ALL NOVEL Chapter 175 “For a good cause”
Chapter 175
“For a good cause”
“Champion?”
Kalysto was tired.
Every muscle in her body ached, and she was too sleepy to care about the annoying voice trying to wake her up.
“Champion, wake up! They’re coming!” The voice murmured, sounding more and more desperate. “Champion? I don’t have enough mana to get us both out of here! “
What? Get us out of where? She thought between wakefulness and sleep as she slowly regained her senses.
“Champion, I ask permission to touch you!” The murmur continued near her ear. “Please wake up quickly, someone is coming!”
A moan escaped her lips in response.
“I’ll take that as a yes!” The fairy got excited at the same time that a loud metallic sound reached her ear as she tried to raise her hand, push away the buzzing sound near her face and rub her eyes to chase away the sleep.
But she couldn’t even touch her own face.
Confused at the strange situation, Kalysto opened her eyes, only to observe the thick chains around her wrists and ankles. Tying her to the posts of the warm and comfortable bed she had been sleeping in until a few seconds ago.
“What the hell happened here?” she muttered. But before Hanna could answer her, the door to the room swung wide open, and there, less than a step away from the only exit, was Edward.
Light flooded into the small, half-lit room in which she had been confined and where there was only a thin, elongated window covered with bars about twenty centimeters high on the top wall. Four white walls with a couple of crystals welcomed her to her new prison, which had only a second door leading to a modest bathroom. Next to a small table and chair, where their meals would surely be served.
Edward activated the magical device next to the door and the crystals on the walls lit up, filling the room with light. And before she could be seen, Hanna hid behind Kalysto’s pillow, not wanting to reveal her presence.
“How long was I out?” whispered Kalysto so that only Hanna could hear her.
“Only about five minutes," the fairy assured her. “They had a group of wizards ready to teleport you inside the temple, then they left you here and locked the door from the outside. I have been hiding in your hair. I apologize for the audacity.”
“Don’t worry about that now," the fairy champion replied, just before Edward gathered the courage to enter the room and confront her. “You traitorous bastard," she snarled at him. “I’ve saved your ass so many times and this is how you repay me?”
Edward’s face unhinged on the spot and he took a step back, as if she had hurt him. Then he pulled himself together quickly, threw his shoulders back as he thrust out his chest and took a step forward.
“You don’t understand," he accused her. “Don’t you see that this is for the best?”
“What the hell are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?”
“You’re a saintess!” shouted the young man. “I saw your power during the battle! Only the power of a Saintess can emit that golden glow!” He accused her, as if she were on some kind of trial and she was an internationally wanted criminal.
“¿ And ?” Kalysto replied, as if everything he was saying had nothing to do with her.
“What?” Again, he had the nerve to look hurt. “You knew!” He accused her, pointing his finger. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Ha! Am I supposed to tell you how many times I go to the bathroom, too?” She growled with irony, annoyed at the young man’s performance in which she had once acted as nanny and teacher.
“You are a saintess!” He growled back, approaching her as he continued his speech, “The duty of a saintess is to heal and save her people! And it’s obvious that you are not fulfilling your mission!” He began to shout, and in Kalysto’s eyes he looked just like a religious fanatic giving a speech to an atheist. “...But that doesn’t matter now,” he suddenly calmed down, almost as if he had come to his senses. “It’s obvious that you don’t want your power, and that’s why it’s better that someone else has it who will do a good job with it,” he concluded decisively as he ran a hand through his hair, adjusting it. And he looked at her with the blind faith of someone who believes he is doing the right thing.
“And who the hell do you think you are to decide what I should or shouldn’t do with my power?” Kalysto muttered as a shiver ran down her back at his words and a bad feeling settled in her chest.
Just then, Darla entered the room dressed in white from head to toe, closing the door behind her as a pair of guards stood outside, guarding the entrance.
A faint smile decorated her angelic face as she approached the edge of the bed, but despite the maidenly attitude full of purity that surrounded her, Kalysto could see the cruelty in her eyes as soon as they rested on the chains that kept her bound.
“The young hero is right," said Darla. “A power as great as that, it is better that it is in the hands of someone who can put it to better use," she concluded and despite the calmness and kindness in her tone of voice, greed shone in her eyes.
The chains rattled again as Kalysto tried to raise her hand and reach for the window in her inventory where her hearthstone rested, but her hand could not lift to the locker where it was stored.
She ignored the collection of notification windows to her left that indicated some of her skills had gone up a level, sliding them aside to check them later as Darla sat down on the bed next to her and took her face in her hands, forcing her to look at her.
Kalysto’s eyes slid back to her inventory despite the pressure the other saintess was trying to exert to keep her from looking away.
“Don’t worry, Priestess Darla assured me that the procedure wouldn’t hurt," Edward said, in a vain attempt to reassure her.
“You’d better leave," Darla interrupted him. “Although the process is painless, it requires a lot of concentration.”
“But saintess...!” The cold look the woman gave him was enough for him to drop his head like a wounded puppy and turn around, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
The mana potions! If I could just get one of them out, Hanna would have enough power to get us out of here! But try as Kalysto might, her hand couldn’t stretch far enough to reach them.
Shit!
At that moment, Darla stopped looking at the closed door and turned her attention back to Kalysto, wiping all traces of anger from her face.
“Now all your power will be mine!” Darla whispered, enjoying the sight of Kalysto’s suffering and despair. “Absorb!”
Ice coursed through the fairy champion’s veins as she heard from Darla’s lips the same spell she had used countless times to obtain an almost unlimited supply of mana.
Wasn’t that something only I could do? She thought, at the same time something tugged at her insides and she felt as if something was being pushed inside her, and while it didn’t hurt the sensation itself was unpleasant.
[Warning: The user just lost the skill ‘Rain of ice stakes’.]
[Warning! The user has just lost the skill ‘Whirlwind. ]
Fear seized her and without even thinking about what she was doing, she immediately grabbed Darla’s wrists and exclaimed:
“Absorb! Absorb! Absorb! Absorb!” she shouted loudly as Darla’s face paled and all the confidence she had had up to now disappeared completely from her face.
“Impossible! No one but me has that skill! How can you use it?” questioned the other saintess, but Kalysto ignored her completely. Too busy watching the new violet notification window that appeared to her left.
[Does the user wish to absorb this target’s stats or skills?]
“Give me my skills back first!” She said, surprised by the sudden change in the text. “And absorb everything else afterwards! Come on, Kalysto concentrate!” she grunted. At the same time, she felt the usual coldness run through her body and a sense of euphoria accompanied her this time.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Wind Swirl. Level 1!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Rain of ice stakes. Level 1!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new 25 points from ????!]
“What the hell? How did you do that?” Darla growled as she tried to get away from her, but Kalysto held her tightly, wanting to get more.
“Absorb! Absorb!” Kalysto shouted at the same time as five armed guards opened the door in fright after hearing her screams and Darla threw herself to the side of the bed, falling to the floor.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 50 mana points!]
“How dare you steal from me! Guards kill her!” Darla ordered, her face contorted in rage.
A cold smile settled on Kalysto’s face as three guards raised their sharp swords against her and two mages began to prepare their spells.
“Whirlwind!” She conjured as she touched the tattoo the queen had given her as a token of her contract. “Boss, I claim my reward! Please send me back home!”
Edward’s face became disfigured as soon as he saw the summoning circle appear below Kalysto, at the same time, a violet window appeared to the champion's left.
[Consider it done!]
[Enjoy your two weeks of vacation!]