Cat sorcerer Lulu.
When she stopped her long wandering and settled with the character of Irene Pareira, she truly thought that there was nothing more she could wish for.
While laughing and talking with Irene and eating and traveling with Irene, Lulu felt happiness and comfort, which she had never felt before, and hoped that it would continue for a long time.
However, she realized something when they met with Ignet Crescentia in Derinku.
That she would have to work much harder than currently to make sure that the happiness lasts for a long time.
‘It is good to enjoy your present happiness, but you will have to work a little more for the sake of this precious relationship.’
What Ignet said was true.
Lulu really couldn’t do anything when Charlotte and Victor were blocking Irene’s path.
Even though she valued Irene more than anyone else, she was frozen in place and desperately waited for that disaster-like woman to quietly deal with the situation for them.
And she also knew that she could never guarantee that such a thing would never happen again.
And from that day.
Sorcerer Lulu didn’t just accept the happiness around her but also decided to develop her strength to protect those around her as well as their happiness.
And now.
An enemy as strong as Ignet Crescentia, or even more powerful than her, was facing them now, and the hard work she did for several months was paying off.
Paah!
Light shone from the body of Lulu, which was rotating in the air.
The light was bright enough to blind the eyes of everyone present.
Everyone, including Karakum, turned their heads away.
Meanwhile, changes began to happen in the black cat’s body.
Her chubby arms and legs stretched out, and her fluffy hair disappeared.
Long and ebony-like hair grew out, and a black robe wrapped around her smooth, newly bloomed body. It was the sorcerer's battle attire.
And that wasn’t the end.
Crack...
The sound of something growing.
A pair of horns and wings came from the body.
Lulu, who finished transforming, looked at her own body.
And in a startled voice.
“Uh! I transformed into a human! I didn’t think this could actually happen!”
It was true that she had been training with this transformation in mind.
And she was well aware of how hard she practiced all this while, but she knew that she could never defeat an enemy like Ignet.
However, that wasn’t a problem for her.
She didn’t have to be strong. As long as Irene wasn’t in a crisis, she thought that it was okay to lose all her current strength.
That meant she was ready to 'sacrifice' the power which could normally be exerted in exchange for a more powerful ability.
‘To be activated only when Irene is in dangerous situations.’
And there was nothing suitable for that than form transformation!
That was the thought Lulu had in mind when she was reading a fairy tale in Eisenmarkt.
However, she didn’t expect that the appearance after the transformation would be like this.
She was now into a human girl, and there were horns on her head.
And the wings were something else.
Regarding feathers, there weren't many. Lulu complained in her mind that the wings looked similar to a bat.
“I would have liked fluffy wings.”
“…”
“…”
The four of them who were watching the scene, and Bratt especially, had a stiff expression.
‘Dragon?’
A mystical existence that appeared only in legends and was supposed to exist 400 years ago.
Since it had a massive castle-like body, it is often said to know how to transform into humans, and Lulu’s appearance now was similar to that.
But of course, Lulu couldn’t be a dragon. She probably saw this somewhere in a book she read.
But even so, this was a sight enough to shock people.
“…”
It was the same with Karakum.
He thought that the cat was strange, but after talking to him, the cat suddenly turned into a weird being.
He couldn’t even predict just how much power was inside this being.
It was because despite being an excellent warrior and animist, he was ignorant to sorcery.
And just one look at the sorcerer, and he felt his head pounding and sensed the weird air around the cat.
‘Sorcerers are known to be unpredictable… but this one definitely takes the lead.’
But he didn’t think that he was going to lose.
Karakum was strong. With the exception of the three strongest in the world, Ian, Khun, and Julius, he was confident that he wouldn't lose to another.
However, there was always something troubling when the fight was against a sorcerer who was considered to be unpredictable.
It was when he was thinking about that.
“Yap!”
The sorcerer, who was looking at her body, stretched out her hand in the air.
And it was something Irene saw and often did, but soon something different appeared.
A long staff.
Lulu smiled contentedly at her staff which was large and splendid.
“Wow, so pretty!”
“…”
A voice so innocent that it was hard to believe that she was in the middle of a tense battle.
In response to such a reaction, all of Irene's party were blank-faced and even Karakum, who was raising his energy, stopped for a second.
It was then.
Another 'Yap!' sound, Lulu pointed at Karakum this time with her staff, and a large fireball shot out from the chrysoberyl stone embedded on the head of the staff.
It was comparable to the movements of the swordsmen who had risen to the level of Master, and had a speed that couldn’t be ignored.
However, there was no way Karakum could try to avoid it.
“Ah, I missed it.”
“…”
The fireball flew upwards.
The four people sighed, and even Karakum had a faint smile on his face, thinking that he had become nervous for no reason.
Of course, regardless of the reaction, the fireball was still flying.
Wooo!
Passed over the head of the orc warrior Karakum.
Passing the heads of the orcs of the Durkali tribe.
The fireball flew farther than that and fell to the ground.
Everyone gathered and looked at the place the fireball fell.
And after a while.
Kwaaaang!
A tremendous roar and a light that blinded their eyes and deafened their ears.
Wheik!
“Ugh!”
“Uuuhh!”
A strong aftershock followed too.
A strong wind accompanied by a heat that was enough to rip the skin off the people present there.
There were orcs which were closer to it, who couldn’t stand the heat and fell to the floor.
But the aftermath didn’t reach the place where Karakum stood.
However, the scene which revealed itself after the dust died down, made everyone go still.
“…”
“…”
A crater so huge one couldn’t guess.
And the person who created that bloody scene was mumbling with a gloomy expression.
“I can’t do it. It’s so difficult.”
Everyone stayed silent at the words of Lulu, which sounded serious.
It might be due to the fact that it was a power she had never used before, but more than that, it was because the power didn’t suit Lulu.
At the most, she used her abilities through transformation, but she wasn’t used to the feeling of controlling the enormous power.
Besides, she felt overexcited then, and now she was suddenly tired.
Maybe it was because she had a time limit to her transformation.
Most transformations Lulu encountered in the stories were like that.
Something like a beautiful woman who turns into her original form at 12 in the night.
But still, there was no problem.
She smiled as she looked at Irene.
‘The reason I did that was so they wouldn’t get hurt.’
That was all. It didn’t matter if she defeated the man or not.
She didn’t care whether the fight was won or lost, as long as Irene was safe without being hurt.
And she knew that there was no way she could even handle the opponent who was great at attacking.
Lulu raised the staff once again, yap! And exclaimed that.
‘Not with the intention of hurting the ones I don’t like, but with the will to protect the ones I love.’
Woong!
A white light began to shine from Lulu's staff after she finished thinking.
A much more refreshing feeling of power than the one she felt before.
And then the light flew to the sky and split into four stalks.
Onto Bratt, Ilya, Judith, and Irene.
Pahh!
“…!”
The light which touched Judith’s body turned into red energy like a flame and wrapped around her body.
“Hm?”
The light turned blue and did the same for Bratt.
He was shocked at the surge of strength, which was similar to a flowing river.
Ilya had the same reaction. The silver energy which surrounded her turned her much lighter.
The blessing of the wind.
And finally, Irene Pareira.
Surrounded by a golden energy just like his from his great sword, he took the stance looking at Karakum.
“…”
“…”
“…”
So did the other three.
With unparalleled power compared to before.
The young geniuses raised their swords together against the strongest orc warrior, with the support of their friend, who was more reassuring than anyone else.
Looking at the four, Karakum let out a low laugh.
“Haha…”
He felt like the throbbing headache he had would stay even if this situation was cleared.
However, it was fortunate that the people brought by his son were to his liking.
Karakum made eye contact with all four swordsmen one by one.
He could see that the children in front of him were more passionate than any warrior in his tribe, and looking at the humans with clear eyes, he drew out the most energy he could.
His eyes were now blazing with flame, and the air around Karakum turned hotter.
It was a situation in which it seemed like the fight would resume once again at the slightest trigger.
The Durkali orcs gulped and watched the tense situation, unsure of what would happen.
However, it wasn’t Karakum or the humans who put an end to the fight.
It was Kuvar.
Step! Step!
Kuvar approached Karakum slowly with a firm figure.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
The energy from the strongest warrior was something that Kuvar couldn’t endure with his body.
For him, who wasn’t a warrior, the energy was excruciatingly painful.
However, Kuvar didn’t stop.
He didn’t groan in pain, nor did he grimace.
Standing in front of Karakum, he knelt down with a serious expression.
And then he hit his head hard on the floor and bowed.
“Durkali’s spiritualist Kuvar…. No, the immoral child who sees his father after 17 years begs for forgiveness.”
“…”
Karakum, who looked at his son, then raised his head.
And looked at the 4 swordsmen.
And the unpredictable sorcerer.
And then at the warriors of Durkali who surrounded them, and finally he looked down at Kuvar.
His expression still cold.
Shhh…
However, the energy radiating out of him vanished suddenly.
And turning away, Karakum said.
“… let’s talk at the castle.”
“…”
Kuvar didn’t answer.
The wandering orc sobbed for a long time without even thinking about wiping the tears which were flowing down his face.
Lulu, who watched that, jumped and flew towards Irene and then hugged him.
Shhh-
The cat sorcerer turned back to her normal form.
Holding Lulu in his arms, Irene thought.
‘The figure which Lulu just showed us… was it an influence of the fairy tale books?’
He couldn’t figure it out.
More importantly, he just wanted to hug Lulu, who did everything she could just for himself.
