A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 39: Divinely-Mandated King of the Hill Part 2
[Earlier]
[Peter]
Ducking under the slash of a skeleton, I entered my third stance and smashed the pommel of my sword into its skull, knocking it off-balance, and then slicing downwards from its shoulder bone to hip bone. This cut the undead in two, and I quickly entered the second stance as a zombie equipped with a sword tried to take a swing.
Deflecting the blade, I reentered the third stance and sliced its head off before I quickly looked around to spot Dyne swinging a zombie wolf, entangled in the roots of his mace, around himself like an improvised morningstar, smashing a few approaching skeletons and crushing the zombie wolf still entangled. With an unseen command, the roots released the zombie wolf from their grasp, launching the creature into another zombie, knocking it down.
"Dyne! Have you seen Lukrut or Ninya around here?!" I asked over all the noise as we rushed over to one another, the wet mud squelching under our boots while the rain continued pouring down.
"No! They're still missing right now!" He shouted back as we sliced or smashed a few approaching zombies back to their eternal rest. "I don't believe for a second that they're dead, though! If that helps!" Dyne attempted to reassure me, and likely himself as well.
"Thought never approached my mind! But I would rather have us all together than anything else!" I replied. Our team had been close together at the start of the battle, even if it had been chaotic. The only problem was when a whole mass of adventurers arrived, adding to the chaos, that we became separated.
Since then, the pair of us had been attempting to find our friends while fighting through all the undead. Too bad that this was made difficult by how hard it was to see any decent distance through the heavy rain.
"I know what you mean!" Dyne agreed as we continued to fight off the constant horde of undead. Throughout the fight, I felt my body growing warmer, like power was filling me.
I know that it was not from my body's constant physical activity since it stemmed specifically from my flaming blade. The blade was trying to help me, and I felt the presence of something ancient watching me with interest. This only served to make me tighten the grip on my blade before I entered the first stance towards a group of approaching zombies.
…Ready your blade. Concentrate your flames. Lash them upon your foes…
Hearing the words of that ancient rumbling voice, I decided to heed them. I threw my will into my blade and commanded the flames to gather. I watched with a strange calmness as the red flames wildly cloaking my sword suddenly gathered together and cloaked the blade in straight blue flame which only slightly wavered when rain droplets fell upon it.
Then, as if being guided through the motions by another, I maintained the first stance before slashing out at the undead a mere five meters away. I was absolutely surprised when blades of blue flame flew off of my sword and slashed through the zombies, melting completely through my opponents and turning them to charred pieces before sputtering out on the other side.
The zombies' remains fell to the ground, and I felt slight awe and appreciation at what I just did. And looking down at the sword in my hands, I saw that it had returned to its regular red flames once again.
"What was that?" Dyne asked, completely astounded.
"Not fully certain myself. It was pretty instinctual!" I answered.
"Well, instinctual or not, I hope you can keep it up since we've a long battle ahead of us!" Dyne said while smashing down a skeletal wolf. I laughed at his words and cut down an approaching skeleton with a single slash.
"You and me both, my friend!" I called back before gathering more flames to my sword, turning it blue once again. Then, I slashed out more flaming strikes on the undead, killing scores of them.
Just as we were getting into the swing of things, a movement above me caught my attention. Looking up, I found some horrific undead chimera flying above us on multiple sets of wings. And behind that undead, an army of flying chimeric monsters armored in white scales and bones.
In a booming voice heard over the battlefield, the creature shouted, "ENOUGH FIGHTING OVER MY PRIZE!" This caused the fighting between everyone to slow and stop as the attentions of the combatants became fixed on this new monster. "FOR THE CRIME OF FIGHTING OVER WHAT IS MINE, YOU WILL ALL JOIN MY LEGION!"
While all the fighting had stopped, I tapped Dyne on the shoulder, "We should try looking around for Ninya and Lukrut while everything is calm." I said to the druid.
"Good idea. Let's move." He answered back. With that agreed, we swiftly began weaving our way together through the crowd while trying to spot our friends.
"Alonne," The lich with a beard asked as he floated up from the ground to meet with the monster, "what right do you have over that which is ownerless?" This only encouraged Dyne and I to hasten our search until I spotted the familiar slicked-back blond hair of Lukrut, matted from the rain as it was.
"Over there!" I said while pulling Dyne towards the direction of the archer. He ended up spotting us as well since he swiftly ran over to us as the chimeric skeleton screamed back towards the bearded lich.
"IT IS MY RIGHT AS THE FUTURE GOD OF THIS WORLD!" Hearing him scream this made me a bit wary. Either this guy was a powerful mage, considering that he seemed to be a lich as well, with delusions of godhood which was worrying by itself. Or he had a method to become a god, and considering that Kashia was sleeping in that temple as a defenseless goddess, that made the idea seem much more plausible.
"Lukrut, it's good to see you again. Do you happen to know where Ninya is?" I asked as Dyne, Lukrut, and I finally reunited.
Lukrut shook his head, "No, I was hoping that she'd have been with you. We got separated when we had to dodge a zombie bear that was charging us." Our archer answered, much to my disappointment. Before we could continue our conversation, the bearded lich, Nikto, I think, shouted back to the chimeric lich, Alonne.
"You are an arrogant child believing himself king because he stitched some body parts to himself. You are centuries too young to try that with me, boy!"
"AND YOU ARE CENTURIES TOO OLD TO REALIZE WHEN YOU'VE BEEN SURPASSED BY THE YOUNGER!" Then, Alonne held out an extremely long skeletal right arm at Nikto, "BEGONE! [LESSER BLACK HOLE]!"
For a moment, I didn't see anything happening except for a small black dot appearing by Nikto. Then, Nikto flew back as his leg was stretched and elongated before finally ripping off and swallowed into that tiny black dot which disappeared.
"By the gods, that was almost instantaneous." I muttered.
"Hate to see what that would do to a living person, but I especially don't like where this undead freak is going with this." Lukrut commented, which I agreed with.
"MINIONS! EXPAND MY ARMY!" Just as Alonne said this, all of the monsters floating behind him sped down to crash into everyone on the battlefield. One creature, of which, was shooting down on our position!
The three of us quickly got out of the way as it hurtled into the ground where we had once been standing.
"Living and dead alike! We must stop Alonne before he kills us all![Grand Fireball]!" Nikto shouted to all of us as a massive ball of fire blasted out of his hand and slammed into a group of the monsters.
"Wow, something managed to get both the living and the dead working together. Ever expect something like that to happen today?" Lukrut questioned as he readied one of his root arrows at the monster in front of us.
Entering my fourth stance, I gathered the flames on my blade until it turned blue. "I expected to wake up and have breakfast today." I replied.
"Just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Dyne said in morbid humor.
Lukrut quickly shot his arrow at the creature while I unleashed a few burning slashes at the monster. As that occurred, Dyne cast a spell, "[Twine Plant]!"
Vines and roots erupted from the ground to hold the creature in place as the fiery slashes slightly seared its face before the two following slashes were blocked by its green arm. As for Lukrut's root arrow, it barely penetrated the creature's chest, but it did take the chance to break apart and quickly spread out across the creature's body, slightly entangling it.
We sent off another salvo, on the monster, but I noticed that the flesh on the thing's arm had regenerated from the prior damage. What the hell is this thing made of?
Before we could attack further, a bunch of kitsune began flooding the battlefield, with two of them tackling the creature in front of us and tearing it apart with their teeth or stabbing it with their tails. "Thanks for the help!" I called out to the pair.
One of the kitsune, a fox with seven tails and yellow fur, gave me a nod. "Stay safe, you three." He said before diving back into tearing the undead monstrosity apart.
Taking a moment to look around, it seemed like the undead monsters were getting teamed up on by multiple different groups working together. Oddly enough, I even spotted a pair of giant spiders that were valiantly attempting to tear into and web down the monstrosity that they were fighting.
Past those creatures, I thought that I could see some figures in the distance, but they soon became blurred as water got into my eyes and I was forced to wipe them. When I looked again, I was unable to see these figures any longer.
Focusing on the fight at hand, as Dyne, Lukrut, and I did our best to help out where we could. Above us, I found myself absolutely astounded when I spotted a trio of frost dragons fighting the undead monsters in aerial combat.
"There's godsdamned dragons now?!" I exclaimed to no one in particular.
"Why the hell is everyone and their mother coming to this one battle?!" Lukrut asked as he sniped an arrow at a monstrosity that was being beset upon by a trio of kitsune throwing their blue fire upon it. I aided with more flaming slashes while Dyne rooted the creature to the ground.
Suddenly, I spotted a platinum streak in the air that crashed into Alonne as he battled Nikto and the other liches!
[Platinum Dragon Lord]
As the liches clashed with one another, I watched and waited for the right moment to strike. Nikto performed the main job of attacking Alonne while the three other liches aided him by harassing the chimeric lich with a myriad of different spells.
"Your feeble attempts to hurt me grow annoying." Alonne announced as he threw up a shield to stop a set of fireballs from hitting him.
"Go pound sand, you pretentious prick!" The lich with an entirely exposed jaw shouted back.
"Enough games." Alonne said before disappearing and reappearing with the [Blink] spell right behind the vulgar lich. "Your unlife is wasted upon you. That energy would be better served in my hands."
As Alonne said this, his extremely long skeletal arm grasped the lich by the back of the neck while his insectoid arm stabbed its chitinous clawed fingers into her head.
"[Soul Drain]! [Negative Energy Drain]!" He cast both of those spells together as I could already see the effect on the vulgar lich as she attempted to dislodge her attacker that was sucking all of the energy animating her from her body.
Before the other liches could react, I finally decided to use this moment to attack. While I'd likely have to fight the other liches later, I definitely didn't want Alonne to empower himself now and lose a temporary ally to fight against him.
With but a mental command, my armor's hand made a gesture and the platinum spear flashed forwards. Just before impact, Alonne finally took notice of the attack and held the wings of the God Dragon and Demon God of Insects in front of the spear as a shield.
The spear didn't penetrate, but it did distract him long enough for a volley of [Magic Arrows] to impact him in the side, making his grip slip on the vulgar lich as she began falling to the ground until the other female lich, one with flesh fully covering her, flew over to catch her ally.
"Who dares interrupt my feeding?!" Alonne demanded as he looked at me. Even without the ability to show facial expressions, I wouldn't doubt that he'd be glaring at me if able.
"Someone who doesn't care, abomination." I answered. With another gesture, the spear that had been deflected away now sped back for Alonne in his blind spot. At the same time, I attempted to keep his focus fixed on me by sending my warhammer at him.
Before he could put up a shield to block the warhammer, my spear tore through the back of his chest and out the front before flying to my side. But even though I hated this sin against nature, I found it slightly impressive that he could still throw up his shield to block the warhammer after being dealt such a blow.
But observing the damage from the hole in his robe, I made note of how the bones of his ribcage were knitting themselves back together or fully regenerating any bones that had been lost. Troll, most likely.
Another species grafted upon himself. What others might he be hiding on his body?
"Good play, stranger. I'll remember that for the future." Alonne complimented as his longer skeletal arm pointed at me. [Greater Death Blast]!" As the magic array formed, I was already moving my armor out of the way as a beam of black and purple energy shot out at where I'd just been.
"I see that a Hero has come to join the fray. Interesting to see you still alive and here." Nikto commented as he flew next to me, maintaining his focus upon Alonne as I did.
"With that pillar attracting the likes of you to it? Of course I would come to investigate." I retorted. In the air, I saw Alonne ready another spell.
"While we will likely become enemies later with our interests on the same prize, it's best to work together against this arrogant child." That said, he jumped in front of me as Alonne fired out another attack, "[Magic Barrier]!"
Quickly, a blue shield of hexagons appeared before the pair of us and barely held off the attack until it ended. Then, the night lich dismissed the spell and watched Alonne for his next move.
"Regretfully, I have to agree on the offer. Alonne is dangerous enough as is, but with the parts of the Evil Deities grafted to himself, I have no doubt that he has more surprises in store for us." I replied while performing another gesture to ready my weapons to be launched.
"Oh, is that what's grafted to the child? I thought they looked familiar." Nikto mused aloud before the pair of us flew at the abomination.
With a gesture, I sent all four of my weapons flying away in different direction before converging back upon Alonne. At the same time, Nikto threw another [Fireball] at the abomination while the other male lich still flying nearby, joined with a hail of [Magic Arrows].
Just before all the attacks could land, Alonne cast [Blink] once again and dodged as the attacks crashed into empty air. Where is he?
Looking around, I found the chimeric lich draining the energy from the lich with half a face. I flew towards the abomination and had my weapons launch at his position.
Disturbingly, I watched as the energy animating the lich quickly drained away until the glowing red light in one of his eyes flickered for a moment before fully fading while the unlife in his other turned glassy.
"BARAL!" Nikto shouted in shock as Alonne let go of the lich and we watched him drop to the earth where battles were still raging on. His body quickly became unceremoniously trampled upon along with the many others he joined.
At the same time that Baral's unlife was ended, a fourth of the undead army fell, all consisting of humanoid skeletons, with their master no long animating them. While this was a slight blow to the strength of the combined armies fighting against Alonne's undead, the fox people were doing well turning the tide of battle.
"Was Baral important to you?" I asked while manipulating my weapons to chase down Alonne as he flew around and either dodged or blocked my attacks.
"He was my student and my son when I still lived. Now, Alonne shall join him." The ancient lich said with a hint of anger in his tone.
"Sorry for your loss." I said while pulling my weapons back to myself.
"You don't care. But the thought is appreciated." Nikto rebuked as he announced, "[Bone Shards]!" And launched a multitude of boney spikes at Alonne, with one managing to clip the left wing of my father's that Alonne had grafted to himself.
"You're right. I don't. But it's the polite thing to do." I countered before speeding to Alonne like a missile with my weapons following.
[Earlier]
[Kashia]
After I had fully calmed down after being told that I could see dad again, mom and I had been talking. Much of it had been mom teaching me about certain aspects of my ascended divinity. Namely, a few specific things…
"There are quite a few conveniences about being a goddess now compared to when you were only half of one, my little fox." Mom said as I laid on my back while looking at the constantly shifting sky in fascination. She sat next to me and continually stroked my hair as the two of us just enjoyed the presence of one another.
"And what would that be, momma?" I asked as my eyes shifted to look over to her smiling face.
"Well, you technically no longer need to eat, drink, or rest anymore. The worship that you receive from your followers is all that is required to keep you alive." She answered, making my eyebrows raise up.
"Wait, what about if I still want to do those things? Am I going to be prevented from it because of my divinity? And what if I was unable to get enough worship for some reason? What would happen then?" I asked.
Mom giggled at the barrage of rapid-fire questions, "You can still eat, drink, and sleep if you wanted to, it's just isn't a requirement for you to live any longer. Though, if you were to suddenly lose all worship depending on what type of deity you were, there would be one of two things that would occur for any god or goddess put in that situation. But before I explain that, you must know that there are three types of deities that exist."
When she said this, I found myself sitting up and looking at mom in interest as she continued, "There are those formed purely upon being conceptualized into existence by mortals, which makes them stronger on average, but also more liable to wax and wane with belief in themselves. If they were unable to receive any new worship, these deities would eventually fade away. They are also more tuned to their innate beings changing, since the way mortals believe in something can change over time."
"So, they pretty much live to the saying of 'the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long', right?" I summarized. Mom rubbed my ears and gave me a nod, making me feel very good.
"Yes, that is a good way to summarize it. Then, there are the second types of deities, ones that were not complete gods, but eventually rose to divinity, such as yourself. You would be considered an ascended deity. These deities are not usually are strong as the conceptualized ones, but they are more stable and can survive without the worship of mortals. They are also free to choose their own paths and, sometimes, domains instead of being locked into them like conceptualized deities." Hearing mom say this, I felt a little lucky to know that my life wasn't so restricted as it could've been compared to other deities.
But then, that made me have to question, "And what kind of goddess are you? I know that you weren't born mortal like I was. Would that make you a conceptualized goddess?"
Mom shook her head, "No, I am the final kind of deity, also known as a pure-born deity. We simply came to be, without birth or belief, upon the branches of Yggdrasil as children of the tree. I was alive when the branches of the World Tree were plentiful with so many beautiful realms. Then, the Great Calamity happened as Nidhoggr," mom said this name with pure disgust upon her face, "fought Yggdrasil and destroyed so many of its branches." A sorrow took over mom's face as she recalled old memories, and I found myself taking her hands in mine to support her.
Mom's expression lit up from this, and she continued, "This realm we sit in was originally all that I could save of my original home. It took years and a great deal of my power for me to rebuild this place, and as such, I'm now inextricably linked to this realm. Its strength gives me strength, and I it. Were either the realm or I to fall, the other would soon follow. But that was worth it to protect all the kitsune and mortals that call the Realm of Foxes home."
I couldn't help but smile at the kindness and generosity mom had to fully tie her life to a place just so the people within it would be safe. "It seems like you and dad were both just made for each other considering how selfless the pair of you are." I commented, before mom gained a sheepish look in her eyes.
She then cupped my cheek with a warm hand and shook her head, "I can't say that I'm utterly selfless. I'll fully admit, without hesitation, that I'm completely selfish when it comes to you. You are my daughter, my only living daughter; and I will protect you, want you, and love you more than anyone else." She then gave me a roll of her eyes and a grin of mirth, "Well, maybe your father would compete with me on that."
Both of us began laughing after she said this and she pulled me into a tight hug, "You are mine and Seth's daughter, and we'll both be completely selfish when it comes to you and your safety and happiness." As mom said this, lulling warmth filled me, and I knew it to be true that there was no one else like my parents who were that selfish around me. But mom then added, "Though it seems that with your mate and daughters, we've got a new pair of competitors to go against."
"Yeah, you'd be right about that. My girls and Lukrut would definitely start competing for that spot." But then I said in mom's ear with a caring whisper, "But no one else will ever take the place of you and dad as my parents." Pulling away, her silver and my gold eyes met with loving warmth.
"Oh, speaking of your mate; while you and him have a good life in the bedroom, I could give you a few tips to help out." When mom said this, I felt a mortified embarrassment as my eyelid slightly twitched.
"Mom, have you been watching Lukrut and I?" I asked (read: demanded) her to answer. Mom gave me a slightly guilty look.
"Sorry, my little fox. Fertility is my domain, and it's extremely hard for me to ignore when my baby is performing actions related to it. Besides, considering that you are well on your way to establishing a domain of fertility in addition to the others you're already collecting, you should get used to talk like that."
I felt my eyebrows scrunch at hearing this, "What do you mean by that?"
"You're being worshipped as a goddess of magic, prosperity, healing, charity, freedom, protection, and now fertility. I'd likely say it's because of your natural appearance in combination with the 'divine stripper dress' as you put it. Mortals tend to put things like that together." Mom said before giving me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
She gave me an unconcerned grin and added, "But you shouldn't worry about it that much considering you're becoming just like a chip off the old block. Besides, I think that your first divine outfit looked absolutely precious! Freyja and I have a few designs and ideas for your outfit that we'd just love to have you try out."
"Momma!" I complained, "I didn't even choose the design of it. My copy did, and she's always trying to embarrass me!"
"Yes, your copy may have made it, but she is based on your mind and personality. Therefore, you ended up making that outfit for yourself." Mom retorted, making me sigh at how overbearing my mother could be when she had her mind set on something. That was when I felt a pulse of power go through me, the sign of another Maiden being created.
"Mom?!" I heard Tuare's voice shout to me, causing me to turn and see the ephemeral image of my daughter looking at me in confusion a few feet away from me. One big change I instantly took notice of was the large amount of gold taking up the blue in her eyes. Instantly shooting to my feet, I began running over to her.
"Tuare?!" I shouted over to her, but just before I could reach her, she faded away from the top of the hill as my hand was outstretched to touch her! "Tuare?! Where are you?!" I called, but heard nothing in reply.
"Don't worry, Kashia, that's pretty normal here." Turning to look at mom, I cocked my head in question.
"What do you mean about that being normal?" I asked as I made my way over to her.
"The process of your Maidens being created typically sends them to my realm as they establish a connection. All this just means is that my older grandbaby has finally decided to forge that connection with you!" Mom explained excitedly while I contemplated what that meant. I know that my worshippers definitely wouldn't force Tuare, considering that they knew about how pissed I was when it happened to Ninya.
So, that meant that Tuare decided to take the initiative on her own, which actually made me feel touched at the gesture. My older daughter wanted that connection with me, and it filled me with a warmth that brought tears to my eyes. "Tuare wanted to have closer ties with me." I stated with a happy smile.
Walking back over to mom, she shared that same happiness with me. "Your daughter wanted those ties because she loves you. I'm very glad to hear that!" Mom said and I sat down next to her.
"You don't know the half of it." I said with a sigh, "I just wish that I could keep my daughters with me forever." I mused while considering that, due to being a full goddess, I was going to outlive them if they weren't made immortal.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Considering how you've fully adopted your daughters as your children, and they have imbibed your blood in turn, it shouldn't take that long." Looking a mom with confusion written on my face, I found myself quickly asking her.
"What shouldn't take that long?"
"You're a goddess now. Conceptualization is a main aspect of being one. You fully see your daughters as your own, and they see your as their mother in addition to having consumed your divine blood. That creates an intimate conceptual bond that none of your followers are unable to match. And because of that intimate bond, the belief of both parties makes it real." Mom explained, though it only earned a confused look from me.
"And that means what, exactly?" I asked, earning a giggle from mom as she gently took one of my tails and began stroking it in her lap, which I found divinely relaxing and pleasurable.
"To tell you in the simplest way, my little fox; I'm excitedly giddy to see how my grandbabies will look once they've finally developed their ears and first tails! Celicia-Ninya will likely be the first one to develop hers, and she'll finally get an adorable pair of brunette ears and tail!" My jaw dropped as mom explained this. My girls would…turn into kitsune?
Wait! "What do you mean by Celicia-Ninya?"
"Oh, that's your little kit's full name. Celicia-Ninya Veyron. She was actually likely going to tell it to you soon enough since the only other person besides myself that knew it was also Tuareninya." Mom explained with nonchalance.
My daughter's full name. It was a very pretty name, though I wasn't fully certain as to why she had kept it secret unless it stemmed from the habit of keeping her true gender a secret for so many years. Either way, I was happy to know just a little bit more about my youngest daughter, but that was soon overwhelmed by my concern on her eventually changing to an entirely different race.
"Mom, how long until either of them would change? And what would happen? Are they going to be okay? Will it hurt? What abou-" Mom put a finger to my lips to silence my deluge of questions.
Following this, she gave me a reassuring smile, "Celicia-Ninya was originally likely to change in a few weeks after you ascended. Considering the amount of your blood that she and your mate got sprayed with during your tail's growth, that's probably been sped up to mere days at this rate. Aside from her ears and tail, Celicia-Ninya will gain all the usual traits of a kitsune, while her body will shift to more match that of her mother's."
"Shift in what way?" I asked as my eyes slightly narrowed.
"Attractive features are an inherent part of the kitsune race as I made them. And with you and I specifically?" Mom pointed down between both of our bodies. Oh. "But don't worry, your daughters are still growing girls, so it'll take a while before they are fully grown."
"Will it hurt them?" I questioned, thinking about how much pain I went through when growing my tenth tail.
"No, it should be relatively straightforward with them. At most, there will be minor discomfort as their ears change shape and move position on their heads while their tails grow. Compared to you, they aren't taking in the massive amount of power and worship that you did."
I felt myself relax as I heard mom's words, while also considering what I would need to do to help both Tuare and Ninya in the future. Both would be unused to hiding their bestial features. Additionally, [Kitsune Illusion] would be too taxing for them to keep up for long periods of time like I could, especially Tuare since she wasn't naturally a mage. I had a few illusionary rings in my sanctuary that I could bust out if needed for them.
I'd need to set up lesson plans for Tuare since, even if she didn't plan to have a career as a magic user, it would still be helpful in her day-to-day life to know a spell or two. That, and when did one ever hear of a kitsune that couldn't cast a spell?
And then, I'd need to help them adjust to all the changes of shifting from human to kitsune. There were quite a lot of things that they would need to go over, just like I did when I first arrived in the New World…
Wait, what changes did I ever have to deal with? Why did I just have that tho-
"Kashia, are you okay? You seem to be thinking yourself into circles." Mom asked good-naturedly, pulling me out of the tangent I was thinking.
"I'm alright mom, I was just thinking about something weird for a moment. Anyway, I'm really just thinking about how to help my daughters adjust to becoming an entirely different species. I mean, there's the hearing, a bit of the eyesight, and a sense of smell that we know is a hell of a lot stronger than a human's."
Mom giggled at hearing this, "You don't have to remind me about that. Remember when your father brought home what he thought was a simple box of discounted protein blocks?" She asked.
I couldn't help but laugh as the memory came to me, "And when he opened the box, it smelled like burnt skunk! The apartment was impossible for the two of us to live in without wearing rebreathers for a week!"
"Seth was so apologetic about it afterwards!" Mom added, filling us both with another bout of laughter.
Dad had ended up snagging a good deal on a box of protein blocks that had been rejected from the factory line due to an error in the machine that day. Somehow, a chemical mixture had leaked into the blocks as they were created by a worker having a heart attack on site and accidentally dumping some bottles of the chemicals he was carrying into the mixing vat.
While the product that came out wasn't toxic, per se, all of them smelled like a skunk had sprayed its stink on the mixing vat before falling in and dying. Dad was able to get a whole box of the rejected product for under $20.
Too bad he underestimated how bad it would smell to his kitsune wife and daughter. It caused the apartment to stink for a week because of it, at least to us it did. Dad didn't even notice the smell after the first day, and he'd made sure to make a few deals with the other apartment tenants on our floor to buy the protein blocks off him for a cheap price so that he could buy other food for us.
Mom and I spent the first day just scrubbing our entire apartment with our rebreathers on to get rid of that smell. But, oh well, it's just what happens when you live with people who can smell better than a bloodhound from the old Earth days.
"Don't worry, my little fox, I'm certain that you won't have the same incident that Seth did with your daughters. And I'm quite certain that Tuareninya, at least, won't have the same incident with her mate that we did with Seth." As mom said this, my eyes widened and I looked at her incredulously.
"Tuare's what?!" I quickly asked as the mixture of protective parent that wanted to vet anyone who had eyes for my daughter, and excited mom that wanted to hug Tuare and ask her about details, both fought one another for dominance on how I should feel about this.
A teasing grin filled mom's face as she began to playfully poke me. "I know something you don't know.~" She sang out while continuing to poke me.
"Mom, come on! You can't just say something like that and then leave me in the dark!" I complained but only received that little sing-song answer. "This is just going to torture me now, mom!"
Mom stopped for a moment and put a finger to her chin, as if in thought, before she finally answered, "I think that you'll just have to find out. That makes it much more fun, wouldn't you agree?"
"More like torture." I grumbled back.
"Cheer up, my little fox! You should be happy that your kit is finding a mate of her own! That means that she'll soon have little ones of her own running around for you to spoil as Grandma Kashia, and me as Great-Granny Inari!" Mom cheerfully explained while hugging me and nuzzling my cheek with hers.
"But, mom, I'm already speed-running being a parent. I don't want to now start speed-running becoming a grandparent!" I replied.
"One of your emerging domains is fertility. You should be excited about your kits having kits!" As mom said this, I just rolled my eyes. Of course, mom wouldn't be bothered.
She'd love any chance to spoil more of her family's children. And even if I was instinctually happy at the thought of my family growing, with the urge to have more myself, it felt slightly weird to have it all potentially happen before I was 30.
Great, I think when I see Tuare and Ninya next, I'm going to need to have the talk with both of them. My God, that's likely one of the most dreaded things that all parents eventually go through.
But one thing's for certain, Tuare and I have a lot to talk about when I finally get back.
[Now]
Mom! Grandma! Please, save me!
I heard Ninya's voice beg to me, filling me with immense anxiety. But it seemed to slightly cut in and out, like bad static on a radio. Looking over to mom, I was able to tell that she heard my daughter's voice as well. "Ninya's in trouble!" I exclaimed as I got up from the ground and wanted to get to her side immediately!
"Hold on, Kashia." Mom said as she closed her eyes for a moment, making me pace in place while wondering what could be happening to her. Why am I still stuck here? I need to leave now! Finally, mom opened her eyes and looked at me.
"What is it? What's happening to Ninya right now?" I begged.
"I'm not certain. What I do know is that, while you slept, multiple factions have arrived at your shelter and are currently after you, even if they are not aware of your existence specifically. They all assume that the great amount of mana emitted from your ascension has come from a magic item that they can acquire. Currently, there a massive battle between a temporary alliance of the living and the dead occurring against a chimeric lich of different races and his chimeric army.
The kitsune cannot spot Celicia-Ninya in all the chaos, but they have managed to find your mate and friends." Mom answered with sympathetic concern. Ninya is in danger, along with the others, and I'm still stuck here.
"Mom, how long until my body has finally finished this godly-coma and I can leave? I need to get back!" I asked while my heart continued pounding in my chest. My loved ones were battling against forces after me, and my daughter was in danger. And with all my immense power, I was still just here!
Mom came up to me and put her hands on my shoulder, "Likely within the hour. Your body is not going to rush itself in the process of stabilizing all the energy going through it. I'm sorry to say, but all that can be done is wait, even if neither of us likes it."
No! Don't take me away! Help!
Ninya's voice cut in and out again as I felt a growl in my throat before I turned from mom and threw a [Greater Fireball] into the air in frustration while screaming. My instincts and mind were both roaring at the helplessness of it all. I had to get out, but I was trapped here and had to wait!
I felt a soft hug from behind by mom as she tried to comfort me in the intense anger, fear, and grief I felt. "Kashia, you are going to get out of here soon enough. You are going to save everyone, especially Celicia-Ninya, but you need to keep your wits about you and not lose your mind. I know that it's hard, my little fox, but you will be of no help to anyone if you lose control."
"FUCK!" I screamed out in pure frustration before taking the moment to focus on my breathing. I hated that mom was right, but what else could I do but try to keep my mind as I waited for my body to finish recovering. Yet, I could still feel my chest thumping as my thoughts went to everyone that was still in danger.
"I've been told that a new host of kitsune has joined the battle and are helping to beat back the chimeric undead. Unfortunately, there has still been no sign of Celicia-Ninya being discovered. In addition, the chimeric lich is a much harder opponent than expected." As mom said this, I tried to focus on what we were already aware of. It would help to try and distract my mind from the anxiety.
"What is this chimeric lich?" I asked.
"From what has been heard by Puraimu, he is known as Alonne. The lich has apparently grafted the body parts of other beings onto itself to increase his own power. He is being dueled by another lich known as Nikto, while the three liches that came with him try and support, but they are not making much headway against him." Mom answered.
Shit, a chimeric lich? That was definitely a new one for me. The fact that there was lich on lich combat happening was also extremely strange. From what I've read up on, apparently liches were pretty rare to find, especially the ones known as night liches, and even rarer to see together.
Apparently, the amount of mana I let out during my ascension was enough to pull five liches out of hiding. I didn't know if I should be impressed or scared about that.
"Wait," That took me out of my thoughts, and I turned to look over my shoulder at mom, "a warrior in platinum has just flown in to attack the chimeric lich. They are utilizing multiple weapons flying around himself to try and force Alonne on the backfoot." That was extremely familiar to me.
Riku Aganeia. What was he doing there?
We waited few minutes for something to change when I felt a pull on my very being. Looking down, I saw that my body was growing translucent. "Mom, am I finally going back?" I asked, feeling a little impatient at the wait.
I need to get back quickly, end whatever battle is going on, and then rush to save Ninya.
"Yes, you're returning. Stop that fight and save your kit. I'll try to lend you whatever limited help I can from here." Mom replied, to which I gave her a nod of thanks. "And one final word of advice; you may want to remember to change your outfit, unless you plan to be recognized by the masses instead of keeping your human persona separate."
"I will." I answered as my thoughts turned to that of Ninya and the others.
I'll be there soon.
[Platinum Dragon Lord]
I found this chimeric lich to be an annoying opponent to face. Whenever Nikto, myself, or the other lich whose name I learned was Ashleigh, tried to attack him, he'd [Blink] away from us. As for the other lich, Klatennu, she was still recovering from the draining attacks that Alonne had used upon her.
It was all she could do to maintain her army at the moment, let alone trying to fight Alonne on top of it.
As for the fox people, they were engrossed in handling the chimeric arm, leaving Alonne to our hands. The trio of frost dragons? One had ended up being slain by the chimeric undead, another had been injured enough that he was forced to land, and the third was trying her best to help protect the second.
Aside from them, the only other fighters that could be called allies were all the humans in the area. The only problem was that they were all too weak to do anything Alonne. At most, they could hold off against the chimeric undead, and that was being optimistic.
I was about ready to use my Wild Magic that I had been conserving when the entire interior of the nearby temple suddenly filled with golden light that spread out the doorway and windows. At the same time, an immensely powerful and concentrated source of mana filled the entire battlefield, and possibly even further.
Anyone magically in tuned with magic instantly had their attentions fixated on that temple. Even the liches and myself found our duel paused as we all wondered about just what might be happening.
A few moments later, the golden light slowly died down, but much of the pressure of that mana was taking its time to do so. And while it did, I could feel the origin of that mana move through the temple until it reached the entrance and the Fox Princess strode out in that odd white garb of hers.
Even more, I noticed two distinct differences with her from when last I saw her. The first was that her hair, where it had once gone down to her lower back, now it was down to her knees. The other; ten golden-furred tails snaked behind her instead of the nine that I had last counted.
But regardless of the changes that she had undergone, there was one thing that I could confirm without a doubt; she had been the origin of that golden pillar. And the amount of mana needed to produce that pillar was beyond anything that I've ever seen prior Players emit.
"You! Beast woman! The mana rolling off of you tells me that you have my God Item! Give it to me, now!" Alonne demanded from the Fox Princess.
All he earned was a glowing golden glare from the bestial woman. "I rest for a few days, and when I awaken, I see the squabbling of children and death around me! And arrogant leeches believing that they can claim something that never belonged to them in the first place! I am BEYOND FURIOUS!" She shouted over the entire battlefield.
"For those of you who came here with peaceful intentions, you may stay. For those of you who came here with greed in their hearts, but not the urge to kill; I give you this one chance to leave. For those of you who came here with greed in their hearts and the willingness to spill blood; YOUR LIVES ARE MINE!"
Immediately as she gave this ultimatum, I saw a shifting of the crowd below as multiple groups of adventurers took the chance to run, though some of them stayed. Aside from them, no one else bothered to move.
Amusingly enough, Nikto hadn't bothered to move from where he floated. Either he wasn't afraid of this warning or he assumed that he'd never escape. But Alonne?
"You will give me what I am after! Dead or alive, it does not matter which!" He exclaimed as his longest skeletal arm aimed at her and prepared a spell. "[Lesser Bl-]"
Instantly, the spell array broke into motes of mana that faded away. Alonne seemed shocked at the event, considering how stock-still he was. "I decide if a spell can be cast here! Not you!" The Fox Princess informed the lich.
"None shall command me, girl!"
A moment later, the Fox Princess used [Blink] to appear behind Alonne. "That's the thing, you sad excuse for spare parts, does one fall to the earth because they are commanded to? No, they don't. They fall because that's an inherent law of reality. And my desires are above that! This is no command, this is law!"
Alonne immediately tried to swing around and smash the woman with his fists, but her tails easily caught the punches. "I see it! My prize!" Alonne shouted as his free hands instantly reached for the Fox Princess' neck until her tails quickly ended that attempt. "You will not stop me, mortal! Now, DIE!" He screamed in rage as the chimeric lich prepared another massive spell.
"No." The spell instantly fizzled away. At this point, I readied myself for when Alonne would cast [Blink] again to escape, yet nothing occurred. This only caused Alonne to struggle further as he attempted to break this hold he was in.
"Did you just attempt to cast a spell to run away? This is my law, no spell shall be cast near me that I do not wish, NONE MAY DISOBEY! I AM A GODDESS OF MAGIC AMONG MANY OTHER DOMAINS! YOU MAY CAST YOUR SPELLS, BUT THEY WILL ASK ME IF I ALLOW IT!"
"NO! I AM TO BE A GOD! NOT A BESTIAL CHILD!" Alonne tried swinging his tails to hurt the Fox Princess, but she simply caught the two limbs with another pair of her tails and held them in place.
"Life has suffered you for far longer than it has deserved! My next law: Alonne. Will. Cease!" The moment she said this, the Fox Princess put her hand to Alonne's chest before a spell of blue fire exploded from the goddess' hand with a massive crack that snapped the air and echoed far into the distance.
As for Alonne, his torso and head were ripped from his limbs before shooting into the air as a blue missile of flame, flesh, and bone until the flesh and bone quickly disintegrated to nothing. All that remained of the former lich were the multiple tails and hands still firmly held in the Fox Princess' tails until more blue flames ignited them until they were rendered nothing but ashes falling in the rain.
Upon the lich's death, all the undead that he once commanded began to fall over, rendered inert without their master's will guiding them. Then, the goddess turned her attention to the three remaining liches gathered together. Klatennu seemed to be held up in the air by Ashleigh instead of her own power, but I actually saw fear in that younger lich's face as she quickly realized what her fate was soon to be.
"You three." The Fox Princess appeared in front of them with another casting of [Blink], completely unafraid of whatever they might try at this close of a distance. "You threatened the lives of my servants and all those I cherish. Like Alonne, you have lived longer than any of the three of you deserve. But because you helped to fight against Alonne, selfish though it may be, I'll give you all the chance to say your final words before I vaporize you."
"I have lived my life devoted to the arts of magic and necromancy. I do not regret any of my choices, for good or ill. In fact, knowing that I have become witness to, and am speaking with, a goddess that embodies the very concept of magic is what my life has led me to. I am now satisfied with this outcome, even if I will not see where it might further take me." Nikto replied with a smile on his gray flesh.
"Live without regrets in hell." She answered before the night lich burst in an immolation of blue fire that completely consumed him in moments before it ended, leaving only the adamantite armor he wore remaining as it dropped to the earth below along with his ashes. She then looked at the pair of liches still remaining, "And you two?"
"Stop wasting my time you divine bimbo! Just end this already before I turn to dust by the time you're finished!" Klatennu spat back, while Ashleigh only nodded. Another moment, they burst into blue flames until they were naught but ash. As all three of these liches died, their undead army fell with them, leaving only the living remaining among a field of the dead.
Quickly, the Fox Princess arrived to me, furious, but also impatient. "Why are you here, Riku?" She demanded.
"I saw the pillar and felt it. I believed that the amount of mana it released was that of a magic item of great power. I arrived to investigate, and if needed, take the item before locking it away in a vault so that none could abuse it." I answered truthfully.
"Reasonable enough. I hope that we can talk later, but right now, I have to go somewhere." Saying this, she turned to all the humans that still remained and spoke over the rain as it picked up, "For those of you that came to visit, know that I will return within the day. But due to all of you having traveled so far, my kitsune will create shelters for you from this storm."
When she finished, her body transformed in a burst of light until it became that of a massive fox, over 12 meters in height with golden fur covered in glowing white patterns that traced over her body. The Fox Princess' eyes were golden orbs visible through the battering rain while blue flames covered the tips of all ten of her tails.
I saw her take a sniff in the air before she shook her head with a growl, then her eyes focused on a direction south. With utter haste, she leapt over the crowd, into the empty area, and quickly sped off into the blinding downpour with multiple of her kitsune, as she called them, following after her until they disappeared into the increasing storm. I knew not where she was in a hurry to be, but I had no doubt that it had to be important, considering how she left so quickly.
[The Enraptured Master]
Patiently, I waited on the outskirts of the battlefield farther ahead from within a copse with my companions. After my compatriots and I received our orders from our mistress, the Demon Queen, we rushed to ensure that she would receive everything she desired. Perhaps, if we completed our work well enough for her, she'd even grace use with the gift of seeing her face behind her beautiful armor!
As such, us member of the Slane Theocracy waited for my minions to finally return with the prize in hand. I believed in their ability since the mistress personally gave me the divine artifacts to summon them. In fact, looking to my right, I saw one of my devoted servants arrive to me. She was what was known as an arachnoid. They were a humanoid looking race to start with.
But that was all the familiarity that that my servant shared to humanity as the rest of her appearance was monstrous. Her head was bulbous, with eight crimson eyes of varying sizes dotting her face, a fanged vertical mouth that dripped in saliva and venom while further fangs circled her mouth and quivered in movement. Atop her head, multiple chelicerae twitched, ready to pull anything unlucky enough to be caught by them into her mouth.
The rest of her body was not much better as it was covered in dark chitinous plates, with long arms that split into multiple clawed tips, the same being said for her legs that ended in a single clawed end. Holding her aloft from the ground were four large spider-like legs that grew out from her back. For clothing, she wore simple dark leather armor that barely did much to hide her non-human features.
In both of her clawed arms, she held a bundle of wet green clothing. "Greetings, my master." Her voice came out in a warbled echo, "The prize has been retrieved by your drider assassins. They will bring the girl here shortly after finishing their preparations with her. What do you wish for us to do with her clothing?"
"Sorach, split the clothing among my men who will take them into different directions to confuse any tracking." I ordered the arachnoid, "Other than that, were there any issues with the secondary mission?"
Sorach shook her head in reply, "I apologize, master. One of the driders and four of your spiders died in the attempt to kill the woman." While sad that I couldn't give my mistress the good news about her hated enemy finally dying, my servants at least were able to acquire the girl.
"No need to apologize. That mission was unlikely to completed, but it was a mere side objective for the main goal." I replied, causing the chelicerae on her head to shiver in what I assumed to be pleasure. Then, Sorach moved off to start handing different pieces of clothing to my 12 men. Once finished, those men saluted me before taking off into the distance to the south. After completing her assignment, Sorach took her place besides me and lowered herself down onto her humanoid legs. She stood up to my ears in height when not on her spider legs.
We waited a little longer until another arachnoid arrived, followed by six spiders and three driders, with one of the driders carrying a figure in her arms. The arachnoid, almost the spitting image of Sorach, aside from her eyes being green, gave me a slight bow while she was carried on her spider legs. She called herself Arenha.
"The girl, as requested, master." The arachnoid announced before moving aside to allow the driders to bring the girl forwards for inspection. The first thing I noticed about the target, Ninya, were the white silk webs that covered the girl like a skintight suit which barely did anything to hide her modesty due to how uncomfortably tight it was. Her legs were held tightly together in what could be called a single stocking of silk, the same being said of her arms held behind her back in a similar long glove. What could be considered a 'scarf' tightly covered the lower part of her face, leaving her eyes and hair visible.
I could see those oddly glowing golden eyes of hers, with slightly slitted pupils, looking at me in complete terror as quiet muffled cries could be heard from her gagged mouth. "We had such a fun time clothing her. We made it especially tight in all the best areas because our cute prey didn't complain about it." Charle, the drider carrying the girl said, earning a few moans of complaint from Ninya.
"She didn't even attempt to resist us, almost like she enjoyed it." Petra, the drider near the girl's legs said before squeezing the girl's thigh, earning a muffled squeal and a twitch of her legs.
"Charle, the girl shouldn't be able to move, let alone twitch. Are you certain you put enough venom into her?" Amile asked before moving the girl's head to the side to expose her neck.
"Obviously, I would, sister. The girl just seems to have a constitution that allows her to more quickly recover from the effects." Charle replied while Ninya's eyes fearfully darted between the two driders.
"Well, just to make certain, I'll just give her a higher dose." Amile said before opening her mouth. Quickly, her lower jaw split apart and Amile bit into Ninya's neck, earning a full-bodied twitch from her alongside a muffled cry of pain as tears fell from her eyes. Upon being satisfied by the result, Amile pulled away and wrapped webbing over the bite wound and moved the girl's head back to where it was before. Stroking the screaming girl's cheek, Amile said with a smile aimed at the girl, "There, now you won't have to worry about hurting yourself with struggling."
The drider was correct as soon the girl's muffled screaming became whimpers and any further twitching of hers ceased. "Master, can I get to play with her?" Petra asked excitedly, like a child with a new toy. Considering how well they accomplished the mission for my mistress, I wasn't fully opposed to it.
"I am willing to allow it after we have gotten to a safe enough distance from here. But she must not be damaged before we present her to the mistress." I answered, filling the multiple eyes of Petra's with excited glee.
"Don't worry, master. I wouldn't dare injure your prize. Besides, the cute prey will probably be squealing in joy by the time I'm done." The drider promised as I saw more tears pour from the girl's eyes as they squeezed shut. This encouraged Petra as the drider began poking and groping the girl enthusiastically.
Ninya likely considered this entire situation to be a nightmare that she was praying to wake up from. Instead, all she could do was watch everything while crying at her fate. I just smirked at this.
I couldn't find any sympathy in my heart for the daughter of my mistress' nemesis. In fact, she deserved it for daring to think that anyone might be greater than the mistress of the Slane Theocracy! All of us soldiers of the Slane Theocracy knew that she the true ruler of our wonderful and holy country. It was why the Theocracy followed her. This girl was simply earning one of her many punishments that she'd receive from the ruler of the Slane Theocracy, the Demon Queen.
We just needed to get far enough away before using the magical scroll the mistress gave us to teleport to her lair, high up in the north-west area of the Great Forest of Tob. Then, the mistress would have her prize. And I, her special chosen, and the only one graced with a magical scroll to return to the lair, would be at her side once again.
"Let us move, my servants." As I said this, a giant spider skittered from the trees next to me before lowering itself. Clambering onto my spider-steed's back, my servants used their scrolls of [Odorless] to conceal our scent. Then, the multitude of spider legs could be heard against the ground as we all traveled south before we would teleport.
Looking over my shoulder, I noticed my driders giggling with one another as they played with the paralyzed girl's body while running. I would enjoy every torture the girl went through, especially because it was my mistress' wish. Turning away from my servants, I looked back ahead to keep my eyes on the distance.
Behind us, we could hear a massive thunderous crack before everything went silent once more.
[Kashia]
I could just feel Ninya's presence, even if it faded in and out repeatedly. It seemed muffled in a way, making it difficult to determine her distance. But even muffled, I got the general idea of where she was, and I was going to save MY KID! I could hear her calls and feel her fear right now, and it filled me with anxiety.
Rushing on all fours in that direction, I eventually ended up in a copse as Ninya's presence faded out again. Fuck! Sniffing in the air to hopefully get a trail before the presence came back, my nose became filled with her scent. And yet, it was going in multiple different directions.
They were trying to evade me!
"Your Highness, have you picked up Princess Ninya's trail?" Puraimu asked while entering the copse with seven kitsune following after him. Just like me, all the kitsune shared my rage at the taking of my daughter.
"Ninya's trail splits off into different directions. Each of you, take a direction and attempt to locate Ninya. Capture anyone involved and bring them back for me to deal with later." I answered. I received nods from my servants before they sniffed the air and took to different directions that Ninya's trail led.
At the same time, I gnashed my teeth together while my tails whipped out and leveled the trees around me in an act of rage. My heart beat faster and I waited for that presence to come back. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Ninya's presence returned and I took off into the ever-increasing rain once again. My sight ahead was heavily obscured by that same heavy rain, but it didn't matter. I could feel that she was south.
My paws pounded against the ground as I kept trying to increase my speed, more and more. I needed to get to her quickly. Running through some trees, my paws caught on something and I ended up tripping over my paws while also knocking down a set of trees. Looking down, I found a sticky line of silk webbing that had been set up like a tripline.
Fuckers are trying to impede me! I instinctually found myself roaring in frustration and fury before burning the silk off with the fire on one of my tails. Then, I charged forwards as Ninya's presence blinked out once more, but this time, I kept on running in that direction. I'll cut some distance, if I feel her in a different direction, then I run that way.
Please, mom! Save me!
I heard Ninya's sobbing prayer through that annoying static and it made me run faster. Exhaustion didn't matter, my lungs burning was an afterthought, any hinderance was ignored. Then, I tripped over another line, but this time, I rolled back onto my feet while pulling the boulders the line had been attached to behind me. My tails simply burned the line off me while I continued running while the boulders rolled a bit more from the momentum.
As her presence came back, I slightly altered my direction a little bit to the left and sped up. I felt myself growing closer to my kid. I was getting close, Ninya! Just hold on a little bit more!
Speeding up, I thought I caught of whiff of something when a creature jumped onto my face and began ineffectually biting and spraying webbing at any spot it could. It was a giant spider, a fucking pest! One of my tails instantly grabbed the spider from my face and quickly crushed the thing's thorax before I viciously dragged the creature's face along the ground behind me as I ran until I felt the creature was nothing more than paste.
Then, I let it go without a second thought as another one of my tails burned any webbing still on my face off of it. I saw up ahead that I was close as there were some distant figures that I thought I could make out, yet I couldn't smell it. Then, Ninya blinked out again. That didn't matter, I've got you!
Just before I got any closer, webbing came out from the rain at either side of me, tripping me once more, and pissing me off all the further! With a roar, my tails grasped the webbing and quickly yanked, pulling the creators of the webs towards me, a pair of arachnoids that quickly broke off the lines, launched lines away from me, and pulled themselves away.
One of the arachnoids was too slow, as I caught her with my tail and wrapped her into a prison of my tail to question for later in case I didn't leave any other survivors. But I could deal with the other arachnoid later, they were just trying to delay me! Looking around, I tried to reorient myself to where I saw the figures before.
Then, the other arachnoid came back and threw more web lines at me, annoyingly hindering my progress. Without another thought, I cast [Foxfire Annihilation] and threw the spell immediately behind me, not bothering to look at the pest's death. I charged forwards and saw a man on a spider, three driders, and in the arms of one of them was Ninya, encased in webs that bound and gagged her, with her golden eyes looking at me in hope!
MOM!
Then, four giant spiders took the chance to try and jump me, with two actually landing on my face while I smacked the other two away. They were doing everything possible to hinder and stall my progress as they sprayed webbing at my eyes to blind me. I was used to their tricks at this point as two of my tails snapped in the way and burnt the creature blocked the webbing while seven others started smashing on the arachnids until they had been crushed into paste.
GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!
"NIN-" I cried out as I cast [Blink] to arrive right where they were, then they disappeared, "-YAAAAAAAAAA!" And I found myself crashing into the ground where Ninya had been. My eyes looked at the spot she had once been carried at, and I pawed the ground where she had been. I had been one second off!
They could fucking teleport and I had been one second off! But I could just innately feel that they didn't have mana due to my senses now! None of them but Ninya did! How did…a spell scroll. They used a spell scroll.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I roared out in rage, frustration, and sorrow. Then, I looked over to the little fucking pest still wrapped in my tail. Slamming her into the ground hard enough to maim, but not kill, I immediately read her mind and ripped out everything from her head that could point me to my daughter!
I ignored her screams of pain as I sorted through all the relevant information, finding nothing that pointed me to where Ninya had been taken. Then, I crushed her head like a grape with my paw.
The Slane Theocracy took her. They took her. They took her! THEY TOOK HER! THEY TOOK HER!
I will burn their country to ash after I get my daughter back! I'll burn it to ashes getting her back in the first place! They took my child, and for what, to get at me?! I promise, they will suffer!
Giving out a massive roar that could be heard over the thunder and rain, I immediately started contacting each of my kitsune with [Message] to see how far that they have gotten in their hunts. But I was only given disappointing news that they hadn't gotten whoever was spreading her scent just yet. The heavy rain was helping to muffle it.
All the while, I could hear Ninya's static crying in my mind, making me angrier as I planned to only give my kitsune less than 15 minutes to bring me one of the accomplices so that I could rip information from their mind on where my Ninya was taken before I immediately broke out my Shooting Star ring.
I would probably get impatient and use it sooner. I didn't care which!
My Ninya is coming back home today! I would tear apart all of Yggdrasil if I had to make it happen! And then, I will burn the Slane Theocracy to the ground!