Kazuma picked up a bunch of clear manatites and put it in his knapsack, he picked up a few rings that are similar looking to the one Megumin had. For some reason they dont seem to emit the same amount of magical power as the one Megumin had.
"Ne... Kazuma what are those rings?"
"Hmm? These? These are the weaker variations of the ring Megumin have, unlike hers, mine only grants me endless mana for 10 minutes and it takes a week to recharge. I am packing light today, I cant be moving around with a huge sack of manatite." Kazuma said
"Say, can I have one of those?" Ermiana asks
"Why would you need one?" Kazuma asks with his eyebrows raised.
"Since Grandma Iris is joining us, I wont be able to use Blahblahcalibur, I will be using one of your high grade weaponry." Ermiana smiled as she said that.
Kazuma sigh as he hands Ermiana a short sword and 2 of the rings.
"Be careful with that sword alright? It means a lot to me." Kazuma said.
"I will!" Ermiana said while smiling.
"I cant believe you are using a sword from that man rather than from me!" Claire dejectedly said.
"Did you just passed her chunchunmaru?" Megumin narrowed her eyes and asked Kazuma.
"I did, I have decide on going unarmed for this upcoming battle. Beside I have no sword skills to speak of." Kazuma said
I looked at the sword and saw that it was overflowing with power as well. How much time did Kazuma have to have made so many of these items? It would seem that all preparations are completed and we headed out towards the capital gates, it was already night time. The snowstorm approaches and we noticed a girl in the eye of the storm. Any nearby herbs and trees were all frozen solid, but it must be due to all the equipment Kazuma gave them, non of us were fazed by the ice cold storm exuded by the girl. The aura around her was extremely terrifying as it was freezing everything around her and icicles would randomly pop out around her. I noticed something about her magic though.
"Hey you! Identify yourself! Why do I sense holy energy from you!?"
I heard a smack beside me and saw Kazuma's palm covering his face.
"She is Glacius, cant you tell by all the ice? The holy aura from her is because she was created by someone who had a special skill given to him by the Gods as a reincarnation perk! All those skills has holy attribute in them!" Kazuma said
She tilted her head and stared straight at me.
"Hmm? Blue hair, pink Hagomoro and holy aura... I have finally found you! I have came all this way here because I have a score to settle with you." Glacius said.
"W-wait wait wait! Cant we talk this out? She just came back from the heavenly realm, she obviously didnt do anything to offend you!" Yunyun panickedly said.
Iris, Ermiana and Claire got into battle stance.
"Dont let your guard down!" Claire shouted.
"Heavenly realm? This woman, she was probably the one my creator wanted to exact revenge on. Also, you casted a high leveled holy spell near the mountains a few days ago didnt you?" Glacius said with a murderous glare.
"Huh? I-I did, but that was because K-Kazuma had died... And.. And I had to revive him. K-Kazuma say something!"
"Eh? Dont you remember me? I was the one who told you that you could live anywhere you wanted and no one would disturb you!" Kazuma said.
"Hmm yes... I do remember you, you wet your pants when I caught you." Glacius said
Not only me, but everyone around us stared at Kazuma and we slowly moved a few steps away from him.
"That blue thing over there had awakened me from my slumber, also I had a mission assigned to me by my creator to kill her." Glacius cruelly said.
"What about my grandfather and parents? They were brutally murdered by you!" Ermiana said with tears in her eyes.
"Oh? They had it coming, if they had just leave me alone like pee boy over there, I wouldnt have had to kill them." Glacius said with a twisted smile.
"WHY YOU?! EXTERION!" Ermiana swung the heavily upgraded chunchunmaru and a shining slash of light came forth from her sword.
Glacius raised her left hand and a wall of ice appeared beneath her feet and boosted her upwards. The ice was bisected and split into 2 beneath Glacius's feet. The ice then shattered below her as she gently floated down and landed on the floor gracefully.
"Ara, ara, did I anger you? I guess we are done talking." Glacius said.
Her arms started to give off a bright yellow glow. A twister of ice and snow swirled around Glacius, sparkling majestically under the radiant moonlight. The ground around her began to creak and crack from the sudden freeze while her surrounding plants and monsters were all frozen solid. Her emotionless eyes and twisted smile betrayed the extreme anger burning within her soul and combined with her loli-like appearence, she looked like death incarnate. The surrounding air continued to chill, now reaching far below zero.
Kazuma and I raised our hands.
"BARRIER!"
Kazuma's barrier layered over my barrier offsetting the damage that Glacius's aura was giving off. His barrier immediately shattered and I realized something...
"YOU HIKINEET! You picked up another priest skill didnt you?!" I shouted.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT?" Kazuma shouted back.
Kazuma's barrier was a lot weaker than mine, but he kept layering barrier after barrier over mine.
"I am not sure how long this is going to last, you ladies need to do something, and fast!" Kazuma shouted.
"INFERNO!" Yunyun shouted.
Glacius gracefully leapt out of the way as a tower of fire shot up from beneath her. She smiled and pointed her left hand towards us. A multiple icicles appeared around her and flew towards us and pierced the barrier. Shocked by the fact that my barrier broke, I stood frozen in place as the icicle headed for me. I closed my eyes and braced for the attack when suddenly...
"Ahhhh" Darkness moaned.
"What are you doing Aqua? Put up another barrier fast! Claire and Darkness are helping us guard against the icicles!" Kazuma shouted.
I opened my eyes and saw Darkness taking all the hits while Claire and Iris are splitting the icicles apart with their sword. I immediately put up another barrier. Kazuma fell to his knees.
"I... Am... Running out of mana... Aqua, I need to... Drain some mana from you." Kazuma panted and said.
"I refuse!"
"That little...! Do you know the situation we are in? Oh forget it! Keep putting up barrier like our lives depend on it!" Kazuma shouted
"That I can do!"
"Flame modified skill! Exterion!" Ermiana raised her sword and slash down as a shockwave of light and fire flew past us.
Glacius's eye widened and she quickly rolled out of the way. Ermiana's attack burnt all the trees and melted all the ice around it and cleared a path. There was an intimidating pressure surrounding Ermiana at the moment... I should not make her mad.
"Ara... That was a close one, the fire could have seriously hurt someone you know?" Glacius smugly said.
"INFERNO!" Yunyun shouted.
"Not this time!" Glacius said. The floor beneath her froze and nullified Yunyun's attack.
"BARRIER!" I casted barrier after barrier to protect us, but some of the icicles managed to pierce through it. Iris and Claire were occupied with cutting apart the icicles so they wont hit us. The muscle head of our party was knocked out-cold after several hits from Glacius.
"Can I do it now? Can I do it now?" Megumin excitedly said while trembling.
"If you do it now, all of us will be blown away! We have to wait for the opportunity where we can keep the shield up." Kazuma said.
"Cursed lightning!" Yunyun blasted a bolt of lightning towards Glacius. It was easily blocked by Glacius erecting a solid wall of ice in front of her. She gave the ice wall a kick and it started to fly towards us.
"AHHH KAZUMA-SAN! MY BARRIER CANT BLOCK THIS!"
"EXTERION!"
Iris swung Blahblahcalibur and made a clean cut across the wall of ice.
"Flame modified skill! EXTERION!"
Ermiana followed up and sent a huge shockwave that blasted and shattered the wall of ice.
"Why is Ermiana so much more powerful than Iris?"
"I will explain it to you later! KEEP PUTTING UP THE BARRIER!" Kazuma shouted.
Iris heard what I said and turned to Ermiana, "I will use my ultimate skill, if it doesnt work, can we switch weapons? Kazuma, Aqua please cast buff on us."
Kazuma and I both casted support buffs on Iris and Ermiana. Apparently, we are of different 'sect' so our buffs stacked. Iris stood there holding her holy sword, her eyes closed, and without making a single movement. Then, light that was akin to static electricity rose and shined around her body, accompanied by intense ripping noises. Glacius could probably sense that power coming from Iris as well.
"I wont let you finish that spell!" Glacius amplified her magic.
The ferocity of her ice storm intensifies, the blizzard froze the barrier that I kept putting up and immediately shattered one after another. How long more do I have to keep doing this? Suddenly the magic power that floated in the atmosphere gathered into her sword and the sword began to release ever-brightening light. Glacius braced herself as she casted another spell.
"SACRED ยท EXPLODE!" Iris shouted
"DEATH'S WINTER!" Glacius shouted
A blinding yellow light and white light enveloped the area as both the magic clashed. Glacius's magic froze everything around her and created a huge ice-based barrier along with a blast of ice towards Iris's spell. Iris's spell destroyed Glacius's barrier and everything around it, turning everything frozen into magnificent white sparkling ice-dust. Iris fell to her knees as she exhausted her mana while Glacius was mildly panting and her aura dissipated.
"Well, that was unexpected, you had to make me go serious for a moment. That was a neat little trick, but you seemed exhausted, how long more can your defense last." Glacius said that.
Ermiana jumped out of the barrier and swung chunchunmaru towards Glacius.
"EXTERION!"
Glacius quickly leapt out of the way. Ermiana attempts to attack Glacius, but Glacius was extremely agile and had dodged all her attacks. Glacius then froze the ground around her causing Ermiana to slip.
"THAT IDIOT! If she hadnt went out of the barrier, it would have been the best time to launch explosions!" Kazuma shouted
"Unlike you, I am used to sliding around on the icy cold floor." Glacius said to Ermiana
"I wont lose to the likes of you!" Ermiana shouted as her body started to glow.
"Yunyun, cast inferno now! Bind!" Kazuma shouted as he casted bind. The mithril rope wrapped itself around Ermiana.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ermiana shouted
"Oh? Your comrade is making it easier for me to kill you." Glacius cruelly said.
"AQUA! CAST SUPPORT MAGIC ON CLAIRE AND ME!" Kazuma shouted
I casted all sorts of my support magic on both of them, including "Super Entertainer."
"CLAIRE! HELP ME OUT HERE!" Kazuma shouted as he tugged the rope back with Claire. Princess Ermiana was pulled backwards with a great force due to the support magic casted on both of them.
"AHHHHH" Ermiana shouted.
Claire did a magnificent pirouette as she leapt into the air and caught Ermiana. That must be the effects of super entertainer, I nodded to myself as I went back to casting barrier after barrier.
"INFERNO!" Yunyun shouted.
Glacius nimbly dodged the attack.
"MEGUMIN NOW! AQUA KEEP THE BARRIER UP!" Kazuma shouted as Ermiana came flying down and landed on her head.
"I havent felt this excited since we invaded the demon king's castle!" Megumin excitedly said as her ring started to glow.
"EXPLOSION! EXPLOSION! EXPLOSION! EXPLOSION! EXPLOSION! EXPLOSION!"
Megumin began to rain explosions on Glacius. Glacius attempted to dodge the explosions but was caught in one of them in almost no time at all.
"BARRIER! BARRIER! BARRIER! BARRIER! BARRIER! BARRIER!"
I put up barriers as fast as I could as the crazy crimson demon who promised not to drag me into explosion casted explosions multiple times over the barren land.
After close to 15 minutes of explosions, Yunyun ran over and shook Megumin.
"MEGUMIN! STOP! Look behind you!" Yunyun panickedly shouted.
We turned behind and saw that the castle walls were falling apart from the continuous explosion shockwaves caused by Megumin. I guess her explosion magic must have greatly improved over the years.
"That... Felt... GREAT!" Megumin fell on her butt as she had a nosebleed from repeatedly casting explosion.
"I STILL HAVE OVER 40 MINUTES LEFT! KAZUMA KAZUMA CAN I KEEP GOING?" Megumin excitedly shouted.
"Wh-? NO! Besides, Glacius is probably dead now. Say can you sense anything Aqua?" Kazuma said.
I shook my head as I didnt sense anything. I put down my barrier and looked at our surroundings. Iris and Yunyun were mana exhausted, Darkness is still knocked out from a while back, Claire catching her breath, Megumin was having a nosebleed and Ermiana was binded.
"Can you undo the bind on Ermiana?" Kazuma asked
"SACRED DISPEL!"
"T-Thanks for pulling me in" Ermiana shyly said
"I guess she really is dead." Kazuma said as he walked forward and got on his knees.
Is he offering his prayers to me? I am right here, he could just tell me straight up. I moved in closer to listen in.
"Glacius, although you were a product by an idiot who was given power by another idiot, you were still just a little girl. May your soul find it's way to Eris-sama and rest in peace." Kazuma said softly.
"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT? And also! Why did you offer the prayer to that padded Goddess instead of the wonderful me?"
"Eavesdropping is rude you know!" Kazuma said
"Anyway, let's head back to the castle for now, we need to get this wall fixed too." Kazuma said.
I carried the knocked out Darkness on my back, Kazuma carried the tired Iris on his back while Ermiana carried Claire on her back. Yunyun and Megumin were arguing about something behind us.
"Claire-sama, you need to stop holding me so tightly, you are starting to choke me! I will leave you by the streets if you keep doing so!" Ermiana said.
Claire glared at Kazuma, "If you hadnt been around, I would have been able to embrace the cute little Ermiana without her being so harsh towards me!"
"I admit she is cute, but you shouldnt say such dangerous things here. It almost sounds as if you wanted to have her all to yourself." Kazuma nonchalently said.
"!?" Claire froze up upon hearing Kazuma's casual words.
After a long walk, we finally got back to the castle.
"Thank you Kazuma-san" Claire said.
"?" Kazuma seems confused.
"You could have easily teleported us back here along with Yunyun right?" Claire said.
"!? WHY DIDNT I THINK OF THAT?" Kazuma shouted.
"Dont worry about it. After all, I got to hug Princess Ermiana throughout the journey!" Claire said while blushing.
"Ehh?" Kazuma, Iris and I stared blankly at Claire.
"I am dropping you into the pool..." Ermiana said.
"How cruel!" Claire replied.
"We are all tired now, let's get some rest and report what happened to the guild. Iris, Ermiana, I will need your help... I am not paying for the wall damages again!" Kazuma declared.
"Leave it to us!" Iris said.
"I am off to throw Claire into the pool." Ermiana said that as she walks into the castle.
It seems that Yunyun and Megumin are still arguing behind us, I decide to ignore them and head into the castle as well. I need a bath.
We went our separate ways inside the huge castle and rested for the rest of the day, that creation was NOT MY FAULT!
