The Demonic Flame.
The Ancient Flame.
The only flames in the world that could actually apply damage to Heartemis. Even if you were a high level Player but only used any other flame other than the demonic and ancient flame, the best it could do is stun Heartemis.
Although, there hasn't been a reason yet on why these flames were the only ones that could be a threat to Heartemis.
The Ancient Flame is superior to the demonic flame in terms of capability. As of now, there are only three beings that are able to use this flame.
Son Dae-Jung, Zephenan, and the Ancient White Dragon.
At least for now.
At Heartemis's command, the vines that looked sturdier, and their thorns sharper than before, headed towards Angel at a speed that couldn't be compared to before.
[Activating Flaming Outburst Aura Lv.6 Bloom.]
But as they were getting closer to Angel, the fire-like peddles wrapped around him and bloomed like a rose, releasing a powerful blast of demonic flames from all angles, burning the vines in an instant.
The blast was so big that it went past the circle of demonic flames that the two were in and burned all the other vines that were attacking the Players and even manage to reach them.
"Ahh! Fire is coming towards us...!!"
"...Huh...?"
But as the flames hit the Players, they were uninjured and stared at the red flames that covered their whole bodies, before the flames withered away.
<... Ah...> Heartemis had a confused and frightened look as it just watched all of its current weapons turn into char and smoke.
<...You... Who are you?!>
"Me?"
The next moment Angel spoke, the vines that were around him moved and began to pursue Heartemis.
Heartemis lifted up its hand and sprouted a couple of vines from its palm and command them to make a shield before it ultimately got blasted through by the flame vines.
<...!!>
The moment it got close enough, the vines started to wrap around Heartemis' arms, legs, and upper body. This caused Heartemis's body to burn and cause excruciating pain.
Heartemis's open palm could be seen winding up an attack, but before it could, he spotted something from the corner of its eye.
~
In the direction were multiple attacks of fire charged up to the fullest. But these weren't any normal fires, as it could clearly be seen that the flames were almost completely white.
Then, Son Dae-Jung stepped forward and looked at Angel.
"Is this enough?"
Angel looked at him and nodded.
"Release!"
At the call, the Players that had their attacks charged up and infused with The Ancient Flame were released at the same time, once again managing to create a giant blast to come crashing down on top of Heartemis.
Not wanting to be in the middle of the crossfire, Angel backed off at the last second after seeing the magnitude of the blast that took up the whole center of the domain and deactivated his skill, and released Heartemis from its imprisonment.
In the middle of the blast was the burning Heartemis screaming in pain, although only Angel was able to hear what it was truly saying.
It tried to heal itself, but it didn't seem to do anything. Then it tried to form something using his vines, but the moment it tried to come out, it was burned in an instant, causing Heartemis to despair.
~
Then the hands of Heartemis started to disintegrate into ash.
~<...I, the great one that conquered the Ancient Greenlands that was bestowed upon me by a god...?>
Its forearms then turned into nothingness. But it wasn't just that, its whole body was turning black as the attack was still going.
Then it had finally died down and stopped.
All that was left was the kneeled char, an almost not recognizable figure of Heartemis as its head looked down on the ground that had faint traces of Ancient Flames still wriggling.
"D-Did we do it...?"
"Is it over?"
"We-We defeated it!!"
"Yes!!"
"Nobody died either, much less got seriously injured...!"
To the cheering, the sitting down Kok Jung-Jin open his eyes to the char Heartemis and then looked at Angel and processed what might have happened.
~Did he do it? Already?
Kok Jung-Jin looked at Ra Seo-Yun, who was right beside him, looking at him with weird eyes.
"What are you four doing?"
"Ummm... I don't know either."
The thing that made Ra Seo-Yun look at Kok Jung-Jin weirdly was the fact he was sitting down surrounded by a miniature version of [Forever Frozen Arena] as the three other Players were dumping cold mana onto him. It was so cold that parts of Kok Jung-Jin's body were gaining frost.
"What do you mean, you don't?"
"Well, I didn't get it either, but that guy told me to do it for some reason." Kok Jung-Jin pointed at the no longer fire surrounding Angel.
"You mean he told you to do this?"
Kok Jung-Jin nodded.
"Yep. I don't know why, but it seems like it's no longer necessary."
Just as Kok Jung-Jin and the rest of the Players were about to stop what they were doing, a shout stopped them before they could.
"It isn't over yet!"
It was a shout from the person that had contributed the most to the fight.
"Not over...?"
"What is he talking about?"
Players understood what Angel had said, they were confused about why he had said it. It was over, right?
<... Fl... ames...>
Mumbling was coming out of the burnt Heartemis that was too low for anyone to hear.
But then...
<... I... Heartemis 'The Green God' will use the 'Heart of Retribution'!!>
The next moment, a light shone inside Heartemis's char body, a blinding red light.
"W-What's going on?!"
"H-How is it still alive?!"
After the lights, a red flame burst out of its chest and envelop Heartemis' entire body.
As the flames wrapped around Heartemis's body, it even restored its lost limbs.
This is when the real fight starts. But it shouldn't be too bad...
... Since the raid's beginning, its level has been the same as before.
[Heartemis 'The Green God' Lv.50]
And if Kok Jung-Jin has been doing exactly what I've told him to do, then this shouldn't be as hard as last time.
As Angel thought to himself, a sudden unexpected thing happened that caught his eye.
A red light was beaming out of the floor in the center of the domain right beside Heartemis, who too looked confused at the sight, who was now completely converted into a being of pure flames.
Then a red flame burst out of the center, sending large pieces of debris and dust at all angles.
"What the hell happened?!"
"What was the red light?!"
As the dust cleared out, Angel, along with the other Players saw what was in the center.
A long crimson-bladed sword radiating an ominous aura was pierced inside the ground.
Heartemis, right next to the sword, looked at it as if it was calling out for it to wield it.
A flamy grin emerged from its face as it stood up and took hold of the sword handle, taking it out of the ground and revealing the sword's true reach. It was as long as a person.
So it really did change! But...
[Heartemis 'The Green God' Lv.50]
... it's still at the same level as before! Can a sword like that really change the course of the battle?
If it can, then I won't hold back and use everything to kill it.
The flamy grin on Heartemis' face was wider than before as he looked at its own reflection on the sword's blade.
The seriousness that was on Angel's face had completely melted away and changed to an annoyed look.
<....!!> Anger rose inside of Heartemis and his flames seem to be reacting to its anger.
The startled Heartemis couldn't keep its anger trap for much longer and engulfed the blade of the sword in Demonic Flames.
[Heartemis The Green God has begun its second phase.]
Without a second thought, Angel plunged himself into Heartemis with the help of [Wind of Anemoi].
[Elemental Aura Lv.7 has been activated-Ice.]
The black blade of Angel's sword got covered in a white-blue aura. Angel swung it at Heartemis, who wasn't stupid enough to let it connect.
Heartemis swung its sword and made contact with Angel. They began to clash swords, creating sparks in every direction. Both weren't letting up, although it looked like Angel was having a tougher time than Heartemis.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, guilds from all over saw the unbelievable sight of Angel. A Player like the rest of them was putting up a fight with the First-Floor Boss.
That also included Ra Seo-Yun, who was looking at Angel with wide eyes.
~A third element... How is this possible?
At the thought, Ra Seo-Yun headed towards the somewhat tired So-Yung.
"H-Hey So-Yung..."
"Yes?"
"How did you meet someone like him?"
"Hah? You're really asking me that right now?"
"Sorry... but... I just want to know how you found a beyond-strong partner."
With a single glance, So-Yung sighed and responded.
"It started when I was completely in control of a small group."
Heartemis, with its new sword, pushed Angel bit by bit as it laughed at him.
Dammit! How can he be this strong with just a sword!? Unless...
[Looking at the Stars Eye Lv.4 has been activated.]
[Bleeding Sun Rank:??
Ability: The more the user is embodied in the Demonic Flame, both the user and the sword will become significantly stronger.
The more the user uses the sword, the more corrupted the user's mind gets.
Special Skill: Blood Absorption Lv.?, Bright Red Corruption Lv.?, Burning Blade Slash Lv.?]
At the words, Heartemis used his blade to shoot out a beam of demonic flames at Angel, hitting him directly.
"Urgh!"
The blast sent Angel flying back to the Players. Once the beam stopped, Angel slammed his sword on the ground to stop himself from flying back.
"Oppa!"
Now Angel had burns on his face and even had tears in his outfit.
That sword... it was practically made for him. And this power, even [Magic Resistance] at level six, couldn't fully protect me.
"Well, it seems even you aren't able to do anything against that."
A familiar voice was heard behind Angel and so he turned his head to a person that he knew would be able to help.
"Lucia Di Sarro."
"The one and only." She says with a bit of a smile.
Lucia Di Sarro was in her combat attire, which was showing quite a bit of skin.
If it's her, then maybe...
Angel stood up and just as he was about to open his mouth, Lucia Di Sarro spoke first.
"So, do you need any help?"
Angel nodded.
"Alright then, I was getting pretty bored from doing nothing."
Lucia Di Sarro took out an ice-looking sword from her back and activated a skill.
[Lucia Di Sarro has activated the Unique Skill Frost Coat Lv.5]
Lucia Di Sarro's appearance changed with a trench coat made of ice wrapping around her, along with her long icy blue hair turning completely white, resembling that of snow on the mountain tops.
"What a flashy look."
"You think this is flashy? By the way, are you really going to fight him again with that kind of ice power?"
"Don't worry about it. I have the perfect source to help me."
Chapter 13: Heartemis Sword Pt.1-End