Multiple tendrils came out of Lirien's palm as they stretched and covered Joseph's entire body making his body glow white however the unimaginable pain that he was experiencing was something else.
In his entire life, he always has control of the situation, therefore the request from the nobles acted as a barrier to his freedom.
But here he was, groveling at the feet of a lady. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick." Lirien said as Joseph's body was slowly rising to the air.
The flowery halo above her head gleamed brightly as more tendrils came out of her right palm.
"Argghh!!!" Joseph screamed in pain as the process went on. "Suck it in and quit your whining." Lirien groaned in frustration as his screams were irritating to listen to.
The room already was soundproof due to the activities Joseph does thus she wasn't all that worried about anyone else hearing his screams.
His soul glowed brightly as it was extracted out his body before it was plunged into the flowery halo. As for his mana tier ranking something strange happened.
Instead of it vanishing into obscurity like the norm, this time it only decreased into the fourth tier.
'Wait, it's not that it devoured his tier but rather it siphoned it.' She realized as her own mana disc core rose to his tier on the third array. A freshening gush of refreshment washed over her.
"Hahaha!" I can't believe that I actually succeeded. It seems that poisoning his meal with my blood actually worked. With that, I was able to confound and deter him from using his mana."
She had spike his food and hum being careless as always, fell for it. From there, it was like planting a seed however this one would spread her pain and suffering, distorting the opponent's state of mind making them vulnerable to outside attacks.
'However I cannot use the same tactics to take down the king. His meal is always inspected by high tier experts making it more difficult to do the same.'
She mused as she got up from the bed. As for Joseph, she used her mana to place his body onto the bed making it look as if he was sleeping.
'Knowing the king, he should be able to receive the news by tomorrow.' However she once again recalled at the time when Joseph had touched her before making several slashes on his arm.
Turning it into pasty ribbons however she covered it with the cozy quilts before leaving. She put her veil back on disposing her earlier clothes reverting back to the ones she had before.
"He said that he doesn't wish to be disturbed." She told the guards that were down the hall. "Very well." They spoke in a sentry like manner, as they remained rooted in place.
She made her way back to her own manor as she fell into thought. 'I've already taken care of Joseph but I still have to deal with the king.' She had yet to come up with a plan to deal with him.
Almost every plan that she came up with had flaws here and there making it all for naught. 'If only I had a little bit more time.' She groaned.
'You really shouldn't underestimate that trinket that I gave you.' Ashley's voice rang through her head. As of late, she had grown accustomed to hearing it.
She buried her resentment and anger leaving her with a strong taste of numbness. She had abandoned all hope of taking her down.
'Do you know that you would have been done with this quest long ago? But seeing that you were a conservative player, I chose to sit back and watch you play.'
'At first I was going to devour your soul when you either failed or succeeded but now, I guess I'll have to withhold from doing that for now. But that doesn't mean that I'll give you more time.'
'I'll give you another quirk. You should be able to use the souls that you devour to bolster your tier however do know that the more souls you use, the sharper the pain will be.'
'Have fun!' Lirien heard Ashley's goodbye. 'Under using the trinket?' At first she thought that there was a limit to using it but it was now that she recalled that she had been devouring almost endlessly.
'It would seem that this will have to be my final attack. Whether I live or I die, it will be up to fate's hands.' She gave off a grim sigh as she started to make her preparations.
*Present time*
She woke up as she knew that today was the day, whether she lived or died depended on what and how she would play.
She made her way to towards the main castle. There was a meeting today, discussing the detailed matters of the security issues.
After her carriage arrives at the grounds, she looked at the castle in front of her. The splendor of its craftsmanship was something that failed to faze her.
"Hah!" She gave off a small sigh as she made her way in. Walking through the front door similar to the rest of the nobles, this time, she did something different.
Instead of going to her allotted seat, she made her way towards the king's throne and brazenly sat on it. What was this? It was tantamonious to replacing the king, usurping the throne.
"What are you doing?! Lirien?!" Numerous shouts of confoundment and shock were thrown her way. However she ignored them as she closed her eyes.
*Boom*
Her tier five aura boomed throughout the main hall which made everyone fall silent. 'She had broken through the fifth tier?' Most were baffled however another thought came into their minds.
"Do you really think that you can take over the throne of Aurorise as a tier five expert?" The voice of the main commander reigned in the hall.
He had a rough face, multiple scars on his face and had a prosthetic arm which was greatly complimented by a replacement running on mana.
"Who dare use their mana in the throne room?!" A frustrated voice boomed through the room. Listening to the voice, it wouldn't take one long enough to realize who it was. Nathaniel was beyond startled as he sensed someone utilizing their mana tier.
He had declared it forbidden to use their mana tier in the main throne room and here Lirien was. "Do you really think because you made an advancement into the fifth tier makes you think that you are invincible?"
He spoke with ridicule as he too released his own pressure suffocating the entire room. Most nobles had disgusted faces as the pressure was too much for them to bear.
Lirien on the other hand seemed unfazed by the sudden spike of pressure off from Nathaniel. Nathaniel felt that something was off when he noticed this.
'Did that lady tell her to do this? Just like Sablestone?!' He mused as he retracted his own aura. The walls were bearing the brunt of the exchange between these two as multiple cracks started to show on them.
"Father?" He heard voice coming from his back and he knew that it was his daughter. "Zarina, stay back!" He warned to which she seemed startled as she saw Lirien seated at the throne.
'It seemed that utilizing those souls was beneficial to me.' Lirien mused in Glee as she came to this conclusion. Yesterday, after receiving that piece of information from Ashley, a new idea formulated in her mind.
The risks were huge but she knew that if it paid off, then it would truly be great for her.
'When I devoured that bunch of idiots, the assimilation process was quick since my hunger was at its peak however when I siphoned Joseph's tier, it was incredibly slower as my hunger wasn't all that high.'
'Thus I chose to make an investment and utilize all the souls that I had devoured and use them as supplements for my tier. It seemed that it was worth it as I was able to withstand the pressure of a tier six expert with ease.'
'It seems that investing into my own soul is ideal however I have a huge problem at hand.'
Instead of having being on the third array, she was on the fifth because of it. 'How did she bolster up so quick, wasn't it four days ago that she was on the fourth tier, how is she in the fifth tier almost breaking into the sixth?'
Nathaniel contemplated as his eyes turned into narrow slits. Zarina along with the majority of the nobles had already made their leave making a few people present in the throne room.
With them being Nathaniel, his commander and a few soldiers who rushed as they felt the atmosphere was chaotic. Lirien had a smug look on her face as she saw the people beneath her.
"My king. Or should I say the once king of Aurorise who perished at my hands, a tier five expert. As once your subordinate, it's only fair that you once satiate a request of mine."
Nathaniel looked skeptical as he heard this. "What is it?" He thought that she would ask for the throne of Aurorise however that was not what he heard.
"Nathaniel, I'm beyond famished and I'm hungry! So just let me devour you!" Her voice rang through the halls followed by a chilling laughter. "Hungry? Do you know what you are doing?!"
Saber's voice, the commander posed as he got into a battle stance brandishing a gold laced spear. One could already tell that it was worth a fortune by the multiple arrays and runes on it.
Nathaniel however stood alone without a weapon however he was the one Lirien treated as the most dangerous one. "For her to have this level of confidence, it's clear that she has something to help her. Treat her with extremely caution."
"Attack!" Saber ordered to which the tier four guards made their moves. In a pincer like manner, they rushed towards Lirien however she already had plans of her own.
The iconic flowery crescent appeared above her head however this time, there was something off putting about it. It wasn't its usual white color but had a deep crimson tint to it. Her assailants paused in their tracks as they saw this and retreated.
"Nathaniel! I'm hungry!" Her voice cackled as multiple red stringets shot from her flowery tendrils. "Keep your guard up!" Saber ordered as his figure was coated in a golden light.
Nathaniel stretched out his hand and at once, a dome covered his men. They all breathed sighs of relief as they saw this however their premise was barely holding up.
It wasn't designed to bear the brunt of such potent attacks and more cracks could he seen forming all over the place. 'This place is going to collapse soon.' Nathaniel mused as he continued to supply mana to his silver like barrier.
The crimson stringets unlike Nathaniel's expectations of failing to peer through the barrier was unfounded as they passed through it like hit knife through butter, easily picking their targets.
'What kind of attack is this?' Nathaniel thought as he made his moves. He couldn't stay in the same spot along with his soldiers as they tried to move from time to time.
"Argh!" One of them was caught and unlike before, his body was split into multiple ribbons, his soul, mana disc and body separated from each other in such a grotesque fashion before turning into a stream of light delivered back to Lirien.
Looking at this, Nathaniel knew that he had to make a move quick and end this battle before he fell into a disadvantage.
'It seems that she grows more potent with more people she devours. Luckily the room is vacated or else this would have been more problematic.'
Lirien however seemed to have read his thoughts as she intentionally ramped up her presence to which Nathaniel formed a barrier shielding his own men. However this wasn't meant to deter there movements but rather something else.
*Bam*
The castle walls came crashing down as if an explosion had taken place within it exposing the fight to the outside world. Nathaniel's face along with his men grew grim as they instantly realized her plans.
"Quickly! Get away from this place!" Saber shouted at those around him. Most of them had already fled however the occasional servants present were still in the vicinity.
"Why are you all so selfish? Just let me satiate my hunger and I'll let you all go!" Lirien added with a ridiculing laugh as she saw this.