to be afraid then. And what?

— No, nothing, — Dale looked from Necroline to Melania, from Melania to Caroline, and then to Zander.

“Today you can rest,” the elder sister graciously allowed, which could not but rejoice.

Necroline nodded her thanks.

— I still have things to do today.

Together, the company headed towards the house, leaving the kunoichi alone with their “business”. Necroline sat at the very edge of the waterfall, listening to the sound of falling water, and looking down, thinking painfully about something. Yesterday’s chamomile stuck out in her hair. Caroline, on reflection, decided to return, approaching her friend from behind.

— Do you want to talk, — rather affirmatively than inquiringly whispered “fair”.

Necroline nodded. Now she looked very tired.

— Do you think about that girl, Lesya? Caroline asked again.

“Yes,” the kunoichi nodded. — She is very similar to me. Melania was threatened, and then I shielded her with myself. They told me to leave otherwise I would die. And I said that I would accept death with dignity. I was then eight years old, no more. You know, I dream that someday I will live in peace and not be afraid for the lives of my friends. But all these horrors… as if it happened yesterday.

— I understand you, — Caroline laid her head on her friend’s shoulder.

“Although something else worries me now,” Necroline hugged the “fair” by the shoulders. “I think I’m starting to fall in love. For the first time, my heart feels something...something other than anxiety.

— Dale?

— Yes. He looks so much like that guy, but is often silent. I read his mind several times. By the way, he didn’t even block me, but Care, he’s completely clean. Honor, pride and feelings — he has all this.

— You’re just afraid of getting burned. Like then… you’ve been alone for too long, so it’s hard to accept at least some feelings.

Necroline sighed sadly.

“Thank you,” the ninja smiled. You have supported and helped me so many times already.

— Necroline, I’m your friend. You can always rely on me.

They were silent for a little longer. Necroline sighed heavily, and Caroline touched her friend’s forehead with her forehead, helping to cope with mental problems. Whatever one may say, but they are still friends, the most real.

***

Necroline was sitting at the table with everyone. Melania and Caroline cooked well, so they covered everyone in the shortest possible time and forced them to eat a variety of delicious food, cooler than any self-assembled tablecloth. Dale and Zander ate with gusto. Ninja very rarely eat well. Usually they have to eat pasture, not really relying on delicacies. Necroline sat gloomy, darker than the clouds.

— What’s the matter? Caroline smiled sweetly at her friend.

Necroline slammed her hand on the table. The girls jumped in surprise, and the guys calmly raised their eyes.

— Takasaki!!! Necroline said the name loudly, clearly, and with her eyes closed.

Dale nodded and immediately choked on his salad as he realized WHAT he had done.

— Hound?! — surprised not that asked, not that approved Melaine.

— How did you know? Dale, or now Takasaki, slowly got up from his seat, pushing his chair back.

— Purely by chance, — Necroline also stood up. — Why did you lie?

— Necroline, he’s half Hound. His father was a Hound, and his mother was from the village of Haya, — Zander smiled disarmingly.

— Why did you lie to me? the ninja girl insistently repeated her question.

— I lied, and then by accident, — the elf made honest eyes.

Necroline stood up, threw her dark cloudy cloak around her shoulders and said:

— I’ll be back late.

The door creaked shut behind the girl. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

— So the Hound, — thoughtfully confirmed Melaine.

Is this a reason to hate a person? Takasaki asked.

— You understand Necroline correctly. Her family was killed by the Hounds. All Haya dream of revenge. The first one she will kill from the Hounds will be you, — Melania smiled bitterly, but confidently. “Though not all is lost. A truce is possible. By the way, where did my sister go?

“Save Lesya,” Caroline replied.

— The dark ninja saves, something terrible is coming, — Zander grinned and everyone burst out laughing.

***

Necroline came to the only fourth building in their settlement, still not understanding why she was doing it. As expected, Lesya was already there, on the roof, and someone else was with her. There is not a soul on the street, which was the norm at such a late time — it has become a kind of tradition in the settlement to spend evenings surrounded by relatives and friends. Dark dog. But ninjas see well in the dark thanks to the pumped human data, including with the help of magic.

Necroline climbed to the roof and saw a phenomenal picture. Lesya stood in a fighting stance, and opposite her a demon hung in the air. Demons are generally rare in this world, because in order to summon a demon, great magical power is needed. Every ninja dreams of “killing a real demon”, like killing a dragon in the Middle Ages.

Necroline attacked immediately, without asking too many questions, thereby saving Lesya from inevitable death. The fire attack burned the enemy, leaving only a clot of dark ash. Necroline chuckled. “Fire” is unique in the world, as well as the other three elements of nature. Most demons die from the touch of fire. The only exceptions are fire and water demons, they had to be tinkered with.

— You saved me! Leslie smiled. “So you still have Light in you.

The little girl was engulfed in a golden radiance, and snow-white wings luminous with purity and whiteness grew behind her back.

— I’m an angel. Necroline we will meet again.

The angel flew away, leaving Necroline, who stamped her foot in annoyance. It all happened too fast to be true.

***

Necroline returned home even more gloomy than she left. When asked: “What’s the matter?”, The girl honestly answered that she had saved the Angel…

They laughed at her for a long time and sincerely. The dark ninja saved not some “light-haired” one, but an Angel. In fact, the Dark Ones maintain their image and do not save anyone for free. And here??!

“Shame on my gray head,” Necroline shook her head in dismay.

“All is not lost yet,” Zander added, trying to remain calm. — You save a couple more Angels, the road to Paradise is secured.

Necroline shrugged. When the Dark One starts doing “light” things, it’s a nightmare, a loss of reputation.

— And also love, also a bright feeling. Do you like Takasaki!?! Caroline grabbed her hand, covering her mouth, realizing that she had blurted out too much.

Necroline continued to look collected seriously, with a stone, impenetrable face.

“If this is true, then you will have to be upset — this is not mutual,” Takasaki lowered his gaze.

Now he could not explain why he had lied again. He lied rudely and unfairly. He liked Necroline and Takasaki began to understand what “Ultimate Power” was. Absolute strength is not physical, magical or spiritual training and strength, it is something more, more sublime.

“Actually, I wanted to hire you, I need additional security to my village,” Takasaki put a heavy purse of money on the table.

— I agree, — Necroline sighed heavily.

Further, hike does not make sense of the description. It takes eight hours to walk to the village of the Hounds. Takasaki and Zander were delighted to be accompanied by three kawaii (seemingly) girls. Melaine was dressed in a crocodile skin jumpsuit, and her face was hidden by a cape wrapped up to her eyes. Usually, bandits do this when they go out on their “dark deeds”, or ninjas wear the same masks. They wear a mask that only reveals their eyes.

Caroline’s conscience “ate” all the way. Yesterday she betrayed — she betrayed her friend. Necroline said, “It’s okay!” but that didn’t make Kara feel any better. Her ninja friend was as calm as a tank. She was protected by the armor of tranquility.

Arriving in the village, the conscience attacked Necroline, and, having bitten, left. The reason lay in the Takasaki family. The family was very large — seventeen people. These seventeen included an ailing old mother, Takasaki himself, and fifteen of his brothers and sisters, between the ages of six and eleven.

The first thing the children asked for was money for food, but Takasaki just shrugged. He gave all the money to the three girls who accompanied him and Zander on the way. Now seventeen people will be hungry.

— Takasaki, darling! — some dark-haired girl threw herself on the guy’s neck.

Necroline watched with understanding as Takasaki hugged the girl, how they were talking cheerfully, laughing…

Necroline chuckled. Yeah, she wasn’t kawaii. But does it matter? But now the reason for Takasaki’s refusal is clear. He has the girl of his dreams. But with all this, Necroline was not upset, but on the contrary. It suddenly seemed to her that life was beautiful (such an incident happened to her infrequently). Usually a girl, like all Dark Ones, perceived everything in black.

Necroline was not exactly Dark, because in addition to black, she also saw white in life. Despite the entire Dark Code, Necroline still performed Light deeds without taking a fee, although she often spoke about it herself, as if she wanted to show that nothing but money bothers her. But, seeing the children, Necroline first thought about a completely selfless act.

She called one of the Takasaki brothers, handed over the purse of money, and left. She left unnoticed, in English, without saying goodbye. Such generosity was out of character for a ninja girl.

Many knew her as a cruel warrior who does not betray or forgive. Along with this, there was also a myth that Caroline “holds” all the cruelty. The myth is unfounded. Caroline really reduced the number of victims to some extent, but here you still need to take into account the human factor in the face of Necroline. She is not a supporter of violence, but some sometimes very well suggest themselves. Or patience sometimes bursts. Although one does not interfere with the other.

Zander twitched his long, pointed ear. He heard Necroline leaving, but didn’t stop her. What could he do or suggest? Ninja honestly did her job. What else is needed? He did not know that the mercenary gave the money. When the whole company finds out about this, they will have a shock. The mercenary who returned the money is doomed to eternal disgrace. But everyone appreciated the wisdom of Necroline in the sense that she gave the money not to Takasaki, but to one of his brothers.

“Meet my second cousin Kaname,” Takasaki smiled.

A fragile pale creature with black, rather long hair, but unusually cheerful. Kaname was very pleasant despite her sickly appearance.

— Sister?!!? — Melaine and Caroline exclaimed in surprise, and the elf was aware, and for that period of time he was worried about Necroline’s departure.

— These are my friends. Melania, Caroline and… Where’s Necroline??? Takasaki’s face changed.

Who is Necroline? — Kaname portrayed puppet surprise.

“Good girl,” Zander waved him off. — With a kawaii appearance and the character of the Devil, — after which the elf giggled.

“Ninja of the Haya clan,” Kaname added, smiling and holding out her hand to Takasaki’s friends. — Nice to meet you. Today I am the head of the Hound clan and do not want a war with the Haya.

— I’m in charge for now, but literally in three days Necroline will be in charge, — Melania smiled. She won’t fight you either.

— Can we go to the house? Kaname suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement. No matter how you slice it, it’s better to talk at home with a good snack and plenty of vodka. The main thing the next day is to remember what happened yesterday. And this is problematic.

Just then, Takasaki’s younger brother showed up, saying that “the clearing is covered” and immediately the truth about the money that Necroline returned came out. This is where everyone was horrified.

— At least she knows what she’s doing! Takasaki yelled, clutching his head.

“She is always responsible for her actions,” Melania said quietly.

“The girl who gave me the money said that she was very sorry for our huge family and ashamed that she took the money,” brother Takasaki suddenly said.

— Donation. So she’s on the mend!!! Caroline yelled happily.

— Hardly, — Takasaki shook his head gloomily and, looking somewhere in the direction of the forest, added — She just does what she wants. Nothing personal.

“Maybe you are right,” Melania confirmed sadly, receiving a telepathic message from her younger, too independent and independent sister.

***

Necroline was already at home. On a telepathic level, she managed to warn her older sister that she refuses to take part in the Strongest Ninja competition, they say, let Caroline take part and represent the Haya clan.

Now Necroline was going to the Emperor to negotiate some things with him.

The country of MeioSetsuno (translated as “Dark King”) consisted of many different clans. Emperor Tatsumi created such a code of laws, according to which everyone can live peacefully in their clans, but in a single country. In the event of war, everyone will rise as a united front. Tatsumi himself was a young but intelligent emperor. Power passed to him from his older brother, who fell in love and decided to rush off after the girl he loved. The new emperor was barely seventeen years old. He is beautiful.

Necroline came out of the forest to the big city. She thought about her settlement. Everyone thought it was a village, but in fact Haya was hiding the City underground. These are secret catacombs in which there is everything for life in case of wars.

While she was thinking about everything in a row, she went out to the palace and now two young guards blocked her way inside, asking her to show some kind of pass. Necroline looked up at them with her violet eyes and, as feminine and shy as she could, she wrapped her arms under her breasts so that the guards could see as much as possible. Large elastic breasts were now only emphasized by a deep neckline. From this, the chest seemed full and voluminous.

— I really need to see the emperor, — Necroline folded her eyebrows like a house.

Caroline taught her this technique. She thought that Necroline should be more feminine. Just in case, the ninja girl remembered and even managed to try this method several times (when she had, she wanted to, but there was no money. Then she was fed to such a state, and then taken to the hotel, and then they also brought breakfast). The guards, opening their mouths and drooling, observed the girl, and then, nodding in unison, let her into the palace.

The palace is huge, chic and rich. All in gold, velvet, silk. On the ceiling are huge gold and diamond chandeliers. Persian rugs on the floor.

Necroline walked into the huge throne room. The emperor walked along the walls and examined the hanging paintings, which depicted all the previous emperors and their relatives. Emperor Tatsumi was tall, slender and had a fine face. He had blue eyes and dark hair. He was wearing an expensive three-piece suit, but Tatsumi had his tie in his hands, his shirt untucked. Looks like he was already tired of all the tricks, and now he was resting, not expecting that they would come to him again.

Necroline bowed politely.

— Line, and I was already afraid that you would decide to break your word, — the emperor rushed to the girl.

“I always keep my word,” Necroline smiled.

Tatsumi hugged Necroline and suddenly asked in a low voice:

— Have you changed your mind?

— Sorry, no. Honestly, I need your advice, — Necroline smiled coquettishly.

— Then let’s go to the balcony. Bring us some tea.

By order of the emperor, the servants began to fuss.

Necroline remembered very vividly their first meeting with Tatsumi two years ago. In the marketplace, the guards seized her and, dragging her to the palace, threw her at the feet of the emperor. The girl was then accused of using dark magic. Angry, Necroline was ready to use a powerful spell and destroy the entire palace, but Tatsumi seized the initiative and offered to drink coffee. Then Necroline immediately bowed and tried to explain her actions. Namely, it’s not her fault.

They then became very friendly with the emperor. Then Tatsumi helped Necroline learn palace etiquette, dreaming of leaving such a wonderful girl next to him. And one day he proposed. Necroline refused, but managed to do it in such a way that they still remain friends. She said that she was still small and did not understand what love is. Tatsumi proved to be very wise. Then he realized one thing. Don’t pressure the girl. You need to show her signs of attention so that she understands that everything is serious. Tatsumi was always worried about Necroline and, given the opportunity, he could even start a war with the nearest countries if we only thought of threatening the girl.

“Tatsumi, remember Kira?” the ninja girl began.

— That bastard who cut your legs? Tatsumi frowned. — Did he get you?

— No, I just met a guy who looks very similar to him, but he is not like that… He is a ninja from the Hound clan.

“Necroline,” the emperor suddenly smiled. — You just fell in love!

Tatsumi’s eyes shone with concern and understanding.

— I don’t know. My heart hurts all the time. I don’t even know who to turn to for help.

“You just need help getting through your first impulse?!?” The Emperor raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Necroline nodded curtly. A strand of white hair fell over her forehead. The girl looked confused. Tatsumi moved closer and put his arm around the girl’s shoulders with a smile and said:

— You know, no matter what happens, you can always rely on me. This Takasaki ninja. I suggest you just beat him in the tournament.

— Will you come?

Surprise flashed across the emperor’s face.

“Yes,” he nodded slightly. “I get the impression that you are afraid of something. This is true? He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

— I? I’m afraid? No, — Necroline wanted to say a confident “no”, but then decided to answer honestly. — Yes, I’m afraid. I am now afraid of losing everyone who is dear to me. I was having a dream. I fell into the void. I’m really scared. I also dreamed that I was in Hell.

Necroline’s violet eyes softened visibly.

Tatsumi could tell from her face that what the girl was afraid of was more serious than she was saying. There must be something else behind these words.

Chapter 3

The deal is more valuable then money

What is happiness?

In money? In deeds?

Or maybe just

keeping promises…

The “Lines” and the Hounds were sitting at a richly laid table, continuing to gobble up both cheeks.

“Actually, since we’re talking about the world, okay, I’ll tell you,” Zander frowned. “We elves have lived with dinosaurs. In short, in three thousand and seventy-four there was the Third World War. The cause of the war was the United States of America and Russia. The Russian Federation finally has a normal president, and under him the country began to prosper. The United States, as “the main peddler of democracy throughout the world,” began to rudely interfere in Russian politics. The President of the Russian Federation issued a warning, after which the United States, having set France, Great Britain, Italy and Canada against Russia, struck the first blow. The United States could not stand when someone goes against them. Russia was supported by Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Japan. China immediately took neutrality and so far has not interfered in the war. The war began in favor of Russia. America has warned that it will use nuclear weapons. Then Iraq, together with Japan, launched a hydrogen bomb into the United States of America, which hit a military plant for the manufacture of atomic bombs. It went well, everyone got it. Planet Earth was doomed, but…

Zander paused, drank some wine, and continued. They listened to him with interest.

— Earth Spirit Gaia put up a barrier.

Does Gaia exist? Melaine didn’t believe it.

— Yes. This is the High Angel who protects the planet. Well, the past has been lost. Now at the court there are strange machines called computers, televisions and Kalashnikovs. Everything in the world was mixed up and divided at the same time. Humans and non-humans live without hiding, but all living beings are divided into clans. There are too many ninjas these days. But not everyone is proficient in this art. It is impossible not to remember about ordinary people. The moral of the story is this: if there is to be a Fourth War, it will be the last. And now the elves predict that a girl, the daughter of the Devil and the bride of the son of the Devil, “came out” into our world. I was sent to find her. Frankly, I have serious doubts that Necroline is your sister. The Haya clan does not have violet eyes. Melaine, tell us about Necroline.

Zander smiled amiably.

— What specifically interests you? Melania nodded. She was interested in talking to the elf. Such a case rarely falls, so you need to use it.

— How did you get it? — Zander thought about it, about to add something, but said nothing.

— I don’t know where it came from. At the age of ten, I returned home (I visited my grandmother for a year and a half), and they told me that I had a sister, Necroline, who was already four years old at that time. She was too independent back then. She thought a lot. Nobody wanted to be friends with her. Every time I saw her sitting on the swing and just looking at the children who were having fun playing football. There was always such sadness in her eyes, but not resentment. I suggested that she learn the art of ninja. She turned out to be a capable student, — Melaine sighed. She had problems with her friends at school. Caroline was always with her. Then we fought with the Hounds and Shinigami. Necroline led three special ninja squads, and all returned alive and unharmed, and most importantly, having coped with their task. She then became friends with Emperor Tatsumi. Although, I think he just fell in love with her. By the way, she used to have incredibly long beautiful white hair, but that guy doomed her to eternal disgrace by cutting her hair with a magic sword.

— The one with which he mutilated his legs?! For some reason, Takasaki clarified.

“Yes,” Meline nodded ruefully. “I don’t know, but I think Necroline knows a lot more than he’s letting on. Recently, I notice that she is beginning to be afraid of something, but she does not say what and diligently hides it. She is very similar to her parents in appearance, but did not inherit any of their character traits, which seems somewhat strange to me. She has a lot of honor and pride. She always keeps her word and always keeps her promises.

“Tell me about that guy,” Takasaki asked.

Recently, he was very interested in the question: why Necroline did not kill that guy.

— His name is Kir. He is the strongest in our clan. He fell in love with Necroline, and it was mutual of her. But when he almost lost his legs… Cyrus became too embittered. I don’t know what happened then. I came home and saw Necroline sitting on the floor. Her legs were all in terrible wounds. She tried to stop the bleeding. I helped her. Since then, she has not removed the bandages. The main problem is that I don’t know what Necroline thinks and feels, and her face is impenetrable, — Melania sighed.

Following her example, everyone sighed in unison, and everyone went deep into their thoughts. No one thought to condemn or blame Necroline for anything.

“We’ll be teleporting soon,” Takasaki suddenly said.

“We don’t know how,” everyone was indignant in unison.

— We have an old man who teleports you all, — laughed Kaname.

They sat still, talked about plans for the near future, about a peace treaty between the Haya clans and the Hounds. Kaname ran after the old man, and he teleported everyone in the blink of an eye, wishing everyone good luck and more whole bones. The most dangerous thing in this competition was that the ninja could die or remain crippled for life. Those who were lucky died quickly, respectively, those who were unlucky were left with serious injuries.

***

Necroline stood next to the imperial throne. Tatsumi was on the jury. He made the final decision.

The battlefield was quite spacious and round. It was about three hundred meters in diameter. On the site itself there was nothing but a dirt cover. The site was surrounded by a high wall with spectator stands at a height of ten meters from the ground. There were many spectators.

The point of the Strongest Ninja competition was that everyone is paired up and they fight to the death or until one side admits defeat. All known jutsu (combat magic techniques) can be used. Everyone fights for a new title and a new access to knowledge, as well as to be taken by the best teachers in the world.

At this point, all the ninja were standing and warming up. Among them were Caroline, Takasaki, and… Kir. Necroline thought she was imagining things, but her eyes didn’t deceive her.

It was cloudy weather. It was raining lightly. I wanted to spit on everything and go home to a cozy warm hearth. Around the rain and cold, evoking melancholy and frightening hopelessness. Terrible silence. This silence is unusual. It’s like unrelenting noise. This silence is also well audible. All this evoked thoughts about eternity.

The first fight between Takasaki and Shirano from the Bayayanaya clan was announced. Takasaki demonstrated excellent mastery of the Jutsu-Non-Contact Fighting technique. He immobilized the enemy with one glance, for which he was immediately recognized as the winner. Caroline was less fortunate. She was put against the Shinigami. There were seven enemies. The problem is that they bet as much as came from this clan. Of the Haya clan, Caroline was the only one. The girl actively fought back with a spear, but did not attack, which was already bad.

Necroline looked at her friend with mixed feelings.

“The winner will meet Takasaki, and there will be one more fight with Kir,” Tatsumi said, knowing full well WHAT would follow.

Necroline didn’t seem to react at all. She saw that Caroline was already barely on her feet and she was about to be simply killed.

One of the Shinigami clan with all her strength kicked the girl in the chest, and the second one already swung his saber, about to cut off Caroline’s head.

— KER!!! Meline screamed heart-rendingly from the podium, knowing full well that this was the end and Caroline would die now.

But everything went wrong. Caroline had time to notice only a shadow covering her and a stifled scream. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Necroline covered her with herself, and the guy who was brandishing a saber was lying with his throat open.

“There are seven men for one weak girl,” Necroline twisted her lips contemptuously. “Then you better fight me. The right to change!

Necroline first raised her hand, announcing that she was replacing Caroline, and then showed her Shinigami’s fist. This gesture meant one thing — “I challenge you!”. Everyone in the stands gasped.

Necroline’s violet eyes lit up with an uncontrollable fire of anger and hatred. The speed and force with which she smashed the Shinigami clan’s ninja finally convinced Zander that Necroline was not quite human, or an unusual person. In the most extreme case, she is a girl with outstanding magical abilities. Although it is possible that such power is given to her by an amulet in the form of an ajar book hanging on a silver chain around her neck.

After scattering all the enemies, Necroline waited for Takasaki to enter the arena.

Tatsumi rose from his seat. He wondered how this fight would start and end.

“I don’t want to fight with you,” the guy said softly, but clearly.

Necroline didn’t answer. A dark blue ball of magic formed in her hand. Takasaki sighed heavily and applied his already familiar technique — Jutsu-Proximity Fight. Necroline’s entire body was paralyzed. She couldn’t move, so she just closed her eyes, concentrating on… who knows what. Takasaki saw blood pouring through Necroline’s body, and the girl herself, overcoming paralysis, began to move forward. In the next moment, Necroline made a dash and pointed her katana at Takasaki’s throat. Everyone froze. The audience watched with mute admiration.

Necroline lowered her sword and raised her hand, clenching her palm into a fist.

— What??? Zander exclaimed in disbelief. — She voluntarily declares herself a loser???!!!

Takasaki looked into calm violet eyes and quietly asked:

— Why?

“Because if you fought at full strength, I would most likely die,” the girl answered also quietly and went to her place in the stands.

However, Emperor Tatsumi counted the fight as a draw. He knew perfectly well that if Necroline had fought at full strength, she would have killed Takasaki. Although on the other hand, if the guy wanted to kill her, he would have done it. So it is still unknown how the battle would have ended.

After that, the battles of different clans went on for a long time, but Necroline was the least worried about this.

She suddenly became acutely aware of loneliness. White drops of water fell from the sky. Necroline turned her face to them, tilting her head back. The rain seemed to the girl someone’s sadness. Someone was crying. But soon she herself will be made to cry, but Necroline will try her best. Otherwise, why did she come here. Clean as drops of morning dew, raindrops ran down her face.

“I do not regret anything. It’s too late for me to regret anything and nothing! I just wanted to live. What’s bad about it?” Necroline shook her head. Beside those standing were sprayed with white hair. The rain bounced off her clothes and off her skin. Rain can wash away everything… and even emotions. All the blood has already been washed away, and with it some of the positive and negative emotions. Only neutral thoughts remained, about which nothing good and nothing bad could be said. These are thoughts of loneliness.

Necroline tilted her head back.

“I am just a being who will soon disappear. No one will remember me and I will die. Everyone dies only when they are completely forgotten. I don’t want to die. I’m afraid of Death, but… if I have to… I’ll accept Death with dignity! I will no longer beg for my life, I will fight to the last. But I won’t go back there. I don’t want! I hate that place! Soon, I feel like I’ll lose my friends. They will ask for the truth and, having received it, they will leave me. They will leave me just like my sister. I feel it is close. Soon we will meet with her and then… I don’t want to think about it, because ideally there will be two corpses, and otherwise only one — mine. I don’t want to die, but…”

Necroline closed her eyes. No one will ever understand her, because no one has experienced this. She wanted to cry, but that’s the way Ada’s creatures are. They don’t know how to cry.

Zander and Takasaki openly looked at Necroline. They were talking softly.

— She’s not really human. Look, waves of magic are coming from her now. From the person such does not happen, — the elf has whispered.

If so, then I feel really sorry for her. We need to talk, find out everything. Maybe we can do something to help her? Takasaki looked down and added, “She’s a good person.” She does not wish harm to anyone.

— Are you in love? Zander’s face fell.

— No, what are you. She’s not my type. She is not kawaii. The girl of my dreams is not a ninja, but an ordinary housekeeper. A little shy and completely feminine. What about Necroline? — Takasaki tried to nod in the direction of the girl as indifferently as possible.

“So he fell in love,” Zander concluded with satisfaction.

— Where did you even get such nonsense? Takasaki blushed.

— Since that meeting, I hear from you only criticism of Necroline, and then that she is a good person. The maximum you can talk about one girl is exactly an hour, — the elf smiled. “Your secret will die with me,” he promised, and after thinking, he added. “And you’d better confess to her.” Pick a time, a place. I would give you flowers. Girls love it.

Takasaki flared up. He tried his best to hide the fact that he liked Necroline. That was why he only used the weakened Proximity Jutsu. If he used this jutsu seriously, Necroline would not only be unable to move. She would have been so paralyzed that she would have been in the hospital for another month. Zander, who had known his friend since childhood, understood all this and was not going to stand in Takasaki’s way. He just wanted to support.

“You see, it is love that inspires all deeds: great, beautiful, stupid or terrible, and all sorts of strange things. All this happens because when we fall in love, our mind and our worldview change, which is why we experience the so-called paradox of love: we have a completely clear goal, but we don’t know and don’t understand how to achieve this goal, “said It’s Zander Takasaki. Then the elf was in love with a dwarf girl and no one understood him. Elves and dwarves have so many different things. That girl, by the way, also rejected his love, but at first she mocked the elf in love, asking her to get some rare flower, then something else. But people in love think little. They begin to act, so Zander did not go anywhere to fulfill the request of this dwarf. Then, when everything came to the elf and settled down in the brain… At first it was impossible to live. Soul and heart ached. Gradually, everything came to naught. Since then, Zander’s ideal girl is kawaii. Let the girl be a little stupid, but completely dependent on the guy. But you don’t have to worry about the fact that she will leave you for some reason — for this you have to think. And so, maintain a “warm” relationship, sometimes give gifts.

Takasaki patted Zander on the shoulder. The elf twitched.

“Look,” Takasaki whispered.

Announced a match between Necroline and Kir. The girl has not entered the arena yet. She walked slowly down the stairs, keeping herself waiting.

Kir did not look like Takasaki. The only thing that connects them is black long hair.

The gong was struck to announce the start of the match.

— I see you haven’t changed, — Cyrus chuckled.

There was so much cruelty in his eyes. Cyrus himself was a teenager in his twenties, but with incredibly flabby and old skin.

The tribunes listened with bated breath to their conversation. Not every time the opponents fight and talk about something. Usually they first hit the face, and then they ask: “Who are you?”. These, for example, decided to immediately find out “hu from hu?”.

— What happened to you? Necroline asked in an indifferent tone. You’re not even human anymore. You are a demon. You sold your soul to the Devil.

— Future Devil. I think you know Sumeragi Murakamura, — Cyrus smiled slyly.

Necroline shrugged her thin shoulders. Fear and hatred lit up in her violet eyes.

“I’m not coming back,” she said decisively.

— You will be forced, — Cyrus smiled, exposing fangs.

— Hide your teeth.

Takasaki pointed his finger at Kira, pointing at the sword.

— This is the sword that left the wounds. She won’t be able to resist him.” Takasaki said it unexpectedly loudly.

— Does it move you? The elf chuckled mockingly.

— No… Yes.

— So no or yes??

“Yes,” Takasaki admitted mournfully, lowering his eyes. “Just don’t tell anyone else.

Thinking, the guy went down to the lowest stands, preparing, in which case, to run to the aid of Necroline. And the sword that he saw with Cyrus was the most ordinary in appearance, but in fact it had a unique blade of the element of fire. Wounds do not heal from weapons belonging to any element. Maximum scarring.

At the same time, Emperor Tatsumi was also visibly nervous. He recently learned that Kir died three months ago. Now it is clear what Necroline meant when she said “demon”. So Cyrus really sold his soul to the Devil.

“I must stop this duel immediately!” Tatsumi decided. But, alas, two more people, also members of the jury, refused to stop the fight.

“If you agree to be my slave, I will not kill you,” Cyrus offered, quite peacefully.

Necroline lunged forward, both katanas unsheathed.

“I promised to kill you,” she said, parrying several thrusts from Kir’s sword.

— Try it, — Kira’s next attack left a scratch on the girl’s hand.

For the first time ever, Necroline became uncontrollable. She rushed forward, trying to make an appetizing cut out of Cyrus. She didn’t think about risk. The girl made lunges dangerous for her life, sometimes she had to run away herself, fearing that the blade of Cyrus would catch up with her in the back.

Takasaki noticed that both of the girl’s katana attacked with amazing ease and speed, but Kira’s defense so far was perfect. Necroline was saved so far by one thing — Cyrus did not seriously attack. His punch would have been stronger, and given the difference in swords… the katana blades would have simply broken.

But then Takasaki miscalculated. Unexpectedly, Cyrus delivered a stabbing blow, and then suddenly turned it into a slashing blow aimed at the head. How Necroline got away from such a blow, even no one could immediately figure out. In fact, the girl framed the blade of one of the katana and therefore miraculously did not hurt her. After that, Necroline tried to carry out a high side blow, but the tip met the blade of the sword substituted by Cyrus. The blade of the katana twisted in surprise, but it held. Almost immediately, Necroline saw a yellow magical light, but did not have time to do anything. Something hit the girl in the chest and neck, and even threw it back a lot. Necroline flew head over heels across the arena. Cyrus stood and watched as the girl struggled to get on all fours, and then to her feet. Necroline touched her fingers to her neck. The only thing she understood was that the artery was not affected, but the laryngeal cartilage and muscle were pierced. Blood flowed like a stream. Necroline wanted to say something, but no sound came out of her mouth. A silver-blue lightning bolt appeared in the girl’s hand. Necroline swung it, hoping to cut Cyrus in half, but he deftly jumped over her, ending up behind the back of the ninja girl. Necroline spun around and threw lightning like a spear. The attack hit Cyrus in the chest. He fell, bleeding. Necroline staggered. Legs trembled, and knees tried to meet each other.

Takasaki jumped into the arena and caught Necroline as she started to fall unconscious.

“Doctors, hurry up,” Tatsumi commanded.

In less than five minutes, Necroline was taken to the hospital.

“I’m surprised she didn’t kill him,” Melaine shook her head.

Cyrus, unlike Necroline, crawled away on his own. Although it is necessary to say for fairness that he was seriously injured and the wound inflicted by lightning remained with him for the rest of his life.

— What is this jutsu? Tatsumi asked as he approached Caroline.

He knew Melania and Caroline well. Necroline then specially introduced them.

“I don’t know,” Takasaki admitted honestly.

“Me too.” Caroline shook her head.

— And I, — Melaine looked down.

“It’s a Jutsu Blade,” the elf replied. “Almost no one knows him. This further proves my theory.

— Do you think that Necroline is the devil’s runaway daughter and the Devil’s bride?! Caroline raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“I hope it’s not true,” Takasaki sighed.

***

It was midnight. The pale bloody face of the moon looked out the window. Rain lightly knocks on the glass, calming shattered nerves.

Necroline lay on her back in bed, staring up at the white ceiling. She was still in the hospital. This is the sixth day since that fight with Cyrus. There was an emptiness in my soul. Black and cruel. Two days ago, the girl secretly got out of the hospital through the window and, making her way to the laboratory, where Cyrus “rested” in a test tube. It is in test tubes that demons are cured. At parting, kissing the glass of the test tube where Cyrus’s lips were, Necroline hit the Jutsu-Blade, permanently killing the demon. She then returned to the hospital.

There was not a single thought in my head. The day after the battle in the arena, Necroline began training in secret.

They came to visit her every day. Tatsumi provided the girl with the best doctors. Melaine and Caroline sobbed side by side each time. They were worried, because Necroline was constantly silent due to a wound on her neck. Takasaki and Zander constantly brought fruits and flowers, wishing him a speedy recovery.

“I am not really me. That is, it is, of course, “I”, but not the “I” that should actually be. “I” is a completely different me, not the one I show. So “I” is not really me, and maybe not me at all, Necroline thought.

The cold wind outside the window tore off the autumn leaves. It was the same weather when Necroline first landed on Earth.

The girl shuddered, remembering the fear she had experienced.

She was the daughter of the Devil. This devil was a friend of the Devil himself. It was the two of them who planned the wedding of Necroline and Murakamura. Necroline was a very spoiled girl. She was trained in palace etiquette, but, alas, did not observe it at all. The girl was constantly rude, rude, capricious to others and behaved in the most unworthy way.

The girl knew about the wedding with Murakamura and treated it as if it were supposed to be so. She already felt like the High Queen in Hell. Murakamura at that time played with cars, and Necroline with dolls, in other words, they did not intersect. But one day everything changed.

Her own older sister Sakura turned out to be very envious. Once returning from a party, Necroline saw several corpses. She, of course, had already seen enough of them in Hell, but they were devils and witches she knew who served. Arriving at the house, the girl saw that her entire large family had been killed. Rivers of scarlet blood, people and non-humans with eyes wide open in horror…

Necroline screamed and ran outside, where she ran into Sakura. The native older sister was armed, but the worst thing was that blood flowed down the katana blade. Then Necroline realized who was to blame for the death of her family.

She was scared and she backed away, asking not to be killed… Sakura then threw out with contempt:

— I’ll meet you whenever you want. Then you will take revenge on me. I will find you myself. Until then, get lost.

The next moment everything changed. Necroline became a child of three and a half years with some kind parents. Six months later, Meline returned, who presented the amulet in the form of an ajar book. This is how Necroline was able to retain a small portion of her power.

Now Necroline felt that Sakura was somewhere nearby. Soon there will be a last fight, and she is still afraid of death. But on the other hand, the last thing Necroline would want is to endanger the lives of Meline, Caroline, Takasaki, Tatsumi, and Zander.

“I don’t want to die,” Necroline whispered, looking up at the ceiling.

Outside the window flashed blinding lightning. She illuminated the girl lying under the white sheet. Necroline stood up abruptly and, after a pause, pulled on her dress. Now the girl has more bandages — around her neck and on her left arm from the wrist to the elbow. Putting on her shoes, the girl ran out into the street, almost colliding with some man.

— Sorry!

“It’s okay,” the man smiled.

The girl looked at him in surprise. From the look, she immediately realized that the man was from the Shinigami clan, which translates as “Gods of Death.” It’s better not to have anything to do with the “Gods of Death”.

— Are you in a hurry somewhere? the man asked sympathetically, glaring at her.

— Sorry again.

Necroline rushed to Tatsumi’s palace. She knew what to do.

The man looked at her thoughtfully, then smiled and, shaking his head, said to no one in particular:

— They also say that the Devil’s bride does not exist.

***

Everyone was sitting in the living room. Tatsumi, Takasaki, Zander and Meline were playing push-up cards. Whoever loses, he does twenty push-ups. To Melania’s credit, she has never lost. Mostly lost Tatsumi and Zander. Tatsumi honestly performed his gambling duty, despite the fact that he is the Emperor. Caroline sat apart from everyone and looked out the window.

— It’s all because of me, — the girl quietly cried. “She entered this fight because of me. If I didn’t lose…

— Kare, she did it because she chose to. No one would have stopped her anyway, — Melania shook her head. But she killed Kira. It’s without options.

“By giving him a farewell kiss before he died,” Tatsumi added. — My hackers know how to handle computers and hacked all the information.

Everyone was silent. Caroline was staring out the window when she suddenly saw it.

— NECROLINE!!!

From such a cry, everyone jumped up and rushed to the window, but they did not see anyone.

“You must have imagined,” Takasaki said sadly.

— Not. I hear hurried footsteps, — Zander twitched his long ear.

Necroline burst into the living room. She was breathing heavily.

— Necroline! Caroline threw herself on her friend’s neck. A friend, unable to stay on her feet, collapsed to the floor, miraculously not hitting her head on the floor.

Everyone jumped to the lying girl.

— I need to tell you something! Necroline said decisively.

***

Everyone sat in a stupor. In complete stupor. Necroline left two hours ago.

Because of the shock she experienced, no one stopped her. It’s one thing to guess and quite another thing to know for sure. Necroline asked to forget her forever and never remember her again.

“Forever,” whispered Caroline. “You can’t leave her alone. She needs help. She will be killed.

“We don’t even know where she went,” Melania remarked logically.

“But she’s a ninja,” Takasaki suddenly chuckled.

— What do you mean by that? Tatsumi was surprised.

— She’s a ninja. She will fight the day after tomorrow. I can vouch,” Takasaki arched an eyebrow slyly.

Chapter 4

Merciful death

Sometimes there are situations

what do you think about

that death would be more merciful.

But it’s not up to us…

Necroline sat on a tree branch. This was the city where the ninja contest was to continue. The sky was clear and bright blue. Looking at such skies, I wanted to run to my friends, but…

Necroline sighed. She became human. She has the same weaknesses as humans. But she didn’t want her friends to get hurt.

— Girl, would you give me ten rubles?