Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach had been right behind the First when he hopped into Haven. When he hopped back into the Labyrinth, he returned to the exact same place, even if it looked totally different.

Zach had expected it, but he still wasn't quite prepared for the desolation wrought by the First. The heat also managed to pierce his barriers. But he didn't have the time to reinforce them to the point where they could block the heat.

They just had to be quick about it.

The First kneeled on the ground with an empty look on his face after letting it all out. He was not expecting and definitely not prepared for an ambush from behind.

But he hadn't managed to break through his rock-solid limits for no reason. He might have been too dazed to notice Zach and the others disappear amid his sea of flames, but he instantly noticed the change in the air when Zach returned with two powerful familiars.

He felt their killing intent cut into his neck as soon as they started moving between Haven and the Labyrinth.

The First turned around with an outstretched hand to both defend himself and sweep away any attack coming his way.

Zach gritted his teeth and braced against the impact by turning to the side and receiving the First's strike with both arms. His barriers cracked and shattered like glass, letting the heat seep in and start singing the hair he still had on his body.

The First sent Zach flying.

But in return for Zach taking that hit, Yanael and Mandra were untouched, and the First was in an uncomfortable position. He was tired, on his knees, with his upper body turned around, and slightly out of balance after launching a full-powered attack against someone who was as light as a feather compared to what the First thought he was defending against.

He thought he would be fending off the attacks of all three of them. But all three held their attacks for a second. Zach even gave up his chance to counterattack by taking the hit since Yanael and Mandra were stronger than him.

Yanael severed the arm still hanging in the air after having sent Zach flying. Her sword was covered in golden flames that burned the air with the temperature of cold steel.

Mandra pierced the First's shoulder with a blue spear of ice, knocking him into the ground. She had aimed for the center of his chest, but he had managed to shift his body at the last second.

It wasn't enough, though.

Yanael lunged forward and plunged her sword into the base of the First's throat, nailing him to the ground, her sword destroying the First's scales, skin, and flesh. His blood evaporated on contact with her sacred energy.

Mandra restrained his limbs with more piercing shackles of ice.

The First was already in a weakened state from having use all of his strength to reduce the thirtieth floor to a smoldering wasteland. The ice only served to weaken him further.

By not knowing that Zach had a method to instantly escape the Labyrinth, the First had wasted all of his strength. He did not have the power to resist the perfectly combined assault of the two enraged battle maids. He was spent, taken by surprise, and overwhelmed.

Yanael and Mandra were struggling with the heat, and Mandra's ice was already starting to melt. But it wouldn't take melt quick enough to free the First's limbs before they had the time to kill him.

The First's eyes wandered until he saw Zach walking toward him. He looked at this distant relative of his. And in Zach's eyes, he saw emotions similar to his own.

Zach had killed two of the Children permanently. But the Children had killed someone just as close to his heart as the other Children were to the First.

It was…not surprising.

That was they the world worked. A blood-soaked, eternally spinning wheel of misery. Revenge begets revenge. Death begets death. An endless, vicious cycle.

But what was the First supposed to do, forgive the one who killed his sibligns?

Never.

Just like Zach would never forgive the Children for everything they had done.

But the First couldn't let himself fade out of existence like this, not when his other siblings still lived. They needed him.

He tried to struggle and break free, but the ice fixed him in place, and if he tried to move his head or torso, he would be reminded of the razor-sharp sword nailing him to the ground through the base of his throat.

The First stayed still as he spat out the blood in his mouth and looked at Zach.

"H-how can you use that power?" He asked desperately.

Usually, Zach wouldn't entertain the last words of a mortal enemy like this. But he had to know what the First was talking about.

"What power?"

The First's brow sank into a frown. It still didn't look like Zach was lying. Zach didn't have a reason to lie right now.

The back of the First's head dropped to the ground as he closed his eyes.

The power he had fought and worked for his entire life. The power that raised the Hydra to her position. And the most dreaded power of their bloodline. It was something that should not even exist, especially not in the hands of a human mortal.

But here Zach was, using without even knowing it.

It probably wasn't fully developed, nor was he using it consciously. But the knowledge of the power was rooted deep in the First's mind and heart. He recognized it without a doubt.

He could not say anything and just let Zach stay in the dark.

But it was starting to look like Zach would be the last descendant of the Hydra.

Although they were mortal enemies, fated from birth to stand against each other, the First Child did not want to see the Hydra's legacy fade into the annals of history.

"...Usurpation," he eventually answered.