From the beginning of the time, there was a saying—
'Nobody is perfect.'
At this moment, Kang Shuren thought it was especially true. Why? Because Kierra's sword skills were too atrocious...!
When the two went in, the demon seemed to have decided to retaliate. It pulled out a dark sword out of nowhere and began to wreak havoc. Its strikes were heavy, its speed was exceptional, and its resilience was unmatched. On top of that, it had an annoying screeching scream that greatly distracted Kang Shuren. She was only at the peak of the Golden Core Stage; who in their right mind would make her fight this thing?!
Strangely, whenever Kang Shuren was about to be sliced up by that scary sword, Kierra always blocked the demon squarely. The sight of her effortlessly matching the demon was cool. It made Kang Shuren's heart beat faster. But when Kierra tried to attack...
Just then, Kierra held her sword up and slammed it down clumsily, which the demon easily dodged.
''?!''
BOOM—!!
Even the demon seemed baffled at Kierra's terrible swordplay, but the sheer power behind each strike of hers was no laughing matter, as the recent one nearly destroyed the wall.
Kang Shuren thought for sure Kierra was playing around, and she showed no sign of getting serious, which meant it was up to her to actually defeat this formidable opponent!
''Hup—!!''
So Kang Shuren jumped in and clashed swords with her opponent again. Looking at Kang Shuren, Kierra quietly evaluated the woman.
Her energy control was decent enough, and it seemed her blood vessels and heart were quite suitable for mana regulation. It should be possible to make her a wizard, at least, but whether she was a proper wizard would depend on her calculation skills.
''Ugh...!''
Immersed in her own thoughts, Kierra did not notice Kang Shuren losing in a strength battle with the demon.
'Oh, she's about to die.'
So the archwizard blinked forward and stabbed the demon's sword away. Although she was a wizard, her body was still relatively strong compared to ordinary people due to the natural result of dense mana flowing through her body, so it was possible to match the demon's strength.
Just like that, the two continued to battle their opponent for a while more until Kierra thought it was enough.
When everyone, who had been nervously watching since earlier, saw Kierra put away her sword, they simultaneously sighed in relief. They had been itching to shout 'What terrible swordplay!' during the fight, but no one wanted to be beaten up, so they kept their mouth shut.
Nevertheless, Kierra pinned the demon to the wall with telekinesis and began a special summoning ritual. Under the people's curious gazes, she reached into her space bag and pulled out a deer skull. Then, robust mana from the archwizard flowed into the skull, making it float into the air.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
''Heed my call, Ovi.''
Following Kierra's call, the brilliant blue mana enveloping the skull burst out before its color rapidly changed to an ominous black. Two burning red lights flashed in the skulls' eye sockets.
''What...?!''
''I'm getting goosebumps....!!''
''L-Lord Kierra, what is this?!''
Ignoring the people's reaction, Kierra calmly waited for her subordinate to arrive.
It only took ten seconds for the lights in the skull's sockets to stabilize. Then, the black mana that filled the room gathered under the floating head, forming a slightly transparent, pitch-black 'body.'
It didn't have arms or legs, just, a body. Soon, it kneeled before Kierra.
[I have come to serve you, master]
A deep voice, so deep that it seemed to come from the abyss itself, escaped the creature.
The archwizard nodded contently. ''Long time no see, Ovi.''
Ovi - Lich of The End. Formed by the collage of resentment from all over the world since the beginning of time, it was one of Kierra's most prominent summons. Technically, it was not a 'summon,' but when Kierra defeated the lich and put it under her wing, it practically became one.
Befitting a high lich, Ovi had a magnificent army composed of millions of undead, from simple skeletons, zombies, or ghouls to city-destroying bone dragons. This time, Kierra was curious to see if this supposedly 'demon' in front of her could be included in that army.
[Please give your order]
''Try to tame that guy.''
When Kierra pointed to the demon, who had been struggling helplessly since earlier, Ovi quickly stood up and floated over to it.
''...!!''
Red eyes met red eyes.
Staring straight into Ovi's intense pupils, even the demon could not help but feel fear. As its pupils began to tremble, a piece of Ovi's body reached out and grabbed its head. The demon struggled and struggled it did, but there was an invisible force holding its body in place, so to the average viewer, the scene looked as though it had completely surrendered to the lich.
KIAAAK—!!
The demon let out a helpless screech as Ovi's black mana seeped into its body.
''L-Lord Kierra, what is...''
Kang Shuren tugged Kierra's sleeve and asked timidly. The others naturally turned to their conversation as well.
''My subordinate,'' Kierra replied. ''It won't hurt you.''
''I... see?''
Regardless of Kierra's confirmation, everyone was still scared. If it could easily take care of such a strong demon, then what would they become...
(；・∀・)(；・∀・)(；・∀・)
Eventually, Ovi dropped the demon to the ground before turning to Kierra. The lich then shook its head.
[I'm afraid this lamb cannot be tamed]
''Any reason?''
[Its whole being has been tainted—no salvation]
''I see. Good work.''
As Kierra was about to grab the plant pot, the demon suddenly jumped up again. Although Ovi's touch had just significantly damaged its mind, it still desperately crawled to the old table. Seeing this, Kierra couldn't help but be curious.
''Ovi, do you have access to this one's memory?''
[Yes, master]
''Play it out and cut the boring parts.''
Kierra leaned back in her chair comfortably as Ovi stuck its body on the wall to act as a screen. With everybody looking intently at it, the memory began.
The first part was about the person before turning into a demon. She was a rather successful cultivator in a small sect. One day, when she was walking around, she picked up a small fox demon, and from then on, her life changed forever.
With the cute fox demon by her side, she had more and more motivation to cultivate, and for a while, it seemed as though everything was going well until they encountered a corrupted entity roaming around this area. They bravely fought back in the hope that they could somehow contain this anomaly, but ultimately, the fox and the woman all got greatly injured, even the corrupted entity was still alive.
This is where the final part began. The female cultivator poured everything into sealing the entity, containing it in a flower pot. As for the fox demon, she used a relic to put it right under this area in a magic capsule for it to heal gradually. From that point onward, the female cultivator would keep guarding this area on her own since she needed to be present to maintain the seal properly. She also tried to reach out to bigger sects for help, but they never arrived.
Gradually, ominous energy began to escape the pot plant. The seal couldn't contain it, and now, even the female cultivator has turned out like this.
Even while watching this flashback, Kierra could hear some people sniffing on the sides. The people here, they were indeed overly prideful and pretentious, but they had at least lots of sympathy, Kierra thought. Though...
''...''
Did she just bully a good person...?