"So this is it huh?" Seiji asked Hinata, looking at the massive opened gate. It was the gate where Hinata and Meld had met Akira
"Yup, let's go." The two of them enter it.
After Hinata's rousing speech, they tossed all the demons to an anti magic prison in the castle. They then went back to the border with Meld's spatial magic, and after unearthing her buried objects, they used the gate key to back to Heiligh.
There, Hinata and Meld downed every mana recovery potion that the kingdom had. Hinata proceeded to make the necessary artifacts like the gate keys and the ones for Kentarou.
Following her plans, Hinata along with Seiji, Rome, and Moku went to Orcus's hideout. Oscar's ring had actually given Hinata access to a shortcut leading to it, the shortcut also let her skip the hydra that has respawned. Hinata made a new pair of legs for herself, then she and Seiji left Rome and Moku behind.
Seiji was holding onto the compass of eternal paths and using it find the rare ores and materials, which Hinata unearth. They were even able to reach the small pond of holy water that Hinata found and stocked up on ambrosia.
They had stocked up quite a lot large number, their last stop was Akira's old prison. They were here in order to get the remains of the stone that Akira was sealed in. Hinata was feeling quite nostalgic returning to this place, and it made her think of Akira. It was rare for her to worry about someone.
"Hinata..." Seiji walked up to her. "You're gonna get him back, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah... and I know you'll do fine here."
It was decided that Seiji would stay behind. Being in an apostle's body made him the most vulnerable to Ehit's edict. Thanks to Meld's fake story, it wasn't hard to portray Seiji as a "true" apostle, and that the apostles coming to kill are the "false" apsotles.
Seiji admitted that he was upset of being left out of the final battle, but he knows this was for the best, even with Hinata's artifacts, they still need as much fighting power as they can get. Besides, Hinata so needed someone to protect Rome and Moku.
Hinata collected the last of Akira's seal stone, and after she did, she noticed something. "Huh..?"
"What is it Hinata?" Seiji walks over to where Akira's stone was, and on the ground, they see a familiar crest.
"That's...Schnee's crest. Yes, that makes sense." They knew that Dianleed that was able to use some ancient magic. He used creation to make Akira's prison, and then Metamorphosis to place those cyclops and the scorpion monster.
The didn't really thought of it that the time, but if Dianleed was theon that made the room that means that Oscar wasn't the one that placed those monsters there. Hinata had thought it was weird why those specific monsters didn't re-spawn like the rest, because they weren't created by the liberators.
"But why is this here? Huh?" Hinata felt something moving in her pockets. She pulls out the necklace from Schnee, it was going right towards the crest. Hinata touches the crest with the necklace and it lights up.
Hinata and Seiji steps back as the section with the crest starts rising up, revealing a pillar underneath. Once it stops, they can see an opening and a crystal ball in it.
Hinata grabs the ball and examines it. "It's a projection, like the one Oscar used for his message. It's obvious who put this here."
Pouring some mana into it, the crystal made a projection of a familiar figure. Hinata and Seiji were shocked by the emotions in the message. Ir eventually ended, and the two kf them stared at the crystal.
"Hinata, this is..."
"Yup, another reason to get Akira back, let's go."
If anybody needed to see this, it's him.
"Ugh.." Hinata stretches her arms as she exited Oscar's workshop. After returning to the hideout they got to work. The first thing they did was deal with the limited time they have.
To do that, Hinata first created a large crystal and combined it with Seiji's spell, Chrono Rupture, a restoration spell that stretches time. With that, the time inside the workshop was now moving ten times faster.
Not only that, after enchanting the materials and created some complex magic circles that are basically automatic artifact machine. It mass produces sets of armor and weapons for all the foot soldiers, it even sends them to Heiligh to be distributed.
"Hinata!" Seiji called out, he was next to Rome and in front of them was table full of food. "Rome made lunch."
Hinata sighs as he sits down. Hinata looks at the merfolk. "Thanks Rome."
"You're...welcome."
"How's Moku?"
"Still asleep." The child had basically cried himself to sleep.
"Good." Hopefully by the time he wakes up, this whole mess would have been taken care of.
"Uh, Hinata..."
"Yeah?"
"I'm...I'm so sorry." Rome started tearing up. "After everything you've done for us, causing you trouble was the last thing we wanted to do."
"Rome..." Hinata wasn't surprised by this, she knew Rome was also feeling similar to what Moku is feeling. After what she said. "Would you cut it out? I told it's neither your or Mo-"
"But it is!" Rome exclaimed. "If we weren't captured, none of this would've happened, you could've been in your home right now. If only we weren't so-"
"That's enough." Hinata cut him off. "Look, I was stressed and I said things I didn't mean, no matter what happened, I made the choice to bond with Moku, and I also chose to save you, so shut up and stop feeling guilty dammit!"
"But-"
"No buts, I do care for you two, that's why I brought you here." The liberators hideouts were probably the safest places in Tortus right now. Along with Seiji, Hinata also created some golems to help protect the father and son. "These labyrinths protected the liberators till their twilight years, hopefully it can do the same for you and Moku."
"Hinata..."
"Now come on, let's eat."
Half a day later, Hinata had completed the artifacts for her classmates and sent it to them. Suzu and Ryutaro finished their task and came here, they were wth Seiji looking for monsters in the labyrinth.
"Hey, Hinataaaaa." Shu had also arrived carrying a big bundle.
"Shu, so what's the news on Miledi?"
Shu reports that the apostles had actually attacked Miledi, but all of them were easily killed by her. Shu told the liberator of the situation and she...
"Oh? So you need help from the magnificent, beautiful, amd intelligent me? Well in that case why don't get down and beg-"
"I punched her and made her beg for forgiveness before she can finish."
"Nice." Hinata gave the rabbit a thumbs up.
"Oh yeah, I also got the thing Kaori asked for." Before leaving, the priestess had requested for Shu bring back a certain something from Reisen Gorge.
"Anyway, Miledi said that she'll be there for the final battle, but she needs to make some preparations. I did ta- I mean received some stuff from her." Shu referred to the big bag he was carrying.
"It's okay, you can say take." Hinata did extort her the first time they met.
Shu reaches into his pocket and pulls out a shiny and beautiful pearl. "This is the anti Divine Edict artifact."
Hinata examines the pearl. "The name sucks, but this actually lives up to it."
Ehit's edict was basically just advanced spirit magic, and this pearl negated that. She can already deny the edict, but it still takes a lot of effort. This pearl was much more effective, and Hinata was sure she can replicate it.
Shu then places a dagger. "And then there's this, the god slaying dagger."
"What?" Checking out the knife, Hinata realizes that it was actually concept magic. "That skank was holding out on us!"
"That's what I said, but then she..."
"Huh? You people said you weren't trying fight god, so why would you need god slaying dagger? Hahahahahaha, you must feel so-"
"Then I punched her again."
"She had a point, but still..." Even if Miledi was right, that didn't make the punch any less deserved.
"Anyway, funny story about the dagger..." Shu repeated the story Miledi told him. The dagger while they were all drunk, they all complained about Ehit, and when they woke up there it was. "It's a really flimsy story, but Miledi assured that it won't harm Akira's soul."
"That's helpful, I think." Hinata hasn't forgotten how Miledi was the leader of the liberators, so she opted to believe the cheeky little bitch. "Did you happen to ask about the third concept magic."
"Yup." Shu hadn't forgotten that Haltina said that they created three concept magic. The Compass of Eternal Path was the first, and this dagger was the third. "Unfortunately the third concept magic, the arrow of benevolence was lost, when they uh...lost."
"That's a shame, can't be helped I guess, here." Hinata tosses a ring that Shu catches. "It's a new Treasure Trove, with a new hammer in it."
"Eeeeeee!" Shu squealed excitedly, he missed the feeling of crushing things with a hammer.
After some time, Seiji's group returns. Seiji was still looking cheerful, but Suzu and Ryutaro seemed...nervous?
Hinata narrows her eyes. "What's with the long faces."
"Well you see..." Ryutaro scratched the back of his head. "Turns out...I can't really tame."
"What...?" Hinata's temper was rising.
"Wait! It's not all bad." Seiji quickly intervened. "Ryutaro found another way to use Metamorphosis Magic, and Suzu got a bunch of monsters."
"Then why is she so down?" Hinata gestured at the barrier master.
"Well..." Instead of answering, Suzu showed her the monsters she tamed. Hinata remembers some of these quite well, there was the centipede that spit acid, a bee that can fire explosive stingers.
But Hinata then noticed something. "What's with all the bugs?" Every single thing Suzu tamed were insects.
"That's the problem!" Suzu cried. "Back in Verbergen, I could tame fluffy tigers and wolves, but here, all I can get are bugs!" All of her familiars looked disgusting and scary, the only bug she can actually like were some butterflies she tamed.
"Maybe you have some sort of affinity for it." Hinata then came up with an idea. "Maybe, you can go back to Haltina and tame those ro-"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Suzu shot the idea down, screaming at the thought of going back to the unspeakable horrors of Haltina.
While looking at the screaming girl, Hinata had just noticed that Suzu had both of her hands behind her back, as though she was holding something. "What are you hiding?"
"Huh? Oh, uh..."
"Taniguchi..." Hinata warned.
"Alright, alright, just...don't be mad okay?" Suzu slowly revealed what she was hiding.
"Is that...a kickmaster rabbit?" Hinata instantly recognized it. After all, it was the first monster she and Meld had encountered after falling into the abyss.
"Please don't kill it, it's the only fluffy thing I got!" Suzu begged, she still remembered the rabbit massacre Hinata and Meld did back in Schnee.
But Hinata was actually confused about something else. "Did you guys go to the 101th floor."
"Huh? No, we actually found it in the lower floors."
"That's strange." Monsters made by the liberators weren't supposed to escape their designated floors. The rabbit was acting even more strange when it started making excited noises when it sees Hinata. "Taniguchi, what the hell is it saying?"
"Um..." Metamorphosis allowed the user to sort of understand what their familiars are thinking. Suzu used it translate her rabbit, and...
"My queen, how I longed to meet you again. I've wanted to join in serving you like that knight of yours, so when I met your comrade, I had no problem becoming her familiar. Now if you would please grant me a name."
"...What?"
"Don't give me that look! That's what he actually said!" Suzu insisted.
"Okay...this is probably gonna lead to some other stupid ass plotline. So why don't we go to the workshop?"
In the workshop, they finally got the full story. The rabbit really is from the 101th floor, and it actually witnessed Hinata single handedly slaying the claw bear that injured Meld. The rabbit also found the ambrosia Hinata left behind and drank it, that's why it got stronger and more intelligent, it's been going to the lower floors, defeating monsters.
"So because of that, he calls me his queen?"
"The knight he mentioned must've been Meld."
After ignoring that ridiculous story, Hinata still needed to name the rabbit, and they settled for Inaba. Shu goes over to the rabbit, intending to pet it.
"Welcome to the team Inaba, since we're both rabbits, let's-"
Inaba proceeded to kick Shu's hand away, shocking everyone. Inaba started saying something to Shu, Shu couldn't tell what it was, but he can feel that it was something insulting.
"Suzu, what did he say?" Shu asked in calm voice, but his killing intent can be felt by everyone.
"Shu, calm down!"
"I am calm, now what did that thing say?"
Completely scared of Shu, Suzu begins translating. "You think you're droopy ears are enough for my queen? You're getting too big for your- H-Hey! I wasn't the one that said it."
Before the two rabbits can duke it out, Hinata kicked them both out of the workshop. "We don't have time for a gag, go take it outside!" She turns back to her classmates. "So Sakagami, what's this other way to use Metamorphosis magic Seiji talked about?"
This was it, this was the day, they were one hour away from the time of Ehit's invasion. Everyone had left for the fortress to practice with their new artifacts, leaving only Hinata, Rome and Moku.
"You two ready?" Hinata asked the merfolk pair.
Rome and Moku nodded. They were originally supposed to stay here but after Rome talked with Moku, there was a change of plans. They already had to just sit and watch when Hinata got beaten by Ehit, having to stay here and jus wait while the fate of the world is decided, they would never be able to live with themselves.
So, Rome begged, no matter how shameful and unfair it was, Rome begged Hinata to allow him and Moku to be in the fortress. Since they can't fight, all they can is control the golems Hinata gave them.
Hinata saw the determination in their eyes, even though Moku still couldn't say a word to her. But what really changed her mind was the fact that she felt guilty about dragging them into this, so she agreed.
And without a further ado, Hinata opens the portal and walks through it. They arrive ik the fortress, and it looked just as Hinata imagined it, big, strong, and loaded with lots of weapons.
"Oh, Nagumo, you're here."
Two people walk out of the fortress's gate, it was Kentaro and Ayako coming out to greet Hinata.
"Looks like you did a good job." Hinata said while observing the fortress.
"Thanks, but I just did what the architects told me to, and I was only able to do it because of this."
"Yeah, my healing skills are like Kaori and Seiji's when we first got here, it made it so easy to help Nomura."
Kentaro and Ayako referred to the wands that increase their respective magic. Thus was the first time they got a taste for Hinata's artifacts.
"Has there been-"
"MASTERRRRRRRRRRR!" Hinata was cut off by the shout of an old man charging towards her. The man stopped at Hinata's feet and bowed down. "It's so good to see you again!"
"Ugh, Volpen." It was none other than the kingdom's best synergist, who kept pestering her along with every other synergist in the kingdom.
"So you remember me, you really are a good mas-"
"Oh look, golems." She was not gonna deal with this crap. She immediately changed Volpen's attention. So while he was admiring the golems, Hinata quickly ran into the fortress.
Hinata makes her way to the council room, there a was large round table surrounded by the leaders of this army. There was Aiko with Yuka by her side, and other familiar faces such as Ilwa and Will from Fuhren, Lanzwi and Bize from Ankaji, Ulfric and Altina, and of course Cam and the Haulia. There were also some new faces, there was Simon L.G. Levellair, the new appointed pope that's been informed about Ehit. And then there's the guild leader of Brooke, Barus Laputan, who was with two familiar faces, one was Catherine, the secretary they met in Brooke and then there was...
"Crystabel? "
"Yes darling, it's me." The muscular she man greeted.
"What's a clothing store owner doing here?"
"Hehe, he might not look like it, but Crystabel here was actually a former adventurer, the strongest adventurer mind you." Catherine explained.
'Actually, he does look like it...' Everyone quietly thought.
"It's great to see you again Hinata, but I'm a bit disappointed that I haven't run into any of those sweet boys of yours."
"Yeah, I wonder why." Hinata sarcastically whispered before getting back to the main topic. "So, who's gonna be in charge and stuff?"
"It's me." Lily stood up. "I will be-"
"Who the fuck are you?" Lily immediately slumps back to her chair.
"Princess! Princesssssss!" Kuzeli cried out, both she and Aiko were trying to help Lily recover.
The other royals look in disbelief. They've heard of Hinata's lack of memory of the princess, but to actually see how outlandish it was. Even the Haulia was shocked.
Hinata just shrugged, not really knowing what everyone was getting worked up about. "Well whatever, if it's what everyone agreed on, then it's fine. Still better than Gahard."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" The emperor angrily asked.
"It means that I would gladly take someone that I know absolutely nothing about over a pervert like you!"
Lily looked as though she had been pierced through the heart, much to Kuzeli and Aiko's distress. Gahard was grinding his teeth, Kaori already put him through the wringer, when she and Shizuku went to Hoelscher to tell him about this mess.
"Just be glad that's all she calls you." Surprisingly, out of everyone, Ulfric was then that tried to cheer up Gahard. The two leaders were mortal enemies for years, and yet they somehow manage to find a sort of bond, after being insulted by a teenage girl
"U-Urgent report!" A soldier suddenly bursted into the room. "Multiple dragons have been sighted hearing towards the fortress!"
When someone says that, people would usually start to panic. But in this case, it was the best news they can hear. Because they knew exactly who these dragons were.
"He made it."
Hinata and the royals all rush outside the fortress, where Shu snd everyone else was waiting. There they see a horde of different colored dragons in the sky descending infront of the fortress. One familiar black dragon was flying straight towards them. Nobody was freaking out because Simon about the dragonmen's arrival.
"Masterrrrr!" Tio turned back to his human form as he landed, extending his arms in order to hug Hinata, who ends up grabbing Tio and slams him into the ground.
"Oh yes, only you would welcome me like that." Tio moaned as he got back up. While a lot of people were disturbed, Hinata's allies were all too familiar with Tio acting like this.
Some of the dragonmen that had transformed to their human forms rushed over, looking quite pissed. "You bastard! Why did you do that to the prince?"
"Prince?" They all looked at the dragonman with confusion, not knowing who he was referring to.
"It's him! I'm obviously talking about Prince Tio." The dragonman gestured to Tio.
"Him?" Everyone responded.
"Hey! Don't act surprised!" Tio shouted. "I already told you all that I was royalty."
"Oh yeahh..." Everyone said simultaneously again.
"Seriously!?"
"I knew it! You've all been torturing him no wonder he became like this!" Nobody can say they're surprised that Tio's village is unhappy with his newfound interest. "Prepare, to pa-"
"ENOUGH!" A loud voice filled with authority rang out. It belong a middle aged looking dragonman with long red hair and beard.
The man went to Hinata and introduced himself. "Greetings, I am Adul Klarus, Tio's grandfather." He gave a courteous bow and looks back to his tribe. "I know Tio's transformation is very...very dis- I mean, surprising." Before he came here, Adul had begged for forgiveness to the portraits of Tio's parents, for "failing" to raise him properly.
"You were gonna say disturbing weren't you?" Hinata pointed out.
Adul ignored that comment and continues. "But I know my grandson's feeling quite well, and I understand how much he loves these people."
"Grandfather..."
"Tio, I know you weren't happy with the boring life of our village, I've never seen you so happy when you talked about your friends." Adul gives his grandson a kind smile. "When you left the village, you were looking for something else weren't you? I think you've found it."
It was a sweet family moment, Tio felt so touched of his Grandfather understanding him.
But then, Adul glares at Hinata. "As for you..."
"What?" Hinata wasn't affected by the sharp gaze.
"I know of my grandson's feeling towards you, and I also know of your strength." Tio had shown the projection to his village, to show them that there was someone that can beat god. "However, if you do not reciprocate his feelings, I can not allow him to follow you."
There was an audible gasp among the crowd. "Grand-"
Adul raises his palm to silence Tio. "So I will ask you, do you love Tio?"
"No, I don't!" Nearly everyone couldn't believe that Hinata had hesitation at all saying that, right after what Adul said. "I don't love him that way."
"Oh? Then how do you love him?" Adul inquired.
"I'm not gonna sleep with your grandson, but that doesn't stop me from loving and caring for him as family." Hinata smiles as she recalls the time she spent with her harem. "Not just Tio, Akira, Shu, and Seiji, they're all like the brothers I never had."
"Wait, isn't that worse than getting friend zoned!?" Shu pointed out.
"..." Adul remained quiet.
"I already made no promises whatsoever about changing my feelings, but Tio still wanted to be with me, and I still want to hang out him...sometimes."
"Wow, she's honest." One dragonman commented.
"If you prohibit that, then put your dukes up grandpa! You'll have to beat me to the ground if you think you can control your grandson like that."
"Don't forget about us!" A new voice joined in. Hinata was happy to see belonged to.
Hinata's expression immediately brightened when she saw the armored figure. "Meld!"
Meld was wearing the new armor that Hinata sent to him, and carrying an improved sword. "With all respect sir Adul, Tio means a lot to us as well, you'll have to go through us too."
Just then, Tio spoke up. "They're right Grandfather, it's not just Master, I cherish all of my friends, and I still intend to be with them."
Adul's stern face slowly morphed back to the smile he gave Tio. "Heh, you are as bold as Tio described you, I am relieved that I can trust my grandson with you."
Adul extends his hand, and Hinata grabs it, showing that the dragonmen were now officially part of their army.
Dawn was coming.
Hinata stood at the top of the fortress with her allies, the army all lined up. They watch as the sun start to rise, but instead something else appeared.
"They're here."
Dark crimson mana blotted the sky, the sun was no more than a small dot. The sight of it brought a little bit of fear to everyone. They all kept their gaze on the Divine Mountain, and then...
"The sky...it's cracking."
BOOM
The sky above the temple shattered like glass. This was it...
The final battle has begun.
"THIS IS YOUR SUPREME COMMANDER SPEAKING, THE BATTLE HAS BEGUN, ALL UNITS TO YOUR POSTS!" Lily ordered using the voice enhancement artifact Hinata made. She, Aiko, and Hinata's team all stood at top of the fortress as they watched the troops mobilized. Lily was giving out commands and words of encouragement to the army splendidly.
"Meld, who is that?" Hinata asked.
"T-That's not important." Considering the situation, they all knew it was better to play along. Being the supreme commander, Lily had to stay strong, even if she was crying on the inside.
From the hole above the Divine Mountain, they what seems to be black rain. It was monsters of the demons descending. After that, a torrent of white came out and started flying towards the fortress, apostles. Fittingly, they looked like a swarm of flies fron afar.
"Hehehe, I've been waiting for this." Hinata walks over to a control panel she had made.
The apostles stopped when they suddenly something bright from the sky, it was followed by increased heat. They finally see the source, multiple giant balls of fire were falling from the sky.
It rained on down, specifically the divine where they came from. The mountains were obliterated, all except for the one that Laus's labyrinth. The meteors that were summoned were just metals that were floated up there with gravity magic.
The apostles, who were supposed to be emotionless still felt fear seeing Hinata's power. And Hinata wasn't done scaring them yet. Soon, more light came from the sky. Unfortunately, the apostles were quick to adapt, and dodged them. They immediately went straight up, aiming tk destroy the source.
Unfortunately for them...
Hinata puts on an evil smirk. "These bitches are so predictable."
Small, triangular parts of Hinata's cannon detached themselves, and flew straight down. The apostles easily dodged those along the rays of light, and they were about to strike the cannon, only for them be hit by a ray of light that came from below, killing them
"Wha-"
Little did they know, the little triangles they dodged were actually special mirrors that reflect Hinata's lasers. It was inspired by the lasers Schnee. Using the creation of the liberators to kill these mindless doll, brings oh so much joy to Hinata.
To make things even better, she still wasn't done. "And now..."
With the snap of her fingers, the apostles trying to dodge the lasers suddenly saw bright light coming from above, it wasn't the laser, it was much bigger and brighter than that. What they saw was a giant incoming orb of flames.
It was just another one of Hinata's creations. Nothing to complicated, just a whole bunch of metal put together and floated up with gravity magic. All Hinata did was use gravity magic to bring them down on the mountains. Hinata had made sure that the mountain containing Laus's labyrinth would be kept safe. But the other mountain were reduced to a pie of rubble.
And she's STILL not finished. They all watch as Hinata's canons release a bright glowing, that created a huge explosion, comparable to a nuke. Thousands of apostles and monsters are annihilated before the army even made contact.
Hinata's allies watch in both feat and awe as she maniacally laugh, until she comes to an abrupt stop. "Okay, lets go."
"Just like that!?"
Hinata hands over the control panel to Aiko. "Here Sensei, make sure you kill at least ten thousand lives."
"Uhhhhhh...ok..."
"Seiji, we're leaving things to you, kay?" Hinata turns to the apostle, who was now donning a black color.
Seiji's wings, hair and armor were now pitch black, courtesy of Hinata's new artifact that changed his appearance. It was made to ensure that nobody would mistake Seiji for the mass produced ones. "You got it! Good luck, guys."
For the group heading to the sanctuary, Hinata had prepared a set of hoverboards for each if them, aside from Tio, who can fly on his ow. Replacing her lost airship would've taken much more time than they have. These things were efficient, just like all her vehicles, they just need to use mana.
The group each get on their respective boards, but before Meld got onto his, Hinata approached him. "Hey Meld, did you finish to that thing you had to do?"
Hinata had heard about the fact, that after returning to Heiligh, Meld had said he had other business to handle, and then he went and locked himself in his former room, not coming out until Tio's tribe came.
"Yes, yes I have." Meld confirmed.
"Good, then let's go!"
With that, the group got on their hoverboards, and flew over the battlefield, heading towards the huge hole in the sky. There were still some apostles flying around aiming to stop them, but instead it made them go even faster.
"Don't focus on fighting them, focus on getting pass them!" Hinata commanded, they needed to save as many mana as they can. They charged through the apostles, with a little help. Hinata gave the Haulias some sniper rifles, which are being used to shoot down the apostles like flies.
They eventually reach the gate, despite it's holy look, it felt more like the gates of hell. Hinata took out her inferior crystal key, she had design led it to look more like a dagger, because she knew she was a gonna need a bit if force. It may have been made with Concept Magic, but it's nowhere near as strong as the one she used back then.
Reaching the barrier of the gate, Hinata grips the key, and thrusted it, right into the barrier. As expected, it didn't just shatter like glass like last time, Hinata cam feel Ehit's mana rejecting her and trying to repel her.
As for the others, they were busy warding off the apostles that were aiming for Hinata, while cheering her on. But everytime Hinata pushed harder, so did the barrier. It was getting harder to just keep the key straight, until a big armored hand came in.
"Need a little help?" Meld offered.
Hinata smiled, and the two of them then charge forward. "HAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Cracks formed on the barrier, the fracture grew bigger and bigger, until-
CRASH
A hole was made. "NOW!"
Everyone on the ground cheered as they saw Hinata's group disappear from their sight, knowing Hinata had made it to the sanctuary. With their biggest target gone, the apostles can only do one thing, finish their mission by eliminating the army below.
When the group entered the gate, the first they saw...were colors. A bunch different colors, all moving mixed together.
"Ugh, feels like we're in an optical illusion."
When they hear sanctuary, they were expecting things like standing on white puffy clouds, the pearly gates, stuff like that, not the tie dye disaster they were looking at. The didn't know why, but they were standing on a big, wide, grey wall, and from that wall is a pathway leading...somewhere.
After recovering using some potion, and storing their hoverboards, they nervously followed the path, since that's the way the compass pointed to, and it was the only path available.
As they did, Hinata decided to test something out, she took out one of her bullet and tossed it over the the edge of the path. It fell into the color and sunk, or rather, it was swallowed, like it fell into a swamp.
"Definitely don't want to know what happens if you fall in there."
They keep following the path, until Hinata, who was at the front saw something. "I think...I see the end."
Or at least, what she thought was the end, all she could make out a wall. But before the approached it, Shu spoke up. "Guys, wait!"
"What is it?"
"I saw it, we'll get attacked as soon as we enter."
"Clairvoyance huh? Then bring it on!" Hinata brought out her large shield and charged forward. As soon as they reached the wall, they were immediately attacked by a huge beam of light.
Hinata's shield blocked it all, and they recognizes that attack anywhere, it was the disintegration beam of the apostles, much more powerful than usual. Although it was blocked, it still did some damage to Hinata's shield, which then repaired itself
"Your shield...you enchanted it with regeneration magic." Meld concluded.
"Yup, and I have a lot of other new artifacts, I want to try out." She pulls a gun and a knife. "And what better test subjects than Ehit's little dummies."
As soon as she went through the wall, she was welcomed by the sight of 100 apostles. The group did think it was weird that they didn't get attacked the moment they entered the sanctuary, but this ambush made everything clear.
After Hinata charged forward, it only took precisely one minute for all 100 apostles to fall.
Eri silently looked over the balcony, what she was looking at was her soon to be paradise. Sure it looked desolate and ruined, especially with all her undead soldiers walking around, but a world where only she and Kouki remained is already heaven in her eyes
But there is one thing that needs to be dealt with before she can truly enjoy this, an obstacle named Hinata Nagumo, of course, it's not a big obstacle. All Eri has to do is wait until Ehit kills Nagumo. And since Ehit is the main target, Eri doesn't have to worry about Nagumo coming after her.
Once Ehit kills Nagumo and conquers earth, Eri will officially get everything she wanted. The other bonus, is that Kouki would finally shut up about stopping Nagumo. He might be under Eri'sSoul Bindspell, but her control over him deprived from his refusal to accept reality, such as the fact that Hinata is stronger and more popular.
Of course, even though Hinata's group ignores her, there is another that might try to stop her, Eri's former "friends" so to speak. Eri can imagine Shizuku, Ryutaro, and Kaori all opting to help Suzu, and stop her...
"Yeah right...As if they can do that."