Chapter 164 [Event] [Enigma Red Dungeon] [25] Louisa VS Pyres



"Louisa? What brings you here?" a stunning woman with lustrous black hair and amber eyes asked as she descended the stairs, taking a seat on the same step. A nine-year-old girl, Louisa, sat beside her.

Louisa turned to her left, her gaze meeting the woman's. "Aunt Oryanna..." she murmured softly, her voice barely audible.

Concern etched across her features, Oryanna gently placed her hand on Louisa's auburn hair. "What's the matter, Louisa?" she inquired, her touch soothing and comforting.

"I miss them... I miss my father and mother..." Louisa's voice trembled as she spoke, her face hidden in her knees. "I... I wish I could see them again..."

Oryanna's smile wavered, bitterness creeping into her expression as she pulled Louisa into a gentle embrace. "I, too, had a family, Louisa... but I lost them three years ago, just like you."

Louisa shivered slightly in Oryanna's arms, yet the warmth she felt was reminiscent of her mother's loving embrace.

"But you haven't lost everything, Louisa. You still have your little brother, don't you? He must be feeling lonely too, you know."

"Um," Louisa nodded, her voice muffled against Oryanna's chest.

"If you ever need someone to talk to or a warm hug, remember that you can always come to me. My memory may be a bit fuzzy, so don't hesitate to remind me," Oryanna offered with a gentle grin.

"Yes..." Louisa's voice held a touch of vulnerability as she nodded, her tears being wiped away by Oryanna's caring hand.

"You are the eldest here, Louisa, making you the big sister to everyone," Oryanna explained, her amber eyes brimming with affection and tenderness. "Can you look after my children and the other little ones for me?"

As Louisa gazed into Oryanna's eyes, filled with unconditional love, a sense of comfort washed over her. "Yes, aunty."

****

Louisa's cold, hazel eyes were locked behind Pyres. "Why do you desire Edward Falkrona." 

Pyres widened his eyes slightly, impressed by Louisa's astuteness. "Oh, you noticed it was him? Impressive. He's wielding a powerful artifact. Did you sense it or simply deduce it?" he inquired.

Louisa remained silent. It was the latter. She had pieced it together based on the interactions between Edward and Aurora, as well as her own knowledge from previous encounters. Moreover, there was a sense of déjà vu when she witnessed Edward and Aurora's conversations—a familiarity that harkened back to ten years ago. And finally, Pyres had inadvertently confirmed her suspicions with his own words.

"We want him. That's all you need to know," Pyres stated firmly.

Louisa ignored his words and glanced at her recovering brother, leaning against a nearby wall. Thankfully, he seemed to be regaining his strength, albeit slowly.

A tense silence hung in the air as Louisa and Pyres locked eyes.

-BOOOM!-

In an instant, Louisa vanished and swung a spear wreathed in flames. She had created the weapon using Pyres' own Sunfire.

Pyres retaliated with a gigantic fiery fist.

Crack!

Louisa's spear shattered into two, prompting a slight frown. But she swiftly reacted by hurling the blazing tip of the lance towards Pyres' head.

Pyres made no move to evade, allowing the spear to make contact before reducing it to cinders. His power was growing exponentially, surpassing Louisa's own late-stage 7th Ascension with his 8th Ascension strength.

Seizing the opportunity, Pyres materialized next to Louisa, drawing back his hand to deliver a devastating punch.

"Agh!" Louisa coughed up blood and crashed onto the scorching ground. Her battle armor slowly melted away, revealing her white legs beneath the damaged red armor.

With hazel eyes wide open, Louisa watched as Pyres descended upon her once again, his hand raised high.

"Demeteria Terrestrial Vault," she uttered, and the ground beneath her rose, forming an intricately sculpted barrier to shield her.

-BAM!-

Pyres' fist collided with the resilient vault, which held strong. But Pyres raised his other hand, imbued with Sunfire, and struck out.

-Crack!-

Unfazed by the attack, Louisa channeled an immense amount of mana, ignoring the pain, and muttered, "Empalement."

"ARGHH!" Blood spurted onto Louisa's face as she lay on the ground. Before her was the vault, now sporting a gaping hole from a massive spike that had impaled Pyres' stomach.

"AHGHHHH!" Pyres screamed in agony, his Sunfire beginning to consume the spike lodged within him.

Gritting her teeth, Louisa continued to pour mana into the spike, driving it deeper into Pyres' wound, all the while enduring the searing pain.

Louisa could feel the intense heat radiating from Pyres' Sunfire, threatening to overwhelm her. But she remained resolute—with every ounce of her strength, she pushed harder, driving the spike further into Pyres' body.

"AGHHHHH!" The fiery energy enveloping Pyres grew more erratic as his screams filled the air. His attempts to unleash his full power were hindered by the excruciating pain coursing through his veins. 

"Sunfire!" But Pyres was not one to be defeated so easily. Despite the torment, he managed to muster his remaining strength and retaliated with a surge of Sunfire. Flames engulfed his body, intensifying his aura as he unleashed a powerful blast in all directions.

Louisa shielded herself, bracing against the scorching winds that threatened to consume her. She could feel her energy waning, the strain of the battle taking its toll. 

As Louisa rolled on the ground, she swiftly raised both hands toward the sky, calling upon her powers. "Demetria Terrestrial!" she shouted, and to her command, two massive blocks of earth emerged from the ground on either side of Pyres. With a magnetic force, the blocks joined together, aiming to crush him between their formidable weight.

But…

"AAAAAAH!" With a fierce roar, Pyres unleashed a surge of mana, causing the spike in his stomach to explode, propelling him away from the impending trap. Transforming into a trail of blazing sunfire, he swiftly closed the distance between him and Louisa, determined to take her down.

Louisa's disheveled hair and pale complexion revealed the toll the battle had taken on her. Gasping for breath, she lowered her hand, focusing her energy on the ground beneath her. A magnificent spear, forged from the very essence of sunfire, materialized in her grasp. 

Swirling it skillfully a few times, she assumed a poised stance, "Ruah," when she muttered that, her hazel eyes emanated an ethereal glow. Her spear became bigger and glowed in the same color.

'You can do it, my daughter'

Suddenly, a voice resounded within her mind, distinct and unfamiliar. It wasn't her mother's voice, nor any hallucination. It carried a sense of ancient wisdom and divine power. the voice whispered, filling Louisa's heart with a surge of determination and strength.

A faint smile curled on Louisa's lips as she recognized the voice even though she shouldn't be able but she could tell it. It belonged to the Goddess Demeter, the one who blessed her family with their extraordinary abilities. While it seemed impossible to directly communicate with a deity, she couldn't deny the connection she felt in that moment.

Feeling almost as if Demeter's loving embrace enveloped her, Louisa murmured her gratitude. "Thank you 'mother'."

Louisa propelled herself forward with incredible speed, her spear with Sunfire burning at the tip, leading the way. Pyres lunged at her with Sunfire radiating from his body.

Their clash was imminent, and as they met in a clash of power, sparks flew and the air crackled with raw energy.

-BOOOOM!

Louisa's spear clashed with Pyres' fiery fist, creating a shower of sparks and intense heat. The flames engulfed Pyres' face, obscuring it completely, leaving only his piercing red eye visible, glaring fiercely at Louisa.

As the sunfire from Pyres' fist began to spread onto her spear, Louisa could feel the searing pain as her hands burned, leaving painful burns on her once pristine skin. However, she remained resolute, holding her stance despite the agony coursing through her.

With determination, Louisa gathered more Ruah in her hands, concentrating the energy around the lower part of her spear. The ground beneath them cracked and trembled under the immense pressure generated by their clash of power.

Seizing the opportunity presented by the crumbling ground, Pyres pulled back his other fist, poised to crush Louisa. But she had been prepared for this moment.

Crack!

In a swift motion, Louisa snapped her spear in two, catching Pyres off guard as the pressure on his other side suddenly dissipated. Seizing the chance, she thrust the first part of her broken spear towards Pyres' neck. However, he swiftly swung his other fist in a desperate attempt to counter.

"Ah!" Louisa let out a cry, propelling herself above the ground, her dress fluttering, and with astonishing speed, she drove the Ruah condensed lower part of her spear forward. "Release!" she shouted, channeling her Ruah into the attack.

A deafening explosion erupted as the spear pierced through Pyres' heart, leaving behind a perfect twenty-centimeter-wide hole in his chest. The sheer force of the impact sent him hurtling backward at an astonishing velocity, crashing against the ceiling before gravity took hold.

With a resounding thud, Pyres' lifeless body plummeted to the ground, his blood pooling around him, marking the end of the intense battle.

Louisa standing with a pale face took out a vial from her space ring and gulped down the content. Wiping the blood on her pink lips, she turned around to join Aurora but-

"!" She turned around and saw Pyres slowly rising up. From his body was oozing out a dark substance.

****

"Humans from the lower continent have always been beneath us. It's an inherent trait, something you can never rid yourself of," Morino muttered, his voice filled with arrogance, as he strode through the desolation left in the wake of the battle. His gaze fell upon a white-haired young man, Amael, lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.

Amael paid no attention to Morino's condescending words, his focus instead directed ahead of him. Following his gaze, Morino's eyes settled on the same spot that held Amael's attention.

"Mission accomplished," Morino muttered, a hint of satisfaction in his tone.

There, before them, lay a young girl with golden hair, her body motionless, surrounded by a pool of crimson tainting her body and fabric in red.

"The Royal Princess is dead."