I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

Elizabeth didn’t know what to make out of this… “Weren’t the Saintsworths purged from this world? Why is he then still around?” Elizabeth first asked this, this was important.

She had got the vague feeling that they had been purged; at least, no one seemed to remember them anymore. Perhaps a few could survive? For one her own mother had survived that purge, as Elizabeth had…She didn’t like the idea of using that name, but she technically was a Saintsworths…

Could she pass up as a…oh god…Elizabeth was a scion of the Saintsworths?

“...are you okay Eli-Eli?” Rossie asked worriedly as the blonde girl came to that realization.

“....I think I will be sick… The horror….I… I am the last remaining Saintsworth?” Elizabeth said as the train of thought didn’t want to listen to her and continued forward.

“I’m sorry for your loss…? Were you close with that part of your family?” Rena asked, also worried for her. The red-haired girl didn’t know much about family bonds or such things, but she seemed genuinely worried about Elizabeth.

“That isn’t the thing. I only saw two or three at most, four if we include [The Traveler] I guess…But I only knew Alexanders & Alexa…and of course Mother.” Elizabeth elaborated.

“Oh? And they are gone, but what is the deal with being their Scion? They should feel honored about having you for their Scion.” Rossie said at the side, not understanding the problem.

“The Scion? Oh….oooooh, you don’t want to be compared with that blonde asshole?” Jenna asked going over her notebook again, this time she brought a new different page. “This one?”

“HE IS ALIVE?!?!?!” Elizabeth screamed while jumping back and staring at the picture, only for something to click on her head and look very close, “No wait…That…isn’t him? What?”

The photo on the page was indeed of a blonde man, and he had that asshole-ish look, but something was…wrong.

“Hmm….He does look like a stuck-up rich guy; I would probably rip him off his money by selling him a second-grade [Heal] as something more expensive while using him as a lab rat for a [Soul Magic] spell.” Rossie said from the side while looking at the picture.

“Yeah, I don’t know why, but he looks weak. You could probably steal his position as Scion of this family easily enough.” Rena chimed too with her opinion.

“....What is his name?” Elizabeth asked at the end ignoring both girl’s opinions.

“He pretended to be called Alexander Saintsworths, and even tried to change as much of his paperwork as possible, but his name was something else. He died five months after Advent from a multi-organ failure. As your girlfriend stated, he was ripped off his money by several [Healers] that pretended to heal him and instead only did shoddy work, but most of his power and fame had disappeared from this word with the Saintsworths.” Jenna said while flipping the page and moving on to the next one, “Most of the land the Saintsworths owed disappeared, with some of the lower members of their bloodline vanished overnight, the data on him from [The Twelve] seemed to imply that he didn’t share the same bloodline, and by the fact that he survived the [Advent] while most of the others didn’t…”

“Means he wasn’t a true [Saintsworth].” Rossie chimed at the end, “See, Eli-Eli is the true [Scion] now!”

…Elizabeth was not happy about that.

“The fact that I survived….” Elizabeth started to try to build a case.

“Means nothing, you almost didn’t survive, the fact that most of the people forgot about you is proof enough that you almost got erased too.” Jenna pointed out.

“But the people remember her Mother….and they also remember [The Traveler] right?” Renna said as counterpoint.

“[Odyssey] ascended as goddess, she doesn’t count. As for [The Traveler]...well, he isn’t exactly safe is he? He needed to jump out of our plane to try to escape the backlash, and even then he hasn’t quite managed to return.” Jenna shook her head at this, “Part of the reason Amelia doesn’t want to leave [The Tower] is because we think that he could use that as a beacon to return with us.”

Yikes…

“So that means Eli-Eli is the new Scion, right?” Rossie of course couldn’t care less about the problems of others.

“I guess? But why is that a problem?” Jenna asked confused.

“Well, Alexanders Saintsworth…” Elizabeth started her explanation by summoning a picture of the asshole from her personal library, “This asshole.”

The picture materialized in the middle of everyone for them to see, “This is the original Scion of the Saintsworths, the man who built all they had. Their riches, technology, and might were built upon the back of this man’s achievements.”

Yeah, that sounded good, right? One would want that right? Wrong!

“He is also the reason that his world was doomed, he is responsable for the death of the Saintsworth’s Homeworld, and the reason they tried to sneak into Zaanam.” Elizabeth, of course, wouldn’t mention to Jenna the fact that she was also the reincarnation of said man. “And I really, really don’t want to follow into his footsteps.”

She had enough already with having his [Soul] and [Inheritance], this cursed bloodline was already too much trouble for what it brought her. Granted, it allowed her great powers… Terrible powers yes, but also great ones.

“Then don’t.” Jenna just said as such.

“That is an irresponsible way to look at it,” Rossie said back, “Obviously Eli-Eli can do better than any MALE.”

“If Eli is the one to do it, I am sure anything she looks forward to doing will go fine. If not, We can always help her achieve those things.” Rena had another opinion, even if it was the same one as Rossie's in the grand scheme of things, “We are here to support her, so if she wants to achieve something, we will help her as best as we can.”

“I mean, her problem seems to be that she doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of this vague lookalike if he caused the death of his homeworld. Then I can understand why she wouldn’t want to follow in his footsteps.” Jenna chimed back, “But really, if he is anything closely similar to the one we had here, then he probably had access to a multinational company and money, right? For now you are at best a middle class civilian. You are far from having that level of influence in the world.”

Jenna laughed at that statement, and while Rossie and Rena seemed to want to retort, neither could really say anything.

While Rossie was the daughter of a future president(maybe president), she didn’t have the final say in her family's internal political stance; that was up to Lizbeth and Albert Singh.

Rena, on the other hand, was more like Elizabeth. She didn’t have parents or riches to back her, so really, they had more in common than anyone else.

But neither of the three girls knew or was acknowledging something fundamental, something that Elizabeth was painfully aware of….

“Mistress, we are ready to spread your [Authority] over the puny humans at your command.” The first to speak was, of course. Aura.

“The armadas are ready, Mistress. We await Mother and your command.” The second to speak was, obviously, her daughter(?), Chief Valkyrie, and little cute maid Beatrice.

“We are at your beck and call Mistress.” And the last one was Reginald, with whom she still had plenty of things to discuss.

“Shut it Reginald, don’t act all coy with me now. We will speak about you later! For now, stand down. We don’t want to repeat the Terra Invicta fiasco in Zaanam!” Elizabeth really didn’t want to do that; she didn’t have the whole story of how that went or what had happened. But the little tidbits of information she gleaned didn’t speak of anything good.

And after what she lived through when her [Pride] got out of control…She didn’t want to even imagine what had gone over there for the world to end, what the heck did he even do to make a world end like that?

She wanted to know but didn’t want to rummage through the memories of a dead world. She may have them squatting in her [Soul], but even so, she didn’t feel like it was correct to try and look.

“Let’s shelve this Scion shenanigan for later please.” Elizabeth decided to cut the conversation short at this, “So we know that we could probably deal with at least the three weakest members of the [Nine Stars].”

Elizabeth said pointing at the bottom names, [The Traveler], [Prophet] and [Warlock].

“That is not how it works.” Jenna said smirking, “Just like how you aren’t as weak as your level implies, they also aren’t as weak as you think.”

“I mean, wasn’t [The Traveler] the tuxedo guy that came in first year? I didn’t get the impression that he was that strong.” Rena pointed back.

“He may not be, but even so you would have an easier time hitting me than hitting him.” Jenna said back, “[The Traveler] got to that spot not for his might, but for his skills. He is always in the right place at the right time. If he ever says that he will fight you, it is because your defeat is all but secured.”

How does that even work?

“So if he showed up to fight you, it would mean he can defeat you? Someone 44 levels stronger?” Rossie pointed out.

“...He never did, but assuming that was the case then yes. I would think he either has a way to distract me, make me leave the fight or even seal me. He is a Saintsworths, and they are always slimy bastards….” Jenna grumbled and turned to look at Elizabeth, “Some exceptions are among them of course.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting slimy with Eli-Eli…” Rossie said in a low and sultry voice.

“Amen to that.” Followed by her shy and cute Rena.

“Focus girls, focus.” Jenna clapped her hands, bringing the three fantasying girls back to reality. “I didn’t bring this for you to get a hit list, but to prove a point. Even if you three feel powerful, fighting against the [Nine Stars] is too much. I may be able to defeat them, but that is under the premise that I fight at full strength and…”

“That the continent or that side of the planet will end up as a wasteland?” Elizabeth said as her eyes turned into her [Draconic Eyes] for a second, she turned them to look at the [Juggernaut] at the back of the [Echo Armada] who nodded at her, “...Is that…An Echo of Papa?”

Elizabeth had been thinking about the identity of that one after all.

“Yes, it was formed from my impression and ideas about him. I never managed to summon a real one, so the next best thing I managed was an [Echo] made up of my delusions. So if I need to use that….” Jenna said leadingly.

“Then unless we can put a dent in it, we can’t defeat [The Nine Stars].” Elizabeth admited, she…didn’t think she could defeat that one yet.

Seal it? Maybe.

Distract it? Possibly.

Defeat? Yeah, that was too soon for her. Maybe later? When she had grown into her power and finished collecting the [Gems] for her crowns?

Actually, did she want to do that? Collect more [Gems] of [Sin]...

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.” Jenna said, turning their attention to her once more, “Maximilian isn’t sane at the moment; he is more of a rambling mess of delusions. [The Elementalist] needs to contain himself and worry about the optics of his fight. Since [The Prophet] is busy trying to get the UN to recognize her as a political entity.”

“While we don’t need to worry about those things, we can fight without care in the world.” Rossie smiled evilly at this statement, she said.

“We do need to worry about how the world perceives us, since that will reflect in Elizabeth.” Rena said at the side. “There are only so many times we can pull a new identity.”

There were? Elizabeth turned her attention towards her Shift skill.

“Exactly, so your best plan. If you really want to do this, is to find a place to isolate Max and fight him there. Not in a city where he can use civilians, not in a cave or forest where he can use the shadows to his favor…” Jenna brought a map of the surroundings and pointed to the nearby mountains and forests. “But in a place where you can see his shadows coming and can fight while using your [Fly] to your advantage.”

“Can Rena fly?” Elizabeth asked as she turned to look at the red-haired girl. Flying was usually more of a [Magical Girl] thing; some [Heroines] also could fly, of course, but Rena didn’t seem like the type.

“Yes, I can use your [Fly] spell using my mana,” Rena answered as her back grew a pair of Shadow Wings, they morphed into wings made of Fire a few seconds later as if to match Rena’s hair color.

That was so hot in many ways.

“Good, so now you only need a way to call him to the place you will set up this ambush.” Jenna said encircling some empty spaces in the map, a few valleys and such. “Then with that we can worry about how you plan to fight him.”

Something didn’t quite match here though.

“You aren’t joining us?” Elizabeth asked, just to make sure.

“No, can’t sorry. I will make sure no one else bothers you girls. And if you are about to be defeated or hurt badly I will jump to help you, but you do need to deal with this. You are the one that wants to speak with him right?” Jenna said pointing out this point, “We can also leave, I can get Merlin to teleport us away, or get Amelia to set a bypass and teleport us too.”

“No” “No” “No”

The three girls answered at once.

“[Shadow Pact] is the one that started this, he dared to hunt a version of Eli-Eli.” Rossie said, venom dripping from her words, “Even if that was a version she wouldn’t use, or care for. He dared covet what wasn’t his. He must pay.”

….Rossie? Can I have your babies? Please?

“He started this fight, he may be mad, either by grief or pure insanity, but as the one to be taunted, we must answer in kind.” Rena’s answer was more sedated, but even so Elizabeth could see the Fire burning in the eyes of the red-haired girl. Determination, both to prove her might and to defend Elizabeth.

That was also nice to have, Elizabeth felt her heart warmth at the care she was recieving.

“A girl could get used to this, but yeah. What they said.” Elizabeth smiled while grabbing the hands of both of her girlfriends, “ [Shadow Pact] is the one that tormented Alice and Elzbeth (Now Chloe), he may have been the sister to the original Chloe, the one who gave her life for me. But even so…He needs to pay for what he did. Grief is no excuse.”

Elizabeth was obviously ignoring the fact that she had pledged to destroy every person that stood in her way should harm come to Rossie or Rena, that was that, and this was this.

“If he bared his fangs against us, he should be ready to have those fangs broken.” Elizabeth wouldn’t have any mercy, “He may have been my childhood crush, we may have been brother and sister in another life.” Elizabeth had too many of those…

Even so, Elizabeth had decided her path, “We will fight, and if we can’t win…We will run away and repeat till we can defeat him!” So her next path was obvious.

“If you aren’t helping us then we need to change some things first,” Elizabeth said turning to Jenna, “How much will you cover for us?”

“...I will make sure no member of [The Nine Stars] interrupts your fight, I can’t guarantee that I will be able to stop Echidna or [The Traveler], but the other members? They will not be a problem.” Jenna answered while turning to look at the map she had brought. “I would suggest this one, it is a nice big meadow.”

A meadow? Well, wasn’t that an interesting choice?

“Sure, Aura? Can you open a doorway there?” Elizabeth asked aloud.

“We had that spot marked for possible evacuation point, the coordinates are ready, we can teleport at once if that is your wish Mistress.” The purple-haired maid answered as she materialized in front of the four girls. “Greetings Lady Jenna.”

“....I will not get used to this.” Jenna said while waving at Aura, “Hello there, Jenna is enough. No need for the Lady part.”

Aura for her part seemed to ignore Jenna’s plea as she turned to look at Elizabeth, “Shall we redirect the armada?”

Right, she had sent her armada to search for [Shadow Pact], but they had narrowed down his possible ubication…

“Beatrice? How many more [Minions] can I summon before my [Soul] integrity reaches the next breaking point?” Elizabeth asked to her most loyal minion (Besides Nyx).

“Elizabeth?” Rossie turned her head and glared at Elizabeth…

“Elizabeth? Do you think this is…a good idea?” Rena didn’t outright glare at her, but Elizabeth could see the beginnings of tears in the red-haired eyes.

“....You may be able to summon more members to the Shadow Armada…But there is one among the Minions who has a more…thorough understanding of your Soulscape situation.” Beatrice said as she teleported atop the table in full maid regalia. “You should speak to Reginald sooner rather than later if you wish to know of this, he…has a deeper understanding of your [Soul] than most of us thanks to his peculiar situation.”

…It turned back to fricking Reginald…of course.

“Fine, let’s go then. Aura, teleport the camp to the ambush point.” Elizabeth grumbled as a magical circle materialized under their feet and teleported them (With camp) away to the meadow, “ Sorry Rossie, Rena. I know we have many things to speak about…And I need to apologize (Again), but…I need to deal with this first.”

“Of course Eli-Eli, we do need to speak with this…Reginald.” Rossie nodded as the pink-haired right hand darted quickly and turned into an iron vice that got hold of Elizabeth’s right hand.

“Yes, we understand Eli.” Rena nodded at her side as the red-haired girl got hold of Elizabeth’s left hand and hugged her arm against her chest. “We better get this over. I assume the tent is ready? Aura?”

Rena casually asked turning to Aura.

“Of course Lady Rena, I assumed as much and prepared some tents for your use.” Aura said snapping her fingers and teleporting a pair of camping tents, one with a dragon shield of arms at the top.

While the other had an armored figure winking.

“Aura? There are only two tents.” Elizabeth said while her girlfriends pulled her towards the (Somewhat) bigger tent.

“Oh? Will you be sharing a bed with Lady Jenna so soon?” Aura asked while covering her mouth with one hand. "I thought you would lay your slimy tentacles slower while setting up your trap, Mistress. I stand corrected. We will amend this by when you awake.”

“NO!” “IT’S FINE AS IS!”

Both Elizabeth and Jenna screamed simultaneously, both girls looking at each other, then at Rossie and Rena.

It seemed that the two that should be the most against weren’t actually saying anything.

“...I don’t mind it that much, so long it isn’t a man…” Rena whispered lowly, her face blushing red.

“....I can…tolerate new additions, so long they know their place.” Rossie looked cute while trying to hide her jealousy.

“...I would rather not bang my childhood friend, who I am technically her adopted sister…if possible.” Jenna said, trying to keep a mature visage, “Also, you girls are underaged while I am not; as a [Hero], I’d rather not commit a crime.”

“Oh, that is fine; Elizabeth doesn’t want to have carnal relationships before eighteen; we will just kiss, make up, fondle, and maybe tease each other. At least while Elizabeth is around.” Rossie answered with a seductive smile.

It was very hard for Elizabeth not to indulge in her most primal desires, but she would not fail!

It also made Jenna blush red as a tomato, which was cute.

NO ELIZABETH! DON’T TRY TO BANG UP YOUR MATURE OLDER STEP-SISTER!

BEGONE TEMPTATION!

“ANYWAY, I’M OFF TO CHEW OFF THE HEAD OF A MINION WHO HAS A NAME THAT HE SHOULDN’T HAVE BYE!” Elizabeth said quickly while pulling both of her temptress girlfriends into the dark tent that Aura had made for them, Elizabeth would ignore the fluffy handcuffs and the pink chains that went into the floor and ceiling.

That girl truly was evil, what did Elizabeth even do to be teased like this by a girl who she wasn’t even trying to ravage? As far as she knew, Aura didn’t even look at her like that!

What did she do to earn this kind of grudge!?!?!?