The Beetle and The Scythe

Our surroundings are bathing in purple light as we stand in the middle of a wide and big magic circle. The light shines brightly, forcing us to cover our eyes immediately.

However, with a blink of an eye, the light gets dimmer, allowing us to see our surroundings once again. 

We have finally arrived in the castle's throne chamber, where all of the servants bow instantly when they see me and Nadia in the middle of the hall. 

"Welcome back, My Queen." Said one of the maids, bowing at Nadia, then turning her body toward me next.

"Welcome back, Master." 

Ohhh I feel so loved.

Before I could say anything, Nadia gestured with her hand as a signal to drive away the maid, making them leave us alone.

I am honored by the maid for recognizing me at last!

This is huge!

I'm getting emotional here.

Anyway, let's focus on the real situation here; our new party members!

"Welcome to the castle of the Illusion Forest, guys!" 

Nito looks so happy and amazed by the structure of the castle.

I get him. It is magnificent.

I remember the first time I came here to recruit Nadia to accompany me on my journey.

More like trapping her forcefully. Hehehehe.

Either way, I'm still amazed by her status and her powers.

Oh, you're still wondering why I said member(s) instead of singular nouns?

Well, it's because we count the scythe as well.

It's a pity though, she's still sleeping from Nadia's spell, or should I say curse?

Anyway, she will wake up eventually, so no need to fear.

Talk about sleeping, I'm feeling drowsy all of a sudden. Well, I did fight with Nito when we were in the Forbidden Forest. It took a toll out of me.

*yawns*

"I'm sleepy right now; I'm going to bed. See you guys tomorrow." I wave them goodnight and proceed to walk to my room.

"See you, Master." Nito said while holding the scythe, because Nadia was preparing for the teleportation spell just now and needed both hands at that time. 

Where's Nadia, you ask? 

Haha! You know her. Bed and stomach will always be her top priority. 

What? You don't understand? You're quite slow for a reader I may say...

She headed to her chamber a while ago, not long after we arrived in the castle.

(Nito's POV)

This castle is a lot bigger than The Hero's. 

I was being controlled by the priest before, when I was at the Hero's palace.

I couldn't remember most of my time there, instead of fighting and rage.

But after I became Master's servant, I started to feel my own feelings again. I must be grateful and serve him till my last breath.

Enough about me, let's talk about Miss Nadia.

Judging by the amount of servants alone, I can tell that Miss Nadia is not an ordinary demoness.

I know that she is powerful, but I didn't expect she'd be a queen. 

The queen of this Illusion Forest that was supposed to be a myth.

Oh, you didn't know?

Alright then, let me tell you the story of the Illusion Forest.

It is said that about 300 years ago, before Demon King Belial ruled the demon continent and spread chaos all across the world, this planet was full of joy, and we were living in peace, where no monsters would show up anywhere you went.

But the gods won't let this world be filled only with sunshine and rainbows, so they created dungeons and the demon tribe to mess with other races on this world.

But not long after the demon tribe was created, the humans were smart enough to form a pact with the other races and defeat the demon tribe. 

The gods weren't satisfied with this, so they forged the Five Rulers of Death among the remaining demon tribe. Each of these rulers is a noble demon and was given a sort of revelation from the gods to lead and rule their own territories. 

These rulers then lead their armies and commence a huge war between the human race and demons. But the rulers were just too powerful for the humans to handle, which led to the total annihilation of the human race, or so we thought...

The True Mage of the human tribe was the most powerful spellcaster in the history of men. They cast a huge binding spell on the 5 Rulers and sent them back to their own territories, sealed off from the human world. And their respective territories have been forbidden ever since.

Huh? Where's the connection to the Illusion Forest? Oh didn't I just tell you the story a few seconds ago?

Ahhh wait. Relax people. The story is indeed connected to the Illusion Forest. 

This Illusion Forest that we speak about is one of the territories ruled by a ruler.

Yes. You guessed it. Miss Nadia is none other than a ruler herself.

She is also known as the Ruler of Mind, the most knowledgeable queen, who possess countless of spells in existence. 

How do I know this story, you, my dear reader may ask? After I've been "beetle-fied", there was a whole bunch of information that humans don't know about.

You can call it a manual book or "Monster's basic necessities 101", as it is what it does. 

Enough about that for now. At least we know how powerful Miss Nadia really is, so we should be just fine from any intruders.

Besides, I believe my Master is strong enough to fend them off by himself.

You don't believe me? I mean, he has the legendary scythe, and one of the Rulers of Death as his servant, sooo I think he should be able to destroy a continent with energy to spare.

Oh, and plus me too, as a bonus. Hehe.

The castle here is huge compared to the Hero's. The structure is more complex and complicated than to the Hero's.

I'm still holding the scythe while walking around the castle.

I went to the kitchen, the library, and even the towers at the end of the castle. It was a whole new thing to see in this castle alone. 

I walk toward the backdoor as I hear birds chirping melodiously, harmonizing with each other. The sun is beginning to awake from its slumber and shines the whole world with its flare. 

I proceed to walk from the doorstep toward the middle of the beautiful but unique garden. 

The scent of the roses and other flowers in the yard is palpable. In addition, a tiny stream of water forms a pristine mountain stream fountain in the middle of the garden.

The sunlight shines on the petals of the flowers, making them glimmer from the morning dew. The sunlight touching my skin feels amazing.

It is warm and light, just perfect.

While I'm in awe of the scenery and my senses, the scythe glowed brightly and started to float in front of me.

I let it go immediately after I felt the awfully strong and murderous aura coming out of it.

The scythe then form a human body same as before, when we were in the Forbidden Forest.

"What are you doing here?" She's looking at me with her black obsidian eyes and mildly expressionless face. Her voice trigger the trauma inside me from when I was a human. Scaryy...

"Uhm... I'm not here to cause trouble." I need to give her a confirmation that my presence brings no harm.

But instead, she looks at me with the same expression and raise her hand. 

Is she gonna attack me??

"Wait! I'm not your enemy!"

She didn't listen to what I said; instead, she conjured shadow claws from beneath my feet to strike me. But thanks to my enhanced stats from transforming into a magical beetle, my defense is now frighteningly high.

Even though I was hit by those shadow claws, I still managed to move a few steps back, unscathed. 

Her appearance is that of a little girl, but her powers are monstrous.

"You are different from before." She points her finger at me.

"Like I said just now, I am not your enemy. In fact, I am one of the servants of our Master." I show no sign of fighting.

She looks at me with disbelieve at first but decided to trust my words.

I'm glad. Huhuhu.

She walk toward me with the same expression on her face, showing "Get outta my face!" kinda vibe. Scaryy... Huhuhu.

"Let's go meet Master." The Scythe points toward the backdoor, asking me to lead her to Master.

"Y- Yes, Miss."

(Kevin's POV)

Ooooooo~

This bed is hella comfy. I'm in love.

I don't wanna get out of this bed. I wanna stay in!

I cover myself with my blanket and fall asleep.

A few hours have passed, I heard knocking on my door.

"...Come in." I don't wanna let anyone come in though, but for sure, it wouldn't be nice to drive them away.

The door opens and Nito walks in.

"Good morning, Master. So sorry to interrupt your slumber, but you have a guest." 

Oh, if it's Nito, then it's fine.

What? Favoritism you say...

Well nooo. It's simply because whatever Nito does, there must be reasons behind it.

"Oh not really. Say, who is this guest?" Who wants to see me this early in the morning huh??

Without any warnings, a girl with black silky hair and a white dress enters my room with a mild smiley expression.

She walks toward the side of my bed since ain't no waaay I'm getting out of it!

She looks a bit calmer, though, compared to yesterday.

Mannn, yesterday was craaazy! Even her aura can slice you up if you're not careful enough.

The girl bow to me elegantly.

"Good morning, Master. So sorry to interrupt your resting time, but I have some important things to discuss with you." 

I don't know what she's talking about, but I'm just gonna listen to her. 

I raise my hand as a sign for Nito and the other two maids that was already in my room to leave, so that we can talk in private.

We're both sitting vertically from each other at the tea table.

She just stare at me with those mild smiley face.

Cute, but creepy.

We both stayed silent for a while now. I don't know what to say!

While sipping my cup of tea, I decided to break the silent.

"What's the important thing that you wanna tell me?"

She takes a sip from her cup and answered my question.

"Before I tell you anything, please make a formal contract with me, Master." She smiles and tilted her head like a little sister that I never had! How cutee!

Ehem. I have to think this through, before forming a contract with one of the most powerful weapon that has ever existed...

AHA jokes on you people!

I ain't gonna wait and think it through just to waste my time from claiming the legendary scythe that could help me get revenge on the Hero! Hahahahaha! I'm soooo smart!

"Well then, let's haste." I smile, holding out my hand to her.

"Y-Yes Master!" She's definitely blushing right now.

"Let's go to the training ground outside." 

I suggested that we go to somewhere much more spacious than my luxury room.

Why, you may ask? Hehehehe.

It's because when you're forming a contract with a weapon, you need to pass some 'test'.

We've arrived at the training ground outside of the castle. 

Nito is standing beside me while holding a drink and snacks. Heyy! I'm a snack lover okay?? Everywhere I go must've snacks all over the place.

"Don't hold back, Master." She holds out her hand and mutters something else in a different language, far from my knowledge.

"Huh? What is she talking about, Master?" Nito is confused as heck.

Haha! Cute!

"Lend me your strength, Nito." I turn to look at him and touch his chest.

My palm started glowing brightly, making it hard for me to see what's in front of me-

Wait.

Never mind.

I can see Nito blushes from my touch. Get a grip, my boy!

I switch my sight toward the Scythe, and she has already summoned three shadow hounds.

Those beasts are huge as heck! They're the size of a horse, if you were to compare them.

I can feel Nito's strength and techniques surges through my veins and muscles. This is it! I can finally use martial arts!

Yahooo!! Thank youuu Nitoooo!!

Without any signals, the shadow hounds jump towards me.

But with Nito's inhuman senses, I got away from it easily.

"Hahahaha! Try harder, Scythe!" This is fun!

Wait. What about Nito??

I turn my head to look for Nito and I found him flying above us using his beetle wings. Clever guy.

Well, he used to be a commander who led wars back then.

Enough bout that. Let's focus!

I look at the Scythe, who's muttering spells from the back of an army of Shadow Hounds.

That's freaking scary, but exciting...

Oh no. I developed Nadia's pleasure for dangers. Ughhhh!!!

Anywayyys, I'm gonna win and claim her as my own!

I jumped up high and landed in the middle of the crowd of shadow hounds, making the ground shake and blowing everything in its radius.

All the shadow hounds are blown away mercilessly, including Scythe. Nito gets blown away as well, but he manages to stop midair.

Well, I'm sure he'll be fine.

I run towards the Scythe, punching and dodging every shadow hounds in my way.

The Scythe regains her standing, and starts to mutter a spell, causing tons of beautiful yet dangerous swords to be thrown at me.

She really doesn't give me a chance to counter her attacks, because after those swords, she sends tons of newly conjured shadow hounds.

Oh, she's good, but I can't falter!

I put my palm facing the ground while muttering "Gate of Abyss" causing the ground to open up widely.

The magma and beasts from the abyss are trying to reach out from their place into ours.

Scary how powerful Nadia's magical power is.

Well, she's a Ruler all right! Let's see what Scythe will do about this.

Eh. Huh? Ehhh?? What is she doing??? I don't know anymore!

What?? You want illustration?? Fine! 

She's using those beasts and magma to conjure up different types of shadow hounds!

What? Not clear?? Ughh.

Basically, she combines them into the shadow hounds. What the heck! This is all happening ON the training ground!!!

"Nito!" I need him right now.

Without any questions, Nito fly down in front of me with his golden axe, when he used it against me during our battle in the Forbidden Forest.

"Master, give me orders." Nito looks super serious, deadass.

Then, "Deal with the upgraded shadow hounds. I'll take care of Scythe." I rush toward Scythe, who's standing at the back of the swarm of upgraded shadow hounds and flying swords.

With my fists boosted from Nadia's magic, I throw punches at her. She doesn't dodge it, though; instead, she uses her shield to block my blows every time.

"Not bad, Master." Her expression is still the same, without a slight hint of panic.

"But..." Her eyes are now fully black.

Dammit! This is bad. I have to step back- What the?!

I look down at my feet; there are shadow vines wrapping around them.

Shet! I messed up.

"Sorry, Master..." Her eyes went back to normal.

She looked a bit sad, though...

Then don't proceed to kill me, you brat!!

As I'm about to get whooped by Scythe, she gets blown away by some unknown force.

I looked over my shoulder to see the source, and I saw Nito use his power to push Scythe away. In fact, I think it is the same power that he used to control Nadia midair when we were in the Forbidden Forest yesterday.

"Are you okay, Master?!" He looks concerned.

I should be asking you whether you're okay or not?! You helped me while restraining those upgraded shadow hounds! It's not an easy task, you know?!

"Ah, I'm okay. Thanks!" I can't keep dragging this battle along for too long.

Then...

"Oh darkness, darker than the void. Trap my enemies, and don't set them free.

 Using this spell, which I avoid. Send them all to the deepest sea!" 

By muttering this incantation, I snap my fingers, making those shadow hounds disappear into thin air. 

Nito then swings his axe at Scythe, who is attempting to get to her feet.

"Quite entertaining spell you did there, Master." She bows down to me as a sign of congratulations.

"Uhm. Thank you?" I am speechless.

"So, you did show me that you're worthy of being my master. I knew you could do it from the start." She smiles.

She smiles?! I almost died from fighting you, you know?? Besides, what did she mean by she knows from the start? Does that mean I didn't have to fight her?? Oh my gods...

"Well done, Master." Nito also congratulates me while approaching from Scythe.

"Thanks, Nito. Now, let's start the contract ritual." I do not wanna waste any more time.

"Yes, Master." She bows, then proceeds to unleash her aura.

The feeling is still unpleasant, as always. 

But I can't get overwhelmed by this alone. I need to stand firm! Not to mention, her aura is freaking strong!! 

"Nadia. Nito." By summoning their names, Nadia and Nito appears behind me.

"What'chu need, sugar?" Nadia is flipping her hair while in her tiny pajamas. Oh, she's in her Dumb Form, by the way.

I turn around, facing them with a smile, and say, "Lend me your powers. Nadia. Nito." 

Their faces are as red as tomatoes, especially Nito. With this, Nito and Nadia's powers surges into me, endlessly.

By "endlessly", I mean it. Like, literally.

Without cease, they flood my body with energy, cascading down the stream like a cascade.

I think I know who's the culprit.

Yup! You guessed it. It's the one and only Queen of the Illusion Forest, Nadia Dragonheart!

Her magic power alone is filling up my body, but it's not that bad though. What's weird is I want more! 

Alright. Let's start!

I start the ritual by calling the scythe with a normal tone. If she heeds my call, then the contract will be done.

"Yes, Master." 

Thanks the gods! 

And with that the contract is formed.

"Thank you, Master." She smiles and bow. 

"No problem, Scythe." Uhm, it's a bit inconvenient to call her by her species name.

I might have to give her a name though, but I'm bad at giving one. Ughhh!

"Give me a moment to think of your name, okay? 'Cause we have to travel to find some preparations in the towns and cities in the future." All for my revenge of course.

"Frienna. My name is Frienna. You can call me that, Master." 

I am surprised that she has a name already. Where did she get a name? Who gave it to her? I have tons of questions!

But let's start with the simple one. "That's a pretty name. Where'd you get it?" 

She looks at me then smile. "Oh, it's a very dumb story behind it. A father and daughter family got lost in the woods when I was imprisoned in the Forbidden Forest. However, the robbers who were attempting to take me away killed the father and the girl. The daughter was named Frienna, and I was drawn to her because of her great grin and attractive features. I then used my Dark Arts to join her soul with mine to create my human form."

What the heck!!! This is not a dumb story! Definitely not!! "You joined your Dark Arts and a little girl's soul to form a human body??" I don't know what else to say...

"To find you, yes. Besides, it was the father's wish for me to save the girl. But she died in the midst her father was asking for my help. Therefore, in order to fulfill his wish, I took her soul and make it mine." She said it with an expressionless face makes it even worse.

I- Never mind. 

"We will continue the search for our next plan in the City of Technossia." I can't think right now. I wanna lay in my bed so baddd!!!

"But wait, Master. I haven't told you about the important thing from before!"

Noooo! I'm done for today. Good night...

Eh no. Good morning-night!