Chapter 9 - Real Power

After a few more words of praise from the others, Dylan's team was back to walking on their path. 

Ervin, who appeared calm on the outside, was taking deep breaths to calm his raging flow of Mana. 

That whole short kill took an immense amount of Mana straight out of him. If just a single step went wrong, that Demonic Tiger could've easily crushed his head. 

The feeling of nearly touching death was intense. As if there was this creeping chill he could never escape from no matter how hard he tried. 

Ervin came to realize that killing and being the one at the threat of death are two entirely different sensations. 

But that was just it. Other than some small ripples, his mind stayed focused on the mock patrol. 

With another hour passing, Harvey soon had his chance to shine. He picked the safer option, the magical gun. 

But instead of just using normal magical bullets, Harvey was talented enough to infuse his Common Fire Mage Arts into each magical bullet, causing a bright wave of fiery destruction to burst out of his magical gun. 

The Demonic Tiger Harvey faced was fast with a powerful fur coat. However, even a weak Class 1 Demonic Beast can't contend with Fire Mana enhanced by the power of a Common magical gun. 

The beast couldn't get close to Harvey before it was eventually consumed in flames. 

Harvey, unlike Ervin who maintained his composure, heavily sweats after his killing. 

The usage of his Mana reserves was a greater sum than Ervin using his physical arts. 

But this didn't mean Dylan's team wasn't impressed. They quite liked the fact that Harvey managed to infuse his Fire Arts into his magical gun. On a team, he could truly come in clutch when faced with a dangerous situation. 

At this point, both new recruits have more than proved themselves worthy of being Mage Enforcers.

Dylan smiled in approval. Sydney paid greater attention to them. And even the slightly standoffish Jorge and Jerry became more inviting to Harvey and Ervin. 

As he led his team, Dylan told the new recruits, "Don't let this go to your head now. But you two are doing marginally better than the average batch of recruits. It's not uncommon to see these recruits make obvious mistakes in the heat of the moment. Often leading to them dying or getting severely injured or us managing to save them...oh?" 

Dylan suddenly stopped talking, his brows curling in intrigue as he instantly brought out his High-Grade Common Sword. 

Jorge, Jerry, and Sydney similarly tensed themselves, their High-Grade Common weapons faintly glittering within their palms. 

At the same time, Harvey and Ervin narrowed their eyes. 

A massive wave of powerful air smashed through the area. The pressure within the atmosphere dramatically increased, reaching a point where Harvey and Ervin felt extremely sluggish. 

It was one of the most intense pressures they had ever faced. As if their bodies were being forcefully dragged into quicksand. 

On top of that was the most intense killing intent Ervin and Harvey had ever felt. 

Pure savagery howled through the air. The one who wanted to kill them wanted to brutally rip their bodies into a horrific mess. 

When they narrowed their eyes, the duo saw just what had changed the atmosphere. 

Hundreds of meters away from them was a vastly large Demonic Lion whose shadow seemingly covered everything around it. 

A horrific pulsation of extreme magical power rippled out of the Demonic Lion. Its blood-red eye glistening within the eerie Twilight Woods gave it a presence that it was a creature coming out of hell, a nightmarish beast no mortal could ever hope to stop. 

There was no time for Harvey or Ervin to process this beast's appearance. 

The moment the Demonic Lion appeared, it instantly barreled straight down towards their team with an unstoppable momentum! 

Dust flew about everywhere every time its powerful claws smashed into the ground. The wind pressure smashed upon the surrounding trees, nearly breaking apart some of the smaller trees. 

With Mana flowing through its entire body, the Demonic Lion went terrifying speeds far faster than anything Harvey or Ervin could react to! 

On their own, the duo would have zero chance to resist.

However, Dylan, Jorge, Jerry, and Sydney were completely calm. Their magical minds were at a point where this speedy Demonic Beast was a bit slow in their eyes. 

"Class 1 Perfection Plan!" Dylan ordered it. 

In that instant, beautiful waves of blue Mana illumined Sydney's magical staff. She thrust her glowing magical staff at swift speeds, the tip exploding out several magical chains at the same swift speed. 

The Perfection Class 1 Beast was certainly fast, far faster than what even a Perfection Novice Mage can react to. 

But Sydney, along with her team had all surpassed the Novice Mage realm, all of them being powerful Adept Mages!

 

The magical chains soared even faster than the Demonic Lion. Ear-piercing screeches reverberated from the sheer speed of the magical chains. Airwaves burst all across the area, slashing down trees and the ground. 

The Demonic Lion couldn't even see it. In only a second, the magical chains smoothly coiled around its body and crushed down. 

The sickening sound of bone crushing along with the anguished wail of the Demonic Lion filled the area. 

Numerous bones of it were crushed, and its organs began to rupture, but the Demonic Lion's magical power was still intense. 

Its large form was continually struggling to break free of the magical chains. 

This moment of delay would spell its downfall. 

Jorge was already close to the Demonic Lion, his Common magical lamp in hand. 

The lamp rippled an intense wave of cold that would nearly instantly make Non-Mages shiver nonstop. Frost sparsely covered all across the lamp, amplifying its cold prestige. 

Flowing Mana into the frost lamp, it gleamed an icy blue light and blasted out an inescapable net of Frost Mana energy. 

The Demonic Lion was still struggling within the magical chain at this point. It was completely engulfed in the Frost Mana, causing the nightmarish beast to violently tremble, experiencing a sense of cold that pierced deep into its bone. 

The extreme cold brought down the beast's magical power. 

But a Perfection Class 1 Demonic Beast could not be suppressed so easily. 

A fiery red light burst out of its crimson eyes. Snapping its massive jaw open, the Demonic Lion unleashed a horrifying roar as it burst out a wide breath of flames! 

The breath of flames couldn't go for Sydney and Jorge on its right and left sides. But it could engulf everything right in front of its path. 

Everything in front of the Demonic Lion was mercilessly swallowed in its powerful breath of flames. 

Trees melted to their roots, and cracks continually burst across the ground from the sheer pressure. Its speed was also swift, still being beyond what Ervin and Harvey could react to. 

Dylan and Jerry simply smiled when faced with this breath of flames. 

Jerry's body gleamed with the beautiful lights of Mana. He grasped Ervin and Harvey's shoulder and swiftly ran eight hundred meters to their right all in two seconds. 

They completely avoided the great range of the breath of flames. 

At the same time, Dylan's eyes glinted a piercing cold light. 

'Swift Step!' The power of a Magical Skill flooded his entire body!

With a single step, his speed dramatically increased, amplifying to the point a force surged around him. 

Using the power of Swift Step along with the Common magical sword allowed Dylan to directly slash straight through the breath of flames! 

'Chi!' 

A large hole split opens the breath of flames. Dylan charged straight through with an invincible might. His higher Mana power completely negated the effects of the Demonic Lion's breath of flames. 

Swift Step Dylan easily crossed the distance in barely a second. His magical sword was the harvester of lives as it mercilessly slashed straight into the Demonic Lion's eyes. 

'Chi!'

Blood wildly splashed out. The magical sword twisted through layers of tough flesh, nearly reaching deep into its brain. 

The Demonic Lion's body violently trembles. But before anything else could happen, the gleaming magical sword of Jerry tore straight into its other eye! 

The force of two magical swords broke past all layers of the beast's defense. Its brain was twisted apart beneath this force into a horrific mess, instantly killing the Perfection Class 1 Beast. 

Pulling out their magical swords, the Demonin Lion's corpse flopped to the ground with a wet thump. 

It was at this time that Ervin and Harvey got a good look at the ruined battlefield. 

Burnt-off trees, cracked-apart ground, and a violent flow of intense wind whirled through the area. 

The power of true Mages was beyond their wildest dreams!