Chapter 328 - Fire & Wind Seals

"It's you, Ara. The greatest enemy will be yourself…"

Huh?

"What… What do you mean?" If she was unsure earlier, this statement made Ara ŀȧpse into total confusion.

The Black God was not her nemesis. It was herself. What did that mean?

"My little one," Alistair began, reaching out to hold her hand again as if to give her strength by doing this. "Have you forgotten how you become the harbinger of catastrophe?"

The question threw Ara off – and then she remembered and nodded.

Czernobog could control the piece of his soul attached to Ara's and use her to wreak havoc. Yes, she was weak – at least a lot weaker than all the deities and demigods she knew. But all those deities and demigods were attached to her and couldn't bear to kill her.

And if she was killed like what happened in the past, they would all be thoroughly devasted, and the tragic cycle would continue…

The Black God's purpose was not to destroy the world, even if that would be great if it happened in the process. To him, the destruction was just pleasant collateral damage, and nothing more. He was also not aiming to get out of his lair since he was well and safe in there. His main goal, the reason why he cursed Alencica was to hurt Perun, and there's no best way to do that than using his beloved daughter against the King of Heaven.

"You see now, Princess, with or without the seal weakening, your greatest enemy will still be yourself. The only reason why you were safe before and during the Immortal War was that the spawn hadn't reunited with you yet – and Ara, the secret third piece was in this world. Czernobog couldn't control you."

It was Gin who reminded her of this fact this time which made her depressed.

Ara closed her eyes in defeat. This clearly meant that now that her soul's complete, she could become the harbinger of catastrophe any time the Black God could get his hands on her. If she remained there on Earth or in Ged, she would live and would be relatively safe, at least, for the next fifty years in Ged and five centuries on Earth. However…

Her curse would not end.

As the cursed being, since this time, she was not accidentally killed, she could continue to live for a long time, and would still be the bringer of doom in the future. This meant that by not going to Czernobog now, she would just delay her inevitable demise. The threat would still be there, just waiting like a ticking bomb.

On the other hand, if she went to seek the Black God immediately, Czernobog would still try to take over her body, only earlier. There was no difference at all aside from the delay. Then again, the reason why they told her that her enemy was herself was because there's a chance to prevent Czernobog from controlling her. If her willpower was strong enough, she could cut the puppet strings and utilize her ability to touch the Black God to defeat him.

"I didn't even realize I had a shadow lurker controlling me last time, what more Czernobog?"Ara stated in mocked laughter afterwards. The Black God was the greatest puppet master of all: Lord of elemental parasites.

"You can do it."

Homura Ryuu's clear voice ȧssailed her ears and she looked at her husband in surprise. There was a look of fiery determination on the Koutaishidenka's face as if he truly believed she could overcome this situation.

The hand he had wrapped around her shoulder tightened and she felt something magical – something warm that seeped through her, enveloping her heart, chasing her fears away. In place of the icy cold dread that festered in her ċhėst earlier when she heard of her task was a calming heat as if her spirit was suddenly on fire. The scorching sensation washed over her like a huge wave before suddenly compressing, settling on the spot on her skin above her heart.

What…

She looked questioningly at her husband, her silver-grey eyes silently asking if that warm sensation was what she thought it was, and Ryuu nodded with a gentle smile. Almost immediately, Ara let go of her father's hand so that she could move the front of her kimono to the side to check the part of her where the heat settled. Just as she guessed, a seal – Kresnik's seal was placed there.

The burning sensation was her husband's power flowing within her.

"I couldn't go with you, but with this, one of my other fire elementals will be under your command."

Hearing this, Ara finally mustered a genuine smile. Aside from the fire element seal, she felt all the trepidation in her system gone. It was as if she was given some sort of panacea to cure her fear.

"Ah, and don't forget me," Kazehaya Gin interrupted their 'couple moment', and unceremoniously reached out to touch Ara's wrist.

As soon as Gin's skin touched Ara, the latter felt a cool and fresh sensation ȧssailing her. It felt as if she was suddenly taken into the arms of nature and was being swayed in the breeze like an infant before a very cold sensation settled on the upper left part of her back. Gin then retrieved his hand and gave his niece a huge grin.

Ara didn't need to ask what happened. She knew that a new seal – Stribog's seal would be there. She gave her uncle a grin in return, while Ryuu gave him a thumb's up.

"Good job, Uncle Softy," the Koutaishidenka said approvingly, making Gin look proud.

"Nice," Ivan commented. "With all three seals on you, your power has now increased by more than a hundredfold. You can now be similar to me in power whenever you wish.""

"Eeeeeh?"Ara was surprised. She knew that these seals increased her strength, but she had no idea how much. If she's now as strong as Ivan, then it meant that her rank now was moved up to A. But she didn't linger on that issue. She focused on the latter part of Ivan's words.  

"Wait – what do you mean when you said that I can be similar to you in power if I wish it?"

Wasn't her level already boosted? Why did it sound like it needed a switch of some sort? Ara was curious.