Two months had passed since the fight between Dora and Mercy. The two trained in the morning, following the same pattern, but after being seriously scolded by Elizabeth's father, it was decided that they would only fight in Candace's Rifts.
It was a breath of fresh air for Mercy, who could finally let go and feel reborn, but for two other people, this change was a danger.
The group was staying in the mansion of Maxim's family, whose parents run food industries across the Kingdom.
The place was a huge building, with two floors reserved for dormitories.
The upper floor was reserved for women's rooms, while the lower floor was reserved for men.
In each of their rooms, Freya and Solaria faced the windows, bathed in moonlight, when a shadow appeared behind them.
"It took you long enough," said Freya without turning her back on him.
***
"I hope you have good news." Solaria did the same.
The shadow dropped to one knee and turned out to be Gersey, at Freya, and Moonra at Solaria, both sweating with anxiety.
"... By the way, since when am I your servant?" Moonra pouted.
Solaria turned and ran her hand through her hair.
"Since I will be a Sin's wife if my plan succeeds, and you don't want me to remember you as the one who abandoned me."
"Ugh... Ok, ok, it was a rhetorical question... So here's my report."
***
(Freya's room)
On his knee, Gersey coughed and took a piece of paper.
"Anesidora follows the same pattern every day: he doesn't sleep, he lies on his bed but randomly pops somewhere after 4 am, and then he drinks coffee with a huge amount of sugar. He then go wakes up Miss Candace for training and then, they go in Rifts, alongside Miss Iris, Miss Eryl, and Midgard's Serpent. Currently, they're on the verge of reaching A-rank Rifts."
***
(Solaria's room)
"They stay there until they've completed a certain amount of achievement, Dora doesn't get tired, so their limit is determined by completing a job. After that, Mercy join them for her training with him, usually for about half an hour, but one day she managed to fight for a whole hour. After that, he has lunch and other Rift's training, and then in the afternoon, he fights and loses against Iris."
"... That's a big problem..."
"Already? Oh, then I better not tell you that Zuri goes to his bedroom every night."
***
(Freya's room)
"She goes where?!"
"For her bedtime story, apparently Sir Dora has many wholesome stories, but it also appears that their origin forbids him to tell anyone else about it. I might be wrong, but I have the intuition that this could be related to his biggest weakness ."
***
(Solaria's room)
The Princess stopped strangling her brother and opened her eyes widely.
"Weakness?"
"Since I tell you, you sick! I noticed an interesting pattern about him, when he uses light magic, he becomes nice, like a little dog, but when he uses this fighting stance, when he spreads his arms, he becomes like to madman."
***
(Freya's room)
"A puppy?... And how could I benefit from it?"
"The thing is, Midgard's Serpent referred to him as G, and when he becomes nice, she calls him B. My guess is that this is some kind of ability, when Mister Dora is B, he is nice and helpful, but when he becomes the G, he is unpleasant."
"Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"
***
(Solaria's room)
"The thing is, if you play it clever, there's actually a way for you to take benefits from it, for example, if you force Dora to use this form and then make him promise, swear or anything that he couldn't refuse, then there's a chance to get him easily."
Solaria walked toward the window, looking thoughtful.
"... I heard that he used to have a girlfriend but no one understood how they put themselves together... that must be it!"
She clenched her fist and as the moonlight illuminated it, she seemed more evil than ever.
"That's it, that must be it, I need this to be it! Light magic? Everything makes sense!"
***
(Freya's room)
"Are you sure you're ok, sis? You look a little scary."
"You don't understand, having this man at my service is only a dream, even if I tricked him, as an Avatar he is above the law... But he still played this healer's game until he found an opportunity to run. It means that if I use his weakness correctly..."
***
(Solaria's room)
"... I can make him serve me forever, and if I can even follow his will, he will never want to get rid of me! Moonra, good job! Tomorrow we will begin the ultimate operation to capture an Avatar!"
***
(Both of them at the same time)
"You've been playing me for too long, but now it's my turn"
The following day, a strange event happened for Dora.
Early in the morning, he had received two invitations to help with a B-rank raid near the city at noon, the two for the same Rift.
In the car, he was surprised to see, accompanying him Freya, Solaria, and their brothers.
The two ladies faced each other silently, in staring contests, while their brothers were sweating profusely.
"What a strange coincidence, that we all get invited for the same Rift."
"Fufufu, yes, what a surprise... It seems like Rifts attract not only monsters but scavengers too." Solaria gave a deadly gaze to Gersey who shook his head frantically.
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"Scavenger? How fitting for the children of the Sin of Glutonny." Freya answered without a care.
The rest of the journey consisted of provocations of this kind, in the midst of which Moonra and Gersey sighed in distress, much to the amusement of Dora, unaware that he was in the eye of the cyclone.
A little later, they arrived in a vast field in the middle of which a white Rift was rumbling.
Dora stared at this phenomenon for a few seconds then turned to his friends.
"Is Grandma around?"
Solaria and Freya looked at each other worriedly.
"N-no, it must be a coincidence, she is visiting the supermarket," Solaria said, looking away.
Freya nodded and covered her lie.
"It might be the consequences of the variant coming, I heard about reports of uncanny Rifts, but it's not a reason to waste time. Let's get inside."
"Only us? How come no one noticed that and made a report? It's strange... Thinking about it, since it was an anonymous invitation... Is there even a paycheck?!"
The two girls facepalmed and gave deadly gases to their shaking brothers.
"S-sir Dora! Maybe we should clear it first? I mean, a brave man like you..."
"I've shut down 47 students."
"... I mean, a strong man like you shouldn't bother about such a weak Rift..."
Gersey lowered his head, Freya, impatiently walked straight into the Rift, followed in a hurry by Moonra and her brother.
Dora rolled his eyes and completed the walk with Solaria.
Further away, under a bunch of trees, a girl with white hair and light outfits was lying next to a picnic set, a girl with blue hair next to her.
"... They really went inside."
"See? I told you he would be fooled by this, the color doesn't matter."
In the Rift, the five were in a dark forest.
Strange noises could be heard from afar, making Gersey tremble.
"Hm... Was it really necessary that I come too? I've never been in a Rift before."
"And when will be the right time? When you hit puberty? I won't have a Balder situation in my family."
Moonra chuckled and pumped his chest.
"Don't worry, this Prince won't let any monsters touch you, I'll guarantee everyone's protection."
He glanced at Freya who didn't even react and noticed Solaria's furious gaze.
"Thank you, dear brother, but in the presence of this dear Dora, I believe that we should let him deal with the situation."
The concerned person jumped.
"Me?"
"Yes, who else? You are the strongest, you're definitely the one in charge."
"What about you? I barely feel anything in this Rift, you should be able to clear that by your... Uh?"
He stopped suddenly and took a thinking pose.
Freya thought for a moment and moved closer.
"Maybe we can, yes, but aren't you in need of experience? You shouldn't let this chance slip, I would even suggest you use only one skill, as a handicap."
Solaria flinched and smiled widely.
"Yeah! Great idea, this is nothing for you, you should definitely use only one skill... A bright skill, something very... Enlightening..."
"Ah dammit, fine, fine, I don't need both of you to tell me that too, I'll do it."
He walked a few steps, looking around him, leaving Solaria and Freya with a sinister smile.
(Good... Once you finish here, I'll see how much you're controllable in this state.)
(And then, nothing will be able to stop me.)
Dora stopped in a larger space and closed his eyes.
"What a strange Rift... Is this only because of a variant? I don't even feel any monster... Except that one."
He opened his eyes shining yellow.
"Synergy: Delta-Gamma"
His aura exploded in powerful shockwaves and a bright light illuminated the forest.
The light faded, revealing the boy with angry eyes.
They looked at him, a little surprised when Freya frowned.
"You... What is this? I feel no light energy in you!"
Dora took a glance at them and turned to another direction of the forest.
"You wanted me to use only one skill."
"... I mean, we were thinking of something like light magic!"
"Are you giving me advice?"
They flinched and opened their eyes wide. The gaze Dora gave them was reminiscent of his darkest moments in the undead Rift or his fight against Thomas.
He slowly turned toward the same direction and raised a finger.
"I don't need your opinion or his power to erase that thing."
As his finger glowed blue, he fired a massive lightning bolt in the direction he was looking. This was followed by a blue and white explosion which shook the forest and left them temporarily blinded.
Gersey was knocked unconscious due to the sudden surge of energy, while the others managed to remain still and stare at the enormous space created by the attack.
It appeared as if a large road and cultivation field had suddenly materialized out of nowhere.
The field was black from the burnt, crossed by lightning on some parts.
Dora looked at the impact zone and nodded.
"Hm... I see... so this is why there's only one monster here... hey, y'all."
They looked at him, Freya and Solaria with clear anger.
"I don't know why but apparently every soul of the monsters is concentrated in only one monster, to put it simply, there are many monsters gathered in one being."
He faced the impact zone, while the ground started to shake.
"How ironic... But now I'm sure that this fossil is behind that."
"So what? Just kill it since you don't need light power." Freya said in the back.
Dora stared at her in annoyance, but the eyes of the young lady didn't show any ounce of fear, but something else.
"I'm not saying that I can't, I'm warning you that you're in the way. This will take many hits to take all the soul of this thing."
"And I repeat, you claimed that you could do it without any other skill, so go ahead, show me how you can live to your words."
They stared at each other for seconds. The ground started to tear apart and soon a strange substance came from the black soil.
The thing had the appearance of a mixture of several monsters, mixing on themselves in a black shadow.
Moonra lifted Gersey and turned to the other three.
"Guys! We need to do something, now!"
But none of them moved. Freya kept piercing Dora with her gaze and Solaria was growling, thinking intensely.
The monster grew in volume, covering a large space and surrounding them.
Dora raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.
"Was that your plan from the beginning? Taking me here to make me use light magic? What's the point? You want to learn how it works?"
A tentacle-like substance came from the monster, surrounding the group like a snake and getting dangerously close to them.
"Don't underestimate me, I don't want your power, I could deal with any problem coming to me my own way, but it really annoys me when someone starts stepping on my pride. I am not one of the people you use as training tools."
The tentacle closed in, and Moonra took out his sword and rushed at it.
Dora looked at Freya for a while before rolling his eyes.
"Fine, you don't need my power, so I suppose that you won't need me to kill these monsters by yourself."
"Excuse me?!" Moonra shouted.
Freya's aura started spreading in a warm pink and yellow light.
"Need? Please, do you think I wouldn't kill a vermin of that level?"
"Then go ahead, I'm watching you."
At this moment, a green light covered the area and several rays of light struck the monster, reducing it to a moving howling goo.
The three looked in surprise at the Princess, a white magic wand topped with a sun-shaped ornament.
She waved her hair and gave them a determined smile.
"So, what you're saying is, you're challenging us to defeat this thing, and the winner will get what she wants from you?"
Dora widened his eyes and glanced at Freya whose energy continued to increase.
"Fine by me, I'll make you pay for your insolence and I'll shut this girl for good, the best victory for me."
"Oh I'll enjoy every ounce of rage you'll have, little Frey."
They stood together side by side, their energy covering the whole area in a green, yellow and pink firework, and then the earth moved.
***
In a matter of minutes, the previously dark forest had transformed into a vast crater, radiating with an array of colorful and vibrant plant life.
In the center of this breathtaking landscape stood two elegant girls, unfazed by the destruction that had once occurred in this area.
They gracefully fixed their hair and looked up at the sky, surrounded by the remnants of around fifty soul stones, completing the surreal imagery.
Moonra looked at them, amazed, and held his chest.
(On my mother, and my father... I apologize to God, for I'm renouncing everything today... because my only goal in life is now settled.) he thought intensely, watching Freya and her angelic gestures.
The two girls looked at each other for a moment but eventually smiled.
"I prefer that, it would be boring if my opponent was another specialist in chitchat." Freya with a proud smile.
"Please, the blood of an Avatar runs in my veins, you won't keep this facade for long. But now, time for the reward."
They looked at Dora in front of them.
The boy, a petal flower in his hand, closed his eyes and nodded.
"I don't know if you should be celebrating, it wasn't a big deal from the beginning..." suddenly, he opened his eyes again, but his facial expression conveyed a new emotion to the girls. "But I do appreciate a beautiful work, as a specialist of destruction, I can acknowledge a real work of art, and that one is the most perfect balance of power and elegance that I've seen... Until now, I admit defeat ."
He smiled at them, a smile powerful enough to make the girls shake a little.
But they didn't let it appear, they kept their composure and crossed their arms.
Dora walked towards them.
"But it will be a problem to determine who dealt the final blow, so as a token of my recognition, I allow you to dispose of me only once. Choose wisely, because I don't think I will bet once again in a fight where I can only watch."
"Hm... I don't know... saying like this..." Solaria scratched her chin, a smirk on her lips.
Freya with a similar expression, put a hand on her hip.
"She's right, after your annoying speech, I don't even feel like giving you that... You deserve a real punishment."
Dora frowned and sighed heavily.
"Really? After all of this? What was the point then?"
"Well, your face right now is enough rewarding, plus, since we cleared this Rift, we should share the stones only between the two of us."
Solaria nodded in agreement, both enjoying teasing the young boy to the extreme.
But as a display of his newly strange behavior, he didn't show any real annoyance.
He grinned, looking away, and turned toward the entrance.
"I'll let you have it, but this will be my last defeat."
His eyes shone brightly and little by little, a new persona took over, as surprised as the prince nearby could be, as on that day, for the very first time, Gamma admitted defeat on his own will.
Later that night in her bedroom l, Solaria was looking at the outside view before screaming.
"Holy COW!!! I'm an IDIOT! FUUUU...."
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Countdown: -3.