“My sister’s obsession? I guess she likes fighting a lot. Bullying the weak is one of her strong skills. So many starting adventurers have quit fighting because she beat them black and blue. It’s probably for the better - I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.” Lyla spoke, looking around suspiciously. There was a certain edge to the air.
“Has your sister ever wanted to be free? Or mentioned something about freedom.” Viv spoke, borrowing Tamiel’s voice. He could see her soul clearly - it screamed that it was unfettered, free from any chains. Lyla closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side.
“A long, long time ago. Back when we were younger, when neither of us had dreams of adventuring. I remember her staring up at the moon one night, reaching out her hand. She said she wanted to be as free as a butterfly, soaring through the air without a care in the world.” She looked up at the black ceiling, looking at something far, far away.
It took three more questions for Lyla to figure out what was going on, but she kept talking, her collar threatening to blow off her neck at any moment. Whether it was childhood stories or the way she treated Lyla, Viv listened to all of it, hoping to glean more information. If he could find out what her Ego was, they could avoid a grim fate.
Meanwhile, Lilia was wreaking havoc on the second floor. She was hovering close to the ceiling, her eyes scanning for her next prey. She saw a wolf pack in the distance, and like a falling meteor, she crashed into the group, slaughtering them in seconds. It was a game of hide and seek, and this time, the rabbit was the hunter. Viv commanded the beast packs to gather next to the gate, but most of them didn’t make it that far.
Her first soul technique was revealed when she went into the church. Her pink wings no longer shimmered, now blurry and tinted with yellow. As she walked through the church, her wings slowly flapped in the air, spreading yellow powder in the air. The spiders didn’t even get a chance to react before they got a taste of their own medicine. A freak show of spiders frozen in place played out in the church. Not even the drider was spared from the yellow powder, falling victim to it just as easily.
She held out her hand, conjuring a feeble ember. The fire spread to the nest of spiders through the spiderwebs, and in just moments, the entire church was ablaze. Lilia walked out, her wings regaining their usual majesty.
Neither the mushroom trap nor the fireflies got to her due to one simple reason. She could fly. She made a small stop near the underground dungeon, slaughtering the entirety of Yeri’s pack. For the first time in the dungeon, genuine surprise coloured her face. Her wings trembled in anger as she slashed through the various chains, looking at the dried blood on the ground.
“This is a demonic dungeon after all. Which cult got to the dungeon first? It has to be Yshradh’s - only they could do something like this,” she muttered, leaving the underground dungeon behind her. Picking up speed, she ascended to the very top and locked eyes with the chimera named Lemia.
Although it could move between floors, it would be useless on the third floor without a way to fly or attack from range. Thus, it was bait, a way to learn about her abilities. Viv was constantly informing the goblins of Lilia’s abilities, and they in turn informed Kvatar, who was idly creating sculptures of ash before toppling them over. Its two white eyes made everyone present look away despite him assuming human form.
Lilia didn’t need any clever tactics. She dove at the chimera, her blade leaving a pink streak in the air. With a roar, the chimera split in two. The bloody phantom rushed forward to meet the attack as the original’s horns began to glow blue. The world began to shift, an ethereal blue swirl rapidly spinning in the air, producing phantom after phantom.
With a simple sweep of her blade, the blood chimera was cut in half, a pool of blood where it once was. Her eyes suddenly widened as she manoeuvred to the right, avoiding an invisible threat, but that wasn’t enough. She would have cut Lemia in half if not for the hand sticking out of the bloody grass, grabbing her leg. Lilia was like a kite that reached the end of the string, all momentum suddenly gone. Viv’s soul lit up in excitement.
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Both the phantoms and the zombies swarmed around Lilia as she waved her sword around her, creating a zone of death. She cut and cut, but there were always more zombies. The phantoms that embraced her reached for her heart, their ethereal arms passing through her armour, but her soul kept them at bay.
She was held still for mere seconds, but that was more than enough. A thunderous impact shattered the ground around her, and for a moment, she was engulfed in a sea of lightning. Moments later, the ground split apart as a titanic black earthworm emerged from underneath her, its giant teeth grinding her to bits. Even Viv didn’t know what would happen if she got consumed by the vortex inside Devourer’s mouth.
Unfortunately, fate wasn’t as kind. Four of Devourer’s teeth had shattered trying to consume her, and she was desperately hanging on to one of the remaining teeth, looking back at the swirling black vortex. Somewhere in the blast, she had gotten her visor up, her body covered from head to toe in thick crystal.
Both pairs of her wings rapidly flapped as the vortex sucked her in with ferocious intensity. As Devourer reached the apex and began plummeting, Lilia revealed her second soul technique. The aura focused around her blade and her wings, and as she was holding on with one hand, she slashed the exposed flesh before her. Devourer’s mouth exploded with a shower of blood. Ten violet crescents spun around her like a whirlwind, cutting through everything in their way.
In the last moments before crashing to the ground, she escaped the worm’s mouth, turning and twisting in the air. As Devourer burrowed underground, the magical crescents danced around its body, carving a bloody pattern into its flesh. Abruptly turning her head to the left, she narrowly avoided a cloud of lightning coming from the chimera’s cheetah head. Its legs were broken, but despite that, it still kept going.
“Annoying bugs that don’t know better.” She shouted, ascending higher and higher. Her aura focused around her, but before she could unleash another deadly technique, she dived to the left, avoiding Devourer’s maw. She flew away, but as the worm twisted, the very air around her pulled her back. Still, it wouldn’t be enough to suck her into the vortex. She would have been safe if it was just Devourer, but Viv had different plans. From its mangled mouth emerged a horrible noise, and then a storm of black, completely enveloping her.
She came crashing to the ground as her wings were crushed by gravity. As she impacted the ground, the armour retaliated. Earth shattered as another much larger crater formed beneath her. The surrounding zombies practically exploded as Lilia took half the blood plains with her.
It took only seconds for the butterfly wings to appear in the air, struggling against the black storm that pulled her down. Her armour was covered in dirt, dimmer than before. It was worthy of being an artefact - not even a fall from that height could crack it slightly.
“I’ve entertained this for long enough. No matter how large a worm is, it still remains a worm.” She broke free from the storm with a burst of speed, her entire body shining pink. Like a sun in the sky, she illuminated the plains, bathing everything in warm, pink light. Four eyes appeared on her butterfly wings, perfectly symmetrical.
The beast horde waiting nearby stared at the new sun, entranced. Both the chimera and Devourer froze, turning their bodies towards Lilia. Even the zombies, who had no minds to speak of, looked up, admiring the sight before them.
“There’s a reason I’m an A rank,” Lilia said, her soul dimming for a moment.
Then, everything changed. One of the butterfly wings became white. The other turned black. She gently flapped her wings, but only once. The still air began to pick up momentum, going from a small breeze to a medium gust, then a heavy storm. A vortex the shade of pink began to tear through the plains - literally. The wind lacerated everything it touched, shredding through skin and organs, cutting bone in half. The vortex turned red, a shower of blood raining for minutes on end. Lilia hovered in the air, her armour painted the same.
“Fate. One of the most annoying things to deal with. Don’t give her a chance to build up aura for that technique. Watch out for her Ego - it could kill all of you. She’s about to descend.” Viv narrated the end of the fight, describing everything. From the way that she moved her aura to the way her wings flapped, every little bit would help.
Kvatar looked as bored as he was during the start, though he kept one ear open. Zagon flew in the air, drinking the three potions he was given. Much further away, Lyn stood together with Yeri and Artorius, runes surrounding them both. As for Hyacinth, Lyla and Tamiel, well, that would be for when things truly started to go bad.
Even though it was a fight for their lives, no one was shaking with nerves. A quiet determination spread throughout the third floor as Lilia descended. In just a few seconds, it would be a fight for their life.