Chapter 60 - Take a Stand

I grazed the tips of my fingers gently against the warm flames cascading past us. I was fully engulfed in the flames, sitting among them without any pain or discomfort.

“How can this be?”

Not everyone was as lucky.

“Gah!!! YOU BRAT!! WHAT IS THIS—!”

The grip around Arga’s face released and her body dropped to the ground. I jolted to my left and caught her, not allowing a single hair of hers to reach the floor.

“Uh—Arga! Are you alright, say something.”

My eyes were pulled from Arga’s unresponsive face and drifted to the screaming woman behind me. Ilinore gripped the sides of her face and wailed out in a great deal of pain, she looked to be burning.

I know it shouldn’t have been surprising but…why weren't we then?

I focused my vision on her and triggered the HP bar above her head to appear. She was incredible, an unstoppable monster that didn’t seem to have any chance of dying down. That was how I saw her, until that moment. The moment when she screamed and danced around as Alice’s flames burnt her alive.

She was nearly dead! The bar above her head glitched and fazed in and out of view but when I saw it again it had dropped to yellow.

I felt like I wanted to smile but at that point, I just hoped it wouldn’t stop. I wanted it to drop to zero and for her to vanish as quickly as she appeared.

These flames are coming from Alice, she must be trying to take her down too! Way to go, Alice. She’s almost down!

I leaned forward, captivated by the bar above her head dipping lower and lower into the red when suddenly it stopped. It hovered just a few scratches away from zero and remained there, it seemed almost spiteful in a way.

The gold and red swirl of flames around us had disappeared but most importantly, Ilinore had still been standing there. She stumbled back quite a bit and was littered with burn marks but remained standing.

“Gah—to think she’s gained that ability now of all times. Tsk! I can’t let her do that again, not in this form of mine.”

Oh no, she’s going to go for Alice!

I quickly jolted up and my arms readied at my sides. Unlike before, my arm moved perfectly fine without any pain. My joints moved smoothly and more efficiently than ever, it felt as though my arms and legs could continue moving at full speed forever.

“What’s with this effect, even my health got restored?”

{The effects of Queens Roar have restored your Health and healed your broken shoulder}

“Queen’s roar…that must be what that fire was just now. Does this mean that little Alice, is a queen?”

Alice locked eyes with me from across the room, her face was completely drained of colour. She looked ready to fall over at the slightest brush of air.

“Rei, I’m glad you’re both safe…”

Her body must have given all it could, as those last words left her mouth she fell over and lost consciousness.

“Alice—!”

A blur of pink shot past me.

Ilinore raced across the room in a swift dash and reached the fallen child. She stood over her with a furious gaze. Ilinore’s grace had been reduced to a desperate display, she didn’t resemble her previous self at all.

She didn’t plan on playing around anymore, she was serious. Her hand straightened at her side like a sword and drove her pink nails down at Alice.

“Don’t even think of it.”

The shadows from my skill appeared in front of her, as I wrapped my arms around Alice and pulled away. She was determined to finish what she had started and drove her attack in at full speed.

Her nails missed and cut off a strand of Alice’s hair just before we vanished into the skill's effects. The shadowy cloud appeared some distance away and Alice and I landed safely on the ground.

The loose strand of hair must have travelled with us, it floated down softly through the air and into my hand.

“I’m sorry Alice, I ended up needing you to save us.”

Her eyes fluttered open.

“Don’t look so sad, Rei. If you frown then you’ll only worry Arga.”

She really was just Alice at the end of it, a part of me was scared that she would have been a little different after that.

Her finger poked my hand and the usual warmth of her fingers seemed colder.

“Use it.”

I looked down at the lock of hair that rested in my palm.

“Use it, Rei. If you do it’ll be like I’m helping you, like I’m with you all the time.”

Her cheeks brightened red, as she spoke. My eyes crossed over the hair and I understood what she meant.

{Arsenal may be used on Target}

“Alice…thank you.”

I closed my hand and squeezed down tightly over it.

“Devour.”

Alice’s eyes jolted to something approaching behind me, the look of worry in her eyes told me exactly what it could have been.

I nearly spaced out there for a moment, we were still in a boss fight after all.

I opened my hand and the last specs of mist scattered out from my palm and faded into the air.

“Right, I’m ready.”

{Dragon Empress Skill Tree unlocked} {Fire Dragon Skill Tree unlocked}

{Skill Dragons Roar unlocked} {Skill Queens Roar unlocked}

Ilinore charged at us and caught up in no time, she reeled back her hand to deliver a punch with all her strength. I could feel the aura she had emitted from the floor, she planned to end me with that.

She glared at me and probably wondered why I hadn’t moved. I hadn’t attempted anything, not so much as moved a muscle.

“I guess humans do know when to quit.”

“Probably. Not this human though.”

A green light surrounded my hands and the Chakram blades came flying back to me. A white blade ran past her cheek while the other brushed against her waist and delivered a small cut.

{Rush Activated}

Right before she could land her punch I leapt out of the way. I soared high over her and bounced against the roof, then back onto the floor behind her.

Ilinore looked distraught, her eyes glared widely at me as her mouth hung open slightly. She uttered something next but I didn’t quite catch it. I’m sure she could have intercepted me but for whatever reason she wasn’t reacting. She just glared at me, like something important came to mind.

“So it was you…you’re the one who ruined my plans.”

I gripped my Chakram's and grinned.

“It actually worked, I landed a cut on you. I think I finally figured you out.”

All our attacks before didn’t seem to affect her, not even so much as to leave a mark. Arga’s attack managed to hold her back but only Alice’s roar dealt damage. Which is why I couldn't figure out why my Basilisk skill from before managed to hurt her, until just then.

My Chakrams only managed to cut her when surrounded by the effects of Zephyr Wind, which proved my theory.

“Regular skills don’t seem to do much to you. It seems you have a thing against strong magic, don’t you?”

The Basilisks passive skill was way stronger than I thought…I should have read this carefully.

{Serpent Coil} – {A Passive skill which only activates upon sneak attacks or attacks from the rear. Chances for poison effect are high}

It’s a counter skill that I can’t activate unless I’m attacked but when it does, it deals a hell of a lot of damage!

Still, I don’t think she’ll try and attack me from behind again. I might as well use these then.

I gripped my Chakrams tightly and the green glow of my ability grew larger, every inch of the blades was covered in its light.

“I won’t forgive you for what you did to Arga but…for making Alice cry, for that, I will make you beg for mercy!"

**Author Note**

{Add Dungeon Eater to your library in order to learn Serpents Coil}