Chapter 361: Kyrie for Brave Girls. [Release Version] (Patreon)

What a fitting scenery.

A lava field had consumed the island below, turning water into hardened rock and earth for platforms. As toxic gases and lava fountains threatened anything below, boulder-sized molten earth began to levitate up to the sky, joining the intricate web of dragon paths. As such, a small island, just large enough to accommodate my mammoth-sized dragon body.

A kirin-dragon dragon skipped and galloped in the air and on small floating rocks, menacingly pointing her unicorn horn at the flying eight-armed demonkin. Although she wanted to attack, she couldn’t as the black clouds above rained down red thunder. If I wasn’t part of this battle, I honestly would have fangirled at how cool this looked.

It felt like an authentic boss arena. So this was what the presence of three Territories did to the environment.

“Huuuuuraaaaagh!” The demonkin, Vifi’Yok, roared as she pulled up her crossbow. Shooting it like a repeater rifle, each bolt was a red lightning the size of a normal spear.

The land had no constraints on a dragon who could fly, so I took to the sky with my rocket boosters to dodge bolts. At the same time, I also noticed the red thunder caused by her Territory moving with her attacks, literally aiming at me like a heat seeking missile.

Tasianna, who was sitting on my back, decided against casting her defensive spells, telling me no way she could block these attacks with her stats. Since a spell’s strength came from your Intelligence, I could understand. So, I had to focus on avoiding these attacks before an opening could be revealed.

But, this weird magnetic force. What is this? I wondered as it felt like my body was being pushed away from the demonkin. The closer I tried to move towards her, the more an invisible force made it harder for me to close in.

As I was zigzagging through this storm, I noticed a streak of black flames hopping from one spot to the next, eventually attracting the attention of the demonkin. Neill, in her full kirin-dragon form, was jumping around on her floating island, even using the molten rock like projectiles by kicking them at Vifi’Yok.

Then, using her horn, she would shoot out concentrated beams and blasts of mana, only for red thunder to strike them before they could reach their master. However, Neill, with Renee on her back, kept this assault up, slowly making progress towards their target.

Meanwhile, since I took on my dragon form, my Job skills also disappeared, meaning all the [Idol]-related skills are now unavailable to me. Meaning, I had to go on the offensive while keeping [My Darkest Thoughts] on. It also didn’t help that I had [Symphonie des Feuergottes Movement (Minuet)] on. It incentived me to go slow and defensive.

… Then how about I turn it around? If I barely took any damage, then I should abuse it. I didn’t buy [Lightning Resistance Lv. 10] and [Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 10] for nothing.

I materialized [Unheilige Engel] and placed it over Tasianna, creating a dome over her body. Since I still had [Panzer] on and could just create an outer layer of scales and use [Draconic Barrier] on them, I was ready to juggernaut this.

With our protection secured, I dived down towards the lava river. [Magmakammer] released incredible heat which created a miniature magma chamber. With [Volcanic Blaze], I scooped this lava up and molded it into a barrier before my head. Using [Mana Eyes], I could even see the demonkin’s silhouette through this thick barrier.

The effects of the presumably magnetic field showed itself as my advanced slowed down. It was then I saw Vifi’Yok throw her halberd at Neill, probably [Voltaic Red: Thunderspeed Roar], before using something directed at me. With the silhouette mixing together, I couldn’t fully tell what the attack was until it hit me.

Oof!

It was her crossbow again. This time, it hit me exactly on the shoulder, and while it did do some damage, with my defensive stats boosted like crazy right now, it was neglectable. Still, it slowed me down, so I still did my best to avoid them.

Eventually, she did transition into using her remaining arms to sling lightning bolts at Neill and me. My lava and scale barrier began to crumble ‘cause of the continued attack, but I just kept reforming them over and over again.

Can’t [Flashfire] effectively when my speed is lowered by this magnetic field. Still, gotta try. Hellflame Fire! Corrosive Fire!

Vifi’Yok was without a doubt still poisoned from a previous attack, not to mention having [Dread Burn] on her. The attrition war was still on-going.

Purple flames burst from my mouth, piercing through the lava barrier and towards the demonkin. As I kept flying around, the demonkin responded by throwing a lightning bolt through the breath attack. I [Flashfire] over it, towards the other end of the lightning, only for a lightning strike to hit me right in the face.

Arck! I knew it! I grimaced, realizing my hypothesis was correct. [Flashfire] was a high-tempo movement which made it seem as if I teleported, but anything slowing me down would drive its speed way down.

White flames began to cover my face, healing me from that wound, as I u-turned around to avoid another lightning bolt. However, at that very moment, she clapped her hands and the magnetic repulsion turned into attraction, forcibly pulling me towards her.

However, before I reached her, Neill jumped right in and nearly kicked her with her back legs, forcing the demonkin to hastily turn her polarization back to before, blasting Neill right out of the former’s vicinity. Seeing she was flying right into a red thunder bolt, I shot a [Tornado Bullet] in her direction, throwing her away, although also hurting her, to help her flee. We then resumed dodging through all the long-range attacks.

As I was rattling my brain on how to handle this, I suddenly got a telepathic message from Neill.

[“Thanks. Quick thinking.”]

[“No problem. Come closer, I’ll heal up. Anyways, you got an idea on how to handle this? This might be even worse than her previous battle style,”] I complained, preferring how she was heavily melee-oriented before. [“We get slower when we approach, and any spell or dragon abilities I use gets destroyed by those red thunders. I can’t go all out right now, just a reminder.”]

[“Yeah, arcane corruption. I know, or, more specifically, Renee knows.”] My interest was piqued once Renee was mentioned. [“Electromagnetic pull and push. The Territory probably has the demonkin as the center of it. However, after testing it a bit, anything too blocky seems to be reflected. Mana-based attacks aren’t though.”]

[“It can’t possibly repulse air, otherwise, the demonkin would suffocate herself. Lady Hestia, it's probably similar to Astalos’s magnetic field, so we can use our past battle with him as reference for this,”] Tasianna reminded me of my battle with the [Boltreaving Wyvern]. [“Magic and any intangible attacks should work.”]

[“Then I guess Renee has a plan with her wind blade?”] I asked.

[“She does. Dragon paths work on her, as I injected mana into some of the lava boulders, turning them into bombs. Mana lightning works, too, and I can spread the paths as close as her. Renee has a plan to use them to bring the demonkin closer to me.”]

[“Good! Then come closer for a moment.”] The both of us flew around this flying arena, before we quickly made a stop at the floating island for me to transfer Tasianna onto Neill’s back. We quickly took flight before a thunder struck us. [“Alright, I can’t overuse mana and get [Arcane Fever] before the ‘finale’ comes. I’ll try to act as a distraction this time. Keep the same battle plan, though.”]

With what she showed just now, escaping wasn’t possible. She would just pull us right back towards her. However, we also had to force her to change her polarity, otherwise we were forced to maintain ranged attacks. When that happened, I would immediately change to [The Heir of Hope] to grant Neill a 10% increase in her stats. At this point, I got the song transition timing down.

Once I reformed my lava barrier, I kept the pressure up by throwing not only some [Sacred Smite]s but also breathing fire as I zoomed through the storm of bolts and thunder. I had to keep up with my natural arcane corruption decay and my mana usage.

Neill, on the other hand, kept her offense by kicking boulders at the demonkin, while having her dragon paths advance forward to shock her. In both cases, thunder struck them down, destroying any progress, but it did mean her attention was being divided.

Eventually, Tasianna was also able to establish a foothold in this battle as her retinue of [Slithering Frost Serpent] began to multiply and strike at the demonkin. Blades of ice descended down like hail, while frost powder covered the whole area like a miniature mist. She didn’t need to do damage, she just needed to distract the enemy like us.

[“Renee’s plan is easy. Keep her occupied, and thinking. Just like us, she has to be susceptible to arcane corruption. She will be forced into fighting us close once she’s used up her mana.”]

Was what Neill told me. I didn’t know if [Original Sin: Satanael] could prevent arcane corruption, but no way could it stop you from consuming a ton of mana. Even I had a limit on my regeneration speed.

We just had to force her into that position. Play our cards correctly, and she will have to play the game our way. Intentionally drag her along the stream. As much as we couldn’t keep this going for long, she couldn’t do it either. The five of us were all tired and exhausted. This was truly the final act.

“Hraaah!” As Neill was turning around to dodge a thunder blast, that demonkin man, Hee’Rlak, suddenly appeared from below Sis, using the floating rocks as platforms. The six armed demonkin of wrath wielded his flaming greatsword, trying to slash at Sis, but probably due to her skills, she reacted immediately and stomped him in his face.

With a loud crack echoing through air, the man was flung away and landed on a floating boulder. Neill, wanting to end him, galloped over, only for Vifi’Yok to fully focus on her, leaving her back open to me.

“Get your filthy claws away from him!” The demonkin girl cried out in rage, telling me this man was more than just a subordinate for her.

The rain of bolts threatened Neill, forcing me to create an eruption with [Volcanic Blaze], nearly engulfing the demonkin in the lava flood. She used her glaive to cleave it away, but this gave Neill the chance to shoot a [Pulse Arcane: Maxima] from her horn at the demonkin. This time, it hit!

“Argh!”

Renee then swung her blade, activating [Cometh Breeze] to pull the demonkin closer, which inevitably also caused the magnetic force to push Neill away. However, this allowed Tasianna to shoot her spells at the incoming demonkin, forcing our opponent to respond by slashing everything apart, leavening her wide open for Neill’s next attack,

Mana seams appeared on her black-scaled face, all moving towards her horn as it began to produce purple lightning from it. It wasn’t blue like her previous [Pulse Arcane: Maxima]. This was something else!

“Dammit! Thunderspeed—!”

“Kurieieieiie!” With a wild growl, she arched her head back and then snapped it forward, releasing a large lightning beam which destroyed the three electric hands on her right side, neutralizing the attack Vifi’Yok planned to use.

Freikugel! I remembered Neill using that move against Ghorush in their arena duel. It was more reserved back then — similar to a laser beam — while this one looked more like a cannon beam in size.

“Wind Shiver!” The [Freikugel] already caused a change in the winds, stopping the effects of [Cometh Breeze], but Renee immediately followed it up by shooting out a wind blast. Vifi’Yok responded by using her red lightning to dash away, though.

[“Hestia, dash next to her! To her right!”] I heard Neill call out for me, giving me precise instructions. Probably from Renee, since she was the only one who couldn’t use [Telepathy].

Following the streaks of red in the air, I could just barely predict where she was going to end up and used [Flashfire]. With [Magmakammer] and all my scale-dust spread around from my flying, I had plenty of places to dash towards. I only needed a single spark, and boom, there we go!

“You!”

I appeared right before her, causing her to instinctively swing her warhammer at me, only for the repulsion effect to activate and literally fling me away before she could hit me. Seeing her flabbergasted face sure was funny.

[“Ha! Get fooled you idiot!”] Neill suddenly spoke to everybody around. [“Did you really think we’re that dumb to stay around and fight you?! Go, Sis, get to the island!”]

[“Lady Hestia, we’ll be right behind you! All the plan needs is your mana!”] Even Tasianna joined in, spouting the same banter Neill did. [‘We’ll keep her occupied so the Empress can fight properly!”]

“Wha— So you’re gonna aband—?!” Vifi’Yok tried to taunt me as I flew away, using my rocket boosters to increase my speed.

[“As if you can trick me! That toy would never trap my mother! Goodbye, you idiot!”]

“What?!” she exclaimed as I disappeared even further in the distance. Neill’s precise order to me was for the repulsion effect to sling me in the direction of Karhalantheel island. “Dammit!”

And all to agitate the demonkin into doing something we needed her to do. Confusing the enemy and then forcing her into doing something desperate, as she probably had to worry about her mana. Deceit and trickery.

A purple magic circle appeared on her staff, activating a lightning spell which instantly shot her closer to me. There, she clapped her hands, changing her polarity where she pulled me closer to her. Only, I also made it easier on her as I blast myself towards her with my rocket boosters and [Wind Blast].

“Huh?!”

[“Neill, it’s the hands! She probably needs to clap her hands to perform the move! We need to stop her from doing that again!”] I informed Neill before tackling right into the demonkin, having us both crash land onto the floating island.

With the magnetic field active, the island began to crumble, affected by Vifi’Yok’s Territory. At the same time, red thunder rained upon us, hitting me thrice in a row. However, with all my defenses up, I took them like a champ. With my [Halo of Consecration] active too, heal tanking was back on the menu once again, girls!

“Kraaagh!” Still, it didn’t mean I was completely impervious to her attacks.

“Urrrgh! Urrgaaaargh!” Once she pierced my chest with her rapier, she pushed me off of her and kicked me away, although the magnetic force just kept attracting me towards her. Knowing this, she attempted to clap her hands, but I had my [Unheilige Engel] wrap itself around them, creating a thick layer of slime.

Hellblade Edge!

With the tides of the battle turned once again, I slashed at the demonkin with my tail, forcing her to block it with her warhammer, glaive, and fist.. The arms blown away from Neill’s shot were slowly regenerating, but now that I looked at her closely, her slightly tanned skin was pretty blue right now, even turning slightly purple.

I [Flashfire]d closer to her and grabbed her leg, pulling her back on the island, only for Neill to land and nearly dropkick her. As soon as she tried to jump away, a giant ice serpent appeared from underneath the island and attacked her, forcing her to destroy it with a thunderbolt, only to be left open to my dragon breath.

Poison, unhealable damage, my song, and then the arcane corruption in her body. Not to mention, how was her Stamina doing? If we couldn’t brute force our way through, then playing this smart was the way to go.

Click!

Huh?! Verdammt! I grimaced as I heard that noise resound in my head, repeated by my parallel minds as they just told me my sun core cracked again. Just like the demonkin, my body was starting to tire from all the heat.

Everybody else was sweating up a storm, so how could I, as the one controlling everything, still be perfectly fine? However, I couldn’t think too much about this. We had to take down the demonkin as soon as poss—

“Graaaaaaaaaaaargk!”

[Foresight] activated, prompting me to dodge to the side as a thunderbolt flew past me. I then charged right at the demonkin while Neill tried to keep the island intact with her dragon paths. At the same time, I had to duck as a glaive flew over me.

I lunged forward, claws ablaze, blocking her next attack. A large monster versus a single humanoid person; it sure tickled my gamer fantasy. Only problem was I was in the former position. Dodging around against an equally large opponent wasn’t too tricky, but against somebody as small as this demonkin felt quite the challenge.

I took damage, but I kept on slashing, casting spells, and using my scale-dust to explode. Fireworks blew up everywhere, you could say, while lightning weapons flew around, trying to hurt me. The demonkin clearly was feeling pressured, but even in this state, she kept trying to clap her hands, but I kept her from doing so with [Overload] and [Flashfire].

Of course, I wasn’t alone in this, as Tasianna kept raining more and more spells upon her. Whenever I would get hit, she would land a counter attack, dissuading the demonkin from attacking any further. Followed up by Renee’s wind attacks, it kept the enemy guessing who was doing what.

Then, you also had Neill. Whenever the demonkin landed a strike at my chest, dangerously close to my sun core, Neill took over and began harassing the enemy. Size difference aside, Neill almost seemed like a fox while approaching her battle with Vifi’Yok. Galloping, kicking, and then using her draconic abilities to keep the demonkin suffering damage. Black flames and dragon paths were integral to her combat style.

“In the midst of the desert ♫

A bright ray of light shines ♫

Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫”

And, oh boy, I did not let these chances pass. The moment I anticipated Neill would land a hit, I would change the song, only to switch back to [My Darkest Thoughts]. Never would I have expected my combat usage of my spell songs would improve today.

Vifi’Yok tried to escape multiple times, but [Flashfire] was all I needed to keep up with her speed. Even if she tried to attack me, I just took the hit. No dodging. While the symphony’s minuet was on, I was a tank. Plain and simple!

From this rhythm, our tussle continued. We would exchange blows and keep “dancing” around on this crumbling lava island. A dragon and kirin swinging their bodies around while sundering this place up, while a human and fairy kept shooting out spells, all to bring down a single demonkin.

Our goal was to push this demonkin’s mana to zero, but that was easier said than done.

“Hrkk!” My body froze in place as I felt a sharp pain in my head, leaving me open as I stopped my attack. [Danger Perception] and [Foresight] activated and it felt like my body could avoid them, but my limbs didn’t want to listen.

Boom!

Kraak!

My frozen body took the hit right to my head, nearly knocking me to the ground. However, instead of recovering and sending a counter attack, my body just instinctively roared out and my consciousness began to… fade a little bit.

What the—?! Koff!

It felt like I just had a black out, and in this moment, Vifi’Yok hit me again, only this time, she used that weapon ability with her warhammer. That electrifying feeling from before, where it felt like a battery was placed inside my body and continuously produced lightning to shock my organs and nerves, happened again.

“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” My body roared out once again, swiping at the demonkin crudely without stringing it into a combo attack. Was my body moving on its own?!

[“Hestia, disable [Battle Frenzy] now!”] I heard Sis speak in my head.

[“Wait, what?! Disable? Are you kidding me, I need … the stat boo—”]

[“Don’t argue with your older sister in this case! I told you to not overuse [Battle Frenzy], you’re going to enter the moderate stage at this rate!”] Neill then jumped in front of me, and took all the attention by herself. [“Shut it down!”]

Was this really ‘cause of [Battle Frenzy]? Then again, the times where I went over the minor stage, I would go unconscious as my body went wild on its own. It was a self-preservation function. I thought I finally had [Battle Frenzy] under control, but when I would … Shit! I just had a blackout there for a moment, again!

Verdammt, out! Out! Calm down! Think about my sloth. What keeps me rooted to this world!

Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. Think about the happiness I wished to grant everybody. To see my family and friends safe and smiling would give me happiness. I had to remember this. As such, I couldn’t lose myself until that goal was achieved.

Hoooo.

The white highlights on my scales dulled, eventually disappearing and returning to my usual crimson color. I felt not only my stats drop but also my mind’s aggressiveness die out a bit. I could think a bit clearer now, but it didn’t help, since the situation was still the same as before.

“Tor Eiclere’s Finulaflei!”

As I finally calmed myself down, a blizzard suddenly appeared on this molten rock island, engulfing not only the demonkin but also Sis with it. It was Tasianna’s finishing spell!

Looking to my left, Renee and Tasianna had gotten off Neill, as the latter was keeping the demonkin occupied.

Both were freezing in this crazy spell, being sliced by the army's worth of ice blades spawning from the spell. Thunder rained down towards Tasianna, but I immediately caught wind of this and charged over to her, covering my friend and absorbing the blows. I could still act as a tank.

[“Lady Hestia?!”] Tasianna sounded dismayed.

[“Continue the attack! I can take these!”] I ordered her, and my friend nodded. She knew what was more important here.

Neill, seeing through all the pain, kept the demonkin from fleeing, using dragon paths and even biting at her to keep her down. Frostbite appeared wherever Tasianna's ice swords hit, slowing anything they struck down. Holding onto thunder halberds, she tried to throw them, but in the next moment, the demonkin began coughing as her skin fully turned purple.

Is that [Arcane Fever]? Mana Eyes!

__________________________

Information is blocked

__________________________

Boo!

“Arrrrrrrrgkk! TAKE THIS!”

“Krrrriiiiek!”

As I thought victory was so close, Vifi’Yok suddenly dug her halberd right into Neill’s incoming claw attack, piercing her hand before using her warhammer to break it. Her right front leg’s bone is sticking out!

Neill!

Vifi’Yok then used her gauntlet to smack Neill’s head right into the ground, leaving her open to a pummeling with her lightning arms. I used [Volcanic Blaze] to morph the lava around her, grabbing onto her legs, allowing Tasianna to keep buffeting the demonkin.

This might have stopped her from attacking, but she also used this time to regrow her remaining elemental arms and used them to tear off the [Unheiliger Engel] slime. It tried to reattach itself, but the enemy was faster than the slime without Neill around to stop her. Once she broke away from the ground, she tried to clap her hands, only for Neill to bite into her leg.

“Krak! F this! Rumbling Crash!” She landed a hammer strike right at Neill’s head, knocking her right out of commission.

NEILL! I cried out as my rocket boosters activated, shooting myself forward as I bit right into the demonkin’s arm, pinning her down on the ground in this hailstorm.

I tried to tear off her limb, but she threw her glaive right into my eye, blinding me and causing me to wail as the excruciating pain immediately went up to my brain.

“Kraaaaaaaaaaaah!” I roared out as I plucked this lightning polearm out of my head, only to see the demonkin almost performing her clap. I couldn’t react in time!

“Cometh Breeze!” I heard, followed by strong wind pulling me and the demonkin closer to Tasianna and Renee. This pull was just enough to make the demonkin stumble, delaying her clapping just enough for me to make it!  “END THIS BATTLE NOW, HESTIA!”

Crack.

<[Symphonie des Feuergottes (Finale)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

“KriiiAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

<Symphonie des Feuergottes Movement (Finale): The curtain call is near, the spotlights shine brighter than ever, for the final act is here. Like the epitome of the inferno god, fire will explode. Fully heal Health, Mana, and Stamina. Increase all stats by 100%. Increase fire damage by 50%. After this effect ends, apply [Exhaustion (Moderate)], [Arcane Corruption (Minor)], and [Mana Stress (Minor)]>

Double Agility! I smashed the demomkin right into the ground, shattering our footing.

[“GET NEILL OUT OF HERE! TASIANNA, GET READY!”] I called out to the other two before I grabbed Vifi’Yok in my arms and pulled her closer to me as I flew into the skies with my rocket boosters.

Dreadflare Aura! Come on, Magmakammer, burn everything around me now! Music change! THE WILL TO FIGHT AND SURVIVE!

“Is this the fated battle, the light shines ♫

It’s blinding my sight ♫

But I’ve gotta hold on, the stage calls ♫

The cries of a thousand, the flames of war will descend ♫

The carnage of the blazing sun ♫

Blood rain from swords and claws ♫

The strive to pierce the sky ♫

The light that beckons you forth ♫

I couldn’t just stop now, my heartbeats ♫

The show must go on ♫

You cannot silence my voice now ♫

Be dazzled, be humbled ♫

I’m destined for the stars ♫

Prepare for a beatdown, no mercy ♫

Gonna overwhelm them♫

A chance for the spotlight ♫

Don’t regret getting burned to ash ♫

The carnage of the blazing sun ♫

Blood rain from swords and claws ♫

As the music drops, our emotions will run wild ♫

Top the world ♫

The strive to pierce the sky ♫

The light that beckons you forth ♫

The promise to stand fast ♫

Family and Friends ♫

The Will to Fight and Survive! ♫”

100% increase in all stats. 50% more fire damage. All from this volcanic explosion inside my body. It burned me, strained my sun core, and it made my head ignore all the pain and damage I accumulated up until now.

Then, [The Will to Fight and Survive]. 10% increase to fire attacks and also 5% decrease in the enemies’s Wisdom. If we took away [Dragon Fire]’s meteor attacks, it only increased my fire attack by 10%. However, was this the most efficient song, though?

[My Darkest Thought] not only decreased all demonic abilities' effects but also reduced 20% of their stats. It was what kept all of this mildly competitive, after all. [The Heir of Hope] increased all stats by 10%, though. As such, if you did the math, it didn’t seem like [The Will to Fight and Survive] was the correct choice here. What made the song good, though, was its infinite Stamina spam.

However, at this very moment, I didn’t need a depressing [My Darkest Thoughts] or an inspiration filled [The Heir of Hope]. I didn’t need a boss threatening [Dragon Fire] either. What I needed was a blood-pumping song that made me feel like I could break through any wall! To break my limits to survive!

Like a true finale!

“Graaaaaaaaaak! Leeeeeeeet meeeeeeeeee gooooooooooo!” I heard her scream, but I ignored all the pain around my arms and poured more mana into my [Draconic Barrier]. Even skill points! I didn’t care if I got [Arcane Fever] at this point! I’d have to deal with it later anyways!

<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Draconic Barrier Lv. 10] . 700 SP spent. 1300 SP remaining>

“KriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Like a rocket, I flew past the grey clouds above me, finally taking in the power of the sun. My sun core managed to take in some solar energy, refueling it a bit, but not long enough for it to reach an amount that mattered.

Once the heat I'd been building up reached a tipping point, I directed my eyes back to the ground. Was I melting this demonkin or not? I didn’t really care! I couldn’t stop this attack one way or the other at this point anyways. All I needed to do was execute it!

“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!” Agony-filled cries echoed from below me as I passed the clouds, descending like a meteor. “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

Shit!

The demonkin was actually trying to clap her hands at this point?! Was she crazy?! Regardless, I had to stop her—

Kuek!

Crack!

Another crack, but this time, it didn’t feel like it was created by my own body heat! This time, it was accompanied by a deep pain in my chest!

<[Overheat (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk!”

You broke my core! That’s my second heart, you bitch!

A virtual volcano from inside me burst out again, this time singeing my organs and muscles now that I didn’t have an easy way to control this heat. I could maintain it for now, but the pain was unreal. Unable to fully endure it, it felt like my reactions were lagging behind a second. My trembling hands were too slow!

“Leeeeeet gooooo!”

No! Faster!

“Uuuuuurgh, you’re not killing me! I will be your death!” Her hands moved, closing in for another cla—

“Krihihihihie! Kruaaaaaaah!”

Another spike of pain ran through my body, but surprisingly it wasn’t at any of my vitals. In fact, I thought I just saw one of my fingers fly right past me, along with a human arm.

“Arck!”

I looked down, seeing the demonkin had lost her left arm while I lost a finger and chunk from my right foreleg. Also, I thought I just saw a beam. So, if everything added up … then it had to be [Freikugel]?

[“WIN FOR US, SIS!”]

That voice!

… Was all I needed for the last bit of motivation.

“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Releasing every single bit of my remaining scale-dust, the impact not only tore through the floating island but also devastated the island below that. From previous experience, I knew better than to even try to limit the explosion range with [Pyrokinesis].

This powerful crash landing blew up the entire area, even affecting the other islands around. I was blown away into the sky, before landing right in the middle of the ocean. [Magmakammer] was still active, so it hardened up the water, creating a small patch of island where the overwhelming heat began to rip through my body.

<[Overheat (Moderate)] [Exhaustion (Moderate)] [Arcane Corruption (Minor)] [Mana Stress (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

Arghk! Hot! Burrrrns!

The power of [Symphonie des Feuergottes Movement (Finale)] was impressive, but, oh gods, it had a terrible side effect. My organs were burning, an intense headache appeared, and my body felt sore and numb. This sucked!

[“Lady Hestia, I’m here! Aifli eir Vintral. Tor Eiclere’s Finulaflei!”]

Okay, okay, dial down the heat! I don’t need a sun core for this, I just need to control the temperature for Tasianna’s spell to work! I trained this with Mother, I can do THIS! ARGH, HOT!

Using mana was painful, as in, sore muscle-like pain. However, unlike sore muscles, using any mana at all while I was in this state would worsen both [Arcane Fever] and [Mana Stress] by a mile. Still I had to do something to help out Tasianna.

As the heat around me began to die down, I could feel my body being torn apart as my mana left my body; however, at the same time, I could also feel the cold snow touching my scales. A blizzard took over the area, helping cool me down. I didn’t know how long it took, since the pain was making time seem longer, but eventually, I could just fall onto my back, huffing and puffing.

[“Lady Hestia?”] I looked in the air and saw Neill approach us with Renee and Tasianna on her back. My fairy maid immediately gave me a hug around my head, despite still sweating from [Magmakammer]’s heat. I should turn it off.

[“By Father’s black horns, Sis, that was really an attack.”] I heard Neill congratulate me from the side, slowly approaching me with her broken leg. However, I couldn’t speak. [Telepathy] demanded mana.

Tasianna, noticing this, immediately explained the situation to them, having left that out when she told them about my finale. Hearing this, both Renee and Neill couldn’t help but sympathize with me, seeing how I couldn’t fight at all anymore. In fact, I was slowly falling asleep.

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Guess you have to carry your little sister over to the port,” Renee joked, now that the situation was resolved.

I kinda wanted to transform back into a dragonewt, to make it easier on Neill, but unless I wanted to go through some excruciating pain, I couldn’t. [Mana Stress] technically stopped me from using any spells or even expending my mana until I moved out of zero Mana. Technically, I still could, but that meant drawing mana right from my very cells.

Meaning, my Health. And I was already bleeding Health from developing an [Arcane Fever]. My automatic white flames weren’t even healing me for that same reason.

“Anyways, Hestia, could you turn your Territory off? It’s blazing out here.”

Oh, right, I should probab—

[“Wait, hold on,”] Neill interjected suddenly, stopping me. [“… Just, Hestia, let me make sure. Did you get a message on how you won the Territory dispute? Or getting a level? ‘Cause, I’m sure you would have gained at least three or four levels from killing her.”]

… Wait.

My eyes burst open and I shook my head vigorously. She was right!

[“Shi—!”]

“YOOOOUUUUUUU!” Just as that ominous feeling began to form, it manifested as a burning corpse jumping out of the water and grabbing onto Neill’s horn. “THIS DAMN HORN!”

With only one fleshy arm, but with six lightning ones, she ambushed us right as we let our guard down. With her warhammer and halberd, she struck at my sister’s horn, shattering it before she could react.

“Krruiiiiii!”

“Ugak!” In the ensuing moment, Neill slammed her head against the demonkin, sending her falling on to the ground, where I finally got a clear look of her current form.

Her armor had melted right into her charred skin, deforming and twisting her features. Bald and skinless, the demonkin looked more horrifying than ever before, especially since most of her demonic features were still there. Thankfully, her lightning arms were back to normal instead of being feathered, meaning [Original Sin: Satanael] was off.

Wai— Shit! I forgot to cancel her Original Sin ability in all this chaos. Could I have usurped her power?

“Uuuuuuuarghhhh!” Vifi’Yok stumbled back onto her feet, shouting out like a howling beast as Renee and Tasianna readied themselves. Neill tried to stand up, but the loss of her horn seemed to have been more painful than I had thought.

Damn, I can’t move!

My body wouldn’t listen.

“ARRRRRRRRGH! I AM WAR! I BRING WAR! A— Wuarrrgh!” The demonkin girl coughed up blood before falling onto the ground like a broken marionette. Her six lightning arms were slowly dissipating as she tried to push herself up. “A WARBRINGER MUST END HER BATTLE SUCCESSFULLY! BREAK—ahak! FREE! I need to …”

Her weapon, horns, and tail disappeared with her elemental arms. She then clutched her charred chest, gasping for air with every pained breath.

Our victory seemed almost at hand, we just had to wait for her to die. However, it still amazed me how she managed to survive my last attack and even broke Neill’s horn as a final act of defiance. Honestly, this beast of a girl was truly as tenacious as a cockroach, but even she couldn’t escape this any longer. All we needed to do was to let her die or finish her off.

“ARRRRGHHH! INSECTS!”

“W-What?!” However, before we could, Renee screamed was directed at the large shadow coming from the ocean. The water separated for this creature, before the very sky was blanketed by a giant scaled tail. To the point, it looked like it was larger than even Elyonda’s port.

The leviathan…

This… was not good.

“ARRRRRRRRRGH! DIE!”

“Shit, Neill, get us out of here!”

“Master!”

“Lady Hestia, get in! Lady Fargryneill!”

[“Get in the subspace yourself! I’ll handle th—”]

And without any more warnings, the tail slapped down.