Some slight mature warnings. Proceed at your own risk!

Chapter 17: Her Strength And Abilities

Amidst the smoke and rubble, on top of such a huge wreckage, a four legged creature stood on its muscular hind legs, exhibiting its forelimbs disfigured by a pair of sharp scissors-like claws. Energetically playing on its rump are two tails of uneven size secured by rock-solid scales; the tails boasting a sharp end that will no doubt tear a human’s flesh with ease.

“This has got to be a bad joke,” Reimuz said, regretting every passing second that he stood frozen in fear.

There were various things he would want to confirm, however something about this monster caught his weary eyes. Protruding out of its chest covered by golden fur, Emily lay in a daze. He wanted to call out to her, but he stopped his dry mouth from doing something that would agitate this fearsome foe.

“Damn,” he looked at the direction where he tossed the spirit sword. It was about a meter away from his feet, yet he doesn’t have the confidence to pick it up.

The monster still hasn’t moved. It just silently glared at its prey, which is no doubt him, wondering how he would scream for his life. Reimuz watched the monster with growing unease. Getting out of there alive would be a fantasy, and he knew it.

Electric current generated from the monster’s paws, and at that moment, he remembered everything in his head. His meeting with Celes. His promised with Celes. Her smile. The taste of her lips. How soft she was. Even if he has to struggle in vain, these memories reminded him not to give up. Most importantly, they have NOT done it yet. He would hate to die without doing the deed with her. He kidded himself with that. But the time for jokes has ended.

The monster’s mouth turned into a twisted grin, and following that, it swooped its lightning claws in a rather lazy manner. Reimuz took a leap of faith as soon as he saw it grin, managing to keep his life intact off the platform. However, it was not a leap of faith for nothing. His body grated the ruined surface and pain wrenched him on all sides.

“Aaaahh, Celes…” He moaned her name through the onslaught of pain that shot from his innards. His upper torso landed on a rocky surface, which caused him to break a few ribs. He pressed a hand on his chest and breathed heavily, as if his lungs cramped and prevented oxygen from flowing. His awareness strayed, but he managed to turn around to check up on things.

Yet, as soon as he shifted his battered body, a large shadow reflected into his eyes. The huge monster followed him off the platform, with the wicked intention of trampling him to death. Reimuz suppressed everything aside and crawled away, barely avoiding being turned into a mush by a hair’s breadth.

He heard the crumbling of rocks behind him, but his mind and body only focused on getting as far as he could while the monster was still playing around. His vision was dim, flickering like an old light bulb. Gritting his teeth, he raised a hand and forcefully dragged himself forward with the remainder of his strength.

But that was all he could do. He has suffered enough damage that would no doubt be fatal if left untreated and his exhaustion from before finally caught up to him. Although, despite all of this suffering, his drive to survive was indeed one of a kind.

“CELES!!”

Right after he shouted those words, a swift silhouette flew overhead, leaving a trail of crimson ashes.

CELES POV

In the harsh silence that her anxiety has created, Celes slowed down her running and halted. She held her head with one hand and wondered, just as if someone called her name.

“Lady Celes?” Her spirit turned around to asked.

Celes shook her head. She lifted her eyes in front and answered. “Nothing, let’s hurry.”

She could not properly explain the feeling in her heart, but she knew something happened to Reimuz. Doubling over while following the trail of blood, they came across a room with death lingering in the area. Not like it hasn’t lingered everywhere in this mine, but this one particular room was bathed in blood and corpses. In an instant, she felt cold and fearful of the silence that the dead bodies had created.

“Help… Is it help?” A voice from within said. It was cracked and dry and hollow. “Over here…” The voice added.

Celes trailed the voice’s origin. Her eyes widened when she saw the state of the owner of that voice. It was Wein Cruz. He slacked on the ground with his back pressed against the wall, barely breathing. She went to him and knelt, her soft fingertips inspected the weird injuries on his chest.

“Sylphie!” Her spirit responded to her cry immediately, creating a soothing wind that helped regenerate his wounds at an explosive speed. But even though his wounds were rapidly healing, he’s already lost so much blood there was no guaranteeing his safety. It was even a surprise he survived this long.

“I’m… fine,” Wein grabbed her wrist, staining her smooth and tender skin with his blood. He lifted his left hand, dangled it on the air, and struggled to point a finger at the gigantic room ahead. “Reimuz… He’s just right ahead…” His hands drooped down. A mixture of saliva and blood string from his mouth.

She felt Sylphie placed a palm on her shoulder.

“He’s fine,” Sylphie said, stroking her gently. “He just fell asleep. He must be quite tired after hanging to his consciousness for so long.”

Celes stood up after she calmed herself. She broke away from her emotions and started running at the direction Wein pointed them to go to. The moment she passed the arch entryway, her eyes glimpsed into a ruin and a massive monster. Because of the crimson spirit that completely stole its attention, it hasn’t taken notice of their entree yet.

Celes immediately noticed the figure protruding out of the monster’s chest. It was a human being she felt like she knew, but there was no confirming if what she felt was right. Confused, she stared back at her spirit for some answers.

“A tainted spirit has stuck to her,” Sylphie said, while keeping her eyes locked at the four legged beast. “Just like all of the workers in this place.”

“Wait, that means…” Celes battled herself to shudder, trying to hide her confusion.

“Yes,” Sylphie replied with a sigh. “Whoever caused this madness knew the quantity of magic in her soul—which resulted in this abomination.”

Celes clenched her hands into a fist. She felt anger surging from the depths of her being. “Disgusting… Who has the nerve to do something like this?”

A swift reply came from her spirit. “Humans. Probably.”

Sylphie nodded at Celes, who was clicking her tongue in annoyance, and released a sharp gust of wind directed at the monster. Celes understood what she meant. While her spirit joined Cliona in battle, she looked around the rubble for Reimuz.

She was shocked at what she saw. Amidst the confusion, she jogged towards the facedown body she recognized as him. His clothes torn and stained with his own blood. She knelt beside him and carefully turned him around. In her panic, she placed her ears on the soothing sound of his heart, and after hearing a small thud, her worries were blown instantly.

“Idiot. You made me worry so much,” Celes smiled from the bottom of heart after confirming he’s still breathing, yet if she do nothing, he would surely die just from his broken ribs.

But, just when she raised herself up to mend his wounds, the unconscious boy dragged her towards him, pressing her body against his chest. It was odd. Not so long ago, she would have already whipped the perpetrator’s face as much as a bump, but now, feeling the sound of his heartbeat so close relieved her even further. He has such a fine build. Slim, yet well toned. He held her firmly, and it made her smile even more.

“God, I refuse to go to the afterlife after all,” Reimuz suddenly spoke, albeit haggard.

Celes shifted her head up to look at him. “Reimuz?”

He smiled, showing his bloody teeth. “Sorry to have worried you,” he lifted both of his hands to her cheeks and brushed the budding jewels at the corner of her eyes. “I’m fine now, Celes.”

Celes couldn’t control her emotions any longer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smacked her lips on his cheek, onto the line of dried blood. It tasted bitter, like the odd mixture of blood and sweat, but she didn’t mind. She was that excited to see him.

“Stupid,” she kissed her again. “Stupid,” and again. “Stupid,” and again. “Stupid,” and again. “Stupi—” Her mouth stuttered suddenly. Then his mouth was on hers, hot and savage. She was on fire.

In the next instant, something hard and sharp hit her thighs, which caused her to back away. She was fine with kissing, but her heart was definitely not ready for “that.”

Celes gazed at Reimuz, and the bastard had a sheepish grin plastered on his perverted nose. The stroking sensation now transferred to her butt, since she decided to sit up, which flustered her so much that she whacked his smug face, totally forgetting that he was an injured man.

“Ouch… You’re the one who started it, dammit,” Reimuz rubbed the red mark on his cheek and complained. “And we’ve done so much more than this. Why are you getting embarrassed now?”

“Those… were a different matter.”

“How exactly?”

“Shut up and let me heal your wounds,” she pressed her palms on his chest and recited the melody for an advance healing magic. The purified energies in the air gathered around her, and she transferred it directly to Reimuz’s. “You’ll feel lightheaded for a few minutes, so bear with it.”

“Alright,” he groaned.

After the transferring of energy was done, she lifted his head and gave him a lap pillow. From a short distance, they watch the battle unfold in their eyes.

It would have ended instantly if it was a regular monster, but each time Cliona severed its limbs to hinder its movements, the monster would regenerate instantly. At the same time, whenever it heals a wound, a pained expression would appear on its host, indicating that the two were connected.

The monster retaliated wildly, and furious lightning bolts leaked out of its body. Sylphie levitated on top of them two and redirected the lightning strikes with her wind magic. Cutting through the lightning strikes with her rigid flame, Cliona grabbed the monster’s uneven tails, ripping it apart from its core with a single tug.

“Burn baby burn,” Cliona grinned, flaring the two tails on her hands to cinders. “Hahahahaha!!”

Witnessing Cliona’s dumbness, Celes pressed a palm on her face and sighed. Using such intense fire magic deep inside here could result into something disastrous.

“Umm, who’s that?” Reimuz asked with a puzzled expression. It was his first time seeing Sylphie materialized after all.

“My Spirit,” Celes curtly replied.

“Wait, you have one?”

“What makes you think I don’t?” She ran her fingers on his scalp and combed his hair.

“Never mind. Is there a way for us to save Emily? Or are we just gonna leave her to her fate?”

“There’s a way, but I haven’t really tried this technique on a corrupted spirit as big as this.”

“Its still better than doing nothing,” he took her free hand, and his hand tightened on hers. “And I’m sure My Celes could do it.”

His words made her happy, more than what he could have imagined. “Hehe, Alright. Let’s finish this once and for all,” Celes slung his arm around her neck and helped him get up.

They looked at the monster once more. It had a more vicious look than before, perhaps annoyed at the two overpowering spirits that regarded it as a toy. However, Cliona’s expression told Celes that she will soon run on fumes. She hasn’t performed a proper contract with Reimuz after all. There was no doubt Sylphie could handle the monster by herself, but she was not the type of person to place a risky bet.

Celes smiled gently and looked at Reimuz. “Support me as much as you can.”

Reimuz nodded his head and wrapped his arms around her waist, his erection that hadn’t whittled down humped her behind. Hard.

“Support… As in like this, right?” He murmured.

“You’re such a pervert,” Celes was quite uncomfortable with the position, but decided to just ignore it and give the guy some reward. He deserved it, she thought.

She took a deep breath and gathered the spiritual energies in the air through some ancient words. “Oh our Goddess, which was forever sealed away in anguish, let your conflicting energies combine into one, and shed light in this place surrounded by darkness.”

A dazzling light flashed and enveloped the surrounding area. It was so dazzling each and every one in the room was blinded for an instant.

“Celes?!” Reimuz shouted, he could feel her legs lumping and her arms falling weak to her sides.

When the light faded, Celes felt power surging from her body. A power that was squeezing her dry. It was the first time she’s ever controlled so much spiritual energy, it felt like she was being torn apart, inside and out. However, Reimuz’s fierce warmth overpowered all of those away. She smiled, and was glad to have him at her side at this instant.

“GroooaaaaAAAAghhhh!!”

The monster rushed up to the two of them, deeming the weird light in her hands dangerous. Reimuz put his hand on top of hers, and Celes took that spiritual energy in her hands.

““Hraaaaaaaaa!!””

That tremendous energy extended and turned into a blade of light, piercing the monster that lunged itself to its demise. It pierced it straight to its torso, to Emily, but it did not hurt her. The blade stayed on the monster’s body and soon produced a different type of light that ate it all away.