Translator: Leo Editor: Kurisu
The cracks on the surface of two lava balls flying toward the skeleton were filled up with golden liquid.
There was a short distance between the two lava balls.
The skeleton leaned to the left and dodged the first lava ball.
*BOOM*
The first lava ball exploded after passing the skeleton, turning into a golden light ball; most of the lava drops splashed on the bones of the skeleton.
"AH!" the Skeleton screamed in a high-pitched tone. Half of its body was burnt to ashes and it lost its original form.
It almost looked like a beast took a large bite of the skeleton and crushed it.
*HUA*
The skeleton broke into pieces and dropped to the ground.
The second lava ball was flying at the mysterious man.
Angele took out a lot of glass bottles and tubes from the pouch carefully; he did not even check the result of the lava balls' attack.
He used the force field to remove all the lids and stoppers from the containers.
Angele raised his hands, then poured all the colorful pills and liquids into his mouth. He quickly swallowed them all.
Seconds later, the effect of the potions and pills helped him remove the debuff-he was no longer slowed and weakened.
Angele raised his right hand and reached forward.
*BOOM*
Countless silver strings formed a silver flood, moving toward the man in black that was still standing on the other side.
The trees and grass between them were destroyed by the flood.
"Basilicata!" the man in black shouted again in the high-pitched tone. The sound wave materialized in the air-it looked like the wave on the surface of the water, spreading to all angles.
"Final Judgement!" A light voice came from nowhere, mixing with the one from the man in black.
*CHI*
Suddenly, four black wings appeared on the back of the mysterious man.
The wings were growing rapidly; reminiscent of those bats boasted, they covered the whole area within seconds, yet still kept expanding.
The black shadow under the wings covered the grass, tree trunks, dry leaves, and the sky; everything was turned into black.
Each of the wings was more than ten meters long.
Manifested in the form of three slowly spinning black diamond-like crystals, a cold and terrifying energy wave was moving toward Angele. The dark energy coming from the surface of the crystal penetrated Angele's defensive force field and sank into his body.
The silver flood approached the mysterious man at the same time.
*BOOM*
The silver flood was stopped by an invisible energy barrier when it was about one meter away from the man. The silver needles were trying to attack the man, but they could not proceed any further.
Black light flashed in his eyes as Angele's face turned pale.
"Die!" he shouted, raised his left hand, and created a long silver sword.
*Chi*
The sword disappeared from his hand, turned into a silver string, then started extending. The sword used the silver flood as a bridge and it was going for the man's head.
The mysterious man removed his mask-it was a woman with an attractive face.
A ray of black light was released from her mouth and it contacted the tip of the slim silver sword.
*Clank*
The black ray hit the sword and they both disappeared into the air.
The woman swung the enormous wings slightly and jumped into the air. She almost looked like a dark angel.
"Dark Night!" she shouted furiously.
*BOOM*
The four black wings' size increased again; they painted the sky in black like spilled ink.
The setting sun disappeared and the area beneath the wings almost looked like the night sky with blinking stars as decoration.
The whole forest was covered by the shadow.
Angele's movement was slowed down again; he had no idea what effect the woman's skill had. He released two more lava balls and the three silver scars appeared on his cheeks.
*BOOM*
The strength of the silver flood doubled and it was going for the woman that was flying in the sky.
"Phoenix!" a red bird appeared on Angele's right shoulder.
He decided to let the silver flood do its thing. Angele raised his hands and created a long metal bow, then quickly drawn the bowstring fully.
*CHI*
A long silver arrow appeared on the bowstring and he stared at the target.
*WOO*
Angele's eyes became surrounded by a red glow after a crisp noise. His eyes were clear like a pair of rubies.
'Modifying the angle...' Zero's voice echoed in his ears.
"Iamususi, heed my call!" Angele chanted a short incantation with a low voice.
Countless small red beads appeared around the arrow-they looked like a bunch of spinning glass beads.
Then, dark-red flame appeared on the tip of the arrow.
Red light dots and blue light dots were moving in front of Angele's eyes. His left eye turned red and his right eye turned blue several seconds later. The blue light came from the chip and the red glow came from the Molten Core River.
"Pyroblast!"
*CHI*
The arrow turned into a red string and flew toward the woman.
Angele had no time to check the result. He stopped the silver flood and started backing off.
He finally stepped out of the darkness after moving back for more than ten meters.
The red string mixed with the retreating silver flood and the two lava balls as they hit the woman in the sky together.
A ball of red exploded in the air and it almost looked like a small sun appeared in the night sky.
Angele covered his eyes with a right hand to block some of the eye-blinding light.
The heat wave warmed up the wind, spreading to all angles. The smell of the burnt wood permeated the air as a streak of black smoke rose into the sky.
The light faded away quickly.
The woman's black outfit was damaged, but it seemed like wings on her back changed again.
Angele saw that there was an hourglass pattern in her right eye. The hourglass was made from redwood and glass; there was not much sand left in the upper part of the hourglass.
*CHI*
A long black spear appeared in her right hand, coated with dancing dark shadows.
The dark energy was the source of the black spear's power, and its size and length were increasing quickly. Also, the shadow flame around the spear was getting more and more intense.
Angele could feel the pressure coming from the sky. He raised his head and put his right hand on the chest. Then, a red glow appeared in front of his chest, and a singing female voice resounded in the sky.
The red glow illuminated his chest and a strange energy wave was released from the bloodline signet. His long red hair started growing rapidly.
Angele and the woman both knew that they were more or less evenly matched.
Angele could feel that the woman was slightly stronger than him, but it seemed like she was scared by the bloodline signet from the scorpion woman.
Also, he knew that the three diamond-shaped crystals around his body were damaging him using the dark energy waves.
Those materialized energy waves looked like black smoke, and they were invading his force field and his body. The defensive barrier from the crystal scorpion, the metal force field, and the high-temperature force field all failed to stop the dark energy. It was probably the reason why Angele was slowed and weakened again.
Without the help of the potions and pills, he would stand no chance against the woman.
The two looked at each other, but neither was trying to attack first.
They both knew that they were about to use their strongest skills. They traded several attacks, but none of them dealt any actual damage; however, the next exchange would probably decide the outcome of the battle.
The woman hesitated for a second and suddenly started laughing.
"Well, is it really worth it? I mean, we are fighting because you killed my single-eyed gnomes, but I'm not sure we have to go as far as trying to kill each other." The woman's voice returned to normal, but it still sounded a bit strange.
"You're right. I'm just using them for my experiment. I knew something would happen, but I didn't expect to meet a strong opponent." Angele's expression relaxed.
"An experiment?" The woman was a bit confused. "They're just materials for you?"
"Of course." Angele nodded. "I've been collecting materials my whole life and I'll go after anything that I've never seen before. To be honest, I didn't want to start the battle."
"Well, we should probably stop here, then." The woman nodded. "Let me introduce myself. You can call me Eye Devil and my territory is the Lion Tree City."
Angele decided to tell the woman a fake name. "You can call me Phoenix, my territory is the forest and that river."
"You should make things easier for us. The lords have never heard of you. You know this world is a mess now." Eye Devil chuckled. "I was here to expand my territory but I meant no offense."
"It's my fault. I lived in the forest for too long and I have no idea about the current situation. Do you have a map of this area? We can do a trade, what do you think? Tell me what you need." Angele shrugged.
"There's no need to trade for it." Eye Devil dropped a leather scroll to the ground.
*PA*
Angele caught the scroll and scanned it with the biochip. He made sure that it was not a trap and slowly opened the scroll.
It was a very detailed, large map.
A city in the center of the map was marked with a white block and it said: "Lion Tree City". Angele also found the Dark Cloud City, Dawn City, and several lakes around the Lion Tree City.
Angele had visited the Dark Cloud City before-it was to the northeast of Ness River-so he recognized it quickly.
All three cities were on the top-right of Ness River and they formed a triangle.