Chapter 226: The Queen"s Curse
Beauty-wise, the change of color in the Fairy Kingdom didn"t negatively affect the place"s enticement at all. From the pale blue color giving off a calm feeling to the exciting red color. It created an exotic novelty.
Unfortunately, the gazes of the souls glaring at Sila and his friends gave off a dangerous feeling. It was as if the souls were saying that Sila"s group were existences that didn"t belong in this sacred place.
Burapha removed his backpack and placed it down next to the sign. He wasn"t afraid someone would steal it since there were only four players in the entire kingdom. His psychic power sharpened as he was aware that conflict was inevitable. Similarly, Bluebird prepared to engage. The rings on his fingers emitted light as he started casting a spell.
Meanwhile, Sila was used to this kind of situation. Qi type was unfavorable against magic type. Strangely enough, he had a lot of experience fighting against powerful magic-type beings. In this kind of crisis, he was still calm as he observed the insane number of red souls. He opened his system window to check their information but couldn"t see any.
Fairies were supposed to be magic-type creatures, not psychic-type. He couldn"t understand why the system window didn"t warn him of their arrival.
Sila concluded that, unlike their appearance, these souls weren"t fairies. They just shaped themselves as fairies. In addition, considering the magic power he sensed in the air, these souls weren"t psychic type beings. In fact, maybe they weren"t even monsters. That must be the reason why the system didn"t let him know that they had appeared.
The next question was: what exactly were they?
"They are a curse," Bluebird suddenly said as if he could tell what Sila was wondering.
"I have never seen a curse like this before. I"ve never even heard of one like this," Burapha replied as he armed himself with a black lance. His psychic power was emitted in several layers of waves.
"Are you sure, Blue?" asked Sila.
"Well, I"m not, but Asmodeus is. She said the ultimate skill of the fairy race is the skill to create half-curse, half-illusion fairies. She is certain that this is the work of the Fairy Queen."
Sila swept his eyes over the red souls in front of him. "I don"t think they are illusions though."
"That"s because their existence are also a half-curse. Your slime-race skill that can see through illusions only works if you know where to look. In this case, you will have to look at the Fairy Queen for you to realize that they are illusions," Bluebird recited what Asmodeus told him.
Burapha released a sigh of relief. "That"s a relief. If they are illusions, they shouldn"t be able to harm us."
Bluebird shook his head. "That"s the problem. They can harm us since they are also categorized as a kind of curse. On the other hand, we won"t be able to attack them unless we use skills that can attack incorporeal beings. Normal energy reinforcement won"t work on them."
Sila tried cladding a suntetsu with qi reinforcement and fired it toward one of the souls. His suntetsu really went through the soul like Bluebird had antic.i.p.ated. In this kind of situation, Sila was reminded of Omniscient Evil G.o.d Qi. If Lucifer was here, these souls wouldn"t pose a problem at all.
The souls slowly drifted toward them. They didn"t need to be wary of counterattacks since normal attacks wouldn"t work against them.
Since magic-types were at a disadvantage against psychic-types, psychic-type skills should be effective against these souls. Sila tried activating Moon Reflecting Mirror. He had never used it to attack before though. Normally, he only used it to reflect attacks back at their owners. Even so, as psychic-type skill, its ability mostly depended on the user"s creativity. Sila pushed his hand forward while imagined the mirror flying forward rather than remaining fixed in the air. The transparent mirror shot forward and drove away souls in its flying path. However, with their uncountable number, they soon filled in the empty area.
Noticing that Sila"s skill worked against them, Bluebird quickly came up with a strategy. "Your skill has no cooldown, right? Let"s break through them. I will stun them first. Then, we will have to run non-stop. If we stop, we will be surrounded by them and die. Sila will go first, followed by me, then Burapha. Everyone, cover your ears."
The three of them had fought together before. Sila and Burapha knew Bluebird was surprisingly dependable in crises. No one asked further questions and waited for Bluebird to take action.
Bluebird glided forward and clapped his hands while activating the spell he cast previously.
"Thunderclap." The thunderous sound echoed. It was so loud that even Burapha, who had covered his ears, still felt them ringing. Bluebird"s skill wasn"t an offensive skill. Rather, it was a purely crowd control.
The souls halted in place temporarily thanks to the loud sound. Sila hurriedly pushed mirrors with both hands and cleared a path for the trio. The three of them ran in a line and thrust forth into the center of the kingdom. Sila had to slow down his speed slightly to wait for Burapha, who was the last in the queue. Bluebird tried using Psychic Nest-Returning Bird but it wasn"t effective. Dispersing two or three souls at a time didn"t make a noticeable difference.
Burapha spun his lance and unleashed waves of psychic power from his body, driving the souls away. Since he was a psychic-type player, his attacks moderately worked against them. However, he had no idea how long he could last.
The deeper they ran into the kingdom, the larger the groups of souls became. Everything turned red. Bluebird couldn"t see the way and tripped, falling. The souls didn"t show any mercy as they jumped at him.
Bluebird gritted his teeth as he prepared himself for a powerful impact. However, blue vapor automatically released from his body, slowing down the souls" movements. Thanks to that, Bluebird could dodge them and stand back up.
"Erm... Thanks," Bluebird said to Asmodeus. At that time, Burapha"s voice suddenly rang out.
"Arghh! What the h.e.l.l? It"s very painful."
With Bluebird stumbling, the team"s formation became chaotic. Sila was worried and went back while Burapha made a mistake and was attacked once. Although the souls" attack didn"t take even a single point of his health points, the pain was unbearable. It was a cursed attack that brought intense pain rather than damage.
Everyone had to take care of themselves. Sila was surrounded. He constantly drove the souls away with Moon Reflecting Mirror. Briefly, he noticed his reflection in the mirror moving his lips and saying something, but it was inconceivable since the mirror moved too fast. Wondering about it, Sila summoned another mirror and looked into it.
Dark Self was there, in a bad temper and scolding Sila. "Use the Crystal Demonic Sword!! Otherwise, let me out!!"
As the Crystal Demonic Sword was mentioned, Sila recalled it had the ability to devour poison, curses, and negative energy. Even though Bluebird said physical attacks wouldn"t work, if he attacked with his fists while wearing the Crystal Demonic Sword in gloves form, it should do at least something.
"Better change its form to be suitable for this battle."
The pair of black gloves changed their forms as they combined and became a long, black chain with blades at each end. Sila flung it around him, and once it came into contact with the souls, they disintegrated and were absorbed into the chain, strengthening its attack power.
Naturally, Sila had never used a chain or a whip as his weapon. Nevertheless, he imbued his psychic power into the chain to have an easier time controlling it. The chain"s movements were smooth as if it were an organ he never knew he had yet could use flawlessly. Sila swept it around skillfully as if he was an expert who had practiced using the chain as his main weapon for years.
"This is surprisingly fun."
Sila felt elated at the chain moving exactly according to his will. Although he wasn"t Montra who was proficient at using various kinds of weapons, using Dark Psychic Corrosion to manipulate the course of the chain"s movements should be able to compensate for his lack of experience. Thinking about it, Sila felt the urge to try out new kinds of weapons. It would be educational and help to develop his fighting prowess.
From then on out, the souls no longer posed a problem to the three. Sila"s chain became more powerful as it devoured more souls. Just a single touch was enough to completely destroy them. The three safely managed to arrive at the inner part of the Fairy Kingdom.
Inside the kingdom, some souls remained blue, not red. It seemed half of the souls were blue and the rest were red. The same thing applied to all the fairies in the kingdom. All of them, souls and fairies, were fighting against the side of the opposite color without minding Sila and his comrades.
Sila retraced the chain and transformed it back into a pair of black gloves. Burapha and Bluebird were curious about how Sila came to possess this item, but they knew this wasn"t the right time to ask. The three of them searched for Lomyok, who they believed should still be here.
"Why are these souls fighting among themselves?" asked Sila.
"It may be the race"s infighting. I have heard some rumors but never seen it before," replied Bluebird.
"In that case, we should quickly find Lomyok and make an escape before their fight escalates," Burapha proposed the idea.
"From what I"ve seen so far, Lomyok won"t leave this place unless he gets his hands on the clothing he desires."
"We will just have to drag him out with us first. Then, he is free to re-enter. I don"t believe us three together can"t drag him out," Bluebird summarized the solution.
Burapha tried searching for Lomyok with his psychic sense. "I can"t find Lomyok. Maybe he died?"
Sila shook his head. "No, I can sense him, but it"s faint. Although he looks weak, Lomyok is more than meets the eye. If he intends to hide his presence, we will have a hard time pinpointing his location."
Bluebird nodded. "Even though he seems dotty, he could make it to this place when he is only Squire Rank. I admit we shouldn"t underestimate him."
"Really? He stood no chance against Big Brother Sila before though." Burapha was referring to the match in Colossia City.
Sila disagreed and pointed his finger forward. "That was because he wasn"t serious in the fight. If he was, he would have been a formidable foe. Look there."
Bluebird and Burapha followed Sila"s finger and saw Lomyok amidst the chaotic battlefield. His movements were flawless and nimble. In his hand was his fan, which he continuously waved left and right. There was a light blue aura surrounding his body. He seemed to be able to perform the most optimal movements to dodge any attacks thrown his way. Even though some of the attacks grazed him, his face was completely spotless, with not a single injury nor speck of dirt to be seen.
"That must be Qi of Little Fish," said Sila. He naturally remembered the qi he relied on when he first started out. Nevertheless, he recalled Lomyok had told him before that his Qi of Little Fish was lost. Sila didn"t know why Lomyok was still able to use it.
In fact, Lomyok"s Qi of Little Fish was neither destroyed nor lost as he had thought. Instead, it had been infused in his body when Thanatos possessed his body. Once he came back to life and checked his skill list only to find that most of his skills were lost, Lomyok naturally thought that Qi of Little Fish was similarly destroyed. It was simply his misunderstanding.
Based on Sila"s observation, among Qi of Little Divine Beings, Lomyok seemed to possess only Qi of Little Fish. Thus, even though it had fused with his body, it was the only one out of the four and as such didn"t mature into one of the Ten Supreme Qi. Because of this, Lomyok was incapable of exerting the full strength of Qi of Little Fish.
Lomyok noticed Sila and the rest. He waved his hand at them without minding the chaotic battlefield around him. "This way, guys~"
Then, he seemed to only just notice the battles taking place. Lomyok was worried the other three might be unable to approach him, so he strengthened Gorgeous Female Fan with his qi. Once a suitable amount had acc.u.mulated, he waved the fan in the shape of a half-circle in front of him.
"Waves of the Beauties!!" Not only did he perform his move, but Lomyok also boastfully declared the name of his move. No matter how Sila looked at it though, Lomyok"s move was simply an action imbued with power, not a skill activation. It was the first time Sila witnessed someone shouting the name of their move in real combat.
An invisible force blew the souls away and opened a clear path between Lomyok and the three. The power Sila could sense from Lomyok"s move was rather powerful. In fact, it was too powerful to belong to a Squire Rank player. Sila wouldn"t find it weird even if it came from a Marquis Rank being.
The three approached Lomyok without believing their eyes. Even Sila and Bluebird, who believed they had already thought highly of Lomyok, found that they had still underestimated him.
It was normal for them to have a misperception of Lomyok"s true power. Similar to Sila in his early days, Lomyok always fought alone and aimlessly roamed free in the world of Monster Soul. No one had ever seen his true strength. There were only rumors about it.
"It"s good that you guys came. I"m having a problem. Please lend me your help."
Sila observed the battlefield and found that both souls and fairies no longer targeted them. No, actually, he had previously noticed since the beginning that it was rather Lomyok"s fault to stand in the way of the fairies" infighting. They never directed their attacks at him to begin with.
"I think I see the problem. Let"s get out of here," said Bluebird.
Lomyok unfolded his fan. "Oh? I don"t mean these souls and fairies. They aren"t a problem at all. The problem I am referring to is inside. Follow me."
Lomyok quickly led everyone without explaining. Without another choice, the three had to unwillingly follow him.
Seeing this as a chance, Bluebird quickly asked, "Hey, how can you be this good?"
Lomyok didn"t look back but answered proudly, "I always take good care of myself. I avoid strong sunlight and am wary of dust. Moreover, I always circulate qi throughout my body if the temperature is too high or too low. Otherwise, my skin would become dry or damaged."
"I didn"t mean your looks! I meant your ability! How could you easily drive away those fairies? Isn"t your rank Squire?"
Sila also wondered. He glanced at Lomyok"s hand and found that the wounds on it had disappeared. This must be the work of Recovering Qi.
"I"m indeed a Squire Rank player. However, my Gorgeous Female Fan is quite peculiar. Her rank is already Lord. I don"t know what happened to my life. My level always drops but her level always goes up. She is even stronger than me now. Hahaha."
Listening to the explanation, Bluebird gaped while Sila started to get it. If Gorgeous Female Fan was really a Lord Rank weapon, that meant it was the same rank as his armor, the Mechanical Evil G.o.d"s Protection. It wasn"t abnormal for it to possess the strength to push away the fairies and the souls in a single wave.
Sila"s Mechanical Evil G.o.d"s Protection largely focused on features instead of raw power. It was an extremely versatile item which could collect matter, and even wield the abilities of the things stored inside. However, it was because of its versatility that it lacked raw power compared to Lomyok"s fan, which had far fewer options.
"What is your aforementioned problem? Do you mean the Fairy Queen?" Burapha couldn"t help but ask. He wanted to know what awaited them so that they could at least make preparations.
Lomyok reached a certain cave and pushed the door open. Walking inside, Sila and the team could easily identify the Fairy Queen due to how beautiful and stunning she was. However, she wasn"t alone. There were two Fairy Queens in the room. One was red and one was blue. They were staring at each other.
Lomyok turned his head back and answered Burapha"s question.
"Mn. I don"t know which color will suit me best. Red or blue? In which color do you guys think the clothing will look the best on me?"