Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

As Kara held Erika's hand, the priestess glared at each other–each driven by their sense of rivalry from their service to rival goddesses. The Athenian priestess wanted nothing more than the vile mother's name to be forgotten, and at the same time, the dark elven child was the only person still keeping the name of Aphrodite going publicly through the streets of the city.

It was supposed to be the Mistress's work–to keep Aphrodite's name alive past her death, but any other devil, she had left gasps in their contract, and thus, she had little need to keep the worshippers clinging onto a dead goddess. Thus, if Kara were to let go, the name Aphrodite would probably be forgotten in just a few generation's time.

"High Death Priestess of Athenia, there you go–your ascendance has been completed," Kara said as she let go of Erika's hands.

More charitable than the young priestess, she smiled at her as Erika walked away. Their scuffle, however, didn't last long for it was time for Mel–the only person from the original group to step forward and get her ascendance done.

Offering the priestess her hand, she sat in the chair, staring at the magic circle being carved in the back of her hand. It burned ever so lightly, but not enough to make her flinch. As it was finally done, Kara opened her eyes and stared at Mel deep in her eyes.

"Woodland Guardian and your race has ascended to high elf from a regular elf…" Glancing over to Mel's ears, Kara watched as they grew even sharper. Feeling the sudden change, Mel reached back to touch them, and as she did, her eyes widened, and her heart almost seized up.

"Wh-what?! What happened?!" Asked the elf, but being a dark elf herself–one incapable of race ascendance Kara had no real answer.

"Some fair elf undergo such a change, but I'm not sure any has in the last thousand years…"

"What?! What about me? Why didn't I ascend too?!" A bit jealous of her sister, Aria walked next to the table with her hands tightly folded. Glaring down at the priestess, she complained. "Why didn't I ascend to a high elf, too? As far as I'm concerned, we'd put the same amount of effort in our work!"

"Oh, how I wish I had an answer." Looking towards Erika yet again, Kara stretched a finger in her direction. Making everyone follow the tip of her index, she explained to them in a way that she herself understood the matter. "Take the priestess for an example. Her command over runes is inherited from her parents; none of us can match that control, that level of understanding. Why? Because sometimes you're just born with that talent, and in the case of elves, the affinity to ascend as a race."

"Sounds like some bullshit…" Mino decided to chime in, and Aria agreed instantly with a nod. Folding her hands as well, the enlarged monster girl who'd grown just as everyone else in recent days decided to offer up her hand to the priestess next. "Can I ascend or you gonna tell me some bullshit reason too?"

Before taking her hand, however, Kara looked around and counted through the people she still had to help ascend. Maria, Maine, and Regalia, the trio, could undergo ascension as well. And although Arche, Hayley and even the Djinn sisters were present, there was still much for them to work on before they could undergo ascension.

"Alright, let's get this done then." Quickly taking one hand after the other, Kara decided to be done as soon as possible. The first ascension was of Mino from a spirit mage to a spirit lord. Then came Maria's turn, and since her soul had been reunited with her body and the experiences of hell helped carve the state of her magic, she turned from a succubus mage to an Illusion Mistress–the same class as that of the primordial running Athenia from the shadows.

Lastly came the turn for Regalia, and although she was ready for an ascension, being a warlock, Kara couldn't do much to help her cross the threshold for her strength. Letting go of her hand, she instead offered her some advice.

"You need to either abandon your current patron or renew your contract with far greater strength being provided to you by him or her." It was easier said than done, and so Regalia decided to try her hand at ascendance later when everything had calmed and she had some time to visit the sea and in turn her patron.

As for the remaining others, they were somewhat disappointed but also glad that they wouldn't have to stay in that room any longer. A whole day of work and dealing with a crowd had already drained them enough, and those who'd just gone through the ascension appeared even more tired than just moments before the change. In fact, Amedith was already asleep with his head lying against Liliyana, and the devil's head was lying on him the same.

"Twinkle berries, we should all get some rest…" Will-O suggested, her wings fluttering in front of her daughter's face.

"I'll be out of your hair then." Taking that as her cue, the priestess finally got off her chair and decided to leave.

Watching her walking away, however, Raven felt somewhat conflicted about the way that he'd treated her even though she was simply trying to help him and his party.

"Kara," calling out to her, he stopped her right by the door. As she turned around to look at him with a confused expression, he added. "Thank you for your help, and I hope to see you again–but maybe this time, don't come at unfortunate timing. I wouldn't mind hosting you as a guest, but if you arrive with grim omen every time, how am I supposed to greet you with a smile?"

Her gaze downcast, the priestess pondered over the thought, and sure enough, she understood what Raven meant by those words. Her presence was often accompanied by dire news or something similar, so why wouldn't the party slump at the sight of her visiting them, no matter her intention?

"I'll keep that in mind." Lifting her head with a smile, she nodded. "Brew me some tea next time, and maybe we'll play some chess together?"

"Whatever you want, I'll arrange it."

"Well, that's grand~ Ahaha…" And thus, with a smile, the conversation finally came to an end. But that end was no mere end–but rather the start of the year-long plan, the plan to change the cities and islands around Athenia into the perfect weapons fighting vessels against the forces of evil led by the demon lord.

Already, the goddess could sense a grand change in the way things worked, and although she watched from a distance, even she was intimidated by the amount of work the heroes had taken upon themselves. However, with only the execution left, there was no turning back–not after coming this far and involving so many of their allies in the greatest war of all…