NOVPUBKingsley and his team advanced steadily across the battlefield, their formation unbroken amidst the chaos.
Unlike many of the scattered soldiers around them, they had chosen unity over dispersion, moving as one.
At the forefront, Reynold surged ahead, his rapier slicing through the air with precision.
A shimmering layer of aura enveloped both his body and blade, amplifying his every movement with deadly grace.
Reynold panted heavily, his breath ragged as he ducked, blocked, parried, and deflected with desperate precision.
Blades and spells came at him from every direction, a relentless onslaught.
An attack surged from behind, too sudden, too fast. His reaction lagged by a heartbeat.
But before the strike could land, a radiant barrier flared to life behind him, intercepting the blow with a thunderous impact.
The force reverberated through the shield, causing it to tremble violently.
Seraphim, its caster, clenched her jaw, her eyes cold as she poured her spiritual energy into maintaining the barrier.
Dale's figure emerged behind the demon that had just launched the attack, his spear descending like a shadowed verdict, swift and merciless.
Sensing the incoming strike, the demon shifted to the side with practiced ease, narrowly evading the blow.
But Dale had anticipated the evasion.
Darkness, pliant under his will, twisted and surged like living chains, snaring the demon mid-motion.
In that fleeting moment, Dale's fist, wreathed in pulsing blood energy, crashed into the demon's face.
With a resounding crack, the demon's head snapped backward, the sheer force dragging its entire body through the air like a tattered kite caught in a violent wind.
Before the demon's body could even crash to the ground, Reynold appeared behind it in a blur of motion, his rapier slicing cleanly through its neck with ruthless precision.
Without missing a beat, he retrieved a stamina potion from his space ring and downed it in a single motion.
A surge of energy rippled through him, revitalizing his weary limbs and restoring his drained stamina.
He offered no words of gratitude to Dale or Seraphim. There was no need. After years of fighting side by side, their trust ran deeper than words.
With a brief nod exchanged between them, the trio moved once more, swift, silent, and deadly.
Seraphim conjured illusionary clones that surged toward the enemy, drawing their attention in a calculated distraction.
Cloaked by her own illusion, she vanished from sight, an invisible specter on the battlefield.
From the shadows, her dagger whispered across throats with lethal precision, each strike silent and literally life taking.
She dared not summon spiritual constructs recklessly; their creation demanded immense energy, and in a battle like this, she needed to conserve every precious drop.
Kingsley's figure blitzed forward with effortless speed, his hand locking around the jaws of a snarling demon.
In a blink, he vanished, reappearing an instant later at a different spot on the battlefield.
With brutal force, he slammed the demon's skull into the head of another, the impact echoing like a drumbeat of carnage.
Again and again, he repeated the motion, teleporting, striking, vanishing, until the demon in his grasp fell limp, its body broken and lifeless.
Without hesitation, Kingsley flung the corpse aside.
His gaze remained calm, detached, unbothered by the chaos unraveling around him.
The war itself meant little to him.
He moved quietly near his teammates, poised to act the moment any of them showed the slightest hint of distress.
'Where is he?'
The thought drifted through Kingsley's mind as he casually backhanded a charging demon, erasing its existence in a burst of force.
He hadn't seen Anthony since their visit after the interrogation.
Then, without warning, an overwhelming presence crashed down from above, its aura thundering through the battlefield like a divine hammer.
Kingsley's gaze snapped toward the impact zone, sharp and alert.
But he didn't move.
He stood rooted, observing in silence, watching to see how Dale, Reynold, and Seraphim would respond to the new threat.
'Peak Hyperion Rank'
Seraphim's expression darkened, her eyes narrowing as she assessed the enemy's power. The weight of that aura pressed against her like a mountain.
She wasn't the only one feeling it.
Dale's brows drew together, his grip tightening around his spear.
Reynold frowned, his stance shifting slightly, subtle, but defensive.
None of them spoke, but the tension between them was unmistakable.
Though every member of the team stood at the Ecliptic Rank, they were still two entire realms beneath Hyperion, and not even at its peak.
Against a Peak Hyperion-ranked demon, their chances of victory were less than slim.
But war offered no luxury of choice.
This was the battlefield, unforgiving, merciless.
The Hyperion-ranked demon smiled, his grin stretching wide as he looked them over like prized game.
"You'll make a fine addition to my collection, Elf"
He spoke, his voice like gravel soaked in venom.
His gaze lingered on Seraphim, hungry and vile, as his tongue ran across his lips.
But Seraphim said nothing.
Her silence was not fearm, but calculation.
Her dagger remained steady at her side, her eyes cold.
In the tense silence, Seraphim, Dale, and Reynold's eyes locked, no words needed.
The unspoken command had already passed between them.
In an instant, Dale and Reynold vanished from sight.
Moments later, they reappeared high above the demon, their weapons crackling, one wrapped in searing lightning, the other shrouded in shadowy darkness.
Without hesitation, they drove their blades down in perfect synchrony.
"Spicy"
The demon taunted with a cruel smile, raising his fist.
With a blur of motion, he unleashed a pair of devastating punches, meeting their attacks head-on.
The very air around them exploded with raw force as the demon effortlessly halted both strikes, his bare hands silencing the elements and aura as if they were meaningless.
In an instant, the demon's hands closed around the blades of both weapons, his grip like iron.
With a single, effortless motion, he flung Reynold and Dale backward, like ragdolls tossed aside.
Their bodies soared through the air, twisting mid-flight to absorb the impact as they landed with practiced ease, sliding backward across the ground.
But the demon's senses remained razor-sharp.
Detecting a dagger hurtling from behind, he dipped to the side with lightning reflexes, easily avoiding the strike.
Without hesitation, his fist slammed into Seraphim's stomach, the brutal impact forcing the air from her lungs in a harsh, guttural gasp.
"Such tricks don't work on me, baby girl"
He taunted, a cruel smile playing across his lips as he watched Seraphim fly backward.
The team's eyes remained locked on the demon.
They all understood the brutal truth, facing a Peak Hyperion was little more than a desperate hope. But retreat was impossible.
There was nowhere left to run.
Reynold exhaled deeply, drawing a fierce roar of mana from within his core.
Then, with measured intensity, he spoke:
Natural Transformation
A violent explosion of mana erupted from his body, rippling outward like a searing shockwave.
His form began to shift and expand, feathers sprouting as his silhouette stretched into a majestic bird.
The very air thickened with oppressive heat, and the earth beneath them cracked and blistered, molten lava bubbling up where their feet had been.
A deafening screech shattered the chaos.
Reynold's transformation completed, his phoenix form ignited in blazing brilliance, radiant as the sun itself.
He soared into the sky, surveying the battlefield from above like an avenging deity.
But Reynold wasn't the only one holding a trump card.
"I guess we're really doing this, huh"
Seraphim said quietly, the faintest trace of blood staining her lips.
She clasped her hands together sharply, and waves of spiritual energy surged forth from her core.
[Spirit Summoning Art: Elemental Call]
The very fabric of space around her cracked open in four distinct places, each fissure shimmering with raw power.
From these rifts stepped four towering beings, their auras heavy and commanding, embodiments of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind.
Each was a peak Ecliptic rank warrior, their presence radiating unstoppable force.
Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, Seraphim uttered one final word:
Fusion 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
With a resounding boom, the four elemental beings slammed into her, merging seamlessly with her very essence.
Spiritual energy erupted like a blazing comet into the sky, blinding, fierce, and overwhelming.
In an instant, Seraphim's cultivation surged beyond all limits, ascending to the Zenith Rank.
Then, as the towering beam of energy collapsed, it crashed down upon her, unveiling her transformed form.
Her hair floated freely, dancing to the rhythm of the wind itself, each strand shimmering with the vivid hues of fire, water, earth, and air.
Arcane tattoos, intricate and otherworldly, adorned her skin, symbols pulsing with ancient, unknown power.
A wry twitch crossed Dale's mouth he had no flashy transformation to match the others.
With a resigned sigh, he raised his voice and called out:
Blood Army
The very blood scattered across the battlefield responded like a living tide, swirling and coalescing into countless warriors, armored paladin-like constructs wielding spears, swords, and shields, ready for war.
The Hyperion demon made no move to stop the summoning.
Instead, his grin stretched even wider, eyes gleaming with dark amusement.
"Let's dance, shall we?"
At his words, the entire battlefield erupted into motion.
