Chapter 84: The Grim Reaper and the Hourglass

A cold and sinister dark magic power was released in front of Sila. All of Francine’s pets about to strike Sila came to a stop. Since they were not being fully controlled, their instincts kicked in and screamed at them that the opponent in front of them was too strong for them and that fighting would be suicidal.

All eight of the monsters stopped in front of Sila. Their bodies were shivering with terror.

Francine, who was currently controlling two of her strongest pets, noticed that her remaining pets had yet to initiate their attack. Thus, she decided to link her thoughts to one of the pets via Mind Connection and found out that it was rejecting her order out of fear.

‘What is it that causes them to feel fear? Sila is just an injured person.’

“Attack now!” Francine ordered her pets again with a shout.

However, there was no apparent effect. Her pets only moved closer to Sila for five or six steps before stopping their advance again. It would not be strange for them to flee from the arena at any time.

Francine’s eyes were filled with anger. Her pets had never disobeyed her order before.

She reinforced her whip with psychic power. The length of her whip increased to several meters. Francine whipped it against all eight of her pets, causing their eyes to change into red color.

Their body size doubled. Qi, magic, and psychic power were surging all over the place. Afterward, they charged at Sila without any lingering fear.

This was the effect of a skill called Monster Berserk, which forced the monster into a berserk state. It was a very useful skill if used correctly. However, there are not many players who have this skill. The reason is simple. Monsters in a berserk state tended to become stronger. Why do they want to grant more strength to a monster without gaining anything in return?

Nevertheless, Francine utilized this skill by using it on her own pets. Once a pet is in a berserk state, they will attack everyone except their owner and colleagues.

The monsters crazily and uncontrollably rushed at Sila.

Granted, Sebastian had already expected from the start that holding them back with magic power oppression wouldn’t work for long.

“O, thou who is being punished in the flames of hell, obey my command! As I am the representative for the King of Hell, bring forth the judgment flame to turn my foolish enemies to ash! Soul Scorching Hellfire.”

A wall of flames appeared in front of Sila several meters away from him. The flames were deep red. The wall swayed and screamed as if it possessed a life. Many spectators watched the wall of flame with fright. That was because this wall of flame had a similar appearance to a row of burning humans. The flame moved closer to the eight monsters.

Some of the monsters flew into the air, while some stayed in place. Once one of the human flames was close to a goblin, it jumped and hugged the goblin tightly. The goblin cried in miserable pain in harmony with the screaming sound of the flame. Many of the audience members immediately shut their ears and eyes. Their faces were pale.

Francine was still startled when another human flame jumped at and hugged the giant praying mantis.

“Gear, use Earthshake!” Since her pets were in a berserk state, Francine had no choice but to order directly with her shout.

The gigantic golem lifted its fist and powerfully slammed it on the ground. The earth shook. The ground split apart and a path between the wall of flames was created.

Witnessing the path, the remaining monsters charged that way.

The match ended up in complete confusion. Francine was standing at the center of the arena. One side of the arena was freezing cold like she was in an icy hell. A dark brown sparrowhawk was battling against the headless knight and the harpy. As for the other side, there were human-shaped flames. They moved slowly, but every step they took, the withered grassland would always catch fire. This side of the arena was intensely hot like it was a hellfire.

Soul Scorching Hellfire had a slow movement. Sebastian was well aware of this weakness. The black shadow flashed once more and the spell that he had delayed since he was in the VIP room activated.

“Hourglass of Judgement.”

A very big hourglass with a size comparable to the steel golem appeared in the sky. It soon fell into the ground, smashing the flying pterodactyl in its descending path.

A black hourglass stood firmly in front of Sila. Inside it, there was no sand but four souls which were trying to escape.

The hourglass had completely blocked the path that the steel golem had made. Actually, Hourglass of Judgement wasn’t an offensive spell. It also required a long casting time. In addition, the requirements for casting the spell were very restricting. That was why Sebastian had prepared this spell since before he entered the arena. He also relied on the fact that the hourglass always smashed down to perform an attack simultaneously.

Using spells was all about timing, and the timing of Sebastian’s spells was very precise and praiseworthy.

As Francine lost her concentration, Lookhin focused both its qi and mental oppression, targeting the harpy.

The harpy fell down. Then, Lookhin used this chance to summon an insane amount of water to fill the entire arena.

Many monsters were blown away by the sudden waves. However, the water didn’t extinguish the human-shaped flames. They just stood still, boiling the water surrounding them.

Sebastian furrowed his brows. Lookhin hadn’t learned to control its power so it was also affecting the area around Sebastian and Sila. Since the arena was a enclosed dimension, there was no way out of the water. The water soon flooded the entire arena. It was already up to Francine’s knees.

The water even reached Sila’s neck. The only reason why Sila’s body wasn’t washed away by the water current was because Sebastian had caught his body in place.

The harpy was drowning. As for the headless knight, it couldn’t move properly with its knees in the water, though it still stood firm. Now, Francine had jumped and positioned herself on top of the steel golem.

Lookhin’s eyes released cold magic power. Lookhin had never been troubled like this ever before so it became very annoyed. It planned to finish the life of every monster in one go.

“This is bad/This is bad,” Francine and Sebastian exclaimed simultaneously.

The body of the little bird was very transparent. It almost became invisible. The coldness started to freeze over the water surface.

“Everyone, get out from the water, now!” Francine roared.

The only spot left for standing was on top of the hourglass. The yellow horned tiger quickly hopped onto it. As for the earth-elemental fairy, she was floating so she wasn’t drenched in the water from the start. Unfortunately for the living plant, its movement speed was too slow for it to survive.

Both the headless knight and the golem beside Francine were quite a distance away from the hourglass. Francine decided to change the target of her control from the harpy to the golem. She ordered both the golem and the headless knight to reinforce themselves with magic power.

Lookhin dived into the water. Soon, the water turned into ice. All of its enemies underwater immediately died a peaceful death. Even the human-shaped flames vanished away.

At the exact moment that Lookhin dove into the water, Sebastian grabbed Sila’s body. The black shadow flashed once. Death magic was being used.

“Skeleton’s Tower.”

A lot of human skeletons formed on the ground where Sila was sitting. It pushed both Sila and Sebastian upward. Both of them missed being frozen over by a hair’s breadth.

This spell was originally used for distracting a flying enemy. Nevertheless, Sebastian made practical use of it. For the record, Lookhin’s spell wouldn’t do much damage if Sebastian was serious. However, Sila who was unconsciously circulating his qi wouldn’t survive.

Without anyone noticing, no, it was more like everybody was too busying startled at the change of the battle to notice something like this. But, the number of souls in the hourglass had increased to nine.

Currently, in the arena, the only survivors of Francine’s side were Francine herself, the headless knight, the steel golem, the yellow tiger, the black panther, and the earth fairy.

“Just kill that Sila!” Francine ordered her pets as she was upset. This match was supposed to end up with her easy victory. She didn’t know why there were so many unexpected developments.

The earth fairy threw a big boulder at Sila while the yellow tiger was accumulating lightning energy into its horn before firing the lightning beam. Additionally, the black panther’s offensive power and speed were strengthened by qi. It charged at Sila who was sitting on the skeleton tower.

However, Sebastian was quicker. He had finished a spell.

“Heart Piercer Pike.”

The tower made of human skeletons turned into hundreds of spears. Sila’s body descended down before being caught by Sebastian and placed down on the ice field.

The spears flew forward. They didn’t manage to kill even a single monster, though. Nonetheless, the monsters lost their balance and fell onto the ice field.

Sebastian grinned. This battle had reminded of the time he dueled against Sila in the Mansion.

“Release.” The bone spears transformed into skeleton bodies. Every one of them jumped and hugged the three monsters.

Sebastian ended this series of move with the last skill, “Corpse Sending Soul Returning Life.”

The skeletons radiated and caused a chain explosion. Silently, the number of souls in the hourglass increased by three.

Francine was making a serious expression. All Sila did was sit and all of the skills that had been used so far were magic skills. She finally noticed that Sila had another strong pet beside Lookhin protecting him.

Francine cut her Mind Connection from her pets and directed the skill at Sila’s direction. To be exact, it was directed at Sebastian.

For the record, Francine possessed a very high comprehension level of psychic power. She could even connect her mind with her opponent. Since the magic type was unfavorable to psychic type from the start, Sebastian had no way to negate this inoffensive skill.

‘You are Sila’s pet, right?’ Francine spoke to Sebastian via her mind. With her Mind Connection skill being higher level than Lookhin’s, her every word was transmitted to Sebastian without missing out.

‘Your use of Mind Connection is very skilled. You’re not bad,’ Sebastian sent his thoughts back.

‘What do you want?’

‘I’m just serving my master. I don’t want anything in particular.’

‘Betray him. Kill your master and come to me. I can grant you everything you need,’ Francine told Sebastian.

‘Fufu, everything, you say? Could you please make an example?’

Francine grinned. This Mind Connection’s utilization of hers was one of the main reasons she was titled as Monster Queen. She could incite a pet to betray its owner to the point that no one dared to bring their pet to fight against her anymore. Not only they were killed by their own pet, but their pet would also join Francine’s party later.

‘Power, authority, wealth, food, anything you want.’

‘Fufu, I would like to decline, then. What I want is something only Mister Sila can provide to me. You, on the other hand, cannot,’ replied Sebastian.

‘What? What is the thing that he can provide you but I can’t?’

‘Excitement, thrilling sensation, powerful enemies, and death. Staying under you, I might be able to have a comfortable life. However, that life is the same as the one I used to have. I wouldn’t follow Mister Sila otherwise. But, living with Mister Sila, even if I don’t make an effort, these kinds of thing will eventually come, fufufu.’

Sebastian’s reply was the most correct one. It could be said that there was currently something shaking the world of Monster Soul with Sila at the epicenter. If Sebastian stayed with Sila, many powerful enemies would rush at him without him needing to make a move.

Francine flinched. She had never met a pet with this kind of personality. She was at a loss for words.

Sebastian continued, ‘By the way, I’m not your only opponent here, remember? Fufu.’

Francine was startled and immediately cut her Mind Connection with Sebastian. It was this exact moment that the golem was crumbling and down on its knees. Francine quickly jumped off the golem and stood on the ice field, wearing a frown.

The number of souls in the hourglass had reached fourteen.

The dark brown sparrowhawk was flapping its wings in the sky. Francine stared at it for a moment before shifting her gaze to her defeated headless knight and steel golem who laid down on the ice field. At their chest, there was an orange-size hole.

With the lower parts of them being frozen in the ice field coupled with no guidance from their owner, they soon met their end at Lookhin’s talons.

All spectators on the grandstand gulped. They had never thought there would be a day where the Monster Queen was driven into a corner.

“Hahahahahaha, I have never thought that I would become this miserable,” Francine ridiculed herself while laughing like a madwoman.

Witnessing the scene, some spectators started to pity her.

“Actually, I planned to use this in the war event. Well, whatever, I will do anything to kill Sila on this very day.”

Francine let out a huge sigh. She opened her palm. “Release, Urs.”

A tiny flash of white flew out from Francine’s ring. A girl the size of a butterfly appeared on Francine’s palm. This girl had transparent wings resembling a dragonfly’s. She was holding a flower in her tiny hands.

She was a member of one of the rarest races in Monster Soul; a flower fairy.

The tiny fairy sat on Francine’s palm. She gently smiled at her surroundings.

However, Sebastian tensed up as soon as he saw this fairy. He instantly sent his thought to Lookhin.

‘Lookhin, kill that girl now! Hurry up!!!’ As Sebastian finished this sentence, he immediately reinforced himself with magic power. He also reinforced Sila as well.

Lookhin was still confused, though it hurriedly charged at Francine.

At the same time, Noppakorn slammed his hand on the table and stood up. His face was deathly pale as he noticed the little fairy. He hurriedly shouted at the microphone, completely disregarding the confused Rattana.

“Stop the match now!”

He didn’t wait for a response as he jumped at Rattana and started circulating his qi.

Noppakorn’s shout echoed in the entire Colosseum. However, all it did was make the confusion worse.

Within the VIP room, Poluk grabbed Bow tightly and started circulating his qi. Meanwhile, Lone Wolf was shocked and about to ask what was going on. Nevertheless, Poluk was quicker to declare some word.

“Reinforce your body with power now!”

Lone Wolf didn’t dare to delay. He immediately put up his qi reinforcement and also pulled Ratri into his embrace, covering her with his qi. Burapha was bewildered but he obediently followed the order by reinforcing his body with psychic power. As for Varee, she had already reinforced her body with her psychic power since she saw the fairy. She was later than Poluk when informing the matter, though.

All of these situations occurred in a very brief moment. Everyone else was still looking at Francine who had a little fairy on her palm. Afterward, Francine closed her palm, squeezing the pitiful fairy. The fairy’s fragile body had no way to resist such force. Her body instantly turned into a pool of blood. The sorrowful screaming of hers resonated and was very unpleasant to the ear.

That was the last scene that almost all the spectators in the grandstand saw. As soon as the fairy’s body scattered, everybody fell down on the floor.

Well, to be more accurate, it should say that everyone in Colossia City had died.

The number of souls in Sebastian’s hourglass increased by an uncountable quantity, filling it without any space left. The sky was shaking. The temperature within and around Colossia City was significantly increasing. The trees around the city started to burn.

A system announcement went off all over Colossia City. Nevertheless, only a few of the players would be able to hear this announcement.

[Player Francine has sacrificed the Grass Flower Fairy, Level 1 Squire Rank, to summon a monster via a special method: Sinful Oath.]

[Monster Hellfire Dragon Solaria, Level 850 Marquis Rank, has appeared.]