(Let me know if you spot errors)
The sound of glass breaking echoed across the dimension before both Arnold and Lauran felt were pulled backwards by an unknown force.
Before they knew it, the sky returned to its blue color and they were back at the cathedral in the garden.
"—Darling, you're back." Siana's voice chirped in his ears.
Her smile faded and turned into a pout when she saw that he was still hugging Lauran. Speaking of Lauran, her eyes looked so unfocused as if she was still trying to process what just happened.
"KAH!?" Mumulbur, still in the body of that boy, was sent flying through the gate of the garden, breaking the gate and part of the fence.
The people walking on the other side screamed in alarm at that incident.
Arm broken, bleeding and coughing, he struggled to get up, "Ugh, how is this possible…? Only divine souls should be difficult for me to refine!"
Arnold let go of Lauran and pointed his palm at Mumulbur then pulled the undead towards him, grabbing him by the throat.
"Ugh!"
"Looks like you found yourself at the mercy of the humans you look down on, Mumulbur."
"You think I'll beg for mercy!? Hah! I'd rather end my life here but watch your back because I'll reincarnate sooner than you think and take that girl's body from her!"
Seeing a young man choking a little boy must've looked cruel to the onlookers but he didn't care for their opinions at that moment.
Just before misunderstanding arose, Siana spoke to the crowd, "Everyone, this boy is being controlled by an ancient undead. Sir Arnold would never harm a child. But he can't hold himself back when it's the perpetrator masquerading as a child."
"An undead!?"
"How did it get past the gate!? I was told it can deter anything that isn't human or alive!"
"Look at the kid's face, doesn't he look alive, though?"
"Then are you saying the noble lady is lying!? How could you be so sure!?"
"This undead is not just any skeleton, but a being known as Mumulbur. He's had thousands of years to reach the apex of dark magic. Any corpse he revives is instantly granted vitality, no different from an ordinary living human." She explained to the skeptical crowd, "This boy must've been a corpse as well… But he invaded the boy's lifeless body."
Since her reputation had quickly grown, no one seemed to doubt her.
"Fucking bastard! Get out of there so that we can beat you to death!" a man shouted.
"Yeah! So long as Lord Arnold is here, he can't use his magic!"
Mumulbur gritted his teeth, "Release the Halo, you coward!"
Arnold smirked and dropped Mumulbur.
"—It would seem the real Mumulbur was here all along." Guinevere's voice came from above.
'You've finally wearing panties, Guinevere.'
He had that silly thought since she didn't wear any when in her dress.
She doesn't even wear shoes most of the time. It couldn't be that such a powerful person doesn't have money?
It looks like he'll have to give his hopeless knight a hand. He felt bad not giving her a salary at least even with how hard she worked.
Her armor was pretty skimpy now that he saw it for the first time. The illustrations did them justice. And he realized that Valkyries seemed to be very proud of their bodies.
Guinevere landed and threw Mumulbur's real body to the ground, making him flinch.
"When Luke sealed the body, we followed the energy that escaped to here. Looks like Mumulbur fooled us this time."
"Big Brotherrrrr!!!!" Luke's voice came from afar, getting closer and closer before he crashed into the ground and ran towards Arnold.
Before he could go in for a hug, Arnold grabbed his head and kept him at arm's reach.
"Looks like the Holy Sword chose you in the end." He placed a hand on the boy's head, "Good work."
'Good work, meat shield.'
It was due to Luke that Arnold could kill Malzorath, a bigger headache than Ekterina in terms of combat power.
"Yeah…" blushing slightly, the hero scratched his cheek.
"Ah, Lauran, you're here too. Are you hurt anywhere?" he walked up to Lauran and looked her up and down.
"No, young master…" Lauran stole a glance at Arnold and fidgeted with her fingers.
"Now then," Guinevere leaned down to Mumulbur's eye level, "How do we force Mumulbur out of this body? I don't appreciate it when my enemies desecrate the bodies of the dead."
"…" he was sweating bullets. Though her face was calm, Guinevere's fist was clenched so hard, it was trembling.
One hit could annihilate him—and hundreds of kilometers of land behind him—from this world.
"I have other plans for Mumulbur." Arnold said as he held up a hand to separate Guinevere from the crafty necromancer then he looked at Luke, "Seal Mumulbur inside the Holy Sword for now."
"Got it!"
"W-Wait! I can help you revive—" those were his final words before he was sucked into the sword.
He probably wanted to offer to revive everyone that died but Arnold wasn't that dumb. He refined most of the dead's souls so there was no way any of them would return to their ordinary lives.
Not just that, the moment Arnold deactivated the Halo, Mumulbur would escape as quicky as he can.
"What should I do with him, Brother?"
"We can deal with him later. You should go rest." He placed a hand on Luke's shoulder, "I saw that you defeated Malzorath. Good work."
He averted his gaze with a blush and scratched his cheek, "That's my duty, after all."
Guinevere smiled from beside him but then that smile vanished when she brought up one name, "Arthur disappointed not just me, but also the people of this empire."
She looked across the ruined capital, "So many lives could have been spared if he destroyed the terraformer sooner…"
Who could've seen that coming?
"Dereliction of duty is something I can't forgive. But this is the emperor's issue to resolve, not an outsider like myself."
"Since Arthur probably has supporters in the empire even after what happened, he might be pardoned simply because of his status. Nothing's stopping them from saying he's just too young and reckless." Siana interjected.
"That excuse would only have some credibility if Luke lacked the same qualities that he does." Guinevere said in response.
"We'll have to see what the emperor says then."
As if on cue, trumpets echoed across the empire at that moment.
The boots of ten thousand knights reached their ears.
The Imperial Army finally returned.
**
Siana returned to Ronia's side to help her with her duties.
Luke was in a hurry to go see how the family was doing so he left alongside Lauran.
Guinevere was surrounded by the citizens who were seeing an actual legend in the flesh. She patiently spoke to everyone who bombarded her with questions.
Meanwhile, Arnold was taken to a room in the cathedral to rest.
The room was quite spacious and luxurious, even sporting a bucket of wine in ice and servants waiting outside.
It wasn't a good time to leave yet so he stuck around and accepted their kindness in the end. For formalities sake, he had to wait for a bit.
His clone was over on the other side while the recon team was scouting the forest for a trail with less monsters to avoid too many casualties.
Since he wasn't sure he could fool just anyone, he made sure to let others know he's doing mental training in isolation before the big battle.
It wasn't necessary for him to go inside Lauran. But since the game takes place from Luke's perspective, you never really see Lauran's interaction with the "thing" inside her.
it's the same "thing" inside past Archmages and the reason for their power. It appeared in their dreams, luring them to its dimension to be groomed into perfect vessels.
Turned out it was the Progenitor all along, a figure whose name he's heard a few times.
As if summoned, a red energy manifested in front of him as he drank a cup of tea.
It turned into the spirit's humanoid form. He just realized—this spirit and Arsnoria seemed to be the same height and had the same temperament.
Two ancient and powerful beings acting like complete brats… What were the writers thinking?
She stomped the floor with a pout.
"Lowly human, release me!"
"This lowly human is your master. If you want to be free, gain my trust first. I'm not letting a spirit that terrorized the entire world thousands of years ago free just because it asked."
"That's too much to ask! You know what I did so what could possibly gain your trust!? Stop being unreasonable!"
"In order for me to stop running or using others as my shield, I need to become as strong as Guinevere at the very least. To do that, I need to absorb the energies of strong spirits, my dragon power needs to awaken, I need to ascend my class, and I need to undergo a second Equilibrium awakening with my original body. Before that, it's impossible for me to trust you even if I could tolerate the things you did in the past."
It was a long list even if it seemed so few. He was in the realm of demigods, not at the apex. There were countless beings stronger than him, with Guinevere standing at the very top.
For him to not run from danger anymore, he needed to reach her level of power soon or surpass Gederick at least.
With the School Arc's biggest turning point over, things will be peaceful from now on (for a few years at least) and the central heroes can use this disaster to form stronger bonds and gain allies.
Now that the empire has experienced this disaster, Freya will likely announce their plans to form a Hero Party and probably even reveal her own plans.
"You act so arrogantly but you're still so weak. I hope some evil god sets his eyes on you!"
"If that were to happen, you'd be in danger too, no? Besides that, don't you want me to forge you a body?"
"Uh…"
"You heard what the Progenitor said—I'm a highborn, a mortal with omniscience. I might not have the ability to do so but I know how you can get your body back."
He stood up and walked over to the window, "Gain my trust first then we'll talk about your freedom."
"Tch…" without saying anything back, she vanished back into his body. That wasn't an outright rejection at least.
He silently looked at his hand as it radiated that red energy.
This chaotic power could incinerate a demon lord's soul with just one attack. Even if Malzorath was weakened, he should've still had the protections of reincarnation in place. It's like a PvP protection cooldown upon entering a new server.
But the red energy bypassed his race's protection and killed him effortlessly.
Arnold boasted so much before about absorbing this energy accumulated over a million years but honestly, handling the spirit's energy was too much on his body, even with Equilibrium. Maybe it's his class being common? Or maybe it was because there was zero compatibility between the two. It could just be both.
Reaching his endgame level of power paled in comparison to what he could achieve if he underwent a class ascension, awakens his dragon power after killing Oriel, and absorbing the essences of strong spirits.
'System, what's this spirit's name and how do I use it?' first, he needed to harness its power fully. It could probably increase the power behind his skills and spells as well. Luckily for him, he knew that you don't always need to absorb the power itself in order to use it.
-Answer: Due to the chaotic fire Ki in its energy, the spirit has been identified as the Crimson Origin Spirit.
"I've never heard of the name since the events from back then was pretty vague."
It seemed there were a lot of lore though. Honestly, he wasn't interested in anything other than Tenma's spirit.
"Speaking of spirits, you probably know what spirit is sealed inside Fire Lily, right, Crimson Origin?"
It was one of the mysterious he could never solve in the game. Even Stella didn't know what Fire Lily really was.
-How the hell do you know my name... The sword itself is a spirit. You do know weapons don't just have to be iron forged by a blacksmith, right Mr.Highborn? Gods can refine even a tree branch using just their divine energy, if they know the correct method and the item is high quality.
"So, they can make weapons from anything so long as it's a precious item or power?"
'Lucky me. I know tons of items like that.'
The World Tree itself has something he was interested in. But in order to get it, he needed to kill whatever's sucking it dry then give it the Divine Fertilizer. This action would be enough to gain the trust of the Elven race to the point where they'll be willing to tell him all their secrets.
-You don't sound surprised.
Naturally he wasn't. He was once a gaming nerd, after all. If he couldn't use the million years accumulation of spirit energy, he could always just create a sword. That should act as a medium for receiving the spirit's power without damaging his own body.
It's similar to a soul weapon.
"Looks like Luxtivin gained a friend."
-Bastard. Don't tell me you want to turn me into a sword!?
He ignored her and asked a question instead, "Were you acquainted with the Fire Lily spirit?"
-No. It's not as sentient as I am yet because it's still young. I may have been on this world for a million years but that's not how old I am.
"…How did the Ayried House's ancestor use Fire Lily's powers then? Was it not a mutual relationship or contract?"
-I only said it's not as sentient as me, not that it's not sentient in the broader sense. There's a difference. For it to awaken, the person must be born with a unique body that withstand extreme fire Ki.
"Could it be… Extreme Fire Physique…?"
-Yes. Fire Lily in particular was born from a strong source of Fire Ki, one that doesn't lose out to me. If it gains awareness, it will likely rival me in the distant future with the state I'm in now.
Stella eventually controls Fire Lily on her own so he doesn't really need to think too deeply about it. But he was curious about this Fire Ki.
Putting it in the back of his mind, he thought about turning Crimson Origin's energy into an actual weapon.
To think that Demon God that Crimson Origin served could use her powers. He must've been formidable to withstand such a deadly power.
Arnold wasn't such a being so he needed a catalyst of some sort.
But that meant Arnold should look for a blacksmith who could craft artifacts. That itself would be a difficult journey… if he didn't know about Sylphy being a Rune Master.
'I should ask her about the sword in the future. For now, her skills are a far cry from being capable of making artifacts so I should help her find a forge technique she could use to improve her skills. I need to focus on the quest and… Oriel.'
Anyway, while this was a time for peace after the invasion ended, that wouldn't last for long.
Every single Hero Party member needs to undergo training to fully unlock their powers.
Luke, Lauran, Angelica, Tenma, and Alitus—these were the ones who have unlocked or are close to unlocking their powers.
Stella, Flora and Shirley still needed time.
"Stella should have the easiest time with her powers. If I were getting stronger by ordinary means, Stella would surpass me by leaps and bounds after Fire Lily accepts her. Now that I've achieved Equilibrium, she has no chance of catching up unless she achieves the same thing." He said under his breath, "With what I had to go through to achieve this power, that will probably piss me off."
The sword itself wasn't the thing that made her powerful—nothing is as black and white as that. It was the channeling of her ancestor's powers that have been passed down for generations to the Fire Lily spirit. Her ancestor once stood at the apex of the martial world, battling even the evil spirit now in Arnold's possession. He was one of the few people who awakened his martial spirit—which was how he was able to help Tenma's ancestor seal the evil spirit.
He didn't let his powers die with him so he left it in the spirit's care.
For Shirley, she only needed to control her beastification to fully unlock her powers.
And Flora… While she was only just a beginner when it came to teaching others, once her understanding itself becomes clearer and she becomes "one with the sword", she'll be able to turn both Shirley and Stella into monsters even Arnold would need to lift more than one finger in a fight to defeat.
Flora's awakening isn't something he could manipulate. He already gave her the motivation—information about her master—all he needed to do was wait for her.
For now, Luke, Lauran and Tenma could handle the demons for him. He needed to focus on other stuff. With the bit of energy he got from the evil spirit, he was now confident he could handle the monsters in the Thalivielle Kingdom since they're also spirit types.
Thinking so, he conjured a shield made from the spirit energy.
A red shield manifested in front of him, oozing the aura of evil and death.
"It feels different from Aether and aura."
Aether is supposed to be the culmination of all energy types but the spirit energy seemed completely different from it. Maybe the energy experienced some corruption inside the spirit and turned into something like this?
He cast an attack spell. Since he's so weak to magical attacks, he wanted to test its strength when defending against magic.
The green beam that shot out of the magic circle was instantly swallowed by the spirit energy. No visible changes appeared afterwards.
"Just like fire consumes everything that can burn, mana gets sucked into the shield, huh."
A knock came from the door.
"—Sir Arnold, the Emperor and Bishop seeks an audience with you."
"I'm coming."