Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

ROARR…

[Fiend Inheritance]

The general gave a loud war cry and roused his aura even further. Greyish black miasma which was far denser than before, released out of his body and covered the sky.

A faint pressure that gave one a revolting and stifling feeling, descended onto the place. The sky became dark and an ominous chill spread through the surroundings. Anyone who was exposed to this chill that generated from their very instinct of life, made them feel very uncomfortable.

In the air, dense greyish black energy released out of the general as they wiggled and twisted in the air. Then in the next second with a swift motion, they agglomerated together becoming weird grey markings and tunnelled into the skin of the general.

If one looked at him right now, they would be able to see that his skin had turned grey with peculiar markings all around his body. His hair turned white and his clothing quickly became bleak losing all colour.

It was not just appearance that was affected, even the space around him vaguely took on a grayscale colour. Looking at him, it would seem like he was a person of monochrome who came out of a black and white picture.

His very presence rejected all the colours of the world.

The changes were drastic and swift giving Cynthia no chance to even get shocked.

Clench… The general clenched his hand and gave an excited smile "Next I will show you that you are not the only one who has got an inheritance".

Whoosh… his figure disappeared before his voice was yet to even fade. At the same instant, Cynthia's eyes contracted to their limits and a hurried warning sounded inside her heart.

"Cynthia be careful, this person, he has employed a method that bears resemblance to the Beast Inheritance skill. At his point, his stats and everything have drastically increased".

Hearing Leo's shout, the graveness in her eyes increased even further. Five coloured elemental orbs floated around her body and quickly formed a five coloured shield.

BANG… just as it formed a dull rumbling noise rang out and the general's fist collided with the shield causing intense ripples to appear on it. Although the shield was able to absorb the force, it was unable to stop the invading greyish black miasma as cracks swiftly started appearing on the shield.

"Quickly get out of there, the Five Coloured Sacred Shield won't be able to last for long" Leo cautioned.

Cynthia immediately made haste and dodged the attack before it could breach through her shield. Right afterwards, two violet white claws materialised in the air and her counterattack began.

However, unlike before when the General had to take caution against her attacks, this time he simply ignored her attacks.

With a clench of his fist, he threw a simple punch without any fancy or flashy techniques to it. Though that seemingly insignificant punch contained enough power to disintegrate the claws that Cynthia materialised.

"What is going on? Even if utilised an ancient skill to boost his power, that kind of increase in power is too ridiculous" she spoke uneasiness apparent in her voice.

"It is because his control over that energy has improved. Up until now, he had been using it in a crude and immature manner. However, after he condensed that energy and absorbed it, his control over it has significantly improved. As I thought, that energy he possesses not only bears resembles to 'them' but is very similar to them. However, how could that be, they should have been all…"

Leo's voice suddenly quietened down at the end of his sentence.

"I'm no match for him at his current state. Leo increase the output of the beast inheritance"…

"What? But if I do that your body won't be able to handle it. It is barely able to hold even ten percent of my power and given your current condition, it is suicidal to think about even trying to handle any further" The beast reasoned.

"Then what do you suggest I should do? If I don't take him out, then with his power he will easily be able to turn the tides of the war and all of our efforts, hardship and casualties up until now, would be for nothing. I have to hold him down here"

Cynthia's voice was resolute. She had already determined herself to incur a bitter cost in return for defeating the general.

Leo wanted to say something; however, when he saw the resolve in the girl's eyes, he could only gulp those words down and sigh.

"Don't tell me that I didn't warn you before. Try to endure for as long as possible, when you can't bear it, tell me. I will quickly remove the beast transformation"

Saying that, he was just about to increase the output of his inheritance when soft glitters of light started emitting out of Cynthia's body. These small glitters of light were like small speckles of liquid as they quickly disappeared inside her body as soon as they touched her.

Her injuries quickly healed, the texture of her skin returned to normal and her exhaustion quickly disappeared. Not only that, as the speckles of light kept on falling onto her body, she could feel that her body was slowly getting stronger and her mana reserves recovering at a rapid speed.

What was going on?

"This is… Spirit Restoration Enchantment"…

"Spirit what?"

Although Cynthia was unable to recognise the skill used, how could Leo an ancient beast not be able to recognise it?

"It is an extremely rare branch of magic that is different from the mystical energy. Only spirits or those who have made contract with spirits are able to use spirit magic" he explained.

"That said, even among the spirit magic, a Spirit Restoration Enchantment is a skill that only higher ranking spirits or above are able to use. For it to appear on your body, do you know someone who has made a contract with a higher ranking spirit in this world and is willing to help you?"… Novel Fire - novelfire.net

His question caused confusion to appear on Cynthia's face. This was the first time she was hearing about spirit magic as such even if he asked her if she knew a person who could cast spirit magic there was no way she could answer.

That being said, if spirit magic was extremely rare and a different branch of magic that could even make someone like Leo surprised, a couple of figures did come to her mind.

If it were the people of that man, it was possible. Cynthia looked down, her eyes scanned the battlefield and quickly spotted a figure standing not very far away from her while observing their battle.

Just as she thought, it was the doing of that woman. The woman Cynthia was looking at was none other than Annette.

Leo followed her gaze and quickly understood the situation.

"I see, so it's her. No wonder she was able to cast spirit magic, the fluctuation I felt from her body did indeed feel familiar"…

"What do you mean?"…

Leo did not beat around the bush and directly spoke his suspicions "She is a spirit and not any ordinary spirit but a high ranking spirit at the very least. To be able to summon a being like her, I wonder how that demon achieved it"

"In any case, this is a good thing. With Spirit restoration Enchantment cast on you, I can increase the output of the beast inheritance without worrying about harming you in return. At the current level that your body is, it should be easily be able to handle at least 30% of my power" Leo remarked.

A tyrannical white light mixed with traces of violet surged out of Cynthia's body with an intensity of a tide. It spread out like a hungry lion and quickly bit down at the greyish black energy covering the sky.

The power of the white light caused the previously oppressive greyish black miasma to swiftly retreat as if meeting a predator.

After the white energy scared the other, it covered more than half of the sky, illuminating the battlefield with its sacred glow.

"What is going on?"

The General arched his brows. His attack had just been recoiled by that tyrannical white light as if cowed by its sheer might.

Just until a moment ago, he was completely in control of the battle, overpowering his enemy with each of his attacks. Yet just as his power surged, the opponent also employed some kind of unusual means.

"Hmph, I don't know what you are trying to do but it's useless. In front of the gift of that lord, any tactic or skill you use is useless" he snorted.

The peculiar greyish marking on his body squirmed causing the entire area around him to become greyscale. The rate at which the peculiar greyish black energy was invading the space also increased.

ROARR… However, just as he was preparing for another attack, a profound transformation occurred in the atmosphere above. The white light, having pushed back the greyish black energy, expanded to fill the void left behind, creating a vast expanse of luminous energy.

Within this expanse, faint yet discernible, the outline of an enormous lion materialized, its form pulsating with raw power. Bathed in a resplendent white light that seemed to emanate from its very being it emanated unparalleled grandeur.

Its massive form pulsed with a divine vitality, exuding an aura of sacredness and awe-inspiring power.

The ethereal lion was adorned with intricate patterns of violet stripes that seemed to dance and shift with every movement. Its mane appeared to ripple and flow like waves on a primordial sea, while its eyes gleamed with a wisdom that transcended mortal understanding.