Ep 75. Who Are You? (5)

 

When the demonkin had challenged the First, he, too, had protected himself by covering his body with dysregulated tears in space. To the demons that challenged him, it’d seemed like he was impervious to whatever they’d do; their attacks would never reach him, instead falling on random, irrelevant locations. Sometimes, their own attacks would fall on their own kin.

But even then, it still meant that somewhere within their world, the First’s body was continuing to exist. Even if the First were to disfigure shards of their world in a chaotic manner, it still meant that some irrelevant location within their would still contained the First’s body.

It was a spatial disarray, not a cessation of existence.

Then, all they had to do was find where the pattern in the disarray.

 

✧   ✧   ✧

 

‘This…can’t be happening.’

Clyus’ body madly trembled in pain. His hand desperately clinging onto the massive burn wound on his shoulder.

But his attacker had no intention of stopping with just that.

“There you are.”

A dozen other spells materialized above Serenis’ head. Once again, every single one of them were aimed at the same lamppost she’d fired at previously.

When the Reaper finally grasped at the situation, he screamed out to his friend in response.

“Clyus, undo the manipulation! Now!!”

Serenis’ spells sped across the air, and Clyus simultaneously swung his cane.

Several explosions followed suit, ringing throughout the marketplace.

When the sounds ceased, the lamppost had been reduced to dust. Clyus let out a relieved sigh when he noticed that his body had remained untouched this time.

But still, it didn’t change the fact that a deity’s spatial manipulation had been read in a matter of seconds.

Karas wore a faint smile. It was in stark contrast to the scowl Felicir wore.

‘..Doesn’t matter.’

Felicir raised his hand, staring down at the professor with an ominous glare. Whoever they were, the Reaper could merely reduce them to his pawn – as long as they were alive.

But when the Reaper’s black vapor washed over Karas’ figure, the professor merely tilted his head, staring back at Felicir with an amused look.

“…You must be the Reaper. Not working as intended, is it?”

Meanwhile, the deity of death was failing to process the situation at hand.

Once again, the deity’s divinity was failing to take hold of his enemy. And unlike Serenis’ case, this professor wasn’t even wearing an artifact that contained Aldrid’s divinity.

‘To hell with it all.’

The Reaper kicked his tongue. Despite the professor’s appearance, it immediately became apparent that they weren’t a living half, but a mere lookalike monster.

He frantically turned his head towards the elf, hissing out his next few words.

“Clyus…we don’t need the dragonlord. Just kill them.”

Having a demonlord under their control would’ve been a priceless, unimaginable asset. And it’d seemed quite possible when Serenis was alone – when she had no ways of touching them.

But if she had an ally capable of reading Clyus’ trickery, then the chance was much, much slimmer. Especially when said ally was also impervious to Felicir’s divinity.

Clyus painfully gripped his cane.

“Kh…hff…fine.”

Even now, the elf wanted nothing more than to run away; he wasn’t the type to stay and fight for glory and honor. But Clyus also knew that if he were to make even the slightest attempt at abandonment, then the very next life Felicir would claim would be his own.

And so, he forced himself up. He forced his gaze to meet the dragonlord’s, raising his cane to draw a line across her waist.

One tear across the air, and it would cleanly sever her body in half; demonlord or not, his divinity couldn’t be blocked by any means. Mere shields and barriers held nothing against a spatial tear.

But unfortunately, the tearing itself could be stopped before ever taking effect. And, unbeknownst to the two opposing deities, Karas was already aware of this fact.

The professor briefly glanced behind him – towards the spell that was still in effect.

“The manipulation’s undone. I believe you’re better suited for this.”

The portal he’d walked out from STILL hadn’t closed. And when the professor finished his sentence, a loud crunching noise came from within – as if something heavy had kicked themselves against the ground.

Karas beamed a bright grin, shaking his head at Serenis with a low chuckle.

“You don’t know how difficult it was to make her sit still.”

“…’Sit still’? You don’t mean-“

Serenis’ thoughts were completed real-time. A metallic silhouette burst out from the portal with a crunching thud; massive momentum carried the figure forward, her right arm stretched outwards.

It might as well have been instantaneous.

Clyus couldn’t so much as even perceive the dragon lunging at him – until Raizel’s hand buried itself right into Clyus’ face with a painful crunching noise.

The elf couldn’t even muster a pained scream. The unforgiving grip over his head only tightened further, demolishing his face whole.

Raizel let the momentum carry her forward a while longer. After coming to an abrupt stop with a loud stomp, the youngling swung her arm downwards, driving Clyus into the ground with a gigantic explosion of stone and dirt.

When the dust would clear, Serenis could see the elf buried upside-down into the depths of a small crater. His legs were twitching, but he didn’t seem capable of coming out anytime soon…or ever.

But she couldn’t celebrate. When she belatedly realized that Raizel shouldn’t be here with them, Serenis immediately turned her gaze, fear rapidly welling up within her chest.

Unlike Karas, Raizel wasn’t immune to Felicir’s divinity.

But when Serenis had remembered this, it was far too late. Felicir’s vapor was already upon the metal dragon, readying to swallow her figure whole.

“RAIZEL!”

Once Felicir took hold over the youngling, she’d be his to control. Felicir could kill her at a moment’s notice; worse, he could make the steel dragon turn against Serenis herself.

But even in the face of the Reaper’s dreaded divinity, Raizel only let out a demeaning scoff.

“Make yourself useful.”

Raizel immediately reached onto the back of her neck, plucking out a small ladybug that had been attached to her nape. She then held it between her fingers like some sort of charm before the oncoming vapor.

A golden light consumed the insect, its silhouette rapidly growing into a humanoid shape. Soon after, the lights shattered apart to reveal Aldrid in its place – with minimal dignity, being held by her collar like a some sort of shield and all.

…Which was, unfortunately(?), exactly what she was at this moment.

The black vapor washed over the two figures, only to dissipate before the deity of life’s essence surrounding them. Raizel let out another audible scoff, giving a mocking grin back towards the Reaper.

“Easy.”

“…”

Serenis finally let go of her breath. She’d been holding it without even realizing.

The entire scene had lasted for a minute at best. And yet, it felt as if an eternity had passed in the dragonlord’s eyes. Even though the danger had seemingly passed, her heart was thumping faster than ever before from fear of losing another kin.

Karas beamed an apologetic smile towards Serenis.

“…You see, when Raizel found out where you’d gone, she kept insisting that she’d come with us. We tried to stop her at first, but then we realized that…there actually is a second ward she could use.”

“…”

That’s not a ward, Karas.

Not that it mattered.

“…Ha. Haha.”

Serenis let out an involuntary laughter.

Because Raizel wielding Aldrid as a shield was funny? Partially, but not quite.

The dragonlord simply found it humorous. The realization that was dawning on her should’ve occurred so long ago, and yet it never had – until now.

‘…I’m not alone, am I?”