The Wandering Fairy [LitRPG World-Hopping]

Soren smiled nervously. "What value does that bring me?"

The question didn't even register in her mind—Cassia instantly launched herself forward with immense speed, leaving behind an afterimage.

Seeing her blazing charge, Soren's eyes sharpened. He activated Fairy Barrier, placing himself under a glass-like dome. And yet, the shield did not matter in the end. Her dragonclaw arm shattered through the thick barrier—heat expanding within the bubble.

Soren ducked out of the way of her flaming punch and stumbled back. Just as he had assumed, the barrage didn't end there. Cassia followed up her punch with a roundhouse kick, leaving an arc of fire in her wake. This time, Soren wasn't so lucky—his chest bent on impact, sending him tumbling out of the room.

"Ugh!" He clutched the side of his chest—mired with burn marks. His injuries from before might have healed, but his anima control was still all over the place. He couldn't cast his spells as quickly as he's used to.

Squinting his eyes, Soren spotted the radiant yet short figure in the distance. She walked slowly toward him, her eyes void of any luster or life.

Quickly, he tried to stand up while clutching his wand. "Why the hell are you doing this?! I don't want to fight you!"

"Lies." She replied instantly. "You're only talking to me to buy time."

Soren couldn't even say another word before she emerged before him again. It all happened so quickly, as if she had timed her movements for when his eyes blinked.

Soren swiftly switched the axioms forming in his mind's eye. Rather than Violet Mirage, Fairy Barrier emerged once again. He watched in horror as her shadow was cast from above the translucent shield, an ocean of dragonflame coating her primed wrist.

"Stop playing defense." She said coldly. Before he could process the words, he noticed something strange with his Fairy Barrier…

It was… melting?..

Soren's eyes widened. Without hesitating, he jumped back and out of the misty dome. A flash of light flooded his vision followed by a colossal explosion.

Soren was thrown back a few meters as the enter hall shook from the blast. His eyes trailed up to where he was standing just moments prior…

All of it was gone. Smoke and dust filled the air; bricks rained down from the ceiling… Walls scorched black from the immense heat.

Cassia stood upon a crater of melted stone—her snake eyes remained fixed on his figure.

How scary… Sweat and blood rolled down his cheek as he took one deep breath after the next.

This doesn't make any sense… I only came here for a conversation. How the fuck did we get here?

He exhaled another deep breath and quickly stirred his anima once again. This time, the axioms for his spell were arranged differently. A slew of glass-like swords formed in the air, floating above his head like a halo.

"Fairy Blades… This is what you wanted right?" Soren grit his teeth. "I am not going to hold back now."

No words were returned.

Cassia shaped her dragonflames like a bow then drew back the "string." A slew of scorching arrows formed within, ready to be fired in his direction.

Soren's lips curled up. "Is that something you learned from Tina?"

"It's a spell my sister used to use. Elder Kaalan shared her old grimoire with me."

"....."

The silence between them stretched. Illusory swords versus dragonflame arrows. The spells hovered endlessly, awaiting their master's orders.

"Tell me, would your sister be happy to know you're doing this? Forcing a friend to kill you?

"Even by my own twisted standards, isn't this a bit too cruel?"

Her gaze sharpened as she drew back the hellish bowstring. "The alternative is even crueller."

With that said, she let go of the string, letting the arrows fly in his direction. Soren didn't try to dodge—letting them pierce through him with ease.

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Seeing his body riddled with holes, Cassia's frown deepened. Just as she had assumed, the distant figure broke into a swarm of violet butterflies. Emerging in his place were several clones, all holding the same wand and tome.

The moment her eyes spotted them, an army of translucent swords flew in her direction. Cassia blasted them away with her flames as she marched toward one of Soren's figures, slamming her scorching fists into his chest.

One by one, swarms of butterflies would emerge from the injured bodies, disintegrating like a puff of smoke. She repeated this a few times as more and more illusions formed. Some of them were disrupted quickly using her [Eyes of the Serpent] ability, but Soren was creating more of them than she could destroy.

"You're still hesitating," She mumbled as she dodged another illusionary sword. "None of your attacks against me are real."

All the illusions laughed simultaneously. "Idiot… Why the hell would I listen to what you want?"

Her arms sunk with her gaze as she stood in silence, letting the fake Fairy Blades pass through her without any harm.

"If you won't kill me… Then I will kill you."

As she said this, Soren felt her anima thicken even more. Her Soul Realm had expanded to the size of the hallway, leaving no room for him to leave its radius. The rush of scorching heat entered his bones, cooking him slowly from within. It felt as if he had entered a volcano.

He watched in horror as VIolet Mirage and Fairy Blades unraveled—the anima fueling them dispersing in the wind.

Is it the spellform itself? Soren's eyes widened. The projection his spellfocus was creating… It was melting. The axioms he was imagining could not retain their shape and form under the eternal blaze.

"Is this her Soul Realm's Inherent Ability?"

Just as he was pondering over this, Cassia continued her radiant demonstration. The anima inside the Soul Realm stirred. Soren quickly activated [Eyes of the Fairy] to understand what was happening.

What he saw left him frozen.

The color of her anima manifested as a tornado of embers, smoke, and fire spinning endlessly around her miniature form. Axioms were spread across the floor, creating an intricate pattern.

"Shit…"

Even without [Eyes of the Fairy], Soren intrinsically knew in that moment that he really was going to die. There was no way of dodging the attack—it was simply too massive.

His mind raced to activate [The Faerie Court]. There was no other way to survive.

Just as both of them were about to activate their next move, a vibrant flash of light emerged from out of nowhere. Soren felt his mind burn. As if he had witnessed the birth of a star up close. His movements instantly turned sluggish—he dropped to the ground with no way to resist it.

What… the hell?..

The white light vanished, replaced by an insatiable darkness. In the distance, he spotted Cassia in the same position as him, struggling to even crawl away. Her radiant flames were gone. Even her Soul Weapon's dragon scales seemed to have vanished.

Soren glanced at his own Soul Weapon. Indeed, he too could no longer command it. It was as if the connection to his own Soul Chain was severed.

"It's only been two hours." A sweet voice reached him from beyond the veil. "Two hours since you've awoken, and you've already caused damage to the Holy Second Temple."

Soren's eyes trailed up—past the endless darkness surrounding them. He saw something he never even imagined to see. A flaming white silhouette of a tall woman, levitating in the air—shining brightly like a star. She had no facial features—silver fire radiating across Her entire form. Above Her head, a nebulous cloud formed a loop that spun gracefully in the brilliance of Her light.

Soren's lips parted slightly. "Sol…yara?"

"Indeed child. Did you think no one would be able to sense your commotion? Truly, I take back all my compliments for that brat Sienna. She did not do a good job raising any of you!"

At the end of the hallway, Soren saw other silhouettes gathering. The sisters of the temple had indeed figured out what was happening.

Relief washed over his body. Even if he had activated [The Faerie Court], Soren wasn't sure whether he would be able to leave unscathed. He didn't have a lot of time to escape…

Suddenly, he felt his and Cassia's bodies rise… The two of them began to orbit around Solyara's floating figure, as if she was a celestial object.

"Hm…" The High Mistress stared into the void. Soren didn't bother to distract Her from whatever She was doing.

Eventually, he heard a rather deep sigh. Turning to face the troublesome Drakari girl, Solyara asked rather plainly:

"Brat. Why do you want to kill yourself?"

Cassia kept her gaze the same, unflinching in the presence of a Saint. No words parted her lips.

Soren clicked his tongue. "You have a goal, don't you?

"Why don't you say it—perhaps we can find a different solution than this."

During the fight, it became clear to him that this was not simply an emotional response born out of trauma or guilt.

No… It felt far too logical. In fact, from the very beginning, Cassia was fully aware of her actions. She knew she couldn't reliably kill herself due to the insane regenerative abilities her Soul Weapon grants her. Therefore, she sought Soren instead…

But strangely, halfway through the fight, she pivoted to trying to kill him instead. As if achieving her goal rested upon not just her death, but Soren's as well… Perhaps only one of them needed to die in her mind.

She had chosen herself at first, but realized that was becoming impossible so she switched to wanting to kill me instead…

Soren only grew more curious. What exactly was Cassia hoping to achieve by this?

Hearing no response from her, Solyara sighed. "It seems I'll have to watch over her for a while. How boring."