The special effect on the leader's sword immediately took effect. The sword released the crescent green light. Wherever it passed, the wind parted.
"Stupid lion, now you taste our leader's might."
One of the warriors, the one that fell from the hot spring before, had a bright expression. It's finally time to pay for what the lion did to him.
Just like that, it took only two seconds for the Hungry Red Lion's fireball and the leader's whirl slash to collide. It was actually the battle of two elements in this collision. Fire and wind elements. Most of the time, these two were actually complementary. With the combination of the two, the effect often becomes greater than the original. But now, they're on the opposing side.
As the leader of the adventurer group and the other saw the whirl slash couldn't cut through the fireball easily. They could only watch with bated breath.
No!
A few seconds went by, the fireball suddenly overwhelmed the whirl slash that grew weaker in intensity after the collision.
The Red Hungry Lion saw the victory in sight. It let out a mighty roar to the sky as if to declare itself as the winner.
The fireball raged; it was a lot less intense than before, but the energy it contained was still enough to blast them to death.
"This is fucking abnormal! How come this damned lion's fireball is so strong!? Aren't fireballs the weakest and most common skill!?"
"I don't know either. This lion doesn't strike me as a creature that evolved with its crown. This isn't good! We need to stop this fireball somehow! Leader, what should we do!?"
One of the male warriors cried out in panic.
The leader issued a series of orders as the fireball had now covered a lot of distance and became nearer. The nearer the fireball, the bigger it looked to them.
"Quick! Rina! Rufa! Use your strongest equipment and defense skills to boost me! I'm afraid this fireball is a level 2 skill."
Rufa and Rina, the two female supporters, urged the silver-quality staff on their respective hands. They poured mana into the staff continuously until they reached the saturation point.
Visibly, two lights of differing colors were produced and hit the leader of the group. However, the fireball had already arrived and hit him.
"Leader!!!"x3
Everyone let out a frightful cry.
The four adventurers stumbled backward due to the minor collision between the leader and the fireball. Dust pervaded the atmosphere, which made it hard for them to see what was going on.
How is it to see your leader be swallowed by flames in front of you? How is it to feel when you know that the strongest died? Who's next to die now?
Various complicated thoughts appeared on the heads of the rest. At this moment, they had the urge to run away. But if they did so, they would be marked with a symbol of a traitor automatically due to the adventurer party contract inside their soul that they signed.
As a result, they won't be able to walk outside with their heads held high in the future. As a punishment to people with the symbol of traitors, they would be forced to mate with a variety of ugly beasts and work as slaves in the Colonial Stark Tower located in the capital of the Grand Zhao Kingdom for ten years.
Not to mention, run away? They cannot possibly stomach leaving their teammates alone. They've been together since they were children. Raised by the Orca Family to fight!
The dust settled. The leader of the party stood tall with a faint yellow barrier on his body. What's worth mentioning was the transformation he had undergone. His height increased by at least 3 feet, and his frame became massive, like a competitive bodybuilder.
This is the effect of the two support spells. To cast this, the two women in the group combined their might and drained their mana just to be able to cast the two spells. They are actually common effects of Skully Staff on their hands. One skully staff would allow the wielder to use a single barrier. Two synchronized staff allow the cast of two layers...
One skully staff can't launch the spell gigantify but two can. Due to the huge mana demand, it usually requires two non-profession humans to cast it. For instance, the two support of the group had exhausted their mana completely.
The leader of the group, Marky, stared at the faint barrier around him. It looks so brittle that a flick of a finger seems to be enough to shatter it. The power of the fireball, they've underestimated it.
'A level 2 fireball skill from an unevolved lion with a crown. Unusual strength and speed that exceeded normal Hungry Red Lions. What secrets are there behind this? What caused this abnormality?'
Marky whose strength had at least tripled due to gigantify. He felt his muscles became explosive and a lot more compact. The size and the muscle fibers can be recruited more smoothly than before.
With his sword held high above his head, the calves on Marky's feet gradually expanded. Then it goes...
BOOM!
His explosive figure left dust on his trail. In just a few seconds, the head of the lion rolled on the ground, with Marky's figure behind the lion could be seen in a squat position. The blood on his sword dripped continuously.
"Gigantify spell is as fierce as ever." Nathan, one of the warriors said in a relief. His shoulders lowered which reflects his relaxed spirit after the tension that the Hungry Red Lion disappeared.
Rufa and Rina puffed out their chest proudly. Though, they collapsed in the ground the following second.
"Rufa! Rina!"
The two warriors came over with concerned faces. They didn't know what happened.
At this time, Marky walked beside them. "They just suffered mana poisoning for excerting their mana too much. Gigantify is just too powerful to cast at their level."
The two nodded. Nathan caressed Rina and Rufa's forehead. "They have a fever. It's really one of the symptoms of mana poisoning. Will they be okay?" His voice laced with worry.
Mike, the one that got thrown away to the hot spring before, let out a soft chuckle. "Mana poisoning is usually not life threatening. They just need three days rest."