Chapter 56

"How did we survive??" Lyra asked with surprise and confusion written all over her face.

"It was thanks to the spell Riveria casted on us before leaving" Ryuu replied. Alfia was shocked that the girls survived after an attack with her full power unleashed, leaving her wondering if she had gotten weaker or Riveria had gotten stronger.

"Now I have dispelled my enchantment, you will not be able to avoid the next attack" Alfia said before turning to look at the group battling the nightmare.

"The other members of your group are holding out quite well, fighting that nightmare, what a surprise. Especially that girl called, Uhm Ais. I never expected the prelude to the destruction of Orario to be so full of surprises". She said before turning to the battlefield between Draco, Vito and some evilus members.

"But the most surprising of all is that Draco boy, a level 2 fighting and fending off a level 4 along with some other members of our group. Perhaps there may be still hope but they will need to show a lot more for me to be sure" Alfia said before turning back to the girls. The girls understood most of what Alfia said, but were confused at the last few words.

"Don't you feel anything by summoning such a vile creature??" Ryuu suddenly asked.

"The noise is a bit annoying but I can endure this much, if it's to eliminate my disappointment" Alfia replied Ryuu.

"What is this disappointment you speak off??" Ryuu asked feeling annoyed at Alfia's earlier reply.

"Since you asked, I will tell you" Alfia said.

"I am disappointed with Orario, the World and you all, because you are all weak" was the reason Alfia gave.

"Can you be any more clear" Lyra asked feeling confused at Alfia's statement. Alfia was patient and decided to further explain.

"Despite the efforts of the adventurers of our era, killing the Behemoth and Leviathan, we had been easily defeated by the Black dragon. Even though our era had the strongest familias with warriors of immense power. We were simply no match for the Black dragon, this is proof that adventurers can't fight against true despair and your current era barely has anyone compared to our era. There is no one to defeat the Black dragon" Alfia replied.

"And no one can stop that crazy goddess" Alfia muttered to herself in an inaudible voice.

...

Meanwhile in another battle within Orario, Ottar and Zald had been battling for a while and Zald was impressed by Ottars tenacity.

"How many strikes does this make, you have endured well" Zald said after beating up Ottar.

"I have had enough fun with you, it's time to end this" Zald said before preparing for a final strike.

Ottar was a bit disappointed in himself. Despite all the preparations, he had been unable to come close to winning.

During the course of battle, Zald had praised him for being the strongest in his generation but was still disappointed in his generation for being so weak.

"What do you mean by our generation is weak?" Ottar suddenly asked.

"The world yearns for heroes Ottar" Zald suddenly said and asked a question.

"Do you think that any heroes can be born in this generation??" Zald asked Ottar.

"...." Ottar remained silent.

"It was proven that it couldn't happen in my generation with our defeat in the hands on the Black dragon. I believe that the only possible way left is to bring back the age of heroes. By releasing chaos through the world, the conditions will be fulfilled for the birth of new heroes. The new heroes will be determined to sacrifice anything to defeat the new monster" Zald said with a hint of longing and a tinge of madness.

...….

Back with the Astraea familia and Alfia. Alfia had said to them almost the same things as Zald had told Ottar on the surface leaving the girls in shock.

"Heroes of the past era with the help of spirits had been able to overcome the threat of monsters. Proof of this is how a hero from that time had managed to damage the an eye of the Black dragon, succeeding where we failed" Alfia said.

"Doesn't that just mean that you want to destroy Orario to save the world??" Neze asked.

"Yes, a smart one aren't you" Alfia replied.

"Cant we just work together?" Lyra asked in hopes that she would agree, seeing as they had the same goal.

"No, you haven't faced the black dragon before and haven't experienced true despair" Alfia replied.

Their conversation was interrupted when a tornado appeared, which they assumed was caused by Delphyne. However, they were astonished to witness Ais creating it using her skill and magic.

Although Ais was successful in restraining the monster, Riveria and Gareth were apprehensive because she was causing harm to herself.

Alfia was surprised at the power displayed by Ais, comprehending why Hera had wanted the girl.

"Can you all feel this power" Alfia suddenly said drawing the attention of the girls.

"This is power achieved by someone that has gone beyond terror and despair" The Astraea familia members refused to accept such a means of power because Ais was clearly not in a clear state of mind.

She looked like a crazy person that just kept attacking the nightmare without care for herself or those around her.

"Then prove it by showing greater power through your will and so called justice" Alfia said a after the girls refused her claims.

...…

Meanwhile I and Vito kept clashing in battle, I had been subtly moving the battle away from the other battlefields.

There were some evilus survivors from my earlier spell and i didn't want them to interrupt any of the other areas, so i kept their attention to myself.

I had to ignore the happenings in the other areas and put my full focus on battling Vito, while the other evilus members were just casualties of our clash.

Vito was a very strong level 4 adventurer and I knew that I had to keep him away from the Astraea familia by all means or end his life preferably, but that was proving difficult.

*Clang, Clang, Boom*

The sound of a sword clashing against hardened scales could be heard as Vito and I continued our fight.

"Hahaha, is running and blocking all you can do" Vito said in provocation to Draco. I had been aiming for counters after blocking the fast attacks of Vito.

I had been lucky so far due to my enhanced reflexes that enabled me to react to the speed of Vito's attacks in time.

"What a cheap move Vito, I expected more from a supposed level 4" I replied which enraged Vito further.

Vito charged at me with a fast two handed diagonal slash to the left. I countered by sliding the attack along the scales of my right hand, creating an opening to counter.

"Air canon" I muttered, slamming a pressurized air ball at the open side of Vito, knocking the air out of Vito's lungs.

"Huff,Huff. You bastard" Vito said while gasping for air. The last few evilus members moved in to cover for Vito, leaving barely any breathing room for me.

I was also exhausted from the constant barrage of attacks from Vito and the other evilus that covered for him but had to endure.

*Splash, Splurt*

The sound of the last evilus member besides Vito could be heard as I had clawed his throat after tail slamming his ribs that penetrated his lungs.

"Huff,Huff" I gasped for air as I was extremely exhausted. Maintaining such a transformation heavily drained stamina and the spells constantly drained mind.

*Crunch*

Vito didn't miss such a vulnerability and attacked me with a heavy piercing attack. I couldn't block in time as the attack broke my scales and pierced the flesh underneath. I wanted to scream in pain but held it in.

"Not so cocky now are you" Vito said, unashamed of ganging up on a level 2.

"What do I look like to you" Vito suddenly asked with clarity compared to the madness he had shown earlier.

Hearing this I saw it as an opportunity to recover a bit and decided to indulge Vito in a conversation.

This had been a trend with the villains for some apparent reason so why wouldn't I take advantage of it.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Feel free to read ahead on my Pat3on and see ya all Monday. Also gimme yer stones.