"Senpai?"

  Neo was shot in his shoulder, but his automatic transformation activates and blocks the bullet away from him. However, he wasn't the target of the shooter; the shooter was aiming for Yuki instead. It's not that Yuki can't protect herself against a measly bullet. It's more about how much Neo cares about Yuki, and he won't just stand there idly when someone tries to harm her, regardless of her own capabilities.

  "I'm fine, Kouhai, but we've got an intruder."

  “I don't see anyone. Was it a sniper from outside? But I didn't hear any glass breaking. . . Let me do something."

  Yuki closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath. She exhales, and cold air comes out of her mouth, quickly filling the entire house and lowering the temperature of the area.

  "Cooooollllddd. . .!" said Neo.

  He immediately felt chilled, and his breathing produced white fog; however, Yuki was completely unaffected.

  "There you are."

  Yuki looks towards the corner of the room and points her palm towards it. Icy spikes emerge and travel towards the corner. It suddenly burst into a bigger spike and freezes anything that it touches.

  "Did you get them?"

  "Senpai, please believe in me, I wouldn't just randomly blast off ice spikes for no reason, right?"

  "I-I once again apologize to you, my dear Kouhai!" said Neo as he bowed towards Yuki.

  "(. . .dear Kouhai?)" said Yuki in her head.

  Yuki's face turns red a bit, even though her expression remains flat. Neo lifts his head and notices this.

  "Huh? I thought you were immune to cold. Why is your face red?"

  ". . .senpai, stupid. . ." said Yuki in a lower volume, as she walked towards the corner of the room.

  Yuki touches the big ice spikes and melts a chunk of it. A human head belongs to a man in his 30s, then emerges.

  "PUAH!!! Haaaahh. . .Haaaaahhh. . .!"

  "Wow, invisibility, Faith power? I rarely see those."

  "Yes, senpai, they're quite rare, as most people would prefer to become the strong Elemental type instead. So, care to explain what you were up to? And who are you?" Yuki asks the guy.

  "I AM THE ONE ASKING QUESTIONS! WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING TO MY BOSS? WHAT WAS THAT SWORD YOU STABBED HIM WITH?"

  "Oh, a loyal servant of his. Interesting. Are you part of his plan to assault his brother?"

  "NO! SHUT UP! LET ME GO! THAW ME OUT OR I'LL EAT YOU!"

  "Eat? That's how you threaten someone? What kinda creature do you think you are?"

  "Senpai, he thinks he's some kinda morphing fantasy race on those middle-aged anime MMORPG."

  “I-I have no idea of anything you just said. . .”

  "YOU'RE MAKING JOKES NOW? YOU WILL REGRET IT, LITTLE GIRL! I WILL DEVOUR YOU TWO IN THE MOST GRUESOME POSSIBLE WAY!!!"

  "Kouhai, he's starting to piss me off."

  "The feeling is mutual, senpai, go knock him out."

  Neo turns his hand silver. He readies a fist and is ready to bash the guy's head from the topside.

  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGGGHHHHH!!!"

  *!!*

  The ice that is trapping the man starts to crack purely because of the man's intense screaming.

  "W-What?"

  "Senpai careful. I feel tremendous energy trying to break free coming from his body."

  "HUH?"

  "Senpai, watch out."

  Yuki grabs Neo's hoodie and pulls him away, behind her. She also falls towards him and is on top of him. Neo hugs her reflexively and pulls her down closer to his body. Immediately, she erupted a small dome of ice engulfing them, a thick layer of it to protect themselves in instinct.

  "RRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAGGGHH!!!!"

  "What is that sound? It clearly doesn't sound humane!"

  "I have no idea, senpai, but IT can break free from my ice."

  "D-Don't worry kouhai! You just didn't make your ice stronger than you anticipated. I mean, he was just a Believer with an invisibility power, who would've thought he had this level of strength!"

  "Senpai, I wasn't exactly feeling down though. . ."

  "Umm, s-sor--!!"

  Yuki buries her face deep into Neo's chest.

  "But thank you, senpai, that made me happy."

  Neo's face turns unbelievably red.

  "(Wow, I'm about to melt this ice dome out of sheer happiness within seconds!!)"

  "ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRGGHHH!!!"

  Yuki melts her ice dome, and they finally get up and face the source of the scream.

  "W-what is this Kouhai?"

  "Color me surprised. I never would've thought this is how my first time seeing a demon would be."

  "Demon?"

  The entire house was gone, and only a few centimeters lower side of the walls are left. Almost all of the furniture in the house was either broken or flown away.

  With the walls mostly gone, it is now clear that they are currently inside a rich section of the housing area within the city, as every house here has a giant circle of garden surrounding each house. The spaces between the houses, including the circling gardens, are about 15 meters each, with every one of them having one connecting road from their garage towards the main road.

  Standing tall in front of them was a 3-meter-tall monster with a muscular body covered in deep blue scales. It has a long neck stretching 2 meters. Its head was clearly that of a snake with a mouth that opens up for about another 2 meters wide. It also has a tail that stretches for yet another 2 meters with spikes coming out of the topside of it.

  "A snake with a humanoid body, is there a fantasy creature like this, senpai?"

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  "Most of the time, it's humanoid from the torso upwards with a snake-like body from the waist downwards. Take Medusa, for example."

  The monster suddenly strikes with a wide-open jaw and long necks towards both of them. Neo instinctively moves to Yuki's front to cover for her and points his two hands, transforming them into silver to catch its jaw strike.

  *!!*

  But then two tall knights made of ice, holding a greatsword each, blocked the monster's strike in front of Neo. In an instant, Yuki has created two pawns that can immediately move and protect their master.

  The two tall knights swung their greatswords and sent the snake monster flying away diagonally upwards. The snake monster suddenly grows wings in deep blue color, with a shape and design similar to that of a bat. It stopped itself in midair. But moments before the snake monster could regain its position in the air, the two tall knights were also in the air chasing after it.

  "RROOOOAAAARGGHHH!!!!"

  The snake monster bursts out its roar, and it breaks apart the two tall knights from its sheer vibration alone. Behind the snake monster, Neo was already in the air as well, readying his silvered fist.

  "DOWN!!"

  *CLANG*

  Neo punches the snake monster right on its back towards the ground. The snake monster falls at an incredibly high velocity and reaches the ground in 1 second due to the massive mass and weight of Neo's silver matter, even though both of them were 20 meters above the ground. The snake monster's crash on the ground creates a small crater. Neo transforms his legs and lands safely in the garden, making a small crater as well.

  All of a sudden, the temperature around the leftover house and the garden drops sharply. Yuki has erected a giant ice dome trapping the entire garden within.

  "There's nowhere to run now, snake thing. Tell me what your deal is?"

  "HHHHSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!"

  "I didn't expect the snake to hiss after roaring like wolves this whole time. Are you sure you wanna play dumb? You can understand what I am saying, right?"

  "ROOOOAAARRGGHHH!!!"

  The snake monster let out another roar, this time a lot stronger and louder. It hopes to break the ice dome with its strong vibration.

  "Don't look down on me. After your first attempt back then, I reinforced my ice a lot stronger this time. There is no escape. Do you wanna keep playing dumb?"

  "I'M GONNA EAT YOU IF YOU KEEP TALKING HIGH AND MIGHTY!!"

  "You can speak human languages after all. So, who are you, and what is that form? I thought your Faith power was invisibility?"

  "SHUT UP!!"

  The snake monster uses its Faith power, and it vanishes. It quickly turned around and rushed towards Neo, who was behind him.

  *CLANG*

  A loud sound of metal clashing against something reverberates through the entire ice dome.

  "You really think you're sneaky, huh?"

  Neo was putting his entire left forearm vertically as the snake opened its wide jaw and bit his entire forearm. The snake monster's mouth is now completely stuck with Neo's silver forearm, unable to close it, nor can it move from its spot.

  "Because of the cold temperature inside this ice dome, your breathing produces fog, which completely counters your invisibility. I could clearly see where you are!"

  "Senpai, I'll send help."

  Yuki summons snowfall inside the ice dome. Alongside, she also summons an entire kingdom worth of warriors consisting of 20 Swordsmen, 10 Great swordsmen, 10 spear users, 10 Ice magicians, 20 ice archers, 20 ice wolves, and 10 ice hawks. Her troops cover melee combat, range combat, aerial combat, and beastly forces.

  Yuki also summons a throne of ice with the aesthetic befitting that of a queen. She sits on the throne, tilting her head slightly lower to the right, resting her right cheek against her fist that also rests on the throne's handle. She has completely shown herself an attitude befitting that of a queen, an Ice Queen to be exact.

  Yuki raises her right hand and utters no words. All of her troops gallop and march forward towards Neo and the snake monster. They are surrounding them, leaving no room to escape.

  All of the melee users are surrounding them, making a visible wall, blocking the monster's escape. The 10 Spear users are surrounding them in the first layer of the circle, the 10 great swordsmen are next, and then the 20 swordsmen are in the third layer.

  All of the ice magicians make ice platforms on the very back of the troops' circle so that the archer units and the magician units can see over all the other taller troops.

  "Now, speak. Or, either be crushed by my beloved senpai or be crushed by an army of infinitely regenerating soldiers made of ice. Choose wisely."

  Yuki exerts her dominance over the snake monster, and by her declaration, over Neo as well.

  "(. . .beloved senpai. . .)" Neo speaks in his mind, and he turns a tiny bit red.

  "ROOOOOOAAAAARGGHH!!!"

  "URGH!!"

  Neo's ears hurt a lot as the monster was roaring right in front of him with its mouth still wide open, stuck on his silvered arm vertically. He transformed both his ears into silver, and the pain was neutralized.

  "You fool! You still don't wanna give up? FINE!"

  Neo swings his silvered hand that is stuck on its jaw downwards, toppling over the monster as its head crashes into the ground that has been covered by snow from the piling snowfall.

  The snake monster stops moving for a bit, but it doesn't lose its consciousness. Neo gets on top and weighs down the snake monster to prevent it from moving by pushing his other hand, turned silver, down towards its upper jaw. He also transforms his leg to push down his body with the sheer weight of the Silver Matter.

  "TELL ME WHAT IS YOUR DEAL? YOU ARE CLEARLY A HUMAN BEING BEFORE, A BELIEVER EVEN! WHAT IS THIS APPEARANCE? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE GIVEN YOUR INVISIBILITY FAITH POWER!"

  "ROOOOAAAAARRGGGHHH!!!"

  "It doesn't affect me now! CONFESS!!"

  "ROOOAAAARRGGGHH!!!"

  "How stubborn are you!?"

  "Senpai."

  "Kouhai. . .?"

  Yuki has walked towards both Neo and the snake monster. All of her troops that were circling them gave their queen a path and returned to their position once she had walked past them towards the center.

  She summons forth the Sword of Purification in her right hand.

  "This might be some variation of Berserker state, albeit a lesser one. Although that is just purely speculation."

  *!!!*

  "ROAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

  Seeing the Sword of Purification, the snake monster immediately let out its loudest roar yet. It almost startled Neo, but he already knew how to deal with its roar. Yuki, on the other hand, was completely unfazed.

  “How interesting. Demons freak out at the presence of the holy cross of the Holy God.”

  “ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!”

  The snake monster also gathers all of its strength to break free from Neo, but it is hopeless against the sheer mass and weight of Neo's Silver Matter. It only results in it just hopelessly struggling to break free, as if it's an ant trying to lift a human foot that stepped on it.

  "Try stabbing it with the Sword, Kouhai-kun!"

  "Senpai, I was already planning to, now it just makes me look like a puppet who doesn't make decisions and only follows your order."

  "I-I'm so sorry Kouhai-kun!" said Neo as he sadly apologized and bowing his head.

  "Senpai, I was just kidding again. . ."

  "Urkh! At a time like this ?!" said Neo with an embarrassed face.

  "Move away a bit, senpai."

  Neo moves back a bit from where he was on top of the snake monster, but he is no longer holding down its head and neck in place.

  "SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

  The snake monster's neck immediately stretches and charges forward to bite Yuki with its large jaw.

  "You really are stubborn to the end."

  Yuki freezes the snake monster's head in an instant, along with its long neck. Its teeth were merely 1cm away from Yuki's eye.

  "By the way, Senpai, you didn't try to protect me that time? You know full well it's going to attack me the moment the pressure holding it down is gone. I'm disappointed, enpai."

  "I apologize, Kouhai; however, I know full well of your capability, especially when you're a bit serious. You won't be harmed by something like this."

  ". . .thank you senpai. . ." Yuki speaks quietly.

  "Hm?"

  Yuki immediately stabs the Sword at the snake monster's back all the way through its chest. The sword starts absorbing all the negativity from the snake monster.

  As the Sword turns black little by little, the snake monster also loses its appearance. Gradually, it reverted into the shape of a human being. Once the Sword was fully blackened, the man from before turned back to normal completely.

  Yuki lifts the blackened Sword and inspects it.

  ". . .it looks like any other blackened Swords that I'm used to, but I sense malice in this one, I mean like inhuman malice."

  "Kouhai, brace yourself!"

  Neo grabs Yuki's other hand and holds it tightly as a sign that he will always be by her side, no matter what's gonna happen when she stabs it through her heart.

  "Thank you, senpai. I am glad that you are my Support."

  Yuki then stabs herself with the blackened Sword. As per the rules of the Judge and the Support, Yuki and Neo are both receiving the negative emotions and the memory of the blackened Swords.

  . . . . . .

  "Huh? I didn't get any memories. . ."

  "Same with me, Kouhai, I thought my Support role was neutralized or something."

  Yuki pulls out the blackened Sword.

  *!*

  She found out the Sword of Purification is still blackened.

  "What is going on here?"

  "Kouhai, try to unsummon the Sword. What would usually happen if it were the normal blackened Sword, by the way?"

  "The negative emotions will be stored in the Sword, and it can be summoned and stabbed into the user's chest later at any time. But when it's blackened, it cannot be used to absorb any other memories and emotions. Alright, I'll try."

  Yuki unsummons the Sword of Purification.

  "YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHH"

  *!!!*

  The blackness on the Sword stays when Yuki unsummons the Sword, but the black energy suddenly lets out a scream, and then it gradually disperses and disappears completely.

  Yuki and Neo were both startled by the scream, and they felt like its scream stayed in their ears for a while.

  "What in the world did we just encounter Kouhai?"

  "Senpai, I'm afraid I have no idea. My rough speculation is that this is some type of demonic possession. That guy turned into that snake thing because of that demon. After all, that guy's Faith power was Special type, not Transformation type." adds Yuki.

  "Which also reminds me that the demon was able to use that guy's Faith power." adds Neo.

  "Senpai."

  "Yes?"

  "I am afraid this is merely a small fraction of something bigger that is currently happening."

  Hearing Yuki's statement sends a chill down the spine to Neo. His worry began to visualize inside his head as he tried to imagine all sorts of things that would be happening on a bigger scale regarding this incident.