462 The Next Step

Eventually, Draco brought up the elephant in the room. "Beauty Eva. Lovely Eva. Sweet Eva. Amazing Eva. Belle Eva." 

Eva tore her eyes away from her plate and gazed at Draco with an innocent expression, her mouth still chewing some of the chocolate croissants nonchalantly. 

"Yes, dear?" 

Draco's lips twitched. He brought up two fingers and pointed at the first one. "First, are we going to talk about those positions you were practicing?" 

Eva blinked with surprise. "Why, what positions are you talking about?" 

Draco's face became black. He lightly smacked the table as his temples bulged. "That's exactly what I want to know! The ones you learned from Amaterasu? You know, the ones that almost sent Lucifer to euphoria heaven? My darling soulmate, how could you be so cruel as to block the specific poses from the recollection but let me know they exist?!" 

Eva's cute and innocent visage morphed into a cruel one reminiscent of Riveting Night as she smirked widely. "Hehe, just something to tease you for abandoning me for so long." 

Draco's anger bled away as his training from Sublime Notion emerged in his mind. It seemed like he had hit a crossroads, and his next actions would decide whether he laid a positive flag or a negative one. 

As such, he wore a grudging smile and sighed. "You're right. Going on that Unique Quest and staying away from you for so long is unforgivable. That's why I wanted to spend some time with you now, to see how my soulmate is doing and help her relieve some of the piled-up stress." 

Eva sniffed. "Damn, I forgot that shorty had taught you how to swoon a maiden's heart. I accept my loss this time." 

Draco snickered meanly. "Heh, but seriously. I can't wait for that bloody Unique Quest to come to an end. Now that I've seen the state of things out there, I really can't wait to distribute all the skills I've learned in the midst of the Unique Quest to see our guild soar to even greater heights." 

Before Eva could lead the conversation away, Draco pointed to his second finger. "And that brings me to the more important matter." 

Draco coughed. "Divine Mistress Eva. Celestial Maiden of all Deities. O, Beauty who shines so bright that even the Stars in the night sky are jealous. May I ask why you're happily snacking here with me while every single guild member of ours believes you've just been erased from the game? At a time when our people are left to fight the leftover Rank 3 Void Devourers on their own without you at the helm no less." 

Draco was left speechless, but decided to drop the matter here. Even if he rushed her back, due to the time dilation, about 40 minutes had already passed in the game for the 10 minutes they had enjoyed in the Sunbar Café. Not to mention it had taken some time to arrive here via car and would also take the same amount of time to drive back. 

He also couldn't leave his Unique Quest to help, so it would be better if he just spent his time with Eva and pretended like there wasn't any problem at hand. 

The Evil Duo enjoyed their time together, chatting about many things while trying out many of the pastries they served, Eva a lot more due to her pregnancy. Afterward, they paid the bill and headed over to the castle to re-enter the game. 

On his way inside, he saw that some of the Sanguigno Brothers who had left the game, most likely because the allotted time on their Virtua Helmet had run out, were chatting animatedly about something. He could sense that their emotions were roiling with excitement and glee. 

Draco turned to Eva and she explained. "Their minds are screaming about how much of a haul they are going to make today by raiding a rival gang's base within the city that is neither affiliated with Supernatural or Superhuman. Apparently, those guys have a huge cache of illegal weapons that could be used to re-stock our armory." 

Draco nodded in understanding. The Sanguigno Brothers were mostly known for their exemplary discipline, low numbers, and high skill. Also, they usually used military-grade tech and weapons for their assaults and defenses. 

Getting a boon of such weapons would definitely excite a group like this. Draco was not really interested in gang/mafia stuff anymore after learning about Supernatural and Superhuman. 

How could being a mobster be more exciting compared to being stuck between a war between science and the abnormal? This was the stuff from some lonely young adult writer who wrote teenage-hormone fueled stories for a living. 

Draco entered his pod after bathing with Eva. She also entered hers around the same time and they both logged in together to see different scenes. 

On Eva's side, she came to find that the battle was still ongoing, but on its last legs. The allied army of players had been thinned down to just about 50 fellows, most of the core members of the Four Guilds. 

All of Umbra's core members had survived, including Zaine, Hikari, and Roma. Gentle Flower, Yui, and Noble Soul had also not perished yet, along with their vice guildmasters. Surprisingly, Joker and Happy Scholar had also made the cut, although they also represented the last of their respective guilds. 

Out of the formerly 10 Void Devourers, only 3 remained. The one controlled by Loving Aunt was currently acting as a tank to hold down the ferocious and corrosive attacks of another Void Devourer while Uno single-handedly held down the last. 

The fighting between the two Void Devourers looked like a slugfest between boxers, both of them exchanging blow for blow. However, the one on Umbra's side had almost full HP while its opponent was hovering around 43%. 

The one Uno was holding was still at 65% HP and had become the main target of the remaining players, solely because Uno was having a tough time managing it. If it wasn't for his Legendary Class' passive that buffed him stupidly, and Hikari's non-stop heals, he would have died many times over. 

However, the moment Eva made an appearance, the whole area became deathly silent as all eyes landed on her. A myriad of emotions was displayed on those faces, from shock, to excitement, to disbelief. 

The sheer cacophony of thoughts rapidly firing through their minds gave Umbra's Vice Guildmaster a headache, so she 'turned off' her bloodline's psychic abilities. For that matter, Eva quickly changed into her Goddess Form since she wanted to end the battle quickly. 

｢System to Player Announcement 

You have transformed into your True Goddess form. This is a fundamental change and your attributes, as well as your skills, have been swapped for racial ones only. Please check your status page for the changes.｣ 

｢System to Player Announcement 

Your class has been detected to be Divine. Attributes will not be re-allocated, but additional attributes will be applied for the duration of the transformation. Your equipment and class skills are blocked, but Divine skills can be used in your True Form.｣ 

｢Name: Riveting Night - Rank 2 Divine Goddess 

Str: 100 

Dex: 100 

End: 100 

Int: 500 

Spr: 100 

Cha: 200 

Lck: 100 

Combat Skills: Divine Curse, Divine Following, Divine Blessing, Goddess' Wrath, Angel Army, Endless Mirage. 

Non-Combat Skills: Celestial's Dignity (Rank 2), Element Regulation, Supreme Telepathy, Supreme Menticide, Supreme Channeling, Supreme Projection, Supreme Precognition, Supreme Retrocognition.｣ 

Eva didn't waste time and immediately used her special buff skill that was broken beyond human understanding. 

Divine Blessing[1]! 

Immediately, a white light covered the bodies of all 50 people remaining, and they roared regardless of gender due to the sheer power flowing through them. Yes, even the cute Sublime Notion, Fire and Ice Twins as well as Warm Spring roared… well, more like meowed… in response to this. 

Eva then focused and used Goddess' Wrath[2]. While the 50 players raged and went berserk on the remaining two Void Devourers, the sky opened once again to drop mind-numbing amounts of light beams. 

They continually struck everywhere within the Area Zone, reducing the already ruined wasteland into a world of barrenness, except where her allies stood of course. 

Eva then pointed and summoned her Angel Army[3]! 

From the same heavens, a flood of holy and beautiful angels manifested. They were of different types, the Seraphim and Cherubim, the Valkyries, and the Inquisitors of Heaven. 

What was not different about them was their power. The moment they appeared, they followed Eva's mental command to destroy her two Void Devourers, and their damage output was 100x higher than the buffed 50 players. 

Eva had only 1 minute in this form, but the combination of her Goddess Wrath, Divine Blessing, and Angel Army made it such that the two opposing Void Devourers did not last more than 20 seconds overall. 

This left the players utterly speechless as fanfare played in their ears and the system began rolling out announcement after announcement without fail. All of them turned to face the floating Celestial Maiden in her Amaterasu form, and no matter who they were, they felt their hearts trembling with awe. 

Everyone except Local Lord of course, who could not see anything but the glowing aura from Eva's body. This frustrated him to no end, but what could he do about it? 

Eva collected the Three Beauties into the mansion's super mini small world and landed on the ground. She saw the body of the Dark Knight nearby, and his current state was so gruesome that she grimaced. 

Roma and Zaine had certainly brutally tortured him in their fury, and he had only been kept alive by Hikari's healing. To even get Hikari to participate in such cruelty was testimony that they had seriously been infuriated beyond reason. 

However, they had clearly stopped at a point and had left the fellow hanging by a thread. It was understandable seeing that at some point the Dark Knight had lost his, only to reveal that hidden underneath it was Draco's exact face, except that his hair wasn't white and his eyes weren't red. 

To see that the one who had destroyed Eva, their Big Sis, and whom they had brutally tortured wear the same face as their beloved… as Eva's soulmate… that must've messed them up far more than anything they'd ever experienced to date. 

That was why Eva had ended the battle quickly and collected them into the world before they could say anything, as she personally owed them an explanation for everything that happened. 

For now though, she had to deal with the aftermath of this battle. She had originally planned to wait on using her True Forms until there were like 20 or so people left from Umbra so she could limit those who would benefit from the AI's absurd rewards, but 50 appeared like a reasonably okay number, especially since most of Umbra's core members had been nearing the Rank 2 ceiling anyway. 

Now that everything was settled, Eva came out of her Goddess Form and checked out the various system prompts before her slowly, her expression warping the more she read. 

...…...…................

Draco appeared in the bedroom of Evergreen Manor with a smile on his face. His long seclusion while honing his Tradeskills had built up a lot of stress, but spending time with Eva, albeit shorter than he might have liked, had blown all of that away. 

Now, he felt ready to go on. First things first, he summoned Hoover. 

The goatman butler rushed to his side and bowed lowly. "Lord Draco, what is your command?" 

Draco smiled at this extremely handy and useful butler, then asked. "Has the competition begun yet?" 

Hoover's face displayed a strange expression. "No sir. After you came out of seclusion, only about 3 hours have passed, and nothing has changed since then." 

Draco nodded, but sighed internally. He had actually hoped that the AI might try to play a trick while he was away and start the competition out of nowhere, but it seemed no such nonsense would be occurring. 

Draco passed a hand through his hair and said: "Okay, please prepare materials for these Tradeskills." 

Draco proceeded to name the Tradeskills, making Hoover's eyes widen due to their rarity and potency. Once Hoover left, Draco took out the Tradeskill books for the choices he had made while inside the Tradeskill Library, inspecting them for one last time before finally learning them. 

------------------------------------------------------

[1] ｢Divine Blessing – Active Skill

Effect: Grant every ally within range infinite stamina, mana, and complete invulnerability.

Duration: Same as transformation.

Cooldown: None｣

[2] ｢Goddess' Wrath – Active Skill

Effect: Call down a hail of fury on all enemies that dare to defile the Goddess' majesty. This deals 1,000% random damage to an Area Zone.

Duration: Same as transformation.

Cooldown: None.｣

[3] ｢Angel Army – Active Skill

Effect: Summon an army of beautiful angels to battle your foes.

Duration: Same as transformation.

Cooldown: None.｣