The girls didn’t know when the entirety of the safe zone had become so foggy. This shouldn’t even be possible, yet their visibility had almost been cut off. A safe zone was normally one of the few places in the Darknar forest that wasn’t always dark. With the lack of tall trees, the moonlight would normally be able to shine down upon them. However, the thick grey clouds covered the sky in its entirety.

They weren’t sure when the snow had stopped but the sky looked as if it would birth a storm. With the silver moon no longer visible in the sky, the night felt darker than I ty should, and as the fog got even thicker around them, a shiver ran down their spines.

“Boss, boss, get yourself together, we’re in big trouble here,” Fiala yelled and Lilou continued. “Mia you too, we don’t have time for this right now the enemy is strong.”

Mia tried to cover her mouth with her hand and stop screaming. She knew the two were right but her body was reacting on its own. What terrified her the most was the ease at which her comrade had just died, even in front of their boss. Ava had lost her head faster than any of them could even react.

The fog continuously got denser and their visibility got worse. Lilou and Fiala tried to stay alert but Mia and their boss, Nora, were still shaken by Ava’s death. As they tried to move into a tighter formation, they suddenly heard a sound coming from beside them and hurriedly turned around and fired their crossbows, arrows flew accurately through the air but failed to hit a solid target.

They both immediately took a step back in case of possible attacks. With their visibility as bad as it was now, it was clear to them that this fight would be insanely difficult without Mia and Nora’s magic supporting them, still, the pair didn’t lose hope. Lilou quickly reached into her pouch and brought out a few scrolls. Fiala fell back to Lilou’s side and kept watch while she used the scrolls on both Mia and Nora.

“Valorous Mind.”

A golden aura enveloped the two girls and calmed them down. Mia’s trembling hands soon stopped and she was finally able to control herself with a renewed sense of courage. Realizing the situation they were currently in, she immediately cast some enhancement spells on Lilou and Fiala.

“Clear Vision.”

“Mythical Hardening.”

“Lesser Resistance – Physical Attacks.”

“Lesser Strength.”

“Middle Agility.”

“Middle Dexterity.”

She was able to cast six enhancement Spells in a row without a break. Not only was her cast speed impressive, but she was still only a tier 3 witch and couldn’t use that many spells, to begin with. Unfortunately, that was all the enhancement spell she could use on others.

Lilou and Fiala’s vision became clearer with a wider range, they could now see further than they originally could in the thick fog. Standing leisurely at a distance, a slender silhouette appeared in their view and they immediately fired their crossbows while using their skills to boost and add various effects

°Thousand Arrow shower°

°Continuous Shots°

Countless arrows flew in that direction, giving the figure no space to retreat nor advance, and it could only accept its fate. The arrows rained down on the silhouette and destroyed it, the girls were about to take a step forward to confirm the strike when suddenly a shout came from Mia. “Behind you!” The two ogresses quickly dove sideways and a streak of silvery-white lightning arced through their previous location with deadly intensity.

Knowing fully well that they would be attacked again if nothing was done they quickly rolled on the ground and turn around, firing several arrows at the place the lightning had originated from. Their arrows struck nothing but misty air and they lost track of the silhouette again. The girls tried to stay alert while Mia tried to snap Nora out of her daze.

Whoever was attacking them was skilled vetoing their comprehension, to Stan even the slimmest of chances to survive, they would need her strength. Nora’s eyes were watery at the loss of her little sister. Yes, she knew this job was a dangerous one from the beginning. The family usually lost a scout once every few months and sometimes even more.

She only took this job because her sister had been forced into it. Her sister wasn’t a pureblood that had been born by one of her father’s many concubines. Being a lesser demon was a problem for the nobles as it was seen as a stain to their highly ranked noble titles. This mission was the family’s subdue way at getting rid of her and Nora had vowed to protect her, yet, she couldn’t even see it coming…

“Well, this is disappointing.”

The voice reverberated in the foggy safe zone and Fiala and Lilou fired their arrows in opposing directions. They had been sure the voice had originated from that direction but their attacks struck nothing.

“I had hoped you guys would put up a little fight but I guess I had greatly overestimated the so-called scouts of the great five.”

“Shut up!” Fiala snapped angrily and continued. “For someone hiding like a coward you sure like to talk big.”

“Who said I’m hiding.”

The voice this time did not reverberate throughout the fog. Instead, Fiala had clearly heard it from the female figure that had suddenly appeared mere inches away from her face. Before Fiala had even registered the presence of the figure, a black exquisite dagger was already plunged deep inside her chest.

Lilou’s eyes widened and she immediately tried to strike back at the figure but it was already gone.

“FIALA NOOO!!” Lilou screamed at the top of her lungs and this finally brought Nora back to her senses. There was nothing she could do to bring back her sister. With the family wanting her dead, there was no way they would waste valuable resources to bring her back to life.

She also couldn’t stay moping while her sister’s killer, kills everyone here right in front of her. That was not something Ava would’ve wanted. Nora held back her tears and balled up a fist with determined eyes. If she couldn’t save her sister, she would avenge her.

“Summon Monster; Ant Giant.” (Soldiers – Basic class)

“Summon Monster; Hell hound.” (Intermediate Class)

She stood up and cast two summoning spells back to back. Two magic circles of silver and red appeared on the ground within the fog and two creatures soon appeared within it. One of the. was a large red ant twice the size of an adult male, it stood semi-upright with four of its limbs and wielded two claw-shaped rusted swords on the other two. The second summons was a large blackish-red hound, its paws were ignited by hellish flames and so did its eyes.

Nora commanded her summons to track down and kill the intruder and they both took action. The hellhound left a fiery trail behind and the giant ant used its feelers in tracking the movements within the fog and the girls paid attention to it.

Mia cast Cure Wound on Fiala and she was able to recover fully from the stab. She was fortunate that the blade had missed all her vital organs which allowed her to fully recover with only a tier 2 spell. However, Fiala didn’t think luck had anything to do with this.

She was sure if the figure wanted her dead, then she would be dead. A loud clang was suddenly heard which was followed by a bang and Nora sensed her Summons had located the assailant. She quickly cast another spell to clear up their visibility problem.

“Wild Gale!”

This was a Tier 4 spell that summons a strong wind in any direction directed by the caster. However, it did not do much more than that and had no offensive prowess. The wind blew the fog away and they all finally saw their opponent stand in the center of two dead monsters.

She was a dark elf whose beauty was beyond what the girls had ever seen before. Up till now, they had thought Mia and Nora were amongst the most beautiful girls in the world however, they now felt like that was delusional. It wasn’t like them to be flustered by another girl’s appearance, after all, non of them swung that way but this was different.

This was a beauty that only the elves could possess. Most of them hadn’t met any high-level demon from their family so they weren’t sure if any demons could match this dark elf. Nora quickly snapped out of it when she realized it was her summoned monsters that laid on the ground beneath the elf’s feet.

While the ant was only a Basic class summon, it had high durability and the hound was an intermediate class summons that was comparable to a Tier 3 magic beast, and yet, she had taken them down in seconds. Her nerves tightened and she quickly recalled the monsters and summoned another one.

Summon Monster; Dire Ape.” (Advanced Class)

A larger magic circle than the one from the previous two appeared on the ground with a purple glow. The figure of a large monster soon rose from the ground and although Fiala and Lilou were prepared in case the dark elf wanted to interrupt the summoning spell, that never happened, the dark elf just stood there staring at them with a playful smile on her face.

A large ape-like monster soon arose from the magic circle and roared. It stood over 10 feet tall and was covered in pitch-black fur. It had a large tusk protruding from its mouth and wore metal greaves and vambraces.

The giant ape charged at the dark elf in a sight that looked as though it would swallow her whole, however, she barely took a step and avoided the slam that shattered the ground. The ape continued its rampage and attacked the elf but she appeared to be barely moving and was still avoiding the ferocious attacks that sent the earth flying with each swing.

It felt like she was floating at times and the two rangers quickly got involved. Mia cast several buffs on the ape and tried to curse the dark elf but nothing worked on her. Fiala and Lilou’s arrows were numerous, with the effects of every skill they could muster, yet it was almost like she had eyes at the back of her head as she avoided every arrow without even using the dagger in her right hand.

What was even more surprising was the fact that Mia had several magic mines set up around this safe zone and had been trying to set them off anytime the elf stood next to them but they all just shattered by her mere presence. It was painfully evident to all of them that they were way out of their league.

“Boss, you have to run ” Whispered Mia, “What, what are you talking about.”

“We can’t win this, you have to survive, we will try and buy you as much time as possible, if you summon your phantom steed you should be able to escape her reach.”

“No I can’t do that, I’ve already lost Ava, I can’t lose you guys too.”

“You won’t lose us, boss, we’ll always be with you, so please survive.”

“What? that’s nonsense, let’s think of a way for us to escape together.”

“There’s no way, besides you need to report this to master Luci.”

Nora bit her lips trying to think of an alternative when she suddenly saw the dark elf attack for the first time and the Dire Ape lost an arm so easily. It was clear she was just toying with them and trying to give them faux hope. She wasn’t even sure if her phantom steed could escape this elf’s clutches but…

“Triplet magic Ice Lance.”

A beautiful and melodic voice rang out from the sky and turned Nora’s confusing predicament into Despair. There was another one. A godly beauty with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale white skin, stood in the air as she cast a single spell that killed her Advance Class Dire Ape in a single hit.

This was no longer a matter of contemplation, it would be a miracle for her to escape by herself not to mention with the girls.

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