54 I’ve Returned

In the middle of a mini arena in Kassio, Krista was observing many individuals with unique origins spar with their chosen weapons or abilities. This was one of the easier days compared to Krista's ruthless training methods so everyone was in a pretty good mood.

In the very center of the arena, on a raised platform, the two most promising people were sparring even more intensely as Krista closely analyzed every detail of their movements and attacks. Although one was a magic user, she could still give them both many tips and tricks using her years of experience.

Rayna was one of the individuals and she had two huge great shields in each hand. She was only wearing leather practice armor, but her stunning beauty made her still seem gorgeous at every angle. The sweat coming off of her that made her apparel stick to her skin made almost every male present ogle her and lose focus on their opponent. Even the females couldn't help but admire her beauty, leaving little room for any form of envy to appear.

Her opponent was an Immortal Soul that recently joined them and he had a surprising amount of skill and potential. He was a young man in his early 30s with a skinny but muscular figure and dangerous-looking exhausted amber eyes. His messy onyx black hair was pulled back with a tie and his goatee was nicely kept and slicked back. Even though he was handsome enough for many ladies to fawn over him, the mafia-boss-like aura and demeanor he let off made him hard to approach.

He was the dark element user from Kyren's visit to the capital back then and his abilities were greatly impressing Krista time after time. His magical class specialty was summoning and possession magic, but for some reason, he wore warrior's equipment with a decent level of plating for maneuverability instead of the usual armored robes.

There were three main types of summoning magic. Traditional [Summoners] could summon creatures or other non-sentient beings/things temporarily to do their bidding for a cost of mana and mental energy. [Possessors] would borrow the power and/or physique from another creature or non-sentient being/thing to enhance their personal strength for the cost of mental energy, stamina, and sometimes mana. [Contractors] were like summoners, but they would instead make a contract with spirits, creatures, or non-sentient beings/things to do their bidding so long as it was within the parameters of the contract, costing them little to nothing. This class was the hardest though because not many enjoyed making contracts with just anyone.

It's unheard of for a single individual to be able to utilize more than one of the different summoning classes, yet this person was using both summoned creatures and animal-like possessions at the same time without breaking a sweat. The summoned creatures were different sized, pitch-black human arms and hands with razor-sharp claws for fingers and some kind of shadowy essence coming off of them. They protruded out of the ground and any other surfaces and were called [Corrupt Limbs], which are animal-ranked dark creations that were fairly weak on their own but unnaturally overwhelming with large numbers. The possession magic he was using is similar to the hands In looks and theme, only his lower limbs were pitch black, double the size, goat-like hind legs with obsidian black fur and hoofs.

The hands would strike or grab Rayna, forcing her to get preoccupied with defending. She would use well-planned offensive shield bashes and throws but his goat legs would aid him in movement and agility so he dodged most of her attacks.

Their grades were vastly in favor of Rayna so she was forced to wear limiter bands to even everything out. She recently reached the peak of the A~grade under minimal guidance and was pretty proud of it. Krista was just a tiny bit jealous of her unfathomable growth potential and the fact that she surpassed herself in such a small time frame. She's been stuck at the B~grade for many years and it frustrated her sometimes but that didn't stop her from still feeling happy for Rayna's achievement.

They fought pretty evenly for who knows how long until Rayna flinched, noticing a familiar feeling course through her. She instantly dropped her massive shields with a loud *CLANG* and yelped in surprise as she turned away from her opponent and looked in the opposite direction. The entire arena stopped what they were doing when they heard the noise and the following silence. The darkness user halted his attack, wondering if he actually somehow managed to hurt her.

Krista glances up at the strange expression on Rayna's face and got slightly concerned, "What's wrong? Did you get wounded?"

She looked at Krista dead in the eye with a serious but slightly excited expression as she uttered two words to her in a clear voice, "He's back!"

Her blood-pact immediately notified her that her master was back in this world and she was absolutely ecstatic.

Krista's eyes opened wide and her blood rushed to her cheeks as she too missed him despite her efforts to make it seem as though she didn't. She immediately canceled practice and called up Maya using her communication bracelet.

Everyone was flabbergasted by the beauties' odd and over the top reactions. Suddenly, a rumor spread throughout the crowd as they were gathering their stuff to depart.

"He must be back after all this time! That's the only way to explain their reactions and the Goddess Rayna's vague words."

"Who's 'he'?"

"The big boss you dolt!"

"Boss is back?!"

"Really?!"

"I wonder if we'll be able to see him?"

"One can only dream..."

While this rumor spread and excitement grew for the arrival of their mysterious leader, a few individuals got especially interested in their words.

The darkness element user and two others who were off on the sidelines came up to the patiently waiting Rayna and simultaneously asked if they could come with them to meet him.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lucien split off from Kyren to report to the church right after they walked through the gate in his apartment.

Once he was gone, he walked over to the couch after finding that no one was present and slumped down, slightly exhausted. One of the benefits of reaching the Transcendent Realm was that sleep was no longer necessary. Of course, he could still get knocked out or take a nap to recharge energy quicker, which he did. He slowly closed his eyes and calmed himself while going into a half-sleeping state, still aware of his surroundings.

.....

Not even thirty minutes passed and the door burst open with two girls darting over to him while another silently closed the door behind them. He knew they were coming from literally a mile away so he already had his arms wide open.

Rayna and Maya embraced him, both still in their sweaty work clothes. He lightly chuckled while saying in a gentle and mesmerizing voice, "I've returned."

"Hmm, so it would seem. You've been gone quite a while... I bet flirting with some girls," Krista remained stoic and defiant as she indifferently greeted him from afar. Deep down though, she also wanted to embrace him and he knew it.

"That's no way to greet me. Should I order you to welcome me back 'properly' using the pact~?"

"Humph," She acted reluctant as she joined the embrace with the other two, secretly snuggling into him.

The three were still hugging him after a while and he chuckled again, "You're all acting as though I've been gone for years? It's only been-"

"That's too long!" Rayna looked up at him with a slight pout and puff in her cheeks.

"But-"

She leaned over closer and gave him a deep and passionate kiss while the other two looked at her with envy. Once she parted, she resumed her embrace.

"By the way, how strong have you gotten?" Maya pokes his chest with her delicate index finger as though she was testing something, "I noticed that you're emitting the aura of a normal F~grade so the changes must've been drastic..."

"It's better off if you don't know just yet."

"Then give us a hint!"

"Hmm, let's just say that I can wipe this entire city off the map with a small wave of my hand."

"....." There was nothing but silent bewilderment in all three's reaction, "You know it's a little too ridiculous when you joke like that."

He looked Maya straight in the eyes and said in a charismatic tone, "I'm dead serious~ I can show you if you want?"

A red flag triggered for some odd reason in Krista's head and she sensed he was telling the absolute truth, "T-There's no need for that!"

Maya looked at her quizzically but didn't push any further.

Kyren kissed each of their foreheads and teleported a couple of feet away, letting them land onto the couch. They were shocked beyond belief and the statement he made earlier seemed a little less crazy.

"Shall we go meet our guests? I'm sure they've been waiting to speak with me for a long time now," He straightened up his clothing and pulled his hood on while gesturing for them to get ready.

"Huh?..... Wait, how did you know!?!" Krista and Maya planned to ask him if he could meet with three people that continuously requested to see him but he seemed to already somehow know.

"I heard them say they wanted to meet me in the arena and I see no problem with that."

"But that's on the other side of the entire city?! Did you appear in the arena? How come I didn't see you?"

He remained silent and Rayna eventually answered for him, "That's because he wasn't in the arena. He's been in this room the whole time and I can guarantee that."

"....."

"....."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

In Archbishop Odella's familiar otherworldly room with the massive stained glass panes, Edmund was on his knee looking extremely downcast and utterly terrified, even uncontrollably trembling before the massive killing intent in front of him. The archbishop was leaning forward over her desk with a hand pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Her emotionless expression, tightly shut eyes, and tapping index finger against her polished wood desk exponentially increased the already tense atmosphere.

"Give me a really good reason why I shouldn't send you to our 'special' torturers and then burn you at the stake using soul fire?"

Edmund inwardly shrieked when he heard her threats, especially the soul fire one, "You-Y-Your excellency-"

*Bang* *Ruumbllle*

"And don't give me a bullshit answer!! I'm warning you..." Her fist didn't destroy the magical wood table, but it did shake the surroundings greatly as she tried her best to hold back her strength.

He's been planning and rehearsing this excuse since that disastrous day, "I believe I found the demon and it used a trick to escape us while giving me this scar... We just couldn't find him for some unknown reason even with us utilizing all of our resources and taking night shifts."

Whether the Dragon Slayer was truly the demon or not, which he had some vague evidence that suggested he was, Edmund planned to go overkill and erase him from existence using the church's full weight. His fury felt insatiable and the need to quench it grew with every passing minute, making him feel like there was an itch he couldn't scratch no matter how hard he tried.

"Ohh? Please do elaborate..."