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The situation as it stood right now: Regine was hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to deal a lethal strike. I had successfully summoned three Five-star Fire Elementals. And as their name suggested, they immediately stood out like a beacon in the night, attracting everyone’s attention to them in an instant.

“Yes! Sister Mo Na is here!” My arrival was a much needed boost of morale for our side. Neneth, who was in a desperate situation just moments ago, suddenly swung her blade in a wide arc, pushing back the two Lycans surrounding her, giving her an opportunity to rendezvous with the three Fire Elementals.

On the other side, the servants of the Vampire were all shocked by the arrival of these three strange looking elemental creatures. They probably did not have much experience fighting with creatures of this nature and were surprised by their unusual appearance.

Nicole and Reyage were both able to manage their opponents well, unlike Neneth whose strength was comparatively weaker. That was why I sent my Fire Elementals to her as well. Even without me stating that explicitly, Neneth understood my intentions for doing so, that was why she moved to meet up with the Fire Elementals.

The Blood Ghouls present weren’t particularly weak. The two Lycans surrounding Neneth were both Five-stars, just like the ones fighting with Nicole right now. Reyage had seven Blood Ghouls to contend, and one even seemed like a Six-star. Thankfully, Reyage was a veteran combatant and he himself was a Six-star. That was how he managed to slightly suppress his opponents even in the face of overwhelming odds.

While Reyage might not have specialised in group battles, given his Assassin training. It was also a fact that his training made him a slippery target to lock down. Thanks to that, he managed to maintain a decisive advantage over his foes.

Nicole’s strength was most likely that of a Five-star Peak, the kind that could break through at any moment. However, the weapon in her hands was probably an Epic-grade weapon. That was how she managed to slay a few of her opponents before I had arrived. But her enemies weren’t fools either. Upon realising how strong she was, they decided to turn this into a battle of endurance instead.

Having to face off against three targets by herself, even the seasoned Demon Hunter that she was had limits to her attention. No matter how worried she was for Neneth, she couldn’t find the time to help her.

That was where my Fire Elementals came in. These summoned creatures had no weaknesses to speak of. Unless they were directly extinguished by an overwhelming force, else they would never dissipate till my mana ran out.

The battle situation had only grown tenser with every passing second. I quickly commanded the Fire Elementals to surround one of the Lycans chasing Neneth. Like a gaping wolf’s maw to a helpless deer, the three of them leapt towards the Lycan with arms outstretched. With no information about his opponents, the Lycan had no idea how to evade their combined attacks. By the time he realised that he was surrounded, it was too late. He howled frantically as he flailed his claws about in a bid to put out the flames. Unfortunately, the Fire Elementals stuck to him as if they were a fiery set of armor, burning every exposed bit of flesh they could find.

A second later, the acrid smell of burnt flesh and fur wafted over the entire battlefield. As the burning Lycan flailed about the area, the stench only further enveloped the scene. In a lot of ways, being burnt alive like this was the cruelest way to die possible. The victim wouldn’t die immediately from the heat, so he could only struggle in vain while he suffered a fate worse than death.

Realising that his companion was set ablaze, the other Lycan immediately rushed over to save him; the two should have been quite close in life. Unfortunately, Neneth wasn’t about to let that happen, not that it would have mattered actually. With a swing of her massive blade, she blocked off the pathway to his companion.

At this point, this flame-grilled Lycan was about to be a well-done Lycan.

“Don’t look down on Neneth!” She heroically held her giant blade before her and exclaimed, “Neneth will never let you through!”

The Lycan tried multiple times to break through her defensive line but to no avail. While Neneth might have struggled against the two of them, there was no way she would ever lose to a single one of them.

Neneth might have only been a Four-star, but she had a power level completely at odds with her slender figure. Simply put, she was what was known in the industry as a power loli… Her weapon might have only been a High-grade magical weapon, but it seemed to have the effect of increasing her momentum and force. In other words, whenever she waved her blade around, the force of her swings would be multiplied.

Time continued to tick by. A minute later, the burning Lycan was finally reduced to a pile of ashes by the Fire Elementals. They immediately leapt towards the remaining Lycan. Should they succeed this time as well, all that awaited that Lycan was a painful death.

“Master, save me!”

With no time to spare in the face of a fiery death, the Lycan turned tail and ran, all the while screaming for help from the Vampire.

“Useless.” The Vampire grimaced in disapproval. A second later, he finally acted, but not towards the Lycan who pleaded for his help. Instead, he came rushing towards me in a flash of blood red.

Seeing that, Mo Ning’s first instinct was to try and help. However, I quickly stopped her -now wasn’t the time to reveal her strength yet. This was the best time to show off to Nicole, and I wasn’t about to pass on it.

Other than being a summoning tool, Lion’s Majesty also granted its wearer the ability to control flames. As long as I had enough mana and will, I could even pass off as a natural-born flame wielder. A great boon, especially given how I wasn’t able to use my full strength, lest I wanted to be exposed as a Devil. In light of that, I really had to hand it to Ferti’nier this time -she really put in a lot of thought when she made this tool for me.

Now… it’s time to show Nicole what I’m capable of!

Swirling Flame Barrier!

With Lion Majesty acting as a medium, I began channeling my mana and will into a vortex from which flames began to form into a barrier. Just in time as well. The moment my flames coalesced into a barrier, the Vampire appeared before me in a flash of red, crashing right into the barrier…

“Ahhh…”

Vampires were deathly afraid of flames and light. Water that had been enhanced with purification was deadly to them as well. This barrier that I had just summoned was definitely a hard counter to this Vampire, especially when my mana was basically at the level of a Seven-star Mage despite being a Five-star.

While I might not have been able to see through the barrier itself, I was sure that he definitely felt the pain when he slammed into my barrier. Not one to let such a golden opportunity go, I quickly pushed forward with my right arm, ramming the Swirling Flame Barrier forward in a charge.

“Blasted woman… I’ll remember this! My name is Umbra… and I will be back…”

Realising that there was no time to dodge this attack, the Vampire hurriedly transformed into a burst of bats, scattering to the winds before the barrier could strike him once more. While the barrier might have burnt half of the resulting bats in the process, he at least managed to escape successfully.

Unexpectedly, the main villain of this battle was now defeated. Even I did not expect such a swift turn of events…

Having left behind the classic villain farewell, the Vampire finally disappeared into the darkness of night.

Now that their master was gone, the Blood Ghouls naturally had no reason to stay behind either. Unfortunately, not every one of them would be able to escape tonight.

The last of the two Lycans fighting Neneth was now incapacitated by Neneth’s powerful swing, only to be roasted mere seconds later amidst a glaring display of flames and horrific wails.

Reyage and Nicole both took the opportunity to capture a target respectively. But for the most part, now that the opponents were in full retreat, she did not try to pursue them. Instead, she anxiously grabbed Neneth by her hands. “Neneth, are you alright? Did you get hurt?”

“I’m fine, Sister Nicole.” Neneth answered with a smile but still allowed Nicole to continue inspecting her. “It’s all thanks to Sister Mo Na’s help.”

“You have my thanks for helping Neneth just now.” Because I had just saved Neneth, her eyes were noticeably warmer now as she addressed me. “However, there’s still the matter of… you know what, we can talk about that later.”

Hmm? Oh crap… I went overboard just now…

In order to show off to Nicole, I had completely forgotten the setting of my own character. Previously, I was supposed to be a helpless summoner. But now I had just defeated a Vampire with a single flame spell… definitely not the usual definition of helpless…

Thankfully, she chose not to pursue this matter in light of how I had just saved Neneth… I guess that means I’m safe?

Ahhh… but what was the point of me even bothering up to put up that show with the bandits in the first place? I could have just told her how we easily wiped out those bandits, it’s not like Nicole would take issue with me cleaning up the world…

Sigh… I really need to plan these things out better in the future.

Unlike me, Neneth did not have that many reservations about the fight we had just won. Still basking in the victory, she confidently asked, “Should we chase them?”

“No need. I’ve already sent Regine to follow them. We should go back to the village for a rest first. I’m sure Regine will be back shortly with news of the Vampire’s nest.” I persuaded the eager girl. However, I was still a little worried about sending Regine off alone.

“Reyage, I need you to go after Regine, just as a precaution. I’m sure she would have left behind some markers for you to follow.” I said to Reyage who was busy finishing off anyone left behind.

“Understood, Master.” Having finished checking all the corpses, he swiftly left to chase after Regine.