Thomas Prest: A Simple Magician

"Vampire!"

That exclamation surprised and, much to her shame, distracted Natasha enough that her captive managed to cast a particularly strong Lumos spell right into her face... and grin at his victory.

It was short-lived, however, as Natasha didn't burn as he expected and his grin froze when his Lumos ceased and he was met with Natasha who stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Was that supposed to do anything?" She asked with an undertone of confusion.

And here she shielded her face with magic when she realized her mistake, expecting something that packed more punch than some useless light show. Well, she surmised that attempting to blind her was probably a good move.

Natasha's free hand gripped the bewildered man's wrist, imbuing her nails with the Power of Destruction, making them shine with a crimson hue. She dug her nails into the man's wrist and they went through it like a knife through butter, swiftly severing his wand-holding hand from the rest of his arm.

The man screamed bloody murder, or at least, he tried but Natasha's grip on his throat allowed him to let out only choked whimpers. His wide eyes full of pain stared at the cold emerald gaze of his captor, making him feel inwardly cold at the total lack of any mercy or empathy in these eyes and his fear only intensified.

Alas, this was a far too strong blow for his ego. How could an esteemed pureblood cower in front of some filthy vampire!?

His belief in his superiority momentarily suppressed his fear. This enabled the fear to give way to anger and anger birthed courage, "Why are you not burning, creature!?" The man asked in outrage. But if one listened closely to his tone, it would be ever-so-easy to still find the fear and pain in it.

Hearing his question and seeing him act tough, Natasha's lips quirked into a small amused smile, "Sorry to burst your happy bubble but I am not a vampire." She nonchalantly said, wondering why the man thought her to be a vampire.

"Impossible! Only these magic-less freaks can be so fast!" The man furiously exclaimed, murderously glaring at Natasha.

It was obvious his opinions were made and despite him seeing her shrugging off the Lumos spell or even using magic, for him, she was a 'magic-less freak'.

Natasha wanted to facepalm at the sheer height of stupidity in her hands but knew the futility of speaking with an idiot so she only shrugged, "Whatever lets you sleep at night."

She then raised her free hand with the glowing crimson nails and the man's fear was instantly back in full, his confidence disappearing into thin air as quickly as it appeared.

"D-Don't be hasty! If you kill me, you will perish with me!" He tried to reason with Natasha whose amused smile only widened a bit.

"Kill you? Nobody said anything about killing you."

After all, dead people did not suffer anymore.

Of course, the bigoted man took her words as a sign he was relatively safe and his arrogance was back, "Good. At least you know your pla-, aaargh!"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Natasha plunged her nails into his shoulder, her Power of Destruction in them allowing her to get through his flesh as if she was dipping her hand into the water. Her fingers took a hold of the man's collarbone and then... she forcefully ripped it out.

This time, not even Natasha's tight grip on his throat prevented the man from screaming as sheer agony blinded him while his head spun.

"My orders are to permanently cripple you." Natasha emotionlessly said, more to scare the remaining five young adults who stood around them since she doubted the man in her grip could think straight through the pain.

His remaining five followers were gaping at the scene and shaking in their boots, three of them even forgetting to aim their wands at her due to the pure shock and horror they were feeling.

Natasha let go of the collarbone she had ripped out of the man, letting it fall onto the grassy ground, seemingly completely ignoring the young inexperienced kids the man she was torturing took with him for this joyride.

There was not much they could do without endangering their leader anyway and it was painfully obvious they could not decide if they should intervene and risk it or not.

'Amateurs...' Natasha idly thought, expecting more from people obviously sent to deal with her and Tom.

Then again, these people were sent to kill her Tom.

Her green eyes flashed with a ruthless glint, the decision of what to do with her target already made in her mind. Her hand relocated near her victim's lower body, her crimson nails gleaming with the malicious nature of her special energy...

But suddenly one of her remaining five enemies gathered enough guts to go for one last 'Screw it all!' and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"

A green bolt of energy hit Natasha in the back... and just as the five young wizards heaved a sigh of relief at the sight, it dissipated into thin air on her crimson locks while Natasha half-turned, giving her now petrified attacker an unimpressed look.

"Just patiently wait your turn." She smirked at him, utterly clueless that from their point of view, she had just shrugged off an unstoppable and unblockable instant death spell.

She naturally saw the spell coming the second it left the wizard's wand and could dodge it but... why bother?

She might not be Tom and definitely wasn't capable of inwardly countering the effects of spells with her mana, but she had her own tricks.

For her, it only felt like a minor annoyance as it impacted her long crimson hair. The same hair that was supercharged with the Power of Destruction, which instantly snuffed out whatever magical effect the spell tried to enforce on her.

Long hair was a major limiting factor in a battle. Especially if they were long enough to reach all the way to her lower back and could cover her whole back in her crimson mane.

Natasha would not have that unless she had a way to mitigate the disadvantages.

This technique to imbue her own hair with the Power of Destruction was her answer to this problem but it was also something fully original.

It wasn't a technique she copied from Sirzechs's memories and Natasha was very proud of creating it completely by herself. Even Tom praised it, knowing that it could only get stronger and better as her control over her own mana and concept increased.

It was her ultimate 'shield'.

The kind that could destroy any purely magical attack as long as the mana in her hair was not severely overwhelmed by the mana in the attack.

As for these wizards with a pitiful amount of mana in their bodies and an even lesser amount in their spells?

Heh... As long as their spells hit her hair, there was really nothing they could do to her so... sucks to be them.

"I still have a lot of work to do on this one." Natasha dryly said, not bothering with the fact her remaining enemies were practically shitting themselves after witnessing someone 'block' Avada Kedavra just like that, and she nonchalantly turned back to her still whimpering hostage.

Natasha was far, far from done with him.

After all, a missing collarbone could still be healed by wizards. And that would mean she didn't fulfill the parameters of her mission, no?