36 Return to Lightwood Fortress 1 (1/2)
With the excessive amount of power Seran had put into his attack, the handle of Yggdrasil's Comet flew from his grasp after it shattered the Elder Lich's skull, rocketing through the air and colliding with the statue of Eric Astheme. Instead of being destroyed, the air rippled with magic and deflected the guandao, sending it to smash through one of the pillars nearby. Seran himself fell on his stomach, breathing heavily mixed between small hiccups like he'd taken several heavy punches to the stomach and was having trouble recovering. Rolling weakly onto his back to give himself more room to catch his breath, the demigod lay there for several minutes. He was obnoxiously powerful, yes, but he'd never had to use so much power at once before, which was why his body was seizing up from his overuse of mana.
[I'd admonish you for going overboard, but the situation was far too serious for you to hold back... That said, you need to train yourself for handling your power more. Having infinite power but being unable to control it would only make it a weakness.] William sighed with both relief and exasperation at Seran's current status. [Do you want me to summon one of the Chimera siblings to help you out of the crypt? If they shrink down enough, they can carry you through the corridor without much trouble.]
Seran continued panting for a while before saying, ”Yeah... summon Leo... he'll have the easiest time getting around.
Not one minute later, a circular portal opened by the two giant doors, through which a car-sized golden lion stepped through. The bright yellow eyes looked around the gloomy crypt with a mix of curiosity and mild fear, ”Creepy giant hall... smells like death... I don't like this already...” Leo was looking around warily when he spotted Seran lying on the ground next to a black skeleton that radiated death magic. ”Master!” The lion swiftly dashed forward to stand beside the young demigod that was still handling mana overload. Leo seemed like a curiously worried puppy as he looked his master up and down, all around, sniffing and lightly prodding him with his nose, ”What happened to you?”
As he was connected to the lion via the system's Beast/Pet menu, William answered for Seran, [The simple version is he overused his mana trying to kill that Elder Lich. He's never had a real life-or-death battle before, so his body isn't used to the amount of power he can use. Right now, he can't even move. So we summoned you to carry him out of here.]
Leo growled a little at the Elder Lich's corpse, ”Are you sure it's dead? Do you want me to incinerate it to be safe?”
[... As you are similar to Golden Crows in that you have solar flames, you should be able to cremate it completely. Please, burn as much of it as you can. If you can't do it, then don't worry.]
The lion nodded and roared a veritable yellow-orange flamethrower over the black bone corpse, holding it as long as his energy was capable of allowing. Unlike Seran, Leo had spent years in battle, so his body even before the transformation was already able to handle his power. The flames continued for nearly ten minutes before the bones had been scorched into a pile of ash, which Leo then blasted away with a paw swipe. ”There, all done. Now, how are we getting Master out of here?”
[Just lay on your belly and I'll levitate him onto you. He won't be able to move, so be careful when you move, okay?] After getting a confirmation and the lion did as told, William used some of Seran's mana to lift him up and onto the lion's back like one would ride a horse. The difference was that Leo didn't have a saddle and Seran couldn't move an inch without assistance due to his condition. [Alright, now, all you have to do is go out of those two giant doors and keep walking straight. Everything in here is completely dead now, so you don't have to worry about anything but keeping Seran on your back.]
”Got it,” said the lion as he began to pad out of the massive hall at a relaxed pace, chuckling a little to himself about how his first time helping his master was carrying him out of a tomb.
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Outside, the adventurers had been preparing for the worst after Jenn's outburst. When the Astheme Crypt doors were opened, the powerful aura that was inside flooded through the tomb and out into the open cemetery. As it was a mix of death and devil magic, only one of which was recognized, the three Priests and Adrianna activated [Holy Sanctuary] to protect their companions from the disgusting magic. Fortunately, unlike Seran, Priest and Paladin spells are Divine in nature, making them a necessary counter against devils. However, they couldn't tell that it had devil magic mixed in, as it had been 3000 years since the last time devil magic was seen.
”Adrianna, the aura... the Elder Lich's aura is gone...” Jenn, who had been busy holding her spell up, sensed the change in atmosphere as if the aura had lost its source. To further certify her words, the miasmic power thinned and soon dissipated enough for the four Holy Sanctuaries to be dispelled. ”There's no more death power coming out of the cemetery...”