Part 1 – An update on things

After the untimely destruction of the Ico Guild that was quite unfortunate though it didn't affect me in the slightest, a number of things happened. The first thing was that the very same guild placed a bounty on the three of us for some reason. There there was a good reason which was that we or rather those two wiped out their entire base of operations and the villages and towns they commanded.

Why the hell was I dragged into this as well? I didn't even lay a finger on them....

“Please wipe out the Ico Guild and prevent them from doing anything anymore” ordered Alexandra to a number of churches at once.

“As you wish O Divine one”

With that, it didn't even take a few days for the bounty on us to disappear and those players which were annoying us to also disappear. Well it wasn't like they actually bothered us at all, using Spacial Teleportation we got to locations quickly and the places we went to were super danger zones that could rival the 10 restricted zones.

After this small annoyance disappeared due to Alexandra, we went back to Jacksville castle to see what was going on. There was some commotion on the scouting effects for the last two forts as a numbered of skilled people did not return when they went to those lands. As such they were quickly known as cursed zones.

Right in the middle of the Western Continent a new legend was born. Although it had only been a short period of time, these rumours spread quickly and were the heat of discussions. There were some small guilds that tried to bravely breach those zones for fame and glory but they soon disappeared and respawned a few days later without a clue on how they died. Because of this, it added more to the mystery and the nobles were going nervous due to the nature of the rumours.

Being cursed, ghosts and evil spirits that spread the fogs were common in these rumours. Well I don't blame them since those two places were literally covered in thick fog to the point that you couldn't even see anything even if you fly over the place and tried to map out the place. Because of these events I simply said to the nobles.

“We'll take of the fourth fort alone as well. By then we will be able to find out what is causing the fog to appear and get rid of it so the army can advance to the final fort.”

However brave and reassuring those words were, it did not change the fact that there were similar incidents the same as the first 3 forts. Namely a large number of people going to the point that it was as large as an army. To be honest, without proper track of this properly the numbers could be anywhere to a few thousands to a few hundred of thousands. There was really no point in thinking about it right now.

As such while leaving some instructions on how to proceed against this tactic, I left with Alexandra and Viv again for the rest of the 3 months on collecting stuff again. At this point, my Spacial Teleportation skill was reaching near the Advance level now. Another couple of hundred uses and it actually may reach that level.

Part 2 – The Fallen Sky

In this world there were places that you could not explain with logic at all even if you study magic. One such place is the City of Heaven Lavias which is a series of floating islands that soar the skies freely.

The place we were going to is similar to this place. Except there was one core difference. This one fell out of the skies. Interesting story to be told, a place that literally fell from the skies. According to the NPCs in the area, it seems that the device that kept it in the air one day just stopped working and the fall killed everything on board it.

Ironically the island was called Skydrop Island and it once housed gnomes that were curious creatures that were interested in the combination of magic and science. The island floated in the air via the use of various contractions in which used magic stones, the source of mana and stream in order to lift the island into the air. By adjusting the power outflow from the floating device, they were able to float in the air instead of flying into deep space.

The Gnomes had many works that were extremely valuable but no one could get them since they were always in the air on their island. When the island actually fell to the ground however, many people came to try and loot the place. The problem was that the security system the Gnomes made were still active which made the entire island a danger zone with various dungeons in them.

The Gnomes had modified the island they had lived on so much that the island was more machine than island itself! Because of this, it was also a great source of metals of various kinds and magical tools if you got past the giant machine monsters that continue to guard that place even hundred years since the fall from the sky. The monsters were so strong that the average soldier could not even make a sent on it. Only with explosive spells or crushing skills that people were able to damage them enough to destroy them.

This naturally made it a useless hunting ground for anyone without the right skill set and despite the good rare items that you can find, not many would go there since the machine guards were all extremely powerful in the late 400s in levels.

But this place was perfect for us who specialise in destroying stuff.

“Crushing Blow!” Alexandra smashed the top of the machine and caved its head in with one go. This particular skill was something that she learnt just for this place. It was actually surprising that she could do that much with the skill with so little time to train it.'

On the other hand, me and Viv pretty much have skills that are suited to this place in the first place by adjusting what spells we use in battle. Mainly I use explosive spells along with earth spells that have high physical factors in them. Lightning Magic also works with since it sometimes zap the machine's circuits good enough that they at least slow down when hit.

Lightning Formation ? Bolt Form ? Lightning Bolt

“Lightning Bolt!”

I shot a lightning bolt to the machine creature behind the one that Alexandra destroyed. Stunned, Viv took the chance to finish it off.

“Crushing Roots!”

From the edges of the metal walls came nature that quickly wrapped itself around the small machine that was a bit shorter than us and crush it like python squeezing something to death. Finishing off the rest of the enemy, we proceeded deeper into the island.

“Hmm....which way to go now?”

We seemed to have entered an intersection path in the middle of this place. There were a total of 5 paths including the ones which we came out of just then.

“Damn not again, this will get difficult later” muttered Alexandra looking at the multiple paths we can take.

This was a difficult thing indeed. Although there are many paths, there is a chance that they all lead to the same location or that some paths interact with each other in this place. There was also a chance that it may lead to a dead end or that to even more machine monsters or....traps....

Yeah....my nightmares are coming back slowly in this place....

Unlike the other dungeons you couldn't really tell sometimes what things were actually traps. This place looked too unusual and something that was once used to activate a door could be something that activates a trap and vis versa. Who ever designed this place must have been an extreme sadist to do so. To make things even worse, traps sometimes appeared when fighting as well since the machines naturally didn't activate the traps at all and even used it to their advantage.

Also another thing I was noticing that the machine guards were getting bigger and more powerful as we went deeper into this place. At the start it was simple machines that had little attack or speed or even defence which any average player could destroy. But when you enter the first dungeon it immediately gets harder with the machines being more powerful overall the deeper you get. We were at a point where the machine creatures could even use magic if that feature was installed in them and often there were small devices such as a crossbow or a gun in their arms or other places that would make fighting them unpredictable.

However half a month passed in this damn place and it seems we located the boss room in the place with the most powerful machine monsters.

To put things in perspective, in this particular dungeon that was several floors deep, had machines that were easily 3 or most metres tall. Their armour was so thick that it took longer than usual to destroy them and they always seemed to have some sort of extra feature that would almost screw us over at times.

This was such a place that did not forgive even the smallest mistake. However the experience and loot from the machines were often quite expensive actually. If there were more players with the ability to crush lots of metal at once, this would be the ideal place to train no matter not. But most enemies are flesh and blood so players lean towards the more cutting side of things. Plus these machine are immune to fire and poison which made some things troublesome as well.

“What the hell is that thing?!” I immediately complained as I saw the damn boss monster of this damnable dungeon.

It was standing at a good 5-6 metre height and was in human form. It's thick arms and legs were covered in tubes that were everywhere on its body. It was sort of bronze but also sort of silver as well at the same time. And at the ends of it's giant arms were two cannons as well as other nasties around its body at the same time.

Who the hell had enough time to design these creatures?! Why the hell couldn't they fix whatever went wrong when this island fell?!

“For once I think this will go bad for us” said Alexandra. It seems she could sense the bad feeling vibe that came out of that thing.

“Yeah....perhaps it's level 700 or higher, something like this was not heard of at all. Facing a machine monster in Royal Road....” muttered Viv as well. The machine monster looked very sturdy and it seems like trying to crush it was going to be very difficult if he has that chance.

“Anyway we should begin while we can...its activating already” said Alexandra taking out her sword and shouting, “Holy Aura!”

“Dragonic Release, Dragonic Overload!”

Dragonic Release is now active

Dragonic Overload is now active

This time I didn't start off with battle aura since the machines can more easily take me if it is active. Alexandra has taken on the role of being this tank this time round since she has the most armour and defence of all of us even with buffs. As such Alexandra started the battle first with a simple attack.

“Holy Bolt!”

Bang!

The machine monster was stuck hard by the holy bolt that had around half the power of a cannon at this point. Her skill proficiency was high enough to allow her to do that eh.

[Program start.....targets identified....exterminate, exterminate, exterminate...]

Light came into the eyes of the machine monster that was 5 metres tall as it started walking slowly towards us. If it was like the other machines then this one was a strength and defence type which had lower speed compared to the others.

“Golden Bow!”

I summoned the golden bow in my hands. It has been a while since I used this in combat but at this time and during the dungeon exploration, it was useful as it had strong piercing power. Plus it didn't take that much mana to use it at this stage as well and at least it could be used as a distraction to confused the machines in this place.

I drew the bow and gathered mana to make an arrow. Firing at the machine monster, the arrows split off in different directions and hit the back of the machine monster as they curved around.

[Damage confirmed to back....enemy behind location....unknown...continue attack....]

It seems like this one had enough brains to know that there was nothing behind it...or was it software.....hmm....

Anyway it looks like this machine was also equipped with life detection software as well.

“Crushing Blow!”

Alexandra at this point while the machine monster was distracted for a few seconds at its leg and used her sword against it.

Bang!

Unexpectedly, the attack didn’t work and the tubes softened the blow enough for it to do no damage.

“In that case, Flash Slash!”

Alexandra tried once again but the tubes that surrounded the important parts of the machine monster prevented her from doing proper damage. While she was doing that I was firing more arrows at various places of the machine monster. Most of the weaknesses that the other machines had didn't exist in this one.

Viv was main firing dark bolts or other projectile spells at the head of the machine monster. It was something we learnt as we fought in this place. Besides certain measures, you couldn't actually debuff the machines using magic intended against humans and other living things.

[Scanning complete....only three targets remain....indicating combat mode...]

Huh....? It wasn't already in combat mode?! Damn how much confidence did that thing's creator have to think it was sturdy enough to survive before combat mode activated. Well...the three of us didn't destroy it since usually these machines had some feature that would probably take one of us out if we're not careful in their deaths.

BOOM BOOM!

From the cannons on the machine monster's arms, came blasts that were aimed at Alexandra that was the nearest to the machine monster attacking its legs. Fortunately Alexandra dodged the first attack but had to block the second using her sword.

I could not help but have a feeling that her sword will not be able to endure much more if she has to continue using it to block those cannon blasts.

Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa

A dozen or so things opened up from the legs of the machine monster. From there....missiles?!

I quickly drew my bow using Mental Acceleration and fired aiming at the dozen missiles that were flying towards me and Viv.

Bang Bang Bang....

Then from the eyes of the machine monster, it glowed hot and bright while aiming at the three of us at the same time....don't tell me...

Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!!!

Jumping out the way was done before I thought about it.

“WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A LASER?!”

Damn whoever made this thing was having too much fun while making it. Why the hell does a monster in this game have missiles and lasers?! I mean it IS a giant mecha essentially but I was in the impression that this was  a MEDIEVAL fantasy world not a futuristic one.

Anyway I need to at least stop it from aiming or moving.

Ice Formation ? Wave Form ? Consume Factor ? Ice Prison

“Ice Prison!”

With a wave of my hand, ice shattered onto the machine monster and hardened as it spread across its body.

[...status defect confirmed...removing status defect....adding immunity...]

Br-break!

The machine monster easily got out of the ice prison breaking through it in one go with just walking forward towards us. What kind of monster was this?!

[….Reload complete....firing....]

The machine monster aimed at me and Viv.

Shit..!

Using Mental Acceleration once again to activate Crystal Palace of Reflection, I managed to create some mirrors which would reflect the attacks back theoretically to the machine monster. While it perfectly reflect magical attacks, it had trouble with reflecting physical attacks like arrows or swords in which that was really only a low chance for that to happen.

BOOM BOOM!

Crystal Palace of Reflection is now active

Both the cannon attack were hit my the mirrors which protected us in time. Then the machine monster started scanning my spell.

[….spell analysing....analysing....confirmed defensive skill....adjusting attack....]

The slot in which the mouth plate on the face of the machine monster opened. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

From the mouth of the machine monster came....flames....

“FLAMETHROWER?!”

Damn this thing was getting more and more ridiculous by the second. Unfortunately my mirrors recognised the flames as an attack and started throwing themselves at it.

“Crystal Palace deactivate!”

Thankfully I managed to deactivate the skill in time so my mana wasn't literally sucked out by the spell.

“Alexandra hurry up and attack!” I shouted at the one who was suppose to be helping us here.

Alexandra really did not much I this battle even though so far it only lasted for a few minutes so far.

“I am! This thing's defences are way too high! Screw holding back! Divine Beast Shift! Sword Wave!”

BANG!

The explosion from the sword wave occurred at the right leg of the machine monster. Being pushed unexpectedly, the leg bent and the machine monster toppled for a bit in the other direction trying to regain its balance.

“Triple Sword Wave!”

Three more sword waves from from Alexandra as it blasted the machine monster's other leg, head and chest at once.

BANG!

The machine monster fell onto the ground on its side. Now was our chance!

“Battle Aura! Amour of Blood warrior!”

Battle Aura is now active

Amour of Blood warrior is now active, will deal double damage and take double damage

I de-summoned the bow and then summoned the spear in my hand.

“Extent!”

Growing bigger and bigger as I swung down at the collapsed machine monster, a giant pole thing slammed down at the machine monster without mercy.

Bang!

A large dent appeared on the arm of the machine monster in which used its arm to try and block the attack with a certain amount of success. I continued on whacking the machine monster which was still in the ground a couple times more while Viv grew roots in order to keep it down.

Eventually after nearly a hour of fighting it, the machine monster was shattered into pieces by the three of us which continued to attack while preventing it from doing anything at all. We got the following message when we actually killed the thing.

Killed the Guardian of Skyfall Island

- Fame increase by 400

- All stats increase by 5

- Gnomes will want to talk to you about the specs of the Guardian

A decent amount of fame as well as stat gain by killing the thing. While it was certainly strong in its own way, when it falls to a situation that is not favourable to it, it quickly becomes weak and can be easily defeated. To be honest the cannons, missiles and even the laser beam was surprising to face but compared to facing something that you could not defeat no matter what you did, it was quite easier to fight.

Passing by the machine monster's remains, we entered what seemed to be a lab or study room from the creator of this thing.

“Don't touch anything too much and check the books as well” I reminded the two as we looted the place for valuable things.

There wasn't that much but there were some interesting new types of metals that someone discovered in the past. More to the point there was a really rare pair of boots in one of these chest. Yesssssss! Viv couldn't use them so it went to me instead!

Feather Boots of Fallen Skies   Durability: 100/100   Defence: 50

Phantasmal-Class plate boots made for beings that are not mortals, it possess strong defence and yet is as light as a feather literally. These golden laced boots were made while a living plant was woven into its design. Has the power to allow the wearer to change direction instantly while moving and use burst of speed at a time

Restrictions:

- Level 430

- Agility over 700

- Strength over 400

Options:

- Agility increase by 100

- Endurance increase by 50

- Vitality increase by 50

- Allows you to defy the laws of inertia and change direction while running at high speeds

- Allows you to have burst of speed that accelerates the body up to three folds

- Reduces damage from falling and high speed by 80%

With this, we went out of the place immediately and headed to the next couple of places before taking a break at Jacksville Castle.

Part 3 – Meeting Death

For one thing I was very frightened right now. For a second thing I was really confused right now as well. Another thing is why the hell are we in a forest?

Near me was a relatively young man wearing a pitch black robe with the hood down that could be several sizes to big and a giant black scythe along with a dim lantern on his person.

[Yes this brew is quite nice]

This person was death. No, this person is literally the being that is called death, a creature that represents one of the core component of the mortal world. Although not a God since no one wants to worship death and those who do are usually already dead, this creature was so strong that even Gods don't want to face him.

But why the hell are we drinking tea with this kind of things?!

[Yes, since the short one entered the contract, I need to make sure you are worthy of part of my power]

“Hmm....the shoes aren't that bad” replied Viv not caring much and wasn't feeling as uncomfortable as me and Alexandra.

I don't know if its because of us being races that death doesn't come to that easily or that Viv's race prevents him from being that scared of death but it is really not good for the heart when someone that is death says that he'll be visiting soon....

Timeless Shoes of Death   Durability: Infinite   Defence: 10

Shoes that had been cursed by Death itself making the wearer without absolute power die when wearing these shoes. However if the wearer is worthy of these shoes then it will give them unrivalled power over souls. Increases the power of spirit type skills and soul magic

Restrictions:

- Can use Soul Magic

- Race is a spirit type

- Defeated Death in combat

Options:

- Fighting Spirit increase by 80

- Stamina increase by 150

- Movement Speed increase by 40%

- Increase power to Spirit and Soul Magic

- Able to command dead souls perfectly

- Weak Souls and Spirits will avoid you

Anyway these certain shoes are the reason in which death decided to visit. Since I already got the boots from the skyfall island place, it was Viv's turn to get the ultra rare loot. Well only he can wear these shoes either way so.....also I'm fine with death not visiting me any time soon.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

After we spent a little while drinking tea and generally wasting time till the sun sets, death made things very blunt to us.

[I am here to test you. Collecting these in the first place from the Cauldron of eternal Suffering is no simple feat. I already know that you three are special in many ways and can be considered worthy of having these shoes. But....I still need to test you all]

Wait, why the hell do I have to get a run in with Death when it only has to be Viv that needs to suffer?!

[Hmm....I sense dissatisfaction from you Eden. Do you really want to face me alone that much?]

LIKE HELL I DO!!!!

Geez the sun is about to set so the test or whatever is going to start right?

“What is this test in the first place” I asked.

Death smiled and simply said;

[Oh, that's very simple. Beat me in combat once. It doesn't matter if you do it together or separate, as long as you get one win from me]

So....I don't need to fight death?

[But of course you will fight me fight out of everyone if it is one on one right Eden? I mean you must be excited to fight someone as strong as me at least once, but don't worry I won't use any kind of special ability that is similar to a cheat move. But do be warned that one hit with this scythe and you will die instantly hahaha]

I thought death as suppose to be a depressing person at the very least. Why is he so cheerful? However before I am forced to fight him one on one.

“We will gladly fight you together” I said without getting the approval of the others.

If I'm going to fight death, I rather not do it alone at the very least. Alexandra looked disappointed since she wouldn't see me die and Viv didn't really care that much, it seems he wanted the shoes at least since there is an increase of spirits gathering around him which I can see sometimes only using soul scan.

[Well.....let us begin!]

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush

A hand on the scythe and it immediately move to cut the table in two in one cut. One cut, a single cut is all that Death needs to kill us all. Drawing our weapons, all three of us jumped back intending to get out of his range as much as possible.

“Let the stars fall into dust. The eternal world remains and the mortal world weeps. Starlight Beam!”

Oh, Alexandra started out the battle with a large attack. Her sword was covered in the deadly light that was fatal to a dark based creature like Death....wait is it me or are you trying to kill Death?

However....

[Too weak!]

Death moved his body and cut the beam in half without leaving a trace of it left. Then immediately afterwards the scythe came flying to me....?

“HOLY SHIT!”

I immediately did a backwards dodge by bending my body and spine backward. It hurt quite a bit to do so...

“Dragonic Release!”

Dragonic Release is now active

Moving faster than before I noticed that there were chains attached to the end of the hilt of the scythe. Damn with this, he can use the scythe as a long range weapon.

“Let the stars fall into dust and nothingness. Starfall Series Spell #3: Meteor Stream!”

Black mana gathered and burst out similar to Alexandra's own attack.

[Nice power but dark spells are no use against me!] Death shouted as he took his lantern into his hand shining its light at us. The blue light flashed and temporary blinded us. When I opened my eyes again, Death was in front of me.

“Battle Aura!”

Battle Aura is now active

I immediately went with the max output despite it will exhaust me. Golden Aura burst out of my body in one go blocking the scythe that was about to cut me by an inch. Damn I never been so close to death before and yet I feel like he is holding back a lot.

“The boon of nature and all that is dark gathered at the midnight feast! For light and dark twilight between the blood stained moon. The stars cries tears of regret as the wind blow the weak fire of life amidst. Nature Calling, Blood feast of Night!”

Wait isn't that spell.....shit!

I jumped out of the way turning my back to Death himself when Viv used that spell. The suddenly Death was deflected out of that death field.

“Damn, that scythe is blocking most of our spells. Eden you try” said Viv while he started on another spell to use on Death.

In that case...Alexandra was already using long range holy magic against Death who seems to be playing around with us. He is clearly a creature that has a base level of 800+ but even so seems to be holding back a lot as well.

Fire Formation ? Blast Form ? Expand Factor ? Inferno Flames

“Inferno Flames!”

Fire quickly spread where Death was but that damn scythe made the spell disappear quickly. Does that damn scythe have a magic cancelling property?

Several slices went towards me and Alexandra at the same time while we were quite the distance away. Dodging them barely without a scratch I knew I had to be faster and react faster than before.

“Dragonic Overload!”

Dragonic Overload is now active

Then from there on, I had to resort to using Mental Acceleration at times since Death was bullying me and attacking me the most.

…..........

…..........

…..........

…..........

…..........

A while later....

[Congratulation, you have defeat me in combat though I was playing around. You three have been accepted as one of the few absolute forces in this world. One day I hope you lead the brave souls that wait for the final battle]

Ding!

You have defeated Death in combat

- Fame increase by 2000

- All stats +50

- Recognised as one of the absolute powers on the continent

- NPCs will do well to not offend you

Gained title 'One recognised by Death'

- Increase fighting spirit by 50

- All stats +20

- Living beings are more likely to fear you

- 1% chance of reviving with full health instead of dying in critical health

Title 'One recognised by Death' has been integrated into title 'Destroyer of Sovereigns'

HOLY SHIT! These bonuses are amazing! This actually makes it kinda worth it on actually going through this kind of torture where I almost die multiple times over and over again.

[As another gift, I give this advise. Only Eden should go to the fortress where the one whom weeps lie. It is too dangerous if you do not follow this advise. Then...to the next time though I will not enjoy it at all]

With that, space distorted like when he appeared as he slipped away to some place. Hmm...what does it mean when he says the others shouldn't come with me to visit Risene?

“Wow! All of those pests that were following me around are gone!” said Viv in excitement as the effects of his shoes took place.

Indeed the other souls that were surrounding Viv were mostly gone though there were a few strong souls still near him.

Well it seems they didn't hear what Death told me so I better explain later else they might follow me there....

Part 4 – Setting off alone

The months passed by and really, the three of us finished our collecting task and were only waiting for the crafters to finish on our gear.

“I'll leave them to you. Just make sure you finish before the last battle happens.”

““““Roger!””””

All of the people whom I hired replied happily. Of course they would be happy. They were getting their final pay checks after this finished which was the main bulk in the amount I owed them.

Taking one of the horses I said to Alexandra and Viv, “You two prepare the army just in case something bad happens while I'm gone. There may be a chance that something unexpected happens and we will be in an even worse position than before.”

Alexandra chopped my head with dead eyes and said, “The only problem is that for some reason only you can meet with Risene after all this time.”

“Yeah, there is a good chance that you will go berserk for a second time and leave nothing behind against an defenceless lady” said Viv.

Alexandra backed that up with, “When something occurs once it may occur as many times as it wants. Plus are you sure you won't do something indecent while we're not looking” Alexandra looked at me with great suspicions.

“What kind of person do you think I am!?” I retorted.

““Insane, a psychopath and a sadist all in one””

Damn they must have been practising that catchphrase for this one moment. I sighed and simply went to the fog area on my horse leisurely. It can't possibly be that bad, all I have to do is find the core of the fog and get rid of it.

Part 5 – Lonely Risene

Umm....this may be a bit embarrassing but I am in fact a couple months late in raiding that fort where Risene is in. To be more precise I am 3 months overdue with the suppose final battle thing happening next month...

Alexandra and Viv are taking care of sending over the army from the central and eastern parts of the continent here for the battle if there are lots of enemies or something. Well in other words they are on standby while I am trying to break through this damn fog!

I've been trapped in this forest for 3 bloody months already! This isn't funny anymore! Even when I use flight magic and fly as high as I can, the fog still doesn't disappear and when I drop it really is the height in which I flew up. Blasting something like trees and moving away for a while and returning back to that place removes the damage I caused.

Worse of all, while I can sense 'one' soul, when I try and get closer to it I somehow end up further away from it. And also there is that maid outfit lying around sometimes went I walk by which has been popping up once in a while.

“....”

Don't tell me....

“No no no, not again!”

God dammit Risene! Are you that keen on tormenting me?! It was like there was some force that was mightier than a God commanding me to wear a maid outfit at times like this!

(Yes...Eden....wear it....wear it now and be tormented by the fact you ARE a pervert....muhahaha!)

What the....it was like I just felt a bad phenomenon for the future if I would wear this maid outfit now....

(Bad things will happen either way whether you want it or not plus its either take this chance else you might stay here for another month or two)

Well bad things will happen either way whether I want it or not plus its either take this chance else I might stay here for another month or two.

“.....”

Why do I feel like that sentence was directly implanted into my mind....wait when the hell did I change into this maid outfit?! Tch, no choice. Better not let Alexandra or Viv see me in this else things will get even worse.

Using Soul Scan to pin point the only other soul in this entire area, I moved to it and quickly I found myself in front of a mansion castle. Hmm....this look....it looks very familiar for some reason....meh probably nothing important at all.

“Get the preparation for the food finished!”

“Move move move, clear the tables now!”

“Get the plates on those tables”

A single voice was being overlapped several times as if the person was talking quickly but it was more like several people who had the same voice and tone talking at the same time. Sneaking into this place since I rather not face whatever kind of monster while dressed as a maid, I observed the place I went to where Risene was presumably was.

“Today shall be the best birthday for you...”

“Nothing will stop this day from being taken away from us...”

“16 years of age and yet no interest in the men that may be your future husband....”

As I got closer to where Risene was, the voices became more....personal and it felt like I really shouldn't be hearing this even though there is literally no one here. There were only the voices....which kinda makes this a haunted castle right?

It took me a hour but I made it to where Risene was...though there was only a single door left.....I swear I know this place from somewhere before....

“I see that you do not know much of these types of things....what was your name?”

Hmm? This sounds very familiar to me for some reason...

“No, I mainly use magic for battles. My name is Eden by the way.”

Wait is that my voice in there?!

Bang!

Immediately kicking down the door what I saw first was....me in the exact maid outfit....then this place was.....oh no....

I looked at Risene while the illusion me disappeared and all that remained was me and her. She changed quite a bit in these 2 years. Her face was cracked with scales and he looked more like a cursed person or a demon possessed person than her usual noble lady look. If I remember correctly the dress was the same as 'that' day.

Risene looked at me like something was wrong.

“DISAPPEAR!”

Her screamed summoned armed knights out of no where in between us as they charged at me.

“Tch! Defence Slash!”

Jumping backwards I slashed at the knights cutting through their illusion based bodies and thus making them disappear. However how come I feel that their bodies were somewhat real. A few slashes later and the rest of those illusion knights disappeared as well.

“WHY?! WHY WON'T YOU DISAPPEAR?!”

Her screams echoed in this empty castle of hers. Seeing her like this, any motivations I had on killing her disappeared if there was any to begin with. My duty comes first after all.

“Sigh...”

Putting down my sword I sat to the opposite to Risene with a bored look on my face.

“Eh?” Risene was even more confused now. Well I don't blame her. Her father's killer who took her in forcefully and had her trained as an assassin is right in front of her not killing her in return of what happened before.

It really has been 2 years or at least close to it since I pretty much forgotten my anger at what happened back there. Well the other three pissed me off to begin with or attacked me first so they're different.

“So...were you here for 2 whole years alone?” I asked in a mocking voice like I usually do with her.

“What?! I am never alone with this power I can-”

“Turn illusions and fantasies into reality right? But they're still illusions in the end or that your power isn't complete or something like that” I replied interrupting her words.

I looked to observe Risene more closely to see her reaction to this. However while I kinda expected an outburst in rage, that didn't come at all. All Risene did was look depressed. I immediately let out a sigh, why did she become the depressed character in this story?

“Honestly are you that depressed about your looks?”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Risene looked away from me avoiding my gaze.

“Well apparently the more you use it the more you turn into a dragon hybrid of some sort. The last three didn't turn that much compared to you, even the research obsessed Sage only had his limbed turned slightly.”

I once more observed Risene, this time looking up and down her. It was not only her limbs but also the majority of her body that was transformed. To be honest, any woman...no person would be very frightened of the change to begin with. Anyway I continued with this one side lecture to Risene.

“I suppose changing the look of the fort to your home for so long, creating those voices in the castle as well as the fog took a lot of power from you. Didn't help that you are pretty weak in this department of magic in the first place so it was an even more strain on your body.” I poked the arm of Risene which felt like a hard shell.

“Hey the nothing happened when I made that fog! It was only after remodelling this place that....”

“So the fog didn't take that much power but remodelling this place did....how much did you remodel this place to your tastes...well I suppose a lot since I was forced to wear this maid outfit to enter...”

“Who said you had to wear it?! That's definitely your tastes right? I've seen you stare at maids intensely before!”

“I like looking at others wearing them woman! Not wearing them myself!” I retorted. Honestly why the hell didn't I take these clothes off when I had the chance. Can't exactly change in front of Risene since I'm a guy and even if she hasn't realised that fact yet.

“Says the one in a maid outfit right now!” A large grin appeared on her face. I smiled back seeing this.

“Damn, you were the one who forced me to wear this!”

“You could've taken it off by now!”

“Tch, hurry up and give me the mana fragment in you so I can treat you properly”

“Sure sure haha” She had a bright smile on her face due to this conversation.

Well it looks like she's finally smiling for once....which means my pity ends here.

STAB

I entered my hand into her body.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Domination increased by 1

Let's see.....the mana fragment should be here somewhere. I moved my hand here and there trying to find the exact location of the mana fragment. Since Risene used the mana fragment a lot, its power spread across her body which makes it harder for me to pin point its location. Well it's not like she's going to die from this.

“NOOOOOOOOO! TAKE IT OUT!”

Though she will experience extreme pain.

“EDEN WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!”

Well obviously to get the mana fragment out of you right? I mean any more influence from it and you might turn berserk and that will be just troublesome. So just deal with it for a while.

“Let's see....not over there as well....damn this regeneration power is really annoying”

Every time I moved my hand inside her the mana fragment heals her which causes her more pain than usual since I need to reopen the wound each time. However I did find the mana fragment and grabbed it in my hand.

Mana Fragments Collected: 3/7

Okay~ That another one done~

I removed my hand from Risene....hmm...how will I heal her now? I don't have any bandages on me so should I just burn the wound closed. Hmm? Why wasn't Risene moving anymore? Did she fall asleep or something?

This feeling...

DANGER!

I immediately moved back as far as I can but there was a sharp pain where the hand with the mana fragment was.

Mana Fragments Collected: 2/7

Right Hand has been lost

Burst Recovery has been activated automatically

Injury will heal immediately

Mana Regeneration will increase by 300%

Damn that shadow was....Thinny!

“Tch, not again.”

The shadow turned into the shape of a human that I knew very much by now since he was the one interfering in my quest. I looked and my right hand was missing though it quickly stopped bleeding.

It will take some time for a new hand to regenerate using Burst Recovery

Oh, so I can regenerate a new hand. Well since that problem is done with, time to stare at this person in front of me with annoyance. Honestly why is it that every time I see him he was that look of contempt towards me?

In his hand was my hand with the mana fragment in it. In his other hand was a dagger.

Hmm? Ah, Risene was still alive, good. Better go help her then. But....Thinny was still in front of me and-wait what was he doing with that dagger in his hand.

Stab

Risene of the 5 Shadow Dragon Kings has been slain, by contributing to her fall you gain the following

- Fame increase by 100

- Strength increase by 4

- Agility increase by 7

Ah, more bonuses out of nowhere, wait Risene died?! Why the hell would Thinny stab and kill his own comrade?! Damn now I have to train another servant...I mean friend...I mean assassin when I'm bored.

Honestly....what's with this gloomy atmosphere.

“So....aren't you going to say anything Thinny?” I asked.

Thinny blinked a couple of times suppressing a sigh and said, “My name is Adhémar. I'll be waiting.”

Yeah yeah, just don't do anything too stupid with the mana fragments I'm suppose to collect.

Thinny disappeared into the shadows leaving me alone in this place. Outside the window the fog cleared which means the army can go invade the final fort properly. Also I need to contact the other two to say I'm done before heading their way.

Looks like the final battle is about to begin for me. But first, I should bury Risene....at least out of pity since I have no shred of respect for her.

Continue Misfortune?PreviousExitNext

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Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 7600~

- To me this chapter is fragmented in many ways since I wrote this chapter in too many sessions. The ending was...a bit different from what I originally imagined as well. But...now I can start with chapter 10, the longest chapter yet...

- At parts, I was having a bit too fun writing certain scenes...

- I'm taking a bit of a break before my fingersbreak from days of writing...I mean to relax a bit...