Chapter 428: Sylvia’s Magic

“ROAR!”

A fresh wave of monsters surged forward once more.

Ignir glared at the horde, his voice dripping with impatience.

“What a bunch of nuisances.”

WHOOSH!

His crimson wings unfurled across the sky.

“I’ll turn every last one of you to ash! ROAR——!”

A deathly breath of fire erupted from his jaws in an instant, cascading down onto the monsters below.

On the other side of the battlefield.

Hulim arrived at the nearest crimson pillar of light.

Up close, she saw that the pillar was actually generated by a bizarre magic circle. At the center of the circle hovered a blood-red cylinder, radiating a thick, ominous aura.

“If I destroy that thing in the middle, it should take this pillar down too. But......”

Hulim glanced around.

Besides the corpses of a few high-ranking monsters that had been guarding the circle, there was nothing else in sight.

“Why is there no one here to defend it?”

Could it be that with so many pillars to guard, Gulos had chosen to focus their forces on protecting only some of them?

But then again, there were high-ranking monsters stationed here.

If they bothered to post high-ranking monsters, why so few of them?

As she pondered, Hulim suddenly recalled the massive horde of monsters she had encountered earlier—and a possibility dawned on her.

“Could it be that those monsters were originally supposed to be guarding this place?”

Did that mean whoever was in charge here had abandoned their post and charged headlong into battle?

“Hmmm...... With Ignir holding the line, it should be fine. Probably. Anyway, destroying this thing takes priority right now.”

Hulim pointed the Seven Luminaries at the enormous magic circle before her.

“Ninefold Magic Circle—Light of Termination!”

BOOM——!

Nine magic circles unfolded simultaneously, their power amplifying each other as a dazzling beam of light shot forth, slamming into the crimson pillar of light.

The pillar was pierced clean through in an instant.

The white beam streaked straight toward the blood-red cylinder at the circle’s center.

CRACK!

A sharp sound rang out.

The red cylinder shattered into pieces in the blink of an eye, then vanished entirely in a burst of white light.

HUM......

The moment the cylinder was destroyed, the magic circle on the ground ceased to function, and the crimson pillar that had pierced the sky began to fade away.

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Yet Hulim did not allow herself to relax, even after taking down the pillar so easily.

She stared intently at the spot where the cylinder had been.

“......”

After a long moment, she finally looked away.

“Strange. Am I overthinking this, or was it truly gone?”

The question lingered in her mind, but time was still of the essence—there were dozens more pillars to destroy.

“I’ll figure that out later. First, I have to deal with the rest of these things.”

With that, Hulim locked onto the nearest remaining pillar and flew toward it.

At that very same moment.

Across the entire battlefield.

The sudden disappearance of one crimson pillar did not go unnoticed.

“They took one down already? Wonder who pulled that off?”

“Hey, hey! Where are you looking~? You dare get distracted while fighting me?”

BOOM——!

A ferocious wave of fire surged toward Sylvia.

Sylvia flicked her tail, leaving behind an afterimage in her place as her true form darted to a distance.

The afterimage was swallowed by the flames in an instant.

“Tch.”

Hunos clicked his tongue, his eyes fixed on Sylvia in the distance.

“You’re fast, I’ll give you that. But this is getting fun! Die——!”

RUMBLE!

Flames swept toward her once again.

Sylvia flicked her tail repeatedly, leaving a trail of afterimages across the battlefield as she dodged his attacks with ease.

Even as she evaded, her mind was racing with analysis.

Hunos, the Flame General of the Great Demon Mercenary Corps—an A-Rank powerhouse who specialized in fire magic.

Logically, with Gulos stretched thin defending all the pillars, they should not have spared such an important combatant to roam freely on the battlefield.

“Hahaha! This is fun! So much fun! I’m burning up! Watch me reduce you to cinders!”

“......”

Watching Hunos ignite his entire body, transforming into a living inferno, Sylvia suddenly recalled a piece of intelligence about him.

It was said that Hunos the Flame General had a volatile, impulsive personality. Once he got caught up in the thrill of battle, he would abandon everything else to pursue it.

Could it be——

Sylvia thought of a possibility.

Had this man abandoned his defensive post and charged out here on his own?

If that was the case......

Sylvia came to an abrupt halt.

“Then this isn’t a trap at all.”

“Huh?”

The moment Sylvia stopped, Hunos also ceased his attacks, staring at her in confusion.

“Hey, fox lady! What’s wrong? Tired of running? I’m just getting started—don’t go boring me now!”

“Don’t worry.”

Sylvia’s voice was calm and steady.

“From here on out, I’ll make sure you have more than enough fun.”

HUM——!

In the blink of an eye, a magic circle flared to life beneath her feet.

“What!?”

Hunos’s face paled. He scrambled backward in a hurry, but the circle’s range was enormous—engulfing both him and Sylvia in the blink of an eye.

Hunos stared at the magic circle on the ground with a grave expression, trying to figure out what it could do.

“You look confused.”

Sylvia said calmly from a short distance away.

“Huh?”

“Did you really think I was just running away earlier?”

“......”

Hunos fell silent. He suddenly remembered that when Sylvia had been darting around leaving afterimages, her movements had seemed to follow a certain pattern—but in the heat of battle, he had completely ignored it.

“Speaking of which,” Sylvia continued, “this is the first time I’ve successfully used this against an opponent of the same rank. As for you——”

“Are you actually an idiot?”

“??!”

Hunos flew into a rage.

“You damned fox woman! Don’t get cocky! Watch me burn this stupid circle to the ground!”

He raised both hands high, conjuring a ball of fire in each palm before slamming them down toward the earth.

BOOM!

In the next instant.

Hunos’s body shot upward into the sky at breakneck speed.

Watching his retreating figure, Sylvia spoke in an unhurried tone.

“Well, you’re not completely stupid. At least you know how to run away. But do you really think you can escape?”

High above the ground.

Hunos’s figure drew closer and closer to the edge of the magic circle.

“You bitch! Once I get out of here, I’m gonna roast you alive!”

But no sooner had the words left his mouth than—

An attack suddenly slammed down from above.

Hunos dodged in a panic, but before he could finish the maneuver, another attack struck him from a blind spot.

BOOM!

The blow sent him crashing down to the ground with a heavy thud.

SWISH!

Sylvia flickered into existence right in front of him.

“You bastard!”

Hunos spat out a mouthful of dirt and clambered to his feet.

“What cheap trick did you pull!?!”

“Well......”

Sylvia tilted her head as if in thought.

“I don’t particularly feel like explaining it, but since you’re the first one unlucky enough to get caught in it, I’ll humor you.”

“......”

“Simply put, this magic circle links all the spots where I left my afterimages as anchors. And my attacks can be redirected to strike from any of those anchors. That’s where the attack that hit you came from.”

“What? Does that mean——”

“Exactly. From now on, you’ll be bombarded by attacks from every direction within this space. I hope you enjoy your fun to the fullest.”

“You bastard!”

Hunos roared with fury, launching an attack at Sylvia.

But once again, Sylvia flicked her tail gently, leaving an afterimage behind as her true self vanished to a distance.