The Only Son Amongst The Daughters Of Eros

[First Quest Lobby]

[Difficulty set at 10%]

[Objective: Survive the first Quest Lobby. Slay all beasts within to progress]

Above them, leathery wings stirred. They all lifted their heads and saw a swarm of manbats quickly begin to descend from the cracked holes above, their shrill cries splitting the air.

"Formation!" Aeric shouted. He gripped tightly on the hilt of his sword, eyes narrowed with determination and voice booming the four Daughters into action.

They all snapped in position. Celestia sprang forward to the front and outstretched both hands. "Protect my targets!" she cried. "Skill Activation: Light Shield!"

With a burst of bright light, a shimmering barrier of golden energy stretched outward, forming a radiant arc wall against the oncoming swarm. Celestia planted her feet firmly, fingers straight and stoic as she increased the size of shield while the first wave of manbats hurtled toward them.

"Nyx, strike the left flank!" Aeric commanded, moving to her opposite side.

"With pleasure," Nyx muttered, walking gently to the left position. Then, she raised her hand and her eyes turned dark purple. "Hear me now and come to me, my shadows. Skill Activation: Rise."

In response to her conjuration, a dark portal opened beneath her feet and tendrils of shadow slowly misted their way up, twisting into the air.

They formed two beasts, one was a Spider-Ant, and the other was a Octopus-Cat, both creatures she had clearly killed in the past.

Flicking her wrist, two shadows curled in her hands and solidified into jagged spears. She immediately shot her hand forward and hurled them at the advancing creatures.

The first two manbats were impaled midair and their bodies collapsed into lifeless heaps. But Nyx didn't stop, smiling shrewdly, she spun her halberd, she positioned the tip forward and ordered her two shadow beasts to attack.

"Go," she commanded them with a grin, "make yourselves useful."

The Octopus-Cat and the Spider-Ant ran forward, leaving the [Light Shield] Celestia had created and attacking the manbats with sheer monstrosity.

Nyx then began to shoot blasts of shadow energy at the other beasts, laughing wildly while targeting them one by one and zapping them to death.

"You get one! You get one! And you get one! Oh, you're still alive. I guess you get two! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Aeric watched her in action and was genuinely impressed by her power. It was ingenius the way she had turned the halberd into a gun of sorts, using the pointy end to help her target better. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, but it was extremely influential, especially for long range attacks which was what was necessary here.

The game plan was to remain behind the [Light Shield], and advance slowly and steadily forward as the manbats were killed.

Since Celestia's defense protected them completely, the manbats could not get through and neither could their spit venom attacks. But on the other side, all of Aeric's team's attack could get through and harm the beasts, that included Nyx's shadow blasts.

"Alright!" Aeric commanded. "Advance now! Four steps!"

He looked back at Phoebe and Misty, both of them finding authority in his gaze and moving forward in unison. Four steps from everyone. Celestia, Nyx, Phoebe and Misty. They all obeyed his direction.

Aeric then noticed Celestia let out a soft groan. His brows furrowed. The game plan rested on Celestia keeping that shield.

He looked forward and saw the manbats hit the shield face first, the Light energy burning them and causing them to die instantly, falling to the ground.

If Celestia lost control and the [Light Shield] dematerialized, they would be in major trouble!

Aeric turned to Phoebe, and it seemed she had noticed it as well. She nodded at him with her nervy gaze, "I'll do my best."

Aeric then returned his gaze to Celestia. "You alright?" he asked her.

"Their venom is burning through my Light magic," she said through gritted teeth. "I'll do everything I can to keep the shield steady but... ngh... it's getting really difficult."

"What's going on, Sun Princess?" Nyx glanced at Celestia as she kept on shooting down manbats. "We can't have you fading off now. You have to hold the shield. Leader Aeric's orders, remember?"

A worried look drew itself on Aeric's face. He didn't like seeing Celestia having a difficult time and he realized that suddenly as he saw the drop of sweat from her forehead, the red veins in her eyes and her clenched jaw.

'I'm in trouble,' he thought. 'This is the kind of thing that comes with falling in love. You start to worry too much.'

"Strengthen my target." Standing directly behind Celestia, Phoebe clutched both her hands together and lowered her face. Her breathing was uneven as she muttered the soft incantation. A faint green glow encircled her hands, her Soul Mender abilities at the ready.

"Skill Activation: Soul Buff."

The green glow intensified.

"Arrrghh!" Celestia groaned and her eyes widened. Suddenly, a burst of gold emanated from her chest and the [Light Shield] intensified with more Light energy.

It was as if her Divine Body had burst open and turned into a vacuum, siphoning all the Divinity particles in the Lobby and extending it into her outstretched arm to strengthen the [Light Shield] Skill.

The defense increased and the manbats that were closer all spattered to the ground as the burst of light from the increase struck them hard.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I'm sorry!" Phoebe cried. "Did I overdo it? I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry."

"No, no." Celestia shook her head, still holding the Shield in place, feeling rejuvenated and joyful. "You did fine, Phoebe. I feel really strong now."

Aeric turned to the Elysium Princess and smiled. "Great job, Pheebs."

Phoebe smiled back. A feeling of happiness and satisfaction that she helped coursed through her. Although, it wasn't exactly because she had helped Celestia, but because she had helped Aeric.

A smile still on her face, she saw Aeric then turn forward, his dark hair falling over his chiseled face as he yelled once again. "Alright now. Advance! Five steps!"

Another wave of manbats came, and they were dispatched as well.

"Advance!"

Stay tuned for updates on empire

Another wave came. They were also defeated, even though they were more difficult.

"Advance! Three steps!"

When the fourth wave came, they shot out a stronger venom that burned right through Celestia's [Light Shield] but only on the weaker points like high above, not the center where her palm and most of her Divinity were concentrated on, as the farther ends were more difficult to reach.

"Celestia, watch out!" Phoebe cried, seeing one scooping from above.