Looking at the strange fire tornado in front of me, I felt an immense pressure emanating from it. The Phoenix was certainly not your typical rooster, but at the same time, I highly doubted it was a bird similar to what mankind imagined in its legends. It was placed right between me and the dragonesses, effectively blocking my sight. There was only me and the Great Phoenix there. The bugs and trees around me didn't count.

Still, something was way off.

The text of the skill said I was going to summon a Lightning Phoenix, while what I was looking at was a fire tornado. Last I checked, fire wasn't the same as lightning, they were two, very different elements.

“Hm, you have a strange aura around you.” the Phoenix said, squinting those piercing crystal eyes of hers at me.

“Yeah, sorry… I might have stepped in something back there.” I laughed awkwardly and looked at the sole of my left foot.

“Mortal, do not joke with me!” the voice thundered around me.

“Yes, miss!” I nodded.

“Well, being able to summon one such as ME and actually forming a contract with me are two, VERY different things.” she explained.

“How so?” I asked furrowing my brow.

“The Phoenix is a mighty species that lives up in the skies, controlling the elements while being sheltered by the gods! Mortals like you have no right to summon us! For such an insult, I should burn you alive and send your soul to be eternally tormented in the nethers of this world where dark necromancers can feast on it until you have vanished completely!” she threatened me.

“I would prefer it if you don't do that… I bruise easily.” I smiled.

“Well, you do have a peculiar aura around you… It's like all the gods of luck offered their blessings to you.” she said.

“I am sort of lucky…” I nodded.

“Sort of lucky? With that aura, even if I were to throw you in a battle between two gods of war, you would still come out unscratched!” she laughed.

“I see, well… I am in a battle right now. What do I have to do for that contract of yours?” I asked her.

“You do not seem to understand what an honor it is to even SEE me. If other mortals were in your position, they wouldn't hesitate to grovel on the ground and praised me to the high heavens for simply bestowing them with the gracious opportunity of being in MY presence!” she declared in a high-and-mighty tone of voice.

“Is that a yes or a no? If you are of no use, then I can try to summon a Phoenix that can actually do something.” I said with a shrug.

Acting all humble and groveling on the ground in front of someone who was called out by a skill named [Lightning Chicken!] didn't sound very praiseworthy to me.

“What?! What sort of mortal would dare to walk away from one such as I?” she asked surprised.

“Plenty actually…” I nodded.

“Preposterous!”

“Suit yourself… Let's see now. How do I turn off this spell again?” I wondered while scratching the back of my head.

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” the chicken spoke.

“What?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You are a very daring mortal, aren't you? Maybe you really don't understand how MIGHTY I really am! Even a dragon would tremble before me!” she told me.

“I'm friends with dragons and three of them are battling behind you.” I pointed out.

“What?” the tornado then turned around and looked at the struggling Kataryna, Kleo, and Seryanna. “I am in the Dragon Kingdom?” she asked surprised.

“Yes. Now, you can go. I'll summon another Phoenix.” I said shooing her off.

“Wait!” she turned back at me “Ahem! About the contract, I think we can do something about it.” she spoke with a different tone of voice, a more… humble one?

“I'm listening.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you have a very interesting aura, as I said. If you wish something good to happen to me, I'll lend you my help. There are two wishes I request of you. Do so, and I will form the contract with you.” she declared.

“What sort of wishes?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

If she's asking for world domination or world destruction, she's out! I thought.

“They are very simple. First of all, wish for me to grow and evolve faster than any other Phoenix out there without actually going through the process of being reborn from my own ashes.”

“Alright, and the next one?” I asked.

“Wish for me to win the Tournament of the Sacred Flame.”

“What's that?” I asked furrowing my brow.

“It's something that concerns only Phoenixes. A mortal like you has nothing to gain from it.” she told me.

“Alright… Well, it doesn't sound so bad.” I shrugged, then I took a deep breath and said “I wish for… erm… what's your name again?” I asked.

“My name is offered as part of the contract. Until you accept and fulfill your end of the bargain, I'm afraid I can't give it to you.” she told me.

“OK, fair enough.” I scratched my head. “I wish for the one before me to grow and evolve much faster than any other Phoenix in existence without her needing to go through the process of being reborn from her own ashes or suffering any sort of backlash as a result of the process of her growth and evolution. I also wish for her to win the Tournament of the Sacred Flame without dying or suffering grave injuries.” I finished the two wishes, to which I added a few modifications of my own.

If I were to form a contract with this lightning chicken, then I had to make sure I didn't summon her injured when I needed her. Those two wishes could hold a genuine death flag for her if applied incorrectly. The way she put it, she could end up winning the tournament, but maybe only with a sacrificial move of some kind.

“Not exactly as I said them, but very good nonetheless.” she said.

“They are better this way, trust me. So, what about your end of the bargain?” I asked.

“Of course! My name is Jophiel Thunderash! I am an Apprentice Phoenix with potential for three elements: fire, lightning, and light! From hence forth, I shall also be your familiar. Every time you summon me with that spell, I shall appear, but my will remains my own! If I do not approve of your desire, I will not listen to it!” she declared proudly.

The name was familiar to me. Thunderash was basically formed from the English words ‘thunder' and ‘ash' put together, but Jophiel was the name of the archangel of beauty. The name actually translated as the Beauty of God. As for why I knew this, praise be the games with interesting lore to read! Thinking about that, I couldn't help but imagine a stunning beauty wearing a thin silk garment, seductive and enchanting.

Nope! I have Seryanna! But looking and not touching is considered fair game! I shook my head to get the sexy image out of my head.

“Then I shall reveal myself to you~!” the voice was a bit seductive this time.

The fire tornado quickly diminished in strength until it vanished completely. In its stead, there was only a floating sphere of light of about 20 centimeters in diameter and at about 1 meter off the ground. Once the flames subsided, the sphere was lowered to the ground and then glowed brightly, forcing me to cover my eyes.

“What's that?” asked Kataryna surprised.

“Did Alkelios do something?” Kleo asked.

“Ugh…” Seryanna tried to bear the light, but even she covered her eyes with her hand.

When it was over, I rubbed my eyes and looked down. I blinked surprised when I saw the so-called Phoenix standing before me. To be honest, I was expecting to see a gorgeous, sexy beauty, but what I was offered instead was a bird.

“I really summoned a stew?” I rubbed my eyes again, thinking that maybe I wasn't seeing right.

“How rude!” the bird flew and pecked me on the head.

“Ouch! Cut it off! I just thought that you would be in human shape.” I complained.

The Phoenix sat on my head and threatened me with her beak.

“Why should I reveal my human shape to you? We have just formed a contract! Besides, you don't have enough Magic Energy to keep me here in human form. This is the best you can do, so deal with it!” she then made a nest on top of my head and looked ahead proudly.

I felt like I really summoned a chicken… Well, it had a big, flowing tail similar to the long-tailed widowbird, the head of a golden pheasant, the wings of a hawk, and the general colors were a mix of bright red and gold. She was a beautiful bird that would certainly make any bird watcher simply gawk at her.

“So, I'm too weak to summon you in another form, I see…” I said while trying to keep my head still.

If I moved, her claws could end up leaving some nasty marks on my scalp.

“Of course! Now, what do you wish me to do?” she asked and then groomed some of her feathers.

“I'm sort of in a life-and-death battle? So, I need your help to defeat that dragoness.” I pointed at Kataryna.

“Hm?” Jophiel looked at her target. “She's very strong. I can't defeat her in this form.” she declared bluntly.

“I need you to help. Attack her with all of you've got!” I said.

“Very well. I will listen to this silly request of yours.” she nodded and then jumped off my head.

“Ouch! The claws! Watch the claws!” I complained as I felt my scalp sting.

“You big baby!” she scorned and then flew up in the sky.

I wish we can defeat Kataryna. I thought as I clenched my fists and stepped forward.

“To summon a Phoenix, impressive.” the dragoness said.

“I'm surprised you stood still and took our beating for so long.” Kleo remarked with a forced smile.

“I merely wished to see if that legendary beast would listen to him or not… but to think he is a human, interesting.” she said and then looked at me.

“A what now?” Kleo asked furrowing her brow.

When our eyes met, the silver-scaled dragoness licked the tip of her lips, and I got a chill running down my back.

“You will not touch Alkelios!” shouted Seryanna and moved between me and her.

“Hou? And what is he to you? A slave?” she asked.

“Alkelios is not my slave! He is…” before the dragoness could finish her words, Kleo replied.

“He's my sister's bed sharing buddy!” she grinned.

“KLEO!” shouted Seryanna.

“But you did sleep together, what's the big deal?” she shrugged.

I could only blush foolishly.

Why doesn't this feel like an actual life-and-death battle? I wondered.

“[Fire of the Abyss] [Hellstorm Tornado] [Sparks of the Gods]” Jophiel shouted as she came flying down from the sky.

Looking up, Kataryna saw three attacks coming down at her. The first one simply sent a burst of flames towards her location, but they did more than simply burn the grass. The ground under our feet cracked and trembled as a result of the attack. It would be more accurate to say that she made the ground explode.

Seryanna and Kleo were forced to jump back from the area, while I could only observe like a dumbfounded fool.

The second attack, [Hellstorm Tornado], summoned a fire tornado around Kataryna, breaking and lifting pieces of the ground up as a result of the insane power of the Phoenix. The once calm meadow stretching all the way to the big cave entrance had turned into a fire inferno of shattered ground. The pure brute strength of those attacks was frightening, but Kataryna was still standing.

Breathing hard and summoning insane amounts of Magic Energy, the dragoness survived the relentless force and burning flames of those spells, but against the last one, she wasn't able to fully defend herself. The [Sparks of the Gods] attack sent several balls of lightning at her. The moment she was touched by one, she screamed in pain as her entire body was shocked by it.

Because of the flames and the lightning hitting all over the place, I couldn't tell what was happening exactly, but one thing was certain, we managed to hurt her. Something told me she wasn't dead, but maybe we scared her enough to force her to back away from us. However, that wasn't to be case.

“Hahaha!” the silver-scaled dragoness laughed as she jumped out of the fire, landing not far from Seryanna. “To think there was someone who can call upon the power of the Phoenix in this small town! Incredible!” she smirked and looked back at me.

The dragoness didn't come out unharmed. There was a scratch on her forehead, letting her red blood stain the right side of her face. Her left arm had its armor blown off all the way to the elbow, blood dripped from her clawed fingers, pouring out of the cuts on her arm. Her right hand had its armor burned, and the purple snake left a coiling shadow on it, but it was gone as well. Surprisingly, her tail showed not even a single scratch, but it was swaying left to right, showing a bit of excitement.

“You won't touch him!” shouted Seryanna, but Kataryna simply shot her a glare and then kicked her hard in the side.

The attack was so fast and furious, the redhead barely had any time to block it. She was sent flying and smashed into the stone wall above the cave entrance, forming a hole which spread numerous cracks all around it.

“Sister!” shouted Kleo.

“Seryanna!” I called out surprised, but then I saw Kataryna standing in front of me.

I gulped and immediately thought I wish none of her following attacks will hit me no matter how improbable or unlikely that is! I wish she's going to be defeated somehow, someway! Anything works as long as all of us come out alive from this!

“You will be a good toy for me!” she grinned.

“Sorry, not interested! I'm already in a stable relationship with the redhead you just shot into the mountain side.” I awkwardly smiled, then ducked.

“I missed again… Interesting! Really interesting!” she said with a big grin while her tail began to sway faster.

I narrowly dodged her deadly claws.

“Not interesting! It's scary!” I complained and then jumped to my left instinctively, however, not a full jump.

Once more, two earth spikes sprung up from the ground. One where I just stood and the other where I would have landed if I were to make a big jump.

“Interesting! Again!” she said with a big smile as she tried to catch me with her claws.

Jumping back, she missed by one millimeter. Kataryna didn't stop and continued to attack me, each one a deadly strike aimed to kill me. I felt like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. This turned out to be a game for her. One in which she tried to catch the slippery human.

“Can't we just talk about this?” I asked as I avoided another one of her attacks.

“Is this skill or luck?” she asked surprised and then prepared to pounce on me.

Like a feline, she crouched on all fours, her tail swaying left and right while she locked on me with her gaze.

“I'm considered to be pretty lucky… Erm, what are you doing?” I asked while taking a few steps back.

“I'm going to catch you… and once I do… I'll claim you!” she smirked.

“I'm not a toy, lady!” I retorted and instinctively lifted my hand up.

She pounced and right then, Jophiel came flying down and pulled me up with her.

“ARGH! You weigh a ton! Cut down on the cookies, will you?” she complained.

“Whew! Thanks!” I said, ignoring her remark about my blubber.

“I missed again!” Kataryna acted surprised and then gave chase after me. “Come down!” she called out.

“No way!” I shook my head.

Meanwhile, Kleo went after Seryanna to get her out of the rubble. Looking at the whole situation, there was absolutely no way for me to win this fight. This Kataryna fellow survived three full-on attacks from a Phoenix while being under a death curse from Kleo and an attack from Seryanna. What could I do to fight her? In this entire area, there wasn't even one single person capable of even comparing themselves with her level. If it was Brekkar before his illness, then maybe there was a chance, but besides him, I knew of no one capable of defeating the lunatic chasing after me.

“Come down! I won't bite… much.” she called out with a purr.

“Seriously, no!” I then looked around desperately, trying to think of a strategy, an instinct, something my luck could be used for, but there was nothing there except for the mountain.

Gulping, I then asked Jophiel “Can you blow up a mountain?”

“What are you thinking about?” she asked me.

“Well, it's not going to be long before she will get bored and jump to attack us, so better to try something foolish and risky aaand completely idiotic.” I smiled as I looked up at her.

“Sounds like what you humans usually do when it comes to everything.” she snorted.

“Hey! We do smart stuff from time to time too!” I told her.

“Your kind invented slavery.” she mentioned.

“I said from time to time, not every time!” I stood up for mankind.

“Well, I can't blow up a mountain. At least, not in my current form.” she told me.

“No problem, just fly me back to the cave, drop me off at the entrance, then count to erm… twenty and shoot your most devastating attack at the hole the redhead dragoness was thrown into.” I explained.

“You could die if you are thinking what I think you're thinking.” she told me with worry in her voice.

“I won't! I have 100 Luck!” I declared.

“100? What do you mean? Well, never mind. I'm quite curious as well what your tiny pea-sized brain can come up with in this sort of situation, so the mighty ME shall offer her assistance to you!” she declared proudly.

“Thanks, I guess?” I raised an eyebrow and then we changed directions.

“Where are you going? I'm going to catch you eventually, you know? So it's better for you to give up now!” shouted Kataryna.

“Nooo, thank you! I'm too young and handsome to die!” I shouted back.

“Pfft!” the Phoenix giggled, and I felt slightly offended by her reaction.

Flying us through the trees, Jophiel showed exceptional skill despite the useless weight she was carrying. If I could have shot fireballs or lightning out of my finger tips, maybe I could have taken her out. Actually, no… that was highly unlikely. Someone like Kataryna could only be put down with skill and brute strength, magic was just an annoyance for her.

Once we were out of the forest, I could see again just what sort of damage we caused to the area. It was massive. It was unrecognizable from when me and Seryanna first arrived and attacked those bandit dragons. In my world, nothing short but an artillery barrage could have caused something like this. The area was simply devastated, and a couple of trees had caught fire and threatened to turn this entire area into cinders. Luckily, a few rain clouds could be seen in the distance, so even if that happened, the dragons could still control the damage.

Looking over to my right, I saw Kleo offering a potion to drink to the injured Seryanna. Her armor was actually cracked as a result of the attack, which was something, especially given the ridiculous stats it had on it. My own armor was in tatters. I wouldn't be able to survive an attack like that, and something told me Kataryna had yet to go full-out on me. I shuddered at the very thought of it.

“I'm dropping you off then counting to twenty.” Jophiel told me.

Thinking about it, my Magic Energy was running on dry, so this was probably our very last shot before Kataryna officially won the battle and we were left at her mercy.

Gulping, I nodded and as soon as her claws released my gauntlet, I fell on the ground.

“I knew you would come around!” said Kataryna.

“Hiii!” I screamed and dashed into the cave.

“No way out of there, boy!” she shouted.

“Give me a break already!” I cried.

My only option right now was to run and keep running, but as I did so, I kept wishing one thing When Jophiel attacks the mountain, I wish it will hit a structural weakness that will cause a cave in! I wish for Kataryna Greorg to be knocked out in this cave! I wish to survive this confrontation with Kataryna Greorg! I wish she will get knocked out by the cave in!

After a few twists and turns, I reached a more spacious room, but suddenly, the floor turned to ice, I slipped and hit the wall.

“Ouch! What the?” I groaned as I got up.

Looking around, the entire room was covered in ice. All the exits were blocked and only me and the dragoness Kataryna were here. She was the one who cast this spell.

After I gulped, I got up and looked back at her.

“So… you trapped me.” I showed her an awkward smile.

“Yes… It seems.” she tilted her head and squinted her eyes at me. “What are you planning?” she asked.

“World conquest. You?” I replied.

“You want to be a Demon Lord? You will need at least 16 generals and a harem of 20 beauties for people to take you seriously.” she sighed and shook her head.

“Wait? That's actually possible?” I asked squinting my eyes at her.

“Yes. Demon Lords are only one of the many underlings of a Demon King, but those are also titles offered to those who worship darkness and wish to destroy the world.” she shrugged.

“Well, what do you want?” I asked.

“I…” she looked at me, then the ground trembled. “What's this?” she asked furrowing her brow, trying to keep her balance.

“That would be my Phoenix.” I smirked.

“What did you do?” she asked surprised.

I shrugged.

The walls then began to crack and the floor to give away. The few bandits remaining here screamed in fear as they tried to get out, but the dragoness froze the exits. The ceiling began to break apart, and large boulders fell on top of us. I narrowly dodged one of them.

“You!” Kataryna screamed “What did you do to my home?!” she shouted, but this time a bit angry.

I'm so dead… I thought, and in the blink of an eye, she was right there, in front of me.

There was no time to react. I knew how, I felt it, but I was too slow when compared to her sudden movement. It literally was in the blink of an eye. She grabbed me by the throat, squeezed and lifted me up.

“Play time is over!” she glared at me, and for the first time, I felt a bit of killing intent coming from her, but it was still quite weak.

“Ugh!” I struggled to get out of her grasp, but it was impossible for me to do so… that strength of hers was simply too ridiculous.

While she was glaring at me, she didn't pay attention to her surroundings. The floor was caving in fast, everything falling in a chasm, and the ceiling was breaking apart at an accelerated rate. I thought we were both going to fall, but when the ground under her feet gave in, she remained in the air, wings flapping and flying on the spot.

“You really think a cave in will get…” before she had the chance to finish her words, a huge boulder fell right on top of her head.

Now to explain a few things, a boulder is considered big when it's about 3 to 5 meters in diameter. This thing was at the very least over 10 meters in length and 8 in diameter, forming an ellipsoid with the tip aimed at her noggin, so basically a typical manga 'pebble'.

It was instant knock-out for the silver-scaled dragoness…

“Huh?” I blinked surprised as we both start falling into the dark chasm under us. “I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!” I screamed as I fell together with the knocked-out Kataryna.