Lirien continued to seat comfortably at the king's throne as multiple tendrils grew in all directions.
The flower around her was expanding, getting bigger and bigger till it completely overwhelmed her own figure masking it completely. The class of white and the crimson was an eerily piece to look at.
It seemed foreign and otherworldly, as if it was never meant to be looked at nor to be comprehended by the naked eye.
"Argghh! Save me!" Multiple cries of help reigned through the air as they were holstered way up into the air. Shrill cries could be heard which were mortifying to listen to.
Once entangled, their fate's were sealed. The guards tried to cut off the tendrils however they couldn't come into direct contact with it regardless of how much they tried.
Using mana didn't work as it would pass right through it and physical contact was out of the question. Wasn't it the same way that those devoured came to be?
"My king, what do we do? We can't directly touch her as she has shielded her body within that flower. And mana attacks seem to deal no damage to her."
Nathaniel was at a disadvantage. They couldn't touch the enemy and yet they could brazenly touch them. It was a losing battle. Not to mention, she didn't seem to absorb the mana orbs around her greatly meaning that she would last longer than they would.
"Stand back!" He ordered to which the subordinates around him yielded as the backed off. His figure rose majestically into the sky as it was bathed in a fiery red ember.
For a tier six expert, levitation was something that they were capable of even I they didn't take the path of air for mobility. They could warp the mana around them and manipulate it to their liking.
His figure, radiant light, a symbol of the Hawthorne lineage, a dazzling fiery eagle manifested itself within his own body. It was the signature of his bloodline and it was deemed one of the more potent ones as it death with the fiery element.
Such could cover large areas, deal heavy damage to opponents and coupled with other attacks, it would bolster its lethality greatly. In this case, he had a theory which he wanted to test out.
The fiery red eagle was visible from afar as it drew attention similar to a candle in the abyss, it being the only light source. "Let's see if you can deal with this!" He scoffed as he charged up his attack.
The fiery embers around him seemed to falter slightly as the golden glow started to diminish and replaced with a strange red glow at its core.
As more time passed, more souls were devoured and he knew that he had to charge up his attacks property or the desired effect won't be resulted.
Sensing his advances, Lirien shot out multiple tendrils which targeted his figure. "Quick, protect the king!!" Saber ordered to which multiple guards intercepted the trajectory of the tendrils.
They served as bait, intentionally sacrificing their own lives so as to save Nathaniel's. Nathaniel had a remorseful look on his face as he saw the event unfold before him. The souls that offered themselves for the tendrils would be brought back to the core of the flower.
It's core white while the petals and tendrils crimson, the flower only seemed to grow bigger and bigger with each passing moment as its size by now was equal to the castle.
And in the midst of all of it, Lirien's figure sat peacefully as she saw the events unfold before her. She could vaguely tell what Nathaniel's plan was. Seeing the fiery ball of inferno in the sky, she had to deal with it before he was fully ready.
She could feel the life force of the souls she devoured, greatly bolstering her prowess however she had yet to have her fill. 'Despite the numerous souls that I have devoured, this flower is like an abyss.'
Her vision had been altered. As of now she failed to see people but rather, all she saw was souls. Some running, others cowering and Nathaniel's hovering way up in the sky.
'It seems to have no end to its appetite regardless of all of this. Let's see its true limits! Hahaha!" She cackled as she shot more tendrils towards Nathaniel before she realized something and changed her trajectory.
Zarina who was making her way out of the castle grounds was shocked as she realized the multiple tendrils shot her way. Saber realized this as he charged over to save her.
His movements were slower in comparisons to the tendrils. The tendrils however did not directly go for her, rather they circled her carriage. "Father?!" Nathaniel heard a cry for help and how could he not realize who it was.
"Zarina!!" He cried out as he was tempted to stop and descend and help her. "Go and aid her!" He murmured to which Lirien's surprise, the eagle that was coating Nathaniel's figure made a sharp descent.
"It's a shame that I can only siphon ranking and not innate talents." She gave off a light sigh as she focused at the matters at hand. Looking at the eagle, it appeared as a red hazy figure crashing to the ground.
Zarina who was despairing was shocked as she saw an eagle charge towards her and in an instant, it covered her entire figure and raised her way up into the air and flew fast away from the vicinity.
"Did you think that I had forgotten about you?!" Lirien spoke softly as the tendrils suddenly changed directions and headed towards Saber. He wasn't that far off from the tendrils thus he tried to dodge them.
She had anticipated this as she had already surrounded his figure forming a dome around his presence. He was completely wrapped up from all sides. He knew the fate that was in store for him as he had a dejected look on his face.
But that didn't mean that he would willingly succumb to his fate as he brandished a vial of poison and drank it whole. "Don't think that you will be able to devour my soul so easily!" He murmured as a smile of resignation crossed his face.
'Hmmm!' Lirien furrowed his brows as she felt that one of the souls that she had captured was damaged. 'If there is damage to the husk then it may affect the soul depending on the attack.'
'A slow and painful death with ensure that the soul will have a chance to remain mostly intact however a direct and forceful damage to the body will harm the soul greatly.'
She concluded as she proceeded to devour Saber's soul. He had just recently taken the vial therefore his body was yet to be fully afflicted by the poison.
'If it was much later on, then his soul would have proved useless to me.' She mused as she came to such a conclusion. The more she knew, the better it was for her and the more she would prepare in future events.
His attention however was shifted back to Nathaniel. 'It seems that he is ready.' She scoffed as Nathaniel towered way above her figure. The fiery inferno of a ball teetered above her.
Threatening to torch her entire presence making sure that there was nothing left after impact. Instead of him launching it at her, he did something else.
He launched smaller balls of fire making the scene seem like an inferno hell. Similar to brimstone in hell as it would rain. The same could be said here. The scene played out in front of the eyes of the citizens of Aurorise.
They fell in awe as they saw this, making them feel reverence and fear for their king. But what was peculiar about them was that they had an extra perk to them.
'He has laced the attacks with the poison of a tier four Red Skin Lothern! To think that I would be the one bearing the brunt of such an attack is comical.'
She had recently been looking for such a vial and yet here one was. Instead of her using it, it was being used against her. With her keen perception, she was able to see what his goal was.
'He has laced these fireballs with poison. It seems that he is trying to deter me from devouring any more souls by damaging the bodies of others, killing them in the process to make sure that I don't get my hands on them.'
She was shocked that Nathaniel would make such a daring move against her. He was intentionally killing off anyone around her, whether be it his subordinates, his nobles or his citizens, they all met their demise at the brimstone hailed at them.
Truly purgatory. It was to be exposed to the fiery inferno or it was to have one's own soul be devoured. Nathaniel however seeing that Lirien's rate of devouring had started to slow down wasn't pleased in the slightest.
He was the one who was bearing the damages. Be it property, servants or image. He was losing it all in this play not to mention this fight was no doubt likely to weaken the prowess of the kingdom.
'If this keeps ongoing. Then a lot of powerful people will fall here and it will be even harder for us to defend against demons or the advances of other hostile kingdoms.'
Of course when he got stronger, he made allies as much as he made foes. If he was to be caught off guard, then it could spell doom for the future of Aurorise.
'Seeing how callous Lirien's advances are, it seems that she isn't focused on taking over the kingdom but rather destroying it completely. I have to end this quickly.'
Nathaniel mused as he supplied a huge amount of mana into his fireball expanding it in size. In a casual movement of his wrists, he made it come toppling down as it headed towards Lirien's figure.
Lirien seeing the inferno ball directed at her figure, a smile appeared on her face. Even though the tentacles she produced couldn't bear any damage, the same couldn't be said for her.
After all, at the core of this flower was her regular mortal body. She couldn't dodge it as its radius was too large, not to mention the blast radius was something else she would have to worry about.
As the fireball drew closer to her, the alien flower seemed to grow brighter and brighter. Noticing this, Nathaniel spewed multiple smaller fireballs to first tenderize any barriers she might have set up and the bigger ball would smash through it guaranteeing its kill.
*BOOOOOOMMMMM*
The inferno crashed hard into the ground as the radius around it which spanned for about a kilometer was turned into a fiery ash.
Of course he tried to minimize its size as he had to cater for those that were far away. If not, then he would have created a monstrosity that was capable of flattening the entire kingdom. This was capability of a tier six expert!
He thrust forward a gush of wind to clear the smoke and dust that had yet to settle down and to his pleasure, the flower that he wanted gone was ok the brink of its demise.
It's once bright and vibrant crimson color seemed pale and lifeless with the white core ever so hazy, almost as if it was on the verge of dissipating. The multiple tendrils that hung about all seemed to retract back to the flower.
However this sight of relief was rudely interrupted by a voice behind his figure. "I'm yet to be satiated." Before he could turn back, a sharp pain assaulted his chest.
Multiple tendrils emanated from the creature behind him. His face was palpable in fear. Thus was no longer a being if this world. Lirien's figure was mentally jarring.
Multiple tendrils came from her back all bathed in a clash of pristine white and deep crimson as her entire figure was completely bathed in light. She was a complete soul, existing without her husk of a body.
In a swift motion, his pitiful cries came to an end as his body crashed hard into this ground. The eyes of many were distraught as they saw this scene.
"Let's finish this up." She proclaimed as multiple tendrils shot from her back.