The Villain's Story

Chapter 736: The Oni amongst Giants.

Alice woke up, her mind was a mess, everything was a blur and she could not even feel her own body until hours had passed. It felt as she was defrosting, the cold was finally leaving her.

Her head hurt like hell, she couldnʼt see anything and felt nauseous, she had been completely drained. Her thoughts were a mess.

For a while, she simply remained still, until she felt that she had could think like a normal human being. Nevertheless, the lethargy and nausea didnʼt go away.

Using her arms to support her drained body, she tried to rise up, only after exerting significant effort was she able to do so, taking deep breaths along the way.

ʼShit...ʼ

She bit a lot more than she could chew, unfortunately. Much, much more. Unfortunately, the second memory was useless, the only thing it managed to do was break Alice.

ʼFire... Thatʼs the weakness.ʼ

While both of them were related to dragons, the first memory was monumental, it was what she had been looking for all this time. Unfortunately, she had thought the second would be the same.

She was so, so very wrong. But there was still a problem. Fire may be the weakness but no one in the party was a fire affinity awakened.

Edward and Alan were able to use fire, but the powers of Edwards fire were... Paltry. They now knew what it could do and not, but she had a hard time believing a fire like that could be useful. Even a mountain of Edwardʼs fire would be nothing in front of a single ember of what she had seen.

That fire was simply... Different. According to Abalak, Edward was still a young member of his tribe, so it would take time for his fire to develop.

Meanwhile, while Alan had never really used his ʼPhoenix Fireʼ due to his ice affinity, he was capable of producing fire.

But his fire used his elements as the basis for their effects. His Phoenix fire was mainly something that only healed, but could exert different properties depended on what element Alan used for it.

His fire wasnʼt true fire, at least according to her. It didnʼt match what she had seen in the memory.

While she had discovered a weakness, it would be difficult to use it. The party was still in a pickle and she would have to let Sabrina figure something out.

And it was just then, that she felt something or someone staring at her. Turning her head, she looked right into the eyes of a man with the face of an Oni. Strange symbols were present in his pupils, and Alice recognized his face almost immediately.

”Ah... Ah...”

A stifled scream rang out, and she collapsed once more out of pure horror. The man with the face of an Oni looked puzzled.

”What species is this that it fears my charm so much?”

He was certain his charm was pretty high last time he checked. He checked his status and confirmed it.

”Now, what species are you?”

******

A shock woke Alice up, and before she could stand up fully and truly become awake, words appeared in front of her.

[Skill: Mental resilience has been cast.]

[Skill: Clarity has been cast.]

[Skill: Clear thinking has been cast.]

[Skill: Calmness has been cast.]

A flurry of skills had been cast on her, magic of unknown origin and she felt her mind be at ease. She felt like it was finally at peace. The memories from before still existed, but their effect had been reduced. A shattered mind had healed.

”As I assumed, there was nothing wrong with my face, but rather your mind was a mess.”

Her eyes widened as she heard a gruff voice, she looked up and noticed the source, and gulped.

There she saw him once more, the man with the face of an Oni sitting on a throne made of pure lightning, with every second that passed, the sparks of lightning and stray tongues of lightning emerging from it eliminated the brief silence.

”Ki-ki-ki...”

Alice whimpered, as she began to move away, slowly scooting back until an invisible force held her in place.

”Your remarkably weak, but a talented alchemist. Your status is pathetic. But I guess your alchemist origins are why I smell my home and kin on you?”

The man on the throne stood up and walked towards her with measured grace, he even yawned.

”Tell me, Human female, why do you smell of my home? What has happened to the giants? And have you met any lightning giant?”

Alice didnʼt answer, there was only fear in her eyes as the memory of half her body being evaporated popped up, muting her mind and mouth.

The man frowned and cast more magic on her.

[Skill: Mental resilience has been cast.]

[Skill: Clarity has been cast.]

[Skill: Clear thinking has been cast.]

[Skill: Calmness has been cast.]

He had cast the same set of skills twice, but Alice still found it difficult to answer. The fear in her mind had lessened, but it was still there and she was thinking of what to do. The man with the face of an Oni frowned once more. She didnʼt understand, or rather hear his words before.

”Well, I tried to be courteous, human female.”

And then, his hand moved as fast as lightning and the tips of his index and middle fingers pierced her forehead, drawing some blood.

And then, Alice felt... Sleepy. So, so, so sleepy.

”Ughhh...”

The manʼs eyes glowed a deep blue, as he took over Aliceʼs mind and saw what ever memory he needed to see, a smile crept up his face as he continued.

Every second he was filled with glee, but a frown emerged after a while, which was shortly replaced.

”My home... is free of fire?”

He retracted his hand, and contemplated.

”My home, Gigama, is free of fire... Finally. But you humans call it Gigantia...

Not a bad naming sense, but your species is relatively new to mana. You found my home, have you been blessed by the goddess of luck? You found me too, so you must be...”

Slowly, Alice started to gain clarity, and she saw the man with the face of an Oni deep in thought, having went back to his throne. He seemed to be happy, very happy by the smile on his face.

”But what are those paltry imitations of my species? That bastard really did a number on us. Hmmm. I can fix them...”

ʼThatʼs... Kizmal. Holy shit.ʼ

The man on the throne, with the face of an Oni and a surprisingly high charm stat was Kizmal, his face was identical to the horrific fragment that she had seen. Albeit he was smaller now.

He still dwarfed over her and even Alan in height, but much smaller than the mountainous version she had seen. She collected her thoughts, and was certain the magic he had cast on her was helping greatly.

But she couldnʼt be sure if he wasnʼt manipulating her or not. What if those skills were like the ones demons used? Fake prompts that hid malicious skills and corrupted the mind.

”Do not compare me with Lucifer and his kind, We giants are different.”

She froze as the giant seemed to read her thoughts... Why did everyone have the ability to do that nowadays? Azmakul was enough.

”That fossil is still alive? Give him a fuck you for me when you leave.”

”... Leave?”

”Why yes, do you want to stay here forever? I wouldnʼt mind the company.”

”No! No! I would like to leave, Iʼve overstayed after all... How do I leave?”

She had tried cancelling her skill, Assimilation but it had not worked at all. How would she get out of here?

”When I let you out, now stay still, I wish to relish in my worlds beauty. Giganum before hellfire was... A blessing.”

He had never seen it before, but a connection to their home world was strong with every species. It was the place of their birth, where their progenitors had lived and paved a way for their future generations, a place where their power was greatest.

The dragons had Dragonium, The God beasts had Al-Chiza, the elves had Elvenheim, The dwarves had Vulcanus, The orcs Orkland, even the humans had Earth.

But he had never seen his home world, and everyday he could feel the fire that had engulfed it from afar.

Therefore, he wished to relish in its beauty, itʼs astral sky, itʼs large peaks and stellar oceans, the greatest of plains and the grandest of deserts. He had never seen a Giganum devoid of fire in his dreams.

And although the little girl in front of him had explored only a little portion of it, it was so incredibly beautiful. He could see the entire world with his power, and he was happy his home was recovering.

His only annoyance from it was the large population of minotaurs that treated Giganum with such disrespect.

They would have to be purged, with furious storms.