Cheering for the next two before Athena and I were up, my turn finally came, and the first thing I heard as robed men carried a hidden cylinder aside my stage was, "Go back home you monster, we don't want you or your vermin here!" an insolent instructor and their pupal screamed out towards me. Ignoring them with a sour look on my face, Nurma came up to me, "You got this bae, crush whoever you're going up against and I'll give you a little some in one of their rooms after~" she whispered mischievously, and I just smiled back at her.
Leaning in and whispering something into her ears. Getting them all flustered as I spoke sensually and secret to her in her language. Going to the arena Alison sneakily walked up to Nurma and asked what we were whispering about, but Nurma grabbed her, "I want another" As soon as she started talking, Alison signed and looked over at me and her, "They're going to make our forest a nation at the rate they're having kids. I can only handle two..."
But as soon as she uttered that to herself, she glanced over at Athena who looked heated, she grabbed the rail on our side and gritted her teeth as she saw who was coming forward, seeing the chief of this coven step forward to fight had her losing her shit as she was supposed to be the one fighting him and showing our strength as the leader.
Stepping onto the arena he spoke as we both approached, "Since we had an agreement earlier, I'd like to raise the stakes friend. An item from our stor- treasures in exchange, our battle will determine if you agree upon my original contract or I take your covens contract" Barlebell spoke, annoying me by bringing it up. but, "Fine, but what is it you have to offer"
Saying that all I heard in the background was Athena's scream, "What!" she's gonna be pissed with me for scheming this up behind her back and changing a few things without her approval again, but she'll get over it... Or something like that uhh. . . I hope.
The robed men untarped the cylinder showcasing a rotten corpse full of magic and vitality, and floating in the center of a green ooze. Seeing this, not just us, but everyone was in awe. More importantly, but deeply-disgustingly-horrified if anything, especially its magical aura.
And seeing it, without hesitation, a reddish haze escaped through the crowd as soon as the capsule was revealed, and not wasting a second, I darted my head to my team, "Nurma Now!!!" channeling mana in my voice for her and this audience of onlookers to hear us.
Already in position, Nurma hit her foot on the team's rail with her bow drawn and she shot an arrow into the air, that split seconds after and showered the audience in a line of magic arrows, hitting no one but releasing a webbing of magic webbing, entangling our gaseous friend. "Now men, capture it when it reforms!" Barlebell yelled and the crowd obeyed him.
Stepping over to me as everyone near set up a barrier over the mysterious enemy. He said, "Looks like he realized he was found out once we showed them this, usually they confront when caught, he just ran hahaha!" Barlebell laughed but, "You read too many dramas, that rarely happens, him dashing away like this means he panicked, believing he was discovered and was set up, it's common amongst those who conduct forbidden research"
More importantly, how'd he inform his men without that idiot finding out we discovered his research, if we caught the right person? Ignoring that, I focused my magic senses and kept my guard up as I still believed there were two people involved in this forbidden research.
Having one of the culprits revealed and reformed in a barrier, trying to plead their innocence. I said, "Shall we continue or do you want to call it a day, our spar can happen another time, you need to rebuild and sweep your coven of this corruption first Cheif Barlebell" but looking at me, "Scared of little old me now are we Dark Prist Aster"
Mocking me, I remained calm, "Sure, call it that," I said, glancing at him but he was quick to jump back upon realizing blackish-purple sickles manifesting from my shadow, shooting out and swirling around me like a cyclone of chained blades, "You idiot," I said looking at him.
Practically growling at me, I then lowered the sickle cyclone. Throwing out my hand as if I was attacking him as a mage, the blades shot out to my right wrapping around the air and revealing something invisible to us. Another robed body, who with the swift motion of my hand had my talons buried into their chest past the hardened shadow chains.
Looking at them, "You're an idiot, this is too easy, do evil asshol- mages not think anymore?" Feeling his heartbeat as he gasped for air, I reached deeper and grabbed something else, ripping out a purple fire from his bloodied torn open chest.
But as his soul was torn out with everyone witnessing my innate power, he didn't fall, instead, as his legs trembled and his breathing slowed, he uttered coughing blood. "It's too late, our plans have already been set in motion, that's why I allowed only you to discove-" but as he spoke, his voice cut off and he fell. but as he did, I heard, "Ashmedia's spawn."
He didn't speak, I heard it telepathically from his soul. And hearing that, it hit me.
As the soul trembled in my grasp, a cold dread clawed at the edges of my mind. "How... how do you know who I am?" The words echoed in my skull, reverberating through every nerve, every fiber of my being. My heart pounded, a drumbeat of terror and fury. The air around me thickened, warping under the weight of my rage, and in an instant, my control shattered.
I felt the fire ignite in my veins, my hair erupting into an inferno of crimson flames, licking hungrily at the sky as the darkness within me surged forth. My body twisted, expanded, monstrous, and wild, as the smoke coiled around me like a living beast, feeding off the chaos inside. I was no longer Aster—I was something far more terrifying, a creature of pure, unbridled power.
My eyes locked onto the coven's chief, a primal scream tearing from my throat, "You set me up! How do you know me? Why now? I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!!!" The words were barely human, a guttural roar that shook the very ground beneath us. The world around me blurred, distorted by the sheer force of my fury, and I lunged, every thought consumed by a single, overwhelming need to destroy.
Barlebell's eyes widened in horror as he raised a trembling hand in defense, his voice quivering, "What! I can barely understand you, you've gone mad, beast! Depower immediately!" But his commands were nothing more than whispers against the raging storm that was my mind. His words, his authority, meant nothing.
In that moment, the eyes of all, the senses of Wicka, bore witness to the true terror that I had become. My magic, no longer tethered by reason, was a maelstrom of dark energy, seething with the fury of a thousand storms. And in that terrifying storm, only Barlebell could stand, the last bastion against the monstrous force I had unleashed.