Chapter 13 - Sekhmet

In an instant, the deadly attack was stopped by someone.

"....Ah?"

Similar to when the floor beneath us disappeared, I couldn't understand what was happening in front of me.

The tragedy that was supposed to happen right before my eyes, no; I just couldn't comprehend the miracle that had just occurred. My Saga had disappeared from my left hand, and in its place, a symbol had appeared. Furthermore, Barbarossa, who should have killed us by now, had his punch held back by a wall of light. Finally, an unknown girl stood between us and Barbarossa.

While her red hair blew in the wind and her shining white skin. Wearing an Arabian night dancer attire consisting of a white lace bra adorned with golden trinkets, her knee-length skirt made of thin fabric swayed slightly as she turned to face me. At that moment, I saw her eyes.

Her pupils were golden, giving off a sharp and bold impression among her red hair, in addition to the head ornament consisting of a white scarf and a crown containing the symbol of the sun. Making her look like a goddess herself.

"Nice to meet you."

That was the first thing she said after opening her mouth.

"..."

"Hmpf, it seems like you're quite confused. Oh my, you really can't be trusted. Because you ordered me to wake up, I was forced to do it."

"You... you are..."

My Saga...?

"Of course. Well, then, Master? That scumbag is still alive and well. Shall we go crazy and celebrate my birth? Shall we give it a grand finale in a charming style?"

"But how- ngh!"

Even before I could finish my question, the girl dissolved.

Losing her human form, she turned into fire and then wrapped around my right hand, transforming into something different there.

It was a great golden spear. Although it had an inorganic and frightening appearance, it still looked somewhat beautiful.

"You will handle the timing of the attack. That scumbag is coming to attack us, just thrust me at him. If you fail, we'll all die, understand?"

"I give you a chance, the rest is up to you" ... that's probably what she wants to say to me.

"Understood."

Even before she asked me, I already knew what I should do.

"Don't get cocky, noob. Do you think the newly-born Saga is enough to kill me?" Barbarossa opened his mouth when he heard our conversation.

After the wall of light disappeared, Barbarossa ran straight towards us, moving in a straight line, so I could still see his attack, but his movement was too fast and impossible for me to avoid his attack.

Even so, all I needed to do was thrust this spear.

"Outside, your Saga fight with Rex and the other masters. Then, because you attacked my master, my master is now involved in that fight."

When Barbarossa's fist was pulled back, ready to attack us,

"--So I'll take all the power from your fight and give it to you."

I thrust the golden spear at him.

"---Source of Destruction."

Energy quickly gathered in the spear, and when the spear touched its target, there was an impact.

Barbarossa's body was pushed back as his armor, Kreyja, shattered into pieces.

"Hahaha, You fool! My Binding Soul skill transfers all the damage I receive to my puppet! As long as Raktabija still exists, I cannot be defea...ted..." His words stopped as his expression changed as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

And a few seconds later, in a moment of silence.

Soon after, as if becoming fuel for a combustion, Barbarossa's body suddenly burst into flames. The flames devoured his body from head to toe without leaving anything behind.

Man, how many times today have I seen things that feel so difficult to understand? As I asked myself, I looked at what was right in front of me.

Little by little, the burning body of Barbarossa turned into light and began to disappear, leaving nothing behind.

Behind me, Celeste was still unconscious. And beside me, another girl had returned from her form as a large golden spear.

"That was a great success. Well done, Master. You managed to grasp the possibility you hoped for with your own hands."

"So, you really are my Saga?"

As I asked that, she slightly lifted her skirt and, at the same time, bowed respectfully.

"I am Sekhmet. Saga TYPE: Servant with Armament, sekhmet. And also, I am what was born from your mind, body, and soul."

As she introduced herself like that, the girl—Sekhmet—smiled broadly.

"Nice to meet you, Master."

*****

"Shit," Rex muttered.

Rex ran across the busy streets of the imperial capital.

Currently, the capital's once lively streets had turned into a terrifying scene. The raktabijas who had suddenly changed their behavior from attempting to attack him were now wandering around trying to mercilessly kill the inhabitants, causing chaos at every corner they passed.

With his large hands, Rex caught 3 raktabijas in each hand and then threw them into the air. The raktabijas were thrown at high speed, piercing through the clouds until they disappeared from sight. Rex continued to run and catch other raktabijas, repeating the process continuously as he walked through the capital city.

Similarly, Rex's partner, Cerberus, did the same thing, each Cerberus tying a group of raktabijas before throwing them into the sky. In this way, the raktabijas could not self-replication.

That was what Rex wanted, but seeing the raktabijas, who seemed to have no end, he was disheartened by his actions. The sudden change in circumstances was what Rex feared, a kidnapping turning into terrorism in the country's capital.

"Did I make the wrong choice again?" Rex muttered bitterly.

Perhaps tragedies like this could be prevented if Rex did not hesitate with the decisions he made. But as he did in the past, Rex repeated the same mistake, creating another tragedy.

But this time, Rex refused to surrender to the tragedy that had occurred. That was because this time Rex was not alone, he had a partner.

Rex saw him today at the city square, looking lost in his own thoughts. For the first time, Rex felt a kind of danger despite his level, stats, and saga form.

Perhaps it was an animal instinct because he had an animal avatar form, or perhaps it was his combat instinct because Rex was used to fighting.

Whatever it was, Rex tried not to take any direct action towards him because even though he seemed to have a certain rejection of this world, for now, he did not have any evil intentions towards this world.

So Rex tried to make him-Leonardo-a good person.

Well, it was going well until suddenly he received a 5 star Random Quest, the highest quest level.

On the one hand, this provides proof that Rex's instincts were real. Because after all, just as Rex had said to Leonardo, the Administrator in question investigated all the relevant people's background to the quest being made, then the quest was given to the person who had the greatest probability of completing the quest.

The quest was given to Leonardo, not him.

So

"This time I chose the right choice"

Rex confidently said that while throwing another Raktabija.

Even though the Mount that was lent to Leonardo had disappeared from his side and returned to Rex's storage.

Rex was sure he would be able to complete this quest no matter what.

When Rex was thinking about that, there was a sound that was carried by the wind.

"This is an emergency mission, once again I say this is an emergency mission. There has been an act of terrorism in the 8th district by a master, a Supreme named Barbarossa.

"She has a Saga Type Colony named Raktabija, his saga's special ability is infinite self-replication based on the blood of the raktabija that fell to the ground."

"To suppress this ability, it is hoped that those who have the ability and can kill the raktabija without making them shed blood will become the front to reduce and destroy the raktabija, and for those who do not have that ability your job is to restrain the raktabija so they don't spread further."

"Residents of the districts around District 8 are expected to evacuate following the directions of the knights..."

'They move fast' thought Rex

That's right, he was currently in the Imperial Capital, a place where there were many Guilds, both large and small guilds.

This incident will be quickly dealt with.

In the middle of his journey, Rex saw the masters hunting the Raktabija, most of them had good-looking equipment. So they were probably rankers and people who had been playing this game for a long time.

Those currently fighting were probably the masters who arrived first due to the commotion caused by the previous Raktabija and Cerberus Battle. Then there was also the master who arrived after hearing the emergency mission.

Apart from that they fought well.

There were people who had sticks that looked like they were made of ice.

When the stick came into contact with the Raktabijas, for some reason they immediately turned into liquid instead of freezing.

Others fight by summoning some strange door.

Shadows kept coming out of the door, then they caught and dragged the Raktabijas towards the door.

Another person rides a giant frog.

With the speed of sound the frog kept shooting its tongue towards the Raktabija. The raktabija who were hit by the shot were immediately dragged towards the giant frog's mouth.

others have a stone building.

From the hole in the fort, the player attacks the enemy using a sledgehammer. When Raktabijas crashed into the simple shelter, Raktabijas visibly went numb from doing so, and stopped moving.

Just like Cerberus they too are saga.

At this rate the spread of the Raktajiba could be properly suppressed, and they could be completely annihilated. That's what people think.

But even so, it would be meaningless if the Raktabija were not eradicated all at once, the raktabijas showed no signs of being exhausted when new raktabijas appeared to replace those who had been killed.

Suddenly the movement of all the Raktabija stopped when the fire devoured the Raktabija group, the fire quickly burned the Raktabija's body while the Raktabija's body fluids immediately evaporated due to the heat generated by the fire. Just like a plague, in an instant the fire spread from one Raktabija to another without any intermediaries.

That way the raktabija was successfully destroyed when people's minds wondered what really happened.