(Ken POV)
I crossed my arms in anticipation while staring intently at this Erika person, my sights never leaving for even a single moment.
Miabi seemed to have snap out of her troubling daze and warned me about her sister.
"Whatever she has to say, don't listen to her, Ken. Erika Aventus is a criminal who's infamous for betraying and slaughtering many of the Aventus family members without remorse. She had dealings with the Dark God of Depravity and Disease, Daelus, so you know that she can't be trusted."
Wait, so this lady made a bargain of some sort with Daelus? Shit, then she's an opponent that I'm not sure that we can defeat.
Additionally, when the older Aventus introduced herself and told us her name as a result, I recalled when I heard and got a glimpse of it in the Red Book owned by grandpa.
Let's see… Erika Aventus, S-rank criminal with a flee on sight order. Having made a deal with Daelus, she acquired tremendous power when she offered many of her kinsmen as a sacrifice to him.
Damn it, it looks like that we have a rather troublesome individual that we are currently facing.
I remembered reading something about Mages who made agreements with a Dark God, and in return, the Mage would receive substantial benefits such as forbidden knowledge that can't be acquired through normal means, an incredible boost to one's magical power, powerful magic spells, and a whole lot more.
When I activated my Mana Sense to have a glimpse of Erika's Mana level, my eyes widened at the absurdity of its amount.
Her Mana… was a whooping level of 9,342, even higher than each of the Dragon siblings who had the largest Mana pool that I have seen in the student body so far.
Not to mention, her Mana also had a dreadful feeling when I sensed her, so I'm sure that she's someone who should not be trifled with under normal circumstances.
Erika maintained the cheeky smirk on her face despite the grim look that she was receiving from Miabi.
"My, my, you don't trust me that much, little sis? Fufufu, how utterly delightful. While I love to catch up and have some sisterly bonding with you just like old times, this current matter, unfortunately-"
A black slimy tendril suddenly appeared behind Miabi as it turned bigger and swallowed her in whole.
"-Does not concern you in any way."
At this point, Phil and I could only gape in sheer horror at the monstrosity that was happening to our female classmate. The two of us were caught off guard at how quick the action was and thus, could do nothing to stop the tragedy.
"Miabi!!!"
Both of us screamed with worry as we helplessly watch the younger Aventus being devoured quickly right before our very eyes before all that remained was the black goo taking her place.
My wrath was inescapable and I swiftly turned my undivided attention at Erika with my Dragon Fire now being intact.
"What the fuck did you do!? First the guards, and now her!!! I thought that we are simply going to talk?!!"
Erika, the fucking degenerate who I now recognized who she truly was, was absolutely unaffected by my hateful expression.
"Fufufu, whoever said that my gesture is going to apply to the others? You should have realized that when I used my magic against those pitiful Lunar Agents asleep on the ground."
"Erika!!!"
I screamed every syllable of her name with pure hatred.
As Phil and I were about to charge in to begin our assault, the former unfortunately was halted when Alex intercepted him with his hand turning draconic with razor-sharp claws, causing Phil to dodge and retreat a few paces.
"As I said, only Ken Bruce and I would get to talk. My, can't you kids at least follow one simple instruction?"
Tsk, so Phil was going to fight Alex while I get to fight with Erika. Crap, this was one stressful situation that we found ourselves in.
Anyways, now was not the time to ponder on who gets to fight who and focus only on my opponent without fail. One single mishap would end my life right here and now.
Those black slimy tentacle things. It's going to be a whole lot of trouble if I allowed even one of them to touch me hence I risk being eaten up like Miabi.
"Alright, now that the interferences are finally gone, it's time that we could finally have our precious heart-to-heart talk, fufu."
"Talk?!!! Who do you take me for a fool!? Us talking was officially resigned the moment when you killed Miabi!!!"
Miabi Aventus… my classmate and the girl who cured my curse.
When I was a naïve kid, I always read tales of heroes and villains, with the latter being redeemed in the later parts of the story.
It's kind of cool actually, to see the once former evil now fighting alongside the forces of good and justice as they strive to defeat even a greater evil.
And when I grow up, I also wanted to do the same since I believed in second chances.
But at this point, such beliefs were dwindling with each passing moment, as if somebody forcefully opens my eyes and shoved reality right at my very mouth.
How childish of me, to think that I would apply the notion of fairy tales here in real life.
I'm not one to hold a deep grudge against anyone, but for Erika Aventus… I'm willing to make her the fucking exception.
I then said the words… the words that I never thought that I get to say to anyone.
"I'll fucking kill you!!!"
Miabi, your death shall be avenged.
I don't give a rat's ass if this bitch made a deal with Daelus or not.
"Fufufu!! Now that's the spirit, Magus of Infinity!! Only through the motivation of hate and vengeance may one achieve power unlike any other!!! If you desire to not talk by words, then we can do so with our magic instead!!"
Without a fleeting moment to waste, I held no back and shifted to my Half-Dragon Mode as I have quickly begun my assault with the flames of the Dragon igniting my arms.
Erika sneered and summoned four long tendrils, two from each of her arms, and launch them at me as they turned fatally sharp.
I answered back with the almighty Dragon Fire and scorched the tendrils to smithereens with my Dragon Fireballs.
Fortunately, my spell was effective and the tendrils prove to be susceptible to fire, much to the frown on Erika's face.
With my charge never ceasing, I closed in the distance and attempted to punch her with my Dragon Fire fist.
Erika proved to be evasive as she and managed to dodge my attack, turning herself into the same black slime briefly and withdrew slightly to the left.
I went on with my assault regardless until I found the perfect moment cast a certain spell of mine.
"Wind Blade!!"
I activated my sword spell and summoned the blade in my right hand when Erika evaded my right hook, causing the blade to cut off her right arm as the said body part fell on the ground.
Yeah, how do you like being amputated now, bitch?!
Instead of feeling pain as I expected from her, Erika instead merely laughed at this, much to my confusion.
"Fufufu, using a summonable weapon spell at this heat of a moment to extend the reach of your attack? How very clever of you. But alas, what you only did was waste some time and effort."
To prove her last point, the part where I mutilated her arm started to grow as I witnessed its clammy growth, much to my utter horror and disgust. In the end, the arm formed into its rightful human shape, like the cutting deed was never even done in the first place.
Fucking hell, her magic was practically a cheat!! If she's capable of growing limbs like that easily, then how am I supposed to kill her at this rate?
Moreover, the bitch can turn herself into those black slimy things as well. Physical attacks won't work against her since hitting is going to be one hell of a sticky predicament for me.
Even cutting her was a big fat no in this fight of ours as obvious by the outcome of my Wind Blade earlier.
Wait, she went out of her way to avoid one of my Dragon Fire attacks, so I bet that it's going to scorch her sorry ass if I could manage to strike her with it.
I nonetheless continued my onslaught and cast the spell to take her breath away, like I have said to her before.
"Breathless Water."
The water spell took effect and appeared straight at Erika's face, widening her eyes as a result.
But then, it was my turn to do so as well when she merely smirked even when under the pressurized effects of the water.
The water then turned black and was released immediately, an indication of how ineffective the spell was, at least to her.
"Fufufu, you think I would not know of the spells that you possess? I was there during your Magicka, back when I took control of Anastasia Dragonheart."
Damn it, I can only depend on Dragon Fire on this battle of ours.
I'm not so sure about my Earth spells though since hitting her with a rock is similar to hitting her physically, thus it won't have any effect on her.
Golem Mode is out of the question due to the detriment in terms of speed. If I shoot one of my Rock Bullets, chances are, she would be unaffected due to the slimy nature of her body.
Yup, burning her was my only option.
In this fight, I needed to be quick on my feet and avoid those disgusting tendrils.
And Half-Dragon Mode would aid me in being hasty.
Our fight resumed as I decided to go for the melee rather than be at range. Being close and physical was kind of my specialty and Erika may simply dodge my spells with her fast and slimy physique. Erika also had the significant advantage at range since her tendrils covered quite a long distance and were fast as well.
Additionally, my physical attacks were imbued by Dragon Fire. Each punch and kicks were hot and Erika gritted her teeth at feeling the blazing high temperature of my attacks despite not hitting directly at her when she dodged them all.
Ugh, fighting a slime lady… never would have imagined that I get to experience this kind of weird shit.
When fighting a Mage, Grandpa Robert would always remind me to not give them any room to breathe. Since casting a spell mostly required a calm mind and a good amount of time, then one could simply attack them relentlessly before they manage to conjure whatever magic that they had in mind.
While such a strategy was seemingly a no-brainer, it's still effective nonetheless. A Mage may sometimes give in to stress and panic, resulting in their spell to fail or even backfire them.
This was the advantage that Physical type combatants like Knights had over Mages, at least the ones who rely solely on magic spells.
Mages with physical combat background are another story, however.
And this type of Mage applied to me. Grandpa did train me in the way of the Knight ever since I was a kid. My physical prowess sharpened by years of training and labors of farm work was something that I'm quite proud of.
Of course, this was not exactly effective with Mages who were constantly used to being in the heat of battle, with their mind already honed by pressure and instability, allowing spellcasting amidst the heart of a decisive conflict.
And this type of Mage consisted of Erika Aventus, showing no signs of flinching whatsoever despite the viciousness of each of my every attack. She still was able to summon her tendrils nonstop and I answered every attack with burning rage.
"Fufufu, you sure are hotheaded are you, Ken Bruce? Is the pathetic girl really that important to you? How adorably sentimental of you."
"Shut up!!!"
My anger skyrocketed, causing my flames to burst more furiously than ever before.
"You dare speak of Miabi like that… your family… your little sister?!!!"
This bitch… Erika.
I never thought that I would get to see someone this cruel and dismissive, especially to their own sibling.
It seemed that I still have so much to learn in this world that we live in, where the harshness of reality was evident around every corner.
"Fufufu, I suppose I'm done with being defensive. I now had a grasp of what you are capable of. It appears that Dragon Fire magic is capable of hurting me as you already know, and I give props to you for that. Even so, to be frank…"
I suddenly felt the slight tremoring of the ground. Before I could even react, a tendril emerged and broke free from below as it pierced it right at my stomach.
"It's still not enough."