The enormous fish got angry when his attack was blocked, and he charged forward, "swimming" through the rocks as if it was water and turning everything into molten magma.
Yasenia was quick to give orders. "Defensive group, stop it. Offensive group, target the fins. Assassin group deals with its secondary attacks. Our objective is to kill the magma spirit."
Selena led the defensive group of maids. They all rushed forward and deployed their skills, summoning a mix of elemental defenses that supported Selena's glass shield.
BOOM!
When the fish collided with the defense, the ground rippled like water. Still, Selena and the other maids stood their ground with stoic faces while the defense remained solid.
Using Selena's group's feat, Alaia led the offensive group and rained attacks on the creature's fins. The bombardment was incredibly powerful, exploding large parts of the magma fish and creating holes everywhere.
Kali frowned. 'Why is no one targeting the most important fin, the tail?'
She got the answer almost instantly. When the fish roared in pain, Eira appeared at the back of the fish, her posture slightly leaning sideways while her hand gently clutched the hilt of her sword.
"[Sword Intent Level 9]."
The world around the white-haired maid split into pieces as her Sword Intent appeared.
Kali's body burst into chills. 'T-That's a Level 9 Intent!?' Kali knew that Level 9 was the mortal limit an Intent could achieve. However, the potency and pressure that Eira's intent released felt as if she had broken some kind of barrier and arrived at a tenth level.
Yasenia looked at the magma fish and ordered. "Cut."
As her faithful sword, Eira unsheathed in an upward arc. "[Sky Splitter]."
SLASH!
The magma spirit fish released a terrifying roar of pure agony.
ROAR!
Unlike the other attacks that deeply hurt it, they didn't manage to injure it heavily. This strike, though, completely severed the tail from its body.
It was severed in all senses of the word, be it the spiritual, soul, or physical connection; everything was cut.
Kali asked, looking as Eira sheathed her sword. "Can't she kill this thing alone?"
Yasenia continued giving commands, but she answered Kali through her spiritual sense. Maintaining two simultaneous conversations was not hard for her. 'She probably can. She has been improving her sword as much as possible during the last few years. Oh, and she is at the peak of the Ninth Level of the Dantian Spiritualization Realm. She should enter the half-step soon as well.'
Kali's lips twitched. 'She has yet to enter the half-step realm? What a monster.'
Angered to the limits, the creature began attacking indiscriminately. Of course, no one got injured with the maids defending in addition to the undead and plant creature's intervention.
As they controlled the creature, it suddenly turned and jumped with an open mouth, rushing at an assassin maid who was hiding at the side.
The dragoness joined the battle, using [Pegasus Gallop] to instantly cross the distance and appear above the giant fish. Soluna also materialized by her side with a cold expression.
Then, both of them attacked.
Yasenia swung down her sword with everything she had. "[Moon Core Shattering Strike]."
Soluna waved her hand and added to the attack. "[Spirit Moon Beam]."
BOOM!
Two silver waves with terrifying Moon energies slammed against the spirit fish's head, forcing the flying fish to crater into the ground. The impact was strong enough to force the surroundings to rise in a magma tsunami.
Taking advantage of the situation, Tatyana waved her hand and regally commanded. "Smash it. [Undying Flesh Reinforcement]."
With her words, Alyssa instantly appeared right by Yasenia's side. The undead general raised her hand, and a giant wave of Death energy gathered above her. The cloud of Death Energy was absorbed by her hand, and Alyssa descended like a black meteor.
BOOOOOM!
The world around them quaked, and a second wave of magma rose far taller than what Yasenia's and Soluna's combined strike created.
The shockwave pushed back Yasenia and Soluna, making Yasenia chuckle. "Strong."
Soluna nodded twice, looking curiously at the crater of bubbling magma that was slowly closing. "That undead general is really strong!"
Yasenia hummed. "Undead Generals are quite highly ranked in Tatyana's army. Honestly, she can only summon Alyssa because she is weak compared to the rest of her generals. Oh! And because her secondary body is particularly created for summoning. The body she is using is not specialized for hand-to-hand combat but to command armies."
Soluna blinked twice. "I see."
Yasenia ordered. "Finish it off!"
All the maids rushed forward and dove into the magma lake. The ground trembled as blows cracked the ground and created tremors.
After a few seconds, the ground burst into a massive pillar of magma that, when it dispersed, revealed the unmoving magma spirit. The dragoness smiled. "It was really strong."
Kali appeared by her side and nodded. "It resisted for a while, even when attacked by all of us."
Yasenia approached and asked Soluna. "It is dead, right?"
Soluna nodded. "Yes. Its core has stopped generating energy. It is dead."
The dragoness rubbed her chin and said. "Dig out the core. I'll store it and leave it back in the sect as a source of magma energy."
"That won't be necessary."
Yasenia looked to the right and saw Valeria returning with Doriel. On Valeria's hand, a ball of flowing blue magma moved cheerfully as if Valeria's touch was delightful for it.
The dragoness raised her eyebrows. "A [Lava Soul]?"
Valeria laughed. "Yes. It is a natural treasure of magma energy, a [Lava Soul]. A cute one at that~."
Yasenia hummed. "I see~. That's nice, now we have… Hm."
Kali saw Yasenia's hesitation and asked. "What's wrong?"
The dragoness commented. "Natural Treasures… I feel that they are too valuable to leave behind in Distancia. We'll use the spirit's magma core as I planned initially."
Valeria couldn't really deny that and extended her hand while leaning down. "Here."
Yasenia extended her hand and absorbed it into her Five Realm Spatial ring. The ring quickly accepted it and placed the magma soul in the volcanic environment it had inside. The dragoness looked at the Lava Soul to see how it did.
Meanwhile, the Lava Soul observed the new surroundings for a few moments. Then it flew toward the hottest area and snuggled there, bubbling in apparent happiness.
The dragoness smiled and laughed softly. "Quite cute."
Tatyana and Valeria waved their hands, opening another rift, and sent their troops back.
Kali looked at Alyssa kneeling before Tatyana and followed her with her eyes until she jumped into the rift.
The dragoness's orders snapped her out of her daze. "We are going to the next treasure! We'll be in this world for a while."
Tatyana smiled. "Are you not afraid that Ayanduin will leave this Solar System?"
Yasenia shook her head. "What is he running away from? He doesn't know our strength. Moreover, he looked like someone who was quite proud of himself. Even in front of those people, he was calm and negotiated a very good deal for himself. A single poison in exchange for being liberated from that Secret Realm."
The dragoness commented as they all boarded the warship again. "He won't leave because he is strong. As a merchant, he is in a Solar System with the long lost Body Cultivation Methods. Ayanduin will stay around and get as many treasures as he can, like we are currently doing."
Kali tilted her head. "Why are you so sure?"
"Because he is strong. Because he is greedy. Because he is cunning." The dragoness smirked. "He is arrogant and thinks that he is safe. He won't leave a treasure trove because he is worried."
Kali asked again, not convinced yet. "What if he is afraid of something? Afraid that the people who placed him there would come and get him? He left Distancia as fast as he could, no?"
Yasenia looked at Kali and pondered. "Do you feel uneasy if we don't search for him?"
Kali opened and closed her mouth. Then, she sighed and nodded. "Yes. I am. You are currently in pain, and I don't care that you can bear it. Knowing that you are in pain, and instead of searching for someone who can fix you, we are taking treasures… I am worried. I am impatient. I want to see you healing, Yasenia. You only have eight years."
Yasenia looked around her and sighed. "Well, no one other than us can come here in the first place. We can come at a later date and take the rest of the treasures, right?"
Kali knew how much Yasenia loved treasures in general. She would always light up with pure joy each time they got something valuable or precious. It didn't matter how valuable it was relative to Yasenia's entire wealth; as long as it was valuable, she would be happy. "Love, I am sorry. I just… I am worried."
The dragoness patted Kali's head, caressing her fox ears gently. "Don't worry. I understand, love. Your happiness is more valuable than any treasure."
Kali looked up at the gentle and honest expression of the dragoness, and she walked forward, diving into Yasenia's arms and hugging her tightly. Even her tails surrounded Yasenia. "I love you."
Yasenia chuckled and kissed her head. "I love you, too." Then, she ordered. "Let's go to the next world. We need to find Ayanduin as fast as possible."
"Understood, Young Miss."
Tatyana and Valeria smirked while looking from the side, but they said nothing. Natural Treasures were precious to them as well. They were always valuable, regardless of what cultivation realm a person was in. The warship went back to the magma lake and dove upward.
Before they left the world, Tatyana said. "Wait."
Yasenia ordered. "Stop." Then, she looked at Tatyana and asked. "What's wrong?"
Tatyana stuck out her tongue and hit her head softly. "We can't leave yet~. I need to place the formation to conceal the Solar System."
Everyone looked at Tatyana, trying to act cute, with a speechless expression. Kali deadpanned, but it was quite an important thing, so she sighed. "Go on."
Tatyana giggled. "Don't worry, it won't take long. I need… Hm…" Tatyana looked at the size of the world and commented. "One month!"
Kali looked at her for a few seconds in pure silence and sighed. "Then, can't we use this time to loot this place?"
Tatyana coughed. "You don't need to remain here." Tatyana walked to Yasenia and tiptoed to kiss her lips. "As Kali said, you really need to find that person."
The dragoness asked, confused. "You are staying behind?"
Tatyana shrugged. "One month is enough for you to search all of the worlds, at least superficially." Then, she smiled. "Also, don't worry about transportation. I have Undead ships, or I can travel with my sword as well."
Kali exclaimed. "You can travel between worlds with your sword?"
Tatyana shrugged. "Space has no speed limit. You are safe as long as you are cautious with the distance and don't smash into anything."
Yasenia asked with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, didn't you come to space with me to protect me?"
The Death Empress shook her head. "Protect you? As if you can't deal with a merchant. Little Treasure, I am not going to hold you by the hand forever. I won't say no if you need me to visit this merchant. However, that would say a lot of things."
The dragoness smiled. "I just asked because I was curious. Don't worry."
Tatyana nodded and flew off the warship. "Have fun~! If you don't find him, there is no need to come and get me. I'll be back in Distancia in one year at the latest."
Yasenia nodded and ordered. "Set off!"
The warship gathered energy, and then it flew off into space.