“I guess I’ll have to use everything I’ve got, even if it makes me go berserk!” Aurianna exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face, her excitement palpable.

‘I could summon King and Queen, but doing so would drain my power significantly. I’ll save that for when I’m truly at my limit,’ Aurianna decided, her thoughts racing.

“Oh, your skin is changing,” Jade remarked, his eyes widening as he noticed rainbow lines appearing across her skin. Her eyes turned black and hollow, though this time, her white pupils were visible. The rainbow crown on her head drove itself deeper into her skull, glowing with an intense light.

“What is happening to her?” Jade wondered aloud, floating in place whiles curiously staring.

‘That form again. But I want to see how much she’s progressed since training with that woman,’ Boara mused, a subtle smile playing on her lips.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!” Aurianna’s scream tore through the air, the sound piercing everyone’s ears.

“My ears... That scream is so annoying,” Jade grumbled, covering his ears and wincing as he stared at her.

“Chi, chi, chi,” Aurianna giggled, her eyes locked onto Jade as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the sky and ground within a 100-kilometer radius were enveloped in a rainbow-colored space, creating a barrier—a trap for anyone inside.

In an instant, thousands of beings as tall as King materialized around them, their forms twisted and grotesque, resembling deformed beings. These were Archeons, but they were different from her previous creations.

They were more defined, more humanoid, clad in armor. Some stood tall, while others crawled on the ground like beasts, each wielding different weapons. Six eyes opened on their faces, all fixated on Jade.

At the edge of the Chaos Realm, thousands more deformed beings emerged, smaller than the Archeons but just as menacing.

“Go,” Aurianna commanded, and all the monsters charged toward Jade.

Surrounded, Jade immediately began dodging their attacks. Despite their massive size, the creatures were incredibly fast.

One struck Jade with its sword, sending him crashing into the nearby mountains within the Trial room, obliterating it completely.

‘These monsters are stronger than they look,’ Jade thought, his eyes scanning them as he grinned and quickly got back on his feet.

“Domain of Monsters,” Jade muttered, forming a strange hand sign. He opened his mouth wide, and dark matter poured out, covering the entire land around him. Hundreds of thousands of monsters emerged from the darkness, ranging from towering giants to small yet fast creatures. Aurianna’s Archeons clashed with Jade’s monsters in a brutal battle.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“These monsters are in my way,” Aurianna said coldly, snapping her fingers. Thousands of large torrents appeared around her.

“Blast,” Aurianna murmured, and a concentrated beam of mana shot out, obliterating Jade’s monsters on impact, leaving them no chance to defend themselves.

Jade watched slightly surprised Aurianna's beam of mana tore through his monsters, obliterating them with ease. The power she wielded was far beyond what he had anticipated.

“It seems that this new form of hers acts as a power boost. Because her explosions are more powerful,” Jade speculated whiles watching.

One blast headed toward Jade, but he caught it with his palm and redirected it, sending the explosion far away, shaking the entire room.

Jade frowned as he examined his palm, noticing it had heated up and was clearly burnt from Aurianna’s attack. However, the wound quickly healed, returning to normal.

‘She actually managed to injure me. This girl is something else… I’ve never encountered a race that looks like her. Show me more!’ Jade thought, a crazed smile spreading across his face as he was enjoying his fight with Aurianna.

Jade’s grin returned, and he mumbled. “But let’s see if I can change my monsters up a bit.”

He raised his hands, and the ground beneath him trembled. Dark tendrils erupted from the ground, wrapping around the bodies of his fallen monsters, merging them together into grotesque, towering beings equal to that of Aurianna's Archeons. The monsters roared, their combined voices shaking the waters before rushing towards Aurianna's Archeons and fighting head to head with them.

‘Dammit, this form is taking a toll on me,’ Aurianna gritted her teeth, furrowing her brow in frustration. 'Not yet, not yet. It just been an hour. I need to last for two more!'

______

“For a while now, I’ve been wondering—what’s the difference between Aurianna’s familiars and her branded people?” Avriel asked, curiosity lacing his tone.

“Heh, I’ll explain since you low lives don’t know,” Hadina replied arrogantly, her dull eyes glancing at them dismissively.

“Master’s familiars, like me and that annoying Boara, have our souls branded by her and bound by a summoning contract. So no matter where she is, she can summon us near her. We get to live in her void space as well. What’s more, we’ll never die as long as she’s alive. We share a bond that no one else could ever understand,” Hadina declared with an ecstatic expression.

“What’s a void space?” Jugi asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Heh, you don’t deserve to know,” Hadina scoffed.

‘This annoying octopus!’ Jugi grumbled inwardly, veins popping up on his face as he glared at her.

“But I deserve to know since I’m also her familiar,” Boara said with a smile. Hadina snorted in response.

“Heh, you’re just a side piece,” Hadina scoffed, looking down at Boara.

‘What does she think being a familiar even means, huh?’ Kiana, Boara, Jugi, and Avriel all wondered.

“So then, what about branded people?” Kiana asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Her branded people? That’s more complicated. Well, branded people are similar to familiars in that there’s soul binding. Branded people have a mark in their eyes like familiars, and they can never betray her—if they try, they die. Branded people can revive whenever they die, as long as Aurianna is alive. Unlike us familiars, who get a portion of her power, branded people don’t get that privilege,” Hadina explained proudly.

“Master can’t read the minds of familiars very well, but with branded people, she knows where you are and what you’re thinking. Her words are absolute commands,” Hadina added.

“Totally sounds like slavery to me,” Avriel stated with a blank stare.

“Because it is! But the benefits you gain are actually good. If you’re killed and unable to revive, she can remake a new body for you. Or if your soul is damaged, she can heal it,” Hadina explained, but she was met with skeptical stares from all four of them—except for Zagan, who was sound asleep on one of her tentacles.