บท 42: Showdown (1)

The two sides faced each other, every one of them ready to defend or strike against the other. Tension ran high as Vilvintine exerted even more magic from her already powerful state.

"Tsk,"

Rudelf was trying to plan a way for them to deal against Vilvintine, though she was a body amplifier and quite possibly stronger than any of the four of them, he believed strategy combined with all four of their magic could earn them the victory.

The two leaders were sitting in the back as they did when they first came, uncaring of the scene, which was unfolding in front of them. Hailey could be seen smiling at them as she watched with her cute eyes. One, on the other hand, was no different; his eyes were as cold as ever and looked straight at Rudelf.

It was as if he was pointing out that Rudelf was the one to emerge victorious among the four. As the thought grazed his mind, he shook his head and reassured himself.

"No, I will find a way, bastards!" He thought.

Suddenly, One smiled at him; did he hear his thoughts? If he did, they were already a tremendous disadvantage.

The floor below them began to rumble, and they saw One and Hailey stand from their chairs. And suddenly the floor disappeared below them, and they fell.

"Crap!"

"What the hell!"

The group screamed in terror as they did not anticipate that the floor was going to work against them.

"Defense Shield, Ultra!" Rudelf cast his most powerful defense spell, a green dome appeared them and encompassed the group, shielding them as they fell to the ground. As the ground beneath them cracked under the weight of the spell, the group were tossed around inside.

Dust floated and formed a thick cloud that lowered their vision; even their enhanced senses struggled to see through the thick fog of unknown dust, unlike the normal dust they'd encounter. It was at this point did they realize that the enemy they were facing, the weapons, the metal men, the architecture, the materials, and the two leaders were not from this world.

They couldn't be, sure it was a long stretch of an answer, but it was the only thing they could think of. For not even the two superpowers, the two nations who emerged victorious during the end of the Forgotten Era didn't have such magnificence within their technology, culture, or military. No records or smuggled information even told of such a monstrosity that they were facing.

The spell's dome evaporated after sustaining the brunt of the fall, the cloud of dust then went and covered them, they coughed and struggled to breathe.

"Tsk, cast a spell, Gord!" Lily shouted amid the smoke; she coughed profusely as she uttered the words.

"C-clear!" Gord shouted with difficulty; a strong gust of wind came from his sword and blew the cloud of dust away to the sides. As the dust was blown away, the group were finally able to see each other and the room they were in. It wasn't the lobby nor was it the same hall which they walked in a few minutes ago, it was an area.

Unknown to them, the floors were merely platforms which opened directly above an arena under the building itself. The area was a huge cube room with large white tiles serving as the wall, floor, and ceiling of the area. It was huge and could be said to be half a kilometer wide and a quarter of a kilometer tall. Large lines of white light covered each crack of the tiles illuminating with as much power as a sun to them.

As the cloud of dust finally settled, several claps echoed through the arena. The group looked up and saw One and Hailey floating on platforms which glowed underneath them.

"L-levitation magic.." Rudelf stared at the two, shock filled him further as he saw what was one of the rarest and hardest magic spells ever to use.

"Tsk, levitation magic could only be used by people who got a magic level of 10! you bastards! Do you think this is fair? What are you doing?! what do you gain from us!?" Shia could no longer handle the stress, what pushed her to the breaking point was unknown, but her friends have noticed that she's been acting strangely late and looking at her stomach quite often.

Her voice echoed through the room like a kid laughing in a deep cave. Hailey then crashed down the floor a few meters from them, sending a shock wave powerful enough to send them flying and creating another dust cloud.

Hailey emerged from the dust cloud exerting a more powerful aura than before; her atmosphere was powerful enough that even the non-magic beings like One and Hailey could see her body shine a faint gold.

"So this is magic, she's powerful enough to utilize a faint light around her body," One remarked, followed by a nod from Hailey.

"It is quite a sight, something unexplained by modern science but could now be attributed to a new field, the field of magic," Hailey replied.

"Now!" Hailey's voice was harsher and more commanding; she sounded like an officer who had seen much from the war. Her eyes began to glow a damp golden hue followed by the clenching of her fists under a yellowish haze. She began to exert even more magic within her body.

"She has that much mana!?" Gord began to shake.

"Would we even survive," Rudelf was beginning to doubt their chances, it was either one of them was chosen, or the none of them would live through. He believed he was the chosen one, a vivid image of two gods began to form within their minds; they were staring at two beings of power, a god, and a goddess.

Shia broke down into tears, sobbing and wailing as she went on her knees and began to beg for mercy.

"Please! Just spare my baby!" She pleaded.

"What!?" The three were astonished; they didn't expect Shia to bare a child; she even admitted herself that she was sterile!

"No.."

Rudelf lowered his sword and stared at Shia, his eyes were now red, and tears began to flow down.

"What the hell is wrong with these people," Lily thought, she scanned the three of them as Vilvintine was shining in the background, Gord was naively brave as ever, staring down at Vilvintine, Shia was on her knees sobbing like a kid, and Rudelf was staring at her like a broke rapist.

"I have been with idiots all this time?" She began to question her choices, she'd known them for three years, and it's been three and a half years ever since she left her family. Why was she blind for three years? She shrugged off their attitudes as just who they were, that she was happy with them since they accepted her, but was it worth it?

She began to think deeply, she had a good life awaiting her, she was betrothed to an old man sure, but he seemed sweet enough and was rich, he had the power within the kingdom even more so that her family. She could've had an easy life and proud parents, maybe even a son or a daughter.

"Why did I waste three years," She whispered, the other three seemed not to notice. Vilvintine and the other two seemed to be taking their time, letting their group collapse underneath its weight. Did they foresee this already? If so, maybe, just maybe, siding with them wasn't all that bad would it? Besides she'd waste three years of her life living and being an idiot among three more idiots, why don't she joined a new power as their pawn? Maybe she'd regain some of her honor by then.

She then heard Rudelf; he was acting, unlike the person, she knew him as.

"You bitch! You stupid bitch! Whore! Whore!" He shouted at Shia, she was still sobbing and refused to look at Rudelf.

"You told me, I'd be the one, I'd be the father! But now what!? What! You whore!"

By now, One was getting annoyed at the dram unfolding below him, he turned his attention towards Vilvintine and called her with an earpiece attached to her right ear.

"Finish the job," He ordered.

"Yes, master," Vilvintine replied swiftly, she set her eyes on Gord. Gord had been waiting for her, he smirked at the glowing lady and readied himself. As Vilvitine began to walk towards him, he thought it would be the best to strike first, and so he did.

"Blue Blessing!" He chanted, a large circle formed above his head and the area below the circle glowed along with him.

His eyes also began to glow blue, indicating that he too had powered himself up with mana beyond the capacity of a normal human being.

"Oh, interesting," One remarked.

"Someone equivalent to Vilvintine perhaps? We didn't receive this information," Hailey looked thrilled.

Lily was the only one of her group paying attention to one Gord had just done.

"A deity's blessing,"

A deity's blessing is a set of enhancement spells granted to a magic-user who had the will strong enough to handle the power. With Gord's case, the blessing he used was from the Blue Goddess and amplified his stats by ten; he was now basically at the same level and strength as Vilvintine. With this came a price though, with the blessing, his mana reserves within his own body have been amplified temporarily to store the massive amounts of new magic power, but if he fails to use it all up before the timer was up, he will die of magic asphyxiation.

"Come to me! Demon!" Gord shouted before charging towards his Vilvintine, with his sword drawn and stats amplified, his will and heart combined with his naivety, proved to be his greatest strength. Vilvintine frowned, and she too charged towards Gord with her glowing fists ready to strike.

Lily watched as the two humans of immense power crashed against one another with what could be described as a spectacle of two stars colliding.