Altered Lightning
The desire to battle, to engage in savage combat, to trample your enemies before you… all that melts away swiftly the moment you reject it, as it has before. It looks like the strength of the instinct does not match its resilience: it is not some all-encompassing lust that cannot be restrained. At the very least you can be certain of your sanity as long as you do not take the first step.
The ground trembles, reminding you that you still have a battle to fight. Rin’s axe splits the ground, forcing you into the air. She comes after you without hesitation, smashing easily through the Forceshields extended in front of you. With each shield she breaks through, she slows down just slightly, losing just a bit of momentum, just enough for you to evade her attack. It also buys you enough time to think.
Whatever influence she is under, you do not think it too likely that it is entirely magical in origin. Her innate magical defenses aside, the radius of the magic cancelling circle was enormous: it would have dispelled a mind control spell were it cast beforehand. Thus the answer must lie in something else – your guess would be that the wound she received is some sort of catalyst. Then, the answer is clear. You must strip her to find out. There is no other way.
You narrowly dodge more of the powerful swings from that damnable axe, which is doing a lot more destruction to the surroundings than it is to you. So much for subtlety: the short fight is rearranging more of the landscape than Mother Nature has in the past hundred years. Even with Battle Premonition active, her attacks are a blur in the flow of time that you struggle to read correctly. At the moment, Rin is stronger than she was when you first fought her in the castle, but fortunately less dangerous than she was in the ruins. You would still need your strongest spell to bring down her defenses before you can strip her armour.
Your vision blurs. Rin makes a complex feint that confuses your foresight and you pay for your carelessness. The back of her axe slams into your chest, sending you spinning away. You cough up blood: your ribs have cracked from the sheer force of her one attack, and the wild thumping of your heart is becoming irregular. You can ill afford to take many more of those strikes. As you get to your feet, you catch Rin charging towards you. Gritting your teeth, you hurl a Lightning Spear at point-blank range. It reaches Rin before she can defend herself: the tip of the powerful bolt strikes the front of her breastplate. There is a flash of light, and then your spear explodes. The earth breaks from the force of the spear’s detonation, creating a radiating web of dark cracks in the ground. Rin is blown far away by the impact. She flips upright like a cat, landing on her feet and looking no worse for the wear other than for a small, smoking hole in her armour. Crouching down like a beast, she prepares to pounce on you. But you have pushed her to where you want her: your incantation is ready. “Gigadyne!” Calling out the name of your spell to complete the casting, you convert earth to lightning. Columns of electricity burst from the ground all around Rin, caging her in.
It is too bad for Rin that she is tough enough you must go at least this far to subdue her. Completing the spell, you converge the columns together and change the very air within the cage into lightning. There is a powerful flash scorching the ground: you can feel the heat even from this distance. She screams in pain, loud enough to be heard over the screeching of the lightning. As it dissipates, you see that it has worked: her axe is broken and her armour is in tatters, exposing her body and her wound. And there it is, a strange, translucent pink shard embedded in her side, just above her hip. You do not feel anything magical from the shard, but somehow it nauseates you.
That must be it.
Retrieving the shard will have to be the first step. You dart forward. Rin’s wings spread, splitting and dividing into innumerable black tendrils which shoot towards you. Their trajectory is clear to you; with a few quick hops, you dodge her attack while continuing to move forward. The few fireballs that you toss her way are batted away harmlessly with her bare hands. Then, your foresight warns you of her next move: she will anchor those tendrils in the ground and use them to launch herself towards you, like a slingshot.
She does so, amplifying her speed. Even though you are mentally prepared for it, your body is sluggish enough that you find yourself only able to evade instead of capitalizing on her direct charge. This is not good: getting too close at the moment will not give you an opportunity to extract that shard before getting your head beaten in by a crazy demon princess with insane brute strength. You roll across the torn-up earth, bouncing back up into a ready position only to see that Rin has changed direction and is continuing to charge towards you.
Keeping up this game of cat and mouse is only going to tire you out while her stamina reserves seem to be considerable. You cast an Icestorm right in front of you, peppering the field with large icicles that freeze the ground wherever they stab. Rin zig-zags through the hail of ice, crushing the frozen spikes in her way like a rampaging bull. Roaring, she tears through the last icicle and puts her fist through your chest.
“Mana Destruction!” You ignite the doppleganger that she just pierced and cause it to detonate, sending Rin flying. It will not be enough to put her down, but it will serve as a sufficient distraction.
“The material earth will transcend and soar the skies; my will is the light of judgment that illuminates the world.” It is a move that requires you to fully chant and focus, and to buy time until you are ready. Lobelia had tried to name it Gigadyne Verandert the first time she saw you using it against the powerful Bull Baron, strangely insisting in an excited tone that a move like that needs a properly cool name to shout out. You had refused.
Closing your eyes, you focus the spell on yourself.
Your body transforms into light, emitting a transient ring of energy in the process. Every bit of you tingles: it is a strange, floaty feeling that you have never gotten used to. Long arcs of electricity shoot out from your golden wings, grounding themselves before they vanish. Above your head, the halo takes the form of a crown of lightning. You can feel the flow of potential all around you, and how you can manipulate it. Taking a deep breath – more out of force of habit rather than the need for oxygen, you attempt to manage the intense drain on your mana: without constantly infusing your magic into the spell, you run the risk of losing control over your form and disintegrating. There would be no coming back from that. And if you were to be hit by that magic cancelling circle while in this mode…
Still, despite the risk, the ability to pass through walls is still too good to pass up.
Before Rin has even reached the ground from the doppleganger explosion, you surge from your original position and land in front of her with a crash of thunder. A glowing stream of flickering afterimages mark your passage. When you had first used it, you had realized it was impossible to move at such high speeds without running yourself into a tree – even though your speed has increased tremendously, your reflexes have not caught up. In the end, you had forced yourself to study Battle Premonition and incorporate it into the spell, allowing you to use it in battle at the expense of increasing the drain further. Rin falls, her body turning to deliver a kick to your face. You reach out, your fingers sinking into her flesh around the shard before she manages to extend her leg. Rin screams as your electricity spreads throughout her entire body. Her wound chars and burns from contact with your hand. You touch the shard. Even in your current state, you can feel a deep, empty cold emanating from it. Before you can pull the shard out, however, a wave of darkness obscures your sight and cuts off your arm.
Startled, you withdraw, streaking backwards and out of range as a barrier forms in front of Rin. Dark Wall: the Demon Lord’s spell. You didn’t know that she could use it. Your lightning is unable to pass through that defence… well, as long as you don’t put some more effort into it. You reform your missing arm. Then, you summon a Lightning Spear. When you grasp it, the spear transforms, flattening until it forms a large blade wreathed in crackling electricity. Your mana is not going to last much longer. This has to end soon – once you revert, your chances of success are going to drop significantly. If it means having to take off her arm to create an opening for you to gouge the shard out, so be it. There would be no point in holding back if it meant you lost the opportunity to resolve this without her death.
Rin raises her fist. It is enveloped in burning shadow. What is this, her special move or something? Are the two of you going to clash with your ultimate techniques now? You almost laugh at the ludicrous idea.
An arrow bounces off of her knee.
Both Rin and you turn to look at the shooter. You see Petze, half-hidden in the scorched grass, her bow in hand.
Rin’s glowing eyes flicker, and she half-turns towards the goblin. Suddenly, she lets out a loud cry, and punches herself in the face. Next, she attempts to rip the shard out of her body, but her claws freeze up before she can do so. It clenches into a fist, and slowly rises again, away from the shard.
“Good girl,” you grin. You close into range before she has time to react. Bringing your sword up, you sweep past Rin and vaporize her hand and the flesh where the shard is with a single thrust. Thunder booms as the air rushes back in where you had passed. As you skid to a halt, you stretch out your hand and grab the falling shard that had been knocked into the air by your strike. It had survived an attack that could harm a demon’s flesh… Behind you, Rin sinks to her knees before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
Well, that was anti-climactic. You restore your body to its normal state. The lightning streaks up into the sky as it leaves you. Immediately, the fatigue rushes in and you visibly slump. The pain, too, returns. Your cloak falls back around your shoulder, hiding your wing again. The shard in your hand lets out a disquieting keen, trembling gently before you wrap it up in a piece of cloth torn from your cloak. You will take a look at it later.
Just in time. Aria and Arlin come running from the distance, leading Lucy behind them. The villagers are nowhere to be seen. You cannot blame them: such a fight would have frightened the lot of peasants. You would have to pay them a visit after some time to explain how it would be in their best interests to keep their mouths sealed. But not today. Today, you are tired, and they would be more busy burying their dead and rebuilding their village to do anything unnecessary for now.
As for going back… that should be simple.
When the children reach you, you call a reluctant Petze out.
“A… goblin?” Aria leaps in front of you, sword drawn. “Get back, Master!”
You put one hand on her head and push her back. “That is my goblin. Her name is Petze.”
Petze nods shyly and bows.
“Y-You have a pet goblin?” Aria’s eyes are shining for some reason, as if it was worthy of respect.
“In a sense, yes, and more than one,” you yawn.
“Sis, are you really certain about going with this man? We don’t even know his name,” asks Arlin nervously.
“If you would rather stay here and be powerless, Arlin, feel free to do so.”
While the siblings talk, you give Petze her instructions. “Tie Rin to the back of the cow, then go back to the village with these two children.”
“What about you, Shining One?”
“I’ll go ahead by myself and send Robust out to escort you once I get there.”
Join the distant paths together; my destination lies before my eyes.
“Wait, you are not traveling with us?” asks Aria. “And who is Robust?”
“It is a day’s journey by foot. I could go back and sleep for half a day before coming back to meet you. Don’t worry, the path is quite safe.”
“Wait, Master, what do you mean-“
Finally, the magical energies come into place. "Teleport."
And so you return to the goblin village for some well-deserved rest.
The kingdom of Methuss and its prince. The invaders from Barzam, disguised as Galbaldians who were disguised as bandits. The shard that controlled Rin. The gauntlet that you found in the camp. Your arrival here. Your transformation. Your betrayal.
There are plenty of things that require your attention in the days to come, and you will need to take your leisure where you can find it...
---CHAPTER END---
of the voters there, bro.
The update was worth the wait, if a bit anime to the point of self-awareness. 
