Book Three – Chapter Eleven – Part Five – Shattering the Collar

“NO!!!” Clarence shouted. She rapidly did her best to strengthen the Wind Prison, but it failed because it was as strong as it was ever going to get. How could she enhance something that was already at the limits of its power?

Carmelo then shouted for his men to strike with everything they had. Like a beautiful display of fireworks, an enormous amount of red, blue, green, and yellow lit up the sunlit sky. The skills froze, burned, whipped, and shocked Servi the best they could. But even as her hands were reduced to bone, the sparse muscle that quickly regenerated kept on relaying commands sent from her constantly growing brain.

She fought against a powerful assault, and her body paid the ultimate price many times over. Even then, the combined firepower of everyone in Deset couldn’t measure up to a single strike by the bodyguard. He was just a warrior on a whole different level.

“HOW?! HOW DID YOU GET THROUGH IT?!?! WIND PRISON IS CAPABLE OF RESTRAINING DRAGONS!!!” Clarence shouted at the beast, who only chuckled as only her left foot remained trapped in the penetrable Wind Prison.

“It’s because it’s so FUCKING WEAK!!!” Servi replied. Once her whole body passed through the prison, she stood up while still being assaulted by a hundred skills. However, in the two seconds it took for her to raise her hand, the frequency of the attacks had died down considerably. In another three seconds, the number of skills dealing damage to her would drain to zero. After all, powerful skills required much more Skill Energy, which meant the user became drained that much faster. Even something like Monotonia couldn't provide Skill Energy.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” Carmelo shouted. The metal bow in his hands violently shook with fear. Even his Spirit’s hand on his shoulder did little to ease their growing despair.

Servi slowly raised her arm and started to speak, staring at her foes as if they were utter trash. “I told you. I’m the Mad Dog.” Servi’s ring glowed a vibrant red as the swirling Wind Prison prison behind her flashed crimson. It defiled all Clarence had ever known. As a Superior Spirit, the power she held was vast and magnificent. The very essence of wind was hers to command. It should have listened to her, and only her. Yet there it was: her signature skill was shrinking and crumbling with every second, defying her orders like some kind of common traitor who wanted to join the winning side. She cried out with fear and a reluctance to accept the impossible. She fell to her knees; her emerald eyes stared as the last blade of wind disappeared inside a glowing red ring.

“NO!!! IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO CANCEL OUT MY WIND PRISON!!!” Clarence threw a tantrum fueled by panic and horror.

“Shit…” Once again, the fear Servi expelled froze everyone who suffered under the Enhanced Red Monotonia. Carmelo only had enough sense of self to utter that one curse.

Servi took a step towards Carmelo. Then an Elf behind him flew forward, not of his own will, and sent his gray hair scattering about. He exploded into a wonderful blast of gore. She took a second step, crushing the Elf’s arm as a Singi flew towards her. This time, she chose to rip his head off and scratch out his still-shaking eyes. A third step closer towards Carmelo meant another death.

“Carmy, you have to escape!” Clarence hastily spoke. Before Carmelo had a chance to register the words his Spirit said, she grabbed him by the collar and threw him away from Servi. A tornado of wind boosted him ever higher. With her strength, Clarence expected to send him past the clouds. If that was the case, then why did she hear his screams coming right beside her?

That was because he was right there. Servi acted even faster than a Superior Spirit of Wind in catching her summoner with Telekinesis. His screaming gradually quieted when Servi placed a Telekinetic grip on his throat. As he floated over to her, so did his metallic bow. That newly reforged piece of equipment acted as the pact binding summoner and Spirit together. If it broke, then the connection shattered. At that point, Clarence wouldn’t receive any more Skill Energy.

Accordingly, Servi broke the bow half a second later. She didn’t know that was the item binding the two together. She only snapped it because, as the Mad Dog, it was in her nature to destroy.

“Oh? What’s this? It seems like I've got your precious Carmy in the palm of my hands. Should I rip his head off? How about his arms? Maybe I could mount one of his ribs on my wall? Oh, I know!” Servi grinned as she spun around in place. A second later, his ten fingers had bent back until the nail touched the back of his hand. “Maybe I can do the toes next? Just know that I will not stop until I have sufficiently had my revenge.”

Clarence howled with anger and slammed her long arms against the ground. A chunk of energy raced underground, erupting under Servi as a volcanic eruption of pure wind sent her hundreds of meters into the sky. “I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO! ATTACK THAT FUCKING BITCH WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT!!!!” The Superior Spirit screamed like a banshee as invisible arrows of wind pummeled Servi, sending her ever higher. They bore holes through her body until she looked like a type of cheese that was known for its numerous holes. She was so far away from the ground that whatever skills the Deset’s remnants mustered up couldn’t reach her.

“Hey, Carmelo, watch this!” Servi turned to her former ‘master,’ who came along for the ride, and laughed at his pain. Then she summoned a handful of Greater Fireballs and sent them barreling down towards the ground. They lit up the sky like falling meteorites coming to destroy the world. Clarence did her best to send most of them away in an explosive burst of wind, using the last bit of her Skill Energy in the process. As a Superior Spirit, she used Skill Energy at a more inefficient rate than a Minor Spirit. If she wanted to remain in this world, she needed to reforge another pact with her summoner.

A thousand thoughts ran through Clarence’s mind. Most of which were about the good times she and her master had. With tear-stained eyes, she turned her gentle head towards the rapidly descending fireballs and whispered a song for her one and only summoner.

Before the first verse could finish, Servi punched upwards, hitting an Air Step platform to accelerate her descent. She landed before the first ball of fire slammed into the ground. In the few seconds it took for her to snatch the whispering spirit with Telekinesis, Servi summoned more Greater Fireballs and exterminated the large group of unconscious Deset members. Fully drained to their limits, most of them passed away from this world into the next without feeling an ounce of pain.

As a sea of flame erupted from the craters, smoke bellowed out, blanketing the sky and surrounding areas in a thick, black smoky fog, Servi loudly shouted. “HEY, BOSS OF THE MAFIA, HURRY UP AND COMMAND YOUR FUCKING MEN TO ATTACK ME ALREADY!!! UNTIL YOU DO, I WILL TORTURE THE EVER-LIVING-SHIT OUT THIS FAILURE OF AN ELF AND THIS GREEN BITCH!!!” With her warning delivered, the girl with the black hair turned to her two prisoners.

The Elf stared longingly at the fading spirit, who had become a little bit over 25% transparent. With two instances of Telekinesis holding her arms together with a force that could shatter falling rocks from space, Servi turned to Carmelo.

“I’ll tell you what. You can choose what I tear off.” Servi waited for an answer and frowned when she didn’t get one. Servi punished the naughty Elf by taking a knife to the Spirit’s left index finger. That sudden jolt of pain shocked her awake, sending her chilling voice scattering through the camp filled with mindless warriors.

“Good, you finally decided to join us. Now, I’ll let you pick what I do to Carmelo,” Servi told her. As she waited for an answer, something interesting caught her attention.

It was Clarence’s blood. More accurately, it was the lack of blood. Wispy, green energy flowed out of her exposed wound, which made Servi realize something else. When she put the simple knife to the finger, she hardly felt any resistance.

“Please… Don’t…hurt…Carmy…any…SSTTOOPPPP!!!” Servi snapped at the Spirit’s words and took the little knife to Carmelo’s cheek. She punctured it, twisting and turning until she met resistance in the form of teeth. Servi took the knife out and used her index finger to widen the hole. Like a dog, she dug into it, scraping out meat and chunks of muscle and bone.

Servi waited for Carmelo’s twisted face to yelp, but he didn’t. In anger, she created three more holes on his face and, coincidentally, produced three more wounds in the process. With his face acting like a blood fountain, it wouldn’t be long until his limbs ran cold and his breath ran short. The light in his eyes would slowly dim until they fell victim to the cloak of death for good. Until that happened, Servi used Telekinesis to keep his head pointed at Clarence’s crying face.

“Why?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! STOP HURTING HIM!!!” Clarence demanded. She fought through the pain, asking her question in between loud curses meant for the cowardly Mafia boss.

Servi didn’t have to answer her, but she did, putting an end to her witch-like laughter for just a few moments. “It’s because Sakdu kidnapped my best friend. He left me a fucking letter and challenged me to a game. Well, I won it. I fucking won it.”

“Then leave!!! Leave Carmy and me alone!!! We didn’t have anything—"

“BUT THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE FUCKING WRONG!!” Servi responded with a slap, hooking her fingers under Clarence’s cheek and pulling back two strips of flesh. Her wound bled not blood, but energy.

“NO!!! WE’RE NOT WRONG!!!" Clarence argued back through the tears. With how tall she was, a portion of her legs awkwardly dangled uncomfortably at an odd angle. “Carmy did all this to gain power for his home forest!!! You see, we’re the same—”

Before she finished her sentence, Clarence watched as Servi suddenly grabbed Carmelo’s weakened head and ripped it off like a wet bandage. She turned it like a screw, breaking off the last little bit of stubborn muscle. A waterfall of blood poured down onto his exposed spinal cord, dyeing it crimson.

“CARMY!!! NOOOOO!!!! CARMY!!!!!!!!” Something inside the Superior Spirit snapped. She cried out the name of her deceased summoner. Every word increased the pitch and desperation in her terrified voice.

“The same? Don’t fucking MAKE ME LAUGH!!!” Servi hooked her left hand up through his neck and out his opened mouth, gripping it tightly. Raising it, she brought it down at Clarence’s awkwardly angled legs, breaking her bones. “MOMO WAS ONLY KIDNAPPED BECAUSE YOU FUCKERS CAME TO ARCTON!!! ALL OF THIS WAS YOUR FUCKING FAULT!! IT’S ALL ARCTON’S FAULT FOR NOT FIGHTING BACK!!! YOU’RE ALL TO FUCKING BLAME, AND I WILL KILL EVERY LAST FUCKING ONE OF YOU!” With every word, Servi slammed her weaponized head harder until the skull cracked. She was left with nothing but a collection of mushy muscles and skin. Her black hair furiously fluttered in front of her eyes, acting like a hastily constructed curtain.

Oh, but that wasn’t enough for her. Having to recount her reasoning behind her attack refueled the anger machine burning bright within her body. In a single motion, Servi tossed the battered head away and ripped off Carmelo’s legs. She spun around and broke them atop Clarence’s shoulders. Of course, she didn’t stop there. Servi continued to beat Carmelo’s beloved Clarence with nearly every part of his body.

Forty seconds later, Clarence was on her last breath, yet she used that to fuel her weak voice. It quietly called out the name of her one and only. What little Skill Energy she had prioritized healing her body instead of keeping her materialized, which meant she’d disappear that much sooner.

But disappear? Servi didn’t want that.

Servi wanted to kill her, but she didn’t know how Spirits worked. If she was somewhat in the learning mood, Servi should’ve figured that something was amiss. Most Spirit Users received damage when the Spirit they controlled was attacked, but that rule only applied to specific categories. Superior Spirits were far beyond that limit, which was somehow only applicable to Average and Minor Spirits.

“All… I…wanted to…do…was…be with… Carmy… Car…my…I…lo…v…e…yo….u… Wait…for…m…e.”

“I’m sure if I take out your heart, you’ll die,” Servi simply said. She took her knife and carved a large rectangular area out of Clarence’s chest. After being tortured with so much pain, it all blended together and dulled. Even as she watched Servi remove a good 30% of her chest, she only felt a clumsy tickle at best. “There it is,” the girl spoke. Servi inserted her hand into Clarence’s body, which wasn’t that much different from a Human. Other than the lack of blood, it was nearly identical.

She pulled out the green-tinted heart from its cage, breaking four ribs in the process. With it gone, the wispy energy circulating around her body had no pump to keep it going. Thus, the life faded from the Spirit’s eyes for the last time as her soul—red soul—emerged from her corpse. It joined with Carmelo’s corpse, which itself waited with the many souls belonging to the inhabitants of Deset, and they finally joined together inside Servi’s ring.

The monstrous girl with red eyes undid Telekinesis on both Carmelo’s headless corpse and Clarence’s battered body. Servi grabbed Carmelo's hand as his body lifelessly fell to the ground and swung him overhead with all her strength. The corpse slammed into his cherished spirit at such a speed they both exploded on impact. A wave of green energy and red blood intermingled, splashing about and covering the area around them.

After Servi wiped some crimson off her face, she spat in their general direction and turned around. The thought of absorbing their corpses did pass through her mind, but she chose against harboring their bodies. Having any significant keepsakes of the awful week Servi and Momo experienced would only serve to cause problems in the future.

The saga of Carmelo, the Elf, and Clarence, the Superior Spirit, came to a sudden and abrupt end before they could achieve their long-term goal of saving his home forest. Everything he had done was for that reason, and that reason alone, yet it would go unfulfilled. Cruel it may be, the world wasn’t fair.

History was full of people who died before accomplishing the things they wanted the most, and the pair wasn’t any different in that regard.

Minor and Average Spirits were far too weak to have a complete soul, but it wasn't the same case with Clarence. Since it was her first time ever seeing a Superior Spirit and absorbing the soul of one, Servi felt a tingling sensation in her stomach. A quick message from Itarr via the stone ID explained it all.

I still have complete attention on Momo, but you just absorbed a soul belonging to a Superior Spirit. As far as I am aware, it acts like a regular soul, yet it’s typically far more powerful. From what I can tell, after a quick glance, you now have access to a wide variety of wind-related skills. Not to mention that they’re far more powerful now, as well.

Servi blankly read the message and simply nodded.

Finally, she could take on the Mafia’s main force. If she could wipe them out, then that would be the end. If there were a few stragglers here or there, then while she wouldn’t be thrilled with them being alive, the chances of them somehow regrowing the fabled Mafia from mere sticks and stones to a powerhouse were very slim.

“SAKDU, SHOW YOUR FUCKING SELF!!!! GET OUT HERE SO I CAN FUCKING SKIN YOU ALIVE!!!!  GET THE FUCK—”

As Servi raged to the heavens above, she heard a very familiar voice coming from somewhere nearby. It was muffled, coming through a voice loudner.

“MY GLORIOUS WARRIORS, IT IS NOW TIME TO PUT THE PLAN INTO ACTION!!! ACT NOW WITH HASTE TO KILL HER!!!”

Unbeknownst to Servi, who selfishly occupied her own attention with both the bodyguard and Deset’s members, Sakdu did not run away. After retreating to the edge of the camp, he had a few men send out Spirits to spread his instructions. He commanded a thousand to use Metal Wall to encase the lone Mad Dog in a tremendously thick wall of metal using a sword so overloaded with defensive enchantments that it was impossible to use. That would be the base of the cage, and it was to be thrown by an enemy close to Servi. She didn't know any of this, of course, so when a stray sword came flying her way, she just ignored it and killed the thrower.  She didn't have long to do it because something quickly formed all around her, blocking her sight.

Every Metal Wall built off of that sword would share the same enhancements. Then the following 4,000 members would all be instructed to use the Rank 1 skill, Explosion, at the flared opening at the top.

His reasoning was sound. The fiercest dragon alive couldn’t survive against 4,000 concurrent Explosions,  one of the most destructive non-Rank-0 skills out there. However, that plan also included his insanely skilled bodyguard. Sakdu believed his guard had merely toyed with Servi and passed her on to the lackluster members of Deset.

He wasn’t aware that his bodyguard had died to the girl claiming to be the Mad Dog. He didn’t know that all of Deset was wiped out or the fact that she was responsible for killing a Superior Spirit by herself, which was something nearly impossible for a person even with enchanted gear.

It was funny and ironic. Sakdu, who only used everyone to advance his own gain, now placed his faith in them at the last moment. When summed up, his warriors were ultimately loyal, disposable members of his guards.

Sakdu and Roger rushed past thousands of his men as they walked towards the growing tower of metal. It cast a shadow as it grew hundreds of meters in the air. At the very bottom sat Servi, who simply sat down and waited it out. She figured it had to be their final attempt at ridding the world of her, but she knew it would end in failure.

When the Mafia leader reached the blood-soaked ground, a frown appeared on his face. He demanded an answer and received it in the form of a monotoned voice lacking any excitement.

“The girl with the red eyes bled. This is her blood from—” Sakdu used the axe on his back to sever the talker’s head. Roger calmed him down and said it must’ve been the Monotonia making him see things.

“You’re right. There’s no way this came from her. I’m sure—” Sakdu then saw something that stopped his voice.

It was the faint traces of smoke.

But the Explosion barrage hasn’t gone off yet!!! He rushed to it and discovered a large crater filled with death. Burnt bodies filled it. Nasty ash and a bit of bone covered by an auspicious shield placement prevented it from totally burning up.

That was when his mind started to do the math, but it was when he saw the remains of an Elven corpse and the brutalized body belonging to Clarence, a spirit he had met once before when going through the promotion ritual with Carmelo. Though she was far taller and missing a section from her chest, she had the same face as that tiny fairy.

He had fucked up. The blood he saw belonged to Servi. The death he saw was wrought by Servi. It all pointed to Servi, but his heart and soul refused to believe it. Roger shook with fear like they had unknowingly waged war against the devil herself.

But when they saw no remaining traces of his bodyguard? Sakdu and Roger called out for him, but they received no response. That was when the fear really paralyzed their bodies.

His final prayers rested on the 4,000 Explosions, which were launched a moment later. For the briefest moment, there existed a single spot in the world that seemed brighter than the sun. It was located on the very tip of the large Metal Wall, which nearly reached the low flying clouds.

Explosion worked in two ways. The first was by transferring a large amount of Skill Energy into small pebble-like objects, and they glowed with ferocious tenacity. Then gravity took hold and forced it down to the ground. When hit something, the pebbles used the velocity gained to explode. This way made Explosion more destructive, but it was harder to use since it required specific situations.

The second way was more like a proper projectile, which the Wind Zeppelins used when fighting back against the Mafia.

With it being so powerful, it should have been impossible for the Metal Wall to contain such 4,000 Explosions. But this Metal Wall had the structural integrity to get it done because it was loaded with enchantments upon enhancements upon enchantments.

Sakdu waited with a trembling heart. Every thought in his mind told him that a Human couldn't survive so many Explosions. Even Roger scolded him for coming up with such a thing when he knew it wasn’t needed for anything.

“It’s a crazy plan fueled by an odd desire,” he had called it. “Let your bodyguard go ahead and kill her. We don’t need to expend the energy and gather any unwanted attention before setting off for Canary. And why would we over-enchant a sword? Why would we ever use something like this?”

Sakdu had ignored him at the time. Even now, he didn’t know what compelled him to spread the plan around.

Roger evidently didn’t have faith in his bodyguard, who alone cost him nearly five years' worth of money the Mafia brought in from its various connections. Again, he was against giving such a large amount of dupla to a single guard, but Sakdu went against him, claiming that it was a final failsafe. The bodyguard had commands to kill a specific family if Sakdu and Roger were to both die before the plan was put into action.

Was it possible the years of revenge-filled planning clouded his very judgment?

Was it desire to inflict pain and hopelessness on every Human that made him go beyond simple death and into total annihilation?

Before his mind had any more time to process the severity of the situation, the earth shook with a violent disposition as air, hotter than lava, erupted out of the only opening it had. The air pressure scattered the clouds, which had come to watch the growing battle, dispersing them with the utmost ease. The walls withstood the apocalyptic attack and held up, and Sakdu hoped he couldn't say the same about the girl inside.

“Roger, there’s no way anyone could survive that, right? That was 4,000 Explosions... We couldn't even take two or three from point-blank range.”

“Sakdu, I—” Roger turned to his mythril-wearing companion and placed a single hand on his shoulder. His palm smoothly slid over the polished surface, but when a particular noise penetrated his ears he drew back his hand.

Two sets of eyes turned to the toweringly large, smoking, vase-like object created from Metal Wall as the person inside punched it. An imprint of her fist appeared. Then another. And another, and another until finally, a hand emerged from walls so defensively enhanced that 4,000 Explosions couldn’t break through it.  The reason as to why she was able to break free was clear once the onlookers saw the nadrium gauntlet. With a snap, the defensive armament disappeared, revealing the hand left inside.

It was pristine and pale, with nails neatly trimmed and a total lack of scars or cuts. There wasn’t any swelling from the hand’s owner repeatedly punching her metal prison. A second later, a second hand appeared after the first pushed and pulled the metal back. Now that there was an opening, the defensive measures had dropped a lot, meaning even she could tear it away. The bright sun reflected off, nearly scorching Roger’s eyes, but he kept staring. When a face appeared in the growing window, the coat-wearing Elf dropped to his knees in defeat.

“You… You’re supposed to be dead!!! DEAD!!!” Sakdu uncharacteristically shouted, screaming what Roger wanted to scream. For the first time in many years, he spoke from a source of dread, not anger or pride. His scaly lips trembled as each syllable took much effort to utter.

Next came her legs, which kicked the pulled-back metal until they bent forward enough for her to put one through. Like a spider climbing out of a pipe, her body emerged from the opening. Completely bare naked with smoke coming from her body, it was as if she had molted her previous skin and evolved into a higher being.

Three nadrium swords appeared behind her head, and they sliced the walls that used to trap her, starting from the bottom and going to the very top. Sakdu and Roger lifelessly stared along with the members of their personal army as gravity took over. Hundreds of thick, dense metal slabs rained from the sky, colliding with the ground. Thanks to the Metal Wall enclosing her, Explosion had only two options. Go up, or go down.

Admittedly, the ground below Servi was already pretty fragile and soaked with her blood, so it didn’t put up a fight against Explosion. Just a few meters behind Servi sat a vertical tunnel that seemed to go on to the center of the planet. And while the ground didn’t immediately implode in a radius of 500 meters, very little integrity remained in its ability to remain standing.

But that was about to change.