[Leena's POV]
.
.
"Hey, Anna. You asleep yet?" I asked as I looked at the ceiling of the shop. To be fair, it was kind of odd to find yourself in a safe place.
"Umu," she spoke as she snuggled against the blanket, trying to get into a proper sleeping position.
Us sisters were always on the run ever since we were born. In the beginning mother protected us, but as that damned array began taking over her more and more, she grew weaker.
From protecting us to being protected, times have always been rough on us.
"You think we can cure mother this time? I honestly don't have much hope," I spoke as I turned at Anna. It wasn't the first time that I had asked this question…
"Umu. I have high hopes this time," She spoke as she opened her eyes and looked at me. She was rather confident about this, which gave me hope once again.
"Don't you always say that, idiot?" I laughed a little as I tried changing the topic.
":p" She stuck out her tongue with a cute smile before she smiled lightly. I patted her head before I stretched a little.
"I should relax a little and sleep too," I spoke to myself as I got back on the mattress.
"AAAAA-!!!!!"
"WH-!!"
"FU!!!!!"
"WHAT IS THIS?!!!!"
Though it seems like our sleep was short-lived as we heard screams from the outside. Both me and Anna got on our back as we looked at each other before looking outside.
From the glass window, there was little that was visible except the empty street. And the screams were only momentary before they were gone.
Even after half a minute passed, there were no more screams.
"Check?" asked Anna as she looked at me, but I was rather skeptical. While we should definitely see it or else it's gonna be all night, we still don't have any idea about the situation.
"All right. Let's be careful though," I said as she nodded before. She wore her hat and then picked up her staff from the side.
I, too, picked up my hat before taking the bag carrying my grimoire.
"Enhance," Anna chanted her magic at me, while I touched her head as I chanted,"Reverse Blessing."
The power to reflect all magic back to the owner, good or bad, without consuming any mana. That was one of my real powers that I used with Anna to survive.
Anna's chants were also special as the magic's effects were usually 2 times more powerful than normal and worked 3 times as long. It was in her innate nature of sorts that she was born with.
"Mana Magic" she chanted again.
"Reverse Magic" I did that again.
"Agility Boost"
"Reverse"
"Strength Boost"
"Reverse"
"Stamina Boost"
"Reverse"
We continued for over a minute before Anna started chanting this specific spell.
"Mana Regeneration."
"Reverse"
This spell didn't do anything to me since my mana was never consumed, but it helped her regenerate her own mana.
All the more because it did not consume any mana. A broken spell, but it only worked on another person than Anna herself, so there was quite a catch,
"All right. I'll move first," I spoke as I moved towards the door with Anna behind me.
While we could have stayed in the shop, there was another reason for us to get out of here and check outside.
That was the fact that this place wasn't ours. And the owner was pretty nice to us… He treated us without any judgmental look.
From the way he was able to talk to the High Elf and argue with the Dryads. Along with the added fact that he was going to help us get back our necklace, even removing the curse from it.
'It would feel really bad if a fight were to occur because of us and his shop getting caught in between.' I knew in my heart that I would feel bad.
Opening the door, I checked the surroundings first.
"??!"
And in front of me there were broken pieces of bodies. A cat woman, a canis, and another tail of the horseman. Those were the few that were barely recognizable.
From the way it looked, it seemed that a bunch of people were burned, frosted, cut down in pieces and then obliterated at random places. While it was a silent massacre, it was rather too much of a scene.
"Sister," Anna said as she looked on the side road, and a couple of men were coming towards us one step at a time. They wore circular hats while carrying crossbows of gray silver.
"And I thought we could relax, at least for tonight," I sighed as I looked at those people…. The Witch Hunters.
"4 E-Level. 4 D-Level. 5 F-Level," Anna said as she scanned the entire place around us, making me a bit more serious than before.
"Seems like they sent another batch for us… we must be famous now, don't you think?" I smiled as I looked at Anna, who seemed as calm as I was.
"Thank you for coming out by yourself. Seems like we won't be troubling the store maker," one of them spoke as he reached closer to us.
"Not like a small fry could have done anything to us. I guess he has enough good luck," a feminine voice came from behind him as more people became visible.
Now that they reached closer, I could see a bunch of them rather oddly. There was a fat man that was twice as large as most of them. And another giant that was thrice as huge.
The guy that seemed like the leader was a man in his 40s, walking in front with a red scar on his left cheek, cutting his eyes as well. His white hair and that scar gave away his identity as well.
"Silver Ranked Witcher, Barbados," I said, as I didn't expect a known hunter to be coming for us. This was my first.
"Flame sisters, Anna and Leena. You have amassed quite a bounty on your head… by the law of the witch hunting society, we have come here to take you into our custody. Dead or Alive," the leader spoke as he took out a folded paper and threw it towards us.
The paper opened in front of our feet, showing 300 Golds and 500 Golds each. 300 for me, and 500 for Anna.
"Wow. Seems like it has increased quite a bit compared to last time," I spoke with a joy filled voice as I turned to the leader,
"And yet you come here thinking you have a chance."
My grimoire then began levitating in the air in front of me as a red hue began glowing around it. My eyes turn red as a dozen of fireballs flew in the air around.
Giving them a side look, I then smiled as I asked them again,
"And yet you come here thinking you have a chance."
"Foolish choice," the leader spoke and two of the witch hunter pointed their crossbow at us and began shooting immediately.
The crossbow arrow points were made of gray silver, while the wood was made of paraffin wood, designed specifically against the witches.
"Burn. Melt," though as I looked at those arrows, they vanished without a trace before reaching us. And those witch hunters looked at us with their eyes, surprised.
"So it really is true that you aren't affected by either of them, huh?" One of the hunters from the side seemed to be particularly interested in that.
'So they really have come specifically to us?' I thought as I saw them testing us first.
Normally witches are quite weak against gray silver and paraffin wood, since both these absorb pure magic at a higher rate. But because of being in contact with our mother's cursed array for so long, our mana became impure.
That impure mana helped us overcome our weakness. At least there was a silver lining within the dark clouds… not really happy about it, to be honest.
"Can I have the younger one?" Another sicko bastard among them eyed Anna with his lust filled eyes as he moved closer to us at a rapid speed. His speed was quite fast, much more that I almost couldn't see him.
But just because I cannot see him…
"Burn… Ashes…. Flames," I mumbled as I saw that guy almost reaching Anna, but stopping in between as his eyes turned wide. He paused as his skin turned red and then orange before….
"AAAAAA-!!!"
-BOOOOM!!!!! He shouted loudly before he got blasted into pieces in front of us. Making the witch hunters a tad bit more cautious against us than before.
Some of them stopped walking, while others pointed their weapons at me.
The unfazed Anna, who just kept looking at them without any care, made them even more surprised than just what happened.
And I looked at them with a smirk that was far more sinister than before as I asked again,
"And yet you come here thinking that you have a chance."