Chapter 57: Fading

Chapter 57: Fading

Sofias plan was very bare-bones, since she couldnt completely copy the real spell; she would have to snatch it the good old fashioned way. And so, she climbed, up the [Alphageid]s body, or the trunk as she decided to call it. Her sharp demon claws barely managed to lodge themselves in the crystal, she had to use her full force to get a decent grip and project herself up higher. The angel would certainly aim at the creatures part that he had already been attacking all this time. It was near the very top, close to the crack in space in which the rest of the creature was still hidden.

She assumed that the giant Phageid was capable of creating new roots out of any part of its body to strike her down like it did for the angel. So she kept [Regret] fired up and ready to go, the tiniest whir of her will and her skill would send her somewhere safer. As she kept climbing, nothing of that sort happened. Instead, when she got up to about half her goals height, the [Alphageid]s eyes opened. An infinite number of randomly disposed jet black eyes of different sizes opened on its whole body.

Sofia felt disgusted that she had touched one, it had opened right as she was clawing the crystal and her hand had plunged straight into the black eyeball. At least it doesnt seem to mind it The eyelids hadnt even closed back to protect the eye or anything. Guess it has no time to worry about me now. Not with what the Angel's preparing.

Some black eyes lit up, they shone in an eerie black light. It was then that it started, the Phageids counter attack. No longer content with throwing crystal roots at its problem, it was shooting concentrated rays of black light at the 'defenseless' Angel. Each eye could fire up like that for two or three seconds before popping. It wasn't hard to imagine how destructive these mana beams must be. But she couldn't see it, for they all missed their mark, pointlessly shooting at the void in the sky.

The Angel was too good at evading. Much like the Archangel whose form had been flickering in and out of existence in multiple places at once, the Angels defense was simply to not get hit. No matter how many rays the monster fired, whenever it looked that they would connect, the Angel was no longer there. This all happened so fast, it was as though he existed everywhere and nowhere at the same time. As if whenever he was about to get hit, his form had actually never been there to begin with.

It was both exhilarating and baffling to watch. Sofia wished she could stop and marvel at the display of power. Instead she had to keep climbing, and to be vigilant about avoiding the vicinity of the open eyes. Her pace had slowed down but she didnt let up. She couldnt. The Angels charged attack had never stopped growing in size as he kept evading the black rays, to call it a lightning bolt, still, would be akin to calling dragons breath a fresh breeze. It was so bright and long, an ultimate spear, with the power of a thousand suns. A scorching energy that could empty the seas and erase the mountains.

The [Alphageid]s trunk had started vibrating, back down in the city, the roots had regained their vigor, and were scavenging the city in a renewed frenzy to completely squeeze it dry of its last living souls.

Sofia had reached right about where she estimated the Angels attack would land. Its now or never.

The Angels bolt expanded one last time, the mana then collapsed on itself, and the attack was launched. It flashed in a direct trajectory toward the monster.

Sofia was already mid air, she tried her best to be near the attacks path, facing the Phageid, she held her hand up as if to catch the spell. But her prediction of the trajectory was wrong, she wouldnt be able to even graze it, she was dozens of meters away from the actual attacks path.

The Angel wasnt the only one in this battle who could disappear and be somewhere as if they had been there all along. Sofia, as a demon, had a very similar ability.

[Regret]

Just as the attack passed her, she appeared right under it, her raised right hand firmly clutching the [Angels bolt].

A torrent of power this overwhelming couldnt be stopped by a mere demon. It didnt even slow under her grasp. She was the one to be moved, disintegrated. She was reduced to a shapeless primordial mana mist under the might of this energy that she had observed from too close.

Health : 0 / 71690

Stamina : 0 / 71690

Mana : 0 / 71690

Alith?

It was indeed the same banshee, sleeping soundly in the bed, wearing a similar sized, and hence comically too large pajama set.

Still breathing. Was she the one to move us here? No way.

She wouldn't even be able to enter the saints tower to get her. Not to mention carrying me over the ocean and up a random mountain somewhere.

Well. She sat on the bed next to Alith. Am I level 100 yet?

Name : Sofia Aphenoreth

Age : 20

Class : [Saintomancer]

Level : 99

Health : 495 / 495

Stamina : 495 / 495

Mana : 44000 / 44000(-10000)

Seems not. No system log either Really? Whats going on? And what about Alith?

[Hero - Lv.99]

She couldn't have failed, right? She must still be in there.

Taking a second look at the cottage, there was a small kitchen corner, a bathing cask, a dresser, a central table and some everyday items neatly stacked in the corners. There wasnt much on the table, save for a three branch candelabra and an envelope tucked under its base.

The envelope was blank with no seal and no sender, inside was a single sheet of perfectly smooth paper, the likes of which Sofia had never seen. Blocky rows of unnaturally clean black characters spelled a short message.