[ ~ Chapter • Start ~ ]
When they arrived at the end of the hallway, they were greeted by a massive, dome-shaped room with a massive stone circle placed around it.
Even thought it looked amazing, there was a portal at the middle of it, leading to an unknown place. They didn't really know where it would take them, but Shizuka needs to be saved.
Aside from that...
The portal was going to vanish in around an entire hour now that it's power source had been recently cut off... Meaning that they only have little time to save her.
"What was she trying to do going back in time, anyways? Save Maria, Ran, and Mill before Ragisis does something bad?" Rance spoke, approaching the portal with Sill behind him.
Once he was feet away from the portal, he began to analyze it in under ten seconds.
It was incredibly complex, yet nothing he couldn't really use.
Yet, he knelt down and slammed his open palms down to the ground as runes began to cover the stones and powering them up. Rance had merely sent around 5% of his mana just to supply the portal with enough magic to make it last for a few more hours.
"Now that's done, all that's needed to do is get inside." Rance spoke, standing up slowly and surely before he eventually began to move forwards.
"Un, there's no turning back once we go inside the portal." Sill followed him into the portal, not sure if she should be amazed or see this as normal occurrence. Anyways, when the both of them entered the portal, they were sent somewhere unknown to them.
During the process of jumping to a timeline, the both of them were engulfed by a bright light. When it faded, the both of them arrived in fields that were unfamiliar to them. The sky was purple, and the moon at the moment was red.
"Sill, you okay?" Rance asked Sill, who nodded in response.
They began to look around, before Sill noticed a green haired girl nearby.
"Master, there's a girl right there." She spoke, pointing at her.
When Rance approached her, he remembered something about the details of Shizuka Masou from Maria.
"... Hm, green hair, blue eyes, wearing a short green dress, a long coat and a pointed hat for wizards or witches... You're Shizuka Masou, aren't you?" Rance asked, as he gained a reaction from said girl.
"... Yes, I am." Shizuka replied, staring at Rance as if he was someone very suspicious. "And who are you two? You came from Custom, right?"
"I'm the Great Hero of this world, Rance Roswell, and this girl is my companion, Sill Plain." He replied back to her, as Sill waved her hand to greet her. "And yes, we came from Custom. To save you. Time's running out, Shizuka, we only have an entire hour to return."
With a lie casually given from his mouth, Shizuka realized something and glared at Rance even deeper
"Grrr...! Damn it...!" Shizuka spoke, clenching both her fists hard enough to maybe whiten them while she scowled. "You destroyed those cylinders that contained those girls, right?! Those were my only chance to save him in time...!"
Shizuka's expression had changed from fury and disbelief, to acceptance. She sighed and turned around, seemingly calming down.
"Who do want to save, Shizuka? What are your real goals for using those girls?" Rance asked, yet the witch girl only took several steps forward.
"... It's none of your business... Now please go back and don't try to stop me." She replied, her footsteps becoming more rapid and frantic as if she was trying to go somewhere very important and she was going to be late.
And Rance stood in place, crossing his arm and shaking his head sideways.
"Sill, do you want to know why we brought several high-quality Ibeprofun for this moment?"
Said girl stared at him with a smile.
"I have to heal Shizuka using an Ibeprofun in tandem with my Healing Magic, right?" She replied, as both of them began to move towards where Shizuka had ran to in a slow enough pace. "I guess we'll have to observe her for a short while."
[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]
"Father... wait for me!" Shizuka spoke, still running forwards before she had to slow down to catch her breath.
After a short while, she began to move forward once again, hoping if her father is still alive and his murderer was sill around for her to kill.
She kept walking, until she saw an old man in a villager's outfit looking around himself, and due to the moon's light, she recognized who this man was.
"... Father?" She whispered, as her face brightened in hope, until she saw a figure approaching behind him.
She realized that the figure is about to attack her father, and immediately ran towards them.
"Behind you!!!" She shouted, hoping he'd hear just in time.
Although her father did hear, and dodged, it proved to be of little worth as a fire laser pierced the old man's side, making him shout in pain as he rolled to the ground, injured.
Due to this, Shizuka's expression became that of rage, scowling while sending several fire blasts towards the unknown person.
Said unknown person only replied by using barriers to block her spells, even though said barriers were about to fall apart.
And then, the unknown figure had revealed himself.
He had long, blond hair, blue eyes with slits for pupils, and a silver headband. His clothing consisted of a dark robe with crimson edges that reached down the ground.
Once he looked at Shizuka, his eyes widened, and his original expression of annoyance turned into shock and surprise... before turning to lust.
Just being seen by her father's murderer like that sent shivers to her spine, only for her fear to be overshadowed by her anger and resolve to kill her father's murderer.
"Urgh... Chenezale, you...!" The old man grunted, standing up from the ground while clenching the part where he was wounded. "You cheater! Striking me from behind without me noticing... Luckily you saved me."
Her father looked at her, and sighed in slight relief.
"Who are you, young girl? Are you Athmaze's relative?" Her father asked, as both of them quickly introduced each other. With her father, Souzou finding out that she was his daughter that came from the future.
And... Chenezale was still deep in his thoughts, blindly staring at Shizuka as if she was somebody else.
"Athmaze..." He finally spoke, noticing the ring on her finger. "... You're wearing one of the four Phil Rings, aren't you? That means..."
Chenezale began to cackle once he realized something, then laugh loudly up into the air.
"You're just like I imagined you to be, Athmaze! A young beauty and an untainted maiden, hair as green as the brightest of emeralds and eyes as blue as the ocean... Leave Souzou alone and join me, as my love for you is stronger than his!" Chenezale spoke, grinning with confidence as he opened his arms.
Shizuka only spoke nothing, as she immediately fired a thunderbolt towards Chenezale, who dodged it with ease.
"... Fine, if you answer that way, then... I'll have no choice but to beat you down to the ground and take you back to our home in Zeth... Don't worry, I'll take good care of you..." He spoke, making Shizuka and Souzou glare at him.
It was hard to imagine for both of them, but they did, and realized that Chezenale was selfishly doing this for Athmaze. He's completely crazy!
Due to the rage building up in their chests, they began to fight Chenezale who slowly approached them.
Suddenly, Chenezale summoned a massive, miniature sun the size of half his torso and threw it towards both Souzou and Shizuka, who in reflex made a powerful barrier to block it.
When the miniature sun touched their barrier, it immediately exploded, sending powerful heat towards the father and daughter duo while their barriers slowly began to crack.
When the blast vanished, Souzou knelt down to the ground, clenching his side in pain due to the pain overtaking his body. Blood was flowing down from his wound, and without proper medication or someone with an incredible proficiency of Divine Magic, he might die.
"Father!" Shizuka spoke, looking at Souzou with immense worry, but just before she could react, Chenezale suddenly appeared right behind him and grabbed his neck, raising him up as if he was just as light as a feather.
"Urgh!"
"Hmph! And here I thought you kept your experience and is still stronger than me in terms of magic." Chenezale said, disappointment present in his tone as he sighed. "I trained for days, months and years until I'm at my limit, augmenting my body almost every single week and being much, much stronger than you... Aside from that, you've grown old and weak." Chenezale continued, gloating about how strong he became and become much more prideful each second.
And then, he grinned as he nonchalantly let him go, making him drop to the ground with a thud.
He then glanced at Shizuka, who looked like she wanted to cast another one of her spells to him, yet he jumped towards her in speeds she could barely perceive, and sent his knee towards her abdomen, making her spit out saliva before hitting her with a slap that sent her to the ground.
"As for you, Athmaze..."
Shizuka wanted to get up and turn around, yet Chezenale pinned her back down to the ground, facing up.
Then suddenly, she was unable to move.
"Ah, don't worry, I only used a paralysis spell so that you wouldn't be able to resist." Chenezale spoke, in a really creepy tone, his hands began to shuffle around her body, before they grabbed on to her dress and Chenezale ripped her robe apart.
She couldn't do anything. Quite literally. She can't speak, she can't move and even use her magic, but she can still breathe and look around.
Her father was lying on the ground, wanting to reach her, and couldn't do anything else. If he could cast a spell, Shizuka might be hit too.
And then, tears began to appear from her eyes. This was totally hopeless, and she would no longer be able to return to Custom in time.
'... Father... I'm sorry...' She thought, all while Chenezale's hands traced down to her thighs, and removing her panties before grabbing her legs. '... And Maria... I'm sorry for not being able to return...'
She was about to accept her fate, until...
"Hey! What the fuck are YOU doing to MY woman, old nobody?!"
[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]
{ Earlier... }
Rance and Sill were jogging towards the location where Shizuka ran to, when Sill began to ask something to her master.
"Master Rance, do you have something in your mind you want to speak out?" Sill spoke, as Rance simply smirked.
"Well, yeah. One of my former mentors, Mysteria Tou, had raised a school and taught 10 students around 18 years ago. Her best student, who didn't meet her expectations even when he really is the best among the ten, is named Souzou Masou. No wonder Shizuka's last name sounded very familiar..." He replied, before seeing several magical signatures in the distance with his [Reading Iris].
A fight was reaching it's climax, and they are required to hurry. Otherwise something bad would happen.
When they did, Rance's pupils shrunk at the sight he was seeing. Not that it horrified him, but in fact, it just made his heart boil in growing anger.
Shizuka was being pinned down by some old nobody. And it was really making him mad.
"Hey! What the fuck are YOU doing to MY woman, old nobody!?" He shouted out, bringing the said old nobody's attention to him. "Fucking bastard, get away from her!"
Rance ran towards the nobody, filling his leg with energy as he sent him a hundred meters away with a kick, and glanced at Shizuka and Souzou Masou.
"Sill."
"On it!"
Sill immediately went to the injured, almost dying Souzou Masou first, taking out the Ibeprofun they were carrying and began to heal him. The Ibeprofun became particles of dust, and began to assist Sill by accelerating the healing process of Souzou.
Meanwhile...
"Rance? Why are you here?" Shizuka asked, as he frowned at her.
"A reckless idiot, you are! I couldn't return because I have a promise to Maria Custard, you know?" Rance replied, scowling at her with some frustration on his tone. "Tsk, well at least you were saved just in time. Otherwise you'd be crying like a baby."
He knelt down in front of her and pulled out the Phil Ring she was wearing as if it didn't have any curses at all before facing the blonde bastard known as Chenezale.
"Urgh, who are you?!" Chenezale shouted in the distance, as he approached Rance in pure anger for interrupting his session.
"Me? You're asking who I am?" Rance replied, sneering towards Chenezale's direction. "Why should I answer a man who's going to die anyways?"
Rance pointed his sword towards Chenezale, who just smirked and became as confident as him.
"Hmph! You're just another obstacle in front of me then... Feel my might, you-"
"Screw your monologues!" Rance shouted, totally interrupting him as he sent out a wide arc of pure energy towards Chenezale, who dodged it in time.
Rance was quickly approaching him, and Chenezale had to think quickly to save his own life and possibly win so he could take back his prize.
"Tsk... [Zetton]!" Chenezale shouted, launching a miniature sun towards Rance, yet the armored spell-blader only caught it with his empty hand, made it grow in size, and threw it back with several times more force.
Luckily, Chenezale dodged the miniature sun, but in reality, Rance did that intentionally as the miniature sun flew for an entire kilometer before violently exploding in bright light and a loud boom. The blast was enough to destroy a small town completely.
Before he knew it, Rance was already a few feet away from him with his fist closing into his chest.
It connected, and he was launched a few feet backwards.
'... He's strong! Stronger than Souzou!' Chenezale thought, as he immediately began to realize that this man was going to put everything he has done for years to the test.
He grabbed his cloak, and tossed it away, showing what he had been hiding behind it.
One of his arms was metallic, and looked really sturdy and incredibly conductive with magic, and the other was a monstrous one as it was a bunch of tentacles that are soft, yet very sturdy.
"I'm not done yet... Tsk, this might burn out my lifeforce or maybe kill me, but you leave me no choice!" Chenezale spoke, crouching down and began to power up as mana rapidly began to erupt from him.
And Rance, not letting him transform, jumped up to the air and blasted himself forward, before dropping down the the direction of Chenezale and kicking him hard enough to slam him down to the ground.
Yet...
"Khh! I admire your effort to stop me, but too late!" Chenezale spoke, as his body began to convulse and twitch rapidly while it bursted with immense mana that pushed Rance away from him.
Said person landed on the ground perfectly, as he looked up towards the transforming mage that was screaming in pain and agony.
"Are you... are you fucking serious?!" Rance shouted, his eyebrows and mouth twitching at the sight in front of him.
Chenezale was becoming more massive each second, turning into a fleshy blob and effectively becoming a monster that was unrecognizable from his former self.
It had several eyes that it could scan 360 around it, and most of them were sending murderous glares at him. It also had several tentacles that could be used for several stuff, including "that".
Rance glanced behind him, to see that the others were still safe and sound, aside from Sill sending worried glances to him.
"To be honest: you look really gross! Maybe even grosser than shit!" Rance spoke, before he raised his sword's tip upwards. "... But enough monologues and even worries. Let's go!"
As if responding to him, the eyes of the transformed Chenezale sent elemental beams towards Rance, who proceeded to counter them with his own with a swipe of his empty hand.
When he felt the ground rumble for a moment, he didn't waste time to run sideways as several meaty tentacles with sharp, bony tips emerged from the ground and then he pulled out the [DEagle] from it's holster to shoot them all down.
"[Exceed Charge]!" Rance shouted, as energy began flowing from his body to the [DEagle], increasing it's firepower by several times.
He aimed it towards Chenezale, and pulled on the trigger, launching a ball of energy that was the size of half a basketball towards him. The ball of energy dug into the monsterfied Chenezale and exploded into a bloody mess that dirtied the armor and pants of Rance, who made an effort to block most of the blood that came to him.
He couldn't really help but grimace as the blood smelled really bad, too. The clothing needed a lot of washing later.
"Urgh... Gross..." He spoke, before his [Reading Iris] began to react.
Chenezale was still alive, and it was beginning to irritate him deeply. Clicking his tongue, he began to quickly think of something really good.
Chenezale's body was beginning to regenerate, and he probably needed to completely destroy the monstrosity in front of him.
Aside from that, he put his fingers on his blood-soaked armor, and began to focus on controlling the fresh blood all around him.
He grinned again, having found another type of magic for so long, and it's actually pretty nice, too!
... Well the only problem was, when he wanted to form a weapon, let's say, a sword, he only formed a solid dagger made purely of blood. Which was a good thing... yet still a disappointment.
Still, what if he infused the [Leazas Holy Sword]'s blade with the blood he collected? When he tried it, the blade turned as red as the blood moon above.
In instinct, he tilted his head to the side, letting a tentacle's tip graze his cheek, grinning towards Chenezale.
"So what should I call this type of magic, hm?" He spoke, putting his [DEagle] back to it's holster just as he swiftly began weaving around the attacks the monster was sending him.
"I've had enough time to play around with you and your tentacular spells and toys old nobody! So...!" Rance spoke, charging towards Chezenale, who began trying to defend itself by trying to stop him using spells. "I'll finish you right now!"
Rance hopped around the tentacles, using them as a trampoline until he jumped up a hundred meters to the cold air of the night, appearing as a shadow under the moon.
"[Exceed Charge]! Finishing Move... New Series! Blood Arts: [Rance Crimson Nova]!" Rance spoke, dropping down to Chenezale with his sword's blade glowing brightly in crimson.
He landed on top of Chenezale, his sword stabbing into it's flesh as it immediately was paralyzed, unable to do anything else.
"Not enough!" Rance shouted, running forwards as his sword cut him like hot knife through butter before jumping to the direction where Shizuka and the others were.
After landing on the dirty ground, he slowly sheathed the [Leazas Holy Blade] on it's scabbard, before Chenezale exploded.
This time, he's completely dead.
"Now... Time to retrieve Shizuka."
[ ~ Chapter • End ~ ]