Chapter 67: I've Grown*
[Status window
Name: Kyriaki Elpis Eleftherios
Race: Dragon Sub race: Arch-Dragon
Age: 100 years
Core Rank: C-
Job(s): Low-level Mage(High), Low-level Warrior(High), Low-level Martial Artist(High)
Title(s): The Crown Princess of Dragons, Divine Entity
Attribute(s): Light, Darkness, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Magma, Ice, Metal, Wood,Lightning, Mind, Space, Time, Blood
Abnormality: Stigma of Chaos (caution)
Authority: Link To The Omniverse
Strength: B
Defence: B+
Agility: B+
Sense: B+
Vitality: A
Mana: ∞
Holy power: C-
Intelligent: S+
Charm: S
Skills:
Unique: Polymorph, Battle Prediction
Passive: Drakonic, Eidetic memory, Photographic memory, Hyperthymesia, Accelerate thinking speed, Parallel thinking, Polyglot, Detection, Survival instincts, Mana sense, Night Vision, Twin link, Poison Immunity, Disease Immunity, Charm Immunity, Curse Immunity, Mind Magic Immunity, Blood Magic Immunity, Creation Magic Immunity, Slow Regeneration
Active: Low flight, X-ray vision, Purification Water, Prankster's Confusion
Warrior imprint
Mage imprint
'Hmmm... not bad. I've grown.'
That was Kyriaki's final assessment after inspecting her status window.
'System, let's hide all my skills. I don't want others to know that I have demon and monster skills later.'
[Activating
[Loading]
[Activation complete]
'Wonderful, now show me my element merging process.'
[Ding!]
[Element merging process
Light: 100%
Darkness: 100%
Fire: 20%
Water: 46%
Earth: 22%
Wind: 34%
Metal: 27%
Magma: 19%
Ice: 13%
Wood: 10%
Lightning: 15%
Mind: 80%
Space: 68%
Time: 100%
Blood: 01%]
'Much better.' She couldn't help but nod to herself.
She now held two primary elements and one primordial element in her hand. What made her more hopeful and excited was the fact that she had obtained "Time"
From the whispers of time, she already knew the Time Element people control in this world is nowhere near the real "Time", and yet, the thought of getting closer to her former enemy and now companion again filled her with joy.
'For once, I feel like I'm the main character.' Kyriaki had to frankly admit.
'System, how much time's whispers have I unlocked so far?'
[Ding!]
[Whispers of Time: 11% unlocked]
'Good to hear.'
Satisfied, Kyriaki finally teared her eyes off from the holographic screen and looked at the pile of grimoires, weapon arts and martial arts. Adding this to her earlier excitement, she felt her cheeks flushing pink.
"Let's get to work." She said, jumping down from the luxurious sofa.
This was something she had to do sooner or later.
She had become a 3rd circle mage and a 3rd tier warrior long ago, but the lack of Gilmores, studies and time prevented her from learning new spells and arts. Now, since she has settled down, it's time for her to acquire some spells and resume her studies and training.
Kyriaki picked up a Gilmore at the top, sitting down on the floor in lotus position. She then ran her fingers over the book cover. The rough leather and bumpy carvings felt raw under her fingertips. The weight was almost nonexistent and there was no sense of disresonance at all. And the dark cover was evident of the Darkness attribute.
She picked the next.
The next.
Up to 3rd circle, she absorbed most useful spells she could, reminding her to learn more on her own once she went back to EESOP.
Then she turned to the next Attribute. The yellow color of Light attribute gave the Gilmores a fancy yet captivating look. Like it was made of combining the color of yellow roses and ivory satin.
After savouring all the power surging through her tiny body, Kyriaki turned to the pile of golden covered Gilmores with pinky cheeks, as if they were touched by cotton candy.
"This is so exciting~" she mummered in a sing-song voice.
'Good, I can learn rest of Time spells on my own~'
Having Gilmores of Time attribute is only possible because she was a dragon. If she was a human Time mage, she'd have been crawling inside dungeons, towers or under the feet of some high ranking noble to obtain even a 1st Circle time based Gilmore. If not that, she'd have to study for decades to learn one spell worth of power.
Thankfully her bloodline provided enough support to her.
"Let's see my weapon arts~"
[The Elf's Wind (S+)]
'An archery art, not bad for now.'
[White Lion's Five Claws (S+)]
'Hmm…this dagger art is used for head-on attacks only. But it still looks useful.'
[Death's Judgement (SS+)]
'Perfect scythe art since I unlocked my Darkness attribute.'
[The Drums of War (SS+)]
'A battle-axe art of SS+ rank is rare. I'm lucky with this one.'
Although she had no immediate use of these weapon arts, she hoarded them in case of an emergency. There are always what ifs like losing her sword or being incapable of harming the opponent with a sword and so on.
She wanted to hoarder more, but the other weapons she chose weren't yet at the level of manifesting into basic weapon art. Thus the delay of absorbing more weapon arts from different kinds of weapons.
'Show me my skill tab.' When the last book lost its luster after being used, Kyriaki immediately turned to the golden-silvery transparent screen.
[Ding!]
[Skills
Unique: Polymorph, Battle Prediction
Passive: Drakonic, Eidetic memory, Photographic memory, Hyperthymesia, Accelerate thinking speed, Parallel thinking, Polyglot, Detection, Survival instincts, Mana sense, Night Vision, Twin link, Poison Immunity, Disease Immunity, Charm Immunity, Curse Immunity, Mind Magic Immunity, Blood Magic Immunity, Creation Magic Immunity, Slow Regeneration
Active: Low flight, X-ray vision, Prankster's Confusion
Warrior imprint: Basic Swordsmanship (G+), Basic Archery (G+), Basic Dagger art (G+), Basic Scythe Art (G+), Basic Battle Axe Art (G+), Basic Whip-sword Art (G+), Basic Wrestling (G+), Mathra Kickboxing(A-), Colors of the Spring (S+), The Elf's Wind (S+), White Lion's Five Claws (S+), Death's Judgement (SS+), The Drums of War (SS+), Whip-Sword Art (incomplete)
Mage imprint: Basic Magic (1st Circle), Basic mana missile (1st circle), Body glow (1st Circle), Light orb(1st Circle), Shadow Bind (1st Circle),Speed of Time (1st Circle), Arrow of Light (2nd Circle), Purification Light (2nd+3rd Circle), Minor Healing (1st+2nd+3rd Circle), Shadow sink (2nd Circle),One second of freeze (2nd Circle), Shadow Explosion (3rd Circle), Light Rope (3rd Circle), Light Explosion (3rd Circle), Slow Time (3rd Circle), Peek to the past (3rd Circle)]
"I should start learning other weapons seriously." Kyriaki reminded herself more firmly so as not to avoid training any longer.
"I heard you chose Trident as one of your weapons. Want to train with me?" A soft voice full of consideration and eagerness reached her ears in an instant.
"Oh, you are still here." Kyriaki merely acknowledged the blue eyed boy's presence, dodging his question smoothly to a shameless degree.
"Are you done now?"
"Yep. All that's left is to return to my daily life."
"Ah, before that…" Euclid jumped down from the tall sofa where he sat down to watch Kyriaki. He threw the Rubik's cube from his left hand to right hand with practice ease. His silky hair swayed as he softly landed on the floor skillfully.
"Don't you have something to give me?"
"...?" Kyriaki tilted her head.
"Don't act dumb." Euclid extended his arm. Still confused, Kyriaki took it and got up without any complaint.
"I didn't take money from you, though?"
"Pfft…You owe me a wish, remember?"
"Oh!"
Only then it came to her mind that she promised to grant Euclid any wish before she killed Sal'rique. Kyriaki withdrew her hand as she took a step back to scan the boy before her.
"You didn't use it to propose marriage. Surprising."
"Just who did you take me for? Marriage isn't something to take lightly."
"Look who's talking. Anyway, tell me what you want." Kyriaki rolled her eyes, brushing her wrinkled dress softly.
Her eyes briefly landed on the Rubik's cube Euclid was solving. The blue and yellow squares looked oddly matching together in her eyes. Euclid threw it to his left hand again, prompting Kyriaki to look at his face.
He was smiling.
Not an act, not an empty smile either.
It was a true smile filled with boyish charm and anticipation.
"A song." He replied.
"Huh?" Kyriaki blinked her golden eyes.
"Rio always boasts that you sing him lullabies and play him music all the time. Play something for me too."
Euclid leaned forward, their faces a breath away from one another. His sparkling eyes reminded her of the ocean in summer, sparkling endlessly with bright sunlight.
When did summer arrive at the ocean, dispelling eternal winter? Kyriaki truly didn't know.
"...You want to hear me play?" Kyriaki took another step back. Finally perceiving what Euclid was asking for. Her golden eyebrows arched up in surprise.
"Yeah!"
"That's it?"
"Can I have a kiss too?"
"What instrument do you prefer? A Piano? Flute? Harp? Cello? Violin?" Kyriaki made an 'I'll give you the sun and moon when you ask for a five minute break from human society for breakfast' look, appearing like a 21st century Genie with a high social awareness.
"Anything." Euclid didn't mind the look he was receiving at all.
"Hmm…"
Swring!
Taking another few steps back, Kyriaki summoned something from her smartwatch free inventory. Her expression slowly turned into that of profound thoughtfulness and nostalgia.
Something glittering,
Something considerably big,
And something almost transparent manifested on her hands.
"Oh!" Euclid let out a soft exclamation. His eyes glued to the instrument Kyriaki summoned.
A transparent electronic violin, made of something akin to glass and mysterious strings, glittered under the night light. It was a modern violin empowered by a yellow mana stone embedded in the middle.
One corner of Kyriaki's mouth went up, forming a proud smirk.
'I've been waiting for something like this!'
Sweesh!
Next minute, a violin bow manifested in her tiny hand.
'Who said I could always play classic music? I'm gonna blast the Palace with K-pop today.'
Kyriaki swung the bow in an elegant manner as she took a proper pose. Her excitement seemed to have doubled in a short span of time. All those cold rationality, unpredictable calculations and meticulous princess aura seemed to have vanished entirely, leaving a girl with musical freedom behind. Seeing it happened, Euclid suddenly remembered something Kyrios said once in passing.
「Ria relieves her stress in three ways. By cooking and baking, by playing music or by beating up people」
Looking at how her eyes sparkled like when Kyrios was looking at lollipops, It seemed she was extremely stressed out until now. Euclid was glad she didn't choose no.3 to beat him up with the violin.
Meanwhile Kyriaki closed her eyes with a pounding heart.
'Shutdown by Blackpink.'
Thus began a five hour long k-pop violin cover blast by the Crown Princess of Dragons.
∆ ∆ ∆
Location: Avvah Castle, Capital city of Se'irim Devildom, Abyssal plane
Soft moans and whimpers filled the bathroom full of steam. Splashes of water that time to time echoes inside were swallowed by the soft melody of a violin.
Smooch. Smack. Gulp.
"Mmmhmm…Your Majesty." A soft whisper of a young woman rang inside the bathroom.
"Hah…hah…" Se'irim lifted her head, a thin thread of saliva stretched between her and the naked woman beneath her.
"Why? Are you exhausted already?" She gently caressed the woman's pink cheeks, her heart-shaped iris still fixed on the swollen lips of the woman.
Spash! Splash!
"N-no…" The woman, getting more and more red as she reacted to her touch, shook her head. Her water soaked hair tightly clung to her neck as water washed away the traces of saliva on her collarbone.
Se'irim's thumb ran through her lips. The naked woman shivered under her soft touch, as if she was anticipating something.
"Then open your mouth." She pressed the lower lip slightly with her thumb, whispering sweetly.
Oh, so very sweetly, like a devil guiding a poor human towards downhill.
The naked woman, her body covered by milky water, looked up at Se'irim with a seductive gaze as she parted her lips.
Se'irim lowered her flushed face, hoping to capture those red lips with her own, only to pause abruptly.
"Your Majesty?" The woman opened her half closed eyes, still soaked in lust and desire.
Se'irim shot up from the bathtub, her face betraying nothing. The flushed face soaked with lust was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes gleamed once before turning to normal.
"Call Overload Se'rara." She commanded in a tone not too loud or not too hushed.
Navigating the steam filled bathroom that almost looked like it was covered in thick mist of a haunted forest, she finally found a bathrobe.
"You, leave." Her next command was directed at the naked woman still in the bathtub.
"Y-yes!" She broke free from her daze, bowing her head. Her little tail trembled behind her.
Judging by how she reacted, it seemed this wasn't her first time being with Se'irim, the sin of Lust.
Se'irim left the bathroom without looking back. Her damp magenta hair cascaded down to her waist, still dripping with bath water. If not for her petrifying demonic eyes, the sweet fragrance emitting from her might have left her with a somewhat refreshing first impression.
It didn't take ten minutes for the bedroom door to open.
"Mother, did you call for me?"
A sweet and gentle voice broke the silence inside the room. A beautiful Scubbuss with violet hair and full black eyes with violet heart-shaped iris walked into the bedroom. For the first time, Se'irim's face cracked into a frown, showing her displeasure.
"Who's your mother?" She asked, her voice calm yet sharp like knives.
The violet haired Scubbuss froze on her track, flinching as if an invisible blade was on her throat. A flicker of fear flashed inside her eyes before she lowered them to the ground.
"I-I apologize, Your Majesty! May I ask what orders I am to receive from your glorious hands?" She quickly fell to her knees, bowing her head in utmost respect. The tiny wings on her back trembled with her unstable voice.
"Hah…" Se'irim sighed loudly enough for her to hear as she sat on the corner of her massive bed. The light pink bed sheets and mattress sank with her weight.
Se'rara broke into cold sweat, hearing Se'irim sighing. She didn't dare to lift her head or make eye contact.
"Sal'rique is dead."
A short silence followed after Se'irim's declaration.
"...Yes." Se'rara replied in a defeated voice.
"Which number of son was he to you again?"
"He was my 13th son, Your Majesty."
"Ah, yes. 13th. Very close then. And remind me again, which core rank was he?"
"A+, Your Majesty."
"Hmmm…I see."
Rustle.
Se'irim nodded her head deep in thought, her bathrobe rustled leisurely when her crossed legs swayed with the absolute confidence of someone looking down at lesser lives from above.
"Two Hatchlings that aren't even of C rank killed an A+ demonic Incubus, is that it?" Her mumbles clearly rang through the massive bedroom.
Se'rara said nothing. She couldn't. After all, Sal'rique's mission was to play with the hatchlings, not getting killed.
It was a disgrace.
A fatal mistake.
"Se'rara."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Was my command that insignificant for a mere A+ rank Incubus to disregard it to this degree?"
"No! Not at all, Your Majesty!!"
"Then does that mean Sal'rique disobeyed my important command?"
"Y-yes, I think so, Your Majesty."
"Then as his superior and mother, what are you going to do, Se'rara?"
Bam!
Se'rara banged her forehead on the floor, her whole body trembling.
"Hmmm?" Se'irim urged. Her tone was soft and relaxed, sweet, even.
There was no anger, no disdain and no killing intent either. It sounded perfectly like a purely curious question. But the vague sense of danger like there was an invisible knife pressed on her neck never vanished. Like a ghost no one can see.
"I, Se'rara, the 95,720,000th Overload of Demons swear on my name, I will single-handedly carry on the mission Her Majesty Se'irim personally bestowed upon Sal'rique."
"Oh, Fantastic."
And finally, a beautiful smile bloomed on Se'irim's red lips.
∆ ∆ ∆
"Demons only have 100,000,000 Overloads among their 7 Billion Demon population."
—From records of Demons—