“The laughing kid stomping loudly upstairs ♫
The damn lovebirds flirting on the streets ♫
Those rich asses living in their golden bubbles♫
I just wish they would all just disappear ♫”
Fire!
“Dammit!”
Collateral damage was unavoidable with this damn girl in the city, I had to create distance between her and Amelia! Using all my available parallel minds on top of my own mind to begin casting, eleven white magic circles appeared behind me, causing the demonkin to flinch. With my attention locked onto the enemy, I shot a barrage of [Sacred Smite] at her.
She threw away the coat she was wearing and her body immediately released a stream of red lightning, forming into two horns and a tail. I would have thought she wouldn’t have any time to avoid my spells, but in a split second, she formed her elemental halberd with her lightning and used it to block the first spell. Using the knockback from the first [Sacred Smite], she flung herself back, and then disappeared from sight, leaving only the afterimage of a red streak as my spells decimated the street.
That’s it! Spread the fire! Overload! Buffs on!
[Various Spell Buffs] [Overload] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Lightning enveloped my body, sizzling even the cells inside my organs. The pain wasn’t very noticeable, actually it was more like the electricity was numbing my senses to my own pain. From prolonged [Absolute Pain Nullification] usage, I knew it should be very painful, but I needed this extreme, high-risk Agility boost to keep up with this speed demon.
However—
Ha! Foresight says—
“KriiiGHH!”
— it was still not enough.
Arck! Fast!
“Get shit on, ya damn lizard!”
With a powerful blow to my head, I crashed right into the building next to me, demolishing it and the ones around it at the same time. I was far larger than anything around, to the point I was peeking over them a moment ago.
A headache. I felt something leak though my pain tolerance, and after snapping my eyes to the side, I saw the girl holding a huge lightning warhammer. My [Draconic Barrier] protected me from the attack partially, to the point the attack was healed up in a second by my white flames. Using my sun core, I also regenerated the mana I used up, although since it was raining and the sun was covered up, I should take care not to overuse my solar energy, unless I absolutely needed it.
I’m sorry for the houses. I’ll pay you back!
Pushing myself out of the building, I used [Wind Blast] to shoot myself forward, launching an uppercut slash with my tail at the girl. Expectantly, she dodged out of the way immediately, but the point of the attack wasn't to hit her, but to release a flame cloud and scale-dust into the air.
My [Foresight] and [Danger Perception] activated once again, but now knowing how fast she was, I was able to react two seconds earlier than before, protecting myself with a scale barrier. A loud “BRANG” sound erupted, followed by thunder as I saw the black-red-haired girl reappear before me. As Saori said, she really was fast.
Voltaic Red. Blast away! Dreadflare Aura!
And before she could flee once again, I super dialed up my inner temperature, exploding the scale-dust within me at once to turn myself into a heat bomb. The demonkin was caught by the explosion, unable to use her lightning speed in time.
Not wanting to melt the surroundings though, I disabled it immediately after three seconds, and in this time, the demonkin reacted. Her body produced red lightning and vanished, only leaving behind a red silhouette. However, I remembered Saori’s theory on how this Warbringer’s power worked.
Magnetism through her mana. She wasn’t teleporting, she was just speeding up, and that always left a red streak behind. I only needed to follow it with my eyes and—
Flashfire!
— use my own super speed ability.
My vision instantly turned into streaks of color, disorientating me as I had no idea where I was until it steadied. And what I saw was a small girl with lightning right in front of me.
“Huh? Wh— GRAAAK!” Before she could speak, I slashed at her with my claws, set aflame by [Hellblade Edge]. I felt electricity sizzling my claws and scales upon contact, forcing me to simply launch her away from me instead of grabbing her.
I wasn’t in my [Battle Frenzy] form for nothing. To make up the level difference of 50 levels, half of my current level, I honestly needed everything I could muster up.
And I didn’t expect to hurt her in any sorta way until I could activate my two strongest buffing abilities.
“Ark, you damn lizard!” the girl cried out from the ground, recovering from her fall, although she didn’t show any damage from my claw attack. Did she ward it off somehow? “You piece of— Woah!”
Hellflame Breath! As I’d gonna let you speak, you damn bitch!
[“Amelia! Sir Knights!”] I spoke to Amelia and the knights telepathically, looking at them from the corner of my eyes as I left my parallel mind in control of my fire breath. [“Get her out of here, now! Go to the arena!”]
The knights instantly saluted and pushed Amelia awayfrom the battle, while I could hear her faint “Be careful!” even from here. However, my instincts told me I couldn’t allow any more distractions, but I was still glad I made it in time to protect her from this scum. And my gut feeling was proven right when I saw my flames being pushed back for some reason.
Listening to my skills, I interrupted my flame breath and dodged to the side, only to see a lightning halberd fly past me. I snapped my head around, seeing the girl forming a lightning crossbow to shoot lightning bolts at me.
I set some of my scale-dust in the sky aflame and used [Flashfire] to avoid the bolts, dashing over to the explosions, before being forced to do it again as the demonkin anticipated my destination with bolts flying past me. The damn rain really limited the amount of fire in the area, since only flames on my body were unquenchable with [Inferno Coating].
That meant the demonkin could predict where I was going, leading to us clashing again with our melee attacks. I swung my burning tail and wings around, fending off her lightning weapon assault. Size and mass mattered quite a bit as I could push her aside with everything, but my bulky original form led to more attacks landing on me, totally unavoidable with how freaking fast she was!
I’m getting outsped! Dammit! I need my Symphonie now or never!
“You fucking lizard, what did you do to me!” she shouted as I dodged her rapier that was aiming to pierce my eye. “Why can’t I summon my arms!”
[My Darkest Thought] was the reason, of course.
“Those are my honest thoughts, something I wish to hide from them ♫
My life is stagnating, nothing I do brings me forth ♫
All I can do is sing, drowning my sorrows while it rains ♫
Every step I take just brings me back, to a rundown apartment room ♫
Turn away, close my eyes, lock these wishes far away ♫
Not again, not again…or I’ll cry until the end ♫
All of my darkest thoughts ♫
Will serve me as my muse ♫
So, I’ll sing, I’ll sing, I’ll sing, I’ll sing! ♫
As I fade from your thoughts ♫”
The fact she hadn’t noticed it probably could be attributed to how tense the situation was. You couldn’t really appraise [Music Resonation (Moderate)] and get the information needed in this high speed fight.
And that was my advantage over her, and something I would push to win this fight! Level 150? Fuck off, this girl would be going down for trying to kidnap Amelia!
I gnashed my fangs together, unleashing explosive scale-dust in front of the demonkin, avoiding her attack with the resulting smokescreen. Using this small moment, I focused my mana before my jaw, concentrating it on using my second Divine ability through [Battle Frenzy].
I held it in, perked my ears, and focused purely on my hearing to track the demonkin through the smokescreen. Instantly, thunder claps; pang-pheeeeeew. Even through all this rain, I heard it. And it happened again. Pang and phew, pang and phew, pag and phe—
There! Light Horizon!
The demonkin jumped out from the smoke just as the white scales on my body began to shine like light bulbs, triggering the divine power inside my [The Light] title — [Light Horizon]. Light manipulation; that was what I was doing, and with it, I shot out pure demon-killing light pellets at the demonkin!
“Gruuek!”
And it was a point-blank hit! And, from the look of her face, it actually hurt her.
Flames! Prevent her from healing! Hellflame Breath!
“Bwaa—!”
Unleashing my flame breath again, I shot the girl up into the air, using this chance to activate [Purple Flash] to quick-cast [Omnictus] on her ass! Applying [Dread Burn] on her was the goal here, all so she couldn't heal any of the wounds I inflicted on her before that abnormal effect disappeared.
And, since [Omnictus] ignored non-living enemies, there wouldn’t be any collateral damage with this spell! I couldn’t sense anybody around us, so this was the chance for me to deal some serious amounts of damage!
In five seconds, a small baseball stadium-sized white magic circle appeared in the sky. As the runes within the circle rotated like the hands on a clock, bright light gathering inside of it, turning the mana I gave to it into potent holy light. And once it was enough, a beam from heaven shot down from the sky, striking where I felt the demonkin would be in my flame breath.
I stopped my flame breath as the spell hit, believing I didn’t need to add more to the damage. Beating my wings, I took to the sky to take a closer look at the demonkin, only for my eyes to widen up like a goldfish as I saw that demonkin floating in place, protecting herself from my spell with a lighting barrier. This was a level six [Sacred Spell], how was she—
Eek!
She snapped her head to me. Eyes filled with rage, exuding so much bloodlust that it caused me flinch.
“EeeeRAAAAAAAAAH!” she howled like a proud beast, despite her barrier slowly being pushed down. “EMOTION SURGE!”
My spell finally showed its worth as she was slowly pushed to the ground, but for some reason, I couldn’t help but feel this strange foreboding. She was screaming her lungs out, trying to elevate her three emotions. However, it should be futile with my song around. The song should be stifling her demonic powers to a degree.
However, she kept on hollering, completely ignoring the situation at hand. It felt intimidating as hell how she wasn't giving up, but it also weirded me out that I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking right now. With my mind calmed down now with Amelia escaping to safety, it was about time for me to appraise her profile! I needed information.
Mana Eyes!
Information Blocked
What?!
How the hell was this possible!? I knew she was level 150, but this girl looked around my age! How the hell did she have the ability to block my [Mana Eyes] out of all the things?! She wasn’t even wearing anything special I could see, so I was presuming it was ‘cause of a skill. But she looked 15. 15! She was at a higher level than most people despite being a kid!
“KIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAH!” And that was when my curiosity instantly turned into wariness and fear as her neon red highlights in her hair grew even brighter as her lightening intensified.
She let out a deep sigh afterward and snapped her grimacing face my way. She deactivated her lightning barrier, deciding to simply fly through my spell and just tank all the damage. Without a doubt, this girl was crazy to tank a level six spell like this, but who cared! She was level 150!
Deciding Plan A wasn’t working as well as I hoped it would, I cast both [Panzer] and [Unheiliger Engel], believing it was time to inflict torpor venoms on her like the other demonkin. Hiding trump cards wasn’t possible with her.
So, before she came out of it…
Halo of Consecration… and with this new solar core. Even if it breaks!
Heat and energy. From my newly-formed core, I could feel energy flowing from it, invigorating my body like nutritional pills. I could feel my power overflowing, but at the same time, the temperature inside my body was skyrocketing. How long had it been since I used this draconic ability?
Unable to keep my internal temperature down with my core in overdrive, the scale-dust in my scales exploded, surging right through my [Panzer], releasing poisonous gases in the process. White and purple flames mixed together into something neither holy nor unholy. This was just part of my flames, but at the same time, it was also the tulmotious symbolism for the unfettered energy swelling up my throat at this very moment.
It’s too much!
I had to release it! Now, even with the target still moving.
Solar Beam!
The power overwhelmed me, the heat far stronger than it usually was! Just by opening my mouth a tiny bit, the energy stream forth, forcing my jaw to widen as I unleashed solar energy right at my target.
Unfortunately, I saw her red streak moving away the moment she escaped the [Omnictus], regaining that magnetism movement. Even worse, the stream was far too unsteady for me to control probably, already having trouble preventing it from writhing around like an out-of-control water hose.
I could only stare as two buildings were instantly melted at the mere touch of my breath, turning into sludge including the ground underneath. A hole was drilled right through, causing me to panic as I couldn’t stop the damn beam! I still had too much energy inside of me to stop now!
Shit! It’s coming!
I was barely able to keep up, but that damn demonkin was coming! The lightning streaks were blanketing my sight in red lines. A chill was running down my spine, as I couldn’t move my body right now, unless I wanted to totally destroy this city! Or even worse, kill a bystander!
Damn! Parallel minds! Help!
‘Target locked out! Fire! Move the Engelflügeln around for protection!’ Manager Mind commanded the other parallel minds. Two minds were responsible for [My Darkest Thoughts], but the others unleashed seven spells while [Unheiliger Engel] was used to defend me.
Urk!
But before the spells could be cast, I suddenly felt something hard punch right through my scale barrier, before disappearing. A red streak was left behind, alerting my parallel minds to hurry up, only for my attention to snap to my right, witnessing numerous of my floating scales falling onto the ground. There, the demonkin was floating, with a gauntlet in her right hand and a staff in her left.
“Come and catch me, bitch, oh wait, ya’re a turret now, gecko! Stay there, and I’ll puncha ya light’s out! Extreme Speed!” A purple magic circle enveloped her body in bright lightning, answering why she seemed faster than before. Level seven [Lightning Magic] — [Extreme Speed]!
Fire!
[Halo of Consecration]’s white flame blasted around me in a wave, forcing the demonkin back. She had to be injured, no way did she go through [Omnictus] unscathed. Even if my Job skills like [Holy Demon Slayer] and [Humanity’s Foe Slayer] were deactivated while in my dragon form, she should still be injured!
[Sacred Smite] and [Tornado Bullet] were blasted at her like missiles, preventing her from moving straight from the look of her red streaks. The problem with using higher-tier spells was the destruction of the city; that was why [Omnictus] was so good. Too bad it required either a long cast time or [Purple Flash] increasing the mana cost by three times the amount to cast.
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When we had first started fighting, red lightning had covered the sky above the city, hiding the grey cloud behind it and sizzling away rain droplets with every movement. Now, though? Not only was she dashing around, but I was shooting out spells without a care for my mana. This was where my high mana capacity was useful for, and I would not be the one to lose in this dogfight!
However, this girl was fast, not to mention how she could sling lightning spells and her custom spells around without a single delay. How talented was this girl to have [Chant Revocation] at her age? It felt ironic complaining about it, but her talent was giving me nothing but stress. She was zig-zagging around like a fly, but could hit as hard as a rhino.
Even my parallel minds couldn’t keep up with her superior Agility, forcing me to release [Dreadflare Aura] as precautions. [Unheiliger Engel] was proving quite useful in conjunction with my scale barrier, but it felt like I was losing momentum. If only I could stop this solar beam.
No choice. Gotta force it!
Increasing my internal temperature and putting some stress on my core, I activated my rocket boosters and forced my body to twist around as I closed my mouth. A sharp pain spread inside my throat as I did so, feeling like I would blow up if I didn’t let it go, and I had to, the moment my boosters turned my head around to the sky.
I unleashed the solar beam once again, trying to hit the demonkin while keeping my spells active. Finally, the city wasn’t being burned, and I could also shoot out some [Banishment Beams] to support my attacks. But eventually, the energy inside my throat died down, returning control of my power and my body back to me.
… It just so happened to also coincide with the demonkin’s next attack.
“Voltaic Red: Thunderspeed Roar!” With a giant red spear at the size of a small house, the demonkin stood in the air as she roared out her attack. With a wide grin, she threw the attack at me, causing a loud shockwave to shake the very air around it.
Shit! Block it!
Tanking it was out of the question. Dodging also felt hard with the speed of that attack. Which meant I needed an unbreakable shield right now!
Purple Flash! Gloria Ascendence!
Consuming even more of my mana drastically, a bright light covered me up in a cocoon, shining brightly as it took the red thunder spear head on. The impact got stuck into my protective spell, but it didn’t seem to crack at all. The unbreakable shield of light took the damage and turned it into Health, and even this sky-shaking attack was nullified in the end!
With a “brzzzzzzzz” echo, it dissipated in front of me as my shield died out at the same time. I felt relieved managing to survive that attack, but my [Foresight] suddenly blared out like a siren, warning me of an attack coming from my back. Instead of looking, I dialed up the heat inside me and used my rocket boosters to blast anything behind me!
“Grrukkk! Da— TAKE THIS!”
“KRAAAAAH!”
A sharp needle pierced my back, electrocuting me in the process. My wings felt numb, losing the strength I needed to remain in the air. As a consequence, the blistering powerful rocket boosters sent my body out of control like a balloon. I was forced to use [Tailwind] to crash land into a nearby square, where I stopped my scale-dust from exploding.
Dammit! Grrrrk!
“HAHAHAHAHAH! Krak! Krak!” Maniacal laughter followed by out-of-control coughing prompted me to stand up and turn around, witnessing the demonkin landing with a face filled with ecstasy. “Amazing! I-I, hahaha, what the hell is wrong with me?!”
That’s my question, psycho!
“100% in all three emotions, but I’m not goin’ mad? Berserk? I-I can think! I can think properly with [Excited], [Fear] and [Anger] all at max! My elemental arms ain’t forming at all, but I don’t care! For the first time in my life, I’ve never been able to feel this ALIVE!” she blurted out before crackling again. “Who the hell are ya? How are ya doing this? Not even Lord Sloth got it figured out to help my mates. But, here I am. I’m not going berserk even after using [Emotion Surge] so many times!”
What? What is she talking about? I stared at her in befuddlement, but it didn’t seem she noticed it.
“I can fight wildly without any restraints, and I ain’t going cuckoo? This- This is the best thing a wrathy could ever wish for! We can finally live normally!” She clapped her hands and shook both her fist in pure excitement. “You! Ya are suppressing my powers, but how? Hahaha, how da hell is Aurena’s dog able to do this?”
What is she even talking about?! This isn’t bloodlust, this is glee!
[“… Talk less, you deranged asshole.”]
This had to be a trick. She probably couldn’t read my profile and might be wondering how I was suppressing her powers. I had to be quiet about it. Looking at the wounds on her body and how beat-up her clothes looked, she was thankfully injured by my spells. She must be desperate.
“Hahaha, fair enough, ya bitch! This is war, after all! A Warbringer should bring war!” Within a single second, all that excitement turned into hostility, only her damn smirk didn’t disappear as she materialized an electrical halberd and warhammer. “But, ya got soooo lucky, gecko. Lord Envy is wrong. Ya can’t die. I can’t allow ya to die for Lord Wrath, no, for all us wrath demonkins! Ya are the answer to our blood plight! So be happy, I won’t kill ya, but I’m gonna drag ya stinkin’ ass back home with me!”
[“Tck! I knew it! I knew you were bad news! You really were trying to kidnap Amelia!”] Rage filled my head once again, remembering why I was fighting here. These demonkins wanted to destroy everything I loved!
“Hell, trying to repay a debt is supposed to be kidnapping? Getting her out of town for her survival? Fuck off, but who cares about shit like that now?” She assumed her stance, and so did I. “Hiehie, that leviathan isn’t the greatest reward here. You are. Ya ugly mug scares me more than God Marsven’s darkness, but I’m still taking you down, lizard! Like all the damn beasties before ya!”
With her red shimmering lightning and my tri-colored flames flaring up, the temperature of the surrounding area began to skyrocket. Sparks flew between us as the stone-paved streets melted into lava. Our focus was on each other, and with the activation of our respective speedster abilities, the fight resumed at a shocking pace.
“Voltaic Red: Magni Jump!”
Flashfire!
Bombarding attacks and flesh-melting flames consumed the area every time I took the offensive, while the demonkin’s lightning-fast movements and varied weapon abilities could turn everything around in no time. We both landed wounds on the other, but mine were more frequent and more severe.
That said, while I could heal all of my injuries, the demonkin couldn’t. Once again, a war of attrition was at hand, but other issues began to rise as we demolished everything around us. The fact of the matter was [Battle Frenzy].
‘Hey, hey, what the hell is this? Oh wait, didn’t Neill mention not to be in this state for too long?!’
‘Yeah, yeah, moderate can appear! Oi, what are we supposed to do? We would have to rely on our rocket boosters to outspeed her then!’
The heat in my chest was building up and my mind was starting to deteriorate from anger. I felt angrier and angrier at this demonkin, to the point my parallel minds could tell I was losing focus. I was thinking more of killing this demonkin than protecting everything. Anger or not, I shouldn’t let go of what really mattered here!
“Halt!”
But before the fight could drag on anymore, we stopped our clash when we suddenly heard the sound of beating wings followed by the loud cries of men coming closer. We turned around, only to see a group of knights flying over on their gargoyles.
“Everybody, flank the dragon! Shoot down that mage! Protect the city! For Yeostar!”
“““For Yeostar!”””
What?! They show up now?!
Knights from the city, and they only now managed to muster enough people to come. After I transformed into a dragon?! It was clear they wouldn’t recognize me in this form, but come on, what was this hostility?! As if I could afford to hold back against this demonkin! I wasn’t even using my Territory nor stuff that could destroy this place like [Cyclone Madness], so give me some credit!
“Tsk! Annoying flies!” I snapped my head around the moment I heard that from her.
Oh no!
The demonkin clapped her hands, releasing a magnetic field around us before it began pulling all the knights and even building debris towards her. Just, I wasn’t part of it. I didn’t know she could choose who to magnetize! She hadn’t used that ability of hers once during our fight.
“Woah?!”
“Help?!”
The knights came in all heroically, but they would be instantly wiped out if I didn’t do something now!
[“Stop!”] I called out before casting [Sanctuary] around me and the demonkin, before performing [The Heir of Hope] to grant everybody around me with a barrier of light.
“In the midst of the desert ♫
A bright ray of light shines ♫
Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”
[Shield of [The Light]] [Stage Fever (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
The fewer people around, the less powerful the barrier would be, but at least they got something as they crashed against the [Sanctuary] and were bombarded by debris. I thanked the heavens they managed to survive everything and cast [Sacred Field] on everybody, healing up any wounds they have before shouting at them through [Telepathy].
[“My name is Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor! Princess of Kargryx and Idol of the Goddess, and this is my true form! This is my order to all of you on behalf of Sir Alistar and Sir Jethro! Remove yourself from here and trust in me to battle this demonkin! Protect the citizens!”]
“U-Urk!? The dragon princess?!”
“Wha-What?! My wounds are healing! Captain?!”
“Wo-! We humbly apologize! Men, flee now!”
And just like that, everybody fled before they got seriously wounded. What the hell was that encounter?! That shouldn’t have been allowed to come here, but they still came to try and fulfill their duty. Unfortunately, that also meant I had to change songs, meaning the demonkin was—
“Kraaaaaaagh! You!” The demonkin squirmed in pain as six electric arms formed behind her, including a set of wings, fangs, and also all her elemental weapons. She howled like crazy, scratching her neck sore and bloody. “Stop it! AARRRRRGK! HAHAHAHAHA!”
What is—
I didn’t need a god to tell me what was going on here. Klea’Hatma told all of us to never allow a wrath demonkin to reach 100% in all three emotions, and didn’t this girl mention how she had it all at 100% and wasn't going wild? Was this it? Was [My Darkest Thoughts] actually suppressing such an absurd amount of mana?!
Play it, now! Switch!
“Staring out the window while it rains ♫
No one here to talk, silence is all I have ♫
So I delved into my thoughts and wondered, “What if?”♫
The laughing kid stomping loudly upstairs ♫
The damn lovebirds flirting on the streets ♫
Those rich asses living in their golden bubbles♫
I just wish they would all just disappear ♫”
“Urk! Graaaaah!” She groaned, falling onto her knees as I quickly noticed her electric arms disappearing. I was right, this really was the key!
Her powers were waning, returning to their prior form from before the knights appeared. However, unlike before, she was still yelping in pain, rolling on the ground as the electricity around her streamed back into her body. Was this a side effect?
I didn’t know, but what I did know was that she was unable to protect herself.
Now!
Warbringer. She was a Warbringer, and one of the masterminds behind the plot in Elyonda. If I could take her out now, that meant a major player for the rest of the siege would be gone. Even if I managed to just cripple her or wound her majorly, that would be alright, too! With [Dread Burn] still applied on her, she wouldn’t be able to heal it up any time soon!
Now, or never!
Release!
I didn’t need to grab her and meteor dive to hurt her! I could just release all the solar energy in my core to end it! This was the power of the sun that killed off a demonkin of envy!
Solar Beam!
Channeling all the energy inside my solar core into my mouth, I focused on the squirming demonkin and unleashed the power of a sunfang dragon right onto this girl! The sheer heat of this beam melted the very ground I was standing on, and eventually even the [Sanctuary] barrier around me shattered into pieces.
My mind went blank for a moment as the attack ensued, forcing me to realize my mind was taking damage from [Battle Frenzy]. However, right now, I needed the boost in attack. I needed it now or never! I had to defeat this Warbringer!
The blinding light from my solar energy covered up my entire vision, to the point I had to close my eyes to not accidentally go blind. I didn’t let this stop me, however. I knew the demonkin was in front of me, and I could feel she was there with [Detection Sensor]. It was only weird that I also felt another presence with her. Regardless, I needed to push through until she died!
Please! Please! Make it through!
… The sound of rain turning into steam. The ground I was standing on felt flimsier and more like liquid the longer this took. As more time went by, my chest also felt emptier and emptier, a sign my solar energy was being drained. That also meant I would feel absolutely lethargic after this.
I hoped this would be all worth it…
“Urk!” I groaned, falling onto my knees as my strained breath was barely audible through everything around me. My flames had died down, and it felt like I just used up a ton of my scale-dust. The System message didn’t appear, though, meaning the demonkin wasn’t dead despite giving it my all. I hoped I managed to at least cripple her.
… just, I didn’t know the demonkin had another ace up in their sleeves.
“Yoooo, made it just in time, Master!”
“H-Hee’Rlak?!”
[“How?!”]
Before me stood the same demonkin Larent should have been interrogating, only he seemed bloodier than before and even had a mangled right arm. How was it possible for him to get here in time, and how did he stop my attack?
For some reason—
— he just unleashed something even Aurena was afraid of.
“You idiot! THAT THING WAS FOR THE DRAGON EMPRESS!”
A mass of wriggling tentacles and burned appendages were squirming out of what seemed like a black hole, and before I could even stand up, they latched onto me.
[“Wha—?!”]
And with otherworldly strength, they managed to drag me towards them!
[“What in the— Arck! Dreadflare Aura!”]
“Back off!” The demonkin man grabbed the girl and jumped away from me as I unleashed whatever scale-dust I still had.
However, despite keeping the aura on as long as these things had me in their grasp, I noticed how I was still getting dragged closer and closer to that hole while my flames were being consumed by it. This really was a black hole!
Black! It’s black! Play Heirs, now! We need the holy attack. Light Horizon!
“In the midst of the desert ♫
A bright ray of light shines ♫
Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”
<[Shield of [The Light]] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
Light shotgun shots, sanctified flames, and even blazing white [Hellblade Edge] slashes. I struggled and persevered, regaining hope as I saw the tentacles dying off from my attacks. I could hear the sound of the girl in the corner crying out, probably since I wasn’t playing [My Darkest Thoughts] anymore, followed by some flute play, but I was in such a panic to free myself that I didn’t even give the demonkin a second of my attention.
After all, this mass of black tendrils wouldn’t die! They just wouldn’t, regenerating faster than I could deal damage. The moment I released myself, more tentacles would just grab my limbs and even carapace. They were vehemently against me escaping, and the longer this took, the closer I dragged to the black hole. Something told me if I allowed that thing to swallow me up, it wouldn’t end well.
Aurena’s voice rang in my head, but I didn’t listen to her. I couldn't.
“KraaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEH!” I roared out in desperation, destroying the last remnants of this square in my struggle. I cried and cried, using everything I had in my arsenel to escape, but none of it allowed me to get out.
“Stop, Master!”
“No, she’s the key, ya idiot! Lord Envy will kill her in there! She stopped me from rampaging! I could go 100% with her! We need her!”
What is she talking about?! Lord Envy? The Prince of Envy?! Kill? In there, in that black hole?! No, I need to escape, can’t fight in the enemy’s territory!
“What the hell are you talking, Master! That’s the enemy! She’s Aurena’s dog! She needs to die!”
Fuck you! Let me go! Let me go!
“No, wa—!”
“KRAAAAAAAH!”
Let me go! Dammit! Omnictus! Scorching Sun! Cyclone Madness! Anything, use anything! Warp Point! Use Warp Point!
Nothing worked. I didn’t care if my spells were devastating my body, I just wanted to get out of here. At this point, the city didn’t matter, I just wanted out and so I summoned a giant laser beam from heaven, a miniature sun, and even a giant hurricane. At this point, I was ready to use [Heaven’s Sword], a spell I had just gotten and haven't tried out yet!
I tried to use [Warp Point] to escape, but every time I went through it and closed the portal, slicing the tentacles off, they would just snatch me before I could flee. Even using my rocket boosters to blast away was met with resistance. Everything I tried didn’t work!
What?! Why would you— Ark!
What is that supposed to mean?! Why aren’t any of my attacks working on this?! What is this?! Grack!
“Kraaaauuuuak!” Five black hands grabbed my neck at the same time, feeling like I received five punches to my throat at the same time. I coughed up air and saliva, only for a torrent of tentacles to grab the rest of my limbs.
Shit!
With a single pull, I was pulled back to the ground. With another, I landed right in front of the black hole. And with another—
“HESTIA!”
A voice boomed the sky, blowing away some of the grey clouds in the sky, creating a single hole where the sun shone through. The rain froze up, forming into large icicles as they bisected the majority of the tentacles. Without even thinking what happened, I tried to escape, but was once again grabbed by them. Why was everything so futile?!
“HESTIA!” That familiar voiced boomed, once again, only this time, I felt something in the distance.
In the next second, something shot right through the southern walls of the city, demolishing it and leaving behind galewinds strong enough to pull buildings out from the ground. The sound boom was like she reached mach three or higher, and that showed as I could see a giant tsunami of debris, earth, and other things forming in the distance.
“Hestia!”
[“M-Mother!”]
It was my mother. She was here, and she was standing right behind the demonkins.
“W-Wha-?! Who are— GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!”
“AWAY, INSECT!” Mother’s voice growled as she slapped the demonkin girl right out of the city, through the walls, causing another section of the city to be destroyed.
“Master!” The demonkin man ignored Mother, running after the girl in a panic.
“Hestia! No! No! No! No! No!” she screamed as she grabbed my front legs, dragging me away from the black hole with her strength alone. “NOBODY WILL TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME! WORM, YOU WILL REGRET THIS! Krriek!”
[“Mother!”]
As mother managed to free me of more of those tentacles, suddenly, two of them grabbed her leg and caused her to trip. Unbelievable, how could that thing trip her?!
“Freeze…” White, cold air escaped out of Mother’s mouth, instantly freezing this whole section of the city, forming a large, hollow glacier around us. Her diamond scales flew out in a barrage, slicing all the tentacles grabbing her and me into molecules. “Hestia, move!”
Mother’s scales pushed me away from the black hole. She then turned around and unleashed a cold breath, freezing the very air around the black hole. Tentacles and appendages tried to escape from the place, but found it hard to escape through Mother’s ice.
She then pressed her hand onto the ice, compressing it and even the black hole to the size of a soccer ball. I couldn’t believe she was altering reality without knowing [Space-Time Magic], or, maybe that black hole was something like space-time magic? Maybe it was just something like an item. Maybe that was why she could do it!
“Begone.” Her eyes flared up as she froze herself into a glacier, before crushing the ice and releasing a blizzard.
[“Mother!”] I cried out, unnerved by how it exploded right in her face. Seconds felt like hours as the snowstorm died down, following the glacier breaking down, revealing Mother was alright.
“…” I was stunned.
<… H-How did Melloxtressa forcefully close a dimension breach? With just mana alone? Is… is she ready for an apotheosis? Already? At SS rank?>
“Phew…” Mother let out a sigh, wiping whatever sweat was on her forehead as she turned around.
Humanize!
[Humanized (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
“Mother!” The moment I switched forms, I charged right at Mother, ramming her right onto the ground in my embrace. “Thank you! Thank you! That was…”
“Scary?” She smiled. “It’s alright. Mother is here for you. I didn’t come for you when we lost your egg, but I won't allow you to come to harm now. Never. This is what a mother is for, right?”
We stood up and I couldn’t help but nod. I felt defeated, feeling hopeless at how I couldn’t even break out of that thing with everything I had. Sure, it seemed Mother had some problems herself defeating that thing, but still.
“… A deal is a deal.” I sulked at the fact Mother saved me from something I couldn’t handle myself. Which meant after this— “I’ll come with you… to Kargryx. To Miononbolax.”
“Ehiehie, I know it’s been too early, but as I said, you still have years of your life before you! Yes, it will take four years until you’re back here, but when you do, you will be more powerful than before! Trust in me, Hestia!”
How couldn’t I after that?
Still, leaving now would mean I would missed out on a ton of things. For example, the signing of Artorias’s alliance with the dwarves. Reajaen’s trial with the elves. Not to mention, whatever the demonkins were planning after Elyonda. I would be missing out on soooo much now, ‘cause I wasn’t strong enough.
“But, after you’re done with this? Alright?” I widened my eyes as Mother just said, before letting out a chuckle at how she could read my mind.
“Thank you. It would be bad to leave now without finishing the job, right? Anyways, I should probably get that demonkin… Jeez, you shot her far away.” I walked in the direction of where Mother sent that demonkin girl flying, realizing how far it was before letting out a sigh. I had to catch that demonkin man, and then the girl, since she was probably unconscious from Mother’s slap.
“Anyways, sorry about this. I’ll go, okay? I’ll tell the prince and so on about the incident here, so please wait for me at the island!”
“Hmm? Oh come, we might as well not risk it, Hestia? I already helped you, so let your Mother handle the rest, alright? Aahhh, I cannot believe how long I had to hold back! Mhmm, it feels good destroying everything whenever I fly!”
I grimaced at what she said, looking over at the mess she left the city with by flying into it at mach speed. It honestly felt like I would've been blown away, if Mother hadn’t, probably, stopped the wind with a spell.
“Okay, whatever, let’s go!” I readied to fly away.
“Hiehie, alright, le—”
“SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARHK!”
Huh?
A loud shriek. I turned around, seeing Mother releasing her ice breath as a large black mouth, closing its jaw right under mother. In the time I managed to process that, the mouth closed onto Mother and pulled her right into the suddenly restored black hole.
H-Huh? M-Mo-Mother?
The black hole was closing. The tentacles were retreating back into it with Mother.
MAMA!
I rocket boosted myself forward and grabbed onto a tentacle, allowing it to pull me into the black hole.
MAMA! NOOOOOOOOO!
And then, there was darkness…