Chapter 23: Agnagarn, The Flaming Beast

Didn't have much time to write this week and was away for half of the week too, but chapter should resume (:

Keep up those power stones!

*

"Vita, is it? It is nice to meet you. I was on a training excursion with father until this giant wolf appeared. I'm Naoto Osborne.", I said, introducing myself to Vita. She may appear like a child now, but later on in the years, she would end up becoming a world-renown beauty, and a leading opera singer.

Moreover, that was just on the outside. For now it looks like she is just a witch in training. I did pick up that small bit from the other blonde haired girl as well, hearing that she recently received permission to start wandering outside, likely from their home village.

"Naoto huh? Still, why is such a small kid like you out here training? It's dangerous you know. Now that I think about it, you don't even look five years old...?", Vita continued ask as she looked at me.

"Haha, that's being the son of a military general for you. I'm only three years old now.", I responded to Vita, which caused her to become surprised.

"Only three years old...? That's a bit too young, isn't it?", Vita retorted back at me.

"That's just how it is. I can't go against father's wishes.", I said, shrugging my shoulders.

While saying that, I saw Giliath unleash a wild aura, covering his body. There is such a thing as aura in Zemuria as well, it doesn't just contain magic and science. Martial Arts were very prevalent here, but much more prominent in Calvard and eastern Zemuria. Yet there were those who still trained them. And despite being in the military, father was able to develop this aura, it was a mixture of orange and red. His Hundred-Form Military Combat was top notch after all.

"Hah!", Giliath roared out, letting his aura envelop his body. We saw him dash toward the giant wolf and use his legs to jump up several feet into the air, only to slash down at Agnagarn's head. Seeing this Agnagarn opened its mouth, only to try and chomp away at his sword. Shhrring! We suddenly heard a clash of teeth grinding against steel, which was relatively unpleasant to the ears.

To attack in succession, Isola started to do another chant, allowing a calming blue aura to surround her body once more. Arts from orbments were one thing, but seeing magic cast before me, another look of anticipation appeared in my eyes. Magic was non-existent in my past life besides in those fictional worlds, so it there was any possibility of me learning, it I may go that route. I do wonder how these witches pick their talents, are they chosen at birth, having to be born in clans such as the Hexen clan, or can an outsider learn and study it?

"O Spirits of water, please listen to the soothing of my voice. Wash over this raging echo as you listen to the depths of my mana and strike at the heart of this beast. Rendering Flood!", Isola raged out, raising her staff up high. Before we realized it, the air around us started to turn damp and moist, only for a blue swirl to sweep up around it. Booom!

A dense boom swept around us as Isola launched her next spell. A raging water burst forth from her staff, almost as if it came from a fast-flowing river. Expanding several feet on both side, Agnagarn suddenly became engulfed by a large stream of raging water. As a result, Agnagarn let out a painful howl.

"Awooo....", Agnagarn roared in agony, feeling a heavy blast of a streaming water strike against its front side. I do recall this Cryptid was weak to the water element as well, so Isola hitting its weak spot dealt massive damage. As for father, he hung onto Agnagarn's back, holding onto its fur.

Seeing Agnagarn take heavy damage from its front side, Giliath grinned. Letting his battle aura cover his sword, Giliath struck down hard, piercing Agnagarn's flesh deep. Giliath also let out a roar as he activated his combat orbment, allowing a green glow to cover his feet. He swiftly swung his blade through Agnagarn's back, letting blood splatter the closer he got to its head.

We then saw Giliath leap up, only to do a quick twist of his body, leaping up over its head.

"Hah!', Giliath roared out again, swinging his sword fiercely at its head as the gushing water died down from Isola's spell. Bam!

Giliath swung his sword once in each direction, causing more blood to splatter as his claymore struck against Agnagarn's head.

"AWOOO!", Agnagarn roared in agony, seeing Giliath keep his momentum. Still in the air, Agnagarn's bloody face tried to focus on Giliath's shadow. In the next moment, its fangs lit up in a blazing flame.

"Good. Let's see you take this.", Giliath replied seeing Agnagarn turn angry at his words. Activating his orbment once again, a blast of air burst forth from his feet, allowing Giliath to change his direction from falling backward, to right at Agnagarn's face.

Seeing this, Agnagarn opened its giant mouth, allowing flames to spew forth, igniting more of the grass around them. Yet Giliath and Isola ignored that. We watched on as Giliath swung his sword down hard right at Agnagarn's open mouth. Schrring!

Another sound of clashing metal struck our ears as Giliath's sword became stuck within Agnagarn's mouth, not moving any deeper. Yet that momentary pause only lasted for a moment. Giliath pushed down, only for us to see Agnagarn's teeth start to crack, causing another roar of agony from it.

Seeing this, I became silent.

"...Is this even a battle?", I retorted quietly.

"Hehe, your father isn't a slouch, that's for sure. He can keep up with Auntie with ease. I don't see this giant wolf lasting much longer.", Vita answered back.

And after Vita said that, we heard a loud shatter. Crrrack!

Agnagarn's flaming fangs actually managed to shatter into several pieces, crushing its mouth altogether. As a result Giliath was able to use this momentum, continuing to slash Agnagarn's body through and through.

"It seems I'm no longer needed to support.", Isola said, bringing her staff back to her side, allowing her mana to recede back into her body. Her appearance returned to normal. Lots of blood continued to splatter as she turned her attention elsewhere, casting smaller spells to quell the flames around them. In no time at all were flames put out, leaving behind scorched grass leading up to the Schwarz Drache Barrier.

Agnagarn let out one final howl as it felt its body get cleaved in half. In the next moment or two, father ended his strike, appearing at the other end of this giant wolf. Agnagarn couldn't even shoot out its signature flaming breath before Giliath and Isola finished his attacks on him.

While it was not a super clean cleave in half, Agnagarn's eyes faded before our eyes. Yet unlike the other monsters whose corpses dropped where they stood, Agnagarn started to shine brightly, only for it to evaporate into several different colors of light.

So Cryptids do end up "returning home" after all...

After we saw Agnagarn's body vanish, all that was left over was singed grass and lots of blood. Yet even with that, Giliath managed to swing his sword once more to clean the blood off his blade, leaving his person untouched.

"Thank you for the assistance, Miss Isola. This giant wolf won't cause any more problems within the area. With that, I was able to protect the city of Roer. As a general of this nation, I give you my gratitude.", Giliath responded, slowly making his way toward Isola.

"It is us who should be apologizing, Mister Giliath. Agnagarn was led this far already, and we were already on the tail end of chasing it here. I'm just glad we could rid of it before it could cause any further harm.", Isola responded back with a smile.

"Umu, well done you two.", A third voice resounded, only for the little blonde girl wielding the large crimson staff to walk up to Giliath and Isola to say that. "To think that a soldier of your caliber to stand up to a Cryptid, it was a pleasant sight to my eyes.", The little blonde girl said, giving a smile as well.

As for Vita and I off to the side, I leaned over and quietly spoke out to her.

"...You said that's your grandmother, isn't she?", I asked, just to be sure. On the outside, she had a very petite body, but regardless of that appearance, the way her hair flowed made her appear anything but childish.

"She certainly is. She...can be a bit eccentric at times. It would do good to receive a praise from her, especially since she does not like to wander out much.", Vita said, explaining a bit to me.

"Is that so...", I retorted quietly.

"You are?", Giliath decided to ask who the blonde haired girl was, only to get quickly

"Who I am is not important, as I doubt we'll see each other again. If it wasn't for this Cryptid appearing so close to a human's city, I would have not bothered coming at all.", The girl responded back to him nonchalantly. Yet this only caused Giliath to grin.

"Well, even with you saying that, I have a pretty good guess, so I will refrain from asking.", Giliath said with a grin.

"Oh, do you now?", The blonde haired girl retorted with a smile of her own. "Now that this battle is over, are you not concerned with your own flesh and blood over yonder?", The blonde girl suddenly asked, only to look my way. All of a sudden, remembering the training I had before this fight began, the fatigue finally caught up to me. I rapidly felt my body losing its strength, only to start wobbling.

"H-hey!", Vita suddenly exclaimed, quickly approaching my way. She caught me before I tumbled over completely into her embrace.

"Sorry about that...I just realized we were training until now...", I smiled awkwardly back at Vita, who could only puff her cheeks out.

"Worry about yourself more, it's good to rest now that things are over. Should I bring you to your father?", Vita asked in worry.

"You needn't worry about that, young one. I will take Naoto from here. Thank you for watching over him.", Giliath said as he approached us. As he did, I felt my eyes turn sleepy, ignoring the several notifications sounding off in my mind from the Gamer System. Seeing Giliath's imposing figure up front, Vita gulped a bit, as she could feel his overbearing presence from his fight just now. He calmly put away his claymore, only to lean down and pick me up, placing me over his shoulder.

Feeling Giliath's warmth, I quickly fell asleep. As much as I wanted to fall asleep in Vita's lap, now was definitely not the time to do so. I will also check my notifications later, as I will definitely have some rewards to collect.

"I-t was no problem. Thank you for beating that giant wolf, mister. With this, I'll definitely have a good story to tell to my little sister later.", Vita responded with a smile.

"Haha, is that so? Your little sister will definitely enjoy the tale.", Giliath answered back, causing Vita to nod her head.

As for the blonde haired girl, she turned toward Isola once more and spoke out.

"Isola, finish quenching these flames before returning. I will go on ahead with Vita. Don't make Emma wait long now.", The blonde hair girl responded.

"Of course, Mother. I don't want to make Emma wait long either.", I Isola responded with a nod of her head.

"Aww, Can't I help with that too?", Vita asked, pouting again.

"No. We mustn't tarry any longer. Come, Vita."

"Okay. Mister, let Naoto know it was nice to meet him!", Vita said, waving her hand at Giliath and I, who was now fast asleep in his arm.

"Of course. And I will ensure the barrier's safety with your departure, miss witch.", Giliath responded with a nod of his head.

With that said, Vita approached the blonde haired girl's side, only for them to vanish from sight with a quick spell. He then turned toward Isola and spoke out to her.

"Cleaning this up won't take much, presuming you are a witch of similar caliber to her. And besides, it sounds like you are to return to your daughter's side, right?", Giliath asked.

"That's right. I don't want to make Emma wait long. I must say though, your son does seem to be of similar age to her. Perhaps it won't be out of the question for them to meet in the future.", Isola responded with a smile.

"Haha, I was sharing a similar sentiment, especially as you introduced yourself as a wandering witch. Our house isn't actually far from this spot. I'd welcome you to our home anytime.", Giliath responded.

"That may be a good offer to take, and it is appreciated. We are rather a recluse village, to say the least. It'd do best for Emma to make some friends down the line.", Isola spoke with a smile. "Should we have another encounter, I will take her out. She goes by Emma. Emma Millstein, after me and mother.", Isola said to Giliath.

"Emma Millstein, is it? I will note down this name should our paths cross again. Now, let us clean this place up. As for the rest, Marquis Rogners' soldiers will take care of the rest.", Giliath answered.

"With pleasure.", Isola nodded, letting the two get to work as father placed me in some shade at one of the nearby trees to enjoy some rest, allowing them to clean up the fight they had with the Cryptid, Agnagarn.

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owo