[9] : Phrases

World of Elicia.

Kingdom of Mismede.

Northern Forest - In ancient ruins.

[***]

Aiden murmured as he observed the creatures: "Let's see how durable these low-rank crystal bugs are."

Nia jumped, positioning herself by his side while stretching.

"They're probably pretty weak, aren't they? I mean, they're just low-rank. With your physical strength, you could probably crush their bodies with a single hit," she commented, glancing at Aiden, who kept his attention on the creatures.

Mukuro, also at Aiden's side, nodded in agreement. "These things could only pose a threat to Nushi-sama if they came in hordes."

Kurumi, who was watching intently, suddenly spoke while looking at Aiden:

"Danna-sama, I'll test my skills on them. I haven't had time to practice my powers."

She had recently obtained her 'physical body' or human form, so she hadn't had the chance to test the abilities she was born with.

Aiden nodded his little head and chuckled:

"Do as you please."

Kurumi smiled back at him, and her figure vanished, leaving only an afterimage.

—Step! Bang!

As she stepped forward, the ground cracked beneath her feet from sheer force, and her clothes began to glow, wrapping themselves in blood-red shadows.

"Spirit Dress of Divine Authority No. 3."

Her attire transformed into an elegant gothic dress with a long skirt in dark and red tones.

Her hair was styled into twin tails, and her golden eye glowed intensely.

"[Elohim]."

—Bang!

A precise kick, reinforced by the astral dress, sent one of the Phrases flying out of the group.

"Danna-sama, I'll take this one and test my abilities," Kurumi shouted before darting into the forest.

"Don't forget! If you break the core, the Phrase won't regenerate anymore!" Aiden responded.

Kurumi nodded, touching her lips with her right hand to blow him a kiss before disappearing among the trees.

"She's sexy…," Aiden murmured.

"Hya~ Kurumi-chin will probably try to use all her bullets on that crystal bug… she'll probably be disappointed when it doesn't even withstand a normal [Zafkiel] bullet," commented Nia, hiding behind Mukuro with no intention of joining the fight.

Aiden looked at her, speechless. "I'll try out some magic types on them. Mukuro, if you want, you can handle a few."

—Bang! Boom!

While they talked, the remaining nine Phrases lunged at Aiden, who was the only one with a living body.

Mukuro and Nia, being beings with physical forms made of Reiryoku, didn't register on the radar of these creatures, who sought their Queen in living beings.

"Don't attack Nushi-sama in front of Muku, you disgusting monsters!" Mukuro's clothes changed, and her radiant, voluptuous figure emitted an intense energy.

"Spirit Dress of Divine Authority No. 6."

"[Eloah]."

—Strike! Bang!

Her fist, reinforced by Reiryoku, pierced through the body of a bee-shaped Phrase, destroying its core.

A cloud of dust rose.

Aiden and Nia stepped back slightly as a kick landed forcefully on another worm-shaped Phrase, also destroying its red core with a single strike.

When the dust settled, a beautiful young woman with golden hair and eyes of the same hue appeared.

She wore a lilac and white astral dress similar to a qipao, with the edges of the skirt decorated with constellation patterns.

Extensions of dark blue and violet hair, resembling bunny ears, were attached to her buns.

She wore transparent purple gloves engraved with constellations, and on her feet were heels attached to metallic greaves reminiscent of medieval leg armor.

"Hiiik… Muku-chin is scary!" Nia commented, hiding behind Aiden.

"Why are you pretending to be weak? You could do the same without even using [Rasiel] as an attack," Aiden scolded, pulling her cheek.

"Hya~ not at all, I'm weak. I play a support role, I don't like going around punching things like you guys," Nia replied, sticking out her tongue.

Aiden shook his head and watched as Mukuro didn't even need to use her [Angel] against these Phrases.

"Well, let's test their anti-magic capabilities," Aiden thought as he formed a blue magic circle in his right hand, within which smaller circles and letters danced with almost hypnotic precision.

"[Multiple Enchantment (2): Anti-Magic Water Shackles]"

—Shhhh-woosh... Shhhhrrrrsshh!!

From it emerged chains made of pure water, wrapping around the remaining Phrases.

Mukuro, having finished off the bugs, returned to Aiden's side and gave him the turn to test his spells.

"Hmm, Nushi-sama, these bugs are quite weak," Mukuro commented as she watched Aiden play with his magic.

Aiden moved the water chains, tightening them around all the Phrases.

Seeing that none of them could resist or negate his spell, he tilted his head and slightly reduced the supply of magical power.

"Muku-chin, it's obvious they're weak. They're just low-ranking cannon fodder. The real challenge is the Humanoid Phrases, and in your case, you'd only need to use [Michael] to seal their energy with a single attack," Nia commented, to which Mukuro nodded.

With [Michael], Mukuro could simply seal the energy powering these beings, ending the fight without the need to break their cores.

While Mukuro and Nia chatted, watching Aiden test his abilities, Kurumi flew back, frowning.

"You accidentally killed him, didn't you?" Nia teased.

Kurumi nodded and let out a laugh.

"Hihihihi~ I didn't think he'd die with just one shot. I didn't even use the special bullets from [Zafkiel], just a regular one, and that was it," she said amusedly.

"If you ask Nushi-sama, he might let you experiment on another Phrase; there are still five left," Mukuro pointed out toward Aiden, who already seemed bored.

"Kurumi, if you want, you can come. I'm done testing their magic resistance, although [Rasiel] had the information, I wanted to confirm it," Aiden said, and the magic circle in his hand flared to a bright blue.

—Sssssshhhh… Ffffffzzzt!!

The water chains transformed into ice chains, trapping the Phrases with no chance of escape.

"Thank you, Danna-sama. Here's a thank-you gift for leaving me these bugs," Kurumi said, approaching and giving him a quick kiss on the lips before moving toward the Phrases.

—Step... step... stomp!

"Come to me, [Zafkiel]!"

—Ding Dong.

A huge gothic golden clock appeared behind Kurumi, and she began testing her bullets.

A blood-colored shadow appeared in her right hand, forming an antique gothic-style pistol.

—Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets resonated in the air as Aiden, Mukuro, and Nia watched Kurumi experiment with each of the offensive bullets she could use.

For instance, she used her second bullet, [Bet], to slow the time of whoever was hit by the shot.

The Phrases moved much slower, trying in vain to escape the chains holding them.

Then, her third bullet, [Gimmel], sped up the internal time of her targets, or in other words, made them age; the material they were made of began to deteriorate rapidly under the effects of aging.

Finally, with the seventh bullet, [Zayin], she froze the time of whoever was hit by the shot.

The duration of this frozen state depended on the Reiryoku she had placed into the bullets, though this also applied to all the others.

The remaining bullets, completing the set of twelve, mainly affected herself, so she decided not to test them at that moment.

After a while of experimenting, Kurumi returned with a satisfied expression on her face.

The Phrases were still alive since she had used her fourth bullet, [Dalet], to rewind time and restore them to their original state.

"Thank you for waiting, Mukuro-san, Nia-san, Danna-sama," she said as her astral dress disappeared in a flash, revealing a black skirt and a white blouse. Her loose hair complemented her relaxed appearance.

"As long as you're satisfied," Aiden said, patting her head.

To him, Kurumi, with her charming expression, looked adorable, and he couldn't help but smile.

"What now?" Nia asked, looking at Aiden, who returned her gaze in silence.

"Don't you want to try anything?"

"Jejeje~ If you insist so much, I can only satisfy you, right?" Nia sighed.

She wanted to finish quickly, go home, take a good bath, and maybe do some naughty things with Aiden in the bedroom.

Although they didn't have living bodies and only adapted a human form made of pure Reiryoku, that didn't stop them from experiencing the pleasures and sensations of normal humans, such as tasting food, among other things.

"Yeah, yeah, finish quickly. I want to go home; it's already quite late, and it's about to get dark. Muku needs to prepare dinner for Nushi-sama," Mukuro commented.

"Alright, alright," Nia murmured with a confident smile.

Green magic circles appeared in her hands, and then she moved them.

—Whooosh…! Fffsssshh…!

The winds began to swirl, forming a massive elongated body; an imposing head emerged, and a 100-meter-long eastern dragon made of pure wind appeared in the sky.

—Rrrruuumble!

The dragon opened its gigantic mouth and began gathering lightning breath within.

"[Multiple Enchantment (3): Storm Leviathan]," Nia muttered without much enthusiasm.

—Shrraaaaa-Krak!!

A lightning bolt shot out of its mouth, and the Phrases chained by Aiden's magic turned to dust in an instant.

—Boom!

A large part of the forest disappeared in the explosion.

"..." Aiden, Mukuro, and Kurumi just stared at her expressionlessly.

"How's my new spell? Isn't it great? I designed it based on your memories, Aiden-kun~" Nia said, returning to his side without a shred of guilt.

"Didn't you overdo it? What the hell was that?!"

Almost the entire forest had disappeared with that spell, and she surely must have taken the idea for her spell from some anime she saw in his memories.

Still, it was overkill in Aiden's opinion.

—Slap!

Aiden gave her a smack on the rear in an attempt to scold her.

"Ahh~♡" Nia let out a seductive moan.

She looked at him incredulously, her cheeks flushed as a spark of surprise crossed her gaze.

"..." Aiden.

"..." Mukuro.

"..." Kurumi.

"..." Nia.

"Let's just ignore this pervert," Aiden said as Mukuro and Kurumi couldn't hold back their laughter and nodded in agreement.

"Don't ignore me!" Nia complained, crossing her arms with an annoyed expression.

After a while of jokes and laughter, Aiden began collecting materials from the Phrases Mukuro had defeated.

He thought they might be useful for crafting weapons later. Together, they returned to their beach house, enjoying the sea breeze and the relaxing atmosphere.

Crossing the familiar purple portal, Aiden glanced at his status.

[*]

[Name]: Aiden Avalon

[Race]: Human/???

[Level]: 4

[Basic Abilities]:

-Strength: (SSS) 1503 → (SSS) 1590

-Endurance: (SSS) 1311 → (SSS) 1320

-Dexterity: (SSS) 1898 → (SSS) 1930

-Agility: (SSS) 1366 → (SSS) 1402

-Magic: (SSS) 1980 → (SSS) 2120

-Reiryoku: (SSS) 2365 → (SSS) 2578

[Development Capacity]:

-Hunter (B): Improves capabilities against enemies the user has fought and obtained their excelia from.

-Chain Attack (D): Increases the power of consecutive attacks made by the user.

-Luck (G): Enhances general luck.

[Magic]:

[]1[][Tree of Life/Death Sephira/Qlipha]

[Astral Armor]: Eloah Tzabaoth

{Tome of the Apocalypse}

[Angel]: Rasiel

[Demon King]: Beelzebub (Sealed)

[Weapon]: Book

[Ego]: Nia

{Emperor of Time}

[Angel]: Zafkiel

[Demon King]: Lucifugus (Sealed)

[Weapon]: Clock, pistol, sword, and musket

[Ego]: Kurumi

{Lord Who Breaks the Seals}

[Angel]: Michael

[Demon King]: Belphegor (Sealed)

[Weapon]: Key

[Released Form]: Lance/Staff

[Ego]: Mukuro

{Singer Who Breaks the Army}

[Angel]: Gabriel

[Demon King]: Lilith (Sealed)

[Weapon]: Organ and keyboard

[Ego]: ???

{???}

[]2[][Gate of Babylon]

[]3[][Kaleidoscope]

[Abilities]:

[Eiyū (Hero)]: A unique ability that allows the user to accelerate their personal growth impressively while protecting everything around them: from people and villages to cities, kingdoms, and even entire worlds. Furthermore, it has the power to break the limits of basic stats, pushing the user to an unprecedented level of evolution.

[Inverse Spirit] (Sealed): A dark ability that grants the user access to an inverted version of themselves, sacrificing a part of their feelings and humanity in exchange for formidable power. When this ability is activated, the Demon Kings are unsealed, while the Angels are inverted in essence.

[***]

End of the chapter.

(•_•)

A/N:

In the next chapter, Aiden will probably be at level 6 or something.

After two chapters, I'll make a big time skip where Aiden will already be finishing the war against those crystal bugs and heading to another world.

By the way, the protagonist's appearance resembles Galahad from Fate, the one who says: [Lord Camelot].

He's the one fused with Mash; I think I included an image in earlier chapters.

Oh, and Nia exaggerated her magic because she wanted Aiden to punish her in the bedroom...

I'd appreciate it if you could tell me if the grammar is okay.

Thanks for reading~!

[Image of Rasiel] ←

[Image of Zafkiel] ←

[You can add images of Kurumi, Mukuro, and Nia here if you want] ←

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