MMORPG: Conqueror Of The Arcana Dynasty

After the massive explosion, the barrier Zariel had cast shattered abruptly, allowing the blizzard to intervene once again.

It became tough to visualize. The heavy snowy wind… the sheering cold froze my bones and hardened my skin. I dithered, standing amidst the bone-freezing cold.

However, the cold wasn't the only challenge before us. The demon got advantages again. He concealed his presence within the blizzard again. Now it would be much difficult for us to handle him again.

[Danger! Strong bloodlust detected]

"Ugh!!"

As soon as the notification popped out, I took a hit. The demon started attacking me in his unique way—inflicting agonizing pain, but not severe damage. It was mysterious how he could do that though.

"Ugh!!"

'Dammit!' I frowned after sustaining another damage from him. I released tons of arrows one after another. Every single one of them pierced through the air but didn't land a hit on the demon. It was futile as it had been previously.

THUD!!

Just when my anger was about to engulf me, I heard something. It was a heavy sound as if a huge chunk of ice had fallen onto the ground, shaking it without any delay.

It was so impactful that it unleashed a strong shockwave afterward. Against the shockwave, the blizzard seemed nothing but a small gust. It disrupted the blizzard momentarily.

'What's that?'

My eyebrows tinkled as I sensed something greater approaching us. Whatever it was, it was immense and overwhelmingly strong. I wasn't within its presence, yet I could feel the sudden emergence of something else—or perhaps, someone else.

Cutting through the blizzard like it was nothing, an unknown figure was heading towards me with a steady motion. It appeared to be holding a katana which was unleashing tremendous, unforeseen magical powers.

Zariel was awestruck. So was I. The demon was already a hindrance, and the emergence of the unknown entity might be a bigger problem for us.

'Wait a second…' I thought as the figure closed it, 'The person… could it be…'

I couldn't finish my conclusion before the entity had swung the katana swiftly. With just a single swing of the katana, the blizzard vanished as if it was forced to cease to exist. That's when my system notified me of something.

[Temporary blessing has been granted]

[Superior Seraphyll of Ice's blessing (Temporary)]

[You are now resistant to ice and cold]

My worries were soon replaced with assurance. The figure who was walking toward me was none but Shika.

She was radiating more than usual.

"Took you long enough, Shika." I chuckled as she approached me. I continued smiling, nearly forgetting that we were still on a battlefield.

"Sorry for making you wait, Zanthrix." She smiled solemnly and halted before me, "I didn't think I'd be able to break out of the endless nightmare. It was you who held me out back there, heh-heh."

"What're you talking about." I looked dumbfounded.

"Oh hello, guys. Quit chatting. Did you forget we're still in the middle of a fight? Don't let your guard down." Zariel interjected.

"She's right. You shouldn't let your guard down—especially while facing me off."

It was the demon who interjected afterward. As soon as he did, he was near Shika again and almost had her neck by his wing-attached claws.

It happened so soon that we hardly had any time for the counter measure. However, within the next instant, both of his claws were sliced off seamlessly. Shika had swung the half-bladed Daiken swiftly. It was as smooth as cutting through the butter.

I was surprised.

Zariel lost her words.

The demon was awestruck.

If anything was common in the three of us—by witnessing the sudden change of events... it was that we were left open-mouthed.

"Tsk!" the demon fell back with a hint of irritation. He was handless for a moment until new ones grew up from his bloodless wrist.

"Whoa, Shika!" Zariel exclaimed with surprise, "How did you manage to swing a blade like that? How did you manage to become strong like that? How did you manage to get so fast like that? Did something happen when I wasn't around?"

Zariel went all out with tons of questions one after another. Shika was overwhelmed by Zariel's curiosity and couldn't decide which one to answer first.

"Cut it out, Zariel." I interjected, "You're bothering her with the questions. Leave her some space. You can ask them later." I yelled at her, "Or did you forget we're still in the middle of a fight?"

Backfired by her own words, Zariel bit her tongue. She tried averting her gaze from me and made a smug face, "Did I say something like that? Who knows? Heh-heh."

"Don't ignore me, SPECIMENS!!" the demon burned in rage, his eyes lacing with fury. "I've been just playing easy with you. Did you think adding just a number will help you defeat me? NOT EVEN IN A MILLION YEARS!!"

"Seems like the little candle learned to tremble like a volcano." Shika smiled a teasing smile. "Don't pretend. Prove your words through action." She raised the Frost Daiken—the half-bladed Daiken yet with an inconspicuous ray forming its whole shape.

'Wait… is it me, or did Shika mock him just now.' I thought as I looked at the furious demon whose vein twitched.

The vile aura emitting from him faded suddenly as if he had sucked it in. Then it was unleashed like an explosion. It was strong as if a tempest had clashed with us overwhelmingly— which was tremendously sinister and more rotten than ever.

It was quite challenging to even stand still in the shockwave created by his aura explosion. While it was slightly difficult for me to hold my ground and Zariel who caught my ear, preventing herself from blowing away, it was quite effortless for Shika who didn't do as much as flinching a bit. Her will was stronger and something about her seemed different.

Meanwhile, within the aura explosion, the demon's body began to transform into a different shape.

The rotten away muscles gained nutrients and evolved. The same happened to his black-toned face as well. The face changed and he looked more like a human—if anything, a handsome one.

His fangs grew sharper like a vampire's and his wings separated from his hands. His claws, by the way, became sharper as if capable of slicing through even the toughest metals.

The eyes changed and became mesmerizing too, but the crimson gaze was still laced with them—capable of seeing through everything.

However, his voice remained the same as he said…

"Like I said, I was playing easy with you. Behold my true form! Let's see how many scratches now you can inflict on me."

His eyes narrowed.