Re:Cord of Ragnarok

Chapter 30 [A FInal Test of Faith]

Midas kicked the golden bracelets away and rubbed the areas of his wrist where they had sat on his skin. The once concentrated feeling of divine energy now flowed freely through his body, uncontrolled and yearning to turn everything to gold. He tried to move his golden leg but found it to be unresponsive at first, but that wouldn't matter to him now. The grass around his feet turned to gold and began to float up towards his now outstretched arm. The golden grass dug into the king's flesh and slowly turned his limb into a pincushion of golden knives, the skin and blood turning to gold as well. "I will master... no. I must master this... by any means necessary, I must master this. Then... then... then, I shall be free."

"Aw, that's not very nice. To treat a gift from a friend with such crudeness is quite cruel, Midas-Chan~" Dionysus feigned being hurt, seeing the bracelets hit the ground.

"This human is even more mad than I thought, hurry up and kill him, human, his constant rambling about 'freedom' and 'mastering' whatever it is he's rambling about is giving me a headache," scoffed the demon with her arms folded beneath her chest, her head dramatically over her shoulder as a sign of offense despite there being nothing to take offense to.

"I could say that you are doing the same to me, demon,' mumbled Jeanne, just loud enough for Barbatos to hear.

"Again with your complaining about my marvelous presence, You clearly do not value the great privilege it is to merely be in my presence, let alone be given my power." Barbatos' fake and exaggerated offense turned real offense as she tried to hit the saint over the head, but due to her ethereal form it did nothing.

At the same time as Barbatos' attempted assault, Midas lunged forward with an even faster speed than before, the unchecked curse bringing even more power to the king's golden leg. He raised his now spiked arm and swung it down like a mace. Jeanne, being slightly distracted by her demon's attitude, was struck by his arm, the golden spikes piercing through her iron breastplate and digging into her shoulder. The maiden of Orleans was about to counter in an attempt to push the king away, but was stopped as around half the gold on Midas' arm rushed down to his golden leg to produce three large spikes that stabbed her shin and thigh.

Jeanne couldn't help but let out a cry of pain as her leg buckled beneath her and she dropped to one knee as the spikes retracted. To create space between the two, she aimed a swing, that she barely landed, directly in the king's gut to force him back as she fell, Midas' moving back a few extra paces on his own accord as he looked down at his hands. "It was meant to be all... that was only half... I need more... more mastery."

"Je ne pensais pas que ce démon pouvait devenir plus ennuyeux," Jeanne groaned as she got a good look at her injured leg, blood pouring out and staining the side of her skirt. "If you actually want me to kill him as you seem to want me to do, don't distract me like that."

"Well maybe you should give me the respect I deserve, human, and then I won't have to use such extreme measures to make you learn your place."

"Just be quiet for a bit, please." Jeanne dug the stake into the ground and used it to pull herself up onto her feet, having to use it as a support to not fall back down to her knee. "Without your distractions, I can do my role here properly and not take more blows like that."

"You dare speak back to me? I swear, once this is done I shall force you to lick my heel and submit to me to show you your place,' Barbatos scoffed.

Despite Jeanne D'Arc managing to get back up to her feet, a sense of doubt had already spread through the human audience due to how quickly Midas had taken her down to her knees. "Look at her, she can barely stand without support. She may as well throw in the towel now," one of the audience members mumbled.