Nao used magic to increase her speed and agility. She jumped, leaped, and ran across the rooftops to try and lose their shadows.

But it was not easy and the royal guards gave a good chase after them. There was a reason they had earned their title and it was not merely for show.historical

Many of the royal guards were well versed in magic as well and managed to hit Nao a few times. Maria felt the impact when that happened and it stung her as well.

“Nao, should I help out? I can aim to take out a few of them and create an opening for us” Maria offered her help to the demon carrying her but only received a shake of the other’s head.

“We should not risk it. You are an unwilling party for now and it gives you certain immunity if we get caught anytime. We cannot risk you like that. Besides, we have a plan for times like these” Nao explained which surprised Maria.

Having a plan like this meant that the other party had been thinking about this for some time. It also meant that this was an outcome they had expected and prepared accordingly.

Nao ducked into an ally which finally caused them and their pursuers to lose sight of each other. Nao took this opportunity to put Maria back on her foot and drag the other into a dack-door.

“Do you see them?” a guard asked only seconds later as heavy footsteps landed near them. Maria looked out of the peephole on the door as more and more footsteps followed after the first.

They neared the door and Maria felt a gasp escape her lips.

And then there as a hand on Maria’s mouth, muffling her voice and a pair of breasts on her back, squishing her between the door and a hard body. She also felt something big poke her in the back and Maria did her best not to let it affect her.

“Don’t make any sound” Nao’s voice said directly in her ear and Maria felt a shudder run down her spine at the sensual voice. She had to clench her fist to control herself.

Her body was still sensitive from the night below and the remains of the spiritual egg inside her pussy did its best to remind her of that.

The footsteps were coming closer toward themselves and all Maria could think of was the body behind her own. She could not help it that her mind decided to jump directly in that direction.

“Oi oi oi, don’t open that door if you don’t want trouble. Don’t you know who owns that establishment? It’s Lady Karin. We don’t want any trouble with her” the panicked voice finally did the job and knocked Maria out of her perverted thoughts.

“Lady Karin territory? Seriously? Darn, even those escapees would not dare go in there if they value their life. I guess it’s best we check around here” Maria felt her breath ease out as those footsteps moved away.

Nao also finally pulled herself back from her personal space and Maria felt she could breathe.

“Lady Karin? Isn’t she-” .. ”-The famous demon witch? Yes, she is. But I have a reason to bring you here” Maria started but Nao finished those words for her.

Lady Karin had been a noble who had been taken over by a demon a long time ago. Rumour had it that she gave her consciousness away to gain powers.

Though her family refused to believe it and even caused a commotion against the claim. The family had enough political support to push their way and provide lady Karin a full pardon.

Not that it would have mattered much. Lady Karin was a formidable lady in her own right and held enough power to oppose her one secretly planned assassination.

Then she had proceeded to take over a portion of the town and convert it into a kind of gang. She was the ruler of that place and rarely butted heads with anyone as long as you left her alone.

Even the royal family had given her a wide breathe and left her alone. To have someone like her protect them was a dream come true.

But still, nothing came free to anyone, and Maria could not help but feel suspicious of all this.

“Why would someone like Lady Karin help us? If she’s really a demon and as strong as she is said to be, then should she not want this war? She had enough support to even win it” Maria did believe that Lady Karin could win.

She had only seen Lady Karin once and all she could remember was a pair of ruby red eyes looking back at her from a pale face. Those eyes were framed by a few scales on both sides.

The vision of the redhead clad in red had certainly left an impression on Maria.

“Lady Karin is an odd one and she has her reasons as well. Please don’t mind her words or manners when you meet her. She’s a little eccentric but she means well” Maria felt nervous at Nao’s words.

There were a lot of ways one could be ‘weird’ and they were not limited to one’s behavior. Maria could think of a couple of ways this could all go down wrong and she fervently wished that her dread would turn out to be wrong.

Nao led her through the building and toward the upper floors of the management.

Maria had not realized just how tall the building had initially been but the transparent life made it pretty evident.

Maria could see the whole district from the lift and the higher they went, the more she could observe. The whole block around them was abandoned and left for ruins.

The buildings were in perfect condition but the lack of maintenance was beginning to show up on their surface. It was a poor show of wealth a person possessed and Maria noted to bring this topic if she got a chance to do so.

“We’re here” Nao spoke up once the life stopped moving and Maria took in a deep breath to prepare for the worst.

The lift door opened and there she was - the vision in red oh so familiar. To Maria, it felt as if she was once again back in that moment where she had first met Lady Maria in all her read glory.

The gown followed a similar style and so did the hairstyle. Even the make-up looked to be the same from that day so long ago.

Lady Karin looked as if she had not aged even a single day ever since that fateful meeting and Maria felt nervousness swirl inside her belly.

“Welcome home darling~ I had been waiting for you for ages now. Come, hurry up or the party would start without you” the vision of red moved so fast that Maria hardly had any time to brace herself before she had a pair of arms intertwined with her own.

Lady Karin had made her way toward Maria and led her across the corridor without any second glance towards Nao.

It seemed as if the lady in red only had eyes for Maria and it send a shot of fear down Maria’s spine.

Just what had gotten herself into? The lady in red felt like a ticking time bomb on Maria’s arms. She felt like she was one wrong away from blowing it all up in everyone’s face.

Maria looked back toward Nao for help but her aid shifted her head to the side. Even Nao was turning her head away from this situation which made Maria aware that she was on her own. She had to manage this situation herself somehow.

"Lady Karin, can we have a talk? Do you know who I am?" Maria asked the lady who gave a giggle behind her hand. Lady Karin seemed to be in her own world and paid no attention to things around her as she walked.

She managed to walk Maria into quite a few objects on the way which made it even more awkward to have this talk.

But despite all that, her eyes gave off a feeling that she was more than aware of what she was doing. Her behavior felt like an act, a test to see whether Maria was the real deal or not.

'System, I need you to do something for me' Maria did not want to involve the system in this but she felt as if she had no other choice. She needed to get past Lady Karin to move forward.