"Smokeless Cut."

In a cold, murderous voice, the man in the sky announced it as he made a downward slash. The cut traced a fine reddish line in the air that shot toward Erik and Frank, making the latter grip his wooden staff hard and start conjuring runes at full speed. But at that very instant, Frank saw Erik drop his left machete and extend his open hand, while pointing at the man in the air with his other machete.

Just as Erik's left hand fully extended, a black wolf about a meter long appeared right in front of it, its fur giving off what looked like a dark, dangerous smoke. At the same time, a beautiful geometric runic circle appeared before Erik's outstretched machete, and the Myst began to gather toward it as if being forcefully sucked in.

"Void Snare!"

In a calm, steady voice, Erik declared it, which caused a small point of darkness the size of a marble to appear right in front of the red line that was about to reach them. But to Frank, that dark point looked terrifying, because it wasn't just saturated with extreme amounts of mana; the Myst itself seemed to swirl around it like a vortex.

Like a black hole, the moment the red line touched the dark point, it warped violently and was pulled into it, devoured at a terrifying speed. In the air, the hunter-knight couldn't help widening his eyes in surprise, but he quickly recovered, and by creating an explosion of fire under his left foot, he shot toward Erik at a terrifying speed.

But when he was halfway there, the point of darkness collapsed in on itself, creating a violent explosion that released a shockwave and sent him flying, leaving several minor wounds.

Wearing a grim expression, the hunter created several point-blank bursts of fire to slow his speed, but right at that instant, an alarming cutting tornado shaped like a serpent appeared before his eyes, throwing off thick arcs of lightning.

"Óvindr's Wrath!!"

As Frank's young voice rang out, the hunter quickly created an explosion of fire beneath him, which propelled him upward. Using the momentum and his superhuman agility, the hunter twisted backward, narrowly dodging the tornado, even as four simple magic circles formed around his sword.

"Ashless Cut!"

Using his momentum to spin on himself, the man unleashed a whirling slash of fire that hurtled toward the pair of youths at absurd speed. But right then, out of the corner of his eye, the hunter saw the star-haired youth pointing at him with his machete, a massive geometric runic circle before a several-meters-long black dragon. It had its huge maw open, where a vast quantity of dark electricity was gathering.

"Arcbolt Requiem!"

At Erik's call, Ebonique released her concentrated electric breath, which passed through the geometric runic circle that, as if it were a magnifying glass, focused it and increased its speed and power. This turned it into a dark laser that reached the hunter almost instantly.

In a rush, the hunter covered himself with his sword while conjuring three simple magic circles around his hilt. But before he could do anything else, the beam struck him full on, hurling him back at great speed and shredding every tree in his path.

Although thanks to his superior level and his sword—a magical artifact—the hunter managed to withstand the attack, his hands and left shoulder were nearly wrecked. Meanwhile, different parts of his body suffered varying degrees of internal damage, compounded by dark electricity coursing through him and hindering his movements.

"Tempest Fang!"

At that instant, the hunter sensed danger and looked up, which let him see a massive tornado of cutting wind about to swallow him whole. Without a second thought, he created a point-blank blast of fire that flung him to the side, dodging the tornado, but because of his injuries and the urgency, he miscalculated and ended up rolling across the ground.

Using one shoulder to spring himself up, the hunter quickly rose into the air and, after a flip, landed on his feet, already holding a round pill, which he swiftly brought to his mouth. But just as it was a few centimeters from his lips, the hunter felt a cold sensation on the left side of his neck, which made him turn his head, alarmed.

Before he could fully turn his neck, the hunter saw his point of view rise, and from there, he could see a headless body on the ground with a pill in its hand. Behind the headless corpse, the man saw a star-haired youth with a cold gaze and a beautiful machete in his right hand. In that instant, the hunter saw the youth's green eyes focus on him, and he understood what had happened—he was dead.

Seeing the man's head fly, Erik nodded in satisfaction and reached for the belt of the headless corpse before him, which was still standing. After sheathing his machete at his waist, Erik took the man's sword and pill, then leapt into the air as he ordered.

"Let's go!"

At his command, Tiberius—the one who had created the shadow portal that let him catch the hunter off guard—swiftly jumped onto his master's shoulder. Meanwhile, Ebonique caught Erik with her head, then flew toward Frank, who was running toward them with all his might.

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"Jump."

As they drew near Frank, Erik ordered, and the young student quickly jumped and was caught midair by a Myst barrier, then shot out behind the dragon, flying toward the position of their companions.

…

"Flame of Judgment!"

"Dance of a Thousand Breezes!"

Soon, Erik and Frank saw a magic circle in the sky from which a massive spear was forming, pointing downward. Simultaneously, a great many white-fire slashes in the air intertwined with what looked like slashes of silvery light. Sensing their enemies' positions through his Mystical Awareness, Erik quickly gave an order in a serious tone.

"Frank! We're going to attack in a straight line—follow me!"

As he spoke, Erik pointed the sword in his hand forward, at which a geometric runic magic circle formed before him, from which a spear of fire shot out.

"Fire Lance!"

At the same time, Frank conjured a great number of runes while pointing at the fire spear. The runes quickly shot toward the spear and encircled its base, then created a powerful jet of wind that greatly increased its speed.

"Gale Thrust!"

The spear raced faster than the speed of sound, creating a thunderous sonic boom, and moments later a huge explosion bloomed in the distance. At that moment, Ebonique shifted course slightly, veering a few degrees to the left, while Erik conjured runes around himself that released a subtle glow.

Soon, the group saw Elara and Kaiser locked in a war of attrition against a single golem that didn't seem to have suffered any serious damage. The golem clumsily tried to swat Kaiser, who moved around it wreathed in lightning, while Elara, from a distance, sent every sort of fire spell to try to weaken it.

"Once more, Ebonique."

"You've used Spiritual Empowerment twice today, Erik; it could be harmful to you." Ebonique replied, her voice tinged with concern, to which Erik answered in a calm tone.

"It'll be just a second—one strike. We just need to break that golem's defenses and that's it; it's the last troublesome enemy left."

"… One second, then."

After a small sigh, Ebonique spoke seriously, then accelerated toward the golem. Erik answered with a smile as he tossed the sword in his hands toward the ground and dispelled the barrier covering Frank.

"You're the best."

While Frank used the air to slow his fall, Erik drew the machetes at his waist and took a deep breath with his eyes closed. As he let out all the air in his lungs, Erik inhaled again, then snapped his eyes open—the Myst gathered around him at high speed.

When they were just a few meters from the golem, Ebonique turned into a streak of dark lightning and fused with Erik. Thanks to the inertia, Erik kept moving forward as ghostly horns and scales seemed to appear on him; in that instant, a cloak of dark lightning wrapped him completely, and he began to spin rapidly.

Noticing his approach, the golem sent a punch toward Erik, so powerful that even the air stirred. But the star-haired youth, wearing a calm expression, blended his mana and the Myst into his machetes, creating an extremely sharp magical edge along their blades.

For her part, Elara—who had just noticed Erik's arrival—opened her eyes wide in surprise and concern as she watched the star-haired youth cross paths with the golem. As the beautiful mage hurriedly prepared a new magic circle, a strong gust fluttered past, and she saw the golem neatly split in half, its upper half lifting into the air.

Soon after, Erik landed on the ground and slid a few meters on momentum, the ghostly scales and horns already gone. Once he stopped, Erik sheathed his machetes at his waist and let out a tired sigh. Then he brought his left hand to his belt to take a healing potion while stretching out his right hand to take the golem's core being brought to him by an arm of Myst.

"Erik!"

At that moment, two feminine voices rang out almost in unison, one closer than the other, making the star-haired youth look up. Erik saw Elara approaching on Kaiser, while farther off, Zoe rode the beautiful white fox spirit.

"Everything went well on our end; any complications on yours?" Erik said seriously, then downed the healing potion in one gulp. Elara, who arrived first at Erik's side, hopped off Kaiser's back and answered gravely.

"None on my side. The hunter-mage was the first to die, and you've just finished off the golem."

"Perfect."

Erik nodded, satisfied, as Kaiser reunited with Tiberius, who emerged from his shadow, then both leapt to his shoulders in their puppy forms. At that moment, Zoe arrived and jumped from Hiyori's back, then spoke seriously.

"Thanks to the combined spell you sent, I was able to take down the knight and managed to grab his saber, though neither of them had storage pouches."

"On our side, they didn't have storage pouches either; they must be hard to make, or there's some other limitation we don't know about." Erik said thoughtfully, but he quickly shook his head and looked at his full group—Frank had just arrived—and spoke seriously.

"But let's not get sidetracked now. Let's head back quickly; we still need the boxes."

After a unanimous nod, Erik leapt into the air to land on Ebonique's head, that had grown to carry him. At the same time, Zoe jumped onto Hiyori, while Erik created two Myst barriers—one for Elara and one for Frank—which he tethered to Zoe's armor and to his own belt, respectively.

As they moved toward the temple, Elara, Frank, and Zoe took mana-recovery potions from their belts and drank them in one go, then began breathing methodically and slowly, wanting to recover as much as possible for the next fight.

"Ebonique."

As they drew close to the temple, Erik sensed two hunters coming out of it, so he announced in a calm voice while creating a geometric runic circle in front of the imposing dragoness. Ebonique opened her jaws and gathered a great amount of electricity, then fired it at the hunters.

Just like before, as Ebonique's "electric breath" passed through the magic circle, it was compressed and accelerated, turning into a dark beam that struck one of the hunters square in the chest before he had time to react.

Alarmed, the second hunter tried to retreat back into the temple, but at that moment several runes materialized behind Zoe, releasing a powerful blast of air that merged with an explosion of white fire.

Like a rocket, Hiyori and Zoe shot forward, soon closing to within a few meters of the hunter. Wearing a serious expression, Zoe set her hands on her katana and rapidly formed four hand signs with her left hand, while white flames began to form around the katana's guard.

"Tempest Guillotine."

With a motion so fast it was imperceptible, Zoe drew her katana and sheathed it again. With the sound of blade meeting scabbard, the hunter's head separated from his body, while a subtle line of whitish flames blurred in the air. At that moment, Zoe turned to look at her companions as they arrived and said in a serious tone.

"This knight is quite weak compared to the previous one. It seems the leader told the truth. These guys are low-grade riffraff."

***

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