Ylva dashed toward Raven and Nagini at high speeds, slashing her axe in a wide arc but Nagini parried her attack, knocking her off balance then Raven rushed forward to take advantage of the opening Nagini created. Raven leaped forward, launching herself and Ylva in the air with a barrage of leaping kicks.
Kicking off Ylva, she knocked Ylva to the ground then formed a Teal Flame arrow, locking onto Ylva. The eye of her armor upon her hood shined brightly as she launched the arrow toward Ylva. Ylva looked up, slashing upward swiftly and deflecting the arrow, causing it to hit a tree then explode.
"Humans...try harder to defeat Ylva!" Ylva howled, her power growing even stronger.
'She's a lot stronger since the last time we faced off. Must be the effects of the Battle Room we are in..' Nagini thought, summoning a holographic screen to the side of her and glanced at the screen.
{Dungeon Room Type: Battle Room}
{Room Name: Burst Fury}
{Room Level: 50}
'Hmph...as I thought. A battle room that induces Monsters within the room with a Fury State. We have to be careful as a Monster that's in a Fury State is way more aggressive and stronger,' Nagini thought, glancing at Ylva.
Ylva howled wildly, her tails wagging in an aggressive and excited state. She got into her stance once again, panting softly, biting her lip as she was unable to control Fury and excitement. "Ylva...pleases Master by killing humans! Humans fight and help Ylva grow stronger!"
Raven glanced back at Mehira for guidance, gulping softly as she's never dealt with an enemy of Ylva's caliber. 'Mehira...how do I deal with her..?'
Mehira glanced down at Raven, her gaze returning to Ylva. She crossed her arms and the Sagittarius Sigil on her forehead began to shine. "We hunt. Do what you know best and tap into your Mercenary side. Awaken the Bloody Crow within."
Raven closed her eyes and memories of her mercenary days flashed into her head. She opened her eyes and gazed at Ylva, taking a deep breath then exhaled. "Alright...it's time to get serious."
Raven stepped forward, her teal lightning shifting into red lightning and she got into her stance. Ylva watched Raven and grinned wildly at her, both of their bodies flickering and they clashed within seconds. They pushed each other away, sliding backwards and regathering themselves.
Raven began to rapidly fire red lightning arrows toward Ylva, but Ylva deflected each one with relative ease then rushed forward. Raven made her bow disappear and summoned her black feather knife, dashing toward Ylva at high speeds.
"Come at Ylva, Human!" Ylva barked, sliding forward and slashed with force behind it.
Raven ducked under the slash, sweeping Ylva off her feet with a swift kick then tossed her knife in the air. She leaped up and kicked her knife toward Ylva with a spinning heel kick. The knife scratched Ylva, causing her to yelp in slight pain.
Raven landed on the ground, her hood shadowing her face and her red eyes glowed ominously. She had the look of an assassin, her blank stare only focusing on the hunt and taking Ylva down. She dashed toward her knife at lightning speeds and tossed black feather blades around Ylva.
Ylva looked around and noticed Raven missed. "Human's aim bad! Human missed Ylva!"
Raven smirked ominously, darting forward and striking Ylva at lightning speeds from all directions while gathering her feather blades. She appeared in front of Ylva while she was dazed, launching her in the air with rising kicks then knocked her down with an axe kick.
"Burst Skill: Crow Stinger!" Raven bellowed, summoning her bow and launching a powerful red lightning arrow toward Ylva.
The arrow made contact, causing a massive explosion. Nagini watched the events unfold in front of her, a smirk playing on her face as she guarded herself from the high winds and debris.
'This woman is something fearsome...that Killing Intent I sense from her... it's very interesting...' Nagini thought, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.
Ylva let out a powerful bellow, her icy aura freezing the lush greens around the Battle Room. She looked at Raven with a twitch in her eye, licking her lips and a demented smile formed on her lips. "Human...strong...Push Ylva...to further limits!"
With a powerful howl, Ylva dashed toward Raven, slashing downward, but Raven sidestepped to avoid the slash. Suddenly, a burst of ice energy followed, knocking Raven away. Raven grunted as she slid backwards, looking up and noticing Ylva already in front of her.
Ylva's smirk sent chills down Raven's spine, her red eyes flashing with an untamed force. Ylva roared as she knocked Raven in the air with an upward slash then she grabbed Raven's leg, slamming her down onto the ground. Ylva tossed her up, grabbing her face then dragged her body along the frost covered ground before tossing her back up.
"Burst Skill: White Fang Slash!" Ylva howled, swinging her axe swiftly, landing the attack upon Raven's midsection.
Raven grunted and coughed a bit of blood, getting blown away and crashing into a tree. She fell onto her knees, groaning softly. She touched her stomach and looked at her hand, seeing blood on her hand. 'Her strength...it... actually hurts...'
Ylva dashed forward and leaped into the air then a large black and green spike shot out toward her from the ground, forcing her to block the attack. Ylva slid backwards along the ground, looking up and noticed Nagini walking forward.
Nagini transformed into her Ruler Form, powerful energy flashing around her body. She smirked and exhaled softly. "It feels nice...to have unlocked some of my power again. After doing a little tweaking to my Ruler's Gem...I managed to turn it into a Super Ruler's Gem..."
Ylva stared at Nagini, tilting her head to the side, curious about what Nagini was talking about. Her tails swayed from side to side, her gaze never leaving Nagini's.
Nagini chuckled softly and green lightning crackled around her body. "Ahh what the hell...why am I explaining this to a Beast who can barely speak a proper dialect. Instead of yapping about my power, let me show you..."
Nagini chuckled softly, her Ruler's Gem beginning to shine and emit Super Energy. She let out a bellow, black and green energy surging around her body as she began to transform into her Super Ruler Form, her hair shifting into a darker hue of green and her eyes shifting into a gradient of green and purple.
Ylva's eyes widened as she felt Nagini's overwhelming power and her body shuddered, anticipating what Nagini was now capable of. Raven sat upon the ground, admiring Nagini's rediscovered power yet her body shuddered as well at the intensity of Nagini's Super Ruler Form.
Nagini stood with one foot in front of the other, arms and palms outstretched. She smirked at Ylva, chuckling softly. "How do you like it..? Do you enjoy the radiance of my Super Form..? If so...admire it closely. You may never get another chance to see it again..."
Ylva growled lowly at Nagini then lunged toward her with a wild slash, but she noticed her icy axe melting, turning into water. She halted her attack, watching as the melted axe fell onto the ground, forming a pool of water.
"You are now witnessing what true Physical Goddesshood looks like. A beast like you...will see the power of the Ruler of Science!" Nagini laughed, manipulating the gravity around the area, knocking Ylva away with a repulsive force.
Nagini paused time then rushed forward, striking Ylva with rapid strikes before resuming time. Ylva groaned as she was struck with delayed strikes, stumbling back and holding her stomach. She growled lowly and looked up at Nagini.
Ylva summoned her axe once again then roared as she sliced Nagini's arm off her body, but Nagini just smirked at Ylva, enjoying her struggle to gain the upperhand. Threads of blood began to form where Nagini's missing limb was, regenerating her arm. Nagini moved her arm and opened and closed her hand.
"That was cute..~ I may give you a few more attempts to harm me," Nagini smirked, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.
Ylva began to seethe, gritting her teeth at Nagini's taunts. "Nobody taunts Ylva! Human die!"
As Ylva went for an attack, she groaned as an invisible force struck her. She stumbled back, noticing Nagini hadn't moved from her spot. Suddenly, a barrage of invisible forces began striking Ylva then Nagini appeared in front of her, landing a powerful back hand to her cheek, knocking her away.
Nagini thrusted her arm forward, her arm becoming snake like and stretching to grab Ylva's ankle. She began to rapidly spin Ylva around in the air then slammed Ylva down onto the ground, the concussive force behind the slam incapacitating Ylva.
Raven marvelled at Nagini's speed and strength. 'I couldn't even see her move...she was too fast for even I to see. Is this the strength of an Infinity Council member..?'
Nagini watched as Ylva turned into an icy soul and retreated to avoid further harm. She smirked and noticed the energy walls lowering then walked toward Raven. "Alright, now that she's down for the count, we can move forward.."
Raven grunted softly as Nagini helped her up and completely healed her. She felt like as if she never even got hurt during the battle, a sparkle forming in her eyes. "Th-Thank you, Nagini!"
"That's Dr. Noxius to you, Sagittarius Knight. Only my Lab Rat and those close to me can call me 'Nagini'. Anyways... you're welcome. Now let's push forward and go to the Boss Room," Nagini said, walking in the direction to the Boss Room.
Raven nodded, hurrying behind Nagini and following her to the Boss Room of the Dungeon. Her mind drifting off upon thoughts of me, hoping I was safe during my battle against Mariella.
---------------------------------------
Mariella rapidly thrusted her trident toward me, but I evaded and blocked each thrust, using a burst of speed to appear in front of Mariella, knocking her into the air with my Rising Burning Screw, knocking Mariella in the air with rapid fiery leaping kicks.
I kicked Mariella away then landed on the ground, holding my shoulder then the Solar Peridot in the mouth of my lion pauldron shined brightly. "Zodiac Arts: King's Roar!"
My lion pauldron let out a powerful roar, launching a large fireball toward Mariella at high speeds. Mariella summoned a Water Golem to absorb the attack, humming softly at my attempts to finish her off quickly. She made the golem disappear then rested the bottom of her trident along the ground.
"To have lasted this long against me by yourself...I knew you were more interesting than you were letting on. I knew it from the moment we first fought at St. Garnet Cathedral. I felt it...you are this generation's Hero of Origin aren't you?" Mariella asked, her gaze meeting mine.
I stared at her and stood up straight, exhaling softly and smoke escaped my parted lips. "I am. Since you're honest with me, I suppose I can be honest with you. I'm still new to this Hero of Origin business. I don't truly know the first thing about being a hero of this caliber other than protecting those I love.."
Mariella smirked at me, tilting her head. "Well I can tell you for sure that being a Hero of Origin is not as simple as you think. Being a hero isn't all black and white. You must also explore the Gray Areas of being a hero.."
"Gray Areas? What do you mean?" I asked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow.
"Are you willing to make sacrifices to save what you truly love? Everything in this world comes with a price. Not everything in this world is ever truly black and white...Good or Evil...right or wrong. Are you willing to walk within this gray area to preserve what you care about most..?" Mariella questioned, twirling her trident in a circle and smiling at me.
I thought about her words for a moment. As much as I wanted to clash ideologies with her, I couldn't deny that she was making a bit of sense. I decided to continue hearing her out.
"I see I've gotten your attention..~ Good, now we are getting somewhere~" Mariella giggled softly, summoning her giant clamshell then sat down as it opened. "What do you define as evil, August..?"
"Evil to me is needless destruction, the corruption of others and yourself... y'know...just wrongdoing in general without justifiable reason," I answered.
"You just said three important words that will start you on your path within the Gray Area of Life, without justifiable reason. What I am doing is justified due to my nature. I am only playing a role, doing what I need for the balance of the universe. Now let me ask you this...do you think someone is ever...truly good?" Mariella asked, her gaze locking onto mine.
I hesitated to answer, looking down and took a moment to think. "I do...there are many pure hearted people in the universe and within the entirety of the Five Realms. I do think someone can be truly good, just like I believe someone can be truly evil.."
"Yeah? Well do you think you are truly good?" Mariella asked, crossing one leg over the other and tilted her head.
"I..." I began, closing my eyes and exhaled softly. "I do have a bit of darkness within me. I took a life at the St. Garnet Cathedral, killed the Zodiac Killer. I spent four years of my life seeking vengeance against my archrival, Archer. There are people who have both light and darkness within their souls.."
"What do you think a Hero of Origin is? They are the balance. They can be seen as Truly Good due to their history against Terminus and defeating the Ultimate Evil, but think about this... Henosis has also destroyed and killed, sacrificed and claimed for the greater good. In a way, he's no different than us Dark Lords, except he fought for the preservation of the Five Realms," Mariella said.
I glanced back at Henosis, seeing him close his eyes and nod. I glanced over toward Sephora, seeing her soft, yet understanding smile. Finally, I looked at Leona, noticing her nod as well. Mariella was making too much sense for any of us to even deny.
"Where do you think me and my Dark Lord sisters stand? We aren't fully on the spectrum of Evil. That side resides with figures like Darkness, Bai Xang, Chaos, Terminus. While some of us like Floria are more kind than others, we aren't on the spectrum of Good either. That side resides for characters like Sephora, The Zodiacs, the Angels," Mariella said, closing her eyes and hummed softly.
"Us Dark Lords sit right at the middle. What we do is seen as Evil because we destroy...but we are justified in doing so. We don't go around, mindlessly destroying planets unless we are growing exceptionally weak and need Death and Destruction to survive. We follow the Laws of Ragnarok, Destroy only when needed," Mariella continued.
"Do you actually want to destroy Earth? I mean, if you do that, the Human Realm will become overpopulated due to the Underworld and the Sacred Realm being able to invade this Realm," I said, looking at Mariella.
Mariella opened her eyes and tapped her trident gently with her index finger. She smiled at me and leaned back into her seat. "If it's necessary, we will. Earth is a powerful planet, there's no doubt about that...and like I said before us Dark Lords naturally gravitate toward stronger planets. If it comes down to it, we will destroy entire clusters, galaxies, and maybe even the entire Realm."
I huffed softly then closed my eyes, rubbing the nape of my neck. "Maybe, I just don't understand it. Too many innocent people will die if you destroy the planet...that's not a sacrifice I'm willing to make for peace and the preservation of the world. Needless sacrifice isn't what I call being a hero..."
"Then what do you call being a hero?" Mariella asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Protecting the peace and innocents from those who try to destroy it. It's more than just defeating the villain...it's about leading the future generation down the right path.." I answered, my gaze meeting Mariella's once again.
Mariella closed her eyes and nodded, understanding my definition of a hero. There was a bit of silence, a slight moment to breathe for me. I stared at Mariella, waiting for her to give her answer.
"Do you truly want to understand us, now that you know that we are simply forces of cosmic nature?" Mariella asked, smiling at me.
I took a moment to think about my answer, weighing the options between understanding Mariella and her sisters, and throwing everything out the window and just trying to destroy her to prevent her from unsealing her fellow sisters.
I remained silent for a while, but soon found my answer. "I do."
Mariella's smirk widened, a soft giggle escaping her lips. At this very moment, I knew I was beginning my journey down the path of a moral gray area. Although my answer seemed to side with the forces of evil, Henosis, Leona, and Sephora knew my choice had no malicious intent.
"For you to understand what we Dark Lords truly are, you must become one. Are you sure you're willing to explore this darker side of yourself to understand us?" Mariella asked, standing up from her seat.
I once again hesitated, but I wanted to pave my own way for the future and truly understand what it truly means to be a hero. I swallowed my pride and stepped toward Mariella, my Dark Impulse flowing from my chest. "I'm sure...I want to go through this process and learn more about this cosmic order..."
Mariella noticed my Dark Impulse and hummed in a delighted tone. She walked toward me and smirked, gently cupping my cheeks in her hands. "Through us, you'll learn that our cosmic structure is bigger than black and white. Just like you must forge your own path of heroism, being a Dark Lord also means forging your own path...how you use this power depends on you.."
Mariella leaned closer to me, her lips gently pressing against mine. I didn't pull away, instead, letting it happen and grunted softly as she began to release my Dark Impulse, awakening more power within my Demon Form. She pulled away slowly, a soft giggle escaping her lips.
She walked off and picked up the Earth's Gaian Bow. She turned toward me, gently biting her lip. "You're lucky...you're the only human to have ever tasted my lips..~"
"It was a bit salty, honestly," I said, watching her closely.
Mariella chuckled lightly at my comment, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, whatever you say...Hero of Origin. 20 Days. I give you 20 Days before I reappear in the Libra Kingdom for the Devil's Scales. Use those days wisely. You will be tested.."
I watched as Mariella warped away and gently touched my lips. I looked at Sephora, Leona, and Henosis, feeling a pang of guilt within. "Did I make the right choice?"
"She didn't destroy anything and left with just what she wanted. I see this as a win even if you did slightly give into your Dark Impulse, I believe you made the right choice," Sephora said, gently rubbing my head.
"If Mama Sephora said you made the right choice, you did something right!~ That Dark Lord intrigues me though...20 Days..the amount of time it takes for her to destroy a planet. She gave you a lot of time to explore with your upgraded power," Leona purred, wrapping her arms around me lovingly.
I nodded at their words then turned around, noticing Raven and Nagini approaching the area. I didn't know how I could explain what happened to them, so for now I kept what transpired a secret.
"I'm glad you're safe, my Lab Rat!~ Looks like she's gone for now. We best get out of here. Because this is a Domain, if we don't escape fast enough we will be trapped in here once the Domain closes," Nagini said, caressing my cheek.
I blushed softly at her gently touch, smiling at Nagini then nodded. "Alright, let's go.."
With that, Nagini led both me and Raven out of the Dungeon. I stayed silent during the entire way, not knowing how to bring up the topic of what I went through.