Chapter 38: An Invitation to a party
[Breath of the Ice Spirit: Third Breath: Icy Mist]
Sky-blue aura manifested into a thick mist and bursted out of the twin swords, shooting out like a ripple on calm water. Dozens of zombies surrounding Euclid paused as if broken robots when the mist devoured them.
In a few seconds, the mist vanished into nothingness, leaving behind zombies covered in a thin layer of powder snow.
Slash. Slash. Stab. Slash.
Before another second passed, all zombies fell apart before Euclid's twin swords, like broken snowmen.
Kyriaki genuinely admired his fighting style that a 21st century Secret Agent couldn't see in the modern world.
Wielding a sword was an art. An art of killing, yes. But even so, it was undeniably mesmerizing that the image of him wielding a sword made death seem more artistic to onlookers.
If she was the one on the receiving end of his sword, she would be excited. However, she wondered how many people would think the way she does.
Levana anxiously glanced at Kyriaki, who watched Euclid fight without making a move. She swallowed her saliva and gripped her summoned daggers tightly. The long pointy ears twitched several times to display her inner thoughts.
"Umm..Hey, Kyriaki. Should we…help him?"
"No." Kyriaki replied.
"...Okay." Her ears dropped like a puppy denied of pats and belly rubs. Nevertheless, Levana didn't question Kyriaki after that.
They watched as Euclid single handedly slaying all zombies and occasionally monsters in silence.
Three beautiful snowflakes without any flaws shooted up from his hand like throwing daggers and paused in the empty air in three different height levels. Euclid ran forward with his full speed, stepping on them like they were mere stepping stones. Then he shouted again loudly enough for the dome to echo;
He spun a half circle high in the air, pointing his index finger at the ceiling and drawing an imaginary vertical line with his finger; the end of the line was pointed at the hoarder of zombies.
Crackle. Rumble.
The skyless and cloudless ceiling of the canyon dome shook.
BOOM!
A massive golden lightning, as if it was a spell released by a 7th circle dragon, descended before anyone could grasp what was happening. With a loud blast, debris flew around and a powerful shockwave pushed remaining zombies as well as the elves back with force.
Kyriaki roughly calculated it to be around 10 billion volts with her dragon eyes. By the look of it, she realized it was amplified by Holy Power, making it even more powerful.
She frowned as she looked at the aftermath.
The huge crater formed by a high velocity collision of a destructive Levin in the middle of the dome floor covered an area of approximately 100 meters wide.
It was just one lightning strike, and one third of the zombies which numbered over thousand were wiped out instantly.
And that wasn't all Kyriaki saw.
'It was a sub authority. And I can still see traces of Holy power in the bowl-shaped crater.'
Kyriaki's frown deepened.
That kind of sub authority that gave an immediate result and enormous power was unfavorable to her. Kyriaki has two sub authorities unlocked. However both of those were only useful in the long run, unlike Euclid's
His growth was rapid, his authorities were powerful. Which meant she had to be more careful so that he wouldn't mess up her plans.
'Should I kill him?' She tilted her head at the boy who was slaying zombies nonchalantly after releasing a mind-blowing skill a few minutes ago.
'No, not yet.' She shook her head.
The mystery hasn't been solved yet. She couldn't afford to give up a valuable tool.
Her golden eyes observed his breathtaking fighting style once again with a calm mind.
'…Hmmm?'
Kyriaki's eyebrows twitched. She felt like they made eye contact just now. It was possible since both of them were dragons.
"Can you come down and help me?!" Confirming her doubts, Euclid shouted in a slightly tired voice.
They were too far away for the elves to hear him clearly. But Kyriaki, who had excellent hearing as a dragon, caught on fast.
"I thought you were enjoying the party. It was rude to disturb you so I stayed still." Kyriaki cupped her mouth and shouted back with a hint of playfulness.
"Hah!" Euclid sneered in response as he swung his sword using Basic swordsmanship.
Kyriaki immediately noticed some sloppy movements in his sword. His grip seemed to have loosened slightly, and his footwork had lost its strength. His speed had also slowed down enough to get her attention.
'Oho?' a strange light flash in her eyes.
"Then let me invite you to this party too, my dear princess. Let's have fun together!"
"Oh my, it almost sounds like a proposal." Kyriaki giggled softly.
The voice that was as sweet as the twinkling of bells gently reached everyone. Even amidst the thick scent of blood, loud screaming and thousands of undead zombies rushing to take someone's breath away, there was no discord when her gentle voice and sweet giggles overcame the chaos at all.
Yet, her soft smile only lasted for a second as it turned to a dangerous and dignified smile.
'The skill must have drained him.'
Having unbelievably powerful skills and authority meant that it could consume so much energy, whether it was mana, holy power, mental power or body strength.
And for Euclid who seemed to have leveled up to E- before the activation of his sub authority meant that his holy power was also on that level, making the impact of his skill less destructive but still more drainful.
It must have sucked up all his holy power, mental power and body strength. If he wasn't a dragon who had a heart that continuously supplied infinite mana, a body that originated from the purest mana of the universe and a clever mind that controlled his condition on the spot thanks to passive skills;
'And his system must have also played a big role in his survival. If it was a human, they might have exploded into pieces.' Kyriaki got up from her crouched position, her golden hair swayed as she stretched her body like a cat. 'He leveled up one sub-rank right away after that impressive authority was released, that fact must have also helped him to stand on his two feet longer.'
"I'll gladly accept your invitation, my Lord." She smoothly bowed with elegance, as if she was a young noblewoman accepting a dance offer from a nobleman. A faint aqua blue glow lightened the sides of her head.
She took her steps with confidence, her dreamy smile never left her lips.
"Ummm…should we help her too?" Levana sounded like she was talking to herself rather than to Ethan.
"..."
"... let's let her run wild." She told herself after noticing Kyriaki's sparkling golden eyes.
Meanwhile Kyriaki stepped forward with confidence without caring about anything else. Her feet paused at the edge of the tunnel end. She looked down at the massive crater and the wide dome floor she calculated to be around 1 kilometers wide.
There were many zombies, still counting over two thousand. Not only that, those zombies were still incoming from random tunnels like angry ants. The inhabitant monsters who weren't zombies yet also mixed into the threat, risking their lives to become zombies.
Truly, the death theme suited this scene more than anything else.
Although there were many zombies, the space was enough for her to move around freely without giving a chance for zombies to even touch her hair. Her smile grew wider.
Kyriaki summoned the beautiful yet terrifying sword of hers and jumped down without any warning or hesitation. Wind fluttered her clothes as if welcoming her. Her baby face—which no one would believe capable of even knowing what death is—was full of excitement.
With her arms speared wide, she imitated a bird like a child. Her fall was full of freedom, so much so that her heart tickled happily. The blue gemstones on her earrings shone with the radiance of a star, displaying her true feelings. Her hair tie loosened in a second. She felt it fly away in the wind before long, fluttering her free golden hair like a whip.
At the last minute when she was about to hit the ground, she performed a summersault, slashing the ground with her sword to reduce the impact. She landed in a knelt position, cracking the already slashed ground.
Her slowly lifted face contained a smile full of childish excitement. Her fluttering golden hair calmed down, resting over her shoulders as it covered her earrings. The hair tie that neatly tied her hair was nowhere to be seen.
She slowly got up, attracting the attention of zombies far away.
"Grrr"
"Krrryaak!!!"
Zombie began to run towards her at a fairly fast speed. Kyriaki watched them get closer and lifted her sword diagonally over her chest and stood upright like a noble knight.
[Colors Of The Spring: Sixth Color: Pollen of the Spring Fairy]
She was determined to test all her sword arts in this mission. The very reason she used it despite it being less destructive and more unstable was because she needed a rough image of what she was capable of for now.
Thus, another colorful sword art was unleashed.
Aureolin particles, like powder pollen, came to life at the hand of the hatchling. It stormed around her as if it was a whirlwind obeying her command.
One pollen…
Two pollen…
Three…
Four…
The pace of them multiplying was terrifying fast. And the way they stormed around using Kyriaki as the eye of the storm was somewhat beautiful. A different beauty from the red rose petals had given her.
Kyriaki pointed her sword, which didn't move an inch since she chanted her sword technique, towards the zombies.
The jet black blade, shimmering with soft multiple colors like a glass crystal under the sunlight, guided the pollen like wind guiding scattered dandelions.
Swoosh!
The pollen whirlwind shot forward.
"GRRRAAAAHHH!!!"
"KYYYAAAAKKK!!!"
Each time one pollen particle touched a part of a zombie, that part burned in a stunning aureolin flame. However, it didn't end there as Kyriaki's sword moved busily, cutting down the slowly burning zombies in their distracted state.
In such a short time, she eliminated nearly one hundred zombies with ease. But the blue glow of her earrings never died.
The fight didn't drag on, as the two hatchlings took care of all the monsters and zombies before an hour passed. After the first attack, Kyriaki never used any other flamboyant sword techniques. The others dismissed it as her not having enough aura to continue.
The truth was; although most of her sword techniques from [Colors of the Spring] were either area of attack or crowd control arts, her core felt the burden of using high ranking sword arts despite having enough aura to spare.
She didn't use spells like Euclid did either. But Euclid looked half-out of his mind for him to notice anything about it. The most extra thing Kyriaki used were more alchemy bombs. The sound was similar to when using some spells, hence leading to his lack of attention.
At the end of the nearing hour, the two of them stood tall on a pile of dead bodies.
Cutted.
Ripped.
Burned.
And blasted.
There wasn't even a drop of sweat on the two hatchlings. Yet both of them had sunken eyes, indicating that despite being dragons, they too would be mentally fatigued after three days of continuous battle.
"Hah…" Euclid dispelled his weapon into tiny particles with a sigh that held a lot of emotions.
"You guys can come down now!" He first looked at two elves from Kyriaki's side. Then his eyes slowly turned to look behind him.
From a tunnel end behind Euclid's head, a trembling elf looked back at the gruesome scene below him.
"You too, Sir Adam. It's safe to come down!" His tone was playful and cheerful, but his eyes hid the annoyance and disapproval only Kyriaki was able to notice.
Kyriaki ignored the two faced hatchling and jumped down from the dead body pile, relaxing her stuffed muscles. Her eyes were glued to the only entrance with a door attached in the vast tunnel-filled-dome.
It was fairly big, but to her, who had grown up in a palace with all gates and doors well made over 100 meters, the door looked very small. Even smaller than an average entrance of a titan, which was under 10 meters at the least.
The door had a plain appearance with a skull symbol as the only eye-catching part. Kyriaki tilted her head and lifted her arm with indifference. Her chubby fingers stretched out in hope of touching the surface.
"Stop." She'd have done it if not for the tiny hand that grasped her wrist. Kyriaki's eyes landed on the disturber's hand, and then his face. She blinked several times with her usual poker face.
"You might open it if you touch it carelessly. We should rest before investigating. The elves are in a broken condition." He calmly explained without getting flustered by her intense golden gaze.
"Sigh…I apologies, it might have been a disaster if I had done that." After a few seconds of silence, Kyriaki freed her hand using a hand technique and admitted her short-coming honestly with a soft smile.
Euclid's eyes opened wide as if he hadn't expected that kind of reaction from her. The sincerity of her words seemed to have puzzled him greatly. It felt as if he expected a tantrum from her like a young master from a third rated webnovel who lost in a duel.
Kyriaki ignored his reaction, walked away from the door and sat down, pressing her back to the dome walls with a rather natural attitude. Her eyes scanned the three people slowly walking towards her.
They were covered in dried blood of different colors and dirt all over. Only the clothes remained as it was before they left EESOP. Clean and neat. She was informed they were made of nano technology.
According to her knowledge, getting it torn was hardly possible. Not to mention, getting it dirty or damaged in the slightest was impossible unless they were attacked by a monster or person of SSS+ rank or above.
However, that didn't mean it worked as a complete shield or a defense system. The parts visible to outside were still unprotected.
Kyriaki glanced at the bruises on Levana's wrist and scratch marks over her face. Her lips were slightly wounded too. The other two Elves were more injured than her, as Adam limped forward, displaying he had strained his ankle, and Ethan had a large wound on the right side of his forehead and a deep slash on his palm, still bleeding.
"You guys…" she extended her hand. "Come here."
At her hand gesture, three elves and one hatchling looked at her with bewilderment.
"What? You want me to come to you instead?"
"Oh-oh no, I'm coming!" First to move was Levana.
She walked in haste, tripping multiple times on her way. Kyriaki wondered how she didn't get any ankle injuries despite all those messy walking postures.
Levana sat down beside her with an innocent smile. She still looked beautiful despite the harsh environment she lived in for days. It truly reminded Kyriaki that Levana was an Elf, famous for their beauty.
"You are hurt. You have a wrist injury, and a few scratches here and there." Being at the receiving end of Kyriaki's sharp observant gaze, Levana flinched.
"Th-that's not serious, really. It's hardly worth paying attention! I promise it won't hinder the pace of our mission, team leader!!!" She hurriedly explained, using her entire body like a child. Kyriaki nodded along, slowly extending her arm without letting her know.
"I can still move! See? I'm a Kesem after all, this much is noth—" Levana paused at the soft warmth of a tiny palm touching her cheeks.
A soothing voice, as soft as a flower petal and as sweet as a cotton candy reached and tickled her heart. Just two words, but It felt like a melody she had never heard before. As if to sooth her aching body, a warmth so comforting that it resembled the hugs her mother used to give washed over body after the voice disappeared.
Levana held her breath unconsciously, realizing her bruises and small scratches were rapidly being healed. Her grey eyebrows shoot up like a bow string and she looked at the little girl sitting beside her with wide eyes.
The girl with mysterious golden eyes and mesmerizing golden hair stared back with a mixture of gentleness and gracefulness within a polite distance.
She had always been like that.
If enigmatic secrets and the golden sun were all put together to make a person, that person would be Kyriaki. She was always mysterious and had a polite way of distancing herself away from people.
Sometimes, she seemed terrifying and unsettling, as if mercy wasn't in her dictionary. Yet the gentle and elegant side she sometimes let out was so dreamy and admirable that Levana couldn't help but be drawn to her.
"I know you are capable and strong, but since I have infinite mana anyway don't hesitate to ask for healing in the future." It was a nonchalant tone, as if she was just discussing which tea to drink on a lazy afternoon. But to someone like Levana, even that much was like a gift.
"Alright, you two come here too. Don't stand there like fools, you must heal yourself for the Mid-boss raid."
Kyriaki healed the two elves with indifference. Within minutes, their injuries were healed and skin was restored.
Kyriaki thought it wouldn't be much effective since it was just a 1st circle spell. After all, a first circle
She sighed inwardly with relief.
Her eyes ran over the people who were sitting down in a circle facing each other. Then, with a very serious expression, she extended her hand. The smart watch on it activated on its own, sensing her movements.
Kyriaki quickly opened her inventory space.
Woosh!
The KyrioswithoutKyrios-13 team looked at the ground with a dumbfounded expression. Their mouths agaped and eyes had lost focus as if they just found out they were lucid dreaming and now were worried about their mental health.
"Please eat, especially the elves. You guys need nutrition and energy to fuel your non-mana bodies." With an ever so serious face, as if she was discussing something very important like her life depends on it, she spoke slowly and carefully.
The children snapped back to attention, coming back to their senses after hearing her firm words.
"..."
"...I-i feel like there's poison in it."
"..I don't care, I deserve to eat."
"Oh, wow! Amazing!! I'll eat well!!!"
Kyriaki introduced each dish like a professional chef with a solemn tone. On the ground where a picnic mat was spread wide, various kinds of plates and drinks occupied the whole place.
From Table dishes like Mint potato salad, Fresh Pirhana Sashimi, roasted Golden Rabbit meat, medium rare Eight Legged Sky Lamb steak and Amethyst mushrooms fried with Fire Fox oil, Dessert like Moonberry cakes, Sunberry pies and Ambrosia cup cakes, Drinks like Dew of Dawn Lilies, Star-Grape fruit smoothie, Rainbow leaf tea and Rainbow berry Ade to Teatime snacks like Sunny-hen egg tarts, dried pink slime jelly and night-cocoa chocolate biscuits…all kind of Elixir based food that only dragons usually have the luxury to taste were there.
It was ridiculous, but looking at Kyriaki's face, they felt like they shouldn't utter a word that could be disrespectful to anything in the world. At the end of Kyriaki's serious explanation of dishes and advice on what to eat, Euclid, who silently listened to her very serious babbling, leaned towards Levana with sparkling eyes.
"At this point she's like a mother."
"Is this how Prince Kyrios gets treated? I'm super jealous right now. If only my Brother was like this." They immediately began to whisper as if they couldn't hold their thoughts intact anymore.
Kyriaki ignored both whispers and sweets.
She picked up the knife and fork after choosing spicy food and non-sweet dishes. With flawless table manners she began to eat in silence without uttering a word. It was as if she was doing a holy ritual.
Though her expression, usually cold or indifferent, now had various changes. Her cheek flushed red, lips curved upward, the corners of her eyes twitched from time to time. Sometimes she exhaled as if she couldn't believe the taste she was feeling, as if some god had accidentally switched her food with divine cuisine.
Just looking at her expressions said she had become a different person before food. So much so that Euclid had to ask;
"You are serious about food, huh?"
"I am very sincere when it comes to food." Kyriaki admitted instantly. Placing a heavy weight on the word 'Very' as if to show how much sincere she was.
And her unsaid words; 'So shut up and eat.' were understood by her teammates as if it were conveyed to them through telepathy. Adam shivered, sitting next to her, but his hand stuffing his cheeks with night-cocoa chocolate biscuits—which contained earth and darkness attribute mana—never stopped.
"...Holy moly, is this food from heaven? I mean- this could rival my mom's cooking, I should brag to her later!"
"... it's good."
"Delicious!!! Ria, you are really good!!!" Praises poured down from everywhere, even people like Adam had to admit how good her cooking skills were.
Kyriaki lifted her fork more proudly and gracefully than ever, basked in compliments as if someone had crowned her the Queen of food.
"By the way, have you seen that arrogant prince somewhere?" At Ethan's self talking, the air seemed to freeze for a moment. Even Kyriaki paused her fork and knife mid air and lifted her head.
Who's that "Prince" he was talking about?
No one had to ask. They all knew without saying the name.
"...I haven't seen him, Young master." Adam quietly replied.
"Umm… he came with us, right?" Levana gulped down a bite of mint potato salad and looked at the two hatchlings.
"...but I didn't see him enter the gate though." Then she muttered loud enough to be heard by her teammates. Ethan and Adam both looked at her with wide eyes.
"Don't tell me- that baxxxx lied to us?! He just fooled us and stayed in Isaz because of that damn bird?!" Ethan gritted his teeth, not caring his real feelings were seeping out of his demeanor.
He looked like was slapped ten times by a dead fish. Adam also had a resentful gaze as he paused eating.
"...Did he already know this would happen? After all, he was really angry even after he killed Ogofa."
"He must have known! Why didn't he stop us!!! How selfish can he be! I'm going to formally complain to the Titans after I leave this place!!!"
"Hey, let's be honest, when they tried to explain, we were the ones who didn't listen. Both Titans and our team leader tried to stop us, but none of us paid attention to them. It's not their fault that we were so stupid." At Ethan and Adam's venomous words, Levana frowned and pointed out facts rationally.
"Ugh! But he was a prince! If he wasn't so arrogant and explained it to us properly, we could have been saved!!" Ethan roared like a lion, throwing his spoon away.
The food on his spoon scattered everywhere. His disgraceful behavior, as a high elven noble, looked pathetic even from an outside perspective.
"Hey…" a cold voice, devoid of any warmth rang in the massive dome with a huge force.
Bam!
A strong pressure landed on the two elves, except for Levana.
"Heuk!" Adam whimpered, crashing his face first on the floor.
On the other hand, Ethan lowered his head, trying his best to not end up like Adam. Cold sweat ran down their foreheads as a chill wrapped them like a blanket.
The nearest giant plate of jelly jiggled in horror, drinks shivered, not from cold but from the changed atmosphere. Everyone froze instinctively.
Because they felt it.
The killing intent, thick and filled with bloodlust.
It felt like a hundred knives were pointed at their necks. One move and they'll lose it forever.
Then slowly, deliberately—as if they had to show they were of no threat to a beast beating fangs and claws—they turned to look at the place where the voice came from.
Cold and terrifying calm golden yellow eyes stared at them without blinking. Coated in vivid multicolored Mana, a fork floated beside the owner of those eyes. They gulped unknowingly at the sight.
"I told you," A killing intent that gave a spine chilling sensation flowed out of Kyriaki's body. "This is your own choice."
Swoosh!
The fork shot towards Ethan with an enormous speed.
Bang!!!
It barely missed his face and flew ahead, hitting the dome wall far away with a loud bang. A thin stream of red blood flowed from the small wound that appeared on Ethan's cheek. His eyes widened as he choked on air. And yet, he did his best to not move, the fear creeping into his sapphire blue eyes.
"You wanted to continue the mission. The evidence is our voting chart, where you guys won by ⅘ votes. Don't be so pathetic, take responsibility for your own decisions." Everyone flinched at her sharp tone.
Because it was the truth.
And therefore, her cold and quiet anger was justified. They didn't dare to even gasp. Not even a single deep inhale of air. They watched, matching her calm and quiet air.
An uncomfortable and fearful silence fell. Kyriaki, who controlled the fork with her remarkable Mana manipulation, focused on her meal once again.
"Whether Prince Erik is here or not, we have to get out of this situation on our own. Prince Erik was just an added condition from the Titans, if he's not here, then that means he had his own thoughts and reasons. We are not responsible for someone who's not in our team. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" Levana immediately replied.
Following her, the remaining two nodded reluctantly. Euclid, who was sipping Dew of Dawn Lilies while staring at the wall, just shrugged his shoulders playfully and smiled brightly at Kyriaki.
"Ah, and also, be sure to never ever disrespect food in front of me unless you wanna die by my hands"
This time, they all nodded with great enthusiasm.
And thus, for the next half an hour, they never talked. All kinds of dishes disappeared into the bellies of the children. Despite the conflicts, they had to admit that the end of the meal was very satisfying. However, the air around Kyriaki felt so cold that they couldn't put their satisfaction into words.
And the first conversation they had after the meal naturally shifted to the topic of the plain black door in the speed of light. It seemed inevitable. They had to fight the mid-boss to clear the dungeon, unless they wanted to be stuck there forever.
"Hmmm…" They examined it from afar with curiosity filled young eyes.
"What do you think at the other side of this door?" At the question from Levana, the two hatchlings who had more knowledge looked at each other.
"If it has 'Death' as the theme, then maybe a mutated zombie?" A thoughtful expression appeared on Euclid's charming face.
"Ah, so you knew this was a death themed dungeon?" Kyriaki narrowed her eyes.
'By any chance does he also have a system authority with superior benefits?'
"...? Anyone who saw zombies would think that way."
"...that's true." Kyriaki backed down at the innocent smile Euclid flashed at her.
"If it's a mutated zombie, then E+?" Levana, oblivious to their mind battle, asked curiously, as if she was taking notes in a special lecture.
"That is the standard, yes." Kyriaki nodded, fixing her eyes on the door once again.
They observed the door for a while, making plans to eliminate whatever was hidden behind the door. In the end, they all agreed to the route Euclid came up with overwhelming logical arguments.
Kyriaki glanced at the door and activated her
Soon, a low mumble left her mouth.
"It reeks of death."
∆ ∆ ∆
"Mint potatoes; most might mistake this elixir for having a mint taste. However, in reality, Mint potatoes taste like normal potatoes. It was merely that the color is of mint hue, earning its name."
—Drom the book