Galaxy Fall: All My Skills Are Maxed-Chapter 135: Thank You, Master
Zaphyra walked out of the dark cave, the weight of command settling heavily on her shoulders. She stared at her Vice, and the three female mages standing rigidly behind him, their staves glowing faintly with spirit energy.
"Leader, what happened here?" Her second-in-command asked in confusion, his eyes darting toward the blood left in the earth.
Zaphyra stared at him, her expression a mask of hardened stone, then down at the scorched earth—the ashes and blood mixing into a grim paste on the ground: "Did you sense anything." She directed the question to the three mages.
"We checked the spirit energy." The oldest lady stepped forward, her eyes glowing with a faint, analytical blue light.
"We know it’s a lightning skill, but apart from the spirit energy used to cast the lightning skill, there is no more trace of energy... I am guessing the one who killed them, used the lightning element." She said, her voice echoing in the quiet space.
"Lightning element? Amongst all the elements, lightning is the hardest, who can Master it to this degree?" Zaphyra thought in surprised silence. The sheer destructive purity required to incinerate three elite Lv150 fighters to ash in an instant was terrifying.
"Well, the question shouldn’t be who, but what." The second mage corrected, pointing her staff at the faint claw marks etched into the scorch radius, causing Zaphyra to turn towards her.
"What do you mean?" She asked in surprised.
"The skill was used by a Beast." The third answered grimly.
"A beast?"
Zephyra looked over her shoulder at the dark, empty cave, and slowly nods her head, the tactical pieces falling into place:
’Of course, High level beast are intelligence, some can even speak human language... So a beast was drawn by the battle, but instead of joining, it actually moved behind the hill, and dug an entrance here. Killed my members who interrupted it, and after it was done, it escaped...’ She blinked, rapidly running through the threat levels of the surrounding dungeon zones.
’If there is such a beast out here, we must move with caution. Of course, there is another possibility... This Beast is working under someone.’ She nodded her head, coming to a grim conclusion:
"Ok... This is the situation... Vito and the two girls I sent to this location were killed by something or someone... I am sure you already know this."
The group before her nodded their heads in solemn agreement.
"Good, now we will keep an eye out, and once we catch the culprit, we deal with them... Understand?"
"Yes, Leader!!" The four said in unison, their loyalty to the Emperor’s sister absolute and unyielding.
"Good... Let’s go back, once we get back, give the families of the three ten thousand gold coins each as compensation. Also, give them my words." She started walking away from the massacre, her aura flaring with cold intent:
"I will avenge them."
The Vice swallowed, feeling the chilling conviction in her tone, and nodded in understanding: "It will be done."
"Come on, let’s go back to my pet." Zephyra said, leaving the four behind to manage the remains, her mind shifting back to the subdued Fire Heart Dragon waiting to be tamed.
The Vice stared at their Leader’s departing figure, a lone silhouette against the clear sky, then at the ashes and blood on the ground:
’Thanks to the Leader, we haven’t lost a single person in this mission, and now... We lost three strong fighters.’ He sighed heavily, knowing the political and emotional toll this would take on the guild’s morale:
’I wonder how she is feeling.’ He thought.
_____
[500 Miles away.]
The spatial fabric rippled, and Mirabella appeared in a lush, secluded valley, far away from the bloodshed of the Eagle Guild, with Cupcake perched comfortably on her shoulder.
"System." She called out, breaking the serene silence, staring intently at the pulsing, crystalline heart and the glowing Cocoon in her hands.
{Heart Of The Pantheon: It grants anyone who consumed it the main skill of the God the heart’s belongs to.}
"Really?! So this is a heart of a god... Wow, truly fascinating. But, why is the Cocoon this excited?" Mirabella asked in mild confusion, feeling the intense, almost magnetic pull between the two ancient artifacts.
{The Ghost Orchid Cocoon has a very strong bond with the God the heart belongs to.}
"A very strong bond." Mirabella stared at the heart. The temptation was immense. If she eats it, she will gain a very powerful skill, one which might even rival the Celestial Guardians... But to simply consume a divine relic felt uncharacteristically crude when a deeper, older mystery presented itself.
"How will I feed this to the cocoon?" She asked, looking up at the glowing blue system screen hovering in the air.
{Host just have to command it.}
Mirabella stared at the heart, then at the cocoon. She has two distinct choices; one, she consumes the heart and gain a main skill from a real god, instantly boosting her own combat power. Two, she gave the heart to the cocoon, which Is familiar with it, and then, watch what will happen, embracing the unpredictable lore of this world.
She carefully placed the two things on a flat, mossy boulder before her, staring at them: "What should I do?" She held her jaw, deep in thought, staring at the cocoon, which was still vibrating so violently it hummed.
"This thing can’t stay away from it... It seems I can only give it to it." Mirabella exhaled, letting go of her own greed for the sake of uncovering a greater secret, and looked at Cupcake, who was on her shoulder:
"Right?" She asked.
"I think that’s the right decision." Cupcake nodded, her feline eyes wide, staring at the two items with instinctual reverence.
"Ok then."
Mirabella finally nodded, her decision cemented, and pointed at the cocoon: "Now, I order you, consume the heart!"
Silence.....
The valley remained perfectly still. Mirabella and Cupcake stared for a while, but nothing happened. No flash of light, no system notification.
"Am I missing something--"
BOOOOM!!
A massive shockwave of pure, untainted spirit energy erupted from the boulder. The two objects before her shattered in unison, the concussive force violently pushing her and Cupcake backward into the grass.
"Huh?" Mirabella was stunned, quickly scrambling to her feet, but she paused—not feeling the Aura of the cocoon or heart anymore, instead...
The dust cleared, leaving behind a soft, iridescent glow. Mirabella stood with wide eyes, completely abandoning her usual composed demeanor, staring at the tiny, ethereal fairy hovering in front of her. She blinked, completely frozen in place, as the fairy, bathed in starlight and divine energy, spoke with a voice like chiming glass:
"Thank You, Master."
