Chapter 238 What's Next?

[Mission part 2]

After meeting up with Himeko, if by chance the pope has already arrived skip to the second paragraph as this will be plan b.

-> Plan B

If you are here that means bad news. I'm not stupid enough to send you to the capital under these circumstances. From what you said the Pope is after Clara so exposing you like that isn't a good idea. If you told Himeko of the plan I assume she wants you to stay in the cave, but that's actually a bad idea.

You may think you are safe, but the protection it provides will not last much longer. When you opened the gate with the medallion it should have released an immense amount of magic, meaning the magic circles that are in place will deactivate. Now do not worry, there should be a teleporting stone that will take you to a dungeon. It is tier 8, but you should be fine with your new clothes. Also Himeko should still be able to handle tier 8 monsters so hopefully she tags along.

Use this time while the pope is making a mess to level up the best you can. Once it is safe outside, if the demon queen is still alive go say hello and make sure to say Freja sent you. Also, bonus points if you call her Ela.

Now I must warn you, after you teleport DO NOT STOP! Enter the dungeon as quickly as possible, for if the pope notices you there he can appear in a second and you will die, especially if he recognises Clara.

With that said I wish you luck my darlings.

"Okay, we need to leave." Shaman let Himeko read the mission details and it was obvious the latter wasn't happy with it as she almost ripped the paper.

"I didn't know that this cave would run out of magic. It wouldn't hurt if my parents told me everything, but nooo they were confident their precious daughter wouldn't need to use this cave." Himeko was rather frustrated as this was her first time using the skill, but the fact she is only finding out about its features now annoyed her. What was more frustrating was the fact Freja knew more than her, which shouldn't be the case at all.

"Anyway, we should get going. Himeko, is there anything you need to do before we leave?" Shaman quickly took away the scroll from Himeko before she ripped it and took a few steps back.

"Let me go grab my things." Himeko didn't want to leave, but she would rather they take Freja's word than risk getting themselves killed.

Himeko disappeared into the small cave house, taking only a couple of seconds before she came back out. A flaming greatsword was mounted on her back and she wore a long qipao dress similar to Clara's. The qipao was red and reached down to her ankles with splits on the side allowing movement.

The clothes were not tier 10, but they were enough considering her power right now was equivalent to a tier 8. She didn't want to admit it, but right now the group could probably beat her if they attacked all at once.

"Ready." With Himeko ready everyone huddled together and Shaman pulled out the aforementioned teleport stone.

Crushing it in her hand, blood spewed out of the broken shards and encased everyone in a ball of blood. It wasn't real teleportation but more of a protective shell, yet it still moved so fast that it felt like teleportation.

Shooting out of the cave they suddenly found themselves in front of a large metal door. It was the dungeon door everyone was familiar with so not wasting any time they ran in.

However, as they did, someone else appeared in the sky.

***

<Demon lands Forest>

Elaina's body grew in size and her skin turned a dark purple. Her teeth became sharp and the whites of her eye turned pink. Her body now resembled more of a demon than a human reminiscent of what most people think a demon would look like.

The benefit to this was her rate of regeneration got faster and her mana would now transfer to demon essence. The main reason for transforming is to allow the demon to handle the constant use of demon essence as it is very toxic to their human forms.

Alas, the Demon essence in one's body is limited hence why they do not stay in this form for long as it takes weeks to recoup.

Klaus waited for the transformation to complete as he wanted it to be as challenging as possible since so far Elaina hadn't put up much of a fight.

"Hmm?" However, just then he noticed 2 presences that he had been searching for with no success for a while now.

Elaina lunged at Klaus, but he vanished on the spot, completely disappearing.

She expected an attack from behind, but he truly just ran away. A few moments later however she felt his presence back in the capital. Her heart sank for a moment, but she was quick to calm down and chase after the pope.

Her new form came with superior speed so it would only take her a couple of seconds to catch up.

***

<Dungeon entrance>

"So this is where you are." A smile appeared on Klaus' face and the group froze. The pressure he gave off was suffocating and it was as if they were trying to walk through thick mud.

Everyone made eye contact with Klaus making this the real first encounter with him. He lowered himself to the ground and looked at each one of them, analysing them in turn. However, Shaman caught his eye and he leaned in close.

"Earth?" With only one word, it was enough for Shaman to panic as it just confirmed that Klaus is from the same world. Seeing her shocked face, Klaus got his answer and now knew that Shaman is also from another world.

"Tch, seems like they won't stop sending people, best I get rid of you." Klaus summoned a light sword and was about to slash down with it, but Shaman was able to block the blow with Kotetsu, managing to fight through the suffocating pressure and protect herself. It took every ounce of her strength, but those few seconds she bought were enough. Klaus was surprised that his blow was just stopped, but he then realised which sword she was using and it was no wonder his attack was blocked.

He hadn't used a strong light sword to kill Shaman since she was only tier 6 and he didn't expect her to have such high-tier equipment.

Going for a stronger swing, suddenly he felt himself getting crushed and dragged along the ground. Elaina arrived thinking he was attacking a citizen which only infuriated her.

Once Klaus got his bearings, he kicked Elaina in the face with enough force to lift her in the air. He then tried to outrun her back to the group, but Elaina wasn't going to let it happen. Easily catching up to him, she grabbed him by the back and threw him out of the capital.

Klaus didn't want to constantly use his teleports as it did consume a considerable amount of mana. If he had anchor points nearby it wouldn't have been a problem, but freely blinking around was inefficient.

His mana reserves may be massive, but to teleport once depending on the distance took up to 5% of his total mana. Although it regenerated quickly, he had already used over a quarter of his mana and he wasn't going to risk wasting more than needed for the time being.

"Damn it." Being so close yet so far annoyed him since he already saw how much of a problem the fox girl was going to be, but right now he had other priorities.

Elaina appeared just above Klaus as he let himself fly through the sky, both her axe and her hands were covered in a black flames. Instead of charging the axe with normal mana, this time it was filled with demon essence. This naturally increased the power of the axe as demonic weapons were originally designed for demon essence to flow through them.

Swinging down with her axe, she redirected Klaus' trajectory towards the ground, but this time she actually did some damage. A gash opened up in his stomach and the black flames were actually burning him.

"AHH FUCK!" Klaus did not expect to be hurt, but what he did not know was the fact demon essence was being used. It was a lot more volatile and it gave the extra punch she needed to harm him.

"Not so tough now boy." This rekindled the hope in Elaina as she could now entertain the possibility of killing him.

"Don't get cocky now." Klaus was not happy and decided he wouldn't play with his food anymore.

The dark magic which he had been sparsely using came out in full force. Black mist covered his body and the surrounding area. Screams of agony echoed out and black hands emerged from the mist. It was as if the mist was a portal to hell itself.

Elaina trembled a little seeing the dark magic, but she wasn't going to let it deter her. She found an opening and she wasn't going to let it slip away, especially since she was scared of what this dark magic might do if it wasn't stopped.

Klaus emerged from the mist now in completely black clothes. His blonde hair turned black and his eyes turned from blue to red. As if he was a completely different person, it was now clear this was who he truly was underneath the fake persona of the pope.