Chapter 42:
Fragment
(Elizabeth's POV)
"You handled yourself well, Captain," Ailyah commented off-handedly as she finished off the rest of her creampuffs she had put away when they entered the room, "I was for sure you would fy them alive."
Elizabeth gnced at the woman with coy amusement.
"Jury's still out on that," she said with a light chuckle, "I still might. Bastards...they obey blindly without thinking about the consequences. Find out who gave the order."
"Aye, aye," Ailyah feigned a salute before pulling off from Elizabeth, leaving her alone as she made her way to the edge of the Bastion.
Elizabeth wasn't going to waste any more time. As it currently was, she estimated it would take a few days to settle everything here. It would be easier to just kill everyone and be done with it, but...the promise with Lucas stayed her hand. She couldn't always kill her problems away, but that didn't mean she wouldn't. It just meant they lived a little longer thanks to his grace.
Elizabeth stood at the edge of the Bastion, staring out at the ocean. Its waters were retively calm, with a few waves here and there that pped against the base of the Bastion. She took a deep breath, taking in the smell of the brine. She opened her senses and expanded them with the activation of [Spatial Awareness]. It acted like a radar along with mapping the terrain.
She sensed every twist and turn of the Bastion, along with everyone upon it. While activated, everything in a certain radius was within her sights. The only one who has ever been capable of hiding from her has been Maya. She ignored everyone within Bastion, for none of them were her target.
As her senses continued to expand, she saw into the very depths of the ocean, along the supports of the Bastion. Out towards the empty ocean, she sensed the change in water dispersion from every fish and creature within fleeing for their lives. She smirked, knowing that it was coming.
After all, she had sent out a challenge the moment she expanded her senses. The thing about such apex predators, when another threatens their territory, they respond in the only way they know how. Through a show of force.
The Kraken shot from the water, a mass of tentacles with a massive beak filled with razor sharp teeth. It dispced the water about a hundred feet into the air, drenching the Bastion and terrifying all those out in the open. They scrambled to get to safety while Elizabeth looked upon it with cool indifference. Despite its entrance, the size of it was something to be desired.
Smaller than Elizabeth thought, but still crackling with power. It wasn't an average Kraken.
"You're in my ocean without permission..." Elizabeth said, eyes beginning to glow with an infernal bze, "Consider this your eviction notice."
In a fsh of ghostly blue-green fmes, Elizabeth donned her living armor and erupted in a fiery storm. Leaping from the Bastion, she sshed into several of its tentacles as it shed out. There were several thuds as they nded upon the decks of the structure, its dark beady eyes immediately clocking her as a threat.
It roared once more, using the water to propel itself back and away. At the same time, its energy suffused with the water, creating pressurized waves that could easily cut through steel. Throwing her hand up, she conjured [Fme Wall], a barrier of her fmes that caused an immediate explosion of steam, yet nullified the Kraken's attack.
"Tenacious..." Elizabeth muttered, gathering her mana for another attack.
The Kraken's eyes gleamed with a sembnce of intelligence as it began to retreat into the water where it believed it had the advantage. Many of the Wild Guard members had now gathered in an attempt to defend the Bastion. Several Aegis members were among them.
They erected barriers, prismatic walls that interconnected to form a shield around the entire fortress. The thrum of arcano-tech came to life as the shield generators emboldened their attempts, much like the walls of the Wild Zone in City W. For now, the Bastion would be safe, but Elizabeth still had work to do.
"If you think the water will save you..." Elizabeth leapt forth into the sky, wings of fme carrying her aloft, "You're mistaken..."
She motioned her hands towards water where the Kraken was. [Eruption] activated as the water boiled into steam, becoming a scalding pit as a pilr of ghostly fmes shot upwards, encompassing most of the Kraken's body. Half of it became burned, falling away harmlessly into the water.
"H-Hurts...st-stop..." a voice rang out, broken and terrified, "Su-Surrender..."
The Kraken was begging for its life, using what intelligence it had to plead with her. Unfortunately for them, she wasn't in the mood to show mercy. That was...until something curious happened. A notification:
---
>[Covenant of Von Angeal: You've Gained 1 New Subject – Nima, Kraken of the Storm]
>Congratutions! You've subjugated a legendary creature through force! Your strength is commendable.
>Reward: Poseidon's Trident and Tears of the Sea.
---
A rge cm shell appeared before her and began to glow as it opened. Much like a loot box in some of the games that Lucas often pyed, though he wasn't a huge fan of them. A golden light glowed from within as the two rewards came into view. The Staff of Poseidon, otherwise known as Poseidon's Trident, floated towards her.
It held a smooth shaft of white, but as it neared the top, a nest of coral twisted into three different points around a pristine pearl held within the cw-like structure. Three-points, and thus...technically called a trident, though the item itself was more of a staff, but it could be used as both. Elizabeth grabbed the staff and reached her other hand out for the other reward.
She was actually surprised for the first time in a while. The Tears of the Sea was actually an incredibly rare item she had on her list of items to find, but only for the future. She never thought she would actually get it as a reward like this. If she had known, she might have tried to subjugate the Kraken in her other lives, but...she couldn't change the past, only the future.
The Tears of the Sea was a collection of teardrop sapphires held together by a string. She smiled, her heart soaring, for they would be invaluable in keeping Lucas safe.
---
>Tears of the Sea
>Description: These precious stones were formed from the seas very soul. Legend says that the Great Sea once loved a fisher who graced their waters. They gave them bounty after bounty from their bosom, eager to help ease the difficulty of the fisher's life. One day, the fisher was beset by brigands looking to take from their haul. The fisher lost their life, floating into the embrace of the Great Sea.
>Saddened by this act of cruelty, and enraged by the death of the one they loved, the Great Sea is said to have rose from the very depths and drown the brigands, reveling in their futile gasps for air. As the storm settled, it was stated that upon the shores of their home, the fisher was found carefully wrapped in seaweed. These precious gems, like teardrops, were found around them.
>Any who tried to steal these stones was beset by the wrath of the very seas themselves. Legend says they were lost to obscurity, their body given back to the sea they loved so much, along with these stones. After all, it was where they belonged.
>Effect: The one who bears these stones upon them is under the protection of the Great Sea. Woe be to those who earn the Great Seas wrath. Summon the spirit of the Great Sea in the defense of the one who wears these stones.
>Rank: SS
>Cooldown: After use, must rest a full day to replenish their strength.
---
Gncing down at the Kraken, Elizbeth appraised it with cool disdain. It cowered there in the water like an admonished puppy. She was annoyed, for somehow...it looked cute.
"Damn it..." she muttered to herself, knowing what Lucas would say if he was here, "You're lucky I'm suddenly in a good mood."
Clenching the Tears of the Sea in her hand, she pced them in her inventory for safe keeping and turned towards the ptform of the Bastion. There, Ailyah had appeared to help with the defenses.
"Take this," Elizabeth called to her, throwing the Staff of Poseidon to her, "It's more useful to you than me."
It was an item that Elizabeth had pnned Ailyah to receive from this dungeon anyways, as it was one of the rewards for completing it. However, getting it here was convenient, and it meant that all she had to do was focus on finding her fragment.
"Appreciate it, boss!" Ailyah caught the staff gratefully, knowing better than to question her choice of giving her such an item, "What about that thing?"
Ailyah motioned towards the Kraken whose eyes were glittering in an attempt to appear harmless. Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth sighed.
"Leave it," she told them, flying down towards the creature, "I seem to have tamed the thing. It won't cause any more problems...will you?"
It immediately shook its head under her cold gre. Many on the Bastion began to cheer in victory, but Elizabeth...she felt empty. As please as she was that this unexpected boon had graced her, she still wanted to kill something. The NUN had tried her patience.
"You've killed many people," Elizabeth expined to the creature, "Three cargo ships. All pulled into the depths."
"N-No..." the Kraken shook its head, "Not...me..."
Tilting her head, Elizabeth appraised it of any falsehoods. Under the covenant, they would have difficulty lying to her, and she sensed it told the truth.
"Others..." it croaked, fear in its voice, "At...Temple..."
"Others, huh?" Elizabeth knew there were more than one Kraken, after all, it was called the Kraken's Nest, "Well, lead the way. I've somewhat of a...personal debt to pay them."
Elizabeth's mind fshed with a life that had long since passed. One in which she had enjoyed the beaches of the Italian coast with Lucas as they toured the Mediterranean when a rift had appeared. Hoards of monsters came pouring out, Krakens included. One such Kraken had killed Lucas. A tentacle straight through the chest.
The memory caused her bloodlust to fre, gring intently at the Kraken, and for a brief moment she thought of boiling it alive. However, what kind of Queen would she be if she killed a new follower so soon after joining her covenant? Even Lucas would give this thing a chance, and so she begrudgingly stayed her hand.
"From now on, you obey me," she instructed it, "You kill anyone without my permission, I'll fy you alive. If we're understood...lead me to the others."
Springing into action, the Kraken was more than willing to obey. Diving beneath the surface of the water, Elizabeth followed after it, dispcing the water with her fmes and allowing herself to breath. By the end of the day, she would kill something.
-----
(Elizabeth's POV, Cont.)
Her mind was constantly filled with memories of the past. After living for so long, it was hard to forget, but also just as difficult to remember. Certain moments in her life that flickered to the surface, forgotten until a spark ignited it.
As she crested a ridge deep underwater, surrounded by coral and various sea life...she felt the familiar sensation that accompanied such a memory. Like most things she wished she could forget, it was another bittersweet memory. There was a reason Lucas didn't like deep water...something that seemed to follow him ever since that moment, though he had never been a fan even before. It just simply got...worse.
She closed her eyes to recall that painful memory, for though she wished to forget, it was a necessary reminder. The reason why she is fighting. Giving up now would be an insult to everything that she has accomplished, and all that he has sacrificed.
"Lucas..." Elizabeth though of him as the memory surfaced.
~His smile was as dazzling as the tropical sun. The water was cool. Refreshing. He ran in the shallows, as much as one could run in water. She watched him with amusement as a water war began between them. They were on vacation.
A lull in her work had allowed them this moment of respite, but she should have known better. The moment she forgot it all...the moment that she felt any sense of happiness or peace...the dream shattered and reality came crashing down around her.
She sensed it in the air before it happened, reacting as fast as she could, but it wasn't enough. Not back then. She cursed her weakness as she saw Lucas pulled beneath the waves.
The water had darkened from its clear blue to an impenetrable abyss. The sky overhead, which had just been clear was now overcast. Lightning crackled as a storm began. Without a second though, Elizabeth dived beneath the waves after Lucas.
She was just barely able to see him with [Darkvision], but there, just barely at the edge of its range, she saw him. Something had dragged him beneath the surface. It appeared pntlike. A warbling mass of seaweed.
As she drew closer, panic urging her on, she saw that it was leeching blood from his body through little needles that had pierced his flesh. Leechgrass of the oceanic variety. He was struggling desperately, attempting to free himself. He even tried using what little magic he had left at the time, but to no avail.
That's when his eyes met hers, and like always...he fucking smiled. That damn, fucking smile. Fear took hold as she used what power she could to shoot like a torpedo through the water towards him, his eyes slowly closing as he began to lose consciousness, but he never lost his smile. Even in the darkness, it was a beacon of light. Dazzling.
She never understood how he could smile like that, even at the brink of death. She drew her sword and sin the creature. Grabbing his now limp body, she tried her best to quickly rise to the surface without harming him. Rising to fast wouldn't good, but rising too slowly and...well, she just hoped that there was still time.
Pulling him to the sands of the beach, she desperately attempted CPR, used several potions, and what little healing ability she had, but still he would not take a breath. Even so, she was so distraught that she couldn't give up. She wouldn't. It was only as she was beginning to lose hope that he finally coughed up what water was in his lungs and took his first breath.
Overcome with such relief, Elizabeth almost suffocated him a second time. She could hear him ugh as he weakly patted her back comfortingly. He had almost died, but his only worry had been her. What a foolish man.
"I think...I'm done with the beach," he stated weakly with a frivolous, yet nervous ugh, "Can we go home now?"
She ughed through her tears, nodding as she lifted him in her arms. He protested as he always did, half-heartedly as he tried to hide his blushing face. He loved it, but was always too embarrassed to admit it.
She left the scene of the newly formed Wild Zone to the resident Pyers, wanting to spend what precious moments she still had with him.~
At the time, she hadn't quite built Aegis up to what it was in this life. She hadn't experienced everything that she had. It was still very early on in her regressions. After all, he still had a little bit of his magic left...but that would quickly disappear as he was lost to her over and over again.
What reminded her of this bittersweet memory that reminded her of how fragile, yet strong, Lucas was? Well, there was a field of Leechgrass sprawling out in all directions. In its center, half-way out of a gate, was what appeared to be an ancient Greek-styled structure.
"There...there!" the Kraken excimed, "Others...inside..."
"Good..." Elizabeth's words traveled through the water, empowered by her mana, "You may want to stay back unless you wish to be consumed."
Immediately, the Kraken grew nervous and swam quickly to a good distance behind her. She kept air around her head, keeping the water at bay with a thin yer of burning mana. Drawing her bde, even in the depths of the ocean, it roared to life with ghostly fme. The water around it began to bubble and fizzle as energy was dispersed.
She held a grudge against these things for putting Lucas's life in danger, and thanks to that reminder, she would be able to vent some of her frustrations. Though...she couldn't guarantee what would happen after. Little motes of fme began to lift from the bde, creating little air pockets around themselves.
They rose above the fields of Leechgrass before slowly descending upon them. Feeling the disturbance in the water, they shed out towards it. A mistake they would come to regret. The moment their tendrils touched the motes of fme, it was like lightning striking a metal rod. The fmes leapt across the Leechgrass, igniting the entire ocean in an infernal bze.
[Infernal Crescendo: Incineration] activated. A form of [Infernal Crescendo] that completely burned everything it touched in an instant. For a brief moment, there was no water within or around the temple, and every single piece of Leechgrass was gone. The stone of the temple was charred bck, and as the space emptied by her fmes was filled back in an instant by the ocean, those pieces of stone were washed away like ash, leaving only the glowing portal in the center.
Taking a deep breath, allowed to her by the fiment protecting her from the oceans suffocating embrace, she turned towards the Kraken and motioned with cold eyes.
"Continue," she ordered, the Kraken rushing forward without a single word of compint.
She followed after, approaching the gate to the Kraken's Nest. There, floating before it, she could feel the pull of her fragment stronger than ever. It was in there. Calling to her. She clenched her weapon and held a hand over her heart.
Another piece of her had been found. Another step closer to ensuring Lucas would never be in danger ever again. With her determination steeled, she entered the gate and immediately fell onto solid ground. Landing with grace upon her feet, she looked around to the massive room she found herself in.
Of simir design to the temple outside, but made of aquamarine stone that shimmered as it reflected the water which lined the edges of the room. She could sense them before they appeared, as she was already on high alert. Fast moving creatures within the depths of those canals that leapt out the moment she entered the dungeon.
Humanoid creatures with long razor-sharp tails and tough outer blue scales. Their eyes were rge and wide, carrying spears which they used to thrust towards her. With swift moments, she dodged expertly, her bde tearing through their scales like butter. Bluish-purple blood spilled upon the stones of the temple.
"Fucking Triton's..." They were different from what most might think of from mythology, but that's what these creatures came to be called. They were agile in and out of water, but it was foolish of them to face Elizabeth as she was currently. There was not a single one of their spears which nded a blow as she danced among them as a graceful reaper.
The Kraken, for its part, was smart enough to know it had to pull its own weight after following her in. What remained of its tentacles, it used to grasp and crush the Tritons at the edge of the fight. The fact it could fit in this room with little trouble really gave perspective to the size of the Kraken's Nest. Even out of water, the creature was formidable, and now that she was inside...she could sense the others.
As the st of the Tritons fell to her bde, she looked around carefully for any other threats. Covered in blood, she wiped her face without a care, too focused on attempting to figure out which direction to go in. There were four paths from where she entered, each in a different direction. A tug at her heart pulled her towards the left, but her senses told her that the Krakens were in the opposite direction.
However, as she assessed the situation, excitement coursed through her. Here, in this pce where her fragment was, her blood resonated with it, and though she didn't have it in her grasp quite yet, she could feel the power coursing through her. At the same time, she sensed a incredibly powerful creature in the same direction.
"Finally..." Elizabeth muttered to herself, staring off towards where the majority of the Krakens were, "I think I'm going to have some fun..."
[Von Angeal] activated, revealing her true form. She felt the surge of resonance as a certain amount of ecstasy coursed through her. This power...the strength she felt...it was intoxicating, second only to Lucas's touch. Yes, this would be quite entertaining.
"Wait here," Elizabeth ordered the Kraken, already making her way from the portal, "Your family is about to get quite a bit smaller..."
The Kraken, fearful of the intense pressure from her true form, it could do nothing but obey. She couldn't bme them, for in that moment, her eyes glinted with a desire to kill, and her face was twisted in devilish delight. She flexed her cws, sending her sword to her inventory. She wanted to do this the old fashioned way.
To feel their flesh tear with her own hands. She had a debt to collect, and she would have her pound of flesh paid back many times over.
-----
(Elizabeth's POV, Cont.)
It didn't take long for her to find the Krakens, or to fy them alive. It was satisfying to tear their rubber-like bodies apart with her bare hands. She reveled in it. The pleasure of the fight. The euphoria of releasing all her tension into the massacre that filled these temple halls.
The Kraken's Nest was not just made of marble and stone. Various paths were flooded, and many rooms were completely submerged, some in nonsensical ways. Watery thresholds into rooms where they did not spill from. As if being held back by some invisible force, and yet one could walk through it just as easy as any other opening.
Those rooms were now filled with the desiccated carcasses of several dozen Krakens. They were weaker than the one she subjugated, but no less terrifying to those incapable of fighting. The cargo ships which had been sunk were indeed down by them. She could smell the flesh upon them that they had eaten. Seen the bones of the deceased picked clean, floating in the waters of the temple.
She washed herself clean from an untouched fountain, having just finished killing a few more Tritons that had appeared. It wasn't like she cared about being covered in blood and flesh. It was a common in her line of work, and as someone so terrifying on the field of battle. Fshes of old memories that were not Elizabeth's, but the Demon Queen Von Angeal, rose to the surface.
Of course, those memories were now hers, as they've always been, but being so close to one of her fragments...this was rather common. Fshes of moments in her life from before the gates opened into Earth and she was forced to protect her realm. She was a Warrior Queen, unafraid to fight on the front lines to protect her people. She tore through hundreds of enemies, bathing in their blood. The smell of iron and flesh was almost nostalgic to her.
As she reminisced, she felt a gentle hand touch her face. "Of course..." She sighed, somber and rexed, feeling her heart soften as she gnced to see an apparition of Lucas sitting at the edge of the fountain. He wasn't actually there, not really. A figment brought to life by her desires. Just a memory of a time when she was in a simir situation with him, back before she ever regressed.
"Shouldn't hide that beautiful face of yours," the apparition echoed the words he had said back then.
"What's so beautiful about it?" she whispered, remembering her words exactly, "It's rough. Twisted. One half human, the other...demon."
The apparition dipped its hand into the fountain, producing ethereally a cloth that dripped with liquid, though it wasn't real. Just an echo of the past. She smiled with gentle warmth as the cloth touched her face, wiping away some of the blood, only...it was the blood she had on her face from back then. Living this memory was precious. Sweet and tender.
"Your point?" the words reverberated with his unfair kindness, "That's exactly what's beautiful about it. It's unique, and...we'll find a way. I promise you."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," she muttered pyfully, though back then she had practically snapped at him, "What if I'm stuck like this forever? What if we...what if we can't return to who we were?"
The apparition sighed, his expression softening. Once more, he dipped the ethereal cloth into the water, though not a ripple was made as he did so. Bringing it back up to her face, she moved as she did back then, guided by the memory of his warm hands against her face, uncaring for the blood upon her skin. His eyes only saw her...saw them.
"Well, I can only speak for myself, but...does that really matter?" the apparition asked.
It continued to help wash her face, though the current her was getting no cleaner. Even so, she could still feel the way her took great care in getting every speck of blood free of her skin, smiling that damn, stupid smile.
"Elizabeth or Von Angeal..." they shrugged, dipping the clothing in the water that didn't move, "You're you. You're the only you I know. I love you. Both of you. So don't you dare talk shit about them. I'll say it as many times as you need. You're beautiful no matter what form you take."
She had blushed back then just as she blushed now when remembering those words. He had kept his promise, reminding her constantly that it didn't matter what form she took. He loved her. Always told her how beautiful she was. Even at her worst.
That's why, even though she didn't care if she was covered in blood, and though she knew he didn't either, she still cleaned herself. He would pyfully admonish her whenever they had gone off to hunt alone whenever she came back looking like a mess. He would sit there, just like this apparition was doing now, and meticulously, lovingly, and tenderly help clean her.
"You shouldn't hide your beauty," he'd say while at the same time calling her beautiful when her clothes were a mess and she was covered in viscera, "What? I can't love this side of you? Boo! Hiss! Boo!"
She ughed remembering his sulking, pyful act. Overcome by the memory, Elizabeth reached slowly up towards the ethereal hand that touched her face, only for it to vanish into nothing, for it only ever existed in her mind, as well as her past. Even so, she could still feel it, and her heart was much lighter for it, but soon grew heavy with longing.
She missed him. It hadn't even been a day and she was already painfully aware of his absence. Sighing softly, she looked down at the water where she dipped a real cloth into it. As it rippled, she saw how she had once appeared. A twisted, horrifying amalgamation of a human and demon, or at least...she once thought so.
Now, she saw the subtle curves and elegant lines that melded the two halves together. She admired the singur horn that Lucas would stroke every once in a while, when they were alone. She no longer hated the two different eyes, one dark and demonic, the other light and human. He found beauty in what most would consider a monster, and since that day, she had evolved.
Her appearance changed as each of her fragments was found. In the process, Elizabeth Falcrest and Elizabeth Von Angeal became one. With each ripple, she saw the change take pce before her eyes until finally it settled upon who she was now. One and the same Elizabeth Falcrest, The Demon Queen Von Angeal.
"You tamed this monster..." she whispered lovingly, gncing up towards the direction of her fragment, as well as the incredibly powerful life essence that she sensed, "Perhaps I'll tame one for you..."
Finished with cleaning herself, she stood from the fountain, and with renewed vigor, strode towards her goal. Through winding hallways and flooded corridors. Motifs of grand seascapes etched into the walls passed her by. She had a singur goal, and as she closed in on it, turning a corner to see a double stone door at the end of the hall, a massive tentacle crashed through it.
She easily dodged, debris being sent everywhere. The temple shook from the impact and as the dust settled, she saw into an incredibly rge room. At least a hundred feet high, maybe more, and twice that in every direction. In the middle of the room was an enormous creature two, no...three times the size of Nima, the Kraken that she had previously subjugated.
It was writhing mass of tentacles that shed at the ground angrily, as if it was stomping its frustrations into the very stones. Its bulbous head fshed with a variety of colors as its beak opened with a thunderous roar.
"My children!" it raged, "How dare you! Dead! All of them!"
"...Well, not all," Elizabeth muttered, dusting herself off, "And I had just cleaned myself..."
She clicked her tongue, for while she hadn't been hit, the damage from the Kraken's rage had covered her in dirt and pieces of stone. Casually making her way into the chamber, the Kraken's rge eyes locked onto her.
"You!" the creature roared once more, "I'll kill you for what you've done! My precious children! They were innocent!"
Elizabeth scoffed and tilted her head.
"Innocent?" she asked derisively, "Please. They've tasted flesh other than fish. They were nothing but mindless husks. Only one of your children had the sense to speak."
"Lies!" it screamed, "They were simply hungry!"
In its anger, the creature swung down one of its gigantic tentacles towards Elizabeth. She didn't move or attempt to dodge. Instead, she met it head on. Raising a hand to catch it, halting the attack in its tracks. The ground cracked beneath her, but she did not budge. The resulting impact reverberated throughout the chamber and shook the very foundations of the temple itself.
"Hungry or not..." Elizabeth muttered, her cws digging into the flesh of the creature, "You should have taught them better manners, though..."
Peering from around it, her eyes glinted with intense ferocity.
"I guess I shouldn't expect anything less..." she stated, her tone dangerous, "From someone rude enough to attack like this."
While she had caught the attack with retive ease, Elizabeth could feel the power of it throughout her body. It would have crushed even an S-Rank easily. Even Dimitry may have had a difficult time with it. This creature wasn't like the other Krakens, and through a notification, she realized why.
---
>Alert! Anomaly Detected. Space distorted.
>Kra...ken's....nest...
>Kraken's Nest Temple of the Moon.
>Guardian has appeared.
>Luria, Kraken of the Full Moon.
>Goal: Survive its onsught and defeat it.
>Reward: Fragment of the Demon Queen, Von Angeal.
---
As the notification fshed before Elizabeth's vision, she saw past the creature towards the far wall of the room. There, she felt in incredibly intense pull. At the top of a set of pyramid stairs, residing between four marble pilrs incased by a prismatic barrier on all sides, was floating a glowing jewel shard. In its presence, so close now, Elizabeth's blood exploded with strength.
"Survive...huh?" Elizabeth smirked, gring back up at the creature, "I think they mean you. I wonder..."
Digging her fingers in deeper to the tentacle, a crimson aura surrounded her hand as she tore free the tentacle from the Kraken's body.
"How long will you st?" Elizabeth inquired with twisted delight, "Lucas needs another pet."
With that, she unched herself at the creature, and though it wasn't an easy battle, it was overwhelmingly in Elizabeth's favor. The outcome already determined.
-----
(Moments Later)
>[Covenant of Von Angeal: You've Gained 1 New Subject – Luria, Kraken of the Full Moon]
>Congratutions! You've defeated the Guardian of the Temple of the Moon, conquering it and making it yours. Ascend the steps and cim your reward.
---
The notification was expected, though Elizabeth was a little disappointed that she didn't receive any additional rewards for subjugating it.
"Honestly..." Elizabeth sighed, gncing down upon the defeated Kraken from the top of the steps near her fragment, "You should be thankful."
The Kraken cowered there, holding its st remaining child in what remained of its tentacles. Its size had tremendously decreased, now no rger than an elephant. Elizabeth had called Nima from where she had left it, and Luria had immediately attached itself to them. It was almost endearing, if not for the fact that Elizabeth still detested the creatures.
"There's only one reason you yet live," she expined, turning her attention back to the fragment glowing from beyond the barrier, "I made a promise once. Give everyone at least one chance...even monsters."
As she approached the barrier, she felt the resonance within her heart. A strong thump with each beat. Quicker and quicker. Her blood was on fire. Her eyes focused solely on her prize. It was a dark crimson shard, like crystallized blood. Inside was a hollow fme, ghostly blue with a greenish tint around the edges.
Reaching a hand towards it, she grasped it firmly. Immediately, the crystal tched onto her flesh, forming vein-like formations that wrapped around and up her arm. She felt it take hold and dig deep into her flesh. She was used to this. Embraced it.
It was euphoria. A rush of power. With reverence, she slowly raised the crystal towards her chest, just over her heart. Taking a deep breath, she then plunged it into her. Another vivid rush of euphoria as it reunited with the other shards that she had collected. She wasn't quite complete, but close. She was almost there.
---
>Notice – Your blood resonates with the shard.
>Your origin skill, [Von Angeal] has evolved.
---
"Yes..." she breathed a sigh of relief, the veins of the crystal disappearing into her, melding naturally until they were finally a part of her again, "This time, for sure...I'll succeed."
Turning back towards the Krakens, she gred down upon them with regal indifference. Though it was true she had made a promise to Lucas, there was more to keeping these two alive than just that. They would be useful for the future. Luria, while they lost, had put up quite the fight despite being no match for Elizabeth.
"I suggest you don't waste this chance," she told them coolly, and in that moment, she exuded her newfound power.
Her wings expanded as she became encased in a powerful aura, manifesting the vestments of a Queen. Just slightly above her head a dark crown hovered. There it shone with demonic radiance. Ghostly fmes danced like jewels above each prominent point. A mantle of darkness, within which all light seemed to be pulled, never to be seen again.
"You won't get another," she warned them, her voice reverberating with power, "You shall be defenders of my husband. Failure to do so with result in a fate worse than death. I can keep you alive for a very, very...very long time."
"W-Why...kill my children?" Luria asked, holding Nima to them.
There was no longer any depth to their voice, bereft of its former gravitas after being defeated.
"I told you already," Elizabeth said as she began to descend the stairs, "They lost their minds to their baser instincts. Left alone, they are dangerous. I cannot allow that. You know this, but refuse to admit it."
Luria looked to think on what Elizabeth had told them, closing their eyes before nodding.
"I...could no longer hear their voices," they stated, saddened, "I could not kill them myself. I do not know why I am here. The temple shifted and we found ourselves being pulled into this world."
Elizabeth could rete to such a situation, for it was how her castle had found its way to becoming a Critical Dungeon. Since her fragment had awakened, she wasn't surprised that the Temple of the Moon at taken the pce of the Kraken's Nest. It was simir in appearance, and with the power of her fragment, it wouldn't be too far to assume that it had interfered somehow to get to her.
---
>Notice! Dungeon Colpsing. Anomaly fixed.
> Luria, Kraken of the Full Moon, Guardian of the Temple, has been defeated.
>The Guardian cannot retain its position.
>The Fragment of the Demon Queen, Von Angeal has been taken.
>The Temple of the Moon can no longer be maintained.
>Reverting Temple of the Full Moon into Kraken's Nest.
>Leave if you don't want to die.
---
The notification confirmed her theory of her fragment influencing the dungeons change. Now, without Luria and her fragment, it would soon change back. Unfortunately, unlike how it had changed, this would be a lot more violent. Like a colpsing star, it would implode upon itself.
Releasing her aura, she motioned for the Krakens to follow her.
"We're leaving," she told them curtly, "And the two of you do something about that appearance of yours. I know you can change."
Luria looked down at Nima, who looked back with slight hesitation before they were given a reassuring nod by Luria. They began to glow with various colors, morphing their getinous bodies into something more suitable for travel. Just as they finished, the temple began to shake. Pilrs started to colpse, the floor broke in several pces, and the walls cracked under the pressure.
Elizabeth didn't look to see if they were keeping up with her. If they couldn't even do this much and survive, then they weren't quite the gift she had intended. Thankfully, she chooses good gifts, for just as she exited the portal into the Atntic, she was not alone. Both of them had made it right before the portal colpsed upon itself and reopened to form a more stable portal to the Kraken's Nest.
"Now then..." she assessed them, seeing their unique appearances, "You'll need clothes and a crash course on etiquette. You better be quick learners, because I want to return as soon as possible."
Elizabeth turned before they could give their answer, for she truly did wish to return as soon as possible. The longer she deyed, the longer she spent away from Lucas, and she still had to inform the Wild Guard and NUN that she had succeeded. Expeditions could begin into the Kraken's Nest for the appropriately ranked Pyers and trade could resume.
The ocean, for now, was safe once more.
-----
Nikushimi
