V5.C16 Meiru Melusine, Delphy?
"Tio, I'll be straight. Despite you being a pervert I don't hate you. I actually admire your wisdom and strong character. But it doesn't mean I have romantic feelings for you... yet."
Facing the hard cold truth, Tio showed a bitter smile on her face but his latter words bloomed a beautiful smile on her face. Hearst patted her shoulder with a smile.
Leo put Irene down and got ready to dodge the pervert's attack but strangely she just stood there smiling.
"Goshujin-sama, this one wants to go on a date in exchange for the reward thou promised earlier today. Is that possible?"
He glanced at Hearst secretly nodding his way, trying to get him to accept. He nodded his head with a smile.
"Sure, better than giving some punishment… We can know each other better this way."
Tio was moved to tears by his agreement. She left all shame and jumped at him. "Goshujin-sama!"
Here it comes, he thought and gripped the head of the perverted woman attempting to sneak in a hug or maybe kiss.
"They are here and stop licking my hand! It's gross!"
The magic circle on one of the circular platforms lit up. After the light vanished Eri, Shea and Yue appeared. Their sad faces brightened after seeing Leo already.
"That was truly torture…"
"...Nn, Shea nearly went berserk."
"I-I did not… I'll need Leo-san to spoil me tonight…"
While talking they arrived at the Altar below the Shrine.
"Welcome back, I bet all of you are mentally exhausted. So let's get this over with and return home."
Everyone replied with a nod and entered the magic circle together. Then the same memory check happened. Leo scanned the memories flashing over the heads of other girls.
He watched the party of Shea, Eri and Yue experiencing a three way war between Beastman, Demon and Humans. After easily wiping out the army, they learned that war was orchestrated by higher ups of Human country. In the end Humans were the ones who suffered the most losses. Shea took the biggest hit from this, she had to watch Rabbitmen being treated as cannon fodder by the Beastmen army.
Hearst and Tio went through a naval war between two Human countries fighting for different beliefs in God. Tio and Hearst effortlessly blazed through them and arrived at a banquet where a peace treaty was taking place. Seconds later, they all stabbed each other while yelling for their gods. Then in a dark basement, a ghost tried to control Hearst only to get purified instead.
[Ancient Magic 'Restoration Magic' acquired]
[Restoration Magic] (Ancient Magic)
Allows the user to interfere with time, allowing them to manipulate the time
Leo nodded at the description of new magic while patting Shea's bunny ears to cheer up the depressed rabbit.
"Restoration Magic or Time manipulation. We can go to the Sea of Tree Great Labyrinth after getting the proof here."
It might take more than a year to travel normally but the spatial magic allowed them to do in the blink of an eye. Just as the light of the magic circle faded, a rectangular block similar to the Altar popped out from the ground. It glowed with a faint light then a figure formed above it.
The woman sitting above the block wore a white one-piece dress, a beautiful face with fin-like ears similar to Remia, even her hair had the same emerald green color.
"She is Meiru Melusine? The creator of this Labyrinth?"
Meiru started the introduction then began explaining the true goal of Liberators. With a sorrowful face, she spoke of the atrocities God had committed. Her final advice had been to live by your free will and find true happiness. After the illusion of Meiru faded, the light of the magic circle that summoned her disappeared.
"She was the one who talked in our heads?"
"I think too…" Leo replied.
The others also noticed the change in Irene's behaviour but their mental exhaustion took over the curiosity.
Still Eri thought it was her responsibility as a friend to ask. "Irene, did something happen?"
Irene couldn't stop the wide smile from appearing on her face and dove in Eri's embrace. "Eri! I did it! We are finally true sisters."
The others except Yue surrounded them and started chattering about it.
Yue stood beside him with a strange gleam in her eyes. "...Leo, it's magic for time manipulation?"
"Yeah," he said and cut a small wound on his finger. With one finger on the wound, he tried to visualize reversing time to close the wound. His finger glowed with a faint light and the wound closed up. The magic didn't heal it, instead it reverted the time to the moment when the wound wasn't here.
"I can fina…"
Rumble!
The whole shrine shook and the seawater around it started rising quickly.
"Damn! Hold on to each other. I think it's Meiru's way of showing us out."
Before the girls could come to him, a powerful current launched them in the air straight. Using spiritual hands to pull everyone, he narrowed his eyes at the roof they were heading toward.
"Fuck this woman, she looked to be the gentle type, but this..."
He pulled his fist back, ready to punch his way through the roof. However, just before they reached the ceilings, it slid open to reveal an opening in the roof and spit them back into the middle of the ocean.
He used air magic to breathe and checked everyone's condition. Not everyone was proficient in swimming. Yue for example, wasn't very good at physical tasks even after getting her body evolved by Evil piece. While he pondered over it, something surprising happened.
"Leo… what is that monster?"
Hearing Yue's voice in telepathy, he moved his gaze to see a really giant fish, spanning more than 7m, its wing-like fins had a pinkish skin on them. Two long white horns growing out of its head with shining golden spots under its large mouth. Golden eyes shone in the water with pitch-black pupils in its middle and a large tail divided in two. Its whole body resembled a whale.
Any normal person might piss in its mere presence but Leo felt strangely familiar to it as if he met it before.
'Analyze'
[Delphy] (Tier 3)
Race: Leviathan (Early stage)
Age: 23 Female
Strength: 5000
Vitality: 8000
Defense: 8500
Agility: 4000
Magic: 3000
Magic Defense: 3000
Skills: [Ruler of the Sea] [Fire Breath] [Shapeshifting] [Water Affinity] [Devour] [Telepathy]
'Delphy? The one I named?'
(Yeah, she evolved after you named her. Check your Natural Tamer Title.)
[Natural Tamer] (II): The one who tames beings of different races without any effort.
Effect: Increases charm by 30% against Non-Human races, Unlocks [Bestow] skill
[Bestow] (Active skill)
Allows the user to bestow a name upon the tamed creature, there is a small chance of evolution occurring after naming.
'Evolve? More like she became a small version of the mythological beast Leviathan.'
(...Divine beast Leviathan is the peak of every sea creature.)
'Haah!'
"Don't fear her, she is my pet, I think?"
The girls gawked at his confused explanation. What could he say though? He himself had no idea how Delphy would react to his presence.
"Delphy, can you hear me? It's me Leo who named you before."
"...Ye-s, Ma-st-r?"
A childish feminine voice replied back in a stuttering tone, surprising him. It seemed she learned to utilize the telepathy skill to communicate.
He grabbed everyone with spiritual hands and swam toward Delphy. The girls tried to resist but when they came closer to the giant whale, their confusion turned to admiration.
"Beautiful…"
He nodded at their praise, Delphy appeared scary from afar. However, from up close, its enchanting aura seemed to suck every gaze on its faintly shining scales.
"Goshujin-sama, what is that beast? This one never heard any mention of such a fascinating beast in the clan."
"I'll explain it later, okay?"
Seeing everyone nod their heads, he landed on the slippery scale on Delphy's back. He bent and touched the hard yet soft scales. He moved closer to her head and plopped his butt on Delphy's head.
"Can you take us to the surface?"
"...Ye-s," Delphy answered and began swimming upwards. Each stroke of her tail tore through the water and pushed her body more than 100 meters.
He glanced at the girls struggling to stay in place and adopted a mischievous smile, planning to pull a prank on the girls.
