"Fuccckkk!" An annoyed and distressed old man who was tired of running around in the horror of meeting his demise, finally turned around, holding his walking stick, and intended to hit the cause of horror.
However, the moment the old man struck his stick on the headless demon, it...disintegrated.
"Huh?"
"Grandpa? You got superpowers?"
"What the-" The people around also paused and couldn't believe their eyes. The old man just caused the extermination of that terrifying being with just a simple stick swing?
However, it wasn't the case with this Headling but every single one of them spread across the town.
The ground was, once again, rumbling under the titanic weight of the demon who had been silent ever since. The chaos in the town came to a standstill, upon seeing the main perpetrator of this invasion in motion.
However, unlike before, the source of every citizen's attention was not the Headless demon...rather that blazing figure suspended in the air and currently confronting the demon.
No one was able to discern the person hidden at the core of those flames except for a few individuals.
"It's surprising..." Hearing Lilia's words, Richard asked with a smirk never leaving his face,
"That Mother arrived so soon?" He asked since it had been only an hour since the battle began.
However, Lilia shook her head and with her eyes never leaving the sky, she said, "That it took her this long to come here."
Richard raised his brows. Was Lilia estimating his mother better than him? Might be possible.
But Richard was slightly confused seeing the Headless Puppet not doing anything. Surely, Bellarine was strong and exceeded any rankings, but the Headless Puppet was also Monarch-rank. If anyone then it should have been the Minx who got flustered by her appearance.
"Why isn't that thing moving...." Richard's question was met by Lilia's suggestion,
"Young master, you shouldn't see with your physical eyes to discern the Duchess' capabilities."
Richard blinked in confusion for some seconds before realizing what she was speaking.
Instantly, he closed his eyes and used 'Detection'...
....only to nearly trip over and fall on his butt.
"W-What the hell are those things?!" He couldn't help but ask, witnessing a cluster of huge arms, in more than hundreds in quantity, currently holding the Headless Puppet from head to toe—rendering it motionless.
With a helpless smile, Lilia uttered, "While we can conjure threads in the name of Telekinesis, Madame Duchess have remoulded her mental strings to her desire. Truly a feat which an anomaly could achieve."
Richard gulped and marvelled at the prowess of the renowned witch.
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High up in the sky, Bellarine had already confirmed her son's well-being. Her eyes were always on him that's why she arrived by his side as soon as she sensed danger.
And now, the one who pushed her Richie into a corner shall pay the price. She needs compensation and death shall be the minimum requirement.
'Hmm?' While she was pinning the Bate on the ground so it wouldn't escape she noticed a streak of light continuously striking against the Bate—making no evident damage.
She used her telekinesis to hold the boy and despite his unexpectedly strong resistance, she brought him close to her.
"Haa....haa...." The boy was breathing unsteadily and smoke was seeping out of his lips. His eyes contained no features, and a deep emotion of grief and rage could be sensed from him.
The boy looked like someone of Richie's age, but that wasn't the prominent thing that attracted her attention. It was the essence of the deities which the boy was radiating.
"Haaaaa!!!" The boy howled and tried to break her mental hold on him.
Bellarine didn't flinch, and after bringing him close, she spoke in a gentle tone, "Now sleep," Flicking his forehead, she dispelled his magic without a second thought, and instantly, Ethan fell unconscious.
Dropping Ethan from the hold she once again focused on the Headless Monster.
Eleanor, who had also entered the battlefield, looked at the falling figure of her future husband before she leapt over the buildings and caught him mid-air.
She somehow landed themselves back on the ground and cursed while looking at the sky,
"You could have been a little more gentle!" Spitting those words, Eleanor decided to carry Ethan to safety.....since now things were destined to turn nasty.
The colossal Bate thrashed violently, its massive body swinging left and right as the Minx, sensing defeat, fled the scene. Now unleashed, the Headless Puppet—a terror among even the strongest beings—raged unchecked, desperate to assert its dominance.
With a powerful squeeze, the Bate began to tear at the telekinetic hold Bellarine had on it. But she simply smiled, allowing the creature a brief taste of freedom, like a cat toying with its prey.
In a heartbeat, the Bate's massive hand shot toward Bellarine, enclosing her blazing form in its iron grip. Richard's heart pounded, his eyes wide with alarm as his mother appeared almost casual, letting the monster seize her. But his fear was short-lived.
A wave of blistering heat erupted from Bellarine, searing the Bate's rock-hard skin. The creature howled in agony, its hand blistering and cracking under the intense heat. It tried to crush her, but the harder it pressed, the more ferocious the flames became.
The Bate's desperate efforts only fueled Bellarine's wrath, her flames retaliating with relentless ferocity, burning deeper with each attempt to subdue her.
Realizing the futility, the Bate flung its arm in an attempt to swat her away, only to grasp at nothing but scorching mist. Bellarine had already repositioned herself behind the creature, her form levitating ominously as the atmosphere around her began to quiver.
The ground beneath her rippled like disturbed water, the sky darkening as if the very heavens were drawn into her spell.
A deep hum resonated through the air, growing louder until it became an earth-shaking roar. Bellarine's eyes glowed with a power far beyond that of any ordinary human, her voice a steady chant as she summoned the forces at her command.
The Bate, sensing the enormous gathering of ether, swung wildly at her, but it was like a child flailing against an unyielding mountain.
Unfazed, Bellarine continued her chant, a cage of flames erupting around her, deflecting every blow.
The Bate's assaults grew frantic, each one more desperate than the last, but nothing could penetrate her fiery barrier.
The citizens of Awsperg watched in awe and hope, their despair turning to belief as they witnessed the Bate, once an unstoppable force, now rendered powerless by Bellarine's overwhelming might.
A guttural growl escaped the Headless demon as it finally recognized the threat before it. The realization dawned too late; Bellarine was a force to be feared.
A reddish-purple portal flickered above the Bate as it attempted to escape, but it was swiftly snuffed out.
"Running away?" Bellarine's voice dripped with dark amusement, her grin widening as she conjured more magic circles around herself and the Bate. The air grew so dense with ether that it felt like the sky itself was being pulled toward the impending destruction.
Panic set in as the Bate turned to flee, but Bellarine's telekinetic grip tightened, holding it in place.
She made sure Richard was watching before she released the full force of her spell.
With a terrifying roar, a colossal dragon of flames burst from the spell circles, its serpentine body coiling around the Bate with blinding speed.
The inferno dragon engulfed the Headless demon, its fiery jaws snapping shut as it squeezed the creature in a merciless vice of searing heat. The Bate's roars of pain echoed across the city, its rocky skin bubbling and cracking under the relentless assault.
The dragon's claws raked across the Bate's body, tearing through its tough exterior as if it were paper, leaving molten trails in its wake. The flames consumed the demon from within, turning its very essence into a blinding, hellish blaze.
The Bate thrashed wildly, but the dragon's flames only burned hotter, until all that remained was a grotesque statue of ashes, crumbling into nothingness.
Bellarine surveyed the destruction with a satisfied nod, her eyes gleaming with the knowledge that she had not just defeated the creature, but utterly annihilated it.
The once fearsome Bate was now nothing more than a smoldering memory, and the people of Awsperg had witnessed true power in its most terrifying form.
She slowly got back down on the ground and upon reaching Richard, she suddenly began to fall.
"Mom!" Richard exclaimed and caught her in his arms.
Seeing how she looked pale and sweaty, he deemed that she must have pushed herself too hard.
However, the brunette maid standing near them could only roll her eyes at the performance of the Duchess.
'Seriously, this war goddess turns into a spoiled lady in no time...'
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A/N:- A monarch rank Bate is extremely powerful. Take an example: the Headlings were merely D-B rank, yet they were able to give Lilia and Richard a hard time.
It was just...Bellarine is extremely overpowered and there is a reason for that. I hope you will all stick with the story to know all her backstory.