Various monsters had gathered by the Sun Lake shore, including flightless minotaurs, lizard-men, vampires, and some winged demons and dimwitted drakes whose names I couldn't place.
Though from different races, they were likely the elites of their respective groups, exceptionally powerful.
We saw less than ten of them presently, probably just a small portion secretly entering Parristol. According to intel, they were mostly 5th rank and above - a gathering of elites with sinister intentions.
Some patrolled around the lake, others sat around a campfire roasting some animal carcasses. Clearly on little guard, providing ideal conditions for my strike.
A minotaur raised its skewer, sniffed the meat, then took a few bites before spitting it all out.
"Yuck! The meat on this continent is so distasteful, with that numbing flavor. Probably only humans can stomach it!"
"You'll just have to make do!" A lizard-man opposite him waved helplessly with a sigh.
"After all, this isn't the Dark Continent. We've been lurking around Parristol over a month now, depleting all our rations with no other food source. I don't know why Lady Michelle insisted on sending us to this godforsaken place, having to pilfer scraps in humiliation day after day. Fortunately, these bitter days are finally ending soon."
"Haha, that's right! Lady Mirium told us we can return home and marry after finishing this last job!"
The minotaur laughed heartily, then half-jokingly warned his companion:
"But don't let her hear you saying that now, or she might punish me too by assigning extra missions - that'd be disastrous!"
"Hmph, to use Kurnel's words, you're just 'singing a rotten tree song'. Be careful it doesn't become a curse!"
The lizard-man chugged his bottle, belched, then furrowed his brow curiously.
"Speaking of extra missions, I heard a few days ago Kurnel's entire squad went missing during an assignment. The Dark Council has issued investigation orders on our end - you think he's dead?"
"Who cares about him! That short-sighted fool could mistake angels and humans. He probably barged into some True Church's nest!"
The minotaur waved dismissively, raising the bottle in a boisterous cheer:
"To victory!"
"You're right, to vict-"
The lizard-man echoed the boisterous motion, but his eyes bulged in disbelief when he saw his companion.
The minotaur opposite him had been cleaved cleanly in half from head to toe, blood spurting out in a shower.
"Damn it, who's attacking by stealth! Could it be..."
Smashing his bottle down, the lizard-man leapt up, realizing something was amiss as he glared upwards at me.
"I already took one down before you noticed me?"
I couldn't help but chuckle - these drunken monsters seemed to have severely dulled senses, not even detecting me flying overhead immediately. Without hesitation, I dropped down with the force of my sword cleaving towards him.
"An angel! Everyone, prepare to engage!"
The lizard-man bellowed a warning to his companions while dodging sideways from my descending blade.
Of course I anticipated his evasion, not panicking when my strike missed. My left hand immediately flung three prepared purification orbs at him.
At such close range, he couldn't react in time as all three orbs struck home, instantly paralyzing him on the ground. I swiftly followed up with a fatal strike.
"Purification is still so effective!"
I muttered with some wistfulness. Having never encountered dark creatures in the trial space, this classic skill had gone unused for so long. I worried it may have gotten rusty, but incredibly it worked perfectly on the first try.
After all, angels did possess the decisive advantage against monsters, superior in both skills and physical attributes. This was precisely why I hadn't transformed into my blue winged form from the start - light element alone sufficed.
As for the other monsters...
Seeing two demons escorting some drakes charge over, I smiled faintly, casually extending my finger forward.
A pillar of light instantly engulfed them, leaving only two corpses on the ground.
"Damn, could she be a high-rank angel? But she only has six wings..."
The two remaining monsters, having witnessed Lost Paradise Shockwave, dared not approach and tried fleeing to the surrounding forest. But a piercing screech rang out, as a phoenix wreathed in crimson flames emerged to block their path.
"A phoenix! How could such a creature be in a place like this?"
Though the phoenix seemed rather small and immature, not even half an adult's size, the vampire among them decided not to linger given potential reinforcements. Transforming into a bat, it simply flew away overhead. The werewolf lacked any ability to fly, glancing between me closing in and the phoenix before gritting its fangs to pounce.
"Come forth, Fire Claw!"
At that moment, Brennan suddenly leapt down from a tree behind, catching it in a pincer attack. The werewolf quickly collapsed into a bloody heap, finally incinerated by the phoenix's scorching flames into ashes.
"Got them! Not bad teamwork with my new partner, eh?" Brennan dusted his hands proudly, turning to show off. He tried patting the phoenix's head, but yanked his singed finger back sheepishly, recalling it into his body.
"Did you give it steroids? How did it grow so fast!"
Rather than answering, I flew over wearing an astonished look.
This wasn't just talk - though only born days ago, the little phoenix had grown tremendously in the short time I was away. Even participating in battle already, was this due to its divine beast bloodline?
"Steroids? What's that?" Brennan asked bewildered, before explaining nonchalantly:
"It's demoncraft - as long as the compatibility is high enough, you can use your own magic to provide contracted demons with ample nourishment. What would take decades in nature for a phoenix to mature only needs a few years to reach peak combat form."
"Look at you bragging, yet one still got away!"
I couldn't help but roll my eyes sourly. Truthfully, I was rather jealous. But I had no mind to dwell on it now. That escaped vampire concerned me - could it have flown back to report to Mirium in Parristol? If so, we couldn't linger here and would need to retreat after investigating.
But...
Surveying the surroundings, Sun Lake covered quite an open area, everything visible at a glance. The monsters occupying here had all been cleared out by the two of us, not even a shadow insight. Where should this investigation even begin?
"You two are so sluggish, can't even stop a single monster from escaping. Looks like I have to handle this myself!"
Just as I was stumped, Reed's voice came from behind as she, Judith, Yulanda and the others strolled casually out of the forest. Cyra was cradling something the size of a soccer ball resembling a gas containment orb, excitedly rushing over to boast.
"Feliciana, let me tell you how awesome Reed was! She tossed this gas orb skyward, and boom - just like an Immortal's treasure gourd, instantly trapping that fleeing bat!"
She shook the "soccer ball" energetically, muttering strangely:
"It's probably melted into a bloody pulp by now...huh? Why is it still making that sound?"
"Where's this bloody pulp nonsense? It's just an array modified from a light elemental isolation device. Didn't you get bored playing with those ages ago?" Reed cut her "performance" short with an exasperated clarification.
"Though as a dark creature, that vampire won't last long in a light elemental cage."
"Of course I know! I've heard of it but never actually seen you use it to trap monsters before, so it feels rather novel!" Cyra scratched her head with a foolish grin. Hearing their exchange, I immediately realized - this was the famed "magic prison"!
This magic prison wasn't too complicated, probably just a gas containment orb stripped of its continuous energy absorption function. But its power was extraordinarily dominating!
When Edenmere was invaded by monsters back then, Reed used this very device to imprison a large group of angelic rebels, providing immense aid to Elara in quelling the uprising. Those rebels even included two high-ranking ten-winged angels.
Thinking that even ten-winged angels of that caliber could be confined within, trapping a measly 5th rank vampire would be child's play. In that instant, I felt I had embraced a sturdy pillar - with Reed's existence defying the heavens, an adversary like Mirium may not be so formidable after all.