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nFang’s surprise attack failed. Furthermore, the two weren’t even considering her a threat at all and were busy bickering with each other instead.

n“But that’s advantageous to me!”

nFang activated her buffs, increasing her strength and speed, decreasing her presence, and adding instant-death property to her attacks. The last one was something she just learned, so it wasn’t stable yet, but having it up was still better than not.

nKicking the ground, she aimed her claws, clad in a sharpened black aura made of shadow energy, at the fat man’s neck once more. This time, however, she was careful about the other one, making sure that no surprise attack would reach her.

n*TANG!*

nJust as her claws were about to touch his neck, he moved the handle of the hammer, placing it along the way of the attack and preventing it.

n“No way!”

nFang was surprised at his unexpected response but quickly recovered her stance. However, from behind her, three arrows were already flying. All three weren’t aiming for her directly, but rather aiming to limit her movements.

n“…!”

nJust as she hesitated, not moving for a moment, a powerful kick connected against her stomach. Fang flew straight, like a bullet fired from a gun, destroying several trees along the way.

n“Ugh!”

nFang’s body felt battered, but thanks to her being in the 7th stage, she wasn’t too injured. Just as she was about to stand up, two shining arrows approached her face.

nFang’s response was a little too late. She couldn’t dodge it in time. Just as she thought that the arrows would pierce both her eyes, something fell from above, blocking the two arrows.

n“Fang! We need to fight together; don’t try and do it alone!”

nFrom behind, Ember’s angry voice echoed. Looking closer, the thing that fell before her was none other than Ember’s portable shield.

n*BAM!* *BANG!*

nAnd while Ember was scolding her, a loud thud echoed as dust flew. Fang quickly stood up, confirming the situation.

nAhead of them, Igni was standing before the two zodiacs. Each of them had parts of their clothes burned off, while the fat man had the handle of one of his hammers bent.

nIgni’s kick was powerful enough to bend it, as could be deduced from her still-extended and flaming leg.

n“You two… shall die!”

nIgni was angry. It wasn’t because they killed a lot of innocent humans, monsters, and beasts along the way, but rather because they “bullied” Fang. It was a little cold coming from her, but living in the wild technically means survival of the fittest. Death was a common thing.

nThe two zodiacs, whose power had now dropped by more than half, were intimidated by Igni. After all, she was currently more powerful than them. There are things that experience alone can’t overcome, such as pure violence beyond reason.

nKicking the ground, Igni appeared before the hooded woman, who was preparing to attack in secret. Igni’s fist, covered in flames, swung forward while aiming for her face, but the opponent quickly jumped to the side, avoiding a direct hit.

nThe flames of her fist were still enough to singe her face, however, so she didn’t come out unscathed.

n“What’s with this girl? How dare you hurt my face?!”

nLosing it after getting hit, the woman revealed her weapon.

nA pure black short bow that she had been hiding behind her large, tattered gray mantle the entire time. As she pulled out her weapon, her right hand moved in a flash, sending a dozen arrows flying toward Igni.

n“You think that’ll work on me?!”

nIgni shouted, attempting to wave the arrows away with her arms…

n*SPLAT!*

nBut all the arrows pierced her arms and her body altogether, creating a few holes.

n“IGNI!”

nEmber shouted, worried, as she too ran to where the other enemy was. However, as she was watching Igni, flames suddenly surged from her wounds.

nThe flames were so powerful that her clothes burned away in an instant, leaving her almost naked. However, her last layer of clothes was specially made by Ember, resistant to flames, so she was saved from exposing herself completely.

nThe flames moved, closing her wounds like time rewinding itself. A second later, her body was back to its pristine state, with no wound visible anywhere.

n“Flame Clad: Absolute Flames Mode!”

nIgni’s words made the woman flinch. After all, she wasn’t a 9th-stage for nothing.

n“Absolute Flames?! Are you mad?!”

nThe flame was likewise called the “devil’s flames” as it would devour the user, enemies, or allies alike. However, the woman suddenly realized an anomaly.

n‘She’s recovering the damage from the flames simultaneously?!’

nIgni’s body was being continuously burned by her own flames. However, the skill’s bonus to recovery was enough for the damage to vanish without a trace in an instant.

nIn this state, which she just discovered after reaching the threshold of the 8th stage, she was simply unbeatable by attacks below a one-hit kill.

n“Kuh! Hey, fatty, help me over here!”

nSeeing herself at a disadvantage, the woman tried to call for the fat man. But when she turned to look at him, she quickly realized that he was also busy, with Ember and Fang hounding him from both sides. 𝙡𝙞𝒓𝙚𝓪𝙙.𝒄𝓸𝓶

nThe fatty was in more danger than she was!

nIn the short instant that she looked away, Igni moved. Using the heat of her own flames, she exploded the ground and pushed herself forward like a vorpal lance. Her hand was poised forward, cutting through the air as she flew straight, aiming for the enemy’s heart.

n“BRATS! DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME!”

nJust as Igni was about to reach her, a loud roar came from the other side. Igni felt danger and immediately dove down before jumping back. A large hammer flew right above her head as soon as she did.

n“…!”

nThe fat man threw the hammer, damaged Ember’s exoskeleton’s right arm, and grazed Fang’s thigh. It even almost hit Igni, a dangerous attack that almost took them all out at once.

n“Playtime’s over!”

nWhen the girls took their distance, increasing their vigilance, the fat man took a pill from his pocket. It looked like a black capsule, and it exuded a weird aura that made the girls shiver upon gazing at it.

n“W-What is that…?!”

nIgni muttered in fright, watching as the fat man gulped it down. As soon as he did, a wave of black energy surged, sending dust and rubble flying. The three were forced to lower their stances just to stay upright, proof of the blast’s power.

nBefore they noticed it, the woman on the other side did the same thing. As soon as she swallowed another black pill, her energy rose as another wave of black energy radiated around.

n“Kuh?! What the… They’re becoming powerful all of a sudden?!”

nEmber, who was watching the two the entire time, immediately realized that Blanc’s weakening curse was no longer working. After all, the enemy was now possessing enough energy to be half-step god-level!

n“DIE BRATS!”

nJust as they were still teetering from the double blast of unknown energy, the fat man approached. As he moved, the air around him became disturbed. Waving the large hammer with two hands, he brought it down toward the girls’ heads.

n“…!”

nOf course, since it was an attack with a big movement, the three managed to move and dodge without problem. However, as they were watching the fat man’s movements, countless black “somethings” appeared over the sky, raining down on them.

n“Fang, Igni, to me!”

nEmber quickly called, setting up a powerful barrier around her. However, even with that, the falling black projectiles managed to crack her barrier almost immediately.

nFang set up another layer of barrier, but it wasn’t even worth mentioning. As a last line of defense, Igni set up a barrier using Ignis Faatus flames, which barely stopped the attacks from above.

n“YOU’RE THE MOST DANGEROUS ONE, SO I’LL BE KILLING YOU FIRST!”

nJust as they successfully defended one attack, the fat man was already before them, swinging his large hammer around horizontally like a tornado. His target was Igni, the one whom they deemed the most dangerous among the girls.

n“D*mn it!”

nIgni cursed as she set up her flaming sword, swinging it against the rapidly approaching hammer.

n*Clang!*

nBut all that happened was that her sword, along with her entire arm, flew back from the recoil. Igni’s feet left the ground a little from the impact alone!

n*SPLAT!* *CRACK!*

nAs she was floating for a moment, the hammer smashed her from the right side, her bones echoing loudly as they cracked.

nLike a ping-pong ball, Igni’s body flew toward the forest, raising a large clamor as she dug a long trench from the attack.

n“Uguh!”

nIgni’s body refused to move. Despite her high recovery rate, having her bones, muscles, and even internal organs damaged would take some time to recover.

n‘I was fortunate that my feet were off the ground…’

nIgni thought as she tried to stand up. After all, if her legs were on the ground, then she wouldn’t be able to absorb most of the impact. 10 out of 10, her upper body would definitely have said goodbye to her lower body.

nIgni was still a little out of it; her vision was blurry, so she wasn’t aware of the arrows coming for her from a high angle. Each one mercilessly aims for her vital parts.

n“”Igni!””

nFang and Ember shouted at the same time, terrified as they watched Igni’s figure get showered by arrows.

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