For Ayumi, the wind felt like a part of her. She felt like she belonged there. With a feeling like she was embracing a part of her soul, Ayumi stepped on to the wind and rose into the air, using the air to propel herself above the monster snake.

“The Boss…” Ayumi muttered. The snake was enormous, about 70 feet in length. Its thick body wiggled as it crawled out of the hole in the ground where the fountain had been, revealing its stunning size. Its bright yellow skin glowed with a poisonous green light- a barrier, Ayumi guessed- and was covered with bright green diamonds.

“Bring in the Snake hunters! Woot!” Ayumi grunted as she heard the muscleheaded Hideki yell. Her job, as discussed was the same as Shizuka’s. To distract the boss and make sure that it didn’t concentrate fire on any one of them. Despite her strong class, Ayumi felt a bit of apprehension as she regarded the large snake. She couldn’t see the others, as the entire ground was filled with dust. As she rose above the dust with the snake’s moving head, she felt as if she were confronting the beast alone. Great. She thought to herself. My first quest is to kill a big bad snake.

Almost as if it heard her comments, the snake turned its jeweled head around to face her. Its slit like eyes narrowed as it stared venomously at her. Ayumi froze, struck by a heart wrenching fear. Its stare was unlike any as it seemed to make even her heart stop beating.

And then the snake snapped at her.

Its impressively large fangs gleamed as it raced through the wind towards her. A forked tongue whisked in and out as it tasted the air. The snake was fast. Faster than Ayumi expected. And floating there, paralyzed, she felt helpless as the snake bit at her.

AYUMI! FOCUS! The mental shout expelled her fear as she regained control of her faculties. Remembering all the training her master had given her, she twisted through the air, using appropriate gusts of wind to propel her around the lower jaw of the snake.

The metallic scraping of her knives against their sheaths gave her a sense of clarity as she sent the blades digging into the snake’s skin. It was futile, however, as the barrier around the snake repelled her violently, sending her flying.

Using a significant amount of mana, she sent an updraft to stabilize herself as she regarded her opponent with wariness. The snake seemed to feel the same as it stared at her with its slit like eyes. ‘Thanks, Shizuka.’ Ayumi said, thanking her friend for her timely mental shout using Nanami’s magic.

‘No problem. How’s it looking up there? I can’t see anything. I can only see you two staring at each other…’ She replied. ‘The thing is fast. And huge. What about you guys?’ Ayumi asked, not taking her eyes off the beast. ‘Not good. This might be the toughest boss yet, Eiji kun said. There’s some sort of wind down her, keeping us from getting too close. And Satoshi kun tried to morph, but his armor stopped him. So you’re gonna have to wait for some time for air support.’

Ayumi sped through the air towards the ugly head of the snake. The snake turned with a speed surprising her again as it set its sights on her. Ayumi didn’t back down however, as she brandished her blades with ferocity. Cut like the wind, and flare with the flame, her master had taught her, and she did just that.

The blade screeched as it cut through the air, propelling Ayumi along with it towards the snake’s eye. The snake didn’t expect the sudden burst in speed as it slightly recoiled. But Ayumi was faster as she whooshed towards the snake. Her blade met the expected resistance of the barrier, but this time, she was ready. A significant amount of mana got used up as she sent forth a blade of flames, heating the air to an unimaginable degree. Another batch of mana got used up as she brought down her second blade, sending a wave of ferocious air.

Wind X Flame, Synergy slash. She thought as she brought forth a headwind to slow her down to a stop. The wind accentuated the flame, bringing forth a large tempest of flame hot enough to melt iron. Ayumi rapidly hung back as she watched the flames burn. My class, the Elemental Blademaster allows me to use all the elements… But master only taught me fire and wind for now. I hope it’s enough to break its barrier.

The flames spiraled out of control with a final burst before dying away, revealing the snake’s head. There was little to no damage to it as it continued to glower at Ayumi. Before giving in to despair, she rejoiced as she saw a spot below the snake’s eye, the scale smoldering with a dying flame. So it isn’t invisible! She immediately drew back and continued staring at the snake while trying to access Nanami’s network. ‘Nanami! The thing has a weak spot! I’m gonna go in for the kill, but how’s it looking down there?’ Nanami’s reply was slow to come. ‘It’s…. it’s not good. Hurry up Ayumi. Its sprouting smaller snakes and Hideki has already been poisoned…’

Astounded, Ayumi prepared herself for another attack. The snake seemed bored as it looked on. Irked by its uncaring demeanor, she immediately shot through the air, high above the snake’s head, trying to find an opening. The head twisted around, keeping an eye on her. Ayumi tensed as it opened its mouth.

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And then it spoke.

“Children. Children gifted by the gods? Why are you here? Have they sent you to kill us of the demon race?” Ayumi couldn’t believe her ears as she heard it speak. The snake’s voice was strange. Ancient and full of unimaginable power. It looked at Ayumi with a questioning glare as it cocked its head. Ayumi stammered as she replied. “Th-they who? What’re you talking about? The king sent us.”

“The king?” The snake questioned. “Avelicas Crangel… King of Tyerst.” The snake seemed to snort in derision as it bobbed its head back and emitted a hissing sound. “That child? King? Bah. He has no right to call himself king. Now, Notinnrah, he was a fine king.” The snake replied.

Ayumi on the other hand, felt bewildered. What is with this monster? Why is it talking to me so casually? It’s almost like… “Are you wondering why I’m so unperturbed by your… attacks? Because it’s exactly what you think. I have no fear of you. If I wished to, I could kill you on a mere whim. But now, I need to return…To Grimoi…. My Emperor waits.”

Ayumi felt herself getting angry as she whipped her blades around. “You think you’re so powerful huh?” The snake chuckled as it replied. “I don’t. I know it.” As if to emphasize its point, an enormous pressure crushed Ayumi, rendering her incapable of even articulating a word. The snake huffed, sending a burst of hot air.

A pair of wings sprouted from its back. Dark, velvety wings which were even larger than the snake. It flapped its enormous wings, brushing away the dust that covered the town like cobwebs. It rose into the air, its tail twisting about as it rose.

Ayumi gaped at the sight, but her surprise was interrupted as a figure shot through the dust cloud, speeding towards her. The dust cleared, revealing an impressive wyvern flapping its wings next to her. It growled and gestured at the snake, with a questioning look.

“Ah. Another one. This one seems to be a shape shifter. Not bad, not bad at all.” The snake muttered. Then, flapping its wings, it began to fly away. The wyvern’s head began to shrink as it turned into Satoshi’s head. His face was filled with puzzlement as he asked Ayumi, “What happened?”

Ayumi could barely reply. “W-we can’t do it… It’s too powerful…” She panted, sweat beading her forehead. Satoshi looked incredulous as he replied. “Too powerful? Are you off your knocker, Ayumi? We can beat it.”

“No, she’s right.” Another voice intruded as another person came flying towards them. The dust slowly cleared, revealing all the others-Eiji, Shizuka, Mayumi, Nanami, Rika- all of them unconscious and on the ground. Satoshi gaped at the sight, disbelief on his face. “It’s more powerful than we anticipated. It seems Kuniyaltre has used its years of confinement to actually become stronger.” The red haired commander, Lufrew said. “No doubt the Oracle didn’t foresee this development. Well, no matter. At least you kids got a good measure of how Intimidate works.”

“S-so we’re just gonna let it go?” Satoshi muttered, irritation flashing in his eyes. He was raring to fight. But Ayumi just shrugged at this. After all, it seems he didn’t get affected by the Intimidate. No wonder he’s so confident.

“Boy, the Oracle charged us to kill Kuniyaltre. You think we came here without backup?” Lufrew questioned him. He stretched his arms and eyed the beast that was leaving. “C-commander, could it be you’re going to-?” Lufrew issued a short bark of a laugh. “Ha! No way.” Then his eyes turned serious. “We have an even more dangerous person on the job.”

“Who?” Satoshi questioned. Lufrew looked at him seriously before answering. “The Sin of Wrath.”

“What’s the Sin of Wrath?” Satoshi wearily asked. Ayumi shared his sentiment as every word Lufrew uttered only brought forth more questions.

“That, kids, is the name of a Slayer.” Lufrew said, with complex emotions thundering in his eyes. “A Slayer? Are they special?” Satoshi queried, asking Ayumi’s question. “Special? No. They’re strong. Very, very strong. Be it monster, dragon or even a god, they can kill it. The most dangerous beasts to walk this earth. If you meet a slayer…” Lufrew took a deep breath. “Run the other way. I’m serious.” He added, looking at the incredulous look on Satoshi’s face. “Slayers are dangerous. At your state, you’d die within moments if you were to face the Sin of Wrath, or more appropriately, Tallios. And Tallios is one of the strongest free slayers.”

“Free slayers?” Ayumi jumped the gun, cutting off Satoshi from asking questions. Lufrew smiled as he answered. “The Slayers committed a crime, Ayumi. Like I said, they can kill gods. And kill a god they did. A god that was important to a lot of people.” A grim smile played on his lips. “A slayer killed Lord Theyios himself.”

Ayumi gasped as she replied, “Th-Theyios?! But then…” Lufrew nodded and replied. “I know what you’re thinking. But no, Lord Theyios didn’t die. He used a complicated piece of magic to switch it to another minor god. But Lord Theyios had been severely weakened. A slayer… is never to be underestimated. They’re… anomalies.”

Satoshi let out an exasperated grunt as he replied. “Bah! If they’re so special, why can’t we get the Slayer class? I mean, we could annihilate this Kuni-whatsit then, can’t we?” Lufrew crossed his arms. “It’s understandable that they don’t want you guys to have Slayer powers. Besides, there are special procedures to become a Slayer. You don’t just up and become one. And, an Apostle becoming a Slayer nearly killed Lord Theyios. You think they’ll risk it by giving a hero such powers as well?”

“So, what if the Slayers become our enemies? Are we supposed to get killed by them?” Satoshi asked, a bit angry. “You don’t think we just let the Slayers go after nearly killing Lord Theyios? The priests cast a high class magic to seal the Slayers in an eternal prison to punish them. But even amongst the slayers, some of them escaped the enchantment. And people who became slayers after the enchantment was cast were able to leave the forest. Needless to say, that number is staggeringly less.”

Satoshi grumbled a bit, making Ayumi smile. She regarded the scene before her as Kuniyaltre flew away, flapping its gigantic wings, heading not south, where the Grimoi continent was, but due east. She wondered where the snake headed as she went towards the ground with Lufrew and Satoshi.

Maria gazed in wonder as she saw the person who had been talking to her just a while ago; fly off from the ground in pursuit of a humongous snake that emerged out of the ground. She was amazed to see that such a sequence of events had occurred in such a short span of time. Next to her, Mili was the same as she stared with her mouth agape.

“And to think… Yuuya missed it…” Mili muttered. Maria nodded, still in awe of the power play that had occurred. Just moments ago, the entire earth split apart, covering the square in dust and mud, blinding her. She had staggered around until she managed to find Mili and kept her close. Then violent winds had started up, clearing the dust and revealing the monstrous snake that rose high above her. It seemed another flying person was fighting it, but they soon began talking. The knights from the Ars continent had all passed out, and one of the knights stripped their armor and turned into a flying lizard.

And then the snake began flying away, a while after which another figure began following the snake. To her surprise, it was Tallios, the person who had been talking to her. What surprised her even more was that there was a hint of green about the person, just like Yuuya’s.

“Yuuya… He’ll be safe, right?” Maria wondered as she gazed at the departing Tallios.