Y/N POV
"I think this works. How much longer do you think I need to continue doing this set, Kurgan?"
"At least 50 more times. I trained in my quadra wielding for more than a decade to reach this point. For you to be even a little skilled is quite the achievement."
I was currently in the Domain of the Dead, the Necropolis where the Council of Wisdom resided.
"Well five swords isn't exactly as easy as four, you know." I sighed.
"You should've spared more time in training in your quadra wielding. You jumped too quickly, Y/N." Kurgan observed.
"But not using the Cursed Sword when I got it will make it quite angry, considering that it was once my predecessor's weapon."
"You actually speak as if those weapons have feelings, huh? I've never thought about it in that perspective. It's really interesting, you know?"
"The Dragon Sword barely gave any signs of sentience during my time of wielding it." Theresia walked over before taking a seat on the grass, where flowers bloomed instantly. "And even then, I thought it was purely a sign from the Sword God that I was doing well."
"Maybe you were too focused on the skills rather than the weapon itself?" I wondered aloud. "I'm not saying skills aren't important, but unlocking the true potential of a weapon, especially when it's of legendary origins, could prove to be a feat of its own."
"Kurgan is right when he said your views are unique. I indeed have never thought of it that way. But it's too late, alas, since the Dragon Sword is my grandson's possession."
We all took a moment for Theresia to let her breaths out. Kurgan and Stride ha both been briefed on the situation with the Astrea family. Out of respect for me, they both agreed to let her have her moments. They may be mortal enemies when alive, but as simple souls who shared a single realm, they depended on each other, and had to respect each other's views to a certain extent.
"Speaking of which, aside from the topic regarding swords, have any of you been to the Augria Sand Dunes?"
"I personally have never been to the desert in the east." Kurgan was the first to reply. "I have heard that some strong warriors of Vollachia once set out towards the dunes to test their skills against the foul beasts, but I never exactly heard of any results of those battles..."
"The Kingdom once had a mabeast infestation issue, so they asked me to scout the area surrounding the dunes in case if the mabeasts were indeed coming from there. They weren't, so I left shortly after to check the other possible locations.
"Pandora once mentioned the dunes once for some kind of project, but she gave up on the idea. I didn't hear much about it since I didn't exactly stay in the cult for too long, so I don't know what transpired afterwards, and after my death." Stride chimed in, striding over the fields of flowers to approach us. Melinda trailed behind him, remaining silent true to her nature.
While on the topic of Melinda, I heard she was the last survivor of the Evil Eye Tribe, who were all wiped out by the Vollachian army for the threat they possessed years ago. There's some secret there I have to figure out in the future in order to advance further, I'm sure of it. But for now, there's no need to pry.
A tug suddenly appeared in the back of my throat and I coughed a little. "Sorry, all of you. It seems my time here is up and I have to return to the living world."
"Just be sure to practice more, kid. There's nothing that can't be achieved through practice, just like how there's nothing to be achieved through raw talent and ability. Just look at me, for example. Why do you think I only used 4 swords instead of 6 or 8?"
I suddenly froze at that statement. I actually never pondered about that before, and him bringing this up now makes it even more intriguing. Nodding silently to Kurgan's words, I waved goodbye to the others and fell backwards into the waking world.
"Ugh..." I rubbed my forehead that was spinning as if it was experiencing migraine. "My head hurts... is it because of my extended exposure to miasma?"
I was out of the tunnel, that's for sure. I turned around to see the Door of Sin behind me, and immediately left the area.
"Y/N-sama, are you alright?" Bayanga appeared on my shoulder, her face full of worry. "Cahya and Alchemis are asleep from healing your physical wounds, while I carried you out."
"Woah! You had this much strength packed in that tiny body of yours, Bayanga?" I tickled my Yin spirit's belly, who immediately poured and pushed my finger away before flapping her demon wings in annoyance.
"Hmph! I'm the Great Spirit of Yin, you know? In terms of raw damage and capabilities, I am stronger than that curly-haired loli!"
If you call Beatrice a loli, then what are you, an *******? Also, stop puffing your chest out, you don't even have any-
For some reason, Bayanga read my mind and immediately inflicted me with El Vita. I, who didn't completely recover yet, was slammed mercilessly into the sandstone floor.
"Oi! My nose is broken!" I yelled in pain before sitting up and fixing my bones with the Authority of Deceit, and flicked my spirit in annoyance. "Also, since when can you read minds?"
"I was about to give you some special succubus-only service before you had unholy thoughts!"
"I doubt you could give me much of a-"
"Hey! Just because Cahya's boobs are bigger than mine doesn't mean she could do anything either!"
"I didn't even begin to think about Cahya, you tsundere-"
"ANYWAYS! It's important to train with your spirits more, you know?! Alchemis was a little sad that you immediately started developing your sword skills with your new pal Aionia Katara, so why are you ignoring us?"
"I-"
I didn't know what exactly to say. Bayanga was absolutely right. Aside from using other spells that I knew, I never bothered having too much time spent with my spirits, who were my main source of magic output.
"I understand. I'm sorry for neglecting you for quite a while, so I about I promise you to develop 3 new spells this Arc? I'm giving you two bonus ones compared to Alchemis and Cahya since you came to raise the issue, kay?" I gave Bayanga a peck on the cheek, and she was immediately flustered before nodding and vanishing into thin air.
Ha. She is too easy to handle. Way easier than Sphinx or Capella, to be honest...
I was about to continue into another tunnel that started from the split paths before I heard voices coming from the other tunnel.
"I told you, aside from the need to survive right now, we need to find Emilia, Rem, Y/N, and the others. Actually, if we could find Y/N right now, that would be a great help because-"
"Barusu. Aren't you awfully reliant on Y/N right now? And Anastasia-sama, why do you seem to agree with Barusu on this matter? Is there something I fail to see here or is it simply information I've failed to receive?"
"Now, Ram-san, let's just say Y/N has a lot of things that you may not know yet about him."
"And what exactly-"
The voice paused as the three people along with the ground dragon came into sight. Upon seeing each other, Subaru and I immediately enveloped each other in a hug.
"Man I thought you were dead!" We both yelled at the same time only to suddenly realize something wrong.
"Wait, you can't really die..." I said to Subaru.
"And you can't really die either!" Subaru added in realization of our powers.
Bruh. We were worried for nothing.
"Anyways, Y/N, where did you come from?"
"That path behind me. It's pretty dangerous down there, I'd say. I wasn't too far in when I woke up, but I could definitely sense the string miasma coming from that place."
"I see. And if I came from the tunnel behind me there, that means that," Subaru pointed to a tunnel to his left. "is the only tunnel we haven't explored yet."
"Is Anastasia and Ram okay?"
"Yeah, they're fine... for now, at least."
? For now?
"I guess our only option is to go down that path then."
"Hello! Care to cue the two of us into your little conversation there?" Anastasia said, patting on my shoulder.
"Oh, sorry about that, Ana. I suppose we should head down that path, since none of us know what's inside it anyways."
"There's not much else to do, to be honest. Might as well see what's in it." Subaru added, and we reached a consensus. Heading down the tunnel of ash and sand, we shared a few words as we went. Not much has happened since Subaru and co. dropped down from the sand dunes above, and they have no idea where the others are.
If I had to guess, they're either already at the Watchtower resting or Shaula just found them. Either way, we need to somehow go above ground to get in through the fifth floor or go through Asterope in the bottom to get up. I never memorized the underground path, so I was seriously struggling. However, if we ever found a large, open-spaced room, it would most likely be Asterope.
"By the way... I just wanted to bring this up... I saw a Mabeast in the dunes once. It had a human body sprouting up from the neck of a body that looked like Patrasche's, and it had a huge mouth gaping from abdomen to chest there. And finally, a huge horn sprouted up from its human body, where the head should be..."
Ram and Anastasia both made a face on the grotesque description of the beast. I fumbled my fair a little before piecing together Subaru's information as I remembered the most deadly of all mabeasts seen in the dunes: Gabaou, the Hungry Horse King.
If it's truly that... it will be a very hard battle.
The Gabaou possesses fast regeneration as well as the ability to shoot fireballs from its mouth, that was situated on its chest. It's back and mane are constantly lit on fire, and its head is its mabeast horn. Usually, when a mabeast's horn breaks, they'll submit to anyone who broke it, just like the Orthus that attacked Emilia when she woke up.
The Gabaou is a completely different case as it can regenerate even its horn. Which means it can't be tamed by natural means. I'm even doubting Meili's Divine Protection, since she can't control extremely high level mabeasts, but she never specifically mentioned the Gabaou being untameable, so I'm betting on that slim chance.
We continued forwards into the tunnel when Anastasia/Eridna brought up an interesting point. According to her, a rumour explains that the Witch Cult and the mabeasts hate each other, despite both having a miasma. That is because while the Witch Cult worships the Witch of Envy, their miasma is dependent only on the archbishops they follow. For example, Petelgeuse's followers will get shredded by mabeasts. However, since the mabeasts were created by Daphne, those who hang around Lye or Roy will have a partial pass when it comes to the creatures.
"Of course." I replied to Anastasia's statement while Ram is still having a hard time believing Ana's words. "That's because their origins are different."
"Their origins... what exactly do you mean, Y/N?" Ram asked.
"Your point regarding miasma being the contamination of mana is indeed correct. However, the source of the contamination varies between those who carry a type of miasma. You've seen the Archbishops' peculiar powers, right? They stem from objects known as Witch Factors, derived from some unknown source that makes them the antithesis of Od Laguna. Whatever they're made of, they tend to corrode regular mana, which is what you speak of. However, unless your miasma type is the same, the beasts will devour you."
"So the reason Barusu keeps on getting chased by mabeasts is because his miasma is different from the mabeasts?"
"Precisely. However, Subaru is a special case as he's afflicted with some sort of... let's call it a disease, but it's more like an aura of miasma. And since his comes from our infamous villain, it's quite obvious why the mabeasts don't like him. After all, they were all created by the Witch of Gluttony."
"The Witch of Gluttony?! So there are more witches than the Witch of Envy?"
"Of course. Why do you think the archbishops all represent a deadly sin except for Envy?"
"Hm..." Ram connected a certain train of thought, and began to slowly make sense of the situation. "I see why Barusu and Anastasia-sama all look to you for help sometimes. I haven't seen such deductive ability and wisdom since Master Roswaal."
To be honest, Subaru's deductive ability is very great, too. It's just that he can't tell you too much without revealing the secret which he literally cannot reveal. How unfortunate.
Soon after, we arrived at the cave of the Gabaou. We went along with Subaru's plan of sound distraction, considering that it's definitely blind. I wanted to fight it at first, but Subaru was against it since I could accidentally forget to protect someone... like last time.
I bit my lip in frustration as I berated myself inside for being too careless last time, but this time I'll make sure to save everyone if it came down to it.
Subaru initiated his plan and threw a water flask to the left while we slowly crept on the right. Sure enough, it was distracted. It screeched, it's sound akin to babies crying, and ran towards the sound. Taking this chance, we went forwards. Only to realize that something was wrong.
The Gabaou did a 180 and shot a fireball in Subaru's direction, missing him by a feet. Subaru wondered if it was we were too loud, so he threw another water flask at the wall, causing the Gabaou to screech again before ramming itself into the wall. Seeing that his plan worked, Subaru began to creep forwards again before I noticed the Gabaou do the exact same thing as before, and I tugged on the string that connected us together hard and stopped Subaru in his tracks just before the fireball went past where he would be.
It screeched again, and I realized it's method of finding prey: echolocation from its own screams.
It began shooting a barrage of fireballs at us just as Subaru ordered Patrasche to run, and I immediately rushed in front of them and crossed my fingers as Prudence's Barrier activated. The stopped dome of time protected us from the blast, but not for long.
Subaru, seeing my own desperation, stepped forth as I saw his Sloth Witch Factor beating in excitement of being unleashed, regardless of the fact that it will chip away at its user's soul.
"Subaru, maybe you shouldn't-"
Before I could finish, Prudence's Barrier came undone and Subaru charged forwards, ready to unleash his Unseen Hand when he suddenly collapsed and held his head in obvious pain.
"It hurts! Augh! It hurts it hurts it hurts!" Subaru screamed in agony, and I immediately casted an original Yang Spell of mine, Mutuu, on him.
"Hang in there, Subaru!" I yelled while I saw Patrasche charge in and bite off one of the arms of the Gabaou, causing it to roar in pain and rear backwards. However, it was proven to be ineffective as it regenerated its arm, and now, its flames forged into a jousting rapier of sorts, before it was lit aflame by the mabeast.
"El Fura!"
"Jiwald!"
Wind and Yang spells bombarded the mabeast while I healed Subaru's mental wound. However, the Gabaou came in for a kick at us, who were at the front. Patrasche tried to rush in and take the blow for us, but I wouldn't let that happen.
"Prudence's Barrier!" Crossing my fingers once again as the 1 minute cooldown ended, the timeless barrier activated and stopped the Gabaou's hooves. Subaru suddenly stood up and rushed at the Gabaou, and I saw the Unseen Hand emerge from his stomach.
"INVISIBLE PROVIDENCE!" Subaru yelled at the top of his lungs as the black mass broke one of the spears the Gabaou held, and I activated Dominator's Domain immediately before taking Subaru and the others to the back. Trapping the Gabaou in Absolute Zero only works for a short time, as it miraculously can continue to generate heat from seemingly nothing out of its body.
"Goddammit. Stay right there, everyone. Ram, make sure Subaru didn't charge right in again."
I opened my Dimensional Storage as my Extensions unsheathed Inen and Ryokyo, and started spinning them violently, creating a gust that blew up some sand. I encased the others in a diamond barrier, and I saw Subaru pass out from the pain of using his Authority without proper practice.
I then took out Aionia Katara and placed it in my left hand, with Amorum in my right and Zeam in my mouth. "Let's hope your coordination training works, Kurgan!"
Leaping towards the Gabaou with all five of my swords ready, Inen and Ryokyo slashed down towards the spears of fire. I cut its stomach using Zeam as the Life Sword began to eat away at its corrosive soul, while the Love Sword pierced his side, and prevented it from regenerating.
"――――ϡ ϡ!" The Gabaou screeched in pain and surprise before it steadied itself and slashed down towards me, only to be blocked by the Shadow Sword and the Spirit Sword. I swung the Love Sword forward and severed his left arm, while Zeam pierced his stomach and gouged out a few teeth.
Furious at my attacks, the Gabaou began concentrating a ball of fire and condensed it into a laser before shooting the beam of fire at me. I barely managed to fend it off before I destroyed it with Shadow Laser from my Authority of Sloth.
Taking this chance that it's weakened, I focused mana into the Cursed Sword and it began to grow in size, it's blade purple and glowing with velvet-crimson flames.
"Let's do this, Aionia Katara!"
"Corrosion Blade: Maxima-"
Before I could finish, however, a white light shot through the Gabaou and it screeched in pain. I was so surprised the mana gathered on the Cursed Sword was immediately unleashed and knocked myself back a few meters while a barrier of sorts formed between me and the mabeast.
More beams of white light continuously shot through the air, piercing the mabeast as it failed to regenerate, its screams echoing in the cave until it was finally incinerated to ashes by the white beams of light.
Suddenly, I recognized the beams as their familiar nature was once felt by myself.
"Hell's Snipe..."
Heels stepping on sand sounded through the air. I swerved my head around and faced the figure who walked towards us. It was... a woman. A woman with a rather queer air to her.
Her legs were audaciously bare all the way up to her thighs, and the only thing that covered her crotch was the hem of her shorts that were just barely cut down for that task. Above that, her waist and belly button were exposed. A piece of cloth was wound above her slender waist like a muneate to keep her breasts concealed. However, she wore something akin to a cloak from her shoulders which barely protected the greater part of her body (exposed from her pale shoulders) from the wind.
Her hair was a brown that was closer to black to the point that it seemed to blend in with the darkness around them. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail that collected all of it together.
She gazed at Subaru and the others with moist eyes which were chock-full of thick emotion. Her thin lips curved up, breaking into a rather bestial smile.
"Found you." She said with a smile.
Hah...
She then turned towards me. "You know, that could've taken the whole cave down. You gotta tone it down a little here, especially when my snipes don't even destroy the space Master resides in."
"Well, either way, thank you for your assistance."
"I'd say you came right on time."
"Hello, Sage's Apprentice."
"I give my sincere greetings to Shaula, Scorpio's Stinger."