Chapter 172 Part 2: A New Power
-----
“A Demon King?!”
All three of Anna’s friends reacted in the same tone of voice. Sara seemed slightly calm, as if she already knew that deep down.
“Is that portal something the Demon King can do too?” Kevin asked.
“Yes, that’s an Infernal Hell Gate.” Said Anna. “It is their innate power; it opens a gate that never closes unless they die. It connects to a random Hell amidst the hundreds there are across the cosmos. And he’ll bring a flood of endless Demons and Demonic Beasts until the whole world is engulfed by their infernal flames and their relentless bloodshed. We have no more time; we need to act now.”
“It looks like shit just got real.” Dimitri’s voice echoed behind the party as everyone noticed him riding Violet alongside Hilda, Henrietta, Scarlet, and Anna’s brother, Jack!
“Everyone! You’re back!” Annabelle was incredibly happy to see them back, who rapidly approached them through the incredibly fast movements of Violet.
Once everyone gathered together, the first thing that everyone did was... Jack ran towards Anna, hugged her as tightly as he knew she could handle, and kissed her forehead. Kevin was also hugged by his sister, but Henrietta didn’t restrain herself like Jack, almost breaking her brother’s bones. Hilda happily hugged Baihe and Annabelle, and Scarlet, of course, did the same with Annabelle, who was like her little sister.
It was a touching moment. They knew they had to move and that the fate of the entire city was in their own hands, but they couldn’t stop themselves from spending even a few seconds simply hugging one another. Humans are social creatures after all; we value bonds, and we feel more fulfilled when we are with the people we love. When we are together with family, we even feel stronger.
“I was so worried.” Jack sighed. “Anna, you’ve grown even stronger now, but I can’t help but worry to death... Fenrir just told me you helped us slay Uroboros; is that true?”
“Well, yeah…” Anna said. “There are a couple of things I haven’t disclosed with you—things about my powers and the skills I have. But I doubt there’s time for that right now, right?”
“Once we get back home, you’re going to explain everything, alright?” Her brother was still her big brother, and his eyes were filled with the mighty strictness of a parent.
“G-Got it…” Anna sighed, feeling a slight pressure. “Now, we have to stop him!”
“He’s Heisenberg, isn’t he?” Jack squinted his eyes. “I see how it is... Fenrir, what do you think?”
“That barrier he created is not just shockwaves.” Fenrir's voice echoed from within Jack’s shadows. “It is the manifestation of his {Radiance}, but it seems broken and corrupted. It is not full; it looks like it has generated a different effect. Influenced most likely by the bastard’s own emotions now. And they’re very unstable.”
“Can we break it?” Henrietta asked, joining the conversation.
“It should be possible; we’ve all grown stronger now.” Fenrir suddenly smiled, licking his jaws. “And that bastard’s looking tasty... We can handle this, but there will be risks. Jack, it would be best if you went to the front; you’re the only one likely to survive a full onslaught of that monster. The rest are behind him. I would say most of you shouldn’t even fight him; stop the demons from flooding over the city quickly.”
Fenrir was a constellation—well, a Fallen one, but one nonetheless. This meant his knowledge, experience, and intelligence were much higher than everyone else's. As monstrous and beastly as he was, he was an incredible strategist and could easily analyze a battle and come up with a proper plan, which he often only whispered to Jack.
But now that everyone knew about his existence and Jack wasn’t trying to hide him anymore, perhaps due to Anna’s own influence, he simply decided to take charge of the situation. Nobody refuted him, not even the stubborn Anna; she knew he was right. She had just thought about the same plan he gave, but much earlier, she simply decided to let Fenrir have the spotlight this time around.
“Only Jack, Anna, Henrietta, Scarlet, and... Annabelle will come.” Said Fenrir with a ruthless tone of voice. “Everyone else is far too weak; fight the demons and buy us time!”
“Wait, what?! I’m not strong enough to come along?!” Baihe complained, getting really frustrated. “But Anna needs me! My ice can easily freeze that damn thing!”
“You’re too frail, and your magic is based on your emotions, as I’ve analyzed,” Fenrir said. “You have no power over them yet, and you seem to only rely on Anna for anything... You’re an unreliable ally.”
“E-Eh?” Baihe felt utterly heartbroken by those words, stepping back and looking at her own hands.
“Did you have to be such an asshole?!” Anna said angrily, quickly imbuing her hands with Celestial Light and smacking Fenrir’s head. It actually hurt him!
“Ouch! You damn brat! I was just being brutally honest! She’s strong enough to freeze the demons, okay? Her magic would be much more useful when fighting many foes at once.” Fenrir protested, rubbing his cheeks, which had grown swollen.
Anna comforted Baihe, who was about to sob. She quickly realized how right Fenrir’s harsh words were. If Baihe was about to begin sobbing after hearing those words, she was really emotionally fragile. Anna couldn’t blame her, though; she had gone through a lot of sh*t, from her two parents dying to her uncle turning into a monster.
“It’s alright, Baihe. You will get better.” Anna didn’t want to sugarcoat her words, saying he was lying. “You’ve already lost an arm; I don’t want you to lose any more limbs either. Can you hold on to the demons? As he said, you’re the best at handling multiple foes at once. Can’t you make like... a whole blizzard?”
“Right, I could do that!” Baihe’s emotions swiftly shifted again. “Okay, I can help too, but... I… Well, I’m sorry. I should have grown stronger by now.
“You’ve been working harder than anybody here since we recruited you.” Anna patted her shoulders. “You shouldn’t feel sorry for anything, Baihe. Once this is done, we can talk things out, and I’ll help you get through it! We’re besties, right?”
“A-Anna…” Baihe felt embarrassed for relying so much on Anna, but she still nodded. “Okay, thanks for everything.” She hugged her tightly and then kissed her cheek. “I’ll do my best; just watch!”
She quickly stood back up; the prosthetic arm made out of Astaroth was still attached to her body but was not affecting her negatively at all. For some reason, Baihe either had incredible resistance to demonic energy or was a demon herself.
“Could it be because of her affinity with demons? Maybe this is why Leviathan chose her as his vessel in the original story.” Anna thought. “Alright, make sure to survive then!”
“We’ll do!” Baihe nodded.
“Leave this to us, Anna. Go with your brother and smash that bastard to pieces.” Hilda said, holding her hammer.
“I’m dead tired, but I guess I can afford to shoot a few bastards if I can.” Dimitri sighed. “Man, I’m having a long vacation once all of this shit is over.”
“Big sister, you don’t have to think twice. I’ll use all my abilities to stop them! I’ll make sure to make the Constellations proud too.” Kevin said that although he wanted to make his sister proud, he preferred to sound cooler by naming the Constellations instead.
“I’ll do everything I can to stop those things.” Sara nodded. “Go and defeat Heisenberg, Master—I mean, Anna.”
“Did she just call you Master?” My brother asked me, raising an eyebrow.
“Anyways! Let’s go; we don’t have any more time to waste.” Anna smiled, trying to ignore her brother’s question and doing her best to avoid an awkward conversation. This was certainly not the time for that.
Without wasting any more time, everyone set off into the skies, utilizing all manner of spells, skills, or gear to fly. Anna conjured the {Levitate} spell on Dimitri and Violet so they could fly easily, while everyone else left behind had their own means.
The other half of the party flew higher into the skies, the enormous portal above the heavens looming like a world-ending threat, all while Heisenberg was embracing his “mother” while she silently hugged him.
They seemed not hostile at all right now, but Anna knew that they were true monsters that couldn’t be forgiven. And she prepared for the last clash against them, harnessing the plentiful Cosmic Energy she had gathered, coupled with a brand-new Skill.
“It’s now or never.”
Ding!
[You have exchanged 300 Skill Points to combine the [Mjolnir’s Manifestation (S): Lv1] and the [Demonic Snake’s Gluttony (SSS): Lv1] Skills!]
Both Skill icons emerged in front of Anna’s eyes, spinning together and ultimately merging into a single, gigantic, and even more powerful icon, one she had never seen before. She had a hunch that by combining a weapon attack-related skill with her strongest one, something even more ridiculous would appear.
FLASH!
The icon of a hammer smashing down into many foes while overflowing with lightning and a ferocious and giant crimson snake opening its jaws converged. Into the icon of a jet-black axe-sword, with black lightning coming from it and with many crimson eyes covering its blade. Anna could even notice twelve different beasts surrounding the weapon.
“What the hell is this?”
Ding!
[You have created the [Nameless Axe-Sword: Heracles’ Twelve Labors Manifestation: Lv1 (???)]!]
[Error! You have created a Skill that surpasses the Rank Limits of the First Awakening within your world!]
[To maintain Balance, the Skill has been temporarily degraded to SSS Rank, and some of the abilities that it possessed as the higher Rank have been sealed.]
[As compensation for this Error, you have received 100 Skill Points back.]
“Woah…”
Anna knew that the combination of a skill named after a legendary weapon and another that was the literal representation of a Constellation’s powers would end in something ridiculous. But she never thought it would be such a strong skill it would end up being sealed and an Error would occur!
However, that didn’t come without some slight "problems,” as Anna felt a sudden surge of pain across her entire soul. It was quick, as it only lasted a couple of seconds, but the pain was almost unbearable.
“Ugh…! What the…?!”
[The Power of the Twelve Labors is being slowly inscribed into your very Soul.]
[Your soul has been proven to be strong enough to handle three labors out of twelve.]
[The other nine labors have been sealed until your soul further develops.]
[The Three Labors await your command to unleash their prowess.]
“Hahh…”
“Anna, are you okay?”
Jack panicked after seeing Anna suddenly grasp her chest with pain, only to calm down seconds later. She nodded swiftly, pretending to be fine. However, her mind was in turmoil!
“What the heck did I get myself into now?! This was clearly just another new OP Skill! But Twelve labors?!” Anna thought, biting her lips.
The three labors inscribed into her soul... They were much more than she imagined; they were incredible powers that only the Incarnation of Heracles himself, someone who would eventually appear in Greece, would acquire.
He eventually became a calamity, known as “The Berserk of Greece”, that would clear Dungeons in a flash and gather the treasures found in the Second Awakening, which Greece was overflowing with. He became a rival of Jack and, eventually, a good friend.
“Just what is this System?” Anna thought. “To be able to generate a skill like this... Was the original Incarnation of Anubis even capable of this?”
The original wielder of the Eyes of Truth wasn’t this flashy with his skills; this was unique to Anna, most likely because of the System she had been integrated with since her transmigration into this world.
“An endless library of skills and information about the cosmos...” She considered. “A System is pretty much that, and more. Could it be…?”
As she immersed herself in her own thoughts, Anna was quickly called by her brother; a swarm of flying demons approached them the moment they got closer to Heisenberg, his “mother” already glaring at them with her crimson eyes.
“Protect my children at all costs.”
She spoke with a strict voice, and the demonic beasts overflowed with crimson auras, growing stronger and larger, mutating into higher-ranked creatures!
“SHAAAH!”
They all exuded the power of A+++ Rank Monsters! Jack’s party steeled themselves, unsheathing their weapons and harnessing their magic powers, clashing against them! Anna didn’t have any time to think, quickly deciding to summon the Nameless Axe-Sword that Heracles once wielded within his own worldline, which she got by just fusing two Skills.
“{Nameless Axe-Sword Manifestation}”
FLUOSH!
Suddenly, chaos, darkness, lightning, and celestial light all combined together on her right hand, materializing into a gigantic weapon, three times her own size. If it weren’t for her high stats, she wouldn’t even be able to wield it.
A rough-looking rock-made axe-sword with a hard rocky handle and a sharpened side resembling an axe and a sword at the same time, it glowed with frightening energies, black lightning zapping from within. And above all, three stigmas-like inscriptions appeared on them, showcasing three different creatures!
These are the Three Labors.
“Okay, fine, let’s try this.”
Anna swung the weapon against a dozen gargoyles while putting all her strength into the attack.
SLAAASH!
A shockwave of pure force was released, so strong that it shook the heavens. The wave of black lightning and crimson energy impacted the gargoyles, blowing almost half a hundred into smithereens.
BOOOMMM!!!
-----