With Alfia, Zald and Ottarl, they had their hands full with the strongest of the demi spirits. The fomoire had steadily worn down the three of them as the demi spirit was somehow able to cast magic as well. The two were a force that were able to force back the strongest in the city. Alfia had to cancel out the spirit's magic spells while Zald and Ottarl fought the monster it was riding. Put simply, this was going to be a lot harder than they first thought.
Zald: We're not making much headway here.
Ottarl: That hide is tough, I'm not cutting through.
Alfia: Argh, be quiet! You're insufferable. Gospel!
She tried to attack the spirit with magic, but the monster would just get in the way. Not only that, but it was hardly affected by them.
Ottarl: Magic resistance?!
Zald: How annoying. Ottarl, I'll handle the monster, go for the woman on top.
Ottarl: Right.
Zald swung his great sword at the monster which blocked it. The two were now stuck in a power struggle while Ottarl made his way to the demi spirit. The fomoire couldn't afford to let up against Zald to capture Ottarl either or it would be overwhelmed and Zald would break through. Ottarl had a clean opening and went to strike her with his sword.
Demi spirit: Gospel!
Ottarl: ?!
Boom*
He and Zald were blown back by her spell, Alfia had a look of shock on her face.
Alfia: It can't be, it copied my spell?!
Demi spirit: Hahahahahaha!
Zald: Gh, just great. It can copy spells now?!
With that in mind, Zald and Alfia couldn't afford to use their strongest spells or they risk them being used by the monster. They needed a new plan, and fast. However, their thought were interrupted by the demi spirit.
Demi spirit: Give in to thy bloodlust and rage. Be consumed and become an incarnation of anger. Berserk Soul!
Fomoire: GRRR! *RAAAAAAAAGH*
The monster gained a dark red aura around its body, the three adventurers were able to feel its power grow.
Ottarl: Now what?
Zald went to face it again, only to be more easily overwhelmed.
Zald: ?! (It's stronger!)
The fomoire knocked him away and charged for Alfia and Ottarl.
Alfia: Gospel!
Demi spirit: Gospel!
Alfia tried to force the monster back, but the demi spirit used that same spell to counter. Alfia's spell clashing with the demi spirit was strong enough to push them back, but they were burning through their resources and it looked like the monster wasn't tired at all.
Alfia: (We won't last at this rate!)
Zald pulled himself out of the building he was knocked into and regrouped with them.
Zald: Any ideas?
Alfia: Sorry, I don't. If we could just take one out of the picture, we can all easily dismantle the other.
Ottarl: The easiest would be to get rid of the woman on top. Do you have any spells that can cancel her magic?
Alfia: No I-
She stopped when his words sparked an idea.
Alfia: (I don't have one like that, but not exactly. I can cast an anti magic armor with Silentium Eden, but what if I reverse the effects?) Ottarl, Zald, I have an idea!
Zald: What is it?
Alfia: I don't know if it is going to work, but it's the best chance we have, but you teo have to hold the monster still.
Both: Okay!
With that, Ottarl used his beastification and the two swordsmen charged and used their combined strength to hold it in place. Even with the two of them, they could barely hold so Ottarl decided to grab his second sword and drive it into the beast's stomach causing it to roar in pain.
Alfia: Let's hope this works. Ataraxia!
At her short chant, a silver glow surrounded the monster and the two felt the monster grow weaker.
Demi spirit: What?!
Alfia: I sealed it magic, attack!
With that Ottarl used his increased strength to force the monster down and jump away as Zald and Alfia readied their strongest attacks.
Ottarl: You're not going anywhere!
A few seconds were all they needed before the monster saw why the two were legends.
Zald: Rea Ambrosia!
Alfia: Genos Angelus!
Alfia's spell was already able to wipe out the Leviathan, so combined with Zald's attack, they turned the demi spirit into nothing but dust along with a good portion of the town. All three slumped on the ground and celebrated their victory.
Ottarl: Hah... we won.
Zald: Heh, good thing there weren't any people around. You holding up okay, Alfia?
Alfia: I will if you be quiet.
With that, the major pieces of the Evilus attack were dealt with, only the remnants remained to be destroyed, but that would be for later. After resting a bit, they returned to Babel where they saw many others regrouping. Zald went to Finn to tell what happened.
Finn: What in the gods happened to you?! Looks like a pack of minotaurs trampled you!
Zald: Not far off there. There was a strange monster we found. It was ridiculously strong, and there was a green woman on it's back casting spells.
Finn: What?!
Ottarl: It's true, it was a combination we almost couldn't beat.
Finn: It's good to know you all came back alive. For the rest of the attack, there were still a lot of casualties. Many adventurers died and we even lost a handful of gods in the attack.
The three hardened their gazes after hearing that. Adventurers were defenseless after losing their blessing.
Finn: Ganesha had taken the hardest blow after any god. Many of his children were killed while protecting the civilians, including his captain.
This shocked the three of them.
Alfia: Shakti is dead?!
Finn: Ardi is over there with her sister's body with the Astraea familia.
He pointed over to where they had carried her body and they could see the girl crying over the now covered body of her sister. Ganesha was with her grieving as well.
Ottarl left for his goddess and Alfia went to check in with their allies. Alfia walked to Alise and saw all of her familia hurt in one way or another. They explained the situation to her and she understood what happened. The girl's crying was annoying to her, but she was willing to put up with it since fewer things hurt more than losing family. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard running in their direction. Alfia turned and saw Hera and Astraea with worried looks on their faces. Riveria soon caught up after as she was just freshly healed.
Alfia: What's wrong?
Hera: I-It's Bell, he went missing!
Alfia: WHAT?!
Astraea: He had an arguement with Hera and went to his room. Zeus went to talk to him and when I went in to check on him, he was gone.
Hera: The crazy old man let him loose.
Riveria: With any luck, he probably found Ais and the two of them went fighting together, she went missing as well.
Alfia felt her blood boil as anger took hold.
Alfia: I'm going to kill that old man! Zald!
The man turned to Alfia when he was in the middle of being healed.
Alfia: Bell is missing, we need to find him.
Hera: You can't, not in your condition!
Alfia: I don't care, I'm not about to lose my last family!
Riveria: Alfia, I am already healed, I can go look for them!
Astraea: She's right, you can't look for Bell if you're this injured!
The silver haired woman grunted in annoyance. She knew they were right, but she couldn't leave this task to someone else.
Alfia: Alright, I'll let you go first, but after I'm healed I'm joining in the search!
Riveria: Very well, I'll be off.
Astraea: Thank you.
She bowed in gratitude as the high elf left to find the two kids. She raced from rooftop to rooftop looking for any signs of them. Riveria grew more anxious until she finally spotted them on a road leading to Babel. She quickly jumped down to them.
Riveria: BELL! AIS!
The two kids heard the voice and began looking for it when they heard the high elf land near them.
Bell: Miss Riveria?!
Riveria was relieved to see them okay, but that vanished when she saw how hurt they were. Her relief quickly turned to anger before Ais got nervous for what would happen to them.
Ais: Uh oh.
Bonk*
Ais: Oww~
Riveria: What were you two thinking?! This is no place for children to be!
Bell: But-
Riveria: No buts, this wasn't your battle, you had no right to be here!
Ais: We can't just let you do all the work, we wanted to help!
Riveria: No, this is a job for adults, not children! Now, come with me, you two need patching up.
The three walked back to Babel in silence. Whe they arrived, Hera and Astraea were relieved to see Bell. Hera and Alfia gave the boy their fair share of scolding while Bell sat on his knees and took it.
Hera: And I don't want you to do anything like this again, do you understand me?!
Bell: I'm sorry, grandma.
Hera: I'm just glad you're safe, Bell.
She hugged her grandson who returned it and cried apologies to her. Ais did the same with Riveria, to her surprise as she didn't expect the girl to be this emotional.
Riveria: (Just what happened to them?)
The tended to their injuries and went back to their homes with the kids so they could rest. It had been a long night and Orario needed to recover from the attack. It was a victory for the city, but a victory that had heavy costs.
AN: Alright, that's the end of the Evilus attack. A lot has happened to everyone, the kids and adults faced a powerful monster. I had Alfia change up her spell's effect on the spot. It usually becomes an anti magic armor upon being cast on the user, but what if the effects were reversed? Instead of being cast on the user, what if it went to the enemy? Instead of an anti magic armor, what if it became an anti magic seal? It would prevent magic from the inside instead of the outside, which would seal all of the demi spirit's magic and allow them to attack without the risk of their spells being copied. Along with that, it would undo the effects of the boosting spell it cast and make the monster weaker. There's no doubt everyone would grow from this so there will be status updates for them to look forward to tomorrow. Even if this was a win for them, they still had losses. RIP Shakti.
Well, the next chapter will be the preparation for the next arc that will be started after. As always, I hope you enjoyed and I will see you in the next one.