176 Demonic Plague

After Alicia's mother, Yuri, left, King Augustus brought Alicia back with him to where everyone else was waiting. Alicia would need at least a day of rest before they could get moving. To wrap things up so that no one could access the area where the Dark Spirit was located, King Augustus placed multiple magic barriers in the tunnel. After which he made everyone swear to secrecy on what happened on this day and not to say a word to Alicia about any of it.

One year later…

"Alicia it's coming your way!" Annelia yelled out, her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. "What are these things? They are so fast!"

Alicia, Starla, Rose, and Annelia were currently on a mission they took from the Adventurers Guild. This mission was about a mysterious new demonic beast that invaded a medium sized village called Riversdale. It had already killed many of the residents, but the worst thing about this demonic beast was not that it killed people but what it used those corpses for afterward. These new demonic beast were asexual, meaning they did not need a partner to reproduce. They used dead bodies as an incubator for their eggs that they laid.

The whole left side of the village had been completely overrun with residents doing their best to fend them off at a barrier they made to try to keep the demonic beasts out. These new demonic beasts reproduced at an astonishing rate, about ten offspring per labor and their offspring grew to adulthood in a matter of days. Because of these factors this new demonic beast was named Demonic Plague because it could easily overrun an area with great numbers if they were not kept in check.

Alicia went to cast a wall of ice to block the demonic beast from escaping and slashed out with her sword. Even with how quick she was she still missed by a hair's breadth. "I missed it again! Starla, Rose it's coming towards you!"

The group of girls had been chasing this single Demonic Plague for thirty minutes now. The current mission was not just for their team but consisted of many teams due to the number of Demonic Plague in the village. Alicia and her group were not the only ones having trouble. Even the veterans who were masters at trapping were having issues with these new demonic beasts.

Alicia started to get annoyed. If it was before she would have been able to cast a large scale spell but ever since a year ago after she passed out after purifying the tainted Magicules in Subterranean city, King Augustus had sealed her powers to that of just above a normal person. When she asked why he was doing this he said it was time for her to undergo special training that would last for the next ten years. Meaning she would not be able to cast large scale magic anymore.

At the time Alicia was very disgruntled but she found that now she spent more time with her sword and was able to improve her swordsmanship by leaps and bounds. But because of her restricted abilities, Alicia was now living in the castle. Even after a year, she was still trying to get used to the change in the environment. The maids and granny who were assigned to her are very strict and made her learn all kinds of things she did not think she would ever have to learn. Their reasoning was since she was now officially seen as a princess to the public she needed to make sure her etiquette was up to par with the young nobles. This meant that any time she had free time she was training her etiquette.

" Annelia, raise an earth wall!" Rose yelled out. Hearing Rose's shout, Annelia did as she was asked and raised an earth wall right in front of Rose. Rose brought her fist back and thrust forward smashing it into thousands of large chunks sending them flying at the Demonic Plague.

With so many clumps of dirt and rock flying at it, the Demonic Plague was forced to turn around only to be met with Starla's ice wall, and jumping up over it with her sword drawn was Alicia who stabbed right down into the Demonic Plague's head, instantly killing it. "We did it!" All four shouted out in unison.

Their teamwork had also improved by leaps and bounds as well. Now that Alicia was on par with them, they were able to work together a lot better. mainly due to their skill levels being near each other. "I'm so tired!"

"Rose that blast just now with your fist was perfect! It sealed its movements perfectly." Starla praised.

"Well, if Annelia did not understand right away what I mean by, earth wall, it would not have gone so smooth. " Rose passed part of the credit over to Annelia as well.

"Overall, I think we all did very well. These new demonic beasts are extremely fast. If we did not work well together we would not have been able to kill it." Alicia added in as she sat down on the grass to take a break.

"Now that we killed the last one for our part of the mission what is next on our list?" Rose asked.

"We will stay here and help the other groups with their missions. As an aspiring knight and a princess of this kingdom, I can not ignore what is happening here. I know it may be asking a lot, but I hope you all will help me out as well."

"Your highness, is there any need to even ask such a question? All three of us have already sworn absolute loyalty to you. So whatever you decide is of course what we will be doing as well. " Annelia said with a smile.

"Then I will be troubling you three then. We will not go for the kill, only help trap it so the other teams can then rush in and kill. It would not be good to steal prey, it goes against the Adventurers Guild's rules." Alicia said as she stood up and stretched her body. She had now grown a few more centimeters and was almost as tall as Starla now. The baby fat had almost completely disappeared and her chin started to narrow out a bit. Alicia was really turning into a stunning beauty.

Alicia's group all stood up with her and readied themselves. Seeing them all ready, Alicia smiled and said: "Let's go!"

***

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