Just Another Chat Group

The battle went on longer than I expected. I was confident enough in our combat ability that I thought such weaklings would not be able to hold us back this long. That was an assumption that I should have never made. The multiverse is at our door and that meant we would be facing countless foes with strange and unique abilities.

This one little scrap taught me to never underestimate an enemy no matter how confident I was about my own abilities. If I never took that random glance I would have never found out the trick here and we might have been still fighting now. I was not really giving us that much credit. I am sure if the battle went on for a longer period of time we would have figured out something was wrong. 

Even if we never found out the trick I was sure we would be able to escape from them. We were able to basically tear them apart rather easily after all.

I looked around at our surroundings now that the weed like Goblins had been destroyed. The ground was filled with cracks and holes from when those creatures sprouted from the ground. There was also a ton of holes from Rias' blasts. Other than that a large area around here was scorched and dying from the attacks we have unleashed.

The forest was not in the best condition already from the monster infestation but we had made it worse. At least on the surface that is. Now that this forest was no longer infected with parasitic creatures it would recover. The natural energy in the air was good enough that it would lead to the recovery of nature here.

Pyrrha had descended from her tree and was currently checking her rifle. She took it apart quickly with a frown on her face. She took out several cleaning tools and a large basin of water. She then dumped the dismantled parts into the basin. As soon as the parts touched the water it released a burst of steam. I suppose that made sense.

Dust was a fairly powerful tool in her world. While it allowed her to fight the creatures on her own terms it affected the stability of her weapon. I could see why she was so reluctant to use that particular ammunition earlier. Weapons in RWBY were a major thing to the people who used them.

The weapons were the only partners Hunters could really count on and any damage to the weapons would be dire. It was also a part of the person's identity. In her culture self expression was a major thing, whether that was from their attire or how they acted everyone had a theme that they religiously followed. 

It had something to do with creatures prowling their world that were capable of sensing any negative emotion. It meant that acts that lead to happiness were always going to be the norm and rejecting parts of yourself was seen as a danger not only to yourself but your neighbors as well. 

Which brought her outfit into question. If her agent was forcing her to wear that to fit an image they designed then they were spitting upon the culture of their own world. It was not exactly a surprising notion as money would always have people compromising their morals for profit. This would just be another example of the age old tradition.

I suppose I was being too harsh when I did not really have the whole picture. That outfit could be her expressing herself or it might have even been her own idea to sell that image. That was something I would have to learn later.

I would offer to help her fix her weapon but the intense and focused look on her face caused me to pause. She was not just repairing a weapon in her hands she was going through a ceremony. One that was not defined by any rules or regulations but one that was far more personal to her. I could not bring myself to intrude on whatever was happening before me. It felt like it would not really be all that helpful and it would ultimately be an insult to the serious girl before me.

So I looked away from her as she did her little repair job. Ashley was walking toward me with a bright smile on her face and her eyes gleaming in a way that I was familiar with. She was feeling a bit constrained lately and this act of violence was doing good for her. While the smile was something I was happy about the sight of her currently had me grimacing for a moment.

She was soaked in the blood of the creatures she had slain. The bright green blood coated her from head to toe. I knew that the blood was not something that would bug her all too much but the smell was getting to me. So I snapped my fingers and cleaned her quickly. Again House Elf magic might be limited in some ways but when used at what it was good at it was literally the best.

The green blood coating her vanished in a matter of seconds. Her clothes were straightened and put back in a more presentable fashion. The sickening scent of rotten grass was removed from the air and was replaced with the scent of caramel and apples.

Ashley took a look at the changes that were happening to her with a fond smile on her face. She then faced me and rolled her eyes. She was fine with her previous state and she knew what I just did was for more for me but she was fine with it. She then threw the silver spear into her inventory and stood by my side.

That spear was always meant to be a temporary weapon but I guess she liked it well enough to keep in her inventory. I made a note in my head to get her something better. She did not have the same bullshit luck that I had even if her luck was pretty good. So rolling the Gacha for her was probably the better route to take. I could also try my hand at developing a Noble Phantasm, I already had an idea how to go about that after all.

Ashley took my thoughtful look as permission to climb on my back for a piggy back ride again. Actually she was probably not looking for permission in the first place and she just decided this was what she wanted in the moment.

When she settled on my back she leaned down to my ear and whispered.

"Did you have to tattle about the trick so soon? I was having fun tearing unlimited dumbassess apart." She questioned with a pout on her face. She was joking for the most part but so I just rolled my eyes at her. Seeing that she just furthered her pout.

"I was not going to let those guys multiply endlessly just so you can go wild Ashley. Think about your teammates." I softly chided her and she just rolled her eyes in return but her pout stopped. She got my point and she was not that serious about her complaint in the first place.

As if to emphasize my point Rias landed on the ground with sweat beading on her forehead. She was breathing heavily but she was recovering quickly. She might not be able to feel the difference in the air like I could but this environment was built for someone like her. So the world itself was letting her recover at a pace that she would have never approached otherwise.

When she recovered a fair bit she looked over at Ashley and I with a sour look flashing on her face. It faded quickly which was rather surprising. She did not have the best poker face before but now that other people were here she was hiding her feelings better.

"Fine ruin all my fun," Ashley muttered in my ear. Again she was complaining just to complain but that was not something that needed to be thought about. She was just being a brat and that was not something that was new.

"We have a whole mission for you to go wild Ashley, you don't want to tire yourself on such weaklings right?" I spoke out softly as Rias walked over to us. Ashley took in my words and she wore another pout on her face. I let out a small laugh at the sight as she clearly agreed with me but she did not want to say that she did.

"Hey Rias, were you able to get a better look all the way up there?" I questioned Rias as soon as she was close to us. She stopped walking as she did not expect that question. We needed to head to this Maze Castle and I imagine that she would have a better shot at seeing it from up there.

" I was not really paying attention to the surroundings earlier." She admitted sheepishly as she gave another look at the sky with a contemplative look on her face.

"Come on Magic Tits you had to have seen something, a castle should be pretty obvious." Ashley ribbed Rias which caused Rias to twitch slightly but she let it pass. She was starting to get that Ashley was going to needle her endlessly if she allowed herself to show big reactions all the time.

"The fog is pretty thick so I could not really spot anything without actively looking, I'll go back up and check again," Rias spoke out as she released her wings to fly into the sky again.

"There is no need for that, I was just asking in case you spotted our destination already. I can just use a spell to point us in the right direction." I spoke out quickly before she flew into the sky needlessly. I was a Wizard and my solutions to problems are varied and often better than what others could offer.

Even if Rias did spot a castle up there I would still cast my spell. There was no way of confirming if the castle she saw was the one we were looking for after all. So it was better if we just used my magic from the get go.

"Damn Magic Tits lost your job already," Ashley announced from my back with a smug smile on her face. Rias let out a sigh at her ribbing but again she did not acknowledge Ashley's comment.

"That's good, I wanted to explore a new world at first but this place is not exactly tourist friendly. The mission also sounded pretty time sensitive" She spoke out sourly as she looked around at the gnarled trees around us. The dark and unfriendly air of this world was not really something that was all that inviting.

That made sense. We had a task that we had to do and we had to do it before those Four Saint Beasts infected humanity. I did not really think about that fact as I wanted to finish the task and get back to my own world. Rias came here because she wanted to see a new world so having to track down some monsters instead of exploring the culture of a new world was not what she wanted. Still, she was not going to delay the mission because she wanted to explore more she was too kind for that to be her choice.

"Hunter-san seems almost done with her repair so we can head out soon." I spoke out as I took a glance at Pyrrha who was putting her weapon back together. Her face no longer plagued with a serious frown. Apparently, the damage was not as serious as she expected.

When she finished putting it back together she looked around and seemed startled that the three of us were looking at her. She blushed and gave us a hesitant smile. She was focused on the task in front of her with razor focus so she kind of ignored us for the most part. I did not blame her for that and I was sure that Ashely and Rias did not either. That did not mean Pyrrha did not blame herself she was clearly embarrassed about what she just did.

She jogged her way towards us. She was not using her full speed but she was still pretty fast so she arrived near us quickly. She was still wearing that embarrassed hesitant smile on her face.

"Sorry about that, I had to make sure Milos was in working order." She spoke out with a sheepish smile on her face. Whatever tension she was holding onto earlier seemed to have faded after we fought together. She still did not look completely comfortable but she seemed like she was feeling more confident after a good fight.

"It's fine Hunter-san I needed a break after that fight as well. The only one in good condition is the lovebirds here." Rias spoke out lightly while pointing at Ashley and I. I rolled my eyes but nodded along, I was not going to berate Pyrrha for taking her time to make sure her weapon continued to be an asset. That would be needlessly aggressive and a foolish action to take.

Pyrrha took in our reasons and muttered something under her breath while she gave us another sheepish look.

"That's good," Pyrrha spoke out softly and looked around as if trying to find another topic. She was clearly not used to idle chatter but that was fine she would get used to it. She was going to stick around for a long time after all. With the Chat Group on her side she was not going to suffer the same fate she found herself in Cannon. 

I decided to throw the girl a bone as her eyes were darting all over the place. 

"I'm Severus Prince, we have been calling you Hunter-san so far but I doubt that is your real name Ms." I left my words leadingly so she could take up the unasked question. Rias got where I was coming from as she shot Pyrrha a friendly smile, Ashley just huffed and snuggled into my back.

I was kind of forcing Pyrrha to tell us her name but I don't think she cared all too much about hiding her name. Pyrrha took in my words and looked back at us with another embarrassed look on her face.

"Right, I'm Pyrrha Nikkos." She spoke out awkwardly but there was a happy smile on her face. The simple act of getting to introduce herself brought a smile to her face. That girl really wanted to bond with people who would not put her on a pedestal. I could not really relate that well to such thoughts but I could understand her position at the very least.

So I shot her a friendly grin in return.

"Oh, my turn! I'm Rias Gremory, We red heads have to stick together in the face of these two!" Rias shouted out in excitement and a happy smile on her own face. I rolled my eyes at the comment but I got it was ribbing. Ashley clutched onto me tighter for a moment and I looked back at her with a questioning look. I was not sure why she would be upset about the two of them bonding.

Seeing my look Ashley looked away from my gaze and looked over at the two girls before her. She was examining the both of them as if she recognized something about them for the first time. Again I did not really get what she was seeing but she seemed slightly bothered by it. 

She did not see Rias' feelings for me that was clear. Rias had all of her focus on Pyrrha so none of her affection for me was shown. Ashley was also not just looking over at Rias but Pyrrha as well so there had to be something else going on.

"What's up?" I questioned lightly as the two girls before us started to talk to each other. Rias was leading the conversation but Pyrrha was pipping in every once and a while with a happy but hesitant smile on her face.

"It's nothing," Ashley spoke out sourly. That tone and the look on her face told me that it was not nothing but she did not seem willing to share so I dropped it for now. I was going to get to the bottom of that eventually but I was willing to wait for it.

"If you say so Ashley but I'm willing to hear you out no matter what it is. I'm fine with you killing countless people there is not much that would bother me about you Ashley." I spoke out seriously, that affirmation caused Ashley to lighten her hold on me and a soft smile bloomed on her face. Even with that, she did not share what was bothering her she just nodded as if she got my point.

"You got to let me go to your world Pyrrha-chan. It sounds amazing. Imagine this the two of us facing off the forces of darkness to save humanity! That is so anime!" Rias spoke out excitedly with stars in her eyes. I guess Pyrrha was filling her in on the things happening in her world.

Pyrrha seemed like she did not really get where Rias was coming from but she was willing to indulge her. She was putting off big sister vibes now and I guess that was more in her natural style. It was a mix of that snu snu energy and girl next door attitude. I did not think the result of that would be big sister vibes but it made a certain amount of sense to me.

"We are kind of already on an anime like mission Rias-san," I spoke out knocking Rias out of her excited chatter. She took in my words and she seemed to realize that I was absolutely right as her eyes widened and another happy squeal was released from her.

"You're right! The sinister Saint Beasts are trying to destroy Humanity and it's up to the four of us to stop them before it's too late!" She spoke out as if she was narrating a scene inside of her head. I chuckled lightly at the sight and Pyrrha seemed even more confused but she wore a determined look at the face of our mission.

"We will stop those fiends," Pyrrha announced solemnly Rias just released another squeal and went to hug Pyrrha in excitement. Pyrrha was wearing a confused look on her face as she handled Rias' sudden hug. I was sure Pyrrha thought her comment was serious and the right thing to say but it just fed into Rias' inner narration.

Pyrrha was trying her best but she was clearly not used to people suddenly hugging her. She shot a look that screamed help at the two of us and I just laughed at it. I expected Ashley to throw a jab or two at the girls but she remained silent and was just watching them with a complex look on her face. There really was something going on there…

"Right since the mission is rather urgent we should probably get going," I spoke out seriously which got Rias to stop hugging Pyrrha in excitement. She was still excited about what was to come but she was holding herself back. Pyrrha shot me a thankful look that morphed into a serious game face.

Seeing that the two of them were ready I took out my wand and used the point me spell. We now had a clear direction to travel to Maze Castle so I started leading the group towards the castle.

"So randomly walking around is no longer your solution to finding things?" Ashley questioned with a teasing smile on her face. She was in a better mood but she was still shooting Rias and Pyrrha odd looks every once and a while.

"The outcome would be the same but I prefer actually knowing where I am going," I spoke out as I rolled my eyes at the sass. Rias and Pyrrha were looking at our conversation with interest.

"So you are really lucky enough to find things just by wanting to find them?" Pyrrha questioned with a hesitant look on her face. They knew that to be the case from my interactions with the Chat Group but there is a difference between knowing and seeing. 

"I'm really really jealous, I wish I had that kind of luck," Rias muttered as she looked sourly at me. I gave her a bland look in return. That girl may not be a lucky as I was but she still had bullshit luck. If I was not here I was sure she would have luck dominating everything to fall onto her side.

"You don't really have any ground to stand on Rias-san," I spoke out blandly. She blushed and looked away as she got my point. 

Pyrrha was looking at Rias with a questioning look but Rias was trying her best to not meet her gaze.

"She still does not have the same amount of bullshit luck you have Prince. If she did she would not keep getting usernames talking about her tits." Ashley announced from my back with a smug look on her face. She was getting back into a regular mood if she felt like she could throw jabs at Rias.

Rias took in Ashley's words and deflated with a dejected look on her face. She then threw a glare my way. I raised an eyebrow in return it was not exactly my fault her Usernames were that bad. She only had her dumb world to blame, even with my luck she would have found a name bad for her. It might be better than the ones she had got so far but even mine was mocking.

"Blame the RNG," I spoke out condescendingly with a smug smile on my face. My comment further deflated Rias who was muttering things under her breath while walking.

"Magic is…really unusual," Pyrrha stated with an odd look on her face. She was getting used to Magic being something real to her and the examples she had been facing so far had not been the best.

"Magic is bullshit you get used to it," Ashley spoke out blandly as if talking about the news instead of magical phenomenon. I rolled my eyes at her comment even if I could see her perspective and even agree with parts of it.

"Magic by its nature is whimsical and free of any burdens. That means it is not bound by any laws or restrictions but the outcome is often outlandish and strange." I spoke out as I explained some of my thoughts. 

"Magic is really different in other worlds," Rias spoke out with an interested look on her face. I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Magians in my world have to use complex calculations to even get a small flame to be produced. Magic is more of a science instead of an art." Rias explained as she could see the question in my eyes.

"That is not a restriction on Magic that is a restriction on humanity. The magical races and various phenomena can show you that magic is free and unbothered by something like logic." I spoke out again as if I was lecturing. Rias seemed to get my point as she gained a contemplative look on her face. Ashley tapped out of the conversation when I started lecturing and Pyrrha was interested but she did not seem to really get my point. So Rias was the only one that was following my points so far.

It made sense to me as she had her own experience with Magic. Her world had infinity conceptualized as a loli dragon god and had objects that could rewrite reality to fit the desire of the user. Humanity might be sidelined in her world but that did not mean Magic was not something beyond any mortal perspective.

Whatever the case the conversation died off as we were able to see a castle in the distance now. It appeared we had found our destination faster than I thought.

As we marched through the woods around us the sight of the castle became increasingly clear. The idle chatter that was fueling our march before died off as we grew closer. Everyone increasing their awareness instead of wasting their attention on bonding further.

Well, when I say everyone it was mainly Pyrrha and I. Pyrrha was someone who was trained to do dangerous mission after dangerous mission. So her awareness of her surroundings was impeccable. Seeing a clear target she started to become even more focused. That led to Rias no longer chatting her ear off as she could see Pyrrha had something else occupying her mind. Ashley was not that concerned about security but she was still contemplating something so when the conversation was dying she did not pipe in.

 I on the other hand was searching for details that would bring out that long forgotten memory. The monsters that we have fought and the description of the mission gave me a sense of Deja Vu and I just could not pinpoint what that memory was. This brought into question something I never really considered.

All the memories that I had as Severus Snape were crystal clear, so clear that they were burned into my mind to be never forgotten. All the things that I have done since being born into this world were clear to me as well. So why were the memories from that other life so foggy? Occulemency meant I had that picture perfect memory but that was clearly not the case anymore. The answer was fairly clear once I thought about it, I had never sorted those memories like Snape did all those years ago. So they remained floating around in my head instead of being in their proper place.

That was a mistake as those memories were just as important to me. The majority of those memories might be useless but ironically pop culture would be oh so important to me now. The multiverse was open to me and information like that would be golden. Not only for the purpose of protecting me in other worlds but for me to draw inspiration from.

So I needed to sort those memories but I just did not have the time to do that. The mission we were currently on needed to be done and it needed to be done now. So I could not take the days I needed to sort those memories. Which sucked as I clearly knew something about this world even if I could not put my finger on it just yet. I was just going to have to deal with it for now as I could not even take the time to drag Ashley away for a bit to tell her about Rias.

Hopefully, as we experience more of this world the memory that is out of reach would become clear. The sight of the castle before us was already dragging something out of me. I just needed more of these sights to jog my memories.

The castle was rather odd. It was clearly built to serve as a fortress that no one should be able to enter. With its high walls and fairly rudimentary design allowing that protection, but it was blocky and uninteresting to look at. On the other hand, the castle had a tower that led to a bridge that led to another part of the castle. I could not really figure out the purpose of such a thing as it did not help the structural stability and it was not like it looked good either. 

Who ever these Saint Beasts hired to design their castle they should have shot them. What ever it was not really my business if they had a crappy looking fortress as their base camp. I was just used to castles being something grand and majestic to look at. Hogwarts was a really magical sight.

"So that's Maze Castle?" Rias questioned with a frown on her face. She was also not too impressed with the sight before her. I was sure that she had seen plenty of things more impressive. She was the sister of Satan after all. She was also the heir to a dukedom so she was more used to seeing beautifully designed homes.

"It should be," I spoke out quietly not quite sure if that thing was our destination. The point me spell was pointing to it but it could also be pointing behind it. I doubted it as what are the odds a castle would be in the way of us searching for a castle?

"Lame," Ashley muttered out as she got a good look at the castle. I was expecting something a bit more biting from her but the sight was not really something that dragged emotions out of others. Her single worded insult was telling in this case. 

"Not really a good start to our epic quest to defeat the forces of darkness," Rias muttered out sourly as she continued to look at the fortress before us with a disappointed look.

"Is this way the castle looks really that important?" Pyrrha questioned while looking at the three of us with disbelief on her face. I could not really blame her as we were being silly but that was just the way we were.

"It is," Rias announced seriously but she seemed to accept the sight before her as she marched forwards. The current sight before her might not have fit the image in her head but she was determined to see this through.

"Eh, it's not really that important but you got to have a sense of style when you choose to be villains and these dumb fucks clearly don't get that flair," Ashley spoke out as she hopped off of my back. Pyrrha took in her words and shot Ashley a confused look as she did not really get Ashley's point. Rias on the other hand simply nodded as she got to where Ashley was coming from.

"It's just a disappointing sight after all the hype from the mission," I spoke out with my own two cents. Ashley was right if you are going to be evil the least you can do is have style. If you did not have that flair you were destined to be forgotten and that did not make a good villain.

"That's ridiculous," Pyrrha announced with a frown as we continued walking towards the castle. I gave her a flat look as she did not really have any ground to stand on here. Like I said her world was all about self expression which meant most of the villains in her world had that flair and style. She had just not met those foes yet.

Well, that was the case for the villains in the earlier seasons. I think the villains later on became increasingly bland in design. Roman Torchwick may have been a chump but he was a chump with style.

Pyrrha gave me an equally flat look but I just shrugged at her. She had no chance of understanding why I was giving her that look so I was going to give her some slack. She would learn the true ways of villainy eventually there was no reason to push her too hard right now.

Pyrrha just sighed and marched forward silently. We soon reached the entrance. The sight caused Rias to squeal in excitement, Pyrrha sprung into action because she thought Rias was in danger. So she ran towards Rias in an instant but she was confused when Rias did nothing more than fuss over the entrance before us.

"So cool," Rias muttered out as she looked at the entrance before us. Instead of a traditional gate the entrance was a long tunnel that led forward into the fortress but it was carved to look like a giant skull trying to swallow us whole. It was a much better sight in comparison to the dull blockly walls from before but I still gave the Saint Beasts a six out of ten. They could have done so much more but at least they were trying here.

"Eh, I've seen cooler shit. " Ashley let out with a bored expression on her face. Pyrrha seemed to have finally got what was going on as she gave all of us an exasperated look and another sigh.

"I thought she had fallen into a trap, can you guys take this a little more seriously," Pyrrha muttered out quietly. She clearly did not mean for us to hear that but she did not take into account that the three of us had supernaturally enhanced hearing. So her chiding was clear as day to us.

" At least it's not a blocky abomination Ashley," I spoke out with a soft chuckle accompanying my words. Ashley just looked over at me and rolled her eyes. Rias nodded clearly agreeing with my words and Pyrrha just sighed and started to drag the girls into the hall way.

"Wait we have to stop a gawk at the gate as if shocked about the gruesome sight!" Rias shouted out as Pyrrha dragged her deeper into the tunnel. Rias was struggling to get out of Pyrrha's grip but she was clearly not putting any real effort in. It was another act to break the mood but I was also sure if Pyrrha let her go she would follow through on her dumb idea.

Ashley just allowed herself to be dragged along with a blank face. The sight caused me to chuckle again. I then followed as I was not going to leave them by themselves.

The tunnel was long and fairly bland back to that god forsaken blocky look but this time it could be excused as this was just a hallway. It was still a little disappointing after walking into a skull.

The bland look on Ashley's face told me she agreed but Pyrrha was not letting us ruminate on the dumb look of this place. She was more concerned with ensuring no one got hurt because we wasted time doing dumb shit. Rias settled down for the most part as she was fairly reasonable but she still had a pout on her face.

We soon reached the end of the tunnel even if we were not walking that fast. The end of the hallway led towards an open courtyard. Before we reached the end a creature flew in front of us.

Pyrrha already had her rifle out pointing at the creature before us before it could do something. The creature that appeared before us was an odd sight. It was a giant eye ball that had wings and tentacles. The skin of the thing was purple and leathery, it did not look that threatening but it also did not look friendly at all.

Rias was looking at the creature before us with a curious look but she did not seem that interested in it. She clearly did not think this was one of the Saint Beasts and she was probably right. The monster before us screamed mob and there was not anything that this dumb thing could do to disprove that assumption.

Ashley took out her own gun with a smile blooming on her face. I contemplated telling her to leave it to Pyrrha as Ashley would probably shoot the thing before we could get anything out of it but I decided against saying anything, She was not pointing at the flying eyeball so it was not really an issue yet. We also did not need to get information out of the dumb thing either we just had to wreck shop here.

"We are here to slay the Saint Beasts," Pyrrha announced our intentions and I gave her a confused look. Did she really need to tell the enemies that we were planning on killing them? I mean it was not like we needed to hide that information but there was no need to tell it either.

"I assumed that to be the case." The eyeball spoke out with a high annoying voice that was once more sending bells ringing in my mind. I looked closer at the thing as if trying to dissect it with my vision. 

"How the fuck are you talking without a mouth?" Ashley questioned which led to a silence building in the hallway. Pyrrha was looking at her as if asking if that was really that important. The eye looked offended but was staying still so it would not be shot. Rias was giving the creature a contemplative look as if trying to figure out the same thing.

"Ignore her. You will lead us towards these Saint Beasts." Pyrrha announced with a serious look that screamed no non sense. Ashley looked offended that Pyrrha told the thing to ignore her but she just huffed.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, if I dared to betray the Saint Beasts I would be killed." The eyeball spoke out as it just floated in front of us. I just notice that the creature before us had wings but it was not using them to float in front of us. So why the fuck did it have them in the first place. I used the Alpha Stigma to figure out what was going on there and learned a spell to fly under my own magic. It was not that fast but it would be something my people would be shocked to see.

Other than that I did not pick up on anything else. I guess that creature was scared of what Pyrrha would do as it was not doing anything but floating quietly. Hell, even the hallway around us did not have any magical traps set up which was surprising.

"Well, if you don't lead us to them I'll pin you down and pull that big ass eye ball out of its socket," Ashley announced with a blood-thirsty smile on her face. Pyrrha gave her a look but turned back to the eye ball as her expression softened. Rias paled slightly as she looked between Ashley and I. She was clearly wondering what Ashley would do to her if she found out how Rias felt about me. She was right to worry as Ashley was a threat all by herself.

"You should listen to her, she's crazy," Pyrrha spoke out softly as if trying to coax a child. Ashley looked outraged and looked over at me as if saying can you believe this. I gave her a flat look as she really did not have any ground to stand on here. I loved her but she was not mentally sound and even she knew that. It was not like Pyrrha was serious she was using Ashley's sudden and expected threat to play good cop bad cop.

Ashley pouted at me not taking her side but she just looked back at the eyeball and took out her spear. She then started to walk menacingly toward the shivering eye ball before us.

"You make a good point, follow me." The eye spoke out meekly as it floated towards the end of the tunnel making some distance between us but with Pyrrha having her rifle aimed at it there was no danger of it escaping.

"Fucking coward, one threat of pulling out your eye ball and you betray your masters," Ashley spoke out sourly as she wanted to follow through on her threat. The eye ball made the right call hoping ships as Ashley would have done her threat for shits and giggled if he did not.

Rias was giving the floating eyeball as if she was pitying the creature. I got it as she was this close to earning Ashley's ire as well.

We were almost at the end of the hallway when the roof suddenly fell ontop of us with a force that I was not expecting. I quickly braced the weight above my head and the girls did the same. The force behind this was honestly surprising it was actually pushing us down even though the four of us had supernatural strength.

I had my Alpha Stigma out watching the eyeball to make sure it did not pull any tricks but I did not see any traps or moves from the eye ball. So how the fuck are we currently in a trap that could affect people like us.

"Hahahahaha Fools! Welcome to Maze Castle! In order to enter you have to pass through the gates of betrayal!" The creature laughed out loudly and annoyingly. The thing was being smug now that we were trapped. As it taunted us the setting that we were in finally clicked for me.

This world was Yu Yu Hakusho it took me so long to recognize it as that anime was something I watched ages ago. Beyond that, the arc we were facing was fairly bland and not something that really caught my attention. The tournament arcs in Yu Yu Hakusho were the truly memorable parts of the story but this arc did happen in the story as well.

The annoying voice and the sudden trap were able to jog my memory. I could remember the identities of the Four Saint Beats and knowing their abilities I was a lot more confident in defeating them even if my current situation was not that good.

The four of us had stepped into a trap after all. Even with all of our strength, I could see that we were being pushed to our physical limits just to have the roof not crush us from the sheer force it was putting off. Sweat beaded down the girls' faces as they put everything they had into not being crushed.

"You fucking punk, as soon as I get out of here I going to tear that fucking eye ball out!" Ashley snarled out as she was clearly angry at the situation she was in right now. I now remembered enough about this trap to get out of it pretty easily.

The trap before me was purely mechanical so I just needed to transfigure the gears in the walls to stop the pressure from killing us. Rias could also get us out of this by just blasting the ceiling with her destructive blasts. I could only assume she was holding back on that front as she did not know what was going on here. She did not want to risk our lives because she wanted to blow this trap up.

"Hehehehe you will never escape from the Gate of Betral so there is no need to worry about your empty threats girl!" The eye ball announced smugly.

"You can feel the weight right? There are sensors in the hall way to measure the strength of its victims. Using a complex series of gears it applies the perfect amount of weight so the four of you can barely hold the roof above your head." The creature continued to explain the trap before us as I started to transfigure the gears to stop the pressure on us. It was a slow process as I was not able to use my wand or snap but I was still able to do it even if it was slow.

Rias was looking around as if considering blasting her way out right now. Ashley was cursing up a storm but she did not have an ability to help out here. Pyrrha also had a look on her face before she closed her eyes and started using her semblance. Her ability to fuck with Polairty was interesting and it made her a budget Magneto but I was not really paying too much attention to her. I was too concentrated on breaking this stupid trap.

Who makes a trap that is designed to make the people under it betray each other? It's sadistic and a dumb move it would be better if you just literally crushed everyone that came to your door. But no the Four Saint Beasts had to make it a trial to get their attention. Ironically it was only that the trap was not designed to outright kill me that allowed me to be trapped in it in the first place. If this thing was lethal Fortuna would have made it fail before it even got a chance at trapping me.

"There is a solution to your little problem hehehehe, this is a trial after all. The weight above you is designed with enough leeway to allow one person to escape the crushing weight of the world above you!" The eye ball announced with laughter bursting out of it. It was clearly taking joy in the situation it put us in. I was not sure why it was so smug this trap had nothing to do with it this was a trap designed by the Saint Beasts.

The weight above us started to lighten as my efforts at changing those gears were finally showing their efforts. Pyrrha had also started to dismantle gears as well but we did not really know what was important and what would lead us to having the weight increased massively so she was taking it slow. I was not too concerned about that as Fortuna had my back but Pyrrha was not that confident about her solution.

"You better make a decision quickly, the four of you are not able to hold that weight for very long so one of you should betray the others before the weight crushes all of you completely hahahahaha!" Again the eye ball was teasing us but the weight was getting lighter with every second it talked. 

Rias stopped looking around for a solution as she could feel what was happening and she shot me a grateful look. I guess she assumed it was me who was saving us, she was right but Pyrrha was also doing so and I did not see her shooting Pyrrha a thankful look.

Ashley also felt what was happening so she looked up at the floating eye ball and gave it a menacing smile. Which caused it to shiver despite its current position.

Before it could say something else Ashley's eyes glowed brightly and the creature before us plummeted to the ground. It let out a yelp as it hit the ground and produced a crater as it was pinned by the gravity Ashley was suddenly enforcing on the monster before us.

The eye was looking around wildly and eventually locked onto Ashley with a glare.

"This is pointless girl! Even if you pin me with this strange technique it will not let you escape the Gate! The only way out is to betray your companions!" The eye shouted out as it continued glaring at Ashley. Ashley just started laughing in return as the rood was starting to be pushed up with our combined strength and the decreasing pressure above us.

The eye ball was giving the sight before it a panicked look but it could do nothing as it was currently under the effect of Ashley's Sacred Gear.

With a loud click I finally finished changing enough gears to completely free us as the roof started to rise. Rias sat on the ground as she got her breath again. Pyrrha was looking coldly at the eye before us. Ashley was already walking towards the creature with a manic smile blooming on her face.

The monster was clearly panicking as it never expected us to escape the trap that it had placed us in.

"Call me girl one more time I dare you." Ashley spoke out lowly as she crouched so she could match the eye's gaze. It blinked rapidly and sweat started to fall off of the creature.

"Mercy?" The eye ball asked hesitantly and fearfully. Ashley just started to laugh in its face. Pyrrha continued to give the creature a cold look then she looked away as if she did not see anything. Rias was paling again.

"No." Ashley let out as she reached forward quickly not inhibited by her own field of gravity. She grasped onto the eye and started to retch it out of its socket. It was a slow agonizing experience for the creature before us but no one was feeling generous with that thing. Finally with a sicking pop the screams from the creature died and Ashley had a giant bloody eye in her hands.