Point-of-View: Minise Mefvis
———————————————————————————
H-huh...? Where am I? It looks like...I'm inside a broken building? I then let out a hiss of pain as I tried to get up, waves of pain emanating throughout my body. Ow, my...everything hurts. Especially my head...I winced as I touched my forehead, feeling something wet. Is this blood? And there's some dust too...a piece of rubble must have fallen onto head, that must have been what woke me up.
Wait, why was I unconscious? What happened? The last thing I remember happening is-...I abruptly sat up with a start, before gasping in pain and letting out a slight groan.
What happened to the Fire Sage? I remember using the wood powers I got from the Walking Tree monsters to extend a wooden appendage with a spiky tip underground and up through her foot and out her head, but I think I passed out at some point during that...did I succeed or fail?
I then glanced around, nearly jumping out of my skin as I spotted a heavily damaged body to my left. Wait, is that...Shiro? He's in terrible shape, don't tell me he's-...no, he's alive, I can feel his pulse, and he's breathing too, though very labored.
Why isn't he healing? I realized the answer almost immediately...the fact that my injuries had been healed while he was missing his right hand, most of his left arm, had a partially-healed hole in his stomach, his legs were severely burned and he was covered in cuts and gashes all over.
I searched through the Spell Cards I had on hand, finding a healing spell and activating it on him...he must have used his remaining stamina to heal me and then passed out before he could save himself...from the circumstantial evidence, that's the most likely explanation.
And if that really is the case...then I can't let him die. My healing spell isn't doing much, it's closing all his minor wounds, but with his more severe injuries, all the spell did was slow down the bleeding, which is something, I suppose, but he's still missing a bunch of body parts.
Wait, hold on a sec...how long had I been out for? I glanced outside with a pained grimace, my head aching a fair bit, as I spotted the Fire Sage's corpse, with a wooden spike out the top of her head. Looks like my last-ditch attack worked. How long ago did I kill her though?
What's going on in the rest of the nation right now? What do I do? What can I do? Damn it, if only I knew what's happening elsewhere, then-...
"Oh, you're alive, great!"
Huh? Who said that!?
"It's me, Belia. I'm currently fighting Sant, and while it was fun at the start, uh...this is going absolutely nowhere, if it keeps up much longer, we'll lose. Our side has already suffered a lot more casualties than their side, but our Adventurers are keeping them at bay, to some extent, they won't last long though...that's why I need you to tip the scales!" She explained.
Me? But how? And how are you in my head like this anyway?
"The spell I cast on you when Shiro transferred Korpse's life force into you, it wasn't just to ensure that you can respawn the monsters under your control...it also lets me contact you telepathically like I could with the Monster Kings, and also...it lets you summon your monsters anywhere you want, not just to your position. Here's what I want you to do...summon every single one of the monsters under your control, spread them out evenly throughout the Rustlands and have them only attack Elves, Dwarves, Fairies and Halflings. Oh, and don't summon the Ghouls...they'll attack indiscriminately no matter what, so our side will suffer too. Got it?" She concluded, as she finished relaying her instructions.
Y-yeah, I think s-...wait, how do I do all that?
"Uh...you're just going to have to figure it out yourself, I can't talk anymore. Ughhh, seriously, he's so persistent, unlimited Restoration Magic is seriously annoying! Anyway, hurry up and do as I said...otherwise, the Rustlands is finished. No pressure!"
That was the last thing I heard before she severed the telepathic link, leaving me completely bewildered. No pressure, huh?
I'd only just learned how to summon multiple monsters at once like two days ago, I'm not so sure I can pull this off. But from the sound of it...I really don't have much of a choice, do I? Damn it...well, I guess I might as well try my best...
———————————————————————————
Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus
———————————————————————————
"Let's take this somewhere less crowded, shall we?" I suggested with a smirk, as Sant shot towards me with a concentrated Destruction Magic blast charged up in his right hand.
Right as he closed in on me, I opened a portal behind myself and sunk into it with a smirk on my face, taunting and provoking him into following after me. Which he did, chasing after me and flying into the portal without hesitation, as I exited into the Rustlands' fighting stadium, where they usually hold their 'Brawl Of Glory' tournaments.
"You must die, Belia!" Exclaimed Sant, firing the blast of Destruction at me as he came out of the portal almost immediately after I did.
I activated my portal defense to keep his attack from hitting me, before teleporting behind him and driving my knee up towards his back, striking and sending him flying forward through the air.
He then halted himself by spreading his wings open and firing out another Destruction Magic blast at me as he spun around with a furious look in his eyes. Wow, seriously, what the hell happened to him?
Tch, and that Destruction Magic is going to be a pain, it works pretty much the same way that Obliteration Magic does, the only difference is that it's blue instead of purple, so if one hits me, I'll have to use Restoration Magic, which'll chip away at my already-dwindling divinity.
Gotta be careful, I need to limit him to only inflicting damage on me that can be healed with regular healing spells. Of course, me sustaining no damage at all would be the ideal, but that's probably a bit too optimistic.
I evaded his blast and countered with a blast of water and flames to form a steam smokescreen between us, and then shot straight through the cloud of steam, his eyes widening in alarm as I emerged from the cloud and closed in on him.
I threw a feint by faking a kick, which he began to react to, before I swiftly drove my fist straight towards his chest...but right before I could connect, a transparent green barrier wall appeared to block my punch, absorbing all the impact easily.
Oh, right...I almost forgot that he can use Divine Defense Magic at no cost to his divinity, just like my Dimensional Magic...how annoying. No matter how hard I hit or how intensely I charge up Elemental Magic attacks, I can't break through that barrier...it's just as unbreakable as Kuro's Absolute Defense barriers.
I then quickly put up my portal defense again as Sant drove his fist towards my face, before I swung a rapid kick at his side, but he once again countered with his Defense Magic, blocking my foot, as I used my portal defense to avoid getting hit as he drove his knee up to my midsection.
Tch, this is going nowhere. Let's change things up. I drove my fist towards his face as hard as I could, unleashing my full power and entering Demigod Mode, and the instant his barrier appeared to block my fist...I opened a portal in front of my fist, followed by a connected portal to the right side of Sant's face.
"Suck on this!" I exclaimed, as I slammed my fist against the side of his face and sent him rapidly zipping down towards the ground, crashing down with a devastating impact and kicking up a dense dust cloud, as deep cracks spread out on the ground from the point of impact.
Mm, that felt great, I've wanted to hit him in the face since, like...right from the beginning. That was really satisfying. As the dust began to clear, I could see him standing back up...ooh, his jaw is an absolute mess, blood pouring out of his mouth.
Unfortunately, it wasn't going to stick, which is too bad, because this is a good look for him. He then used Restoration Magic to heal himself and flew back up towards me with a dark frown.
"How dare you...entering that form without Lord Samsara's permission is one of the greatest taboos he set for us, and yet you use it so blatantly...how uncouth," He remarked in disgust.
Huh...I think I'm starting to get it now. Why he's suddenly being so aggressive against me...it all makes sense now, no wonder he's changed so drastically...
"Hey, timeout for a sec, I've got a question for ya...did Samsara order you to kill me or something? Is that why you're doing this?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"That is LORD SAMSARA to you! And so what if it is?" He snapped angrily.
"Hah, I fucking knew it...what's the matter, is that self-righteous tool now too weak to do it himself? And you...you sad, poor, pathetic little gopher. Some things never change, you still can't think for yourself, can you?" I scoffed in amusement.
He was silent as I finished talking, but the look in his eyes...wow, talk about creepy. They were bulging with righteous indignation and spiteful hatred...for Samsara to go as far as interfering so directly in the living world like this, just months after he mass-altered everyone's memories...hm, I wonder what he said to Sant to make him so...malicious and angry?
Oh, looks like he's finally ready to talk...
"You will regret those insolent words, I assure you of that much," He declared in an icy rage, barely able to get the words out in his anger, as a shockwave of power burst out of him.
Hm? Is he entering Demigod Mode? Well, now...this should be interesting.
"Safe to assume that Samsara gave him permission to transform," I muttered to myself, as a golden glow began emanating from him.
"It is time for you to die, Belia!" He exclaimed, before four figures suddenly appeared in front of him, as he added, "And to ensure that you have no chance of survival...I summon my reindeer!"
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
