Special Bloodline

"..."

His eyes slowly opened.

"Where am I...?"

He only saw the dark and grey clouds above him.

"Hrngh...!"

When he tried to move, his body was screaming in pain.

"Finally awake now, Mika Elbar?"

"?"

A child he had never seen before was looking down on him with a smile.

Mika was currently lying on his back on the hard and cold stony ground.

"Who are you...?"

He rolled over and got on all fours as his body felt weakened.

He pushed himself up and when he finally stood on his feet again, he realized where he was.

The wind was caressing his cheeks and hair, while he looked at his surroundings.

From his location, he could see the barren wastelands as far as the eye could see.

He was standing on the highest point of the fortress.

The roof.

"Maybe this appearance will jolt your memories."

Mika turned back to the person.

"R-Ray Taker..."

When he saw Ray's figure, he turned his initial shock into rage.

Mika remembered, how Ray Taker approached the group and suddenly attacked them resulting in him crashing into the fortress' wall.

"You bastard...!"

With clenched fists, he charged at him.

He, however, remained unfazed and let Mika come closer to him.

Dodging his punch effortlessly, he grabbed Mika's head and threw him to the small stone wall behind him.

If Mika had been thrown a little bit higher then he could have fallen down from the roof.

"Ugh...!"

Mika's back slammed against the wall.

"Calm down for now."

The person looking like Ray got covered in darkness.

"...?"

The child from back then appeared again.

"Do you understand now? I am Yater, the person who was impersonating that Ray Taker." Yater explained with an innocent smile.

"A-another demon..?"

Mika dropped his jaw in shock.

Ignoring Mika's mumbling, Yater directed his gaze to the sight.

Beneath his feet, there was something akin to a small black puddle from where a thin black tentacle emerged.

On his hand command, the tentacle moved in the direction Yater looked at.

It entered the window one floor under them.

"As long as we're here, nobody will bother us, so we can talk as much as we want." he said relaxed.

"Talk...?"

"Yes, there are a few questions I want to ask you."

"And why should I answer them...?"

Even though he was in a disadvantaged state, he did not lower his head to the enemy.

"I have my methods."

His smile was unbothered by Mika's remark.

And in that moment, it looked like the tentacle retracted itself back into the black puddle.

"!"

However, it wrapped itself around a person.

"Seems like it delivered the person just in time."

From the start, Yater planned to use the tentacle as an extension of his body to get something or rather someone from the lower floor.

"G-Gerard!" Mika shouted concerned when he saw his friend's body.

"Are you now in the mood to answer me?"

"..."

Mika gritted his teeth.

"I see."

The smile disappeared on his face.

Then, the tentacle tightened its grip around Gerard.

"W-wait!"

It loosened its grip.

"I... I will talk..." Mika said reluctant and frustrated.

"Good choice."

As if nothing happened, Yater's smile returned.

"Well, here's the first question."

He came closer until he was actually right in front of Mika.

"Hmph!"

With one hand, he grabbed his cheeks and pulled Mika's face closer to his.

"What are you?"

Compared to his mouth, Yater's eyes did not smile at all.

But before, he could even utter a word, a loud bang was heard.

"!"

"?"

It sounded like a thunder strike.

"Ophelia...?" Mika murmured instinctively after Yater accidentally let go.

"..."

Yater had a grim expression on his face.

"Hey, brat. Before you answer that question, tell me what the name of that lightning woman is."

"..."

Despite telling him her name was trivial, he still refused to spill the beans so easily.

"Don't test my patience."

Proportionally to his grimmer turning look, the grip around Gerard tightened.

"Tch... It's Ophelia..." Mika replied annoyed at his helplessness.

"Full name."

"Ophelia... Ophelia Ross."

"..."

The tentacle loosened his grip again and Yater took up a thinking posture as he put his finger on his chin.

"Ross...? But according to the information, only those from that bloodline are capable of that..." he muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Wendy got distracted during her fight.

However, she was not the only one.

Martha and Zack were looking in the same direction as Wendy.

"H-hey, this was a close call..." Barnt said taken by surprise after he dodged the thunder strike.

With his gaze down, he saw that just a few inches from his feet was now a large burnt spot.

He smiled, but deep down he got nervous for a moment.

"!?"

But when he lifted his head up again, Ophelia already clenched his cheeks with her hand.

Her entire body was sizzling as she enhanced it with lightning.

Barnt tried to counter quickly, but her follow-up punch was faster.

Another loud bang took place when she sent him crashing into a wall.

"Puah! Ptu!" Barnt was spitting as the sandy dust got into his mouth.

He freed himself with great effort from the wall due to him sticking in there tighter than he thought.

Her punch left a mark on his face, but it did not bother him as much as the deep and red fingerprints on his cheeks, which he caressed gently.

"This ridiculous strength- Hmph?!"

And again, Ophelia grabbed him by his mouth and this time her punch slammed him into the ground.

The impact was so great that the part of the wall above them caved in completely.

Ophelia managed to jump away just in time, whereas Barnt was buried in the rubble.

Then, an arm emerged from the pile of rubble.

And not long after that, Barnt's upper body surfaced.

"Now you've done it, you bi- Huff!"

Ten seconds passed since the first punch and Barnt leaped backward into the fortress' courtyard.

"Ugh...!"

And not long after that, the impact of the second punch returned.

"..."

"W-what's there...?"

From above, Yater and Mika watched the scene in the courtyard unfold.

Barnt was struggling to get up, whereas Ophelia casually walked over to him.

"Is that Ophelia...?"

Ophelia was walking normally, however, she had a wide grin and based on her expression there was not an ounce of sanity left.

"What the heck was that?!" Barnt complained as he wiped off the blood from his mouth.

When he saw Ophelia, he immediately took up his fighting stance.

"I only need to kill you quickly!" he stated vigorously, while he put up his hands with the palms facing her.

He hurriedly shot off another black sphere at her.

The sphere expanded and consumed not only Ophelia but also a large part of the wall.

"Heh, this should do for now..." he huffed satisfied.

However, when the darkness dispersed, a silhouette remained.

"No way- Ugh!"

Encore kicked in.

"H-how is that possible...?!"

As if nothing happened, Ophelia stood in the middle of a crater.

Barnt broke into a cold sweat.

Usually, A-ranks or below would be guaranteed consumed.

S-ranks would mostly struggle to fend off the darkness, but it was possible to fight it off as long as one's magic potency was approximately on the same level as people from the Grand Order.

In other words, one had to be a complete...

"Monster..." Barnt muttered, who felt like a hunted prey for the first time.

Ophelia was moving towards him again.

In reaction to that, Barnt shot thin and stiff black pillars with pointy heads from the ground.

Most of those spear-like things stabbed her, but those aimed at vital spots were effortlessly punched away by her.

Even with those injuries, she kept going.

He fell on his butt due to his trembling legs.

"What a shame." Yater said disappointed while he shook his head.

Barnt was crawling backward in order to escape Ophelia.

But she was on to him and held on to him tightly by pressing her knee on his chest and grabbing his arms above his head with one hand.

Her wicked grin widened even more before she raised her fist.

"H-help! Help meeee! M-Martha!" he cried ugly for help.

The sound of broken bones, splattering blood, heavy punches and his more and more fainting scream echoed across the vast and lonely fortress.

"Martha."

Yater's voice was not loud enough to be normally heard by those on the ground and yet, Martha immediately flew to the roof.

"You called me, sir?" she asked politely while saluting.

He looked back to Mika.

"You're from Loogam, right?"

Mika averted his gaze sheepishly.

"Yes..." he replied quietly.

"Martha. Escape from here and tell the others this..."

Yater proceeded to whisper into Martha's ear.

"Huh?! W-wait, that brat is-"

"Go already. I will buy you time meanwhile." Yater cut her off sternly.

"Y-yes, sir!"

Thus, she flew right away from the Desolated Fortress.

"As if-"

"Stay or he will die." Yater stopped Mika's plan to chase after her.

He threw a glance at Mika, who was standing frustrated by his side.

Then to Zack, who regained control over his body.

Wendy grabbed Zack's arm and flew to the courtyard.

And last but not least Ophelia, who was currently the greatest threat to him.