After taking a break for Aetherion to rest, the group continued in the skies with Aella and Seraphina at the forefront, the prior of which holding out her with a yellow arrow guiding them to the next miniboss.
Below them were the numerous monsters that populated the Mountains of Sympa. Few were able to fly as high as Aetherion, and those that could didn’t dare come near the colossal dragon, causing Aella to question just that.
“Why do they not come close? Aetherion’s presence, as large as it is, isn’t particularly threatening. Especially so for beasts that are sensitive to Mana”
Seraphina hummed in thought, opening her status panel. “Probably because of his skill [Apex Predator]! It makes it so anything he doesn’t classify as an ally that also isn’t double his strength or higher feels oppressed.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t seem broken at all. Oi, Stormy. Why can’t you do that? All you have is a water gun.” Aella teased her young dragon teased prompting him to try and bite her finger.
After failing his attack, Stormy electrocuted his tail before poking Aella’s arm with it, causing an “Ow!” To leave her mouth, along with a small jump from the unexpected shock.
“I’m sorry, it was a joke.” She pouted, rubbing her arm.
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Seeing the sudden notification, Aella’s eyes widened in shock.
“The second miniboss was defeated! That means we only have this one left, right?” Seraphina cheered happily before looking over at Aella’s shock. Aella… What’s wrong?”
Looking back at Seraphina with her face unchanged. “My parents just beat the second boss. How did Mom even get 27% without a dragon?”
Hearing their conversation, Blair and Indigo walked up curiously.
“You’re the daughter of Slade Rossi and Anastasia Rossi? Is that what I just heard.” Blair inferred.
‘Oh my god, my parents are super criminals or something, aren’t they?’ Aella thought as she turned to Blair.
“That is what I said? My full name is Aella Seren Rossi. Why? Did my parents do something bad?”
Curiously, Blair raised a brow. Mumbling, “She’s Anna’s child… Her personality suddenly makes so much sense.” Which Aella just barely managed to pick up, making her even more sure that her parents were supervillains or something.
“You mean you don’t know about your parents?” Blair said with a fake cough.
“S-should I? Did they blow up a continent because you’re making it seem like they blew up a continent?”
Blair wasn’t sure if that was a genuine question from Aella, but she shook her head regardless. “Slade Rossi, one of the heroes who stopped the world from getting destroyed 25 years ago during the first [SSS-ranked Abyss Nest outbreak], and Anastasia Khorkova, the genius mechanic, the woman who had a hand in making nearly all business-related Magic technology?”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait… What? Dad’s at the Ursa Major rank at most. What do you mean, hero?”
‘No… Thinking about it more, that sounds plausible. The Mana that circulates in his body was odd. If it was a curse or restriction, her words are theoretically possible.’
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With the notification of the Miniboss's arrival, Aella sighed. “Your words can be confirmed whenever we find them. Let me deal with this first.”
Shortly after the notification, the harsh cries of numerous avian humanoids came toward them.
“9. 10… 13 of them? Including the boss, even I might lose that alone… Hey, Seraphina. How long do you think Aetherion can hold off its servants?” Aella asked casually, coming up with a plan of attack.
“Uh-uhm… How long do you need?” Seraphina asked. She wasn’t sure about the answer to that. Aehterion was strong, but he’s only ever fought defensively before.
“Assuming it’s around the same strength as that Mimic… 10 minutes, tops. Unlike the mimic, this thing isn’t highly resistant to my wind.”
Seraphina placed her hand on Aetherion’s head, the dragon roaring proudly in response.
“We’ll try our best!” Seraphina answered with a resolute nod, a second roar from Aetherion signaling the beginning of the battle.
Aella nodded. “You don’t need to actually defeat any harpies. If you can’t manage, just try to keep their attention off of me.”
Flickering her rest, her fan once again appeared in her. ‘I really need to get enough Mana to get to at least the 3rd verse. Resummoning Sylph is already getting annoying.’
With a similar opening motion to the previous miniboss, Aella leaped off of Aetherion, this time letting the wind launch her through the air toward the numerous harpy threats.
The many soldiers fired feather projectiles at her, which were quickly shot out of the sky from a beam of energy from behind her, Aetherion’s breath!
The Harpy Queen, a female figure with long blond hair that exuded far more mana than her subjects, narrowed her eyes on Aella, recognizing the threat this little girl possessed immediately. Without hesitation, she lunged forward, her wings propelling her toward Aella much more efficiently than the wind that Aella used.
“System, put the rest of my points into Dexterity and Agility.”
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With a sudden burst of mobility she lacked before, Aella easily dodged the Queen’s initial strike, her movements sharp and powerful due to the wind pushing her around as she swiftly slashed at the Queen’s side. Lyvia parried the blow with her talons, the clash of metal against sharp claws resonating through the air, which both manipulated, vying for control.
Naturally, a mere monster wasn’t capable of contending with Aella for long. Even with the help of [Sylpheed’s Whisper], the amount of wind she could create was less than the C-rank miniboss, but the amount mattered little when the one controlling the wind had a millennium of experience.
“You are the Queen of these Skies, yes? That must be a daunting title! Let me take it off your hands!” Aella taunted with a hearty chuckle. Unlike the Mimic, who took her full effort just to damage, this was like a beautiful dance, both herself and the Harpy Queen Lyvia dancing around each other.
Aella’s control against the superior power of the Harpy made them a surprisingly even match. That even field was quickly broken by Stormy. Splitting from Aella, Stormy unleashed a tiny burst of water and lightning, creating a dazzling display that blew the Harpy down toward the ground, only for it to catch itself quickly.
Letting out a horrid screech, Lyvia sent dozens if not hundreds of knife-like features at Aella, the latter simply letting gravity take her to dodge the attack before seizing the opening created, the wind sending her toward the harpy like a comet, her sword taking shape behind her like a tail. She struck with precision, aiming for the Queen’s chest. The Harpy Queen, however, proved to be an agile opponent. With a graceful twist, she evaded Aella’s attack, her wings beating fiercely to maintain her balance, while another set of feathers came at Aella from behind, leaving her unable to dodge them.
For a moment, because of the pain, Aella lost control of the wind, which kept pushing her upward and started plummeting to the ground. Before she could catch herself, Lyvia attempted to gouge out her heart with her mighty talons, only for Stormy to send a small bolt of lightning at her wing, sending her flying downward with Aella.
Both caught themselves at the very last moment, Aella’s face filled with joy. While the Mimic was a fun challenge for her because of the bad matchup she had, nothing beats a good duet against someone who understood your method of fighting.
With their injuries similar, the two engaged on the ground in a fierce exchange. The sound of Aella’s sword and fan clashing with the Harpy Queen’s talons made a symphony as Aella quickly gained the upper hand, gladly allowing her opponent to strike her limbs to gain a more advantageous position.
With a sudden burst of speed, Aella closed the short distance between her and the Harpy Queen, this time revealing a new trick. Stomping the ground with her full force, two circles appeared, one inside the other with otherworldly glyphs in between them formed below the harpy.
“2nd Tier Wind Magic: Gale Strike!”
From right below the harpy, sharp gusts of wind began slicing at her, forcing her onto the defensive.
Tiered Magic. It was a more efficient way of using magic, utilizing less mana by creating a magic circle. The downsides were that you had to call out the name of the spell, and if the magic circle was destroyed, the spell was canceled. While the second of those weaknesses was almost always a nonfactor, if you knew the spell your opponent was going to cast, it became significantly easier to dodge.
With another powerful strike, Aella kicked off the Harpy Queen’s wings that were used as shields, disorienting the monster while also sending her back a short distance.
“It was fun, Lyvia. Your skill over the wind wasn’t bad for a monster who has lived for a couple of decades at most.” Aella said, expanding her fan and gripping her sword before dashing forward, severing the head of the Queen.
Before the system notification popped up, Aella snapped her fingers, using the wind to tear out the feathers, which were shot deeply into her back with a scream of agony that, conveniently, nobody heard.
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