Lia landed on her feet, slicing through the black smoke that the dragon's body kicked up with its crash landing. She couldn't see anything, not that she had to, as the undead monster was screaming in agony, trying to get back to its feet.
"How are we going to burn this thing?" She thought, rushing forward, trying not to breathe in the ancient dust.
By the time Senaita regained her bearings and made the body stand on all fours, Lia was running up on its tail, heading towards the head of it. The Undead mage also realized what had happened, knowing one of her wings was gone, and even though she did not feel Lia's feet hitting the scales on her back, she knew someone had to be on her. With a shake of its body, the dragon blasted away the thick smoke surrounding it, and greenish-dark miasma discharged from around its long-dead vessel.
"...!" Lia tried to teleport, but her connection was again severed now that the realm was fully resealed. She had no other option but to surround herself with her blue flames, trying to burn and freeze away the attack of the Undead. “This… feels like…”
She felt something similar once. When Lucian brought her into No-Space for the first time… the miasma had a very similar effect, tugging at her soul just like No-Space. Lia felt like an invisible hand was trying to grab it and pull it out of her body, and if not for her prior experience, she was sure it would have succeeded too. Luckily, her mind adapted in an instant, resisting it, cutting it away as she jumped off the back of the monster.
"Tsk!" She couldn't help but click her tongue, rolling under the dragon's body, watching it from below. That freakish miasma was something even she couldn't resist for too long. If it could produce it constantly, she wouldn't be able to mount it again.
"Found you! I will rip you apart!" Senaita shouted, glancing at Lia, but what came out of the dragon's mouth was only an animalistic roar. She reared up like a horse and tried to slam down on Lia's body with all her might. That was when black tentacles wrapped around Lia and simply yanked her away before being squashed into a meat paste.
"Thanks!" Lia stood up, panting, looking at the angry face of Aurora, who arrived just in time to save her.
"Boss!" Arrived Keily's voice too, and she could see the rest rushing forward even if they had to face a dragon now.
"Surround the beast and give it everything we got!" Lia yelled and brandished her swords, sending two arcs of blue flames flying forward, crashing against the green miasma surrounding the dragon, which was turning towards them.
"Stay!" Rinzen ordered Rose as she put her down in a circle of six peashooters, left there by Ceiline before joining the group in the battle.
"Who are these… how did they get here? Were they hiding?" Senaita asked herself as multiple spells were hitting her body left and right. She had to redraw her miasma as it was consuming too much energy, with two more of her disciples being killed in the process, turned into pure energy for herself.
She could measure her enemies' strength from the multiple spells, and they were not really that dangerous… except for two. Those weird, chilly blue flames and the ice mage who joined in last. Azurat's body, even after the passing of four eras, was still that of a pure-blood dragon. Its scales had enough hardness to resist-
"Aaaaaargh!" Escaped the painful roar of the monster's mouth, staggering towards the left before she could finish her thoughts.
"Focus where Simbad hit it!" Echoed Lia's shouting on the battlefield.
Just now, Simbad flew up to the sky, spurting energy wings, aiming at the wound where Lia cut off the Undead's wing. Hitting it had an instant effect, sending extreme pain through its body and exposing a significant weakness.
Before another spell could hit it, though, Senaita shielded it with her intact wing, crouching down and opening the dragon's giant mouth, aiming directly at Keily and Koadriana before her. What left her mouth was not fire but a green, bubbling mist, enveloping them instantly.
"Koa! Keily!" Lia shouted, rushing into the miasma, flinging the two of them out of its range.
"She can… resist it?" Senaita asked herself, stopping the spell at once, watching with surprise in her green eyes.
Keily and Koadriana were already unconscious but still alive. Their souls received a violent tug, knocking them out, and when Lia dragged them out, half of their souls were visible for everyone to see. Luckily, now that they were dragged away and Lia knew what to do, she pushed it back to their bodies with her mana.
"Here!" Arrived Ceiline, summoning two peashooters, trying to heal the two, while Raufon also hurried over to proved cover, summoning a wall of earth before them.
Seeing the dragon's momentarily absent-mindedness, the rest attacked once again. Aurora flung herself forward, climbing its body, trying to reach the open wound. Sion was right behind her while Simbad flew towards its head, aiming at those glowing, green eyes, firing light arrows at it from above.
"...!" Senaita came to the realization at the last moment, shutting her eyes, letting the projectiles pierce the dragon's eyelids, scraping against her eyeball. "Die!" She roared in frustration, aiming another breath attack toward Simbad, but he was ready, dodging it. "You pesky- AAARGH!!!!" Senaita screamed again.
While distracted, Aurora and Sion arrived at the injured back of Azurat, and both of them attacked it with everything they had. She was writhing in pain, feeling it with her soul, stomping around like some kind of angry chicken before slipping as the ground suddenly froze over under her. It was the work of Rinzen, and Senatia found herself falling while Sion and Aurora, holding onto each other, jumped off her back before being crushed by the beast's heavy body.
"Noooo!" Senaita cried, raising a hand, and in this case, a paw, blocking the incoming flash of blue flames. Lia arrived right when she fell, slicing with her two swords at the head of Azurat. In the end, it hit the raised dragon paw, clashing against it, throwing bright sparks everywhere. From the outside, it looked as if a grasshopper tried to high-five an elephant out of nowhere. Pressing against it, her blue flames managed to invade the body of Azurat but only froze and then broke off one of its claws, doing no real damage.
"We are not strong enough!" She groaned after landing, trying to gain a distance and stop her hands from trembling. The rebounding force alone fractured all bones in her arms.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Senaita repeated hysterically, still on its back, wriggling, trying to stand up. Controlling this body was getting more complicated, harder, and more challenging by the second.
She started out in confusion; the transferring process was interrupted, and her disciples were dying and being consumed by her just so she could remain sane and force the dragon's body to move and obey her will. Everything was chaotic, and she felt more confused than anything… a very bad omen while occupying another's body. She was starting to panic.
"Where are you already?!" She roared, somehow getting back to her feet, shrugging off another round of attacks, searching… and then she noticed them… the Undead horde, rushing forward. "Finally! Give me your souls!" She breathed in at once.
The Misfits could see as hundreds of Undead fell at once, and a green stream of energy was heading through the air towards the dragon's open mouth.
"Are those… souls?" Sion gasped, recognizing humanoid shapes in that unnatural, bizarre energy flow, making the hair stand on his back.
"Don't let her!" Screamed Lia, guessing at what was going on.
It was Rinzen who acted the fastest. She rushed to the sky, summoning icy platforms below her legs, arriving at the same level, right between the green cloud and the open mouth of Azurat. She breathed out a huge, pale blue cloud, a chilly mist spreading far and wide before her. It was so cold that even Senaita shuddered as Rinzen's spell froze all the flowing souls. One of them, the same girl's spirit who went to report to Senaita, couldn't help but watch the people on the ground… recognizing them. A small, sad smile crept onto her face, regaining her clarity at the last moment.
"Thank you… Misfits…” She murmured before being turned into ice and then shattering into tiny pieces like everyone else around her.
"..." Senaita was on the verge of crying by now. Watching the exhausted Rinzen falling off her platform, being caught by Simbad mid-air, she wanted to rage but had no outlet for it.
It was then she realized she was running out of energy. There were barely any direct disciples left alive… all those useless ones were also gone now… she lost the battle. She had to get out before leaving the dragon's body, or she would be extremely vulnerable in here, being cut off from No-Space and her escape route.
"This can't be…" Senaita stumbled again as the Misfits continued attacking, not giving her any respite. Was she going to be defeated? By… nobodies? No… they were not nobodies. She realized these were precisely what any Grand Elder would want… what any Supreme Elder would want. She turned her gaze towards them, memorizing their features, mana signatures, everything. She will bring this back to them and present it as a gift… this has to be worthy of pardon for her failure. "What…?" She shuddered, ignoring all the pain in her soul as her gaze fell onto the body of Rose in the distance. "A Seer?! HERE?!"
She already forgot everything. No longer bothering with the Misfits, their attacks, or with the rapidly depleting energies of hers. Those eyes… hidden under that useless strip of cloth... that was unmistakable. It was the signature eyes of their Sect. All the Sect Masters were born with one throughout the many, tens of thousands of history of their Sect. It could not be inherited; it was a gift of Meriath, appearing randomly throughout its history. Its natural, emerald brilliance was above any of what the disciples or elders managed to cultivate. Only their Sect Master had the same gift in the current time, and his powers were unfathomable.
"I need that…" She licked her lips, giving up on all previous thoughts. She was not about to present that body, that soul… no… she will have it for herself. She will cultivate the Sect's techniques to the pinnacle with a gift like that. She will be… invincible! She will be truly immortal!
Senaita didn't hesitate. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Misfits watched in horror as the dragon's body suddenly stopped moving and started to fall apart. She consumed all of her remaining disciples' souls to make sure her own had enough power to remain whole after exiting the dragon and invading the body of Rose. Taking over a child's form and consuming her soul should be an easy move… she just has to make sure to play the role perfectly while she is brought out with them…
"What is happening?" Raufon asked, panting, watching the crumbling body of Azurat.
"Probably… ran out of energy…?" Rinzen replied, breathing heavily.
Before Lia could say anything, an explosion swept them off their feet, originating from the dragon, sending greenish light everywhere. Lia was the only one who did not squint or close her eyes, feeling something was wrong. There had to be a trap somewhere… that is when she saw it. A faint, barely visible soul of a woman streaking forward, heading straight for…
"Rose!" She screamed, scrambling to her feet, rushing ahead, trying to teleport, but even if she could, it would have been useless as everything happened instantly.
Rose could see everything transpiring plainly. The explosion was caused by the leading soul inside the monster. It made the last ones that were still holding out explode, using it as a cover to fly straight at her. The friendly peashooters around her seemed oblivious to it, and the only one who caught a glimpse of what was happening was Lia. The little girl wanted to scream and run, but a moment later, she was already immobilized and could no longer command her own body.
"A bit weak… but at least you never cultivated your body or mind. Which s perfect for me!" She heard a foreign voice speaking directly into her ear and saw her hands move but couldn't do anything to stop it. "Now… get lost, kid!"
Indescribable pain washed over Rose the moment Senaita stopped speaking. It was as if tiny ants were eating her body, her soul, devouring her from the inside out. Senatia was absorbing Rose's soul, reading her memories, planning to masquerade as Rose until she could be lost in the world and grow to power.
"I see… No wonder..." Senaita murmured, gaining the name of Lia and Rinzen, and as she raised her head, she saw the former standing before her with swords drawn, looking down at her, breathing heavily.
"Boss!"
"Lia!"
The others were also rushing over, unsure of what was happening.
"You won… you… killed the monster!" Rose spoke in her weak, frail voice, sounding awed and amazed, even taking off the blindfold so she could look at Lia with her emerald, gem-like eyes, ignoring the painful screams in her mind, belonging to the real Rose, being devoured.
What Lia saw in it was not at all what she saw in Rose. It changed… It was different… It was... Death. Now those eyes really had the look of an Undead's. What was speaking now was not Rose anymore.
"I'm so sorry…" Lia said, tears flowing down her cheek, and before Senaita could utter another word, she stabbed Rose's body through the heart with her sword, nailing her to the ground.
With a painful cry coming from Lia's throat, she turned Rose into ice, enveloping both her body and soul with her blue flames, making them shatter into millions of pieces. The rest of the Misfits stopped at once, watching Lia, then the spot where Rose was a moment before, right until they were snapped out of it by the rattling of Lia's sword in her shaking hand. Aurora was about to step forward when a loud explosion echoed through the sub-realm, and everyone looked at its source except Lia, who was still watching the spot where Rose was kneeling a second earlier.
"GIRLS!" Echoed the shout of Reyra as she flew in, tearing the fabric of the realm apart just to get in, chasing the dusk away with a blinding, bright, golden light, illuminating everything as she flew forward like a meteor.
Corty (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ (｡•́︿•̀｡)
Lia landed on her feet, slicing through the black smoke that the dragon's body kicked up with its crash landing. She couldn't see anything, not that she had to, as the undead monster was screaming in agony, trying to get back to its feet.
"How are we going to burn this thing?" She thought, rushing forward, trying not to breathe in the ancient dust.
By the time Senaita regained her bearings and made the body stand on all fours, Lia was running up on its tail, heading towards the head of it. The Undead mage also realized what had happened, knowing one of her wings was gone, and even though she did not feel Lia's feet hitting the scales on her back, she knew someone had to be on her. With a shake of its body, the dragon blasted away the thick smoke surrounding it, and greenish-dark miasma discharged from around its long-dead vessel.
"...!" Lia tried to teleport, but her connection was again severed now that the realm was fully resealed. She had no other option but to surround herself with her blue flames, trying to burn and freeze away the attack of the Undead. “This… feels like…”
She felt something similar once. When Lucian brought her into No-Space for the first time… the miasma had a very similar effect, tugging at her soul just like No-Space. Lia felt like an invisible hand was trying to grab it and pull it out of her body, and if not for her prior experience, she was sure it would have succeeded too. Luckily, her mind adapted in an instant, resisting it, cutting it away as she jumped off the back of the monster.
"Tsk!" She couldn't help but click her tongue, rolling under the dragon's body, watching it from below. That freakish miasma was something even she couldn't resist for too long. If it could produce it constantly, she wouldn't be able to mount it again.
"Found you! I will rip you apart!" Senaita shouted, glancing at Lia, but what came out of the dragon's mouth was only an animalistic roar. She reared up like a horse and tried to slam down on Lia's body with all her might. That was when black tentacles wrapped around Lia and simply yanked her away before being squashed into a meat paste.
"Thanks!" Lia stood up, panting, looking at the angry face of Aurora, who arrived just in time to save her.
"Boss!" Arrived Keily's voice too, and she could see the rest rushing forward even if they had to face a dragon now.
"Surround the beast and give it everything we got!" Lia yelled and brandished her swords, sending two arcs of blue flames flying forward, crashing against the green miasma surrounding the dragon, which was turning towards them.
"Stay!" Rinzen ordered Rose as she put her down in a circle of six peashooters, left there by Ceiline before joining the group in the battle.
"Who are these… how did they get here? Were they hiding?" Senaita asked herself as multiple spells were hitting her body left and right. She had to redraw her miasma as it was consuming too much energy, with two more of her disciples being killed in the process, turned into pure energy for herself.
She could measure her enemies' strength from the multiple spells, and they were not really that dangerous… except for two. Those weird, chilly blue flames and the ice mage who joined in last. Azurat's body, even after the passing of four eras, was still that of a pure-blood dragon. Its scales had enough hardness to resist-
"Aaaaaargh!" Escaped the painful roar of the monster's mouth, staggering towards the left before she could finish her thoughts.
"Focus where Simbad hit it!" Echoed Lia's shouting on the battlefield.
Just now, Simbad flew up to the sky, spurting energy wings, aiming at the wound where Lia cut off the Undead's wing. Hitting it had an instant effect, sending extreme pain through its body and exposing a significant weakness.
Before another spell could hit it, though, Senaita shielded it with her intact wing, crouching down and opening the dragon's giant mouth, aiming directly at Keily and Koadriana before her. What left her mouth was not fire but a green, bubbling mist, enveloping them instantly.
"Koa! Keily!" Lia shouted, rushing into the miasma, flinging the two of them out of its range.
"She can… resist it?" Senaita asked herself, stopping the spell at once, watching with surprise in her green eyes.
Keily and Koadriana were already unconscious but still alive. Their souls received a violent tug, knocking them out, and when Lia dragged them out, half of their souls were visible for everyone to see. Luckily, now that they were dragged away and Lia knew what to do, she pushed it back to their bodies with her mana.
"Here!" Arrived Ceiline, summoning two peashooters, trying to heal the two, while Raufon also hurried over to proved cover, summoning a wall of earth before them.
Seeing the dragon's momentarily absent-mindedness, the rest attacked once again. Aurora flung herself forward, climbing its body, trying to reach the open wound. Sion was right behind her while Simbad flew towards its head, aiming at those glowing, green eyes, firing light arrows at it from above.
"...!" Senaita came to the realization at the last moment, shutting her eyes, letting the projectiles pierce the dragon's eyelids, scraping against her eyeball. "Die!" She roared in frustration, aiming another breath attack toward Simbad, but he was ready, dodging it. "You pesky- AAARGH!!!!" Senaita screamed again.
While distracted, Aurora and Sion arrived at the injured back of Azurat, and both of them attacked it with everything they had. She was writhing in pain, feeling it with her soul, stomping around like some kind of angry chicken before slipping as the ground suddenly froze over under her. It was the work of Rinzen, and Senatia found herself falling while Sion and Aurora, holding onto each other, jumped off her back before being crushed by the beast's heavy body.
"Noooo!" Senaita cried, raising a hand, and in this case, a paw, blocking the incoming flash of blue flames. Lia arrived right when she fell, slicing with her two swords at the head of Azurat. In the end, it hit the raised dragon paw, clashing against it, throwing bright sparks everywhere. From the outside, it looked as if a grasshopper tried to high-five an elephant out of nowhere. Pressing against it, her blue flames managed to invade the body of Azurat but only froze and then broke off one of its claws, doing no real damage.
"We are not strong enough!" She groaned after landing, trying to gain a distance and stop her hands from trembling. The rebounding force alone fractured all bones in her arms.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Senaita repeated hysterically, still on its back, wriggling, trying to stand up. Controlling this body was getting more complicated, harder, and more challenging by the second.
She started out in confusion; the transferring process was interrupted, and her disciples were dying and being consumed by her just so she could remain sane and force the dragon's body to move and obey her will. Everything was chaotic, and she felt more confused than anything… a very bad omen while occupying another's body. She was starting to panic.
"Where are you already?!" She roared, somehow getting back to her feet, shrugging off another round of attacks, searching… and then she noticed them… the Undead horde, rushing forward. "Finally! Give me your souls!" She breathed in at once.
The Misfits could see as hundreds of Undead fell at once, and a green stream of energy was heading through the air towards the dragon's open mouth.
"Are those… souls?" Sion gasped, recognizing humanoid shapes in that unnatural, bizarre energy flow, making the hair stand on his back.
"Don't let her!" Screamed Lia, guessing at what was going on.
It was Rinzen who acted the fastest. She rushed to the sky, summoning icy platforms below her legs, arriving at the same level, right between the green cloud and the open mouth of Azurat. She breathed out a huge, pale blue cloud, a chilly mist spreading far and wide before her. It was so cold that even Senaita shuddered as Rinzen's spell froze all the flowing souls. One of them, the same girl's spirit who went to report to Senaita, couldn't help but watch the people on the ground… recognizing them. A small, sad smile crept onto her face, regaining her clarity at the last moment.
"Thank you… Misfits…” She murmured before being turned into ice and then shattering into tiny pieces like everyone else around her.
"..." Senaita was on the verge of crying by now. Watching the exhausted Rinzen falling off her platform, being caught by Simbad mid-air, she wanted to rage but had no outlet for it.
It was then she realized she was running out of energy. There were barely any direct disciples left alive… all those useless ones were also gone now… she lost the battle. She had to get out before leaving the dragon's body, or she would be extremely vulnerable in here, being cut off from No-Space and her escape route.
"This can't be…" Senaita stumbled again as the Misfits continued attacking, not giving her any respite. Was she going to be defeated? By… nobodies? No… they were not nobodies. She realized these were precisely what any Grand Elder would want… what any Supreme Elder would want. She turned her gaze towards them, memorizing their features, mana signatures, everything. She will bring this back to them and present it as a gift… this has to be worthy of pardon for her failure. "What…?" She shuddered, ignoring all the pain in her soul as her gaze fell onto the body of Rose in the distance. "A Seer?! HERE?!"
She already forgot everything. No longer bothering with the Misfits, their attacks, or with the rapidly depleting energies of hers. Those eyes… hidden under that useless strip of cloth... that was unmistakable. It was the signature eyes of their Sect. All the Sect Masters were born with one throughout the many, tens of thousands of history of their Sect. It could not be inherited; it was a gift of Meriath, appearing randomly throughout its history. Its natural, emerald brilliance was above any of what the disciples or elders managed to cultivate. Only their Sect Master had the same gift in the current time, and his powers were unfathomable.
"I need that…" She licked her lips, giving up on all previous thoughts. She was not about to present that body, that soul… no… she will have it for herself. She will cultivate the Sect's techniques to the pinnacle with a gift like that. She will be… invincible! She will be truly immortal!
Senaita didn't hesitate. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Misfits watched in horror as the dragon's body suddenly stopped moving and started to fall apart. She consumed all of her remaining disciples' souls to make sure her own had enough power to remain whole after exiting the dragon and invading the body of Rose. Taking over a child's form and consuming her soul should be an easy move… she just has to make sure to play the role perfectly while she is brought out with them…
"What is happening?" Raufon asked, panting, watching the crumbling body of Azurat.
"Probably… ran out of energy…?" Rinzen replied, breathing heavily.
Before Lia could say anything, an explosion swept them off their feet, originating from the dragon, sending greenish light everywhere. Lia was the only one who did not squint or close her eyes, feeling something was wrong. There had to be a trap somewhere… that is when she saw it. A faint, barely visible soul of a woman streaking forward, heading straight for…
"Rose!" She screamed, scrambling to her feet, rushing ahead, trying to teleport, but even if she could, it would have been useless as everything happened instantly.
Rose could see everything transpiring plainly. The explosion was caused by the leading soul inside the monster. It made the last ones that were still holding out explode, using it as a cover to fly straight at her. The friendly peashooters around her seemed oblivious to it, and the only one who caught a glimpse of what was happening was Lia. The little girl wanted to scream and run, but a moment later, she was already immobilized and could no longer command her own body.
"A bit weak… but at least you never cultivated your body or mind. Which s perfect for me!" She heard a foreign voice speaking directly into her ear and saw her hands move but couldn't do anything to stop it. "Now… get lost, kid!"
Indescribable pain washed over Rose the moment Senaita stopped speaking. It was as if tiny ants were eating her body, her soul, devouring her from the inside out. Senatia was absorbing Rose's soul, reading her memories, planning to masquerade as Rose until she could be lost in the world and grow to power.
"I see… No wonder..." Senaita murmured, gaining the name of Lia and Rinzen, and as she raised her head, she saw the former standing before her with swords drawn, looking down at her, breathing heavily.
"Boss!"
"Lia!"
The others were also rushing over, unsure of what was happening.
"You won… you… killed the monster!" Rose spoke in her weak, frail voice, sounding awed and amazed, even taking off the blindfold so she could look at Lia with her emerald, gem-like eyes, ignoring the painful screams in her mind, belonging to the real Rose, being devoured.
What Lia saw in it was not at all what she saw in Rose. It changed… It was different… It was... Death. Now those eyes really had the look of an Undead's. What was speaking now was not Rose anymore.
"I'm so sorry…" Lia said, tears flowing down her cheek, and before Senaita could utter another word, she stabbed Rose's body through the heart with her sword, nailing her to the ground.
With a painful cry coming from Lia's throat, she turned Rose into ice, enveloping both her body and soul with her blue flames, making them shatter into millions of pieces. The rest of the Misfits stopped at once, watching Lia, then the spot where Rose was a moment before, right until they were snapped out of it by the rattling of Lia's sword in her shaking hand. Aurora was about to step forward when a loud explosion echoed through the sub-realm, and everyone looked at its source except Lia, who was still watching the spot where Rose was kneeling a second earlier.
"GIRLS!" Echoed the shout of Reyra as she flew in, tearing the fabric of the realm apart just to get in, chasing the dusk away with a blinding, bright, golden light, illuminating everything as she flew forward like a meteor.
Corty (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ (｡•́︿•̀｡)
