VILE EVIL HIDES UNDER THE VEIL

Chapter 1928: The Cost of Borrowing Dragon's Might P2

The powerful barrier Azurea had spent so much effort reinforcing—the only thing keeping the sea monster trapped.

If Naya's promotion went unchecked, the sheer elemental disturbance could disrupt the seal completely. The very thing she had been fighting to prevent.

Even worse was the fact that she couldn't get rid of Naya at this point. Unless the ascension ceremony failed and claimed the aspirant's life, nobody else was supposed to interfere in it.

Firstly, that would make her spend more of her efforts– efforts she could use to complete the barrier strengthening process. She literally and figuratively had her hands full dealing with the mess that Eren had brought along with him. She had already messed up the ritual a little by taking her time to deal with the Templars.

Anymore mistakes, and her side of the seal would just crumble apart. If and when that happens, it wouldn't take long for the mana barrier to collapse from Shir's side as well.

Secondly, Azurea knew that killing someone during their S-Rank promotion was considered a huge taboo among all Mana Practitioners.

if anyone decided to interrupt in such a sacred and personal ritual, Labh Salem's World Will will take note of them and the fury of nature, which the S-Rank aspirant was needed to go through to cement their qualification, would be directed at them and it would be many times worse than originally intended.

Thirdly, Azurea's thoughts were a bit muddled because of the physical and spiritual toll it took on her to complete the seal strengthening ritual. She had already expended quite a lot of her mana at the start of the ritual above water before Eren's appearance.

As if that was not enough, she had to rush deep into the sea water and assist Shir in the seal strengthening ritual. She cursed at the crisis management capabilities of Raashim's Temple.

How could they let someone from the enemy side approach her so easily while she was busy saving their own sorry asses?

Worse, it was the two Templars from Raashim Temple who had brought Naya here of their own accord. It was as if the Templars were testing how far Azurea was willing to go for the meager resources she was promised by the Templars.

Or were they doubtful of her powers? Wasn't it a slap in the face of all the dragonkind allies that the Temple had hired?

Thus, due to various thoughts swirling inside her head like a raging storm behind Naya, Azurea dropped the idea of killing the panther-type demoness beast.

Azurea cursed her luck some more when she realized that she was caught between a rock and a hard place. The control-type Array Eye of the seal-strengthening barrier was located in a fixed location.

It meant that Azurea could also not leave the region unless she gave up on the seal and released the sea monster to roam free in the Labh Salem's seas, ending the dragonkind's authority. She still needed to complete the final steps to conclude the seal strengthening ritual over the sea monster's cage.

She had tried contacting Marina for help as only someone like her could help Azurea at this point. The other Templars were simply not qualified to even be near the control-type Array Eye.

However, for some reason, Marina didn't answer to Azurea's call for help. It was as if Marina had simply lost her voice.

Of course, Azurea wasn't worried about Marina's safety. Apart from maybe Shir with his faith-based God Spark, nobody else was even capable of damaging the strand of hair on Marina's body much less defeat her. Killing her was even more impossible.

Then what was dragon sister Marina doing at this point? Was she really in trouble?

All she could do was make Naya snap out of her confused state using her draconic voice that reverberated deep into Naya's bones.

"Hey... you lunatic panther girl," Azurea growled, her deep, commanding voice reverberating through the ocean.

"Stay... stay the fuck away from this place and go through your ascension somewhere else! Otherwise, both our sides will face tremendous casualties. Tell your lunatic boss to pull out all his forces from the region. This sea monster… you guys have no idea that the fire you are currently playing with is not a fire. It's a freaking force of pure destruction."

But it was too late.

Azurea could already feel it—the shift in the waters, the trembling in the ocean currents, the raw power swelling around Naya's body.

The S-Rank promotion trial had begun.

And there was nothing Azurea could do to stop it.

A deep, sinking feeling settled in the dragoness's chest.

***

Naya's mind was too far gone into the mysterious state she was experiencing at this point to care about Azurea's threats and warnings. She closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, letting her body become surrounded by ice and the raging currents. The water around Naya began to freeze, and various ice-element creatures appeared one after another, growling as they looked upward.

Above the sea, dark clouds gathered in the sky, covering a vast area with thunderous energy. Rain began to fall, but as soon as the droplets touched the surface of the water, they turned into pure ice before diving straight into the sea and finding Naya.

Thunder clapped, and a massive bolt of lightning descended into the ocean, striking Naya as its target. One thunderbolt after another followed.

The ice-element beasts surrounding Naya protected her from nature's attacks while also allowing some of the heavy ice droplets and lightning bolts to strike her as part of the S-Rank promotion process.

The thunderbolts and ice droplets, manifestations of Naya's elemental attainments, acted as a baptism.

She could defend herself from these attacks sent by Labh Salem's World Will to some extent, but she could not avoid or trick them—not unless she wanted to risk her S-Rank promotion and possibly die or, worse, have her mana core severely injured.

As such, Naya subconsciously chose to let some of the lightning and ice droplets strike her.

***

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

At this point, Azurea was cursing loudly. She did her best to complete the final step of the ritual, but things were not in her favor. Within mere seconds, the intensity of the bone-freezing ice droplets and dark lightning increased significantly.

In the end, several lightning bolts merged into Naya's body, and she felt every fiber of her being injured to some extent. Naya was severely injured this time.

As Naya officially stepped into the S-Rank, Azurea couldn't take it anymore and finally gave up. The mana fluctuations released from Naya's promotion ceremony were already overwhelming. Azurea knew she couldn't fight against the might of the heavens and simply chose to surrender to the inevitable.

Then, the worst happened.

The seabed, where the control-type Array Eye was located, shattered.

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

A bone-chilling shriek erupted from the depths of the array, sending waves of terror through the surrounding waters.

The ocean floor cracked open.

A horrifying aura spread through the area, suffocating and oppressive.

Azurea's breath hitched.

"He… he is about to come out… We can't stop him anymore," she muttered, exhaustion and solemnity reflected in her expression.

Her gaze then hardened.

She turned toward Naya, her eyes burning with all the hatred she could muster.

"This… this is all because of you… I'll make you pay," she growled through clenched teeth.

Azurea abandoned her attempts to control the now-broken Array Eye and lunged toward the newly ascended S-Ranker.

"No matter what happens from now on, you will die here today," Azurea declared, her voice ice-cold.

Naya remained still, her eyes closed. She was clearly experiencing an epiphany triggered by her breakthrough. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Azurea didn't care.

She raised her hand and summoned a thick surge of liquefied azure lightning—a terrifying S-Rank attack powerful enough to kill Naya instantly.

She pointed at Naya, ready to unleash the deadly strike.

But before she could attack, a layer of purple, red, and blue lightning suddenly surrounded Naya, forming a protective barrier.

A calm, deep voice echoed through the waters.

"My lady, I don't think I have given you the rights yet to decide when one of my dear subordinates dies."

There was a hint of amusement in the voice as it spoke again.

"The only real question is… where should we go for our honeymoon? Kekekeke! You will certainly have a say in this matter. Don't worry."

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