Chapter 431 Letting Loose (5)
Despite her doubts, Minerva was properly capable of hunting down masses of god-level demons. The main reason was because of their non-standard level of energy, which surpassed any weak god-level demons or monsters.
With their first wave cleared up, the pair quickly built up confidence, which then enabled them to hasten their pace.
Their method was simple, with Hekate holding the demons in place through her domain and Minerva finishing them off using various methods she could employ.
After trying all of her skills, she discovered that simply extracting their essence crystals directly was the most effective and beneficial method. Not only does it conserve most of her energy, but it also enables them to harvest the essence crystal of the enemies safely!
"This should be enough. Let's switch roles."
However, since their energy consumption was so different, Hekate quickly drained herself out. Although she still had more than half of her energy left, compared to Minerva, who only used about a twentieth of her total energy, she was well spent already.
"Alright!"
Minerva nodded her head, a firm will burning in her eyes.
Right, the reason why Hekate took on the initial burden was to let Minerva build up confidence and to let her realize that the enemies before them were "weaker" than them!
Hekate smiled before returning the whip to her waist holder and taking a step back. This time, it was Minerva's role to hold the enemies in place while Hekate cleared them up.
They still followed the same strategy, of course. The pair hid in their small hole on the ground and waited for the demons to swarm around them. When there were enough numbers gathered, it was finally time to make a move.
"Phew..."
Minerva took a deep breath, calming her nerves down, before she stood up and spread her arms wide.
"[Palace of Endless Mirrors]!"
As soon as she finished saying the name of her domain, the entire field around her turned dark. A short moment later, the darkness started to gather and form a shape before each demon.
The thing that appeared before them was themselves. A monochrome copy, a mirror image, of the demons themselves.
*GRAAAAAAGH!*
Of course, as demons don't usually attack each other, they ignore their copies. However, the opposite wasn't true.
*BOOOM!* *BAM!* *BOOOM!*
The mirror images started attacking their "originals" without holding back. A few demons that got unlucky even died with just that alone! In moments, the demons that got caught in her domain, which spread as far as the eyes could see, similar to Hekate, were reduced by half.
Furthermore, their "copies" didn't fade even after the originals died and helped the other copies take on the remaining demons.
"..."
Hekate stared at the scene, her smile stiff as she wondered if she even needed to provide support at all.
As she predicted, without her lifting a single finger, the wave was wiped out. Minerva turned to Hekate with a wry smile on her face.
"It looks like I overdid it a bit..."
Hekate returned the same expression and quickly corrected Minerva.
"No, it's just that we haven't realized how powerful your domain was... This should be quite useful later."
From that point on, the two of them didn't even need to move, as the "copies" handled any demons that appeared after that. They never thought that hunting waves of god-level demons could be so easy.
---
To the northwest was the trio of Fina, Judy, and Yorm. As the three of them were only at the 7th stage, with energy levels only about the same as a 9th stage, they weren't allowed to venture deep into the frontline.
Their job was simple: provide support to the other tamers and hunters around them.
Of course, even though they're set to the rear, they still couldn't lower their guards. A stray attack could end up demolishing the walls protecting them, after all.
Risk comes with staying on the front lines!
"[Charm Mist]!"
"[Spatial Lock]... [Bottomless Swamp]..."
"Close eyes, all! Me, use, flash! [Blinding Flash]!"
Fina, Yorm, and Judy cast chains of crowd control skills toward the enemies. Although the god-level demons could resist a majority of its effects, they would still show openings due to the skills overlapping.
Whenever such a thing happens, the surrounding 9th-stage monsters and tamers make quick work of them, gradually and steadily reducing the enemy numbers.
"The demons have swarmed a little too close... This many should be enough."
A voice echoed from behind the three girls before a single wisp of flame flew at sonic speed, heading far into the horizon.
"...!"
Fina, seeing the attack, quickly raised her voice toward everyone.
"Goddess Vermeil fired another one! Take cover!"
Her voice reverberated and reached everyone who was still out there fighting demons. All at once, they ditched their enemies and rushed toward the safety of the wall. They didn't even need a full second before retreating successfully!
"Judy, Yorm, defenses!"
Fina could see that the wisp of flame was about to land and almost panicked. In a split second, she cast a powerful pink barrier. Yorm then covered it with a special barrier of space elements, capable of stopping anything that touches it, including energy. Finally, Judy added another barrier, creating a dark shade behind the first two barriers.
The three-layer defense they did had been repeated for the fifth time already, so they were getting used to it. They could even take into consideration the other tamers and monsters and include them within the barriers' coverage.
Everyone held their breaths, going prone on the ground, opening their mouth, and bracing for impact.
The person who fired the attack, Goddess Vermeil, was just staring at them weirdly. She wasn't so arbitrary that she'd let the collateral damage from her attack hit her allies, but it was only her who thought that everyone was overreacting.
Finally, the wisp of flame she released reached the furthest demon that they could see. As soon as it landed, however, the entire field was colored white. A power explosion that shook even the ground itself came after a short delay, and finally, heat that could singe their skins despite the protection that was already set up reached everyone.
The attack lasted for a few seconds, but everyone felt like it lasted an eternity. And what is the effect of it? The entire swarm of demons was wiped out... along with the scenery before them.
"That should buy us some time."
Goddess Vermeil nodded to herself, satisfied with the amount of destruction she had caused.
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