...Daughter?

No way...if what he's saying is true, then Goku adopted Amber.

And looking at Shinji, he has bright orange hair just like Amber does! It explains her strange hair color, but what about the fact she's a kitsune?

"You're not my father." Amber growled. "You'll never be."

"How dare you, you little bi-" Shinji growled, before Goku's thunderous roar cut him off.

"Shut up five dollar haircut!" Goku screamed. "You have no right to be her father, not after what you've done."

"It's exactly my right as her father." Shinji sneered. "And I'll let you know, my hair is great."

"You lost the right as father the first time you hit her." Goku growled. "Abusing a child, and forcing them to unlock an Arcana early? She's lucky she's alive and didn't explode."

Abuse...?

Those words struck a pang within my heart. They hit too close to home. Those words were a lot more familiar to me than they should have.

Amber reminded me a lot of...me. Abuse from terrible parents, those undeserving of holding that title.

It made my head spin and my blood boil.

No one should have to go through that.

"Maybe that ungrateful bitch should have died then." Shinji scoffed.

"What?!" Goku angrily roared, lunging at Shinji, reeling his fist backwards for a punch.

Ruka quickly jumped in front of Shinji, taking the strong punch from Goku. She was sent flying, skidding across the floor before standing up, slightly wobbling.

"Ruka!" Cried out Shinji. A staff appeared in his hands. He pointed it towards Ruka, a stream of yellow aura flowing to her.

Goku quickly tried to take out Shinji, but Ruka appeared in front of Goku once more, gripping his wrist and stopping his punch.

Goku gripped her wrist with his hand, twisting it to let him go. He jumped backwards, facing Ruka. A long spear formed in her hands while Goku's shotgun appeared in his.

"Bastards..." Amber growled.

"They abused you?" I asked.

"Yeah. They'd hit me whenever I didn't live up to their standards as the next head of the Takao. After they forced me to awaken my Arcana as a kid I ran away. That's when I met my real dad." Amber explained.

My fists tightened with a growing rage.

"Fuckers..." I muttered under my breath.

I looked back to Aoi, who stood there, staring at us. She didn't make a move, nor a sound. Was she waiting for something? No, she wasn't staring at us, but something behind us...

"Ken?!" Amber suddenly cried out in surprise.

I quickly whirled around, Loki turning into a katana and slicing through the air. One-Eye stared at me in a state of shock, cut in half.

His top half slid off the bottom, both of them splattering against the floor, spraying blood into the air.

The blood splattered onto my clothes.

...

I'll have to wash them later.

"Thanks for the warning." I nodded to Amber, looking back to Aoi. "Let's take her on."

"Alright." Amber grinned, two gauntlets forming on her fists. She raised her hands in the air, getting ready to rush Aoi.

Before we could do anything, a black collar suddenly manifested itself around her neck. She flinched, before sighing.

"Recalled." She emotionlessly said.

She started to walk towards us, with the intent on passing us and leaving.

"You think we'll just let you go that easily?" Amber growled.

I placed my arm in front of her, causing her took st me like I was insane. "What are you doing?!" She hissed.

"She's a monster." I whispered back. "I'm not sure if we could defeat her. But we'll have chances in the future, once we're stronger."

"Besides, we need to help Goku." I stated, nodding to her adoptive father.

We looked over to Goku, who was struggling against Ruka and Shinji who was constantly healing her.

How strong are they to give him that much trouble?

"...fine." Amber growled.

Aoi walked past us, glancing at us before continuing on her way.

I hate to let her go, but I'm sure we'll get a chance in the future to take her down. On the bright side, her early appearance could actually be good.

If Lupercio is already deploying one of his most valuable pawns, then I've definitely pissed him off.

And there's also The Pink Death, an assassin sent to kill me.

If he's deployed two of his pawns like this against me, then he sees me as a threat. Something threatening his return.

So I need to become stronger. Strong enough so that we can stop the Demon King.

For good.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Shinji yelled at Aoi. "Get your ass over here and help us!"

"I have no more reason to help you." Aoi stated. "He's called the deal off. All of our assets we lent to you, we'll be taking back."

"...what?" Gasped Shinji, afraid.

Aoi turned from him, walking up the stairs and exiting the underground base.

As I turned back, ready to help Goku, I was left with the sight of him being sent flying towards us, slamming into the ground.

Goku?!

"Dad!" Amber worriedly yelled, crouching down and checking on his condition.

"Ah..." He coughed out some blood. "...I'm fine..."

"No you're not!" Amber yelled. "Damn it! How did that woman do this to you?!"

"She's...much stronger...than before..." Goku grunted. "Just give me...a moment."

"Yes, I am much stronger." Smiled Ruka as she started to walk towards us. "In fact, there's something about my strength that I haven't even told the government yet..."

"I'm qualified to become the sixth S Rank Adventurer in Japan." She grinned.

Oh god.

An S Rank Adventurer. Goku could go against one, but when you have one that's being continuously healed by a healer?

They have the advantage as their wounds are being constantly healed. And now that Ruka has done a good deal of damage on Goku, we're at a huge disadvantage.

Damn it, what can I do?!

"Fuck you!" Amber screamed, running at Ruka.

Two fluffy ears appeared on Ruka's head, along with nine tails behind her. So that's how Amber is a kitsune...

Amber lunged towards her, blinded by rage. She swung her fist back for a devastating punch, but Ruka effortlessly caught it midair.

With her other arm, she grabbed Amber by the face and lifted her up. Amber grasped at the hand crushing her face, trying to pry it off. Her legs swung, trying to shake herself out of the vice grip.

"Such an ungrateful little brat." Ruka scoffed. "I'm the one who made you, so I have every right to be the one to end you."

Shinji walked over, staring at the Amber who was having her head crushed. "Say goodnight." He whispered.

Seriously? Is that what you seriously believe?

You "parents" are the worst of the worst.

And then I had an idea of something that I could do.

"Hey." I said, directing Ruka's attention to me.

But my voice didn't sound the same as usual.

When Ruka looked over, she was met with a shocking sight that caused her to drop Amber out of surprise.

"A-a second Amber?!" She gasped.

I no longer looked like myself, now looking like Amber. Loki had also morphed, mimicking Amber's two gauntlets.

"That other Amber, she was trying to trick you." I stated. "I'm the real Amber...I'm sorry I ran away...I'm such an ungrateful brat."

I kneeled down, bowing to her.

"What?" Ruka asked, confused. She looked between the dazed Amber on the ground and myself. Shinji was also as equally confused.

Too distracted to notice the change. It's a good thing they were focused on Goku most of the time, and then focused on killing Amber.

Helps me greatly.

"Tell me something that only I would know." I stated. "I'll prove it to you, that I'm the real Amber, and that I truly do regret running away."

This is a huge risk.

"Hmm...why did you run away?" Ruka asked.

Did she not hear Amber tell me earlier?

...

Perfect.

"Right after you graciously unlocked my Arcana." I stated. "I needed some time to figure things out. And after that, I infiltrated the horrible Taiyou family for you."

"It is you!" Ruka gasped.

Terrible. She can't even recognize that I'm tricking her. I'm acting so different from Amber's actual personality, and yet it worked.

Amber shook her head, looking around. She looked at me in shock, seeing a second version of herself. Goku looked at me confused, wondering what I was doing.

I gave them both a quick wink.

"I brought Goku and his star pupil Ken here, in order to finally end everything." I stated, gesturing to Goku and Amber, both on the ground.

They quickly caught on.

"Amber?! You betrayed me too?!" Gasped Goku.

"Amber...no..." The real Amber sadly said, in an effort to convince them.

Ruka walked over to me. "Oh, I knew you couldn't have been so rebellious. I knew you'd come back to us one day, but this is even better than I imagined."

"l'm glad you've seen that everything we've done is for your future."

Bullshit.

"It seems like you've finally grown from an ungrateful brat." Shinji grinned.

"Yes." I nodded, standing up.

"You're such a good girl." Ruka smiled, patting my head.

"Sorry..." I replied.

"Huh?" She asked, looking down at me.

A dark dagger was thrusted into her chest, piercing her through her heart. Her eyes went wide as she coughed out blood, splattering it onto my face.

Amber's face disappeared, looking like my own once more.

"...But I'm not your daughter." I finished.

I threw her to the side, letting her body lifelessly hit the floor. Her dead eyes stared at me as a pool of blood grew under her.

"Ruka?!" Shinji squealed in a mixture of fright, grief, and surprise.

"Maybe if you knew your own daughter, this wouldn't have happened." I scowled.

The dagger morphed, a chain extending from it's hilt. I threw it to my left, impaling Shinji right in the face without even looking at him.

I ripped it out of his face, letting him also fall down to the ground, lifeless.

Their blood was soaked everywhere on my clothes. I don't think it's going to wash out anymore.

I stared at the dead bodies on the floor. Even S Rank Adventurers are susceptible to surprise attacks and assassinations if they don't have a passive defensive tier.

It was a gamble, but the plan worked.

And now, Arc 5 is over a month before it should be. So many innocent lives, saved. It felt good.

"Come on." I said, looking back at Goku and Amber. "Let's get out of here."