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n“Get yourself together, Iliana. You were lucky I was around,” Asia said softly but sternly. “Your worry is not needed on the battlefield. You should only worry about yourself. If you get hurt, Basil won’t like the scene he sees once he returns.”

n“Right. Sorry,” Iliana apologized without a fuss.

nOver the two weeks Asia had been teaching Iliana, the two had developed a relationship similar to Master and Apprentice. Iliana would still not listen to Asia from time to time, but she greatly respected her. Asia treated Iliana equally most of the time but also treated Iliana like a child whenever she was unreasonably stubborn. They didn’t have the closest bond but were no strangers to each other.

nRefocusing her attention on the ongoing battle, Iliana distanced herself from Asia. It wouldn’t be beneficial to have two strong combatants concentrated in the same place. She rushed to the densest point of the battlefield, bisecting every Demon standing in her way. When she reached the point, she aided the Pacifer Mages nearby.

nHer Arts cut and pierced through the enemies who unfortunately made contact with her Spear, Sinister Piercer. The Runes on her spear constantly glowed as her Mana kept flowing into her spear. Only some of the lucky Demons managed to parry her spear. Even those happenstances didn’t last long as she could end them with her next strike.

nZip!

nAn incoming baleful beam powered by Miasma prompted Iliana to plan Sinister Piercer into the ground. A Mana shield came into existence before her, protecting her from the incoming beam. When the beam made contact with the shield, Iliana was pushed back a little. The other Pacifer Mages immediately aided her, supporting her shield.

nAs soon as the beam stopped, Iliana held Sinister Piercer sideways and raised it to block the sword that a violet-skinned Demon with barely anything covering her figure swung at her. The sword was stopped firmly. The Demon lost her grin and immediately took a distance. A High-Class Demon was quite troublesome, so Iliana decided to activate her Pacifer Seal.

nAs her Pacifer Seal revealed itself in the centre of her forehead, glowing in its purple glory, her presence changed. It was getting undetectable with each passing second. After learning One with Nature intensively from Asia, Iliana had finally mastered it. She was yet at the level of a Maha Dmitra, but she was better than the most adept Hina Dmitra.

n“Aid Young Mistress Iliana!” the Pacifer Mages behind her shouted.

nThe Demon clicked her tongue in annoyance at the scene. She would be hard-pressed to fight Iliana alone. She wouldn’t be able to fight Iliana with the aid of the annoying Mages. She decided immediately what her best course of action was: run. The battlefield was wide. She didn’t need to remain in one place.

nCasting Teleportation, she blinked out of existence. She was about to head to the other part of the battlefield when she felt something in her stomach. Looking down, she could see a spear lodged in her stomach. Before she could mind it, however, her alarm bells went off. Quickly looking up, she found Iliana pointing her palm at her.

nHer entire being froze as she looked into Iliana’s emotionless red eyes. She wanted to move away but her body refused to listen to her. The purple Pacifer Seal looked like a death sentence for her. As it glowed brighter, she was more certain of her fate.

nOf course, Demons wouldn’t go down without a fight. Mustering every ounce of Miasma she had in her body, she cast the strongest she knew.

nBoom!

nUnfortunately, even before she could finish her Curse, her entire upper body was blown away. She hadn’t even registered the pain when she lost her vision.

nIliana watched in disinterest as Sinister Piercer flew back into her hand after blowing up the entire upper half of the Demon. The power rush from Natural Mana ran through her whole body. It was hard to keep her Mana Circles from materializing. As such, six Grand Circles flared behind her back, overflowing the air with Mana.

nChannelling the considerable amount of Mana she had gathered with One with Nature into Sinister Piercer, she leaned forward and pulled her foot backwards. Positioning her Sinister Piercer in a thrusting manner, she activated one of her signature Arts, Mountain Piercer.

nPurple light covered the tip of her spear and the purple her Pacifer Seal emitted got even brighter. The Demons in the surroundings could feel the aura of death. Some of them distanced themselves meanwhile the others ran at Iliana, determined to stop her from using her Art. Unfortunately, none of them could match the speed of Iliana’s thrust.

nBoom!

nA long, deep and wide trench was carved on the ground. Anything that stood in its way was hopelessly obliterated. The trench was one kilometre long. None of the Demons in the radius of one kilometre survived. Even those who were a couple of metres away from the edge of the trench still lost some of their limbs.

nIt was a feat that a mere Sixth-Circle Mage could only dream of. It was the power of the Pacifer Seal—the power to use Natural Mana that even Elves could only use. It was what made the Pacifer Clan feared in the past. Not only did they advance at an alarming rate in Magic but they also possessed this nature-defying ability.

n“Ugh… I feel sick already.”

nThe drawback, of course, existed. Everything has to be balanced. Only Gods can defy the balance that the world has to maintain. After using such a great and overwhelming force, Iliana felt drained. One with Nature relied heavily on Soul Power. She needed a cooldown time before using it again unless she wanted to crush her soul.

n“Splendid as always, Lady Iliana. I will take over here, so you may find a less dense spot.”

n“Thank you, Xander.”

n“As always, My Lady.”

nXander was already used to the instances. She had served the Pacifer for a long time, after all. He watched Iliana’s retreating form with a proud smile. His Young Mistress was still determined to become a Maha Dmitra before his Lord returned. The Great Lady Asia told her the only way to achieve that was to exhaust herself with One with Nature continuously and so she did.

nIt was quite impossible to become a Maha Dmitra in two weeks even though one had the potential to be one. Xander knew at least that much but didn’t say a thing. His Lord was an anomaly and, he believed, so was his young Mistress. He believed she could do it.

nReturning his attention to the front, Xander became even more excited at the imminent rise of the Pacifer Clan. It made him think about the old glorious days. A battle-crazed grin crept up his face as he put his fingers together. When he pulled them away, strings of red light bridged them. He then abruptly opened his arms, releasing the red strings in front of him.

nThe Demons who stood within a radius of half a kilometre from him were mutilated faster than they could register the pain. Their mutilated bodies fell helplessly to the ground. It was exhausting and a long one, but they could win the battle. The thought made Xander grin giddily.

nWoong!

nA hellish roar of a gigantic creature assaulted everyone’s ears. Xander stiffened slightly at the roar. The loudness aside, its presence was screaming trouble. As he turned his eyes to the creature that had just joined the battle, his expression instantly darkened. The only logical conclusion he reached at that moment was to run.

n“Regroup!” he roared at the same time his partner, Cyrus did.

nAs talented as they were, the Pacifer had only had two weeks of training with them. Although they could use a Magic Formation to face the creature and the rest of the Demon horde, he was quite sceptical about how long they could maintain it.

nUsing a Magic Formation required not only harmony but also stamina. The Pacifer clanswomen were blessed with a ridiculous Mana Capacity, but their stamina was quite mediocre. A snarl involuntarily escaped Xander. He was extremely tempted to tell the Pacifer it was time to run and leave their village behind.

n“Is that what I think it is?” Cyrus remarked beside him with a disbelieving undertone.

n“It has nine heads and the body of a four-legged serpent—what else can it be?” Xander returned with a grimace.

n“Holy grime, mate. We are facing a bloody Hydra!”

nXander turned around when he felt seven people approached him. They were the five Maha Dmitra, Iliana, and Ione. He knew what they were going to do, so his grimace became worse. He wouldn’t be able to face Basil if any of them got mortally wounded.

n“Let’s team up and take that snake, Xander,” Iliana declared, reminding everyone of Basil. “The rest will take care of the annoying pests. I am sure they are more than capable of doing that.”

n“My Lady, we are not only going to face the Hydra but also—”

n“Those High-Class Demons don’t amount to much. We can do it,” Ione interjected. “We will only ruin Lord Basil’s plan if we retreat now. He gave us the green light to move after a month; not as soon as we face this kind of challenge.”

nXander’s hesitation was apparent on his face. He was not going to tell them to retreat. He didn’t want them to join Cyrus and Him which might very well be a suicide mission. They wouldn’t let him be if he told them their real purpose, so he was quite floored.

n“I have never forbidden you to run away when your lives are in danger.”

nThe familiar voice that suddenly joined the discourse made everyone widen their eyes. Turning their heads to the source of the voice, they were met with the curious gaze of a golden-eyed young man with long, silky golden hair that billowed graciously in the air. Clinging on to him like a child was Asia. Even so, he looked extremely regal.

n“My Lord!”

n“It’s the Patriarch!”

nAsia grinned at the reaction. “I told you he is going to be on time.”

nBasil’s new appearance, which he also had recently noticed, made Xander and Cyrus quite shocked. The resemblance Basil had with The Lord was extremely uncanny. They knew they were a different person, but they couldn’t help reminiscing the old glorious days as they looked at him. They would get it back. It was tangible with this person.

n“Your order, My Lord!” Xander and Cyrus exclaimed reverently.

n“Help the civilians evacuate. We are going to move out.”

nAs soon as he said that, his Domain materialized. The world turned into an endless field of tall golden grass. The feeling of glory overwhelmed them. The Demons roared in fear.

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