Sharp air flew out of Leon’s nose and mouth as he turned. Warm blood streaked down his left arm while his fingers shook around the hilt of the Hi-no-Kami.

At a far distance away from him, countless Serakels with gleaming golden scale armor materialized. The air around them heated as their snake tongues flew out.

Bone-crackling sounds echoed around Leon while a faint smile appeared on his bloodied face. ’I can’t go without taking them down like I did to the Devilish Goats.’

"Gia, what is the best way to fight these Serakels?" Leon asked while measuring the size of the creatures with his eyes. ’Eleven feet is not that bad to fight. After all, the Devilish Goats were ten feet.’

"The best way to fight them is to escape before they strike, Leon." Gia’s voice rose while the blue wave on the kinetic-drift shield heaved inside like a dying light.

’Good.’ A grim grin tore on Leon’s face as the thought lanced in his head. "Here I come!"

His eyes blazed with his golden energy as he dashed forward like lightning.

The first three Serakels stood there as if not intrigued by the coming threat, without even moving a limb.

Sparks glowed on them when Leon moved around them, slicing the blades of the Hi-no-Kami on their golden scales.

Dust exploded behind Leon when he dashed back and focused on the creatures’ skin. "How is that possible?!"

His eyes widened when he saw the creatures standing there without a scratch, as if the Hi-no-Kami was just a broomstick on them.

His hands trembled while the swords in his hands shook as if terrified.

In a blur, a single golden-scale Serakel dashed forward and slammed the tip of its tail on Leon’s knees, then stood at his back, smiling.

The golden fire blazing out of Leon’s eyes died in an instant. The moment he tried to turn and swing the sword at the creature, his legs twisted as if all the bones in them had been shattered beyond repair.

A choked, guttural roar tore from his throat as he collapsed onto the ground like a broken cripple.

Clicking sounds echoed around him, while the stony land he lay on began to melt as the Serakel closed in.

The creature’s lower snake body left burnt earth in all the directions they took to reach Leon.

Blood blasted out of Leon’s nose and mouth when the first golden Serakel slapped its tail on his face, hurling him onto the wall with a loud crashing sound.

"Ahhh!" His mouth opened wide as the scream tore out and blasted stones from the top of the mountain he lay at the front of.

The first golden Serakel stood there while the remaining ones dashed back as the stone began falling, crashing on the ground like a meteorite.

As soon as it turned, a bright light seeped out of its mouth and blasted the tip of the mountain, sending cracks along it.

"I will not fail."

Rocks slammed onto Leon’s back and plastered him face-flat on the ground when he tried pushing himself up.

Countless rocks joined and buried Leon, while a faint blue light began appearing and disappearing, until the last rock fell, forming a sacrificial tomb tower.

...

A loud cry tore through the air, flying in and out of the Castle of Souls when the ground began trembling.

The glowing walls of the corridor brightened when two sharp, pointed pillars at the top of the castle broke and fell. They pierced through the ground like sharp swords and exploded into countless ten-foot opal-skinned scorpions with sharp claws and glowing tails.

Inside the castle, Aurelian lay on his left side on his large dining table with his eyes closed.

Sharp air flew into the room when five of the scorpions entered his dining room.

"Why is he taking so long to reach me?" He said with disgust on his face when he saw the creatures snarling as they moved toward him.

He moved his right arm upward and began activating the moving tattoo on his skin, while the scorpions also dashed toward him with their poisonous tails aimed for his face.

"Break!"

The air in the room compressed while all five scorpions’ bodies bloated and blasted.

Aurelian stood up from the table and brushed the thick, foul fluid from his chest, then walked out of the dining room, whistling.

...

Heated air flew about at the center of the Umbarhkar Realm while flaring flames spat out of the Ziggurat.

Countless nine-foot and fourteen-foot Syrs danced around the Ziggurat, while roasting sounds and a burnt scent filled the air.

Two silver-skinned Serakels and three Syrs remained tied together in the flaming Ziggurat while their screams got muffled by the scorching flames.

Their joyous screams died when the ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

They increased their grip on their burning axes when they turned and saw countless golden Serakels coming their way.

Two of the lesser Syrs dashed forward and stopped the Serakels at the front of their realm where a skeleton had been arranged into a wall.

The Serakels melted the two Syrs and dashed into the Umbarhkar as if they owned it.

...

A round, five-inch metal danced in the air like a feather while a blue wave danced through it like a caged snake.

In the sky above it, flashes streaked across the dead clouds until it vanished entirely.

Evaporated air flew around the metal as it hit the flat top of a freshly blasted mountain and rolled on its sides that had root-like cracks in them.

The blue wave in the metal began to dim as it bounced off the mountain and slammed into five liters of warm blood clinging onto the center of scattered rocks.

A faint hiss escaped the metal as the blue light turned off entirely when it vanished into the blood.

Two loose stones flipped from the mountain’s top and slammed into the bloodied human silhouette.

A hiss echoed from the stones when the blood splashed on them as if breathing.