After blowing up all the corrupted pills they had, the two of them ran south as fast as they could.
'So they really did get their hands on our weapons...' Darian muttered to himself, sensing the activation of the white power he'd put into those twenty weapons with cores. Those two had been his clients, buying the weapons off the black market.
'That Risen Chief, even with the buff we gave him, won't last long against those weapons. The three of them should take him down fast and come after us next.'
Darian hoped for the best-case scenario. That "elf" must've used his Blessing on the Risen Chief just a short while ago. He should still be on cooldown. After using the Blessing, all his power drops hard — even running becomes tough. With luck, only the other two would come after Niara.
Thankfully, Niara had wings — and strong ones — which gave her great speed. Sure, if those three were at full power, they'd catch up in two minutes flat. But after that fight, they'd still be recovering, giving her and Darian some distance and time.
Niara was flying with her blood running hot.
They reached the area between the second and third rows. She flew quickly to a very specific spot.
After they landed, Darian immediately started setting everything up.
In raw power, they were outmatched. In gear, resources, or anything else — same deal. And worse, they'd have to go up against two or three enemies at once.
But... he had knowledge — and the element of surprise.
Earlier, he'd burned all the white power he had into those weapons, hoping it might come in handy. Yeah, he gave something super valuable to potential enemies buying from him. The odds of that being a historically dumb move? About 99%.
In the end, though, it actually opened up a shot. And it still had potential to be useful later.
***
Minutes passed...
Then suddenly, the two of them got a bit startled.
'The fish took the bait,' Darian muttered to himself.
Niara snorted.
Coming in from opposite sides, already just a few meters away, were two Summoners and their Spiritual Guardians.
Both were glowing with an orange aura coming from their two rings.
Darian let out a breath of relief — only those two came. He tried to sense that other Summoner and the elf sniper, but there was no one for hundreds of meters around.
They stopped on opposite sides of Niara.
On one side stood a female Mannaz with a long yellowish tail and feline ears. Floating at her right side was a figure with tiny wings, a little under a meter tall, physically resembling an old-school fantasy fairy from Earth.
These two were the same tanks from earlier — and the most troublesome ones to deal with. If they didn't take them out right away, what was already almost impossible would become absolutely impossible. There's no way to push through a strong shield when you're already outclassed from the start.
On the other side was a male Summoner with a pair of white wings. Next to him stood a man in black, with most of his face and body hidden under a shadowy cloak. He was a Spiritual Guardian who had chosen a typical humanoid form, but his full appearance was unclear.
That caught both Darian and Niara by surprise. That Spiritual Guardian only had two rings, but was already human-sized. No doubt they were hiding something that made that possible...
The situation was only getting worse — they couldn't afford to be caught off guard now.
The two stopped ten meters from Niara, staring her down coldly.
Niara and Darian both knew one thing for sure: Ceug and the traitors had some way of knowing exactly where they were.
They'd been super precise in the last attack — catching them by surprise and escaping. Afterward, Darian set up carefully, choosing an isolated, distant spot.
So, how the hell did they find them again so fast, even after going all out?
Another clue was how Niara only noticed their presence once she was already surrounded, and they were right up close. They didn't stumble upon them by accident — they came straight here, already knowing where they'd be.
Now, all they could do was fight and survive.
Niara clenched her fists. The slug hid itself inside her clothes.
'Stick to the plan and only attack when I say so,' Darian reminded her mentally. 'It's gonna work... I think.'
Darian focused. Then he looked down at the ground ahead through a tear in Niara's clothes.
The feline woman spoke coldly:
"Which Risen Lord sent you?"
"Hm? No idea what you're talking about." Niara replied flatly. "Did you like my little gift from earlier? Came to say thanks?"
The two enemies went quiet for a couple seconds.
"Good... that'll make this more fun. I've got plenty of ways to make you talk," said the fairy next to her Summoner, giving a twisted grin.
The feline woman stepped forward. She licked her lips and clenched her fists, causing the air around her to subtly twist.
Niara's eyes twitched slightly. The woman's fists started to glow with a faint orange light. That was the same martial art she used — Divine Fist Art.
It was the real deal, just a subtle glow coming from the power of her partner's ring, not a blazing flame like the one Niara unleashed when she went all out.
"I heard about you. Not every day I see another woman who fights only with her body. Don't disappoint me... just survive one punch."
A mocking smirk crept onto Niara's lips. She scoffed, and the scales covering her body began to shimmer faintly.
The fairy watched without much interest — she'd let her Summoner land one punch and have some fun. Getting the info would be easier after breaking her mind and leaving her nearly dead. She wasn't gonna kill her. So what could possibly go wrong?
*Crack!*
The ground shattered beneath the two.
They both dashed forward like blurs.
Wind blades ripped through the air. In a flash, they were just a meter apart, fists ready to clash.
"Hehehe..." The feline woman laughed, taking one last step forward.
But—
No one saw the thin black line slithering across the ground, connecting to Niara. Of course, it was impossible to see.
When the woman's foot hit a very specific spot, a figure slipped out from under the Dragoness's clothes, holding a crystal.
"Earth crystal?" the fairy in the back muttered, not paying much attention.
*CRACK!*
The ground split open with a hideous crack.
*PIERCE!*
Blood sprayed like a crimson fountain.
"NO!" the fairy's scream was drowned out by the wet sound of flesh being torn. "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"
She had reacted in time, trying to use a support technique and burning her power to shield her Summoner. But… it was useless. Why couldn't she protect her?
The feline woman felt her body freeze. Her foot found no ground, and the world tilted violently.
Then came the pain—
No, this wasn't pain. This was something else. Like her guts had been crushed and shredded all at once.
Her eyes dropped down.
A black, pulsating void was expanding in her abdomen, where there used to be flesh and organs. The thing piercing her was a thick, solid purple crystal, wide enough to rip through her from side to side, like paper.
Blood gushed from her mouth.
"How boring."
Niara's voice was indifferent. On her chest, the slug squirmed.
*Squelch!*
A wet explosion of flesh and guts filled the air.
Niara gave a wave, much more pleased now.
But inside, her heart was pounding like a drum.
She hadn't done anything. Her partner guided her, faked the attack. And then... made that happen.
How?
Let's rewind a bit.
He'd set the trap right after they fled, after detonating the pills. They came straight to a region filled with Abyssal Crystals that he'd discovered earlier, so he used part of the Earth Crystals to extract one quickly.
It was so fast Niara didn't even notice. If Abyssal Crystals could absorb miasma and corruption, they could also absorb Darian's black power. After all, the power that created the Risen's corruption was the same karma Darian absorbed.
Within seconds, he picked a crystal big enough for a piercing strike and channeled his power into it.
He positioned it and had Niara bury it, using her wings to kick up sand and cover it up perfectly. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the fish to take the bait.
He'd already tested this before, when he put his black power inside those two. That's how he planted that canine fang, hidden within the black energy.
The strike came from underground. No one would expect something like that. Plus, the feline woman hadn't even used much of her Guardian's power for the attack. She probably just got a minimal spark to trigger the martial art and attacked arrogantly.
It was a sudden, unexpected, and insanely fast blow. One second she charged, the next — she was hit.
Her partner had been absolutely perfect — she sensed danger and instinctively activated her defense. But... the canine fang could pierce through anything, then trigger the black power and shatter her defenses.
That treasure he got had been one hell of a gift.
"NO!!!"
Suddenly, the fairy collapsed to the ground, screaming. Cracks spread across her body. Orange energy poured out from the fissures. On her forehead, her two rings appeared and shattered with a sharp screech.
Then her whole existence crumbled into white particles and vanished. She lost pathetically, without even getting to use her blessing or her power.
'Someone like that didn't deserve to just wake up on the other side, stripped of memories and power. After all the people she must've hurt... wish I could really make her pay.' Darian muttered coldly.
But... the fight was far from over.
Niara stepped to the side, still alert and ready to fight.
The ambush had worked — but that was it. Just one ambush. It wouldn't work again.
They were lucky to take out the most troublesome ones. But the second big threat was still standing there, serious.
The humanoid Spiritual Guardian moved his hands, summoning two daggers. His entire body pulsed with an orange aura — he'd gone all in, unleashing everything he had.
After what he'd just seen, he wasn't gonna hold back anymore.
Niara took a deep breath and focused, waiting for her partner's next move.
Darian, meanwhile, was thinking hard. He definitely didn't have another plan like that up his sleeve. His only survival tactic now was...
His eyes lit up as he stared at the figure in front of him.