Chapter 117 - For Inferno
Realm Domination. A skill that killed countless of Adventurers just by casting it.
The realms are separated by a thin sheath of interdimensional space. If one could harness that space sheath and incorporate it in his spell, then they can create their own realm inside another realm.
This was called Realm Domination.
And a hundred meters from the gate of a small Northern city named Colleau, a large spherical realm was hovering in front of a crowd.
"What is this?" Therese asked, turning to see Lance behind her, smirking. "This is Realm Domination. How could you do this?"
"Let's say I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Lance said and raised his hos swords on one side. "Merely casting this drains my life force by half, but I have to ensure our victory. You're not someone to be messed with. I'll lock you up in here if it's the last thing I do."
"It will…" Therese trailed off, a devilish smirk appearing in her lips. "You could be dubbed an Eternal with this amount of immense power."
"What if I am?" Lance grinned. "What will you do?"
"Then it will only make sense if you are one. Something as powerful as this," Levitican replied, looking around the sphere. "But you know, Inferno is the third most powerful Realm below Heaven and Hell. Etheoria ranks last and just above it is Terra. Even when all of you bottom feeders gang up on us, you will never win. There are Unawakened Eternals outside and I will kill you all."
Therese gasped when Lance vanished from her sight and appeared in front of her. The boy had droopy eyes, seemingly bored out of his mind. When facing someone who is capable of destroying a city, he should be shaking in fear.
Yet his aura screamed differently.
His presence felt menacing. Something as ominous as a beast filled with rage and bloodlust. Something scarier than a Cannibal or one that has gone through Carnal Breakthrough.
"I have no choice but to protect my family," Lance said. "I'm not actually an Eternal, but even so, I will try to protect this Realm and all its inhabitants from threats."
"Brave," she said, clapping her hands slowly. "Pathetic, but brave."
Therese raised her hands and grunted. It seemed like she tried to do something but failed, only giving an opening for Lance to strike her down.
"Realm Domination is controlled by this Realm's Dominator. And that happens to be me," Lance smirked. "In this realm, even when my life force is being sucked out of me, I rule. And you threatened my people, saying that you'll kill them. For that…"
Lance raised his head, looking at Therese like she was beneath him. His eyes were battling with the colors of black and white, as if the glowing colors were trying to mix but could not.
"Perish."
"Do you think he's alright?" Hope asked worriedly.
"He's not dead, that's for sure," Luck said. "If he died there, the system will notify us."
A loud explosion sounded from inside the sphere. Everyone gasped when cracks started to fill its surface.
"Lance!" Elliot yelled. "You better come back alive!"
As the sphere broke, Therese fell face down on the ground, lifeless. Lance stood, slowly descending with his swords beside him. He turned and smiled at them, chuckling as he did.
"That wasn't so hard," Lance said.
His friends breathed out a sigh of relief. They were laughing lightly but instantly stopped after seeing blood dripping on Lance's arm.
"Didn't hurt… one… bit–"
He fell to the ground, making everyone rush up to him.
"Lance?" Elliot called out. "Stupid, wake up."
"Healers!" Ripple yelled. "We need healers!"
Three people had ran to them and casted their healing spells. They were rushing to heal the wounds first, deep lacerations made by flames from Therese's flaming thorns.
"There's a curse," one of the healers gasped. "There's a Burn Curse in the wounds. If we cannot get it out, we can't fully heal the wounds."
"Can you cure curses?" Ripple asked, to which the healers answered with a shaking of their heads.
Elliot looked at Ed who nodded, taking out his sword and pointed them at Lance's wounded arms.
"Nullify!"
Orange flames burst out of the wounds, forming a skull-shaped mist before dissipating into thin air.
"Nullification?"
"Is there such thing?"
"I don't think I've read about those before."
…
"This is no time to gossip," Ripple warned. "Healers, please continue."
The healers nodded and continued healing the wounds. Their combined powers, even when they weren't strong, was enough to not put Lance in a grave threat.
"I believe we can only do so much," one of the healers said. "This is the best condition we could provide with our current level."
"Thanks." They heard Lance mutter under his breath, making them relax their shoulders.
"Everyone, take the injured to the city hall!" Frost yelled. "Healers, please tend to the wounded. Make sure you prioritize the gravely injured."
"Yes, ma'am!" Everyone responded, dispersing and walking inside the city gates.
"We never expected for a threat that caliber would come," Frost said. "Our city is small, and is found in the cold parts of the kingdom. A threat like that would wipe us out in an instant."
"Why are you guys in Legendary tire already?" Ripple suddenly wondered. She tilted her head, eyebrows meeting. "You weren't even Sacred when we last met. What happened?"
"That's not important right now, Ripple," her sister said. "What we need right now is to treat the wounded and plan in case they come back."
"What about Therese?" Elliot pointed at the unconscious woman who Ed was dragging around. "Ed, do you have to drag her?"
"What? This woman nearly killed us all," Ed defended. "She's pretty, but she's not that nice, isn't she?"
"Lance." Midnight kneeled in front of the boy. He sighed and flicked Lance's forehead, puffing his cheeks and crossed his arms. "Why did you do that? That was so dangerous."
"Let's talk about this when we get back,," Luck said. Midnight looked at him and huffed, standing up and stomping behind the bear-like man.
The group ended their conversation and decided to go inside the city hall for treatment. Elliot had his potions but it couldn't heal some wounds.
When they got there, a Succubus walked over and bowed. "Hello, my name is Valerie and I'm from the Seductors."
"Is something wrong?" Connor, whom they all understood was the one the Seductors trusted the most, stood and asked.
"You seem to have a lot of questions. I need to show you to the Priestess so she can answer them," Valerie said. "I need you to come with me. The elders know how to connect to the Temple."
"Can we trust you?" Lance butted in, his expression asserting dominance over the Succubus.
"Of course. I want this battle to end as well. The Ruler of Inferno is not the person I would want others to be ruled by," Valerie replied and walked away. "Follow me."
The group started to trail over the Succubus to the city's grand hall. They thought they were gonna go inside, but Valerie took a turn to the forest.
"They're preparing for your communication," Valerie informed and walked deeper into the forest.
Elliot and Lance nodded at each other, non-verbally communicating to raise their guard. Elliot tapped Ed and Hope's shoulders, informing them about it too.
"Do not worry, we mean no harm," Valerie said without looking at them.
Not long after, they arrived at a clearing where several Seductors were forming a circle and chanting something under their breaths. Inside their circle was a fourteen pointed star-like symbol made of rocks and chalk. Every tip of the star had a rock and was in front of a Seductor, while a line made of chalk connected each rock.
When Connor arrived, the symbol on the grass glowed with a bright orange color. Inside the intersection of the lines was a huge tablet made of stone.
They watched as the rock glowed and started to form symbols in its surface. The symbols looked like they were words, but the language was unknown to the group.
"Priestess Geneva that guards the Cauldron of Infernal Flames, we connect our thoughts to you," the Seductors who was in the circle chanted repeatedly.
"So, her name's Geneva," Elliot pursed his lips and thought. "Sounds cute."
"She is– I-I mean, it is," Connor cleared his throat and avoided eye contact.
"Our little boy's really in love," Lance pouted. "He's gonna leave us soon. I tell ya."
"I'm not gonna–"
"Shh, something's happening," Elliot cut Connor off and pointed at the rock. "Look at that."
In the flat tablet-like rock, a figure of a woman appeared. It was like she was made of flames, her face was unclear with only showing her figure.
"Is that the Priestess?" Elliot asked.
Connor nodded and walked to the symbol on the grass, "P-Priestess?"
"It's you," the Priestess said. Her voice was soft and mellow. It was like she was panting with her an extra exhale-like twist to her voice. "It is you."
"Priestess Geneva, we have come here to seek guidance," one of the elder said. "The Ruler has come for us, and he knows about the Heir. What shall we do?"
"The Heir should never come to Inferno," Priestess Geneva said. "They come to the Temple day and night to seek for the Heir. They even scoured the cities for any signs of him. You must never let them find Connor."
"But they have found us, Priestess," an elder Succubus cried. "A General from Inferno had come to us and almost killed a Terran. Therese the Burning showed no mercy."
"What happened to everyone?" O'Halla cried.
"There are only a few casualties, but it's only a matter of time before they return and add more," the Incubus said. "The Ruler will not stop until he gets what he wants. That was how he got the throne after all."
Silence filled the air for a few moments. They had a lot to say and ask, but the atmosphere was too thick to say anything. That was until the Priestess broke the silence with an order.
"Send the Heir to me. He cannot become the Ruler if he does not receive the last fragment of the Cauldron's flames."
Everyone paled after Valerie took out a knife.
"For Inferno," she said before stabbing Connor in the chest.