This is a bit sudden, but I have a quick question for you guys: How would you feel if you were being chased by a beautiful woman? I mean, not just beautiful—but extremely beautiful? If that happened, what would you do?
Well, for me, the answer is quite obvious—I would be grinning like a fool if that happened to me. Or actually not.
"Ugh, damn it!" I spat as an explosion from concentrated energy exploded just right beside me. I was flying around the empty battlefield being chased by Maria—an extremely beautiful girl! Man, how lucky I am!
"Dear, your body is holding only for a little. You won't last long if this keeps up," says a voice from my manifested black wing. It was Mahraj. My contracted one. This appearance should be my ace in the hole—but looking at our situation now, I can't say I still think that. Against the current Maria, I clearly stand no chance.
I need to cancel my transformation first. The ability is strong, no doubt about that, but the drawback was quite bad. Even so, I cannot imagine myself beating Maria down with my normal counterpart. Oh, what a pickle I'm in.
I was soaring when I felt a magnitude chasing after me. Another concentrated energy hurled nearby at an incredible speed, too.
"Tsk!" I lowered myself towards the ground, clicking my tongue in the process. The concentrated ball, of course, followed after me.
"Ugh, how troublesome!" Once I was on the ground, I kicked the dusty earth to propel myself, avoiding the magic from hitting me. There, where I stood a moment earlier—another explosion occurred.
I was panting. The unsealing is catching up to me. Suddenly, the wind blew with a woosh—and in just a matter of seconds, I caught a fist that flew towards me. I was able to block the direct hit, but the force behind the punch sent me reeling back, rolling on the ground.
"Ugh. Jeez!" Not just magic, but physical prowess, too? "Seriously?"
"Oh, how pitiful," Maria said in a singsong voice. Clearly, she was mocking me: "Is this how much you amount to? Truly, how pitiful. I am utterly disappointed."
"Dear!" Mahraj snapped. "Let's swap! Let's swap this instance!" There was an irritation behind Mahraj's voice. It was as if she were the one who was being mocked.
"I cannot let this go!" She went on, "Just who does this brat think she is?! I will show her!"
"Ah, no. Surely I can't do that." Swapping with her is just like letting my soul sit back down in the abyss; in exchange, she would be the—or rather, her soul would be the one who would house my body.
"Come on, my husband. Just this once," she said with a pleading tone.
It's not like I've never tried it before. I did it once—and against my master, Alfreeja, no less. But I had no recollection of that. All I knew was that after the battle, my master had received a scar. I was bedridden for three weeks after that.
"I can't do that. You surely knew."
"But!" She insisted, "If this keeps up, that woman would surely kill you. I cannot allow that. Please..." There was a tinge of desperation and a hint of excitement in her voice—was I just imagining it?
"Give me time to think," I said, lifting myself back from my pathetic fall.
"Yay!" Mahraj cheered.
"Hey, I did not give you any permission yet."
"Well, just the thought of being considered is bliss for me. Remember, when we first swapped, I kind of forced my way to take over your body? I really thought that you would never ever let—or even the thought of swapping with me—get in your mind." She said softly in an apologetic voice.
Now that I think about it, that really did happen. But well, that was a story for another time.
"I don't mind swapping with you. But let's consider our disposition first." I said calmly, "Let me first do my best. If it doesn't work, then it's your turn."
"I-I pray for your success," she said, stuttering a little. Did I say something I shouldn't have? Oh, well…
I face Maria as I wipe the sweat that is pouring on my cheek.
"Oh, well. I guess this calls for round two?"
I said with a wry smile. Maria smiled in return, saying, "My, my. That makes it sound more interesting."
I let my wings disappear, then brought back the tenth seal. This way, I can conserve my energy. Well, my fighting power was a bit reduced as a consequence.
***
Leviathan has been soaked in a cold sweat since the very beginning. First, there was Martha. She was crazy strong that it was hard to believe that she was a human. With perfect compatibility with her acquired ability, she managed to transcend the realm of humanity itself.
But that's not all to it—then there was Maria. If Martha had transcended the realm of humans, then Maria itself became one of the divine entities—or close to it. Since the power she used was something far from holy magic, calling her divine would be a stretch.
"Just what is wrong with these people?!" Lev said under her breath with both awe and fear. Just by seeing them, she was shaking in her boots. She saw Martha, and she knew how strong she was, but this Martha was easily bested by Maria—with little effort, no less.
Before even that, the first time Lev saw Maria, she was trembling nonstop. For a demon being, Lev knew exactly what kind of existence Maria was. A vampire. And pure-blooded, even.
Among demons, the most revered race was the vampire. And because of that, vampires were viewed with admiration and fear by most of the vampire race. Something may have happened and vampires were driven from the kingdom of demons, but that does not mean that the world has denied their existence as the most feared and noble race among their ilk.
"Why is a member of a supposed exiled race here?!" Lev said to herself, obviously panicked.
"Those two are crazy—that angel girl and the vampire. But the craziest among the three was…" Lev trailed her eyes towards Gleren, who undid his transformation.
Why is he undoing his transformation? Does he have a death wish? Lev thought. It was a crazy stunt, sure. From Lev's point of view, fighting Maria in a normal way is never an option. If Gleren was going to fight Maria head-on, then he should at least fight with his ace in the hole. Otherwise, it would be outright outrageous. Even Martha lost to her while donning her guardian knight.
"What is he thinking?!"
Lev observed. Maria was obviously having fun. Her mood was lifted, and she was smiling more enticingly, as if she were trying to seduce her enemy—but that was not it. It just showed how thrilled she was.
From afar, Lev heard her say, "As what I would expect from the man who awakened me."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gleren replied. "But if I did wake a beauty like you, then it was an honor," he said jokily. Clearly, this was not the time to be flippant, but Maria did not hate that. She laughed heartily and said "Now, I want you even more! Don't die on me now!"
"What a crazy duo!" Lev said exasperatedly, sitting safely in her lousy little circle, she called domain.
***
Maria charged straight towards Gleren, who was now in his normal appearance. She brought her hand forward, and from there, her nails started to grow longer. When it reached the desired length for Maria, the nails became sharper than blades—and those nails are aimed towards Gleren.
"That's cool!" He said, nonchalantly, "but not cool enough to let myself be screwed."
He jumped away, keeping his distance. Then all of a sudden, when he thought he was in safe range from Maria's claws, Maria suddenly appeared behind him as well.
"Wha—!" Gleren yelped in surprise. Now, he was in the middle of two Marias, each aiming their claws at him. Mid-air, Gleren had nowhere to go. There, his body met the claws, tearing him both from front and back.
"Arrghhhh!" Gleren let out a pained voice, and then, "Just kidding," he said with a beaming smile before disappearing. The skewered Gleren turned into a puff of black smoke.
It was a clone made of shadow. The real one was—
"Up here!" Gleren dove from above, shadow blade in hand. He was shooting so fast that it was almost a surprise for Maria. Nevertheless, she managed to block him, but the clone she had was defeated in the process. While their blades and claws were locked, Maria pressed her face towards Gleren, a seductive smile planted on her face.
"Not bad!" She said gleefully. "I never thought that you would use the same technique as me! Now I want you even more!"
"Oh, how my refutation precedes me. I am honored to have such a beauty like you chase after me," Gleren said. On his free hand, another blade made of shadow emerged. He grabbed it backhanded and swung it from the side.
"Not bad at all!" Maria smiled, blocking the second attack with her other hand. She caught the blade barehanded.
"Wow, seriously?!" Gleren let out a voice of surprise.
"You must be mocking me if you think that this level of trickery is enough to wound me."
"Well, fair enough."
Gleren threw a kick, only to be blocked by another kick coming from Maria—the impact sending waves to the surrounding area. Using the force that was created by that impact, both of them made a distance from each other. Once they parted, Maria conjured a magic circle on her hand. It emitted red light, and not long after, an arrow of crimson beam flew towards Gleren.
"AOE after close combat? Wow, how proficient you can be?" He twisted his body as the magic went hunting towards him, letting all of it pass him without even being grazed.
"Well, I can say the same to you." Maria said a dagger was caught in her hand. Gleren had thrown it while he was dodging the magic Maria was shooting towards him.
"I like playing ninja. Well, I guess I could attribute that to it?"
"Good question!" Maria floated slowly, raising herself to the air. Once she was above, she raised her hand, and from there, a ball was created almost immediately. The ball floated; it was blobby and had the color of blood. The ball floated and throbbed. Each throb drips, and from there, a new ball emerges.
"Wow. How should I say this? Ain't that a little bit too overkill?"
"Oh, yes, it is. Try to survive this one. Prove to me that I was right about the man who woke me up!"
As she said that, crimson balls that had already filled the skies and numbered thousands took form. Maria's raised hand slowly gestured elegantly. The balls started shuddering—and a moment later, a single one shoot towards Gleren like a bullet.
BAAM!
Gleren managed to dodge in the last minute, but the sight of the magic hitting the ground was something one cannot let go unnoticed. It created a hole far deeper than one would expect. If one were hit by this, surely their life would be forfeit. And it was just a single one of them—there were more in the sky...
Cold sweat beaded on Gleren's face. Maria, on the other hand, showed an ecstatic smile.
"Try to survive this, my dear little culprit."
"Oh dear." Gleren smiled in return. "I guess it's your turn now, eh? It's all up to you, Mahraj. But before that." Gleren's sight shifted towards the girl who was staring at the sky—unmoving and terrified.
Martha was completely baffled by the sight of those thousand bullet-like or rather cannon ball-like magic.