Just as the spinning blood ropes tightened even further, Theo suddenly felt the temperature spike around him.

BOOOM!

A massive wave of purple flames disintegrated the blood ropes in an instant.

Even the blood crosses fell into the ground, leaving small craters in their wake.

’Joop!’ he thought, feeling the pressure around him vanish.

The next second, the old man landed lightly in front of him.

His breathing had clearly worsened, taking in deep strained breaths.

Yet... the purple flames around him still burned fiercely.

The blood user stared at the ruined ropes for a moment before his expression twisted into fury.

"HOW DARE YOU RUIN THIS BEAUTIFUL VERSE?!" he screamed.

Blood rapidly gathered around his hands again.

"You think I can’t make you dance too, you fucking fossil?!"

Joop didn’t even look at him.

Instead, his eyes shifted toward Theo.

’’You can’t handle that madman,’’ he said firmly. ’’He’s a gold core... and a strong one.’’

Theo’s expression immediately changed slightly.

’Gold core?’

No wonder his attacks had been so overwhelming.

’I doubt he’s shown me even half he’s capable of then,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. ’But mayb—’

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

Before he could think further, heavy footsteps echoed out behind him.

A massive rock giant slid to a halt behind the two of them, holding a massive signpost-like sledgehammer.

’’Oi!" Owen’s voice echoed out heavily. ’’Why wasn’t I invited to this party?!’’

For the first time since the battle began, the blood user’s grin slowly faded.

The man leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing at the three of them with a much more serious expression.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then—

Crrrrk...

A soft noise suddenly echoed out from somewhere far away.

Joop’s eyes narrowed instantly.

He immediately glanced behind, gritting his teeth tightly.

The blood user remained silent for a second too, his gaze shifting past the three of them.

Then, slowly, he placed several blood-covered knives back onto his belt.

"You!" he suddenly shouted, pointing directly at Theo.

He took several slow steps back as he licked his lips.

"I’ll come back for you..." he muttered, his grin slowly returning again.

Then his expression twisted into excitement once more.

"...if you survive that, of course!"

The next second, his body merged with the shadows and rapidly vanished from the battlefield.

Owen tilted his head slightly.

"...What the hell was his problem?" he muttered from inside the massive rock armor.

Theo remained silent.

He slowly turned around, feeling a familiar sense of unease in his stomach.

That’s when a very familiar sound entered his ears.

CRRRRRK... CRRRRK...

Immediately, every hair on his body stood on end.

’Fuck.’

Then—

HISSSSSS!

A loud hissing noise echoed through the ruined streets.

Everyone, civilians, hunters, creatures, even Calamity Covenant members, froze in place.

Finally, something massive turned the corner between the flooded buildings.

A heavy pressure instantly pressed down on everyone.

Deep blue eyes with two black slits landed on them as the creature fully revealed its scaled body that towered over them.

The hunters remained frozen in fear while the civilians could barely breathe.

Theo’s heart skipped a beat as a single thought went through his mind.

’The Frost Serpent.’

An incredibly powerful B-rank creature that’d require at least one platinum core individual.

Joop snapped out of his daze immediately.

He turned toward Theo and Owen, panic finally appearing on his face for the first time.

"There’s one person controlling the creature army," he said hurriedly. "If you want to save even some of the civilians... find him and kill him."

He fell silent for a moment, staring at both of them.

Then he clenched his fists tightly.

"And remember..."

Purple flames slowly erupted around his body once more.

"You two have to stay alive."

Theo and Owen snapped out of their daze, both looking over at Joop.

HISSSSSS!

The serpent flicked its tongue as it looked at all the civilians.

Ice began to spread slowly from underneath it, freezing the flooded streets over.

’’MOVE!’’ Joop roared loudly.

Then he kicked off the ground, a burst of wind pushing him far into the sky.

The Frost Serpent’s eyes immediately locked onto him, its slits flickering slightly.

Then it opened its mouth. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

A thick white cloud-like substance appeared between its fangs.

The temperature around it instantly plummeted as the surrounding buildings got coated in frost.

At the same time, the flames around Joop’s body exploded in the air.

The entire street lit up under him, appearing almost like the sun.

Theo gritted his teeth and looked away for a moment.

His eyes scanned the battlefield, searching for the remaining black Covenant members.

’There’s three more!’ he thought, instantly dashing forward.

As he ran, he looked behind him, seeing the large mist practically crystallize the air.

Then—

ZZZZZZZZZ!

A gigantic stream of freezing mist erupted from the serpent’s mouth like a natural disaster.

The surrounding buildings froze solid instantly, causing them to crumble and collapse.

Even a burst of ice shot through the flooded streets, heading straight for the civilians.

But... most of them couldn’t even move.

It only took a second.

And nearly half of the six hundred civilians had been frozen solid.

Only then did the actual breath finally reach Joop.

He let out a loud roar, purple flames surging from his body.

The freezing mist surrounded him completely, dimming the light for a moment.

Theo held his breath for a moment.

Only a second later, Joop’s figure burst through the mist right in front of the serpent.

Frost clung to his body, but was quickly evaporated by the purple flames.

’’HAAAAH!’’ he roared as the flames changed to a white color around his fist.

Then—

He punched the serpent point-blank.

BOOOOM!!!

A gigantic shockwave erupted outward from the collision point, instantly vaporizing nearby ice and floodwater.

The Frost Serpent’s massive head was violently slammed sideways, crashing through multiple frozen buildings.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Entire structures collapsed into the flooded streets.

Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

’He actually pushed it back?!’

The surrounding hunters stared up in utter disbelief too.

High above the battlefield, Joop floated in the air while breathing heavily.

White flames slowly vanished from his fist.

That’s when Theo saw it.

Frost had started slowly crawling up Joop’s arm again.

And this time...

It wasn’t disappearing.