Chapter 59: One Last Thing

After a while, the energy began to fade. Vladir’s body had crumbled into dust that was slowly carried away by the wind.

Elias lifted his head slightly, looking at the place where Vladir had been standing. Now, nothing remained of him except the dust drifting in the air.

’The mana he used was really similar to Baekhyun’s. Is he Baekhyun’s kid?’

Even though Vladir had been declared dead, the demon army he’d summoned was still there. In fact, they were going even wilder after losing the one who commanded them.

"Crazy woman. Why didn’t you just finish off the small fry too?"

"Do you think I’m your subordinate? Sure, there’s seniority between us, but that doesn’t mean I have to do what you say. Finish them off yourself."

Umbra pulled her mana back in. The giant flower that had burst out of the ground earlier instantly turned to dust, as if she’d done it on purpose to show that she had no intention of listening to Venatrix.

"Then tonight’s share of time with Master is mine."

*Whoosh!

Venatrix’s sharp claws lit up a blackish red, and then flames wrapped around her hands.

She spun her body while swinging her arm. A small claw-shaped energy formed at the tips of her nails, then spun fast and grew bigger as it shot toward the enemy.

*Slash!

The demons around Venatrix were scorched to ashes by her attack.

"I can’t be bothered... Vorax. Finish off the rest."

"Tch... Someone who gets called senior sure loves ordering the juniors around."

Even while cursing, Vorax still did what Venatrix told him to.

He raised both hands into the air. A sea-blue energy began to appear around his wrists.

"Gluttony: Devour It All."

Suddenly, a thick, slimy liquid, dark purple in color, poured down from the sky onto the demon army. Wherever it touched, their skin blistered right away. Some of the demons were completely soaked, and their bodies began to dissolve as if they were being digested by the liquid.

"I’m done. Now it’s just Voper left."

"I’m almost done too. But wait until I’m satisfied with beating up this kitty!"

Watching Voper keep pounding on the White Dreadclaw’s face without giving it a chance to hit back, Nox could only sigh in resignation.

"This is gonna take a while..."

Feeling constantly cornered only made the White Dreadclaw angrier. The monster let out a loud roar, then gathered red energy in its mouth before blasting it at Voper, who was standing right in front of it.

*Zzzzt... Whoosh!

"Hup! That was close."

Even though the attack was fired from point-blank range, Voper dodged it with ease. She then backed up a few steps to keep her balance.

’V-Voper... Hurry up and finish this...’

"Why the rush? I’m having fun here."

’B-but...’

Hearing Vesper’s soft voice inside her, Voper let out a long sigh. For whatever reason, she just couldn’t refuse Vesper’s requests.

"Alright, alright. What wouldn’t I do for you..."

Voper then raised her hand toward the White Dreadclaw, which was getting ready to unleash another blast of energy.

The girl began drawing a huge magic circle filled with all kinds of runes and unfamiliar symbols. Neither Elias nor the two Nocturne girls recognized any of the writing carved into it.

’How long did she study all this? It’s so complicated. There’s an ancient language and some weird symbols I’ve never even seen in a game.’

While Elias was still studying the runes and symbols that filled the Magic Circle, the White Dreadclaw beat her to it and fired its blast of energy at Voper.

*Zzzztt...

Right as the devastating blast was about to hit her,

"Spell:.."

Voper launched her attack by clapping her palms together.

*Clap!

"Twelve Blue Starlight."

*Boom!

The two attacks collided in midair. The White Dreadclaw’s red blast was instantly held back by twelve blue lights that burst out of Voper’s Magic Circle.

But the clash didn’t last long.

One by one, the blue lights began to pierce through the red blast, splitting it into several pieces as they kept shooting toward the White Dreadclaw.

*Splash!

"!!!"

The White Dreadclaw didn’t even have time to dodge. Blood started leaking from the corner of its mouth.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!

The twelve lights hit its body one after another. Explosion after explosion shook the whole area, sending shockwaves that swept through the trees and kicked dust up off the ground.

Even the ground beneath the White Dreadclaw started to crack and cave in under the pressure of the attack.

*Rrooaaarrr!!!

A roar of pain rang out from inside the cloud of dust.

But it only lasted a moment.

The remaining blue lights started to merge, forming one huge explosion that swallowed the White Dreadclaw’s whole body.

*Boom!

A strong wind swept across the battlefield. The trees around it swayed violently, and several demons that were too close got blown away by the shockwave.

When the dust began to clear, the White Dreadclaw was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was a huge crater where the monster had been standing.

Voper lowered her hand and let out a small yawn.

"Yawn~... Done."

She then glanced at Vesper, who was still inside her.

"Satisfied now?"

’Thank you, Voper.’

"..."

Seeing Vesper smiling at her so widely, Voper couldn’t hold back her own smile either. She patted Vesper’s head, then pressed her forehead against Vesper’s.

"Anything for you, Vesper. Anything..."

* * *

Because of the energy explosion, the area around the camp had turned into a huge crater with hot lava at the bottom. Luckily, Ferrum had carried Elias and the twins away from the camp right away.

If not, they might have ended up as barbecue if they’d stayed there.

Right now they were a few meters away from the camp, together with Ferrum, Nox, and Umbra.

Nox and Umbra were arguing about who had killed the most demons. Ferrum just watched the two of them with the same flat expression as always.

Meanwhile, Evelyn and Elysia had started cleaning Elias’s wounds with strips of cloth they had torn from their own clothes.

Even though Elias kept saying he was fine, it actually hurt like hell! And because it hurt so much, he didn’t want anyone touching it! But the two of them stubbornly insisted, saying they were afraid the wounds would rot if they weren’t cleaned right away.

’Aren’t your clothes dirty with dust and blood too? That’s exactly what’s going to make my wounds rot faster.’

But of course, he couldn’t say that. The reason was, he couldn’t talk much, and he was afraid it would make them sad, and after that angry, and after getting angry they’d take advantage of Elias’s weak condition and kill him in some horrible way.

Elias gulped when the image of himself being killed popped into his mind. Since an image like that wasn’t good to keep dwelling on, Elias immediately distracted himself with the spell Voper had used.

’That was so cool! If I could, I’d love to learn it. Even though it looks hard, it’s totally worth it for that effect and those visuals!’

*Thump!

Suddenly Venatrix dropped down from a tree. She walked over to Elias, who was sitting against a tree while Evelyn and Elysia dabbed at the wounds on his body.

Venatrix was a little surprised by what Evelyn and Elysia were doing. Then her gaze switched over to Umbra, who was busy running her mouth about herself with Nox.

*Sigh~

"Umbra. Why aren’t you helping close his wounds? Even if you’re not a Saintess anymore, you’re still an ex-Saintess."

Umbra stopped her conversation with Nox right away and looked at Venatrix.

Hearing what Venatrix said to Umbra made Evelyn and Elysia turn toward Umbra in shock.

’Saintess?’

"I can do it. But my ties with the Church of Light are cut, and the god I used to worship was killed by that ’Blue-Haired Guy.’ So the effect won’t be as big as before."

"You still can’t heal him?"

"If it’s just closing small wounds, I can. But if it’s mending broken bones or injured organs, I give up. Let alone reattaching an arm that’s been severed."

"Tsk... You’re really useless."

"What did you say?! You wanna die?"

Umbra’s tone shot up when Venatrix said that. She quickly coated both hands with her dark purple aura, and right as she was about to go after Venatrix, Ferrum grabbed her.

"Ugh! Let go of me! I’ve wanted to skin that dog for ages! I’m gonna turn her into accessories!"

Umbra started struggling, but Ferrum easily lifted her and set her on his shoulder, tying her down with a rope made of mana.

Venatrix handed Elias something wrapped in cloth.

"This is your left arm. Lucky I managed to grab it before the blast scorched it. We did want to help more, but well... Like, well, like you heard... That woman can’t reattach your arm."

Elias then stood up from where he was sitting and took his arm back.

"It’s fine. I’m really grateful... For what... You all did. If it weren’t for... You all, the result might... Have been different..."

Then Elias turned to Ferrum, trying to smile.

"Thank you... For protecting... My two ladies."

Hearing that, Ferrum gave a faint smile and nodded at Elias.

"Oh, and one more thing..."

"...?"

Elias looked at Venatrix with curiosity as she started digging around in her pockets.

"I overheard from my subordinates what you and your team came here looking for. They said you were looking for a flower. The Heartbloom, if I remember right..."

Evelyn and Elysia’s eyes shot wide the moment they heard the word Heartbloom. Their expressions turned uneasy at once, and sweat started pouring down their faces.

’Shit! We forgot about it!’

’What do we do now? With an explosion that powerful, it must have been destroyed without a trace.’

Venatrix then held something out to Elias after rummaging through her pockets.

"I took this from that big kitty."

Elias stared hard at the item Venatrix had given him.

’What is this?’

On the other side, the two girls’ eyes shrank when they saw the object Venatrix gave Elias. Cold sweat poured down even harder and their hearts pounded faster.

’W-why is something like that in her hands?’

* * *