36 Return to Lightwood Fortress 1

With the excessive amount of power Seran had put into his attack, the handle of Yggdrasil's Comet flew from his grasp after it shattered the Elder Lich's skull, rocketing through the air and colliding with the statue of Eric Astheme. Instead of being destroyed, the air rippled with magic and deflected the guandao, sending it to smash through one of the pillars nearby. Seran himself fell on his stomach, breathing heavily mixed between small hiccups like he'd taken several heavy punches to the stomach and was having trouble recovering. Rolling weakly onto his back to give himself more room to catch his breath, the demigod lay there for several minutes. He was obnoxiously powerful, yes, but he'd never had to use so much power at once before, which was why his body was seizing up from his overuse of mana.

[I'd admonish you for going overboard, but the situation was far too serious for you to hold back... That said, you need to train yourself for handling your power more. Having infinite power but being unable to control it would only make it a weakness.] William sighed with both relief and exasperation at Seran's current status. [Do you want me to summon one of the Chimera siblings to help you out of the crypt? If they shrink down enough, they can carry you through the corridor without much trouble.]

Seran continued panting for a while before saying, "Yeah... summon Leo... he'll have the easiest time getting around.

Not one minute later, a circular portal opened by the two giant doors, through which a car-sized golden lion stepped through. The bright yellow eyes looked around the gloomy crypt with a mix of curiosity and mild fear, "Creepy giant hall... smells like death... I don't like this already..." Leo was looking around warily when he spotted Seran lying on the ground next to a black skeleton that radiated death magic. "Master!" The lion swiftly dashed forward to stand beside the young demigod that was still handling mana overload. Leo seemed like a curiously worried puppy as he looked his master up and down, all around, sniffing and lightly prodding him with his nose, "What happened to you?"

As he was connected to the lion via the system's Beast/Pet menu, William answered for Seran, [The simple version is he overused his mana trying to kill that Elder Lich. He's never had a real life-or-death battle before, so his body isn't used to the amount of power he can use. Right now, he can't even move. So we summoned you to carry him out of here.]

Leo growled a little at the Elder Lich's corpse, "Are you sure it's dead? Do you want me to incinerate it to be safe?"

[... As you are similar to Golden Crows in that you have solar flames, you should be able to cremate it completely. Please, burn as much of it as you can. If you can't do it, then don't worry.]

The lion nodded and roared a veritable yellow-orange flamethrower over the black bone corpse, holding it as long as his energy was capable of allowing. Unlike Seran, Leo had spent years in battle, so his body even before the transformation was already able to handle his power. The flames continued for nearly ten minutes before the bones had been scorched into a pile of ash, which Leo then blasted away with a paw swipe. "There, all done. Now, how are we getting Master out of here?"

[Just lay on your belly and I'll levitate him onto you. He won't be able to move, so be careful when you move, okay?] After getting a confirmation and the lion did as told, William used some of Seran's mana to lift him up and onto the lion's back like one would ride a horse. The difference was that Leo didn't have a saddle and Seran couldn't move an inch without assistance due to his condition. [Alright, now, all you have to do is go out of those two giant doors and keep walking straight. Everything in here is completely dead now, so you don't have to worry about anything but keeping Seran on your back.]

"Got it," said the lion as he began to pad out of the massive hall at a relaxed pace, chuckling a little to himself about how his first time helping his master was carrying him out of a tomb.

---

Outside, the adventurers had been preparing for the worst after Jenn's outburst. When the Astheme Crypt doors were opened, the powerful aura that was inside flooded through the tomb and out into the open cemetery. As it was a mix of death and devil magic, only one of which was recognized, the three Priests and Adrianna activated [Holy Sanctuary] to protect their companions from the disgusting magic. Fortunately, unlike Seran, Priest and Paladin spells are Divine in nature, making them a necessary counter against devils. However, they couldn't tell that it had devil magic mixed in, as it had been 3000 years since the last time devil magic was seen.

"Adrianna, the aura... the Elder Lich's aura is gone..." Jenn, who had been busy holding her spell up, sensed the change in atmosphere as if the aura had lost its source. To further certify her words, the miasmic power thinned and soon dissipated enough for the four Holy Sanctuaries to be dispelled. "There's no more death power coming out of the cemetery..."

Theodore was the first to speak, as Adrianna was still in vigilance mode, "My senses aren't as strong as yours, but I still feel a huge power inside that isn't Seran... but it's not the Elder Lich since the death magic is clearing up..."

One of the Luxomancers, a blonde man named Harper, cast [Little Star], an upgraded version of the floating orb of light spell [Candlelight]. Raising it high above the group, the magical starlight illuminated several meters into the cemetery, and the vague outline of the tomb was visible. "We'll see what it is when they come out, though."

As the 33 adventurers once again stood ready to face an enemy, they heard a very non-hostile voice, "William's right, master, you need more training. When you're done with the Hydra, we'll make sure you train."

Seran's voice responded although it sounded weak, "Oh no, I'm gonna end up worse than this aren't I..." It was a rhetorical question, as he knew the answer would be yes.

"Maybe you need to undergo reflection training. Where you have to fight and defeat yourself." The first voice suggested an option to Seran that made the demigod grumble but still concede.

Jenn was the first person to relax her defensive posture, "Don't worry, it's a friend." Most of the others believed her, as she was known to be capable of sensing intent or hostility even from a distance. Sure enough, not a minute later, a large golden lion padded out of the tomb, talking to what looked like a limp child.

Theodore rushed forward from June's insistence, and the female guild-master said through the mirror, "Seran, what happened?"

The white-haired boy chuckled, but the golden lion answered, "Master overused his mana. He won't be able to move until tomorrow. Which is why he's going to be training after he's done with his missions."

June just blinked and chuckled at Seran, "So you can look like a child every now and then." This evolved into laughing as Seran gained a pouty expression, though she did eventually stop and say, "Just take your time and relax then. Considering your physical state, I assume you defeated the Elder Lich?"

"Yes, I did... though there are more important details involved... I'll just report them later." Seran would have waved a hand in a dismissive manner on the topic, but he couldn't move at all.

Theodore and several other adventurers laughed at seeing the rather adorable behavior of Seran and the semi-teasing June converse with each other. With this incident and June's brilliant comments on it, the views of everyone involved towards Seran changed from a terribly powerful demigod to 'a kid prone to overusing his ability', just like most children. The only difference was that Seran had insane power that others didn't.

Still, it made them feel better, knowing that Seran was still a kid at heart.