Theora was in the process of clearing away some grass from a part on the bottom of the hill, in hopes of using it to cultivate plant seeds she found inside one of the houses. There was no way to guess how long Dema’s suffering would continue, and in the worst case that it would be years, she at least wanted to get some preparation done early. And she had time, too, because all other chores had been completed, and Dema was asleep. 

The last two days had been rough on that poor girl. She’d spent them mostly delirious and shaking. Her fever had gone up again, and Theora tried not to think too much about how she’d found that out.

She used a small hatchet to loosen the ground and get the weeds out, and was just wiping away some dirt that had landed on her forehead when she sensed someone approaching.

This was very different from all the other visitors so far. Theora had gotten a lot better at scaring off the creatures, but many bodies were still lying around, and she had no good way of burying or clearing them. At least she’d managed to keep them off the hill, but some were so large they could be described as hills themselves.

But no, whatever was approaching right now was not a monster at all. 

It was a group of people.

From how they felt, they were likely a party of heroes. Only strong people could actually be felt.

There was really just one reason why they would come here now. The Devil of Truth was gone, the seal enclosing him destroyed, and nobody lived here anymore. Heroes were valuable resources, and just sending a few of them out on some goose chase wasn’t in the interest of anyone. Also, the only reason monsters were gathering here was Dema, so usually, this place wasn’t even a good hunting ground. There was nothing to be found here, except for Theora and the wounded Ancient Evil.

And that made their purpose rather clear.

The System had finally gathered its forces and made its move.

Theora dropped the hatchet to the ground and dusted the soil off her cloak. She drew out her sword from one of the interdimensional pockets, and turned to face where she could sense them approaching.

This was an uncomfortable situation. Facing off heroes was bad. Theora didn’t want that at all. They were people who — in almost all relevant practical circumstances — were on her side, doing their best to dispel harm and evil from the world. They were the ones who actually did a good job at it too, while Theora just roamed around to pass time with side quests. Meanwhile, real heroes gave it their all to actually make a positive difference on the planet.

Compared to them, Theora was merely a wretch. And now, the System was using them as a weapon pointed at her. Well, maybe that was too cruel a way to say this.

The System just wanted to kill the Ancient Evil, and it probably thought to have good reasons for that. And these heroes had no clue about any of the circumstances — not that there really were any circumstances other than Theora simply refusing to do her duty. After all, she had no strong logical reason to protect Dema.

And now, these people were here to clean up her mess, and she’d stand in their way, and… do what, actually? What could she do? Talk them out of it?

Other than that, she could only [Obliterate]. And she was not going to use that Skill on other heroes. But what if she had to choose between using it on them, or seeing Dema die? Terrible outlook. She wouldn’t let it come that far.

But… truth be told, she was very unsure how to avoid it. If they had a quest to destroy Dema, they wouldn’t let themselves get talked out of it by some random heroine who had what looked like a big crush on her. In fact, Dema was known as an ancient schemer and manipulator, so they might think Theora was under her influence somehow.

Was she?

Maybe she was. But she couldn’t really claim that it mattered. All she knew was that they would not lay a hand on Dema if she could by any means avoid it.

And finally, they came into view. It was a party of five people. One of them was a tall, brown skinned Lyph — a sister-people of the demons, who didn’t come from hell but had similarly shaped ears, and in some cases, horns too. Then, there was a small, curvy human with a large amount of muscles, holding a large hammer. Another light-skinned human man, then a jellyfish girl, and lastly, an old woman.

It made sense to send a party like that, and that also explained why it took them a while to arrive. Theora was rather strong, and so was Dema. Lyphs had lifespans up to a thousand years, so they had a lot of chances to become strong. Jellyfish people didn’t age, but could still be killed off just as easily as humans otherwise.

The human man was thin, and had long, fuzzy black hair, and rectangular glasses. He looked like a [Healer]. That didn’t give Theora any hope that he might end up helping Dema, though.

The old woman somehow looked like she must have been the strongest of them all. Her face was weathered, and age marks decorated her light skin, though she carried herself with her back straight on her cane, with grace and a confident weight to her every so elegant movement. She had curly silver hair falling around her head, and wore a simple white adventuring cloak.

Her gaze was empty, and yet firm. In a way, she looked like a much older version of Theora on the outside, though truth be told it was very unlikely that she was more than seventy years old.

“Leave this place, Theora,” the Lyph said with a soft voice, as the party came to a halt a few steps away from her. “We mean you no harm. But as we are told, your actions are questionable.”

Theora stared back into his green eyes. Long, black hair, thin stature, and wearing complex black garments like peoples did in the far west, where most Lyphs lived.

“Go back home,” Theora tried. “I won’t let you complete whatever quest you came here for. I don’t want to fight you.”

“That won’t be an option, lass!” the hammer woman shouted with a big grin on her face. “I looked up to you as a little girl, you know? Since I’m a [Berserker] too, just like you were a long time ago. But you’ve lost your way, eh?”

“Please don’t be so loud,” Theora said. “It will disturb Dema’s sleep.”

The woman chuckled derisively, like what she just heard was unbelievable. 

“Are we really going to fight?” the healer said, clutching his staff a bit closer to himself. “Because this looks like we are going to fight. Theora, I have strong Skills that are able to dispel evil influences. I…” He hesitated for a moment. “Would it be alright… if I…” He trailed off, but as his teammates looked at him, he gathered back his courage. “I suppose you won’t let me use them on you, huh?”

Theora frowned. “Why wouldn’t I? Sure, do whatever you want. I’m not going to get angry as long as you only use Skills against me.” She gestured behind her, and added, “Targeting anything behind me is off-limits, though. I have not decided what will happen if you try, but I would like not to find out.”

“Fair,” the man gulped, and made a few steps towards her. “I’m only going to dispel the evil from you.”

Theora nodded, and paced ahead to meet him. She held out her hand, because she supposed most of such Skills worked with touch.

Obviously, this was likely some kind of trap. Or was it? Honestly, Theora wasn’t sure, because that person seemed genuine, although at this point, this gesture seemed rather pointless. If Theora had truly been influenced by evil, she would likely not have agreed to this. Which he probably knew, and seemed to increase his anxiety. His hands were shaking ever so slightly.

Because if Theora was truly influenced by some Skills or mechanisms that he could dispel, then she’d kill him in an ambush right before he’d be able to activate anything. The fact that he was still willing hinted at him having some means of defence, though. Theora glanced over the others, and if they were tense, they didn’t show it.

At that moment, the Jellyfish girl started activating skills. Theora’s best guess from how they felt was that she was a barrier mage, giving the man some kind of contingency should Theora lash out. 

Eventually, after building his courage for a few seconds, he touched Theora’s hand. She felt his powers unleash almost immediately. It wasn’t just one Skill, either. Like a cleansing ray of sun, his influence shone down on her, with other Skills washing through her body like the cleanest water she’d ever felt.

When he was done, she felt just like before.

It was a bit pointless. Because really, this didn’t tell her anything. Theora was fairly sure that it would be hard for any evil or good power to influence her in the first place. 

He wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead, then turned around to his teammates. “Done,” he gulped.

Everyone eyed Theora, and she felt awkward. Did she need to tell them it hadn’t worked? Would they now try to do something to Dema? Were they going to ignore her ultimatum of not using Skills on anything except her?

“Leave the firing line,” the old woman said, and immediately, the healer rushed aside. Then, she raised her cane, holding it slightly slanted, pointing its head to Theora. “This is your chance to give up. Once I cast the next spell, you will have no more leverage. I do not want to use it, but I have been made for this, specifically.”

Made for this?

“I will not yield,” Theora confirmed, still in her low and calm voice. Nothing they could throw at her would work.

“That’s a shame. I know a little bit about you. How you were created to fulfil a certain destiny. It’s the very same for me. What I have been tasked to do, it is despicable, it is a true shame, and I wish I could avoid it. But despite these similarities between us, there is yet a difference.” She raised her cane a little higher. “I will not refuse my call.”

With that, the Lyph and the small woman took a defensive stance in front of her. The Jellyfish girl seemed to pursue a few more hidden shenanigans, although she didn’t move.

And in that same moment, an incredibly powerful aura built up around the old woman, as she activated what could only be a Skill of massive proportions.

In fact, that might be underselling it.

If her words were true, and she’d spent her entire life building towards this moment, then this could only reasonably be a Skill of the highest rank. Her one and only Legendary Skill, acquired over a lifetime of strenuous amounts of work and dedication. A Skill so strong it could deliver the wildest dreams onto the world.

And with that, she spoke its name, with a voice full of determination, cold and icy, unrelenting.

[Let’s Seal Theora].