Aqua and Azure appeared in the courtyard; the squad of elves, thirsty for vengeance, stood before Aqua.
She frowned, observing the present fighters. If it were up to her, none of these people would be allowed to set foot into a battlefield where rot was present, however, it was out of her hands.
They needed to avenge their future selves, and she was no goddess who would cruelly deny them their destiny.
Her eyes briefly wandered to her future bride. "I will grant everyone who lacks [Heart of the Phoenix] a blessing. If you are to fall in battle this time around, I will be here to clean up the enemy."
One by one, the present elves shone with the [Heart of the Phoenix].
Aqua then turned her back to the group and took two steps forward. Her eyes closed, and her senses spread. Every savage and every being of rot could not escape her gaze.
They would all be killed.
However, she could not sense Zm'aj nor the monsters inside the elven kingdom. She grumbled and expanded her senses even further, searching for the so-called Dragon God. She squinted. He was far south, far away from the academy.
She grinned sadistically. Good, Sheira and I can intercept him.
First would come the savage hordes. Aqua herself would burn away most of the rotten spawn, leaving a proper arena for Aurora, Mia, and Avaros to slaughter the chieftain.
She spun on her heel toward the group. "Mia, Aurora, Avaros," she said, and the trio stepped forward.
"You three died to rot. Tell me what you have experienced."
The trio looked at each other and nodded. Aurora was the one to step forward and stare at Aqua. "It was a savage leader, Um'Am. He and his retinue carried crescent moon artifacts, and when we managed to wound him, a strange liquid dripped from him. Shortly after, that same liquid was splashed at Avaros and me." She winced. "I only remember immense pain and darkness."
Aqua rubbed her chin. Those morons. Why and how did they infuse themselves!? She screamed internally.
She bit her lip before shaking her head. Valerie was empowered, the rot would have been much easier to deal with than it was in the altered future.
They would no longer be unkillable, nor would they be nearly as fast.
"I will make sure to observe your fight. However, do not underestimate the rot."
Aurora nodded. "I am not insane enough to do that, I remember well how much it hurt," she said, bringing her hands together and rubbing them. "I can't say I am not terrified, but I am a princess, so I have to do this, for my people."
Aqua's smile widened. "You are very similar to Sheira in a way, I can tell you are sisters."
Aurora reeled back, her eyes snapping toward Sheira. Despite expecting the usual smug smile, the young goddess was preoccupied with thoughts about the current situation.
"Me? Similar to her?" She asked, bringing her hands to her chest.
"Yes~," Aqua teased before tapping Aurora on the shoulder. She then approached Avaros and Mia. "Are you two gonna be fine? I know neither has experience on the battlefield."
Aurora's face reddened slightly, which made Aqua smile warmly. Both sisters were selfless girls, despite going about it in completely different directions.
Avaros crossed his arms. "Of course, especially knowing that someone like you is watching over us. These savages won't know what hit them."
Mia grinned, her hands plunging inside her robes. "I will be fine, I remember the pain, but it just means I will be able to conduct even more research and improve this!" she shouted, and pulled out her firearm.
Aqua tilted her head. What's that? Seems rather interesting.
"I have never seen a similar weapon. Is this something you devised?" Aqua asked, her eyes carefully scanning the make of the weapon.
Its mechanism somewhat resembled crossbows, yet that was where similarities ended. Even to someone like Aqua, the weapon that Mia had developed was a complete novelty. It was beautiful despite clearly being a prototype.
Mia nodded proudly. "With the help of your grimoire and my talents, I was able to create a long-range weapon. It still needs a lot of work, though."
Aqua blinked. The tiny professor was exactly like her mystic engineering teacher. Innovative and absolutely thirsty for knowledge. "Once this is over, I will meet you in your lab, and we can work on improving it. I am curious about how it works, too."
Mia's eyes sparkled, and she nodded. "Yes, teacher!"
Avaros attempted to appear nonchalant, yet his eyes also wandered to the weapon.
"Avaros, you can join too, of course," Aqua said, a small smile forming.
The young heir nodded. "Thank you, Lady Aqua."
"Good."
Aurora sheepishly raised her hand. "May I also join?"
"Of course, anyone who wishes to learn the art of mystic engineering is welcome!" Aqua exclaimed.
She cleared her throat and made distance from the group. Her gaze turned to Sheira. "Sheira, you and I will watch and support them if they are about to get hurt. Once that is done, two of us will go and make Zm'aj pay for what he has done."
Sheira saluted. "Got it!"
Aqua then approached Azure. "If I see that you are in any semblance of danger, I am intervening, do you understand?"
Azure pouted but quickly relaxed. "Yes, my star. I know I can count on you to save me if I fail."
Sheira tilted her head, observing the interaction. She was about to speak, but Aqua interrupted her.
"First, I will head out and destroy every tribe and every soldier of the rot I sensed around the cities. While I do that, I want you to prepare for assault," she said, before leaning closer and placing her hand on Azure's shoulder. "Azure. You aren't going with me this time."
Before anyone could get a word in, Aqua teleported high into the sky.
She enjoyed the gentle autumnal winds for a moment, letting herself relax for a mere moment.
"Valerie, I have a question."
After a moment of silence, the blue-haired world soul appeared before her. "What can I do for you, my savior?"
"I need to know how you are feeling. Is the rot still causing you issues?"
Valerie shook her head. "Without the world tree, it is in a much worse position to attempt assimilation, and I feel powerful enough to push it back without much issue."
Aqua sighed in relief. "Good, then I will purge all the savages and the soldiers of rot from this kingdom. Once that is done, I will speak with you about culling the beasts."
Valerie nodded. "As long as you leave enough for them not to go extinct, I have no issue. They had sinned, and they hurt you, my savior. Call upon me anytime, and we will discuss it."
Valerie disappeared in a flash, leaving Aqua with her thoughts.
Her lips stretched into a line. As long as I leave a dozen of them, it wouldn't be counted as genocide, right?
She shook her head. First things first were to purge them from her home and deal with Zm'aj.
While she had also wished to deal with Red Dawn, the sheer existence of The Hand of Ending and the Hand of the Beginning made her reconsider.
Despite being named a candidate by the Lord of Beginnings, she needed intel; otherwise, there was a non-zero possibility of failure. Especially due to the mere existence of shards of time.
The Lord reminds me somewhat of Sun God. I hope I get to meet him again.
She snapped herself out of the daydreaming state and frowned. "Time to clean."
Only camps that would be left were those around the Academy. However, when it came to all others, she would show no mercy.
She would not allow them to harm her home again.
Her senses spread again. She guided her magic through space.
Aqua looked down at her palm. "All of you will die."
She closed her fist and teleported above an encampment close to Onost, purging both them and their rotten pools.
She had destroyed some before going to Valerie, yet they were as persistent as cockroaches were. A sigil of black flame appeared in the sky above the savage camp.
Aqua squinted, noticing entrails and meat. However, she did not know what kind of animal they belonged to until her eyes noticed a stack of elven ears to the side.
She cringed. "Disgusting."
The savages ate elves; it was yet another reason why the culling was necessary. Their population had to be managed and kept at the minimum possible level. Nothing that threatened her home could remain while she drew breath.
A pillar of black flame collapsed upon the unsuspecting savages, leaving not even a single speck of dust to testify to their existence.
Aqua inhaled sharply and teleported above the next camp. Only savages and the pools were present.
For the next half an hour, she teleported, deliberated, and destroyed the camps, until only one large encampment remained near the Onost Academy.
Aqua smiled in a satisfied manner. "Good, this can be left to my Azu and the others."