"Mommy, I didn't know you were so strong. Are you stronger than Daddy?" asked Daisy as she stared at my wife.
"Well—the word stronger is going to be more subjective. For example, Lily is certainly stronger than your father, but she might not be able to defeat him in a one-on-one fight. Rose is stronger than your father as well, but who knows what'll happen if your father went seriously on her," answered my wife.
"Mom, why're you saying as though you're not one of them?" asked Daisy with a confused look.
"I don't know, am I?" she smiled at her.
Seems like my wife is having fun teasing Daisy. Guess she doesn't want to reveal her own identity just yet. I smiled as I watched their interactions. My wife and I had come a really long way from where we were in the story. How many years had we been together after that, how many quests we've been through, fighting side by side through insane situations, getting married and eventually having Daisy. I'm so lucky to be with my wife and I never regretted it. I love her and that's all that matters.
"Alright, allow Daddy to finish his story. The exciting part is coming up next. Keep your ears open and pay attention as your Mommy is going to be fighting the Demon Queen," I told them as I clapped my hands to gain their attention.
"Yay! I want to hear it!" shouted Daisy.
Alright then, let us begin.
***
"I wouldn't get so comfy sitting on that throne if I were you," I said loudly.
Lily stood with her arms raised in front of me. I unsheathed my rapier and readied myself. If the Queen is not planning to fight us anytime soon, then I'm sure Lily is going to charge up the stairs. But she's injured, and I'm worried it's going to affect her speed.
"Sigh—fine, FINE! I'll do it myself," said the Queen as she stood up from her throne.
As much as I hate to admit it, this Demon certainly has curves in all the right places, and what is with that ridiculously seductive outfit? You don't need to expose yourself to gain attention. Oh, who am I kidding? This is a Demon, and her main purpose is to seduce men. I wonder if Onii-chan lost because he was too enchanted by the way she looked. He's fine, right? Yes, I'm certain he is. Onii-chan won't die so easily.
The Queen began to descend from her throne slowly but remained up top. She grew a sharp nail with her left index finger and sliced across her right arm. Ouch! Why the hell did she do that? Lots of blood was dripping from her wound, which began to solidify and wrapped around her arm, turning into thorns. It glowed with an unholy blue colour. Her blood is blue? Demons have so many different colours of blood that I wonder if there are any differences between them.
So, her powers are manipulating blood like some blood bender. I pray to the above that she can't control our blood directly, otherwise we're pretty much screwed.
"C'mon, missies, let me show you how a real woman fights," taunted the Queen with a huge grin on her face.
"Let's go," said Lily without looking my way. She knew I always have her back.
The two of us rushed up the throne steps while I cast Accelerate and Light Blessing simultaneously. Sacred Wings and Fa Jin Zhòu have a long cooldown, so that will need to wait. I will need to use everything else at my disposal to support Lily.
Lily initiated the fight with a punch, which the Queen stopped by grabbing it. Shockwaves erupted from the impact, but the Queen was unfazed. Lily then went for her hip with her left fist. Once again, the Queen blocked it with her palm and raised her knee to strike Lily. I pulled Lily aside and aimed my rapier at the Queen's eye. She extended her right hand, which had thorns, to my face, using it as her counter. I had to dodge her attack by swirling to the side, which she kicked me on my stomach and sent me flying back to the floor. Damn it, her shoe heel hurts!
I was gripping my stomach as I vomited out some blood and undigested food. Fuck! I swore that I'll stop vomiting after that hangover! Lily was holding her own against the Queen, but it was pretty clear that she was just toying with her. I need to help her.
I tried to stand up, but my stomach hurt badly. What a joke, Lily is also injured, but she's still fighting. C'mon body, fight through the pain! I took a quick glance at the guildmasters fighting behind me. They are definitely preoccupied at the moment, as the captain seemed to be fighting more aggressively than he was with us. He must have realised that both guildmasters are no pushovers. Steam was coming out of his helmet, which made me believe that he's using Bloodlust. I doubt the captain would start smoking out of the blue.
I need to get serious as well. While I don't enjoy the aftereffects of this spell, I cannot afford to hold back myself. I kneeled on one knee, placed my right hand on my face, and my left hand behind my back. I began chanting the spell with fast casting, but it still took a while. Hang on, Lily. This spell is going to benefit everyone and make you stronger.
***
Damn Queen is toying with me. All of my punches that can shatter rocks are being nullified by her. Not to mention my right foot still hurts. The Queen stopped all of a sudden and stared at Rose. She doesn't even see me as a threat?! You're going to pay for that, you bitch!
Rose was kneeling on the floor. Light particles were swirling around her while she continued her chanting. More and more light particles appeared as she chanted further. I've never seen her using this spell before. Seems like the Demon Queen only sees Rose as a threat. Damn it, I know I'm not the strongest in the group, but to directly ignore me to this extent is such a slap in the face. Fine, I should take this opportunity to activate Concentration then.
Rose stood up, lifted her right hand and cast her spell. "Grand Blessing!" she shouted. The light particles exploded and showered everyone with it in the room. It's— so warm and it calms my heart. It felt as though I'm watching a sunset. I had completely forgotten what I was angry about earlier. Rose's eyes glowed with a yellow hue. She had a spectral-looking golden pauldron on her left shoulder. Her right hand had a sort of circle effect on her dorsal side. Wait, I have it too! It doesn't seem like it does anything aside from making the dorsal part of my hand glow. Or maybe I haven't found out what it does yet.
I felt light and stronger after receiving the blessing. Not to mention, with Concentration activated, my stats should be raised quite significantly now. Let's give this bitch a surprise for ignoring me earlier! I leapt towards her, and not a heartbeat later, my fist reached her cheek. Shockwaves erupted, which cracked the floor tiles around the impact. The Demon Queen was sent flying downwards to the floor. Finally, she's off her high ground! I was amazed by my boost in speed and strength after the buffs. I think I'm getting the hang of this.
The Queen wiped the blood from her mouth. That is what you get for looking down on me. Who has the high ground now?! The Queen stood up and summoned some blue-coloured daggers covered in thorns. She wanted to throw them at me, but Rose came up behind her and sliced off her wrist with ease. Blue blood spewed from the wound but stopped quite quickly. Rose did not hesitate and swung her rapier to pierce the Queen's skull. The Queen dodged the stab and used her wing to strike Rose.
I charged at the Queen again. This time I am going to smash your skull! Rose kicked the Queen's wrist towards her, which struck her face. Nice one, Rose! But the Queen still managed to dodge out of the way, and I ended up striking the floor. A huge crater erupted from where my punch landed. The Queen was certainly wary of us now. Rose's spell is powerful. I don't know what her spell increased for all of us, but I felt really powerful. Rose came over and stood at my side as we got ready to attack again. The Queen was clutching her dismembered wrist and tried to reattach it, but the wound was still searing due to the wax coating. I cast a fire spell for my left gauntlet and lightning for my right. Let us end this war right now.
Both of us dashed forward together. The Queen summoned thorns from the floor to prevent us from getting closer. We leapt upwards at the same time. She started throwing her thorn daggers at us, expecting to hit us as we couldn't dodge midair. I clapped my hands together, producing a shockwave that repelled the daggers away. The Demon Queen leapt back to her throne and summoned an enormous wall of thorns, completely blocking our way from reaching her. The wall looked like crystallised blood, so we could see her smirking from the other side. But I had no way of punching it without injuring myself. I hesitated to break it apart, and the Queen took advantage of it. The wall started shooting spikes at us, which we had to dodge. She started adding blood to her wall, which replenished it. The spikes that shot at us began to liquefy and started flowing back to the wall. Damn it! We can't get closer to her even if I'm willing to sacrifice my arm.
Both Rose and I took cover behind a pillar. How are we to get closer without getting injured? It will have to be me. Rose is strong enough to kill the Demon Queen even when I'm out. The most I can do is be her meat shield. I turned my gaze to Rose, who was at the opposite side of the pillar. I signalled to her that I'll be charging ahead to break the wall so that she can deal the killing blow. Her eyes widened, and she shook her head excessively. She gave me a warning that it was foolish and I shouldn't sacrifice myself just to gain a chance to attack her.
I sighed and pointed to her that now is not the time for that. Every second wasted is wasted time for her spell. We need to act quickly and now. I didn't bother waiting for her reply and covered myself with the cloak that Zen gave me. Whether it can actually protect me or otherwise is up to the Goddess. I got ready to run towards the wall. Whatever happens, I just hope that my nostari will forgive me.
***
This captain is strangely good at protecting his head. Neither the Dark Lord nor I were able to even touch his helmet. He was willing to sacrifice every other part of his body or armour to ensure that his helmet remained untouched.
Rose had cast Great Blessing, which helped us tremendously. However, she's not going to be able to fight after the spell has worn off. That is the price to pay when giving stronger buffs to nearby allies. However, I must admit, she cast it beautifully. Even I don't have the talent to learn every spell in the book of forbidden spells. And yet, she seemed to be able to learn quite a few of them thus far. I wonder if Rose is capable of learning advanced spells? Based on her growth rate, it would seem that she should be capable of learning it. If so, she'll be one of the most powerful humans this realm has to offer.
The captain barely has any remaining armour left aside from his helmet. We had destroyed his limbs and bones, yet he's capable of regrowing or regenerating them with ease. This fight will not end if we cannot destroy the brain. However, I must say, this Demon is really small in size. Perhaps that's the price to pay for living inside that armour for so long. Even after regenerating his wounds or limbs back, it remained the skinless form which looked really grotesque.
How much longer do we need to fight until this captain falls? We need to come up with another strategy to fight it.
***
I charged ahead while avoiding as many spikes as I could. Zen's cloak helped out a little, but there were still some spikes that pierced through and impaled parts of my body. I ignored the pain and just charged ahead. I am close now, just a few more metres until I reached the wall of thorns.
Ouch, did I—trip? On what? As I was falling to the floor, I saw that my right foot was once again pierced with thorns that erupted from the floor. Shit! Again?! Now I can't even move, and more spikes are coming my way. I don't think Zen's cloak is capable of blocking that many spikes. I can hear Rose shouting my name from behind. Mother and Father, I'm so sorry, your daughter will be returning to the Cosmic Tree before you.
BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!
A loud sound erupted that shattered the windows from behind the throne. What's—going on? Did a lightning strike nearby? A dark figure leapt through the window with a sparkling gauntlet. It's—Zen. He's alive! The Queen did not protect her back with a wall as she wasn't expecting anyone to be able to come through there, as the throne room was a couple of storeys high.
Zen slammed his right gauntlet on the Queen's face and whispered something to her. Then he unleashed a point-blank electric blast from his gauntlets. The spikes that were flying towards me liquified before they impaled me to death. Once again, he had saved my life.