The five magic circles right below the barrier began to rotate like giant cogs. They brightened the dark skies, casting their light like a chandelier, making the purple barrier seem a bit less ominous than before. In fact, from here, I could even see the snow building up on it.
Looks like everybody is correct. That barrier is non-traversable from both sides. Good thing I didn’t prepare my spells outside beforehand, I would have wasted precious mana … although, [Purple Flash] isn’t any better.
I gritted my teeth, keeping my eyes on the demonkin. The latter did not waste any time either, immediately plucking on his lute and creating something like a discord—a sound so out of harmony, it actually began hurting me. Literally. The soundwave crashed against my body, slashing at my armor. My barrier protected me, but that felt too weak. As if the demonkin was giving me a taste of what was about to come.
“Encore,” he said as he snapped his finger before plucking another string.
Thankfully, Master acted just in time. His signature casting speed went into action as ten magic circles appeared all at the same time. Numerous torrent spells erupted from all of them, slashing, piercing, and dicing anything in front of me. The road, the houses, and all the minor details that gave this city its character were erased with little thought.
Master unleashed everything he could to keep the demonkin away from me. He was exhausted, far more than me, but he didn’t show it once. Stern and stoic as a warrior, just like the other two saurians, he was laser focused on our main goal—getting me to the Prince of Envy.
Still, bravery and conviction weren’t enough when facing overwhelming power. Similar to how the Prince of Pride defended himself against me, he simply allowed the attacks to hit him, and the only damage he really took from all of this were from the white flames on his face. As if he was Vifi or Neill, he moved with such speed that it made it impossible to keep him in sight, especially with how Master’s spells were obstructing my view. Still, Master could adapt; water could adapt.
Even if he couldn’t protect me completely, I had my scales, barrier, and [Hydra], all ready to keep me alive. Not to mention, I still had my oldest companions—my parallel minds.
All of them, so this night would be one for celebration, not another funeral.
Come, grant me the power to break through this! Appear!
I called out as my mana finished supplying my two spells. As the “cogs” of magic began to spin like crazy, flames began to seep out of them, creating miniature clouds of white fire. Seconds passed as a cataclysm of magic happened below us, but I kept my eyes up, waiting for everything to materialize. When the time had come, I changed [The Heir of Hope] into [Strength and Wisdom] and drank a major intelligence elixir.
I choose, Wisdom! Kriffiek kllk gaaung. Refresh my buffs, please!
[Strength and Wisdom (Wisdom)] [Battle Frenzy (Minor)] [Potion Buff (Intelligence)] [Various Spell Buffs.] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
“As I open my hand, releasing the sound of searing hot metal. ♫
But I tighten my grip, the pain that follows me with every single thought. ♫
Regretting it all would only taint my efforts, or the dream that we hold. ♫
Of course, brush it aside! ♫
These tears will dry, and this rage will cool ♫
As I realized that the world ain’t stopping for me. ♫”
[Strength and Wisdom] and [Slave to my Love] was the strongest song combo I had if I wanted to purely boost the power of my holy spells. The former granted me a 25% boost in my base intelligence stat and a 10% effectiveness increase for all spells, while the latter was a 30% boost to only holy or sacred spells, which included the two above me.
With [Battle Frenzy] granting all my stats a 10% boost along with a [Intelligence Elixir (Major)] we bought using Reajaen’s contacts for cheap that granted me a 30% increase, I was at my strongest for these spells to ravage this city. Honestly, if I still had [Stage Fever], been in overdrive mode, and [Symphonie des Feuergottes (Adagio)] or finale, these two spells would have literally been at their strongest, but time and mana was too precious. This was enough!
65% boost in intelligence and a 40% increase in spell power! Not to mention my spell buffs!
Clasped my hands and the magic circles vanished. The white flames turned into a majestic white sun while the rest turned into a cloud. [Sun, Consume All] and [Quartz Regen]. The former was already a great spell to help me keep up my solar energy, but now it was needed to aid our allies spread inside this city.
As commanded, the sun rained down fire like a scene from an apocalypse movie. It healed my allies while burning my enemies with an ever-living inferno. In addition, it also gave me a clear idea where they were and helped me refuel my solar core by absorbing the remaining solar energy around us.
Which brought me to my newest custom spell … One I started with Master’s gift, but I adapted his initial theory on it for my newest wish—a way to quickly get from one place to another. A method that wasn’t as expensive as my space-time teleportation methods but also something that kept it easy to use, unlike using [Sun, Consume All]. This was [Quartz Regen].
The white clouds continued flying around the sun, growing in size as more time passed, until the entire sky was covered be it. With the sun shining light down and the white clouds blocking the night, it almost felt like morning again … Until those clouds showered. Not in rain or snow, but hail. A hail of white corrosive obsidian.
“Grk!” in the middle of the storm of spells, the demonkin snapped at the ground, causing a shockwave that helped him get out of the way of the giant obsidian that crashed inbetween us.
Unlike my usual corrosive obsidian, this one was as clear and white as its namesake—quartz. So, what was its use and why did I make it? Well, the answer was quite easy. Flames. Very, very, many, flames. Flames that burned even better with all my stat boosts!
The quartz cracked and unleashed a turbulent wave of flames that quickly grew into a pyre large enough for people to see even in a dense forest. The quartz would naturally burn out like a candle, but that was why [Quartz Regen] was a continuous spell like [Sun, Consume All] and [Hydra]. Aside from that, the spell also was useful for something else.
Spreading my toxins. Gases. Similar to how I used to use them in battle, these burning flames kept releasing toxic fumes. The longer this spell remained, the more likely that we would win. Well, outside of that, there was also its main usage.
[“Master!”] I cast [Terra Wall] and sent him flying towards the center of barrier, while I concentrated on the pyre in front of me, turning it with [Obsidian Blaze] into a massive bomb to chase the prince of pride away. If he was scared of little white flames, then this would scorch him!
I then had [Hydra] wrap around me like armor and changed [Strength and Wisdom] back to [The Heir of Hope] and [Slave to my Love] into [Dragon Fire]. I now needed full offense.
[Shield of [The Light]] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Okay, let’s try. Trial by fire, come on, work! Flash Fire!
In a blink of an eye, my vision zoomed passed everything before I stopped in the eye of this fiery monsoon. Flapping my wings, I kept myself aloft before I looked down, overseeing everything happening in the city.
Enemies … demonkin …
Seeing my friends and family fighting against our enemies flipped a switch inside of me. I locked onto one of the groups, close to Saori and the saurians. Five demonkins, all ready to ambush them.
Not for long …
Using [Obsidian Blaze], I gathered the flames inside [Sun, Consume All] around me, simulating the same feeling I had whenever I used [Solar Beam]. I then aimed at the group and shot it forward, sending down a concentrated beam of white flames, eradicating the enemies before they could do anything.
Experience for development Jobs has reached multiple breaking points.
[Star Idol]: Lv. 18 -> Lv. 35 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 8 Lv. 28
[Lightbearer]: Lv. 0 -> Lv. 25 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 1 Lv. 16
[Tyrant Hatchling]: Lv. 20 -> Lv. 30 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 10 Lv. 0
You may spend your prestige points when you are ready
‘Solar Beam,’ assholes. 10 prestige points! Buying it!
[Tyrant Hatchling] Prestige spent. [Job Crossover] gained
Job Crossover: Enables leveling your Jobs while in monster form, however, you will not benefit from their skills
Four months of saving up prestige points finally were rewarded! I was finally not restricted to being a dragonewt to level up my levels, sadly, that didn’t include my Job skills. Meaning, I couldn’t play two songs at once nor could I keep sharing my spells even with a silence field up.
… Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t hear anything. Neither my voice nor my spells … How surreal. Like some silent movie, yikes! I thought Renee’s silence field was weird, but this was worse!
Regardless, the comedy could happen later. For now, it was time to show these demonkin why I was Aurena’s “dog!”
Levin Core! Cyclone Madness. Clouds of Thunder! Bedrock Blades! Ruinous Rockfall!
That tournament arc I had in Elyonda wasn’t wasted! If I could control the battlefield back then, what would happen when I didn’t have to think about holding back? Tornados, giant stone blades, a rain of rocks, and thunder roaring everywhere and anywhere! All to destroy these people threatening my friends!
I would break the quartz and create walls of white flames to burn away the mud walls, while I used the sun’s concentrated laser fire to scale the demonkin away. I even saw the sin heir of wrath fighting against my sister, Midirn, and Yorshka, but from up here, he looked like an ant. Yet, that “ant” was protecting the staff holding up the barrier.
[“Sis, fire support!”] I shouted with telepathy, causing her to snap her body around to give me a thumbs up. I was glad. It was relieving to see that she trusted me enough to know everything going around was my work. Then again, who else could use flames like this, right?
I gathered as much solar energy into my body as possible and took out my glaive, channeling my mana into my catalyst to further boost myself. I then activated the core in my chest, causing the energy to surge into my throat.
Solar Beam!
Yet, just as I was about to release the beam, I felt something squeeze around my leg. I closed the “lid” and had [Hydra] harden into a pseudo-[Panzer], barely able to protect my leg from getting severed. I looked down, noticing that something had pierced right through, causing my skin to bleed. That went through my scales and barrier …
That last snap really was just a threat. This is a real thing.
I stared down, noticing the man, holding his hand up. He held it in a snapping position, and then broke through the armor around my arm.
This guy is willing to kill me now.
I activated my rocket boosters and shot myself away as I noticed another squeeze, avoiding the attack, but was flabbergasted when I saw the damage it left behind me. A massive hole was left behind in my white sun … That hole would have been me if I didn’t have my skills and [Hydra].
I could reform the sun, but still, this was annoying me. Furthermore, he stopped using his fingers and went back to his lute. If this kept going, I wouldn’t be able to help the others, but if I let him aim at my head or chest, then Grimnir’s armor wouldn’t be able to survive it. Was I forced to keep hitting him?
Yet, my answer came with a red flash. The prince snapped his head and scrambled out of the area when a red laser shot right through the area, leaving nothing but a trail behind. My eyes jolted to the side, seeing a lone girl slowly walking up to the baffled prince of sin. It was a Vifi.
Huh? I then noticed her point at me and then to her right. Was she telling me she would handle this?
So that’s why she wasn’t with the others despite Master saying she would go to the middle. Thanks, Vifi! Expect a ton of donuts from me later! Now … Solar Beam!
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The beam of solar energy escaped my mouth as I targeted the staff, forcing the Warbringer to escape and leaving the area completely exposed. The mud walls protecting it was an issue, but by weakening it just enough for me to send multiple quartz into the breach, I had them all detonate, destroying the walls of mud and allowing me to shatter the staff in one go.
Just like that, the barrier dissipated into nothing and sound returned to. I quickly ordered everybody to avoid any confrontations, no matter who they were facing, before having my spells redirect all the demonkin away from them. Even the Warbringer was forced to flee when I sent the full concentrated power of the damn sun onto him!
Once everybody was out of the battlefield, I signaled Vifi and she used her voltaic lightning to escape within a second, leaving the prince to glare at me. He raised his hand and snapped, but I was already gone by that point with [Flash Fire]. With this, the third phase of our plan was over and I dispelled all my active spells to conserve mana. All but [Solar Beam], really.
[“You came just in time, you little skink!”] Sis immediately embraced me once we met, ignoring the fact my extremely high body temperature was burning her and kept up the biggest smile ever. As she was in her dragonewt form, she too had to use [Telepathy].
I pushed my head away from mine, worried she would poke out my eyes with her horn. [“So? Told you you didn’t need to go all out once I’m here, right? Still got the major stage for the final battle?”]
[“You bet!”] she smirked.
What I was talking about was the fourth phase once we reached the basilica. Neill needed [Battle Frenzy (Major)] for the last push against the Warbringer. This was our ace in the hole to kill him, even if the current situation was beyond messed up. Though, having the Prince of Pride around? This was one of the worst things to happen, ruining our plan to kill him.
“It can’t be helped,” Midirn said as we finally stopped at the front of the basilica’s gates. “We will adapt because that is what we must do; after all, I don’t think any of us expected that humongous barrier.”
“Same,” Vifi stated, out of breath. “But, not like I did any better in the guessing field. Didn’t think a Prince would actually come … I guess they really gave up thinking you’re just a new ‘dog of Aurena.’
“That seems to be the case …” Ellaine said, looking a bit sick. “We should hurry, quickly. They must be regrouping.”
[“Are you okay?”] I asked, but instead of Ellaine, we received an answer from Klea.
[“No need to worry, she just overstrained herself. Look at her finger,”] she said, leading me to see she had three spell rings on her hands.
One of them was the one Tasianna made for her using the aberration. Ellaine’s decision wasn’t to have her aberration absorb the shards, but to have them turned into various tools for herself as Vifi had explained. Her reasoning for it was she wanted to learn how to better control her demonic powers, so getting tools to control them was her choice of improvement.
[“Our dear got into a scuffle with some, let’s say, interlopers and realized—”]
“I just used too much of her power,” Ellaine interjected, causing everybody around me to look at her with worry or disappointment. “Saori briefed us. I know what happened to the Commander.”
“Royce told you?” Yorshka asked, causing me to understand the situation.
Ellaine gritted her teeth, blushing a bit. “Y-yes. I … I couldn’t kill him. There? Are you happy?”
“We are not the ones you should be looking for a reaction from, Ellaine. It is clear to all of us that you are the one who needs to question yourself more,” Grimnir stated before banging on the gates. “But while you do that… Lass, ready?”
I nodded, even as I felt worried about Ellaine, standing there gritting her teeth. What happened? What did I miss?
Regretting not being able to see what happened with my allies while I was away, I ignored it for now and focused on the gate. I held my hand against it, feeling not only the cold iron but also a barrier … The same one Fleindia told us about when we first came here. Not only could it repel pure demons but was also the main reason why the Saelari never attempted to use a siege to lock down Aureolis city. This barrier stood up even against every army over the years, allowing the basilica to stand strong for over the two millennia. A creation from Istari … and it was made from the holy element.
Light Horizon.
The barrier could be made to blacklist certain people and it was clear we weren’t welcome any longer, but as this thing was made with light, I could easily break through it like the barrier the Vicar thought would protect him from my fist. Well, I wasn’t able to break it, but I created a hole just large enough for all of us to enter.
Once everybody was inside, phase four immediately began. There were two goals for this phase and that was to reappropriate the barrier module and to find the Vicar. Thankfully, this probably would be the easiest phase, even if the demonkin … Ah, just when I was planning to get comfortable, they appeared.
Unlike us, all the demonkin moved through the barrier without any fanfare aside from having climbed over the wall to flank us. Just like us, they were exhausted and drinking potions non-stop. Strangely, though, they were simply sitting on the walls, waiting. In fact, the Warbringer and Prince of Pride were each eating … dried fish? Both took a bite, causing some of the demonkin to look ill.
“Urrgh! Marsven protect me, that’s ilktails. Dried ilktails, my stomach …” Vifi had a similar response.
… Ah. So she wasn’t exaggerating about having to eat fish all the time as a street orphan, and it probably got worse after she joined the army. ‘Good food,’ sure, but the rations probably weren't as good.
[“Saori,”] I said.
[“On it … Shadow pack, let us go! Smokey Haze!”] Black smoke darkened the entire area, leaving Saori and her pack the chance to quickly disable the barrier around us and also find the unconscious Commander, according to Ellaine. She told me he was trapped in a sleep by the sin heir of envy’s Jaldabaoth before the battle began, lured in by Royce.
Leaving the others to take care of him after I woke him up, Tasianna tapped my shoulders and pointed at the walls. Flying up a bit, I saw the demonkin still resting while I also saw three knights standing next to them, heads held down like three kids who were just scolded.
Royce, Falamm, Karlst … What are you three doing?
“The envies are gone,” Tasianna said, confusing me. “When you gave us an opening to escape, I wasn’t able to kill two envies on the brink of death. I didn’t freeze them, but they weren’t dead.”
[“Similarly for us, my princess,”] Shay answered for himself and Beth, pointing at a lust demonkin he saw next to the one they fought. [“He was still alive … yet I smell him on her. On her left arm. Look. The blood.”]
Beth agreed. [“I only see lust and wrath, my princess. Actually, let me check,”]—she then flew up into the sky, overlooking everything before flying back down. [“I could not see them. Also, did you notice?”]
[“… They didn’t attack you. They’re actually waiting for us,”] I said, unnerved. I looked over, where I saw the Prince of Pride waving at me as if I was some old friend he hasn’t seen in a while. Yikes!
Something was up. Something terrible was up. Aurora as a party, sadly, had the worst luck ever. If this feeling of dread was genuine, then …
[“Do we have a choice?”] I asked.
Tasianna grimaced and shook her head. She was thinking the same thing. [“At this point, I believe it is simply our party’s natural tendency to find trouble. Let us proceed with the plan and then wait, my lady.”]
So they betrayed the envies? What a buncha bastards.
As irksome as this situation was, it only got worse when we talked to the Commander. Due to the effects of Jaldabaoth, he was completely exhausted, but he had something to say.
“Before he placed me under sleep, the sin heir told me his duty is to protect his cousin. However, he pleaded to me if he wasn’t alive when I next wake up, that I should kill all the demonkin before opening the door to the Prince of Envy. ‘If my cousin must die, then I would rather he die with his body destroyed by that dog. Do not allow any other demonkin to obtain his corpse,’ he said.” The Commander sighed and massaged his face. “The only reason why he sent me to sleep was to prevent me from engaging Marius and also to stop the Warbringer from getting to me first. Their aim is to ‘reacquire’ the Prince of Envy’s sin crystal.”
“They gave up on him,” Vifi added. “I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise, since he has ruined the part about ‘not trying to agitate a rank SS dragon.’ Just like me, once he returns to Bole’Taria, either he will be executed, or be harvested by the sloths.”
[“Harvested?”] Krim raised his eye.
Vifi pointed at her belly. “Me for what gave me my voltaic lightning, and Lord Envy to learn how sin crystals affect a demonkin’s body over many years. Lord Sloth is an erudite, comparable to an Istari follower. How do you think he created our elixirs, tools, and everything else? Every single Prince of Sloth has built up our current technological progress despite being isolated from the rest of the world.”
Hearing this, Yorshka could only sigh, looking wearier than before. “Everywhere you go, there is politics. Even—”
“That’s not their concern,” Midirn stopped her.
“It will be for our princess …” Yorshka looked at me, saddened. Since Midirn stopped her, then it probably had to do with Kargryx and the feud between my eldest brother and sister.
Regardless, thinking about any of that was worth nothing. We had a worse situation awaiting us outside.
While we had kept our guard up this entire time, the demonkin allowed themselves a well-earned rest, eating and drinking, with others even socializing. If you simply looked at them now, it wouldn’t even be like they were about to enter a battle they would not return home from. Yet, they stayed rather relaxed, enjoying this moment.
“Did you see? Our mistress truly has corrupted that human, but I guess she’s pretty happy about it since they don’t think she would have kept her composure otherwise. Even let these three idiots live! What a shame!” a lust woman crackled as she ate some dried sardines.
The wrath demonkin next to her let out a boisterous laugh, slapping his knee. “Guess we have to bring her back alive. Only choice. Lord Pride said it, right? If we want Mistress Klea’Hatma back, we have to see how … It’s done. It’s DONE! Get up!”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re not our boss, man.”
“Oi! Time to get back at it. Hey, Warbringer Vifi, you traitor, get ready to die for what you did to Lord Wrath! He trusted you as if you were his niece!”
“Yeah, you ilktail, you think you can just desert us before giving me back my money for that meal?”
“I gave you that money back, you filth!” Vifi shouted back. “And you! Lord Wrath never treated me anywhere close to a niece, only the daughter of an acquaintance! The only reason why I was promoted was because Father’s sons were idiots! None of them even made it into our damn squad, so shut up with that niece talk!”
“Well, they are right, don’t you think?” And now, the Warbringer was talking with her. Not surprisingly, the hole I gave him was healed up. “Lord Wrath did care about you, not only because you are part of his army, but ‘cause he owed it to your daddy. Now, look at you, little Vifi, you betrayed us! How could you? Don’t you remember how much we, I, trained you?”
“The only thing ya did was smack me into yer mud and watch me slowly suffocate while ya laughed, ya sadistic fuck!” Aaaaand, it got her into talking in her normal accent.
… Haaa, seeing them like this is a real mood breaker.
Despite the teasing and murderous threats, it was clear, all of them were close. One way or the other.
“… Hey, little one,” the Warbringer said as he stood up, looking down at her with a frown. “This is your choice, right? Lord Wrath didn’t say it, but I think he’s still hoping you’ll defect back to us. How about it? Even if the other Princes object, I bet Lord Wrath will protect you with everything he has. Not lying this time, swear it on him.”
Vifi …
We all looked at her … All but Grimnir and me.
Vifi scoffed. “… My path is set. This is how Bole’Taria will be saved,”—she pointed at me—“Not through Lord Wrath or you, Lord Pride. My donut provider will.”
… Couldn’t you have left that last bit out! You sounded so cool until you called me that, you idiot!
“Donuts?” All of them said, forcing me to simply turn around and move towards the papal house with a reddened face.
As they saw this, the demonkin immediately leapt into action, but so did my companions and the Commander. The fourth phase was about to end, and they all knew it. Just as the drums of war were about to be re-ignited, a single arrow killed off all the tension between our two sides.
“Graak!” A random arrow that came from outside the city pierced through the head of a lust demonkin, but that was the wrong target. The one it wanted was the Prince of Pride who avoided it!
“For Artorias!”
“Umslid kain, kawuk kaan, fie Crustacia!”
The main reason for us to bring down the barrier was for those three—our reinforcements. Farron, Rudigan, and Muraina. Our main group would tire ourselves out, but that was why we kept multiple people in the back for this situation. Originally, Vifi and Grimnir were part of the group, but they had to move in early with Fleindia.
At full power, the “Wing Ripper,” Farron, the Champion of Crustacia, Rudigan, and the archer general of Saelarial, Muraina, would seal the deal for this last portion of the fight. All I could do was to entrust them with my backs. I quickly ascended the steps to the top of the papal mansion before I stopped at the only room on the top floor. Opening the large fairnite doors, I found the Vicar, sitting at his desk and reading.
“Liz—No, Champion Hestia. I—”
[“We know …”] I said, mentioning his diary. [“I will not and cannot forgive you. I don’t even know what to say about your family. I understand it fully, and as somebody who cherished every one of them, I can sympathize. However, in this operation, I also lost somebody important to me.”]
“You have already made me aware of that fact, yes, so I will not hold out for any hope,” the slightly pudgy man said, not an inkling of emotion on his face. “I have told my story, I have done what I decided to do. I left that memento behind for others to judge me, for I will not have the chance to do it myself after today. I would like to say only the Goddess may judge me, but as we both know, I will be sent to Goddess Death. I will say my final farewell, before my sins are erased from my soul. However, with that book, those sins will never be forgotten. You have the power, my lady.”
I closed my eyes. [“That choice is not mine to make. You have somebody else you have to answer to, and that person is outside.”]
“I know.”
[“Then you should know we aren’t dumb. Everything up until the last page was written earnestly, and when that possibility became clear, we expected killing you wouldn’t get us what we wanted. There is a key, but you aren’t it. If your dairy was genuine, then you still have some love for Aurena, despite everything she put you through. Give it to me, so I can end this nightmare.”]
The Vicar looked at me and then out of the window, grazing into the night sky while we could hear magic and blades hiding the screams and moaning of the people fighting below. Still, this silence was between us and we kept it like that. His heart and loyalty belonged to his two friends, but over time, as he worked as a priest, he opened it up to Aurena as well. It mirrored mine quite a bit, although I wouldn’t call myself a devout yet.
After he finished his drink, he stood up and picked up him his staff and closed his robe. He then looked at me.
“Take out [Providence’s Will].”
I raised an eyebrow, but I did as he said. He then told me to open the metal chassis and look at the bottom, where I saw a small key. I … had it all this time? Since I punched him?
“The key unlocks the last door in the furthest corridor of the basement. There is also a barrier rune inside to protect everybody, but you’ve shown your ability to disable runes. I would have recommended you use a powerful spell, but that is not necessary, am I not correct?”
[“Spies?”]
“The demonkin know; their agents saw you drain the last rune they paid so much money for. Don’t worry, the dwarf who made it isn’t on their target list. Keep the one who commissioned it safe, though, but I guess you will handle that anyway. Now …”
[“Go outside, fight with them.”]
“The slave tattoo I mentioned wasn’t a lie.” He pulled up his robe and revealed a blue glowing tattoo on his stomach. “I wish to atone.”
[“You just admitted to knowing I can absorb and disable runes, and a runic tattoo counts as that. Honestly, I don’t know if I can’t break it without ruining your mana paths, but I guess you want to help the next generation, right?”] I smirked, causing him to crackle.
“If you can get to me before I shoot my spell.”
[“Oh, I can.”] I raised my hand and slammed my palms together as I used [Light’s Horizon], destroying the light particles around me. Maneuvering around this empty void, I touched his stomach and used [Rune Absorption], successfully proving my theory that I could. Slavers, beware. [“Go, and atone before your trial.”]
I then dashed out of the room and flew down to the basement, following the Vicar’s instructions. Once at the door, I breathed in and placed the key in, opening the door. Strangely, I was feeling quite nervous, but it was just part of the norm. I was about to fight against the boss all by myself, this time.
Mom wouldn’t be here … She was still sleeping, probably expecting to see me wake her up. Besides her bed, with a big, sleep smile before she said, “Sorry for sleeping so long.” or something similar. I had to make it back home. I had to make it back home.
My dragon mother deserved her daughter. Not to mention all my other friends and family. It was my duty to survi—
“Hello.”
Wha— I snapped my head around in horror, before stopping my eyes as I saw somebody behind me. This awareness finally made my [Detection Sensor] reveal her existence.
“Hello. I’m the Lust prince. You stole my friend. Prepare to die,” a pink-haired woman in a dress said before her arm split apart and formed a giant sword.
Dreadflare Aura!
The blaze of heat erupted from my body, sending the girl flying backwards on her butt but not fast enough to stop her blade from touching me. Surprisingly, it pierced right through my barrier and tore a chunk of flesh off my arm.
I staggered back, yet the demonkin wasn’t done. Despite her skin being burned, she kept up the assault and swung at me once again, but before she could land another attack, a black snake jumped out of my shadow, heralding another figure to jump out.
Allied Territory detected! [Yomi] has been activated!
Saori!
Five other people arrived with her as they revealed themselves, all standing in front of me, blocking the lust demonkin’s path.
“Vifi!” the latter shouted.
“Yo, Jumi, let’s take this fight outside. My boss needs you out!” Vifi replied before tackling her.
“Go!” Saori shouted in her wolfkin form.
I nodded, but I seared this image in my head. Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, Grimnir, and Vifi; Aurora was here for me.
Tasianna bowed as she kept her head forward. “Defeat him, my lady! I believe in you!”
“Leave this to your retainers! Nobody shall interrupt our princess!” Ellaine stated as her armor covered her face. She then raised her left hand, revealing her newest spell ring.
“Lass, I don’t care if that armor breaks or not, you will come back to the RV, you got that?” Grimnir demanded as his manatech suit rumbled and clanked.
[“Don’t disappoint me, all right, dear?”] Klea cheered.
[“Neither me, whelp. Take down your prey!”] Even Belzac couldn’t help but say some comforting words.
… Damn straight, I will!
Entrusting my back to my friends, I flew deeper into the basement before I stopped at what looked like a bank’s vault. As the Vicar said, I could feel a barrier blocking the door but since I knew it was a rune, I quickly disabled and broke through the metal vault.
As I stepped into the room, I saw a lone man sitting in the middle of the room. He raised his eyes before they widened in shock.
“Eheehheheeeeeehaaeeee!” The voice of a man who had lost it all. “I seeeeeeeee! Lord Gel’Glariri! Your Champion, your chosen, is hereeeee! Finally!”
What? Champion? Who?
“You abandoned me, betrayed my trust. The Edjurl gods were supposed to bring us salvation, but I now know! Youuuuu only wish for our doooooom! Never! Never, never, never … You are agents of change. I will destroy both of them. I will destroy everything you planted … He will get his time, but for now? You. You who garnered his favor, making him choose you over me!”
The man then stuck his hand into the air, taking out what seemed like a catalyst. Of course, he was also there in the void with me and Mom, so he too became a void-touched on that day we met.
“You will bring nothing to this world, Gel’Glariri. I will kill her to offend you! To oppose you!”
[“… Then come already, you fucker!”]