"This is so embarrassing!" Brie shouted as every single television station showed the news of her recent engagement.
"Shouldn't you be happy about this? Everyone else is!" Sasha tried her best to cheer her best friend up.
"If you didn't want anyone to find out, why did you go out wearing the ring?" Celeste asked. She was confused.
"Well it's not like I'm going to take it off! I should have been more careful– this is the last thing Sora needs is more stress and drama in his life." Brie exclaimed. She was clearly flustered.
"Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure Sora doesn't mind. Why don't we go see what they're up to anyway?" Leila suggested.
Nearly a month had passed since Sora and Brie announced their engagement, yet it was still all anyone could talk about. Things had remained mostly peaceful since the initial demon attack, which worried Sora.
The girls walked to the basement, where the dojo was located, and saw Sora sweating profusely.
"Good job. You were able to freeze time for 15 seconds that time. That's a huge improvement. Also, you didn't have any side effects," Celeste said proudly. "Your illusions now work up for 30 seconds without causing any self-harm. Just keep practicing and eventually you'll be able to push yourself further. I'd say that's enough for today."
They also noticed Levi and Jubelle were sparring again. Levi swung his blade at Jubelle, who countered it with a slash from his blade. Sparks flew.
"Nice one! What if I do this?" Levi boasted while kicking Jubelle to the ground and planting his sword right beside his head.
"Ok, ok, you win, again!" Jubelle laughed.
Levi finally noticed he had an audience.
"Hey ladies, how is everyone doing today? Did you see that new move Jubelle mastered? He's come so far," Levi bragged. "But he's still no match for me."
"All of you have. Hell, all of us have. The things I can do now that I couldn't a year ago… still kinda blows my mind," Sasha said while mimicking her mind being blown with her hand.
"Brie and Sora, Dorian and Camilla said they'd meet you in Haven in a few hours. Are you sure you don't want anyone else to come with?" Sera said with a frown.
"Thanks Sera, but it's ok. I think Levi and Celeste should suffice as we're going to the Uthra capital. I promise we're not hiding you. Next time we go to Primrose, you can laugh at all the women who give Brie dirty looks for being engaged to me, ok?" Sora said with a laugh.
"He's not kidding, you know. Ever since they got engaged… well Brie isn't very popular with the ladies anymore," Sasha said while bursting out in laughter.
Brie's angry expression caused the rest of the group to burst out in laughter.
"Thats. Not. FUNNY! I'm the Queen, the people are supposed to love me!" Brie said angrily.
"Who's going to love a Queen who's pissed off all the time?" Sera teased.
Brie finally gave in. "I seriously don't know what to do? Didn't they get the hint when I was named his Queen? What does getting engaged change? Seriously, how daft are people?" she complained.
"I think it's the finality of it. Sure, you were Queen, but you were never taking Sora away from other women. They'll get over it, eventually," Celeste said with a smile. "People are funny in that way."
*****
After everyone showered and cleaned up, Sora loaded his dimensional space with the usual necessities, as well as armor and weapons for Brie, Levi, Celeste and himself.
"Well, shall we?" Sora said, while holding the door open for Brie and the others. His car began cruising around 400 MPH.
"I wonder why the Uthra want to see us in Haven?" Sora asked.
"Not sure, the letter just said they wanted to thank the King and Queen for all their hard work." Sora said while shrugging.
The car began to slow down in the middle of a forest, screeching to a halt.
"What the literal hell?" Levi asked
"System, use analyze"
[100 demons have set up a trap and plan to ambush you.
Beware, they are led by the demon Sin Pride - SS ranked.]
"This isn't good. I fear this may have all been a ruse to get Sora and Brie separated from their party," Celeste said. "The Demon Sin Pride is here. He's quite powerful."
Sora used his dimensional void to equip everyone in their finest armor and their usual cloaks. They stepped out of the car, only to fend off demons they had not seen before.
"Celeste, what are these things?" Brie screamed out.
"They're a mutated subclass! They're quick as hell and are venomous, so don't let them bite you!" Celeste said as she used her goddess magic to quickly thwart the threat approaching her.
"Lockheart's light!" Sora screamed. This was a new spell he recently learned, which disabled enemies in the immediate area.
An evil laugh came from the forest. "I thought you would have killed the little fritters by now. Tsk Tsk. They say you're a god?"
"Oh fuck this. EYE OF CHRONOS. Sora screamed. Everything froze, except for Sora. "Lockhearts reign!" he shouted, and a magical ball expanded as it rose to the sky. As it burst, the droplets fell on all of the remaining demons, including Pride, and exploded. He disabled his eye of Chronos when he heard the explosion.
[Congratulations. Eye of Chronos is now level 5.]
"That hurt you son of a bitch!" Pride shouted. He shot a giant black shard at Sora. He quickly dodged it at the last second, but it scratched his face, causing a small cut.
Levi, Brie and Celeste quickly teleported to Sora and they stood in a formation with their backs to one another.
"Where is he?"
"I'm not sure. He shook off my magic like it was nothing. This guy has to be insanely strong." Sora said calmly.
"My sword… it's glimmering." Levi said. "To our left!"
"Divine Protection!" Sora shouted. For the first time, the barrier cracked, sending the four of them tumbling into trees.
"Pathetic. The old man should have made Azazel King. You are nothing but worthless ants." Pride screamed, as he finally came into view.
Unlike Wrath, Pride looked almost human. He stood around 15 feet tall with white eyes and black pupils. His body was completely covered by black material, which shifted every time he moved.
"What the hell do we do?" Sora asked Celeste.
"I don't think we're strong enough to beat him. There has to be a reason he's here. I'll try stalling. Look for an opening," Celeste said calmly.
Celeste sprinted forward and shot her godly magic at him, over and over. Every time one of the spells landed, Pride simply shifted the thick, black material to the area of impact and it repelled it back at Celeste.
"System, is he using some type of reflective magic?"
[I'm not sure. I cannot further analyze him. It appears the goddess' attacks have no effect.]
"Brie, after he shifts his body, or whatever the hell that is covering him, shoot some ice pillars at him. Levi, you do the same with fire. Let's see if he can handle four attacks at once?" Sora suggested.
They gave a firm nod and began shooting their attacks at Pride.
"Lockheart slash!" Sora said as he quickly dashed, only to meet the hard, black surface. He watched as all of their attacks simply bounced off Pride.
"This isn't good. We need to get out of here." Celeste said telepathically.
"I agree. This isn't a fight we should risk our lives on." Sora said.
Pride laughed. "Pitiful. Four of you at once and you can't scratch me. It's a shame, I'm only here for one reason. Which one will you save?"
Milliseconds before they teleported away, Sora screamed, "Eye of Chronos!" and froze time.
Pride impaled Levi through the stomach with a large, black shard.
"I'll save Levi, get to Brie, NOW!" Celeste ordered.
Sora teleported in front of Brie and absorbed the majority of the larger shard Pride thrust towards Brie. The shard shot straight through Sora's stomach and into Brie's chest, stopping just before her heart.
"System, Initiate link with Brie Reinhardt. Transfer passive healing." Sora uttered before collapsing in a pool of blood.
[Link and transfer of regeneration ability successfully transferred]
Celeste teleported them back to the mansion, where Sasha screamed in horror.
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?"
"It was a trap. I was able to save Levi, but basically the demon sin Pride made Sora choose between saving Levi and Brie. When he hesitated, I made the choice for him." Celeste said as calmly as she could.
"Levi, are you ok you dumb, stupid, glorious bastard?" Sasha cried out.
"Yes… I am ok. I just need some rest. Thank you Celeste, you're the best… ha, I rhymed again…" Levi said as he fell asleep in Sasha's arms.
"What about Brie and Sora?"
The party stared as Brie laid lifeless and Sora still had a giant shard impaled through his chest.
Celeste quickly pulled the shard out, cast some healing magic to close him up and teleported them both to the hospital-like room. She hooked them both up to machines and thankfully, they both showed a pulse.
"It's up to them when they come back now…" Celeste said, while shedding a single silver tear.