Abyssal Sovereignty

“Die!”

A spell was cast. Just as the tiger’s spell was about to strike Yverantheia, a colossal figure intercepted the attack with its own body.

“It’s too late to give up now.”

Upon hearing this familiar yet still somewhat unknown voice, Yverantheia struggled to open her eyes.

Before her stood the giant serpent that had once been her defeated foe, the same serpent that had given its blood to her.

“...You... I told you to stay away, didn’t I?”

“Enough. If I had listened to you, you’d already be dead.”

“...”

Indeed, in her current state, the fact that she could still speak was miraculous. Without the serpent’s intervention, there wouldn’t even be a corpse left of her.

“Ha! I didn’t expect the meat that once fled to come back and deliver itself to my mouth.”

“Hmph! This was always a battle between you and me, only interrupted by external forces.”

“A battle? Are you sure? To me, it looks more like a massacre. You can’t even compare to that human over there who’s about to die.”

The huge tiger glanced at the spot where its spell had hit the serpent. Not only were the scales gone, but the flesh beneath had been charred, emitting a burnt smell. The wound was so deep that even the bone was visible.

“Enough talk! Let’s fight!”

Due to the damage to its tail muscles, the serpent lunged with its mouth, attacking with jaws that were several times larger than the tiger’s.

An uninformed observer might think the serpent was preying on a tiger barely large enough to be a snack.

However, the reality was quite the opposite. The tiger easily evaded the serpent’s bite, lightly leaping onto its head.

Recognizing this familiar sensation, the serpent desperately thrashed its head, trying to shake the tiger off.

But it was all in vain.

“The weak point of your kind seems to be these horns, right?”

The tiger opened its mouth wide, revealing terrifying teeth, and bit down on the serpent’s horn.

In an instant, excruciating pain radiated from the horn to every corner of the serpent’s body.

Even though the horn was their species’ weak point, it was also their strongest part, with a hardness comparable to many defensive magic creatures of the same rank. It was also where their magic was most concentrated, acting like a magical amplifier.

Yet, even this formidable horn was easily shattered by the magic tiger. The countless nerve endings within the horn transmitted unprecedented pain, causing the serpent to collapse.

“...That’s all you’ve got? That’s why I said this isn’t even a battle.”

The tiger crushed the serpent’s horn and swallowed it. The magic contained within restored the tiger’s depleted energy, rendering Yverantheia and the serpent’s efforts futile.

“This time, it truly is the end.”

The huge tiger activated its magic circle, preparing to deliver the final blow to Yverantheia.

“...Human…”

The giant serpent's voice had become extremely weak; severe injuries and the loss of its horn were draining its life away.

“...This is my last bit of strength… You will survive…”

Without its most vital horn, even if it somehow survived, it could no longer protect its kin in this abyss. In contrast, Yverantheia’s talent and strength far surpassed its own.

If the survival of its kind could be assured, then sacrificing itself was a small price to pay.

“...If possible… protect the children… please…”

The last remnants of the serpent’s life and magic turned into light, drifting towards Yverantheia, as the serpent finally perished.

Bathed in this light, Yverantheia’s magic power rapidly recovered, and her wounds began to heal swiftly.

“This… Damn it, disappear!”

The tiger quickly sensed something amiss and fired its spell at eighty percent power.

Boom!!

A fierce explosion ensued, kicking up a cloud of dust. The tiger swung its tail to clear the air and check the situation.

“...Phew… Looks like I still won. Fortunately, I acted in time…”

Before it could finish speaking, a spine-chilling sensation crept up its back and spread throughout its body.

Before it could react, a powerful impact hit its left side, sending it flying into the air.

“Ugh! How did you…!?”

The tiger adjusted its posture mid-air and landed, looking at the girl who had struck it.

The girl’s hair now had even darker streaks of crimson, and the gaping wound on her abdomen had vanished, leaving only traces of blood.

Her face was expressionless, like that of a lifeless doll, which filled the tiger with an inexplicable fear.

“…Did the serpent's remaining life and regenerative ability bring you back from the brink of death? I should’ve finished you off!”

Casting aside its fear, the tiger charged at Yverantheia.

With its fifth-level strength against a third-level human, even with the serpent’s last power boost, there was no way it could lose!

“...Huh?”

The tiger stared at the sunless sky in confusion. What had it just been doing? It had forgotten. Why was it seeing the sky? It didn’t know.

‘No!’

The tiger immediately realized it had been hunting a human, but the next moment it saw the sky. What did this mean? It meant it had been struck!

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from its abdomen, folding its body in half before it crashed into the ground, raising a dust cloud as intense as its own magical blast.

‘What happened? Why am I powerless?’

The relentless pain made the tiger question its life. It looked towards the figure emerging from the dust, like a reaper walking towards it. The fear it had discarded now came rushing back.

Yverantheia was now enveloped in a crimson aura, indistinguishable between blood and magic.

“Come at me! I’ll take you down with me!”

The huge tiger used all its magic, driving its body towards Yverantheia, determined to take her with it even if it meant its own death.

Squelch!

Blood splattered, but this time the roles were reversed. Yverantheia’s left hand had pierced straight through the tiger’s chest, emerging from its back.

“You…”

The tiger let out its final words before its eyes rolled back and it fell silent.

After confirming the tiger was truly dead, Yverantheia flung its body to the ground and deactivated her body enhancement.

“Hah… It’s finally over. This was the first one… Ugh!”

Suddenly, a sharp headache struck, causing Yverantheia to clutch her head. The backlash hit just as she had deactivated her enhancement, and her body cried out in protest.

“Ugh… skill… name…”

Yverantheia murmured these words as the flood of information surged into her mind, before she passed out.