Book 3. Chapter 32.
“The Awakening of Darkness 2.” Part 2
Kalysto's eyes widened with sadistic satisfaction as soon as she saw the sword pierce the abdomen of the goddess Mhiralla.
How the hell did they manage to enchant a weapon with ether? How high do I need to raise my profession to be able to do the same?
Seeing the blood gushing from the wound staining the delicate white dress only made the desire to dismember her grow stronger inside her.
But from her being able to join in the attack, her excitement was curbed the moment she observed the ease with which Mhiralla broke the sword.
“Nooo!” her cry of protest at the loss of the coveted weapon went unnoticed in the midst of Morrigan's screams.
The spears of light that the goddess sent against them crashed into Morrigan and Aegir's barriers, destroying them as if they were simple soap bombs.
Turning back into shadows, she was able to dodge hundreds of light lances, one after another. At the same time Mhiralla clicked her tongue in annoyance as a faint golden glow erupted from her palm.
She didn't have that skill before. Kalysto thought as she heard her mutter.
“Stupid human, what does she think I gave her power for if not to level it up? And she couldn't even do her job right!” She growled under her breath but still the fairy champion was close enough to hear her.
What the hell are you talking about...? She frowned But before she could finish the sentence in her mind, she remembered that Mhiralla had a second saintess besides Darla, one who had escaped from the temple the same day she absorbed Darla's powers.
So that's what you've been doing all this time. She realized, and though she could not consider the kindly Clarissa Bor a great friend, she could not help but be angered by the realization that surely the goddess had killed her to take away the power she herself had given her and thus heal the damage Kalysto herself had caused her.
At that moment, Mhiralla looked up, staring greedily at the white glow surrounding Morrigan's body. A split second later, she left the altar to run and stand in front of Morrigan, holding her beautiful face with one hand.
“Well, well, well. But look what we have here. If it isn't that monster's saintess,” she waved. And Morriga's face became disfigured with rage.
“And I think the only monster is right in front of me right now,” she replied spitefully.
But before she could do anything the former saintess beat her to it.
Fireball! Despite the danger of the situation Kalysto was in, having her father's murderer so close to her again made her blood run hot. Making her forget to continue healing her own wounds, and instead she attacked without thinking.
But the goddess was able to block it.
“What, are you planning to steal her power just like you did with innocent Clarissa?” she snarled angrily, knowing that Mhiralla would not have hesitated to get rid of the young girl even though she was to blame for ruining the happy marriage Clarissa had dreamed of so long ago.
“Oh, don't tell me you were friends?” she muttered with a smile laden with cynicism as she licked her lips, as if the young saintess had been a meal she enjoyed.
“You're nothing but a bloody murderer!” Morrigan joined in, conjuring her huge scythe. “You killed her friend just as you killed my mother?”
“Ha, poor silly girl!” The goddess mocked, creating a spear of light to block the dark saintess's scythe attack. “I may have killed her friend, but do you really think I was the only one who attacked your mother that day?” she continued viciously. “Because as I recall your dear grandfather had already absorbed all the ether she had and much of her mana by the time I came to finish the job and eat only the leftovers.”
“You're lying!” Morrigan shouted, continuing to attack with a fluid series of blows, though it was becoming obvious that she was tired.
Causing the superiority-laden smile on the goddess's face to only grow larger and larger.
Angering the two avatars.
Perfect aim! Arrows of fire! Kalysto thought, taking advantage of the fact that they were both fighting hand-to-hand to aim for the goddess' eyes while she was too distracted.
But just as she had expected, the glowing ether emanating from the goddess' body managed to shield her.
“Is that all you can do, little Kalysto?” she scoffed, not taking her eyes off Morrigan. “And you rude brat,” she snarled, all her attention back on Seth's saintess. “In case you haven't noticed, instead of Seth fighting and absorbing the power of his sister Sejmet, he has dedicated himself to procreate and increase his offspring so he can steal their ether and become stronger so he can finally face Sejmet, or the guardian who guards the dimension where the gods sleep while they regain the power they lost after sealing the god Ygaerae.”
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“Lies! You tell nothing but lies!” shouted Morrigan, continuing her attacks, allowing her rage to guide her, accelerating her blows.
Even though Mhiralla blocked each one as she enjoyed watching her deny reality.
“How else would he be able to increase the amount of ether he possesses over the past centuries, if not by creating more descendants to take it from?” She mocked. “Didn't it ever seem strange to you that they always tend to disappear in mysterious ways? Even in places where even I don't have access?”
Surprise and confusion shone on Morrigan's face whose body froze for half a second in shock as her she seemed to process what she had just heard.
Time, that was enough for Mhiralla to launch a new attack, lethally wounding the dark saintess.
But just like the goddess, Kalysto had also been waiting for the ideal moment to strike.
Perfect aim! Fire creation! Fire manipulation! She thought, spending more mana than necessary to forge a series of fire arrows, just like the ones she had launched earlier.
And just like what had happened inside the dimension they had fought in before, the attacks of divine class skills were able to damage her.
“Ahh!” Morrigan shouted before falling backwards with a huge diagonal slash across her torso, from her shoulder to her hip.
“Ahh!” shouted Mhiralla at the same time, as two of Kalysto's arrows buried themselves in her right eye, and the others that the ether could not stop, in her cheeks. “Nooo! My beautiful face!” She sobbed, “You damned bitch! You'll pay for this! Jhil! Jhil!” her last two spells were conjured at almost the same time as Morrigan's, who had also begun to heal.
“Sorry to bring you down from your crystal cloud full of stupid illusions, but you're not that pretty. Even Morrigan is much prettier than you. In fact, I think you look much better the way you are now, at least this way there is something interesting to look at when I look at you,” Kalysto mocked just before launching herself at the goddess.
Dark mana creation! Dark mana manipulation! She thought, conjuring two black crystal swords and attacking her opponent.
Despite having lost visibility in one eye, the goddess was able to defend herself and block Kalysto's continuous attacks. However, unlike the previous time they had clashed, this time the goddess' body was only a few centimeters taller than the former saintess.
“What happened to you to make you shrink?” she mocked.
Fire blast! She thought, the moment their faces were close and their weapons blocking each other, letting fire come out of her mouth as if she were a dragon, just as Mhiralla was about to speak, bathing her face in fire.
“You and your damn tricks!” complained the goddess, annoyed at not having been able to finish healing her wounds and having her vision blocked by the fire. And despite the protection provided by the ether, the wound in her eye burned from the heat of the fire.
But before she could attack the fairy champion, Seth's saintess, who had already finished healing her wound, joined the battle.
“Ahh! Damn cockroaches!” Mhiralla complained, annoyed at being outmatched by both women in the close combat. “Lightning bolts!” she conjured and hundreds of thick bolts of lightning fell on both of them, “Stop throwing yourselves at me like hungry wild beasts!”
Immediately, Kalysto transformed into shadows evading the attack, while out of the corner of her eye she saw how Seth's gigantic eye locked itself in a bubble of darkness to regenerate and at the other end of the battlefield, she saw the demon king taking potions to recover from the wounds he had received from Morrigan.
So the former saintess, feeling sorry for her small oversight continued to advance as a mass of shadows towards the opposite end and approached Aegir. Positioning herself behind his back while keeping her gaze fixed on the other two women.
“Jhil Ezhil! Jhil Ezhil!” She conjured, concentrating on keeping the range of her skill surrounding only the two of them, as she pulled seven mana crystals from her shadow. “Absorb!”
[Does the user wish to absorb these mana crystals?]
[YES/NO]
Yes! she thought.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 34000 MP!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 32000 MP!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 25000 MP!]
[Congratulations! User has acquired 19000 MP!]
[Congratulations! User has acquired 27000 MP!]
[Congratulations! User has acquired 24000 MP!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 23000 MP!]
“Sorry, I completely forgot to finish healing you as soon as I saw her” she apologized, her face revealing how bad she felt for abandoning someone who had painstakingly taken care of her for months.
“I'm more concerned about the fact that you didn't finish healing yourself,” Aegir replied, his voice full of concern for her as he watched the wounds Morrigan had caused earlier finish closing. “Just because your mental shield and your skill at resisting pain make you unaware of how injured you are doesn't mean you shouldn't take care of your body. One of these days Kalysto, I'm afraid you'll end up bleeding out and you won't even realize it until it's too late,” he told her, as he handed her a health potion to regenerate the blood she had lost during the battle prior to the goddess' arrival.
Kalysto let out a great sigh before accepting it and drinking it. At the same time she extended her left hand towards Mhiralla.
Lightning! She thought, annoyed at how little damage she could cause her. I wish I had more spells that could get through that glow!
What surprises me is that you were able to hurt her when her body is protected with ether, the only substance in the universe that is more powerful than mana. Aegir's voice echoed in her mind.
That's because some of my fire attacks are of divine class. She defended herself.
Kalysto, only ether can damage ether. He clarified, looking at her with affection and a slight smile plastered on his lips. In the same way one would look at a small child when he has said a strange idea with which he explains something everyday and common knowledge. In fact it is said to be a force so powerful that it can alter reality itself and create miracles. Or create something as complex as a system.
Oh... she thought, not knowing what else to say, right now the only thing she was interested in was to steal Mhiralla's ether to lower her defenses and then kill her in the most painful way possible. So... can you create weapons with that? How?
How should I know... only the gods and some of their descendants possess ether. He answered.
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