The Adventures of the Mask Maker

Desolation

Present time....

..........

*Sigh!* Princess Emelelyn sighed a painful, sorrowful sigh. She couldn't help think about what had happened with Frank every time she sees the blue flowers. Her heart broke into pieces already. If she could cry, she would have already but her tears have long dried out. Now, she's stuck on this wheelchair, unable to move from the spot. Why must she be reminded of Frank every time she sees those flowers? Who...who was the idiot that planted those blue flowers? These flowers are called Anemone flowers...and they symbolize fading hope...the feeling of being forsaken. Staring at them was not helping her poor soul.

Her beloved left her...there's less than 1% chance of getting her original appearance back...she will be unable to run and feel the wind through her hair ever again. Her hands gripped tightly at the dagger as she stared off into nothingness.

"Life...there's no more meaning...I...I should just end it...." Emelelyn muttered as she looked at the dagger in her hand.

Suddenly, a hoarse, dark voice resounded, "I can help you."

Emelelyn glanced around in surprise, "W-who said that? Where are you?"

"I am in your mind. Don't worry about who I am, just know that I can help you."

"Why would you help me? What can you gain from that?"

"I just want to help an unlucky soul."

"But-!"

"Who was it that abandoned you? Who broke your heart? Who played with your innocent feelings?"

"F-Frank...that scum!"

"Then let me heal you."

"How can I trust you?"

"Fine...I'll tell you who I am. I am Desolation."

"Desolation! I've heard of you. You are an evil Demonic Entity - one of the first Demon Gods. No! I don't need your help, leave me."

"I am not evil...just misunderstood...a fellow unlucky soul. Here...let me show you something."

..........

Back at the guild....

..........

"So how's the situation with the survivors in Delta Town?" Shadow asked.

"It's alright...however, Princess Emelelyn had met an unfortunate occurrence." Khaos replied.

"Oh? What happened to her?"

"Her limbs were shattered. Her body were full of burns and melted flesh. The healers say there's little to no chance of healing her and restoring her original appearance."

"Oh...maybe I or Hikari (@brasca123) can concoct something that can help?"

"No...no need. Don't heal her."

"Why not?"

"I have a better, safer way. Who knows what kind of negative side-effects your half-baked concoctions would bring."

..........

Back to the medical tent in Delta Town....

..........

A image appeared in front of Princess Emelelyn. It was Khaos and the guild staff...Shadow? Maybe. Emelelyn asked curiously, "What's this about?"

"Just watch."

Emelelyn stared at the moving images and overheard the conversation involved.

"So how's the situation with the survivors in Delta Town?" Shadow asked.

"It's alright...however, Princess Emelelyn had met an unfortunate occurrence." Khaos replied.

"Oh? What happened to her?"

"Her limbs were shattered. Her body were full of burns and melted flesh. The healers say there's little to no chance of healing her and restoring her original appearance."

"Oh...maybe I or Hikari can concoct something that can help?"

"No...no need. Don't heal her."

The image cut off, leaving a stunned Emelelyn, "T-that's it?!"

"Do you understand now? They do not want to heal you...they have forsaken you."

"No...no...no...NO!!" Emelelyn cried out in despair and covered her face with her hands.

"They may have abandoned you but not me. Come with me. I will never abandon you."

Emelelyn lifted her head up, eyes blank...and muttered, "Yes."

A dark portal appeared in front of her and Emelelyn walked in.

 

Transformation

In a desolate place far away. This place is located in the far west...hundreds of kilometers away from the Human Kingdom as well as the Demon Kingdom...a place that hasn't been mapped yet. Suddenly, a dark portal appeared and a figure walked out. It was Princess Emelelyn.

"Where is this?" Emelelyn asked.

"Welcome to my humble home!" A voice replied.

Emelelyn turned her head to the source and sees a shadowy figure. "You must be Desolation...strange, I thought you were more...monstrous."

"Just goes to show that the stories aren't always true...just like how I'm not evil."

"Ok...so about my appearance?"

"Hasty one eh? Nevertheless, I promised and I, Desolation, always keep my promises." The shadowy figure replied. With a wave of his hand, dark magical powers swept towards Emelelyn and enveloped and restored her. After a few minutes, the darkness dispersed and Emelelyn appeared...she has been transformed.

Princess Emelelyn walked up to a nearby red-colored lake looked at her new appearance...her original brown hair was now pure white. Her skin a light bluish color. Her eyes now a deep, blood red. Fang-like markings appeared at the bottom of her eyes.



"Satisfied?"

"It's ok...what is this power I'm feeling inside me?" Emelelyn asked as spider-like legs emerged from her back.

"It's the power of desolation and despair. I have also given you the power of spiders. With these powers, no one will bully you ever again. You can take revenge against those who stepped over your innocence."

"Thank you Lord Desolation! How can I return the favor?"

"Become my priestess...my servant...and protect my children."

"Your children?"

"Yes...the Drow Elves. Guard them as their goddess. From now on, you shall throw away your old name. I will bestow you a new name...Lolth...Queen of the Spiders...Goddess of the Drow Elves."

"Lolth.... Thank you Lord! From this day forth, I will let everyone know of my name!" Lolth bowed. Then, she turned around and looked around. Seeing the bloodied bandages and the dagger, which were what's left of her possessions, she waved her hand and cast some dark magical powers that enveloped the bandages and the dagger.

The dark power poured into the bandages and the dagger, causing it to be corrupt and transform. After a few minutes, two figures appeared from the bandages and the dagger. From the bandages, a male figure appeared and from the dagger, a female figure appeared. The male figure had white eyes and blood-red hair. A mask appeared on his face as if to be permanently stuck to it. His skin is of a darker blue hue and he vaguely look like Frank. The female figure had long white hair and black eyes with a cold countenance. A dagger appeared by her side. Her skin is of a lighter blue hue and she vaguely looked like Lolth's past appearance.

Lolth looked at the two figures and replied, "From now on, you are my subordinates. You, the male, will be known as Raun the Masked Lord. You, the female, will be known as Kiaran the Vengeful Dead."

Raun

Kiaran

"Yes Madam." Raun and Kiaran bowed in respect.

"Come! It's time to meet the Drow Elves."

 

Gathering Information

After the invasion, we - the adventurers - have lost our city. Now, we have set up a temporary...possibly permanent residency at the port Delta Town. New quests have been updated and rumors spread aplenty in the tavern. An unfortunate event occurred yesterday...Princess Emelelyn had disappeared. Her whereabouts unknown. I worry for her safety...after all, she was recently under emergency and intensive care - having suffered heavy injuries and disfigurements.

As I had promised her brother - the current king of Oakenlake Kingdom - King Thorhil that I would take care of her...it is my responsibility to bring him the bad news. *SIGH!*...This is going to be tough. I decided that I will go visit Oakenlake Kingdom today - better late than never right? Since I'm going out anyways, I might as well take some quests as well. I visit our branch guild and looked at the quests. Hmm...might as well do a few "Gather Information" quests. After choosing three quests, I headed out.

Quest 1 talked about rumors of a potential threat occurring near Delta Town. My mission is to go and authenticate these rumors. Upon exiting the guild, I started to patrol around the town. Nothing seems to be amiss until I caught sight of a suspicious character sneaking into an alley. I decided to follow the person. I sneaked towards the person and caught him talking with another person. I pulled out my Ghost Mask and turned invisible. Then, I moved closer to hear in on their conversation.

"When will the Pirate King be here?" Character A asked.

"The Pirate King won't be here. However, he will send one of his generals along with a 100 ships each ship with 100 pirates to attack this town. They will arrive in about a month. I don't know the details of who he will send but you know how his generals are...every one of them can contend an A ranker." Character B answered.

"You know, I've always wondered...why did the Pirate King set his eyes on this measly little town? Isn't our goal to search for the 1st generation Pirate King's buried treasure?"

"It's because those damned adventurers keep getting in our way and killing off our men. Just a few weeks ago, some adventurer wiped out the group of pirates we had stationed in Treacherous Ports and killed Elwell the Mad."

"Oh you mean Khaos that weird freak of nature?"

"Weird freak of nature eh?" I asked them abruptly.

"Yea...he is ugly and creepy looking t-?!" Character A continued but paused when he realized that Character B was looking at him funny. Immediately, they turned around and saw me standing there, my mask taken off so they could see me. They cursed and tried to reach for their weapons, but I jabbed at their Death Points causing them to bleed out of every pore of their bodies.

"Hmm...so the pirates have made their move eh? Good thing we still have a month left to prepare."

Having discovered that there were some truths to the rumors of potential threat to Delta Town, I decided to proceed towards my next destination - Adventurer's City.

..........

After half an hour of traveling, I can see Adventurer's City...or what's left of it. It seemed my Wrath Bomb did a number on this place. The whole place was leveled completely to the ground. There weren't anything salvageable...ash everywhere. Rummaging around, I see that there were no survivors...all dragons that are caught in the blast were either disintegrated or burned to death. Nothing else to see here. As I turned to leave, I caught a glimpse of a blood trail. What?? Did someone manage to survive through the explosion? Incredible! I followed the trail to a small cave in the borders of the Verdant Forest. Judging from the drag marks, it has to be a dragon. Approaching the cave, I could see signs of death. Whoever dragged itself into this cave has long died. But, just to make sure, I entered the cave to confirm.

Traveling deeper into the cave, I finally arrived at a huge pile of blood and rotting flesh. The stench was terrible...but I've smelled worse. Wrinkling my nose, I surveyed the damages. The dragon is long dead...however what caused all these blood and gore? I kicked some guts away and saw...on the ground...a magic circle! Looking at the language and the symbols used, it seems like the dragon reported back to Morian before it died. That's unsettling. It seems Morian knows that the invasion failed and though Adventurer's City is gone, the adventurers have re-positioned themselves to another place - Delta Town. Hopefully, Morian won't attack us soon.

..........

After confirming the condition of the ruined Adventurer's City, I got ready to venture towards Oakenlake Kingdom in the Rainforest Vale. After a hour of traveling, I arrived at Rainforest Vale. I feel extremely wary since all of Rainforest Vale was Morian's territory. Just be entering the forest, Morian will immediately be notified of my presence. Hopefully, he is too tired to care after summoning all those Guardian level Dragons. Anyways, I think that is the case since Morian hasn't made any move against me so far. Upon reaching the castle, I requested an audience with the king. Once I was granted, I was led to the main hall where King Thorhil sat on the throne.

"Welcome Khaos! It is good to see you! I had heard of the Dragon Invasion to your city. I hope nothing severe had happened to your guild." King Thorhil greeted.

"No...though we lost the city as well as many citizens, we were still able to fight off the dragons so it wasn't entirely a loss."

"That's good. So, what brings you here? Do you require assistance? Need help rebuilding or resources?"

"That...." I hesitated...then proceeded to reply, "I'm afraid there is some bad news."

King Thorhil immediately frowned, "Bad news? Why are you telling me this?...No...no no no no no no no no...it can't be...did something happened to my little sister?"

"I...your sister was...your sister received severe injuries during the invasion."

"How bad? Tell me!" King Thorhil roared as he stood up in anticipation and worry.

"She...her limbs were crippled and she suffered burns all over her body and half her body was melted by acid."

"This!" King Thorhil, upon hearing the news, staggered and collapsed back to his chair. "Where?"

"Um...."

"WHERE?!" King Thorhil roared, "Where is my sister?"

"We couldn't find her. She...ran away." I answered apologetically, "I'm truly sorry."

"You-!" King Thorhil tried to say but blood welled up in his mouth forcing him to spit out a mouthful.

"King Thorhil! Are you alright?" A minister asked.

"King Thorhil...don't worry, we will find her. We-" I tried to assure him.

"No." King Thorhil dismissed, "I trusted you...I placed my sister's life in your hands hoping that she will be safe...but...you...you let me down."

"I-."

"Leave me. I see that it was wrong of me to place so much trust in you adventurers. I want to withdraw from this alliance."

"King Thorhil, please reconsider!"

"No. That is final. Minister...see him out." King Thorhil replied as he ordered the minister to send me out.

Once out of the main hall, I turned towards the minister, "Please persuade King Thorhil to reconsider."

"I think it's for the best if we become neutral. Besides, the monster army has retreated so we won't be in much trouble. Don't worry about finding Princess Emelelyn, we will handle it. The door is that way, please see yourself out."

*SIGH!* I grimaced and left the castle. It's unfortunate we lost an ally...hopefully we can renew our alliance in the future. It is a good thing for the Oakenlake Kingdom to be finally in a period of peace. The Monster army retreated but that doesn't mean they won't come back. Maybe at that time, we will be able to become allies again. With another sigh, I headed back to town.

 

Worm: Part 1

After submitting the information I gathered to be processed, I decided to take a break. I was recently invited by Westby to party in celebration of his first child Westley Claridge...wait he's a dad?! Incredible...Westby THE BUTCHER is a father now...yea even I couldn't believe it when I first read the invitation. Nevertheless, this is a good chance to relax. I packed up a few things like food and Wyvern Blood Wine. I was just about to go when I face-palmed myself for forgetting an important thing - the baby's birthday present. Rummaging around my bag, I tried to find a suitable toy for the kid...but no success - everything looked too dangerous for a baby to handle. I decided to make the kid a mask instead.

I opened up my Maker's Domain and reach into my bag to bring out the materials - vial of gunpowder, a Rhino horn, Giant Bear skin/hide, a Cyclops eye, a Yeti bone, a sheet of metal, some Rainbow Slime gel, a piece of Arachne silk, two Vampire fangs, and some Poison Essence. That's right...this mask will most likely be S rank. Using the sheet of metal, I made a base of a half-face mask. Then, I wrapped the metal mask with the Arachne silk and Giant Bear hide. Next, I attached the two Vampire fangs at the bottom of the mask near the two sides of the mouth. I attached the Rhino horn to the left side of the mask. I shrunk the Cyclops eye to the size of a human eye and attached it to the forehead part of the mask. I shaped the Yeti bone into a shape similar to the Rhino horn and attached it to the right side of the mask. Then, I dipped the mask into the Rainbow Slime gel that has been mixed with the Poison Essence and began chanting many incantations. After a few hours, the mask absorbs the gel and the essence. Then, I dripped some of my blood filled with Maker's Essence onto the mask and continued chanting. The blood spread throughout the mask, enveloping it and permeating it. After a while, the mask turns into a red color. Finished with the mask, I appraised my work:

Mask of the Butchering Demon: S rank
Enchanted Normal Mask
No cooldown
Indestructible
No-limit
Stamina drain 5% per hour
Binding mask (binds to Westley Claridge)

Special Attributes:
Increases all stats by 200%
Increases all resistances by 200%

Special Abilities:
Immune to Poison
Mana Boost

Special Skills:
Drain - drains mana and life
Harden - toughens body and become impenetrable to sharp objects
Ice Bolt - fires ice bolt
All-Seeing Eye - sees weaknesses and truth
Paralyze Mist - summons cloud of paralyzing poison

Finished, I closed my domain and stored the mask into my bag. Then, I flew towards Treacherous Ports. Upon arriving, I greeted Westby and congratulated him for his first born son. I gave him the mask as a present. Initially, Westby was deterred by the appearance of the mask as it looked very demonic, however when he heard that the mask is a S-rank treasure, he was very pleased and thanked me for the birthday present.

"Come in, let me introduce you to my officers as well as some of the more notable merchants of this town." Westby said as he invited me in.

We celebrated and cheered and congratulated. We partied all night long and all morning of the next day. Well into the afternoon, I caught a glimpse of @LittleFox21. I excused myself from the party and waved hello to the little foxkin. After a quick conversation, I joined her for her last quest - killing a Lesser Kraken. After finishing the quest, I told her to go ahead before me. Seeing her leave, I rejoined the party.

The party went well into the night and all the way to the morning of the next day. I congratulated Westby once again before saying my goodbyes. Then, I left and head back to the guild. I flew over Rainforest Vale and over the East Barrier Mountains. I descended into the mountains to let out some excess alcohol...if you know what I mean. After I sobered up a bit, I caught a glimpse of some movement on the ground...a little black worm was struggling along the rocky path. The intense heat of the morning sun shone on top of the worm, drying the last bit of moisture from its body. It was just a few inches away from the soft earth before it collapsed and stopped moving. Is it dead? I peered at it and answered myself...no, it's still moving but it won't be for long. Feeling sorry, I picked up the worm - it was too tired to resist - and placed it into the soft earth.

The worm - realizing where it was - happily started wriggling into the earth. Wow...alcohol does do wonders to a person...making me do a good deed so early in the morning. Anyways, seeing the worm wriggle away, I continued heading back to Delta Town. It was near lunch time when I arrived.

 

Appraisals (INCOMPLETE)

Takes red hammer and appraises it:

Flame Hammer: D rank

Special Attributes:
Grants user small boost in strength
Increases Fire resistance +5

Special Skills:
Fireball - requires user to be D rank; can cast 3 per day

Hmm, this hammer used to be owned by an adventurer but after dying to a bunch of goblins, it was picked up and used by a goblin. The attributes causes a change in the goblin's evolution turning him into a red goblin.

 

Rats and Fishing

It's been a week since I got back from Westby's son's birthday party. I had finished my vacation and decided to look at some quests. Oh? I thought...explore a possible fishing spot near the sea next to Delta Town? That's seems interesting...but I need to prepare. Hmm, guess these other quests will be sufficient to prepare for fishing.

First, I traveled north to hunt some young Desert Worm. After searching and digging a while, I found a nest full of Desert Worms. These young worms are all 10 feet long with teeth on one end. I pulled out my Ghost Mask and turned invisible. Taking advantage of my abilities, I pulled out my skinning knife and killed the nearest worm. Before any of the other worms found out what was wrong, I collected the corpse into my storage ring and disappeared. I repeat this process 9 more times and killed 9 more young Desert Worms.

After meeting the quota, I head west to the Verdant Forest. I heard that rat tails make good fish bait as well. Looking in a cave I found a large nest of about 200 rats. In the center of the rats is a larger rat...possibly their leader. Casting a fireball into the center to create some chaos, I began slashing at any of the rats that ran towards me in a panicky confusion. After killing about half of the rats and burning the other half, I began collecting the tails. Eh? Where's the rat leader's corpse? Don't tell me...it escaped? I quickly searched around the perimeter of the cave and found a hidden backdoor. Entering the backdoor, I was led to a passage. Venturing through the passage, I found myself outside. There was a blood trail in front of me...I believe it must be the rat leader's. I followed the trail until I saw the rat leader. It was crawling deeper into the forest....suspicious.

After killing the rat leader, I continued forward in the direction the rat leader was crawling desperately towards. After some time, I arrived near the borders of the Verdant Forest...there was a huge cave, at least 100 times larger than the cave I found earlier. Turning into a ghost, I ventured in. Immediately, I see a huge amount of rats...there must be at least 5000 rats not to mention that there were at least 200 rat leaders. Heading deeper, I see a huge rat about 9 feet tall standing on its two feet and speaking the Language of the Beasts to his 10 rat generals who were also standing on their two feet and looked to be about 5 feet tall.

Listening in on the conversation, I found out that the 9 feet tall rat is the Rat King a C rank creature. He plans to summon all his warriors to raid and completely swarm the Verdant Forest. Remembering that our allies the Half-Orcs are in the Verdant Forest, I decided that the adventurers need to stop this. I hurriedly crept out of the cave and headed back to Delta Town to report.

After reporting the rat swarm to a guild receptionist, I head to the ports and the nearby borders. Searching around, I finally found a good spot for fishing. The spot is about a kilometer to the east of Delta Town. There's a perfect flat rocky platform that extends out to the sea. Taking my fishing pole, I put some worm flesh on the fish hook. After unleashing the fishing pole, I waited for a while. Suddenly a tug...with a pull, a Speedy Tuna emerged from the end. It resisted a bit before being pulled out of the water. One Speedy Tuna down, four more to go. After fishing 5 Speedy Tuna, I decided to test out that theory of rat tails being good fish bait. Wonder what kind of fish I'll pull up....

Placing a bloody rat tail onto the end of my fish hook, I cast the fish bait out into the sea. Waiting a bit, I felt a tug on the string. I with a jerk, I pulled out a weird looking fish. Hmm, this looks like salmon...but there's a distinct black shine.... I activated my Eye of Odin and observed the fish...hmm...Obsidian Salmon. Wonder if this is edible....

Suddenly, I sensed danger. I looked towards the sea and saw a huge sea serpent raging towards me. The sea serpent must have been attracted by the blood from the rat tail. It jumped out of the water and lunged at me. I dodged to the side, letting the sea serpent bite nothing but air. After the sea serpent missed, its side was exposed. Throwing a Dragon Horn attack from below, I uppercut the sea serpent. With the sea serpent rising into the air, I slashed out with my skinning knife and made some sea serpent sashimi.

Finished, I head back to the town.

 

Gen's Memories Part 1

While the other adventurers are fighting off the bandit and highwaymen army that decided to populate near the ruined Adventurer's City, I decided to go check up on the status of Morian. It seemed that there wasn't any noticeable occurrences from Morian since the Dragon's Invasion. Not wanting to go alone, I took Agaricus with me as I hopped on Blackie. We flew quickly towards the Rainforest Vale. Upon arriving, I sensed something wrong. There is significant disturbances within the trees. As we descended for a closer look, I was utterly shocked. Vines have embedded themselves in small animals and large amounts of life essence are being absorbed by the vines! Morian has gone berserk! He's beginning to eradicated life starting from the weakest creatures! Why does Morian need to absorb life essence? Could he still be injured? And summoning all those dragons was too tasking on him that it further his injuries? This could be a good chance to retaliate.

I probed the forest with my Maker's Essence and suddenly vast amounts of information came pouring into my mind. I screamed in pain startling Blackie. He looked at me questioning, but I waved at him to not worry. Then, I fainted. What seemed like minutes later, my eyes opened. I looked around and knew that I'm not in the outside world. It seemed that I have traveled into a dream-like dimensional space. I walked around and see a tunnel. Walking down the hallway, I saw scenes...memories...posted on the walls. It seemed that the memories were of someone as he or she interacted with Morian. This must be the memories of the illegitimate son!!

..........

Inside the Memories - Morian's son POV....

..........

"Please...he is your son." A woman begged.

"Mother, don't beg him. It's demeaning. If he doesn't want us then so be it. Hmph! I don't even want to be considered as his son." I responded as I glared at the seated figure in front of us.

"Hahaha!" Morian roared with cold laughter. "As expected of a whore's son! Like son like mother, arrogant and doesn't know their status."

"Please sire, its not his fault. He's too young to know better. Please...please take him in." The mother continued.

"Mother! It seems that we aren't welcome here, let's leave." I urged as I attempted to drag my mother out. After a few successful attempts, I was able to take my mother away. "Mother, don't worry. Even without him, we will live happily and without problems."

"I just wanted what's best for you son." The mother sighed.

..........

"Sir, having a bastard child outside is too dangerous to your status." A close servant mentioned to Morian.

"Hmm, you're right. See to it." Morian mused before making his decision.

"As you wish."

..........

"Run mother, run! He's catching up!" I urged as I tried to drag my mother along a mountain pass.

"No son, leave me...I...I can't run anymore." Mother huffed as she tried to push me away. "Save yourself, I'll try t-to hold them off."

"NO! How can I be so unfilial as to leave you to your doom. We're both going to get out of this."

"My son...."

"Say no more, come mother, I'll carry you. That damned bastard. He dared to attack us. I told you he wasn't a good man."

"Haaaa...it seems my eyes were blind. I was too stupid to not realize."

"Don't worry mother. I'll protec-!" I began but a thudding impact smashed into my shoulder and a searing pain coursed through my body. I winced and glanced back. An arrow protruded from my back. The pursuers have caught up. My mother was screaming as she tried to stop the bleeding from my back. Ignoring the pain, I positioned myself in front of her and faced my enemies.

"No where to run or hide. Just accept your doomed fate." A masked pursuer called out.

"Why did Morian want to kill us? We didn't do anything against him." I questioned.

"Just blame it on your birth. Our lord does not like unwanted burdens."

"Haha, so we have become unwanted burdens...."

"Enough of this. Archers, fire!"

Arrows flew forward and penetrated into my body. Luckily, my mother was unharmed. However, what I didn't expect to happen next was due to the immense love of my mother. When another set of arrows came flying towards me, my mother covered my body with hers and took the attack. As she laid dying in my arms, I screamed with utter despair. I looked at the attacks with murderous intent in my eyes. I stood up and charged towards them. *BAM!* The leader of the pursuers slammed his palm into my chest, sending my flying in a bloody mess across several meters and skidded to a stop by the edge of a cliff. Blood spewed out from my mouth as I felt my mind growing weaker and weaker.

"Mother, forgive me." I replied as I jumped down from the cliff into the depths below.

"No!" The attacker ran towards the edge of the cliff and peered down. Because of the height of the mountains, it was near impossible to see the bottom. "You men! Find him! If he's dead, I want to see his body."

"Yes sir!"

..........

"Did you find him?"

"No sir. There was a river below. I reckon he must have floated downstream. But no worries, he was severely injured. Even, if he didn't die from the fall, he will die from the disasters he will face downstream."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Thousand Venom Cave is in that direction. The stream enters the cave via an entrance. There has been known to be many poisonous plants, animals, and insects living in that cave. Poisonous gas permeates the air. It would be impossible for him to live through that."

"I see. I guess this is fine. You guys keep on guard for a few months just in case while I report this to the lord."

..........

 

Gen's Memories Part 2

"Wow, this Morian character is a real bitch." I muttered as I continued watching the memories on the walls. The scene flashes to a cave...this must be the Thousand Venom Cave.

A bloody figure appeared half submerged and half on land. It was the son. Is he dead? No, he's breathing...barely. Suddenly, a figure appeared. The figure observed the boy in front of him and carried him away. The scene then switches to the boy lying on a makeshift bed. The boy groaned a few times before waking up. He stared at the ceiling, confused. He sat up and blinked a few times. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around...where was he? What was this place? Is he dead?

"You are not dead." A voice replied in his mind.

Surprised, the boy asked out loud, "W-who are you? Why can I hear you in my head?"

"I cannot speak, so I can only use my telepathic powers to communicate with you."

"Where are you?"

"Here...to your right side."

The boy turn to his right and saw a girl. She had blonde hair and a slim body. Her eyes were silver and her skin a sickly tone. The girl had a ghastly scar on her throat. Maybe that was the reason she couldn't talk. "Who are you?"

"My name is Chidna, granddaughter of Echidna - mother of all poisonous monsters. What is your name?"

"My name...." The boy began but he stopped. He was initially called Mortimer...but it was a name that signified his relation with Morian. So, he decided on a new name, "My name is Gen."

..........

Time elapsed and the scene switched again. Now, a new memory appeared. Gen looked older...in his late hundreds (non-humans age slower). Gen had fallen in love with Chidna and they lived together for a long time. However, even with this happy life, Gen could not forget his vengeance towards Morian. Over the years, he continuously trained and cultivated until he was very, very strong...at least 1,000 times stronger than what he was back then. The two couple were happily strolling near the Thousand Venom Cave they were spotted by the servants of Morian.

"So this is where you were hiding?" It was the attacker who killed his mother!

"You!" Gen attacked the attacker without a word after.

An immense fight broke out. When Chidna was severely injured, Gen exploded and fiercely tore the enemies to pieces. He carried his wife back to the cave and laid her on the bed. She was bleeding profusely and had fainted. Gen quickly stop the bleeding and dressed the wounds. However, he sees Chidna stop breathing. In a fit of anger, he charged towards Morian's residence - revenge flashing in his eyes.

..........

"Morian! Get out of here!" Gen roared as he rampaged Morian's residence. Morian flew out and started to attack Gen. Gen attacked - they were on par. Both Gen and Morian transformed from their human forms to their Giant Beast forms. There are 4 general forms of a beast - human form, beast form, giant beast form, and godbeast form. Morian was a giant tortoise with the Rainforest Vale on his back. Gen transformed as well - into a giant Genbu, a giant turtle with a twin-headed snake tail. The snake tail is a genetic aspect from his mother's side. His mother was Nagi a daughter of Python - the God of Snakes. But because Python was killed, that was why Morian treated badly of his mother.

Even in giant beast form, they were still on par with each other. Massive damage to the landscape occurred and both suffered some injuries. When Gen thought of his dead mother...of his dying wife, his eyes burned with rage and he forcefully exerted his strength to transform into a rare 5th form - demonbeast form. As a demonbeast, he had an upper hand against Morian and was able to severely damage Morian, cracking his shell and blinding one of his eyes. It looked like Gen will be winning. However, in a last act of desperation, Morian consumed the life essence of all his servants, incorporating their power and vitality into his. This was the boost he needed to evolve into a godbeast. Now, as a godbeast, Morian was slightly stronger than Gen's demonbeast form. However, forcefully becoming a godbeast has severe backlashes. When Morian defeated Gen, he knocked Gen into the coastal area near the ocean.

Using the remaining bits of his strength, he split the earth surrounding Gen, making a prison that is unbreakable from the inside and threw the prison into the bottom of the ocean. Using too much strength, Morian transformed back into giant beast form and started hibernating.

As Gen fell to the bottom of the ocean, he screamed in rage, "I will be back! And when I do, you will die!"

..........

The scene switched back to the Thousand Venom Cave. Chidna...she's still alive! But she too entered into a coma-like hibernation.

..........

 

Presence of a New Monster Part 1

While I was drinking some honey mead in the tavern and looking for people to party for a quest or two, Dancchi came along and asked for help finding some rocs. I said sure and we set out to find some. Now, I don't know if the other adventurers know this or not but recently, the firebirds have gotten more aggressive and they have all started attacking wyverns and rocs. Both the wyverns and the rocs have declared war on the firebirds so they are currently battling in the North Mountains.

Thus, we decided to head over to the North Mountains to look for some rocs. Lo and behold, a large encampment of wyverns appeared near the borders of the North Mountains with the Great Plains. Since we the adventurers are on temporary truce with the wyverns, we were able to proceed past their camp without harm. While we walked past the camp, i asked around for some information on the rocs. Turns out that even though the rocs and the wyverns are fighting the same enemy, sometimes, the rocs will raid their camp. The wyverns were happy to direct us to the rocs camp which were situated northeast of their camp...further into the North Mountains.

After a few minutes of traveling, we arrived near the rocs camp. Currently, the rocs were resting and tending to their injured. I told Dancchi to do what she wanted to do while I go loot their storage room. So, while Dancchi kills some rocs and causing a huge stir/distraction, I snuck into their storage tent and took all of their medicines, ores, money, weapons, and food. While I was looking around, I caught sight of an interesting object...it was a peacock feather. However, this was not any ordinary peacock feather...this was the feather of a Simurgh. It appears as a peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion.

This feather isn't just from any Simurgh...from the quality of the feather, I can confirm that it's from at least a Simurgh demi-god. With this feather...I may be able to track its species. Anyways, I stored the feather and the other items in my bag before setting the storage room on fire. Then, I head out to see how Dancchi was doing.

 

Misunderstanding

So we're getting ready for the Morian's raid event and I'm busying with preparations. Previously, I saw a fellow adventurer come back with some Morian's Essence that they extracted. What they didn't know was that the Morian's Essence they had extracted was mixed with some of my Maker's Essence. Without their notice, I extracted the Maker's Essence from the Morian's Essence and store the Maker's Essence into a vial. Then, I head towards the Tavern. Now, some may ask...why did I do that? Well, what they don't know is that the Maker's Essence can be used to store memories from Morian's point of view. With that objective in mind, I opened the vial and absorbed the essence.

..........

I find myself in a scene right before Morian met Gen for the first time. The room was empty except two figures - one was Morian, the other was a servant.

"Have you heard? It seems that I have a son." Morian said cheerfully. "It took me a million years...but finally."

"Lord Morian," the servant replied - his face showed dissatisfaction for the 'son' that Morian conceived. This is because the woman Morian mated was not of Morian's race. This interspecies breeding was considered taboo and many of Morian's subordinates were dissatisfied. "I don't think that child is yours."

"What do you mean? Are you still mad about my relationship with another species?!" Morian frowned.

"No...that's not it. I've seen the child...he...he's not a tortoise."

"Well of course there's going to be a mix."

"No...he...I saw him swim...."

"What?! You're saying...that he's a...."

"Yes...he is a turtle.... I believe he is the son of our enemies the turtles."

"That can't be...."

"It is the fact. You can probe my memories if you still doubt me."

"Hmph! I'll do that. If you lie, I will kill you." Morian scoffed as he probed the servant's memories. His face paled at what he saw next. "It...it can't be...that WHORE!"

..........

Looking over a few more memories, it seemed that Morian had made many poor decisions in his past and rejecting Gen seemed to be the changing point. All those poor decisions piled up and stabbed him in the back. Because of those decisions coupled with the stress he had to experience, Morian lost more and more of his sanity with each passing day. Finally, before he fought with Gen, he lost his sanity completely. He devoured all of his subordinates and lost his mind. Even when he fell into hibernation, he was still raving mad about his life...about his decisions...about his lover - Gen's mother. However, what he did not know and what the servant left out was that the only reason Gen could swim and breathe underwater was due to the fact that his mother is a sea snake.

 

Chidna

Once I found out the Thousand Venom Cave was located, I quickly headed over there. After experiencing the memories of Gen and of his life with Chidna in the cave, I felt a bit of nostalgia and wanted to see the cave for myself. Upon arriving, I could see the thick Poison Essence enveloping and permeating the cave. This place was truly the most poisonous I've ever encountered in this world so far. The best way for me to not be affected by the poison is to become a ghost. I grab my Ghost Mask and put it on. Turning into a ghost, I floated in. Even as a ghost, the poison felt a bit dizzying. I figured if even my S-class Ghost Mask (which makes me into a S-class ghost) could be slightly affected by the poison, any ghost/spiritual beings below S-class would be severely affected.

As I venture in the depths of the cave, I closed my eyes and tried to feel the surroundings with my senses. I realized suddenly...that there was a powerful guardian spirit in this cave! The poisonous guardian spirit is currently dormant...hopefully the adventurers who will venture in won't accidentally wake it up. This spirit...judging from its abilities...might be almost near S-class...however, that's my rough estimation. As I venture in deeper, I realized that this place was practically a maze with many traps. But from the memories I received from Gen, I realized there's deactivation levers, buttons, and secret doors...but I don't know where they are. The walls are fragile and unstable...too much damage will cause the cave to collapse. I can sense that Chidna is in the center of the maze. The door to Chidna's room can only open if a few select buttons and levers were activated. These buttons and levers are placed randomly throughout the cave. Only once the buttons and levers are activated will the door open. If the door was forcefully opened, then the cave will self-destruct.

Luckily, I don't need to worry about that since I can phase through. Phasing through to the center of the maze, I found Chidna. The room was round, no corners...how? I phased out and saw the exterior to be square.... Ignoring this, I'll leave it to others to figure it out. I phased back in and approach the sleeping beauty. Chidna looked like this:
minus the pointed ears
There's a very thin layer enveloping her, keeping her safe from the poison in the surroundings, however, one touch from an outside force will surely break this layer and exposing the weak and comatose Chidna and endangering her. The poison in the surroundings is the most potent, most lethal, and most thick than any other place. Once I was a foot away from Chidna, a wave of memories washed over me...this was Chidna's memories!

Looking through the memories...I realized in horror...that Chidna...she's pregnant with Gen's child! There was room below this room where she was sleeping at! The door to the basement is below the bed that Chidna laid on. Phasing down, I was amazed at what I see...it was a baby's room...full of baby toys, a cradle, baby clothes....

I shook my head in resignation. We'll have to see what the adventurers will do. Chidna places more importance on her child and when we try to heal her, she will put most of the healing towards the child. But Gen, doesn't know of the child and places more importance on Chidna. So the question is...can we save both? Or would we have to save one and lose the other...but who? Save Chidna? Or save the child? Or...can we save both?

Calculating the percentages of success...saving the child will be 80% success, saving Chidna will be 50%...saving both will be 10%.

 

Tracking the Simurghs

While everyone else was taking part in the Morian raid quests, I decided to look for the Simurghs...and hopefully, interact peacefully with them. The Simurghs were proud creatures, however, they were also very loyal beasts. Initially, from the records of history, I had presumed this species to be extinct given the destruction they experienced by the gods a few millennia ago. With how fresh and new the feather I found looked, I can assume that there were at least a couple of survivors...possibly hiding in a very hidden location. Luckily, with my skills and luck, I can track these Simurghs with the help of the feather.

I took out the feather and extracted some of the essence. Then, I consumed the essence...or rather, I absorbed the feather's essence. Immediately, my senses peaked. Essence...pure, raw essence - if consumed - can be considered as a drug. In other words, take too much, and you might become addicted...might become too dependent on it...an overdose if you will. With the essence within my body coupled by my ability to manipulate essence, I can sense any essences that were comparable to what I absorbed. Involuntarily, my body turned towards the west...it seems the Simurghs or maybe more of their essences were towards the west.

I called for Blackie and we flew towards the west. After traveling for a while and consuming the essence two more times...since the effects were limited, we arrived at the far edge of Pine Forest where there was a valley. I patted Blackie's back signaling him to descend to the valley below. Upon arriving, three shadowy figures emerged from the cave and lunged towards me. I dodge quickly and jumped off of Blackie. Equipping my Werewolf Mask, I slashed out my claws at the three figures and with my strength, I was able to instakill all three while still in the air. As I land, I looked at the corpses of the monsters that attacked me. Luckily, I did not sense any Simurgh essence from the three attackers earlier so I was able to attack without fear of ruining any chances of befriending the Simurghs.

The three bodies were black humanoids with bat-like wings...these were lesser devils! Devils were once humans who were tempted and absorbed demonic energy, turning themselves into half human half demon...aka devils. Lesser devils were either humans who received their demonic energy from regular devils or the devils' offsprings. What were devils doing here where the Simurghs should reside? Could they be in trouble? I hurried inside the cave the lesser devils flew out from and saw...a large group of devils performing execution on a group of Simurghs. There was a S-ranked Demon with these group of devils. Looking at the bloodbath, I can tell that they had already commenced the execution and had already killed more than half of what remained of the Simurghs.

Immediately, I switched to my Ghost Mask and started killing the devils. However, he was only able to kill half before he was found by the Demon. The demon was S-rank...and his capabilities was at least two times mine. I won't be able to win. Grimacing, I decided to use a forbidden technique - OverLuck! OverLuck permanently transfers half of one of my stats into my luck. I chose my defense. Instantly, my luck tripled.

When the demon rushed over to attack, suddenly, from below the earth, a huge earthworm emerges and literally tore the demon in half. To one-hit kill a S-ranked demon, this earthworm must be at least a SS-rank monster. The earthworm continued to devastate the rest of the devils. Once they all died, the earthworm approached me. Cautiously, I thanked the earthworm and asked why he had saved me. The earthworm, whose name was Lum, told me in the Language of the Worms that it was to repay a debt. When I asked what debt, he told me that earlier, I had saved a worm from death...that worm was his favorite great-great-great-grandson. Lum reached forward and blessed me with a mark. This mark would allow me to summon earthworms to fight for me. Afterwards, Lum dove into the ground and left.

I approached the frightened Simurghs...there were only ten left...all relatively young. To be shaken and traumatized to such an extent, I pitied the once proud creatures. Years of solitude and hiding had deterred from their original radiance. In their language, I comforted them and assured that they were safe. I offered to find them homes if they decide to follow me. I know what you guys are thinking...and its true, I'm taking advantage of these Simurghs' situation and winning some long-lasting loyalty. After a few minutes, the Simurghs agree. I got up and hopped on Blackie. We flew back to the guild with the ten Simurghs following close behind.

Now...I just need to find a place for them to live...*cough* *cough* Shadow *cough* *cough*.

 

Party Quest with Ruriha

Just two more party quests and one more epic quest and I'll become S-rank. I know Shadow is still working on finding an appropriate epic quest for me, so all that's left is the two party quests. Hopefully, I can finish them quickly. Hmm, now who needs help? As I scanned the Tavern, I silently prayed to my goddess Lady Luck to show me the way. Immediately, my sights landed on a newbie named Ruriha. It seems like he needed help as I heard him muttering to himself.

I walked up to him and asked, "Hey, I heard what you said just now. Want to party up with me?"

The E-ranker looked at me and muttered 'kamen rider'...huh? Do I look like a kamen rider? I thought as I looked at my brown leather armor and bag. I touched my face to check if there was an insect mask...but I felt something else. Oh! That's right, I was still wearing my new mask - Mask of Illusions. I would appear as whatever the other party wants to see. And I guess, since a kamen rider is a hero of justice who helps others in need, this is what this E-ranker is seeing me as.

"Why are you helping me?" Ruriha asked.

"Because Lady Luck showed me that you needed help. Plus, I need to finish some party quests to rank up." I replied...but he probably heard something like 'Saving someone from trouble is common sense!' "My name is Khaos by the way. So, won't you let me help?"

..........

After partying together, we decided to do an easy rabbit killing quest. When we arrived at the location of Wandering Rabbit sightings, Ruriha asked me if I know of a way to easily catch these slippery little bastards. I reassured him that because I am a worshipper of Lady Luck, I get a blessing that increases my luck significantly. Rabbits will come to me instead.

When the rabbits came, Ruriha attacked. I let him kill most of them. While I one-hit 3 of the rabbits, Ruriha killed the other 7. It seems that he needed more experience as it took him quite a while and he was quite inefficient. This guy still got a long way to go.

Once we finished, we headed back to the guild to turn in the quest and received our rewards.

 

Tritlas the Pale King

"So bored...when are they going to finish the first part of the Morian Event Quest?" I muttered.

It has been months since the adventurers had started moving against Morian. However, there was no news of their completion. In order to ward off my boredom, I decided to check up on the war between the Frost Giants and Fire Giants up in the north. Last time I was there, there were literally hundreds of Frost Giant camps and Fire Giant camps and they were in the middle of an all out war.

I packed up some stuff and called for Blackie. We headed towards the Ash Plains. With Blackie's speed, we were able to arrive in a few minutes. Looking at the ground from above, I surveyed the scene that appeared before me. There were a lot of destruction and deaths. Bodies from both sides littered the battlefield. I stared at the corpses...good materials just ready to be picked. I jumped off of Blackie and put on my Ghost Mask before I landed. After transforming into a ghost, I immediately turned invisible. In my invisible state, not only was I invisible, but I also erased all signs of my presence. As I roamed the battlefield, carefully avoiding the fights, I started collecting any and all of the useful materials such as fresh corpses, equipment, weapons, etc.

Suddenly, I spot a corpse in the far left of the battle. This corpse was of a Frost Giant but his attire was completely different from the others. He...looked like a messenger or a scout of some sort. I walked up to the body and searched through his belongings. Oh...a letter...from the Pale Lady?! Isn't that the Queen of the Frost Beings? What does she want? I opened the letter and read the contents. What's this? Check up on the Pale King that was confined at the bottom of the Iceberg Sea?! If the King is weak, then kill him? Interesting...I'll got take a look, could be worthwhile.

As I stored the letter into my bag, I looked around at the battle. I still have a few quests to complete...shouldn't be too hard. Still in my ghost form, I fluttered over to a few of the combatants. On one side, we have the Frost Giants with their Frost Mages who could summon Frost Spirits to battle. In addition, a group of Frost Mages could pool their mana together in order to summon an Ice Elemental. On the other side, we have the Fire Giants and their Fire Summoners who had tamed and summoned some of the nearby Ash Beasts. In addition, a group of these Fire Summoners would pool their mana together and summon a Lesser Flame Demon. With a few thrusts of my hands, I phased my arms through three Fire Giants' and phased out their hearts. Then, I twirled my Skinning Knife and beheaded three Ash Beasts. I would kill more but I didn't feel like it.

Next, I headed to the Frost Giants side and started casting Fireballs at the Frost Beings. Each of my fireballs were doused with Wrath. The wrath will make the fireballs burn until there was nothing left of the original target to burn. I three some of the fireballs at the Frost Giants and incinerated three of them. Not to mention, a few of the Frost Mages were burned to death from the fireballs. One of the fireballs smashed into an incompletely summoned Ice Elemental. Though it was summoned, the process to finalize its power was unfinished. But, nevertheless, an Ice Elemental died, so I would count this as a completion. Now, unfortunately, the Frost Spirits do not have physical bodies, so the fireballs just pass right through. However, luckily, I knew that ghosts and spirits alike were essentially only clusters of essence that have taken shape. I charged towards three Frost Spirits and waved my hands, dispersing their essence using my Essence Manipulation technique and destroying them.

Finished with my quest, I stealthily left the battle scene. After running a few miles, I arrive at the Iceberg Sea. Now according to the letter, there should be a prison of some sort...maybe a seal at the bottom of the sea. Taking off my ghost mask, I rummaged through my bags and pulled out the mask - Mask of the Water Maiden - a non-transforming mask. With this mask, I can breathe and fight underwater. Putting on the mask, I dove into the water. There were a number of fish in this sea...what's this? This fish has fur! That's new...wonder if it tastes delicious or not.... As I swam deeper, I found more and more new types of fish. Most of these fish tend to avoid me since the level of my aura that I'm giving off is worlds apart from them. Suddenly, something swam past me very quickly. I scanned the dark depths, straining my eyes to see. There was a faint outline of something long...is it a sea serpent? I readied my skinning knife and followed the outline. It was coming. It charged at me and I dodge to the right. At the moment of the dodge, I caught a glimpse of the creature that attacked me. It looked similar to a sea serpent...but it had legs. This...this is a water dragon! As the water dragon charge towards me once again, I sneered at it and lunged towards it as well. With a slash of my knife, I wounded the water dragon. It howled as it rushed away.

Realizing that it had retreated, I continued my dive. Near the bottom, I caught a few glimpses of glittering blue...upon closer inspection of one of the clusters, I realized that it was a type of new ore - Blue Iron. I broke off a piece and inspected it. This Blue Iron is a type of metal ore found in the depths of very cold and very dark regions. Blue Iron can be used to create armor and weapons with initial Frost attributes. This is a perfect find. As I pocketed some of the Blue Iron, I searched around the bottom of the sea some more.

Suddenly, a voice resounded in my mind. "Why have you come here? Who are you?"

I rubbed my head in slight discomfort before answering politely, "I am Khaos - an adventurer - I seek the one known as the Pale King."

Now why am I being polite you ask? Well, for someone or something to speak directly within my mind, he or she must be incredibly powerful and I don't want to offend someone in this cold and dark place...a place where I'm not in an advantageous position. I scanned around nervously hoping for a reply.

"Why do you seek the Pale King?"

"I wish to know about his relation with the Pale Lady and why she has ordered your death."

"You don't seem to be a Frost Being of any sort. How did you come about this information? Did that vile witch send you to kill me?"

"I took it off a Frost Giant corpse. I'm guessing that you are the Pale King since you knew about Frost Beings and the Pale Lady."

After some pause, the voice continued, "You are right. I am the one you seek. If you are a friend, show me some proof."

"I have with me a hundred Frost Giant corpses." I replied as I took out the corpses from my storage ring. "Is this enough proof?"

"Haha, it is. Fine, I will tell you my story. I am known as Tritlas the descendent of Poseidon and the original leader and owner of the Arctic Tundra. The vile witch that you call the Pale Lady used to be a mistress of mine. She got too greedy and allied herself with demons to overthrow me. Weakened by her surprise attack, I was pushed and sealed to the bottom of this wretched sea. Many...many years have gone by. My strength is nil. Even if you were to remove my seal, I won't have the strength to leave the sea."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Hmm, the Pale Lady may not know this, but I have one trump card left. If given enough Eternal Ice, I can resurrect into a baby but with my original memories retained. I would like it if you and your fellow adventurers could bring me Eternal Ice shards for me to use. I need about 1000 shards."

"Sure, you can count on me."

"Thank you. Oh and watch out for those water dragons. They were assigned by the Pale Lady to guard this place."

"Okay."

I bid farewell to the king and headed back to the surface. Then, I left for the guild. There should be a few new quests now for the guild to put up. Hmm...there's the D-ranked Fur-Bearing Fish to catch as well as identify and catching other fishes in the Iceberg Sea, the B-ranked Blue Iron to mine, the A-ranked Water Dragons to slay, and the B-ranked Eternal Ice Shards to give to Tritlas within the month.

 

Delivering Chidna's Child

It has been a few hours since I have received news of Chidna's freedom from her eternal sleep. The team tasked to rescue her has brought back both her and her unborn baby. As soon as I saw Chidna, I immediately checked her life essence. It seems that she is recovering well, though she is still weak from malnourishment and deficiency. Chidna looked around in wonder as she took in the unfamiliar scene. Humans and non-humans were cohabitating together and peacefully at that. There were even interspecies relationships. Back then, interspecies relationships were uncommon and mostly came from political reasons. Even her relationship with Gen would have been frowned upon if outsiders knew.

Chidna observed her surroundings...the languages spoken were new to her. However, Chidna's learning capacity is high as she was quick to pick up the language. Although broken, she asked, "Where...is...me?"

"You are at the Adventurer's Guild." Shadow replied. "We saved you because we wanted to befriend you and your husband Gen. We would like request his help in dealing with Morian."

"Guild...where...Gen...." Chidna shook her head as she could not think and formulate the sentences. She felt helpless at being unable to communicate.

Suddenly, I walked over and gazed deeply into Chidna's eyes. As our eyes locked, I spoke in the Ancient Language of the Gods, "My name is Khaos. We, the adventurers, are currently at war with Morian. We would like to request your husband's help."

Chidna looked at me in surprise, "How do you know the Gods' Tongue? No...nevermind that, you said Morian? You're at war with them? Wait...my husband? He's alive?"

"Yes. We know where he is imprisoned, and we will soon free him. Will you help convince your husband to help us defeat Morian once and for all?"

"Yes...thank Mother, Gen is alive. You hear that child?" Chidna sighed in relief as she looked at her womb, "You hear that my child? Your father is alive-kuuaaaa!"

Chidna collapses onto the ground in pain. I rushed over and checked her pulse...shit! She's going into labor! Who can help her give birth? I don't have a clue in that field....

..........

The moment everyone saw what is about to happen, the whole crowd of adventurer started to murmur among each other. And the reason for that murmur is that some has said that Chidna is going into labor. And that is one of the most unexpected turn of event for every one of them.

The Guildmaster, Shadow, is also in the same state of mind as the other. Confused and totally caught by surprise. He who is the wielder of Picatrix, doesn’t know what do at the situation. Of course, he knows how to do the labor process. He also knows how to do the labor process for a lamia as Wiya’khiy has ‘injected’ the knowledge of it into his mind. But all of those are only theoretically. Doing it in real life is a very different matter. And handling a procedure that might spell the life and death of somebody is not helping his worried mind.

“M-My Lord.”

Suddenly, a voice from behind him took him away from his confused mind. He looked back and saw his lamia retainer, Chalusi. She looked at him with a rather timid expression, but somehow Shadow could see that her eyes have some sort of determination in it.

“I t-t-think I can help with that.”

“You do!?”

“E-Eek?!”

Shadow, to being told something he never expected to hear, grabbed her shoulder in lightning speed, surprising the poor lamia instantly. But he was grabbed by his wife, Erdatiel, that also gesture him to calm down and stopped scaring his retainer. He nodded weakly and then looked at Chalusi. Ignoring the clamor that was happening around him.

“Is that true, Chalusi? Is that true that you can help her? With her child labor?”

“I c-can. I have been trained by the e-elder in my village to help for them to deliver their child.”

Hearing that answer from her, Shadow let out the biggest smile of the day. Who would have thought that the answer was so close to him? He rejoiced in his heart at that.

“T-That’s great! Then we can…”

Then Shadow stopped and realized that there are some conditions that they might have to solve first. The first is that since Chidna is a poisonous being, just touching her blood might poisoned the one helping it, in this case, Chalusi. Then the second part is Chidna’s condition. She is terribly malnourished and weak. An operation or something will decrease her condition further and risk killing her. So before Chalusi can help her deliver her child, they must be able to fulfill those conditions.

“QUIET ALL!!!”

Shadow’s shout reverberated through the room, silencing everyone. He then started to explain his plan and about how that Chalusi can help Chidna in that matter. At first, there was confusion again as they murmured. But then Dancchi and Reachii came to him.

Dancchi said that she can ask Midori to keep the poison at bay since Midori is very accustomed to poisonous substance and she is her guardian until recently. Then by supplying initium energy to make a thin membrane-like shield to Chalusi’s body, the poison can also be deflected.

Reachii in the other hand, will concentrate on Chidna’s and the baby’s health. She will supply them with constant stream of life force combined with Midori supplying poison substance. Dancchi also will assist by securing their lifeline so that their condition is more stable.

After formulating the plan, Shadow and the others quickly go to their station to prepare for said operation. After that, the operation started and everyone concentrate and pour their whole effort on their job. To keep Chidna's alive. To keep her child alive. It was a race against time.

It was a long and difficult procedure. But in the end, they managed to done it. While Chidna's was still unconscious, she is breathing regularly. The child is also in good shape. In the end, they managed to save the mother and the child.

..........

Once Chidna gave birth to a large black egg, I went over and placed my hand on the egg. The life essence in the egg seems stable at first...but then I realize that there were some abnormalities. I can't tell for sure what those abnormalities were but it doesn't seem to be negatively affecting the child's health. Upon closer examination, I realize the egg still had at most a few days more before it hatches. I handed the egg to Chidna who wrapped a warm blanket around it and slung the wrapped egg over her shoulder.

"Don't worry Chidna. Your baby is safe...though I could sense that there were some abnormalities." I told her.

"What abnormalities?!" Chidna exclaimed in dread.

"I'm not sure...we'll have to see once it hatches."

"Oh...okay."

"For now, we need to go rescue your husband Gen. The baby will hatch soon and you probably want the baby to see both you and your husband first right?" I replied as I recall that monster/animal babies tend to view the first beings they see as their parents.

"Yea...."

I handed Chidna over to the guild who will continue taking care of her. Then, I talked with the guildmaster to organize a five man party in order to free Gen from his underwater imprisonment.

 

Party Quest and the Red Dwarf

When I heard of Chidna's successful rescue, I was about to do a party quest with Balthy. We were heading towards the North Volcano to kill off some Fire Spirits. I hopped onto Blackie while Balthy got on his transportation and we speedily rushed towards the volcano. Upon arriving, I used my Essence Manipulation to sense the surroundings for any highly-dense clusters of Fire Essence. After all, a Fire Spirit is basically a large clump of concentrated Fire Essence. After spotting some nearby, I muttered a silent prayer to my goddess Lady Luck before I motioned Balthy to follow me.

Soon, we arrived near the mouth of a cave at the bottom of the volcano. Peering inside, I see a large pool of lava. By the lava, there was a large amount of Fire Spirits...close to 20 of them. Why are there so many at this particular spot? Are they guarding something? Could it be that there is a treasure at the bottom of that lava pool? I took out a Fiery Breeze pill and popped it into my mouth. This Fiery Breeze pill is a pill that boosts my cold abilities as well as enveloping me with a cool breeze that protects and further increases my resistance to fire. Then, I motioned Balthy to prepare for the attack.

..........

I had heard news of Chidna being rescued so according to a prior agreement, I chose a quest and went on it with Khaos. The quest I had chosen was to slay 5 fire spirits and Khaos seemed to have no problem with it. He seemed to talk less than Hikari and that was fine by me.

I teleported to the volcano and 3 seconds later, Khaos came riding in on his mount. That thing was fast as hell, I wonder what it tastes like. I stowed that thought for later and Khaos motioned me over to a cave at the bottom of the volcano.

While I was thinking of different things, he must have located them using his methods.We arrived and looked at them to notice that there were at least 20. They had to be guarding something and I figured Khaos must have figured that out as well.

He nodded towards me which I took as 'prepare to attack' and I did so. I put a thumbs up in his direction and he nodded. I then teleported right into the middle of them and unleashed an ice spell that obliterated at least half of the opposition.Before I could get the rest, I looked around and saw that Khaos had taken care of the rest fairly easily.

..........

I rushed in to the cave and start casting Freeze on the Fire Spirits. Although this low-level Ice magic can't do much damage to the Fire Spirits, it can however slow their movements down. Once slowed, I raise my hands and aimed them at two of the spirits. With quick flicks of my fingers, I controlled the Fire Essence within the Fire Spirits and dispersed them, essentially destroying their intangible bodies. Then, I took out a jar and manipulated the Fire Essences into the jar. I continued on with this process until Balthy and I finished off all 20 of them. Then, I told Balthy to wait for me while I search the bottom of the lava pool.

I took out my mask - Mask of the Fiery Demon and wore it. This mask increases my fire abilities and increases my resistance to fire and heat. Then, using the Lava Shaping skill, I parted the lava pool. As I climbed down, I could hear the sizzling below my feet. Good thing I wore my mask...I can imagine how hot the floor must be. As I continue to search, I finally came across what looks like a red orb. I reached out to touch the orb only to jerk my hand back in pain. This burning sensation was unbelievably painful...wait burning sensation?! Even with my mask on, I could be burnt? This red orb is dangerous.

I calmed myself down a bit and activated my Maker's Domain. A field gushed out from within me and enveloped the surrounding area including the red orb. Now anything in the range of my Domain will be rendered harmless to me. I reached down once again and touched the red orb...surprisingly, it isn't solid. In fact, it is a gas!...A heavy gas at that! I took out two jars and coated the inside with my Maker's Essence in order to protect the jars from the gas. Then, I stored half of the red gas in each jar. After I finished extracting the gas, I appraised it:

Name: Red Dwarf
Rank: S
Type: Heavy Gas
Potential Uses: Unknown
Notable Attributes: Unknown...may increase heat resistance...may increase Fire abilities

This item is so powerful, even my Appraisal skill can't fully identify its uses. Well, I guess we'll have to do the old fashioned way - trial and error experimentation. Anyways, I deactivated Maker's Domain and climbed out of the pool. Then, I handed one of the jars to Balthy as it can be considered his share of the treasure. Then, we headed back to the guild.

 

Defense Against the Undead Army

Hearing the announcement for defending against a large Undead army and how most of the Undead were weak to Fire Magic, I thought...wasn't this a quest just for me? With my abilities in fire, I decided to go ahead and help out a bit. Who knows...maybe I can get some good materials too. I walked out of the tavern and sent a mental transmission to Blackie. Seconds later, Blackie arrived. I hopped on his back and we headed towards the battlefield.

When I arrived, I see that quite a few adventurers were already here. I patted Blackie's back, signaling him to continue flying and fire Fireballs at the enemies below. Then, I jumped off of Blackie's back. Immediately, I cast a large Luck Boost Area Field which increases the overall luck of my allies with the field. Then, I rushed into the disarray with my Skinning Knife drawn. I began decapitating Zombies and Jianshis and burning Draugrs and Skeletons.

As I continued to attack, I sensed an eerie feeling...this was danger! I rolled to the side just in time to dodge an arrow. To actually cause me to feel danger, whoever fired this arrow must be strong. I turned around to look for a powerful monster...but I only saw a Skeleton Archer. Can't be.... No, it is! The Skeleton Archer started running towards me and rapid firing many arrows that curved and slanted and hid in the shadows of other arrows. This Skeleton Archer must be a powerful archer or hunter when it was alive. It was unfortunate that he had died and was pitifully raised as a mere Skeleton Archer.

I decided that I want this monster. I raised my speed up with one of my Dragon's Roar Techniques and charged forward. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a mask of a Moon Elf whose corpse I found and looted in the Arctic Tundra. Apparently, a tribe of Moon Elves once lived there. Anyways, taking the mask out, I made a few marks on the mask to make it into a binding mask. Then, I charged into the Skeleton Archer's range and placed the mask on it. After a few squirms, the Skeleton Archer transformed. He had become a moon elf. With my mask, I have permanently made him into a Moon Elf and given him speech as well as other living qualities. This method was essentially like an inferior version of the method my master used when he helped created the first existences. I then placed a Mark of Deathsworn onto the Moon Elf causing him to forever serve under me.

With my new helper, which I named Ranger, we continued to fight off the Undead army. Overall, we each had killed close to 30 Zombies, 20 Skeletons, 20 Draugrs, and 10 Jiangshis. Apparently they dropped some kind of stone which I picked up...are these monster cores? I wasn't sure. Maybe the guildmaster knows. Pocketing them, I continued killing and collecting.

..........

After killing some more Undead, I realize one important thing...for a Lich King, his army was missing some generals. Maybe, he's saving them for later? Anyways, while Ranger and I fought deeper into the ranks of the army, I once again felt that dread I felt from Ranger. *ACHOOO!* Whew.... I was about to rub my itchy nose when I felt a saber miss my head. Wow, thank Lady Luck...if I didn't sneeze, my head would have been disconnected from my neck. I turned around to see my assailant and found a Draugr in heavy armor carrying a two-handed sword.

"Ranger, this one is mine. Take care of any interference." I roared amidst the battle cries. Ranger nodded his head in understanding and I charged towards the Draugr.

Raising my Skinning Knife, I smashed it towards the Draugr. Surprisingly, it blocked the attack. As I kept slashing, the Draugr kept dodging. I even used feints and counters yet this monster was still able to dodge...it's not memory...can't be muscle memory either...could it be bone memory?! Actions that were used so much that it seeped into their bones...only grandmasters were capable of such feats. I see...like Ranger, this Draugr was a powerful figure when it was alive. Now, it's haplessly summoned as a mere Draugr...a pity to this monster as well. I want it.

Reaching in my bag, I pull out a mask of a Minotaur. Holding this mask up, I made a few marks on the mask to make it into a binding mask. Then, I froze the Draugr with a Freeze spell and then charged into the Draugr's range and placed the mask on it. After a few squirms, the Draugr transformed. He had become a Minotaur. With my mask, I have permanently made him into a Minotaur and given him speech as well as other living qualities. I then placed a Mark of Deathsworn onto the Minotaur causing him to forever serve under me. Afterwards, I decided that there's not much to do left so I decided to leave the battlefield with my two new servants and let the others handle the rest of the situation. I walk up to the guildmaster and submitted the stones I collected from the monsters.

..........

After hearing that monsters were attacking Aeternus, I hurried back to set up a few defenses. As I approached Aeternus, I started gathering Holy Essence. Once I arrived, I had gathered a massive amount of Holy Essence. With my Essence Manipulation, I enveloped a thick layer of Holy Essence around and on Aeternus. With this condensed Holy Essence in place, any Unholy monster will feel weak when they get too close and any Unholy monster will die when they touch any part of Aeternus. Next, I set up a Luck Boost Field to increase the luck of Aeternus, allowing it to avoid disasters more often. Finished, I went back to my adventures.

..........

Once I received a notice that the Undead army was retreating and the raid was almost over, I decided to visit the battlefield one more time. As I approached the grounds, I saw many corpses of Zombies, Skeletons, Vampires, etc. There was a thick layer of Death, Ghost, Phantom, and Unholy Essences in the air. Using Essence Manipulation, I separated the mixture of essences and stored a condensed version of each in a jar. Each essence was condensed so much to the point that they became raw liquid form. After storing the essence, I started manipulating all the Blood Essence that were on the ground and combined the blood mixture. Initially there were some bloods that were not compatible with each other, but with my high level of blood manipulation, I was successful in mixing the bloods...although the mixture was unstable. I stored the active mixture into a special container that contains a protective layer of my Maker's Essence. Next, I started collecting all the corpses on the field - Zombies, Skeletons, Draugrs, Vampires, etc. Now you may wonder why I'm collecting all these...well, I'm gonna make an Abomination. After finishing collecting most of the usable monsters into my storage ring, I quietly left the battlefield.

 

Rescuing Gen Part 1

Khaos's POV:

After hearing about the rescue mission, I went into my room and brought out two masks from a sealed box in my storage ring. To break the seal, blood of a Maker was needed. I took out my Skinning Knife and sliced my right hand. I placed the bloodied hand onto the box. The blood flowed into the box and the seal glowed. With a *pppsssshsshhshhh*, the seal disappeared and the box opened. I lifted up the lid and smiled at the contents in the box. There were twelve SSS-ranked masks in the box that my master made and gifted to me. I took out two of the masks - Lady Luck's Warmth and Divine Touch. Lady Luck's Warmth was a mask with only one attribute (Supreme Luck) and one skill (Luck OverBoost) and this mask was bound to me and only me. Anyone else who dared to wear it or even possess it without my permission will instantly have all of their luck absorbed. The second mask Divine Touch was a mask with only one attribute (Supreme Regeneration and Recovery) and one skill (Resurrection). Like Lady Luck's Warmth, Divine Touch was also bound to only me. Anyone else who dared to wear it or even possess it without my permission will instantly have all of their health and lifeforce absorbed, killing them. The only problem with Divine Touch was that it can only allow me to heal others and not me. I looked at the other ten masks in the box and closed the lid. Maybe next time, I'll bring them out for a spin. I resealed the box and stored it in my storage ring again. Taking the masks, I stored them in my bag and headed towards the Tavern.

..........

Shadow's POV:

An airship flying the flag of the Adventurer Guild roamed across the sea near the Sea of Serpent. The guild heavily armed ship is flying a bit lower than usual and maintaining a steady speed, as if not to disturb the tranquility of the ocean. But with the amount of weapon drawn and aimed all around, it is clear that they are not on a peace mission. On the deck of said airship, one could see five different individuals stood with a rather relaxed expression. Well, two were wearing masks, so it was not quite the right expression. But almost none of them let out any feeling of urgency or danger. That was proof of how confident they are in their own skill.

“Okay, we are going to be near the place in 2 minutes.” My voice filled the deck as I stood in front of my large mechanical spider, Arkley. I, then, pulled out four identical boxes from inside my spatial gloves and placed them near the group of four.

“Inside each box you can find two sets of potion. The first one is this,” I pulled out a small potion filled with dark blue liquid and then continued, “This is the deep sea potion. By drinking this, you can withstand the deep sea pressure and also breathe underwater easily. The effect is about 2 hours, more or less.”

Then I put that potion back into the spatial gloves and pulled out another, this time filled with dark purple liquid. “The next one is this. By drinking this, you can see in dark area. The side effect is that your eyes will glow slightly, so be careful as you might alert the enemy. But don’t worry, it is only a slight glowing. The potion will be in effect for about 2 hours too.”

After that, I put the potion back into my spatial gloves and then looked at them. “There are 3 bottles for each potion. I also put 3 bottles of rejuvenation potion there. I know that you have powerful magic, but please use the potion if possible to conserve your magic. We don’t know what will happen there.”

I took a deep breath and then pointed at the location of their mission. “We will drop the rescue team there while I and Dancchi will go a bit far to wreak havoc there. We will distract the monsters as best as we could. When you're done rescuing Gen, swim up and then call me via the emblem. I will teleport the ship there and then teleport us to the special in Aeternus. Try your best to conceal his presence before we get to the chamber. After we get to the chamber, all magic will be nullified, so you can rest assured it will be sufficient to conceal his presence. Due to the ship’s size and Gen’s possible size, we only have three chances to do it at most.”

Then a sudden metallic sound came. All of them looked at the source and found that it was from Arkley, tapping his metal mandible.

“Master Shadow, everyone, we will arrive in 15 seconds.”

“Thanks, Arkley. Okay, everyone, get ready! We will rescue him!”

The other four nodded and they all get to their position.

..........

Biel's POV:

“Thanks, Arkley. Okay, everyone, get ready! We will rescue him!” Shadow exclaimed.

I walked until I reached Dan. I took her hand and gave her a soft kiss, "Please take care honey~~."

After I gave the three Water Breathing Potions to her, I walked to the border of the ship and jumped. While falling, I let out a huge amount of Chaos energy from my body, a quantity big enough to break the reality around me. I concentrated it in a sphere around me, and then I use the hole in reality to make a sub-dimension around me. Soon after I finished the dimension, I or rather the Dimension I made hit the sea and submerged. As I dove deeper and deeper, it started to become dark. I started to use a combination of Life-Force detection, Death-Force detection, and Energy Flow detection to understand what was around me.

I detected many sea monsters which obviously can't detect me because I'm technically outside this dimension. I used Mind magic to peek in their minds and discovered that they were being Influenced by the Seals on Gen's prison...so that was why they were protecting it. I ordered them to leave the area as fast as they can...an order which they were incapable of ignoring. Soon, I found myself near a giant earth mound, which I easily identified as Gen's prison. I didn't even need to look to understand which curse was put upon it. It's in fact one which I have in my blood, so it will be as simple as breathing to remove it. But from the look of the Death magic on it, I will need some time to dispel it. I started to analyze and work on it while the others arrive and do their work.

..........

Balthy's POV:

I watched Shady give his thanks to some guy that I didn't know the name of. Never bothered to learn. Biel saddled up on Danchi and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before employing her magic and jumping into the water. Not one to be left behind, I used shadow magic to phase me out of the material plane and dove in the water. Through the darkness, I could see many figures both distant and close but I couldn't get an exact read on their number, nor did I try to. I descended lower and lower before hitting a mound. I noticed that all the sea monsters were fleeing at a fast pace. Biel must have done something. I found my way to the seal I was in charge of and stared at it. I had no clue on what the hell to do. Might as well study it quickly so I could dispel it.

..........

Khaos's POV:

Taking the potions from Shadow, I store them into my bag. Then, I grab my mask - Mask of the Water Maiden and put it on. This mask of mine lets me breathe and fight underwater. Before I jumped into the water, I activated my Eye of Odin which will let me see in the dark as if it was daytime. Then, I jumped into the water and swam after what I believe is Balthy. Upon arriving, I see both Biel and Balthy studying the seals they're assigned to break. I don't see any sea monsters nearby so I assumed that they had taken care of the monsters already. Reaching into my bag, I grab a deep sea potion and consumed it. Then, I took off my mask and switched it with my mask - Lady Luck's Warmth. With this mask on, my luck as well as the luck of my allies increase exponentially. Hopefully this will decrease any chances of failure when we began the unsealing process.

..........

Dancchi's POV:

Bi went down before me, deri. I should do it before her but she beat me into it, deriyo? Well… she’d be all right deri. But then what about my part if she went down first derika…. Ah, just do it deri. I dove downward and right before I plunged into the ocean I activated [Angelic Layer] deri. With this, I didn’t need Shadow’s pill, deri. And I can fly underwater like the ocean was nothing but air, deri. No water pressure, no movement restriction, deri. Ugh, I still need the pill, deri! I don’t know why but it’s hard to breathe even inside [Angelic Layer]’s dimension, deri. Perhaps because it needs the actual air to be transferred inside derika? And since it’s in the ocean that the air was very restricted derika? Uhh, I don’t know…

Since [Angelic Layer] emits faint light, I don’t have any difficulties in seeing the deep underwater, deri. It was just a bit hard since the seeing distance wasn’t that far, deriyo? Maybe it won’t be too much of a hassle deri…. Because all the aggressive creatures were heading straight to me, deriyo? Un, krakens, megalodons, all sorts of big dudes were coming to me, deriyo? First it was kraken. Two krakens against one angelic fox, deri. I tried a new skill, deri. [Thunder Orb] - it was an orb made of initium with the attribute of Deena’s scorching thunder, deri. The size was a little smaller than my head, but I could see the dense electric streams inside it, deri. It was also shining brighter than me, deri. With the way it floated around, I think it also ignored the gravity, water resistance, and inertia, deri. Much like the Angelic Layer, deriyo?

It was small, but when I tried to make it shoot a thunder, *ZABOOOOM!* A condensed dense ray of laser came out, deri. A single attack, and the giant sized kraken was done for, deri. It also produced an intense water whirl due to its trajectory effect, deri. And even more monsters were sucked into the whirl deriyo? Most of them were harmless small fishes so I could ignore them, deri. And then there were 2 megalodons, deriyo? I killed one of them by that laser again, deriyo…. Ah, haven’t named this laser derika? Let’s call it [Railgun] deri! Because it shot straight like a train on rail, deriyo?

And then when the second megalodon came, a strange, much more bigger creature came deri. I could not see how big it was, but it swam graciously like floating, deri. It appeared slow, but it was an illusion because of its sheer size, deri. You know, when you see a building collapse from afar it looks like falling slowly, right? It was like that too, deriyo. It was like a thick, transparent red-orange blanket, deri. And it enveloped the massive sized megalodon in one wrap, deri. The megalodon… maybe it ate the megalodon in one gulp, deri. Scary….

But thank god I didn’t need to kill this mysterious and beautiful creature, deri. It left after it ate megalodon, deriyo? I stood watch and there was nothing else happening, deri. But when the rescue team did something, I saw numerous of signs coming for them, deri. So I deployed 3 Thunder Orbs and baited them to my place, deri. And the result was not disappointing, deriyo? Big fishes, mini leviathans, deriyo. Uhh… can I just call them “Levi Fish” derika? Despite the size, they could swim faster than megalodons, deri. Oh, they manipulated the water pressure to support their movement, deriyo? So they have brains even though they looked fugly deri.

Didn’t matter, deriyo? Even though all 5 of them attacked me simultaneously by shooting water jets and ice needles, as long as they couldn’t breach Angelic Layer’s dimension they couldn’t touch me, deri~. But then again, why couldn’t I breathe easily if I can defend against big attacks like these? Um, um, whatever, deri. I killed 3 of them because I didn’t want their attacks strayed to the rescue team, deri. With only 2 of the Levi Fishes left it was easy to control their directions, deri. I kept playing with them because it was a good way to getting rid of boredom, deri. There weren’t any other monsters, deri. Maybe because they were afraid of those Levi Fishes, derika?

 

Rescuing Gen Part 2

Shadow's POV:

“Arkley, is everything ready?”

“A few second more, Master Shadow.”

“Tell me if it ready.”

“Yes, Master Shadow.”

Wearing a trench coat, I pulled out my spy glass and surveyed the whole situation around the sea. On the surface of the sea, I could see a lot of waves and ripples, and also some occasion small explosion. I knew that the explosions were coming from Dancchi, the other member in charge of making distraction. At one glance, it looked enough to just let her do it. But I did not want to take any chances.

“Master Shadow, everything is loaded and ready to go.”

A slight metallic sound came from behind me, but I kept my eyes on the surface of the sea around the prison. “Aim every cannon at the sea around the prison. Make it so that it hit in a random place.”

“Understood, Master Shadow.”

“As for the ballista, let them be ready to shoot at enemies that may attack us from the sky.”

“Understood, Master Shadow.” Arkley then tapped his metal mandible as to response to his master’s order. Then the deck was filled with various sounds of engine and gear moving around. “It is ready.”

“FIRE!”

Sounds of explosions came after I issued that firing command. The ship shook after each cannon released their load toward the sea. Thick cloud of smoke covered the whole deck, making visibility close to nothing. When the smoke dissipated, a figure of me still holding onto my spyglass could be seen. A small smile decorated my face.

Below the airship, various explosions courtesy of both Dancchi’s skill and also my ship's bombardment could be seen. Pillars of water reached the sky as each explosive round detonated inside the sea. It was truly a scene of chaos.

“Load the next one!”

“Yes, Master Shadow.”

Just after that, I finally put back the spyglass. I then leaned onto the railing while looking at the chaos below.

“Let’s hope the distraction is enough. Go release him quickly.”

..........

Biel's POV:

Using my Mind magic to create many parallel minds to watch over the details and using analyzing magic, I studied the Death magic in the Prison and noticed that it was a variant type of the spell "Vrash's Wrath". It's a problematic spell where its formations and effects change depending from each caster and each target. But its weak point is that if the spell wasn't used by a powerful and wise Death magic user, its formation will have holes. I start to use my own Death Force to flicker within the formation, bringing it in and out again while searching for its holes. After some minutes of scanning a good part of the whole formation, I found that not only were there holes, but there were also some parts of the formation that were relatively weak. So, I created more parallel minds to start to flicker with these parts and slowly alter them.

Whenever I find one hole, I made a parallel mind and used it to start to inscribe a small magic formation that will be inserted in the hole which will be used to corrupt the rest. After some more minutes, I finalized the analyzed information and confirmed that all the weak parts were altered. After that, I created formations to fill all the holes. I touched the prison while swirling black runes and magic formations surround the prison and me. All that I have to do now was wait for the others to finish their preparations.

..........

Bathy's POV:

Yup, it as I suspected.... I have absolutely no clue on what I'm doing. I mindlessly stared at the seal for a couple of seconds and wondered what the hell it was, the only clue was the faint familiarity I felt with it.

Probably because of the fact that the seal and I have both demon and divine parts. Hmmmm.... If only I took the time to study seals. So far, all I know was that a seal was basically a lock, and all locks can be bypassed. So all I have to do was find the correct combination? Simple enough but well, I don't know where to start.

I can sense that the seal has something to do with blood however, so I started with that. I nicked my arm with a summoned sword and manipulated the blood to appear next to the seal. There was a definite correlation between the blood and the seal as they both started vibrating slightly. I used my aura to infiltrate into the seal and after exploring, I found that inside of it was basically a three-dimensional maze - four floors. But, something wasn't right. The hell was the point of the maze without a door or anything?

I thought about it for a couple of seconds and in that time, Biel seemed to have finished her seal. I sighed internally and continued thinking. It was a maze, it resonated with blood. Maybe if I guided the blood through it? That wouldn't work, the blood was corporeal and the seal's maze well, wasn't.

Then, what if I extracted the essence out of my blood and guided it through? It was plausible. So, I tried. Extracting the essence was easy, but as I got further into the maze, the maze started changing and becoming more complex...something it didn't do when I originally examined it. Eventually though, after some time, I made it to the end. Remembering the warning about having to unseal the seals at the same time, I left a piece of my aura to restrain the essence from moving as I came back to my senses and waited for Khaos to finish preparing for his seal.

..........

Khaos's POV:

As I see the others get to work, I decided that I might as well get started as well. I closed my eyes for a while as I mentally and spiritually prepared myself. After a while, I opened my eyes and immediately activated my Eye of Odin. Coupled with my ability to sense essence, I scanned the prison and saw traces of Gen's life essence mixed with the essence of the prison itself. I must admit, the essences have been blended real well.

Slowly, I raised both my hands and begin manipulating the two essences with my Essence Manipulation skill. Sweat trickled down my temples as I concentrated on the job. Slowly, I divided the mixture of essences into two distinct parts - Gen's life essence and the Prison's Earth Essence. Then, while keeping these two essences separated, I moved the Earth Essence as close to the surface as possible and Gen's life essence as close to the core as possible. This way, the life essence will be as close to Gen as possible.

I looked at the others to make sure they are ready. On a count of three we will begin unsealing. Hopefully they know that immediately after unsealing, Gen will be exposed and his body will be very weak to the pressures of the sea. I can quickly equip my Divine Touch mask to heal Gen and recover his stamina but it is better if we can leave the sea as soon as possible.

Anyways, I nodded towards the others and raised a hand...3...2...1....

..........

Biel's POV:

Seeing Khaos's signal, I made my countdown as well...3...2...1...0....

I push my hand into the Earth Prison and make a grabbing motion, sinking my fingers into the rocks and calling the curse on it. With a pull, I tore the curse off. At the same time, the flaws on the magic formation that I corrupted shone bright and started to activate all the formations. However, the Runes and Circles that were floating around the prison rushed toward it and connected themselves into the formation. While I pulled my hand back, I brought out a dense black fog that whirled around me as a maelstrom. The formation shone with intense black light, but then, the parts I made and corrupted started to shine with a dark gray light.

Instantly the gray light started to expand, turning what was once black runes into gray ones. Then they collapsed...destroying the formation...and making the magic erase itself. I opened my mouth and sucked the destroyed magic towards me. As the ominous black vortex rushed into my mouth, I closed my mouth and absorbed the contents.

..........

Balthy's POV:

Seeing both Biel and Khaos unsealing their portions, I rapidly unleashed the aura that was holding down the essence. What followed after was fairly anticlimactic as the door simply burst open, unlocking the seal completely. My disappointment was cured, however, when I saw a large amount of Demon/Divine essence coalescing behind the door. I stared at it peculiarly before understanding what was going to happen. I was only momentarily surprised before I used my own blood essence to encase the Demon/Divine essence as one layer. I wrapped that with my aura, effectively making two layers for extra protection. I gritted my teeth as it exploded and my face became pale. It harmed me a bit. Feeling that it may be useful in the future, I merged my aura and essence with the Demon/Divine essence and stored them for safekeeping.

..........

Khaos's POV:

3...2...1...0.... As soon as I finish counting down, I made a pulling gesture with my hands. As my hands pull outwards, the Earth Essence expands and the Life Essence contracts. After some extreme breaking point, all of the Life Essence was sucked into the prisoner while the prison exploded outwards, debris flying towards me and my fellow adventurers. Not wasting a single moment, I rushed towards the weak body in the center of the explosion and placed Lady Luck's Warmth on Gen's face. Then, I swallowed the potions Shadow gave me that lets me breathe underwater and see in the dark. Next, I wore the mask Divine Touch which will help speed up the recovery of Gen's health and stamina.

Alright! It's time to head back up. Hopefully Shadow knows we're done and teleports us back to the ship.

 

Rescuing Gen Final Part

Biel's POV:

After the Prison exploded, I saw that Khaos was put something on Gen to help him recover. So it's time to hide him eh? I instantly expanded the mini-dimension that I made and pulled them in. That way it would be impossible to find them as they won't be even in our dimension. Afterwards, I sent a telepathic message to Shadow and Dan. "Things are done here~~."

..........

Dancchi's POV:

Oh, they're done, deri! Now, I must go back as well, deri. But I have to make sure there's no monster tailing us...and there were some, deri. So, I made smaller [Thunder Orbs] and sent them away, deri. They followed my shiny orbs, deriyo? Good thing those fishes were dumb, deri. Threat levels aren't always accompanied by intelligence, deri. After I made sure the Levi Fishes are far away, I teleported to Bi, deri. I clung to her until Boss teleported us out, deri~.

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Shadow's POV:

A wide grin appeared on the my face as I received the report from the rescue team. They have successfully retrieved their target. I then jumped to the edge of the ship and saw that they were not far from the ship. Meanwhile, the ship continued to bombard the sea around them without stopping. It was a good thing that they have done their mission very quickly as my ammunition stock was running low.

“Arkley, prepare the teleportation device. Set it to full power.”

“Yes, Master Shadow. It will be ready in 5 seconds.”

“Plenty of time for us. Go straight to them!”

Another grin appeared on my face and then I pulled out my spyglass. At the end of my spyglass was the rescue team. After I bit the button inside my mouth, a slight flash appeared on the place where I just stood and then I teleported right next to the rescue team. Without wasting a single second, I threw the spiders onto them and they attached themselves to each and every one of them, including Gen. The spiders themselves were attached to me with some special cable. I then bit the button again and a slight flash appeared where our place was originally in the ocean. The group itself appeared on top of the deck with a loud ‘thump’ sound due to the sudden weight addition to the wide deck. I was on my knee, breathing roughly and sweating profusely. It was evident enough that the last teleportation took a lot for me.

“A-Arkley! Teleport! NOW!!!”

“Acknowledged. In 3…2...1..., teleportation device activated.”

A large buzzing sound filled the area around the airship and a loud booming sound followed soon after that. The whole ship then vanished into thin air. At the Adventurer Guild HQ, a lot of the guild staff have been standing there in standby. The same serious and tense expression could be found on their faces. Then suddenly a loud explosion happened on top of the area. They all looked at the explosion and then a single shout came from a single elf.

“Retrieval team get ready! Anti-magic squad deploy the magic circle now! Clear the way to the null magic chamber! Move! Move!”

It was Erdatiel. She who was in charge of the ‘welcoming committee’ barked order after order the moment she saw the Guild’s airship appeared. Thanks to that, the landing of the airship was done very smoothly and an army of guild staff stormed the deck to retrieve their target together with the rest of the rescue team. Among the staff, as expected, was Erdatiel.

She found me leaning onto Arkley with a pale face and my eyes closed. But the moment she stepped near me, I opened my eyes and moved looked towards her.

“Job well done, Guildmaster.” She praised.

A small tired smile appeared on my face. “Thanks, Erd. Has everything been dealt with?”

“The rest of the team had moved together with Gen and they will enter the null magic chamber while being covered by the other team. We are constantly monitoring the magic flow around the place and so far not a single ounce of magic energy has been leaked out of the perimeter. Our scout has also reported that the magic wave around Aeternus has done its job to cover any sudden magic presence Gen would give.”

“Ah…..wonderful…. I guess the battle will be next, eh?”

A slight frown appeared on her face, "Don’t die like last time, Shadow.”

“I won’t.”

“Oh? What a quick and firm answer. Are you really Shadow?”

A light snicker came from her. In turn, I just let out a small smile. “I need to be alive to at least pay back my debt to that damn turtle. I’ll chop that damn turtle to pieces for destroying our city.”