Heart-Pounding Pink Dragon Division
The morning after the Pink Dragon Division's victory in the athletics festival.
Roin rose early and opened the window in her bedroom. Having lived only in a remote mountain cabin deep in the woods, returning to palace life felt strangely nostalgic.
"Shall I take a stroll?"
Roin wandered every corner of the villa where she'd spent her childhood.
"Oh, this path is still here?"
She marveled at the forest trail, where the morning dew hadn't yet dried. It was the same path where she'd walked hand-in-hand with her father as a little girl.
Yet as she strolled that path, Roin felt no sadness or melancholy. She was no longer alone.
The Pink Dragon Knights! This ultimate force led by Cliche was with her now.
"When's the coronation?"
Cliche had been nagging her about it since yesterday. Roin needed to become queen quickly so they could raid the palace's secret vault.
"Hmm. We won the athletics festival, but my brothers probably won't accept the results."
"Do we need their approval?"
"Yeah. If we crush them all by force, it could spark diplomatic issues with other countries. And running the kingdom would get messy too..."
Roin and Cliche discussed how she might claim the throne as they walked the path. Hotse, Unicef, Diablo, and AlphaGo trailed behind, chattering away.
"Agh~~~damn this hangover~~mornings are too much~~!!!"
"Ho ho ho. What a peaceful morning in the forest. The plants are releasing phytoncides—it's so refreshing."
"Heh heh! Devouring darkness, burning with light—that's dawn, heh heh! Will my black blood finally run cleeeean?"
"Beep boop! Jogging (morning?). [Noun] Morning run. Running in the morning."
As the Pink Dragon Knights slowly climbed the hill behind the palace,
"Stop!"
"This is your graveyard!"
Men in green and yellow masks blocked their path.
"What the hell?"
Cliche lifted his droopy eyelids sharply.
There were about fifty green-masked men, all burly and radiating menace. Longswords coated in poison gleamed in their hands.
Ssssss...
Killing intent and ominous energy poured from them, rising like mist on the forest breeze.
"Who are you!?"
Roin demanded sharply, and a middle-aged man at the front stepped forward.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Kaitou Kid, leader of the assassin guild Sanwa Assassination Inc. Oh, and we went public last year."
His assassins behind him broke into a choreographed dance and song.
"Sanwa~ Sanwa~ Sanwa Assassination! Start worrying!"
"We'll find the way!"
A gloomy tune that dragged listeners toward ruin. The killing intent woven into it targeted Roin unmistakably.
"Sanwa Assassination... I've heard of them. A criminal cartel ruling Acre's back alleys with loan sharking and contract killings!"
Roin bit her lip, glaring at the assassins. Kaitou Kid chuckled, meeting her gaze.
"You can never be queen. You'll lose all your loyal retainers here today."
He thrust his hand forward.
The assassins raised crossbows in unison.
Thwip thwip thwack!
Holes pierced the air.
"...Huh, ow!"
Cliche couldn't finish his sentence. An arrow had flown into his mouth.
"Ptoo!"
He spat it out like a pesky fly.
"...?"
The shooter gawked, alternating stares between Cliche's face and his own arrow. This was a custom crossbow that could punch through steel shields, tipped with venom lethal even to a Sword Master.
...How?
Meanwhile,
"Kah-ptoo!"
Cliche grimaced and spat black-tinged saliva.
He muttered irritably,
"This won't do. Gotta clear 'em out."
Kaitou Kid smirked at his words.
"We fetch demon lords' heads for the right price. How do you plan to 'clear' us?"
As he finished,
"Ho ho ho!"
A seductive laugh echoed from behind.
Unicef shoved past the group and stepped forward.
"Fetch my head? How exactly?"
"...?"
Kaitou Kid tilted his head, then grinned.
"We'll find the way."
Sanwa Assassination's famous line. Everyone who'd heard it was dead.
But,
"Heh heh! You dare take whose head!?"
Diablo summoned his Black Flame Dragon in his left hand. Kaitou Kid flinched at the aura.
'What is that? That evil energy...'
Even Kaitou Kid, who ruled back alleys with a single blade, hesitated. Diablo's Black Flame Dragon was pitch-black and sinister.
"Heh heh! Kkkyot-!"
Without pause, Diablo unwrapped the bandages on his left arm.
The black flame dragon surged forward like a storm.
"Gaaahhh!"
The assassins recoiled in horror.
But escaping that massive black tempest was impossible.
Boom boom boom!
It swept through them all.
The result?
"Huh?"
The assassins looked down at themselves, puzzled. Not a scratch.
In fact...
"Look! My finger that got chopped off three years ago as torture—it's back!"
One waved his five fingers triumphantly.
"Whoa! My facial scars are gone!"
"My chronic rhinitis is cured?"
"Gasp! Even my hemorrhoids! Yeehaw!"
"...But why's my bald spot still here?"
Cheers erupted everywhere.
Diablo's Black Flame Dragon had buffed them massively—their physical abilities multiplied dozens of times!
"Hmm... Useless for attacks after all?"
Diablo scratched his head.
"Only heals and buffs, you idiot. Get back there, kneel, hands up."
Cliche smacked Diablo's head. The demon slunk back, rubbing his scalp with a pout.
"Alright! Assassinate quick and head home!"
Supercharged, the Sanwa assassins charged with renewed vigor. They swung wildly to show off their power, smashing trees and rocks in the process.
Why? People always test new strength on trees or boulders.
You know.
The problem? It pissed off pacifist Unicef.
"Barbarians! Why touch the innocent trees!"
Her red horn doubled in size.
"Don't bully the trees-!"
Her fist sliced the air.
A straight punch!
Whoom!
The charging assassins flew into the sky from the wind pressure alone.
"Gah!?"
They soared upward together.
Unicef's punch carried scorching hot wind.
Rumble rumble!
A ferocious flame storm engulfed dozens of assassins and carved through the forest.
A massive fist-shaped fire pillar snaked outward like a serpent.
The archdemon's hellfire magic that once turned northern mountains and seas into infernos!
Kaboom kaboom!
A giant crater scarred the woods.
"..."
The assassins crawled out naked and charred.
Diablo's buff saved their lives, but the surroundings were a wasteland.
Without it, they'd be ash piles.
Unicef stomped above the crater, pouting.
"Ah! You bad people! Turning the forest into this!"
The assassins, feeling wronged, ventured,
"...Um, sorry, but like 99% of that's on you?"
"Such bad people! Blaming others!"
"...Isn't that what you're doing?"
Grrr!
Unicef ignited her fist again, done talking.
Demons gonna demon.
"Aaack!"
Another crater of fire.
"Heh heh! Don't worry! I'll heal you all with my warm light!"
Diablo stood beside her, spamming heals.
"Aaack!" Boom!
"Aaack!" Boom!
Arms severed, legs lopped—anything but baldness, his holy magic fixed it all!
From the crater: groans and screams nonstop.
Unicef flames: everything burns.
Diablo heals: everything resets (clothes and hair excluded).
Unicef flames again: burn.
Diablo heals: reset (same exceptions).
Endless burn-heal loop.
Sanwa Assassins paid dearly for wrecking the forest.
(Mostly Unicef's doing, though.)
"I hear the worst human pain is burning agony..."
Cliche muttered to himself.
Roin shivered at the words.
How many burn-heal cycles? The assassins seized a healthy moment to flee the crater.
"You lunatics! We won't let this slide!"
"Final measure!"
They fired red fireworks skyward.
Rumble rumble!
The ground shook violently below.
Cliche's expression shifted slightly.
"...Explosives buried underground."
"Too late! Die!"
The assassins screamed.
Then—kaboom!
A massive underground blast split the earth, scarlet flames erupting.
It swallowed Roin, Cliche, and the rest.
Fwoooosh!
Gazing at the sky-piercing fire pillar, the assassins sensed mission complete.
Kaitou Kid wiped cold sweat, muttering,
"Tough foes. Demon and saintly crew. Report back quick."
As they prepared to withdraw, the unbelievable happened.
Crack!
A hole punched through the fire pillar's midsection.
"...Hot."
Cliche popped out.
He tore the pillar like ripping cloth with his right hand.
Roin and the others followed unscathed—sweaty, but fine.
"Whew... morning sweat,, all out,, moooorning sauna~~perfect,, now for some seaweed soup,, nice and sluuuurpy,, one bowl hits the spot~~"
Hotse wiped his face with his towel. Pure neighborhood ajusshi vibes.
But the assassins, knowing the blast's power, trembled.
"H-How...?"
Cliche raised his right hand silently at Kaitou Kid's gaping question.
"..."
His entire right arm blazed blinding crimson. Heat haze and steam poured off it—scorching beyond the explosives' fire.
Fire that burned fire. Unheard of.
"Damn it! Try this then!"
Kaitou Kid pulled a parchment scroll.
Roin recognized it and yelled,
"Magic scroll! Get down!"
Too late.
He tore it lightning-fast.
Sealed spell activated, unleashing massive magic.
Kaboom!
The eerie chill froze everything, engulfing the Pink Dragon Knights.
"7th-circle Blizzard! Hahaha!"
A black-market magic trap bought at insane cost—enough to bury a village in snow and ice!
But,
"...Annoying."
Cliche casually swung his left arm.
The subzero blizzard split around him and dissipated.
"...!!"
Kaitou Kid and the assassins' eyes bulged, nearly popping out.
Cliche showed his left hand—blue turning white from cold.
Swoosh...
A man with ultra-hot right hand and ultra-cold left.
Temperature extremes birthed bizarre air currents between them.
The twisting vortex froze and incinerated surroundings in cycles.
Assassins knelt one by one.
Overwhelming power! No resistance, not even eye contact.
Cliche chuckled at the bowed heads.
"Tell Int this."
"..."
"I'll drop by to see his face soon."
He turned away. His hands back to pink.
"Let's go home."
"C-Can we just leave them...?"
"Eh, they're like fertilizer for the flowerbeds now."
"N-No! Let's just go home!"
Roin grabbed Cliche's hand hurriedly and headed downhill.
Meanwhile, holding her hand, Cliche thought one thing clearly.
"...Time to smack those princes around."
Roin nodded, following him.
Fair enough—they wouldn't accept the athletics results quietly.
Int aside, the others might move too.
Seemed Roin needed more time to seize the palace.
"But where are we going now?"
Roin asked.
Cliche replied flatly,
"To catch your brothers."
Just a tiny bit more time.