Dalburn Forest
Jine-Alora
Elven Empire
June 6th
Year 1052
"Geez, chill out Seith. It's not like I went off the grid because I wanted to.
Our communication devices don't work in those dungeons."
A melodious female voice rang out along with the singing of the birds as its speaker talked into a small communication device the size of a cell phone.
It was a beautiful young-looking woman of average height and wavy lower back length red dark red hair with black coloured eyes.
She was dressed in a plain black body-fit shirt that accentuated her slender yet curvaceous body, along with a simple pair of black jeans and military-type boots.
"Besides, I ended up getting a bit stronger so it was worth being off the grid for a few months as far as I'm concerned."
The woman continued in a light-hearted tone as she parted her hair to the side and tucked a few strands behind her ear, much to the exasperation of the person on the other end of the line.
[You should have at least left a notice so we would know where you were! Do you know how many things happened in the month you were missing?!]
"I'm guessing the attack on the Dungeons with the deadly sins failed? I knew that wasn't going to turn out well from the start.
Plus, that attack failing Is not that important of an iss-"
[Dominik is dead.]
The words of the man from the other end of the line cut the red-head's words off, however, she only laughed lightly at his words and continued.
"Come on, Seith. At least think of something better to use and mess with me.
There's no way that bastard is going to die easily."
[I'm not joking Kethryllia, Dominik is dead.]
The woman, Kethryllia stopped walking after hearing the words from the man she was communicating with, Seith.
'He doesn't sound like he's joking…'
"Okay, Okay. He's dead.
Who got to that guy before me? Last time it was the Beast King.
Also, when is Lord First going to bring him back…I want to tell him to put him in a child's body this time."
Kethryllia's steps continued as she spoke, emerging from the canopy of trees and into a large clearing, the lair of some powerful monster.
Sadly, said monster had probably abandoned its lair and run away in fear after sensing her incoming presence, she wasn't actively trying to hide her power after all.
'Poor thing probably thought I came for it when I was just passing through.'
Her thoughts were cut off once more when Seith's voice rang out in her ears once more.
[Dominik is gone, permanently.]
"…I'm not sure I follow. Did you say 'permanently'?"
[Kethryllia. Stop trying to deny the reality.
Dominik has faced 'True Death', his soul was destroyed.]
Sensing the seriousness in Seith's voice, Kethryllia realised that he was not joking, and neither was he trying to play a prank on her.
"…Who did it?"
[The 'Second' of the new generation Seven Heroes.
Dominik's last message to us contained his identity and a few of the details he garnered about his abilities in battle.
We're currently analysing these details to see if we can figure out what his power as a Hero is.]
The woman's black eyes trembled lightly and she clenched her fist tightly. She took a deep breath to calm the budding rage within her as she asked.
"You said the 'Second', huh?
What's his name?"
[Evan Eris.]
Her eyes widened in surprise as she had indeed heard that name before during the investigations on who was responsible for freeing the Demon of Pride from the Graveyard of the Arrogant.
However, before Kethryllia could even say a word of reply, another voice rang out nearby, her eyes widening in shock as she had not sensed anyone else present.
"So that's our leader's name.
Matches up with the info I got."
[Kethryllia?! Who's there?!]
Seith's worried voice rang out from the communication device, but Kethryllia did not answer his words, only narrowing her eyes at the young girl standing in front of her.
It was a beautiful lady in her late teens, wearing a brown oversized hooded jacket and simple half-framed glasses in front of her closed eyes.
She had long blonde hair that was tied up in a half-up, half-down style, with a few strands tucked behind her long pointy ears.
The girl then tilted her head to the side and pulled out one of her hands from her hoodie pockets to wave lightly.
"Yo."
As she gave that light-hearted greeting, her eyelids fluttered open to reveal a set of mesmerizing deep purple eyes, however, what mesmerized Kethryllia was not her eyes, but the golden crest within them.
"Seith, I'm gonna have to contact you later."
[Kethryllia! Who is th-]
"Ouch…You could have at least told him goodbye; you know? Would you not feel bad if someone you were talking to abruptly cut a call on you?"
The blonde girl voiced out those questions to Kethryllia, but the woman only put away the communication device and spoke.
"…Abigail Lowe."
"Yep. That's my name. Close friends and family call me Abby.
And you are called Kethryllia, huh? Miss Seventh Finger of the Demonic Hand."
Abigail's playful tone disappeared as she called out the title of the dark-red-haired woman standing a few dozen metres away from her.
She was the leader of the Seventh division of the Demonic Hand, the division where Ulmoch and Thoruul whom Evan and Pride had killed belonged.
And a 'Rival' of the now-deceased Eighth Finger; Kethryllia Keasatra.
Silence pervaded the area as two women stared at each other in silence.
As if understanding that something dangerous was about to happen, all the wild animals and weaker monsters ran for their lives, leaving nothing but plants and trees within the nearest few miles of the forest around them.
Kethryllia then held out her right arm and broke the silence with her next words.
"Pledge of the Vanquisher."
Magic power condensed in her open palm and there was a short flash of light. When the light died down, Kethryllia's weapon was now grasped tightly in her hands.
Also known as the Vanquisher's Pledge, it was a long spear of around 2 metres in length.
Its serrated exceptionally sharp head was bound to the shaft with a lightly decorated metal sleeve. The spear's obsidian black shaft was carved with seemingly glowing runes, while the bottom ended with the symbol of a pledge, a hand over a heart, carved onto it.
On the socket of the spearhead, was a small transparent gem that was slowly turning into a dark red colour the longer Kethryllia gripped the spear.
It was a weapon from the same Weapon Series as Evan's Unforged and Eliza's Memoria, the Vanquisher Series.
But unlike theirs, Kethryllia's spear was not in its base phase as she had unlocked her weapon's full powers.
The instant the orb on the spear completely turned dark red, tendrils of blood-red lightning began snaking across the spear's length.
Kethryllia twirled the spear around in her hands and pointed it towards Abigail who only had a light smile on her face.
"Oh my, resorting to violence so quickly? I only wanted to chat a bit; you know?"
The Elven girl only gave a light-hearted response to Kethryllia's obvious intent to fight, but the Demonic Hand executive wasn't having it.
"Unique Skill…"
Hearing Kethryllia mutter those two words to herself, Abigail's eyes widened slightly as she didn't expect the Demonic Hand executive to start off with that.
'But this also confirms my suspicions, seems like I'm currently the highest-level priority target on the Demonic Hand's hit list.
Quite funny, considering I'm not the leader.'
She thought to herself with a wry smile, shaking her head lightly before saying.
"Since we're starting off with our unique skills…"
Removing her glasses, she tossed them into the small black hole that opened up mid-air before continuing.
"…Blessing of Destruction: 1st Activation."
**BOOM!!
A wave of crimson red energy burst out from the Elf's body, spreading omnidirectionally and cratering the ground around where she stood.
Kethryllia was mildly surprised at the power boost but she classified it as something within expectations, after all, there had to be a reason Abigail confidently appeared in front of her even though she was more powerful than the Elf.
"Still, I have to say, I'm quite surprised that a member of the Celestial race joined the Demonic Ha-"
"Crimson Fulgur."
**BOOMM!!!
The Seventh Finger swung her spear to the left and a giant blood-red lightning glaive manifested from the tip of her spear and swept across the entire area.
Trails of lightning were unleashed into the surroundings as by the time she completed her swing, almost everything within 500 metres had been decimated, leaving behind cratered scorched earth.
The trails of lightning spread out for an even longer distance, striking the trees nearby and setting them ablaze.
Despite this, Kethryllia had a frown on her face as she looked at the blood-red lighting glaive construct in her hands.
That was expected, as the powerful lightning construct of hers, was broken in two.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel