Must...

Resist...

Urge...

To end...

With...

Cliffhanger...

Guys, I really tried my best. This chapter ends on a heartwarming note, so for any of you who still thinks this is a cliff hanger, you can go stuff some lemons up your ass because life has given you lemons.

Anyways, enjoy.

"You... you're the demon queen?!" Seras stuttered as his gaze kept shifting from Kina by his side to Isana standing next to his Seraplor mother.

"YOU! You turned my mother into a demon!" Seras bellowed, quickly tossing Kina's grip away as anger welled up inside of him. In his rage, Seras lunged at Isana, who sneered at the naive little boy, her lips curling upwards ever so slightly.

"TURN!" - *Bam!*

"MY!" - *Bam!*

"MOTHER!" - *Bam!*

"BACK!" - *Bam!*

Seras yelled out each word in anguish, slamming his fists each time with full force into Isana's abdomen. Isana barely moved as his blows rained down on her mana armour, a precious skill that she inherited from her late husband.

His body was enhanced, and yet the blows had nary an effect on the demon queen, making his knuckles bleed instead. Tears coated his cheeks as he suddenly crumbled to his knees in front of Isana, sobbing audibly as he knew how futile his attacks had been.

Sanders could do nothing more than watch his son break down mentally, wanting to rush over to pick him up. However, unbeknownst to him, he had been wrapped up in a sea of blue-silver threads, restricting his movements from the waist down. His weapons were useless, not even piercing the fur of the demon Seraplor, much less the skin of the demon queen who controlled it.

"Please... please return my mother..." Seras begged as he cried out loud in misery. The seraplor seemed to have been moved, as if something reacted to this boy's desperate cries. Her maternal instincts were welling up from inside and fought back against the tyrannical power than demonised her.

She had sought revenge. She sought power. The day that her child was taken from her, she searched without sparing any energy to take back what she lost. That's when she was overwhelmed by the demonic aura that took hold of her. However, today, she had found what she lost all those years back, only to be unable to shake off this demonic power that had permeated throughout her body.

The demon queen's aura. That was what the humans and demi-humans who feared her called it. But in actual fact, this aura was merely Isana's mana that soaked the magical beasts, giving them power in return for their sanity. No mere beast would be able to withstand the titan's mana within their system, breaking down mentally quickly after being exposed.

Isana looked at the wet mess that was at her feet and saw her daughter running over to support him. Why her daughter had grown attached to this boy, she did not know, but she knew that he was important to her, and this Seraplor was important to him. Withdrawing her mana from within the beast, it struggled with the immense siphoning of the titan's mana, howling in agony as it felt its strength leave.

Seras sobbed even harder after hearing his mother's cries, watching her twist and contort. The Seraplor's ever changing fur colour eventually settled on a gentle grey colour, the same as what Seras held in his vial. The Seraplor seemed to have calmed down as well, weak, but calm. She opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings, seeing the group of humans standing so close to her. Startled as she might be, she had no strength to run away, watching the young man crawl towards her on all fours.

Seras couldn't believe his eyes. His mother was right before him, a lot bigger and very much older. As he hugged her giant feline head, she could sense the familiar scent drifting into her nose. The same calming scent he had that made her pick him up from the wreckage where she had found him. Tears rolled down her wide black eyes as she knew that her son had finally returned.

Finally, after years of searching, he’d finally found closure within the same forest where he was born. Seeing Seras hugging the giant Seraplor while crying filled Sanders’s heart with warmth, making him lower his weapon as he enjoyed the sight of his son’s happiness. He had already long forgotten the presence of the demon queen and her daughter.

“Now then.” Isana’s voice rang out clear and crisp. “I’d hate to interrupt this touching reunion, but what should I do with the two of you now that you know my true identity?”

With her voice still in his ears, Sanders quickly raised his rifle once more, aiming it dead on Isana’s head. His son seemed to have not heard her and was still enjoying the feeling of the Seraplor licking his face with her tongue that was almost as large as his palm. His legs were still immobile, and he had very limited options to choose from, none of which would have both him and Seras coming out uninjured.

Without any warning, Sanders saw what he thought was a spell begin from Kina. Her body was bathed in a shower of creamy white creamy white orbs that rose from the ground. A large runic sequence encircled the ground below her feet, releasing the blinding orbs. As he turned to too at the demon queen, what he saw confused him even more. She wore a frantic expression, as if she was seeing this phenomenon for the first time.

“Huh?” Kina uttered, also shocked at what was happening. “Mum? What’s this?”

“Sweety! What is happening!? What are you doing!?” Isana yelled in fear, the thought of losing her beloved child to an unknown magic striking her heart.

“MUM!” Kina yelled back in terror as her feet began disappearing into the orbs of light. “HELP! I can’t escape!” Kina exclaimed in fear as she pounded on the translucent barrier of light around her, unable to break it and unable to teleport.

Not wasting any time, Isana dashed forwards, leaving a blurred afterimage where she once stood. Instantly appearing by her daughter’s side, she was secretly glad that the unknown barrier had not prevented her from reaching her daughter. However, now, just like her daughter, she found herself trapped within the 2-metre wide runic circle, unable to escape as she too started to be devoured by the orbs of light.

“YOU! Human! What have you done!?” Isana bellowed, wisps of white icy breath leaving the corners of her mouth as she glared at Sanders. But once again she knew, from the look on Sanders’s bewildered and terrified face that he had nothing to do with what was happening. It was not his fault, just as it wasn’t Palmer’s fault in the accident that took her husband from her.

Not receiving a reply from the humans, Isana cast her void space spell, nullifying all magic around her. Despite that, the strange magic did not disappear, continuing to devour the mother-daughter pair slowly. Kina was now terrified, hugging her mother’s side, on the verge of tears.

Just as she was about to disappear, she looked at Seras, then to her mother and whispered, “What is happening, mum?”

With those last words, Sanders caught a glimpse of Isana shaking her head as she hugged her daughter even tighter before the two girls disappeared, the runes on the ground slowly dissolving. Dumbfounded, Sanders quickly grabbed Seras and made a beeline for the forward base, leaving the Seraplor gazing at Seras longingly.

[[Rewind back a few weeks after Kiefer entered the dungeon, Risea]]

King Hulias of Harentes City slumped back into his throne in relief. The messengers had been sent out promptly after the monstrous elf had left. For now, he could only hope that his ancestors’ plans work as he had done his best to delay the supreme being’s rampage. This was going to take a while. It would be at least three days before he received any reply from the other kingdoms he’s sent the messengers to and, at least, three weeks to organise and coordinate such a large movement between the 35 Kingdoms from the main continent.

Replies came streaming in a few days later, with all of the kingdoms in agreement to meet up to begin preparations. Large scale movements of manpower began all over the continents as Kings and Rulers started migrating to the city of Harentes with their army of mages and guards. Of the 34 armies that started their speedy journey towards the central city of Harentes, 4 of the Kings carried with them a single precious cargo.

It was deceptively small but exceedingly ancient in origin and design. A small stone chest no bigger than a man’s palm, with ancient runes riddling the entirety of its outer and inner surface. The 4 Kings knew very well what this was. It was an artifact created and passed down by a group of highly proficient world mages from ages ago. A Time Prison. And within each of the four time prisons, were a single soul flower, the kings’ treasures.

This small chest could suspend the time of anything object kept within it, slowing the object’s perspective of time to almost a standstill. A pile of snow stored within a fully charged time prison would remain frozen for weeks. This, of course, came at a hefty price, requiring an absurd amount of mana to be fully charged. Nonetheless, over the centuries that the respective Kings had kept the artefact with them, countless royal court mages had poured their time and devotion into charging the prison with their mana.

The weeks passed, and King Hulias received news of the Sea dragon’s rampage, as well as the living forest that continued to flourish in the west. He could only conclude that the supreme being had gone to the dungeons first, leaving the dragons for later. This was his last card, praying that the dungeon would delay the supreme being long enough for him to complete the summoning ritual. Most of the Armies had already arrived in his city, making it more crowded than it needed to be. As they met up with each other, the Kings naturally had a slightly nervous if not worried disposition of the incoming calamity to their world.

Seated in the large conference room around a circular table were the 35 representatives from each city. They each had a golden goblet of red wine placed on the table in front of them, everyone eyeing each other nervously.

“I might as well ask the question on everyone’s minds right now. Hulias, are you very sure this is the beginning of the Harvest?” King Thorain asked abruptly, standing up and breaking the silence. Everybody’s gazes fell on Hulias, waiting for his reply.

“Yes, I am most certain. He was specifically looking for the soul flowers. And from the brief exchange my forces had with him, ordinary magic seemed to be useless against him, much less physical attacks.” Hulias explained as the entire room began to drown in mummers.

“If you say magic doesn’t work, what use is our ritual to summon a magically powerful being?” This time, a lady stood up and asked. She was the queen of the Northern Elves, highly gifted in wind magic.

“To be honest, I have no idea. But I know for sure that we have a better chance of surviving if we do this summoning ritual rather than sending all our troops to the guillotine by trying to face him head on. For now, I’ve pitted him against two dragons, and he’s being delayed in a time-warped dungeon a little north of this city. We should decide quickly before he returns and finds the attraction of 5 soul flowers too alluring to ignore.” Hulias urged with a confident voice.

“So be it then, if we have to sacrifice 500 level 9 mages to complete this summoning ritual, we will do it if it gives us a fighting chance against the Harvester.” Another King stood up, to which the rest all nodded in agreement.

“Ahaha.” Hulias laughed jovially at the sight of everyone’s cooperation. “You are exaggerating a little too much there Bernard. The mages won’t lose their lives. They would only be drained of their mana. In the worst case scenario where the summoned one is more powerful than we expected, maybe one or two mages will have their life-force sacrificed, shortening their lifespan by a mere few years, which I think is a pretty darn good exchange.”

Within a few hurried hours, the 35 representatives of the cities were assembled on a small viewing stadium built out of wood, overseeing the grand spectacle of 500 level 9 mages circling a ritual rune. In the center of the rune circle, laid five time prisons, with soul flowers in each one. Finally, behind the 500 powerful mages, were another 300 level 8 mages there for support and reinforcement in case anything goes awry.

As the last of the sun’s rays dipped below the horizon, the innermost circle of 10 mages began the ritual. Pulling their various hoods back to reveal old greying beards and wrinkled faces, their eyes burned with determination as they stared intently at the five time prisons set in the middle. And so, they began chanting.

“With the guidance from the immortal God of Risea, with the help from our original world mages, we, the direct descendants of the first order of the world mages, at this moment sacrifice our mana, our energy, our time and our devotion to initiate the mana sacrifice. Hear us! Risea’s one true God Fahlnir. Let the mana sacrifice begin!”

As soon as the last syllable of the chant ended and the silence ensued, flames erupted from the runic circle around the time prisons. They extended along the ground in 5 straight lines, reaching the last row of mages in a blink of an eye, then encircling all 500 mages. As soon as the dim night sky was lit up brightly by the rings of fire, the rest of the 500 mages began chanting as well while the 35 kings and queens stood up on their feet to watch the ritual with their utmost attention. As if all 500 minds were controlled by one, the mages all chanted in what sounded like one loud, crisp voice.

“With the guidance from the immortal God of Risea, with the help from our original world mages, we present upon you five soul flowers, our mana, and if need be our life force in exchange for a hero of equivalent power from beyond our world, beyond our realm and our knowledge. We beseech unto you, Fahlnir, to help us summon a legendary individual of untold powers, to help deliver us from this impending doom. Help us, and we shall give you our everything. Help us, and we shall be thankful for until eternity ends. Help us understand our hero and deliver us from this calamity.”

As they chanted, streams of mana of various colours began streaming from their bodies, flowing to the center of the formation and whirl around the soul flowers. Then, with a sudden blinding light, a spinning black and blue vortex appeared right in the middle, engulfing the five time prison chests and the flowers within, along with the wisps of mana whirling around.

Like a dragon starved for its next meal, the vortex continued to devour the mana as it forcefully sucked out everything it could from the mages. Exhausted, the mages who were drained completely began collapsing one by one as the small thin trail of mana extending from their bodies thinned out and dissipated, with nothing left to give.

One by one, mages began collapsing as the sheer amount of mana used for the summoning exceeded their expectations. There was a mixed expression on each and every one of the Kings. The amount of mana taken should be equivalent to the mana capacity of the individual being summoned. Right now, with over 60% of the mana being drained, it was clear that whoever was being summoned was a powerful being. While the Kings and Queens were glad that their summoned hero would be powerful, they feared that they might not have enough to sacrifice for the ritual.

After the last of the 500 level 9 mages fell from mana exhaustion, the vortex seemed to be satisfied, quickly shrinking to a tiny dot and then bursting out in yet another blinding flash. The circle runes on the floor began glowing as the summoning began, much to the relief of the Kings and Queens. Then, something unexpected happened. The flames on the ground shot forth, enveloping the remaining 300 level 8 mages as well, beginning to suck their mana.

Screams could be heard as the Kings looked to what was going on. Aside from the flames drawing mana from the reserve mages, they began burning the mages starting from the ones closest to the middle, drawing on their life force and soul. Horror filled the Kings’ eyes. They did not know how powerful this being was, to even require the lifeforce of the mages.

From the ancient literature left by the world mages, they knew that the entire life force of a person was approximately equivalent to the mana of 100 mages. Their eyes widened as the mages crumbled into ashes one after another, the flames sparing no one. This was when things started going haywire as the mages began panicking. Despite their mental exhaustion, the threat to their lives was enough to motivate them to leave their spots, scrambling to escape the flames that licked at their feet.

Chaos ensued as the ritual was disrupted, the flames seemingly angered by the lack of discipline of the mages. The orange flames turned yellow, then blue, then white as it roared with a thundering boom, shooting forth and incinerating the mages that were fleeing for their lives. Even some the Kings were beginning to panic, standing and quickly leaving the small podium that was situated a distance away from the ritual.

Then, as quickly as it flared up, the flames retracted, letting everyone heave a sigh of relief. Having had its fill, the flames receded to the runic circle where a wall of sparkling white orbs rose from the ground, blocking the view was whatever was within them. After 5 minutes of silence, the light faded, and under the dim moonlight, stood two ladies. One had shoulder length silver hair with an ample bosom and piercing green eyes. The other was a young girl, looking to be in her teens, sporting flowing black hair with white tips, a body with potential for growth, and charming golden eyes.

“Is it over?”

“Why are there two people?”

“A mother and her daughter? Sisters?”

“They don’t seem strong. Could the ritual have gone wrong?”

Whispers could be heard amongst the royalty standing in the makeshift stadium. They were all discussing the outcome of the ritual, most of them doubting the authenticity of the ritual and the power of the 2 summoned individuals. Then, their attention was instantly directed back to the summoned ladies as a dreadful chilling aura emanated from the woman. It was summer, and yet, snow had begun falling as the royalties all dressed lightly began shivering.

“YOU!” Isana bellowed as she saw a collapsed old mage on the ground some 30 metres away from her. Storming her way to the closest living thing in her sight, Isana was visibly furious, Kina still trembling behind her as she followed her mother closely.

“WHERE IS THIS!?” She hollered so loudly even the Kings could hear her. “WHY DID YOU TRY TO TAKE MY DAUGHTER FROM ME!?” The mage was speechless. He was tired and on the verge of passing out, only looking at Isana feebly as he shivered in the cold aura.

Seeing that things were beginning to go very badly very quickly, King Hulias decided to take charge, sprinting towards the summoned heroes as the other members of royalty followed behind him.

Isana saw the lavishly dressed man run towards her and dropped the mage that she was holding by his collar. Redirecting her piercing cold glare at the man, Isana waited for him to approach her as Kina began to get a grasp of what just happened to her and her mother. Tugging at her mother’s silver blue dress, Kina quickly pointed to the sky where there was a single ruby moon hanging just above the horizon. Isana instantly knew they were neither on Aioa nor earth.

As King Hulias came within ten steps from Isana and Kina, he stopped abruptly in his tracks, afraid to take even another step forward as Isana glared at him. Her emerald eyes seemed to stare right into his soul, boring deep into his mind as he met her gaze. Quickly trying his best to recover from the intimidation, King Hulias bowed deeply as he began to introduce himself.

“Oh, great hero. My name is King Hulias, and I would like to welcome you to the non-demon continent of Risea. Might I inquire about your names and how I should address you in the future?” Hulias asked politely as the rest of the royal members bowed down in a similar fashion, showing their respect.

“Risea? Why are we here? How dare you try to abduct my daughter!?” Isana growled menacingly.

“Forgive us oh great one. We were left with no other choice but to face annihilation had we not summoned you. It was not our intention to single out you or your daughter in the summoning ritual as we had no definite control over it. We did not mean to take your daughter away from you. We have summoned you in hopes that you would help us rid this world of a supreme being who is about to start his rampage through our lands.” Hulias explained, raising his head and inspecting the 2 summoned ladies.

“You tear us away from our family and friends, gave us no warning whatsoever when doing so, drop us in a completely foreign world, and now you expect us to lend you our strength and risk our lives for you!? I’m sorry, but we are not the heroes you are looking for. (LOL. These are not the droids you are looking for.) Now send us back before you have two more powerful beings to worry about.” Isana demanded, looking down on Hulias with her narrowed eyes. Hulias kept silent for a while, hesitating to reply. Before long, he gulped down the lump in his throat and looked at Isana meekly before replying once more.

“I- I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t think there is a way home. The literature left by our ancestors did not mention anything about a ritual to send you home. Whi – while I would love to make you believe that everything will return to normal, I cannot leave a scar in my conscience to trick those that I’m asking for help from. So I’m very sorry that we made decisions on our own selfish accord, but we really need your help.” Hulias admitted, his voice shaking a little, his body shrinking away as he saw anger welling up within Isana.

“Mum, let’s just help them.” Kina interrupted, looking at Isana with her golden puppy eyes. “Since we are here already, there’s nothing much we can do, at least, I still have you, and you me. And maybe, this time, you can learn to forgive these lesser beings and start anew. What better place to start with a clean slate than on a new world?” Kina asked with wisdom that seemed unbefitting of a teenager.

Isana sighed as her shoulders drooped in defeat. She had always pampered her daughter from the moment she hatched. There was no way she was going to deny her daughter’s request. Her piercing stare mellowed as a gentle gaze overtook her, hugging Kina tightly as she stroked her daughter’s pitch black hair.

“Sure. Anything for you my baby girl.” She said softly with a motherly glow. Kina smiled sweetly in her mother’s embrace, before turning sharply to Hulias, her gentle smile now curving upwards into a more sinister and mischievous smile.

“Now where is this pipsqueak that you want us to beat to a pulp?” Kina asked, grinning at the thought of an adventure, unlike anything she’s had before. She could rampage all she wanted on this new world and not worry about keeping up with appearances or her uncle’s constant nagging.

“To – to the north.” Hulias managed to eke out a reply after seeing the heart-warming scene. “There’s a dungeon with a small town outside its entrance. He is a young elf with golden eyes like yours. He should be in the dungeon as of now.”

As soon as Hulias finished speaking, Kina looked at Isana for her consent, before they both nodded at each other and smiled. Quickly, a blizzard kicked up around them, settling seconds later to reveal a large white dragon almost 200m long and a smaller black dragon with white tipped scales about 50m long. With a strong thrust from their powerful wings, the two dragons kicked off from the ground and soared into the night sky, shooting off towards the north as the temperature of the surrounding gradually rose back to the sweltering summer’s night it used to be.

“Dr – dragons… hahaha… To think we summoned two dragons… and ones that can take human form too… no wonder the ritual took the life force of so many of our elite mages. Looks like there is hope after all,” Hulias uttered as he fell to the ground in relief. The other Kings and Queens all had a similar reaction, chattering amongst themselves as smiles began to erupt from their once solemn faces. They would finally be saved from the Harvest.

[[Back within the dungeon]]

“Hunter sent you!? Our reinforcement is one puny elf?!” One of the mercenaries of the BloodWolf mercenaries exclaimed as he observed the small elf walk calmly towards them.

Kiefer paid no heed to their wild remarks, merely walking up towards the leader directly. “What is your decision here? Do you want to return to the surface, or do you want to continue mapping the levels with my help?” Kiefer asked with a serious face.

Yousef, the leader of the team, contemplated for a brief moment before making up his mind. “Please escort us back to the surface.” Yousef requested, to which Kiefer nodded firmly.

Without warning, the floor began to be covered in a sea of silvery threads as Kiefer began binding everyone and everything in the mercenary team. Looking at Mira and the rest of his party, he decided that it would be best to send them back up as well, seeing as they are neither skilful enough nor equipped to handle the demon bears and frost spiders. The mana threads bound his party members as well and instantly; everyone and everything disappeared from the inter-level ramp.

Teleporting everybody to the surface, both the mercenary team and the amateur party appeared out of thin air in a small clearing by the side of the main road, just on the outskirts of the dungeon’s town. The warm summer air hit everybody’s faces and filled their lungs as they stared at each other in disbelief, before directing their sights to the young elf responsible. It was in the middle of the night outside the dungeon and the red moon was illuminating everything in a eerie blood glow.

Before everyone in the party had the time to reorganise themselves, they heard a deafening screech as 2 large bodies whizzed past them in the night sky, landing within the town with an enormous crash. Screams erupted from within the town and everybody began fleeing from the scene.

“DRAGONS!!” They yelled as they ran, warning everyone who could hear them. Merchants did not even bother to pack their wares, running for their dear life from the 2 monsters that appeared. Very quickly, just as some of the more courageous adventurers prepare to engage the 2 dragons, a blizzard blew over the town, obscuring everybody’s vision. Then, from within the blizzard, 2 young ladies stepped forth, looking at the entrance of the dungeon.

Kiefer could not belief his eyes. The town was not very large to begin with, so he could clearly make out who the older of the 2 ladies were, even without his enhanced eyesight. As he slowly staggered towards them, the mercenaries raised their arms to try to hold him back, but no one was willing to step forward, having just been shown the prowess of the young elf and the terror of the 2 dragons.

Kiefer shut his jaw that was agape for quite some time, squinting his eyes as he slowly approached the ladies. He had masked his mana so they had yet to notice him. Then, he saw the younger teenage girl turn and spot him, both their golden eyes locking onto each other. Just as he was about to call out, the young girl vanished, instantly appearing behind him and restraining his wrists behind his back with what was in his view, a laughable strength.

“MUM!!” she hollered, attracting the attention of her mother. “I think I caught the pipsqueak! It was a lot easier than I thought. He doesn’t seem too powerful.” Kina yelled out as Isana turned to face Kiefer. She had yet to recognise Kiefer in his elf form, stalking over while frowning, confused at the ease of their mission.

“Sana?” Kiefer muttered, letting Kina continue restraining him.

“Who are you?” Isana queried suspiciously, her eyes studying the young elf in front of her.

“Sana! It’s really you isn’t it!?” Kiefer exclaimed, this time unable to hold in his feelings.

“It’s Isana to you.” Isana replied coldly, trying to cast aside the growing suspicion in her mind and wavering heart.

“Finally…” Kiefer started tearing up at this point. “I’m so glad you are safe…” he muttered as tears fell down his face. With one swift motion, he escaped from Kina’s ‘weak’ hold and extended his characteristic silvery mana, gently wrapping around Isana as he roped her closer, finally hugging her.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered into her ear, Isana still confused by what was happening. “I’m sorry I died. I couldn’t let Gondor kill you, and I had the perfect chance to finish him. I’m so sorry I left you alone.” He apologised, the tears freezing as they made contact with Isana’s shoulders.

“K – Kii?” Isana stammered, not believing her eyes and ears.

“Yes.. it’s me, Kiefer, your husband.” Kiefer reassured her, his golden eyes meeting her emerald ones. At that, Isana’s originally cold eyes had a glint of warmth in them, the first in a long time aside from Kina’s birth. She hugged Kiefer back earnestly, starting to sob as she began muttering inaudible and indistinguishable words while Kina stared at the scene quizzically. Finally, after a Millennia of mourning, she was gifted with his child, and now, not too long after, she is reunited with her husband in a fortunate twist of fate. Isana smiled happily, and truly, she could not be happier.