“What do you mean you can’t afford it? You’ve been waiting for months to get that Rolan Dual Blade! Wait a minute. Don’t tell me you died again.”

“Tee-hee! Sorry, Sis! You know how the training goes!”

“Don’t ‘tee-hee’ me, you idiot. You accepted another crazy quest from that message board, didn't you?”

“Only because no one is brave enough to do them!”

“Because they’re too risky! Your fighting style too. Why don’t you think more about your future, Marissa? Our future? You heard the Administrators. This was a test all along. Do you want to be as poor as those low-level losers hiding in the starter areas? When all of this is over, you won’t be able to even afford a stun pistol.”

“ARGH! Gold comes and goes, Red! Besides, those ‘risky’ quests offer more gold than what a level 50 can earn in a month!”

“Only if you survive…”

“And there’s also the Guild’s salary.” Marissa made a hand gesture. “Eh, eh?”

“When we get out of here, I won’t lend you any money. You hear that?”

“Come on, Sis, give me a break! Remember what Astrid says…”

“Please don’t.”

“‘It’s better to have skill than to own a piece of junk’.”

“When did she say that?”

“I may be misremembering it. Listen, the point is that we can’t compete against the Actives, anyway. So let them buy all the weapons on the ship, they’ll need people that know how to fight and use them, anyway. So I'd rather hone my abilities here, where it’s still safe, than get worried about money at all times.”

After sighing, Amelia got close to her sister and grabbed her by the cheeks. “If you’re really training for whatever dangerous mission you think we’ll have at the end of this voyage, you should learn how to fight without dying then.”

“That sounds… about right,” Marissa said with plump cheeks. “I’ll consider it, okay?”

“Whatever! Since this won’t happen anytime soon, let’s do this instead. Every time you get a large amount of gold, give it to me and I’ll keep it safe for you.”

“Why don’t we use a Bank service?”

Amelia sneered, putting her hands on her hips. “Are you kidding me? Those services rely on storing all the gold in their employees, anyway. Trust me, the gold will be safer with me. Tell me, when was the last time you saw me die?”

***

**

*

*

**

***

 

** Notice: The Queen’s Memento Passive Skill, ‘Phoenix Heart’, has been depleted. ** (Cooldown: 23 hours and 56 minutes ) It is said that when the late queen of hell, Belphellax, was young, she ate the heart of the only known phoenix in hell, gaining the ability to revive once a day. That was the only explanation for her unnatural durability, even among her equal peers. Her legacy came to an end when one of the unholy princes, Levianor, awaited inside her chambers, knowing Belphellax had been slayed once by Mikael, one of the great Arch Angels.  Levianor backstabbed the queen with the intention of robbing the phoenix's heart, before realizing it was missing. Believed to be lost for centuries, no one knew that the queen had reshaped the heart into a ruby pendant and gifted it to her daughter, Belphegoria.

 

Amelia read the item’s flavor text for the millionth time before kissing the pendant. That means there is no room for errors, eh?

“Equip Set D,” she said aloud, changing into a red ball gown dress, golden shoulder pads, gauntlets and belt, and a pair of matching crimson high heels. A black garter belt and lace stockings also materialized out of sight.

 

** You have equipped 5 compatible items from the Devil’s Brat set: 1 - ‘Fire’s Spawn Dress’. +Spirit! 2 - ‘Gothic Warrior Armor Set’. +Spirit! 3 - ‘Hell’s Runaway Heels’. +Agility! 4 - ‘Pretty Little Devil Stockings’. +Agility! 5 - ‘Queen’s Memento’. +Spirit!

 

** Full Set Bonus acquired, ‘Overprotective Overlord Father’ Passive Skill: You now possess an active Overshield equivalent to your Spirit rank. **

 

“Major Mastery,” Amelia continued channeling as the ruby on her choker necklace glowed with intensity. “Fire Devotee!”

 

** You have gained the ability to cast Major Fire Spells without the need to channel !!! **

 

As a fire aura emanated from her entire body, Amelia noticed that the chains bounding her enemy would not last long. At least I had the time to cast this... But still…

She bit her lower lip and reached out her dominant hand, channeling again, which only enraged her adversary even more.

“Yeah, go ahead, prepare all you want!” Scarlett roared. “You will need it! Because once I break free--!”

“Opening Vault,” Amelia announced, making a summoning circle manifest behind her. From it, a crimson-colored staff appeared and flew forward until reaching her grasp. The spikes and embellishments on the tip made it look like a villainess’ weapon of choice. “Feumori, The Underworld’s Empress Staff.”

 

** “Legendary Weapon Equipped!  Spirit  +2 Agility +1 ** Feumori’s Unique Skill activated:  Ignore Defense (3) When Lammon, one of the seven princes of hell, tried to take Belphegoria by force as his new wife, the Demoness fought back with everything she had. After a full day of battling, with her staff broken in half and no other options left, Belphegoria smirked at the greedy prince and said: ‘You think all the treasures of both worlds belong to you? Don’t make me laugh! All you do is hoard and immediately forget what you have! As for me, I always find a way. As for your armor made of pure diamond, I don’t give a fuck!’

 

Scarlett chuckled at the sight of such majestic staff, before bursting out laughing. “Yes, yes! There are no Safe Zones here, so give me your best shot! You won’t have another chance!”

“Oh, believe me, I’ll take your word,” Amelia said softly, grabbing the staff with both hands and detaching the lower part, revealing a hidden katana. “Sincerely, I don’t have the physical strength to lay a scratch on you,” Amelia smirked, “but it’s a good thing that this blade uses my mana as its power source instead.”

Amelia did an upward strike, drawing blood and burning Scarlett’s skin at the same time. The wound closed immediately.

 

** Ignore Defense Effect successfully activated!  (2) uses remaining. **

 

As Scarlett cried and cursed, Amelia started a Party Chat. Alan’s distraught voice was quickly heard inside her head: “Amelia, are you okay?!” 

Were you really that worried about me, silly? I’m the one worrying about you.

While Amelia privately chatted with him, Scarlett irradiated a fire aura. 

“Berserk Mode,” Scarlett proclaimed with closed teeth, as her irises resembled those of a beast. The entire burning house trembled when she broke free, but Amelia waved her hand and created a different set of chains, sprouting from the floor and roof. “Are you freaking kidding me?! Why don’t you fight me!”

“I’m on a call right now,” Amelia glanced at her, “please hold on.”

“Do your best, Amelia,” Alan calmly said through Party Chat before closing it.

Amelia stared at the inactive window dumbfounded. “What the hell was that?”

Just promise me you won’t do something stupid.

Scarlett broke the new chains and took three steps forward before getting imprisoned again. Her hand was inches away from grabbing Amelia’s neck.

“I’m not into choking, you know,” Amelia said, glaring, stretching out her hand as she commanded all the flames surrounding them to engulf Scarlett’s body.

“This won’t kill me!” Scarlett roared as Amelia looked deep into her eyes.

“Thanks for the advice. I’ll add more power, then. Blazing Hellix!”

A spiral pillar of fire broke through the fragile roof and ascended to the clouds. Before the house collapsed, Amelia exited through the back door, strolling. The last thing she saw was the hulking woman looking charred.

Sorry, gal, but your Vitality has to be at least Gold D rank to survive that.

She glanced at the distance, where her summoned beast Flaustos was fighting a dark doppelganger.

“Oh, come on! That’s not fair!” she cried before covering her mouth with her hand.

I… sounded just like him...

Something made the ground shake, and for a moment she thought it was the result of the monsters clashing, but when she distinguished a blurred silhouette dashing from the burned debris, she instinctively stepped back.

“It hurt a lot. Let me return the favor,” Scarlett said a second before punching Amelia in the stomach.

Was it my imagination, or does she look at full health?

The redhead got sent flying in a straight trajectory until crashing into the neighbor’s house, 100 feet away.

 

** The Overshield is at 30% 60 seconds remaining to replenish it. **

 

That’s a long-ass cooldown! At least it helped me survive.

Amelia coughed blood as she watched her enemy approaching, who had changed into a red, full plate armor. Scarlet’s actual level could be seen above her head. 

A Max-Leveler just like me… And yeah… Her HP is fully recovered...

She glanced at her surroundings and found a man sitting in front of his now destroyed table, wearing only underwear and holding a spoon aloft.

“Sorry for disturbing your dinner,” Amelia said before standing up and rapidly casting with the help of her staff, “Enhanced Dragonbreath!”

Outside, Scarlett dodged the burst of fire with ease. “Bonfire night is over, princess. I won’t let you…” she paused after sensing a presence behind her. Before she could look back, she was pushed 30 feet away by a feline beast made of incandescent black metal.

“Unique Talent, Pyrokinetic Construction,” Amelia muttered before glancing at her neighbor. “I’ll try to fight as far away from your house as possible, but I wouldn’t be around if I were you.”

The level 32 guy nodded and ran towards the exit, as Amelia did too through the wall’s breach.

Before resuming combat, a bitter memory crawled into her mind: She could remember herself lying on the ground as a hand reached for her. "That's a good Unique Talent, Amelia. With practice, you could become unstoppable..."

She heard herself replying: “But not strong enough to beat you, huh? Is that what you’re saying?”

She spat to her side. “I’ll fucking show you…”

 

***

**

*

* Scarlet’s POV *

 

“Major Fire Boost, Valor+!” Scarlett cast as a fiery aura formed around her, increasing her strength. She punched the red, mechanical creature with all of her might, and it retaliated with a quick bite to her arm, drawing blood. 

This thing is tough as nails! Scarlett thought. It must be at least of Golden quality.

Meanwhile, her enemy drew a group of small summoning circles. Five, ten, fifteen at great speed. 

“Go forth, Willows!” Amelia shouted.

Balls of fire were summoned and hovered around the Scarlett before becoming projectiles. When the fifth impacted Scarlett, she grunted, setting her fist on fire. "Fire Style, Meteor Punch!"

With such tremendous power, the metal beast constantly harassing her was finally torn into pieces, allowing the warrior to dodge the sixth and seventh firebomb coming her way.

Observing her fighting style made Amelia snicker. "Don't tell me you're copying the Golden Comet's techniques!"

"I'd be a fool if I didn't!" Scarlett quickly replied. “That woman knows her fighting. She has been quite an inspiration for me.”

Amelia bit her lower lip before grinning and full-on laughing. "This is perfect! From now on, I’ll treat you as an Astrid knockoff, so allow me to show you the spell I developed with the only purpose of kicking her short ass!”

“Bring it on!” Scarlett yelled, emanating fire from her fist, and with it, deflected the incoming fireball, sending it flying to the neighbor’s house, making it explode. Scarlett was ready to deflect the rest, but the remaining fire drones collapsed on their own around her, creating small explosions. Scarlett was unscathed, but a wall of fire was now circling around her. She’s buying time to channel that spell she’s boasting about.

Scarlett jumped upwards, but one last drone was waiting for her above. No, you won’t!

“Dragonfist!” She threw a punch, sending a burst of fire onward. The resulting blazing explosion suddenly stopped, like frozen in time, changed colors, and turned glimmering and metallic, quickly forming something pointy and elongated. A lance! But how?!

“Since it was my Willow that exploded, that fire is technically still mine,” a smug Amelia could be heard from below.

The lance started swirling before getting launched downwards, which Scarlett barely caught with both hands. The kinetic force ended up sending her back to the ground, causing a quake.

Why do these things have so much power and durability? This woman… Her Elemental Crafting resembles what Serenity can do. That'd mean that these magical constructions share the User’s Spirit rank or at least a large fraction of it. Scarlett threw the inanimate lance aside and gritted her teeth. She’ll become a threat if she manages to construct something more--

Scarlett looked around, noticing she had returned to the circle of fire that she had first tried to escape, which had transformed into a black shiny enclosure. You better kill me this time…

The walls closed around her until forming a 15 feet wide dome, sprouting spikes on its interior.

Outside her prison, she heard Amelia cast: “Superior Fire Crafting, Magical Construction Style--!”

 

** Notice: Your Berserker estate has augmented your Vitality by one rank. **

 

That’s good to hear…

Scarlett broke free with a fiery explosion. Her HP and armor looked once again unaffected. “Thanks for helping me prepare myself, princess!”

“No, thanks to you…” Amelia’s voice was heard, coming out of a large silhouette towering Scarlett. At first, Scarlett believed Amelia had summoned an 8 feet, 2 inches tall demonic minion, of red skin and bat-like wings, wearing a skimpy leather outfit, but she then noticed an unnatural metallic shine on its four golden eyes and inverted horns.

An armor… Pieces of metal, so intrinsically connected, and exhaustingly crafted to resemble a living thing.

Scarlett drew a smile, mirroring that faux demoness’ black-painted smirk. “Ha! Are you inside that thing?! Are you seriously planning to go face-to-face with it? I thought you were just like other pyromancers! An annoying long-range piece of shit! But this--! This is PERFECT!”

“Do you like it?” Amelia said in a deeper tone of voice, pulling out her Legendary Staff. “Bow and kneel, then! Because you’re about to receive my unholy judgment! I’m Amelia Laflamme, The Stranded Hell Princess!”

“Please,” Scarlett murmured, salivating, “...tell me this thing is durable…”