"She just beca louder?" Athena hissed, placing her hands over her ears.
"Arghh, my ears are bleeding!" cried one of the auction attendees.
"I have finally caught this bastard’s sword!" Guios laughed as he glared at King and held his large sword tightly.
However, as he tried to break it, it didn’t budge, which surprised him. "Wait, why is it so hard?" he wondered, but seeing all of King’s eyes terrified him, making him jump back.
"A re mortal dared to touch my sword. How revolting," King said coldly, his voice making everyone watching him tremble in fear or feel uneasy.
"Father, kill that thing already!" his son demanded.
"I would kill it, but I need to be careful. This thing is more dangerous than it looks," Guios said, patting his son gently on the head.
"Hey, Athena!" Guios called out her na, knowing it from overhearing her subordinates. "Let’s attack them together and end this quickly," he offered, as dealing with Aurianna and her summons was starting to beco difficult.
Indeed, I’m tired of this. I’ll use my strongest attack," Athena declared, gathering large amounts of water above her.
"Sa for ," Guios declared, his entire body imdiately bursting with blue flas that burned ferociously. Luckily, the others were protected from the heat by Athena’s shield.
"Blast breath!" Guios unleashed a fire attack that caused an explosion when it neared King.
"Water dragon!" Athena’s water ford a dragon in the sky, opening its large maw as a blue beam of light converged there. Imdiately, a powerful water blast shot out from its mouth towards King.
"Perish!!!" They both yelled as their attacks rained down on Aurianna and King, slowly destroying the young girl’s body.
King raised his sword to make one more attack. A black and red light converged on his sword, giving it an eerie appearance, and his white eyes turned black.
"Nebula," he calmly said as his sword cut through the air and he released a massive dark purple and blue explosion covering a 200-kiloter radius. The aftermath shimred like stars forming in the night sky, illuminating the waters below.
After this attack, King finally crumbled, and Aurianna succumbed to her injuries as she returned to her normal form. Her body was burnt into ashes by that attack.
Once the attack subsided, Aurianna revived on the island, which was barely protected by Athena’s barrier.
"I’m alive. Well, that’s a relief. It’s good to be able to revive!" She sighed.
However, Athena and the others weren’t doing well. Athena sustained massive internal injuries from that attack, as did Guios. Fifty-three of the attending auction mbers were killed in that assault.
"Finally, it’s over..." Athena sighed in relief. "I’ll have to report this to Master once I get back to the mainland," she said to herself, her eyes fixed on the star-like patterns created by King’s attack. When she looked below, the water was illuminated, causing her pupils to shrink and her face to turned pale.
"Dammit, the sea kings are here!" She yelled.
"So, those are sea kings, how terrifying," Aurianna mumbled as she noticed nurous enormous monsters as huge as King but longer surrounding the water around them and killing off competition.
Athena’s aura surged when she noticed that the place was unusually dark. So dark that it terrified her.
Suddenly, she could finally make out what was in the darkness. It was the large body of a creature. Its scaly skin shimred, and its head suddenly shot out from the darkness, aiming to bite her.
Luckily, Athena noticed the attack and blocked it with a water shield.
The creature before her was much more terrifying than King. She was barely taller than its teeth, and the creature had haunting red eyes that stared at them.
"So, that woman and man were holding back the entire ti. Makes sense since they didn’t want to draw the attention of the sea kings," Aurianna nodded as she concluded and struggled to get up.
"Hehe, well, I’m not willing to die here. Ti to run," she told herself as she dashed towards the docks.
"The wounds those two gave are excruciating. The hole in my chest and well as my stomach are not healing even though I just revived," she mumbled as she noticed them, and she couldn’t help but frown.
"Hmm, well, I don’t know exactly how I survived, but I did. And those bastards struggling with sea monsters. How can sea monsters be that strong to make a Grand Human tremble in fear as well as several Arc Humans?" Aurianna wondered as she watched everyone floating in the skies fight.
"Well, I better escape with one of the ships. Luckily none were destroyed with all those attacks," Aurianna mumbled as she dashed towards one of the ships at the dock, jumped, and landed on the deck. People could be seen panicking as they imdiately began to hoist their sails and cut off the anchor of the ship.
Noticing soone on the ship caused the workers on the ship to be alerted. But seeing her adorable face, their panicked expressions imdiately beca calm.
"Miss, may I ask who you are? This ship belongs to..." a man who seed like a captain tried to explain but was t with Aurianna’s raised palm.
"I don’t care who it belongs to. Let’s escape this place at once, unless you want to deal with those sea monsters," she stated, pointing at the sea monsters heading towards Athena.
"But miss, we can’t," the captain tried to refute.
"Start the ship," Aurianna ordered coldly.
"Yes!" The man chirped, his eyes dazed as he walked towards the ship’s wheel, spun it, and the ship began to move.
"I hope I’m not mistaken, but is that a hole in her chest and stomach?" a woman, one of the crew mbers, whispered to her male friend with a nervous expression.
"It’s better we don’t ask questions," he said, shaking his head, and continued pulling in so ropes.
"Why?" the woman asked, inching further towards her busy mate.
"She makes feel extrely uneasy. No human should be able to walk normally with such a wound, so it ans she’s not human," he said with a grave tone, and the woman nodded, resuming her duties.
"Everyone, we are passing through infested waters. Be on high alert!" the captain ordered, and everyone nodded.
"These waters are really being flooded with sea monsters. And they are all heading towards the place with the largest mana concentration and bloody scent. Hmm, good luck dealing with that," Aurianna chuckled as she watched the illuminated waters from the side of the ship, seeing many sea creatures swimming towards the island.
"Miss, if I may ask for your na?" A crew mber ca forward, t with Aurianna’s calm yet troubled expression.
"It’s Aurianna," she said softly.
"Alright then," he nodded before leaving.
As Aurianna watched the monstrous sea creatures of all sizes swim underneath the ship, she thought, ’The entire place being illuminated makes looking at the sea below more terrifying with all those monsters below us.’
"I wonder how they don’t see us," Aurianna mumbled as she surveyed the chaotic sea.
"Sea Kings and monsters are mostly blind, since they live in darkness their whole lives. So they are very sensitive to light," Eva explained, and Aurianna nodded.
"Shouldn’t they have night vision?" Aurianna asked, a bit confused.
"So do, but they live at the very bottom of the sea, and no one would like to encounter them since they would be hard to escape from," Eva explained, and Aurianna nodded, resuming her silence.
"Miss, we caught these two brats sneaking on board!" a middle-aged crewman yelled, throwing two human children before Aurianna.
They looked up to et her eyes, causing them to shiver and bow imdiately.
"Please let us stay on board. We’ll behave!" the boy pleaded as he held the girl’s hand.
’Siblings?’ Aurianna assud, noticing the striking resemblance between the young children. Moreover, she observed collar-like markings around their necks, hinting that they were likely slaves.
’How did they manage to survive?’ she wondered as she scrutinized them.
"Leave them," Aurianna waved her hand dismissively as the middle-aged man stepped back.
"Give a good reason to let you stay and not throw you off to feed the monsters," Aurianna stated coldly.
"We can clean!" the girl chirped.
"Please, I’m begging you, take us along!" the boy pleaded, hitting his head hard on the floor.
"Just one more question: how did you both survive?" Aurianna asked curiously. ’They are too weak to resist my poison magic, so how?’ she wondered with a frown.
"Alphonso protected us," the boy began to tear up as he trembled.
’Who’s Alphonso?’ Aurianna wondered.
"I see," she blurted out.
"All the other slaves who managed to survive were trapped inside the cages, till that one attack that killed them," the girl stated before biting her lip.
’I’m sure it’s King’s attack. Does it an I have another stock of souls?’ Aurianna thought.
"Just because you can clean doesn’t an we shouldn’t carry a burden," Aurianna spat coldly, and the children trembled.
"We know what you did!" the girl yelled, glaring at Aurianna.
"Anisha!" the boy yelled at his sister, fear evident in his voice upon noticing Aurianna’s annoyed expression.
"If you don’t take us, we’ll reveal to them what you did!" the girl declared with fearless eyes. "We saw it. We saw everything! If not for you, Alphonso would still be alive," she managed to say with teary eyes.
"You fool!" the boy yelled at his sister.
"Oh, you think a brat like you can threaten ?" Aurianna asked, causing the children to tremble more. The confidence the girl had imdiately vanished upon eting Aurianna’s cold gaze.
"Aren’t we the sa age? So why are we the brats?" the girl wondered as she stared at Aurianna, the most frightening thing being how casually Aurianna sat with two gaping holes in her body, yet she wasn’t in distress.
"Dead people reveal no secrets. Keep that in mind," Aurianna blurted out with a cold smile.
Hearing Aurianna’s words, they both gulped and continued to tremble.
"Stay if you want. I’m too tired to deal with you all," Aurianna shrugged as she got up from her seat.
"Is there a room? The room your master sleeps in?" She asked, staring at the crew mbers.
"Yes, Miss, just straight ahead is our master’s quarters," a female crew mber revealed, pointing to a room just behind Aurianna.
"I’m going to bathe. No one should disturb ," Aurianna stated as she entered the room and locked the door.
"This place is more luxurious than I expected," Aurianna muttered as her hand trailed the walls, her eyes falling on an image, more of a photograph, depicting a middle-aged lizard man with an arrogant look on his face.
"I should have guessed as much, since so of the crew mbers have scaly skin," she chuckled before walking to a part of the room with a spacious floor.
"Well, ti to set up my tent!" Aurianna told herself as she took her space ring from her inventory and placed it on her finger. She then tapped her finger, and out popped her usual space tent.
Aurianna walked inside to reveal a luxurious room as well as a bathroom at the other end. After removing her clothes, Aurianna picked up a towel, wrapped herself, and walked to the tub. She then tapped on a tap, and the blue stone on it shimred as warm water imdiately rushed out.
She then walked to the other end of the large tub, taking her bubble soap as well as her green sponge and rubbed them together, creating a bubble ss. She settled into the hot water, attempting to relax, but her annoyed expression turned to one of feeling troubled and scared.
"Those people disgust to my very core!" Aurianna thought as she used her sponge to scrub her body vigorously. She felt like their stares left dirty stains on her body, which made her feel very uneasy.
Eva, who was watching her, sat there quietly, knowing that at this mont, it wasn’t a good ti to interrupt Aurianna. "Aurianna... she’s still in pain about the past. Even though we went back in ti, the pain, terror, and experience would be hard for her human self to forget. I thought soone like her would forget it soon enough since everything was reversed," she mumbled to herself with a confused expression.
"Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting," Aurianna gritted her teeth as she scratched her entire body with her sponge until it bled and healed itself over and over again, staining the clear light blue water white and red.
’I didn’t think what happened there would trigger her again. Aurianna. Even if she doesn’t tell , I know she’s still hurting, but she tries to focus on those she has to kill and not the deeds that happened to her. The mont she gives in to the fear of the past, her determination would shatter and be replaced by fear and helplessness. She knows that herself,’ Eva thought as she stared at Aurianna, the young girl still rubbing her body vigorously.
"Aurianna, that’s enough!" Eva said as she held Aurianna’s hand tightly, suddenly appearing before her with a worried expression on her face as she t Aurianna’s teary eyes.
"Leave alone, my body is still dirty, I have to clean it well! If not, the dirt would still be there!" Aurianna yelled as she struggled in Eva’s arms, but Eva held onto her firmly.
"Aurianna, you’re fine! Don’t you realize that the water is stained with your blood?" Eva asked, and Aurianna cald down.
"Ah, it’s white and red," Aurianna noticed before inspecting her body to see red sore marks all over, which were slowly healing.
"Let drain this water and create a new one," Eva said as she tapped the water twice, and it imdiately disappeared, replaced by a fresh batch of warm water.
Eva then tapped her clothes, and they disappeared, replaced by a towel wrapped around her.
Sitting behind Aurianna, Eva said, "Now settle down, and I’ll help you bathe," with a smile, taking the sponge from Aurianna’s hand.
"You sure have beco nice," Aurianna chuckled as she sat before Eva.
"I was always nice. What do you an by that?" Eva argued gently as she washed Aurianna’s hair.
"Thank you," Aurianna whispered with a flushed face.
"Eh, what did you say?" Eva asked, pretending not to hear.
"Thank you," Aurianna blurted out in a low voice once again.
"I can’t hear it well," Eva said with a smug expression.
"Stop pretending like you don’t have goddess hearing skills!" Aurianna snapped, turning to glare at Eva with puffed cheeks.
"Ahahaha," Eva laughed heartily.
"Humph," Aurianna pouted, arms crossed.
"The hole," Eva blurted out, tracing her hand over Aurianna’s injuries.
"Yes," Aurianna replied.
"It still hasn’t healed. You were too reckless," Eva said as she carefully bathed Aurianna.
"I know," Aurianna nodded.
"Hah..." Eva sighed.
"Do you rember what happened?" Eva asked.
"Sohow, I don’t know what happened exactly, but I rember small details after I blacked out," Aurianna stated.
"I see."
"Eva, why are you trembling?" Aurianna asked, noticing Eva’s shaky hands, which was quite unusual for Eva to show any signs of fear.
"I’m fine... it’s just that skill... you used. It’s nothing..." Eva quickly dismissed her words, making Aurianna more suspicious and curious.
"Just tell !" Aurianna insisted, turning to face Eva.
"It’s not really important, but it’s a very powerful skill that would help you," Eva stated nervously, and Aurianna noticed she didn’t want to talk further, so she decided not to pry anymore.
"Okay," Aurianna said before turning around.
"Does it hurt?" Eva asked, tracing her hand gently on Aurianna’s wound.
"Yes," Aurianna nodded.
"Don’t worry, the pain will go away," Eva said calmly, raising her finger, and a cloud ford above their heads, raining clean water on them, rinsing off the soap on their bodies.
Once the rain was done and the water was replaced, Eva gently brushed Aurianna’s wet hair and couldn’t help but complint, "Your hair is so soft!"
"Does brushing your hair feel nice?" Eva asked curiously.
"Yes, it does," Aurianna nodded with a flushed face.
"That’s good to hear," Eva said with a smile.
’She’s too good at brushing hair,’ Aurianna thought.
"I hope you’re feeling better," Eva said calmly.
"I doubt that," Aurianna said, pain evident in her voice.
"Seriously, you could have lost your life! You’re lucky you have a revival skill. Learn to take your life seriously," Eva berated, booping Aurianna on the head with the brush, causing her to wince in pain.
’That was painful!’ Aurianna thought as she touched her head and turned to glare at Eva. That re boop felt like a tough smack on her head.
"It’s not like I’m going to die!" Aurianna yelled.
"That’s the point. You think because of that skill you won’t die. But I tell you over and over again that skill doesn’t make you invincible. The attacks you received from those Grand Humans is proof of that. Even after an hour, your injury still hasn’t healed. And it probably won’t heal for a month," Eva pointed out, and Aurianna couldn’t rebuke her words because she was right.
"But at least I ran away. It’s obvious that I couldn’t beat them," Aurianna stated proudly.
"And that was a good reason to run away. It would have been foolish if you wanted to go for round 2," Eva said, and Aurianna looked at the water, her body trembling, and she bit her lip.
"Eva, I was scared. I hate that feeling. What’s more, that fire," Aurianna stated, holding her arms, her nails digging into her skin, but Eva imdiately stopped her.
"There’s no need to worry. If you keep worrying, you won’t beco stronger, you know?" Eva said as she looked at Aurianna.
"Yeah," Aurianna mumbled.
"So cheer up, okay!" Eva bead as she patted Aurianna on the head.
"Why are you patting on the head like I’m so kid?" Aurianna asked, looking up at Eva with puffed cheeks.
"Because you are a kid if you compare our ages," Eva declared confidently.
"Old woman," Aurianna teased with a cheeky tone.
"You!" Eva playfully retorted as she caught Aurianna in her arms and tickled her neck, causing her to laugh.
"Chi, chi, chi, Eva stop!" Aurianna laughed as Eva continued to tickle her for so ti before she stopped.
Once Eva stopped, Aurianna distanced herself from Eva and glared at her with a flushed face.
’She does look like a cat,’ Eva thought with a light giggle.
"Hmm, now my poison magic has increased. I wonder if I can control my poison magic from afar," Aurianna blurted out.
"Well, that’s random," Eva stated.
"I haven’t heard confirmation of Dwane’s death," Aurianna said coldly.
"Kisho taught that I can control the poison I place in others and let it go berserk, so I wonder what would happen," Aurianna said with an evil grin as she closed her eyes to concentrate on her poison magic.
________
In a dark, luxurious room, Dwane lay on his face, staring at the ceiling.
He bit his lip in frustration as his void expression turned to one of pure anger. ’Aurianna Vanluad! I hope you rot with your new master!’ he thought, though his intention was to speak. Still overwheld by the thought of losing his tongue and limbs, Dwane gritted his teeth as tears stread down his face.
"Why did I have to et her? What did I do to deserve such a fate? This is unfair!" His face filled with regret and anger.
"I can’t even do anything on my own. Even though my father got rid of Aurianna for , he would soon get rid of since I’ll be a liability," Dwane trembled at the thought of that, his eyes darting around the room.
"And those wretches! Once I beca like this, none of them ca to see and broke off our engagent. How dare they?" Anger flashed through his thoughts as the loneliness, as well as the inability to act, slowly affected his ntal state.
But suddenly, before he could dwell further, he felt a sharp pain in his body. The sa sharp pain that had been tornting him for the past few days, but this ti, it was stronger.
Dwane’s body trembled as the pain within him continued to grow and spread through his limbs quickly.
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