"I don´t think you should fight with us today, Ms. Haruhime."

Lefiya stood at the side of the camp, looking into the direction of the castle.

"I have to agree with Ms. Lefiya."

"Mmmmh...I´m forry..."

Haruhime let three of her four tails hang down, the last one did what it wanted. Her canines were still long and she had problems to talk. Not only that, she felt weird inside, a bit similar to the last time.

"Fould I caft my magic on you bef-*Ouch!*-...before you go?"

When she wasn´t very careful, Haruhime accidentally bit her lips or her tongue with her canines. Lefiya did her best to keep a calm face, but she could squeal about how cute Haruhime was right now, she just sound adorable like that.

"It would be the best to not use any magic today. And since you have problems with the new tail, you also shouldn´t use your bow, since you can´t really keep your balance. And it would be bad if your tail would get caught in the string."

Bell smiled wryly while he agreed with Lefiya. "I´m sorry, Haruhime."

"Hauu...I´m a ufeleff fox..."

She is so cute!

Haruhime´s eyes wandered to Lefiya´s neck and she got a bit embarrassed when she saw the hickey.

"Mmmh..."

"Haruhime?"

"Nothing...plfeafe be careful out fere."

"We will. Ms. Lefiya?"

"Yes?"

"Since she is staying here and also the other two, I will entrust you with Haruhime´s safety."

"Nothing will happen to her and I will keep these two in check."

Bell smiled. "I know, I trust you."

Lefiya smiled slightly. I have the feeling he isn´t a bad person at all.

The three looked up when they heard a rumble in the sky. It looked like the storm was finally reaching the lands around Orario.

"You will probably fight in the rain."

"I am more worried about the camp actually, I don´t want you two to get wet."

Lefiya raised an eyebrow. "Should you worry about us right now?"

Bell showed them a very serious face. "I can't not be worried about you t-...the camp."

Eh?

Huh?

Haruhime and Lefiya looked at Bell, they were sure he was about to say "you two" and not "the camp".

"Ahem, you should focus on the fight, Bell Cranel."

Haruhime just nodded, not risking to bite her lip again.

A short while later, everything was set up and ready.

Before they went to the castle, Bell stepped in front of Cassandra and Daphne. Everyone had helped to change the camp, so that nothing would get wet in the rain.

"Lady Viridis will go with us for a short while, but then she will return to the camp. Haruhime will stay here, due to her circumstances."

He looked at both, this would be the perfect opportunity for them to overwhelm Haruhime, destroy the camp and attack the group from behind.

But they couldn´t...or wouldn´t.

Haruhime had cast a mighty curse or spell on these two. Warmth. Security. Friendliness. Courtesy. Good Food. Not once did the treat them bad, they experienced far more warmth than they had in the Apollo familia. They just couldn´t harm Haruhime in any way. Both had even helped Haruhime in the morning, when they saw that she had trouble with her new tail.

It was almost like Haruhime charmed them. Her motherliness made her "dangerous".

"Even when I´m a prisoner, you have my word that we won´t harm her."

"I agree with Daphne..."

Bell nodded. "Then I will trust you two. Please, don´t make me regret this."

Both looked into Bell´s eyes, they saw two emotions. They saw that he really wanted to trust them, that he was someone who believed in the good in the people. And...that he would come for them in case they would harm Haruhime.

But at this point, both couldn´t go against Haruhime anymore, they were successfully tamed.

.

.

"Aiiiiiiiiis?! Aiiiiiiiiis?!"

Tiona ran through her familia´s home, yelling the name of her friend. She came in the morning to wake her up, but Ais wasn´t in her room.

"Aiiiiiiiis?! Where are youuuuu?! It´s starting again soooooon!"

Tiona came up with an idea, there was someone who might know where Ais was. So she ran to Riveria´s door and knocked loud.

"Riveria! Do you know where Ais is?!"

Tiona heard a clacking sound, then steps, then the door got opened...by a really upset elf.

"Tiona, what did I tell you about running around and yelling in the house?"

"I´m sorry, but I-Kyau!"

Riveria let her off with just one knock to the head this time. Tiona heard other steps from behind Riveria, then Ais appeared.

"Tiona?"

"Oh, there you a-What happened to your hair?!"

Ais wore her hair in a long, elegantly coiled braid.

Tiona saw how her friend smiled slightly. "Riveria made it for me."

"Oooooh! That looks really good! I´ve never seen you with such a hairstyle."

Ais´ hair looked really smooth, Riveria had done really good work. Ais only had two real friends in her familia, Tiona and Tione, the others were more comrades, while she liked them, they weren´t really that close. When Ais felt gloomy or bad again, it was the twins that cheered her up again. But when she felt really bad, only Riveria could do it.
Helping Ais with her hair and chatting softly helped a lot. Those who were very close to Ais, knew how vulnerable she was. Most people only saw the strong warrior on the outside, but not the helpless girl on the inside.

Tiona looked with shining eyes to Riveria, who sighed a bit.

"If you really want, I can help you with your hair later too."

"Yeah, thank you Mommy!"

"Hah...who is a Mom?..."

"Oh before I forget it, the Miach group armed themself with their full equipment this time. Finn also says it looks like the final attack!"

"Then we should go, Ais?"

"I´m coming."

The three went to the big living room, many of the others were already here.

"Oooooooh! Ais-tan! You look so pretty!"

"Thank you."

While they sat down, Ais next to Riveria, the movement in the mirror started.

"Huh? That Renard isn´t with them."

"Wait a second."

Loki waved her hands in a dramatic way and the mirror showed the scenery in the camp. Since it was daytime again, the mirror could look there.

"Oh, there she is...hm...does she have four tails now?"

"One, two, three...four. Yes, four!"

"Hah, strange."

"Loki, it isn´t nice to call someone´s body strange."

"Ay, Ay, Mommy."

"Grmpf."

Finn leaned slightly forward. "This isn´t the only change, look at her teeth."

When Haruhime turned her face towards the castle, with a worried look on her face, they could see her long canines.

"Is she in a form of beastification?"

"Hm, weird."

"Bete, what do you think?"

"I´m a wolf, not a fox, no idea."

Loki sighed. "Such a shame, a rare Renard like that would be perfect in our familia."

"Loki, that behaviour also scared the young Lefiya away."

"Hm? Ah, that cutie elf. Man I can´t forgive Astrea for taking her away from me."

"It wasn´t the decision of the gods, but Lefiya´s alone."

"Why are you calling her by her first name anyway?"

"Because she asked me to do it."

"You know her?!"

Riveria slightly shrugged her shoulders. "Of course I do, and her sister."

"She has a sister?"

"Yes."

"And who?"

"I won´t say that, this is personal information."

"Man...from what I´ve seen in the mirror, she really grew up into a cutie. Can´t wait to see what she will look like as an adult. Maybe I should ask Astrea for a change...or steal her away."

Finn smirked. "Do you want us to fight a war against the Astrea familia? I doubt they won´t forgive you if you steal one of them."

"Nah, fighting against Astrea would do no good. I heard her phoenix is something else."

Finn nodded with a serious face. While the Loki familia was stronger in general, there was no one in the familia that could fight one on one against Alise Lovell. Of course they didn´t exactly know how strong she was, but Finn had a good eye for such things.
And he strongly believed, even Bete with the use of Hati...maybe even especially Bete would have no chance against Alise.

He could just guess, but Alise wouldn´t get the alias "Phoenix" for nothing, fire was probably a bad choice against her.

Loki leaned back and watched amazed how the two prisoners didn´t dare to do anything, but actually helped Haruhime a bit in the camp.

"Besides, if we would get on bad terms with Astrea, we would also get problems with Ganesha and Ouranos. The old man isn´t in a good mood these days. And some of Freya´s kids also have a close relationship to Astrea´s children. I wonder if they did that on purpose."

Riveria shook her head. "Loki, you have seen them in the pub, lady Astrea´s children are just like that."

During the dark times, they fought side by side more than one time. Especially the last fight was impressive, Riveria would never forget the mage they fought against. Also because she had called her old...

While Loki waved her hand again, the mirror changed to the rest of the Miach group.

A few of them whistled slightly. "They sure look determined."

"For a low level familia, they surely are well armed."

"That white-haired boy´s shield looks pretty good."

"Oh, the ninja girl there is wearing armor now. Is it just me or does the shoulder guard on her right side belong to the Renard?"

"Maybe she gave it to her."

"It will probably help her when they intend to storm the castle."

A few, shy raindrops fell in the vision of the mirror. Not many, only one every few meters for now.

"Oh, looks like things will get wet soon."

Finn´s eyes wandered to the small figure in the Miach group. She was hidden beneath a coath, with a pulled up hood. And her spear was also covered by something.

"Hah! A pallum with a spear! Someone got inspired by you, Finn!"

Tione smiled pleased. "Of course she would, the captain is awesome. I just hope for her that she isn´t a "fan"."

They saw the small figure in the mirror flinch for a moment.

"Did she actually hear you?"

They kept watching how the group approached the castle.

Gareth took a sip from his drink and grinned. "Looks like you would´ve ´nother problem when ya tried to take away the young elf, Loki."

"Hm?"

Gareth nodded to the mirror. "Look how the dragonboy looks at her and tell me you don´t think the same thing I do."

Riveria frowned. "Gareth, you shouldn´t assume things like these about other people."

"My dear, "old" friend. You have gathered enough experience in your long, long, long life. Are you telling me this young fella doesn´t have the special look in his eyes right now? Oh but then again you have no experience when it comes to love..."

"Quiet, you dwarfen savage!"

"Hah, too early in the morning for you for a good reply?"

"Anyway, we shouldn´t poke our noses into this matter. Both are from different familias and it isn´t nice in general to talk about other peoples feelings."

Bete laughed. "He is just a level two brat, how dangerous can he be?"

Tiona grinned wide. "You will see!"

"Hah?"

"Go Argooooo! Show him who´s boss!"

.

.
While they moved towards the castle, all of Orario noticed that something was going on. All of them were heavily armed, with Bell in the front. He wore his full, white and green armor, his black cape and...a black shield.

Even when Welf wasn´t a high smith at the moment, since he didn´t reach level two for now, Bell had entrusted him to make the shield out of the second dropp item of the irregular.

Bell's shields were not perfectly round, the sides running slightly straight, with two rounded indentations on each side. The surface was scaly, due to the horn plate Welf had used. Welf had severed the horns and received them as a gift from Bell, he was still thinking about what he would do with them. The scales overlapped each other top to bottom so Bell could still slide claws or blades down and sideways. The indentations allowed him to thrust his sword forward when holding the shield in front of him. Similar to Mikoto's Zansetsu, Bell's shield did not reflect light. Bell had begged Welf to adopt the design from one of his books, the story of the hero Achilleus.

With the black scales it was a shield fitting for the one that was called...Dragonboy.

Bell's gear looked pretty good together, his shield, cloak and sword were black, his armor and hair pure white. In addition with his red eyes and the light green speckles in his armor, he made a pretty handsome appearance.

Mikoto wore her usual kimono, this time with Haruhime´s shoulder guard in addition to her own. Haruhime had asked her to take it with her, so she could protect her blind side this way. Mikoto was eager to show that she was more than a ninja, she would fight with honor and would make her familia proud.

Welf wore his usual outfit, his giant sword hanging on his back.

The woman that caught many eyes in Orario, was Lena. She was dressed in an Amazonian dance costume, but it was different from normal Amazonian dance costumes. Following her brilliant idea, Lena covered most of her skin. However, the long sleeves and pant legs were slit, allowing air to get to her skin and showing some of it occasionally, making her more exotic...to her eyes anyway. Her vest now even covered her belly button and she didn't even have a proper cleavage. Her hair was tied up in an intricate bun hairstyle with the help of Haruhime, which looked very complex. Her scimitar hung from her hip, her usual bracers from her left wrist. And something else was different about her bracers and the little bracelets on her ankles. Lena had attached small wolf tails there, in grey. Most of her outfit was the usual orange.

So it wasn't like many would expect that the Amazon was catching eyes because she was half naked, but because it was the exact opposite, at least people had ever seen an Amazon with so much clothing.

.

.

"Wow, she really loves you, Bete." Tiona smiled.

"Mh." He just kept his arms crossed while he leaned against the wall.

"The only amazon I have ever seen that is so deeply in love, is Tione. But this Lena..her loves looks more...pure?"

Tiona dodged the fist of her sister, when she said that her love wasn´t pure.

"Pure? Do you have an idea how often she asked me to make her a child?"

"I can understand if that is too early for you, but you really should give her a chance."

Bete kept looking at the mirror without saying something. They saw that he looked more at Lena than the others and only Riveria noticed that his eyes especially wandered to the small scar at Lena´s hip.

"If Bete in loff?" Ais was a bit hard to understand with her mouth full.

"Could you all stop talking about me and Lena?"

"Oho? He already calls her by her first name." Tione grinned.

"Tiona, Tione, Ais. Drop it. Don´t put your noses into this matter." Riveria only scolded them slightly.

Bete didn´t thanked her, nor did he say something else.

Then show me, show me how strong you got.

.

.

"I can feel it! Bete Loga´s eyes are on me! On my body! Haaaaa! I wonder where he is looking?! But I can´t bare my body, only he alone is allowed to see!" Lena´s eyes shone, she was sure that he was with her right now.

Lefiya made a small step to the side, away from Lena, when the amazon had this outburst. She was focussed on the castle and mumbled quietly, Bell noticed that a small glowing circle slowly moved along her left wrist. Since he heard her chanting with a low voice, Bell did not ask her any question that might interrupt her.

"Bell, they have spotted us..."

Nahza moved in the back of the group, she would support them from afar with her arrows.

He looked to Lefiya, who nodded slightly, to show that she was ready.

"In formation!"

Lily, still covered by the cloak, moved to the front of the group, Lefiya walked behind her, Bell at her right side, Mikoto on the left. Welf walked behind Lefiya, Lena at his side, Nahza behind them.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

They walked a bit faster when the first rain drops fell from the gray sky, it rumbled.

This time, the Apollo familia was prepared. Even when they were exhausted and many had a headache, the fact that their mages couldn´t do much so far would now pay off. Despite her exhaustion, what drove them forward was outrage and anger. The Apollo familia bared their teeth. As soon as they saw the group, archers and magicians immediately moved towards the section of wall and the two towers on either side of the gate. Despite the weakening, the Apollo familia was not defeated, far from it. Those who were already very weak would throw themselves at the outrageous attackers and try to land at least one blow. And then of course there was Hyakinthos, he had stayed out of all the fights and the familia had made sure he wasn't exhausted or suffering from a lack of water. Everything depended on him, if he fell, it was over.

They would not allow themselves to be embarrassed when their God and all of Orario were watching.

.

.

"ARC`S RAY!"

.

.
Lefiya raised her staff over Lily´s head and fired her magic spell, directly into the gate. A gate like this could withstand even a siege ram for a while, but not a magical attack. Lefiya's spell didn't shatter the gate, she simply burned a hole through the metal, then moved the spell slightly to the side, slicing the entire gate in two. To be able to move a beam spell like this required enormous control of one's magic. The small magic circle around her left wrist rotated faster.

There was only one thing left to do now. The Miach group stopped their advance. Rain drops fell from the sky, the Apollo familia left the walls and positioned themself behind the destroyed gate and the inner walls.

By sheer luck, a small spot opened in the clouds and a single ray of sunlight fell down...right onto Lily.

"Bell."

"Yes."

Bell moved behind Lily and put his hands on the cover of her spear, in the same moment, Lily gripped the coat and ripped it away from her body.

Many people in Orario gasped.

Her brown hair waved in the slight wind from the sight, it shone silky smooth. Lily normally didn´t care much about her hair, but with the help of Haruhime and Nahza, she had washed and brushed it, used a special lotion until it moved like thin silk.

However, it wasn't her silky hair that wowed onlookers, it was her armor. And good heavens what armor that was. Lily's feet were clad in silver plate boots that reached to her knees, each holding a red jewel in the middle. The tops of the plate boots were shaped like flower petals, beneath which she wore dark blue stockings that reached halfway up her thighs. Their main piece of clothing could be called a kind of combat dress. It ended in a white skirt that fell so low that a hand's breadth of her thighs was visible, between the skirt hem and her stockings. In addition to the skirt, she wore a long white cape with gold trimmings that began at her waist and descended to her feet. A golden belt caressed her waist, held together by a red jewel at the level of her lower abdomen. Then came the white and gold breastplate, for the first time it became clear what kind of curves Lily actually had, for a pallum...quite big. Under the breastplate she wore a dark blue shirt with long sleeves and puffed shoulders, which also had gold emblems. Her gauntlets were the visual equivalent of her boots, starting at the elbow and completely enclosing her forearms and hands. However, her palms were unarmored and lined with black cloth, allowing her to better hold her spear. Most impressive was Lily's "helmet", it looked like some sort of visor that covered her forehead and eyes, Bell didn't really understand how she could see with it. On the sides of the "helmet" ran two long white bands.

Tsubaki and Hephaestus had done a great job as Lily didn't want to let Welf work on her armor. They had also been working on their spear. The shaft was as dark blue as Lily's shirt and stockings, the lower point silver, while the spearhead protruded from a golden winged ornament.

And finally, there was something else about Lily's spear.

She lifted the spear high above her head, rocking it slightly to unwrap what was attached to it.

It was a dark blue banner with the symbol of the Miach familia embroidered in gold.

Lily would carry her familia's banner into battle.

Just for this one moment, she used a tiny magic item that enhanced her voice for a short time.

.

.

"WE ARE THE MIACH FAMILIA! WE HAVE COME TO DEFEAT YOU! KNOW WHO YOU CHALLENGED AND WHO WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

.

.
The answer war a hail of arrows and two magic spells being shot at Lily.

She rammed the end of her spear into the ground and held it like a holy banner in front of her.

.
"Radians lux Pallum!"

.
A golden shield, made of light, formed in front of Lily. Every arrow got stopped by the shield and the two magic spells exploded.

The small magic circle around Lefiya´s wrist disappeared after she finally let her beloved sister´s spell, Dio Grail, loose.

This tactic was Bell´s idea. It wasn´t just important that they fought, but also to send a message and to make an impression. Should the Apollo familia only wonder what kind of magic she had just used. Lily didn't know magic, like most adventurers she had three magic slots, but no magic so far. Also, her action ensured that only one or two people in Orario noticed that it was actually Lefiya who had used the magic. It was better if not everyone knew what Lefiya could do.

Lily´s whole appearance was Bell's idea. It was a little embarrassing for her to stand out like that, but if she was honest she was delighted to wear something that one of her first two friends had "designed". It really wasn't Bell's idea. One of his grandfather's books told the story of the Knights of Fianna and there was a beautiful drawing of Saint Fianna there. Little did Bell know that no pallum in the world knew that Fianna was not a goddess that the people mistakenly believed to have existed in the past, only to realize there never was such a goddess. Fianna had been a saint and Bell thought it was a wonderful idea to recreate that image, it just seemed to fit Lily.

And Bell didn´t know how much his idea shook many people in Orario...and one old man outside of the city.

.

.
"No way! Bell what did you do? She is the living image of Fianna now! Such a beauty! I am proud of you my boy! And damn...she is stacked." Zeus grinned.

.

.
Many pallums in Orario looked at the magical mirrors with shining eyes, never before had they seen such a gallant figure, except maybe for Finn Deimne. At first, many pallums had not cared about the wargame, but now their eyes were glued to the mirrors.

And one pallum especially was amazed and a bit shocked by the sight.

Finn was actually at a loss for words right now.

Wow...

This image touched something deep inside him, it didn´t touch his soul, but his heart. Finn longed to give his race an image they could look up to. He worked to become this symbol by himself, but her appearance yelled out...a living saint.

With two shining images, the effect on his race could be much stronger.

I need to talk to her when this is over.

There was only one member of the Loki familia in this room, that was very unhappy with the appearance of Lily. Or more like...Tione was unhappy with Finn´s reaction to this picture.

.

.
Lily moved down her spear.

"Forward!"

Five voices answered her.

"""""Daaaaaaaaah!"""""

With Bell in the front, they charged forward, Lena and Welf at his sides. Lily and Mikoto followed them, while Nahza let her first arrow fly.

The final attack on the castle had begun.

.

.

"Wooooo! Lefi used Dio Grail, didn´t she?"

"Of course that was Dio Grail, lil´ Lily can´t use magic as she told me."

"But it sure does make a good show."

"Who do you think will fight Apollo´s captain?"

"Bell, it just has to be him."

"But can he beat him?"

"We will see, for now they have a hundred opponents against them."

For a short moment, the Astrea familia looked at the camp again.

"But to think that they tamed these two so easily...I wonder if Haruhime has a form of charm?"

Lyra shook her head and grinned. "You ask the wrong question, captain."

"What do you mean?"

Lyra jumped up and pointed at the mirror. "The real question should be, why does Lefi has a hickey?!"

"""""""*GASP*""""""""

Even Astrea looked interested and flustered.

What did happen in the night to my little girl? Lefiya, did you already went a few steps forward?!

"Do you think that was Bell?"

"Well he continues to fall onto her, would it be that surprising when he kissed her neck by accident?"

Filvis growled. "Lefiya is still a child! She is too young for things like these!"

Ryu nodded. "I agree, even when they like each other, this would be too fast."

"Thank you, Ms. Ry-..that´s not the point! If he put his hands on my little sister, I will gut him alive!"

Alise smiled wryly. "There she goes again..."

Filvis was a bit extreme when it came to Lefiya.

.

.
Bell´s mind was blank, there was no time to think, only to react. A few arrows flew at him, but he blocked them with his shield, the enhanced scales were too hard to get pierced, so the arrows just bounced off with a click.

The moment when he ran through the destroyed gate was dangerous, since Lena and Welf had to fall back for a moment. So Bell intended to make the most out of it, he pointed Silence forward and shouted.

"Thunder-Bolt!"

Thankfully Silence was able to withstand his magic and let him channel it through the blade. Due to the narrowness of the gatehouse, the magic could not develop fully at first, then it blasted out stones at the back and washed forward as a thunder wave. The effect was the same as if a directed explosive charge went off. Some of the stones struck members of the Apollo familia as the thunder wave rolled forward, knocking several off their feet and shocking them with lightning. It was a risk to cast the spell directly as it still cost one-fifth of Bell's mind.

One thing that Bell hadn´t planned, was to grant the elf that stood close to the gate immense pain. The elf named Lissos had long blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a green top with a red cloak that he used to cover half of his face. It was his job to take command of the fight at the gate. As a level two, he could become dangerous for the group...

But now he was down to his knees, screamed in immense pain and held his ears. Blood was leaking through his fingers. Bell had accidentally ruptured his eardrums...

Just like the Astrea familia had guesses when they saw Bell fighting, if he intended to use this form of his magic, he could seriously hurt elves and animal people.

Lissos was immediatelly unable to fight, since he couldn´t hear anything. A few animal people that were further away were also down to their knees and held their ears, having a serious headache.

It was good that Nahza ran behind Bell and had covered her ears beforehand, since she knew what he planned.

Other members of the Apollo familia only stumbled, which was everything that Bell and his friends needed.

"Raaaah!"

The first member of the Apollo familia that got close to Bell, was so friendly to greet his shield politely with his face. The level one adventurer had no chance when the shield slammed with full force into his face, blood shot out of his nose and he fell backwards to the ground.

Bell swung his sword and hit another member with the broadside. He was a bit troubled to fight people instead of monsters, so he would do his best to not use the cutting edge. His mind was filled with the story of the famous hero, Achilleus, he read again and again how this man had fought with his sword and shield, this was the style he used now.

After the first second, Welf appeared with a yell out of the gate and charged forward at Bell´s left side, swinging his massive sword. Lena came out on the right side and charged directly into a group of ten level one adventurers.

She grinned widely, her Amazonian blood pumping. The first opponent jabbed at her with a spear, but Lena deflected the weapon with her scimitar and slammed her fist in his face. She immediately whirled, caught another weapon, angled her sword, and slashed downward. She twirled gracefully on her feet...and started dancing.

Lena swung and twisted her hips in a perfect belly dance while spinning in circles. Holding the scimitar point down, she twirled and rotated the weapon as a blade appeared. Her left bracer elegantly caught a blade, then Lena suddenly leaned far forward, her left foot shot up and she kicked the fighter in front of her with full force in the face.

Don´t you dare enjoy getting to feel my feet, only Bete Loga is allowed to do that! Beeeteee Logaaaa! My body is yours alone!

Her opponents had never seen someone fight like this, Lena always moved out of the way in the right moment. It may have looked like a dance and it was one, but it was also a fighting technique that required lots of training.

And Lena had trained until her feet bled, she would go very far to impress Bete Loga.

Witness me, Bete Loga! Witness meeeeee!

.

.

As soon as Mikoto was through the gate, she charged past the group that fought against Lena. Zansetsu moved quickly through the air as she blocked all the arrows that were shot at her.

A prum that stood on the wall pointed at her.

"It´s the assassin! Shoot her! Stop her! Don´t let her use that filthy poison again!"

Mikoto charged faster to the closest stairs and ran up, her job was to attack the archers. While she blocked an arrow that came from the right, Mikoto moved her left shoulder forward and blocked another with Haruhime´s shoulder guard. While it limited her usual range of motion and peripheral vision a bit, she welcomed the added protection.

Welf, Lena, Bell and Mikoto were already in close combat when Lily came through the gate, followed by Nahza.

"We are the Miach familia! We are your doom!"

Lily showed the flag of her familia again, while Nahza readied the bow behind her. Nahza had nocked a special arrow and was aiming it high in the air. She fired the arrow and it flew high over the heads of everyone present...straight for the Apollo familia banner on the top of the tower. With a small explosion, Nahza destroyed the banner and set it ablaze while Lily held the Miach familia banner high in the air...as high as she could, anyway. The letter of intent was made and the Apollo familia roared with anger.

Then Lily charged into battle. She was still a lower level one supporter, but she had trained with Alfia and the Astrea familia, also her armor was exquisite. And Lyra had teached her an important lesson, to use her height to her advantage.

The first adventurer that faced her aimed too high, Lily ducked further down and rammed her spear forward.

Unknown joy filled her heart as she sent the adventurer to the ground. Finally she could get back at all those mean, pathetic adventurers.

And Lily just couldn´t keep quiet now.

"Lily has enough with your bullshit! Does non of you suckers got any balls?!"

Her speech was very unladylike, but Lily generally felt a deep frustration that was now breaking through.

"Lily bets those things hanging between your legs are smaller than a worm!"

She really...reeeaaally...felt a lot of frustration.

With her armor, she was the very image of a holy saint...but the way she spoke now betrayed that image completely. Thankfull the people in Orario couldn´t hear what she yelled out.

Lily would vent out all of her stress and frustration on the Apollo familia. And she would fight in a really nasty way, she moved from Lena, to Welf, to Bell. Every time she attacked one of the adventurers that was distracted from behind. This fighting style was pretty unfitting for someone that dressed like a saint...but if was effective...and satisfying.

Mikoto dashed up the stairs that would lead her to the top of the wall, a true giant of an ainmal man blocked her way. He was easily over two meters tall, probably only the captain of the Freya familia was taller than this man.

The massive metal mace in his hands was almost as tall as Mikoto. His arm muscles flexed as he lifted the club over his head and brought it down with full force. Mikoto jumped up before completing his move. She pushed off the club with her left foot, landed her right on his shoulder, and kicked back with all her strength with the heel of her left. There was a cracking sound as she hit a neck and the man staggered forward, falling down the stairs and burying three men pursuing Mikoto. Even when she was fighting as a samurai, her ninja-like reflexes were there.

The first archer hastily turned in their direction and raised his bow, but Mikoto was just too fast. She wielded Zansetsu and simply slashed the bow and arrow in two, then leapt up and kicked the side of the man's head, sending him tumbling over the edge and down into the courtyard. The other archers wasted no time, turning to Mikoto and firing their arrows. Zansetsu swung back and forth, her shoulder guards intercepting other arrows.

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"Bell, go!"

Bell's closest opponent staggered backwards with a yelp as Nahza shot an arrow into his shoulder.

"Leave this so Lilyyyyyy!"

Lily roared out her freedom and charged into the adventurers that tried to block Bell. Welf also did his best to create a way for Bell.

"Go, Bell!"

"Yes!"

Bell hammered one additional guy out of his way with the shield, then he dashed to the entrance of the castle.

"Stop hi-guärgh!"

Mikoto kicked the prum that had given orders off the wall...a fact that made many prums in Orario upset, just because he was a prum. For a few moments, she had mumbled something like a prayer or..a chant.

When Bell rammed through the door, ten members of the Apollo familia tried to follow him.

Mikoto landed with a somersault in front of the door and finished her chant, just as the men rushed towards her.

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"Futsunomitama!"

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A spectral sword came down from the sky, hit the ground right between Mikoto´s feet and created a big area with extreme gravitation.

Hnnngh!

"You will not get past me!"

It wasn´t the first time that Mikoto felt the effect of her own magic, Kaguya was the one that had forced her to endure it more than one time. Just for situations like this one.

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The Apollo familia was smart enough not to place all of their people in the courtyard. A few attacked Bell on his way up, but he was too strong for them. With his shield in the front, he was like a batting ram. It didn't feel like he was pushing the shield forward, more like the shield was pulling him behind. The monster's sheer aggression and pugnacity was still in its remnants, Bell had to be careful not to charge forward too furiously. A dwarf with an ax charged Bell on the stairs.

"Raaaaaaaah!"

Bell didn't even try to block, he ran into the dwarf at full speed and swung Silence. He caught the shaft of the ax just below the head and severed it.

The dwarf had the advantage of height and a low center of gravity, but he was only a level one adventurer. It would still take Bell too long to overpower him in the narrow stairwell.

"Thunderbolt!"

He used Silence again to direct the lightning bolt, the runes imbedded in the blade shone now in actinic blue.

"Gnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnh!"

The dwarf didn´t scream, he couldn´t. Bell had often read in old stories that people or monsters screamed when they got hit by lightning, but the nature of this element didn´t allow this. The muscle spasms clenched the dwarf's jaws and prevented him from screaming. Bell kept pushing him, his shield preventing his own spell from hitting him. Eventually the dwarf collapsed and Bell jumped over him.

After running through the next door, he came out on an extra walkway. Ten adventurers blocked his path, six carried staves and robes, four bows and blades.

And the mages were already chanting.

Argh!

Bell had no time to think.

"Thunder-Bolt!"

His head became a bit hazy for a second, when he unleashed the thunder wave a second time, together with the other spells he had used already, over half of his mind power was consumed.

Even when the spell was quite strong, it was still a short chant and because of that, not as strong as a true magic spell. Also, Bell didn´t have the ridiculous magical strength of Alfia. She would´ve destroyed the whole castle with just one spell.

The adventurers were thrown back a bit, not enough to knock them all down. But enough to disturb the concentration of the mages and two of them lost control.

Ignis Fatus happened.

Instead of unleashing their magic, the spells of these two mages exploded, which let the other four to lose control too. All six spells exploded and the ten people were sent flying. Bell raised his shield again, but it got ripped out of his hand by the sheer force of the explosion.

"Ack!"

His back hit the ground and pressed the air out of his lunges. For a few moments, Bell just lay there, panting. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself to his feet and forced his body to obey. That Alfia had often practiced breathing with him in such situations helped. Slightly limping, he continued on his way with Silence. He didn't have time to get his shield as it was thrown over the small parapet and fell into the courtyard.

Argh...keep going!

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Orario sat on the edges of their chairs while everyone watched the fight. Some mirrors showed the battle in the courtyard, where Mikoto's magic collapsed and she was slammed sideways by a member of the Apollo Familia. Before he could run into the castle, a silvery-gold spear shot in from the side. Lily squeezed the last bit of strength out of her small body as she now stood in front of the door, spear raised, her familia´s banner flapping in the wind. Most of the mirrors, however, showed Bell running up the stairs to the throne room, where only one person was waiting for him.

And even while being attacked by multiple adventurers and being pushed to and beyond her limits. Even when her helmet visor was ripped off her head, her thigh was stabbed and she was hit in the left eye. Even as she staggered and bled, pain coursing through her body and she was about to collapse. Even when her situation became absolutely hopeless, she could only see out of her right eye because the left eye was swollen shut, one of her fingers broken and she received a severe blow to the breastplate.

Lily didn't move from the door.

Prums all over Orario cheered by the sight of this fearless Maiden. To see Lily hold her ground and fight against these big people, was truly inspiring for them.

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Wamm!

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Bell kicked open the door to the throne room, panting, but grinning.

"Hello there."

"So you finally made it. You´ve caused us a lot of trouble and the way you fight is truly nasty."

Hyakinthos stood in front of the throne, his red sword in his right hand. He had dark circles under his eyes and was exhausted. Not as much as the rest of his familia, but still a little.

"I will make you pay for letting us look like fools while lord Apollo watches. As soon as you are part of our familia, you and that forx girl will be educ-"

"Thunderbolt!"

Bell didn´t let him finish his sentence, he was angry.

"You cretin!"

Hyakinthos finally snapped when Bell acted like this. He raised his sword and charged forward, Bell did the same.

"Raaaaah!"

"Ooaaaah!"

The red sword and Silence collided, Hyakinthos looked confused, since the sound of metal hitting metal wasn´t as loud as it should be. Bell yanked his sword free and slashed diagonally down, Hyakinthos took a half step back to dodge and slashed from above in turn. Silence shot up and blocked the blow.

A flurry of swift blows followed, Hyakinthos grimacing in disgust at Bell's resistance. Hyakinthos was obviously the stronger since he was an upper level three adventurer, while Bell was only a mid level two. However, there were three things that worked in Bell's favor. By level one, he had reached the maximum of each stat, giving him a generally higher stat than any other adventurer of his level.

His second advantage was his fighting technique. Bell was burning to perfect his hero style. Even in the hot-blooded battle, part of his mind remained calm, trying to get Hyakinthos to do something, Bell trying to anger him. One of his heroic fighting styles worked best in a state of calm while his opponent was seething with rage. Up to this point, Bell fought in his favorite style if he only had his sword. And Bell's third advantage was...

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"Hm."

"Ottar, are you enjoying the show?"

"I wouldn´t say enjoy it."

"But you are fascinated by this white haired boy, correct?"

"He fights like the deceased captain of the Zeus familia."

"And you wonder why."

"Mh."

"Hehe, are you looking forward to get a new sparring partner in the future?"

"I alway need strong opponents."

"So you can be the strongest?"

"And to protect you."

"Ehehe, so cute. You are such an honest child."

"I am a grown man..."

"And I am really proud of you, Ottar. Now let us continue to watch."

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To make Hyakinthos truly angry, Bell´s Maxim style could be the perfect way to do it. Zeus had described his captain as "The laughing warrior". Maxim wasn´t a clown like Argonaut, but he was always cheerful and he complimented where compliments were due. In his opinion, martial arts should be recognized and praised when they deserve it. Maxim had an unshakable charisma, his motto was never to give up. Not even when the black dragon came. There was one person in Orario who very much resembled Maxim's personality, the bubbly amazon Tiona.

The main point of Maxim's technique was skill. No long, heavy blows like Zard's gigantic sword. Maxim had used a prancing style of combat that could drive an opponent insane. Not a fight dance like Lena used, but a different form of "dance".

Bell and Hyakinthos collided again, and the full force of their divinely empowered bodies was unleashed on their surroundings, shattering the stone beneath their feet. Silence and Hyakinthos' Sun's Flamberge collided and unleashed opposing forces. They measured their strength with flexed arm muscles, judging the other. Hyakinthos with a fierce expression on his face and Bark...he smiled. Bell backed away first, they exchanged a series of blows, faster and faster, more powerful. The sounds of battle in the courtyard wafted up from below, but both were blind and deaf to it.

The blows came faster and faster, their power and precision could not be increased, mistakes were unforgivable. Hyakinthos was the more stubborn of the two, preferring a more direct fighting style than Bell displayed. A reddish trail seemed to follow Hyakinthos' blade, a truly fine weapon, but nothing compared to Silence. When the half-magic blade and red sword met, the impact shook Bell to the bone, the lack of a screech of metal on metal sounding almost disturbing.

Hyakinthos growled. "Give up already!"

Bell was breathing harder, the previous fight had been tough, but Hyakinthos was something else entirely. He had no illusions that fighting someone a full level above him and trying hard was going to be easy. Bell wielded his blade in quick strokes, the edge ripping through the air in a blur. Silence hit the Flamberg. Sparks flew through the air, splinters of Bell's armor flew away.

"I will not give up."

Their fight raged on, the blows coming so close together that those spectators who were mere mortals had trouble following the fight properly. They moved back and forth in the throne room, a diagonal slash hit Bell, ripping through his breastplate from shoulder to waist, blood spurting out. Both were alone, their world reduced to the throne room, no other adventurer in the castle could hope to fight on that level, not even Lena.

Some thought that when the supernatural met the supernatural, both would seem reduced to normal levels. An adventurer was practically a demigod compared to an unblessed commoner. But now the citizens of Orario saw what adventurers were truly capable of when they dropped the mask of mortality and pushed themselves to the limit. Many were extremely excited, some horrified.

Bell grinned. "You look horrible, the last days were hard?"

Instead of answering, Hyakinthos pushed him back and delivered a powerful blow to Bell's shoulder armor. Both of them crashed into one of the walls of the throne room with such frightening force that the wall cracked. Their sweat was flying all over the place, the gods were delighted at the sight of the two handsome men locked in such an intense fight. Both fell away from the wall fighting, so caught up in their duel that they didn't notice the sheer destruction in the throne room. Hyakinthos pushed Bell back with such force that he broke through one of the pillars supporting the ceiling.

The violence between the two reached new heights, Hyakinthos delivered a terrible blow that nearly split Bell's face. To retaliate, Bell suddenly launched a punch directly at his opponent's mouth. Hyakinthos' lip split slightly and he spat blood to the side, enraged that Bell had disfigured his face. The Flamberg came up again, but Bell broke through the attack and dragged Silence's blade down Hyakinthos' waist. It was only a shallow cut and little blood flowed, but it drove Hyakinthos more and more into a frenzy.

With a yelp, Hyakinthos slashed at Bell's face again, but reversed direction with the swing, completely smashing Bell's right shoulder armor instead. Bell hissed as shards of it hit his shoulder and cheek. Both were bleeding, Hyakinthos looking like a wounded heroic figure, Bell like a bloodthirsty, grinning rabbit. No matter how much pain he was in, Bell kept smiling or grinning. Silence snapped at Hyakinthos' chest but was knocked aside. While Hyakinthos countered, Bell just barely held out against the pounding blows. It looked to everyone like Bell's muscles were screaming in pain, every inch of his bare skin was covered in sweat. His small wounds burned terribly when the sweat touched them.

"You will be lord Apollo´s!"

"Oh, I don´t think so."

Hyakinthos roared, indignant at Bell's continued denial and overbearing. He prodded Bell across the throne room, swinging his arms back and forth recklessly, smashing through one of Bell's gauntlets, driving the butt of his weapon into his now exposed abdomen before lowering the blade again, stripping Bell's breastplate completely from his torso tore, along with the dark shirt of his body suit underneath.

Despite the grim situation, many women in Orario squealed in delight upon seeing Bell's bare chest, as did many gods. It took all of Bell's skill and resilience to endure Hyacinth's anger, not to let it overwhelm him and crush him, to push him on and on. He fought like never before in his life, no fight had ever been so hard, not even in training against Alfia. Bell pushed himself beyond his limits, yet he was punched, kicked, flogged, and chased about the room. He heard a crack in his right wrist, blinked away sweat, and hissed as Hyacinthos drew a shallow gash across Bell's chest. And yet... Bell smiled.

The Flamberg descended again, heavier than ever and with bone-crushing force, crashing into Bell's hasty parry, forcing him to one knee, groaning. More blows followed while Hyakinthos roared with rage, each blow harder than the one before it, the handsome man unleashed a sheer elemental violence.

Hyakinthos raised his sword. "It ends. Now."

Bell´s smile widened into a grin, then he laughed.

"And yet I laugh... doesn't that make you angry?"

Hyakinthos raised his sword with a howl while Bell hissed a word in his mind. Lightning raced across Silence's blade as he struck back.
Bell should have been defeated, he should have been battered, bleeding and utterly exhausted on the throne room floor. And yet he didn't give up. He didn't just fight for his friends, who gave their all in the castle courtyard, not just for the beauty he was madly in love with, not just for his mother. He also fought for himself, to prove himself and to move forward. So Bell forced his battered, injured body to move. The lightning leapt to Hyakinthos and made him twitch, the difference in level saved him from the worst.

You could see the pain in Belle's face as he struggled to his feet, holding his right arm oddly. Blood ran down his muscular body from the cuts. Whole pieces of his white and green armor were missing, lying all over the throne room, reduced to splintering. And yet Bell smiled. Not just to irritate Hyakinthos, Bell mostly smiled for his mother. He could only imagine what Alfia was going through as she looked at her beloved son through the magic mirror, so battered and bruised. Bell didn't know this of course, but Alfia was crying openly, Miach even put an arm around her and tried to calm her down and offer her support. Alfia saw her beloved little boy in front of her, who was now being so abused.

And that's why Bell smiled, smiled that special smile that Alfia was always supposed to say in training...everything is okay.

Hyakinthos' anger reached its peak and then...then Bell began to dance. With almost supernatural slipperiness, composure and that unbearable smile. It had been tough but Bell acted a little more exhausted than he was, now he gave it his all and for the first time really pushed Hyakinthos back, the forced exhaustion of the past few days starting to make itself felt.

"For my mother!"

A diagonal slash opened Hyakinthos´ jacket.

"For my familia!"

He hissed in pain when Silence got stopped by the flamberg, but he moved closer.

"For my friends!"

Bell dealt a straight headbutt onto Hyakinthos´ nose and broke it.

"For Haruhime!"

Silence rushed forward, but this time Hyakinthos punched straight into Bell´s face and let him spit blood.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!"

Hyakinthos finally snapped.

The following strike eventually broke Bell´s wrist and ripped Silence out of his hands. He immediatelly backed away as Hyakinthos followed him.

"I don´t care anymore what lord Apollo wants! I WILL KILL YOU!"

Bell jumped towards his sword, while Hyakinthos raised his free hand.

"My name is love, precious child of light. I offer my body to my sun. My name is sin, jealousy of wind. I call a gust of wind to my body. Released ring of fire - come, wind of the west!"

Bell was only one meter away from his weapon.

"Aro Zephyros!"

His instinct told him to jump out of the way, Hyakinthos aimed straight for his sword, he would get Bell if he dared to jump there.

But Bell hadn't counted on Hyakintho's consummate cunning. He jumped away from Silence...right in the direction of the spinning disk of magical energy. All he could do was duck to avoid, but...

"Rupelé!"

The magic spell exploded right when it passed above Bell.

"Argh!"

He was hammered to the ground and thrown to the side, Silence flew into the corner of the room.

Move, move...MOVE!

His back was burned and his ears rang, but Bell moved up to his feet as fast as he could.

"DIIIIIIEEEEEE!"

He couldn´t react in time. Hyakinthos leaped out of the smoke plume, straight at Bell, thrusting his sword forward.

Blood splattered everywhere.

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"NOOO! MY BABY!"

A heavy earthquake shook everything around Alfia´s house as her feelings escaped her control. Now not only Riveria but a few more people felt this immense magical power .

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"Ack!...gah..."

Bell looked down, Hyacinthos´ sword had pierced his right breast and exited his back, a small misstep by Hyacinthos had prevented Bell's heart from being pierced.

Never before had he felt such pain when he looked at the sword in his chest. It was probably beyond luck, that his lung didn´t get pierced.

He looked up into Hyakinthos´ enraged face.

"It is over!"

Bell looked shocked at first, then angry and determined. He raised his shaky arms, that got slowly covered by particles of light and grabbed Hyacinthos´ shoulders, offering all the strength his battered body had left and pulling his opponent towards him, headbutting him squarely in the forehead.

"You will not get away anymore!" Bell gritted his bloody teeth.

"Why can´t you die, you imbecile!"

Bell´s third advantage, was magic. Among all the things that an adventurer could get, status, equipment, skills...was magic by far the strongest. Magic was able to overcome many differences and destroy enemies far stronger than the person was.

He didn´t have magic that required a long chant, so it was usually weaker than a real spell. But Bell only had this magic and he trained a lot with it, Alfia had teached him ways to increase what he could do. Bell had learned one very important thing, thanks to Alfia´s teachings and the heritage in his blood. Normally Thunderbolt consumed a certain amount of his mind, Thunder-Bolt around one fifth.

But like he had done with the Irregular, Bell could also squeeze out every drop of his mind power at once, when he used it together with Argonaut.

"You. Will. Not. Get. Them!"

His body screamed in pain like never before. Bell was hot and cold at the same time from the steel that had pierced his chest. He had never known anything like it. But in his elemental rage, he stayed upright.

I am the son of the Zeus and the Hera familias! The grandson of Zeus! The son of Alfia!

Lightning began to surge across Bell's arms as he overloaded his magic. The faint chirping of his Argonaut skill became the mighty roar of a titanic bell. Bell's mind was filled with a hero...a heroine...his one true heroine. She who slew the leviathan with the bell of heaven and freed the oceans. His mom, Alfia. It didn't matter if Alfia was a true hero or a villain, to Bell she was a hero and that's why Argonaut reacted when her face filled his thoughts.

Anger twisted Bell's face, not vengeful hate...pure...elemental anger. He was the grandson of the thunder god, there was only one way to end this fight. His eyes began to glow, not the usual red, but the same deep blue that had his lightning magic. At that moment, Bell looked so eerily like his birth mother. More lightning surged down his arms and legs, an actinic screech filling the air. The clouds above the castle thundered loudly and literally rotated, they were no longer gray but black. Unknowingly, Bell drew the storm over him, almost like a living lightning rod. Hyakinthos struggled against him, but Bell's grip was iron. His lightning magic spasmed Bell's muscles and prevented his opponent from breaking free. The lightning pulsed down his arms one last time.

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THUUUUUUNDERBOOOOOOOOOOOLT!

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Bell squeezed nearly every ounce of mind power out of himself and into his near-cataclysmic spell. And this time... Hyakinthos could roar. Bell's magic exploded out of him with titanic force, boosted by a minute-long charge of Argonaut. Heavenly light filled the throne room...and eventually ripped the entire room apart.

The fighters in the castle courtyard stopped when a mighty clap of thunder ripped the tower in which the throne room was. A huge bolt of lightning shot out of the sky and combined with Bell's magic, tearing the ceiling and walls away from the tower, leaving only the floor. Something swirled through the air and flashed in the heavenly light, Silence. Mikoto reacted quick-witted enough and jumped off the wall in the direction of the whirling sword, a weapon like that couldn't just fall to the ground.

After the spire exploded, smoke blew away from there, but there were no sounds of battle. Only one battered figure in the castle courtyard moved after everyone else had frozen. The spectators in Orario stared spellbound at the magical mirrors, waiting for the smoke to clear enough to see.

A strong wind from the onset of a thunderstorm blew over the top of the tower and carried away the smoke. Two figures came into view, one lying on the ground, the other standing. The figure on the ground...was Hyakinthos. Not only did the massive eruption damage him, lightning magic had the unique effect of burning away the target's mind power much like ice magic consumes a target's stamina. Hyakinthos had a mind down, in addition to the damage Bell's lightning had inflicted on him.

And then they saw him. Bell. He was still standing, the last little bolts of lightning crackling around his fingers and dissipating. His eyes were unfocused and he staggered. The explosion had ripped the sword from his chest and red blood was pouring down him, soaking his pants. It looked like he didn't know where he was as he staggered around, Bell kept shaking his head.

Many in Orario cried out in horror as they saw Bell stumble toward the ledge of the spire, a fall from that height would kill him. Miach was just able to stop Alfia from rushing out of the house, it would take her an hour or two to reach the battlefield. Everyone saw Bell stagger closer and closer to the ledge in confusion...until his foot went over the edge...and he fell.

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"BEEELL!"

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A small figure in the robes of a long-dead saint, stained with her own blood and half blind from her swollen eyes, rushed out of the rest of the stairs, spear and banner in right hand. Lily slammed the spear into the ground as she ran, leaping forward and catching Bell at the last second. With all the strength she had as a supporter, she jerked him backwards and fell to the ground with him. Sheer panic filled her mind when she saw his horrible wound. Lily grabbed her waist where she was carrying several high potions of Nahza, quickly uncorked them with her teeth and poured them over Bell's wound.

Lily will not ask for forgiveness!

She opened the last potion, poured the contents into her mouth, leaned forward and pressed her lips to Bell's. Used her hands and tongue to open his mouth, then forced the contents of the potion into his mouth and made him swallow. All of Orario saw this, but Lily didn't care. Survival came first, everything else was secondary.

Lily saved his life, after the signal sounded announcing that the wargame was over, the others finally broke their rigid frame and ran to the tower. Lefiya and Haruhime were already on their way to the tower after seeing the lightning strike. Lily's intervention kept Bell stable and alive long enough for Lefiya to arrive. She used all her magical power, using every last morsel of it, until she collapsed with a mind down on Bell.

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Orario cheered loud when they saw this, Bell would live. Alfia cried openly, the moment had nearly torn her heart apart. Miach held the crying mother and gently patted her back.

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The last picture that the magical mirros showed, was the banner of the Miach familia, waving in the wind.

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