
“Now!”
Barely a second passed after Anna shouted before her ears rang.
A thunderous crack ripped through the air as the gemstone struck the platform once its descent had it at the first floor, detonating in a wild surge of mana.
The explosion roared with an unnatural sound—deep and resonating, layered with a sharp whine from her black mana surging in the air.
It… wasn’t just loud… it felt alive, an eerie hum of magic that drowned out the sounds of an army of steps below.
An explosion… but also magical—terrifying.
Anna covered her ears as the hum spread to her body.
Black light erupted from the blast, flashing in chaotic flashes that lit the entire library.
The shockwave tore through the first floor, sending accursed spiraling away in a mess of bodies and blood.
And it had the effect they hoped for—even better. Its destructive power seemed to be far stronger than what it was in the labyrinth.
The platform beneath the gemstone shattered instantly, sending fragments of stone, metal, and wood flying outward in violent arcs. It even hit the floor where Anna and Aria stood.
But that wasn’t all.
“L-look!” Anna exclaimed. “The… stream.”
“I see it.”
Elyanthra described the mana stream as a cylindrical pillar of ethereal energy that flowed like veins through the massive tree.
Anna actually saw it.
The mana stream that powered the platform flickered wildly. Crackling discharges of raw green energy burst into the air, sending sparks hissing and popping in every direction.
Did her mana make it take a tangible form?
As the explosion faded, the air still felt unnatural. The mana stream sputtered one last time before it slowly began to turn intangible once more. But it still looked like the air was distorted.
Even then, the magic hum took a bit to completely fade.
Anna peered over the edge.
“So many,” she muttered.
So many bodies.
But the explosion wasn’t as violent as it sounded and looked—that must have just been her mana interacting with the library.
It didn’t reach the gate, which still had accursed pouring through.
There wasn’t a crater in the ground, either.
“The platform absorbed a lot of it,” Aria said.
“Yeah, and…” She saw the ruins of the platform scattered around the room. “It worked.”
Elyanthra said the platform was nearly impervious to elemental attacks. But Anna didn’t use elemental attacks, and her explosion must have caused whatever mana protection it had to malfunction.
It would be fine for anybody else—nobody could get that kind of power as an unattuned.
Nobody but her.
Anna’s heart couldn’t take it.
But the invasion still went on, and the gate remained widely opened.
The first floor was already filled with more accursed like nothing had even happened. But they were like headless chickens.
“This alone will buy us some time,” Aria said. Her Demonification was still active, but a golden katana had replaced her greatsword.
“And… I don’t think the sentient will risk coming in so early,” Anna added. They already figured that, but it didn’t buy them much time.
“We need to watch for ones with sensory abilities,” Aria said. Her eyes were lightly glowing, indicating her active Aura Reading. “They may be able to report back.”
“I can also…” Anna peeked over the ledge and focused on a single accursed directly below her. He was nondescript: an ordinary-looking Elf—of course, they were all beautiful—with grey, damaged clothing.
Appraisal had a deeper level—a scan. It would take her mana and use it to sweep a target, gathering much more detailed information. But it would be detected. It could also fail, which made it risky to use; she didn’t know the failure conditions.
However, that didn’t matter anymore.
So, Anna activated it.
A small thread of mana left her body, instantly reaching her target to create a wave around his body.
The accursed whipped his head around to find the source of the tingling he likely felt.
He was an unattuned accursed without a sigil. His mana capacity was negligible and purity even lower—he was never a mage. There were some injuries at points in his life that he recovered from; a broken leg, a disease that damaged his lungs, and a significant head injury.
But those were the usual details Anna’s appraisal could tell her.
What actually mattered was the state of his mind and mana.
Specifically—her appraisal told her he was incompatible with the sigil system.
What did that mean? She had appraised accursed before but never saw anything like that.
“Annabelle, what’s wrong?”
“I’m not really sure…” She quietly said. “My appraisal told me one of the accursed’s… incompatible with the sigil system.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” Anna said, nodding. “What does that mean?”
“The method of distribution the core uses for sigils.”
“Most likely… but there’s a method to it?”
“As I suspected.”
Elyanthra believed it was just random and based on how weak the mage or civilian was before the corruption took them. They either got a sigil or didn’t.
“I think the only way for me to figure it out is to…” she stopped.
“To analyze someone immediately after they fall to the corruption,” Aria finished. “But that will happen someday, regardless of how you feel.”
“Yeah… yeah, I know.”
Even as they spoke, accursed continued to flow into the first floor. Soon, there would not be a single open spot on the bottom floor; it was an ocean of accursed. Each one appeared to be looking for something.
Most likely them.
The sentient accursed wanted it to be attrition. They would keep sending accursed until they were confident all the defenders were exhausted from constant fighting. It would actually work, no matter how strong Elyanthra was.
With thousands—millions—of accursed to send, it would kill anyone. Especially since they couldn’t leave the tree.
But they would notice.
Aria squinted at the gate. “There’s a—” she froze.
Anna immediately saw why.
“W-why?!” she exclaimed.
The Barbarian.
His body was riddled with scars, and he only wore a pair of rough-looking pants with steel boots and a steel helmet around his head. He was taller than Aria and as wide as three of her.
That accursed was at least seven feet of raw power. And in his hands was a massive stone hammer larger than Anna and wider.
One hit from that…
Why was he there so early? It had only been around fifteen minutes since the gate opened!
And he saw them immediately.
“Anna, use your—”
“I can fight better if I’m out here!” Anna interrupted. “H-he isn’t faster than us, so we can… try.”
Saying that felt like wishful thinking, but her real motivation was for what would happen if Aria lost.
Even Aria’s bullet didn’t pierce his skin back when she saved Anna.
Their own defense ended up being their greatest weakness—there was nowhere to flee.
Everything in Anna’s sight vanished, replaced by her hyperfocus on the charging Barbarian. Each step rattled his boots and shook the ground.
He was an unstoppable force that pushed everything else aside. His grey eyes didn’t leave Aria and Anna’s location.
“Remember what I said, Annabelle,” Aria suddenly said. In her left hand, a massive greatsword was being formed by her golden threads.
Black horns rose atop her head, and similarly colored claws grew from her fingertips.
Stage one.
As the sword finished forming, the blackness grew.
The horns on Aria’s head grew back, going up the middle of her scalp. Her claws stayed the same, but a thin black spread from her hands to her elbow.
Aria suddenly grunted and nearly stumbled forward as her torso twisted like something had hit her back.
“My back,” she spat through clenched teeth.
“What the—” Anna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “You have wings?!”
Not fully, but the skeletal structure was starting to form—they even ripped through her clothing.
But they stopped at only one bone.
They even ripped through her clothing.
Aria turned her head back, only for Anna to see… her pupils.
“Wings…” She caught Anna’s stare. “What?”
“Y-your pupils… they’re becoming slit.”
Like an actual demon.
Was that not just a fanciful name Anna made up on the spot?
What did that mean? What was her soul doing to her body?!
However, Aria only had the ghost of a smirk as she turned back toward the charging Barbarian.
“Annabelle, I feel invincible—you stay here and launch crossbow bolts. You have hundreds, right?”
She did, but what was she thinking…
“W-wait—”
Aria jumped down.
Aria felt incredible.
She had been reluctant to use her second stage ever since her sigils formed Demonification—an evidently correct name.
Were the repercussions going to be worse? Most likely. She would, at the very least, be knocked out. It would be impossible for either her or Annabelle to live if she didn’t succeed there.
That was how it was from the beginning. They wouldn’t have been able to flee the library—the sentient would have found them. She knew from the beginning this was the route.
But the power flowing into her body made her feel like they had a chance.
Her mana flow increased exponentially, her strength boosted massively, she felt light, and her weapons seemed indestructible as they actually glowed in her hand.
That meant her purity was increased, something that should be impossible.
Most importantly, she felt calm, even as the horde appeared in her vision.
She was never one to fear combat, but it was odd how calm her mind was in this situation.
“Aria!” Annabelle exclaimed from above.
That’s right—that was why she was fighting.
Annabelle had a kind, warm heart, and somebody had to protect it. The idea of it being shattered was why she gave up on convincing her to flee.
Aria’s feet hit the ground, and she immediately brought her greatsword to life.
Her enhancements multiplied her strength, and her Demonification increased even that peak.
Could she literally punch a hole in a mountain?
The blade easily slammed into the horde that tried to swarm her, and Aria still kept twisting until her body went full circle.
Blood and body parts splattered all around her as an entire ring of accursed fell.
It didn’t disturb the rest, and the Barbarian quickly reached her, his hammer swinging with immense power in a verticle arc.
Incredible.
Her analysis power was also boosted—he was still stronger than her. Far, far stronger. One blow could very well end her life.
But her combat observation was second to none.
Aria jumped away, causing the thick hammer to slam into the ground with explosive force.
Too fast.
How did the weapon even survive that?
Aria landed lightly further back, her boots skidding against the churned earth as she adjusted her stance. As she landed, she once again arced her greatsword and fell another wave of accursed.
The Barbarian was already closing the gap again, the force of his movements sending tremors through the ground.
His weapon rose high, casting a shadow over her as it swung downward with deadly intent.
Too simple.
She sidestepped, her enhanced speed carrying her just out of range as the weapon smashed into the ground once more.
A shockwave of the library’s wood and debris erupted, but Aria pushed forward, slashing with her glowing greatsword in a diagonal arc aimed at the Barbarian’s chest.
He did not dodge.
The blade connected—but instead of cleaving through, it slammed into his unnaturally hardened skin, leaving only a red mark on his grey body.
He didn’t even flinch, and his fist came swinging in retaliation. Aria barely managed to duck, the wind of the strike brushing her hair as she rolled away.
Beyond the Barbarian were swarms of Flamelashes, Watershells, floating Firebolts, Icicles, and various other projectiles—but they weren’t getting launched.
She just needed to prevent them from getting close.
As she said that, a black flash peeked into her vision as an accursed fell.
Then, another.
Annabelle was firing her crossbow bolts into the approaching accursed.
“We can’t last long, but please try to stall him!” she shouted, continuing her assault.
Aria nodded, even though Annabelle couldn’t see it.
She sidestepped another blow before it landed, watching the muscles and movement of the Barbarian to predict its moves.
The Barbarian’s strength was overwhelming—beyond anything she had ever faced. Every blow was a potential death sentence if it landed.
Aria lunged forward again, feinting a strike at the Barbarian’s legs before twisting into an upward slash.
Her sword caught him in the arm, but her blade again didn’t pierce.
She leaped back as his hammer came in a sweeping arc, crashing across the ground in a loud mess of blood from the accursed she slayed.
That was how the fight continued.
Aria dodged every blow from the Barbarian and swung her greatsword wherever her movements took her.
No matter how much she twisted and weaved, the Barbarian would follow.
It kept going—Aria would easily land a blow on the Barbarian, but it would not pierce his thick skin.
She was learning a lot about the race.
Mana seemed to permeate their very being, making every part of them infinitely stronger than other races. Aria couldn’t lose focus for even a moment.
She had to watch how he moved before he moved if she wanted to dodge his devastating blows.
Each clash between them sent accursed dying across the ground.
But Aria quickly realized another flaw she hadn’t considered during the heat of the battle.
The hammer swung over her head, but Aria instead chose to jump backward.
Her mana was draining at an incredibly fast rate.
She was going to lose.
Why was her apex sigil so weak? That was the issue. She needed to figure out how to make her weapons powerful, but the methods weren’t available to her.
It didn’t matter now.
The Barbarian’s hammer crashed into the ground again, sending a tremor through the floor.
Aria barely dodged to the side, her greatsword flashing in retaliation. But the swing missed, and the Barbarian’s heavy weapon came down again with an almost deafening thud.
She twisted out of the way, landing lightly, her focus narrowing.
The fight was wearing on her. Each dodge and swing was beginning to feel like it drained more than just her mana.
Her body was growing heavier.
What would happen if she went up to another stage?
Would her body survive the repercussions? The problem was that she wasn’t strong enough to handle the load… but if the alternative was Annabelle’s death…
But time seemed to freeze in the next moment.
Just as she gathered herself to make another strike, something shot toward her from somewhere she didn’t see—a sharp, crackling burst of energy. Its color blended with the grey of the ocean of accursed.
It was too late to dodge.
Manabolt.
The bolt slammed into her side, the impact causing her barrier to ripple across her torso.
And that instant distraction—just a second—was enough to break her focus on the Barbarian’s muscles.
He lunged forward, his hammer swinging once more. Aria’s reflexes kicked in, but it was too late to dodge the entire hammer.
“Aria!!” she heard Annabelle scream.
The edge of his hammer slammed into her torso right as she twisted away, the explosive force sending her spiraling backward until she slammed into the wall.
Her barrier cracked across her body, only saved by Demonification.
The accursed who fired the Manabolt fell with a bolt into his head.
“Aria! Aria, are you okay!?” Anna kept shouting. “I’m coming d—”
No.
“I’m fine!” she shouted.
Aria knew what Annabelle wanted to do.
But the risks be damned.
She had to move forward if she wanted to live, even if the drawbacks would be too extreme.
Better her than Annabelle.
The Barbarian was already charging.
Stage three was dangerous and would even go further than her body—it would destabilize her soul. The last time that happened, she was out for a month.
But she just needed to buy Annabelle time.
She had already obtained something great and looked up to meet Annabelle’s emerald green eyes filled with fear and concern.
Concern.
That was worth the possibility of death.
Aria breathed deeply…
“Fine,” she said. “For Annabelle—”
Until a tingling sensation spread across her body, and the entire first floor became covered in a violet hue.
Time regained its normal speed.
An explosion and a powerful, reverberating laugh rang in her ears, a laugh that was like he wanted the whole world to know he had arrived.
His presence and that color meant…
That was all she recalled before her vision blanked, her shock making her deactivate Demonification.
Damn.
TFTC!