C36: Inferno Max

The crowd gazed at the two cloaked strangers engaged in battle. In the distance, 5 guards leaped into the rooftops and started to dash towards the battle of the archer.

However, they were frightened to charge towards them, because the hounds may not show mercy to them, even though they're on the same side.

***

Just as Owl defeated the hound, he stayed still to take a breather. But before he could turn to Elijah, he sensed the presence of a creature filled with killing intent in his back.

"Fuck —" he turned around, swinging his dagger to the place he felt its presence.

Slash! However, Owl was the one to get attacked this time. The nails of the hound dug into Owl's left shoulder, kicking him down.

"Aghh!"

[You've been poisoned!]

His system spoke to him. Yes... The claws of the hound had poison in them.

"Fuck it! Damn bastard!" Owl stopped the bleeding by burning the wounds with his blazing hand. The immense mana closed up the wounds in no time.

However, the poison had already entered the body.

The hound charged at him once more and swung its claw towards him. He ducked, dodging the gash, and landed a kick on the hound, nudging it away.

However, it was not enough.

His left hand was usable now, though the pain inside his body was immense.

[HP: 200/200]

>>>>>

[HP: 179/200]

>>>>>

[HP: 159/200]

His HP was decreasing like never before. The poison of dark magic was truly beyond imagination.

The hound leaped at him once more, but this time, Owl's guard was up. He swung the dagger right into its heart and stung the demon hound.

The blue blaze lit up once more, and the immense mana overtook his body.

'I don't know what the fuck is happening! But I love it!' He thought, pushing the two daggers into the hound's heart.

[Mana: 140/200]

>>>>>

[Mana: 145/200]

However, he doubted one thing. What was happening to the damn mana level?? It was not going down, but it was increasing!

[New weapon skill unlocked: Mana Absorber!]

Upon seeing this notification, Owl couldn't help but grin.

"Oh fuck —" just as he was about to celebrate unlocking the new skill, unknown vital magic blasted him.

His eyes closed, his view becoming dark. He couldn't see anything now. With dust in his eyes, he crawled on the ground.

His dagger was still in his grasp, though his other hand did not have any weapon.

"Ahhhh!!! Help! Help! Somebody!!" A woman's scream was heard.

Yet... He did not want to give up. Elijah alone could not battle the hounds, let along the Legends... Never will he abandon her.

'Get up! Get up! I can do this...' his hands gripped the dusty floor, and with all his might he pushed, allowing him to kneel on the ground.

***

"Fucking die!!!" Elijah shot down every last one of the shadow hounds in front of her. However, her mana wasn't on a level she could just overlook.

[Mana: 100/200]

'How can I fight their masters now... I just can't —" behind her, she heard the sound of a spell casting. Her feet moved on their own, making her leap into the air before landing on the tower next to the dome she was standing before.

She took a glance at the place where it was cast. Her mask was off, and she could seefrom the eyes, that it was a woman.

Red hair, fair skin, though her mouth was covered with a piece of cloth. Yet, her eyes spoke of her beauty, nonetheless.

Elijah narrowed her eyes and saw the bleeding.

One arm, completely gone.

Blood was flooding out from the wound in her missing shoulder. Elijah winced after seeing this view.

"You bloody Fox!!! I'm going to kill you! My Lord will pay you for this!!!" She screamed out.

Elijah smirked upon hearing this. Because she knew one thing, the odds were in her favor.

She raised her eyebrow and said, "Let's see how an angel with clipped wings fight!"

The woman blazed with anger and suddenly, laughed with a dark expression on her face.

Elijah did not like the sound of this.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

With a smirk, the woman said, "We have your brown-haired wussy boy... Looks like he doesn't want to give his captain up!"

Captain? This made Elijah instantly wonder about something... Something she had overlooked that morning.

'Aether!' She figured out, the instance she remembered who was absent at the table that morning.

"No! What did you do!? Don't dare touch my friend!" She screamed angrily.

The red-haired woman smirked once more. "Well... He's with our master right now, getting beaten to death. How'd ya like that?" Wincing, the woman said, barely able to withstand the pain in her shoulder.

She covered her wound with her arm, but she was helpless. She burned her shoulder so the bleeding would stop. "AGH!"

Elijah couldn't hold back anymore. And without Owl, she couldn't do it. However, there was only one Legend in front of her, so there was a slight possibility for her to win with that much mana.

If the so-called Lord would want her, she knew that he would keep Aether alive, to bait her in. So, she had a single chance there.

'Owl... Do it quickly! I'm waiting for you...'

However, the red-haired woman wasn't done yet. With the wound in her shoulder covered, she was ready to fight again.

'Activate Inferno Max...' she thought.

[Inferno Max Activated]

The skill set her whole body ablaze, and her once empty arm was not empty anymore. With the flame itself, an arm was created in her shoulder, filling her emptiness.

She pulled out her new arm of flame, clenching the flaming fist.

"You... Will pay!" She said, emitting an incredible amount of mana.

However, Elijah could only smirk upon seeing this. "Huh? You've got some nerves for a lady... A woman who bows to another male..." she said.

This angered the woman and her blaze raised like wildfire. Her blaze was tall enough to put a whole tower on fire.

"Bitch!!! I'll take your head to my Lord and present it to him!!"

Elijah smirked once more, patiently closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Slowly, she inhaled the air, and thought, 'Wind Dragon Style, activate!'

A swirling wind surrounded her, slowly raising her from the dome, into the mid-air. She held up the bow with both her arms and broke it, shoving it against her knee.

The bow broke and she held the two long pieces in her arms.

Suddenly, the two pieces magically shone, giving off a golden light as it did so.

"Hahaha... Don't think you're the only legend with some tricks up their sleeves..." she said, holding down the two weapons in her arms.

The two broken pieces of the bow had turned into two katanas!

Elijah's gaze fell upon the woman, and she whispered to herself, "I'll show you why all those men called me their Captain!"