Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus
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It's the 20th of January now, a little over three weeks had passed since Samsara appeared, and he'll probably be attacking any day now. Kuro had proposed that we only include those that were above a certain threshold in terms of power, using that sunglass-like device that Abyss had created to determine who would qualify.
In the Rustlands, the only ones who made the cut were me, Shiro and Shin. No one else even got close to the 80,000-mark cutoff, the next highest being Minise, at around 50,000.
And I have to say, it certainly was a bit of a confidence booster that I'm still the strongest in the Rustlands, with a power level of 140,000. Shiro isn't too far below me, his full power clocking in at around 120,000, while Shin's was about 88,000.
What didn't do my confidence any good, though, was the fact that we were among the weaker ones of those that had made the cut. All three of Liberty's Elemental Sages had power levels in the mid to high 200,000 mark, Sylvar being the highest at 275,000...which was basically double my number, so yeah, that's kinda demoralizing.
But it's Abyss that has the real heavy hitters...Kuro and Azyl. Both have insanely high power levels, Kuro's especially, since he'd consumed nearly all of Sant's remaining life force and Divine Magic. Four more from Abyss besides those two had also made the cut, specifically Fuo Wesroh, Persia Gerit, Draco and Rion Xester.
Oh, and Kuro had lent me a small amount of the Divine Magic he got from Sant, with a specific request for a spell...a telepathic link between the twelve that had made the cut, since Samsara is probably using Observation Magic to keep an eye on us while he prepares himself.
And after I did as he asked and formed a telepathic link between the twelve of us, that was set to expire by the 5th of February next month, he gave me a little bit more Divine Magic, with another specific request for a spell...one that was likely to make a big difference in the battle against Samsara.
Have to say, I'm quite intrigued to see how it all plays out. We'd been using the telepathic link to discuss strategy and stuff, the plan boiled down to Kuro using his rainbow beam to upset Samsara's Mana, divinity and life force, and either he or Shiro finishing him off with their claws.
In preparation, Kuro had his snake monsters latch onto each of the rest of us, so that he'd be able to summon us in an instant if necessary. It was a little uncomfortable at first, to have a snake wrapped around my waist at all times, but I'm starting to get used to it now.
The only problem was that we had absolutely no idea when or where Samsara planned to attack first once he comes out of his shell. And moreover, how he'll use the Fairies and other races that stuck with him, if he plans to use them at all, that is.
We'd held seven training sessions with the twelve of us, in order to get used to each other's timings and fighting styles, so that, at the very least, we could avoid getting in each other's way during the battle. Things had been pretty entertainingly tense during those training sessions, it was awesome.
Particularly between Kuro and Shiro, though the latter made a clear effort to not provoke the former, and quite smartly so. After all, Kuro is drastically stronger than Shiro is now, so picking a fight with him in these circumstances would be pretty stupid.
Kuro seemed almost disappointed at that, almost like he was waiting for Shiro to provoke him and use that as an excuse to kill him...his stifled bloodlust was quite palpable. I bet Shiro sensed it too, that might have been a part of why he didn't add any fuel to the fire.
Plus, it wasn't just Kuro harboring murderous intent towards Shiro, the same went for Persia, Fuo and Azyl, all of them directing some pretty genuine animosity towards him. Well, when he first came into existence, he did cause them all quite a bit of trouble, and very much intentionally at that. So you can hardly blame them.
"Hey, Belia, you there?" Suddenly came a voice through the telepathic link, startling me.
Sounds like Kuro, wonder what this is about...
"Yup, what's up?" I responded, as I rolled around on my bed lazily.
I'd been in bed all day, just staring up the ceiling and thinking about random stuff...gotta say, I could totally see myself getting seriously addicted to this, and that's despite the fact that I don't even get physically tired. how do humans and other mortals, who get tired every twelve to fifteen hours or so, manage to resist overly indulging in sleep and lazing around?
Guess it's at that old saying goes, 'if there's a will, there's a way'. Huh, I wonder why that's a common saying...I mean, it doesn't rhyme or anything. Wait, are there any commonly uses quotes or sayings that actually rhyme?
I feel like there definitely are, but I can't think of any at all. Oh, in that case, I'll just make one up! How about...'puff out your chest and shake your breasts'. Uh...is that really the best one I can think of?
No way, I can definitely do better! Like...'puff out your chest and jiggle your breasts'. Huh, that's basically the same thing. What about 'don't be a prick, suck my dick'...wait, was I always this perverted?
"Hey, are you listening!?"
Huh? Oh, crap, was he talking this whole time? I wasn't paying attention at all...
"Yeah, totally! You were, uh, talking about the thing, right?"
"...what thing, exactly?" He responded, sounding exasperated.
"Uh, you know, the thing...jiggly boobies," I replied, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
Yeah, I think all the messing with Shiro and Minise had kinda twisted and perverted my mind...well, whatever.
"Wha-...you weren't listening at all, were you?"
"Heh, yeh, I was kinda lost in thought," I remarked sheepishly, before asking "So, uh, you know...could you repeat whatever it was that you said?"
"Guess I don't have a choice...it's about the Divine Magic spell that I asked you to prepare for the fight against not-God, I'd like you to add something to it," He informed me.
Oh? Interesting, has he thought of a way to improve on it?
"Yeah? Alright, then, let's hear it," I responded curiously.
"Alright, so what I want you to do is...," He began, before explaining the addition that he wanted to make to the spell.
"Huh...yeah, I see, I didn't think of that. Not gonna lie, that's probably going to be a bit tricky, to say the least...," I replied as he finished explaining.
"Does that mean you can't do it?"
"Hah, come now, who do you think I am? I'm-!"
"Okay, then, let me know when you're done," He interrupted, before disconnecting the link.
He totally cut me off...how rude. Well, whatever. Guess I'll formulate the addition to the spell...
Aaaand, done. It took me about ten minutes to get it done, and now I'm kinda bored. Wish I had something interesting to do...suppose I'll just do the usual...
I then used my Observation Magic to spy on Shiro-...oh, he's banging Minise again. Those two have been really going at it lately, huh...and I keep watching them.
To be fair, most of the time, I just happen to see them doing it by accident when I use my Observation Magic, but the fact that I keep watching instead of shifting my attention to something else is probably on me.
"Hey, whatcha doing?" I contacted Shiro using the telepathic link.
"H-huh, wha...!? Get out of my head, Belia, I'm kinda busy right now!"
"Heh, yeah, I can see that," I responded slyly, as I began to heat up a bit.
"What? Uh...are you watching me right now?"
"Sure am! Wow, you're not slowing down at all, are you?"
"Why would I? I mean, this is kinda hot."
Huh? Oh, right, I almost forgot...he's a major pervert himself. Though, at this point, I guess I'm not much better. Damn, that's a scary thought. Yeah, uh, maybe I should stop doing stuff like this before it's too late and I become a full-fledged degenerate...
"Well, anyway, have fun with that, I'll talk to you lat-," I began.
"Hold on," He interrupted me before I could disconnect the link, "Since you're spying on me and all, the least you could do is help me out...talk dirty or something-."
"Nope, not gonna do that!"
"Oh, come on, the only reason why you're still spying on me is because you're getting off on this, right? So-."
"Cut it out, or I'll telepathically replay this conversation into Minise's mind!" I warned him with a smirk.
"You're as boring as ever when it comes to this, I see," He sighed in response, before disconnecting.
Hm...I wonder what'll happen if I telepathically replayed the conversation we just had into Minise's mind anyway? Heh, it's bound to be quite chaotic...alright, I'm doing it, here goes!
Alright, first let's give it a few seconds...and now, let's see how it's going! Ooh, this is spicy, Minise is definitely not very happy...Shiro's using logic to defend himself, but it's not working too well...
That was probably a dick move on my part...but it's a funny dick move, so it's no problem! Huh, I wonder if I can add some more fuel to this fir-...
"Heads up, Belia! I'm summoning you now, he finally showed himself!" Kuro's voice suddenly burst into my head through the telepathic link, and a second later, my surroundings changed as he summoned me, to the edge of the crater that used to be Silvland.
Well, that was abrupt. But I'm not complaining. Finally, it begins, time for some real excitement...this should be quite the battle, I can't wait to see how it plays out...
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