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Chapter 229: The Necromancer. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2021-10-03 03:29:20 +0000 UTCEdit: A few more details for the fight. Saori's profile update, also includes her current shadow beasts.
Edit 2: Same as 228. Syntax and no more Saori's catalyst mention. In exchange, Saori will throw her jacket away like a badass.
____________________________________
“Charge! Fight for me with your new lives!”
Like a mob, the moving corpses of the mercenaries we’d killed charged at us, swinging their weapons at us in a wanton frenzy. At this moment, the laughter of the necromancer sounded like that of a tyrant deliberately sending in fodder to be sacrificed.
Haste! Shadow Armament fully on!
<[Shadow Armament (Full Body)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
As ordered, my shadow armor completely shrouded me in its blackness as I shot out a black lightning bolt. Kaian and I then charged forward, slicing the undead apart. As lightning, metal, and shadow claws rained around in a flurry, I noticed halfway through this skirmish that a few undead ran past us, ignoring us for the people behind.
<[Lifetaker (40 Kills)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
“Wiieaaaaaaah! Monsters!!!”
The slaves!
Were they the real targets all along? Of course! If we defeated the mercenaries when they were still alive and able to use their weapon abilities, then it was obvious brainless versions of them wouldn’t provide much value. I was too distracted.
I blasted the zombies around me away with an electric shockwave before shooting out [Dark Tendrils] at the ones who’d already made it past me. However, before the tendrils caught up to them, a giant ice golem wider and taller than the hallway emerged from a cyan magic circle, completely blocking the way to the slaves. With a single punch, undead body parts flew back into the mob.
“Leave the defense to me, Miss Saori!” Tasianna declared before warding off multiple incoming fire spells. Fortunately, their accuracy was questionable at best - whatever wasn’t stopped by Tasianna’s immediate [Sapphire Membrane] ended up scorching the zombies.
“Where are you aiming with those shots, fire follower?! You are harming our men!” the swordsman, Masalim, exclaimed to the fire mage, Helmut. “They might be undead, but watch your aim!”
“Hmph! Your mistress can heal them. The important thing is for us to retrieve those damn slaves! And kill that blue-haired fae!”
The moment Helmut mentioned healing, the necromancer called out “Flesh for Mana,” invoking a black magic circle that reformed the bodies of the undead inside it. Even those turned into torches had their muscles and skin repaired at the same time it was being melted off. In a couple of seconds, all the undead were back on their feet, ready for battle once again.
Aim for the mage!
“Kaian, good luck!” I said before diving into my shadow with [Shadow Dash].
“Huh? Oi, wait, where are you—” His words cut off the moment I was inside the shadow world, moving towards my target. In the next moment, I jumped out of a shadow, my daggers in hand as I aimed for the back of the necromancer.
“Your opponent am I!” With a loud metal clang, my daggers slammed against the scimitar of Masalim, the merc having properly protected his company boss. As I clicked my tongue, I noticed the wind around his sword increasing, causing me to back off.
Using [Dark Tendrils] to pull me into the shadow I jumped out from, I used [Shadow Dash] to reappear out from underneath Masalim before kicking him away from the necromancer. Wrapping my shadow armament around my daggers, the blade grew to the length of a short sword, allowing me to attack the necromancer from a longer distance.
“Kiek! Truly, you are an experienced dark mage, but so am I! Death cometh, Deathly Wave!”
My [True Wolven Instinct] activated, warning me I should avoid this spell at all cost. Using [Gale Steps], I slipped past the activation area of the spell, barely dodging the giant wave of concentrated dark mana. I had [Tenebrous Resistance Lv. 1] and [Penumbral Armament], so most dark spells shouldn’t be able to deal too much damage, but I knew better than to take unknown attacks head-on.
“Strings to move the deceased, Undead Puppet!”
Before I could counter, the necromancer forcefully pulled an undead with her mana, swiftly accelerating it at me. Dodging it was easy; the body flew past me and exploded against the wall into a bloody mess, but this gave enough time for the swordsman to reenter the fight.
“I call for your help, Aerobis!” The swordsman swung his sword, blasting a small tornado, damaging me with small cuts. As I escaped the full brunt of the attack with [Shadow Dash], the moment I reappeared, a humanoid made entirely of air formed behind the swordsman.
Huh? Identi— Kuso! Baffled by this being, I tried to appraise it but a sharp bone stopped my attempt, pushing me back onto the defense. I was not allowed to take a breather.
Bone? Ah, the body! Whatever spell the necromancer cast allowed her not only to control the body but also its individual pieces after it became bloody modern art, shooting sharp bones and flesh to distract me.
“Inferno Blast!”
“Aero Blade!”
Fire and wind attacks sandwiched me between them. Even with [Haste] speeding up my reaction time and movement, it didn’t speed up my spell casting time. Unable to dodge, I decided it was impossible not to take damage. As such, relying on my [Inferno Resistance Lv. 5] and shadow armor, I charged through the giant fireball.
Hmph! This is nothing compared to Hestia’s!
“What the fuck!” Helmut cried out as I pounced at him. [Shadow Armament] prevented me from catching on fire, providing an opportunity to leech off some Health.
Just Blink! Gale Steps! Shadow Pierce! Disappearing from everybody’s consciousness for a single second, I executed a [Gale Steps] to close the distance between Helmut and me to thrust a shadow-covered blade towards his heart.
“Kueark!” He screamed in pain. It was a direct hit… but, unfortunately, it wasn’t a direct hit to his heart.
Damn, body blocked, literally! What stopped my blade was the regenerating body of that undead necromancer used as a projectile. This time, it barely saved Helmut’s life with a hand, giving Helmut a chance to escape.
Regardless, my attack did what it needed to. With my unique skill [Stygian Blades], any damage I dealt with [Shadow Armament] would heal me from a percentage of the damage. I was healed, and, with that done, I focused my attention back on the necromancer. I had to deal with her.
“You bitch, you dare—”
“Icicle Gale!”
“Arhhhk! Fuck, you damn ice witch!”
Fire and ice; Helmut could not ignore Tasianna who was aiming for his life. Kaian still had to deal with the horde of regenerating zombies while Tasianna could handle Helmut for me. All I needed was to do my job — assassinate the necromancer!
“Claws of Darkness! Shadow Dash.” A giant hand with sharp claws descended at the swordsman as I slipped back into my shadow. Using my travel time to think, I reevaluated my situation and thought of a new fighting plan.
My pack, gather! It’s hunting time!
As I reemerged from the shadow, an instant wind slash shot right at my head. Using my shadow armor, I controlled the shadow to produce a shield, blocking the attack to give me time to finish jumping out of the shadow world.
I threw two of my daggers, each aiming at the mana lamps illuminating this hallway, leaving everything except the areas Helmut set ablaze in the dark. Using [Telepathy], I called for Tasianna’s help to douse them.
While I continued dodging, eventually, the area around me became the perfect hunting ground for my pack and me!
Garms!
Four garms sprang up, tearing any zombies in their way into scrap meat. White mana threads flowed behind them, bursting into bright lights, stunning the zombies around, giving Kaian a chance to mow down the enemy around him. As a side effect, it also halted their regeneration.
“What?! Where did that holy magic come from?!” the necromancer shouted in bafflement.
Mana thread made from Hestia’s holy mana. My shadow garms damaged themselves when they activated the threads, since they, too, counted as dark elemental beasts, but it was a small price to pay to cripple the undead. As my garms helped Kaian out with the culling, the necromancer had to focus on keeping her army from falling apart, giving me a chance to deal with this swordsman.
“A nice being of air you have there.” I tried to open him up to reveal what it was, but that didn’t lead to anything.
“Must we speak when we duel, My Lady? A worthy opponent stands in our way, letting our might make conversation is a must in this situation! Engarde!” The time for talk was over and the battle continued.
Identify!
<Wind Djinn: An intermediate wind elemental mostly found in the desert area of Evida, able to control and conjure wind through mana. When bound by contract to a being of flesh and blood, allows the contractee to control wind magic>
Djinn? Wait, it’s an elemental?
I’d heard about elementals before from Silva’s description, but I didn’t know they were called djinns. Regardless, I didn’t have the time to think about that; it was good enough for me to know what I was dealing with.
I stuck with a defensive approach, for now, making sure I understood Masalim’s fighting style. From what I managed to appraise from his profile, all of his magic and spells came from his djinn and the catalyst inside his sword, making them rather limited. His skills with the sword, on the other hand, were no joke.
“Desert Sand Swirl!” Masalim activated an ability, and his sword danced around like a cyclone, swerving in difficult to counter arcs. To me, though, they felt a bit too slow. [True Wolven Bloodlust] and [Night’s Caress] boosted my Agility depending on the number of kills I’ve made recently and how little light was around respectively. Reacting to his attack was no problem.
Still, he wasn’t unskilled.
Whenever I tried to cast a new spell, he would dash right in with his djinn’s power and interrupt me. All of these were wind spells, making them fairly easy to predict, but Masalim wasn’t the caster here, but rather it was his djinn — it was a similar strategy to Hestia and her parallel minds. Hestia moved her body while her parallel minds cast the spells.
“You are an able fighter, My Lady, but you are holding back! You dishonor me with this gesture!” Wind focused around his legs and arms before he activated [Gale Steps], launching himself forward. A cloak of wind surrounded his blade, empowering its next attack with an air blade.
Speed versus speed, huh? Dark Tendrils. Gale Steps!
I dodged the cleave attack at the last possible moment to not allow Masalim to redirect his attack. As the ground sundered with his attack, he twisted his wrist and shot an uppercut at me. The attack moved closer and closer to my eyes…
… before my [Dark Tendrils] erupted from the shadows around us.
“What?!”
One set of tendrils wrapped themselves around the swordsman’s ankle as another grabbed me out of the sword’s attack and into a shadow. Using the darkened hallway to my advantage, I reappeared out of another dark place and sliced bits of the mercenary’s armor with a sharp claw before letting another set of dark tendrils grab me.
When I launched my next attack, the swordsman activated his catalyst again to produce an [Air Shield]-like barrier, but before I got caught in it, another black tentacle pulled me into another shadow from a different angle. If there was no way for him to deal with this, then I would continue this maneuver until I got a clear hit. And with every second, my launch speed increased.
“Dammit!” Wind flew around, destroying the hallway, but none of it hit me. He managed to keep his cool, never overreacting to an attack… but taking too long to think of an attack was a detriment when fighting against me.
The moment I appeared from a blind spot—
— I made my killing move.
Black lightning around my dagger as I jumped around, destroying the air shield around him in a single slash before throwing the dagger at Masalim, cutting off his sword arm. With a loud “Kuuuuuargh!” he left himself open for a lightning bolt, which stunned him long enough for me to land a clean heartpiercer.
“Kffpah…”
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]’s Job [Monster Master] has risen from [Level 6] to [Level 14]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<[Lifetaker (41 Kills)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
As I ripped my hand out from his chest, I threw the body of the swordsman into my storage, preventing the necromancer from raising him. After I retrieved my thrown daggers, I dashed towards the necromancer. With her guard down, she was vulnerable as ever.
“Haha! Brilliant! Of course, somebody watched over by Mother Goddess would have to be this talented! A C rank mercenary is nothing for you, right, fellow Sister? Right?!” the necromancer screamed as she blasted another [Deathly Wave], pushing me back into a shadow. When I reappeared before her to slice her with a thunderstrike, she cast another spell.
“Dance in my protection, Casket of Souls!”
Weird skull-like wisps appeared around the necromancer, nullifying my attack completely and reflecting it. As I was left off-guard from my hand bouncing back, I only managed to narrowly dodge the next [Deathly Wave] with the help of my tendrils. However, while I did dodge the full attack…
…I did not dodge it completely.
<[Necrosis (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
Necrosis?!
As I dived into the shadow, pain suddenly appeared around my left hand. Retreating the [Shadow Armamnet] around it, I noticed my hand were slowly turning a deathly black. The spread wasn’t super fast, thankfully, but my fingers were already a lost cause by now.
P-Potion!
I took out a [Major Healing Potion] Tasianna made from Belzac herbs and drank half of it before pouring the other half over my hand. I had no idea which method would work for this case, but one of them had to, right?
Well, while I felt optimistic that my Health was going up and that the necrotic skin was being peeled off, replaced by healthy ones, the effects of [Necrosis (Minor)] — the system-based curse — did not disappear. As if this game-like system was fucking me over, the tips of my finger began to rot once again.
Dammit, dammit, dammit! What the fuck am I supposed to do! If I leave it untreated, I’ll lose my hand! I-I need to get to Hestia! Argh! I need to calm down!
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]’s Job [Monster Master] has risen from [Level 14] to [Level 17]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
I did not have any potions that could heal me from this. A drastic method to solve this would be to cut my fingers off and put them into my storage, taking advantage of its time-stopping method to halt the necrosis. The other option would be to endure it and to push the effects back with potions. Either way, I needed Hestia to stop this!
With [Shadow Armament], I can conjure up fingers with shadows. I would be wasting potions if I chose the second option. Damnit, fuck me! Argh, what the hell are my thinking patterns?! Even if I cut my fingers, I had no guarantee that [Necrosis (Minor)] would disappear!
… Argh, fuck!
I dashed out of my shadow, having chosen the second option.
“Oooh, what took you so long? While you were gone, I had everything handled, kiek kiek kiek!” The necromancer pointed with her staff in the direction of the others.
Looking over, I saw what happened when I took too long to conclude. Helmut was dead, slain by Tasianna’s ice spears. I didn’t notice his death before, but I had noticed my job level had risen to 17. Was Helmut’s death the reason?
Nevertheless, that wasn’t the problem, the problem was that he was raised to undeath, turning him into an [Undead Mage] capable of using spells, unlike the raised mercenaries. Speaking of those people, their corpses morphed together into a twisted construct of flesh and bones, moaning eerie hymns as they challenged Kaian and my garms.
“Kiek kiek kiek! If only I had Masalim’s body… Strangely, only his hand was left. What did you do to the corpse? I could have turned him into a pretty strong temporary death knight.” The necromancers' interest was only in creating stronger minions.
“Soooo, my fellow Sister of Darkness, how do you like Goddess Death’s gift? Necromancy is the power to control both life and death at the same time, and nothing but the holiest light can cleanse it! Cut off your fingers, and you may save your hand, Sister!”
So cutting my fingers would have been enough?!
The pain coursing through my fingers felt like small ants eating up my skin and flesh. My instincts were yelling at me to follow Necromancer Fulsara’s advice, but somehow, coming out of my shadow gave my mind time to reset. The stress of seeing my hand corrode away didn’t disappear, but I wasn’t in a rush to solve it.
After all…
“Hiehie.” With sweat forming on my forehead, I smirked. “You should make sure your creation does not just die after all the effort, right?” This time, I was the one to point to the side.
“Huh?”
… no need to fear with Tasianna around.
“Aifli eir Vintral! Tor Eiclere’s Finulaflei!” With wings of ice forming behind Tasianna’s back, the hallway’s temperature dropped significantly and a magic circle formed underneath the undead abomination and undead Helmut. “Garms! Panther! Retreat!”
“No need to tell me twice!”
“““““Wruf!””””
The moment my garms retreated into their shadows and Kaian dodged out of it, a snowstorm was invoked.
“Kruuuaaflllaaaash!”
“Uuuuuuuuuuunnnnh…”
“Arck! What is this spell’s power?!”
The moans of the two undead were muffled by the rage of ice blades ripping through their bodies and freezing them at the same time. Tasianna’s [Tor Eiclere’s Finulaflei] was a large-scale spell she designed to take down large monsters. A few undead was nothing against this force… Neither was the hallway.
Cracks appeared on the wall and ceiling, causing blocks of stone to fall and crumble from the merciless cold Tasianna was producing. Tasianna’s mage stats weren’t as high as Hestia’s, but her mastery of her catalyst was far greater.
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]’s Job [Monster Master] has risen from [Level 17] to [Level 18]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
“My creations! Nooooooo!” Frozen to the core, the undead turned into frozen popsicles, apparently unable to be controlled, seeing as how the necromancer was screaming.
[“Everybody has made it out, Miss Saori. Ellaine told me we will rendezvous outside!”]
Good.
Back in a good mood, I took something round from my storage and threw it over to the necromancer. “Hey, catch.”
“What?! H-Huh?! A bomb! C-Come out, Zykos! Flesh for Mana!”
Whether it was her instincts or her skills, the necromancer did not take any risks as the bomb exploded into white flames, scorching the whole area in Hestia’s holy fire. As I dived into my shadow, the hallway finally crumbled from the impact of the attack, causing a landfall.
Her [Casket of Souls] thing is weak to holy, huh? Obvious. Still, I wish I had the chance to appraise her to see what that spell did. Shame.
Although I was acting like the fight had ended, it hadn’t quite finished yet. After all, my next [Shadow Dash] target was exactly right next to her.
When I slipped out, I saw a tall skeletal being with minimal flesh holding up the rocks, preventing the necromancer from being crushed. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter since it was an undead, a being susceptible to Hestia’s fire.
“Dammit, why can’t I extinguish this fire!”
I drank another potion to push back any progress the necrosis had made on my hands before putting my jacket in my storage, unveiling all the white fur from the tips of my fingers to my shoulders. With black electricity crackling, these hair strands began to stand up like that of a porcupine’s.
“Guek!” I groaned, seeing as the necrosis once again returned.
Regardless, it was a small price to pay for the results. Black lightning completely covered my body, shocking everything around me like a plasma globe. Using [Gale Steps], I dashed forward, increasing the potency of the lightning even further and further!
“Arck! Come, Sister of the Dark Gods! Death cometh, Deathly Wave! D—”
I crashed my lightning-infused body against the wave of concentrated erosion, relying on my shadow armor and lightning to protect me from immediately dying to it. Dodging this with [Shadow Dash] would have given the necromancer enough time to cast the next spell. It was all of nothing now, or this fight will be prolonged even further!
I had to take the risk!
Like the blade of the [Boltreaver Wyvern] Astalos, I cleaved through the wave with my black lightning. Black air still assaulted me though, but I was fully confident that my [Shadow Armament] would prevent the worst after it had mutated with [Penumbral Armament].
I had to believe!
<[Necrosis (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
“—ance in my protection, Casket o—”
Then I pounced.
“Voltage Impact!”
<Stygian ability gained: [Voltage Impact]>
With the howling of a thunderclap, the black lightning struck the necromancer’s body, eviscerating and atomizing her from her stomach up. The blast affected even the surroundings behind her, destroying the skeleton she’d summoned and all the rubble, including the rest of the hallway.
With the slaves gone, my garms inside my shadow, and Tasianna and Kaian hiding away, there was no need to hold back anymore. I couldn’t bring this ability’s full power out against the geisenlarg, I had fucked up the activation. But tonight—
— lightning struck.
“OnCE—GIGIGI! MORE. PURE ECSTASY! GODDESS DEATH, I MEET YOU ONCE AGAIN! GIIIIEIEGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Her clothes and flesh disappeared. The necromancer known as Fulsara evaporated before my eyes until a weird crystalline orb was all that was left, but even that only withstood my attack for a couple more seconds before cracking and turning to dust.
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa] has risen from [Level 5] to [Level 6]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<Acquired 650 skill points>
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]’s Job [Monster Master] has risen from [Level 18] to [Level 20]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<Max level of Job [Monster Master] has been reached>
<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Shadow Armament Lv. 9] [Stygian Blades Lv. 2] [Stygian Voltage Lv. 2] [Battle Mind Lv. 9] [Monster Tamer Lv. 4] [Monster Synergist Lv. 3] gained>
<Acquisition requirement fulfilled. [Erosion Resistance Lv. 1] gained>
<[Lifetaker (42 Kills)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
A level from the geisenlarg queen and now another from this necromancer? Kuso, I forgot to check her level! How high of a level was she?
But that thought could be left for later, instead turning my focus on observing my handiwork — the whole basement was destroyed and I could see hints of the auction house, but the blast wasn’t strong enough to reach the streets. I could see the terrified faces of a few well-dressed men and women, all looking down at me at what I just did. I could smell not only the scent of fear but also that of involuntary excretion.
Did I overdo it? Nah, if I had my catalysts here with me, I probably would have caused something more devastating.
“Eeuk!” Pain rushed through my right arm and left hand. I dispelled my shadow armor and saw what was happening to them — they were rotting at an obscene rate.
Holy! I need to throw a bomb!
Leveling up may have healed up any damage I sustained from engaging that [Deathly Wave] head-on, but the necrosis returned the moment the fight ended. My first thought wasn’t to call for Hestia, but to take out her holy bomb to bask myself in its flames to heal myself.
“Saori!”
But that wasn’t needed; after all, if the auction room was available for me to see, so was my rescue.
“Oh fuck! Here, Halo of Consecration!” Cool white flames basked my body in its rejuvenating effect, soothing my pained arms. I saw my rotting flesh peeling off from my arms and hands, being replaced by new healthy cells. I looked at my profile, letting out a sigh of relief when I saw that [Necrosis (Moderate)] was gone.
“Thank you, Hestia!” I gave my dragon friend a nod in gratitude.
“Ah, don’t worry about it. You did all the heavy lifting, Saori! You leveled my [White Pyromancer] up to max from killing everybody down there!”
“…”
Are you serious?
“Lady Hestia!” Instead of my dissatisfied voice at Hestia’s inability to understand how much it took for me to take those mercenaries down, it was Tasianna who swept that situation away. I had to wonder just how much Hestia was overestimating my skills.
“Arck, fuck me… what the fuck is this?” Kaian dug himself out from the rubble. He seemed flabbergasted at first, but his mouth twitched into a grin as he looked at me. “I trained. You trained. But you gained so much more strength than the last time we met, Saori. What kinda monster are you?”
Is he seriously asking? He did hear Helmut call Tasianna a fairy, though.
I shook my head. Let us handle this situation later. I climbed the rubble up to the auction room, reuniting with Hestia and Tasianna. I was brought up to speed on Hestia's side of the operation, which basically was summed up with Eshe and her knights managing to take down all of International Desire’s guards on the ground and second floor and Gael apprehending the auctioneer.
“Look over there.” Hestia pointed at the stage.
Looking over, I noticed all the auction house guests trembling in fear as they sat obediently in their seats. The reason was clear — two giants clad in metal stood around, glaring at everybody in the audience. Apparently, those were Alikar and Anivh, transformed by Eshe’s unique skill [Honored, Sworn Knight].
I had only a faint idea of how it worked. Supposedly, they were connected to Eshe’s eyes, which gave the knights this incredible transformation and power boost. Eshe couldn’t open her eyes in the meantime, but she was able to look through the eyes of her knights. In addition, any spell she cast could be cast through them like a conduit.
Speaking of the saintess, she was currently on the stage with Gael, who was speaking with the captured auctioneer.
“Here is the contract which handles all the slaves you made with this emblem, right? Mind dispelling it so the slaves become free, again?” Gael grinned devilishly at the man.
“Wh-What?! Are you insane?! Do you have any idea how much money we paid for all—”
“Silence!” Eshe shouted, silencing the man. “You speak of such atrocities in the presence of a servant of the Goddess of Light! Why must you sully your soul even more than this? Release the slaves, Sir, for this is the Goddess’s will!”
“What?! You, a citizen of the Folschreck Empire, dare speak about slavery to us Artorians? All you do in your own land is this very ‘atrocity!’ In every land governed by a pious believer in the Goddess, slavery is just part of living!” the man argued. “This is theft in your law! You are stealing these slaves from us! International Desires will not let this—mhrmpf!”
“Will you shut up?” Gael grabbed his mouth shut. “Did you forget? You are in Shaturein, you bastard, and down here, we never, ever take up slavery. You, Hamil, and his other executives are all damn surface dwellers. You don’t respect Shatu’s history. Know your fucking place.”
Gael then pulled out his dagger. “Do you know what the founders did to you slave traders? Release the contract now or I will show you what healing magic can do for a trained torturer like me.”
“Haaaa,” Hestia sighed. “Come on, let’s get this over with. I don’t want to imagine how many people we need to free manually with that tattoo stamp. This is the faster method.”
“There were a lot, Hestia. I mean, a lot of slaves.” I emphasized the amount by widening my arms as far as possible. It didn’t show the amount truthfully but she understood my meaning.
As we walked over to the stage, I suddenly heard multiple footsteps coming from the hallway outside the auction room. However, what really caught my attention was the aura this person was giving. It was something that instantly made my fur stand up, far more than what that necromancer did.
Hestia, Tasianna, and I snapped our heads around towards the entrance, watching as a group of people walked into the room. Three of them were surprisingly Ellaine, Grimnir, and Friell. Somehow, the presence of that last person made me not notice the others.
The last person was a man who looked to be in his late thirties, munching onto one of Hestia’s pastries — a holeless donut called a Berliner, or Bismarck Donut in English-speaking countries. He had an arm casually in his pants pocket and looked at us all with a “hopefully interesting” stare.
He had no visible weapons or catalyst, though his body was lean and muscular. Maybe he was a brawler? Regardless of what his fighting style was, however, only a single thought went through my mind as I stared at him.
Even with all five of us, can we win against this guy?
“B-Boss?!” Kaian shouted in despair.
“Shit! Are you kidding me?!” Gael cursed.
Boss? Is this guy the—
“Hey, Kaian. Heard Friell say you were here with everybody. You lot made a real mess of this situation, to the point Hamil personally went through every hoop possible to hire me to kill everybody here.”
“Saori! Tasianna!” Hestia called out as flames instantly exploded on her tail and claws. Her eyes were a mix between battle-ready and anxious. It seemed she shared my thoughts on our chances.
“Stop, Hestia!” However, before we all readied ourselves to attack, Ellaine shouted to stop us. “Please, this man only wants to talk things out with us.”
“Talk?”
“Yup!” the man responded to Hestia, walking down the stairs with the Berliner in his mouth. “Eithalr’s the name, kiddo. I’m the newest inaugurated boss of the Yanderu Eluseuss in Artorias, Atadoro, and the other human countries in the western part of Altrust after killing the previous boss. Fifth head of the whole international company, you know? I’ve heard about you, you’re that new big-shot noble in the city, right? Hestia Atsuko?”
“…”
“Gotta say, I enjoyed the concert, Miss Singer-Dancer.” He grinned before finishing the last piece of the pastry. Licking his finger, he now stood right in front of us with his three hostages. “Do you mind selling me more of those scrumptious Berliners, kiddo?”
“Eh?”
Huh?
__________________________________________________________________
Name: Saori Segawa Level: 6 Race: Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir
Age: 9 Months Job: Monster Master Level: 20/20
Status: Health: 11820 (+1495) Mana: 8921 (+1026)
Strength: 6850 (+620) Intelligence: 3025 (+294)
Vitality: 4920 (+500) Wisdom: 4756 (+436)
Agility: 9105 (+843) Stamina: 8452 (+1032)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 4650
Unique Skill: [Shadow Armament Lv. 9] (+1) [Shadow Pack Lv. 2]
[Stygian Blades Lv. 2] (+1) [Stygian Voltage Lv. 2] (+1)
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] [Arcane Mind Lv. 10]
[Mana Control Lv. 10] [Dark Magic Lv. 10] [Dark Amp]
[Dark Magic Efficiency] [Space-Time Magic Lv. 3]
[Space-Time Efficiency] [Chant Revocation Lv. 10]
[Mental Stability Lv. 8] (+1) [Mental Warfare Lv. 8] (+1)
[Silent Casting Lv. 10] [Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 1] (New)
[Fluid Cast Lv. 3] (+1) [Multi-Cast Lv. 5] (+3)
[Continuous Cast Lv. 2] [Delayed Cast Lv. 3] (+2)
Physical skills and related:
[Dagger Technique Lv. 6] (+1) [Dagger Mastery Lv. 4]
[All Damage Enhancement Lv. 1] (New)
Senses and movement skills:
[True Wolven Instincts] [Night’s Caress Lv. 1]
[Foresight Lv. 2] [Concentration Lv. 9] (+1)
[Detection Sensor Lv. 2] [Air Walk Lv. 7] (+3)
[Mid-Air Maneuvering Lv. 2] (New)
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 5] [Absolute Pain Tolerance]
[Abnormal Status Nullification] [Terror Resistance Lv. 1]
[Fear Resistance Lv. 3] [Erosion Resistance Lv. 1] (New)
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 10] [Ice Resistance Lv. 4]
[Lightning Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Lava Resistance Lv. 5] (New)
[Holy Resistance Lv. 9] (+1) [Inferno Resistance Lv. 5] (+4)
[Earth Resistance Lv. 9] (+2) [Water Resistance Lv. 8] (+2)
[Wind Resistance Lv. 8] (+2) [Tenebrous Resistance Lv. 2] (+1)
Stat growths and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 9] (+1)
[Mana Recovery Lv. 8] (+6) [Stamina Recovery Lv. 9] (+1)
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 7]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 5] (+1)
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 5] (+1)
Others:
[Dancing Lv. 2] [Mathematician Lv. 3] [Merchant Lv. 2] (+1)
[Accounting Lv. 2] (+1) [Monster Tamer Lv. 4] (+3)
[Monster Synergist Lv. 3] (+2) [Mounted Fighter Lv. 1] (New)
[Rider Lv. 1] (New)
[Identify Blocker Lv. 10] [Identify Lv. 10] [Battle Mind Lv. 9] (+3)
[True Wolven Bloodlust] [Mana Weave Lv. 10]
[Sewing Lv. 10] [Elemental Mana Weave Lv. 7]
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 5] (+1) [Cooking Lv. 10] [Dismantle Lv. 9]
[Humanization Lv. 10] (+1) [Telepathy]
Ability List: Stygian abilities:
[Stygian Lightning] [Voltage Impact]
Unarmed abilities:
[Just Blink] [Shadow Descent] [Gale Steps]
Dagger abilities:
[Shadow Pierce]
Magic List: Custom Spells:
[Create Water] [Smoky Haze] [Hadean Dragon Thunder]
Dark Spells:
[Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils] [Shadow Dash] [Dark Slash] [Shadow Clones]
[Shadow Snake] [Enfeebling Winds] [Claws of Darkness]
Space-Time Spells:
[Haste] [Storage Magic]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator] [Hestia’s Retainer]
[Pack Leader] [Watched by Edna]
____________________________________________________________________________
Name: Uno Level: 19 Race: Shadow Garm
Health: 4256 (+415) Mana: 1398 (+204) Stamina: 2506 (+380)
_______________________________________________________________
Name: Song Level: 18 Race: Shadow Garm
Health: 3909 (+246) Mana: 1832 (+523) Stamina: 2095 (+131)
_______________________________________________________________
Name: Sarasa Level: 18 Race: Shadow Garm
Health: 4551 (+493) Mana: 1062 (+95) Stamina: 2815 (+444)
_______________________________________________________________
Name: Quatre Level: 15 Race: Shadow Garm
Health: 3982 (+316) Mana: 1243 (+198) Stamina: 2795 (+406)
_______________________________________________________________
Name: Shoyi Level: 0 Race: Shadow Devourer Slime
Health: 612 Mana: 256 Stamina: 300
_______________________________________________________________
Comments
Kiriah
But you've gained so much strength since the last time we met, Saori.
Diego Rossi
Nice. all of nothing -> all OR nothing Armamnet -> Armament themastery -> the mastery But you gained so much strength the last time we met, Saori. -> But you gained so much strength FROM the last time we met, Saori. (I think)
At the very least he likes pastries.
Alphafenrir401
Lmao the boss is a fan
