Evil

Suicidal Attack

I don't know how to make it sound sincere other than being as straightforward as I can. Thank you for reading my book and getting us to the 1k milestone, thank you to those who voted and commented, I hope you enjoy the chapters to come.

As I write this, I'm eating a stroopwafel for the first time in my life and holy crud does it make me desperately want to believe God exists because these things are honest to god fucking delicious. (No seriously, if you have a sweet tooth, go try them. You won't regret it.)

~Euphie

———

The Emporium of Equals.

It was an edifice, a marvel of construction made from materials unknown to me, magic more complex than I could comprehend and a level of ingenuity that I was unaccustomed to seeing in this world, even more so knowing that this building was constructed millenniums ago, standing strong through the years despite everything.

Having given the items with him checking and confirming it through methods not made known to me, he led us here.

Stepping in with Sage leading the way, Gale and Lucius being barred from entering, we found ourselves in a large chamber, much, much larger than the building seemed to be. Magic had to be the only answer.

"Sage? Here to whisk away another treasure?" An elderly woman with dulled red hair questioned him before turning to me,"This pretty lass is...?"

"We made a transaction for three attempts Elder Hadley. One my father will approve of. She is Artemis Blythe. You know me, Elder, I would not give up an opportunity this rare to strangers without question."

The woman nodded,"Then, little girl, you know how this works?"

"Pick. Fight. Win." I replied confidently, not mincing my words.

"Arrogant words. If you have something of value worth three attempts to Sage, your rank 1 stage must be much stronger."

"I prefer to let my fists do the convincing, Miss Hadley," I responded frankly,"Talking in circles is irritating and straightforward answers are best. Whether I am strong or not, let that be answered by my skills. Now, shall we begin?"

She gave an indecipherable smile,"Very well, you may now choose." A book formed before me.

I immediately flipped to the section for rank 6s, scanning until—

"An offensive and defensive item capable of flight and uses minimal mana? Are you certain?" This item seemed better than even the ring offered to me at the start.

The woman chuckled,"Aye. Midnight Owl. It is an indispensable item. The only reason that others have not taken it away is due to to its difficulty. As you must know, only those at and below the level of rank 6 can attempt to win this item. It is simply too difficult."

"Then let me try."

"Death is possible here. To beat an opponent five magnitudes above your current level, a death sentence."

"I've plenty of lives to spare." The woman shrugged and with a snap of her fingers—

I found myself teleported to a forest. Before me, a hooded figure surrounded by a multitude of owls. In the figure's hand, a cup of steaming tea.

As the cup was raised into the darkness of the hood, I made a small dent in a tree, confirming the strategy I wished to take was viable.

"Oh? Another challenger? I haven't seen one of late but a rank 1? Tsk tsk tsk, you dare enter this lord's forest?"

"Forest? What forest?"

"...Excuse me?"

"The terrain can be destroyed. You can fly, so can I. So I'll get rid of that advantage of yours right now. But I have a question," I snapped my fingers, a flame that switched between the seven colours of the rainbow formed in the palm of my hands,"Have you seen wildfire before? Oh, who am I kidding, of course you haven't. Then let this be an eye opener."

I shot the flame to the nearest tree and immediately dashed back, the immediate area bursting into rainbow flames as the hooded figure caught sight of me,"YOU DARE BURN THIS LORD'S FOREST? PUNY RANK 1, DIE!"

A smile played at my lips,"I suppose I could use it now. No point holding back. Skipping my third form, I shouted,"Fourth form!"

In an instant, a flash of flames erupted into bright white as I found myself in rather light armour, leaving little to the imagination,"What the hell? What is this?"

[Answering Artemis, the dragon form absorbs mana from its surroundings which allows it to form drastically more powerful attacks. The more one is exposed to the air, the stronger an attack will be.]

A pair of tattered red, sinewy wings grew from my back, goat-like horns sprouting from my head as flames erupted spontaneously around me. A thin, leathery tail stuck out from just below my hipbone.

I groaned, not expecting such an issue as I swiftly got adjusted to the scaly wings and took to the skies, eyes zeroing in on the figure as a sadistic smile grew on my face,"Oh my! The flames are burning brighter than ever! Amplify! Chromatic flame!" A much larger than before flame quickly took form in my hands. I sent it flying, burning up the forest even faster as the fire spread like a blazing inferno from hell, devouring away the wood and leaves as if they were ravenous beasts finding sustenance.

The figure zipped towards me, realising there was no way to escape the fires or douse the flames with ordinary water magic,"DIE!"

"Come!" I collided with her, my vicious method of biting ripped off a large chunk of flesh alongside the leather of the robe, my arms grabbing hers with titan might while my legs kicked at her stomach. A gut-wrenching scream sounded as she rapidly kicked me away, one arm still barely functioning whilst the other was badly crushed, hanging limply by the side,"Shall we dance, fair lady? Chromatic flame!" I roared, the forest was practically a hellscape now, covered by chromatic dancing flames as far as the eye could see.

I gave a mad grin, flashing my teeth, bloodied with her crimson as I laughed maniacally, unrelenting in my chase. Yet, her manoeuvres always seemed to out perform my speed which seemed to only barely match hers. So, I had one last solution. A suicidal one. Mutually assured destruction.

"Only..." A bloodthirsty smile appeared on my face,"I have more lives." I took out a metal canister. The very same one I used on Frigus. One was sufficient here. The area was limited with barriers on all six sides of this cube-like arena.

I let it fall into the sea of flames.

"Time to di—"

BOOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion engulfed the entire room, sending shockwaves as a cold voice sounded.

102 lives remaining.

I found myself lying on the ground of a barren land in my human form. A small laugh sounded as I saw a small piece of paper floating at the centre of the land, the corpse of that person nowhere to be found.

Collecting my prize, I found myself teleported back, two dumbfounded faces greeting me,"Y-You succeeded? How? The Owl Mistress' speed and stealth are unparalleled!"

I didn't answer directly,"Let's move onto the next one. I have two more attempts, don't I?"

"For the next one...I suppose the Sunheart works."