The magic stone being embedded into the palm of my hand felt like a blessing and a curse at the same time.
Though my body feels extremely sensitive because of the stone's effect, I felt throbbing pain from my hand too as it reminded me that we can't leave the place with the magic stone if we haven't killed its guardian first.
Lion and Orm tried all sorts of spells to remove the magic stone from my hand to no avail, making me sob and moan at the same time.
Sly cradled me in his arms as he tried to soothe me, giving me tender kisses on my face as Lion tried all sorts of spells to remove the magic stone from my hand, some of which are painful that he constantly apologized to me in a heartbreaking voice.
Everytime the pain subsided, I began to moan again in which Lion kept whispering into my ear that he will take care of it as soon as he can remove the magic stone from my hand.
I don't care anymore if the rest of the pack, especially Sly who is holding me, heard what Lion said as I want this magic stone out of my hand.
My prayers were soon answered as we heard numerous sounds of snarls and roars, that Lion immediately told the rest of the pack to get into an attack position.
Ghost commented while positioning himself in an attack stance, that maybe the reason why they can't remove the magic stone from my hand is because we haven't killed its guardian yet.
Good.
Ghost remembered.
Sly reassured me that he will protect me as he held me tightly when suddenly, something seems to pull him away from me and at the same time, a dead looking vine starts to coil around one of my legs.
So the dark spirits want revenge of what I did to them back then.
While the rest of the pack tried to kill the monsters who came inside our location, Sly tried his best to go near me but it seems that there is an invisible force trying to prevent him from doing that.
Despite being in an aroused state, I began yelling the sutras as I tried my best to remove the vine from my leg.
Sly began yelling at Lion, telling him about my current situation in which they swapped positions as Lion tried all sorts of spells to remove the force that prevented them from rescuing me.
Frustrated, I unintentionally let out several of my best colorful curses in which I can feel the pack's glances towards me.
I can hear Lion's gasps in which I tried to ignore as I'm trying to remove the stupid vine when suddenly, I heard the giggles of the dark spirits.
Those morons!
Soon they appeared, surrounding me in which Lion yelled towards them as he tried his best to find a way to rescue me.
It seems that no one can rescue me for now so in the meantime, I will try my best to fight them off until Lion can find a way to remove the invisible force.
I told Lion that he should go and help the rest of the pack while I will try my best to fight the dark spirits off. It will be a waste of his time here when he could help out the rest of the pack as they seemed to be having a hard time fighting off the hordes of monsters.
Lion tried to protest but soon realized that what I said makes sense. Begrudgingly, he went back to the rest of the pack but not before telling me that he will definitely rescue me then gave me a lingering look.
I know that look.
Keep safe too, my Lion.
....
Soon, chaos erupted inside the chamber in which the rest of the pack attacked the monsters in their ultimate forms except for Sly as usual, destroying a huge part of the volcano which thankfully, there's no lava that came inside our location.
Seriously, I cannot describe how big this volcano is. The pack managed to fit inside here despite their size though they managed to destroy a substantial portion of it in the process in which the sky is visible through a breach in the ceiling.
Hordes of monsters seemed endless but the pack managed to kill all of them with little effort.
I managed to get rid of the dark spirits too by using my Buddhist staff in which I gave them no mercy after they tried to get revenge.
Finally, I can be free from this magic stone!
....
Lion transformed back to his regular form, walking towards me with a cheerful face that turned into outrage as it turns out that the invisible force is still trapping me inside.
I should prevent myself from cursing.
If the invisible force is still trapping me inside then that means we haven't faced the guardian of the magic stone yet.
It doesn't help that I can still feel the effects of the magic stone though I tried my best to ignore it despite the fact that I'm sweating buckets.
I still can't get rid of the vine too.
I feel hot.
Maybe meditating will help.
Or not.
The pain starts to lessen in which I am thankful for but my arousal state began to get intense in which I tried my best not to look at the pack who are busy trying to get rid of the invisible force.
Now where is that guardian monster?
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a sudden intense tremor accompanied with a huge thunderous roar followed by several piercing roars sounded behind me.
Then a loud CRASH sounded in which several debris and huge parts of the ceiling landed around me.
Good thing that the invisible force acted as a shield, preventing me from getting squashed to death.
I can see the desperate looks of the pack in which Lion assured me that they will keep me safe. Then all of them hurriedly transformed back to their ultimate form, destroying the rest of the ceiling.
The entire top of the volcano got destroyed as the monster, that turned out to be colossal sized, tried to stomp on the pack in which thankfully they managed to get away though with several close calls.
Screaming at the terrifying sight before me will only distract the pack, especially Lion as he kept glancing at me from time to time as my leg has already changed color due to the freaking vine that seems to take a liking of my leg.
The monster seems familiar to me yet my brain doesn't seem to work this time as I'm getting distracted by the effects of the stupid magic stone.
Not only its size is terrifying to me, but also its appearance as there are dozens of dragon heads that are attached to its head, reminding me of Medusa.
But Medusa seems like a baby in comparison.
The dragon heads roared and breathe fire around the pack in which Sly in his dragon form attacked them as he is invulnerable to fire attacks.
Instead of having a serpent tail like Medusa, the monster has 4 legs and massive claws that thankfully is not invulnerable as Lion tried to attack it in his ultimate form.
To my great surprise, Lion managed to use his elemental magic ability as well despite not being in his regular form, sending a deadly attack towards the monster.
Lightning sparks emitted from his body in which he crashed into the monster, making it roar in pain, sending several continuous waves of lightning on its body.
Orm sent a terrible ice breath towards the monster, freezing its wings in which Alpha took a huge leap from the ground towards it, cracking it into pieces as he made several massive swipes on it using his claws.
Parts of it fell around me in which I'm thankful again for the invisible force's unintentional protection towards me.
Although Ghost can use earth magic attacks in his regular form, using it while he is on his ultimate form is on another level.
He dealt heavy damage towards the monster by continuously sending numerous boulders towards it, sending debris everywhere in which Lion roared at him, signaling him towards my direction.
I'm fine! Please continue!
I gave a grin towards them without any hint of the pain that I'm experiencing right now.
Both of my lower extremities turned dark in which I'm afraid it might eventually lead to necrosis.
....
I'm burning hot right now though I'm not sure whether it's from the infection of my legs or from being in heat.
Soon, everything seems blurry, tempting me to close my eyes when suddenly, the monster gave a thunderous roar that knocked the pack into different directions.
They are in trouble!
But, what can I do?
They were doing well at first!
I watched in horror in which the monster kept attacking them like they are some sort of a toy meant to be broken.
Soon, destructive winds surrounded them in which sounds of thunder and flashes of lightning started to appear. I can hear the pack's sounds of pain as they tried to fight back to no avail.
No....
No!!!
It is so hard to watch them getting struck again and again that they were soon covered in blood and who knows what else as they are in their ultimate form.
I covered my ears as I heard all sorts of painful sounds from them as they began attacking like they are trying to survive.
Painful roars filled the air as Sly tried his best to shield the rest of the pack from the fiery breath of the monster in which the monster noticed his intension, tried to rip his wings apart.
Sly!!!
Lion tried to rescue Sly by sending all sorts of elemental attacks in which the monster gave a huge kick towards Lion, sending him flying towards another volcano.
Alpha launched a desperate attack towards the monster by trying to use his combative magic towards it while on his ultimate form but instead caused severe rebound effect towards his own body, emitting flames in which he howled in pain.
Ghost rescued Alpha in which they tried to get away from the attack of the monster that thankfully, Orm managed to slow its movement by sending an ice attack towards the monster's entire body.
Sly squirmed in pain as the monster's fangs tried to rip his wings out in which Lion managed to save him but not without a consequence.
In a blink, Lion was sent flying near me in which he stopped moving.
Lion!
No!!!!!!!
He didn't move at all and it seems that he stopped breathing.
Lion!!!!!!!!!!
No!!!!!!
Please!!!!!!
Not only Lion but Alpha and Orm too.
Soon, it is only Sly and Ghost left.
Sly, still in his dragon form, looked at me with tenderness in which I suddenly have an inkling on what he is about to do.
I screamed at him, telling him that he doesn't need to sacrifice himself in which he flew towards me, signaling me towards Ghost.
Ghost had transformed back into his regular form in which he ran towards me and began to attack the invisible force with his fists, screaming all sorts of obscenities as tears flow down on his face.
Sly gave a soft, sad sound then with a little nod, flew towards the monster.
Ghost's hands are bloodied as he kept on banging the invisible force, screaming in frustration and desperation.
It's all my fault!
I'm useless!
I'm so useless!
Intense pain filled my heart when I saw Sly trying to fight with the monster.
Please!
Anyone!
Can someone hear me?!
I'm willing to give up my life just to save the pack!
Please!
Somebody!
Then suddenly, I can hear a familiar voice speaking inside my mind.
The voice asked me if I can still recognize it.
I closed my eyes, concentrating as I tried to remember.
Ah!
I told the voice that even though it's been a long time, I can still remember.
The voice was the voice I heard back then when I got the previous magic stones.
Wait.
Hold on.
I just realized that this is the third time that we had been sent out on a ridiculous mission of getting a magic stone.
There's something extremely fishy about this as the magic stones are not just mere magic stones as they are powerful when you know how to use them....
Oh!
But I don't know how to use them!
The voice chuckled, in which it told me how to use the magic stone and no, I can't use it again as it will cause severe consequences on my body as I'm not a magic user.
It warned me that after using the magic stone, it will deplete a huge amount of my energy in which I will be as if I'm asleep though conscious enough to be aware of my surroundings.
Sounds confusing.
In short, I will be like sleeping beauty though I'm mentally awake. And yes, I can't tell everyone about it after I'm back to normal.
Why?
The voice seems to think for a moment before admitting that it doesn't know.
That sounds comforting.
The voice then guided me on how to use the magic stone in which I hurriedly interrupted it, asking for its name.
It chuckled as it told me that it doesn't have a name and we are wasting time with our insignificant talk.
Oh, right!
Sly!
I slowly opened my eyes in which I realized that my conversation with the voice seemed like it took a long time when in reality, it didn't.
Maelsa didn't tell us the power of the magic stone, only that it's a control stone. What does he mean by that?
Wait.
If I use what I read about from fantasy books as reference, magic control stone have the ability to manipulate, enhance or suppress magic energy.
That's right!
I can feel the monster is full of magic energy!
I just have to nullify its magic!
I know what to do now!
With determination in my heart, I held my hands close to my chest in which light starts to emit from my hand that has the magic stone embedded in it.
I can hear Ghost's voice in a panic, asking me what am I planning on doing in which I just smiled at him then looked towards the monster.
Somehow, I just know what to do, like instinct...
I really don't know how to explain it properly.
But yeah, I just know.
Then I raised my hand towards the monster in which I shouted as loud as I can, telling it to die.
A beam of light emitted from my hand, hitting the monster in which it gave a huge, deafening ROAR, making me shake with fear but I tried my best to concentrate on killing the monster, thinking on how that piece of excrement had hurt my Lion, Sly, Alpha, Orm and Ghost.
I can feel pain in my heart yet I still poured all my emotions, pain, hope and courage towards the magic stone, telling it silently that I'm willing to give up my life right now just to save those who are dear to me.
I yelled extremely colorful curses towards the monster as the beam increased in intensity in which thankfully, it started to crack its body like it is some sort of an egg in which it exploded, sending a huge blast of wind everywhere that almost sent me flying to my death in which Ghost caught me in his arms.
Ghost is saying something towards me in which I can't understand as I felt like I'm about to lose consciousness.
Just before I closed my eyes, I saw Sly out of the corner of my eye flying towards me.
He's safe.
I hope Orm, Alpha and especially my Lion are okay.
Then I fainted.