Chapter 21: Changing Forms, Mysterious Light

Chapter 21: Changing Forms, Mysterious Light

Early the next morning, Aierjisi and Yake got up bright and early. They were getting ready to head to another set of ruins they had missed yesterday to see if they could score some good treasures.

“Are you heading out again today? Remember to come back early, okay? Mom will make dinner and wait for you.”

With Aierjisi by Yake’s side, Reina was completely unbothered by their safety. She smiled as she prepared breakfast for the two of them while reminding them to come back early for dinner.

“Alright, I’ll try to be back soon.”

“Don’t worry; it’s just to take a look. We might be back by noon.”

As they wolfed down the breakfast Reina made, they assured her they would definitely return.

After finishing their meal and packing some dry rations, the two set off from the small town.

“So, which way to the ruins?”

Once they were outside the town, Aierjisi asked how to get to the ruins.

“Let me check… uh, we go this way.”

Following the map’s instructions, Yake headed in another direction with Aierjisi trailing behind him. Before long, an entrance appeared in front of them.

“This should be it.”

Looking at the entrance, Yake figured it was likely what he had learned, even though he had never been there before.

“Yep, there’s no magical beast presence inside, so it looks like this is the place you mentioned. Let’s go in and take a look.”

Aierjisi skipped along with small hops as she entered the ruins, and Yake helplessly followed her. He wondered if this adventure would yield the materials that the Little Princess desired.

Given that the ruins had already been ransacked by the kingdom’s exploration team, all the magical beasts that once resided there had been defeated. Aierjisi and Yake encountered no enemies along the way and breezed through to the end of the ruins.

“See? There’s nothing valuable left! The kingdom took everything. This was a total waste of a trip.”

Looking at the empty lord’s room, Yake saw it was stripped bare, with only the traces of battles remaining.

“Not true, my loyal servant! Look again. I can clearly sense something here.”

Contrary to his statement, Aierjisi felt they had come to the right place and had no idea just how many good treasures she could snag.

“Huh? Isn’t there nothing here?”

Yake looked around in confusion. Even though the Little Princess was saying this, he still couldn’t spot anything.

“Korse wa doko ni aru no?”

Out of the blue, Aierjisi spouted a bit of Japanese and walked over to the wall, jumping up to press a mechanism.

As the mechanism was triggered, the once quiet lord’s room began to shake violently. The large door that had been wide open suddenly slammed shut.

“Wha… what is this?”

Yake had never witnessed anything like it and could only look at the Little Princess, hoping she would explain.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Sometimes ruins are designed in layers to hide the real treasures. But I fear that the hidden lord will be quite a challenge. Look, it’s already here.”

Aierjisi stared ahead, fixated on a massive magical beast that broke through the room’s wall, glaring at the intruders with a fierce roar.

“Whoa… that’s huge!”

Yake exclaimed as he gazed at the magical beast. It was his first time seeing one so gigantic. The beast had a bizarre structure: a giant eye on its left arm, a massive claw on the right, and a creature’s face nestled in its groin. It looked as if various magical beasts had been forcibly sewn together, giving it a strange and terrifying appearance.

“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s just a bunch of different magical beasts stitched together. Nothing to worry about for me.”

Aierjisi stepped forward fearlessly. After all, a magical beast is just a magical beast; they can never triumph over her.

“Stay back a little. I might not be able to ensure your safety during the fight.”

Before the battle began, Aierjisi turned to remind Yake to find a safe spot to hide, as she likely wouldn’t be able to ensure his safety during the chaos.

“Okay, I’ll hide for now.”

Yake understood he couldn’t help with this level of battle, so he obeyed Aierjisi and found a place to conceal himself.

After letting out a furious roar, the magical beast unleashed three differently-colored magical beams from its head and limbs at Aierjisi.

Calmly, Aierjisi conjured a shield of magic power in front of her to deflect the beast’s attacks.

“Finished yet? Now it’s my turn.”

Noticing the magical beast had no other means of attack left, Aierjisi gathered a large fireball at her chest, waiting for it to grow big enough before launching it. This attack should be powerful enough to take down that magical beast in one blow.

“What? There’s such a move?”

As Aierjisi’s fireball soared toward it, the magical beast raised its left arm. The eye on its left hand absorbed the fireball, catching Aierjisi off guard.

“Interesting. This hidden lord is quite remarkable.”

Seeing her attack absorbed like that, Aierjisi realized she had underestimated this creature. Since it was a hidden lord, its strength was evidently far greater than previous ones.

“Well then, how about this technique? Let’s see how much you can absorb! Gamma Illusion!”

Aierjisi snapped her fingers, and in the next moment, seven magic-powered clones split from her body. Under her command, the clones unleashed various magical attacks at the beast. The beast’s left arm, meant for absorption, struggled to cope with attacks from multiple directions, receiving damage on its head, left arm, right arm, and groin. The clones dissipated after their assaults.

“That should be enough!”

Watching the assault her clones unleashed on the now battered beast, Aierjisi readied for the finishing blow.

“Gamma Freeze!”

She breathed out frozen qi from her palms to ice the magical beast in place, preventing its escape. Then she gathered her remaining magic power in her hands and shot a light sphere straight at the beast. In the next moment, the magical beast exploded from within, scattering its body into messy chunks of flesh.