“We don’t have much time left, everyone; we have to kill her for the sake of our alliance!”


  Gajeel threw off his black robes and black cloak as his eyes turned a crimson color. His burly body swelled even further as black spikes began to grow on his back. His hair also turned into a series of sharp spikes that pointed directly up at the sky as two sharp tusks emerged from within his mouth.

  He was like a humanoid boar as he rushed toward Irina with a massive saber that was close to two meters in length in his hand.

  “For the alliance!”


  A forest troll that was over five meters tall stepped forward, and its black robes were torn into countless rags as black vortexes appeared over its mossy body. All of the plant life in the radius of several kilometers wilted and died in an instant, transforming into wisps of dark green energy that flowed into those vortexes. The forest troll tightened its grip around a massive stone club before also charging toward Irina.

  “The scent of fresh blood sure is mesmerizing.” A massive bat projection appeared behind a vampire as he extended an eerily white hand. He slit his wrist with a sharp fingernail, and blood poured forth from the incision, dripping down onto a massive magic spell formation before him. As he did this, he cried in a slightly deranged voice, “I offer my blood as a sacrifice to the Blood Patriarch; please descend, Blood Patriarch!”


  Dazzling red light erupted from the bloodstained formation, and the blood and dismembered bodies on the ground hurtled toward the formation in a frenzy. Blood began to churn and bubble as if it were boiling.

  A sinister aura proliferated in all directions as a crimson hand extended out of the center of the formation, following which a headless crimson corpse slowly emerged. It paused momentarily before digging around in the blood formation, finally finding a bloodstained head to fit onto its neck. It turned its eyes, which were almost dangling out of their sockets, toward Irina before licking its lips and disappearing on the spot.

  The remaining orc let loose a roar of rage as it rushed toward Irina with a massive club in its hand. As it ran along the street, it transformed into a half-ape being, leaping five or six meters up into the air before landing with a resounding boom, leaving a massive crater beneath it.

  The remaining forest troll planted both feet and hands into the ground at once as it began to chant an incantation. The brown soil slowly began to turn a grayish-white color, and energy converged as streaks of green light, landing on the body of a troll that was rushing toward Irina.

  Five 10th-tier powerful beings began to launch attacks at Irina almost at the exact same moment.

  It’s sad that I wasn’t able to tell Amy that I’m her mother. Irina wore a slightly dejected expression as she looked at the gray magic barrier. She didn’t even need to try to know that she wouldn’t be able to break through it in a short time, at least not before those attacks struck her.

  He should be able to look after her really well, though. After all, the food he cooks is so good now. A smile appeared on Irina’s face. Nothing made her happier than seeing Amy all grown up now, and even though she was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t be by her side for the rest of her journey in life, she was determined to take down some of these bastards with her.

  Irina raised her staff high into the air and chanted in a loud voice, “Holy light, heed my call; cleanse this world of all filth and impurities!”


  Holy light lit up once again as a pillar of holy light as thick as a human arm short forth, forcing a bloody figure out of the shadows and exposing it to the illumination of the holy light.

  “Argh!!!”


  A bloodcurdling cry rang out amid the grotesque sizzling of flesh being eroded. The Blood Patriarch that had just been summoned was struggling with all its might, but it was unable to escape from the holy light, which was locking it in place like an invisible shackle. No matter how much it writhed and thrashed, its body was still quickly being eroded at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

  “Argh…… No!”


  At the same time, the vampire who had just summoned the Blood Patriarch was also disintegrating, and he fell to his knees as he screeched and struggled in a maddened frenzy.

  “Bam!”


  Almost at the exact same moment that Irina unleashed her holy light, Gajeel was upon her, and he swept his massive saber through the air, attempting to slice her in half.

  Irina blocked using her staff, but was still sent flying by the force of the enormous impact, crashing heavily into a nearby wall. The wall completely crumbled, and a trail of blood dripped down from the corner of her lips as her face paled significantly.

  At the same time, the half-ape orc descended from the sky, swinging its massive mace down toward Irina.

  A burst of golden light suddenly erupted beneath her feet, and she appeared 10 meters away.

  “Boom!”


  A massive crater that was several meters deep was smashed into the ground where she had just been a split second ago.

  Irina’s footsteps were a little labored as a stone pillar that was as thick as a water tank came crashing down toward her from above. A massive forest stood atop the stone pillar like a giant Buddha, looking down at Irina with a pair of sinister grayish-white eyes.

  Irina unleashed her teleportation magic again, disappearing right before the stone pillar struck the ground.

  The pillar crashed into the ground, felling all of the nearby buildings that were still standing with the tremors generated by the impact, and creating a resounding boom akin to a loud thunderclap erupting within the stormy night.

  Golden light flashed again as Irina appeared above the troll’s head. She held her staff with both hands before bringing it down viciously toward the troll’s massive head.

  “Thump!”


  A large section of the troll’s head caved in as a series of cracks ran down its body. Its towering figure that was over five meters tall crashed to the ground like a gargantuan felled tree.

  Right at this moment, a metal club struck Irina on the back with ferocious force, creating a muffled thump amid the sound of breaking bones.

  Irina was still in mid-air, and she was swatted flying by the attack like a kite with a severed line. Prior to crashing into the gray magic barrier, she just barely managed to conjure up a spherical magic shield around her body before falling feebly to the ground.

  “Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”


  Right as she landed on the ground, countless vines bound her magic shield almost instantaneously as if they were anacondas that had bound their prey, contracting violently and forcing the magic shield to flicker in an unsteady manner.

  I took down three 10th-tier beings; I think I’ve earned my keep. Irina lay beneath the magic shield, holding a small black ball as she looked at the oncoming Gajeel and his orc ally with a derisive sneer on her face.

  The heart-shaped necklace in front of her chest was injecting green light into her body in a frenzy, but no matter how efficient her regenerative abilities were, there was no way that she’d be able to quickly recover the ability to battle, and her magic shield was already about to give out.

  “I’ve changed my mind now.” Gajeel raised his saber as he looked down at Irina with a sinister smile. “After killing you, I’m going to strip you naked and hang you on the walls of Rodu so the Roth Empire can face the wrath of the elven race!”


  “Who dares to touch my woman?”


  Right at this moment, a voice exploded like thunder beside everyone’s ears!