The Heritor of Illipia

Chapter 34

Okay so I did think there needed to be one more chapter after this, but that's it. Really, that'll be it.
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        They would need approximately thirty minutes to reach Lanox and relay his message to the priestesses. He'd give them an extra ten minutes for any setbacks that might take place. That meant that (y/n) would need to keep Sult contained in the volcano for nearly an hour without dying in the process. The task was easier said than done. The heat of the volcano had begun to bother him all of a sudden. Perhaos it had something to do with Sult, but either way, (y/n) didn't appriciate it.

        "What do you think you're doing?!" a voice shouted from behind (y/n) just before he was about to take action. It wasn't Ara, but he still hadn't wanted anyone to be around. "Leave. You aren't supposed to be here," (y/n) growled at Ykuei who actually looked like he could do some harm this time around. "Stop doing things on your own! I don't want you to die!" Ykuei snapped.

        "I've never really been on my own until now. Besides, I don't think anyone else wants me to die either. Just let me handle this," (y/n) said. He ignored Ykuei's rising aura and proceeded to fight off Sult. So long as he stayed on the remnants of ground left in the cavern, he should be fine, but actually fighting from such a long distance would be difficult. Just before he could even get close enough to Sult to try an attack, he found himself right back where he started near the volcano exit.

        "Ykuei, didn't I tell you to let me handle this!" (y/n) snapped. He froze when he saw the expression on the kid's face. If one were to ever see a child that was genuinely angry and had an intimidation factor that worked, Ykuei would look just like them. "You can't fight Sult! If you so much as touch him, you'll die! He's practically death itself! I'm not letting you die again even if you aren't the same person this time around," Ykuei hissed.

        His aura had grown to display his demon side and he could probably burn a hole into someone with that glare of his. The things Ykuei had spoken were true, but (y/n) hadn't been unaware of them. Sult wasn't exactly well known in Elrios, so it wasn't his fault. "We still have to stop him somehow. He'll get free at this rate," (y/n) said. "Did you say we?" Ykuei asked as he blinked in surprise.

        "I didn't stutter. There's nothing I can do to make you leave, so you're going to help. Got any ideas since I can't touch him?" (y/n) spoke. The volcano shuddered once more as Sults hand broke some of the last remnants of the chains above the portal. "I can't get Dryad to help right now. She says her power isn't needed yet. But we can break the rock above the portal. That should do something," Ykuei explained.

        "I'm all for it. I'll do the attacking and you get me back on the ground without any lava burns. Got that?" (y/n) agreed. Ykuei gave a nod and teleported him just below the cavern ceiling. It was more than close enough for (y/n) to strike the rock with the palm of his hand. He didn't realize how much force he had put behind the attack until seconds later when the cieling practically exploded.

        Luckily, Ykuei was able to teleport them to safety, but they had a new problem on their hands. "I may have overdone it..." (y/n) muttered as the enture ceiling began to crack. The place where he had stuck it was already missing chunks of rock. Those rocks had fallen right into or around the portal. The ones that fell around it splashed lava into the portal which helped (y/n) confirm his theory. The lava was harming Sult.

        The entire volcano shook with Sult's roar of agony. It caused the cracks to spread, and more portions of the cieling began to fall from different areas. "Not good," (y/n) huffed. He attacked a falling rock, breaking it into pieces before it could fall on him. Ykuei teleported them to a safer spot further into the cavern and away from the exit.

        It was then that (y/n) saw the sky peeking through a hole made from the collapsing rock above them. "Now I get it. That's just where to lava used to be. Volcanos really are dangerous..." Ykuei muttered. (Y/n)'s attention was elsewhere. "Look, the lava is rising. Your plan worked in more ways than one," he pointed out. Sult was beginning to retreat as the lava started to pour into the open portal.

        "But that won't be enough. The volcano would have to erupt for there to be enough lava to stop Sult. Even then, we wouldn't have a way to seal off the portal," Ykuei informed. "Yeah, I know. I left that part up to everyone else. Not sure how they're going to figure that one out," (y/n) muttered as he watched for any falling debris.

        "Hey, isn't that Ara? And Ain is with her too," Ykuei said. Sure enough, when (y/n) looked over to where Ykuei was pointing, Ara and Ain were there. Something was off about them, but (y/n) was more concerned with the fact that both of them had returned rather than staying with everyone else. He understood why Are would have come back, but Ain's appearance kind of confused him.

        Just before (y/n) could call to them, Illipia's crest appeared behind Ara. (Y/n) was sure that the goddess had no contact with him, so it surprised him to see Ara wielding the crest of a goddess he rejected. "That's not Ara. Dyrad told me so. Illipia is borroeing her like Eun does. Ain too, except Ishmael is responsible for his return instead of Illipia," Ykuei explained.

        "I don't care. I told them to leave. They'll be caught in the eruption!" (y/n) reasoned. He was ready to drag them out of the volcano himself if he had to. Instead, he could only watch as Ara began to glow brighter and use Illipia's power to trap Sult. Fresh new chains, all of gold, appeared over the portal that led to Sult. Then above it, several light blue spears materialized before falling into the portal like bullets. Sult gave a cry of rage and pain in response to the assault and entrapment.

        Then the volcano began to violently shake. The lava seemed to be boiling as if it were simply water. "They're early. There's no way Elesis got to Ignia and Artea that quickly," (y/n) said. "Elesis didn't take the message. Zhu did," Ykuei informed. He saw Ara and Ain begin to make their way towards him and Ykuei. When they were close enough, he could tell that Ykuei was telling the truth. Ara's eyes were glowing gold instead of their usual orange, and Ain looked more...devoid of emotion than usual. In all honesty, (y/n) wasn't sure if Ain was under Ishmael's control or not.

        "It would be better if you listen to me next time instead of shuting me out. I could have saved time instead of having to find a host," Are spoke as she and Ain landed. It was certainly Illipia talking such nonsense. "Shut up, Illipia. You've always been so insensitive to human emotion. Raul should have been the goddess of light instead of lightning. Things would have been much better," Ain said.

        "You brought Ara to a volcano that's about to explode. Why? I could have held Sult off on my own. Ykuei even showed up to help," (y/n) growled. Ara, who was Illipia, shook her head at him. "Then how could you expect to survive without a goddess' help? We're here to save you, so calm down," she explained. "If that's going to happen, we need to act now. That fox was able to reach the priestesses much faster than we anticipated," Ain spoke.

        He was correct. The lava was rising at an alarming speed and the heat was already at unbearable temperatures. Sult's portal would soon be covered in it. Ain acted first and held his hands out to his side's as a shield of some sort formed around the four of them. Then it was Ara's turn. Two more of Illipia's crests appeared at her side's and a golden light filled the area.

        There wasn't much time to notice anything else other than the lava flowing up and around the shield that Ain was creating. "We're still going to be stuck down here," thought as he saw the lava pass the extent of Ain's shield. He was wrong, but he didn't realize this until he looked towards Ykuei. Dyrad had finally decided to take action. (Y/n) didn't know what Ykuei did in behalf of his goddess. There was no way for him to know.

        The volcano had begun to erupt, and the process didn't go easy on (y/n)'s heightened senses. He had to cover his ears, and keep his eyes shut thanks to the searing heat the he felt. It was as if he were on fire, yet he was perfectly fine where he stood thanks to the efforts of the three goddesses and their hosts. Even though he was okay, here was only so much he could take and his world suddenly went silent. His initially crazy plan had worked, and as a plus, he got to live.
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Last chapter is just around the corner! Until next time you extraordinary readers!