Book 5 Chapter 3.3 - Protection
The five of them had long dispersed, surrounding this male covered in blood-colored flames. However, in Persephone's eyes, their encirclement was full of holes, no different from a street gathering of hoodlums. It was clear that not only did these people not have any coordination or complementary skills, even their understanding of basic position tactics was extremely limited. This was already to the extent of lacking elementary training, so in Persephone's opinion, not even half of these ability users' true fighting strength could be displayed.
The one who arrived was Mortimus, someone who could be considered Persephone's former acquaintance, but there wasn't much friendly relations back then to speak of. He was a seventh level magic ability user, someone that was attached to the Spider Empress' people, a rather well-known ability user. Mortimus wasn't well known because his abilities were powerful, but because his fire's appearance was different, and its characteristics rather unique. In addition, due to his handsome appearance, he had previously been called one of the Spider Empress' male pets.
Mortimus' natural disposition was arrogant, and he always behaved ostentatiously. Originally, with his level of abilities, facing this small group of five with similar levels of abilities would inevitably result in defeat. However, since Pari's group clearly didn't receive any type of training, after a bitter struggle, Mortimus should be able to come out on top, and if he was lucky, he might even be able to kill a few of them.
Pari narrowed her eyes and coldly said, "Another annoying spider!" It seemed like she also knew about Mortimus.
"Better to just crush it beneath our feet." The green faced male said coldly.
"Cut off his arms first and leave behind his body. Who knows, Pari might still have some use for him!" The slender male laughed evilly.
Even though there was a raging flame separating them, Mortimus' face still fell. Through the fiery light, what was displayed was actually a shade of dark purple. He immediately became furious. An expanse of crimson flames immediately swept through the five individuals, and at the same time, he roared, "Bevulas' dogs, cloned swines, there is no place for you all in this world! Victory is inevitable for the Spider Empress!"
The dark red flames covered an extremely large area, though the temperature and power were both quite ordinary. However, this still wasn't something Pari or the others could easily overlook. They all backed up, avoiding the flame's range of attack, but once they backed up, their lack of coordination immediately showed. Their distances of retreat were different, their speeds uneven. Even though Mortimus' fame didn't come from his strength, his battle experience still far exceeded these hatchlings. His eyes lit up, and then his body dragged out a streak of fire, instantly appearing behind one of the stupid looking robust males, his burning hand already pressed against the nape of this robust man's neck!
The flame on Mortimus' hand was a bright yellow color!
The high temperature immediately scorched the back of the big man's neck black. Before he even released a cry, the raging flames already wrapped around his entire body, burning ferociously! Flames produced through magic weremuch more powerful than those that originated from gasoline, and if one didn't isolate the user's supply of energy, then it wouldn't stop burning at all. Under the burning flame, even though that robust male had five levels of defense ability, he was still burned until he screamed loudly in misery.
Only after hearing several miserable cries did the three intelligent ability users react and counterattack. The consequences of a lack of training were fully displayed at this moment. If it was an ordinary ability user, they would have immediately retaliated without such delay. After a few seconds of burning, that robust male with shocking defensive strength was already heavily injured. At the very least, he could already be considered crippled in this battlefield.
Getting rid of one opponent in one go, even though it was the weakest one, it still lightened Mortimus' pressure significantly. He sneered, and then two short curved blades were pulled out from his back. Tangible blames ignited along the blade's edges, immediately turning them into two flame warblades as they hacked towards his opponents. Mortimus' blades were fierce and vicious, excelling in speed. A dark red human figure warped and weaved between Pari's group of four, the vigor gradually becoming greater and greater, ultimately even turning into a blood dragon that rushed into the sky!
Persephone calmly concealed herself not too far away, concealing all of her energy, to the extent where she didn't even carefully observe this battle that was going on. With her battlefield experience, from the moment Mortimus first crippled the individual with the greatest defensive force, she already deduced that he would have the advantage in this battle. What Persephone was pondering over right now, were the simple lines the two sides exchanged when they first met.
The Spider Empress had already fully declared war on Bevulas?!
This news was nothing short of a thunderstrike, one that came crashing down next to her ears! Persephone's time with the Black Dragonriders definitely exceeded one or two years, so she naturally knew how great the chairman and empress' hidden strength was. Perhaps her resources and continued tradition might be inferior to the three great influential families, but the Spider Empress suppressed the masses with outrageously powerful abilities, her strength alone enough to balance out the three great families. Meanwhile, Bevulas' experts, including those known to the public and those hidden, could contend against the Spider Empress.
The most important thing was that in the recent decade, almost no one knew about Bevulas' own strength.
"It seems like I have to reconsider many things…" Persephone's thoughts operated at flying speed. Two powerful individuals had declared war against each other, so there was definitely no neutral ground. Even though Bevulas' proposal seized her of her general rank, politics were politics. In the eyes of all the upper level figures, the conflict between Bevulas and herself wasn't something that was completely impossible to neutralize. Meanwhile, Persephone was naturally a member of the higher level figures, and she was definitely equipped with the wisdom of a higher level character, so this was something she understood well. Perhaps the only one who could maintain a neutral position, was the Black Dragonriders' General Morgan. However, even this type of neutral position couldn't be maintained for long.
The second important reason she remained hidden without emerging was a deep worry, a worry directed at Mortimus.