Ren felt a disturbance within Sen's body. The world around them suddenly started changing. From the cottage in the prairie to a vast desert of golden sands, it became highly unstable.
"Tsk. Annoying pests"
She clearly knew that someone outside was interfering with her process, but she can't do anything about it. After all, she is just the manifestation of Sen's bloodline memories and her only job is to control Sen to become a full Fanalis.
This means that she cannot interfere with anything that happens to his body as she only exists in his mind.
At that moment, she made a decision: she shall speed up the process of integrating Sen into the Fanalis bloodline.
She moved next to him and held him by the waist. As she was just about to block his mouth with hers again, the world within Sen's mind changed once more and this time, it stayed like that without changing.
'Boom!'
Thunder split the night sky as the wind carried by the stormy rain hit her body hard. If it were a normal person, they would've already been carried away by the storm.
Ren looked around. It was an endless sea of murky waters. A lone, bare, and towering mountain stood in front of her.
This place was within Sen's mind so natural causes wouldn't have any effect. That is why she is now carrying Sen by the waist and standing on the water surface.
'Roar!'
A piercing roar was heard from a distance. Ren turned around and there she saw someone standing on top of the mountain.
It wasn't just anyone. Ren could see it clearly. That person, it was Nivera!
But her body was different. Dark purple scales covered both sides of her face. Her eyes turned cat-like with thin golden pupils. What was majestic were the two dragon wings on her back that dragged on the mountain surface. She wasn't wearing anything, but her body was fully scaled like she was wearing an armor of purple scales. Her arms became bestial with sharp fangs.
When she roared, Ren could see her sharp fangs.
"What the…"
Nivera roared once more like a beast. The dark sky roared back thunder in response. She wasted no time she didn't know what was happening either. But one thing that Grot said made her understand something. One minute! She could only last one minute.
Like a blur, she disappeared.
Ren had no time to process before she was flung away and Sen dropped on the water surface. She was taken aback. One hit had taken her right arm with it. Unlike Nivera, Ren bled when she got injured.
Madness swirled in her eyes as they locked onto the transformed demon.
"Argh!"
Ren screamed and threw herself at Nivera. But sadly, she was no match for her in that state. Her every move was predicted by Nivera and countered with a much stronger one.
Half a minute had passed and Ren cut a sorry figure; like a big, pink, and bloodied cat. She clutched her bleeding severed shoulder while creating some distance between her and Nivera. She knew that she couldn't defeat the other woman in this state.
But she still had a trump card.
She didn't exist! She was just a figment that resided within Sen's blood. She can go dormant now and come back whenever the time was ripe and this anomaly that is Nivera wasn't here.
From Ren's expression, Nivera felt something wasn't right. Her minute was almost up and if she didn't kill Ren by that time, this all would've been for naught.
Arching, her back, the majestic wings stretched and felt natural as if she's had them her entire life.
Dashing towards Ren with her full speed, she left a winding trail on the water.
But Ren changed her strategy. No longer fought Nivera head-on, instead, she focused her entire energy on evading and creating a distance. She also seemed to have figured out that Nivera did not have much time, making her confidence grow.
However, she had clearly underestimated the resolve of a tenacious woman. Just as the one-minute deadline reached its last second, Nivera's claws clutched Ren's throat.
She wasted no time. In that one second, she tightened her hands around Ren's throat and choked her as her life depended on it.
'Swoosh'
Weakness spread through her body from the heart and Nivera felt Grot's power disappearing.
Ren, on the other hand, already started her dormancy process. Her body gradually turned to an energy form.
Nivera felt that change happening between her hands. She panicked when she reverted back to her original state but whatever Ren was doing must be stopped. Thus, even with Grot's power gone, she still tightened her hold over the pink cat's throat.
"You're not going anywhere you bitch!" she growled and used even more force. But Ren just smirked, her body going slightly blurry. The tension within Nivera's grasp was lesser by the second.
"It's too late, demon, I'll be going for a while and when I return, you wouldn't be here to save him. The only one who can stop me now is…"
Ren hadn't finished her words before a hand penetrated her now translucent back, right behind the heart, and exited from her chest.
"…is me." Sen's weak, but cold voice sounded from behind her.
"y –you!"
Sen still looked haggard and weak. Ren did not notice it, but when she was preoccupied with Nivera, he saw a mass of mist entering his body. The mist did something that made him regains clarity for a moment. He looked over and saw Ren slipping pas Nivera's grasp and instinctively felt that if she really did disappear, it would only spell trouble for him.
The mist granted him only a small amount of strength to regain his clarity. Thus, he pushed himself to the limit and walked over Ren's back, concentrated his energy in his hand, and plunged it deep into her back that it went through her body.
Ren shrieked and exploded in countless water droplets. The world around Sen and Nivera seemed to shake wildly.
Sen fell to the ground and Nivera went to help him up. Yet before she touched him, the darkness consumed both of them.
.
.
Outside, Dust and Shieda fell to the ground panting.
"Finally," they said in unison.
In front of them was not only Sen but also Nivera who was brought to them by Shieda's men.
When they saw here, they immediately felt the connection between Sen's body which was purple and looked like a ferocious dragon demon, and her purple humanoid draconic form.
However, a few moments ago, both Sen and Nivera reverted back to their normal bodies and their condition stabilized.
Well, Nivera was in her original body, but Sen was not. Right now, his appearance was no longer that of a demonic Fanalis from before. Instead, he was much more pleasing to look at and no longer intimidating.
First, his height now became like a normal person's, about 1.8 meters. The exaggerated tattoos disappeared from his face and all that remained was a pale but healthy-looking face. He was somewhat handsome, but not reaching Shieda's level of attractiveness.
His ears remained long and horizontal though they did shrink in size a bit and were no longer exaggerated.
On the other hand, his hair retained the same dark color.
All in all, by earth standards, Sen now looks like a handsome man in his late twenties with a strong defined body, long pointy ears, white pale skin like a vampire's, and midnight-black hair. in this world's standards, he is a handsome man of a peculiar race that looks like a mix between a human and a demon.
"A Fanalis's permanent form comes from how the Fanalis in question imagine themselves to be. I didn't tell Sen that because I didn't want him to mess with the process. But I guess he sees himself somehow as a human since the change was this drastic."
Dust explained but Shieda had his mind on something else.
"What happened to the demon? As far as I know, only the high-level demons from the demon continent are able to master the demonic true form."
Dust contemplated for a second before realization hit him. He didn't tell Sen and company this, but his memory was gradually returning since he woke up. Although, everything related to his identity was completely blurred. Nonetheless, he was still satisfied with the abundant trove of knowledge he seemed to have.
He suddenly laughed as he looked at Nivera.
"That was not a demon's true form… this woman, she awakened an ancient magic."
"What?!" Shieda sat up straight. "Forbidden magic? Another one?"
"What do you mean another one?" Dust raised his eyebrow.
"Sigh. This kid here, Sen. He already has two ancient magic. He calls them hellfire and true ice."
Something seemed to tickle Dust's memory but when he tried to catch it, it disappeared.
'Well, h.e is indeed one special person. But…if that's all he will rely on, then he will just be food for what's to come' he thought and shook his head. He really wasn't planning on going back on this road again. Unless he has to.
Shieda shook the thought s away and looked at Dust again. "What kind of ancient magic did she awaken?"
Dust seemed particularly thrilled. "It's takeover magic!"