Going back(Grace)

So this was the place? Grace wondered what Toji had to be feeling right now. He said not to interfere. Grace hesitated, but eventually agreed. She thought Toji looked like a criminal going to his execution. But he was right, her interference would do nothing. Toji was strong enough that if any of these villagers tried to attack him, Toji would be able to take it.

She stayed a few paces behind Toji, and prepared for the worst when the half-demon pulled off his hood. The people seemed shocked at first, but Toji's heartfelt apology on his knees was sincere, and they could see that. They forgave him. Almost instantly, in fact. Grace was surprised how quick these people were to forgive a fiend. Did they really not hold a grudge?

And suddenly there was...a feast? Where did this come from? Grace had expected this to be a depressing day, but they were in the happiest village in the world. She was invited to the table by Toji, and she slowly approached. She took a small piece of meat from the table and looked at the village elder. "So...we were wondering if there was anything we could do to help you."

"A hail of bullets, huh?" A man with a robot army? Wasn't Corgi the demon from Toji's past? As long as a monster like that wasn't in the castle, it should be no problem.

Although that didn't explain how having the castle would get rid of Corgi. This was such a strange village.

Grace turned to Toji. "You feel like taking on some robots? I can make a wall of ice to block all the bullets." Not waiting for Toji's reply, Grace walked towards the castle and held her arms out in front of her. Ice formed on the ground outside the village. It grew taller and wider, until it had formed a massive block of ice.

Let's see them shoot through this.

Grace levitated the block of ice a few inches off the ground and turned back to Toji. "Ready?"

Show off. Here Grace had gone through the effort to make a bullet-proof shield, and Toji had run on without it. Oh well, that was just who he was.

Grace flew behind her shield until she caught up to Toji. So the master of the manor wasn't home? That seemed like a good thing. Grace went to work by turning her ice shield into a massive hand and crushing several machine gun turrets.

The robot guards were no real threat to her. She sliced one in half and crushed another one with a huge ice hammer. Grace really wasn't doing most of the work. Toji was all over the place, literally. He was breaking guards, deflecting bullets, and even ...destroying torture devices? Life was never boring with Toji around, that was for sure.

Toji seemed disturbed suddenly. Grace didn't know why, but they would have to cry later. More robot guards were swarming the room, and Grace found herself pinned against a wall as she focused on protecting herself from the bullets. No wonder the villagers hadn't tried to fight back.

"Toji. Fight now, cry later!"

Grace was reminded of what a destructive force Toji was. She was glad he was one of the good guys.

Grace wiped sweat from her forhead. She hadn't expected nearly that many robots in a place like this. What did anyone need with that many machines in a place so remote?

Robot making equipment? Never did anything sound more like it needed to be broken. It took some searching, but eventually they found the generator room. All these machines were disgusting, and Grace wanted to smash them so badly. However, this was Toji's personal quest of redemption, so she decided to give him the choice.

"Do you want to do this, Toji?"

Grace watched as Toji smashed all the machinery. He was getting tired. She had been trying to let him take his anger out, but what if a real threat showed up now? Hopefully, none would appear. After all, Toji had said that only the CPU (whatever that was) was left to destroy.

Still, as a precaution, Grace put a hand on Toji's shoulder. "Let me do this. I don't want you to become exhausted."

Her ice wouldn't beat this robot? Grace smirked, but didn't argue. This was Toji's mission, after all. He got to call the shots. Besides, they hadn't run into anything that difficult yet.

Grace flew to where Toji said the CPU would be, and was met by the large red dome. So this device was responsible for the suffering of those people in the village? It needed to be destroyed. She reached out her hand and touched the computer. All the heat from the evil machine was channeled into Grace's body, freezing the metal frame instantly. With a mental command, Grace crushed the entire machine into a ball the size of an apple. The remains of the CPU floated beside her in the air, and she decided to give it to Toji as a gift. Or maybe those people in the city would want to hold onto it.

Flying back to where Toji had been fighting the Enforcer, Grace looked for the half-demon.

Toji seemed almost too angry about all this. Grace knew that it was from his painful past, but still. He just ripped the thing's head off. She was worried that in his rage, Toji would do something he regretted.

"Toji, calm down. Is there anyone else we have to fight here?"

Toji was bleeding. Grace knew he had some healing ability, but it looked like he was hurting pretty bad. If she froze his wounds, it would allow her more time to get him to a hospital. Did they even have a hospital out here in the middle of nowhere? Grace bit her lower lip. How foolish she had been. She hadn't expected anything out here to be a threat to them, but she still could have planned on the worst.

"Toji, you're hurt. Let me freeze you. We need to get you back to a hospital."

Grace flew closer to the half demon and reached out her hand.