Chapter 1022 Unlucky Dragon
"You want us to sacrifice one of us to save Ais?" Bete muttered with a contorted face, "Fine... I'll do it!"
"What are you saying? I'll do it." Tiona also stepped forward with a nervous laugh.
Tione also came forward, "Why don't we decide with rock-paper-scissors?"
"You kids are still young. Let this old man do it." Gareth didn't want to lose.
But before the entire Loki Familia presents themselves, Hermes immediately stopped their sacrificial contest by saying, "Sadly, none of you are going to survive much less save Ais right now. Albert was only able to save Ais that time because the Black Dragon hadn't fully gotten into her yet."
'Then what's the point of telling us that story!?' Was what everyone wanted to ask when suddenly an idea came from Freya, "I see... So we need someone whose mind and soul won't be corrupted no matter what the Black Dragon does. Then we really only have a single choice."
Already knowing his immunity against mental attacks and the gazes that Freya, Hermes, and his grandfather, Zeus, were giving him, Bell could only sigh.
"Bell?" Haruhime at his side became extremely worried at his strange reaction.
"I'll be fine. Trust me." Bell smiled gently at Haruhime and patted her head before leaving her side, "Grandpa... I can do it, right?"
Zeus hesitated for a brief moment before nodding, "Theoretically, you should be able to do it. However, you're the only person we found that has this kind of constitution and we aren't really sure of what other results could happen. More importantly, a battle within minds is an entirely different field so we're all essentially just guessing that you could do it."
Everyone became silent with only Ais' roars remaining in the background.
Haruhime looked around and saw that except for Serafall, Loki, and the small White Dragon who were intently staring at Ais, everyone else was looking at Bell, unknowing to what they were all thinking. She held her hand in worry and muttered his name while shaking, "...Bell... Please..." She wanted to stop him because his existence was much more important than the rest of the people here to her, but she knew that Bell wasn't the kind of person who'd abandon someone if he could do something about their plight. And that's what she loved the most about him.
"Wait for me." Bell touched Haruhime's hand and gently moved it, "I'll be back."
Aside from Bell's footsteps and Ais' struggle, no other sounds could be heard in this desolate place.
Everyone anticipated what would happen with bated breath when suddenly, a wall of ice suddenly appeared in front of Bell, stopping his tracks just before he could reach Ais, "Please don't interfere.", a few words came from Serafall.
"What are you doing!?" Hermes scowled at her, "Any further delays could prove fatal to Ais Wallenstein and the revival of the Black Dragon in a much stronger form! Aren't you the one interfering now when you said you wouldn't!?"
Serafall ignored him and just focused on the changes that were happening in Ais, "You can let go. I'll take care of it." She addressed Tenestra.
Tenestra hesitated and didn't know who to believe. Nevertheless, she didn't have much of a choice since she was running dry too and it'd only be a minute or two before she's fully depleted.
As soon as Tenestra's Earth Magic stopped, Ais' madness became worse as she broke through the spikes of hardened earth. But that didn't last long as ice instantly grew and encapsulated her entire body, leaving only her head free.
"GRRAAHHHHH!!!!"
Hermes lost his patience and approached Serafall to ask her face-to-face what she was trying to do. The rage he was feeling prevented him from noticing that Loki was already blocking his way until he almost crashed into her, "Don't interfere." Loki muttered the same words as Serafall.
"Loki? Why?" Hermes asked and those around her also had the same question.
Loki, however, didn't explain much and just said, "Don't interfere. This is her fight... Not anyone else's."
While everyone else was confused, Freya's eyes widened as soon as she took a glance at Ais. Her soul which was doused in complete darkness has now a golden tint in the middle and tries to fight back against the surrounding malice, "...Amazing." She muttered. This, for her, was a far more mesmerizing battle compared to what they were watching before.
Freya's expression prompted the other Gods to also look closer at Ais and it was then they finally noticed the minute changes in the rampaging transformed girl. Although they couldn't see as much as Freya, they could still tell that she was fighting back against the mind-eating Black Dragon.
Sadly, especially for Freya, she could see that the golden light was slowly being devoured and it won't be long before it disappears, '...She won't make it.' As much as she wanted her to reverse the situation and win, she couldn't look away from reality.
And as if the last dazzling light before its death, the madness from Ais' face was swept away for a single moment, and tears of blood started streaming down her face, "...P-please... Kill... Me... I... Can't..."
Loki clicked her tongue and Hermes instantly turned to Bell, "Bell-kun! Hurry!"
Meanwhile, contrary to everyone's expectations, Serafall chuckled and shocked everyone which caused everyone, especially those from the Loki Familia to lose it, "What's so funny!!!?" Tiona shouted and was about to jump at her in rage.
Still, Serafall ignored them and just focused on Ais' pleading eyes, "Lysa-chan~ We've seen it. She, at least, has the heart to fight back even if the odds are heavily stacked against her."
The small White Dragon nodded and contrary to everyone's expression, she seemed to see the entire situation positively, which just caused further confusion.
"Now go. That monster's luck ran out the moment it became a Dragon." Serafall pushed the Dragon towards Ais making the latter panic and despair, "...N-no... Don't come!!!" Immediately after, Ais lost consciousness and the 'Black Dragon' was able to emerge again, replacing her expression with utter madness.
But Lysa ignored her pleas and approached her. Meanwhile, the ice that had been encasing Ais, disappeared, freeing her and as soon as Lysa approached, disgusting black tendrils shoot out from Ais, intending to catch the 'food'.
Unfortunately for it, its approach awakened something deep inside the White Dragon and a snake that didn't reflect any light suddenly emerged from her forehead.
The snake opened its eyes that only consisted of purple light. The 'Black Dragon' that was rampaging inside Ais froze for a moment and the madness disappeared as if it was a lie, before it was replaced by fear.
"GRAAAHHH!!!" Ais roared at the snake before turning around in panic, flapping its wings to escape as fast and as far as possible.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶