WIEDERGEBURT Act II: Chapter 48

I kept Spiritual Perception activated as we moved slowly through the sewers, keeping a careful eye out for any potential ambushes. It seemed someone, Skygge I assumed, had those shadows waiting at various ambush points in case someone realized what they were doing and came to stop them. We needed to be more cautious than normal because of that.

The deeper down we went into the sewers, the more disgusting the sewers became. Where before the walls were just covered in some grime, now mold was growing out of the cracks, hanging from the ceiling, and dripping with disgusting fluids that couldn’t possibly be water. Not only that, but the sulfuric scent pervading this place became increasingly thick. Lin, Kari, and Fay had no choice but to cover their mouths and noses in a vein attempt to keep the scent out.

“I wish there was a way to block smell,” Kari muttered.

“If there was a way, this princess would have already found it,” Lin said.

“I know we need to keep going, but… I really wish we could turn back,” Fay added her two valis.

“I know it’s tough, but please try to keep in mind why we’re doing this,” I said, the only person who hadn’t covered their olfactory senses. I’d smelled far worse than this before. “Somewhere in this sewer, a poor girl is being treated as a tool and forced to activate a unique power that draws Demon Beasts to her. However, a ritual that can force someone’s powers to increase like this doesn’t come without a price. More than likely, Dyr’s life force is being drained even as we speak.”

“Her… life force?” Kari asked.

“The energy that her body needs to survive,” I said. “It’s not Spiritual Power, which is a separate source of energy and not actually needed to live. It’s the literal energy of her life. Her soul, if you will.”

“You think this ritual is killing her?” Fay asked for confirmation.

“I am almost positive it’s killing her,” I answered.

“Then we need to hurry,” Lin said. “This princess doesn’t know that girl very well, but she seemed like a nice person. She doesn’t deserve to die like this.”

Everyone nodded at Lin’s sentiment, and we continued on, traveling down a lateral passage that didn’t have any sewer water. I was keeping Spiritual Perception active. That was how I spotted them. I stopped in the middle of the long corridor, pausing as a pair of Spiritual Signatures suddenly appeared just inside of my range. They were getting closer.

“It looks like they know we’re here,” I said. “There are two people traveling toward us. One is a lightning user, while the other is a water user. Both of them are fairly strong. I can’t tell much more than that.”

“How long until they arrive?” asked Fay.

I blinked rapidly several times as I tried to obtain as much information as I could. “I’d say… about three minutes.”

“In that case, leave this to Lin and me.” Fay pointed toward herself and Lin. “We will handle these two, while you two continue on and rescue Dyr.”

“We’ll be relying on you two,” I said with a nod.

“Please be safe,” Kari added.

“Hmph.” Lin thumped her chest and grinned at us, showing off her fangs. “Just leave these two to us. This princess will show them why they shouldn’t mess with her family.”

Nodding at them both, Kari and I turned around, traveling through the tunnel before taking another side passage. I was keeping a firm eye on the two Spiritual Signatures heading toward Lin and Fay. With a little concentration, I could determine the general direction in which they had arrived.

As we traveled ever deeper into the sewers, Kari came up alongside me.

“I hope Lin and Fay will be okay,” she said.

“Don’t worry.” I smiled at her. “You know better than anyone how strong those two are. There isn’t a single person in Nevaria aside from you, me, and your mother who can defeat them in a straight fight.”

***

Fay remained calm as she stared straight ahead. Long ago, being in a situation like this would have made her nervous, afraid, but she felt like she’d grown out of that. As she stood there with Lin, all she felt was a slight sense of impatience.

“You and this princess have never really conversed alone before, have we?” asked Lin.

The sudden question caused Fay to look at her. “Now that you have said it, I believe you’re right. I can’t recall a single time where it was just the two of us.”

Lin nodded. “This princess has always felt a little closer to Big Sister because she wholly accepted me and said marrying Darling was okay, even though she didn’t have to do that. This princess has always felt like there was a distance or barrier between us. She has wanted to breech it for some time, but she didn’t know how.”

“I am sorry.” Fay smiled. “I didn’t mean to give the impression that I didn’t accept you. This situation is… well, it was something I had expected to be in with Kari a long time ago, but everything has changed now. Rather than being forced to marry someone I don’t want, I have willingly agreed to marry the man I love alongside two other people. Kari can accept this situation so easily because she grew up with three dads. My father only had one wife, so I’m not as used to the idea as she is. I wasn’t trying to keep my distance.”

“This princess understands.” Lin nodded. “Lamia normally only have one mate their whole lives, but we aren’t as constricting when it comes to sex. This princess’ mother has slept with many men in an effort to help her birth a strong child.”

“I see. That is… an interesting thing to know.”

It also explained why Lin was so accepting of the situation. To her, Eryk having multiple spouses must seem similar to how her mother had slept with multiple men, though she was sure Lin also understood how different their situation was.

“They are here.” Lin suddenly flicked out her long tongue.

Fay shifted into a relaxed combat stance. “Are you ready?”

“This princess is always ready.”

Their conversation came to an end as they waited for the two Spiritualists who Eryk had sensed to appear, but when several minutes passed and nothing happened, Fay began to frown.

“Where are they?” she asked.

Lin flicked out her tongue again as though tasting the air.

Her eyes suddenly widened.

“They’re above us!”

At that moment, a pair of figures dropped down from the ceiling. Fay leapt backward as Lin slithered out of the way. The two figures slammed into the floor, cracking the stone tiles underneath them. Lightning skittered across the floor as one of them stood up, and Fay understood that this person had just sealed her ability to use the Flash Step. That was fine since the Flash Step wasn’t as useful inside of enclosed spaces like this.

The two who had attacked them were women. They didn’t look anything alike. One had auburn hair that was several shades short of her own red hair, while the other had hair so black it resembled midnight. Both of them were pale-skinned and covered in lithe muscles. The cloaks around their shoulders did little to hide the obsidian armor they wore. A black chestplate that looked like it only covered only a small portion of their breasts, a string thong wrapped around their hips, and greaves made of overlapping metal that went up to their thighs.

She didn’t think their armor would protect much. However, the two activated their Spiritual Auras upon realizing their assassination attempt had failed, so she assumed they relied primarily on their auras for protection.

Armor for a Spiritualist was often less a matter of practicality and more a matter of aesthetics.

“Are you two working for Hagen Leucht?” asked Fay. However, her demand for an answer went unanswered as the two prepared their respective weapons. The auburn-haired beauty wielded a pair of dirks, while the other one held what looked like a short blade attached to a chain.

“This princess does not believe they are going to answer you,” Lin said.

“I think you’re right,” Fay sighed. “Let’s just defeat them and catch up with Kari and Eryk.”

Fay pounded her gauntlets together and placed her dominant foot forward, adopting an orthodox fighting stance. Since she was fighting a person and couldn’t use the Flash Step, she’d have to play defensively. Beside her, Lin created a pair of ethereal purple whips. Unlike Fay, who didn’t attack at first, she launched her whips at the raven-haired woman without reserve.

The woman she attacked leapt back and spun the chain over her head. It moved faster and faster, until it had become nothing but a blur, and then she moved the chain so it was spinning in front of her. Lin, having missed the first time, attacked again. Her whip came into contact with the exceedingly fast chain and sword. It was promptly torn apart by the rotating weapon.

“What the heck?!” Lin shouted in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape. “How did she do that?!”

“She’s the water affinity specialist!” Fay shouted. “It looks like she’s hardening and increasing the sharpness of that chain with the spinning motion!”

Fay was unable to say anything else because the other woman suddenly launched herself into a quick sprint. Her forward dash was exceedingly fast, but fortunately, Fay had been sparring against people who used the Flash Step daily, which meant this woman wasn’t fast enough to get the best of her. She moved to the side, avoiding the dirk in the woman’s hand, and then tried to attack by slamming a punch into her opponent’s torso.

She had to give this woman credit. She had a quick reaction time.

Before Fay’s punch could slam into her unprotected torso, the woman had placed her hands on the ground and used her feet to guard against the attack. While this did make her legs jerk back a little when Fay’s fist slammed into her feet, the lightning affinity Spiritualist used that moment to twist her body around. Then she extended her legs and began spinning, unleashing several powerful kicks that arced through the air and produced lightning.

Leaping backward, Fay skidded along the slick ground, but then she bent her knees and adopted a power stance for better stability. Rotating her arms as she tucked them into her torso, she gathered Spiritual Power. Fire ignited around her hands. She took a deep breath, and then expelled it as she thrust out her hands and twisted them to generate torque.

“HA!”

Two spirals of fire exploded from her fist. They looked like arrows almost, but they swirled around in a spiral pattern similar to a drill.

Her opponent didn’t seem to have an attack or defensive technique she could use to negate this. The woman leapt backward as though hoping the technique would run out of power before reaching her, but once her feet left the ground, the lightning she had used to cover the floor with disappeared.

Fay used the Flash Step.

She appeared in front of the woman, whose eyes grew so wide they looked like they might fall out of her head. However, this didn’t stop the woman from reacting. A knife flashed in front of Fay, who raised her arm and blocked the attack with her gauntlets. Metal sparked and squealed as she used her superior strength to shove the attack wide. Fay thought this had knocked the woman off balance, as her foe stumbled backward, and she moved in for the finishing blow.

But it was a trap.

Fay felt the hairs on her arms prickle seconds before a flash of lightning appeared from the bottom corner of her eyes. She gritted her teeth and moved her left arm, wincing as the lightning covered dirk struck her Spiritual Aura, though she was fortunate. The attack was too weak to penetrate her Spiritual Aura. Even so, the surprise attack shocked her enough that the woman was able to take two extra steps into her guard.

“Urk!”

The air left Fay’s lungs as something slammed into her torso. She stumbled backward. At that same time, the woman holstered her dirks and suddenly tossed several smaller throwing knives at Fay. Despite being out of breath, Fay saw them and responded accordingly, knocking them out of the air, but that was just a distraction.

The woman crossed her arms in an X-pattern. There was a flash of light. A burst of lightning. Then Fay screamed as a powerful bolt slammed into her body. It penetrated her Spiritual Aura and hit her armor, but while the attack didn’t penetrate her chestplate, the lightning corruscating off the surface shocked her muscles and caused them to lock up.

That was when the woman renewed her attack. Fay’s eyes widened as a glinting blade coated in lightning flashed toward her face.

***

Lin was very proud of her accuracy. When it came to wielding whips, she could strike a creature in whatever location on the body she wanted, wrap her whips around them, tie them up, and even use them to dismember enemies. Since they were made from her Spiritual Power, they were a combination of the darkness and earth element, turning them into incredibly poisonous weapons that could burn through skin like it was butter. Not only were her attacks powerful and accurate, but she could attack so quickly most people only saw a blur.

So why aren’t my attacks reaching her?

The woman she was fighting only used a single weapon, that strange knife attached to the chain, but the way she spun it around her body to create something that almost resembled a shield was shocking. Lin was even more shocked by how all of her attacks were being repelled. Her whips would get chopped to pieces the moment they touched that swiftly rotating chain and knife.

While she was worrying about how her whips weren’t doing any good, the woman she was locked in combat with took two steps forward and stomped on the ground. Nothing seemed to happen at first. This left Lin confused. Then something grabbed onto her tail, causing her to glance down.

“W-what is this?!”

It looked like black water had seeped between the cracks on the floor and covered her tail. As she stared at her tail in shock, the water suddenly constricted, causing her to cry out in pain. Her tail was actually pretty sensitive. It needed to be in order for her to remain upright.

With the water constricting around her, Lin almost missed the knife flying her way. It was nothing more than a dull glint in the sparse amounts of light. Lin screamed as she used her superior strength to tear the constricting water apart and dodge the knife, but she wasn’t fast enough. Blood spurted from the wound on her shoulder as the knife impaled her. It hurt, but she realized this was a good opportunity.

Before the woman could retracted her knife, Lin grabbed the chain, using her strength to keep the woman from pulling it back. While her enemy tried to remove the knife, she released her Spiritual Power and created a number of snakes that slithered across the ground and leapt at the woman.

Her hopes of having her snakes attack this woman while she was distracted were dashed when the woman let go of her chain and jumped back. She moved her left hand in an S-pattern. Water appeared where the hand left, then the water shot forward, extending like a whip as it sliced into the snakes. Lin clicked her teeth as she yanked the knife out of her shoulder. Blood poured from the wound, but she quickly slipped a hand into a pouch that Fay had given her and pulled out a Blood Clotting Pill.

The wary eyes of her opponent remained locked onto her as she popped the pill into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. It tasted disgusting. However, she could already feel the itchy sensation of her blood clotting around the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Don’t expect the poison on your dagger to work on this princess,” Lin declared as she threw the knife away. “Lamia’s are incredibly resistant to almost all types of poison. Only something extremely potent would ever be able to hurt her.”

Lin enjoyed the way her opponent frowned. This woman was proving to be incredibly difficult to kill. She had never had to face such a difficult enemy before. Even so, Fay and Kari were much stronger than this lady, so she was sure that she could win.

Deciding to use the incredible strength of her tail, Lin launched herself onto the ceiling, and then used her tail again to shoot herself at the woman like a coiled spring being released. Her opponent was talented at evasion. She rolled along the floor, dodging the attack. However, she’d obviously never fought a Lamia before.

She forgot about Lin’s tail.

Lin’s tail was easily six meters long, which gave her an incredible reach. The woman’s forward roll had not take her past Lin’s tail.

Thus Lin coiled her tail around the woman’s legs, tightening her hold until the legs broke with a loud crack. As the woman released a scream, Lin lifted her into the air and slammed her into the ceiling, then the floor, then the walls. The ceiling again. The floor once more. The walls. Over and over, Lin slammed this woman against something, using all of her strength. The floor collapsed, the ceiling dented, and the walls became covered in cracks and indents.

Letting go of her opponent, Lin watched as the woman fell to the floor. Her armor had long since broken off, her legs were crushed, and blood was leaking from her mouth. Nodding, Lin turned around and began walking away.

“Urk!”

She lurched forward as a sharp pain struck her back. Something had impaled her. She reached behind her back and grabbed the handle, pulling the object out and throwing it to the floor. Craning her neck, she glanced at the object, the knife her opponent had been using, and then looked at the woman. She was still alive. Her legs couldn’t support her, so she was holding herself up with her hands and knees. Her arm was still outstretched from its throwing position.

Lin gritted her teeth as she lashed out at the woman with her tail, smacking her so hard in the face that her neck cracked. Her enemy’s body slumped to the ground. It twitched several times as a dark stain spread from underneath her crotch. It seemed that with all of her muscles relaxing all at once, her bladder had let go as well.

After waiting for another moment to make sure the woman was dead, Lin turned back around, popped another alchemy pill into her mouth, and slithered off to help Fay.

***

Fay circulated Spiritual Power through her body and managed to lean backward just enough to avoid having her face sliced open. However, just avoiding this one attack didn’t mean she was out of danger. Her opponent had already closed the distance between them and was attacking again.

Despite the lightning locking her body up, Fay was able to counter it by forcing her Spiritual Power to flow through her body and undo the damage. Even so, her body still responded sluggishly. She blocked a knife slash but stumbled back. An attack from her other side scraped against her Spiritual Aura. It didn’t penetrate, but she still flinched.

If this keeps up…

This woman was talented. If Fay had to rank her against Spiritualists she knew, this woman was probably around the same level of strength as Hellen Brynhild. However, where the Nevarian Spiritualist captain was a straightforward fighter, this woman used trickery. She masked her attacks by hiding her weapons behind her cloak. While her opponent was distracted dealing with one dirk, she would attack with the other dirk from a different angle. It made avoiding her slashes hard.

Fay did her best despite this, backpedaling to gain some distance as she moved her arms to block each attack with her gauntlet. Sparks flew. Steel clashed. Fay kept her eyes peeled for even the slightest glimmer of steel to help her avoid the attacks that much faster.

I can’t stay on the defensive like this…

If she wanted to win, then she would have to go on the offensive, but that was hard to do when this woman kept attacking her. The only way she would be able to defeat this woman was if she got rid of those dirks, or…

If I became faster than her.

Fay knew of one method she could use to increase her speed now that her ability to use the Flash Step had been locked again. It seemed this woman was constantly emitting trace amounts of lightning from her feet. Even now she could see the tiny arcs of yellow light skittering from her feet and across the stone floor. Like Finn’s ability, the way she shuffled her feet along the stone seemed to be how she generated the technique.

Taking a deep breath, Fay continued to defend against this woman’s attacks. A horizontal slash was avoided by leaping backward. The woman attacked with a diagonal slash that she blocked with her left gauntlet, and then Fay moved her right gauntlet to knock her opponent’s surprise attack, a thrust to her chest, away with her right gauntlet. As she continued avoiding and blocking strikes, Fay took her Spiritual Aura into herself.

This woman had already reached the Second State of Spiritualism, obvious from how her Spiritual Aura had long since vanished. She knew what Fay was trying to do. Her eyes widened as she attacked more quickly, but Fay backed away and avoided the now haphazard slashes and strikes. The Spiritual Aura surrounding her body soon vanished as if it had been sucked inside of her.

Fay received a shock as her body suddenly became stronger. It was hard to describe with just words, but she could feel her muscles working better, more efficiently, and she could even sense their increased strength and density. This feeling was unlike anything she’d experienced. Now she understood why the Second State of Spiritualism was considered so powerful despite offering less protection.

With her body enhanced by her Spiritual Power, she was able to move despite the woman’s surprise attack locking up her muscles. She blocked the incoming strike. This time, she didn’t just block it, however, but she knocked the dirk out of the woman’s hand.

Her opponent stumbled but still tried to attack from Fay’s blindspot with her second weapon. However, Fay spun around and smacked the other dirk away. Completing her rotation, she tucked her left hand into her torso, rotating the fist, and then thrust it out. Her attack slammed into the woman’s chest. Fire exploded from her fist, shattered her enemy’s skimpy armor, and burned a hole clean through her chest. The woman flew back. She hit the ground once, bounced, and then laid still.

She was obviously dead.

This was… the first time I killed someone.

Fay closed her eyes and accepted that she had killed another person. She didn’t know this woman’s name, who she was, or what she had done with her life, but she had attacked Fay and her family. That was not something that she could just forgive.

“Oh. It looks like you’ve already defeated your enemy,” a voice suddenly said.

“Lin.” Fay opened her eyes and turned around as Lin slithered up to her. She glanced at the Lamia’s injured shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Lin wore a pained grimace, but she smiled wanly and said, “This princess is fine. Her enemy surprised her, but she managed to win regardless of that woman’s tricks.”

Fay nodded in acceptance. Lin, unlike her, didn’t seem too bothered about having killed, but perhaps that was because she was a Lamia—no, Kari hadn’t been bothered when she killed Grant Leucht either. Maybe she was just too soft?

“We should go and meet up with Eryk and Kari,” Fay said at last.

“Yes. This princess is sure Darling is waiting for us,” Lin agreed.

They began moving off, leaving the two corpses behind, but just as they turned a corner, Lin suddenly had a thought that she couldn’t help but voice.

“Where did Darling and Big Sister go anyway?” she asked.

“Uh…”

To that, Fay had no answer.