"This fight is not about proving how powerful you are, but it's a test of control ...avoid the flashy, unnecessary moves; focus on precision and mana decisiveness. Kill with one move. No mistakes allowed."
"Understood."
Serenity's voice echoed throughout the entire stadium for the last time before she closed her eyes, entering a state of meditation.
Inside the stadium after they knew the trick to killing the tria crura, the weight of the fight became lighter on their back.
For bail, she used her body agility to avoid their attacks and aim directly at their legs, while Lana used her wind magic to throw them into the air and then cut their legs using wind blades.
Sylvia stayed in the air while using her sword-locking technique to lock multiple targets at a time and then slash them with her sword.
As for Daniel, he was using brutal force, keeping the entire area around him covered in flames, but focusing his attack force on their regeneration core. Thanks to his shadow power, he never missed their weakness even when he was distracted looking at Bella.
Bella, on the other hand, had to follow Serenity's advice and not use her butterflies to attack, so she stuck to using her armor to move around and avoid attacks while using her sharp pointed tail to cut the legs.
Just like that, the fight kept dragging on as the undead's numbers kept increasing, and they were ultimately surrounded from all directions, and the risk of making mistakes increased.
"This has gone way out of control," Lana said and turned her head toward Serenity and shouted at her, "Aren't you done yet, Serenity?"
In that split second her focus was distracted; she missed her target, and it ended up almost biting her head off.
"Shit!"
In a moment of panic, she aimed for his head, separating it from the main body, but as a result, both the head and the main body started growing frantically, with a small horn growing on its forehead. A dark red aura covered both of their bodies as it's a mark for going into rage.
"That was a bad idea."
Lana tried running away, but after going into a rage, their speed multiplied ten times, and their claws' strength increased enough to carve a big hole into the ground when they touched it.
"I am afraid facing them head-on is not a good idea. I am the target of their rage; they won't stop until either of us is dead..."
She changed her direction and ran with the utmost of her speed. With both of them running behind her almost catching up, she passed by Daniel shouting,
"They're yours; do whatever."
"Huh!? What?!!"
Surprised by her words, he turned behind to see two pairs of teeth about to gnaw his skin.
Instinctively his double pupils activated, and the area around him turned pitch black, and everything turned into white lines with a huge white vortex on them. Remembering what Serenity told him, he aimed for that white vortex.
Once he struck it, the monster turned to ashes; even his shadow produced sharp blades slicing all the monsters a whole meter around him. Daniel couldn't hide his excitement, smiling so hard his white teeth were visible.
"This is fucking awesome."
With the double pupils activated, his shadow blades didn't need his supervision and could accurately attack their weak spots, and seeing his fire attribute mana is being saved up, he rushed into the crowd of monsters, not keeping his distance any more.
Seeing him advance like that, Bella had an epiphany; with a creepy smile on her face, she used her nails to slice her skin.
"My baby boyfriend is killing so many of them; I can't be left behind. "
When the blood started rushing from her wounds, she spread her bat wings and flew into the air, covering her lips with her blood.
"She said not to suck, but nothing about using my own blood."
From her blood she created small needles, using them to attack their weak spot from far away without the need to get any closer, and to ensure accuracy she attached them to her own butterflies.
"Now this is what I call a no-fighting policy," she said.
Sylvia, who saw her move, felt annoyed.
"Hey! Damn you, Bella. That was my move."
Bella brushed her hair away, looking so arrogant.
"Aww, who said it's yours? Is your name written on it and I don't know?"
Sylvia gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her sword.
"Bitch...if you do that, then don't mind what I am going to do next."
She dissolved her wings and landed on the ground, planting the tip of her sword in the ground, spreading her aura into the ground. She covered almost half the arena with her magical circle.
She left the sword in the ground and then jumped into the air, releasing her wings again, raising both index and middle fingers, arrogantly smiling while chanting,
[Uśtel]
"Fuck you, using this chant is cheating."
"This is war, and cheating is totally legit, honey."
"Bitch"
"Slut"
"Stop this mess. Chanting isn't Bella's good point, and Sylvia is simply not good enough."
Both in one sound, "How dare you!?"
Lana stafed at them hardely with only one thought , 'those people are insane their adaptability with the changes is insane , even creating new moves ....and here i was thinking i was a genius myself'
"No offense, but have you ever seen Serenity chanting...that's a total killer for me," daniel said, thinking about her chanting that day. "That day is a total cheat."
'Wait ...this is heading in the wrong direction,' Bella thought and quickly turned her whole body to Dankel. With teary eyes, she shouted, 'Does that mean you like her?'
Daniel paused for a second and then delivered a shocking answer.
"Of course I do; who doesn't like such combinations in a woman?... She is awesomely perfect."
"What???!!"
While fighting, he explained, "Just think about her powers and current looks, not to mention that I don't care about her demeanor ...that's a killing lady for most boys, a perfect ice queen. Too bad she's taken, or I would've gone after her."
"Thank god she's taken ...but I hate to admit you're right."
Bella was absolutely furious but could do nothing. 'If I didn't experience the feeling of interacting with her, I would've sliced you by now...that aura of a king who has everything figured out is just a bit too much, I swear.'
Sylvia covered her mouth in shock. "Oh my, oh my, did the pigs fly or what? Bella is actually jealous...now that's a true change."
"Shut up," Bella said, tongue fully angered; she formed a small wheel using her needles and slashed about twenty of them in one breath.
Sylvia, with dropped jaw, stared blankly.
"Did you really just do that...?"
The anger and frustration accumulated in Bella, forming an eerie bloody aura around her.
Sylvia's eyes widened from her current state. "This is...RAGE...but how?"
Bella's body was covered with a bloody red aura just like the one surrounding the monsters earlier.
RAGE is a state where for a set amount of time all the internal powers of a monster increase tenfold, but that's only for demonic monsters.
"So how...how exactly did she enter a rage state?" Sylvia said
Bella made use of the power boost from entering into rage and made a bold move.
She summoned all her bloody needles and detached them along with her armor. She pulled more of her own blood and used all the butterflies to surround herself in a red shell. The moment it broke, the broken pieces turned into bloody red bats that merged with the bloody needles and then spread around the arena, forming a red vortex.
All the monsters on the ground lost their gravity and were all swallowed into the storm, all dying instantly.
In less than a minute all the monsters that were out ended up turning into dust, and all the bats gathered, showing Bella once more in her glassy off-the-shoulder armor, standing with her high heels gracefully on a perfectly clean ground.
Lana ran out to hug Bella while the people standing at the gates started cheering them up; obviously, everyone was happy the crisis was over.
"How the fuck did you do that?" Lana asked while squeezing Bella's head between her arms.
Bella kept tapping her hands repeatedly.
"The fuck, I can't breathe..."
"Oh!...Sorry," then she let go.
On the other hand, Baial and Sylvia were still under the shock of seeing her in a raging state, unable to process anything that just happened.
"That wasn't normal," Baial said, drawing Sylvia's attention from above.
Sylvia flew closer to Baial, then asked while pointing at Bella,
"Have any idea what just happened to her?"
"Not in the slightest, but...."
Seeing how much Baial was hesitating to answer, Sylvia got confused.
"Since you started talking, then finish it to the end, and don't you dare leave me hanging on."
The way she put it out like that reminded Baial that the ones she's dealing with are royals, so she had no choice but to speak, 'Fuck this hierarchy.'
"So you see, my dad once told me that during one of his adventures he came upon an old church buried in the middle of the desert; inside there were records about a race that could use monsters' buffs to increase their powers, but that was an ancient civilization, an extinct lineage." Baial said, then turned to look at Bella, saying, "Now I started to think otherwise."
Sylvia turned to look at Beela following Baial's gaze and then dropped a word of advice for her.
"Strength is the only rule when born into royalty; no one cares how you get it, but they only care about how to drag you down with them. Got it?"
Baial nodded in silence, understanding that silent rule in their world, 'a dean of wolves.... Glad I'm not one.
While everyone was immersed in the celebration, Daniel kept looking at the ground after all the monsters died, feeling something was off, but since his double pupils kept going on and off, he couldn't count on them and had to use his brain.
'This feeling of an unfinished riddle keeps haunting me, but why? ...Something is definitely missing here...'
Daniel looked up at the stage, feeling uneasy seeing the grounds empty and more so seeing Serenity still not responding to anything, then Serenity's words popped into his mind.
-" tria crura are the weakest in my eyes...." -
'There is only one way for this raid of monsters to end, and that's for the source of mana to end, which obviously didn't happen since the island is still intact, which means this is far from over.'
Daniel's eyes narrowed, looking at the gloomy sky above them as he impatiently shouted,
"Be alert, everyone; the second wave is coming."
All of them turned at Daniel, all looking so stunned.
"What's wrong all of a sudden?"
"What?! But why?" Bella asked
Daniel turned around, saying, "No time to ask all of you to stand fully on guard on the stone barrier; keep your distance from the ground; hurry up."
He himself didn't wait for them and ran towards the stone wall as fast as he could; seeing how serious his expression was, they all went to the stone barrier, following his lead.
Just as Sylvia dissolved her wings right before her feet touched the barrier, a bolt of black energy burst out of the ground, swallowing the entire arena.
Sylvia hardly controlled her body to avoid falling on the ground, staring at the huge pile of black energy, "What the fuck is that?"
Bella turned her head at Daniel, trying to inquire about the situation.
"Hey! Daniel, do you have any idea what's happening?"
Daniel looked all tense as his double pupils activated again, and he finally saw the horror hidden between the shadows.
"The only reason that could force an entire herd of animals to run in such a frantic way could only mean they're escaping from something stronger than them."
Lans felt as if a huge pile of stones fell on her back. "Shit! Something stronger?...What could be stronger?"
After Daniel's vision cleared and he finally saw what was coming, he uttered the words,
"soul...eater"
Soul eaters are monsters that have no physical body and are formed from pure black energy, have no physical ability, but have phantom bodies and mind-controlling abilities. It doesn't matter if the host is dead or alive; they have absolutely no way of defending themselves.
"Fick!...First a tria crura and now a soul eater. What the fuck is down there to allow the portal to summon such deadly creatures?" Sylvia asked.
The phantoms started howling through the air, searching for hosts, and Lana ran behind Daniel right away.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
"Taking cover, focus on protecting me."
"What???!"
Dumbfounded, he didn't see them when they came near him, but his double pupils wrapped his body with a purple aura, making the phantom turn around and leave.
"Phew...thank god they didn't come after me," Daniel sighed in relief, patting his chest. "After this, I must ask for my eyes' guideline; some functions are still not clear to me."
Lana suddenly popped from behind him. "Why did they go back?"
"A change of heart, maybe."
"Shut up."
"Okay."
As for Bella, Non dared to approach, and the same with Baial and Sylvia.
"Why did none of them come near?" Bella asked
Baial responded, "Those with either mind control abilities or holy magic are considered their natural enemies or rivals, so they never go closer to them. Me and Sylvia, I understand, but... which one are you?"
Bella smiled slightly, "Who knows? Maybe a totally different category."
"What?" Baial didn't understand a thing but couldn't simply ask, so she decided to stay shut.
Sylvia said, "Rules could be tricky sometimes; just look at Serenity, the entire area around her is cleaner than my future."
"I agree, but isn't she an exception like usual?" Bella said.
On the other hand, those phantoms spread all across the stadium, giving it the vibe of a haunted house. Just before those things closed on the others, Sylvia closed her hands and started chanting.
[Potestate mihi concessa, sanguine iuris possessore, gladium sacrum liberationis evoco ad hoc malum purificandum.]
A surge of golden energy rose from Sylvia all the way to the sky, and as the sound of a ringing bell echoed through the place, white feathers fell from the sky, turning them into golden figures that started vanishing into the air.
With everyone mesmerized by the sight, they didn't catch the sight of some of them entering the two bodies of the people, Sylvia and Lana, knocked out.
Sylvia felt a wave of foreign energy resisting her holy magic and even attacking her internal body.
'Fuck!...not again!!'
She couldn't keep the light going on and collapsed to the ground. After the light was dispatched, Bella, knowing her situation, used her wings and hurried up flying to grab Sylvia.
"Caught you."
After grabbing Sylvia, Bella placed her on the empty seats and got a bottle of healing potions, emptying it into her mouth.
After swallowing everything, Sylvia looked at Bella full of appreciation.
"Thanks for the help."
Bella patted Sylvia's shoulder softly, saying, "Anytime, little kid."
Sylvia turned his gaze at Serenity.
"Only now did I realize why she told us not to go all out from the beginning...turns out she knew this shit would drag on."
Bella stood up all smug, saying,
"Told you she's special."
Sylvia felt annoyed for a reason. "Why are you all happy? It's not like I'm praising you."
"I don't care. I am just happy. Can't I be?" Bella said playfully, but then her face turned all serious. "Try being friends with her; who knows, maybe you will be surprised by the later outcome yourself."
A low agonizing groan, settling into a new dangerous position, suddenly echoed, drawing their attention twards the corps that suddenly regained their mobility.
"Huh?!???!"
Sylvia, as an experienced user of holy magic, knew exactly what it means to be possessed by an evil spirit, and seeing an eighth circle like that was a very bad sign.
"We're totally fucked."
"How smart are you, or did someone tell you?" Bella asked, glaring at her.
Sylvia didn't care to answer and bluntly said,
"Yup, we're screwed."
.
.
.
Previously, in another place on the island, near the teleportation gates,
Fear was sending Aries off to Avalor.
"Leave this place and don't forget to deliver my words to Jevon."
Aries was being so dumb he couldn't help but say,
"Fear, I don't understand what the hell you like about that old man at home. He's a total workaholic."
"Your dad is the charming king of our generation; at that time, all the girls were after him, yet he ended up with your mother instead. Forget it; what am I even saying to a kid?" Fear brushed him off by saying, "That's the world of the adults, and you're just a kid. What can you even understand?"
Feeling insulted, he bottled his anger to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
"I'm not a kid, and a married woman like you shouldn't be talking about something like that, don't you think?"
Fear placed both hands on her waist.
"Don't talk about my biggest failure in life... Who cares if I am married or not? Where else can I find a man both charming and responsible?"
"Responsible? Who? My dad?" Aries shook his head and then raised his hands, saying, "Excuse me, lady, but the man you know seems different from the one I know. My dad is not gentle with anyone except for my mother and sister, not even with my grandmother. You've been deceived, lady."
"Who cares? He's still handsome."
"You're a total lovestruck lady."
At that moment both of them glared at the sky as fear caught a dagger before it hit Aries's head; at the same second, the island started shaking violently.
After everything stopped, Aries ripped his mask off his face.
"You're guarding yourself pretty good, but I don't think the same way for your precious school."
"Watch your words, kid."
A grown woman's voice suddenly came from behind them.
"He's actually saying the truth... your defense system is fucking shitty; it didn't take much to crack."
Fear turned to look behind, and a middle-aged woman wearing a fur coat and a slit black dress and wearing heavy makeup was walking towards them holding a person's head in her hand.
"Long time no see, fear."
"You..."
Aries asked, "You know her?!"
She nodded, saying, "Her name is Caroline, a traitorous bitch from the cranium bastards. Don't be deceived by her looks; she's an old slut from my generation."
"Language"
Fear straight up fell apart hearing a kid lecturing her, "U...uh...did you seriously just tell me to watch my words?"
"If you weren't my sister's dean, I would've given you a beating," he said.
Fear had enough of this crazy shit and shouted back, "And you say your father is overprotective of your sister? In my eyes, the whole family is crazily obsessed with her."
Caroline suddenly drew a blade and attacked fear, but before the blade touched her, she wrapped her whole body in flames, deflecting the whole attack and throwing her two meters away.
"Weak," she said.
Caroline got consumed by rage; she released her eighth circle magic in the air, wrapping herself in a Chinese-style armor.
"Let's see you laugh after this."
"Ugly as ever," fear said.
At that time, a huge amount of blades engraved with mana started falling from the sky above them, seeing the place full of people. Aries raised his hand, showing his five circles middled by the fox trib mark and chanting,
[Scutum]
Waves of energy covered the sky, standing in the way between those daggers and the people below. Aries then waved his hand, chanting,
[Reditus]
And all the daggers seemed possessed that it all turned around and flew back to where they came from, attacking the person who threw them.
Seeing himself almost dead under his own attack, he decided to show himself up.
"No point in fighting someone like that while staying hidden... I will die at my own hands at this rate."
That man went to stand beside Caroline with his body full of cuts because of the daggers.
"Get away from here; this place is not safe." Aries said to the people on the ground and then turned around to see the people who came asking for their death.
The moment he turned around, Caroline shouted excitedly.
"Senior Jevon!?... No wait, eyes are different."
She removed her helmet and then pouted at him.
"Who are you, senior's lookalike?"
Dumbfounded, he said the first thing that came to his mind.
"What am I supposed to say?....I am my father's son."
"Oh... reasonable."
Aries turned at fear, staring heavily; she understood him but felt too embarrassed to say it.
"Hehe…he...your father was a popular...senior, I guess."
'Now that we're talking about that, Aries does resemble his father in terms of looks and talent; he should be quite popular in his generation.... But then again, his generation is full of hotties right and left,' Fear thought.
Caroline bunched her hair on his head angrily, saying,
"How the fuck did you bear to attack such a face, huh??!.....If you'd scratched that masterpiece, I would've sliced you alive myself, Garb."
"That look struck idiot." Garb felt so unfair he shouted at her, "They're our fucking targets, Caroline... we should be killing them, not chatting like this."
"I have an idea," then she turned at Aries. "You're my enemy, and I have to kill you, so how about we make a deal?"
"I don't care to listen.... My sister attends this school, and I don't allow anyone to bother her...." He fixed his gloves, saying, "No accidents allowed."
"A sister alcoholic, I see, but... I don't like that."
She threw her blade at Aries, and he simply dodged it by moving his head a little, but sadly her target wasn't him but the portal behind him.
As soon as the sword hit the portal, it exploded on the spot, releasing a wildfire.
Aries looked at the fire, stunned by the sight, eyes frowning from rage, hearing what she was saying.
"You can't leave...and you absolutely have to die…"
T.B.C...