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nAurora felt hesitant to open the door to the chamber she had stopped in front of. This was her final destination, the cloning room.

nFollowing the corruption had led Aurora straight to the heart of the problem, that much she was sure of. But standing in front of the final step, Aurora realized that she was getting cold feet.

n“Let’s just get it over with. I’m sure the others will take care of themselves.”

nAurora finally made up her mind and opened the door. Her closed eyes opened in an instant to face the nightmare she had been dreading to clean up.

nBut the room in front of her eyes was no different than any normal one she had seen this far. The only thing that was different about the room was the bareness inside.

nThere was only a bed and a desk inside the room. Anything else, even the walls were bare of any decorations.

n“Is this the cloning room? Somehow I was imagining something different. But this should make looking after the cloning device easier.”

nAurora shook her head as soon as the thoughts of a large machine-dominated room filled her head. Her fantasies were getting a little out of hand.

nBut finding the cloning device should not be that tough.

nOr so Aurora thought for the first fifteen minutes. But it was impossible to tell where the cloning device was inside the room.

nHer deteriorating condition made it difficult for Aurora to be able to function mentally and the stress of corruption on her body was not helping much.

nThe only thing Aurora had been able to find this far was the hair samples that had been used for cloning.

n“This is irritating. If I can’t find the machine, then I might as well erase all the evidence of this place.”

nAurora was usually a clam-headed person but her kindness could no longer excuse the actions of the Northern Republic. The palace that had seen the atrocities of the country needed to be burned down.

nAurora’s magic ignited like a flash. The fire blazed bright even in the coldness of the snow around her.

nDivine magic clashed together and fought for dominance. But the fire was a dominant force over ice and Aurora’s anger was fueling the fire.

n‘That’s it. Let your anger burn brighter. We are stronger than anyone else so let’s prove it at last.’

nThe voice inside Aurora was getting stronger. She had never heard it so clearly before but she could hear its advice now.

n‘This place is not worth the trouble to keep around. Insignificant magic like this cannot keep us down.’

nThe voice was cold but cruel. It sounded like it was on Aurora’s side but she knew that the voice was just relishing in the distraction taking place surrounding itself.

nIt was a good distraction that helped Aurora keep her focus on the task. It made the cold feeling in Aurora’s veins an insignificant annoyance.

nBut more than that, the voice was so,

n“Annoying. I don’t need you to tell me what to do. I will take care of everything by myself.”

nThe fire was burning but the cold corruption inside Aurora was on a rise as well. And the more power Aurora used, the colder and harsher she felt.

n===========================

n‘Shit. I talked big but I cannot summon my familiars anymore. This place is blocking any contract magic. At this rate, I’ll have to end up using my other tactic.’

nRita quickly blocked the magic arrow that the Mecha suit had sent her way. She quickly used her shield magic to parry the attack.

nHer fight had drawn into a stalemate this far because of her indecisive actions.

nIt might seem like she was unwilling to attack the huge Mecha suit coming to kill her at first but that was not the case.

nThe initial plan had been to find her footing and call upon her familiars to help her out. But the second Rita had tried to reach for her contract, her end of the bond had gone mute.

nIt was logical to think that the walls of this chamber had anti-magic spells waved into them.

n“Such an annoyance. But, I’m not out of options yet.”

nRita’s declaration was much more for her benefit than to convey the information. The shout allowed Rita to gather her bearings before calling forth her hidden talent.

nThose who practiced familiar magic had one taboo art they should not use under any circumstances. It was the art of possession.

nActivated skill – possession. The user can use the power of a contract divine beast outside of their summoning period.

nWarning: Skill will expire in 5 minutes on its own

n5 minutes was the limit Rita could maintain this skill, but that was not without consequences on her part.

nThe possession skill caused a huge amount of strain on the user’s body. It will likely leave Rita in a dire situation once she was done dealing with this fight.

nBut there was no other option available to her. She had to end this fight as soon as she could and then find Aurora.

n“Divine beast of lightning, lend me your strength.”

nRita flinched as the shock traveled through her body before settling in her core. She could feel the changes taking palace inside her body already.

nHer arms had small feathers sprouting as well as her eyes changed shape.

nWhile Rita would not become a demoness fully, her body could no longer stay human to channel the divine powers. She had to become a beast as well to be able to handle such magic.

nThe change in features seemed to have left the Mecha for a loss. The artificial intelligence inside the machine did not look to be as advanced as Rita had believed it to be.

nHaving lost its target, the Mecha began retreating into the base. This was something Rita was not willing to overlook.

n“Just where do you think you are going? Your opponent is right in front of you.”

nThe Mecha stopped at the sound of Rita’s voice. It seemed like the machine was not gone at least. There was still some hint of intelligence behind his eyes.

n“I’m tired of this chase now so let’s end this fight. Useless things should be discarded after all.”

nIt was likely that the mechs suit was not going to understand a thing Rita was saying but she was angry and she needed something to sate her anger.

nThe divine power in her body was going crazy and it was time to let it have an outlet.

nIt had been a long time since Rita had let loose like this but the feeling of her magic colliding with another directly was exhilarating.

nIt was just like the one she had experienced in her first trial inside the abyss

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