For a long time now, I've been thinking about Issei's role…and I kind of think that Vali would've been a really good choice to make for MC of this story too. If anything, I'd have made him the MC if I had thought of it sooner. For how I intend to portray Issei, I think Vali would've fit the bill better. Yet, the one thing I liked more about Issei, was that he was more open with his compassion and a bit more caring in normal demeanor. Damn…too late for that now. I've come too far to change everything. I'm still quite pleased with how the story is rolling out.
Also, I read some very interesting things from the reviews and I appreciate the scenarios that were made. I won't say more for privacy reasons, so I'll leave it at that so that I don't throw someone on the spot.
Chapter 29: A Taste of Light and Dark
Sylderia had gone through a restless night. She twisted and turned in bed, but nothing she did allowed her rest. She walked around the room, read books, had a small snack and a drink, yet nothing came of it.
The big reveal that she was arranged to marry Elzer had been troubling her nonstop. It was impossible to forget, let alone focus on something else. This whole incident threw her for a new loop.
She knew that her parents had placed hopes in her, mainly the hope of joining their family with Elzer's. However, she wasn't going to marry for politics. She wanted to marry for love. Her parents were lucky to have had an arranged marriage where they fell in love at first sight. She didn't think she'd be so lucky.
While she had the choice to refuse, she needed to think about what would happen if she refused and what would happen if she did.
She groaned as she reclined in the chair at her desk.
"Politics. Always so tiresome." She sighed.
While Sylderia had been readjusting to life as royalty, Issei had been busying himself with the ancient past.
He scoured several pantheons in hopes of finding out more information about Malfresto and Praegorn. There was such scarce information that he often hit dead ends with frustrating reactions. He had gone to Mu, Olympus, Asgard, Shangri-La, and even Shambala. Yet, there was such little information from each place.
Luckily, he was able to piece everything together after long days of constant work.
Contrary to what Praegorn had said, it was the tangible energy of greed and corruption. A force created from raw negative emotion. He had received a small bit of hope when he discovered that there were sources to the form that Praegorn used. Raw Malfresto couldn't be harnessed on its own and was utterly useless. However, there existed 6 creatures that took that raw power and converted it into forms that Praegorn could use. That was why he always had such a limitless supply of it.
Now, Issei knew that he had to deal with those creatures if he was going to bomb Praegorn's plans.
The creatures were known as Ferolith and were scattered across the world in places that weren't known to any but Praegorn.
That meant that Issei had to pinpoint just where they might be. Over the past 6-7 months, he'd been to Asgard, Greece, Japan, Ireland, and Mu. All of those locations were far from each other and had higher concentrations of Malfresto than anywhere else. Still, that didn't mean much because it could've just been residue from Praegorn's machinations.
Praegorn was crafty and proved to be meticulous in his planning, being able to plan far ahead. Global points for his Malfresto to build up was a good plan, as he could go anywhere and have it close and available.
Then, he thought about how those creatures could've avoided his attention. Considering what he now knew, Praegorn must've used some kind of magic to hide their presences from his senses. That made it a problem because he couldn't go everywhere and use [Grim Defiance] on a large scale as it would disrupt many supernatural things that would be in his vicinity.
Researching for several sleepless days and nights, he managed to create a new spell that would serve the purpose of drawing out and tracing Malfresto to its original source.
With that part of his work done, Issei needed to begin his hunt. Every second wasted was a second that meant life or death.
Since he lived in Japan, he should investigate this country first before looking elsewhere.
Warping above Japan, Issei created the magic circle for his new spell in the palm of his hand, forming a blue seal that had a cycling ring around the circle's mark.
Prompting it to activate, a large pulse boomed across the country, with a dome of blue mist whistling by everything like a fresh breeze of air. After sweeping through the whole country, the blue mist converged back into Issei's palm, containing the dark purple smoke of Malfresto that it had recovered. Next came the second phase of the spell, which spouted a trail of purple fog like a river.
At last, he'd managed to create a working spell that could ease his workload.
Quickly following the path, he dashed through the air like a sonic boom, not willing to risk letting the trail fade. Speeding by everything like a blur in the sky, Issei glanced everywhere below him, making sure not to overlook a single speck of land below.
Finally, he stopped in the Gifu region of the land, hovering over the mountain ranges below. Activating his [Solemn Vision], he looked around with stern discerning eyes for all clues. Looking at the magic circle in his hand, it slowly grew brighter as he advanced closer to a certain mountain. By all appearances, it looked normal and even felt normal. However, Issei knew that Praegorn was crafty and had most likely used magic to hide the presence of his creatures.
Warping to the bottom of the Mountain, he put a hand upon its foundations, focusing his power. Gathering his power as the Grim Herald, he channeled its negating power through the stone's very entirety. Like a silent and unnoticeable shockwave, Issei felt a dark ominous feeling surge past him. True to his suspicions and data, the mountain was housing a powerful evil.
The wall next to him crumbled, revealing a crude entrance for him to enter.
Stepping through the dark and damp tunnel that led deeper into the darkness of the underground, he raised his awareness, unsure of what threats that may come his way.
Walking for what seemed like an hour, Issei only had silence as his companion as he continued investigating the carious caverns of the mountain. The familiar putrid smell of Malfresto was now recognizable enough for him to know that it was present. It slowly grew more sickening as he continued.
Finally, he came across a stone door with magic carvings placed on it. Magic from all kinds of pantheons were used to fortify it from being opened, judging by the formulas. Charging Yorukiri with his mana, wreathing it in a blue aura, he slashed at the obstacle into two pieces.
Kicking the rest of the door down nonchalantly, he stepped forward, entering the room in front of him. A stone cavern with purple tar-like substance was what he saw. Purple crystals were sticking out like eyesores as a powerful malevolence circulated the room like a cringe-worthy breeze.
He looked above and found that the light in the room was from a crystal at the ceiling of the massive room. Plunging into the ground, were root-like structures that tendrilled to crystals of Malfresto that were encrusted into the walls. On the floor, looked like a shut chasm; four panels that formed a circle appeared like a monstrous mouth.
As expected, Issei could hear slight shifts of movement below, followed by vibrations beneath his feet. Looking below, he could feel his senses pick up on the trouble that was coming. Within the blink of an eye, bladed claws burst from the ground, tearing the rock floor like paper.
Warping backwards, Issei got a good look at the claws and saw that they were really legs and they weren't small. Black crustaceous legs wriggled around as it bashed away at the layer of stone that was blocking the rest of its body. Erupting out from below, a massive creature stretched with newfound vigor as it lashed around to find the one that had intruded into its abode.
Issei looked at the monstrosity and tried to register it into his brain, wondering if he had seen it before.
This Ferolith, the Ebarith, had a black shell of armor and reached a height of ten meters. Beneath it, was purple flesh and white veins. It had a humanoid upper half, having two limbs with hands and a head. Its lower half had six legs that were armored and shaped like that of a crabs. Issei peered into its lime-green eyes as it stared at him, evaluating the danger he presented.
Deciding that he was a threat, it raised its hand, creating a white orb of mana that turned into a beam that trekked at him like howling wind.
Warping out of the way, Issei reappeared in front of it, drawing Yorukiri and attacking its neck. A loud clang echoed from the point of contact, as the sword shuddered from the force.
Warping away again, Issei fired a stream of fire, ice, and lightning at the creature to test and see what it was vulnerable to. The fire and ice proved useless but his bolts of blue lightning proved to have some sort of effect, given how it stepped back a few steps when the volts touched it.
Materializing his [Cosmic Arsenal], he commanded the blades to barrage his foe, arranging them like a cloud of mist around the behemoth. Letting loose like heavy rain, the blades exploded upon contact, preventing the creature from moving as it was stopped by the constant series of bursts that popped against its armored exterior.
Charging Yorukiri with a substantial amount of his mana, he waited to see if it had a weak point. The explosions from his Cosmic Arsenal weren't as effective as he'd hoped but, he could see apparent damage. Small cracks were becoming visible on its limbs as it thrashed around in frustration.
Having had enough, the Ebarith reared its front two legs and stomped them into the ground, shattering the ghostly weapons that were about to continue attacking it with a shockwave. Raising a barrier in front of him, Issei was knocked back a slight distance as the wave met his defenses.
Brushing the wave away, Issei warped above the Ebarith, attacking its head. With a mighty swing, he cut off one of the appendages on its head, making it wail in fury as it threw a fist at him.
Warping out of the way, he reappeared behind it again, using [Dawn Breaker] to send it crashing through the wall of the underground room. Rubble fell from the ceiling, crashing into the floor as the Ebarith dug out of the stone piles in front of it.
Stabbing two of its rear legs into the earth, spiked pillars of Malfresto shot up from the ground, trying to impale Issei with extreme fervor. Forced to warp consecutively, he appeared in front of the massive creature with a burst of energy as an after-effect of his warping, stunning the monster.
It gripped him tight, leaving him unable to move or even warp.
"Grrr." He growled as he tried to push his arms out against the monster's grip.
Despite his efforts, it continued to try and crush him in its hands. Converging his aura around himself, he created a shockwave that forced the Ebarith to release him, as the omnidirectional blast chaotically slammed against it.
The Ebarith retreated back, whipping its tail at him, slamming into his side as it opened its palm, blasting a rain of mana pellets at him. Issei made sure to either dodge or deflect them with his ghostly blades, since he could tell that they were explosive.
True to his guess, as soon as the small droplets touched something, they exploded like bombs. The Ebarith put its hands together, glowing brighter with a green light before letting loose a net of lasers from its hands.
Trapped in a net like a laser show, Issei warped between the empty spaces of the moving beams, carefully avoiding getting hit.
Much to his chagrin, he sensed something speed at him from behind.
Dashing to the side, he was lucky enough to dodge a massive boulder of Malfresto, which was grabbed by the Ebarith. In the snap of a moment, it threw the block of corruption at him. Readying his sword, Issei jabbed at it, shattering the block like dry dirt. Unfortunately, he failed to expect a counterattack from the creature, which was a beam of lime-green light that sent him crashing outside of the room with great pain.
Rocketing out of the room, Issei skidded into a wall with a painful crash.
"Guhah!" He coughed out as the burning pain on his back and torso started to register with him.
He didn't have time to dwell on that, however, as he sensed an incoming force head his way. Rolling to the side, he warped away as the Ebarith smashed its way out of its sanctum, barreling at him with feral fervor.
Issei began to continuously warp around by slashing at one part of its body before warping to another spot and repeating the process. Moving around in a series of explosive warps, Issei managed to wear down the armor protecting the creature's inner frame, but it was clear that he wasn't doing enough damage.
He managed to dodge a fist from the creature, but was grazed by the beam that it fired from its palm. Using his Cosmic Arsenal, Issei brought a large sword down on its shoulder joint, but it shattered without doing much damage to it.
Seizing this chance, the Ebarith reared up one of its large legs, slashing in the side with its barbed limb. Drawing blood, Issei retreated back to inspect the wound for a split second before heading back into the fight.
In quick review, he had sustained moderate injuries. Several burns and gashes were on his person, but there was nothing too serious.
Next, another problem came his way. Armored segments of the Ebarith's outer shell detached, hovering around it like six satellites, they pointed at him before firing beams in a Gatling gun fashion. Issei groaned and decided that he had to get more serious now, understanding the danger that he was in.
Raising a barrier, Issei aimed his spectral weapons at the floating satellite weapons, firing them like missiles.
As his blades and the beams from the satellites exploded, the smoke cleared to reveal that little harm had come to them, much to Issei's chagrin. Concentrating all his fire on one satellite, he was able to successfully destroy one after extensive assaults.
Knowing this approach was going to take too long, Issei warped in front another satellite, using [Dawn Breaker] to blast one of them. Before the Ebarith could react, Issei used [Solemn Repulse] to rebound all of the beams that the creature had fired at him, barraging it in a series of explosions that knocked the Ebarith down.
Wreathing Yorukiri in his aura and refining it for maximum sharpness, Issei warped to the next satellite and used [Thousand Rifts] to completely shred apart the third satellite. As he cut downwards, the ground and even the air seemed to shake where he had cut. Moving onto the fourth, Issei stabbed into it with all his strength before channeling his aura through it, detonating in a massive explosion that blew apart the walls of the cave, introducing daylight into the gloomy caverns.
That was certainly a problem, as the Ferolith might try to break out and escape him. Slamming his palm into the ground, Issei deployed a sealing spell that he had made to prevent anyone from leaving the battleground. As intended, a blue magic circle sprouted into existence as a bright light that illuminated everything that stood on it.
The Ebarith used its last two satellites and melded them onto its back while stabbing all of its legs into the ground, absorbing all of the Malfresto that it had produced into itself. Slowly, its body bulged violently as it grew larger while its other satellites regenerated. Creeping around it, was a malevolent aura that reflected the nature of what gave it power.
Clicking his tongue in irritation, Issei materialized over a thousand blades from his [Cosmic Arsenal], aiming right for he vitals of the Ebarith. Taking one step further, Issei tapped into his old powers and dyed the blades from their regular blue color to black and red, levitating ominously as if changing their nature.
Snapping his fingers and pointing at the Ebarith, Issei let the rain of blades fly loose. Whistling silently through the air, the blades came flying like death, exploding violently as they touched the ancient monster. This time, the damage was severe because of the massive boost that a small bit of his old powers gave him. The armor that protected it was turned into ashen rubble and its flesh had been disintegrated, leaving bloody muscles and lime-green blood behind.
Issei warped in front of it as it became distracted from trying to escape the constant rain of blades that were sieging it. Charging Yorukiri with his 'heraldic' powers, he used all his power with [Thousand Rifts] to finish off the creature by splitting it clean in half. Slashing downwards with enough power to split a mountain, Issei tore his weapon down the Ebarith, gushing its blood everywhere as he continued severing it in half. Pushing on, he finally finished it off when it tried to get one last attack in. Using [Dawn Breaker], he restrained the blast to being just an explosive property of his weapon, ensuring that no collateral damage would come to the people living near the mountain.
Reaching the ground, Issei was glad to see that the monstrous creature had dropped dead on the ground, showing no signs of life. The light in its eyes had faded and its body began to slowly disintegrate, dissolving as purple particles that were like ash.
Giving a big exhale, Issei re-entered the room that had incubated the Ebarith and looked around, making sure to analyze its contents. Within ten minutes, the ground began to shudder violently as the room collapsed.
"Why am I not surprised?" Issei deadpanned.
Warping outside the mountain, he saw that it was crumbling apart, practically melting away like a landslide. Down below, there were still townspeople who were oblivious to the disaster headed their way. A flood of mud soil and rock were barreling down like a stampede and nobody showed any signs of evacuation.
Left with only one option, Issei flared his aura to max power before stretching his palm forward, as if to grab the rushing ocean of mud. Using his telekinesis, he stretched his will forward, as if to command the landslide to cease. Within a few seconds, the rushing earth stopped, as if frozen in time.
While holding the tide back, Issei used earth magic to erect a wall at the base of the landslide while he slowly moved every single speck of dirt and rock back to its original place. Unfortunately, the mountain was still sinking into flat ground; boulders were still crumbling apart and were tumbling down the elevated landmark. Stopping that too, Issei stopped all movements before moving the large chunks of stone to where they wouldn't crush anything. When all work was said and done, the mountain that he had entered was now gone, erased as if it had never existed. Only flat ground and piles of dirt and boulders remained.
"Disaster averted, it would seem." Issei sighed.
He looked at his own wounds and found that they were already healing. Actually, they were already healed completely. He was sure his regeneration wasn't this fast before. He looked at the back of his right hand and wondered if a certain mark was there, but found nothing. His anxiety receding, Issei breathed a sigh of relief.
Returning to the ground to rest for a bit, Issei activated his spell again, altering its formulaic composition to scan the entire Earth. Just before the mountain had collapsed, he had sneaked a shard of Malfresto from the underground caverns. With a more consistent lead, he would need to wait if he was going to map out the location of the other Ferolith.
Now that he had a chance to relax, Issei began to wonder just what Sylderia and the others were up to.
Grayfia was probably working her regular routine in the Gremory Business. Knowing her, she was most likely doing a business deal while building up vacation while forgetting that fact. He really respected her work ethic. Sometimes, she even reminded him of things he'd forgotten whenever they hung out. Recently, she had sent him a charm to protect him from curses and sickness, since she had suspected that he had gotten himself embroiled in something big.
Brynhildr must be training her Valkyries this very moment. Either that, or she was enjoying a night out with them. Out of all the women that he'd met, he probably like her sense of fun the most. She didn't drink excessively like so many others and didn't believe that alcohol was the key to fun. She knew how to get him to have some fun without pressuring him. Yet, she also tried to make sure that he'd be okay on his travels. If anything, she gifted him a feather charm that helped restore his mana reserves when they dropped to low levels.
That made him remember Amaterasu, who tried to be helpful. For the past few weeks, she'd been sending him medicine and herbs to maintain his health. He had to admit, they helped a whole lot. He had been getting quite injured during his time investigating several places for Praegorn. Most of the time, he got swarmed by battalions of Erenaux, leaving him to sweep up the mess that he stumbled upon by his lonesome.
Then there was Morrigan, she had been calling to check up on him, trying to help him with whatever she methods she had. She would lend information sometimes or send him some resources that were available on Hy-Brasil. She had also been trying to help him in her own way. She gave him a necklace that would ward away the harmful intents of anything around him. It had helped clear away stray animals and predators that wanted to make him dinner and helped him discern who was coming at him as friend or foe.
As for Artemis…she had avoided all contact with him ever since their break up. She wouldn't even look or talk to him, much less approach him. He could tell that she had barely tolerated his presence during the talks on Mu. The way she radiated contempt and ire was all too obvious to his eyes. He was used to being look at with fear and hate anyways.
Lastly, he thought about Sylderia. He wanted to avoid doing that, as he believed it to be a grave mistake. His mind wouldn't stop lingering over her existence. He missed her terribly, as he had for the past 2,600 years. He didn't want to admit it, but he had never gotten over her. When he had been with Artemis, he had been sure not to confuse the two, but at the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder if it would've been the same with her? The two had practically been the same person, after all.
Now, he was going to let her go and live a more peaceful life. He had seen the way that she and Elzer behaved around each other. There had been some sort of chemistry there, but he wasn't sure if it would develop into anything. He wasn't going to hang around to know that. He wasn't going to risk her remembering him, after all. He wasn't exactly worried about her parents, though. They had only seen him twice and after a long period of time, at that. They had first seen him when he was a child when they were visiting Sylderia during short holidays. However that was a rare occurrence. They had actually stopped visiting before she entered a relationship with Issei because of complicated matters like the Revolution. The other time was when he told them that their daughter was dead.
Naturally, he explained his involvement and for that, he earned a denouncement and angry words. It had hurt, but he brushed it off. He was basically damaged beyond repair that point.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Issei mused on his current situation.
He was amused how he had returned back to how he was before this whole Praegorn mess started. He was alone again, for one. He had no companions and no active help with his problems and he realized that he had fallen back into his workaholic routine. Oh, the solitude of his life. It was his curse and his aiding force.
He now wondered if Sylderia was doing okay from wherever she was. Certainly, she wasn't as alone as he was.
The Princess of Lemuria was now dealing with a very difficult predicament. She had been receiving endless marriage proposals from nobles and royal families ever since her return had been announced. Many tried to flatter her with words and others tried to shower her with gifts. Naturally, she politely refused, despite the persistent attempts that had been made on her single status.
She sat in her room, sighing as she had finished the last piece of paperwork for the day. If she focused, she could get the mountains of sheets read and signed in about 3 hours. Thankfully, the matters weren't too large for her to handle.
She had been going around the Kingdom and was pleased to know that the homeless shelters and orphanages that she made had improved in accordance to the societal advancements that had blessed her home. Unfortunately, that was what got her in this situation.
She opened another marriage proposal and scanned it. Nothing but hollow flattery. She placed it on a pile of unimportant business before sighing with her head in her arms. Suddenly, a knock came at the door.
"Enter." She straightened up, only to see Ilaira come in.
"You look tired." She chuckled.
"I miss being a commoner. I never had to do all this paperwork." She groaned.
"Well, sorry but you're stuck with us." Her sister chuckled.
"What's up?"
"There's a big surprise for you today. I'm going to take you there. Be careful not to say this to anyone, though." Ilaira held up a finger over her mouth to illustrate the point.
"What?" Sylderia only raised a confused brow.
"Just come on." Her sister ushered.
They traveled down the halls of the Castle to the Grand Hall. While traversing the path, Sylderia noticed that many guards and officials were snickering at her, as if they knew something that she didn't. The Castle was also oddly quiet. There was no hustle and bustle between the attendants and there certainly wasn't the loud talk of politics.
Finally, the two had arrived at the Grand Hall, pausing in front of the doors. Ilaira smiled brightly as she opened the door.
"I brought her." Ilaira smiled.
As soon as the threshold opened, Sylderia's eyes widened in shock. Several part poppers went off as soon as she walked through the door. Countless cheers echoed to the point that it was strong enough to reverberate throughout the Castle. Sylderia looked around and found several people that she hadn't seen in centuries. Right when she moved forward, people began diving to meet her, shaking her hand and giving her hugs.
"I'm your Aunt Cassidie. Welcome home, darling!" One woman exclaimed.
"I'm your cousin Aldegan." Someone else spoke.
"I'm your Uncle Orland." A middle-aged man gave her a sincere hug before someone else came.
One by one, Sylderia met all of her relatives who she hadn't met in so long. It was overwhelming as well as heartwarming. She could barely contain her excitement and joy as the loneliness that had made a gap in her heart, was slowly filled. To know that so many people cared for her and were willing to come so far to see her after so long, was touching in itself.
She finally reached the thrones, which had been laid out for the elders of the family. Knowing that they were all immortals, Sylderia knew that she had a massive family. Despite being royals, they boiled down to just a regular family with high-standing, as was their belief.
At the center of the seated elders, were her grandparents from both paternal and maternal sides. They looked at her sternly, with only her paternal grandmother softening her gaze. She gestured towards Sylderia, gently beckoning her to come closer, forgoing any formalities.
Opening her hands and holding them forward, she signaled for Sylderia to just come over.
Holding her grandmother's hands, Sylderia had to force herself to hold back emotional tears. She could tell her grandmother was doing the same. When she touched the former Queen's hands, she remembered how she'd used to hold them whenever her grandmother visited when she was but a child. Oh, how she could recall the past like it was yesterday.
Words weren't even necessary, as the emotion hovering the atmosphere spoke for itself. Sylderia was now home and she was truly a daughter of the Lemurian Royalty.
Her grandmother placed her hands on Sylderia's face, slightly shaking. Her pursed her lips multiple times to stop whimpers and the quivering of her lips. She furrowed her brows while blinking back tears. She was truly proud of who her precious grandchild had become. She was kind, noble, gentle, and patient; all traits of a great ruler and a person worthy of great love and respect.
"Welcome home, my child." She choked out.
"I'm back, Grandma." Sylderia choked up as a few tears came down her face.
Everyone clapped in rejoice at her official return to the family.
"We had to plan this for a while since we were so busy. It also took some time to get everyone our messages too. This is also why we didn't throw a celebration for your return, yet. Now that we're all gathered, we can finally welcome you back home." Ishvar placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Now, we have the whole day to feast and get to know each other again." Prisna kneeled, patting her daughter's head.
At that prompt tables appeared through magic as chefs rolled in carts of food.
"We may be royalty, but doesn't mean that we can't act like family. So, let's dispense with manners and just be merry."
For the first time in a long time, Ishvar cracked a jovial smile.
"What do you want to eat, honey?" Prisna asked her daughter as she began to plate food.
"I'm happy with anything." Sylderia wiped a tear out of her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt a handkerchief touch her face. She turned to see Elzer kindly handing the cloth to her.
"Thanks." She whispered.
'I love you all, my dearest family.' She silently spoke.
For hours, the entire family feasted and talked with each other, but not at the expense of learning about their lost relative and current heir to the throne.
Sylderia was surprised to see that the food that was cooked, had been made by everyone from the family and not the Royal Chefs. It wasn't done out of distrust, but out of sincerity for her. Regardless, everything tasted extraordinary.
When evening struck, the Castle's Grand Hall was still bustling with joy, but outside, was a figure who had nefarious plans. Gleaming over the city, he smirked.
"So, you've caught on to how I make my Malfresto. It means nothing, as I've produced more than enough for my plans. Still, I can't let you get away scot-free, even if I admire your strength. Now then, Issei, I wonder how your beloved will stand against what I send them. Without you here to protect them, I'm most certain that they can shine a bit more." Praegorn snickered.
"Shall we act now?" Another voice stepped behind him.
"Indeed. However, only attack the Grand Hall. We need not waste our resources doing the unnecessary. Aside from that, do what you want." Praegorn casually chuckled.
"I'm going to make that bastard writhe for interfering with us." The figure snickered as he and his companions left, leaving Praegorn alone.
"Ah, youth. They don't understand that they don't have a ghost of a chance against Issei. I guess you devils still have a long way to go, after all. I think this attack will also teach you a thing or two about knowing your position. If you were a bit more humble, I might like you old-fashioned idiots." The ancient Spirit laughed.
"As for Ophis…she doesn't even realize that I'm using her puppets. What a short-sighted fool. I guess that's what happens when you don't bother putting effort into anything. You never get what you want." Praegorn scoffed.
While the feast slowly came to a close, a magic circle appeared around the Castle, eating away at the magical defenses that protected it and prevented anyone from leaving its boundaries. By the power of Praegorn and even Ophis, the enemy had broken into Valish with extreme force.
Trapped, the entire Royal Family looked outside. Several Khaos Brigade members emerged from magic circles, armed and ready for a rebound into combat. At the helm, were Shalba Beelzebub and Katerea Leviathan.
"The Khaos Brigade." Ishvar sighed.
"What would they want from us? Magitech?" Prisna wondered.
"We'll find out soon enough." The King sneered.
At that prompt, the descendants of the Four Great devils emerged from a magic circle.
"I bid you, good evening, King Ishvar of Lemuria. I do apologize for our intrusion." Katerea mockingly bowed.
"Tell me, has the Khaos Brigade grown so bold that they would invade a Kingdom that they know nothing of, nor have a quarrel with?" The King asked, his tone icy.
"On the contrary, we have a legitimate reason for this invasion. You see, the bucket list of the Pantheon Alliance has been growing larger these past seven months. We simply can't allow you all to join as well." Shalba huffed.
"A rather foolish, but justifiable reason. Still, to take up arms at no apparent offense isn't something I can excuse. Can we not settle this in a civil fashion?" Ishvar sighed, exasperated.
Negotiations were futile, but he still had to try.
"Well, if it comes to that, then we have three simple demands. One, Lemuria is to relinquish all of its lands to our rule. Second, its people are to be converted into our own and the Royal Family are to give over all their belongings and secrets. In exchange, you will have your lives." Shalba mocked.
"At least I tried." Ishvar sighed.
He nodded at his family, who grinned.
"You clearly don't know who you're messing with. Its time you arrogant devils learned your place." Ishvar's father chuckled.
"Hmph. Words from nobodies who are barely existent to the world. You are folk of wasted time and potential. Nobody knows of you and yet you have the gall to act high and mighty to the descendants of the Four Great devils? You will know your places!" Shalba flapped his cape.
Opening his palm, a purple magic circle with the ouroboros forming an infinity symbol appeared. Layering over it, was another magic circle that had the symbol of Praegorn. Amplifying Shalba's magic to high levels, the confident heir let his attack loose in the form of green bolts of electricity.
Sylderia took the first counterattack as she raised her hand and channeled her light powers into her hand, creating a barrier that nullified the shock with a quiet sizzle.
"Is there really no way that we can talk this out? Surely, there's a beneficial outcome for both sides." She asked.
"Your words are wasted time. You will submit to our cause without objection or face total annihilation. There is no room for another option." Katerea huffed.
"I think not. Why do you want to take over the world? If you were to attempt it, the world would rise against you. Your own people even turned against you. If you use force to make them submit and live as you wish, then that's not living or leadership. It'd be a dictatorship without truly realizing a vision and would hold no satisfaction or joy for others that you claim to be fighting for. You're just fighting for yourself only. You would simply be lording over others and never truly reach your goals. I advise you to turn back and accept the change of the times. Nothin good will come of just fighting for the sake of it. World domination is no longer a goal that will let your people prosper." The Champion of Light gently warned the descendant of Beelzebub.
Alas, her words fell on deaf ears. The only thing that Shalba and the Old Satan Faction had on their minds was asserting power and control over all before them. The peak of rule and power was all that they desired. Rotten with arrogance and entitlement, they would think of nothing else.
"Hmph, a naïve immortal dares to lecture us? You bastards would never understand our cause. We have crawled through shame and desertion to reach this point. Our people abandoned us and have flocked to a new rule of preposterous coexistence. Ha! As if such a foolish notion were existent. Power and hierarchy is what dictates life. We are the greatest of immortals and by that, we are right! We need not obey and exist under inferior beings who flaunt the banner of cooperation when it is but a lie. Sooner or later your alliances will crumble because of your inherent treachery! You only spout empty words." Shalba rebuked.
Sylderia truly didn't want to fight. It was something she hated. Even back in the Revolution, she always avoided killing anyone. Taking a life was one thing that she didn't want to do and even now, she didn't wish to do so, despite who she was facing.
However, she was no pushover. The terms were ridiculous and she knew that negotiations were off.
"Then forgive me." She muttered.
Raising her palm in front of Shalba, she fired a ray of white light. Howling like a shrill jet, her laser smashed into a magic circle that defended her foe from the deadly attack.
"Light is nothing to me. By the use of the device on my person, I can also wield light."
To prove his point, he swirled the ray of light that Sylderia fired at him and created an orb. Swiping at the air, the orb split into smaller spheres of light that homed in on Sylderia's relatives, namely her grandparents.
Using her new powers, she erected a barrier of light around them, nullifying Shalba's attack. She then noticed that she didn't need to rely on magic circles anymore. Despite it being the favored method of invoking magic in present times, she felt that her magic had become stronger through the simple invocation of a barrier.
Charging forth, she crafted a sword from light, not unlike how Issei made his from mana. Jabbing at Shalba's chest, he blocked with magic before countering but was unable to fully execute his attack, as she whirled around to the side, bashing him away towards a wall.
Crashing painfully against it, he flapped his cape before creating tendrils of Malfresto that slithered at her like rivers of tainted water. Flowing gracefully from his precise control, Sylderia jumped off a pillar and cut away at a few tendrils near her before kicking off the wall and severing another wave. Slowly making her way towards Shalba, she knew she could continue indefinitely, but she figured that she could use other methods to incapacitate him.
Spinning in the air, she slashed a cross in the air, shooting at Shalba with the force of a meteor.
Gathering both his hand forward, he managed to craft a defense in time to avoid serious injury, or death since it was light that was rushing at him. The attack struggled to break through, cracking his shield as it began fragmenting under the severe pressure it was in.
"Huragh!" With great effort, he used Praegorn's gift to neutralize the light while firing back with some of Ophis' power.
Sylderia braced herself as the wave of incoming snakes crashed against her barrier. Fortunately, she was able to swipe them away with her sword of light.
It was amazing how she felt after gaining the Salvatore. She felt almost no limit to her energy and no fatigue. Was this how it felt to become like a deity?
Snapped out of her slight train of thought, she noticed that Shalba had summoned a swarm of bees and flies. There was practically a swarm of flying insects in front of her, which was cringe-worthy. Their loud buzzing was harmonious, showing the unity and controlled state that they were in.
"While not practical for battle at all times, my Clan's powers can still be put to good use." Shalba bitterly remarked.
Snapping his fingers, the cloud of creatures dashed around at everyone not affiliated with the Khaos Brigade. Chaos ensued as the few that were capable of defending themselves, were busy with fighting the armadas of the Khaos Brigade. Luckily, there was someone that had the perfect solution to that.
Clouds of darkness swept around the room like a frigid wind, encroaching the swarms of insects that Shalba had conjured. As it passed by, only small particles remained, hissing as they soon dissolved like ash.
"What've you done?!" Shalba asked in outrage.
"I merely dissolved your pets with the Darkness. Sorry bout' that." Elzer shrugged.
"Bah! No matter." Shalba resumed his crusade for victory as he stretched his hand, intent on resuming his fight with Sylderia.
While he did that, Katerea beelined towards Elzer, interested in his abilities.
Elzer raised his hands, conjuring three magic circles before hurling spells at her. A massive gust of razor-sharp wind howled at his target as she used her staff to break it apart before swiping it again to disperse the fire surging at her. Lastly, she countered with a bolt of thunder, clashing violently with his own blast of electricity.
"My turn!"
Spinning her staff, she crafted a magic circle that volleyed a rain of magic blasts. This wasn't a problem for Elzer, however, as he created a circle to block the incoming surge. Opening a spellbook, Elzer cast a spell that was fueled by his power over Darkness.
"I'll have you cease moving now."
Swords of darkness encircled around Katerea like a siege of soldiers, aiming dangerously at her vitals.
"You think this is enough to stop me?" Katerea arrogantly smirked.
"No, but it will be enough to hamper." Elzer smirked.
The swords shot at her, but broke into fragments with a burst from Katerea's aura. Snakes and ghostly skulls swirled around her, forming a protective shield made from the magic that had been granted to her.
"Futile fool!"
"I wouldn't say so."
Slightly confused, Katerea then noticed that the shattered fragments of Elzer's swords had begun melting together, forming a dome of darkness that encroached around her.
"Cheap tricks."
Stabbing the ground with her staff, she conjured eight serpents that howled as they slithered from the earth. They had hoods that circled around their heads, with glowing marks spiraling around their bodies. They flailed wildly as they consumed the Darkness that Elzer created.
"Another trait of my Clan, is the power to control serpents." Katerea dimly explained, as if it were a proud trait.
"Yeah, not really impressive. I've met pipers who can do that." Elzer shrugged while casting magic.
Slowly sweeping his open hand across the air, he conjured a selection of different spells, all pertaining to different effects.
"Let's get a bit more creative." Elzer donned a more serious expression.
"Try all you wish, it's futile."
"Oh, I doubt that."
The first magic circle fired a flamethrower at Katerea. Using the power of Ophis' snakes, Katerea conjured serpents from orange demonic power, who devoured Elzer's flames.
The second magic circle fired a torrent of icicles like a machine gun, to which Katerea had more trouble. She gathered the residue of her snakes into one stream that collided with Elzer's barrage.
The third magic circle appeared underneath Katerea, who was still focused on the assault of ice that Elzer had set loose upon her.
Her body instantly slammed into the circle, as if someone had thrown a boulder on top of her, crushing her under invisible weight.
"Gravity magic?"
"Bingo. You've proven to move around a lot, so I though immobilizing you would be better."
"Tch! Like this'll keep me down for long."
Activating the power that Praegorn gave her, she broke free after infusing herself with Malfresto, gaining purple marks upon her skin. Katerea stifled for a few moments before her pain subsided.
"Ah, that feels great." She grinned, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
Elzer could instantly feel the rise in her power, before she was significantly below a Devil Lord, but at this point, she equaled one.
"Guess I gotta get a bit more serious." He sighed.
"Keep on yapping! I'll shut you up soon enough."
Elzer floated into the air through wind magic as he used a cloud of darkness to help facilitate flight to better his speed.
"Shall we?" He asked.
"I'm going to enjoy testing out this new power." Katerea chuckled.
She opened her palm and fired a volley of snake-shaped beams of purple and orange demonic power. Everyone who was near it, felt the hairs on their body stand on end. The energy radiating from it felt foul, even apprehensive.
Elzer flew backwards, dodging a lunge from the ethereal serpent before he dodged a slithering whip of energy from Katerea. The whip cracked loudly as it tried to stretch forward more to strike him.
Opening his book, he used the stored magic circles drawn into them to instantly cast a new spell. In place of a wand, he increased his spell crafting speed through the use of books.
Aiming his hand at Katerea, he combined four magic circles to form a massive one.
"Let's try this." He remarked.
"Summon spell! Invocation: Flame Carrier!"
Bursting out of the magic circle, was a Phoenix, which screeched in aggression. The orange and red bird was as large as the snake that was trying to assault it. It had two massive wings wreathed in fire and two legs that glistened sharply in the light of its inferno.
The Phoenix flapped its wings and launched a sea of flames that devoured the snakes that Katera had conjured, leaving not a single one behind, stunning the Leviathan heir.
"What?! How?! How could you have overcome that?!"
By her understanding, she should've been strong enough to kill Elzer. She had a power boost from Ophis and Praegorn, yet she could only do this much?
"The reason is simple. You didn't train with your new powers. You just applied them and didn't know how to activate them. You're just letting the excess energy flow into your techniques from the natural run-off. You're not even using 20% of the power given to you. That's the problem with you devils of noble blood. You guys never learn to train and cultivate your abilities. Then again, immortals are guilty of that too." Elzer explained with a cold tone.
"Preposterous! I will show you what I can do at full capacity!" She raised both her hands.
Gathering all her power, she created a purple and orange magic circle that had the Ouroboros symbol consuming a swirl of Malfresto.
"You will regret underestimating me!" She fired a blast that was strong enough to seriously wound an Ultimate-Class devil, showing that she wasn't completely inept at using her newfound powers.
A breath-takingly massive serpent coiled out of the circle, roaring viciously as it slithered at Elzer.
"Alright, time to give this mark a real test run this time."
Opening his palm, Elzer gathered all his power into it, channeling his mana and amplifying it with the power of Darkness. Creating a cloud of darkness, Elzer unleashed a burst of power that swallowed the giant snake. Constraining its movements before taking away all the power that it had, Elzer found this feat to be quite difficult, despite his talent with magic. The Snake was indeed nothing to underestimate. If he hadn't unleashed the power of the Darkness, he might've been killed by the attack. Still, he had trained long and hard with the mystic arts to be able to handle this.
Using the massive cloud to halt the snake, Elzer finished breaking it down into mana and incorporated into a spell that would be enough to put down Katerea. She was a serious threat now, despite his taunts. He had succeeded in riling her up, but that might've been a mistake if he had been a bit more careless with his wording. At this rate, only his best would destroy her. Praegorn and Ophis giving a power boost attested to just how far one could go. Even a champion of a primordial force was having trouble now.
Focusing all of his clouds and mana into his hand, Elzer began invoking a spell of his own creation.
"Gather upon my foes and bind them with hands of despair
Rise from the fallen earth and fulfill your duty.
Grip and beguile that which seethes with hostility.
Converge, cluster, and sink below like the receding night.
[Dark Burial!]"
Invoking the power of the Darkness, Elzer immediately created a coffin out of the violet shadows, trapping Katerea within a prison that she had no hope of escaping from.
"Insolent inferior being!" She tried to muster more power into her magic, bashing against the inner walls of her jail.
"Let your soul rest in peace." Elzer softly spoke.
Snapping his fingers, blades of darkness materialized around the coffin. With one final move, the blades impaled the coffin like rain, skewering its contents with rapid ease. Now looking like a bulging pincushion, the coffin distorted before breaking apart into mist, leaving nothing but a mist of darkness, showing that Elzer had won victory for his fight.
Meanwhile, Sylderia was at a standstill with Shalba, who proved to have been less impatient than Creuserey and Katerea. It also helped that he had trained with his powers for a small portion of time.
Shalba had knocked Sylderia back a few steps, but it wasn't at a point where she was in trouble.
"Now, die!" He created a giant wasp from light that aimed its stinger at her, making a beeline right at her heart.
Taking the chance to counter, she created an orb in her hand before throwing it. Shimmering like a star, Shalba repelled it with a spear of light, splitting the sphere in half. However, that went as Sylderia had wished.
The orb split into smaller fragments before flying at Shalba and his ghostly creation.
"Copying my trick, I see." He growled.
"Wrong. It's quite different." Sylderia shook her head.
The clusters shone brighter as they glittered like sparks before turning into a swirling cloud that wrapped around Shalba.
"A trick like this won't work against me!" He sprouted his wings as he unleashed his full power.
"I have the power of the Ouroboros and the Harvester! All of you are but beneath me!"
In a bright explosion, he was wreathed by a pillar of pure Malfresto that shot into the sky, illuminating the whole room.
Sylderia materialized a sword from light and cleaved apart Shalba's wasp, but that gave him the time he needed.
When the Malfresto cleared, Shalba was standing in the air, wreathed in putrid power that attested to how much he'd grown since his battle with Artemis. He had reached Devil Lord levels and could've given the current leaders a run for their money.
"Let the battle end. For my first and last attack, you will know reckoning."
He had now gained a piece of armor that wrapped around his arm, replacing the device he used for light abilities. The armor looked like a long thin blade that slightly curved like the top of a pincer, but the tip was like a yellowjacket's stinger.
"[Venom Rapture!]"
Sylderia then did the unexpected. She materialized wings of light that were different from Angels, instead resembling stars that were connected to each other. A ring of light appeared behind her, signifying that she had achieved a higher level of power than before.
"Whoa…" Elzer whistled in surprise.
The power that she was radiating was at Seraph-Class, possibly matching Gabriel or even Michael in quality of light.
"I wasn't doing nothing after I gained these powers. I'm going to try and make this as quick as possible." Sylderia remarked.
Opening her hand, she created an orb of light that looked like clustering glass, shimmering different colors like a prism.
"[Prism Fusillade.]"
The orb shattered and began homing in on Shalba like zig-zagging lasers. He tried to shoot them down with his own magic but they proved too fast to stop. Conjuring up more swarms of flies and bees didn't work either. They were easily annihilated into ash as explosions of different colors swallowed them in radiance.
Each of the different colors from Sylderia's Prism Magic had a different trait.
Red had explosive power.
Blue had amplification powers.
Green could heal.
Yellow could weaken an ability.
Lastly, white could phase through magic or objects, basically bypassing defenses that were too weak to negate it.
Carefully making use of them, Sylderia combiner her missiles of light with the colors of red, blue, and white colors to maximize explosive power and to ensure that she hit her targets.
Elzer felt a bit sheepish since she was outshining him right now. He admired her current progress and was amazed that she had already reached this level with her abilities, but at the same time, he noticed something. She had a sad look in her eyes.
For the years that he knew her on Mu, she never did like fighting. She only engaged in it when it was necessary and it was only to protect civilians from crime. The rest of the time, she was caring for the elderly or helping anyone in need when on patrols for the Muknights. It was gladdening to see that she hadn't lost that part of herself, even after going back to being a princess.
Sylderia watched as her attack quickly vaporized all of Shalba's defenses before surrounding him in explosions, sending him flying back and forth, but making sure to avoid killing him. She looked around and took comfort in the fact that her family had also finished off the last of the Khaos Brigade.
Turning back to inspect her opponent, she found him lying unconscious on the ground. About to seal him, she prepared to bind his limbs before he suddenly shot up, his stinger looming at her heart.
As quickly as a blink of the eye, darkness blasted Shalba, blowing him away and violently smashing him into a wall as the shadows corroded his weaponized left arm.
"Thanks, Elzer." She sighed before nodding at her friend/fiancé?
"Don't mention it." He nodded.
The two stood silent for a moment as they digested what had happened. They were wondering about the motive of this attack and who was the exact mastermind. Clearly, Praegorn had a hand in this, but it was unknown if he just gave power to the Khaos Brigade. Even then, it was clear that the band of terrorists had also returned. The Alliance would have to be notified of this development. There were so many questions to ask and such little information to work with, that time had become too limited to spend now.
Observing from afar, Praegorn had been amused by all that he saw within the brief battle.
"Interesting. They've grown stronger than I thought. I had expected more explosions but I guess they decided to avoid collateral damage. Still, I see that those imbeciles didn't listen to my advice and avoided training. Really, such wasted gifts. Ah well, it's not like I expected much. I really just wanted to scare Issei and see what those Champions could do. As they are now, they aren't ready to face me at all, let alone give me worries. That's for now, at least. Hahahaha. I'll be looking forward to how this plays out." Praegorn continued chuckling as he retreated to wherever it was that he was hiding.
Alright, now we've gotten even further information on what Praegorn's up to. We even get to see the short return of the Khaos Brigade! I was never really finished with them and I thought I'd mix things up a little with their return. Sylderia and Elzer needed to show off anyways.
And Issei has his work cut out for him again, since he has to go hunting now. Hopefully, the excitement keeps going, since we're getting even closer to the part that I've been itching to write.
Other than that, I don't think I have much left to say. Anyways, I'll see you on the next update and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It's just a little taste of what's more to come.
