The scent of fuel and the hum of the distant flaming engines permeated the air. The cold steel of the broken jet surrounded them, casting eerie shadows on the concrete floor.
Grace smirked upon hearing his words and said, "Well, that's a fancy suit of armor you got there, kiddo," she taunted, her dark vermilion flames flickering around her, "But that is not going to help you survive me."
"We'll see about that," Samuel gritted his teeth, his stoic demeanor giving way to frustration, and charged towards Grace, each of his step causing the ground to shake.
Grace hurled a blazing ball of fire towards Samuel, causing the battle to begin with a sudden explosion of energy.
Samuel barely managed to deflect her fireball with a ball of earth, making him feel surprised how even her casual attack seemed stronger than he expected.
But he didn't even get the time to think much when Grace followed up by launching a barrage of willforce-enhanced flaming projectiles, each one guided by her powerful mind to exploit any weakness in Samuel's rock hard defenses.
Samuel used his rock hard arms to strike down most of the flaming projectiles but not without having some of his earthen armor blasted away to bits, making him stagger back.
Struggling to keep up, Samuel used the concrete underneath him to conjure up a pillar shining with blinding light and hurled it right towards Huntress.
However, Grace nimbly dodged the attack and countered with a wave of willforce, throwing him into the flaming debris of the jet.
The ground shook upon the impact, a cascade of sparks and debris filling the air.
Grace didn't even give him a second to breathe and continued her relentless assault, combining her flames and willforce to create a fiery vortex that engulfed him.
The heat was so intense that the hangar's metal beams began to twist and warp, and the concrete floor cracked beneath them.
"Urghh!" Samuel clenched his jaw as his earthen armor began to crack and groan under the immense pressure, the spikes wilting under the scorching heat.
Samuel felt cornered and outmatched, but he refused to go down without a fight. His eyes glowed with determination as he mustered every ounce of his strength towards his arms before slamming his hands together.
*BOOM!*
A deafening shockwave rippled through the ground towards Grace. The concrete cracked and split, erupting into sharp, jagged spikes aimed directly at her. However, at the same time, some of those spikes impaled three of the chained young girls, who, unfortunately, were blindfolded and unable to take cover in time. The other two young girls shuddered, hearing the muffled, horrifying screams of the three girls that were kept captive together with them.
Even if they didn't know each other's names, they had formed a silent companionship with each other while being held by these bad men. And so the two of them felt their hearts clench upon hearing the three of them die.
Grace, who was busy controlling the vortex, was caught off guard but managed to narrowly evade the attack.
*Slish!*
However, one of the spikes grazed her arm, leaving a thin trail of blood behind.
She coldly smiled as she glanced at the wound, "Not bad."
Samuel ignored her sarcastic compliment and continued his offense, unleashing a barrage of earth-shattering fists, formed from the ground and infused with his light power, towards Huntress.
The fists, glowing with a brilliant aura, soared through the air, threatening to pulverize Grace.
But Grace spread her arms apart as she conjured a barrier made of willforce, blocking all the fists and creating thunderous sounds upon every impact.
The force behind each of the fists was so great cracks began to form on her barrier. But her lips formed a grin as she gathered her willforce and deflected all the earthen fists toward a nearby fuel container.
*BOOOM!!*
A massive explosion shook the entire hangar as it engulfed Samuel, who happened to be near the fuel containers.
"UGH!" Samuel grunted as he used his earthen arms to shield himself from the explosion but couldn't prevent himself from getting blasted to the other side before crashing on the concrete.
His earthen armor began to crumble, revealing his sweat-soaked face and the fear in his eyes. The overwhelming heat and the relentless assault of Huntress made him realize he was outmatched.
He knew she was three levels stronger than him but he felt like he was fighting an S Rank Hunter. Otherwise, the fight wouldn't seem so one-sided.
But in a desperate attempt to counterattack, Samuel gathered the last of his strength to launch shards of earth with blinding light towards Huntress.
However, Grace was unphased upon seeing his desperate attempt. With just a flick of her hands, she blasted away the shards with her willforce and unleashed a torrent of dark vermilion flames in response.
The flames surged forward, wrapping around Samuel and constricting him like a fiery serpent.
"Aarrghhh!!" His earthen armor disintegrated, offering no protection against the searing heat, making him scream in agony.
The air around him sizzled with the sheer intensity of Grace's attack. Samuel's heart raced as he realized the true extent of her power, a sinking feeling of dread settling in.
"How…How can you be this strong?" He gasped, fear and disbelief in his voice.
Grace grinned, her eyes alight with scorn, "You didn't really think you could defeat someone who has been through hell? How easy your life must have been. You are just like a lamb to the slaughter."
Samuel's face contorted in a mix of pain, frustration, and humiliation as her words burned him just as deeply as her attacks.
He clenched his fists, his body trembling from the intense pain and the realization that death was imminent.
In a feeble attempt to regain some semblance of dignity, he spat out with a grimace, "Enjoy your last breaths while you can…It's only a matter of time before—URGHH!" Samuel's words froze in his throat as he felt a searing pressure building within him, as if his very essence was being burned apart.
His eyes were uncontrollably shaking in terror as he saw her cold and ruthless eyes while using her willforce on him.
"Before you go to hell?" With a final, merciless grin, Grace clapped her hands together.
*PLSHKKK!*
A soft yet resounding sound echoed in the hangar as her willforce imploded within Samuel's body, tearing him apart in a brutal display of power.
His dismembered body, now lifeless and disfigured, fell to the scorched concrete with a deafening thud.
The hangar lay in ruins, a testament to the devastating battle that had just taken place.
As the dust settled, Grace's eyes caught sight of the headless corpse of the woman in the red jacket and pants.
With an interested glint in her eyes, she walked over. And as she walked over, dark vermilion flames erupted around the fabric of her clothes, burning them away.
As the ashes of the fabric fell off her body and the flames died out, it revealed an invitingly curvaceous, naked figure.
Her hourglass figure seemed to be well-honed as if from years of strenuous training, and the two sumptuous mounds bestowed upon her chest was a sight that could scorch the throats of any man.
As she sauntered over to the corpse, her plump, round buttocks jiggled in rhythm, and with a flick of her wrist, she removed the red apparel without even touching them.
She donned them sensually, a warm embrace that hugged each contour of her body. And as she put on the glossy red jacket, she coyly tugged up the zipper until it revealed only a tantalizing glimpse of her perfect round breasts and captivating cleavage through the gap.
Apparently, the material of the jacket clung to her slender figure like a second skin. And so she realized it became too tight for her if she pulled up the zipper even more. So she decided to leave it at that since she took quite a liking to this jacket.
She then reached up, her slender fingers deftly gathering a section of her vibrant vermilion hair. With a practiced motion, she artfully draped it over one eye, partially obscuring her gaze with a seductive allure. The crimson strands framed her face in a captivating asymmetry, adding an air of enigma to her already mesmerizing presence.
Since she got a second chance at feeling young and powerful, she wanted to go all the way and enjoy her old hairstyle as well.
She then looked at the two chained, blindfolded girls who were kneeling on the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. They had given up on running away, thinking it was hopeless, and it seemed as if they were begging for mercy.
Grace let out a soft sigh upon seeing the corpses of the three girls not too far from these two.
Meanwhile, Tristan was still writhing on the cold, hard floor in pain and gasping in shock and horror upon seeing how she destroyed Samuel without even getting injured much.
Samuel was a mid-level A Rank Hunter, and he didn't even stand a chance! What kind of a monster was she? She was literally like a demoness on fire.
She also effortlessly shattered any chance of his escape, leaving him in despair.
The terror in his heart intensified as the image of Kyla and Samuel's brutal demise replayed in his mind. He couldn't help but shudder at the thought of suffering a similar fate.
He saw her changing clothes in the middle of all this, making him wonder what kind of crazy she was.
As for him, all he could do was desperately pray for someone or anyone to come to his aid. But the vast, empty hangar offered no solace, its eerie silence a stark reminder of his utter helplessness.
But his expression froze as he saw her turn around and walk towards him. Her menacing smile sent chills down his spine, and the fear in his eyes was palpable.
The sound of her footsteps echoed through the space, growing louder and more ominous with each step.
He wondered if she was coming after him because Remy told her everything. Still, why would she put herself and Remy in danger by going to the extreme lengths of doing a deal with a demon?
Even though he knew he couldn't escape her wrath, he clung to the vain hope that she might show him mercy, "A-Aunty Grace…Please have mercy…I am sorry I didn't recognize you earlier…"
Stopping before the injured young man, Grace looked down at him with scorn, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Such a convincing excuse, but don't you worry, dear Tristan. I am going to reunite you with your dear father right away."
"M-My father?" Tristan knew her words seemed as if they were reassuring him, but her tone made his spine rattle.
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A/N : Grace official art available in discord ;)
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l