"Are we there yet?", Grant asked while he turned his head towards the demon general Rona currently disguised as the adventurer 'Marklov'.
"A-almost!", Rona shouted in a nervous voice, she would shake unconsciously whenever she would look down and see how high up they were flying.
Seeing her acting like a scared kitten, Grant concluded in his mind that the Demon General was definitely scared of heights.
But that aside.
Grant narrowed his eyes, looking down at the demon territory they had entered, according to Rona the so called Superior Dragon was inside the demon's territory.
But it looks like she wasn't really lying.
Because Grant actually managed to sense a draconic aura.
And quite a familiar one at that.
Under the elemental sight, Grant's vision took a complete change, with a vision that far surpassed other living beings he managed to spot two familiar aura's waiting for him upfront.
Sensing the familiar aura, Grant's grip holding his staff unknowingly tightened.
Sofia and Lancer.
He wouldn't mistake their aura for someone else.
But they weren't the only ones, he also felt the aura of demon general Io he defeated before at the capital's battle, as well as some more demons.
But they weren't important.
The main enemies are Sofia and Lancer.
Suddenly Grant stopped mid-air catching Rona off guard.
Then a chill ran down her spine as a terrible thought passed through her mind.
Does he know?
Or else why would he stop right before they were about to reach their destination?
While Rona felt her heart beating like crazy, Grant's almost inaudible voice entered her ears
"Blessing."
A golden light surrounded Grant for a moment before disappearing.
But that was just the start.
"Damage reduction advance, Positive protection, Water shield, Paralysis immunity, Greater recovery....."
Rona's facial expression changed continuosly becoming more and more contracted as time passed by.
Seeing so many buff's being cast, she almost had the urge to stab him to death, but being surrounded by Grant's mana forget about attacking she couldn't even move her body.
After a short moment which felt like an eternity to Rona, Grant finally stopped and smiled as if satisfied with his work he turned his head to look at Rona, seeing her hideous expression he calmly said.
"Let's go and meet your friends."
'He knows!'
Seeing the calm smile on his face, Rona felt her blood run cold.
'This is bad! I need to inform them somehow!'
Rona tightly bit down on her lower lip making blood drip out, but surrounded by Grant's mana, it was all for naught.
Then under Rona's struggling gaze, they landed in front of a giant cave entrance.
"So the Superior Dragon is inside the cave?"
Rona avoided Grant's gaze as a sense of helplessness filled her heart.
Their original plan was to first let Grant enter the cave then using the limited space they would force the magician inti a corner before killing him.
At least that was how it was suppose to go.
But since Grant knew about the ambush, they failed at the very first step.
A feeling of dread covered Rona's heart, knowing full well that even Io was inside the cave.
Not paying attention to Rona, Grant raised his staff before pointing it towards the cave's entrance.
"7th tier Earth elemental spell..."
Using the divine points, Grant shortened the long chant to but one word.
"[Earthquake.]"
It wasn't the strongest Earth elemental spell he knew, but fir the current situation it was without a doubt the most suitable.
*Crack*
The earth underneath their feets shook, as a natural disaster of immense might broke down the cave in front of them.
Under Rona's horrified gaze, the entire cave broke down.
"No! Io!"
With tears in her eyes she called out the name of her fellow Demon General.
It was all her fault.
If only she had noticed earlier that her disguise was seen through by Grant and commited suicide...
While such thoughts were going through Rona's mind, Grant used his elemental sight to see through the now blocked cave entrance.
And to his surprise he actually found out that Sofia and Lancer were alive.
He also felt the aura of Demon General Io, although it was a bit too weak now, perhaps having suffered from heavy injuries.
But that's okay.
If one [Earthquake] didn't do the job then he will just lunch a few more.
Since they have already chosen their coffin, who was he to disagree?
Today he'll bury them alive.
Grant once again raised his staff and pointed at the blocked cave entrance.
Once again his divine points decreased to shorten the chant.
"[Earthq------"
"I'll kill you!!!"
The sudden grief filled voice caught him off guard a little, through the corner of his eyes he saw Demon General Rona attacking him with what seems to be a short sword.
*Clank*
Unfortunately her desperate efforts were useless, her attack was stopped by an invisible shield before it could even reach Grant, the rebound from the shield hit her hard throwing her far away.
The sudden turn of events attracted Grant's attention fir a moment, then he once again looked back at the cave to complete his spell.
"[Earthquake]"
The earth shook once again, this time the entire cave gave in and broke down completely.
But seeing the scene Grant frowned instead.
Because just before the spell was launched, he felt the aura of Sofia, Lancer and Io disappear and appear some distance away.
Not having intention of letting them go, Grant used his spell [Fly] and chased after them.
The place they teleported ti wasn't far to begin with, in no time Grant managed to catch upto them.
After arriving at the place, Grant saw the half dead Io being healed by Lancer who looked like a beggar instead of a majestic dragon due to all the dust surrounding him, beside them stood Sofia who actually seem to be perfectly fine unlike the other two.
"Dammit Sofia how could you use me as a shield!"
"Sorry Sorry....".
"Tsk looks like he's here."
After Lancer's remainder, Sofia's gaze turned sharp staring straight at Grant standing on the nearby hill.
"I didn't know the Hero was such a cowardly person, to use such underhanded tactics------------shit!"
"[Water Blade.]"
Sofia quickly turned her head, dodging the sudden attack by a hair's breath.
Looks like her plan to anger him wasn't going to work, this guy was really out to kill them today!
"Lancer!"
"Leave it to me! Go!"
The ground underneath Sofia's feat cracked as she launched herself at Grant with her
Behind her, Lancer waved his hand making countless sharp sword appear in the air before throwing them at Grant.
But u fortunately for them.
"8th tier wind magic....."
This Grant came prepared.
"[Winds Of Annihilation.]"
A massive amount of divine points were consumed before summoning a terrible power which destroyed everything in its path.
In an instant the countless sword coming towards Grant dissipated making dust fly everywhere.
As dust settled down, the injured figure of Sofia and Lancer appeared before his eyes.
Looking at the countless small cuts on Sofia's body, Grant was surprised, his last attack was more than powerful enough to kill Sofia but at the last instant Lancer vigorously used his magic power to create a water shield to protect both of them barely managing to survive the attack.
But that was all.
All they did was delay the inevitable.
Raising his staff, Grant pointed it towards Sofia and Lancer.
" *Cough*...damn what a monster.....", Sofia smiled bitterly while barely standing up with the help of her bastard sword.
"I refuse to believe that he is human!", Lancer said in a pained tone as he stood next to Sofia.
Being a superior dragon, Lancer was clearly able to see the monstrous amount of mana Grant was gathering, right after the ridiculous attack from before at that.
"You got any plan?"
"No."
"Shit we might really die this time."
A crazy smile appeared on Sofia's mouth even after seeing the helpless situation.
Finally Grant's voice resounded once again.
"9th tier water mag----"
Just then.
*Sigh*
An unknown voice came from behind Grant.
"Looks like I have to make a move in the end."
Goosebumps rose all over his back as an intense sense of danger assaulted Grant.
'How!?'
He couldn't understand.
It should have been impossible for anyone to bypass his mana field and appear so close to him.
Using his inhuman reaction speed ,Grant tried to jump forward, hoping to create distance between them.
But...
"I won't let you."
Grant's eyes contracted, seeing the sudden magic circle which appeared below his feets.
Still at the corner of his mind, Grant was glad.
Because with his knowledge of runes, Grant knew that the magic circle wasn't powerful enough to break his defense.
Especially after all the buff's he gave himself.
'I only need one second.'
That was all the time he needed to turn around and blast the enemy behind him to oblivion, using whatever amount of divine points necessary.
Unfortunately.
What happened next was out of everyone's expectations.
As soon as the light came out of the magic circle and enveloped him....
Grant lost consciousness.
Even the perpetrator standing behind him, was taken aback.
Root, the strongest of the superior dragon, looked down at the unconscious Grant fir a moment before staring at the magic circle in his hand with amazement.
"I never thought the power to disable the Goddess's blessing would be so effective against him....."
This magic circle was the fruit of the demon kind's years of reserch, trying to find a way to counter the Goddess's power.
But still.
The fact that it was soo effective against Grant was out of Root's expectations.
In fact there was a reason behind it.
It was pretty simple.
[Skill *[Divine Soul]* has been suspended due to some unknown power.]
[Skill *[Divine Soul]* has been suspended due to some unknown power.]
For other heroes the demon's spell would at most disable the blessing they received from the Goddess but against Grant who was a half-god himself , the result was truly devastating to say the least.
"This is the result of your actions, farewell.", Root said in a calm voice ignoring the horrified expression on Lancer and Sofia's face.
Sofia, Lancer, Io and Rina were but dummies meant to distract Grant's attention, she on the other hand was the real attacker.
Root raised her hand gathering a all every type of element present in the atmosphere making the space itself tremble under it's terrible might, then she aimed it at Grant's head ready to complete the deed in one go.
-----------------------------------------
"That idiot!!!", The figure in complete white shouted when he saw Grant faint.
The fact that Grant fell for such a trick seem to frustrate him to no end.
Releasing a sigh he sat down on the flat ground.
"Looks like the next transmigration will take place earlier than expected."
With a frustrated voice the figure in white turned to look behind him, staring at William, but seeing him show no reaction as usual he quickly lost interest as well.
With bored eyes, the figure in complete white stared at the sky above which acted as a live telecast showing the scene of Root gathering magic power to attack Grant.
Just when the figure in white was wondering whether he would finally get someone normal to talk to.
A smooth white hand appeared out of nowhere and confronted Root's attack.
The one who appeared was none other than Mio.
"Oh"
With an exited look on his face the figure in white suddenly stood up and looked at the scene as if waiting for the drama to unfold.
But what he didn't notice was that the tightly shut eyes of William opened up for a brief movement before once again closing back up.
-----------------------------------------