Lucilla flew between the crumbling and corroded buildings, with rusted metal frames sticking out from behind crumbling concrete walls. Yet they managed to survive nearly three thousand years of neglect in Miasma. She eventually landed near one of the smaller buildings with only three stories and made from red brick. There were some undead on the street, but with a simple wave of her hand they were all shredded into a gory fleshy pile on the ground. Once the area was free from the minimum danger they could pose to her, she turned her attention back to the structure.
Compared to the buildings around it, this one was in better condition. Sure, there were crumbling walls that left missive holes in the side, but the building itself hadn't partially collapse on itself like the ones surrounding it. The smaller stature of the building also seemed far safer than entering one of the ones that reached far into the sky. Lucilla needed to make camp for the night, and this place was as good as any. Before she could do that however, she needed to complete the task she came her for.
Slinging the bag off her back, which was made easier when she got rid of her wings, she rummaged inside it for a few seconds before pulling out a crystal teleportation seed. She stared at the fluctuations inside the object before looking towards the middle of the street. This was the tricky part.
With the high concentration of Miasma, the chances of something going wrong while the seed grew increased significantly. She would need a barrier that could survive long enough to implement her plan. Walking to the middle of the street Lucilla placed the lantern on the ground beside herself before sitting down and crossing her legs to begin meditating. Before she could even start however a voice rose behind her.
"What an interesting location you found yourself in."
Startled Lucilla jumped, grabbing Geminus and Filia, holding them in her hands as she faced the intruder. With her scythe at the ready Lucilla was prepared to swing until she realized she recognized the speaker. It was Grivion, the Dark Elf monster.
His ancient blood red eyes studied her as an empty smile dressed his face. "So jumpy." He said, unbothered by the weapon pointed at himself. "Is that a scythe? What are you going to do? Cut some grass?"
Lucilla scowled in annoyance. It's been a few hundred years since she last saw this person, and their time apart didn't make her any more welcoming to their presence. They were like one of the forsaken in Lucilla's mind. Creatures from another realm that leaked into theirs, always trying to tempt people into making deals with them.
"What do you want? I never called you." Lucilla growled.
"Yes, and that's the problem. You never bothered to call an old friend to inform them you were back in the mortal realm. How cruel." He mimed wiping a tear from his face. "Well anyway I'm just here to ask if you need any help dealing with the Hero."
"Even if I did why would I ever ask you?"
"Hm, I suppose this isn't considered much of a crisis for you." He spoke as if making an observation, he then started to walk around her. "You may not be as powerful as him but dragging him to this environment would give you the edge you might just need."
He then paused as he steps back into his original position. "However, here's a piece of ad-"
"I don't need it." Lucilla said cutting him off.
"Relax, this is free. It's on the house as those in this city once said." Grivion's smile grew wider yet still felt like nothing more than a mask. "I'm just suggesting you bring along some hostages. The Hero's aura protects him from the effects of Miasma for a period of time, and that extends to those around him."
"Yeah and?"
"Come on, you're a big girl, take a guess."
Lucilla had already figured out what he meant. It wasn't hard the Elf was practically giving her the answer, but she refused to say anything. She watched him silently for a while before he gave an exaggerated shrug and turning the other way.
"Ah. One more thing." He said as if just remembering. "How do you plan to protect that seed there? You'll need a barrier will you not?"
"I got it, you can leave now."
"How confident are you in creating one? How much control do you have of that Celestial Energy anyway?"
"... Enough."
"Heh, we'll see. Just call me when you can't figure out how to do it yourself."
Just as suddenly as he appeared, he quickly disappeared from view. Lucilla didn't even see him move. It was as if he was never her in the first place. After carefully observing her surroundings once again, she sat back down to meditate.
-- -- --
Hour's past and exhaustion had taken over. While Lucilla could manipulate Celestial energy on a small scale, using it for such a complex spell was both exhausting and Difficult. With no visible progress and her mind heavy from lack of sleep, Lucilla decided to call it a night. She didn't know what time it actually was with the Miasma blotting out the sky, but she figured she's been up for almost twenty-four hours at this point, if not more.
Grabbing her stuff, Lucilla walked towards the dilapidated building. The wallpaper had long rotted away, leaving nothing but the brick underneath, the carpet that once covered the floor was nothing more than a brown slick sludge with the rotten remains of what was once furniture sitting atop.
Lucilla grimaced; thankful she was wearing shoes today. as she searched for a cleaner room. Stepping through a door located in the back of what looked to be a common room, Lucilla found herself inside a workshop of sorts. The ground was made from large stone slabs and covered in a fine layer of dust. Stepping foot inside, she scanned the room. Her sense of smell couldn't help while here, but she still had better vision than most humans.
*Clang*
Just as she was about to conclude nothing was in the room, something crawled out from underneath a pile of rusted scrap metal. It was an Dwarven undead. Half their face was missing, leaving nothing but the thick skull underneath. Its skin was a mixture of sickly green and purple, with black sludge leaking from various wounds across its body. The undead's left leg was twist around, practically dragging behind it as the creature stumbled its way towards Lucilla.
"Gross." With a wave of her hand the Miasma in the room responded to her command. Solidifying into a large arm, it grabbed the walking corps and dragged it outside the brick building. Lucilla then closed her hand into a fist, which the solidified Miasma copied, crushing the corpse into a gory mess. With a sigh, she went back to the workshop.
Using wind magic Lucilla gathered the dust and blew it out of the room. Once the ground was cleared, she unhooked the sleeping bag from her large bag, before unrolling it and laying out onto the ground. Sitting down on the sleeping bag, Lucilla pulled of her shoes before curling up onto the sleeping bag. She laid there in silence, willing herself to sleep.
Perhaps she'll dream of something pleasant for once.
________________
Waking up a few hours later, Lucilla quickly got herself ready, before leaving the brick building. She was once again standing in the middle of the street getting ready to make a barrier that'll block out the miasma. This time however she pulled out five mana stones to act as mediums. She had hoped she could do this without them, but she was still far too inexperienced at precise control. It wasn't really needed in the soul realm when she could just brute force it.
Placing the stones that were imbued with the light element in a circle, Lucilla positioned herself in the center of them. With the lantern beside her, she used the twins to help her manipulate the mana from both the stones and lantern, connecting them together. She quickly followed the program Judieth had once shown her, creating a cleansing area that got rid of any impurities.
Because of her innate ability to manipulate mana that isn't her own she finished much faster than it would a normal person. It still took her over an hour, but once finished she was able to breathe clean air for the first time in over twenty-four hours. Breathing in deep, the silver haired woman let out a sigh.
"You don't realize how nice fresh air is till you don't have it." She said to herself. "Now then, on to the last step."
The problem with spells is that they need a constant supply of mana from the caster. Ritual spells that use permanent mediums, like the barrier covering the capital of the Theocracy, have found ways around this of course, but they require a constant source of energy.
With smaller ritual spells, like the one Lucilla was currently performing, it'll need at least one mage to stay vigilant at all times just to keep it going. However, the monster woman had other options. She had Celestial energy. She could make this entire thing self-sufficient for much longer. Since the effects of the barrier isn't physical like stone or water, it'll fade over time even with Celestial energy. Which didn't matter to her since that's longer than the lifespan of even Demons who live for three-hundred years.
With her lack of precise control this was the best Lucilla could do. Insert Celestial energy into an existing spell. She didn't want the Hero escaping either, so she'll make sure to make the trip one way before leaving.
With that she closed her eyes and concentrated. She carefully guided the Celestial Energy from her body and into the spell. The power of the Celestials strengthened the barrier, making a small pocket of purity in a rotten land of death and decay.
This was a much slower process than when she was initially programming the spell, even if it was simpler. She sat in silence for several hours, until every inch of the spell was imbued with Celestial energy. Once she was done, she let out a slow deliberate breath as she wiped the sweat off her head. Standing up, she channeled Chi into her eyes and inspected her work.
Confirming the Celestial energy was firmly attached to the spell she pulled out the teleportation seed and planted it into the ground. The crystal seed slipped through the ground seamlessly, as if cutting through water. Once implanted into the ground Lucilla channeled arcane energy into her hands as they hovered over the spot the seed was and started chanting. After completing the last step, she checked her work on the barrier one more time and the seed.
Once she finished checking that everything was in order she gathered her supplies. Making sure everything was secure on her person, she materialized her wings and took off into the sky, this time without the lantern. Looking around she noticed she could still see better than when she first entered, but her range has decreased significantly without the lantern.
"I traveled northeast to get here, so that means I need to move…." Lucilla pulled out her compass and spun in a circle multiple times till she was sure she was facing the correct direction. "Southwest… I think."
With very little confidence, Lucilla started flying into the dark horizon.