"Alright, guys, let's stick together and blast through the Monsters burning the place down. We're going to have to find a new hiding spot, but we can worry about that after we get away.

Superbia, since you can't fly, I'm going to withdraw you," I remarked, doing my best to stay calm and wrack my brain, assessing the situation as objectively as I could.

"<Understood, summon me right away if needed>," She nodded in response.

"You got it. <Withdraw, Apostle of Pride: Superbia>," I chanted, before adding as I glanced around at the others, "Come on, let's get going.

They've probably deployed a large number of Monsters, considering how vast this forest is. So keep your eyes peeled and don't let your guards down."

"<Got it, Boss>."

"<Yeah, we'll make sure you get away safely, Master>."

"<Indeed, Chief, leave it to us>."

"<What they said>."

I flew up using jets of Negative Energy, the others following after me, forming a tight circle around me as I ascended through the air.

Once we're above the tree tops, the Enchantment will no longer apply to us...not that it'll matter, since there's no way I can stay in the midst of a burning forest.

As I rose above the trees, it didn't take long before several Wyverns came flying towards us, the others promptly shooting them down as I flew away, heading south.

There's a mountain range at the end of the forest that way, it should make for a good place to hide-...hm?

"What's that? A flare?" I frowned, as a bright red light erupted across the sky, blanketing the rapidly burning forest in a deep crimson glow.

"<Seems like it, Boss, they must be trying to alert the rest of their forces>," Responded Invidia, as we picked up the pace.

"<It should be fine, we are not having any real trouble eliminating the Monsters chasing us, we should be able to get away>," Remarked Ira, unleashing a barrage of Ether blasts at the Wyverns.

"<It'll be a different story if a bunch of Archdemons and Dragons show up, though. We can handle a handful of them, but not if they significantly outnumber us>," Pointed out Luxuria.

"Yeah...we need to hurry. I was hoping to keep my power boosts in reserve, just in case, but I need to move as fast as I possibly can...<Enrage>, <Descent>!"

My power surged as purple energy and Negative Energy swirled around me, my flight becoming smoother and more stable as my wings extended out, before I shot forward with a sharp burst of speed.

Hm, the others can't keep up.

Ira isn't too far behind, but he is steadily falling back, Acedia a short distance behind him, but Invidia and Luxuria are struggling.

I extended out four thick, dense Negative Energy tendrils, rapidly extending them out towards the Apostles, before unleashing a powerful, pressurized burst of Negative Energy from my feet as they each took hold of the tendrils, blasting myself forward with a sharp burst of speed and pulling them along with me.

Good, the Monsters are rapidly disappearing behind us, they don't stand a chance of catching up.

I'm covering a tremendous amount of distance in a short time, and I don't see any Monsters ahead.

The area I'm currently flying over isn't on fire, it had already been reduced to a vast, charred stretch of ash. In other words, the Monsters already burned this area down and moved on, so I-...

"Boo!"

I tensed and came to an abrupt halt as an Archdemon suddenly appeared in front of me, a cocky smirk on his face. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked relaxed and at ease.

"<Careful, Master! That's the First Seat of the Demon Lord's Generals, Nereszu Lyokrin>!" Exclaimed Luxuria urgently, as I warily backed away.

I see, this is the highest ranked member of the Demon Lord's forces. He had wild, spiky golden hair, bright yellow eyes and was about average height, with a slender build.

And, of course, the three horns, whites of the eyes black, scaly red skin, black fangs and claws, wings and tail typical of all Archdemons.

His Aura is quite immense, let's see what he's capable of, Apprais-...

"Wow, it seems Fenelza undersold how powerful you are. Besides the Demon Lord himself, yours is the greatest Aura I have ever laid my eyes upon.

Furthermore, I'm outnumbered...yes, I see how so many of our forces were killed at such at alarming rate," He remarked with a laugh.

"Don't worry, you'll meet them all again soon," I responded, as I drew Desecrator out of Treasury.

My instincts are telling me to kill him as quickly as possible, and I'm not going to ignore that.

"Well, you certainly are a confident one, aren't you," He chuckled, a smirk spreading out across his lips as Ira and I shot towards him, "Now, [Demonic Art: Nullification Zone]."

.

.

.

.

.

Huh?

I blinked a couple of times as I found myself plummeting, my power boosts having been abruptly canceled out, and the four Apostles were nowhere in sight.

My feet slammed onto the ashen ground below with a soft thud, puffs of ashy dust rising up around my legs, before I sprang back as a rapid Negative Energy blast came shooting down towards me, a thick cloud of ash rising up as the blast collided against the ground and erupted upon impact.

What...what is this? My Mana, it feels so stagnant, like it isn't flowing at all.

<That's exactly what's happened>

<He's cast a force field, within which the flow of Magic is completely blocked>

Shit...I see, that's why my power boosts were deactivated. And the Apostles', their bodies are Magical constructs, so they disappeared too.

"Hah, your Aura shrunk so much, you're weaker than I am now. This should be easy!" Exclaimed Nereszu, coating his claws in swirling streaks of Negative Energy as he swooped down towards me rapidly, a gleeful smirk on his face as he drove his claws towards the middle of my chest.

His eyes widened in surprise as I swiftly sidestepped across to my left, his claws grazing my right bicep and drawing out trickles of blood, before I lunged past him and whipped my blade across.

I spun around and backed away as I slipped behind him, right as his right arm fell off and hit the ground, a bemused look on his face as he stared at it, before turning around and meeting my gaze.

"You may have nullified the use of my Magic, but I don't need Magic to kill you," I uttered venomously, as I pointed my blade at him.

"Oh? Interesting," He smirked, as his arm grew back...

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