The giant turtle slowly walked its way towards the village where the Manjuvad Demon Clan resided at. Each time it set its gigantic foot down, the ground shook violently, almost like an earthquake. Its movement was quiet slow, despite having a gigantic body and a longer reach than most creatures could ever reach.

All the while, Venezuela, Emilia, Erza, Tetra, Silvera, Ondine and Cantia were done taking down the warriors that had threatened to bring harm to the villagers. Most of the warriors were dead and they lay around with only the stab wounds to show how they had been killed. Many of them had cut wounds, which were landed upon them by Ondine, Tetra and Silvera, while many were taken down forcefully using powerful magic spells.

“Phew…! These guys were tough!” Ondine said as she let out a sigh of relief. Then, feeling the ground shake beneath her, she looked at the others and asked, “Hey… Is it just me or is the ground shaking?”

“It’s not just you-nyaa,” Cantia said as she and the rest of them also felt the ground shake form time to time.

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over them as if a large cloud had suddenly blocked the sun from view. They looked up and were momentarily shocked to see the form of a gigantic monster standing over them. They could clearly see that this monster was around 3000 meters in height, which was the size of an average mountain.

“Wow! A giant turtle suddenly appeared out of nowhere!” Ondine said in a shocked voice.

“Don’t be silly, Ondine. It came in the obvious way, but it looks like our battle with the men kept us busy from noticing its approach,” Emilia told her quietly.

They stared up at the giant turtle as it slowly came to a stop above them without warning. For a moment, they wondered what reason the gigantic monster had for being there.

“D-Don’t tell me… that thing is our enemy…?” Erza asked nervously as she looked up at the turtle.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Even Lucky will find it a challenge to face that thing!” Venezuela said sternly.

“In any case, we best create powerful barrier spells immediately!” Sumara suggested, which was agreed upon.

She, along with Venezuela, Emilia and Erza, began to cast a powerful barrier spell when, all of a sudden, they heard the monster roar loudly.

“GGGGGOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA!!!!”

“Ah! My ears!” Silvera exclaimed as the girls appeared to be shocked from its loud roar.

“W-What was that for, you stupid thing?” Ondine shouted at it angrily.

“Shh! Don’t upset it,” Tetra told her sternly.

“But, it just roared all of a sudden! What would you expect me to do, congratulate it for being a loud mouth?” Ondine retorted sarcastically.

“Stop it, you two. Now isn’t the time for this,” Silvera told them quickly when Ondine and Tetra glared at each other.

Just then, Cantia pointed upward and said, “Something’s happening-nyaa!”

All the girls looked up and saw a gigantic ball of white light appear from the back of the monster. It slowly descended itself to the ground to land a few meters away from them. The girls immediately clutched their weapons with their magic and energy ready to defend themselves against this unknown being.

A few seconds passed in silence as tension slowly rose before the white ball glowed brighter. Then, it got dispersed into shimmering light to reveal the person that it kept hidden within. As the shimmering lights vanished into thin air, the person before them was revealed.

The person was a female with a slim body with a height of around 177cm and she had long silver hair streaming down her back all the way to the waist. Her clothes were elven and on top of them, she wore elven body armour. In her right hand, she carried a long great staff that had a green crystal hovering above the tip of the end of the staff. She was wearing some sort of crown on her head that obscured most of her rather attractive face.

The girls were amazed at how powerful the unknown magician warrior was from the amount of power she radiated for them to feel. However, they noticed that she seemed to be looking at them with her eyes closed for some reason. This puzzled the girls because she gave them the impression that she was looking straight at them without using her eyes. However, the girls did not drop their guard as they feared she might be their enemy.

“T-This isn’t good…! She’s stronger than all of us…!” Venezuela said as she realised the obvious as she held her hands at the ready.

“Damn…! I wish Lucky is here right about now…!” Ondine said nervously and she tightened her grip on both of her swords.

The magician warrior seemed to notice their nervousness and formed a small smile on her face before telepathically saying, “Do not fear, for I am not your enemy.”

“W-What?” Erza said in a surprised voice and she clutched her head while making a surprised expression on her face. “I thought I heard a voice in my head…”

“Yeah. I heard it too,” Ondine replied immediately.

“Same here-nyaa!” Cantia said as well.

“Me too,” Silvera said nervously.

Venezuela looked at them all and asked, “We all heard it then…?”

All the girls nodded and confirmed her doubt. She looked towards the magician warrior and realised she had used telepathy to speak to all of them at the same time. That alone was enough to prove that she was a highly ranked warrior to use that spell in a complex way of speaking to them all. The only one she knew was capable of doing that was Lakshman, who hardly used it due to him quickly moving to the person he wanted to talk with instead of constantly relying on that technique.

“Are you really not our enemy…?” Emilia asked the magician warrior in a cautious voice.

The magician warrior nodded and telepathically said, “That’s right. If I was your enemy, I would have used my unmatched magic to destroy you and everything within this village, or… are you underestimating my Diggabelu?”

“Oh… When you put it that way, it makes sense,” Emilia said in an understanding voice. Then, she slowly asked, “Um… The fact that you’re speaking to us telepathically means you… can’t speak?”

The magician warrior nodded once and telepathically said, “That’s correct and the same applies to my eyes. Right now, I am aware of your presence and can see your shapes using the perception of the flow of energy. That is how I am aware of my surroundings, even while I’m blind.”

“Oh…” Emilia said shortly and she looked sad.

“Um… Who are you, madam magician… uh… warrior?” Erza asked weakily.

The magician warrior bowed slightly to them and telepathically said, “Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am what people call the Magic Titan and my name is Amaranda Lefrity and as you can see, I’m a High Elf.”

Upon hearing the name, all the girls let out shocked voices because they could not believe they were in the presence of the eighth member of the Nine Pillars of Power, who are the strongest warriors in the world.

“What?! Y-You’re the Magic Titan?!” Sumara exclaimed in disbelief.

“Y-You’re name is Amaranda Lefrity?” Venezuela asked in a startled voice as Erza dropped her jaw in shock.

“The eighth of the Nine Pillars of Power?!” Ondine exclaimed in shock, which was reflected on Cantia’s face.

Only Tetra and Silvera seemed to be not affected by this piece of information.

“Ah. So, that’s why I thought I sensed the Sacred Spirit, Temidan, when you appeared,” Tetra said casually.

“Oh…! Is that why I thought that feeling was somewhat familiar?” Silvera asked curiously.

“Yeah. We’re both Sacred Spirits and as such, we can easily detect when another Sacred Spirit is nearby. We might lose our memories and such, but there’s no way we could forget the Sacred Spirits we fought alongside with and against numerous times in the past,” Tetra said as she eyed the staff the Magic Titan was holding in her right hand.

Amaranda turned her head towards her and telepathically asked, “I take it that you are the Phoenix Blade, the Sacred Spirit of the Phoenix Titan?”

“That’s right and this is the Sacred Spirit, Silvera. She’s known as the Demon Slayer and also contracted to the same master as me,” Tetra explained and Amaranda nodded in understanding.

“I see… The Demon Slayer…” Amaranda slowly said telepathically. “Now, it explains why I felt the presence of a certain darkness within this place, even though all of the enemies appeared to be defeated.”

“Eh?! I-I’m evil?” Silvera asked in a surprised voice and Amaranda shook her head.

“I meant the twisted darkness, not the darkness that you emanated, Silvera. Remember that darkness is not evil and it can never be because it is an entity that balances the world with the light,” Amaranda telepathically explained to her calmly.

“Yes. That’s true,” Silvera said in understanding.

“So, who’s your friend over there?” Ondine asked and he gestured up at the giant turtle standing over them while making low noises from its mouth.

“That is my familiar and companion, Telker the Eternal Turtle. He had been the companion of all of the Magic Titans before me and together, we wander the Bazaraka Continent to do what I can to stay away from trouble after the rulership was taken from me,” Amaranda telepathically said in a quiet voice.

“Then, how come you’re here?” Sumara asked instantly in a suspicious voice.

“We came here after we sensed the resurrected power of a powerful being, whom I sensed to be part of the Nine Pillars of Power. So, we came here to investigate and in the process, we discovered many warriors flying in your direction, which was the place the strong energy was coming from. Thus, we got here as quickly as we could, but it was a slow progress…”

“Yeah… I can believe that,” Venezuela said and she looked up at the giant turtle.

Amaranda was looking around at all the defeated dead bodies of the enemy attackers. There were around forty of them around and it impressed her of how the women were able to take them all down. She noticed that many of them had Amplification Rods lying around near their dead bodies and realised these men had become strong through the use of those devices.

“I see that you have done an excellent job in defeating them, despite not being equipped with these Amplification Rods. Well done,” she praised them telepathically.

“Hmhm!” Ondine said proudly with her chest held high. “They were weaklings from the beginnings, so it was easy taking them down!”

“You make it sound easy…!” said Erza in a stern voice as she looked at them. “You and Cantia charged in wildly and we had to quickly back you up while fighting away the enemy that attacked us!”

“Yeah! Please also consider the safety of your comrades!” Silvera said in an annoyed voice.

“Jeez…! You hot headed Water Spirit!” Tetra said irritably.

“Right, right… Sorry…” Ondine said slowly with an apologetic tone.

“Sorry-nyaa…” Cantia said and she looked really upset as she held her head down in shame.

“It doesn’t matter since we already knew the two of you were like that from the beginning,” Venezuela said in a reasonable voice. She turned to the others and asked, “Come on… Forgive them already.”

“Okay…” Erza said and Silvera nodded, but Tetra clicked her tongue as she continued to remain irritated.

Amaranda smiled at the unique relationship the girls had between them and turned to speak with Sumara.

“How are the villagers? Are anyone injured and need immediate medical attention?” she telepathically asked courteously.

Sumara shook her head and said, “No. They are fine. Before the attack had begun, I cast the King ranked Barrier Magic Spell over the buildings. That also included my home, which I planned to retreat with the ladies here if we had difficulty with the battle.”

“I see. That indeed is an excellent defensive plan, but do be careful. The men could have powered up to bypass the King ranked and they could have easily destroyed the magic barrier if they wanted to.”

“Fortunately, that didn’t happen because they were rather shocked that a girl had instantly taken down their leader. After that, they just concentrated on her and we simply backed her up, which quickly turned the attention over to us, but the ladies quickly showed them who the tougher opponent is,” said Sumara and she turned to smile at Lakshman’s wives.

“Well… We did our best to defeat them,” said Emilia with a small smile on her face.

“Yeah! Team work makes the difference,” said Erza with a wide smile on her face.

“That might be true, but certain two rushed away to fight like mad fighters…” said Tetra as she remained irritated over Ondine and Cantia.

“Now, now…” said Emilia in a calming voice.

The others laughed, except for Ondine and Cantia who were looking upset. They prefer close combat and the arrogance of the attackers enraged them to the point that their actions were dictated by their anger.

Sumara’s smile widened slightly and she said, “I wouldn’t have expected less from the wives of the Phoenix Titan.”

Amaranda looked at her sharply and telepathically asked, “Their husband is the Phoenix Titan?”

“Ah,” Sumara said ands she was taken aback at her suddenly blurting out the name. Realising she could not fool the Magic Titan, she inwardly sighed and said, “That’s right. These seven are the wives of the Phoenix Titan, Lakshman Reddy.”

“I see…. I am sensing the person with that powerful energy signature… So, it was him…” Amaranda telepathically said in a quiet voice.

“Is he alright…?” Emilia asked her with a worried look on her face.

“I believe he took damage in battle, but otherwise alright… For now…” said Amaranda telepathically as she finished ominously.

The girls all smiled in relief and it was at that moment they sensed his presence high above they. Above them was the gigantic turtle that was throwing a large shadow over the surface of the world. A few seconds later, something radiating in golden-red aura flew past them and headed towards the ground. They knew immediately that only one person in the world was capable of radiating in golden-red aura.

They turned to see Lakshman land on his feet centimetres away from them. Venezuela, Emilia, Erza, Tetra, Silvera, Ondine and Cantia quickly headed over to him with wide smiles on their faces. Sumara and Amaranda hung back to let them have their reunion with their husband after such a battle.

“So… That’s what he looks like in the transformed state…” said Sumara in a quiet voice with her eyes slightly widened. “And that power… It’s incredible he could be so strong at the age of eighteen!”

“Eighteen? So… He’s only eighteen…” said Amaranda in a rather surprised voice. “For a human, he’s not bad, but… What is this weakness that I am sensing from him…?”

“Weakness? What do you mean, Miss Lefrity?” Sumara asked her curiously, but Amaranda did not reply.

Once the reunion was over, Lakshman moved over to Sumara with a wide smile on his face to see that she was also fine.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come to help, but the enemies I had kept me busy…” said Lakshman with his smile faltering.

Sumara nodded in understanding and said, “That’s quite alright. I can understand your enemies being strong, although it makes me wonder why you took this long to take them all down… Well, I’m glad we’re all safe.”

They all smiled and that was when Lakshman turned his attention over to the Magic Titan, who was staring up at him. He was taller than her, with him being 184cm and she around 177cm in height. He noticed that her eyes were closed, indicating that she was either blind or did not want to see him, but he had this strange feeling that she was staring up at him.

“Um… Are you perhaps the Magic Titan, Amaranda Lefrity?” he asked her tentatively.

“That’s correct,” she telepathically replied without moving from staring up at him.

“Um… Are you perhaps…?” he began hesitantly as he wanted to ask about her eyes.

“I’m blind, yes. You have a problem with that?” she telepathically replied in a monotonous tone.

“Ah? No! Not at all! I’m just surprised that I feel like you’re staring at me. That’s all,” he said quickly to not upset her.

“I see… Well then, I have a question for you and make sure to answer it truthfully…”

“Ah… Okay…” he said while blinking in surprise.

“Are you really Lakshman Reddy, the Phoenix Titan?”

He was startled by the question and he panicking looking at Sumara, who nodded once in reassurance. From that, he gathered that Amaranda knew about him being the Phoenix Titan and wanted to check it for herself.

“Yes. I’m the Phoenix Titan and my name is Lakshman Reddy,” replied Lakshman honestly.

“I see… So, you say you are the Phoenix Titan…” Amaranda telepathically said slowly.

“That’s right,” he said before smiling at her. “It is nice meeting you, Miss Lefrity.”

He held his hand out to shake her hand with, however she had no desire to shake it. Instead, she simply nodded at him once and leaped back a meter away from him, surprising him and the girls in the process. Then, she brought her staff forward and quickly gathered energy, which caused the green crystal to glow brightly. In an instant, she gathered a large ball of energy and launched it straight at Lakshman.

“Wha…?” exclaimed Lakshman in shock as the energy blast hit him hard in the chest.

The force of the impact knocked him off his feet and carried him into the distant forest, where the energy blast exploded and destroyed the surrounding trees. A gush of wind was released from the blast and it flew in every direction, buffeting his wives and Amaranda in the process.

“Then, prove it with your power,” said Amaranda telepathically in a quiet voice as she prepared her staff for battle.

Author's Note

I realised after considerable amount of time that I'm actually running myself into the ground by trying to write long chapters. Also, it's currently throwing my pacing of the story into a whack, causing me to have nightmares in my sleep (I tend to think a lot for my story and they come back to haunt me in my sleep). So, I've decided to go back to writing chapters in a manner easy for me instead of trying to make them long. I hope this isn't a problem for my lovely readers since I have to watch myself as well as pace the story well (I'm also a reader like everyone).