The Black Dragon instantly lost its strength and crumbled down to its knees. It was still alive but it could only stare at Ais with hatred and fear.
Ais let go of her rapier and fell back on her butt as she tried to wheeze for air, 'I... won.'
She could see the Black Dragon twitching while a black smog was being ejected out of its wound. Ais stared at it for a while and thought, 'I was able to fulfill my revenge... But what's this?... It feels so empty.'
Ais couldn't believe that she had been chasing after such a hollow victory. It's true that she won, but she'll never be able to get what she lost back, 'On the bright side, I didn't completely lose myself thanks to Loki and others. If I stayed the way I was when I was a child, I might have just killed myself after exacting this revenge.'
After calming her breathing down, Ais stood up once again and walked towards the Black Dragon slowly. She then looked straight down to its remaining eye with her own remaining eye and I could feel the deep hatred and agony that was radiating from it, 'Why were the monsters created? Why are they trying to take over the surface? What are they fighting for?'
Several questions emerged in Ais' head but she didn't have a single answer for any of it.
Ais could pull out her rapier and decapitate the monster and she's sure that it'd be eradicated forever. However, she couldn't do so with the fake Aria's last words reverberating in her head.
Ais looked to her side and saw that 'Ophis' was still standing still, watching her every movement, as if waiting for her decision.
[If there's a chance... For you... To defeat it... You can... reciprocate its action... My main body's ability to absorb... Is not a one-way avenue... After it sets the stage, it'll be a battle between minds and souls... The winner... Takes everything...
[But if you... win... You'll turn into a monster... That you hate... What you'd want to do... It'll be... up to you... Good luck... And I love you.]
Ais turned back to the dying Dragon and crouched down to touch its wound. The Black Dragon growled angrily but it couldn't do anything as it'd already lost control of its own body and couldn't feel it anymore.
"...Hmmm... Is this how you do it?" Ais muttered and the black smog became concentrated towards her arm and began to circulate around her and covering her entire body. She also recalled Kisuke's fight with Freya and his transformation left a long-lasting impression on her, 'I was scared at first, but that looked pretty cool, now that I've thought about it…'
The Black Dragon was able to guess what she was doing and growled even more loudly and this time, there was only a little hatred within it as it was mostly replaced by fear.
'Ophis' also saw what she was doing and instantly transformed into a giant snake before swallowing both Ais and the Black Dragon.
.
.
.
The Ais that'd been taken over by the Black Dragon tried to flee from the jet-black snake but failed to do so when the snake suddenly enlarged itself and swallowed her whole.
Everyone who was watching this panicked, but Serafall created a 50-meter tall wall of transparent ice that circled around her, Lysa, and the swallowed Ais, to prevent anyone from interfering.
Some people tried shattering the ice but the most they could do is create a small nick on it that immediately regenerated soon after. And since they were getting noisy, Serafall also blocked the sound from the outside so that she could concentrate and take action whenever necessary, 'So it really happened. Now then... I wonder how this will end? I doubt Ophis' snake would explicitly help the girl since it doesn't have a consciousness of its own and can only move on instincts.'
Since long ago, Serafall had been eyeing Ais with the goal of inviting her to her peerage after seeing her potential. However, her standards are preventing her from extending her hand out, and so she waited until now to see how Ais would develop, 'A cross between a Human and a Spirit, I wonder what'll happen if she accepts an Evil Piece?'
It was also the reason why Serafall was so against someone 'saving' Ais. She had a feeling that a gem like her would be ruined when someone took that step for her. That's why her peerage wasn't filled like the rest of the Devil Kings. Power is important, but she's also looking for someone with a good character more.
The black snake then transformed into what seemed to be a giant black egg and dropped straight onto the ground.
Freya, who could see souls as long as they were within the effective range of her eyes, became dumbfounded because the snake actually blocked her view, "What was that snake?" she asked the other Deities.
However, Loki and Zeus, who were far more sensitive in other aspects, could only stand nervously, though the former was having a better time due to her already encountering this snake in the past, 'It's different from the snake that blocked the sky for a short moment,' Loki thought to herself.
Zeus had figured out that she had a slightly different reaction from him and repeated Freya's question, but this time, directly at Loki, "What was that snake?"
Loki scratched her head and gave a simple but definite answer, "It's not from around here."
Zeus' eyes widened in shock and he immediately thought of the implications of her words and hurriedly turned his head back to Serafall's direction, 'Could it be...? Then the reason why they are not involving themselves is...'
A certain possibility emerged in his mind and he nervously looked up to the sky.
Hermes was confused at his reaction, but before he could ask anything, Zeus shouted at Bell, "Bell, escort me back to Melen!"
The urgency was obvious in his voice but Bell, taken aback, still asked, "Now?"
"Yes! Now! We don't have much time!"
Bell didn't ask anymore and hurriedly ran to Zeus and asked him to jump on his back.
"Zeus! Where are you going!? We're still not yet done here!" Hermes shouted at him.
In fear of alerting the eyes in the sky, Zeus could only grit his teeth without providing any answer, "Let's go!"
'I have to reach Odin and Ouranos now! If my guess is correct, it's going to be an all-out war and the fate of everyone in the Lower World will be the least of our concerns!'