Chapter 210

The two flames illuminating the darkness moved in perfect unison. Although the presence of one was faint due to the intense light emitted by the other, both were clearly visible to the mother body's ten eyes.

They flickered repeatedly in the air, appearing and disappearing as if exchanging signals. They approached silently like predators stalking their prey, crossing between burning rocks and vegetation.

The mother body, noticing the changed aura of the humans, trembled its regenerated protrusions. The beast's instinct embedded in its cells continuously scanned for enemies to survive even in disadvantageous situations. Gathering information bit by bit amidst the chaos, its brain was now filled with quite a lot of knowledge.

For instance, although it was at a disadvantage, the humans were the ones pushed to their limits. Because of this, the humans, who didn't have much time, were devising a plan to lure it somewhere. And that the shining sun, the most fearsome existence, was now very anxious about it.

These vaguely sensed facts, though not specific, gave the mother body, which had been constantly fleeing with its retreat cut off, a chance to look for an opportunity. The creature, lowering its body in the flames and rolling its eyes, discovered its offspring lingering nearby and swallowed them in one gulp, opening its maw wide.

With each muffled scream between its iron-like teeth, chunks of dissolved flesh were instantly sucked beyond its wrinkled throat. Soon, the mother body's internal cells creaked, repeating division and proliferation several times. The monster's body swelled even more massively, and a sinister gleam flashed in its muscles and eyes.

The creature hid its body in the gaps between bizarre rocks, crawling stealthily on the ground while concealing its presence. The demon's claws attached to its four feet took large steps on the ground wet with scattered bodily fluids.

Grasping fallen and burnt old trees and ashes, it leaped into the crudely winding mountains. Thus, taking advantage of the subsiding flames, it ran about 2km, and just as it was about to poke its head into the path leading north.

The eerie high temperature that had somehow caught up heated its spine.

"So you were here?"

A human wrapped in dark red flames approached at an imperceptible speed and whispered savagely. By the time its eyes, sensing the sign, rolled upward, the fierce predator's grasp was already right in front of its nose.

Kwaaang-!

Nero's claws, trailing flames and slashing through the air, heavily half-destroyed the high rock walls that had risen on both sides. The mother body, hiding underneath, hurriedly hardened its wings to barely protect its body from the collapsing pile of stones.

It immediately turned around to flee towards the empty sky, but the human from earlier appeared before its eyes again with the scattering wind. Nero, blocking its path with eerie flames flickering, curved his lips upward ominously like a grim reaper.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Feeling threatened, the mother body immediately raised its head and aimed its wide-open maw at him. Between its teeth, sparsely filled with flesh and sticky with blood, an evil flame different from Nero's rose in a circular pattern.

The roaring flames flickered fiercely and then fired forward in the blink of an eye. Stretching out in an instant like lightning, it penetrated straight through the air where Nero had been. However, the opponent trailing pale steam had already disappeared without a trace from that spot.

The mother body had no time to feel disappointed. It busily rolled its gleaming eyes and leaped, throwing its body in the direction where it had fired its breath. But at that moment, though the main body was not visible, a human voice echoed in the air as if sending a signal.

"Captain-!"

No sooner had it escaped from between the collapsed pile of stones than this time, black lumps of flame poured down from the sky.

As if the terrible nightmare of Armageddon that had devastated the area was about to repeat, the mother body increased its speed, using its widely spread wings as a roof. However, as flares that seemed capable of melting its hide were fired in succession with each step of its front legs, it hesitated and then sharply howled, calling its minions.

The monsters that had been positioned all around, waiting for the moment, swarmed around in response to the queen's call. The mother body, burrowing into the gaps of the solid wall the creatures were building, mercilessly dug its claws into its offspring and ran forward with all its might.

Every two steps the creature took, a chaotic mixture of explosions and monstrous cries erupted from behind. Fireballs, as if trying to grasp the queen's tail, repeatedly tore through the waves of monsters.

When the flesh of the burst monsters had colored the earth for about 500m along the trajectory of the queen's escape, the sacred light that appeared in the sky became one with the bright moon and gazed down intently at the creature.

In his right hand, a glowing spark was grasped, screaming violently as if about to devour everything. The golden greatsword, shaped like lightning, drew in the thunderclouds spread across the sky and occasionally absorbed lightning like a lightning rod.

The heavy waves that had expanded their influence exerted their presence in all directions, centered on Leonardo. The mystical eyes shining bright yellow between his swaying golden hair slowly lifted the thick curtain of darkness that had fallen.

Eventually, when the writhing wave of monsters reached the predetermined position, Leonardo, who had been staring intently at the target, raised high the lightning grasped in his hand. At that moment, the pillar of light that had previously penetrated the southern sky appeared again, striking down strongly over his arm and head.

However, far from being struck, Leonardo absorbed the light with the tip of the lightning he was grasping. The explosive energy tore through the air with a sharp sound, being sucked in incessantly to a single apex.

The small sun, now one with the light, floated leisurely in the middle of the pillar, emitting an unbearable current from its entire body.

Every time the low-frequency current scratched his skin and pierced his chest, the taste of blood rose in Leonardo's throat. But to control the surging mana, he could only clench his teeth tightly without hesitation.

'Hold on, please. Just hold on.'

Because of this, the air boiled, and invisible explosions, large and small, burst out from around him. A wind like a storm arose, sweeping across the land where the flames had been dying. The dying embers, mixed with the sharp wind, grew in size again and heightened the senses of the two fire mages.

And at that moment, Leonardo grasped the surging lightning with both hands and swung it at once towards where the mother body was. As the air friction occurred in the sky where the high-voltage lightning struck, thunder covered heaven and earth, and a momentary crack appeared in space-time.

The golden scar engraved in the air dug into the crack, ignoring resistance and flying towards the target. The hill of monsters, which had grown as large as two pairs of small peaks by now, was completely annihilated by the strike that flew at the speed of light.

Amidst the bodies disappearing without leaving a trace, in the sharp screams scattering into ash. At the terrifying energy piercing before it, the mother body barely stopped in place, digging its claws and scratching the ground.

Just then, a crescent-shaped trajectory piercing in front of the creature once again split the earth, causing an earthquake and creating a canyon. In an instant, seawater in contact with geothermal heat evaporated, creating thick steam, and the mother body's vision was covered in fog, momentarily blurring its perception.

When the aura of a chilling flame was felt through the pale steam, the mother body instinctively spread its wings and leaped in place. However, the speed of the active Armsilver was more than enough to catch up with the startled monster.

As Nero, grasping flames in both hands, appeared before it in the blink of an eye, the mother body, perhaps judging it couldn't avoid him, curled its body into a ball. It wrapped its entire body with its wings, transforming into a huge boulder-like form to increase its defense.

Nero, seizing the timing, instantly moved to the underside of the mother body, then placed both hands on the ground and did a handstand, focusing all his mana and strength on his left leg, which was still somewhat intact. Then, pushing the ground with all his might using both arms, he kicked the monster above him into the sky.

Bwaak-!

The thousand-year-old ancient demon that had made the world tremble in fear suddenly became a ball perfect for playing with. The creature, feeling a shock that was by no means light even through its hardened wings, unknowingly soared upward and floated in the air.

The mother body rolled its eyes between its spread wings to check the distant ground and assess the situation. It soon released the hardening of its wings and tried to quickly change direction to fly away, but this time, a seething golden fire demon appeared in its vision.

Leonardo, tightly clenching his right hand, flashed his lightning-like golden eyes and emitted a golden aura. He bent his arm engulfed in flames, raising it beside his head, and with a savage smile, thrust his fist towards the monster.

White steam and vivid electric currents entwined around the fist cutting through the air. A low voice penetrating through warned the monster right to its face.

"Clench your molars tight."