Aurora's eyes widened, seeing Bruni use magic here.
The closer they got to the center, the stronger the effect of mana drain became.
While she was still in shock, Lioro pointed at the crying girl.
"Bruni, use your flame attack."
Bruni opened her mouth and sprayed out a large fireball.
Before the corpses could react, the fireball fell upon the young girl, killing her instantly.
With her death, the scenery around them cracked, revealing a massive door sealed by chains.
"Thank goodness, we made it here faster than expected…" Aurora continued.
"The core of the sanctuary lies ahead. Once we destroy what lies behind this door, we will be released.
"With that, this prison made of eternally repeating memories will be destroyed, freeing me from this torture."
"That sword has to be the key for cutting the chains," Aurora said while pointing at the glowing sword stuck in the pedestal.
They both walked up to the pedestal.
Aurora crouched down and read the description plate inscribed with runes.
"It says to cut the chains with the sword…"
"Simple enough."
Lioro grabbed the sword stuck inside the pedestal and easily pulled it out.
"Hmph! I won't let you open the door!"
A rough voice suddenly rang out, making Lioro and Aurora turn their heads.
It was the archbishop, Nelson.
He walked in with a beautiful elf warrior wearing armor beside him.
Seeing the sword in Lioro's hands, Nelson's expression hardened as he commanded the elf beside him.
"Olivier, kill him!"
Olivier raised her sword and swung it through the air.
A thin, thread-like wave of mana spread from the tip, rushing toward Lioro's neck.
And then—
Crack!
The wall behind Lioro split as if cut by a sharp blade, though Lioro remained perfectly fine in place.
[Martial Arts "Sword Like Thread" detected. Would you like to learn it?]
[Skill Points: 160 → 159]
"What are you doing, Olivier?! Hurry up and kill him!" Nelson shouted, not understanding what had just happened, assuming Olivier was simply taking it easy against Lioro.
With a quick step, Olivier rushed straight toward them.
Lioro took a step forward and shielded Aurora behind him, making her exclaim with a smile,
"I've always wanted to experience being protected by a knight."
"But will you be alright? That's the Hero Olivier, after all."
"It's okay. There's a big difference between our base stats," Lioro said as he calmly intercepted Olivier's sword, then countered with a single swing.
Due to the overwhelming difference in speed, strength, and technique, within just two moves, Lioro's sword beheaded Olivier.
"Y-you defeated her!" Nelson shouted in shock.
"Damn it! Don't get cocky just because you defeated an inferior copy!!
"Behold what is possible within the sanctuary!!!"
Instantly, multiple Oliviers appeared out of thin air and surrounded Lioro, striking at him simultaneously.
In response, Lioro simply raised his sword and exhaled a breath of fire.
"Sun Breathing: Ninth Form—"
Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance.
Lioro's sword moved in continuous motion, like a blazing dragon dominating the battlefield. In an instant, he cut through the multiple Oliviers and continued the motion toward the chained door, breaking the bindings in one go.
"It's done," Aurora said with bright eyes as the door opened, revealing a pitch-black space.
"Wait! Stop!"
Nelson's voice fell on deaf ears as Lioro stepped into the darkness.
Instantly, a strange purple, monster-like arm bound in chains appeared before him.
Lioro waved his sword again, shattering the chains and grabbing the purple arm.
After a moment's thought, he placed it inside his inventory.
Crack!
As soon as the arm disappeared, the entire space began to fracture.
Lioro walked out of the room and looked at Aurora.
"He's lost the support of the sacramental ground. You can kill him now."
"P-please wait—"
A sword embedded itself in Nelson's head before he could finish.
Ignoring the fallen old man, Lioro looked at Aurora, who was slowly beginning to fade.
Aurora smiled softly and said,
"Thank you for ending my suffering.
"Though it was short, I enjoyed the memory I made with you."
Aurora stepped close to Lioro, raised her hand, and gently touched his face.
"Thank you… for this precious memory."
In response, Lioro took her hand and asked,
"The contract should work now. Wanna try?"
"What—?"
Before she could ask, a familiar connection appeared in her mind.
It was reaching out to her, asking for permission.
Aurora agreed almost instinctively.
And at that moment—
Her spirit body stopped fading.
[Congratulations on forming a contract with Special Grade Demonic Spirit "Aurora."]
----
Name: Aurora
Type: Demon–Spirit (Demonic & Blood Attribute)
Level: 1/90
Grade: Special
Introduction:
Aurora, once known as the Witch of Calamity, was a human born in an age when the world was still learning the true nature of magic and divinity. Gifted with a rare affinity for manipulating mana, she was renowned for her calm intellect and gentle nature. However, her brilliance drew the attention of the Cult of Diablos, who saw in her the perfect vessel for their experiments to create a demon god.
Captured and subjected to years of brutal experimentation, Aurora's body was infused with Demonic Blood, her humanity slowly eroded as the cult attempted to forcefully evolve her into the demon Diablos.
Craving her power, the Cult sealed her consciousness within a spiritual cage — an endless prison of memories and silence. Centuries passed, and her existence faded into myth.
Now revived in a fragile, weakened state, Aurora retains fragments of her former self.
Her three sizes are…
Personal Traits:
Witch of Calamity, Demonic Experiment Survivor, Fragmented Soul, Calm Scholar, Abyssal Bloodline, Unbroken Will, Cursed Existence, Timeless Awareness, Residual Hatred, Half-Demon Resilience, Quiet Intellect, Spiritual Instability, Emotional Resonance, Hopeless Romantic.
Spirit Traits:
Demonic Mana, Demonic Mana Control, Demonic Regeneration, Dark Resistance VI, Curse Resistance V, Mental Fortitude V, Blood Affinity V, Blood Manipulation, Blood Resistance IV, Dark Affinity VI, Mana Perception VI, Life Drain II, Spiritual Barrier IV, Demonic Manifestation, Soul Link (Sealed), Blood Awakening (Dormant), Adaptive Evolution, Divine Vulnerability II, Holy Purge Vulnerability III, Magic Amplification (Unstable), Elemental Nullification (Partial), Sealed Core Suppression, Demonic Sense, Shadow Affinity IV, Soul Voice, Memory Echo, Spirit Form Stability I, Pain Immunity II.
----
Her level reset to 1 since she had just been a fading spirit moments ago.
But even at that level, she possessed 20% of his stats — making her quite formidable.
"How do you feel?" Lioro asked, watching Aurora stand silently in a daze.
Aurora turned to him, then her lips curved into a bright smile. Without hesitation, she jumped at Lioro, wrapped her arms around his neck, and replied in an excited voice,
"I feel alive… after a thousand years! I feel free!!"
An enchanting laugh escaped her lips as she felt her new, living spirit body.
At the same time—
'It's quite big, soft, and warm,' Lioro thought, clearly feeling Aurora's mature assets pressed against him.
He couldn't help but smile unconsciously.
Aurora seemed to notice something as she stopped laughing and looked at Lioro sharply.
"Young man, you're not thinking of something inappropriate, are you?"
Lioro stayed silent.
"Heh."
Aurora slid her finger across his forehead before saying,
"Here's your reward for saving me, my knight."
She came close and kissed Lioro on the cheek before hugging him tightly and giggling mischievously.
Lioro wrapped an arm around her waist to support her and couldn't help but ask,
"Aren't you acting a bit inappropriately for your age?"
"Hehehe, my knight, I'm too old to care."
It seemed Aurora had a knight fantasy of some kind, considering how she kept calling him that.
----
"Young man, how long are we going to stay here?" Aurora asked with a bored expression.
"Just a little longer…" Lioro replied as he placed another wall of the sacramental ground into his inventory.
He was very interested in the mana drain effect of this place and decided to collect every component responsible for it to study later.
"Boo! I want to go out!"
Aurora protested like a child, raising her arms.
Lioro ignored her, pocketed the last few pieces, and said,
"Alright, let's go."
"Yeah! Let's go, my knight!"
She called him "knight" when she was happy and "young man" when she wasn't.
For someone over a thousand years old, she could be surprisingly childish.
Lioro walked up to Aurora and grabbed her arm.
The sudden action confused her, but before she could react, Lioro used teleportation.
----
Back at Midgar Academy—
The space flickered before Lioro and Aurora appeared.
"W-what??"
Aurora muttered in a shocked voice as she took in the changed scenery.
At the same time, she staggered slightly, experiencing spatial distortion for the first time.
"I used teleportation to get us out," Lioro explained.
"Teleportation? What a fascinating young man…" Aurora's eyes glowed with curiosity.
"So what is this place?"
"This is my room at Midgar Academy… hm, come here and sit down. I'll give you an overview of the whole situation."
Lioro sat on the bed and gestured for Aurora to sit beside him.
Instead, she came close and sat on his lap.
"Go ahead, I'm listening."
Feeling her soft hips on his thighs, Lioro narrowed his eyes.
This old woman was teasing him!
Unfortunately for her, Elsa had already made him used to it.
In a calm voice, Lioro began explaining the general outline of the whole scenario.
"So you're not from this world?"
"Yes."
"World travel, gods, dragons, dungeons… I'm glad I came out of that prison.
"It all sounds very exciting!"
"Now, my knight! Tell me! What are you going to take me to see first?!"
"First…"
Lioro paused before continuing,
"Let's increase your level."
Taking Aurora with him, Lioro exited the capital city and arrived in a vast forest.
"This should be far enough," Lioro said as he stopped flying and landed with Aurora in his arms.
After setting her down, he opened his panel and looked at the experience value.
[Experience Slot: 148,830,060 / 14,270,000]
Being a Special Grade Spirit, Aurora's level cap was 90.
'Let's see how much I can raise her level…'
With a single thought, he began transferring experience.
In no time, he ran out.
[Experience Slot: 30,060 / 14,270,000]
Fortunately, contracted spirits required only one-third the experience per level compared to his own.
Otherwise, he would never have been able to max her out.
Of course, in turn, their strength is also weaker than a player of the same level.
Though a battle after all depends on a variety of factors like intelligence, experience etc so its somewhat hard to predict who will win in a head on fight.
"So… much power…" Aurora murmured, her voice trembling as her mana and physical strength increased at an alarming rate.
Within moments, she regained her former strength — but that wasn't all.
Her strength kept rising.
A huge pillar of mana rushed out from Aurora's body, rushing into the sky.
The ground below her feet corroded at a rapid pace, burning purplish black.
Her dress got destroyed under the rampage of mana, revealing her white figure in full view.
At the same time, Aurora's hair spread, her head wiggled for a moment before two straight purple horns burst out from the side of her head.
On her back, right above her hips, a long, pointy reddish-purple demonic tail came out.
Lioro stared at her transformation with interest; the level increase should have affected her racial professions, resulting in such rapid change.
At the same time, his eyes were fixed on her big chest...
Damn!
It was beautiful!
After a few more minor adjustments, the mana rampaging stopped, returning to normal.
Aurora slowly opened her eyes, feeling the incredible changes in her body.
Then she suddenly turned to Lioro and said with a faint smile on her face.
"Young man, how about you stop staring and provide me with a change of clothes? Or are you reluctant?"
Reluctant! I'm definitely reluctant!
Lioro unwillingly opened up his inventory and took out several different women's clothes of all sizes.
"Take whatever you like."
"Oh?" Aurora's eyes glowed seeing the small pile of women's clothes Lioro just pulled out.
She had never seen such unique designs before.... there's even underwear.... with quite unique styles.....
Aurora couldn't help but pause and give Lioro a second look.
Could it be? That her knight has some special fetishes?
Quickly choosing a set she liked, Aurora started wearing the clothes under Lioro's watchful eyes, without any shame.
Lioro had to say.
It was much more stimulating seeing a woman change than just seeing her naked.
He might just be falling to the dark side.
----
Ps: So yeah, it was terrible, 4 months of effort down the drain. ;)