House of Amarin

It took Lia a good amount of self-control not to attack Swimmy, who was oblivious to what was happening.

"Did you think we wouldn't notice if my Mother returned and she acted weird?"

"I know you would. Sooner or later, but then what? Would you hurt her? Could you?"

"..." Lia had no answer as she was her Mother and also, she was someone at the 9th Tier.

"I am here to make a deal with you. I will tell you how to help your Mother's soul come out on top in exchange for the guarantee of safety for the Golden Claw Sect. You can deal with those who are against my ideals as you see fit, of course."

"You want us to become your executioner blade?" Lakhmu chuckled, shaking his head, "How reasonable!"

"There would be a fight between us anyway. This is more optimal for you, and it is the best time to strike! Way before they worm their way too deep into your society." Camyu explained in a perfectly even voice, "You can use the threat of the Undead to justify it for the masses. All the tools are still available for you. Wait a decade, and it will start diminishing, one by one. Then all your excuses will be gone, leaving you with nothing."

"You are not making this easier for yourself." Lucian snorted, and even though it was his first time meeting them, he knew enough from Lia's retellings not to trust them.

"I am working for the survival of the Golden Claw as you are working for the survival of your own faction. It is natural, wouldn't you say?"

"Go on." Lia harrumphed after thinking about it, "What should we do?"

"Your Mother and mine are in a constant battle right now. You will need to tire her out to give the original soul a chance to get back into a dominating position. You need to push her to the limits and don't give her a respite. Also... her name is Paman. The name itself has no power right now, but if a mental battle gets into a dangerous, heated phase, it can be used as a weapon. Do what you will with it."

"That doesn't sound conventional..." Albert murmured, and finally, the rest of the dragons voiced their disconcert."

"Just end this body here and now. Let's weed them out before they start causing trouble. Sacrifices had been made in the past; all the Houses are well aware of this." Most eyes, including Albert's, drifted towards Lia, but she remained stoic, focusing only on Camyu. "Hmph, Erias would agree with me."

"You could eliminate me, yes." Camyu chuckled, forming a confident smile, turning towards the dragons, "But it would cost you a lot as Swimmy is unique. Not to mention, I would make sure we disappear from your view. Finding us would be much more difficult than finding an Undead as we don't stink from a rotting soul!"

"Doubt it." Lia answered and laughed with deep sarcasm seeping out from her words, "I will see it for myself. If we can recover my Mother, we can talk about your amnesty. If not, I will hunt your Sect down and kill them just as we destroyed the Soulbound Sect. If it takes a millennia, so be it! You will be found..."

Camyu didn't answer her; instead, she retreated, letting Swimmy's eyes roll back from their original position as he swayed in the air, looking worse for wear.

"Ugh... I hate this so much... Um... what happened? Why is everyone looking so angry?"

"Did you have anything to do with my Mother's disappearance?" Lia asked straightforwardly and got an immediate answer.

"No! Of course not!" He shouted, looking into her eyes, answering without a change in his sheepish look, "Look, I have not much say in the Sect; I am just a tamed demon!"

"What should we do with him?" Albert asked as the dragons were still looking at him hungrily.

"Kill him. He lied." Lia's answer was a lightning bolt going through the sky for Swimmy and the others present, as nobody expected her to actually go with the dragons' suggestion. "His aura is exactly what my brothers found where Mom disappeared. He was there!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Swimmy started waving his hand, "You just made a deal with Camyu!"

"I said we would make a deal after we secured my Mother. Right now? You are going to die."

"That's Erias's blood alright!" Laughed the dragons with a beast's ferocity.

With an angry shout, Lia could no longer hold back her anger either, and for the first time, her blue flames felt dangerously hot instead of cold. Attacking Swimmy, the two elements separated simultaneously, but they continued forward as blazing crimson fire and cold, glistering ice chased him, forcing Swimmy to dodge.

"Damn it" With a groan, he had to summon a wall of earth, using the incoming lightning strike from Lucian to be absorbed and switched to its opposing element, further reinforcing his defenses. "Don't do this!"

"You have done fucked up!" Snorted Lakhmu, coming down from the skies like a meteor, shining in purple light, slamming into the wall of earth, breaking it apart by sheer force, ramming the demon with all his might.

As Swimmy was shot downwards, two dragons were already there, mouths wide open, aiming a breath attack at him. The light and lightning coming from their jaws quickly destabilized and turned to their opposite elements, making them lose their efficiency and helping Swimmy to deflect them away.

"Please, let us talk it out!" He shouted, dodging the new attacks as the group relentlessly pursued him. "I have no choice but to obey-"

"I don't care." Lia's answer seemed to satisfy the group, especially the dragons who were now trying to swat Swimmy out of the sky. If their spells were mainly useless, then they would use their superior strength.

"Argh!"

With a howl, Swimmy transformed into his original form, and when the three dragon's claw strikes landed on his body, they were thrown backward while sparks were flying everywhere. With a deep breath, he inhaled the energy from the area, like a whale swallowing water before vomiting out a tsunami of water from his colossus, toothless mouth.

"Let me!" Albert moved forward, and with a precise flap of his wings, two wind blades were sent forth, cutting the wall curtain apart and separating them. Making Swimmy's attack go past the group and crash into the deep chasm below them seemed to excite the separation of the continent deep below as tremors and otherworldly roars became increasingly frequent.

"The bastard is a tough nut to crack!" Lucian transmitted his voice to Lia as they were blocking Swimmy's escape routes, attacking in rotation, keeping him in place. For now, it was a complete stalemate, as even with their combined power, the demon managed to weaken their spells so much that he could fend them off effortlessly.

"He is... but I have an idea... Keep him here!"

Lia slowly fell backward, watching the multiple elements bombarding the lone Golden Claw demon, examining how they changed, reflected, or were absorbed by him. With her new body, she could feel a strange familiarity with Swimmy... he had a similar constitution to her remade flesh. Was it something he was born with? Most likely because it acted automatically, in harmony with the cosmic energies.

"I will have to write a new chapter after this..." Lia whispered to herself, but Hajna had already made a note of it to remind her afterward. "Let's do this!"

"What's... happening?" Swimmy gawked while dodging Lakhmu and slapping Albert away with his giant tailfin. His eyes were searching the dangerous feeling of fluctuations, thinking Erias and Arcus were coming to join, but no... was it coming from Lia?

He wasn't wrong. Watching him, she had an epiphany, something that her mind needed the most. All eight elements began moving within her body the moment it clicked into place within her consciousness, initiating her tribulations simultaneously.

First came the fire, washing her body with flames, raising her temperature to a painful level, yet Lia just smiled as a cooling wave of cold water washed it away a moment later.

"Tickles..." She thought as she felt electricity course through the same water, absorbed by the sudden image of the earth appearing within her mind. Then came darkness, robbing her of light, just so with a sudden explosion, it returned as the sun rose inside her, bathing a green field with its golden rays.

Lia couldn't help but moan a little as she was sure she saw a tree grow to incredible heights deep within her soul, its leaves swaying in the gentle wind. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she could see a perfect little world with her mind's eye, containing all the eight within itself in a complete and closed-off ecosystem. When her mismatched eyes reopened, they were brighter than ever, and looking at the progress of the battle, everything happened in only a few seconds, invisible to the others.

"Counter this!"

Lia's shout cut through all the others, and when Swimmy's eyes focused on her, he could only see a whirlwind of blue fire coming his way. His instincts told him everything would be fine. His innate gift would do what it always did, yet it hit a wall the moment it made contact with Lia's spell.

"Ugh?!"

Swimmy couldn't help himself but recoil, feeling his blood rush into his mouth as all his senses and powers were denied any interaction with the incoming fire, just like the same magnets repelling each other.

"Nooo!"

With an animalistic cry, he tried hardening his body, but the moment a metallic shade covered his scales, they were very quickly melted through, and the fire stuck to his skin like jelly.

"This is for my Mother!"

Lia already held onto a colossal energy rifle, looking down at a scope that was locking down spatial coordinates. The Realm Ring on her finger lit up with unquestionable energy, latching onto Swimmy's entire being. When she pulled the trigger, what came out of the barrel was a mix of all eight elements. They were not yet fused, but they were all present, pushing and pulling against each other, forming a chaotic amalgamation that reached Swimmy faster than light could.

The impact resulted in an explosion that spread cracks through space, causing lava to burst forth from the chasm below them, speeding up the separation of the continent. Looking up at the sky, the purple energies of the Cosmos became more agitated as multiple bolts of lightning streaked through the clouds, rumbling like war drums.

"Attack, now!" Lia shouted, gasping for air, and it was Lucian who, by then, was already upon Swimmy.

The demon couldn't help but scream as the pain was agonizing; flames were burning away his scales, and water was seeping into his bloodstream, freezing it while electricity numbed his nerves. He could see nothing as one of his eyes was covered in unnatural darkness while the other was blinded by a golden light. Unable to accurately defend himself, Lucian's electric claws cut deep into his stomach as he flew forward, flaying his belly.

"Kill this bastard!" Roared Lakhmu as he joined him, the two grabbing two pieces of his flesh, opening him up, and the dragons' breath attacks blasted Swimmy's insides directly.

The last thing Lia heard was an angry, unresigned cry of despair before the whole body of Swimmy exploded. His insides, pinkish gore of entrails, flew far and wide, falling into the deep chasm and being burned away by the appearing lava flow. Lia didn't blink, not even when a torrent of blood fell on her, watching intently for the soul of Swimmy that was very quickly slurped up by the Cosmic energy. It wasn't letting it escape, delivering a true death to him as the cracks swallowed him, sending Swimmy into No-Space without a chance to fight back.

"One down..." Lucian gasped, wiping his eyes from the gut and meat, "Damn this stinks..."

"It's just fish. It isn't that bad!" Lakhmu laughed, even tasting some of it.

"True." The three dragons agreed, "It is tasty. Maybe you humans should barbecue it. Erias was always speaking about barbecues."

"Bleh..." Lucian couldn't help but retch, turning away from them, glancing at Lia instead, who now seemed... stronger. It didn't take long for him to realize why as she stepped into the Three Ri realm without them realizing it.

"Later!" She raised a hand, stopping Lucian from congratulating her, and instead, she flew forward, giving a kiss on his face, "Let's go and wash up... Before I go and see my Mother!"