<h4>Chapter 524: OFF WITH HIS HEAD!</h4>


    *Oh right… um… woops? I mean… I didn''t forget about the Summoner but I suppose I wasn''t even thinking that it might be hard on Stone. Even if it''s reasonable in terms of effort if we take too long he might run out of demonic energy.*


    "Sorry, sorry" said Kamiko "We''ll get back on track. Though… do you actually know how to deal with her?"


    "No I don''t" said Stone through gritted teeth. "I''ll leave it to you both to go through some ideas. It''s actually a major pain to speak while speeding up my perception of time so please work amongst yourselves. Sue is safe toe down if she wants. Tap me on the shoulder once you figure out what we''re doing."


    *What? He can actually talk in slowed time?! And listen too! That''s… that… I don''t even know how you''d go about that. Is it a skill he''s learnt or is it just an ability he got from Ranking up…*


    "How?" was voiced, and Kat was actually a little shocked to realise it was Kamiko who questioned it.


    "You don''t know?" asked Kat and Kamiko shook her head in return.


    Breaking things up, as always, was Sue, "Yeah well if you two what stop twiddling your thumbs… Kat, could youe up and bring me down?"


    Kat nced up at Kamiko and jumped into the air before bringing her wings out. The damage to them long since healed. "Sure thing, but can''t you glide?"


    Sue stepped forward so that she was sitting on the lip of the hollow in the ceiling Stone had made for her. It was an ufortable position as she had to keep her head tilted to the side to prevent her horns from scraping the top of the roof. "Maybe I just want to feel like a princess, carried down within your arms. It''s almost every little girls dream to have a prince charming" replied Sue


    Kat raised an eyebrow while pping her wings to stay in ce, she intentionally hovering just far enough away Sue couldn''t really jump towards her because of the ceiling height. "Fiiiinee" whined Sue "It''s because while I can glide I can''t really stop properly. I need to use my shield to take the impact of the ground and I don''t want to waste the energy right now ok? I don''t want you guys to get hurt, even if SOMEONE" Sue red straight at Kat''s eyes, though the effect was hampered by the need to keep her neck bent "was bleeding enough to put three demons in the hospital just a few minutes ago"


    *Naw, see there''s that heart of gold I''m sure somebody thought you had.* Kat flew closer and easily plucked Sue from the outcropping making sure not to hit Sue''s horns on anything as Kat started to go down. "Well, I suppose I can be your prince charming for just a bit then. I''ll make sure you''re safe when we''re on the ground as well. Don''t you worry about that"


    Sue snuggled into Kat''s chest to hide the surprise blush that crept onto her face. Sue was currently trying to work out when Kat actually managed to get good atebacks before realising that what Kat just said was actually so very in character for her it was almost painful. That cleared up the blush rather quickly… but that''s no reason to refuse the use of some quality pillows. Sue determined that more hugs would be in her future, weather her future boyfriends thought it was manly or not. While the experiencecked muscles, a definite minus that really couldn''t be ovee, the tenderness was something that might be moving up on the list of her priorities.


    Of course, it''s not like Sue would ever reveal that. As soon as she felt Katnd… and that was a hard thing to judge, for it was hardly noticeable even when she was looking for it… Sue leapt from Kat''s arms, and said, in the most faux haughty ent "Thank you my prince, you have delivered my safely from the castle the perhaps evil Stonemason trapped me in. I thank you for your service"


    Kat rolled her eyes at the antics and looked to Kamiko. "Ok, now that Sue''s here, what''s the n?"


    "Well I was thinking…" said Kamiko leaning on her naginata which had both des hidden at the moment and was practically just a walking stick, "that instead of taking out the Summoner, we could take out the big Crystal rat. That will free up Stone to take out the Summoner. I''m just not sure it''s safe enough for us to fight them head on"


    *That''s not a bad idea. It''s certainly much safer then any idea I can think of to take out the Summoner.* "We can check with Stone attacking it is safe before we try but I''m unbored. How will we kill it though?"


    "I''m thinking we try to chop its head off. I don''t know quite how much of it is powered by demonic energy or how much of it is biology. Still, even with just energy powering it taking off the head should be a major blow, and then we can work on the neck stump if we need to" said Kamiko thoroughly unconcerned with the slightly gruesome nning.


    "How are we taking the neck off though?" asked Sue "If Stoney boy has to keep it in ce and can''t just kill it outright do we really have the power to do so?"


    Kamiko shrugged, "I have two main ideas. The first is that we use my naginata on the crook of its neck and myself and Kat use as much power as we can to force it in. The other is to ask Stone if he has any pickaxes and maybe just try and go to town on it. Might take a bit to chip away, but I''m pretty sure that Stone will have some and if it takes a while that''s fine."


    "Might be able to pound it in with my hammer" said Sue "If manage to stick just the tip in you could hit it with my hammer and that should be able to put more pressure on it mming it in good. Better then just trying to using your arms"


    Despite the slightly crude way Sue phrased it Kamiko nodded along thinking it was probably right. "Ok, let''s tell Stone. Anything else before we go do that?"


    When the other two demons shook their heads, Kamiko started walking over to Stone, nked by the same two demons. When she arrived she tapped Stone on the side and waited for him to give a slight nod before outlining the n.


    "It should be fine. Your n is good. I have spare pickaxes but you should try the sword first if you think its strong enough to survive the stress. The pickaxes I have are old and worn, not in the best condition. Good luck. I can hold this rat no matter the damage" said Stone, with an unspoken ''for now'' at the end everyone heard fairly clearly.


    Three pickaxes dropped to the ground nearby and the girls all picked them up and looked at the giant rat. "Ok, hopefully this rat isn''t too slippery for footing." Mumbled Kamiko who jumped up first.


    Kat followed behind and could see the very clear gap between the head and the rest of the body. *That actually does look like a weaker spot. This crazy idea might just work!* Before Kat could get to excited though, "I can''t make that jump you guys" said Sue quietly.


    Still, Kat caught it and cursed herself mentally for not realising that. The rat really was huge, though she didn''t think it actually out of Sue''s ability. Still it was no big deal, Kat simply red her wings stopping just above the rat and handed her pickaxe off to Kamiko before grabbing Sue from the ground, this time carrying her by her armpits, wanting to be able to put her down very carefully.


    It was unnecessary though. Sue found her footing easily and Kat followed soon behind. Kamiko had put the picks off to the side slightly further up on the rat. You could see the wear on them, but they looked to be in working order. No rust or major chips.


    Still, Kamiko got out her naginata and ced it in the clear groove before nodding to Kat. When she put her hand on Kamiko''s weapon it jumped up slightly as the de came back out. The pair looked at each other and Kamiko raised the weapon as far as she wasfortable. "On 3 Kat. Use mental eleration on 2, we go together."


    Kat nodded.


    "One"


    "Two"


    Kat''s mind slowed, she focused on Kamiko''s voice and the fact she wasn''t pushing down just yet. Then the next sound came. Kat watched as Kamiko''s muscles tensed and copied, as soon as she felt the slightest downward force Kat joined in, letting her perception return to normal as the de dug into the rat with the sound of breaking ss.