Naya wasted no time getting the Dragon's attention back on her.
The moment she saw its red flames focus on Sophia, she had already begun to pull on the Arcana within her core.
Another purple orb formed at her fingertips, and she immediately let go of her hold.
It whizzed through the air and exploded into a purple shockwave underneath the Dragon's maw. Once again, the force was enough to send its head upward. It nearly slammed into the ceiling.
Which Naya didn't want since the crack was dangerous as it was. The chambers could collapse if it kept happening.
The red flames roared to life again, and the Dragon slowly shifted its head to face her atop one of its hovering bones.
Naya mockingly smirked and crossed her arms.
--You...--
It opened its jaw for a silent roar, and Naya squatted and placed her hand on the bone.
Moments later, it happened.
Precisely as she expected, the purple vortex formed in her palms.
However, accompanying it wasn't the absorption she normally would have had, but a shatter.
It sounded like someone had shattered a plate, though with a magnified sound. It wasn't just one.
It was followed by another, then another, until the sound of glass shattering filled the chambers.
The bone she was resting on started to fall.
But she noticed that every other bone in the area was also falling, as were the bones on the Dragon's wings.
It was as if she had taken out a single piece of an amazingly complex construction, only for the entire thing to collapse. Like a puppet with its strings cut.
She was shaken.
--Impossible! --Lia sounded more horrified by that than anything, even when she saw the Dragon.
The red flames in the Dragon's eyes both dimmed considerably until they were a mere flicker in its sockets.
Naya launched off the falling bone.
She used well-timed explosions at angles to carry her far from the destruction and back toward Sophia.
Neither party said anything as they stared in awe.
Bones were falling from the ceiling all at once, making the chamber quake with the ferocity of what felt like an earthquake.
"What... did you do?"
"I don't know."
Every bone on the Dragon's body soon began to fall as well, and the red eyes faded entirely.
--Do you have any idea what this means?! --Lia was practically screaming in her head.
Finally, the jaw collapsed into the stone floor.
All that remained of the Dragon was a mountain of piled bones at the epicenter of a field of bones. Dust flooded the air around it.
Even Verala's expression changed to one of horror as she watched her prized possession collapse.
Naya wanted to feel satisfied... but she felt a profound sense of loss.
[Explain.]
--Your power didn't just shatter its control; it spread like a virus and shattered everything!--
[Is it due to the method of control?]
--I don't know, I've never studied a Dragon! But either way, that means if you touch even a small part of the magic, you shatter the entire system and everything within it. Nayalisia, do you realize what that means?--
Naya felt no power from what she did; her lines were still slightly below her elbows.
--That's because we agreed to let me disperse it!--
[Right.]
She didn't really understand what being able to shatter whole systems meant. It would require more testing, but she believed it was only caused by the Dagon using its mental power to move the bone rather than a sliver. A flaw in its ability to use its power. It would have been different if it was an adult or a mature artificial soul.
Still, the idea that she basically shattered its mind was a bit unpleasant.
--Only one type of being has ever existed with a power that relies on mental energy.--
[Yet this artificial soul was somehow able to mimic that?]
--That's... also true... --It seemed Lia hadn't considered that.-- But not what I'm getting at! --Lia sounded exasperated like she wanted to say more but could not.
[It might have something to do with the Necromantic Devil.]
Sophia pat Naya's shoulder. "Leaving me out again?"
Naya pushed Sophia's hand off. "We don't know what happened, but it is for the better. The alternative would have been long and tedious."
Sophia quirked a brow. "I... suppose." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Look at that; even she looks horrified right now."
Naya saw it.
Verala still had her mouth agape and her eyes wide, staring at the collapsed corpse of her Dragon.
"That is a good expression." Naya felt more joy seeing her annoying smirk vanish than she thought she would.
The sound of steel hitting stone stepped behind her, and Rula moved to join Naya's side.
Her eyes were similarly glued to the Dragon's corpse. It looked like she had cried a little, but Naya wasn't about to comment on that.
Naya began moving forward again.
[This farce has gone on long enough.]
--And we walk away with... 2 priceless treasures.--
[Don't call them that.]
--Sure, sure... --Lia spoke absentmindedly.
Sophia and Rula quickly joined her side.
Each step painfully reminded Naya of her wounded leg, a pulse of pain running up her body with every step.
The spears were still hovering behind Verala, a massive threat.
Naya hadn't heard, felt, or sensed the one launched at her when she tried to attack Verala.
It was as if they teleported into their location and cut through with extreme sharpness.
Finally, Verala's eyes snapped from the corpse and toward Naya. She looked at her with a newfound awe and respect.
"I... Such a thing would not have happened even in my wildest dreams." She chuckled resignedly and shook her head. "Even if it didn't have a single percent of its real power, I didn't expect you to walk away completely unscathed."
"Now it's your time to die, Witch," Naya spoke coldly.
"No more questions for me?" She asked curiously.
"I am done with you."
There was a moment of deathly silence, with the only noise being the looming steps of Naya, Sophia, and Rula's Morp. They moved forward unimpeded.
"You know something interesting?" Verala's confident smirk returned. "This ball of malevolence above me."
Naya reached the steps of the altar and stopped.
Sophia and Rula similarly stopped slightly behind her.
"What do you think will happen to it when I die?" Verala's tone sounded like it wasn't a question but a statement.
--I... don't know. --
"It doesn't matter."
"Well, maybe not to you. But to the humans..." Verala looked toward Sophia. "It may be a bit of a problem."
Sophia had a contemplative look, one that was replaced by a squint moments later. "You lied to us."
Verala chuckled. "Correct, but also wrong."
"Speak." Naya placed one foot on the altar's steps and had her Arcana ready for instant action.
Verala stood from her seat and crossed her arms. "Isn't it nonsense for a Witch to be hanging out in a major human city?" Verala giggled lightly. "Of course it is. I wouldn't be telling you this, but though I said I wanted one of you to die, I honestly thought the Dragon would get you all." She sighed and shook her head slowly.
"Your other plans will not save you." Naya took another step. She was extremely weary of the bone spears; they might target Rula and Sophia instead. So, she would let Verala finish speaking first.
"I know." Verala's tone would make one assume it was none of her business if she died. "But do you want to know my real purpose in Rozen?"
"Stop with the theatrics and speak." Naya was ready to attack right away.
[Can you summon my Arcana from anywhere?]
--Devious... Yes, I can.--
Naya crossed her arms and slightly glared at Verala.
A very, very tiny thread of Arcana started to pull from Naya's core at a languid pace.
Verala's smile widened. "You know what's better than advancing to a higher circle?" She shrugged when she saw Naya's face. "No fun... Well, how about an entire city turned into undead?"
Naya froze.
So did the Arcana coming from her core, but only briefly before it resumed.
"What?!" Sophia exclaimed.
"That's impossible," Naya spoke resolutely.
Yet inwardly, she was doubtful. If she had amassed energy from years of corpses, she would have an unimaginable level to use. It was just a question of whether the Devil could kill and convert an entire population at once.
[Or... if it could bypass the killing and just convert all at once. Is such a spell possible?]
Verala shrugged. "The power had 3 possible purposes." She held out a single finger. "First, to bump me up to 7th circle. However, I'm not stupid, and I know what that would mean." Then, a 2nd finger went up. "Second, I can use it to make the Dragon much, much stronger. But that would take years to do well." Finally, a 3rd finger. "And lastly... to build a massive undead army that no mortal race could beat."
Verala put her hand down and took a deep breath. "Thoughts?"
"Tell me how," Sophia asked. She likely saw the orb behind Naya but didn't glance at it.
"You guys don't have a good understanding of how Devils work."
Naya realized then what she meant. The Devils influenced their surroundings. If she could cast its influence over the entire city, then it would be a possibility the entire population would get warped.
[Is that possible for a Devil's power?]
--The power scale is all wrong. Devils aren't supposed to influence their environment to such a degree until later... but lately...--
[They are doing things you and Sophia both thought impossible.]
"You're going to release it all over the city, and the environment will warp to whatever your Devil desires, naturally turning everyone living into undead."
If that was truly possible for a Devil, where even walking into their influence caused your body to change...
[They are far more powerful than I thought.]
--No Devil in a long, long time has gotten anywhere close to doing something of that scale. There used to be ways of detecting Witches who even came remotely close. But Naya, they are the antithesis of gods themselves. --
Naya hadn't taken them seriously due to how limited they were, at least until higher circles. But if the abilities were becoming possible at earlier circles...
[Something is happening.]
--It's done.--
Verala stared at Naya with a smile. "You're correct! But it only works if the Devil does it, and I'm not a high enough circle for that. In other words-"
"You need to die," Naya said.
Verala clapped, "Right. So what do we do?" She tapped her chin and tilted her head.
--She's probably not lying.--
[I know.]
She didn't say the activation conditions other than her death. It was a gamble on whether it happened immediately when she died or if Naya would have time to absorb the Devil's essence.
Either way, it was a gamble she would have to take.
Naya moved forward.
"Tsk tsk~" Verala wagged her finger slowly. "I won't make it too easy for you."
The spears that were behind the chair floated forward, and they all came to a stop, bobbing behind and beside Verala.
Those spears were a threat, and it seemed all of Verala's abilities went into controlling them. But most of all...
[I'm tired of being on the defensive.]
--Split control of your core with me; I can take care of defensive measures while you focus on offense.--
It was a tense moment, and it seemed Verala was waiting for Naya to make the first move. Naya expected her ability to function similarly to the Dragon's in that she had a control zone around her. It was a standard method of spellcasting; better control the closer it is.
Of course, Elves didn't care for control zones.
Verala was using threads of Arcana to control them. Still, Naya doubted she'd be able to touch the spears with their impressive speed.
[Fine.]
"You're forgetting about me again." Sophia stepped forward
"A-and me!" Rula tapped Morp's shoulder, and it moved forward as well.
"Perfect, a final showdown!" Verala pointed at the group, and the spears moved.
Naya immediately gave up half of her control, but it wasn't a noticeable feeling.
A very thin, almost invisible layer of purple surged forward and covered her entire body.
Sophia snapped her fingers, and two smaller-sized black portals opened to her left and right.
Morp gently placed its hammer on the ground, and it instantly dematerialized into a white mist.
Naya surged forward.
The spears burst into action at once, a speed so fast Naya could not track it.
If Verala's control zone was higher, she would have likely been able to catch Naya off guard immediately when she entered the chambers.
But it seemed Lia was better at detecting subtle movements than Naya.
--Right!--
Naya twisted her body slightly, but even that wasn't fast enough.
She heard a whizz go past her ears and a cracking noise. A small purple layer fell to the ground.
However, Naya felt Arcana move within her core, and the barrier was back.
Naya wasn't sure how it worked, considering the last time she tried to create a good wall, it exploded.
Lia's control was probably above even the strongest Elves.
--Left and Right!--
The more help she got, the more inadequate she felt. She would have to train her power after this.
A burst of purple below her and Naya propelled into the air.
Another crack and both her legs were grazed by the spears. But the barrier reformed nearly instantly.
Naya noticed how much Arcana the barrier seemed to use; she felt it visibly decrease whenever it was repaired.
Verala snapped her head up and smirked.
--Down, left, and right!--
A burst above her now, and she launched to the ground. Another burst to lessen the impact.
Every time she dodged, the spears would slice through her barrier.
--Don't dodge anymore. I'll put everything you gave me toward a defensive barrier; it will allow enough time to close the gap and finish her.--
[Understood.]
Sophia ran up to the altar and stood beside Naya.
One of the spears was coming from that direction, but it froze in the air before it got close to Sophia.
"That's close enough." Sophia glanced at it.
A moment later, it was trapped in a circle of black.
There was a visible struggle on Verala's face, and it seemed she was trying everything to pull it out. When she felt Naya's stare, she gave up.
The spear continued into the black portal, and it closed.
"One down," Sophia said mockingly and crossed her arms.
Steel slammed into concrete, and Morp landed on the altar with them.
It didn't stop there.
Rula jumped off its shoulder and stood beside Naya. "Go, Morp!"
Morp charged toward Verala.
Naya moved right after.
--Almost...--
A bone spear suddenly jutted through Morp's torso.
However, it stopped before it could finish going all the way through.
Rula's audible laugh resounded. "You fell for it, stupid!"
Naya glanced at the impact point before she continued.
There was white mist coming from where the spear pierced through.
[It purposefully weakened so that it could lock the spear in its body.]
Then Morp suddenly turned, gave Naya a quick wave, and moved at full speed off the altar. It seemed it was struggling to hold it in.
Verala's face was grave for the first time since Naya entered the chambers.
[No matter how much bravado, every human fears death.]
The last two spears launched vertically into the air, disappearing from Naya's sight.
--Now!--
The barrier brightened so much that it robbed Naya of her eyesight, and all she could see was a wall of purple. It hummed loudly in her ears, threatening to burst her eardrums.
It was also painful. It felt like a thousand needles poking at her skin at once.
But Naya didn't stop; she knew it was time to end the tedious confrontation.
She reached where she recalled Verala was, and the purple sphere Lia had formed was in Naya's control, and she let go of her hold on it.
At the same time, a resounding bang and Naya was hit with so much force that she catapulted into the air.
The purple barrier completely shattered, but it shattered outward.
She saw the bloody hole piercing through Verala's torso; not a critical injury, but enough to shatter her concentration.
Naya was flung far, and she gave Lia more control.
They worked together to create small bursts of Arcana to stabilize her body. Still, Naya felt a pulsating pain in her chest. Then, they released bursts to prevent herself from slamming into the stone wall.
When she landed, Naya touched her chest.
There weren't any wounds, but the force was significant enough to cause her pain. The second shot had hit her stomach. Both felt like she had been punched by a strong fighter.
--I had the barrier do more than just block since that might not have worked. I created layers; one was violent, dulled the sharp edges to a blunt point, and the other was defensive. --
[That's why it felt like needles.]
--Yeah, sorry. I couldn't control it to absolute perfection since I haven't been able to do that for a long time.--
[It's fine. The battle is over.]
Sophia and Rula were both looking at her with concern, though Sophia had a smile.
Naya sped-walked forward. She knew the wound she caused to Verala was fatal, but she wouldn't die right away. She needed to touch the Devil instantly, or the spell may activate.
[It's time to end the Necromantic Devil.]