Turning back time a little, on the battlefield of the god tamers and the Zodiacs, a fierce exchange was ongoing.
Ajax, Blanc, and Vermeil fought against the eight hooded figures of the Zodiac and were almost on par with each other. It wasn't that the Zodiacs could match the god tamers in power, but rather, their teamwork was impeccable.
Each time they got attacked, the one who had the perfect counter for the attack stepped forward and neutralized it, rendering almost all attacks aimed at them ineffective.
The only attacks that could hit them were physical ones; however, only Ajax was able to do that. And that Ajax was currently being healed by Blanc for god knows how many times already.
"This sh*t ain't getting us anywhere!"
Ajax cursed as he looked over Vermeil, sending wave after wave of wide-area attacks, only to get erased by someone from the group of eight.
"If only we could pick them off one at a time."
Ajax was more aligned with assassinations than frontal battles. His speed may have been high, but his defense was nonexistent. He can't even block a normal attack from the 8th stage without getting injured, much less an attack from a demon tamer that is beyond the limit of the 9th stage.
Blanc was busy healing Ajax, but she still paid attention to her surroundings. Not only random attacks, but even some intentional attacks reach her every now and then. If she lets her guard down, then she may be the one who falls first on their team.
She looked over at Zeshion, who was busy holding off Agor. The two powerful monsters were fighting with enough intensity to change the landscape around them. Unlike Ajax, Blanc, and Vermeil, Zeshion and Agor weren't holding back at all while smashing everything that got in their path.
Zeshion sent wave after wave of slashes with his saber, but Agor was blocking them perfectly by sacrificing dozens of tentacles to block one wave. He would immediately produce the same amount that got destroyed, so the battle on that side too was at a stalemate.
"Bah! Who cares about the environment anymore! Blanc, cover me!"
Vermeil, finally running out of patience after getting all her attacks neutralized, backed away to Blanc's side as she closed her eyes and concentrated. She started gathering an abnormal amount of energy, making the air move toward her like a vacuum.
The demon tamers didn't waste the chance that the opponent's attacks stopped. With only Blanc able to move, they quickly rushed forward.
Ajax was about to stand up, despite his wounds not being completely healed, but was pushed back down by Blanc herself.
"You're injured, so stay still. Leave those Zodiacs to me."
Ajax felt the hair on his neck stand up as Blanc strode forward. His wounds were taking longer to heal because of a type of curse that got mixed into his blood. Blanc was working on removing the curse while healing him simultaneously, and now she was doing it at a long range.
*Snap!*
When Blanc snapped her fingers, the two got covered in a semi-spherical barrier, releasing faint golden light that blocked any and all interference from outside. After confirming that the two were safe, Blanc took a deep breath and faced forward.
Blanc was already maintaining a healing spell, a curse-breaking spell, and now a barrier. Despite that, she didn't even break a sweat. If Will saw this display, then he'd probably crown her the Queen of Multicasting in his head.
"Come, I'll play with you all for a while."
As she muttered this, she flipped the slit near her thigh and pulled out a small baton. Although she had a staff, she was using it as a marker beside Ajax to pass her spells, letting it float by itself in the air, so she couldn't use it.
The zodiac approached quickly. Three of them in front had bladed weapons equipped and were already in a slashing motion as they approached Blanc.
She stood in place, her baton facing forward. As soon as the three demon tamers with blades approached her range, she moved. A step forward followed by a swift stab. It was a perfectly executed action without any wasted movements.
Blanc's baton accurately landed on the tip of the first one's sword. Then, with a flick of her wrist, the sword went swerving to the right, where his allies were.
"...!"
The demon tamer quickly tried to pull his hand back, but the force of the flick was unbelievable. His sword ended up blocked by the closer one in the nick of time, but blocking it made him unable to attack too.
The last one, the one that uses a cursed-looking sword, managed to complete his swing. However, it landed nowhere near where Blanc was. The demon tamer was confused, only to see her a couple of steps to the left instead.
"Where are you even aiming?"
She sneered as she flicked the baton once more, sending four consecutive attacks aiming for her blindspots. Each strike of the baton sent one weapon in the opposite direction it was meant to go.
Without any warning, Blanc spun around and kicked with her white stiletto. There, an invisible demon tamer got hit on the face and had his nose bleeding profusely.
Ajax was flabbergasted as he watched the scene unfold. Based on battle techniques alone, Blanc seemed even better than him. He was even wondering why she hadn't gone in front to fight up until now.
However, he soon realized the reason why she didn't like to fight. Blanc may have had the skills, but she lacked strength. She was simply using the enemy's strength against them, making it look like she was dominating the match against the eight.
However, in truth, other than the one she kicked in the nose, the others were unscathed.
"..."
As Blanc was paying attention in all directions, suddenly she showed a wide smile.
"It looks like it's our win."
As she said this, she covered herself in multiple layers of barriers in an instant. Then, as if waiting for that moment, a large pillar of flame rose with her as the center, eating up all the demon tamers that were around her.
"[Hellfire Prominence]!"
Vermeil's voice echoed belatedly, announcing the skill's name.
After watching the scene of the enemies burning, instead of celebrating, all of them frowned. They quickly looked up to the sky, where the pillar of fire spread. From there, something broke, releasing a dangerous and intimidating wave.
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