After the massive explosion, the barrier Zariel had cast shattered abruptly, allowing the blizzard to intervene once again.
It beca tough to visualize. The heavy snowy wind... the sheering cold froze my bones and hardened my skin. I dithered, standing amidst the bone-freezing cold.
However, the cold wasn’t the only challenge before us. The demon got advantages again. He concealed his presence within the blizzard again. Now it would be much difficult for us to handle him again.
[Danger! Strong bloodlust detected]
"Ugh!!"
As soon as the notification popped out, I took a hit. The demon started attacking in his unique way—inflicting agonizing pain, but not severe damage. It was mysterious how he could do that though.
"Ugh!!"
’Dammit!’ I frowned after sustaining another damage from him. I released tons of arrows one after another. Every single one of them pierced through the air but didn’t land a hit on the demon. It was futile as it had been previously.
THUD!!
Just when my anger was about to engulf , I heard sothing. It was a heavy sound as if a huge chunk of ice had fallen onto the ground, shaking it without any delay.
It was so impactful that it unleashed a strong shockwave afterward. Against the shockwave, the blizzard seed nothing but a small gust. It disrupted the blizzard montarily.
’What’s that?’
My eyebrows tinkled as I sensed sothing greater approaching us. Whatever it was, it was imnse and overwhelmingly strong. I wasn’t within its presence, yet I could feel the sudden ergence of sothing else—or perhaps, soone else.
Cutting through the blizzard like it was nothing, an unknown figure was heading towards with a steady motion. It appeared to be holding a katana which was unleashing trendous, unforeseen magical powers.
Zariel was awestruck. So was I. The demon was already a hindrance, and the ergence of the unknown entity might be a bigger problem for us.
’Wait a second...’ I thought as the figure closed it, ’The person... could it be...’
I couldn’t finish my conclusion before the entity had swung the katana swiftly. With just a single swing of the katana, the blizzard vanished as if it was forced to cease to exist. That’s when my system notified of sothing.
[Temporary blessing has been granted]
[Superior Seraphyll of Ice’s blessing (Temporary)]
[You are now resistant to ice and cold]
My worries were soon replaced with assurance. The figure who was walking toward was none but Shika.
She was radiating more than usual.
"Took you long enough, Shika." I chuckled as she approached . I continued smiling, nearly forgetting that we were still on a battlefield.
"Sorry for making you wait, Zanthrix." She smiled solemnly and halted before , "I didn’t think I’d be able to break out of the endless nightmare. It was you who held out back there, heh-heh."
"What’re you talking about." I looked dumbfounded.
"Oh hello, guys. Quit chatting. Did you forget we’re still in the middle of a fight? Don’t let your guard down." Zariel interjected.
"She’s right. You shouldn’t let your guard down—especially while facing off."
It was the demon who interjected afterward. As soon as he did, he was near Shika again and almost had her neck by his wing-attached claws.
It happened so soon that we hardly had any ti for the counter asure. However, within the next instant, both of his claws were sliced off seamlessly. Shika had swung the half-bladed Daiken swiftly. It was as smooth as cutting through the butter.
I was surprised.
Zariel lost her words.
The demon was awestruck.
If anything was common in the three of us—by witnessing the sudden change of events... it was that we were left open-mouthed.
"Tsk!" the demon fell back with a hint of irritation. He was handless for a mont until new ones grew up from his bloodless wrist.
"Whoa, Shika!" Zariel exclaid with surprise, "How did you manage to swing a blade like that? How did you manage to beco strong like that? How did you manage to get so fast like that? Did sothing happen when I wasn’t around?"
Zariel went all out with tons of questions one after another. Shika was overwheld by Zariel’s curiosity and couldn’t decide which one to answer first.
"Cut it out, Zariel." I interjected, "You’re bothering her with the questions. Leave her so space. You can ask them later." I yelled at her, "Or did you forget we’re still in the middle of a fight?"
Backfired by her own words, Zariel bit her tongue. She tried averting her gaze from and made a smug face, "Did I say sothing like that? Who knows? Heh-heh."
"Don’t ignore , SPECINS!!" the demon burned in rage, his eyes lacing with fury. "I’ve been just playing easy with you. Did you think adding just a number will help you defeat ? NOT EVEN IN A MILLION YEARS!!"
"Seems like the little candle learned to tremble like a volcano." Shika smiled a teasing smile. "Don’t pretend. Prove your words through action." She raised the Frost Daiken—the half-bladed Daiken yet with an inconspicuous ray forming its whole shape.
’Wait... is it , or did Shika mock him just now.’ I thought as I looked at the furious demon whose vein twitched.
The vile aura emitting from him faded suddenly as if he had sucked it in. Then it was unleashed like an explosion. It was strong as if a tempest had clashed with us overwhelmingly— which was trendously sinister and more rotten than ever.
It was quite challenging to even stand still in the shockwave created by his aura explosion. While it was slightly difficult for to hold my ground and Zariel who caught my ear, preventing herself from blowing away, it was quite effortless for Shika who didn’t do as much as flinching a bit. Her will was stronger and sothing about her seed different.
anwhile, within the aura explosion, the demon’s body began to transform into a different shape.
The rotten away muscles gained nutrients and evolved. The sa happened to his black-toned face as well. The face changed and he looked more like a human—if anything, a handso one.
His fangs grew sharper like a vampire’s and his wings separated from his hands. His claws, by the way, beca sharper as if capable of slicing through even the toughest tals.
The eyes changed and beca srizing too, but the crimson gaze was still laced with them—capable of seeing through everything.
However, his voice remained the sa as he said...
"Like I said, I was playing easy with you. Behold my true form! Let’s see how many scratches now you can inflict on ."
His eyes narrowed.
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