Chapter 62: Floria’s transformation

Rita recalled the spell Path of the Shadow.  

“Back then, I was caught off guard because I didn’t know what it was. But after analyzing it, I realized I could replicate it. Well… I’m not that talented, so it takes me a while to pull it off,” Satan said with a smug grin.  

Rita let out a bitter chuckle.  

A Fragment mimicking human magic?  

Even as a higher lifeform, no Fragment in her past life had ever analyzed and executed magic like this.  

‘Was it because we faced it with a small group? Did that give it time to observe and learn?’  

Rita gave a wry smile, pinpointing the likely cause. 

Their strategy to minimize casualties had birthed an unforeseen variable.  

“Let her go,” Rita demanded.  

Satan scoffed, its eyes saying, Why should I?  

Seth shouted in frustration, “I’ll go! Let her go, and take me instead!”  

“You?”  

Satan’s face lit up, licking its lips as it eyed Seth.  

But Floria, defiant despite Satan’s grip on her neck, lashed out.  

She swung her fist at its face, followed by an elbow to its chest, twisting to break free.  

Satan held on, growing angry at her resistance and twisting her arm.  

“Agh!”  

Floria’s scream as her arm broke paled the group’s faces.  

They couldn’t act rashly—Satan’s grip warned it could harm her at any moment.  

Rita’s gaze lingered on Yan.  

A strange certainty told her Yan could subdue Satan, but…  

‘Yan won’t care about Floria.’  

That uncertainty loomed.  

Though Yan was obedient to Mikael or Sercia compared to other Children of the Forest, his current blank stare suggested he felt no urgency.  

Eileen, growing impatient, stepped forward.  

Satan’s eyes sharpened at the unwanted intrusion.  

“Don’t try anything clever. I’ll eat her right now,” it threatened, pointing at Floria’s head with a wide, toothy grin.  

Eileen froze at the grotesque sight.  

“Why not… take me instead?” she proposed calmly, standing tall.  

“I’m sturdier than her. Didn’t you say you like sturdy things?”  

“Guess so,” Satan replied.  

“Then take me. I won’t break easily.”  

“Lady Eileen! No! I’ll go!” Seth yelled, but Eileen shook her head silently.  

As he pleaded, Satan’s eyes gleamed with malice.  

It quickly pieced together their relationships.  

Seth owed Floria, and Floria was close to Eileen.  

If Eileen were harmed, Seth’s guilt would deepen, driving him to anguish and rage.  

Satan licked its lips, grinning.  

“Fine. I’ll trade.”  

As Seth stepped forward, Satan pointed at Eileen.  

“Not you. You. I want you.”  

Its wicked smile unnerved Seth.  

Despite the sinister atmosphere, Eileen walked forward calmly.  

“Lady Eileen!”  

The group tried to stop her, but she gave Rita a faint smile.  

“I’ll handle this. Or rather, I want to try. Give me this chance.”  

Her soft plea silenced their protests.  

Rita, knowing Eileen cherished Floria like a daughter, stayed quiet.  

‘Eileen won’t go down easily, and Satan won’t let her go willingly.’  

As expected, Satan’s red eyes burned with rage.  

It handed Floria to an adult lizard beside it and beckoned Eileen.  

Eileen glanced at Floria, trembling in the lizard’s grip.  

The situation was dire.  

Satan seemed to be waiting for an opening, but Eileen couldn’t delay.  

Meeting its gaze, Satan smirked cryptically.  

Eileen, reading its intent, invoked the Forest’s Authority.  

Winter weeds, answering the call of their sacred kin, ensnared the adult lizard holding Floria.  

“Floria!”  

Eileen darted forward, catching Floria as she fell and turning to flee.  

But Satan, watching deliberately, grinned and grabbed Eileen’s green hair, yanking her back.  

It tossed Floria back to the lizard and bit down on Eileen’s arm.  

Eileen twisted in shock, but the bite was deep, blood pouring out.  

“Hmm…”  

Satan’s expression shifted as it savored her.  

“Not bad for a human, but it doesn’t sit right.”  

After rolling the taste in its mouth, it spat out the blood, which sizzled on the ground.  

Satan’s grin widened.  

“Whoops. Now I’ve got two hostages.”  

It reveled in its advantageous position, laughing twistedly as the group cried out for Eileen and Floria.  

Tormenting the Children of the Forest could be amusing, but, like Eileen’s unpalatable flesh, harming them didn’t appeal to Satan.  

Objectively, it needed to escape.  

“Release them, and I’ll undo this,” it said, gesturing at the ice pillar cage.  

The adult lizards behind it opened their maws, threatening Eileen.  

The mage trio paled.  

“Rita, what do we do? If we release the cage, the beasts outside…”  

Dozens of lizards were already poised to strike.  

Rita stared at Satan, noting its retreating steps, slow-regenerating tail and arm, and demand to lift the cage.  

It was clearly exhausted.  

Why it spat out Eileen and refrained from violence against the hostages puzzled her, but its focus on escape was a relief.  

Rita glanced at Yan again.  

If she asked, Yan would annihilate the enemies before them.  

“Release it,” she ordered.  

The group hesitated, but Valery’s acknowledgment that they had no choice prompted the trio to reluctantly dismantle the cage.  

As the barrier fell, the swarming lizards flooded in.  

“I’ll hold them off,” Rita said, stepping forward with a grim expression.  

Satan flinched instinctively, then chuckled awkwardly and signaled its minions.  

The starving lizards leaped, forming a shield in front of Satan.  

Using them as cover, it tossed Eileen and Floria into the fray and snapped its fingers.  

Black vines sprouted from the ground, weaving into a cage.  

As the Children of the Forest were trapped with the beasts, Rita raged.  

“You copied my magic again?!”  

Satan laughed, panting, as Rita charged, swallowing her anger.  

“Yan! Assist me!”  

Yan’s demeanor shifted at her urgent command.  

His purple eyes gleamed sharply as he surged past Rita, grabbing and crushing approaching beasts to clear her path.  

The rest of the group joined, forcing Satan to retreat.  

“Didn’t expect to use it on an alien,” Satan said, licking its lips and glancing at the cage with a cackle.  

“Let’s see how long you last!”  

It vanished into the beasts’ shadows.  

Furious shouts echoed, but dealing with the incoming horde took priority.  

Inside the cage, Eileen fought to protect Floria.  

“Floria!”  

Unable to use her bow effectively, Eileen engaged in precarious close combat.  

As a Child of the Forest, she was as adept in physical combat as Floria.  

But her agile, powerful movements didn’t last.  

“Huff…”  

A beast’s tail struck her head, staggering her.  

It wasn’t the impact—her vision blurred, and her strength drained.  

Eileen realized something impure had infiltrated her body.  

“Lady Eileen! Lady Floria!”  

Seth shouted, seeing Eileen falter through a gap.  

He unleashed every spell to break through, but it was futile.  

“Help Lady Rita!”  

Sercia urged, desperate to get Rita closer.  

Rita spared no mana to rescue the two.  

Beasts fell to magic and sword auras but kept charging with bared teeth.  

With Yan’s help, Rita neared the cage when Floria’s shrill scream rang out.  

“Lady Eileen!”  

Eileen, fighting back-to-back, collapsed.  

Floria tried to lift her, but the encroaching beasts made it impossible.  

An adult lizard bit Eileen’s leg.  

Floria kicked it away, but the wound was severe.  

“No! The black vines…”  

Mikael and Loen tried to send holy power, but Satan’s cage blocked it.  

Amid the chaos, Eileen, regaining consciousness, invoked the Forest’s Authority again.  

Winter weed roots burrowed, creating a hole just big enough for a person.  

“Floria! Get out!”  

“No! I’ll fight with you!”  

As they argued, the beasts kept charging, jaws wide.  

Protecting Floria, Eileen was bitten on the shoulder.  

Already weakened by Satan’s poison, she struggled, slipping into unconsciousness.  

The lizard, drooling, tried to drag her away.  

Floria’s rage peaked.  

“Let go! Now!”  

Her body erupted with golden mana.  

The shockwave sent beasts flying, crashing into the black vines.  

Unaware of her transformation, Floria charged like a beast herself.  

She was long overdue to become supreme-rank.  

Though her purified mana couldn’t fully accept Baal’s essence, now wasn’t the time for hesitation.  

For Eileen, she’d do anything.  

Embracing the impure mana, Floria’s body grew stronger.  

She smashed a beast’s head into the wall, crushing it.  

Rising, her eyes glowed vivid gold.