Chapter 4
—Third person—
Pushing a hand inside the lake, Karna felt the poisonous water touch his skin. A small purplish, swirling mass of oil-like substance tried to crawl through his fingers from the water. Instantly, a golden glow enveloped his hand, dissipating the malevolent substance without causing him harm.
As the glow from his hand intensified, it began to spread throughout the lake. The water, once tainted and murky, gradually transformed under the radiant light, until the entire lake seemed to shimmer like liquid gold. The energy from his hand purified the water, returning it to its previous state of crystal clarity, free from the purplish aura of poison.
Unfortunately, not all was clear as it would seem, as the stench and malice of the poison magic still remained.
"It seems something is actively transforming this clear water into the poisonous water," Karna said aloud, and Shizue nodded in agreement.
'Should've expected this when she said it was poisoned for generations, and the royal family used the tiara since the first queen,' he thought. His thought process was halted when he saw the water begin to bubble and sensed the use of magicules nearby.
Turning around and seeing Shizue with her hands raised towards the lake, he had an idea of what she was trying to do.
He raised his hand and placed it in front of him, his palm facing outwards as he gathered magicules.
"Thanks," Shizue's voice came from behind, expressing gratitude for his help as the lake began to slowly split from the middle.
A malevolent circle of dark magic was revealed, placed on a podium underneath the lake.
With a single mental command from Shizue, the bottom of the lake began to harden into ice. Slowly but surely, the entire lake froze solid. She nodded, proud of her handiwork.
"That should hold it for now," she said, her voice steady. "But we need to remove that dark magic circle to cleanse the lake permanently."
Karna stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the malevolent circle. "Let's take care of it then." He gathered strength, Jumping onto the now solid ground, Karna was ready to eradicate the source of the poison once and for all.
Looking at the circle, he understood that it was placed here specifically to poison the lake, and it was an ancient magic circle. Slowly, his skill ‹All of Creation› began to do its job, providing an understanding of the phenomenon and the way to dispel this malevolent circle.
"It seems normal holy magic or even holy energy would not do the job," he said, turning to Shizue. She nodded and walked forward, placing her hand on the circle.
The purple-colored magic circle began to change as Shizue infused it with her power. The malevolent purple slowly gave way to pure white light, transforming into a holy magic circle. The malevolence was consumed and eradicated by the purity of the holy magic.
"What's this?" a baffled Karna asked his partner.
"I used my unique skill «Degenerate» to remove the dark magic from the circle. Then I used the sub-skill ‹synthesis› to fuse holy magic into it," Shizue explained, pushing her chest outwards proudly.
"I see." He nodded with a smile, looking at her with a hint of admiration. 'I'm a genius, to love a woman like you,' he thought.
'She did that because the magic circle itself had too many magicules. It might even be active a thousand years from now, so wasting that wasn't good.'
"What's with that face?" Seeing the look on his face, Shizue asked with a small smile. "It's not like it's the first time you've seen me doing things like this."
"Yes, but it's still magnificent, the way you use your skill," Karna said as he walked forward and hugged her from behind, kissing her cheek.
"I can't help but gawk in admiration," he whispered into her ear, causing her to smile as a small blush crept up her cheeks, the tips of her ears turning red in embarrassment.
"Such a smooth talker," she whispered to herself as she took one of his hands, which was placed on her stomach, and pressed her lips on top of it.
"Focus, there's a time and place for this," she said with a small smile, turning and kissing him on the lips. Her hands now rested on the back of his neck, a small brush of lips, to convey her love.
"Hm. I agree, though I expect to be rewarded for my hard work," he whispered against her lips.
"What hard work? I'll have you know that I did most of the work here, Mr.," she said with a fake offended expression.
"Though a reward can still be given," she mumbled with a red face before shaking it off and separating from his embrace.
"Alright, let's go. I'm thinking of putting up a barrier around this kingdom," Karna said, then scooped Shizue up in a princess carry. She flushed red once more before she looped her hands around his neck as he jumped up and landed on the now cliff, gently putting his partner down.
Looking at the frozen lake, they began to undo their magic. The frozen ice melted, making way for the lake to fill the vacuum of space. The water rushed back, now clear and free from the malevolent magic that had plagued it for generations.
"That's a great idea, it's even better if we can imbue the barrier with holy magic; then we don't have much to worry about as well," Shizue said as they walked away.
Karna nodded, a confident look on his face. "Let's get started on that. We need to ensure the safety of the kingdom. I promised her after all."
Together, they made their way back to the palace, ready to take the next step in protecting the Raja Kingdom.
—Palace—
Seeing the heroes coming back, the queen and her unnamed advisors looked at them with hope.
"The lake is free of any poisoning, and it's even healthier for humans and fatal against monsters because of the holy magic I cast in it." Shizue's voice flooded relief into the hearts of the queen and her advisors.
"I am thankful," the queen said and bowed to show her gratitude. "If you need anything, please tell me," she said with a hopeful tone, eager to return the favor.
"We don't need anything. It's going to be our kingdom after all. And even if it were not to be ours, we would have still helped. So you can rest assured," Karna said with a smile on his face, which was mirrored by his partner, who nodded to his words.
"Ah." Suddenly, Karna exclaimed, before once again turning to the queen, "I would like it if you point me to the library. After all, this kingdom is quite old, isn't it? Must have a lot of books," he said with a little excitement seeping into his voice.
Seeing his unrestrained excitement, Shizue shook her head. She had only seen this side of him when he fought strong opponents.
Or when they were in bed. She blushed as she thought about it, before shaking her head left and right to clear her mind.
"Yes, I'll guide you to the library. Please come with me." Seeing the queen nodding to the advisor, who then took the mantle as his guide, Karna turned to Shizue and looked at her.
"No, I'll not be coming with you this time. I have to get to know Queen Tetris; we're going to share tea and relax," Shizue said with a small smile and turned to the queen, who nodded with a little smile as well.
Karna shrugged his shoulders and walked away with the guide.
—Palace library—
The place was massive, with shelves and books stacked on top of each other. The library was well maintained, with small tables and chairs and massive windows that, when opened, showed the entire courtyard of the palace.
As it was on the second floor, the shelves were made of sturdy fine wood, with protection spells cast over them to never wither or age.
Currently, Karna was reading through book after book with his ‹Thought Acceleration› active.
'It's a good thing I have this skill, as there are two hundred years' worth of books in here,' he thought as he read through page after page, seemingly instantaneously.
Placing another completed book on the shelf, he was about to call it a day and leave when his eyes spotted something he was extremely interested in.
"Spirits: The Origin." The title of the book drew him in, and he took it, dusting off any accumulated dust from its cover.
Opening the book, he was met with an extremely detailed illustration.
It depicted a woman with long rainbow-colored hair cascading down to her waist, pointed ears, and golden eyes, surrounded by a radiant golden aura.
[ Spirit Queen, Lady Ramiris. ]
Written under the illustration was her name, as he understood it.
'Strange, Ramiris is the name of an ancient Demon Lord, Fairy of the Labyrinth.' He closed his eyes, pondering with a thoughtful look on his face before once again focusing on the book.
Turning page after page and reading through the entire book, he had come to a conclusion.
'The spirit queen Ramiris fell out of grace and became a demon lord while still guiding heroes; otherwise, there would be no heroes like the masked hero and the Sunday priest.' He thought before shaking his head.
"Ulgreisia, huh?"
'She can help Shizue with Ifrit,' he thought, a determined expression making itself known on his face.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone