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Erin had confirmed the Demoid’s death but she knew she shouldn’t have been complacent. Perhaps she was tired. Perhaps something was on her mind. She didn’t know but it was without a doubt that she had a momentary lapse of judgement. She shouldn’t have accepted the Demoid’s death just like that. Though they were just partially Demons, they were still Demons.

The tendrils that had sprouted from the now-deceased Demoid sprang at Erin. She had more than enough time to react but not without sustaining any wounds.

“Fuck,” she cursed at herself as she swung her sword. She was just a second too late to come out of this unscathed. However, she had another oversight and that was Aera.

The Apostle of Wrath reacted faster than Erin did. That was because her wrath had yet to dissipate and her senses were amplified to a tremendous degree. Namely, her sense of danger. She lunged at the same time the tendrils did and she reached Erin before the tendrils did. Her violet flame-clad fist sank into the flung corpse and sent it flying into the ground. The air rippled twice. Once from when she punched the Demoid corpse and another time from when the Demoid corpse hit the ground.

Due to the strength in that single punch of hers, the Demoid corpse was turned into a splatter of dark gory matter.

Erin let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Aera,” she muttered.

“More are coming…” Aera said in a very low voice but it was clear as crystal to Erin.

“Indeed,” Erin nodded. “More are coming. This is a trap but no surprise there.”

A figure dropped down in front of them without any forewarning. The figure was humanoid and it was clearly wearing armour that denoted it as a city guard. However, Erin could sense the Demonic oozing from it.

“Amateurs,” Erin scoffed in a whisper and spun around with a slash, cutting down an arrow that was shot from behind her.

At the same time, the Demoid wearing a city guard uniform lunged at Erin but Aera’s punch sent it plunging through the wall beside them. Aera did not stop there and pounced at the Demoid she sent flying into the wall. Erin did not witness the act but she heard it clearly. She heard how Aera rained down punches after punches on the Demoid until she could no longer sense any life coming from it. Even then, Aera did not stop pummeling the dead Demoid until it was an unrecognisable pulp.

Erin did not wait until Aera stopped pummelling the Demoid before moving on. With Aera’s current state, she could easily catch up to her should she move too far away.

Just then, the sound of a horn reverberated through the streets. The horn’s sound came from the direction of where the refugee camp was. When Erin strained her ears, she could hear the panic coming from the camp.

“The camp is under attack,” Erin quickly concluded.

Just as she poured Mana into her feet, six Demoids appeared in her path. They were all transported right in front of her using some kind of teleportation magic spell. This was either the work of a very competent mage or the Covenant had amazing magic machinery that allowed mass teleportation. Whichever it was, it didn’t matter. Not that Erin could do anything about it, for now.

The six Demoids were still in their human forms. Unlike most others, these Demoid were sporting nervous expressions. They reminded Erin of conscripted soldiers who were forced by their nation. Fear was emanating from them like water overflowing from a container. Neither of them wished to fight her, Erin could tell. They all definitely knew they were not her match but they had no choice.

They were all level fifty.

They were probably individuals who got tempted by the promise of great power and now, it was do or die. As they were now Demoids, Marduk could easily dispose of them if they declined to kill Erin.

“Damn it… damn it… damn it…” the one with the blue hair kept on muttering those words repeatedly. “Fool… what a fucking fool I was…”

Erin sighed. “You brought this on yourselves, gentlemen. But if you don’t resist, I guarantee all of you a quick death.”

One of the Demoids snorted. “It ain’t that simple, Fae. Some of us here have a family.”

“Or a lover.”

“Or friends.”

The Demoids all drew their weapons and pointed them at Erin.

“For what it’s worth… I don’t enjoy this,” Erin said and clad her sword with Arcane Edge. “But I do what I must.” And she lunged at the six Demoids without a precise target in mind.

The one wielding an axe made the first move against Erin. His skin had turned to a very dark shade of black and small spikes had protruded all over his body. He swung his axe which was infused with Demonic energy.

Erin dodged the axe and countered with a swipe. However, her counter was blocked by the spear wielder of the six, who had transformed into a humanoid lizard-like Demoid. With her sword temporarily hindered, the sword wielder seized the chance and went for Erin’s head.

Erin escaped her predicament with Warp by shifting her position to the back of the enemy lines where the three remaining Demoid were still at odds with what they should be doing. Erin offered them a quick release of their plight by swiftly decapitating them. They saw her blade coming for their necks but their bodies could not keep up with their perception and Erin’s speed.

Erin then threw an Aura Shot at the axe-wielder while he was shocked over his companion’s death. He regained his composure just in time to deflect the Aura Shot but in doing so, he exposed himself to Aera who came up from behind. His two other companions were too late in their intervention. Aera had plunged her fist right through the axe wielder’s heart before lifting his lifeless corpse up and tearing it in half.

The spear and sword wielders attacked Aera in tandem but their weapons simply bounced right off the fiery aura enveloping her. Aera easily caught the neck of the sword wielder with just a short leap. The spear wielder was much nimbler in his steps and escaped Aera’s grasp. However, he remembered the presence of Erin all too late after his successful escape from Aera’s grasp. By the time he remembered his original objective for coming here, his head was already rolling.

The Sword Wielder shrieked in terror as he struggled vainly in Aera’s grasp. He pleaded with Aera for mercy but the Apostle of Wrath did not even register his pleas. In her eyes, he was just another scum that was part of the organisation that killed her mother and destroyed her home. She slammed the Demoid into the ground repeatedly until he was nothing but a huge mangled piece of flesh.

Erin did not stay and watch, of course. When she had offed the head of the spear wielder, she had already resumed her haste in returning to the camp. But it was not a smooth return. There were many obstacles in her way in the form of Demoids who had yet to become feral. However, the ones that decided to run instead of fighting Erin turned feral the moment they turned their backs on Erin.

Erin did not know what Marduk was truly planning but on the surface of things, he desired her death, that much was certain. As to why they targeted the camp when she wasn’t there, she didn’t know the specifics. It was simply what evil people do, that was the best conclusion she could come up with as she sliced and cleaved her way through the Demoids.

Erin eventually reached the camp that was now surrounded by Demoids and Dregs. They were battering the borders of the camp but as they were made of wooden planks enhanced by magic, the camp was not so easily penetrated.

The people within the camp were desperately fending off the lesser Demon-kin that was encroaching on the camp. The Demoids were few in number but the Dregs were more than plenty. Most of the Demoids were feral but Erin could see some still had their senses and they were hesitating in joining the madness.

Erin sighed once again and shook her head in anguish. “Just how many people were swindled into becoming Demoids?” She could see the regret written over the faces of the still-sane Demoids but there was nothing she could do for them now except to end their misery quickly.

Erin did not need to do anything to attract their attention. Once she was certain yards away from the encroaching Demonic beings, they all sensed her presence. Gone was all their focus on the camp. With a loud screech and cries in tandem, the Demoids and Dregs charged at Erin in a large swarm.

If they were normal monsters, Erin could easily finish them off with her Lightning Magic but since they were Demoids and Dregs, there was no way it would be that easy. Still, she did throw a Lightning Spear just to gauge the strength of the horde she was up against.

The Lightning Spear struck a Dreg but before the spell could explode and take the lives of all those nearby, the Dreg absorbed the Lightning Spear into its small feeble-looking body before dying in a withering fashion. She saw a Fireball, thrown by a mage from the rampart of the camp’s border, striking a Dreg. The same thing happened. The Dreg absorbed the Fireball but it didn’t die, though it looked considerably weaker.

The defenders on the rampart barraged the Demoids and Dregs that were now focusing on Erin. The attack spells did little to no damage to the horde. It made them stumble but they were largely unfazed by the attacks. Arrows were also released but it took four arrows to kill a single Dreg.

“Magic and physical resistance… Great. Is this your best hand, Marduk? Or do you have an even better one?”

“Run, m’lady! There’s too many of them!” Someone shouted from the ramparts.

“H-hey… shouldn’t we open the gates for her?”

“Are you mad? There are Demons lurking just outside and we have no way of properly fending them off. You want to open the gates and risk letting those abominations swarm in?”

“N-no…”

“But we can’t just leave her out there!”

“Shut it! It’s hundreds of lives against one!”

“M’lady, our magic and weapons had little effect on them!”

“We can’t help you, m’lady! You should run!”

While those on the ramparts were arguing about their dilemma, Erin had already turned tail and ran. She had no doubts she could easily deal with the Dregs but with the Demoids in the mix, the result would be complicated.

One of the Demoids had the lower body of a serpent, a Naga-like Demoid. It was the fastest out of the dozen Demoids on Erin’s tail. It quickly caught up to Erin and pounced at her. Erin spun around and slashed at the Naga Demoid. It slithered out of harm’s way and immediately threw itself at Erin again. This time, Erin surrounded herself in Thunder Shell. The spell did its job and sent the Naga Demoid fling somewhere far. But since she didn’t receive any experience, the Naga Demoid was still very much alive.

“Aera!” Erin shouted.

Aera was calmly walking towards Erin. Her whole body was dyed in the blood of the Demoids she pulverised. She had a blank look on her face but when saw the horde chasing after Erin, her expression lit up like a rapidly growing blaze. Her fiery aura flared up in tandem.

“Move,” Aera said simply.

Erin didn’t know what Aera was going to do but she didn’t argue. She moved out of Aera’s way as the Apostle of Wrath wound her arm, preparing to throw a punch. And when she did throw the punch she was winding up, she threw more than just a punch. She threw her aura along with it and it decimated the horde.

The whole street shook as Aera’s Aura Shot ploughed through the horde charging towards her. Since the street was relatively narrow, the horde essentially lined themselves up perfectly for Aera’s attack. Of course, that single punch of hers did not kill the entire horde but it did reduce more than half of its original number.

“Fucking hell, Aera,” Erin gasped, staring at the aftermath of Aera’s punch. Contrary to Erin’s expectation, Aera wasn’t exhausted despite the attack she just unleashed. In fact, her aura had only gotten stronger as if fueled by the deaths of her foes.

Erin realised she was witnessing the true might of Aera as the Apostle of Wrath. This was her, releasing all of the rage and anger she had been suppressing and she was just starting.