***(Iyori's PoV)
Casting [theory of evolution] on myself, I gained [physical immunity-tier 5] and [magical resistance-tier 6] before slipping out of Emily's grip. I had genuinely trusted my new friends and showed off all my new skills that I gained. But for some reason, Emily was incredibly odd today. She never smiled, she was constantly thinking about something. Whenever Fez and James looked at her, her expressions would go back to normal. But she didn't spare me with her expressions.
Earlier at the entrance she was strangely being vigilant about me as well. Maybe I absorbed something strange from [the witch] and she was just looking out for me. Wrong. Yesterday was even more strange, she would occasionally make a scary face at me, I was so scared I couldn't speak up.
Well, none of that matters anymore. Something is definitely wrong with Emily, I have to fix her. If there was nothing wrong, then I can only trust her judgement that I was somehow evil. These past few months had really been a lot of fun. They had given me this chance, maybe I should give it back...
NOT!! jeez, feeding my own ego like that was dangerous, I could have died. I don't want to die, I don't want to disappear. I don't want to waste the live that my friends had sacrificed theirs to save. So that is why... I will keep fighting!! In order to live, in order to keep enjoying my time here, in order to spend more time with my friends!!!
"[Omni-drain]! Remove the restraints! Fez should the attack! Even if Emily does she can revive again! When that happens she should return back to normal!" (Iyori)
***(back to Emily's PoV)
Tch, she slipped out of my hands. Some handy skill she has got there. I better finish off Iyori, she may get a useful skill in the future to make it impossible. So now is precisely the time to defeat her.
"Must kill all origin classes. Stand at the top. Must kill all origin classes. Stand at the top."
" [Divine chain]! [Axis lock]! [Axis cure]! [Manipulation of follower]! [Theory of evolution]!" (Iyori)
Locking my movements, the [soul manipulation] forced my survival and battle instincts to leave as I await my doom.
" [Final hit: cry of the banshee]!! Get well, Emilyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!! "(Fez)
Crashing through all my barriers and defences, my body was disintegrated. Yes, it was only my body. For as long as my soul exist, I will defeat Iyori and make her spit out her secrets. Reviving myself. I cast [death] on 'Iyori's skills' itself. Now she could no longer resist, Fez even ran out of mana and James cannot beat through [control space] barriers coupled with [reality displacement] to keep an 'infinite' amount of barriers in one 'space'.
At this point she was as good as dead. Reaching out my hand, I use [Abyss control] to read her memories... No way... After the witch died, she mixed a fragment of her soul into mine... All this time... Gugh?! So all that suspicion... It was me subconciously finding an excuse to kill Iyori...
"I'm sorry..." A strange warm fluid flows down my cheeks. How long has it been since I felt this way? I can barely control my reasoning, just a second and darkness will implode on Iyori's head and soul. "Kuuu!!! Please don't leave..."
" *sigh*, she finally did it." (James)
" Well she's Emily after all, of course she will solve it." (Fez)
"Ughh!! I told you not to have so much faith in me!! It's taking all I have in order not to kill Iyori! If I even move a single muscle my concentration may waver!!". My knuckles were held so tightly they went white. My nails and fingers digging into the flesh of my palm as drops of blood fell on Iyori's chain mail armour. I was gritting my teeth so hard, I was unable to close my lips and saliva dropped down my neck along with the tears. Iyori had a surprisingly peaceful face. Fez and James was locked out by my barriers and it's taking all I can in order not to release my magic. Ugh!!, anyone, anyone at all that is strong enough, please help. I prayed in my heart.
"Don't look down on me!! [Omni drain]!!" (Iyori) It was practically a gamble, could [omni drain] be precise and only suck out the witch's soul fragment? Iyori barely escaped the jaws of death, her [magic resistance-tier 6] reduced the [death] time duration by 80%,she had been waiting for an opening to ambush Emily.
"[Theory of evolution] only absorb the witch's soul!" (Iyori)
With the influence out, there was only a tiny time span where I could destroy the soul before it possesses Iyori. Jeez really... What a gamble. This would only work since I'm here. The soul was practically a sentient mass of condense mana, it moved in an instant. Using 'wrath' immediately, a strange black orb floats in the air inbetween me and Fez. It could probably react really soon even in time stop, so I needed to hurry up. I cast [death].
With all of that finally out of the way, I could only rejoice by hugging Iyori.
"Uwaaah~I don't want to kill Iyori"
"Yoshi yosh~ you are a good girl, so you should relax and rest. *pat* *pat*" (Iyori) Strangely my heart was being warmed, all of the previous tension melting away. Seriously, I was suppose to be the strongest. So why...why am I indulging in headpats...
Having calmed down, we continued on with the dungeon expedition to the level 900 area. Fez had reach around level 850 at this point, with her new level cap of 6000 she could finally stop being one of the weakest of the party. Fez and James were already in the 960s,so they still had a considerable amount over Iyori in physical stats.
Going back out of the dungeon, this time we headed for a different restaurant. In order to celebrate getting rid of [The Witch] once and for all, we decided to get some steak. In this world, animals and corpses mutated to form monsters. Not all monsters were necessarily hostile, after all it was just a form of sped up evolution in this world. Some animals became smaller and deadlier, some larger and more durable.
One such animal, particularly a domesticated monster was eerope, pronounced as ear-rope. It was quite expensive as even though it was domesticated, the breeding was slow and the population is low. In other words, it was a rare delicacy.
As you can guess it, I was trying this strange animal's meat as steak. I had it before as stew, but this was a special occasion. Digging my knife into the soft but firm meat, I pierced with my fork before placing it in my mouth. The juices explode sending a wave of a nice balance between saltiness and sweetness. Mhmm, I should try it out more often, Fez can pay even if it's too expensive.