While Fang and Igni had already taken down one enemy each, Ember was busy holding back the rest of the demons. To help, she used Namia as bait, sending her into the middle of the enemy to fend for herself.
With the slime suit covering her, she can't escape, even if she wanted to. The slime suit would immediately halt her movements whenever she showed signs of escaping. Even when she stopped moving altogether, trying to make the demons destroy the slime suit, the suit skillfully evaded everything as it managed to move Namia's body forcibly. At times, the suit would sacrifice the exposed part, the face, just to avoid damage to the suit itself.
Having no choice, Namia fought back. She faced about ten of the 9th-stage demons alone but wasn't even pushed back a little. Her power was definitely something to be amazed about. And that power was becoming even more powerful as time passed.
With the Faux Contract protecting her from attacks from me, that means that the energy virus that I left inside her body is now completely gone. Given enough time, she should be able to return to her previous strength, enough to give God-tamers a run for their money.
'I need to settle accounts with her before that happens.'
Although she was friendly with us for now, nobody knows what'll happen in a week after the Faux Contract ends. Just thinking about how to neutralize her again is giving me a headache.
While I was lost in thought, both Fang and Igni managed to take down the remaining demon before them. Ember then allowed four more demons to approach the two girls, two each. I, on the other hand, increased the pace of clearing the 9th-stage demons around them.
If I could, I would just go and use the lifeblood and echoing thunderclap combo to clear everything on the battlefield instantly. However, seeing how the four of them were fighting in a stable manner, I decided to just leave a bit more for them to handle and target to protect the other tamers first.
"Will, be careful!"
While I was busy aiming around, Fina suddenly shouted with urgency in her voice. As I was about to glance behind me, I noticed a swarm of black tentacles restraining my limbs completely.
"What's this?! Sh*t!"
I was completely immobile. Fina, not far from me, was in a similar situation with dozens of black tentacles wrapped around her.
"That was too easy; it was a bit of a letdown, really."
Just as I was wondering who attacked us, a familiar voice echoed nearby. I turned to the source, finding a black portal that appeared without our notice. There, a familiar figure just came out with the dozens of tentacles holding us stretching out from under his feet, from his shadows.
"Noir!"
I called his name out of reflex. I quickly became worried, as his being here meant he had another plot against me. I gritted my teeth and shouted at the top of my lungs.
"No matter how much you threaten me, I'll never activate your taming system!"
Noir seemed surprised, then snickered as if I just said something funny. I frowned deeper as my eyebrows curled. Seeing the doubt on my face, Noir quickly corrected my assumption.
"No, no, no. I'm not here today for that, actually."
As he muttered so, I saw a single strand of tentacle move back to him. The object that it had in its grasp made me suck in a breath of air in shock.
"My gun!"
Noir was holding the rifle, examining its slick black frame.
"A wonderful weapon... And powerful."
Noir muttered as he held the grip, putting his fingers on the trigger and pressing the butt against his shoulders.
"It's used like this, right?"
He asked as he aimed the rifle toward me, then pulled the trigger without hesitation.
*Bang!*
A deafening roar was followed by a mix of hot and cold sensations near my abdomen. When I looked down, I could see a gaping hole opening right where my stomach was. The blood reversed and ran up my throat. As I was about to lurch in pain, the System's Heavenly Halo activated.
The bright golden light quickly covered my whole body and restored it to its previous healthy state. Although no more wounds remained, a trace of pain was still left pulsing through the damaged area.
I glared at Noir, who was happily examining the rifle he had just fired.
"Hmm, definitely worthy of my attention. This thing is now mine,"
He muttered as he aimed the gun against my head, searing my forehead with the burning tip.
"Guh... Arrrgh!"
I groaned in pain as he slowly rubbed the tip around my forehead, creating a random doodle with burn marks. He had a sadistic smile on his face as he watched my expression skew in agony.
"Playtime's over. Sorry, kid. I don't need your administrator privileges anymore."
As he muttered so, he once more pulled the trigger... But only the sound of metals scratching each other was heard.
"...?"
Noir's face scrunched up in doubt as the gun failed to fire. It was obvious, though, since the rifle mode isn't automatic, nor semi-auto, but manual. He needed to pull the lever to load the next bullet before he could fire.
Taking advantage of the short gap, Fina managed to cut off the restraints around her. After falling to the ground, she quickly waved her hand and spread a pink-colored sparkly smoke. Then she waved her other hand, sending a thick, purple-colored smoke.
"D*mn!"
Noir cursed as he seemingly admitted that he let his guard down a little too much. He quickly moved away from the pink and purple cloud but was caught up in it almost immediately.
"This is... Hypnosis and poison?!"
Realizing the properties of the two patches of fog, Noir quickly frowned. He used the rest of the freed tentacles to rapidly circle around him, creating a vortex that sent all the smoke into the sky.
As the visibility returned, I took a step forward and grabbed the gun before sending an elbow strike to his solar plexus. Noir groaned painfully as he grasped for air, not expecting me to attack him at all.
I used the instant that the fog covered his view to release myself from the tentacles and, with Fina's help, approach Noir without getting noticed.
"You want to take my gun away?"
I sneered.
"Not in a million years!"
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