The Heritor of Illipia

Chapter 12

The story continues with yet another chapter to continue the plot (I had nothing else...sorry)...
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        "I told you to stay with Elsword and Chung! Why did you follow us? You could have been killed," (y/n) scolded as he, Ara, and Ykuei ran for their lives. Ykuei seemed more like he was flying though since he remained airborne the entire time. "Elsword told me to follow you. He said that you and Ara needed my ability more than he did," Ykuei answered just before the trio got to yet another portion of collapsed temple floor.

        It was decided before then that Ykuei would teleport Eun across and (y/n) would simply make the jump himself. Making that decision early on saved them some time but Ifritan easily kept up with them being only a floor gap away at nearly all times. The holy beast entirely avoided the holes by climbing onto the probably unstable walls and even clawing his way across the ceiling at times which was truly frightening.

         "I hope the rest of the team has arrived. It will be bad to make a stand against this creature of fire. Killing him isn't an option. I can sense a small amount of divinity from him," Eun said as they continued to run. So she had known too. Ifritan was the temple's protector and mistook them as intruders...well, he was being controlled to an extent but there wasn't much of a difference either way.

         "Dryad says there is no goddess of fire so that wouldn't be too much of a problem," Ykuei informed as they continued to get closer to Elsword amd Chung. "That isn't entirely true. Ifritan may not have a fire goddess backing him but he gained his divinity from some other goddess. If it wasn't Dryad or me, it must be one of the other two goddesses," Illipia noted. Regardless of the information, (y/n) already knew that something bad would happen if he were to kill a holy beast. It already didn't sound right just thinking about it.

         "There they are! I can see them from here!" Ykuei said with much relief but they were not saved. Elsword and Chung were still trapped inside the temple with them and it didnt seem like the rest of the El Search Party was having any luck breaking them out. That was if they were even on the other side of the collapsed door. "We aren't going to make it out of this unscathed," Eun said with huff of fustration.

         It was an outcome that none of them wanted but it seemed highly likely with so many of the odds not being in their favor. Chung turned back just in time to see them getting closer but he also saw Ifritan closing in on them. "Ykuei, Eun, you two go ahead. I'll keep Ifritan back," (y/n) said as he suddenly stopped and turned to face the beast that hadn't faltered in his advance even in the slightest.

        "You'll get killed. We need to fight as a team," Eun said but (y/n) shot a glare at Ykuei knowing the hybrid child wouldn't go against his words. It was a small abuse of his power but he couldn't help it at the moment. He'd briefly seen Elsword on the brink of death.  He'd spotted the worry in Chung's moments. He'd sense the fear in Ykuei's voice and he'd felt the burning desire Ara and Eun both had to fight. He wasn't doubting Ara's power or skills but he didn't trust himself to fight without ignoring any harm she came to.

        Ara had grown on him in the short time he'd known her and that sort of didn't sit well with him. It could have been their common attibutes that made him that way but he wouldn't worry about it too much. Ykuei disappeared along with Eun who hadn't reacted in time to stop him. That left (y/n) with Ifritan who had stopped when he'd gotten just within range of him as if knowing how far (y/n)'s range could be. His full arua will still ablaze so that wasn't the reason for Ifritan's sudden caution. (Y/n) stood his ground not daring to move as he glared at Ifritan waiting for him to make the first move.

        "Intruder..." Ifritan growled. He was indeed entraced for that was the only word he spoke since he'd been chasing them. (Y/n) didn't like how cautious Ifritan was being so he growled back. He could feel himself shaking with anticipation and slight fear knowing that if Ifritan charged straight forward, he wouldn't be able to stop him from reaching Elsword and the others. Why had the holy beast remained still? Why had he suddenly stopped? Ifritan suddenly turned around and headed back the way he'd come but that wasn't the only thing that shocked (y/n).

        As Ifritan did this, a soul became visiable materializing in the place that Ifritan was before the person themselves appeared. She stood there and stared right at (y/n) before smiling. It was her. His mother was standing right there in front of him even if she was still a range's distance away. Her hair was white now and one of her eyes had changed color to blood red but (y/n) knew for certain that this was his mother. Without thinking, he released his aura and slowly began to walk towards her. It was clear that she was not on his side but in that moment, he did not care.

        "(Y/n)! Don't get any closer to her! What are you doing! Stop!" Ara's voice could be heard saying. Eun must have relinquished control back to Ara which was why it had been her voice that he heard. To his surprise, he stopped although he'd already close half the distance between him and his mother. "You've gotten so much stronger haven't you," she said, her smile not failing. She walked up to him and he didn't move even though he held a small fear that she might harm him. Anything his comrades tried to say to him never reached his ears. Instead he was met by a warm hug that he'd long since forgotten about.

        "Mother...? You're not..." (y/n) said. He'd always still had his doubts, so seeing her with his own eyes was a bit overwhelming. "Go home, (y/n). This is no place for you to be. If you keep listening to that goddess, you'll die," General Zhen spoke as she kept him in her embrace. "You know about Illipia?" (y/n) asked. He leaned into his mother's hug and closed his eyes as she pet his hair. He missed his mother. He missed all of his family, even his father who he hardly ever got along with.

        "Of course I know of Illipia. I was the one who asked for her blessing to begin with. She plans on using you to stop Sult. I can't stay here with you any longer. I'll turn back if I don't leave soon. I'll at least free you and your new friends," his mother said. She released him from her hug and stepped around him walking towards his friends without hesitation. They watched her with worry as she strode up to the collapsed temple door.

         (Y/n) followed after her not wanted hus mother to leave his sight since he feared she could disappear any moment. "Please step back. In the state that I am now, I don't wish to harm you," General Zhen spoke. Everyone backed away from her with Chung having to carry Elsword out of the way. His mother raised a hand to the debris and spoke. "Zenmetsu sa seru."

        A beam of demonic energy shot from her hand and cut clean through the debris allowing for then to escape. General Zhen stepped aside and gave evertone a smile. "It's best that you all quickly leave before Ifritan returns. I only gave him a simple order. He'll return soon but won't leave the temple," she said. Ykuei was the first to react after seeing her destructive power. He shot forward and hugged her to which she ruffled his hair as if he were another son of hers.

         "Thank you but...you aren't on our side are you?" Chung realized. General Zhen didn't answer so Chung kept quiet and didnt hesitate to leave. "Ara could I have a minute. Just one minute..." (Y/n) was saying but Ara cut him off with her approval. "It's your mother. Of course you can," she said before leaving the temple. Ykuei was the only one who remained. "Take care of this one. He'll be a key in stopping Sult without Illipia's scheme. We'll speak again soon. No need to keep your friends waiting," General Zhen said before she also headed out of the temple with Ykuei following behind her.

         There was too much he wanted to ask so (y/n) left the temple as well only to emrge to shocking scene. Ykuei had just teleported his mother out of harms way just as Raven had been about to attack her. The rest of the El Search Party had arrived a bit too late and likely got the wrong idea. Either way, (y/n) didn't dare stop himself from taking action. His full aura seemed to take control of him as his body moved on its own.

        Before he could even register what had happened, he'd headbutted Lu at high speed right before she could reach his mother with her claws. Taking a stance of protection in front of her and Ykuei, (y/n) gave a threatening snarl to everyone around surprising even himself. He had been lucky that he hadn't harmed Lu by scratching her but the rest of the team did not understand what was going on and now (y/n) seemed like the enemy.
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I got a little distracted but I got this chapter done so until next time you splendid readers!