"Mum?"
Hearing Yin call out to her, Shiro stopped what she was doing and glanced over.
"Yes? What is it?" Shiro asked curiously.
"I canāt designate myself as the lifeline." Yin scratched her cheek as Shiro paused in confusion.
"Wait that shouldnāt be the case. Aren- Ah.... Youāre not tier 6 yet are you?" Shiro asked as she realised what had gone wrong.
Since Yin was powerful enough to kill a tier 6 with ease due to the bonuses that she had received, Shiro had classed her as a tier 6 in her mind.
This meant that there was no way for Yin to link herself as the lifeline since the rules state that she had to be tier 6 in order to do so.
"Hmm... who would be good then..." Shiro muttered. She didnāt want Attie to be linked as the lifeline just yet since his strength as a pseudo demi god would be very helpful if they get into a rough fight.
One of the only reasons as to why she agreed to Iziuel being one was because she was a supportive fighter rather than offensive.
Attie was pure offense so having him around just in case a fight broke out was beneficial.
Receiving a call from the command centre, Shiro pulled out her phone and put it on loudspeaker.
"Sup."
"I almost missed this greeting of yours. But letās set that aside for now. Iāll be honest, when we saw you designate Yin as the lifeline we had thought that you had something up your sleeve since she was just tier 5 but since thatās not the case, why donāt I become the new lifeline?" Nimue asked as Shiro coughed.
"I marked her as tier 6 in my mind since she has enough strength to kill one ok?" Shiro scratched her head with a small pout.
"But if you want to be the lifeline then sure. We still need Attie around in case we fight with someone stronger." She nodded as she snapped her finger.
Suddenly, a portal appeared in front of her as she could see Nimue on the other side.
"Well that certainly saves me the journey." Nimue chuckled as she stepped through.
"Before I integrate myself I want to give you something first."
Closing her eyes, Nimue waved her finger as water gathered towards her palm.
Conjuring a rose of sorts, she handed it to Shiro.
"A proposal?" Shiro asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not quite. Put it in your mana realm and itāll let me do maintenance without actually being in there. The effects are limited but itās better than nothing. Knowing you, youāll manage to f*ck things up even though itās evolved." Nimue rolled her eyes.
"Cough. Itās not like I WANT to harm myself now. Iām not a masochist after all."
"But you still do in the end." Nimue retorted as she suppressed the urge to smack Shiro on the head.
Shaking her head, she walked over to Yinās place and started to integrate herself as the lifeline.
While this was happening, Shiro started to revamp the place using her nanotech.
All of the broken walls were now fixed and she started to clear out the basements.
Those with dark souls were killed and those that had clearer souls were offered a second chance.
Naturally, all of them had contracts with the Queen so Shiro started to break them one by one. It was a little annoying depending on the type of contract but after breaking the first 5, the process became easier.
With the help of runes as well as the fact that she could see their souls, it was an easy task to pinpoint the contract and break it without consequences. Naturally, when she did this, the one who set the contract would realise what had happened. By doing so, she was essentially giving the enemy Queen a middle finger.
Snickering at the thought of the enemy Queen being confused as to why her contracts were being broken, Shiro teleported everyone to Asharia and had Samuel deal with them once more.
Thinking about this, Shiro wondered if she should change Samuels title.
From an elder in the spirit council to tour guide of Asharia.
"Nimue." Shiro called out.
"What?"
"What do you think about me calling Samuel Head of the Welcoming Committee? Or something similar. Bouncer?" Shiro asked as Nimue blinked her eyes before facepalming.
"Donāt bully the old man now. I think letting him keep his title is good enough. Plus, maybe you can make a new job opening rather than leaving everything to old man Samuel." Nimue suggested as Shiro shrugged.
"Iām not really bullying him. The spirit council is around but they donāt do as much as they used to. Iām thinking of relocating their manpower by having the old man act as the welcoming committee since Iāll be recruiting more people." Shiro grinned as Nimue sighed.
"I canāt even tell if youāre being serious or not."
"Pft fine, Iām kidding. I wonāt get rid of the spirit council. Theyāre looking after the section with the spirits after all." Shiro shrugged.
However, before she could say anything else, she narrowed her eyes and turned towards the entrance.
"Seems like reinforcements have arrived much sooner than expected. Attie! Come with me, I got homework for you." Shiro smiled as Attie nodded his head enthusiastically.
"Letās not overkill them too much so everyone else can just watch."
"But going by that logic, Maria, Glen and Yin would be enough. Getting two demi gods is definitely overkill compared to what I just mentioned." Nimue reminded as both Shiro and Attie paused.
Shiro could almost see Attieās invisible rabbit ears droop down in sadness.
āSh*t, thatās adorable. But Nimueās right... Attie might be a little overkill.ā Shiro thought to herself as she contemplated on what to do.
"Well just Attie woul-"
"Heās still a pseudo demi god." Nimue grinned as Attie couldnāt help but pout slightly.
Seeing his expression, Nimue coughed.
āSh*t, thatās adorable. But he is a little overkill... In terms of Exp it would be better if Maria, Glen and Yin killed them rather than Attie. But heās too cute...ā
"Cough, Iām only kidding. Attie should do it alone since having you follow him is definitely too much." Nimue coughed as Attieās expression instantly brightened up.
"Iāll watch from the castle." Shiro patted Attieās head as she created a portal for him.
Once Attie left, Shiro glanced over at Nimue.
"And you tried to deny him."
"Che."
###
Stepping through the portal, Atesh could see an army charging towards them from a distance.
Narrowing his eyes, his lips curved into a smile.
"Glen, Maria, you two might want to step back. While the mechs will be undamaged, I canāt say the same if youāre too close. Mum would be unhappy if I accidently cooked you." Atesh warned with a soft smile as both Glen and Maria took a few steps back and reinforced the defences within the castle.
Nodding his head in satisfaction, Atesh flew towards the army.
Once he was away from the zone, he raised his hand into the air.
"Since this is the first task that mum has given me, I need to do a good job." Atesh smiled as he glanced down at the approaching army.
Seeing that most of them didnāt notice him, he smiled and swiped his hand to the right.
*BOOM!!!!!
Suddenly, a giant wall of fire erupted out from the ground, blocking the army from approaching.
The heat was contained as anything it didnāt touch was spared. However, the trees that were caught in it were reduced to ash in a single moment.
Seeing that the army had halted their movements, Atesh nodded his head in satisfaction.
"One, two... Just two? I thought that a Queen would have more tier 6ās than this. Disappointing." Atesh muttered as he waved his hand.
Burning all of the spells that were sent his way, he glanced down and narrowed his eyes.
"Attie darling, Iāve already put a protective cover on those that I donāt mind saving. Feel free to go wild."
Hearing Shiroās voice from the mic, Atesh nodded his head.
"Sorry but it seems like the order has been given. Sorry to those that havenāt been chosen today."
Snapping his fingers, tens of tier 6 formations appeared in the air around him as the sky started to darken.
Pushing the clouds aside, giant balls of fire descended to the earth as each one was bright like the sun.
*BOOM!!!
Crashing into the army, the fire immediately turned those that werenāt chosen into cinders.
The attack was simple, overwhelming power in a single moment.
Once the fire cleared up, all that was left were craters that had the surface charred black.
Those that were chosen unshielded their faces in confusion as a golden barrier flickered around their body.
Seeing that many others had survived, they looked up at Atesh.
"My name is Atesh, son of the Goddess and Aspect of Fire. Congratulations, you have been chosen for a second chance at life." Atesh smiled as the flames disappeared with a single wave of his finger.