With a sweep of my tail a hailstorm of ice fragments were sent in the direction of the veiled guards.

Beside me Naomi dashed forward sword and shield in hand, intending to take down the guards before they could react to my attack.

I had purposefully not aimed for the guards vitals but had instead struck their limbs intending to freeze them so that Naomi could finish them off.

*BANG* *SLASH*

The veiled guards were killed with no chance to retaliate the ice that I had thrown on them blooming into restraints.

"Good job"

Under my praise Naomi preened, a smile blooming in her angelic face, made even more angelic by the halo hovering at a slight angle over her head and the ethereal wings that were growing on her back. Ever since Naomi had advanced to tier 8 the wings on her back were slowly growing from ethereal to corporal.

The only complaint I had was that when Naomi was happy or in combat the halo that I saw right now would appear, it was a testament to the terrible control she kept over her powers.historical

I didn't let the disappointment over her control appear on my face, keeping the encouraging smile that I had always held on. There was no reason to discourage her right now, even if her control was terrible she was still a great asset to have if I could properly train her.

Even then Naomi's control wasn't that bad, compared to the others in our little alliance she excelled but compared to me. 'Heh' she was nothing, the sheer amount of aether flowing off of her when she utilized her abilities was a testament to how terrible she was and even more to the others in the alliance.

Off in the distance I could hear something of a boom.

"Hm" I hummed, "Do you hear that Naomi?"

The only answer I got was a shake of her head and a confused look.

Looking in the direction of the sound I heard and focusing again, I could hear the sound of battle.

It wasn't that far but I could not completely hear where it had come from, just the general direction.

*WOOSH*

It was as I was contemplating on how to find the disturbance that I heard it, the whoosh of air being displaced by something being thrown.

Taking a glance at Naomi I dash towards the disturbance intent on finding whoever was brave enough to traverse this realm.

..

Blue, that was all I could see as hundreds of icicles were pointed at me. Looking at the girl I could feel the weight of her aether covering the icicles that were aimed at us.

'Shit'

*DEATH*

That was the first thought that came to mind, we had almost died. My legs felt a bit shaky from the fear of death that I had felt. Luckily my tail was able to conceal the shakiness in my legs.

Looking over it seemed like Naomi wasn't able to sense the incredible power that the girl was able to put out.

"You d-" beside me Naomi was trying to defend me, her halo was out in full bloom and was in the middle of casting some support onto me.

"Enough, Naomi" I say, turning to look directly in her eyes to convey my seriousness and stop Naomi before she escalated this encounter to a fight.

Looking back at the girl, I saw a purple haired girl with closed eyes somehow glaring at us. It was like my whole soul was laid bare to her sight.

However when she opened her eyes I was surprised. Instead of the crystal clear eyes that I had expected all I saw was the cloudy purple eyes.

Naomi could not feel the power flowing off of this girl, but I could, I knew that if we had fought there was no way for us to win.

Thinking back there was only one person that I knew could put such feelings into myself, Darwin. She must have been at the very least as powerful as he was.

"I'm sorry for my subordinates disrespect, I am Gabriel and my subordinate's name is Naomi." Looking back at the girl I introduce myself and Naomi.

"It is fine, I am Aoif." Next to me Naomi's eyes widened in surprise however this had just confirmed my suspicions, this was Aoif the second in the fame rankings.

A scheming smile appeared on my face as I started to plan, this was a great opportunity. If I could get Aoif to join our alliance then our power would skyrocket, I would not have to worry about being overtaken by the others and could break off.

"We would like to invite you to join our little alliance, Aoif"

Before Aoif could respond I continued on, "We humans have been invaded, we of this alliance are dedicated to protecting our fellow humans, it would be a great help if you could join us." This part was made up on the fly, if she had a noble heart then this would appeal to her, the chance to be the savior of the human race and even then if Aoif had a cruel streak then I could play that off as a cruel joke.

Either way I could spin this to my side.

It seemed that Naomi had recovered from my scolding though as she had meekly gone behind me, hiding in my tail.

"No"

It was a quiet answer but it echoed out in my ears like the world had exploded.

All my carefully laid plans.

Well carefully laid in the last few seconds but still that was a lot of work.

"Do you at least want to hunt together?" I ask, trying to at least salvage the situation.

Yes if I could get Aoif to hunt with us then I could grow closer to her and with my amazing body would seduce her into my camp.

Of course none of my thoughts were shown outwardly, I had an image to maintain after all.

A nod and the icicles pointed towards us were dispelled was the only answer I got.

However before I could lead us in a direction, Aoif had approached me with speed that almost seemed like she was teleporting.

She grabbed my shoulder and I could feel an invasion of foreign aether rushing into my body.

"There I can see again, thank you"

"If I may ask, what did you do?" I question not allowing the panic to appear on my face.

"I connected our senses so that I could see again." Aoif said before continuing on, "I am blind and the only way I can see is by taking the sight of others."

With that said Aoif let go of my body and started off into the distance.

Naomi behind me finally spoke up now that Aoif was supposedly out of earshot.

"Are you sure?" She questioned.

"Yes, now let's go."