Flying without wings.

"Attract."

The massive bronze statue groaned and shuddered, tearing itself free from the stone pedestal beneath it. It flew through the air like a missile, spinning as it barrelled toward the unsuspecting elves.

Ilya, noticing the incoming projectile, leapt aside just in time and the elves, startled by her sudden movement, turned around, but their reaction was too late.

The statue slammed into their backs with a deafening crunch, crushing bodies under its weight. Limbs and bones snapped, and several elves had their heads grotesquely flattened beneath the bronze mass.

Those who didn't die instantly screamed in agony, writhing on the ground, only put out of their misery when Ilya swung her sword and relieved them of their heads.

Watching this, Kravok, who was about to comment on Xaren's magic, had his eyes widen and he took a sharp breath.

"Oh... I see what you were talking about yesterday, Xaren," Kravok muttered.

Xaren turned to Kravok, but he offered no response. Ilya's slash had been a bit slower this time, just enough for Kravok to catch a glimpse of the strange phenomenon that Xaren had described the night before.

Carack, meanwhile, was preoccupied with the nearby squad of elves whose souls he was feasting on, remaining oblivious to the discovery Kravok was processing.

Ilya wiped her blade clean against the tattered remains of an elf's cloak before calling out to Xaren and Kravok who were just staring.

"What are you guys standing around for?"

Xaren opened his mouth to respond but stopped abruptly. His eyes widened, before narrowing immediately as he turned his gaze towards Carack who was licking his fingers.

"Carack! Do you want to fly?" 

Carack blinked, thrown off by the bizarre question. Still, he responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, I mean… if I had wings, sure." 

Before he could say more, Xaren's palm began to glow with dark red magic. He grabbed Carack's arm, his tone serious as he spoke.

"Well, you're going to have to try it without wings. Kravok, help me toss him!" 

"What? Wait, hold on!"

Carack protested, but Kravok, catching sight of the magic enveloping Carack's body, narrowed his eyes. He hadn't known Xaren long, but he at least knew Xaren wouldn't waste precious magic power on a joke in the middle of a battlefield.

"Got it," Kravok said, grabbing Carack's other arm without hesitation.

"Hey, wait a—!"

Carack's protests were cut short as Xaren and Kravok heaved him skyward with their combined strength. The force of the throw sent him hurtling high above the rooftops, his body lightened by Xaren's gravity magic.

"What in the—?!"

Carack flailed wildly as he soared, his voice trailing off as he reached the peak of his arc.

"Carack! Flames from above, now!"

Hearing Xaren's shout and the urgency in his tone, Carack snapped out of his confusion, instinct taking over.

He extended his left hand, rousing his innate flame magic as a Fire demon. With a roar, flames erupted downward, a blazing torrent enhanced by his demonic energy.

The flames poured toward the ground like a waterfall, but suddenly, they struck something unseen. The fire split apart, deflected as if hitting an invisible barrier, veering into two roaring streams that scorched the surrounding area.

Yet the power behind Carack's flames was immense, and whatever had deflected them wasn't immune.

"GAARRRHHH!!!"

A scream of pain tore through the air, and the image of a massive figure flickered into view—a giant, its body previously cloaked by an illusion spell, now partially revealed and wreathed in flames.

Ilya and Kravok's eyes widened in surprise, the understanding of Xaren's seemingly random actions dawning on them.

Without hesitation, the white-haired demoness charged forward, her Runeblade gleaming as she swung it.

Despite only swinging once, four slashes split open the giant's leg, cutting through flesh and bone with ease.

Kravok followed close behind, slamming his Warhammer into the same leg Ilya just attacked. The crack of shattering bone resounded as the giant stumbled and fell to one knee. 

The giant gritted its teeth and swung its massive great sword, aiming to cut through Ilya and Kravok in one sweep.

Before the blade could connect, Bjorn suddenly appeared in his path with a burst of speed. Xaren's dark red magic power coated the leopard demon's body, amplifying his strength as he kicked the giant's inner arm with all his might, diverting the swing and sending the sword crashing into a nearby building instead. 

Carack, now back on the ground, extended both hands and released a stronger torrent of flame. The torrent blasted into the giant's back, forcing it forward onto its hands. 

Xaren then lifted the bronze statue he had used earlier and hurled it towards the giant's face. The heavy statue struck with a sickening crunch, shattering the giant's nose and knocking its head back. 

At that moment, Ilya released a burst of magic power, using wind to give Kravok a boost in the air.

The demon raised his warhammer above his head and with a roar, he brought it down on the giant's skull, the impact cracking it open with a dull, wet thud.

The area fell silent for a brief moment until two words appeared in Xaren's field of view.

[Level Up]

"Yeah, it's dead."

Xaren spoke with a relieved sigh and Carack dusted his arms as he walked over and spoke.

"Next time, warn me before you decide I'm taking a flying lesson." 

"Don't worry. I'd make sure NOT to warn you."

Hearing Xaren's response, Carack's brows twitched. He was about to speak up when a loud noise rang out from behind, making him turn towards the source.

Then he saw Kravok slamming his warhammer into the giant's skull repeatedly.

"Give me some EXP! Come on, give me something!"

Ilya, Carack, Xaren, and even Bjorn paused for a brief moment, staring at him with equal parts confusion and disbelief.

Bjorn then looked at the giant's soul which was leaving its body and then turned to the others to ask.

"…can giants survive without souls?"

"…pretty sure they can't."

Xaren responded after some seconds, his confused gaze still on Kravok.

Noticing the stares, Kravok turned towards them with a raised eyebrow and asked in a gruff voice.

"What? You can't tell me you're not getting frustrated too! These things aren't giving us as much EXP as we need to hit Level 100!"

He gestured towards the fallen giant with his Warhammer, a distant look entering his eyes as he continued.

"We need something like that one from the day before yesterday."

At this, Carack finally snapped out of his shock and retorted.

"Oy! Be careful what you wish for! I don't want to deal with another giant like that one"

With the way he acted, Xaren assumed that the memory alone was exhausting for Carack, only for the fire demon to spout something completely off-tangent.

"Who knows if Xaren would stab its balls again?!"

"…maybe I should toss you off the top of a building this time."

Xaren sheathed his sword and coated his hands in magic power as he approached Carack, prompting the fire demon to run behind Ilya while laughing.

Ilya just shook her head at the silly banter, while Xaren sighed and glanced at his status board.

'Kravok is complaining, but the enemies are still giving me good EXP. Probably because their levels are all higher than mine.'

For all the strength Xaren had shown in the past few days of fighting, he was the lowest-levelled person in Ilya's squad.

All the others, Ilya included, were above Level 90, while he was still working his way up. Even Carack and Kravok who were below Level 90 had gotten there after they'd killed that giant in the fortress two days ago.

But if this pace continued, Xaren was sure he'd catch up soon enough.

'My levelling speed is far faster than it was in my past life. Is this another High Demon trait or is there something else?

Maybe the demons used some magic to double the EXP we get or something?'

Xaren asked himself this as he glanced at Kravok who jumped from the giant's corpse and landed amid a group of fleeing elves, scattering them with the shockwaves from his Warhammer.

Carack spewed flames and Ilya used her wind magic to swirl them, roasting the elves a second after Kravok jumped out of the fray.

After handling this lot, the group continued pressing forward and killing more elves as they regrouped with more members of Ilya's troop that had split up when they entered the city.

The plan for them was to scatter and rack up kills on their own for a while before regrouping close to the Bell Tower building near the city centre.

As they got closer, more demons from the troop joined up while pointing at their destination and calling out.

"They're retreating toward the Bell Tower!"

"A lot of elves are heading that way!"

Taking stock of the situation, Ilya gave her order.

"Then we chase them and wipe them out."