"BASTARD!" Liu Ying's cry was filled with rage. Her figure was wrapped by blood-red mana that coalesced around her body.
Breakthrough!
Liu Ying had broken through to the B-Rank!
Her aura surged upwards, breaking from the C-Rank and ascending to the B-Rank. The powerful surging aura caused a shockwave that blew away the artifacts disguising her features.
Her hair turned fiery red, and her eyes turned of a beautiful amber color. At the same time, a giant figure appeared behind her. The figure was that of a blood-red giant filled with savagery.
It was a Chaos Titan.
Liu Ying's aspect!
Using the momentum of her breakthrough, Liu Ying kicked the ground and appeared in front of the duke, clenching her fist and unleashing a powerful blow.
"Die!" Liu Ying bellowed.
The duke's eyes opened wide. Instantly, a barrier of mana appeared in front of him, blocking Liu Ying's punch. But almost instantly, the barrier cracked up until shattering. Then, Liu Ying's punch continued forward and sent the duke flying.
*BOOM!!!*
The powerful impact resounded through the city hall, making the building shake violently. Bloed, Javelin, and Charise stared with their mouths wide open at the overwhelming strength Liu Ying had shown.
It was the power of the Chaos Titan aspect, the special talent of the former demon's royal family known as the greatest talent in terms of pure brute strength.
Unfortunately, that strength was not enough to take down the duke.
As though Liu Ying's attack was a lie, the duke landed on his feet. He looked at his chest where he received the blow and coughed a mouthful of blood.
Then, he glared at the panting Liu Ying with a look of rage.
"Damn brat!"
Instantly, his mana turned into a blood-red serpent that attacked Liu Ying.
Fortunately, Bloed was nearby and managed to push Liu Ying away. Then, he shot with his blaster gun in the direction of the barrier. At the same time, Leto returned to its wolf form and started to accumulate energy on its mouth.
The duke's expression changed. He turned his mana into several blood-red spears that attacked Leto.
But–
"[Protection]!"
Charise was there, creating several barriers in front of Leto. She then raised a hand casting a new spell.
"[Curse]!"
Instantly, the duke felt as though something was taken from him. His movements turned slow, and his body turned heavy.
Using that opportunity, Leto unleashed a breath of plasma towards the barrier protecting the node!
"Useless!" The duke laughed while the breath of plasma was being repelled by the barrier.
With a bellow, the creature in his chest opened its mouth, swallowing a torrent of mana and freeing the duke from Charise's spell. He then gathered the mana into a ball that exploded near Leto, blowing it into pieces.
But during that time, Bloed and Javelin had arrived in front of him, one of them wielding his two daggers in a crisscrossed stance while the other slashed with his saber towards the creature in his chest.
The duke hurriedly cast a new barrier, barely stopping Javelin's daggers at the cost of a small injury on an arm. But due to that, he was unable to evade Bloed's attack.
The duke was planning in using his mana to cast a barrier to stop Bloed's saber, but in the last second, a strong feeling of danger made him use his left arm to protect his chest from Bloed's attack.
And at that moment–
*Swish!*
Bloed saber cut through the barrier of mana easily, severing the duke's arm into two.
The duke's eyes turned round. An enormous pain assaulted his body, and his mind blanked.
But then, the creature on his chest opened its mouth and–
*SCREEEEEECCHHHHHH!!!*
The creature's shrill cry was like a hammer that hit Bloed and Javelin's mind. Their bodies stiffened involuntarily, and their faces twisted in pain.
During that while, the creature extended several tentacles that pierced towards Bloed and Javelin.
Liu Ying arrived at that moment. With the Chaos Titan on her back, she clenched her fist and unleashed another punch.
"Go down!���
The punch struck the tentacles, blowing several of them into bits in an instant. But at the same time, Liu Ying felt her mana decreasing at an astonishing rate.
Liu Ying's attack seemed to have awoken the duke from the shock of losing an arm. His face twisted in hatred and his mouth let out a terrifying cry.
"BASTAAAAAAAAARDS!!!"
Following his cry, the mana around him turned into a colossal three-headed serpent that attacked Bloed and the others.
"[Fate]!"
Charise's spell came at that moment. Her sacred and holy mana turned into a barrier that stopped the serpent's attack briefly, then, Bloed and the others were pulled away from the duke.
"[Reward]!"
Charise's second spell was cast. The powers of fate from the goddess were wielded by the saintess and turned into a reward towards the people fighting for the wellbeing of the world.
Bloed and Javelin felt their minds clearing, and the pain caused by the creature's screech dissipated.
The pair did not stay still, and instead, they resumed their attacks on the duke.
However, the duke seemed like he had turned crazy. Blood-red mana surrounded him, turning into blood-red flames that seemed to represent the rage he was feeling.
"CURSED BASTARDS!!! DIE!!!"
The flames turned into a pillar that rose until the clouds and fell towards the group!
The group expressions' changed. Charise tried to stop the flames using her barriers, but the flames were much stronger than before. It was as though the duke's strength had grown exponentially.
Although it was not in the domain of a demigod yet, it was infinitely near!
Out of options, the group could only disperse around the city hall to escape the duke's flames. But at that moment, the duke revealed his real target!
When the group was divided, he appeared in front of Bloed and cast a tongue of flames!
"YOU ARE MINE!!!"
Bloed's opened his eyes wide. In the last second, metallic sand gathered in front of him, turning into a thick shield that protected him from the flames.
But then–
*BOOM!!!*
The flames exploded, sending Bloed flying away.
"Bloed!" Liu Ying shouted in panic, instantly jumping towards the duke to stop him from chasing after Bloed. The duke smirked and answered with another tongue of flames that exploded in front of Liu Ying.
"Agh!"
"Useless!" The duke laughed crazily. "You can't win against me! I can feel myself becoming stronger!
But suddenly, his expression changed.
Instinctively, he looked in the direction he sent Bloed flying.
There, he saw Bloed standing beside the barrier protecting the node with a smile.
With a mocking gaze, he stabbed his saber into the barrier, using [Molecular Disintegration] to cut through it and create a small hole.
Of course, that was not enough to destroy the node, but Bloed was not done yet.
With his right hand, he threw a small metallic ball inside the barrier.
"STOP!!!" The duke screamed, but it was too late.
In the next second–
*BOOOOMMMM!!!*
The second node was destroyed.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels