First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

Erica stared blankly at the crow in front of her, not reacting for a moment:

“Crows…can talk?”

Veega put his wings over his chest and bowed very politely.

With the manners of a gentleman, it made Erica a little distracted, but she could not ignore the fact that it was a crow.

“Allow me to briefly introduce myself, miss.”

“I am the evil god–Habbie.”

“Evil God Habbie?”

Erica murmured this name, but clearly, she had not heard of this name before.

She was very familiar with the history of the empire, and there had never been any record of such a god.

“Of course, even if you don’t know me, that’s okay, you can call me by my current name, Veega.”

“So please allow me to ask again.”

“Do you really want to save Victor Clayvin?”

Erica finally reacted. At this moment, she did not care at all who the other was, what identity they had, or whether they had the ability.

Like grabbing the last straw at the edge of desperation, she kept nodding, only wanting the evil god in front of her to save Victor.

Veega closed his eyes and chuckled softly.

“The ritual is not over yet, you want to save him, you need your strength.”

“Worship me, become my follower, and I will help you fulfill your wish.”

Black magic circles spread out like snakes hissing their tongues, gathering at Erica’s feet.

Black aura began to rise around the magic circle, surrounding Erica.

She had never seen such magic or magic circles before, and she felt very uneasy.

Because it was…an evil god?

Erica had no other choice. She could only nod and agree.

As long as she becomes its follower, she can save Victor.

This was Erica’s only thought at the moment. She did not hesitate at all, and quickly said:

“I agree with you, worship you, and become your follower.”

Veega looked at the devout Erica, and the arrogance of success shone in his single eye.

“Very good, I recognize your sincerity.”

His gaze glanced at the already fainted Victor.

And he sighed inwardly.

‘Is there really a girl who would go to this extent for you, Victor?’

‘You have really unknowingly gained some precious things.’

In an instant, mist spread from Veega’s body, as if injecting some magic power into the magic circle on the ground.

The black magic circle seemed to start dancing madly, and thin tentacles stretched out from the edges, dancing on the ground, then lit up and enveloped Veega and Erica.

The next second, the light shattered like a mirror, and the magic circle disappeared.

Erica opened her eyes to find any strange feelings on her body.

However…nothing had happened.

There wasn’t even a mark on her body.

Was this the ritual for making a pact?

If Veega knew what the girl in front of him was thinking, it would definitely laugh its mouth off.

Because it didn’t have any teeth.

Making a pact was never just lip service. This dark magic circle was just a one-way connection for the follower.

If she wanted to make a pact with it?

At least she would have to sign a formal contract like Victor did!

“Is that…it?”

Erica looked at it puzzledly, urgency evident in her tone.

Was this enough to save Victor?

She must have been thinking that.

Veega looked at her with a smile but did not speak. He narrowed his eyes and asked:

“Before saving him, I need to ask you a question.”

“Why are you here?”

Why are you at the top of the volcano?

Erica hesitated for a moment. She considered for a while before finally telling the truth.

“I heard the volcano crying out in pain.”

“It said it was hurting.”

“Oh?”

Veega glanced at Erica with interest, suddenly understanding everything.

It narrowed its eyes with a sly smile, as if using words to lead her step by step.

“So what do you hear now?”

Upon hearing Veega’s question, Erica frowned and shook her head.

“I can’t hear anything now.” She said.

That was only natural.

Veega couldn’t help thinking inwardly as it turned its head:

‘Because the Calamity of Fire has already been put to sleep by this terrifying man…’

It would probably never forget that scene.

When the final ‘Arc of Magic’ fell into the bottom of the volcano.

The surging and boiling pillars of fire and magma seemed to freeze and stagnate.

The ‘Arc’ swallowed everything, including Guldon.

In fact, Guldon could have withstood such an attack.

If it had been in its prime, it wouldn’t have been scratched by such a war spell.

But Guldon at that time was already heavily wounded, with magma flowing all over its body. Its proud defense had already been reduced to a tenth of what it was.

In the end, Guldon turned into lifeless rocks without any signs of life, shattering inside the volcano and falling into forced sleep.

As for why it was sleep instead of death.

Because, Calamity does not die.

As long as magic elements continue to exist in the world, Calamity will continue to live.

And Victor becoming what he is now is simply not due to injury.

Having witnessed his battle with the Calamity of Fire, it did not feel that anything could hurt Victor now.

What he was in now was a state called “magical overload”.

Victor had used the magic borrowed from it to fight Guldon continuously for three days and two nights without any burden.

But that power was not Victor’s after all.

The magic Veega allowed him to use was not unlimited either, and there was bound to be a threshold.

Under normal circumstances, the consumption would not reach the threshold at all.

But Victor was certainly not normal.

So at the last moment when his mana ran out, its connection with Victor was forcibly severed.

But this was still not enough to make Victor faint.

What was even more insane was that before Guldon fell asleep, he ripped off a piece of ‘magical origin’ from Guldon and forcibly fused with himself.

That was why Victor’s body seemed to be flowing with magma.

Because his body was digesting Guldon’s magical origin.

Victor had already depleted his own magic power, and then forcibly accepted an astonishing external source of magic.

If he didn’t faint, who would?

But it wasn’t a big deal either, at most he just needed to rest for a few days.

What interested Veega more at the moment was the girl in front of it.

‘Interesting, interesting…’

‘A girl who can communicate with Calamity, she probably doesn’t even know how astonishing her value is!’

This was a huge gain.

Just as it was rejoicing, suddenly it heard rapid footsteps.

‘Someone’s coming?’

Veega smiled as it looked towards the hillside. With its amazing vision it saw a silver figure.

It naturally recognized who the other party was, but now was not the time to expose itself.

In order for itself and Victor to avoid trouble, it flapped its wings and arrived in front of Victor.

It held Victor’s collar in its beak.

But its voice still rang out next to Erica as usual.

“You saved Victor, I’ll let him know about this.”

“Little girl, see you next time.”

As soon as the words fell, in front of Erica, Veega’s body suddenly began to expand. The pitch-black crow instantly turned into a shockingly huge black eagle.

It held Victor’s collar in its beak, flapped its wings, and flew up instantly.

A gust of wind blew, and the surrounding rubble was completely blown away. Almost in an instant, it disappeared from Erica’s sight.

“Victor…”

The pitch-black figure in the sky grew smaller and smaller, more and more blurred, until it faded from her vision completely.

Gwen, who arrived late, missed the chance to catch Victor and interrogate him properly.

Instead, she saw the black dot in the sky disappearing, and her expression was extremely heavy.

“Victor? What exactly is going on…”

Then she noticed Erica.

Erica’s body showed many burn marks. She knelt on the ground and squeezed out a smile at Gwen with all her might.

As if using up her last bit of strength, with a thud, she fainted and fell to the ground.

Gwen: “…”

She walked over and slowly picked up Erica.

When she looked up at the sky again, only endless torrential rain remained.