Chapter 127: Chapter 122: Old Allies, Current Enemies

“And that is the last of my abilities, my Queen.” Alisha said, bowing her head.

Lia nodded in approval. “Excellent. And you think you’ll be able to give me all of them at once?”

“Yes, my Queen.”

“Let’s give it a try, then.” Lia replied, holding out her hand. “For now, just appear as a ring.” She instructed.

“I…can’t.” Alisha said hesitantly. “I’m afraid that even as I am now, I need to be something a bit bigger to properly channel that much power.”

Lia didn’t buy that, she was pretty sure Alisha was just making it up so she would have a bigger place at Lia’s side, but…Lia had promised Alisha something like that if she had been good, so it was fine. “Alright.” Lia said, undoing the sash around her kimono. “If you became this, would it be large enough?”

Alisha nodded happily. “I can do that. If you would hand me that sash, I can consume it and mimic it more perfectly.”

Lia held out the sash, and Alisha walked up to it. Alisha placed her hand on the sash, and her form began to melt, liquifying and flowing over the sash, seemingly sinking into it. After a moment, there was nothing left of her humanoid form, and Alisha’s voice rang out in Lia’s mind. It is done, my Queen. When you put me on, you should be able to feel the difference.

Lia nodded, tying Alisha around her waist in a practiced motion. The moment she did, she felt a surge of power, Alisha’s artifact effects activating. “That’s…quite something.” Lia said shakily, reeling from the sensation. “Wow. So, Rose, I should be powerful enough to come with you now, right?”

“No.” Rose sighed. “But you’re very close. Gather a few more powerful effects with Alisha, and then you should be ready to go.”

“Effects like what?” Lia asked. “I want a hard answer, so the goal can’t shift later.”

Rose bit her lip. “Something like the cerberus’s triple body or the hydra’s death split. Something that can keep you safe.”

I regret to inform you that I’m not sure that will be possible. Alisha said. I feel that I can only give the effects I gain from the Gluttony Skill to one body, and making multiple might work, but I wouldn’t count on it.

“I…see.” Rose said. “That does complicate things. I suppose in that case we need to make up for that with quantity. Fortunately, the swarm has no issue manufacturing creatures with innate abilities that aren’t listed on their Status. Alisha, I assume you would not mind being worn by something that will die moments after it puts you on?”

That is…acceptable, I suppose. Alisha said. Just make sure it’s clean before putting me on, I don’t want to get dirty from some awful creature wearing me.

“I think we can manage that.” Rose said, a slight smirk on her face. “I’m going to go check our stores and get some conversions started. In the meantime, can you get me a list of effects you would like to have? I plan to begin my operations in a week, if you can get enough to satisfy my standards, I’ll consider bringing you along.”

Lia nodded. “I’ll get on that, then.”

---

The next morning, Rose took Amelia aside right after breakfast. “Amelia, I need your assistance.” She said. “You’re busy, I know, but this is important.”

“Anything.” Amelia replied immediately. “You know I’m always willing to help.”

“This is…a little different.” Rose said hesitantly. “I need you to train with me.”

Amelia frowned. “Why?” She asked. “I don’t think either of us are much in need of refining our technique, just leveling, and we do that with Lia.”

“Well…I want to try and copy your Skill that unbinds you when protecting someone.” Rose explained. “But, to do that, I need to train you in it.”

“Does that even work?” Amelia asked. “It doesn’t get experience or levels, and I thought your copy ability worked by gaining portions of experience that your students gain.”

“I don’t know.” Rose admitted. “Perhaps there’s a “level zero” or something?”

“Wait, I can just check.” Amelia said. “Give me a moment.”

Rose felt a slight tingling as Amelia’s magic rolled over her, relaxing in an effort to provide as little resistance as possible. After a few minutes, the tingling faded, and Amelia shook her head. “I think it works, but I’m not sure.” She said. “See, the problem comes in the form that the experience you gain is based off of the experience I gain. There is, indeed, a “level zero”, that’s how the Skill keeps track of experience you earn, but after that it’s hazier.

“I’m almost completely sure that, should a Skill be max level, the recipient would still be “gaining” experience and just immediately discarding it, thus allowing you to gain the experience, but I’m less sure on Skills that don’t have any sort of level or experience in the first place. Still, I think it’s worth a shot; if you can get that Skill, then I think we’d be safe to take Lia with us, it might even be optimal.”

Rose nodded. “In that case, I have a series of training regimens dedicated to helping bodyguards and the like. I was thinking of throwing you through one of those.”

“Worst case scenario, we lose a bit of time and I learn how to better protect Lia.” Amelia said. “I have to go help Jerry here in a couple of hours, but I have time before and after.”

 “Thank you for that, by the way.”

“Rose, I would do anything for you, you know that.” Amelia said. “And this helps me too. It’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what I’m used to, but being able to use Worship again is so…liberating. Imagine suddenly being unable to use Mana or Stamina, knowing it’s there, but any time you try and access it it slips away. That’s what it was like for me.”

“I can’t really imagine that.” Rose said softly. “It must have been hard.”

“Well…it’s better now, and that’s what’s important.” Amelia replied. “Let’s get to training, okay?”

---

One week later, Rose was in her living room, waiting for Lia to get back. Amelia had identified their first target, and the strike was to commence in just a few minutes, so it was time for Rose to evaluate Lia and Alisha to see if they were strong enough to tag along.

Unfortunately, Rose had been unable to learn the Skill that let Amelia temporarily lift her binding, but Amelia said that prospects were promising, it would just take a lot of effort. In the meantime, however, she had picked up a very interesting Skill that progressively lifted parts of her binding as she taught her opponents in combat. It was a Skill that demanded a change in the way she fought her opponents, but it was a change that was, when possible, optimal.

After all, she gained copies of Skills people gained experience in while she was training them, and it was well known that high-stakes battles against strong opponents granted far more Skill experience than any other method. This meant that it was very possible that Rose would be able to gain their Skills mid-combat, and the value of that couldn’t be understated.

The portal flared to life, and Lia stepped through, Alisha around her waist. “Okay.” She said. “We’ve picked up quite a few things, mostly to do with resource regeneration, so that Conqueror of Death is active almost all of the time. We also set to work making a bunch of things with no purpose other than to buff other swarm members, so my Pride effect gains those boosts. How is it?”

“Is there a list somewhere?” Rose asked. “I can’t check because they don’t show on your status page.”

I kept one, Mistress. Alisha said, a sheet of paper manifesting in front of her. Please, look it over.

Rose grabbed the sheet, absentmindedly biting a knuckle as she read over it. Eventually, she shook her head, looking up at Lia. “Not enough, sorry.” She said. “But you’re on the cusp. If I had gotten that Skill from Amelia, or if you had a few days more, I think I would feel confident enough to let you come with us. This first one you’ll have to hang back for, but I promise that, if you continue at this pace, you’ll be ready in time for the next.”

Lia wilted. “Fine.” She said. “I…I understand. Just…just promise me that you’ll be safe, that you and Amelia will teleport out if it feels like it’ll be dangerous.”

“I promise.” Rose said, giving Lia a hug. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

They let the hug continue for a moment, then separated, Amelia coming in to replace Rose in the hug. “We’ve checked, and we’re confident that this is safe for us.” Amelia promised. “So don’t worry.”

“I…I can’t promise that.” Lia said. “I trust you, but…it doesn’t stop me from feeling worried.”

“Then we’ll just make it fast.” Amelia replied. “I’ve got some Worship on my side if we really get into a pinch, and we’re just after a couple of high-profile targets right now. It’ll be super fast.”

“I hope so.” Connie said. “I…I’ll keep an eye on you, so don’t do anything reckless, okay?”

“We won’t.” Rose promised. “It’ll just be a routine raid, nothing to risk ourselves for.”

Amelia let go of the hug, stretching out a hand to Rose. “Let’s be off, then. No sense in keeping our cute lovers waiting.”

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Rose grabbed her hand, nodding. “Let’s go.”

---

Simona’s eyes flew open, and her hand shot out, grabbing her spear. Something strong had appeared nearby, and they weren’t making much of an effort to conceal their presence. It wasn’t something most people would pick up on, but Simona wasn’t most people; she was an old warrior, taught by the Ruby Emperor himself, and she had been level three hundred for longer than most people had been alive.

She hurriedly donned her gear, slipping each piece of enchanted gear on with the ease of someone who had spent her entire life in them. When she was done, she exited her tent to find that the camp was eerily silent, not even the seemingly omnipresent sound of the nighttime insects audible.

Simona frowned, scanning the area for any sign of life while she kept part of her mind focused on the rapidly approaching presence. After a few moments, her eyes fell on the body of one of her soldiers, lying on the ground, and she had to force herself not to rush over and check on him. Doing so would expose herself, and she couldn’t afford that at the moment.

Fortunately, her vision was incredibly sharp, and she was able to make out his chest rising and falling, indicating that he wasn’t dead, just unconscious. And, now that she was looking for it, she could feel the faint sensation of Mana in the air, a subtle spell twisting and weaving throughout the camp, though it seemed to leave her and her alone untouched.

She briefly entertained the idea of trying to wake her soldiers, but quickly discarded it. She wasn’t equipped to deal with magic on this scale, and she wouldn’t be able to get them up and keep them up before the presence reached her. Instead, she gripped her spear and turned to face the presence, moving stealthily towards it.

If they had purposefully excluded her from the spell, it either meant that it was too weak to affect her, in which case she had a chance against her opponent, or that they had some reason to want to keep her awake. In the first scenario, it was imperative that she met them in combat before they could do too much more damage to the rank and file, and in the second…what else could she do? She wasn’t a mage, nor was she experienced in subterfuge; she just fought things.

She began to close in on the presence, and soon she could make out their silhouettes in the distance. There were two people, but the presence only came from one, the much larger silhouette. The other either wasn’t powerful enough to have a presence her Skills would pick up on, or was much more careful about keeping themselves hidden. Given the context, Simona assumed the latter; there was no way their enemies would send a weakling into the heart of enemy territory.

The two seemed entirely unconcerned by their location, striding down the main lane of the camp as if they owned the place. Simona, on the other hand, was smarter about it; she kept to the shadows, hunkering down behind a tent that was in their path, waiting in ambush.

And then the presence vanished entirely, as if it had never been there. Simona alerted, resisting the urge to peek out from behind the tent and instead concentrated hard on the sound of their footfalls, but –

“Simona, it’s good to see you again.” A feminine voice said warmly. “I’m glad to see you’ve survived all this time.”

Simona whirled, already lashing out with her spear, but the woman effortlessly dodged, twisting to the side as if she had already known where the spear would be. She was tall and well-endowed, with a beauty that seemed to be beyond the realm of mortals. And she was familiar, Simona had seen her in the message the swarm had sent, she was…

Right. She was the pretender. Simona fell into a combat stance, glaring balefully at the woman in front of her. “Don’t pretend you know me.” She spat. “You’re not him, people don’t come back from the dead.”

“And yet, I did.” The woman said, retaining a relaxed posture. “If you don’t believe me, then check my status; it doesn’t lie.”

Simona debated it for a moment, and then opted not to; if that was what the woman wanted her to do, then she wouldn’t play into –

Simona’s line of thought was cut off yet again as the woman’s status appeared in front of her, completely unbidden.

“I’m not playing games with you.” The woman, Rose, said. “I wish to resolve this peacefully, if possible. Check my Titles, you’ll see.”

Simona dismissed the status, then, after a brief pause, used her own analysis Skill to look at it. It was the same as the one the woman had shown her, and it was all…wrong, completely different from that a person would have.

Still, Simona opened the Titles and scanned through them, impassively checking the ones that seemed relevant. They indicated that this woman was indeed the reincarnation of the Ruby Emperor, but Simona couldn’t trust that, not when the rest of the status had been so radically altered.

She activated Surprise Attack, throwing out a near-instant thrust that the woman once again dodged effortlessly. “Simona, you still squint for the briefest of moments whenever you activate a Skill.” Rose said sternly. “I thought I told you to stop that.”

“You didn’t tell me anything.” Simona grunted, swiping the spear to the side in an attempt to strike Rose with the shaft. “The Ruby Emperor told me, and you’re not him.”

A wall of wood sprung up between Rose and the spear, catching it in the air. “I used to be.” She sighed. “But I suppose, yes, you could say that the Ruby Emperor you knew is gone. But, really, it’s more like he never existed in the first place; he was an act, a role my status as Hero forced me to play. The world needed someone like him, and Heroes have to do what is best for the world, even if it they hate every moment of it.”

Simona tuned Rose out, letting go of the spear and reaching her hand backwards. In one swift motion, she let out a pulse of Mana, teleporting the spear to her hand and then throwing it directly at Rose’s torso.

The briefest flicker of surprise passed through Rose’s face, but she reacted quickly, moving an arm into the path of the spear before manifesting a worn, beaten shield and blocking the throw.

That was…unnerving. Not because of the fact that Simona’s attack was blocked, that was par for the course with high-leveled opponents, but because of the choice of gear. History had long since embellished the Ruby Emperor’s weapon, describing it as ornate and showy, but in reality, it had been anything but; in the few times Simona had seen it for herself, the weapons it transformed into remained unremarkable, ones that had clearly seen much use.

This shield fit that description. She could easily picture it sitting on the Ruby Emperor’s arm, and that gnawed at her. As annoying as that detail was, however, it was a detail that could easily have been learned by anyone seriously attempting to to imitate the Ruby Emperor, so she just told herself it meant nothing.

“Simona, I’ll give you one more chance before I fight back.” Rose said. “I am no longer the man you knew, but I am better. As Reuben, I was forced to act with sickening efficiency, even if it meant sacrificing those I loved, but I’ve been freed from that shackle. Please, give me a chance; I’m who I was always meant to be, and I think you’ll find that this me is a better person than I was before.”

Simona dashed forwards, recalling her spear and shortening the length to one more suited for close-quarters combat, feinting at a strike with her right before teleporting it to her left and going in for a hit.

Rose sighed, bringing a knee up and crashing it into Simona’s left arm, throwing the strike off before ducking in close and delivering a powerful blow to Simona’s throat, a strange off-white substance spreading around the point of impact. “Dead.” She said. “I like that you’re incorporating your left now, but I’m afraid you’re too obvious about the feint.”

Simona backed off, attempting to scrape off the substance with a gauntleted wrist. To her surprise, the substance clung to the gauntlet, flowing over it before stopping halfway, seemingly unable to go further.

Rose didn’t give her much time, though, her shield transforming into a long hammer of sorts, the head and tip coated in that odd substance. She closed the gap in a moment, swinging out with the hammer, but Simona was fast enough to react, ducking out of the way. As she raised her shortened spear to stab up at Rose’s heart, something struck at her head with an immense amount of force, knocking her flat to the ground.

“Dead again.” Rose said, tapping the top of Simona’s head with a hand, more of that strange substance flowing from it. “You’re trying to leverage your stats too much, and assuming that people you fight are on the same level. You would never survive combat with the Lord of Monsters like this.”

Those words stung, stabbing at a wound that she truly had not expected to be opened again. Even now, she remembered the moment as vividly as if it had happened only the day before, could see the figure of the Ruby Emperor walking into the Lord of Monsters’ lair, Simona powerless to stop him.

They had been in a climactic battle in front of the lair, and Simona had been one of the few to see him attempt to slip out alone. She had tried to go with him, but his magic clamped down on her, binding her and a few of the others that had followed in place. “You would never survive the Lord of Monsters. I cannot let you throw away your lives for no gain.” He had said, then teleported them away, into the thick of another part of the battle.

Simona had always regretted not being strong enough, not being able to contribute to her liege’s fight for the fate of the world. Most of those who went with him had died or were crippled, yes, but…Simona would rather have died in that fight than be told she wasn’t good enough; she had prepared for death when she signed up for that army, and she had wanted nothing more than to contribute to that final fight.

“Fine.” Simona said, the wind whipping up around her as she activated her trump card. “I wasn’t going to do this, not now, but you leave me no choice.”

Rose smiled, withdrawing her weapon and transforming it into a shield once again. “I’ll make sure the collateral isn’t too bad.” She said. “I intend to have you lead these troops once again, after all.”

Simona grit her teeth, narrowing her eyes slightly as the Skill finished its activation. She took a deep breath, stepping up onto thin air, a golden stair appearing beneath her foot as she did. Once on the Stairway to Heaven, she dashed towards Rose, always seeming to take steps upwards but never actually moving up. Even so, strength filled her body as she climbed; each step she took sapped the energy of those below, their power used to fuel her own vain ascent.

It was the ultimate Skill of her Job, the Holy Warrior, her allies and enemies alike made into mere stepping stones on her pathway to victory. It proved a terrible burden to those below, and she hated using it without the permission of her subordinates, but it was clear she wouldn’t win otherwise.

For her part, Rose just smiled like a mother watching her child take its first step. “Well done.” She said, a bright light beginning to fill her body. “As promised, I’ll keep those on the ground from being damaged. I have that leeway, after all.” The light scattered, shooting out and into the bodies around camp.

Simona didn’t reply, choosing instead to shatter one of the steps in front of her, throwing a rain of shards down at Rose.

Rose closed her eyes, making no movement to stop the shards, not that doing so would help her; as someone subject to the influence of the Stairway of Heaven, she would be struck by the blow, no matter how she dodged.

But, to Simona’s shock, Rose wasn’t pierced by the shards of light. She reached out a hand, and the shards gathered on her palm, then vanished into nothing. “The Stairway to Heaven’s power is significantly diminished against a light mage.” Rose said. “As the Stairway is made out of light, it grants particularly powerful light mages a way to interact with it, like…so.”

The next step Simona stepped on shattered, the shards spreading out for a moment before coalescing around Simona’s leg, propping it up and keeping her balance, but stopping her midair. The shards slowly winked out of existence and reformed into a stair below her, but they left in their place a tangle of thorns and roots, ones that oozed that strange white substance.

“You’ve taken the name too literally.” Rose continued. “If you had practiced more, you would know that you can manifest the Stairway away from your body, and manipulate it freely; in my experience fighting against it, it’s at its most troublesome when my opponent uses it to buff and debuff me in turn, keeping my status from remaining constant and throwing my timing off.

“But I can understand why you wouldn’t have trained to that extent; it is a Skill that takes a toll, and finding those willing to take that strain for your benefit isn’t easy. Now, try again.”

The plant growth around Simona’s body vanished, and she found herself able to move again. Her leg was entirely covered in that substance, but the substance moved and bent with her leg, so it wasn’t too detrimental to movement. She bounded forwards, ignoring Rose’s advice until the moment the woman sighed, seemingly giving up on Simona.

Then, Simona dropped to the ground, elevating Rose with the Stairway and striking up from below. Rose beamed at her, grabbing the stair she was on and pulling it aside, dropping down to the ground before using it as a bat to whack Simona in the torso. Then, while Simona was winded, Rose grabbed her head with one hand, her torso in another, and countless thorns sprouted from her to poke at Simona’s skin in other places. They all secreted that substance, and despite her best efforts, Simona’s consciousness faded.