Chapter 109: Battling the Three-Star (1/2)

*awooo*

With a resounding howl, the tamed wolves leaped into the fray turning the already messy battlefield into an even more chaotic one. A portion of these wolves went to aid the bandit minions while the remainder split off to harass me.

The Third Chief was definitely a lot stronger than me. Had it not been for my high-grade blade being able to break through his Aura Layer, this fight would’ve been over before it even started.

What was originally a knife’s edge fight for me was instantly thrown into disarray with the addition of the wolves.

Just as I dodged the Third Chief’s long blade, the first tamed wolf pounced towards me barely giving me time to react before I was forced to roll to the side. Yet before I could even regain my posture, another wolf pounced at me catching me completely off-guard.

Its lupine mouth opened to reveal a menacing row of razor sharp teeth as it prepared to lacerate me. Right at the last second however, a fireball crashed right into it with an explosive roar of flames as it sent the wolf flying to the side.

Without even looking, I knew that it was Ancarin who helped me. With no time to spare, I immediately activated the enchanted blade’s flames as I stabbed at the third oncoming wolf; cauterizing its flesh as the blade pierced through its neck.

“Kill her! Attack her together!”

As the flames burst forth from the wolf’s neck, the Third Chief ordered the wolves to restrain me out of fear of approaching my blade. The wolves leapt instantly at his command without any hint of hesitation in their eyes as they tried to suppress me with their numbers.

If I wasn’t in the Western Human Realms right now with so many humans watching, this dog pile could’ve easily been taken care of with a few bone walls and spears. Unfortunately for me, this wasn’t an option as necromancers were even more of a taboo occupation than occultists.

If my identity as a devil was ever uncovered, we could still pass that off as me being a minion of Ancarin. However, if it was ever discovered that we were necromancers, that meant only one thing…getting burnt on a stake.

While the wolves kept me occupied, the Third Chief took the opportunity to close in on Ancarin having determined that her magic was currently the biggest threat. Seeing this, I instantly rushed forward to stop him but was immediately intercepted by the remaining eight wolves who leapt at me simultaneously.

Having spent the majority of my childhood practicing with the sword and shield on that wooden dummy, I had attained a degree of familiarity with bladed weapons such as my enchanted blade. After all, the swords of the Western Human Realms were almost the same as blades; unlike the ancient Chinese swords that were mainly used to stab, they were also able to slash and chop as well.

However, the lack of a shield often threw off my stance due to my open left flank. Naturally, I couldn’t use the grimoire as a makeshift shield, which forced me to dodge often in order to defend against the combined attacks of the wolves while severely limiting my offensive options.

Not only that, the wolves the bandit chief had brought with him were markedly stronger than those we met in the woods. With their one-star strength, they were probably the elites of their wolf army and this showed in their impeccable cooperation. Whenever I slashed at an exposed wolf, another would leap at my left flank, forcing me to retract my blade to defend.

By now, the Third Chief was close enough for Ancarin to see the whites of his eyes. He raised his long blade high into the air and gripped the hilt tightly, ready to perform an overhead chopas he covered the last five meters between them. It was at this moment, that a sly grin crossed her lips as she raised her hands and fired off an ice shard.

At this distance, he barely had time to react before the shard’s crystalline exterior dominated his field of vision. With a swift tug of his hand, he drew his blade down towards his hips and sliced the shard in twain. However, while the danger had been neutralized, his blade was now encased in ice from the shard’s residual freezing power.

Even so, the bandit trudged on with his now frozen-solid club of a blade still raised high for what was now to be called a smash. And yet what greeted him as he stepped forth was a fireball aimed right at him.

Forced to defend once more, he swatted the fireball down with his club causing an explosion of fire and ice as the frozen layer shattered leaving behind a steaming blade. Concerned that the fireball wouldn’t be enough to stop the man, Ancarin threw up a magical barrier in the meantime as a precaution.

The magic crystal atop the staff glowed blue with mana as she focused her will on it. A second later, a blue, dome-like barrier of pure mana formed in front of her. This was a barrier formed solely out of the crystal’s stored mana which automatically recovered every 12 hours.

As long as she activated it while it was charged up, the barrier wouldn’t require any mana input from her. On the other hand, it also meant that she could activate the barrier as long as she was able to expend the required amount of mana.

Living up to his reputation as a three-star fighter, the Third Chief’s wealth of experience allowed him to remain calm even when faced with a sudden explosion. Without giving it any thought, he instinctively expunged his Fighter’s Aura in a short burst, cancelling out the shockwave of the magical explosion.

Even under that barrage of fire and ice, his blade had never swayed from its course as the Chief continued his relentless attack on Ancarin.

*bang clang*

The barrier shattered into transparent flakes of blue as it blocked the Chief’s chop in a flash of blue magical energy. While he had successfully broken through the barrier, he had lost his grip on the blade at the same time.

After being pelted continuously by her magical attacks, the Chief’s hand was numb from the impact, and upon receiving the backlash from the barrier, finally caved in.

A triumphant smile crossed her lips as the blade fell to the ground with a loud clang. This was the moment she had been planning for since the beginning. In the past, she had seen Duran use the staff to block an attack from a three-star warrior. The situation back then was exactly the same as what happened now.

She immediately stepped backwards and prepared to finish off the bandit by turning him into an ice statue with an ice shard.

However, reality was never as simple as it seemed.