Flaming Soul

[Die.]

Achilles muttered as he leaped up high to where one of the pterodactyls was. With one swing, its left wing received a large bloody cut as it jerked back in pain.

"KYARGHH!!"

The other Corrupted didn't miss this chance and attacked him with their flame breaths.

He activated the "Mantis' Armament" and strengthened his defense against the immolating waves of fire.

BOOM!

Achilles was blown away and landed on the ground moments later. He quickly stood up and stretched his limbs a little.

His body was burnt and had some small wounds, the hair was slightly singed by the fierce flame.

The "Mantis' Armament" had aided him from receiving serious injuries but failed to keep him completely safe.

This wasn't something surprising since the soul artifact was only a Tier E. It was already a miracle that the armament was able to protect him against the attack coming from two Lesser Surpassed.

It proved that the artifact's capability far surpassed its peers.

'...One of them can't fly anymore, now's my chance.'

The pterodactyl that he had struck at the wing was now on the ground. Without its flying advantage, it was now at its most vulnerable moment.

Achilles was about to dash in and kill the lizard but sensed another Corrupted aura behind.

Kang!

Before he was able to turn around, a ponytail girl with lightning crackling around her body blocked the strike of a wolf creature.

"Need help?"

[...I'd be grateful if you could fend off the others coming here. I'll deal with those three.] Achilles answered.

"Big sis and the others are dealing with the rest. Guess I'll let you handle it here." Luna spoke with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

The lightning intensified as she rammed into the wolf, pushing both of them into the flame.

Achilles turned back to meet the pterodactyls, who had swooped down to take a bite out of him.

[Wait for your turn, fellas.] Achilles spoke exasperatedly before he jumped past the two Corrupted.

The last pterodactyl that was injured in the wing saw him approaching. It let out a threatening shriek and breathed out a torrent of flames.

Achilles moved to a side with ease and continued coming in closer to the lizard.

The latter didn't give up as it turned to the direction where he was and continuously breathed in his direction.

Achilles sidestepped and safely dodged the attack again. But he had perceived that the other pterodactyls were upon him once more.

They fired at him from above, which forced him to move forward while also avoiding the pterodactyl in front of him.

Seemingly had enough of the constant harassment, Achilles' pupils flashed bright red as he muttered:

[Shut.]

The three pterodactyls froze for a split second, and he immediately utilized to get to the one with an injured wing.

But before he could deliver a finishing blow, the abomination woke up from its daze...and that was all it took.

[Shit.]

"KYARGHHHH!!!!" It let out a bestial scream and spewed flames directly at Achilles.

The latter was instantly overwhelmed by the Immolating fire as his figure got drowned inside it.

The lizard didn't stop breathing as its attack became fiercer and the atmosphere's temperature increased at a deadly speed.

Just when the situation seemed that it couldn't get any worse...it did.

Two pterodactyls that were behind him soon caught up as they joined the fray and began frying the poor human like a sausage.

If one looked closely, one could see the figure of Achilles kneeling on the ground. But strangely enough, he didn't move at all as if the burning pain was not bothering him.

...Or perhaps, he didn't even care about it.

BOOOM!!!

The pterodactyls kept closing in on him as they attacked him nonstop.

The one that was the closest to him was now only a few meters away from him. And just as it was about to finish the prey, a burning hand shot out from the flame and grabbed its neck.

The silhouette from within the fire threw the lizard to where the other two were.

They collided with each other and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

The shadow jumped out from the sea of flames and arrived at where the Corrupted laid. It raised its axe slightly before a green hue appeared around it for a split second, before the axe fell down.

BOOM!

The three pterodactyls were decapitated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Achilles silently looked at the Corrupted for a moment, and gently touched his face.

His body was burnt and disfigured beyond recognition. The hair on his head had disappeared completely, his body suffered from a third-degree burn as his skin now turned into a tan color.

His armor and axe almost became a bright red color as they nearly reached their melting point.

If a normal person looked at his/herself like this, he/she might have been horrified and fainted.

Achilles, however, didn't seem to bother much by what happened to him.

He calmly took out a pill from his ring and ingested it. It was one of the pills Sia had given him, this one was to heal his body.

After that, he summoned out the Water and drank the remaining usage.

His body quickly started recovering to how it originally looked at a speed visible to the naked eye.

'My body itches...' He tried to resist the urge to scratch himself due to his skin was being healed.

[...Darling?] A feminine, trembling voice reached his ears which drew his attention to where its source was.

[...] A guilty look appeared on Achilles' face, but he didn't know why was that the case.