I could only watch as Seris left me behind, her figure looked a lot stronger compared to before. As for me, I could only stay still in self-deprecation. As her brother, I should be the one protecting her, not the other way around. 

 

No that wasn’t right. I couldn’t use the excuse of me being her brother any longer, I was officially Seris’ lover. We had made love to each other numerous times by now, the status of brother and sister was a thing of the past. Times had changed and so did our relationship.

 

It seemed I still hadn’t gotten used to our new lives, there were still some memories in my mind which were holding me back. 

But all those thoughts were irrelevant for now, I wanted to help Seris but this damned curse would just end up getting in my way.

 

I flick my finger in the air, reminding me of the dastardly curse which ruined my life.

 

_______________________________________________________________

Debuff Name: Before the Chopping Board

 

Description: When the user is near a female who is desiring him, the user’s total stats and abilities are lowered to 70% of the female’s total stats and abilities.

_______________________________________________________________

 

If only I could get rid of this thing...

 

~Feon PoV~

 

1 hour before the incident

 

“Hey Feon, are you sure about this?”

Adrian fidgeted while tugging on my sleeve. She was acting indecisive about the plan like she always did.

 

“It’ll be alright Adrian, don’t worry,” I said trying to pacify her.

“B-but won’t it be better to rescue Riela while they are out of the mansion...”

I heaved a sigh, why does she have to be so intrusive with each detail right before our raid.

“I told you before, whenever Riela is allowed to move outside, the security around him becomes extremely tight. Not to mention if we were to try and save him right there and then, it would manage to involve the adventurer’s guild into it.”

 

The adventurer’s guild was basically the hired security guards in this district. Most of the adventurers who were assigned here were quite capable in all aspects needed in their jobs.

 

“You know how scary the guild can be right? There are some hero candidates like you that they can choose to deploy. You can’t fend off five candidates at the same time, can you?”

After reprimanding her, Adrian starts to pout. She lowered her head depressingly as if she had been wronged.

 

“Just follow my lead alright? I know our chances to win aren’t likely but I have some backup plans which I can make use of.” As I finish saying that, I start to snicker at the thought of it.

Adrian slowly backs away from me, making a fearful expression. Oops, it seemed my bad habits were coming back. I needed to keep my vengeful feelings in control, just long enough to serve my lover’s abductor their just deserts.

 

“Feon you’re scaring me,” Adrian said while quivering a bit.

“C’mon Adrian, you need to be more decisive with these things.”

“I think your definition of decisive is much more different than normal people…”

 

Ignoring her retort, I focus back on the task at hand. Our plan was basically to create chaos while I went and tried to retrieve Riela back. Though the plan was simple, it was our only hope when the opponent had such tight security.

 

Riela’s abductor clearly knew what they were doing. Every guard in their mansion barely had any information from the database, as if most of them didn’t even exist in the first place. It was a sign that they were the secretive forces of the Parlene church. But what made it more shocking that these high-class pawns were being used to defend this area, even though their expertise lay in recon, espionage and other stealth related operations.

 

The identity of the abductor itself was a mystery. She appeared in this city out of nowhere, every info about her was tightly under the wraps. I had to empty half of my bank just to get some vital information on her. 

 

The more incomprehensible I felt the information about them was, the warier I felt about my opponent. But when Adrian and I came together, our capabilities would be nothing to scoff at.

“Adrian, are you ready?” I asked her with the eagerness leaking in my voice.

 

Adrian takes a deep breath before giving an affirmative nod. I similarly stare at her with anticipation. This technique we hadn’t used for a long time. None of our party members knew of this trump card. We only happened to use this technique under life or death situations and I could say for sure, this was one of those moments.

 

Adrian places her hands in front of her before she starts chanting various buffs on me. 

“Vigor of Life, Reenergize, Aether Shield, Dragon’s Will, Anger Point, Kraken’s Fury…” Adrian keeps using various high-tier incantations. Flashes of irradiant and colourful lights start to envelop me. Some of the lights took shape of the respective creature they were based on such as dragons or fairies. Whenever I saw this, it always amazed me.

 

After some time, she finally finishes using all her spells. Adrian was completely drenched from sweat. The spells took a heavy load on her. As for me, I felt better than ever before. I could probably fight a dragon with my bare fists like this.

 

I take out a mana potion and hand it to Adrian. After she chugged it down, her face seemed to regain its colour.

“Alright, it’s time.” I declared before starting my own incantation.

 

With each syllable escaping my mouth, wisps of darkness start whirling around me. The air around me becomes still as massive amounts of energy start to gather. Adrian looks at me with intensity, enraptured by the scene occurring before her.

 

“Fractured Soul!” I shout.

Vapours of darkness burst out of me. As the fumes dissipate, nothing seems out of the ordinary. But as I look beside myself, I notice a pair of eyes staring towards me. It had the same body as me; the same clothes and even the same demeanour. From the colour of the eyes to the feel of her skin, everything was indistinguishable. It was my own clone.

 

But it didn’t end there. I start chanting the same spell again and again. It doesn’t take long for four clones of myself standing right in front. It seemed as if someone happened to place multiple mirrors around me. These clones had the same capabilities as me but they also had a weakness. 

 

With each clone I had created, my mana pool gets divided amongst them. Right now, my mana pool was one-fifth of what it originally was. But that was just a small drawback considering how broken of a spell it became with Adrian’s help. 

 

Each clone of mine had received the same buffs that Adrian had applied to me. Essentially it meant that Adrian had cast the same spell on five people of my calibre. It wasn’t omnipotent since the spell had a time limit of one hour which came along with some heavy backlash, but it was enough to get the job done. 

 

It was time to wreak some havoc.