Demon continent Alsace in the year 307 in the 10-month Asmodum on the 24th day after the shattering of the empire.

She was only peripherally aware of what was happening around her, and the constant changes from cold to warm, as well as constant changes of direction that accompanied them, were not helping her keep her sense of direction. And she soon knew where she was only thanks to her domain.

Lucine tried to gently maneuver her to the bottom of the seabed, near the Arcane Volcano. Not a bad idea, except there was nothing she could do to help her and the newborn Nereus Ilayda.

With each foot, she sank further down, the onslaught on her core and the tides that flooded through her meridians diminished, and the arcane energy that shot out of her became less and less, but more and more was absorbed by the ritual.

In her domain she could see more and more small lights appearing, faster and faster and more and more, multiplying rapidly.

Like the first ones, they fought against the storm of arcane energy that gave birth to them, only to catch themselves like the others. These new ones, however, flared up more than the previous newborns.

And still, new ones were born with increasingly larger flaring flames in her domain, the first newborns were already as big as adult Nereus Ilayda.

Then everyone got distracted by something and she was dropped right into the Arcane Volcano.

Immediately she was surrounded by more arcane energy than she had been in the ritual and the brief respite she had had was over.

As before, she tried to direct the arcane energy into orderly channels and subjugate it to her will, which she managed more easily than in the ritual.

Still, her meridians were flooded again, rupturing only to adapt to the new amounts of Arcane Energy flooding through them, to burst again and then heal again, only to be burst open by even more Arcane Energy. More and more Arcane Energy burst through her skin, back out, only to flood back into her.

Like her meridians, her core was also flooded and burst open, only to make way for a new core over and over again. Each new core was larger than the last and ever-larger her core became for more and more Arcane Energies which flooded into the newly formed core, pushing out or simply washing away the Arcane Energy generated by her core.

While she could only helplessly try to save herself and her body, she realized that the newly formed meridian no longer corresponded to the physique she had implemented into it and, as she knew, was not suitable for a female body and could have led to problems.

Not that I'm not in trouble here, too. But if the Arcane Energy can do this, then I can possibly use it to change my gender. At least it feels like it did back then, only I'm coming apart at the seams and arcane energy is pouring out of all my openings.

As she did so long ago, she again tried to direct the arcane energy and as then, it followed her desire without a struggle, after which she tried to direct it and not oppose it, to keep it out of her core.

She calmed down and got into a meditative state. This was made more difficult by the fact that she was spinning back and forth in the vent of the arcane volcano like a child's gyroscope, while she was still in the process of sinking further and further down into it.

The further she sank, the more the density of the arcane energy increased.

As she had done then, she tried to change her body, similar to how she had seen her body evolve then and how her meridians were changing now.

With each successive breath, she sank further into the depths and became calmer, coming closer to a meditative state. With each heartbeat, a pulse of arcane energy passed through her body in sync with the heartbeat that dominated the ritual and set the pulse of arcane energy around her.

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Her spinning stopped and she sank into a meditative state in which she could direct the Arcane Energy as she wished.

A smile crept onto her face as she set about changing her gender.

Since the Arcane Energy seemed to do whatever she wanted it to do, she tried to use it in such a way that she could change her body with it.

The Arcane Energy flowed into her body into every single cell until they were full of Arcane Energy and she could impose her will on them.

And she had to be quick because with each passing moment and each passing breath it would become more difficult to adapt her altered meridians to her new physique.

But nothing happened, her cells refused to obey her and no matter how much arcane energy she used. It was not that nothing happened but not what she wanted. Her cells only renewed themselves and with each time it became more difficult to influence them.

She was hitting her cells with more Arcane Energy that her whole body started to boil and water and Arcane Energy evaporated around her. And more and more Arcane Energy she made her own, drawing it from the depths of Arcane to serve her cause, continuing to no avail.

Her cells simply refused to change and her former calm was gone much like her the Arcane energy around her also raged.

It was as if she was running into an invisible barrier that protected her cells from change.

I have to stay calm, it won't do me any good to get upset.

With an effort she took a breath and then another to calm herself, she had gotten used to the feeling of breathing underwater by now.

Then the decision was taken out of her hands, she climbed another step, but this time she was not calm, but fierce and furious.

The crown of horns that adorned her head became more prominent and she also gained a few more inches in height. Her claws and teeth were similarly changed and became more predatory.

Like last time, her body was enveloped in purple fire, which burned everything that came into contact with it, only this time it was fed not only by the Arcane Energy within her but also by the Arcane Energy that raged around her, still rising from the depths of Arcana to her and the Nereus Ilayda.

The Nereus Ilayda!

She suddenly remembered and also that they were in a ritual dance and thus were probably in a trance and might not be able to save the newborns and themselves from the purple arcane fire.

This is why, despite her level ascension, she tried to keep it under control and not let it well up from the mouth of the volcano.

The Arcane Energy still obeyed her, even if she had not been able to change her body as she would have liked, she could still use it to contain the fire and keep it in the volcano. Whereby she had to be careful not to feed it anymore.

And still, her body was getting used to the step up and changing accordingly.

Was her body suddenly enveloped by a strange light and she could feel divine energy surrounding her and entering her and settling in her body.

Her veins became more prominent and now appeared like rivers of magma running through her marble skin and she could feel the divine energy continuing to radiate from it into her body. Already the light was gone.

The god blood of Lilith and Asmodus flowing through my veins.

It was the cursed blood of the gods that had resisted her, she would have to find a way to free herself from it and also from the curse of Albia. She did not want to live a life according to the wishes of the gods again and she would not let them dictate to her in which body she could live.

But first I have to survive this ascent and then escape from this volcano. Otherwise, I can't do anything I want to do and I swear I'll get back at those gods. It must have something to do with the blood of the gods that I was born female.

She focused on her innermost being and on successfully completing her level ascent.

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As she focused on her inner self, the storm around her grew weaker and weaker, and the arcane energy diminished.

The volcano's vent lost more and more altitude and she sank to the bottom of the sea in her battle with the arcane energies raging within her. On it she remained exhausted, surrounded by waterborn and sea creatures, which were also exhausted like her.

The only ones moving were a swarm of newborn Nereus Ilayda and Nereus himself, who watched over his sleeping people and rejoiced at the large number of newborns.

It seemed that Izatra's quick thinking had brought them all a great blessing, yet he would have to apologize to their guest.

He had guessed what her idea had been when he had seen the young Titan before him, and a conversation with Izatra confirmed it. Possibly, as with the Larrua, there was something she wanted, there was always something the surface dwellers wanted from the Ilayda.