Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ 64.5 ~~

Leraj's POV

We found Ban and King just as they disposed of their last demon. Estra stood with her foot elevated on the rooftop's edge, her shadow cast over them.

"So does this mean we won?" she called out, drawing their attention.

"It wasn't a competition, Estra," I said at the exact same time as King.

She jumped down and I followed, a lot more uncoordinated compared to her. I slouched against the wall, utterly spent, as she joined her friends. We'd just spent the better part of ten minutes clearing out demons left, right and centre; to say I wasn't tired would be an understatement.

"But if it was, I'd say we defeated more than you," Ban crowed, eyes flicking to me then back to her as he reached to ruffle her hair.

She grabbed his hand and flicked it away. I pushed myself off the wall.

"Why can't you just keep your hands to yourself?" she snarled.

For the briefest second, I'd felt her power surged to meet the threat. I had no clue if she'd realised what had occurred or if it was a subconscious survival instinct after Ban had sent her flying earlier.

"Cause it's more fun to annoy you," he said with a laugh.

"How did it go on your end, Estra? Any issues?" King asked.

"None whatsoever," she replied, flexing an arm. "Finished in record time."

"You look like you didn't do any work at all. Did ya get your manservant to do it all for you?"

I glared at Ban's comment just as he looked in my direction, a challenge in his eyes. He's doing this on purpose to get a rise out of me.

"Don't call him a manservant, Ban. Without him, I'd probably have to kill the knights."

"Guess a demon would know where their hearts are," he muttered under his breath but Estra was already speaking with King and missed it. I watched the Fox's Sin of Greed, his animosity towards me irking. 

He did raise an interesting point however. Besides her outfit and the dirt and soot streaked all over, Estra looked as fresh as summer rain.

The amount of mana she'd expended fighting those demons would have even had a high-ranking knight on their knees. Even though I'd told her to hold back countless time after the fight with the first five, she seemed intent on using as much force as possible to take them out. 

The black on her hands when she performed Firework was a worry in itself. It had only been fleeting but I could have sworn I sensed demon blood. Meliodas' demon blood.

But I damn well knew that Thief didn't do that. Thief stole a person's physical strength from them and gave it to the caster. I couldn't even be sure it was Thief she had cast back there. But if it wasn't....

Dormant powers? No, I would have noticed that in the beginning. Unless someone had made it so it could escape detection. And if that was the case, then someone did not want her power being sought out.

And not to mention the strength of her attacks. Watching her carefree and delivering a bodily punch into Ban's side, I wondered if she'd noticed the definite spike in her power levels. In the short time since she'd arrived in Liones, it had to have grown three-fold already – that was something that took months of focus and honing.

If the others noticed, they weren't mentioning anything. 

"We have a few minutes. We should rest a little before we head off," King said, floating down to the ground.

"Probably for the best, I'm feeling worn out." The lie slid easily off her tongue and I could she was trying very hard to not look at me when she finished speaking. She didn't have to say anything to remind me of each time she stopped at a building corner to wait for me to arrive. Lying to her would have achieved nothing.

"Not able to keep up?"

"Not all of us are immortal, Ban." Estra sat on rubble but her leg bounced insistently, betraying her calmness as she fanned her face. "Anybody else feel like they've stepped into a furnace?"

"I think that's just you, Estra," King responded.

"Yeah, you're looking a bit crispy," Ban said. "A bit sunburnt there, my friend."

"You'll be crispy in a second, Ban, if I hear one more word out of you."

We lapsed into silence and I rested my head against the wall, dozing. The fatigue in my body rendered me basically immobile in the fights. I wondered if Estra had seem me stumbling around as we fought the demons, practically ready to pass out. If she had, I had a feeling she wouldn't be sitting so nonchalantly.

If I could keep my magic use to basically nothing, I'd have enough in reserve for the big baddy at the end. Goddess' knew we needed it. Hendrickson experimented with that demon blood tentatively in the beginning when I'd been around but it seemed he'd gone overboard while I'd been in the field.

I opened my eyes and stared into the sky. Once we all - and I mean the entirety of Liones - rallied against Hendrickson, we should be able to take him out. He wasn't immortal which meant he would be feeling all the damage we've dealt soon. Regeneration took a lot out of you. 

"We should probably get a move on now," I said, shoving off the wall and heading towards the group.

"We ain't taking orders from you," Ban said. He folded his arms and looked me up and down in derision.

My eye twitched. "Fine then. What do you suggest we do?"

"We get a move on, that's what."

"Oh funny how that's the same thing I just said."

"No one cares. You aren't even supposed to be here."

"Your Captain asked for me specifically, so I'd say I'm where I'm supposed to be."

"How can we even trust you after what you did to Estra?"

"I never said you had to trust me," I replied. "But we're on the same side and just know that I plan on helping out Estra and Meliodas until the bitter end."

His hands had me by the collar in a flash. "Listen here, demon," he snarled, eyes narrowed. Mine narrowed in response but I didn't try to escape his grasp. "You're going to want to watch your step. I've already heard everything you did to her before. If you even dare raise your voice at her or any of my friends, I'll end you in a heartbeat."

Ah, so this was the real reason he was acting like this. Of course he had beef too, I had almost already been squished by Diane. It warmed me to know that they cared this much for her.

"How long have you been waiting just to spit that in my face?" I broke his grasp and stepped back. "I sincerely doubt you could end me. Either way, I have no intention of hurting your friends and I certainly have no intention to ever hurt Estra. Unlike you who punched her so easily before. Is that what friends do? Guess I forgot the etiquette over the years."

He swung at my face and I blocked with my forearm, following round with my own punch. Suddenly a giant teddy shoved us both apart.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" We both swung to face Estra.

Her eyes glowed orange, static crackling around her eyes. "We don't have the time for you two to continue your masculine posturing," she growled, walking forward and jabbing us in the chests. A sharp crackle of static stung my skin on contact, and I saw the flinch in the twitch of Ban's jaw as the same occurred to him. "When this is all over, you two can have your manly one on one, but right now, we've used up all our precious rest time."

Ban and I shared a glare.

"Seems the boss has spoken. Let's get a move on," Ban said with a smile, clapping her on the back and very well nearly knocking her over.

She spun round and backhanded his chest, lips pulled back as she chewed him out.

Don't worry, Ban. I plan on protecting her for the rest of her life.