"Roaarr!"
A dozen flaming dogs stood on their way, and everyone pulled out their weapons. With that, the hounds charged toward the party, and a fight was inevitable.
[Hellhounds - level 48]
[Abyss creature - Stage 2]
[Battle Power - 42]
Around him, the only combat-capable people were himself and Jessie. With Eva's need to look after the helpless young girl, Viktor couldn't afford to hold back. Right as the clash started, Viktor was immediately forced to use his [Metal Fusion].
Molten metal started to seep out from his skin and form a covering layer all over his body, and a familiar notification appeared in his mind.
[Battle power increased by 12 points]
[Viktor Romanov]
[Strength - 32 (44)]
[Agility - 72 (84)]
[Endurance - 48 (60)]
[Battle Power - 51 (63)]
[Spirit force - 84]
The boost allowed Viktor to quickly dash forward and slash all the creatures that dared to come close with his axe. Meanwhile, Jessie focused on the defensive, and she was ready to defend from any attacks that passed by Viktor.
With his speed, the flaming dogs didn't stand a chance.
Spllaaatt!! Splatt!!
This was the first time Eva saw Viktor's metal form, and she had to admit that she was impressed. The princess and the young girl watched in awe as each movement of Viktor's axe swept and neutralized the incoming danger.
Less than a minute passed, and the corpses of hellhounds were scattered all around them. Viktor put his weapon away and casually picked up the creature' spirit stones.
"Ooh, my god, dear, you are so cool!" Eva said, her expression full of childish glee.
The heaps of praises from his lover of course went into his head. Without realizing it, Viktor raised his chest higher
That action did not escape Jessie's notice, however, and she chuckled at first, only for her to proceed into full-blown laughter instead.
Viktor glanced at her, straightened his posture in a hurry, and said.
"W-what are you laughing at?!"
"Ahaha…" Jessie struggled to stop laughing, but then she took deep breaths, calmed herself, and answered. "I'm sorry, mister metal guardian, you were so cool!"
She gave a thumbs up and covered her mouth tighter. She was clearly struggling to contain herself
The cavern is pitch-black, and they were clearly in danger, but despite that, the small group was laughing. The little pale girl saw the situation and smiled too.
After they were done resting from the laughter, the Djinn continued to lead the path and guide them to paths with the least patrol, making their journey through the Abyssal Pit much safer.
A few minutes passed, then the Djinn told him to stop.
"Woof woof!"
<There are gargoyles ahead, 5 of them.>
[Gargoyles - level 70]
[Abyss creature - Stage 3]
[Battle Power - 60]
Viktor tried to ask about the possibility of another path, but the Djinn confirmed that this was the safest path, as the others were full of more monsters. He grimaced and clicked his tongue in disdain.
This certainly means trouble, because not only do these flying creatures possess a really high battle power, they are also resistant to conventional weapons. There were only five creatures they had to fight, but Viktor was unable to rely on his usual means. In other words, this will be a very hard fight.
For a moment, Viktor racked his brain for a solution, but he came up with nothing. He even entertained the thought of waiting and hoping the templars would come to their rescue. However, as if she knew what Viktor was thinking, Jessie took out an item that looked like a leather parchment from her storage ring.
The leather parchment was sealed with red wax with a runic symbol for 'Fire' on it.
Jessie gave Viktor the scroll, and he immediately unrolled it to see mysterious letters and runes glowing in reddish-orange. Moments after, a notification appeared, telling him of the contents.
[Magic scroll - tier 1]
[Fire infusion - can be cast into a weapon]
Jessie explained to him that the gist was to infuse the scroll's power into his axe before fighting. He was reluctant to use the axe for something this uncertain, but he was left with no choice, and he quickly did as she said.
The girl took a hold of his hand and directed it while telling him to concentrate on gathering his spirit energy into the scroll. Right as he did, warm energy started to flow into his palm, and Jessie released her hand to guide him with words instead.
Viktor then swiped his glowing palm on his axe, causing the weapon to glow red and emit a hot aura enough to scorch the area around him.
"That should work for 5 minutes. Let's not waste time." Jessie said.
Viktor nodded, told Eva to stay behind the rock, and went with Jessie to fight. As expected, the gargoyles immediately noticed them and shrieked before glaring at them, clearly ready for a fight.
Jessie charged in without fear onto the first gargoyle with her weapon, a pair of shorter poles connected with crackling electricity,, and the first gargoyle was hit, causing it to crash onto the ground while Viktor felled the second one within seconds. Realizing the danger, the other three charged at her, and Viktor quickly intercepted.
Swiisshh!!
Viktor could see that each strike he made was much stronger than before, and each attack left deep gashes on the gargoyles' bodies.
Crack! Crack!
These gargoyles are stone creatures, hence there was no flesh and blood visible from the wounds, but each of Viktor's attacks could crack and chip its stones, causing it to weaken and eventually fall into a heap on the ground.
One of the creatures was hit so hard that it lost its balance and fell to the ground, causing the burning axe to pass through its head and split it in two.
Another gargoyle decided to take its chances at Eva who was hiding at the back, but Jessie was fully prepared and joined both her short poles into one long polearm made of metal. The surface of the weapon glowed in beautiful blue runes before Jessie aimed it towards the gargoyles.
A flash of light, similar to thunder in a storm, lit up the ceiling for a moment before a yellow beam shot towards the gargoyle and killed it instantly.
The spell took a lot of concentration to cast, and as a result, one of the gargoyles were able to scratch Jessie's back,
"Sister Jessie!" shouted Eva in panic.
Viktor quickly responded and swung his axe, cutting off the head of the last few gargoyles. Right after, its body crumbled into dust.
"We need to take cover!, Djinn!"
"Woof woof!"
Viktor grabbed Jessie, held her on his shoulder, and followed the blue husky towards another hidden spot behind random clusters of rocks..
"Is it really that bad…?" Jessie asked with a grimace. "Don't worry about me, I can still… continue…" Jessie said. It was clear that she was trying to smile, but the pain was too much to bear.
The girl's back was bleeding, and the wound seemed infected. It has to be treated as soon as possible.
Viktor quickly tore off his clothes and swiftly covered Jessie's back in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but he knew that it was definitely not enough. He couldn't do anything beyond that, and now he wishes Torri was here or even better, Elena, as her healing magic should be able to handle such a wound easily.
When all seemed lost, Viktor hear Eva walk closer and put her hand on Jessie's back. A glowing blueish light shone from her hand and on the wound beneath the cloth cover, and Viktor could see the girl's wounds slowly closing up.
"Eva! how!? When did you learn a healing spell?"
Viktor only bought the girl the [water spirit manual], she had never bought her a healing spell.
Eva waved her hand and said. "I saw how Elena did it, so I just tried to follow her."
"...."
Viktor fell silent as he doesn't know much about magic, but from what Eva said, she must be did something extremely amazing. Jessie sat up and confirmed his suspicion.
"Hahaha sister, I am so jealous of you... you have an innate talent in healing."
Eva smiled, clearly ecstatic. "Really! This is great! This means I can now really contribute to the team"
"....'
After a short break, the group continued walking while following the blue husky, until they finally arrived in front of a massive double gate made of what seemed like metals from outside this world.
"Why is there a gate in here…?" Viktor walked closer and examined it.
Jessie's expression turned anxious. "Oh, no! we fell into the other side of the gate. We need to pass this gate and clear the challenge ahead to return."
He quickly understood the trouble and asked. "What actually lies beyond this gate?"
Jessie, took a deep sigh before she said "It's the flame dog boss!"
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶