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Taric, the Demoid who resembled a reptilian-ape, lunged at the confidently grinning Amyra at her indirect questioning of the existence of their manhood. Despite being a half-demon, they were still men at heart. Lowly ruffians, they were. Suffice to say, their egos were fragile and easy to provoke.

Amyra unleashed her battle cry and met the Demoid’s offence in kind. Fire erupted and engulfed her whole body but she was unhurt and unfazed. Taric threw a straight punch at the Augur but his fist bounced right off and his knuckles were charred. Amyra snorted and countered with a wide slash. Using his unusually long arms, he pushed himself away from harm’s way.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Amyra cried excitedly and stayed on the Demoid. The flames weren’t just there to protect her but also enhanced her speed and strength.

“Daughter of a b—” The Demoid couldn’t even finish cursing and was forced to dodge Amyra’s oversized sword.

“Blaze Armour,” Erin mused aloud in wonder over the result of her Appraisal. It was a spell under Fire Magic and could only be obtained if one had Fire Resistance at level six or above. Amyra’s Fire Resistance was level ten and her Fire Magic was level eight.

With Amyra’s Blaze Armour, the Demoid found himself at an impasse. He could not retaliate. His ability as a Demoid was simply super strength and rapid self-healing. He was also hard to kill, going as far as being able to survive decapitation. However, his self-healing and seemingly undying constitution could only last as long as his Mana Pool’s capacity. It would end poorly for him if he could never retaliate properly.

While Amyra was busy fighting the reptilian-ape Demoid, the knight Demoid silently approached them from their flank. Despite having a knightly appearance, he was capable of stealthy assaults in addition to frontal ones. He had melded into the shadows.

“Damn,” Irvun uttered when the two Fae suddenly turned in his direction and fired off their attack spells. He flipped backwards, dodging a bolt of lightning and a blast of condensed air. Seeing the futility of being covert, he opted for a direct confrontation. Steel-like swords appeared in each of his hands.

“Nivia, stay behind me. It’s you, he’s aiming for.” Erin moved in front of Nivia.

“I can fight too, Erin.”

“I know. Which is why I’m only telling you to stay behind. We have to fight smart. We don’t know what he’s capable of yet. I will draw out whatever he’s hiding and I trust your judgement in deciding when to assist me.”

“Very well, Erin. Let’s do this,” Nivia said and nodded with a renewed determination. She sharpened her gaze and began weaving a spell.

The air around them immediately turned into a thick layer of mist.

“What a petty trick,” the Demoid, Irvun, scoffed and sped through the mist with his swords thrust forward.

“Figures,” Erin muttered indifferently as she parried the Demoid’s attack. She countered with a high cut but the Demoid skillfully blocked her sword and riposted with his other sword.

“What the shit?!” Irvun exclaimed as his slash was blocked by a bundle of furry tails but they were as hard as steel.

Erin smirked and pushed him back by pouring strength and Mana into her arms.

Irvun stumbled for a single step but promptly regained his bearings and caught a downward slash from Erin. “Is this all you got?” he sneered. “I heard great things about your swordsmanship but is this it?”

“I suppose?” Erin answered dryly and continued trading blows with the Demoid in a dispassionate manner unlike literally every other time. “I should be asking you that. Your swordsmanship is… hollow.”

“Hollow?”

“Yes, hollow. You’re fast and strong but I don’t sense any strong intent behind your blows and strikes. You’re just like everyone else I fought. You’re nothing with your level.”

The Demoid laughed. “So it’s true, you sure love to spur your opponents into committing a blunder with your venomous tongue.”

“I have only ever heard that truth is bitter. I didn’t know it was also venomous.”

The Demoid clicked his tongue. “What an impertinent b—”

An arrow flew out of nowhere, piercing through the thick mist, and streaking towards the Demoid.

“Useless,” Irvun snarled, swiping his sword at the arrow. However, the arrow veered off its straight trajectory, and circled him, before swooping in on his head after a few rounds. “Too slow!”

“Indeed,” Erin muttered in her heart as crept up to the Demoid and swung her sword.

“How dare you—!” The Demoid cut down the arrow and spun around to confront Erin. But no one was there. “Wh—”

Erin was behind him again, having used Warp.

A clang of metal against metal resounded around from near his ears. To be precise, his neck. Erin had attempted to cut his neck off but for some reason, her blade bounced off her armour despite using Mystic Blade. Erin couldn’t believe her eyes. Mystic Blade had never failed her. It had never failed to cut through anything until now.

Irvun chuckled. “How naive. Do you think we would not have prepared anything against your abilities and skills?”

When Erin peered closer, she saw the reason. The Demoid’s armour-like skin was actually covered in denticles. These denticles had sprung to life and caught the blade in between the strands like they were biting down on the blade. “Impressive,” Erin found herself praising her foe on instinct.

“It very much is,” the Demoid retorted and spun around with a slash.

Erin was pulled into the Demoid as her sword was still stuck on the denticles. She dispelled her sword and re-conjured it just in time to block the slash.

Another arrow flew through the mist and struck his head but the arrow was only firmly lodged on his head without piercing through the armour.

“So it was just a ruse,” Erin muttered.

“Quite right but too late.” The arrow popped off his armour but the arrowhead stayed lodged. The arrowhead then melted into the armour.

Erin widened her eyes. She was glad she didn’t use a corporeal sword against this Demoid. If Nivia had attacked him with her short swords, it wouldn’t have ended well for her. Since melee proved to be a terrible means, Erin decided to switch tactics. With her free hand, she pointed a finger at the Demoid’s face.

The Demoid growled and tossed himself away from Erin just as she shot out a bolt of lightning. Even if it wouldn’t do much damage, it would still hurt quite a lot if he received that attack point blank.

“Another ruse? Or a genuine reaction?” Erin mused inwardly. “Only one way to find out.” Erin coated her Bespoke sword with Lightning Clad and charged at the Demoid.

“Infernal,” Irvun spat and also charged at Erin, except that he immediately leapt over her and darted towards Nivia.

Panic struck Erin hard but she immediately reined in her rampaging emotions. There was no reason for her to be panicking. It wasn’t as if Nivia was a helpless damsel that couldn’t defend herself.

The dense mist faded rapidly and Nivia emerged from the shroud with a sphere of condensed air in her hands. She thrust the air sphere at the approaching Demoid. The orb exploded the moment it made contact with the Demoid and sent the Demoid flying across the room. Nivia was also hit by her own spell but Erin appeared behind Nivia and caught her in her arms.

“That was dangerous,” Erin remarked. “But nicely done.”

“I can’t go easy on a Demon.”

“How’re your hands?”

“They’re fine. What about you, Erin? You have used two Spatial Magic spells. Even if it’s you, that must have taken a lot out of you.”

Erin smiled and cast Mana Harvest, instantly recovering more than half of her Mana pool.

“How unfair,” Nivia pouted flippantly. “Anyway, how fares our Demon friend?”

“Pissed,” Erin answered.

The Demoid emerged from the debris of the wall he crashed into and strode leisurely towards the pair. “If only I don’t have to restrain myself from killing you, vixen,” he grumbled.

“Not that the result would be any different,” Erin retorted and unleashed dozens of Lightning Bolts on the Demoid.

Irvun tutted and started running and hopping around the room, dodging the bolts of lightning. “You’re only wasting your Mana,” the Demoid shouted as he narrowly avoided a bolt that scalded his temple.

Erin shrugged. “Am I?” and continued her barrage of Lightning Bolts.

Though the laboratory was vast, they were still in a cave. There was a limit to how far and how long Irvun could run. Soon, he would run out of space to run. The incessant Lightning Bolts had left trails of charred havoc that were still oozing smoke. They were still places he could run to but he would scald his feet if he did.

Nivia also contributed to the barrage and fired four arrows that were imbued with Wind Magic. The four arrows chased Irvun down like Lyra’s Seeker skill but the only difference was that Nivia had to steer the arrows manually. One of her arrows struck the Dermoid’s shoulder but it didn’t penetrate his armour-like skin. However, the Demoid still let out a wince as he dug the arrow out of him with his sword.

Irvun cast a dire glare at Nivia. “I’ll see you dead,” he snarled and tossed the swords in his hands at Nivia.

Erin moved into the swords’ path and cut down one with Mystic Blade but the other one flew past her.

Nivia was more than prepared to receive the sword flying toward her. She had her spells ready for the moment the sword got within range. However, the Demoid blinked at his sword as it flew within only a few feet away from Nivia. The spells she had prepared weren’t as strong as the ones she used to send him flying.

“Die!” the Demoid cried, swinging down his sword.

Nivia raised her hand, catching his sword with her palms that were holding her spells. She bit down a shriek due to the rebound of her spells as a result of using them in such an unconventional way.

Irvun re-summoned his other sword into his free hand and thrust at the Elf.

“Not on my watch!” Erin threw an Aura Blade that hit the Demoid in the back. It didn’t do much but it made him stagger, giving Nivia that ample amount of assistance she needed to turn the flow.

Nivia veered the Demoid’s sword away, freeing her hands, and used Laser on him.

Irvun frowned at the cry of his sixth sense. He was barely able to dodge the striking beam of light that grazed his face instead of taking his head. But his left arm had been taken as collateral.

The Laser spell lasted briefly and Nivia slumped to her knees when the spell faded off.

Before Irvun could take his revenge for his arm, Erin drove him away with Lightning Magic. The Demoid was persistent and countered immediately, but his sword was blocked by a shell of lightning. The shell of a barrier returned his assault and sent him tumbling across the ground.

“I got him…” Nivia said weakly.

“Stupid. Couldn’t you have used something that is less tasking on your Mana?”

Nivia chuckled meekly. “I wanted to be the one to land the final blow… I don’t want to… burden you.”

Erin gave a wry smile that wasn’t mocking but affectionate. “You’re never a burden, Nivia. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it this far.”

Nivia returned her smile. She blushed too but she did not look away. She had turned the other way for far too long. It was time to face the truth and her fears. She had wanted to change all this time and she knew it could only happen if she took the first step.

“How sweet…” the Demoid muttered, walking in stride despite the attack it just received. “And how disrespectful. Am I not worthy to even garner your full attention?”

Erin offered the Demoid a snigger. “You want my full attention?” The sword in her hand turned into a sabre that was as large as a greatsword. “You shall have it.”

“Finish him, Erin. You don’t need to be considerate of me,” Nivia said.

Erin nodded. It was true. She could easily cut Irvun down but for the sake of giving experience to Nivia, she held back. But now, since Nivia gave her consent, she would end this swiftly.