On a far-off battlefield, fierce combat was unfolding.
Two figures, both looking like giant skeletons about ten meters each, were working together, perfectly in sync, as they held back a giant wolf and a dragon. Their battle was too fast for a normal tamer to follow, but the one below them, Goddess Blanc, looked on with a serious gaze.
“Aerial, behind you!”
Suddenly, two figures appeared behind the dragon, making Blanc use a barrier in panic. As soon as her barrier was raised, hundreds of arrows and two large hammers slammed against it, causing the barrier to shatter.
Using the time that the barrier was being destroyed, the dragon, Aerial, managed to turn around and flap its wings, sending a wave of tumultuous winds slashing at anything that got in its way.
The two hooded figures simply evaded it by returning to the back of the two skeleton giants with a simple teleportation. With just that, the situation simply returned to its previous stalemate.
“We need to do something about those two god-level demon skeleton generals…”
However, with only their available strength, it was nearly impossible.
Just as Blanc was feeling a headache, a testament to their week-long battle without rest, she suddenly felt the space nearby suddenly open up. A portal appeared, and several figures came out.
*Kacha!* *Kacha!*
The skeleton generals turned to the spatial distortion, noticing the ones who suddenly invaded their battlefield, and sent a wave of black smoke toward it.
When Blanc realized who were the ones who emerged from the portal, she quickly covered them in a barrier.
“Ember, Fang, Igni! What are you girls doing here?!” 𝘭𝑖𝑟𝘦𝒶.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Using an instant movement skill, she moved from her previous spot to the middle of her newly erected barrier, standing right before the four girls who just appeared.
“Goddess Blanc! We’ve come to help you!”
Igni quickly shouted, making Blanc speechless.
“No! You girls are too weak. This is a god-level fight; you’d only get in the way!”
Blanc no longer minced her words, as the situation wasn’t peaceful enough that they could spend minutes chatting with each other. The girls, being called “weak” directly, didn’t feel too good. However, Ember still took a step forward and explained.
“Master said, those two god-level demons are just around demigod-level in reality! If we work together, we can finish this battle quickly and provide support to the other god tamers!”
It was rare for Ember to talk quickly, so Blanc could understand the severity of the situation.
“I guess something happened, right? Then, you girls handle those two pests behind the skeleton generals!”
Just as she let them handle the easier side of the task, Fatima suddenly raised her voice.
“Excuse me, Goddess Blanc. But if you can hold one of those demons in place for about five seconds, then I can help you eliminate it.”
“… You… You’re just a 2nd-stage. What the hell are you saying?”
Blanc’s words were rougher now, probably because she thought that Fatima was just wasting her time. However, instead of words, Fatima simply transformed her right arm into the sniper form and loaded the destruction bullet that she got from Will, which she had already finished modifying.
“…!”
Seeing the familiar form of weapon, Blanc no longer dissed her and instead smiled, turning to one of the two skeletons.
“Five seconds, right? Leave it to me.”
Blanc doesn’t know why Fatima’s body was able to transform into a gun, but she just labeled it as Will’s doing. After all, Will does pretty weird things sometimes.
As soon as the deadly black smoke covering the barrier dispersed, Blanc quickly dispelled the barrier covering them and waved her hand to face one of the two god-level demons.
An astounding amount of energy gathered in her hands, causing her white robe to flutter in the air from the pressure alone. Of course, the enemy noticed it immediately and turned to stop her, but the wolf and dragon intercepted them, preventing any interference from coming to Blanc.
“[Sevenfold Rainbow Prismatic Barrier]!”
After a short while, Blanc shouted the skill as a white beam flew to one of the two god-level demons. Due to the giant wolf freezing half of its body for a short instant, the beam hit directly, electrocuting the target as it got covered in seven layers of rainbow-colored barriers.
*KATAKATA!*
Seeing its partner get immobilized, the other skeleton quickly moved to protect it from Blanc’s two tamed beasts. Of course, the two zodiacs that were hiding behind them also moved, distracting the wolf with deadly but easily evadable attacks.
“Now!”
Blanc shouted to Fatima, who was aiming her rifle straight at the frozen enemy. After charging for a few seconds, she fired the bullet, letting it draw a straight line toward the enemy’s chest.
As soon as the bullet came into contact with the barrier, the annihilation effect of the bullet began. A black hole appeared at the center of its body, pulling everything around it. However, unlike the one that Will used when he was stuck inside the Dragon King, this one’s effect was wider.
After all, Fatima herself modified the bullet, literally perfecting the formula that Will made from scratch. The energy for it was provided by the other girls, so it was technically a bullet containing everyone’s efforts.
The black hole rapidly ate away at everything around it, creating a large hole at the center of the demon skeleton general’s chest. The eerie red light coming from its eye sockets quickly faded, and all signs of life vanished from it instantly.
“Amazing! In just a single hit?!”
Blanc was so surprised, she couldn’t even find words to praise Fatima. However, as soon as she turned to her, Fatima’s face was covered in cold sweat as she held her right arm. As expected of the only support-type god-tamer, she immediately noticed what was wrong with her.
“… I see. I can’t fix energy paths easily, so please rest for now. I’ll go and handle the rest.”
Just as Blanc said so, two black figures darted out of the battlefield. However, since they were merely in the 9th stage, they couldn’t escape from her that easily.
“Where are you going? Come and stay here~”
Snapping her fingers, the sound echoed around. It wasn’t noticeable, but a black wave came along with the quickly moving sound waves. As the two members of the Twelve Zodiacs heard the snapping sound, they suddenly felt their entire bodies becoming heavy.
The two fell somewhere in the forest, about five to six hundred meters away. Seeing the distance, Blanc nodded to the girls with a smile.
“Ember, Fang, and Igni. Go and finish those two off. With the curse I cast on them, they should only have about 40% of their strength now.”
The curse she cast, the one that could travel at literally the speed of sound, was a distance-based, weakening curse. If the target of the curse travels beyond a kilometer away from her, then the curse’s effect would reduce their power by 100%, dropping them to the level of a normal person.
With their powers dropping by more than half, it should be easy enough for the girls to finish them off.
“Alright, leave it to us, Blanc!”
Fang nodded with a fierce smile, her tail wagging wildly. She was excited at the thought of chasing after enemies. Although it could be dangerous, she wasn’t worried, as Blanc already mentioned that they were only able to use 40% of their strength.
Igni and Ember lightly nodded to her before chasing after the excited Fang, leaving Fatima alone. Although Blanc was with her, she was still unable to spare much of her attention; after all, one more god, or rather, demigod-level demon, remained.
“Aerial, Kalib, quickly finish that one off.”
Now that the skeleton general was alone, its power dropped greatly. Before, when it was moving together with the other skeleton general, their power was almost enough to eliminate either the wolf, Kalib, or the dragon, Aerial, at once.
The lone skeleton general could only block the storm of attacks from the two, unable to even spare time to launch an attack. Still, as expected of a powerful demon, it was as tough as a cockroach.
‘Seeing how tough it is, it makes me wonder just how this 2nd-stage girl was able to kill one of them in one hit. Even my [Sevenfold Rainbow Prismatic Barrier] couldn’t block it, after all.’
Blanc was curious about Fatima, but right now was not a proper time to chat. When peace returns, they have all the time to talk to each other, after all. For now, they must focus on their battle.
Around the same time that the skeleton general was struggling against the onslaught of attacks from the two god-level beasts, Fang had already reached the location where the two zodiacs fell.
Not letting them feel her presence, Fang merged with the shadows before appearing behind one of them, the fat man holding two heavy-looking black hammers.
Just as her claws were about to land at the man’s nape, a purple arrow flew, aiming to puncture her approaching hand.
“…!”
Surprised, Fang quickly backed off, failing her surprise attack.
“Hey, Saggitarius, you were supposed to kill it! How dare you let it escape!”
“Shut up, fatty. I’m too weak to even wield my own weapon properly, but I’m still better than you; you can’t even lift your hammers!”
The two of them, the fat man and the hooded woman, roared at each other as if they weren’t even allies. Seeing this, Fang’s expression tightened. After all, even though they were weakened, they still managed to pinpoint her location and even set a trap!
‘These two… Are strong!’
With that thought, Fang’s resolve became firmer.
‘I’ll definitely take down one of them at least and prove my strength to Leader!’