Nanomancer Reborn - I've Become A Snow Girl?

Watching the corpse of the Queen collapse in front of her, Keiko chuckled before flicking the blood off her knife.

"Shiro, the job's done. Surprisingly, I even got a title from that." Keiko smiled.

"Oh? What title did you get?" Shiro asked curiously since she never got a title for killing Queens.

"I got something called Queen Slayer. Increased damage and stats when trying to assassinate a Queen. Apparently, I got it since I killed a Queen despite not being one myself." Keiko raised an eyebrow.

Hearing this, Shiro paused for a moment before remembering that Nan Tian didn't get the final hit for killing the other Queen.

'Ahh… what a waste. If he managed to get a title like that, it'd be extremely helpful.' Shiro mused to herself as she shook her head.

"Come back to the city for now. Lisandra should have the zone claimed in a few moments."

Nodding her head, Keiko ended the call before glancing back at the Queen's body which was now disintegrating to ash.

###

Without any hindrances, the zone was claimed. Unfortunately, there were no bonuses that came with this zone which caused Shiro to understand that not just any tier 6 could invoke that kind of effect.

Her guess was that only Demi Gods or those close to this realm could as both Iziuel and Nimue fit the requirement.

Glancing up into the sky, Shiro could see three circles that had her crest on full display.

Now that she had claimed three of the zones, there was definitely a big target on her back.

However, she didn't mind. After all, from what she could tell, most of the Queens here couldn't even hold a candle to Keiko never mind Lisandra. If they got rid of the cannon fodder now, they wouldn't need to worry about getting stabbed in the back while fighting someone strong like Thiria or Arnea.

Shiro still wasn't too sure about where Syradil stood in yet since she seemed to be a battle junkie like her. Last time, they had fought against one another before teaming up to push back Arnea. During that battle, Shiro understood that Syradil didn't seem to care too much about the rewards and was just there for a good time. Depending on what happens, she might even be able to rope her over as an ally rather than an enemy.

The only problem with this is, Syradil is the one who tortured the previous Spirit Queen to death. In front of Estrella no less.

She knew that the moment Estrella came face to face with the Dragon Empress, a fight would most likely break out.

'I'll need to talk to Estrella before I deal with Syradil. Even if I want her as an ally, I need to make sure Estrella is fine with it first.' Shiro thought to herself. Plus, she wasn't sure what the reception of the spirit race would be if they knew she allied herself with the one who tortured their last Queen.

If one thought about it, the downfall of the spirit race before Shiro came around was a direct result of Syradil's actions. If it wasn't for her, perhaps the Spirit race would be doing ok and Shiro wouldn't have gotten the Queen title.

Shaking her head, Shiro decided to visit Estrella.

###

While that was happening, Kanae was currently patrolling the city.

Jumping up and launching off a few buildings, she landed on the roof of a shop and sat down.

Swinging her legs back and forth, she looked at the crests that decorated the horizon.

*Sigh…

"Shiro-nee's doing fun stuff again." She muttered while glancing down at her hands.

She figured that after being stuck in a dungeon and being somewhat powerful meant that she could help Shiro out more often but right now she was just patrolling the city every day.

It wasn't that she disliked it but rather she didn't feel like she was contributing much.

Reaching into her inventory, she pulled out two rusted katana's that were on the verge of breaking. While she couldn't see the durability, she figured that it was something similar to 2/100.

These were the katana's that Shiro had gifted her when they parted ways in New York.

The swords were named Crimson Devourers and they could be levelled up from level 5 all the way to 50. During her time in the dungeon, it was this weapon that stayed by her side and kept her going.

A part of her liked to imagine that Shiro was next to her, protecting her from harm. Even when she surpassed level 50, she still kept these weapons in her inventory as a reminder of what helped her.

She had tried to get these fixed and upgraded with Helion's help but it was a little difficult. Not only were they upgraded already with nanobots, but it was also cursed to lose most of its abilities.

Shaking her head, she put them back in her inventory.

Standing up, she looked at the katanas that she was using right now. It was something that Helion had made for her and she had to admit, they were sharp. But they didn't hold the same meanings for her.

"Hais… I should go back to patrol." Kanae muttered as she prepared to jump back down.

However, before she did, she noticed a small flicker of light in one of the alleys.

Raising her eyebrow, she held her katana on her waist and skipped over the rooftops.

Securing herself to the wall, she glanced down and saw that it was three people trying to set up a portal.

There were glowing relics in their hands and it seems like their only purpose was to set down am anchor point of sorts.

"That's not acceptable." Kanae muttered as she narrowed her eyes.

Since it's late into the night, her red aura was extremely eye catching as she jumped down.

"Mn?" Noticing a shadow enlarging beneath them, one of the men looked up and caught a glimpse of Kanae.

Before he could even react, Kanae grabbed his head and slammed it against the floor.

"This is Asharia Patrol, state what you are doing before I run out of mercy." Kanae warned, taking a low stance with one hand on her katana handle.

Shocked at her sudden appearance, one of the men charged towards her as a barrier appeared around the final person who was responsible for the portal.

"I'm guessing you're desperate to resort to this. Even though Shiro-nee gave you a home like this, you still chose to sabotage her. What did the Queens offer for you to do this? What would make you destroy a place like this." Kanae asked, easily side stepping his charge and hit him on the back of the head, forcing him to fall forward.

"Heh you wouldn't get it. Colour of the soul? Bullshit. All I know is that she killed my wife and 'gracefully' allowed me to live here. I don't know how much I can do but I know the other Queen would be able to do more." The man grinned as he tore his shirt apart, revealing a rune.

*Sigh…

"Unless your wife had committed a serious sin, Shiro-nee would have allowed them to enter the city. She is not one without mercy. If she was indeed killed then sorry, it meant that Shiro-nee couldn't take any risks just like how I can't take risks with you lot. May you rest in peace." Kanae sighed as she closed her eyes.

Tightening her grip on the katana, she drew her blade.

In a single breath, there were now three corpses around her feet. The barrier that he had prepared was erased thanks to the properties of the sword in her hands.

Walking over to the spot where they tried to leave a 'tracker' of sorts, she stabbed her sword down and destroyed the formation.

"This is Kanae from patrol. Is there anyone listening in command?" Kanae said as she pulled out an ear piece.

"This is command, Nan Tian speaking. Is there something wrong?" Nan Tian said as Shiro had just left a moment ago.

"I found some suspicious individuals that were trying to set up a tracker of sorts. Not sure which Queen they made a deal with but Shiro-nee might want to look at this."

"Mn, I just got their signals on the radar. They seem to have something masking their aura but it's short lasting. Alright, I'll pass the message onto Shiro once she returns. You should go rest for now, I'll have more drones patrol around tonight." Nan Tian smiled as Kanae nodded her head.

Looking back at the corpses, she watched as drones appeared at her location and cleaned up everything before scanning the half finished formation.

"How did they even come in contact with the Queen…"

###

"Heh~ so even after all my prep the camouflage only lasted a short while. I guess it is also unlucky that they ran into patrol. Hmm… as the Queen of Trickery, it leaves a bit of a sour taste." Aisha giggled.

She was one of the first Queens that Shiro had met in the new age and one where they fought to a tie.

Discarding the three dolls in her hand, she glanced over at her shelf that was filled with dolls.

"Who should I use next." She muttered with a small smile.