Chapter 52 : Iris May Welford (Part 1)

A small orb glowed bright from William's hand, covering the whole room with blinding white.

The monster got caught by that light and just like her previous attack, it damaged its body, leaving little burns on his skin.

The monster looked okay but...

*DROP*

One of his legs dropped down to the ground, causing him to kneel as his body started to feel weak and heavy for some reason.

In the meantime, Iris came out from William's shadows. The moment when the monster was hit by the light, Iris slipped into his big shadow.

"Did you hit him?" Iris asked to confirm it.

"Yeah I did, thanks to you for giving me time to prepare." William answered and showed the orb that he used.

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[Orb of Faith (Replica)]

Grade: Unique

Type: Orb

Durability: 100%

A replica of the [Orb of Faith]. It has the same effect from the original orb that was blessed by [The Goddess of Light, Theia] herself to weaken the evil monster by releasing its holy light. But because it's replica, the effect got reduced.

Skill:

[Radiance Light]

A skill that allows the user to let out the power of light which weakened a specific target status by 20%, but for an enemy that belonged to [Demon] species or has a [Dark Energy], it will decreased the status by 50% instead. However, it can only be used once and after it was used, the durability will go down to 0 and the item will break.

[Used skill: 1]

Duration : 20 min.

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'Just as I thought...he has that item, I still remember it when he used this to save the MC in the game.' Iris muttered.

'Still...what a cheat item. Even though it's a replica, it can decrease someone's status by 20% and if it's from [Demon] species...it will decrease it by 50%.'

'I wonder what's the real one gonna do to this thing when it's used...'

*CRACK*

*SHATTERS*

The orb shattered into pieces after it was used to this monster before them.

"I'm sorry for making you use that precious item."

"It's okay....besides, if we don't use it now, we might as good as dead." William replied.

"Indeed~ but now...we need to finish him before the duration is over."

*CLINK*

William chuckled. "Heh, that's easy for you to say."

"Well~ just focus on trying to stop his movement~ I have an idea."

Both of them prepared their weapon as the monster began to stand up from his feet and got even more angry.

*GRAAAAAAAA!!!*

"He's coming now!" William shouted.

"Then I won't hold back...

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*SHINGGGG*

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[Dance of the Moonlight]."

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[Dance of the Moonlight]

Duration : 30 min.

Cooldown : 1 hour.

A skill that allows its user to let out the hidden power of the unknown beast that could be controlled and stabilized, the user will gain +50% overall status and additionally, it granted the user the [Purify] power.

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Her body glowed and surrounded with pure light blue aura, just like the color of her eyes.

William smirked behind his mask and then prepared his dagger.

"Heh, show off."

*GRRRAAAA*

*SWOOSH*

The monster dashed towards them and William dashed towards him as well.

The monster swung his fists towards him directly and with his speed that was much faster than this weakened monster, he jumped swiftly, avoiding his fist.

And in that moment, before leaving the ground...

William left his knife in the air right in front of the monster's face, then passed through him from above. When he's going to land behind him, he took his time to throw another four knives towards its back.

*TING*

*TING* *TING* *TING*

*TING*

*TING*

Horver, the knife bounced off from his body due to the thickness of his skin and how strong his defense was despite being weakened.

As William landed back to the ground, he smirked from behind his mask.

The monster looked at his smugness in confusion and that seemed to agitate him.

*GRRRRRRRR*

The monster must have thought that was all of his attacks just for show?

But for William, there was a purpose to why he did that.

*SHUUSTH*

*TAK* *TAK* *TAK* *TAK*

*TAK*

The knifes that were in the air suddenly rushed downwards, stabbing themselves on the ground and created a pentagon pattern.

William used a hidden string to make them stuck there after being bounced off from his body. After that, he put his palms together, as if he was praying.

"Now then let me show you what I have.....[Shadow Control : Star Cage Arrays]."

William suddenly casted one of his unique [Assassin] skill.

The knifes that created a star pattern, started to connect with each other.

*GRRRRR??*

As the pattern glowed bright, a shadow grew out around the monster, surrounding it and split into several parts before launching themselves up towards the monster.

*SHUUSTH* *SHUUSTH*

The monster noticed that those shadows that was casted by William were now trying to bind him.

The monster swung his six fist trying to destroy them but it was useless...

The shadows quickly wrapped around its body, wrapping themselves around his arms and legs then tied him down to the floor, making him hard to move.

*GRRRRRRR*

Iris saw what happened and was impressed with his performance.

'Such a cunning strategy...he used his knife as the distraction to create Arrays pattern underneath him...with enough calculations, he was able to determine where they will be bounced off to then pulled them down right on the location he wants.'

'And then set up a [Magic Arrays] which is different than [Magic Field] like Matilda...it requires some condition to made it, as expected for the Hidden Male Target...' Iris thought as she prepared herself.

Meanwhile when William finally managed to stop the monster's movement, he immediately felt the strength of this monster.

"What the hell...is this strength."

His hands trembled and his body started to sweat. Even though that monster was weakened by 50%, his strength still pretty much a lot stronger than William.

"G-guhhh..."

*GRRRRRRR*

*SWOOSH*

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*TAP*

Suddenly, Iris jumped towards him and stood in front of the monster.

"Keep it up...William."

'Since his body is weakened....then it means, his anti-magic are weakened as well...so!'

"Hey!! Look at me you, ugly face!!"

The monster turned his face towards Iris.

'[Restraint]!'

*SHINGGGG*

With a strong resolve, her eyes glinted bright blue like the color of the sky and locked into the monster's eyes.

The struggle stopped afterwards and William's shadow grip felt much easier to handle.

William's eyes grew wide when that monster stopped resisting for a moment, 'Huh?? It become easier?? What did she do?!'

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[Restraint]

Active Skill

MP Cost: 50

Duration : 10 sec.

Cooldown : 60 sec.

A magic eyes that allows the user to restraint specific target movements as if being chained.

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'10 seconds....is enough! Lock on!'

Her eyes quickly moved around then analyzed and focused on some parts of his body then marked them.

"[Vital Strike]."

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[Vital Strike]

Active Skill

MP Cost: 100

Cooldown: 30 sec.

A skill that allows the user to find the enemies weaknesses and attack them with a deadly strike. (If critical occured, it can create stronger damage)

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Her eyes marked down the targets, such as the arms, legs and chest.

All of which were places she attacked relentlessly before, creating small scratches here and there which turned out to be the [Weaknesses] she created herself.

'Like Sensei(Rowan) said...[If there's no weaknesses on the enemy, then you just have to create them]!!'

After that, she quickly crouched down and thrusted her blade, cutting his legs.

*SWOOSH* *SWOOSH*

*SLASH* *SPURT*

The blade went through his thick skin and made the monster knelt down.

After attacking the legs, she spun herself to create a momentum before jumping into the air to match his height...

"Huft!!"

Then she relentlessly thrust and slashed with her blade towards his arms that has been marked from all directions as if she created a clone of herself.

'[Omni-Slash]!'

*SWOOSH*

*SWOOSH*

*SWOOSH*

*SLASH* *SPURT*

...and so, she successfully cut off one of his right arms.

*GRRRRRAAAAA!!!!!*

[Notice!]

[Critical occured!]

'Heh! Talk about timing~' Iris smirked.

The monster shouted in pain as he couldn't do anything from being restrained by her magic eyes and William's shadow.

*SWOOSH* *TAP*

Iris quickly stepped back for a moment to position herself.

"This will be the last!" Iris shouted fiercely.

The monster's eyes grew wide as he felt something rising inside of him. A new emotion he has never felt before...

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.

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[Fear].

A kind of emotion everyone would have when they're faced with something horrible. Something that could lead them to...

[Death].

Full of killing intent, Iris dashed towards him and covered her blade with [Purify] energy.

*SWOOSH*

At that moment...

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Time slowed down for a moment...

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And the monster opened his mouth...

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*I....want...to...live....*

Iris and William's eyes grew wide in shock when they heard the monster's voice.

Her blade that was about to reach him, suddenly stopped a few distance away from his body.

Dark purplish aura surrounded his body, stopping her blade from reaching him and the shadow that was casted by William were destroyed by this aura.

William staggered back as he felt the monster's powerful strength. "What?!"

*SHINGGGG*

His red eyes shined in the dark....

*SWOOSH*

Then a dark whirlwind came out from the ground, surrounding his body as he screamed.

*GRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!*

"Ojou-san!! Run!!"

Iris quickly pulled her blade and jumped away before she could get caught by the whirlwind.

But that powerful whirlwind pulled them over, causing them to do their best to stay rooted to the floor.

'What the hell just happen?!!'

Iris looked at what happen right now in confusion but she quickly calmed down and reflexively stabbed her sword to the floor before casting a barrier around the two of them.

"Ojou-san! What are you–?!"

"Be quiet and hold onto something!!"

Iris quickly closed her eyes and combined her thought into clear image inside her head.

'Infuse it with light magic and...'

*SHINGGGG*

Her blade shined brightly then...

"[Holy Wall]!!!"

Two barrier with hexagon pattern on its surface surrounded them. By fusing it with her [Light Magic], she created a new skill once again.

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[Holy Wall]

Active Skill

MP Cost: 150

Cooldown: 120 sec.

Maintain the skill: -10 MP/1 sec.

A magic barrier created by fusing it with light magical energy that is able to prevent and block all kinds of dark magic attack.

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*SHINGGGG*

Normally, William was going to ask how is she able to use this skill, but right now, he's too busy thinking how to survive this as he held his own ground.

Iris on the other hand, was trying her best to keep the barrier going and kept her eyes to the MP bar that was rapidly depleting when she used this new skill not just one but two at the same time.

*SWOOSH*

However, the whirlwind got much stronger and now the two barrier was overwhelmed with its strong dark energy, causing it to start cracking in places.

Until finally...the whirlwind stopped.

The whirlwind was gone, sure, but it was replaced by something else.

There's a black sphere surrounding at the center of the area. They couldn't see anything inside of it, only hearing something started to cracked.

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

"Huh?!–"

And suddenly, it shattered...

*SHATTERS*

*SWOOSH*

*BOOM*

The shattered dark sphere released a surge of dark energy that were kept inside, creating large shockwave that blew everything away.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Iris and William were caught by the shockwave but Iris held her ground by using her Barrier to keep them safe.

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

The barriers cracked for a moment but it were fixed by her again and again...

"Ojou-san!! P-please run...!! You don't have to worry about me!! Focus on yourself!!"

William shouted desperately to stop forcing herself by trying to protect the two of them as he looked at this little girl from the opposite direction.

But Iris didn't listen and kept pouring her magic into the barrier until she coughed out blood.

"Kuhhh....!!!! AAAAAAHHHH!!!"

The shockwave continued....

******

Meanwhile, Harson defeated almost all of the guards and led the people to safety. However, right before he left the gate with them, he heard an explosion.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

"Huh?!–" Harson turned around and saw the building was destroyed by something...a pillar of dark energy came out from the ground and destroying everything it touched.

The people were cowered in fear after seeing such a thing.

Meanwhile, Matilda and Rowan could see the pillar on their way towards Iris' plsce.

"What is happening right now...." Matilda muttered.

"Ojou-sama!!" Silvi shouted when she saw that much ominous energy. Both of them decided to pick up their pace and flew towards it much faster.

Rowan ground his teeth and ran as fast as he could with his horse, "Come on!! Faster!!"

******

Shortly afterwards, the pillar slowly dissipated...

Harson was rooted in his place in shock seeing such a burst of powerful energy this close to him.

But then, he realized that his master was still in there. "Ojou-sama...Ojou-sama!!!"

He made a quick dash towards the destroyed building to see the large hole that was created by a single being.

And that made his eyes grew wide when he saw it.

On that large gaping hole, there's two white sphere standing alone among the debris.

The spheres were barriers and they slowly cracked before it shattered into pieces.

He could see his master was barely standing with her rapier stuck on the ground and on the other side was William, but they were not in a good condition.

Iris clothes were torn, and her hands were burnt by something even though they were both still inside the barrier earlier.

William on the other hand, had his mask broken apart and his body was covered with some burn injuries as well.

"Ojou-sama!!"

Harson called her and tried to get down, but suddenly...

His body froze in fear.

Even Iris who was throughly exhausted could feel the ominous feeling and Wiliam could feel it as well.

They turned their eyes to look at the source.

A lone man stood between them.

His body was a lot smaller this time...but the horns on his head got much longer and the energy he released were stronger than ever.

Not only that but his body was covered with flame-like tattoo and one of his arms that had been cutted off by Iris, regenerated.

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They knew with just a glance that they awakened something they shouldn't have.

*GRRRRRR*

******

Back in the dark room, a glass of wine shattered into pieces the moment it slipped from the lady's hand.

A woman with red hair, suddenly stood up from her seat.

"Hah! It can't be..."

A young butler looked at his master with worry.

"W-what's wrong, Minerva-sama?!" Nora asked.

A wide smirk broke across her face, followed by a hysterical laughter.

"Kuku...kuhahahaha~!! such a wonderful show!~ I never thought a failure we choose to throw away would become something like that!~"

Minerva sighed pleasantly,

"Haaaahh~ you never cease to amaze me Iris~ and I should be thankful for that~ you managed to push that failure to the edge and helped him learn."

Nero blinked. "What do you mean by that Minerva-sama."

"Do you know the reason why is that thing a failure, my dear Nero~?" Minerva smiled seductively towards him.

Nero blushed but he shook his head a bit. "If I remember, the reason it was a failure because that thing has an emotion which would be too much for us to handle, since they will learn so many new emotions that might endanger our organization." Nero explained.

"You are right~ but you're missing the point here~" She chuckled, "do you know Nero~ emotion is something that is hard to understand, even for a Genius like me~

"But those so called emotions have the power that could change an entire situation~ just like in life and death situation, the emotion will be either fear or desperation. The living will try to do everything in their power to survive and that could trigger something hidden."

Minerva smiled widely as she spreaded her arms to express her feelings,

"They will awaken a new form of power from the emotions they felt!!~

Triggering the thing that stayed dormant within them!!~"

Nero widened his eyes and clapped his hand, "I see! Such an amazing explanation, Minerva-sama!"

Minerva giggled and folded her arms underneath her chest.

"Fufufu~ but...you are still right~ I don't need such things like emotion~ because they cannot be controlled for sure."

Minerva faced the screen again, smirking as she watched Iris who's very nearly reaching her limit.

"Now then~ let the curtains to the next act open!~" She grinned,

"Since all the actors are here, show me again!~ Show me that you can pass through this hurdles! My dear little Iris~"

Minerva announced when the screen showed Matilda, Silvi, Rowan and all the soldiers that were going to arrive shortly at that place. A former facility that had been turned into a big arena created by the monster itself.

[The Prototype Ashura, Styx]....

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Had manifested his perfect form.

*GRRRRRR*

To be continue...