Release that Witch

Dark clouds continued to converge and overspread the sky. A jet of flash cracked through the air every now and then, followed by muffled thunderbolts.

Ashes could no longer hold back the blood in her mouth after Lightning and Maggie left with the other witches. Her legs started to give away, and she leaned on her sword to maintain her stance.

Her magic power was almost exhausted after that deadly blow. Although more magic power swarmed into her body, she could not control it. Every single vein in her body was screaming protests. The pain resulting from the power rebound was unbearable.

She did not know how long she could hold up, but she knew she could not back away.

Otherwise, all her efforts would be wasted.

The thunderbolts had indeed severely injured the Magic Slayer.

Half of his body where the Stone of Flight was embedded vaporized. His movement should have largely restricted and his power ebbed away.

However, Ashes did not feel such a change.

She could still sense the lurking danger around her, and she knew perfectly well that the Magic Slayer was still able to fight.

That was why she had asked Lightning to get everybody out of here.

The stormy magic power was actually a combination of both Ashes’ and the Magic Slayer’s.

”Rise. You must finish the enemy before he finishes you!”

Ashes slowly got to her feet, her teeth clenched, and very painfully, took a step forward.

Just then, the burned Senior Demon also gradually straightened up.

”Damn it! Is it still alive?”

Ashes had directed her blow mainly to the Magic Slayer. She did not, however, expect that the other Senior Demon would survive such a magnificent strike that would normally be fatal to regular Mad Demons. Had she foreseen such a result, she would have aimed at that Senior Demon as well.

She was mildly surprised that the Senior Demon neither fled nor launched itself at her. Instead, it waddled toward Ursrook and stopped.

”What is it doing? Does it want to protect the Magic Slayer?”

Ashes’ hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

”Very well. Then I’ll send both of you to hell!”

...

As the light penetrated the anti-magic area, Ursrook heard someone call upon him deep down inside.

In that split second, he sensed a queer connection.

Through the blinding golden light, Ursrook saw something more profound, something that he had been yearning to obtain, a realm that had denied him.

He glided through, and his feet thus imprinted on the unknown land. This was a crucial step that marked the difference between him and the lord.

However, they were now equal!

He had made so many sacrifices to defend Taquila and ambush the witches. He had even disobeyed the Sky Lord’s order.

But everything was worth it!

As he embraced the power from the Realm of Mind, Ursrook connected his thoughts with his junior guard’s immediately.

”Sir, you... you upgraded!” the guard said ecstatically but its voice quickly tailed away. ”But I’ll soon return to the Origin of Magic and can’t... stay with you anymore.”

”No, not yet. Actually, I’m very close to the upgrade, but the divine power hit me, so I can’t complete my upgrade by myself.”

”What... what can I do for you?”

”Abandon yourself to me.”

The guard’s face lighted up. ”Is that all? Leave it to me, sir!”

Ursrook knew that he could have made an attempt to go beyond the limit of the Magic Stone and merge with the Origin of Magic, just as the Extraordinary had done. However, he was not sure about the possible consequence and would rather go in a more conservative way.

Their minds quickly disconnected. When the junior guard struggled to stand up, the Extraordinary also slowly drew up to her full height.

No... he should not call her an Extraordinary anymore.

After over 400 years, there was finally a new Transcendent.

It was obvious that the new Transcendent was trying to recover her strength, which provided him a great opportunity to complete the upgrade.

The junior guard finally stopped in front of Ursrook, its breath feeble like guttered candlelight, but its mind became clearer than ever.

”Sir... will we really be relieved from the fate, win the Battle of Divine Will and reach the inhabited Heaven one day?”

”We will. I promise,” Ursrook said, and then he announced the guard’s name, ”Tartarus.”

Tartarus’ eyes glistened before the light in its pupils extinguished. ”Please, take me with you — ” it murmured.

Then the guard got to its feet abruptly and dived its finger into its skull!

...

Aghast, Ashes smelled a great crisis.

The Senior Demon pulled out the magic stone from its head as it howled, along with a large chunk of flesh, and inserted it into the Magic Slayer!

The black light around the Magic Slayer’s wound instantly expanded!

She suddenly remembered Roland’s words: demons upgraded through Magic Stones. Did Ursrook plan to upgrade himself by taking his guard’s Magic Stone?

Anyway, she had to stop them.

Ashes, once again, directed her magic power to the sword, despite the excruciating pain she was suffering.

Another thunder erupted from the sky. When her power reached its peak, Ashes swung her sword a second time.

It was a relatively moderate strike, but golden thunder once gain cracked through the clouds and lashed out to the demons.

Ursrook shrieked, a new arm growing out of the black light around him and stretching out to the thunderbolts.

The explosion generated by the clash of the two powers exhaled a cloud of dust that obscured the vision of both parties.

Ashes’ heart sank when the sky gradually cleared up.

The Magic Slayer appeared to be unscathed, and he seemed to have recovered from his previous injuries. His new arm was a lot thicker than his old one, two long thorns sprouting from his shoulders and elbows, which were very similar to the limbs of the dead Senior Demon.

But he looked far more menacing than before.

”I have to admit that you’re a real genius out of all the witches I’ve met. You not only exceeded the greatest witch in the human history but also opened the gate of the Realm of Mind. For a race which only has a lifespan of less than 100 years, it’s very impressive,” Ursrook drawled as he stretched out his clawed hand, ripped the Senior Demon’s body apart and planted the blood-stained gas tank into him. ”Unfortunately, you aren’t the only genius here. We live much longer than you and have survived several Battles of Divine Will. I understand it’s unfair, but that’s your destiny.”

”I’m afraid that your game is over.” With these words, he lunged at Ashes.