Dimensional Descent

The waitress froze, her small frame trembling. She suddenly felt as though it was particularly cold despite the fact Planet Luxnix had spring-like temperatures year 'round.

There was no surprise that the two figures that had blocked her path were Mall and Willaith. Likewise, it was also no surprise that this young woman was the very same waitress with a perky butt that Ossan had been ogling at.

Mall and Willaith were too experienced with cleaning up Ossan's messes to take a chance like this. At the same time, these waitresses knew well the kind of job they had. Not a single waitress picked out for such a high-end restaurant wouldn't' be extremely beautiful, extremely skilled, and most importantly of all: extremely intelligent.

A waitress might be a position many stereotypically looked down upon. But, the higher end the restaurant, the more stringent the requirements. At a certain level, becoming a waitress was not only exceptionally lucrative, but highly revered as well.

Due to knowing such things, Mall and Willaith had even come together, cutting off all paths of retreat and not taking a single chance. Even when this young woman began to shiver in fear, they didn't lower their guards in the slightest.

It was possible that she really was so weak. But, it was equally as possible that she was a talent that surpassed the two of them.

In that moment, without even waiting for any words to be exchanged, the two shot forward, killing intent thick in their gazes. Mall had already set up a barrier to block out all sounds. This one was even thicker than the one he laid in the restaurant.

A vast energy coated Mall's palm as he struck toward her chest. A spark of lightning ran through Willaith's irises as he too struck out, but toward her back.

It was right then that the seemingly frail young lady sprung to life. She slipped out of her high heeled shoes in one smooth motion and tore a line up the thigh of her pencil skirt, uncaring for the skin or undergarments she exposed in the process. What was her dignity if she couldn't keep her life?

She knew exactly what was happening here. It seemed that her act in pretending not to hear a thing earlier hadn't worked. Or rather, maybe it had worked but they still chose to cut away loose ends and not leave anything up to chance.

It seemed that after a few years of working in the industry, she finally ran into her first life and death situation. But, all hope wasn't lost. They were in the middle of the city. As long as she could find a chance to break through those barriers the guards would be alerted and she would have a good chance to live.

If this was Viola family territory, it would be helpless. But, luckily, this wasn't their arena to control.

The young woman's body became as nimble as a panthers, her body taking a quarter spin to the side and arching out of the way of the two strikes.

Mall and Willaith's palms smashed against one another, missing their target. The resulting impact sent the woman flying toward a wall of the alley-way, something she took full advantage of.

Her toenails seemed to grow into two inch claws, tearing through her black stockings and cutting into the wall to anchor her propulsion upward.

Before Mall and Willaith could react, she was already more than ten meters in the air, her arm cocking back as her fingers also grew with claws, each one having their own metallic sheen beneath the twinkling golden moonlight.

The young waitress's back was bloody from the impact of Mall and WIllaith's strike, her once tight shirt having been ravaged by violent force and her trinkling blood. She could feel her vision swimming as she forcefully kept it together.

Just the aftershocks of their strikes put her in such a state. Yet, even without looking back, she could tell that both of them weren't injured even after exchanging blows like that. The difference between them was clear and obvious, at least in terms of defenses.

This was her one chance. She had to break through this barrier.

The young woman's eyes lit up with excitement. She had made it!

Her claw ripped forward, coated by a menacingly sharp Force. It tore through the energy barrier Mall had set up like a knife through butter.

The young waitress's chest expanded as she took a deep breath.

"HELP! SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL ME!"

She roared out at the top of her lungs. She put so much effort into tearing through the barrier that she lost sight of the building before her.

In the back of her mind, she felt that tearing through that energy wall had been too easy. She had put so much effort in the swing that it knocked her off balance, causing her to lose a chance at staying latched onto the tall walls.

The young waitress found her falling back to the ground, her expression changing. She realized in that moment that she still couldn't hear the bustle of the city even after tearing through the barrier.

'There's more than one barrier?!'

She realized in that moment that she had made a mistake. It wasn't that Mall and Willaith couldn't chase after her, but rather that they didn't have to. In all likelihood, they were confident that even if she realized this earlier on, she would have been blocked and sent tumbling down by the second barrier.

Who would have known that she would ruin herself before she could even make it that far?

Despair sunk its hooks into the young woman's heart. She too had her own story, who didn't? She thought that this would be her chance to take a step forward. But, it seemed that she would be like so many who got snuffed out by the harsh realities of the world long before they got a chance...

Mall and Willaith's gazes locked onto her as she fell to the ground, hopeless to do anything. They brandished their palms again, ready to kill her in one blow… Until, that was, they sensed a killing intent sharper than even their own.

Before the two men could react, a shadow had appeared between them, catching the young waitress who had accepted her fate out of the air.

The masked shadow swept an indifferent gaze toward the two of them.