Chapter 85: Mice in the cat’s palm

Surrounded in the thick black smog created by the fledgling, Munzumira moved a hand up to her incarnation's mouth only to cough up some thick black blood.

Her thousands of eyes still continued to keep watch the body of Eel who had stopped moving only to slump upon the ground. The countless eyes inside her eyes did slowly close as her frown grew wider. Shaking her head with a long drawn out sigh at the actions of that pesky giant daughter of hers this time.

“Although I certainly understand the logical intention of passing the mental trauma on my incarnations it doesn’t change the fact I still feel the damage nonetheless. Still that girl had a rather plain solution to my future sight induced paranoia. Then again it should be expected from my first born child…” <Munzumira>

While reviewing the events she calmly glanced over the once unmoving body of Eel that suddenly began to twitch once more - though it didn’t seem to be in pain. No, she was far beyond pain at this point, yet she simply didn’t offer a reaction to that. Slowly rising from the floor the muscles on her body began to bubble as large purple scales began to form all over her body - overall forming what could only be called a bipedal dragon.

Nine armoured tails abruptly spurted out her tailbone in a rather bloody manner with the bones revealed briefly till the muscle and then scales formed to cover it up. Her legs slowly became more improved even though her head began to change it’s very shape to become just like that of a… Well dragons! This included a pair of horns that appeared somewhat similar to what one would see on a bull though with it fading from black into a crimson tip while having a faint 'curve' to make them somewhat 'z' shaped.

Though that was very faintly.

From her mouth came flickering purple embers while the hair now acting like an animal's mane flurried behind her without care. Those iris’ of hers had a grey backdrop while a golden cross sat in place of a regular pupil - a crimson then purple halo around the outside. The pressure felt increased several folds with those eyes opened to the point even Munzumira nodded.

“A descendant of Leviathan indeed… Though how drab it is to overcome recent mental trauma in an instant by relying on the naturally strong instincts supplied through three beastial bloodlines essentially known for their strong instinctual roots. I am rather disinterested to see what it takes to break through the instincts to get back the fragile little girl though…” <Munzumira>

The frown on her face grew even more to perfectly shown her fangs which were rather peculiar upon closer inspection. It wasn’t the shape or anything which was off putting - rather they seemed very similar to what you’d expect to see from a cat. On the contrary the unsettling part was that they seemed to be 'upside down' which was only enforced by how ‘extreme’ the size of that frown was.

Of course, the beast in front of her didn’t care about anything such as that as it’s ‘evolution’ was just about to be complete as two fox ears appeared upon the top of it’s head. After that, what appeared like fur purple began to grow over those scales though there was one thing that put a bit of a damper on that… The purple ‘fur’ caught on fire when introduced to the embers present all around them.

“GGGRRRAAAAWWWR~!” <Eel>

Still that didn’t dissuade the beast who reeled backwards to let out a mighty roar to the sky fueled with more hunger than pain. Her left claw wrapped around the bone spear that was plunged into the burning earth to retch it out while the now familiar curved blade spawned in her right before the monster lunged with another ear-bleeding call to war. Pointing the spear right towards Munzumira’s incarnation, with obvious intentions, which were only met with the response of a black fog-like barrier forming between the two.

“Now… Let’s see what you can accomplish…” <Munzumira>

Opening her eyes once again to get the pleasure of watching that spear puncture right through her barrier to head right for her chest.

Despite that , what should be a shock, it appeared the girl couldn’t be less surprised as she just calmly swayed to the right to have the spear pass under her armpit then as the sword came to lob off her head she lightly kicked off the floor. Perfectly landing on the blade while it was mid swing to point with her index & middle fingers - creating two black beams of abyssal energy which she sent straight into Eel’s eyes.

The monster let out a growl of anger while ignoring the pain; swinging the blade back to her right though Munzumira once again just jumped. Flying off into the distance in such a graceful manner you would never think she was in a fight but instead taking part in some performance though Eel didn’t seem to appreciate that. Once again thrusting towards the spirit with a glow encasing the spear before a spear of light flew out towards Munzumira.

She couldn’t seem to care less as she just moved her finger to flick at exactly the right time to hit the magic spear thus causing it to fly past her head.

“I see… This is indeed momentum manipulation which allowed you to break through my barrier with absolute ease. With you completely relying on instinct it makes sense that you would be able to use all your skills to their highest degree… Yet, that means absolutely nothing, as long as you know the weakness behind such an ability being one directional.” <Munzumira>

Even as Munzumira spoke Eel had no sign of etiquette as the spear of light was quickly followed up by a bloody crescent blade attempting to separate her from her hips. Yet - in just as casual manner - she merely nipped it between her metallic black fingernails before throwing it away to one side. Unsurprisingly, from her aggressive nature, Eel once again followed that up with thrusting her spear towards Munzumira though she just pushed its head aside with her nail.

This time she didn’t just end it there as she pushed the spear to Eel’s right to block her sword while stepping forward. Lightly jumping up before thrusting her other nail forward to press against Eel’s neck causing a trail of blood. However, the strength in her skinny little arms was just as it seemed, not managing to do much more than knick her.

“Dead.” <Munzumira>

With an angry roar the beast dropped the spear and attempted to uppercut the 5 foot girl however this time Munzumira didn’t even pretend to play fair. Exploding into a black fog that dissipated before reforming into her a few feet away. Although her frown was no longer as deep that didn’t mean much for the safety of Eel.

“There doesn’t exist a single timeline where you will ever be able to commit any harm to this vessel and I should know since I’m looking for one. Each and every choice to make is so very obvious to me - even more so now that you rely on sheer instinct. Perhaps I’ll show it to you just exactly what I mean?” <Munzumira>

Just as the monster was about to charge once more Munzumira lifted her left hand and simply clicked yet the result instantly paused Eel’s charge. All around the beast red ribbons attached themselves all around her - it wasn’t just that simple or Eel’s attempts to swipe them away with her sword would actually do something. Instead the sword not only passed right through the ribbons but it actually appeared as if these ribbons were pulling her along as whenever the ribbons appeared in mass seemed to dictate her next action.

However the hatchlings' attempts to swipe away ribbons only seemed to make more appear, leading the beast jumping backwards only for them to change where they held her once more, causing her to change direction. Rolling in the ashen dirt to try and get away. This was all in vain as no matter what she did these lines not only remained but multiplied.

“It must be quite scary for a beast with no intelligence to see such a scene - even if I explained to you that these were merely the 3D representation of a concept you would never understand even if given an eternity. Fate is quite the scary thing is it not? Mortals & beasts alike always deny fate yet never seem able to escape it… Well that was until I made some adjustments to make things more interesting… This is starting to get boring though so I think I’ll end this here and get the brat to kill you now so I can move on to the next step.” <Munzumira>

While Eel was still on the ground, Munzumira just crossed her arms around her back while a rift opened behind her. From that rift into the {Spirit World} a tendril with a scorpion stinger would shoot out to inject the beast full of a potent sedative… Or at least that was what was meant to shoot out from the rift.

Against expectations Munzumira frowned then following that what came out was a ice block that just so happened to be a stinger-tipped tendril. As if realising that it truly stood no chance against the eerie little girl, two draconic wings with armoured backs sprouted from Eel’s back before she leapt up into the air. Her next move was to dive bomb the unlucky Kobold who happened to be closest and letting her fangs sink into it’s neck.

It began squealing yet that quickly ended as Eel quickly tugged on that neck with her vise bite getting a satisfying ‘crack’ from her efforts. Enjoying her feast - she didn’t end it there as she soon jumped onto another enemy who was trying to crawl away after losing their legs to the swarm of fire from earlier - biting through the back of their skull. Soon charging off in search of another being to hunt while Munzumira just clicked her tongue.

“How irritating; I know I cannot foresee instances where a top tier Toppler or Archon gets involved however to think I would underestimate that girl. I cannot decide whether I’m meant to be annoyed or impressed with her. Still I have to admit that even though she’s annoying… She’s at least far smarter than you are Promicarus…” <Munzumira>

As soon as she said that last line the incarnation of Munzumira took an abyssal spear to the face as the pair of puppeteer & paladin arrived on the scene. Unfortunately it was just in time to see Eel charge out to no doubt try to gain enough power to take on the god empress of all spirits; as impossible as that may be. Promicarus was about to say something to Fuka however instead of focusing on Fuka her eyes drifted to the 5 foot girl who she just shot in the face standing with no signs of injuries.

More menacing than that was the fact she was standing behind Fuka now withouth the paladin even noticing causing Promicarus to freeze up.

“What is wrong with ya-” <Fuka>

*scree*

“Dead.” <Munzumira>

Munzumira, emotionlessly dragged her index finger’s metal nail along the back plate of the paladin, causing an ear piercing screech as metal scratched metal. Even the paladin herself could do nothing but freeze up with a cold sweat along her back as she thought very carefully about her next move. As if deciding her widened eyes narrowed as she quickly swung her sword behind herself to lob the girls head from her shoulders - about as successfully as one could imagine.

Although the girl hopped backwards nobody was dumb enough to consider it an act of retreat since her arms were still firmly behind her back. It wasn’t as if she moved particularly fast however somehow the graceful yet methodical motions brought more dread. Afterall she knew exactly what they were most likely going to do next.

Anyone could tell she was playing around with them like a cat observing the last dying struggle of some mice for its sadistic amusement. The cat is sure of how the mice will react but it can’t help find some enjoyment out of the pitiful struggle the mice put up. Fuka didn’t let that change her mind as she turned around with her shield raised while yelling to the figure now behind her.

“Run away and get Eel out of here!” <Fuka>

“But…” <Promicarus>

“Ya’re the only one who stands a chance of putting Eel down out of the two of us so it only makes sense that I remain… Not to mention [Taunt]!” <Fuka>

She hadn’t had much opportunity to use that skill yet it was the most standard skill anyone who played the rank of meat shield knew. It simply attracted the attention of all those with hostile intentions against her towards her for a brief instance. In terms of agro based skills it may as well be the lowest of the low yet it wasn’t as if it was completely useless… Yet it was no top tier skill as it became useless on anything above your level.

<I really should ‘ave began prayin’ to someone shouldn’t I…>

Promicarus just bit her lip before turning around to charge into the smog in an attempt to find the rampaging beast inside. Between her and the scariest shorty of the all was just Fuka who, despite wearing full plate armour, couldn’t help but feel as if she needed a few more layers. Yet the next words of Munzumira made both of them come to a pause.

“Oh you needn’t look for the beast… Even I struggled a little to spot it but luckily it’s mossy hide is damaged by its own flames or I may have missed her. This brat really does get all the best toys to play with even if she’s pathetically useless when it comes to using them; to think people call something like her a genius these days.” <Munzumira>

Hearing that anyone would likely freeze yet Promicarus quickly noticed an anomaly in front of her as if patches of scales were just floating in front of her. It was only a few seconds later did she manage to make sense of it as she noticed a very familiar sword trying to remove her head from her torso. Reaching into the rift she quickly pulled out one of her greatswords to meet the blade yet her physical body was never as strong as Eel even before as such she was sent skidding backwards.

Fuka, who was focused on Munzumira, received a great surprise when she felt the back of the girl press against her own. She didn’t let that surprise her for too long however it would be lying if she said she had hope in their current situation. The moment the girl in front of her moved would likely be an action which could instantly remove her from the census.

As for the monster behind her - the moment it moved would be a moment she would need to take her attention away from the spirit to preserve her life. Although one would never guess it from the frown Fuka believed this situation only brought far more amusement to the sadistic spirit.

Seeing their struggle, Munzumira finally decided to give them some ‘help’, though her frown had vanished to just be a blank face.

“Say, you used an Abyssal Lance before so how about I show you mine?” <Munzumira>

“Tho-” <Promicarus>

Before Promciarus to even make a quip Fuka felt her shield go heavy for a second then her body continued to do the same as she felt something wet from her chest. For as great as Promicarus thought she was she didn’t even notice the mana around tremble never mind form a magic circle. It only took a second for Fuka realise that the warm liquid was her own blood as a hole formed through her shield, breastplate, lung then through the girl behind her as well. The only one who barely managed to dodge was the beast who quickly attempted to move aside yet still had a gouged side.

As if to make matters worse this only made the beast move - charging forward to thrust her spear through the stomach of both girls as they slumped against one another just to remain standing at the fierce assault. Promicarus bit her lip while raising her sword to block the blow with her summoned sword then reached into another rift to pull out a second. Just as she began to swing the second towards Eel the first hit her sword…

And passed right through it as if it didn’t even exist.

Puking up black while Fuka behind her puked out red; neither of the girls seemed in a good way while the sadistic spirit just clapped at the scene.

“Standing due to the help of your comrades… Say that little lover of yours was also just like that monster hybrid wasn’t she? Perhaps you should go all out this time in order to save her while you’ll even be killing the hero just as is required for our little project. Isn’t that truly for the best at this rate?” <Munzumira>

Promicarus could only throw as she quickly recovered yet despite Fuka’s best efforts she couldn’t manage the same. Luckily the second blade managed to make the beast jump away though it was likely more caution towards the bully than fear of challenging Promicarus in a contest of strength. Didn’t change the fact it pretty much vanished into the smoke filled hell she had created to no doubt stalk them for another chance to end them.

As a half goblin Fuka was far sturdier than a human so she wasn’t going to die any time soon yet that didn’t change the fact she was quite pale behind her helmet. Even a dragon would pass out from blood loss despite how sturdy they are. What made this even worse was that, although the wound from Eel was healing just fine, that was all. The bloody hole right through her chest refused to heal no matter how much healing magic she pumped into it.

“I’ll be honest with ya… I could really do with a nice bed to sleep this off.” <Fuka>

Little did she know that it wasn’t just her physical body that was damaged but also the ‘blueprint’ that was her soul leading to the healing magic simply not knowing how to heal it.

Promicarus’ eyes widened at the shitty joke Fuka made; with how cautious the half-blood usually was she would expect her to question their ‘project’. Yet instead she had time to make some silly joke? Although it was obvious she was trying to lighten the mood it didn’t change the fact they were at the mercy of the pair.

“That’s ye shit to deal with; I just want to get outta here and spend some time studying a hobgoblins anatomy after reaching the kingdom!” <Fuka>

“*snort* more like a sissydom with mine useless older brother in charge…” <Promicarus>

“Honestly couldn’t give two if they all broke into song and dance as long as I get a nice long session of passion at the end of it hahaha!” <Fuka>

“*Tsk* such a simpleton but  this great one can’t disagree with thou that a spot of relaxation is in order though I’m still saving myself.” <Promicarus>

“I wouldn’t guess it with how you-” <Fuka>

“It’s a fashion choice not a life choice… So far.” <Promicarus>

“How nice.” <Munzumira>

With that the spirit clicked her fingers which caused shadowy chains to shoot out and wrap around the half invisible figure of Eel. No matter how much the beast struggled she couldn’t break out from her binds which resulted in her roaring out loud.  Even then it wasn’t as if roaring would do anything to break a magic cast by Munzumira.

“Stop wasting everyone's time and finish the foolish hero for me.” <Munzumira>

“I have already decided where our fight shall be and it shall be legendary so thou will need to wait patiently, mother,  [Ultimate Skill - Legion of the Faux]!” <Promicarus>

Promicarus threw her hands into the air as soon thousands upon thousands of rifts opened up causing a massive crackling to occur as sparks flew through the air. A whirlwind occurred under the thundering slaps as the sound of war drums echoed throughout the area. Countless poor monsters got caught in rifts causing them to be dragged in only for blood to shoot back out.

As impressive as all that was…

“You really intend to use my own magic against me? Very well - I’ll accept your foolish decisions as a chance to correct your behaviour - luckily for me there are plenty of rifts already made here so I’ll borrow these. I hope you don’t mind.” <Munzumira>

Moving one hand out from her back to click all those rifts began to tremble before-

Suddenly everyone's sight was filled with an icy mist that completely tamed the burning land by covering it in a thick layer of pearl-like ice. Stranger still was that it didn’t do anything to hurt either of the pair but was even better than that as Fuka’s chest wound began to heal. That made Promicarus widen her eyes since, as someone who had her goals, of course understood a lot about souls.

The ability to heal souls was rare to say the least; even she couldn’t currently do it as quickly as what this mist had managed. She also quickly realised they were the only ones unwounded by the mist as the monsters all around were frozen popsicles - though she quickly took note that her mother was nowhere to be seen. That should just be expected.

Just as she was thinking of finding where that dumb Elizabeth had gotten to the monsterous figure darted through the fog towards the recovering paladin. Jaws wide open while aiming for the girl's neck - Promicarus quickly tried to throw her hand backwards with the intention to send an arrow through the open mouth. Yet before she could finish her casting another figure appeared as a spatter of red marred the beautiful pearl-like floor.

A hand came to softly pat the head of the monstrous form of Eel, making sure to scratch the back of those fox ears, while the hungry eyes only got a chance to see a gentle smile. The beast let out a soft growl. Despite the fangs piercing right through her wrist she never so much as shuddered while gently patting the beasts head.

“Sssh~ Don’t worry and drink up; fox blood should promote balance so you should have no problems reverting back so just drink it up for now…” <Alexis>