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"Godō" - Regular Speech

'My Everyday life…!' - Thoughts

"God Slayer!" - Heretic God/Powered Up Campione speech

"Fire!" - Magic/Authority Use

Beta'd By BigCC

Chapter 22: Mediation and Meddling

"Wait...what? Did you say wife?" Erica asked in shock. Godō (and the other two of his 'Mistresses') were just as taken aback.

In answer, Rebecca smiled and uncovered her left hand's ring finger, revealing a ring set with a large diamond. To the senses of those attuned to magic like Erica, Liliana and Yuri, the ring itself radiated a considerable aura of power. How none of them had noticed it before now was a mystery to all three.

"I am, magically speaking, Jean Campbell's wife." the Hearth Witch stated. "My Goddess, Hestia, married us as her final act before departing back to the Domain of Immortality. It was...a surprise, to be certain, but not one that I am opposed to, it must be said."

"I can imagine." Liliana said dryly, her eyes momentarily darting towards her master. Kusanagi Godō's bride...now that was a title to aim for, something far more enviable than simply becoming a Great Knight!

"Why would a Heretic God do that though...?" Yuri asked in confusion.

"If we follow the traditional definition of the term, then Lady Hestia would not be described as a Heretic God; she did not rebel against her legend and made no attempts to do damage to the mortal realm. Her only act of aggression was aiding Lady Campbell in her battle against Athena, and that was in the defence of her home and followers, something that is well within her domain as Goddess of the Hearth and Home." Rebecca replied firmly, not wanting such a title applied to her patron; particularly when it was undeserved. "To start things from the beginning, using the power of one of Lady Jean's Authorities, I swore myself to her for the rest of my mortal life. In order to do so, I had to cast aside all other allegiances, mundane and magical. This included the link to my goddess that I had unknowingly inherited when I gained the mantle of High Priestess of Hestia. Lady Hestia felt this disturbance in her Domain and thus descended to our world to investigate why the link had been so severed for the first time in millennia since her cult began."

"A loophole..." Erica breathed in understanding. This was the first time she had ever heard of a God descending from the Domain of Immortality without having been summoned by someone (which automatically made them a Heretic God) or rebelling against their legend.

"Exactly." the hazel-haired woman nodded.

"Can I ask why we're here?" Godō asked, perplexed. "This doesn't seem to be any of my business."

"I see." Rebecca said after a moment of utter silence. "You really don't see why my King is wroth at you, nor why we are all here...do you?"

There was a hard edge in her voice, one that Godō was able to recognize thanks to his numerous experiences with his younger sister. Despite the calm façade, the young woman in front of him was pissed.

That made Godō very uneasy. He knew that tone meant pain for the one who caused and, Campione or not, a decade's worth of instincts were not easily ignored

"My King was attacked in her own home by a Heretic God that you let run free out of some misguided sense of pacifism." the Hearth Witch explained icily. "The only saving grace to this debacle is that our home on Rìgh Rubh'a is a small island in and of itself, so no innocents were dragged into this battle. Still, my Mistress's home was damaged in the attack and the bridge connecting to the main island of Kerrera was destroyed by Athena's great serpent. Lady Hestia, who was both a welcomed guest and friend within our home, was slain fighting to defend our home and my King…my wife…was emotionally distraught by her failure to protect her. Imagine if such a thing had occurred at your home, King Kusanagi, if had been one of your friends who had been slain. Would you not bear a grudge against the one who let your attacker walk free?"

Godō blanched at the thought. He lived with his sister and grandfather in a suburban neighbourhood; if a Heretic God attacked him there, the casualties wouldn't be small by any means! The thought of one of any of his…friends being killed in such an attack also caused his stomach to twist into a painful knot.

"He was only a month or so into his time as a Campione then." Erica quickly moved to defend her lover. While Godō's actions involving Athena might have been…naïve on some level, that did not mean he should bear the blame for this.

"Jean confronted and defeated two other Heretic Gods inside of her first month as a Campione." Rebecca replied calmly, if not a bit sharply. "Not to mention fighting Lord Salvatore."

"Now, now, calm down all of you." Princess Alice interjected soothingly. "King Kusanagi, thanks to Rebecca's explanation, I hope you can now understand why King Campbell is somewhat angry towards you. Had you slain Athena at any point after you first encountered her, then the attack on her home would not have occurred."

"Y-yeah." the Japanese Campione gulped.

"Rebecca, for your part please understand that King Kusanagi has his own issues to deal with." the Strongest Witch Under Heaven continued, turning her head to look at her former subordinate. "He is very much different from your wife, lacking maturity when compared to her."

"Guh..." Godō couldn't very well deny it; he was three years younger compared to Jean Campbell, after all.

"In my visions, should the enmity between the Seventh and Eighth Kings continue unabated, there shall be needless casualties in the future, so I wish for the two sides to reconcile their differences now before it can grow any further." Alice pressed on. "What can accomplish this?"

"In terms of money, there is no point in asking." Yue spoke up for the first time in a while. "King Kusanagi lacks the financial resources to pay any amount towards the replacement of the bridge, which would cost, in Japanese Yen, several hundred thousand at least."

'Dodged a bullet there.' the schoolboy thought in relief, a light sheen of sweat appearing on his brow at the estimate.

"Hmm...nor would asking for the organizations behind his mistresses for recompense have any point, as they were uninvolved in both Lord Kusanagi's battles with Athena and the attack on Rìgh Rubh'a. The repayment must be something more personal to be acceptable." Rebecca agreed, humming in thought. She looked into the distance, seemingly thinking deeply on the issue for a moment before her face lightened as an idea struck. "Now that I think about it, Jean has said she wanted to meet the [Hime-Miko with Glass Eyes] for a while now."

"E-Ehhh?! Me?!" Yuri asked in disbelief.

"Yes indeed." Yue nodded. "My Lady has recently come into the knowledge that she is of Hime-Miko descent and has awakened the ability of [Divine Sensing], which has allowed her to track when and where Heretic Gods descend. However, she has little knowledge of this ability or any means to control or train it on her own. If you were to offer your aid in training her to master this ability, then I believe that will assuage her anger toward your King to some degree at least, if not mend the bridge."

Noticing the unease that Yuri held herself with, and recalling the actions of Duke Voban towards her, Rebecca offered the younger girl a reassuring smile.

"You need not fear my wife, Yuri Mariya." she said gently. "My King has a particularly deep hatred for those who abuse their power like Duke Voban does, and has in fact sworn to personally end the man should he take a single action against her realm or any who are under her aegis. My lady simply wishes to speak with someone about how to harness her Hime-Miko abilities, and you were the top name to come up in her conversation with several…important individuals. One of them being the Princess with Glass Eyes."

"Are you speaking truly?!" Liliana gasped. The Princess with Glass Eyes was the ancestress of all Hime-Miko; no one had ever spoken with her, save possibly for the Campione, and they never recalled their time with Pandora...except, if rumours were true, for Jean Campbell.

"I am. Jean can recall her time in the Boundary of Life and Death with absolute and complete clarity because she accepts her place as one of Lady Pandora's adopted children." Rebecca replied. "I even saw her hair turn flaxen as she invoked her powers while asleep. From what I've been told, that change was a result of the Princess forcibly activating her inherited gifts."

"I see..." the Fairy Knight said, trailing off thoughtfully.

"Mariya, you don't have to if you don't want to..." Godō said worriedly to his classmate and 'mistress'.

"N-No...so long as it's just talking, I don't mind." the brown-haired girl offered, trying to keep up a brave face despite her nerves. If this could help keep her lover safe from gaining a new enemy, then she would not let her past fears take hold over her. "I agree to speak to Campbell-sama at her discretion."

"Thank you." Rebecca and Yue bowed to her as one.

"Rebecca, we have trouble." Alice spoke up seriously.

"Who?" the wife of a Campione asked.

"People I don't recognise as part of any Mage Association...most likely a Free Company of Knights." the Speaker for the Witenagemot replied grimly.

"A Free Company?" Godō asked in puzzlement.

"A group of freelance Knights bound to no overarching Mage Association." Erica replied tersely. "Mercenary magic users, for lack of a better term. Generally, they tend to be the lowest form of vagabonds, willing to take work that no respectable Knight would touch with a ten foot pole and a cleansing spell as long as the pay is right. They are not common, most are wiped out quickly if they dare tread on any established Association's territory or are caught working with Sorcerers or practising sorcery themselves."

"My Great-Aunt, this has her fingerprints all over it." Rebecca sighed in resignation. "She is going to be the end of the Piper Family, I am certain, if only because Jean will crush them utterly when she comes back from Ulaanbaatar as retribution for this."

"What is Her Majesty doing in Mongolia?" Yuri blinked.

"She has agreed to spar with Her Eminence Luo Hao, the Ruler of the Martial Realm." Yue replied with a shiver. Having been one of her agents, she had sparred with her former mistress on at least one occasion and didn't envy her new mistress in having to receive any of Luo Hao's blows.

"...why?" Godō asked with a bad feeling that he knew what the answer was.

"Because Her Eminence asked for a fight." Yue replied as if it was obvious.

"...aha...as I'd expect of the Advocate of Ultimate Brute Force." the Seventh Campione laughed despairingly.

"Princess Alice, how many are there, and how strong are they?" Rebecca asked, noting the seeming automatic way that the Japanese boy put himself above the other Campione in a way that reminded her oddly of Lord Alec, but otherwise ignoring the fuss.

"Ten...and all of them are average Knights, with a few being a bit above or below that standard." Alice replied. She had the ability to use more than the one Ectoplasm Clone at a time, but she just couldn't possess more than one at a time. Linking senses and using them as magical radar detectors though? That was something well within her ability. "Wait...someone else is joining them...ah. It is indeed Eleanor Piper."

"It seems as if my Great-Aunt is a good deal more brazen than I had anticipated." the Hearth Witch said after a moment of surprise. "I hadn't expected her to bother showing her face until after the deed was done. Looks as if she wants to gloat at me before her 'victory;' how terribly cliché of her."

"Aside from that though, the numbers add up." Yue consoled her. "With your new capabilities..."

"Yes, I do believe that my new abilities will come as a great surprise to my dear Auntie." There was a surprising amount of vitriol in the chestnut-haired woman's voice when she spoke of her relative, but her face quickly returned to a careful neutrality as she turned to face Godō. "King Kusanagi, I must ask for your word that you and your ladies will simply observe. You must not interfere in what is to unfold in the next few minutes."

"You're going to be attacked by eleven people!" he replied, sounding honestly amazed at her blasé mien. "Ten of whom are Knights!"

"King Kusanagi, let me assure you of something." Rebecca smiled a smile that set off every one of the Japanese Campione's danger alarms. "I would never allow myself to placed into a position like this and not have a plan to deal with it. It has happened once before, and I refuse to allow it to happen a second time."

"I shall take them to the concealed gallery so they can watch." Alice said calmly.

"Once His Majesty agrees to remain neutral in the fight to come." Rebecca agreed evenly.

"Godō, agree for now." Erica offered to her beloved. "If she gets in over her head, we can step in then."

"If I do get in over my head, by all means." the Hearth Witch actually looked amused by the Diavolo Rosso's assumption. "So long as I am not about to be beaten unconscious though, please stay out of it."

"...fine." the Japanese Campione sighed.

"My thanks." Rebecca inclined her head. "Now, Princess Alice, if you please."

"This way, Lord Kusanagi." the Ectoplasm Clone led the four foreigners to a part of the wall and pressed a part of it no different from the rest. A hidden door swung soundlessly open on well-oiled springs and the princess ushered her guests in before giving a nod to Rebecca and Yue and entering herself. As the door swung shut behind her, the 'PAX' letters engraved on the stone floor faded away, leaving the stones blank and unmarked.

"Can they see this room from in there?" Yue asked in a quiet voice.

"It's a hidden gallery using spells to see and hear through the stone, as well as conceal and disguise magical signatures." Rebecca replied just as softly. "Unless a Paladin or Great Knight comes in and senses the Seventh's power behind the extra wards that Princess Alice is placing to conceal him, then these Free Company Knights and my Great Aunt should be none the wiser."

Yue didn't doubt it; from what Rebecca had said about her Great Aunt, Eleanor Piper was a thoroughly mediocre Witch, even by the standards of Hearth Witches, something the old woman made up for with ruthlessness and an iron fist.

The sound of the double doors to the room slamming open put paid to any further candid talk between the girls as ten rough-looking men marched in. They all had the rough look of men who didn't look beyond their next pay-check and had little in the way about compunctions.

"Ah, so here you are, you impudent child." a female, high-class English accented voice spoke up from behind the men, who parted to reveal Rebecca's Great-Aunt. She was dressed in expensive and modern clothing from what Rebecca knew to be popular designer labels; a pair of tight beige trousers, a pair of heeled boots, a chemise and tan gloves, topped by a beret perched artfully on her head.

Eleanor Piper was a handsome looking woman, appearing to be in her late thirties at most, when in fact she was pushing eighty. She and her Grand-Niece shared similar features a certain way; the same facial structure, the same intelligent eyes and soft chestnut hair...but there was a hard, uncompromising edge to the way the older woman stood that told people she was not someone to take lightly.

"Ah, Eleanor. You're about as pleasant to be around as ever." Rebecca said evenly.

"And you are as uppity as ever." Eleanor sniffed. "Talking back to your betters in such a way..."

Rebecca looked around mockingly. "I don't see anyone I would describe as my better here. I'm the head of a Mage Association, directly subordinate to one of the Eight Devil Kings. You are the power behind the throne of a small, insignificant and failing Witch family."

One of Eleanor's eyes twitched, the only visible sign that the verbal barb had struck home. "Be that as it may, your little rebellion shall end here, child. It is time that you submitted yourself to my authority."

"I bow to no one other than the Campione of the Raging Tides, King Jean Campbell." Rebecca stated flatly. "Allow me to warn you, Great Aunt Eleanor, that I will defend myself should you order those sell-swords to attack me. I don't know what you have planned for me, but I want no part in it, whatever it might be."

"My dear child...you have no choice." the old Hearth Witch hissed like a snake. "I have plans involving you that date back to before your mother was out of nappies and you shall not impede them!"

Turning to her hired swords, she pointed imperiously at Rebecca. "Capture her, no damage. Kill the foreign bint."

Before the Knights could move, Rebecca reached to her neck and pulled a necklace out, snapping it off its cord and holding it in her hand before her.

"From the Flame of Olympus, mankind gained fire!" she chanted, a warm red glow springing up about her. "And from that fire came the light of civilization! I do solemnly swear, as High Priestess of the Cult of Hestia, and Keeper of the Hestian Mysteries, that the Flame of Olympus shall remain ever alight!"

The object in her hand, a stylised flame, floated up and then an orb of fire appeared around it, into which Rebecca fearlessly plunged her hand into the centre and reached for something.

"Now, in the name of Hestia Polyolbos and the Olympian Flame, come to my side that I might fight for my King!" she shouted, and pulled a sword from the fireball. Steel glinted in the light as it reflected off of the kopis' blade, showing intricate engravings of stylised flames running down it. The pommel was now capped with the stylised flame ornament that had been her necklace and the entire weapon was aglow with the same light that surrounded Rebecca.

"Burn brightly...Hearthkeeper!" the Hearth Witch shouted, raising her blade to a ready position as her magic spiked in strength, rapidly climbing to what all mages present recognised as that of a Great Knight's level of strength.

"How is she...?!" Erica gasped from within the secret room. She, Liliana and Yuri were dumbfounded by this. A below-average strength magic user had just risen to the same level of power as two of their number, which was ludicrous. Fortunately, despite the stereotype associated with females with blond hair and large breasts, Erica Blandelli was a very smart girl and she quickly deduced the reason.

"The sword...it must be...yes, look, the usual 'C' hilt is missing a part of itself." she pointed at the weapon. "The sword must be stored inside of Rebecca Campbell's Hearth and when summoned, it leaves a part of itself behind. It must be ensorcelled to use sympathetic magic between the part that was left behind and itself, allowing its wielder to access the power of the Hearth as if she was truly standing within it!"

"But such tricks have been attempted in the past to no avail." Liliana objected. "It would need to be a sword with enchantments close to equal to Il Maestro or Cuore de Leone to accomplish this!"

Yuri stiffened as her Hime-Miko power activated without her actively engaging it. Visions of black wings flew past her eyes as well as a supremely handsome man.

"The Scapegoat...the origin of [Steel]...the master of arms and armour, borne aloft by black wings..." she said aloud before it cut out, leaving her confused.

"The Scapegoat...so an Authority from the Fallen Angel Azazel is responsible for that weapon." Erica muttered, eyeing it warily. "Some sort of rapid enchanting capability? Now that I look at it closely, it does have a similar aura to our swords..."

"It was created by the first Heretic God that Jean Campbell fought alongside Rebecca." Alice said quietly. "The sword is a perfect example of the finest craftwork of the Ancient Greek smiths and has been enchanted by King Campbell's [Black Armoury] Authority specifically for Rebecca. No one else can use that weapon. Now watch as she defends her honour."

Out in the hall, Eleanor was white-faced and disbelieving at the sight of her Grand Niece being so powerful.

"How...what...what blasphemous spell has that Scotch bitch cast on you, to give you this much power?!" she spat.

A flare of annoyance made Rebecca tighten her grip on her sword. Her Great Aunt looked down on anyone who wasn't English, but especially any of the other countries that made up the UK, viewing them as little better than servants of England. The idea of one of her blood serving a Scot must be galling to the arrogant harridan of a woman.

"You have no right to speak of milady Jean in such a manner." Yue barked angrily. "Watch your tongue, churl!"

"Foreign strumpet. I have a legacy that goes back for hundreds of years!" the old Hearth Witch sneered.

"The Xie Clan goes back for two thousand at least." Yue smiled coldly. "Now prepare your dogs of war...for you face the descendent of assassins!"

Drawing a silver length of metal with a red tassel on one end from her bag, she focused for a moment and it started to glow.

"Enemies lie before me, death is calling. Come forth and serve me!" the Daoist Mage chanted. "Yin Xian Wolong!"

In a burst of silver light, the rod was replaced with a beautiful silvery jian, with an etching of an eastern dragon in exquisite detail down the length of the blade. 'Silver Cord, Crouching Dragon' was a good name for it indeed. It had been a gift from her new Mistress and she intended to see it put to good use...hopefully putting the fear of a God Slayer into these cretins.

"A Hearth Witch at her full power outside of her Hearth...a pseudo-Great Knight." one of the men mused. "I'd always wanted to see how well one of you could fight when you weren't worried about destroying your home. Split in half; four of you with me will put down the Hearth Witch, the other five will eliminate the extra."

All of the Knights drew swords of various types from within their coats, ranging the gamut between a plain short sword, to an elegant rapier, to a gladius, to a shamshir and even a talwar from India. As you would expect of a group of ragtag Knights, there was no standard equipment among them.

Before they could even assume ready stance, Yue was in amongst them, lashing out with shockingly graceful kicks and stabs that sent the men flying from her and Eleanor stumbling back with an indignant squawk of fear. While they were reeling from the sudden attack, Rebecca held up her blade and started to chant.

"Fire within me, empower my spells. Fire around me, protect my body. Fire of my blade, guide it to smite those who would threaten the sanctity of the Flame!" she snarled. While this had been something she had expected to happen, and it had even been foretold by Princess Alice, she had honestly never expected her Great Aunt to actually go through with attempting a kidnapping of her.

Whatever the old bat had planned for her, Rebecca had no intention of allowing it to happen.

Rushing up to join her bodyguard, the Hearth Witch started lashing out with her kopis, aiding in the chaos of the melee. One fact in the favour of the two women was that Jean had been sparring with them using her [Tríaina] Authority ever since the start of January. The speed and power that the fully empowered trident could grant the redheaded Campione made these idiots look like they were standing still by comparison.

Another fact that helped them was that the Knights were very much taken aback and not fully caught up with the reality that they were in a fight with two skilled and powerful opponents. Like most men, they just saw two very attractive young women and had assumed that it would be a simple matter to defeat and capture them, in spite of the fact they were the direct subordinates of a Campione.

"You fools! Rebecca is a Great Knight in strength! Fight her as you would one!" Eleanor angrily shouted out from where she'd backed away from the confrontation.

Grinding his teeth angrily, the leader of the ten Free Company Knights nevertheless followed his employer's instructions and raised his blade, a falcata. "Blow for me, Horn of Heimdall: Gjallarhorn!"

A loud roaring bellow erupted from the Knight that had physical force, sending Yue and Rebecca stumbling back, clutching their hands over their ears in pain.

"Now, brothers. Join with me." the leader stated. "No more mercy."

Nodding, the other knights formed a circle around him And stated to chant in unison, holding their blades up before them vertically.

"That which lies before us, we cannot let stand..." they intoned. "We give our power to one, let him strike the final blow!"

"Unison magic...to think that they know a spell such as this...!" Rebecca hissed out as she lowered her hands from her ears and re-braced her sword. There were precious few ways that a disparate group of low-ranked magic users could hope to possibly overcome one who was both stronger than them and prepared for a fight. One way was to unify the magic of the group and cast a spell that was normally beyond any of them individually. It relied on a single man acting as the focus and casting the spell, which would almost exhaust him and the ones supplying the magic.

"I call upon the Disciples of Hephaestus! Bestow upon me worthy shields to guard my person!" she snapped out. Several round metal shields snapped into place in front of her, one in front of the other.

"Flame of Olympus, raise a barrier to protect the Priestess of your Keeper!" she cast again. Brilliant red, orange and blue flames burst into existence around her, raising high and acting as a barrier between her and the Knights.

"Oh Mighty Thor, I beseech thee, cast down thy mighty hammer, smash my foe with thine divine lightning!" the leader chanted. "Thor's Hammer: Mjölnir!"

With that final word and a large slash of his sword, the leader cast his spell, one Rebecca recognised from her studies of old spellbooks in the libraries of the Witenagemot. Mjölnir was a powerful lightning-based spell used by those counties in northern Europe which had strong ties to the old Norse pantheon, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland mostly, but some people used it in northern Germany too. It was specifically designed to be powerful, fast and a real pain to block for distance casters.

It was also a spell designed specifically to be used as part of unison magic, allowing several weaker casters to more easily combine their magic together in order to attempt to defeat someone more powerful than themselves with a single powerful blow.

With a roar, lightning erupted from the blade of the Free Company Knight and flew straight towards Rebecca and her shields. Smashing into the first shield, it broke through with no problem, as well as the second, third and fourth. The fifth resisted for a second, but shattered after that moment of resistance. As the sixth and then seventh shields resisted, Rebecca ground her teeth and raised her weapon, ready to resist, but inside she knew she couldn't block this on her own.

'Lady Hestia...help me!' she thought desperately.

As the lightning bolt ripped the last shield apart and was about to slam into the flame barrier around her, a hand formed out of the flames and caught the lightning bolt in its hand. Flexing, the hand destroyed the Mjölnir spell as if it had been made of paper before a familiar face appeared in the flames, smiling at Rebecca.

"L-Lady...Hestia...?!" the Hearth Witch stuttered in awe.

"Go forth in the name of the Keeper of the Olympian Flame, my priestess." Hestia said, her voice echoing through the room before Hestia's image and the flame barrier flickered out of existence.

"A...a Heretic Goddess...aided her...?!" the exhausted leader stuttered in disbelief.

"I am the High Priestess of the Hestian Cult." Rebecca stated haughtily, her poise recovered from her momentary panic. "Do you think that those gods and goddesses who have yet to rebel against their legends would abandon those who serve them?"

"Impossible...why...why would Lady Hestia aid a wet-behind-her-ears brat like you?!" Eleanor snarled angrily. "I-urk!"

A hand around her throat cut her off as Yue appeared out of thin air before the older Hearth Witch and threw her against the wall, tickling her throat with her jian seconds later.

"For once in your life, shut your foul mouth." the Daoist Mage ordered flatly.

"Take her down!" the lead knight called out, forcing himself back up alongside his fellow. All of them were sweating heavily and looked to have completely exhausted their magic in that one attack. "We don't get paid if the old woman gets captured!"

"You won't be paid at all." Rebecca said darkly. "Flame of Olympus, in Hestia's name, bestow upon me a fraction of the power you take from the sacrifices given to the gods. For the Hearth Keeper of the Olympian Flame is granted a tithe of that might!"

Flames burst into existence around the Hearth Witch, red fire that then seeped into her body, further empowering her magic. She then locked blades with the man bearing a spatha and forced him back easily, disarming him with a flick of her blade before hitting him with a sleeping cantrip.

As the man collapsed to the ground, Yue slammed a punch into the rapier of a charging Knight and shattered it to pieces, even while keeping her blade hovering evenly a centimetre from Eleanor Piper's throat, and then lashed out with a snap kick that sent the dumbfounded man sprawling to the ground, stunned.

"Such control..." Liliana breathed, impressed with the display of control and skill. "She is without a doubt a student of Luo Hao, that kind of strength and control cannot be easily obtained. A shame her magical skills do not match them at the moment. In the future though, I suspect she possesses the potential to become a Great Knight herself."

"High praise from you, Liliana-san." Godō commented.

"Rebecca is quite impressive as well; I had heard of Hearth Witches achieving the same level of magical power and puissance as Great Knights when inside their Hearths, but this is my first time witnessing it." Erica commented as the chestnut-haired woman took down another Knight. "I can see now why she was so sure of herself when standing before two Great Knights."

As Knight after Knight fell before the two girls, Eleanor grew desperate. All of her plans, her status, everything she had worked for since she was twenty, all of it was about to crumble because of one stupid girl who didn't know her place! She couldn't allow it!

She shrieked out an unintelligible series of words that slammed into Yue and sent her flying with far more force than the Knight leader from before had done with his Horn of Heimdall: Gjallarhorn spell. It was only thanks to her catlike reflexes that the former member of the Holy Cult of Five Mountains was able to twist in mid-air to land on her feet, looking at her former captive in barely concealed shock.

"How did she...?" the Chinese girl muttered before freezing. Eleanor Piper was now surrounded by a sickly black aura, one that any legitimate magic user was taught to recognise and exterminate. Rebecca was the one who enunciated the unbelievable fact before them, a mixture of horror and disgust on her face.

"Eleanor Piper...is a sorceress!?"

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Next Chapter: Sorceress Eleanor Piper and the Grimoire of Garmr

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