(Manami POV)
"Insects… All of them... Remind me why we're not raging across the battlefield right now?" My dearest cute little sister asked as we made our way towards the south side of town.
I spanked her behind, making her yelp in surprise at my sudden action.
"You're letting your sense of power cloud your vision, my cute little Kiyomi. Strong as we may be, a small fight between a group of Practitioners is very different when others are involved in such a large scale battle."
She pouted at me while massaging her bottom, "How so? Our real opponents will still be the other side's Practitioners right?"
"Ufufufu~ Underestimating non-Practitioners would be your downfall, my cute little Kiyomi. Or have you forgotten that our dear Elaria isn't one either?"
"Sister Elaria is different. She has been graced by Master's light."
I giggled, "You are right~ Though remember, there will always be others especially trained to counter Practitioners, more so during war times. And it would not do if you are encircled if one such person can negate your Techniques."
Kiyomi tilted her head, "You seem to know a lot about this, dear sister. Was it from your time as a Guardian?"
"Ufufufu~ Not at all~ Master was very quick to instruct this fact to us during our first few days, Master seemed to have quite a bit of experience in that regard. It is a shame that you have yet to properly experience one of Master's lessons yet~"
"Hmmm…. I'm hoping things will go back to normal after this…"
I patted her on the head, "Oh my cute little Kiyomi, things will never be normal after this~"
The South side had an entrance that was in between two small buildings. It was unfortunate that most of the materials had been used to build the barrier at the front of the cave and the main entrance of the town so none could be spared to fortify this position.
Then again, the princess had intended for this to be an escape route if necessary, even if she had no intention of running away herself.
A small group of soldiers were already there, all of them being followers of ours.
The one in front bowed, I recognised him as one of our High Inquisitors that had taken part in our New Years Festival back then.
"High Priestesses, a thousand of us stand ready to guard this entrance with you. Please use us as you see fit."
Kiyomi let a trail of ice dance across her fingers, "I think I can handle this by myself, let me see how much I have grown, won't you, dear sister?"
Ahhh~~ My dear cute little sister~~ I thought that your acting work had simmered your want for power but it seems like meeting Master had reawakened it.
As her older sister, I should give her my support and watch over her!
"Ufufufu~ Remember what I told you, my cute little Kiyomi~~ Big sister here will still watch over you though!"
She sighed but said nothing more, stepping forward a short distance away from the entrance.
Just then, the thundering of hooves resounded in the distance, heralding the arrival of a large group of heavily armoured horsemen.
"Is my cute little Kiyomi going to be fine?" I called out.
"Yes, sister, just watch over me. I can take them."
The riders saw her and immediately lowered the lances they carried in their hands, not slowing down their speed in the slightest.
Unperturbed, Kiyomi spread her hands out to her sides, creating a layer of ice that spread in front of the cavalry group.
The lead rider noticed the ice too late and his horse slipped on it, sending its rider crashing face first into the ground.
The horses behind him tripped on the downed horse, creating a chain reaction of men falling over one another.
Several of the fallen men didn't have time to recover before they were trampled by their own comrades, their screams of pain drowned out by the thunder of hooves.
The rest split down the middle, charging on my little sister's flanks in order to get past the entanglement of horses and men.
She raised her left hand and a wall of ice materialised in front of one group of riders.
The horses couldn't stop in time and smashed right into it, shattering the ice but also creating another pileup in front of the wall.
She raised her other hand and another wall of ice appeared in front of the other group.
But instead of blocking the group's advance, the wall seemed to shatter before the riders actually reached it.
I could see Kiyomi frowning at the spectacle before she raised her arms, summoning an array of ice spikes that she fired towards the riders.
This time we could see someone in their midst raise an arm to summon a ball of light, creating an almost transparent dome around the group.
Kiyomi's icicles shattered when it touched the dome, not even leaving a dent on the invisible shield.
She clucked her tongue, retracting her hand to her chest before pushing out again.
The air in her vicinity turned frigid, creating a mist around her that spread towards the charging horsemen. Everything that the mist touched froze instantly, even the bird that had been caught in it turned into an ice statue that dropped onto the ground.
Unperturbed, the horsemen continued to charge with the shield dome still covering them.
When they entered the mist, the dome froze over to become visible, but the freezing effect failed to reach the people protected by it.
Now, they were only several meters away before they reached my cute little sister.
I was prepared to pull her out of harm's way but she raised up her hand to summon forth another ice spear, this one thicker than the previous ones she summoned.
She tossed it at the shield without ceremony but like before, it was blocked by the shield.
No, not completely blocked, it seemed to have impaled itself on it, perhaps half an inch into the barrier.
She snapped her fingers and the ice that had been outside the barrier collapsed into itself, using the part that had impaled the shield to enter and spew forth a hail of ice needles.
All of the ice needles targeted a single person, which just so happens to be the Practitioner maintaining the barrier.
It looked like Kiyomi would be able to at least kill the eyesore, since his mind was too focused on maintaining the barrier to notice the rain of death coming towards him.
But at the last moment, the horsemen around him raised their shields to form another barrier that blocked the attack, leaving him unscathed.
Kiyomi cursed and tried to look for a way out but the lead rider was already within striking range.
Before his lance could pierce through her though, I had teleported her back to my side without a scratch.
The group came to an abrupt stop, all of them confused at where their target had disappeared off to.
"Ufufufu~ You understand what I mean now, my dear little Kiyomi?" I giggled.
She gritted her teeth, looking down at her hands in slight embarrassment, "Yes, elder sister…"
"Ufufufu~ That is good. Now... Should we show them what two fox youkai sisters backed with a thousand men could do? They merely tasted the strength of one and they were reduced to such a state."
She clenched her fists, "Very well. I will see this as proof that I am yet still not strong enough. Lend me your strength, dearest sister."
"Ara ara~ If my cute little Kiyomi asked so sincerely, there's no way I can refuse!"
I snapped my fingers, prompting the men behind me to take a step forward with their weapons drawn and pointed towards the cavalry formation that was trying to regroup.
"Ufufufu~ Let's kill them, shall we?"
