X-Rank Hunter

Intense heat covered the land and the ground was burning with fire. Dark smoke rose from below and blended itself to the dark clouds, as it seemed that the clouds were threatening to cry from the saddening sight.

A ball of fire was as if serving as a bloody sun, giving a crimson hue towards the dark clouds. It floated majestically in the midair, trying to chase the darkness away only to cause an awful sight.

But despite the occurrence, two figures were seemingly unfazed. It appeared that the heat of the scorching fire on the surroundings didn't affect them and it seemed as if it was serving as an air conditioner.

They were of course no other than the two remaining Demon Captains, Kristina, and Marco!

They both were gazing upwards as Marco was grinning from what he was seeing. The excitement was noticeably looming upon him as he gripped the hilt of his sheathed sword hanging on his left waist even more tightly.

On the other hand, Kristina was just standing beside Marco in all seriousness. Despite the hot surroundings, coldness exuded out from her.

After a short moment of calmness, the storm finally revealed itself when Marco made the first move. He vanished from where he was standing only to appear right beside Jino, the now ball of fire. The moment Marco managed to go near the other party, he immediately brandished his sword against the other party with a crisp sound of the wind!

The ball of fire was cut into half! But as if Marco wasn't contented, he swung his sword countless times turning the ball of fire into countless bits, seemingly going to dissipate at any moment.

But even after all what he had done, Marco was still seemingly trying to guard himself against something. As he landed on the ground, he immediately looked upwards again to see the ball of fire he just slashed countless times but to his shock, it was still in there as if nothing had happened!

No wonder it felt like he'd just slashed a wind. It seemed like the other party had completely turned himself into a fire and would continue to exist for as long as there was a fire around!

No more grin wanted to show itself from Marco's lips as it was replaced by all seriousness accompanied by his blazing eyes. He swept his gaze to his surroundings only to see the ground on fire.

As he was helpless to extinguish the fire, he turned his gaze to Kristina, seemingly asking for help. Kristina nodded her head slightly as she understood what do the other party wanted.

She looked at her surroundings as she couldn't help but mutter, "This is a pretty high-level fire..."

Noticing the incredible heat of the fire on her surroundings that were even piercing the invisible spherical barrier she used to protect herself, even she herself who were entitled as the Little Demon Sorceress was having a hard time finding a way to extinguish the fire.

Her skill 'Avid For Tranquility' that she used to put out the 'forest of fire' that Anna and Nene made on the battlefield from before, seemed to be useless in here as well.

But it didn't mean that she had no means to put out this fire! It just that, it was quite pricey.

But it didn't matter now, the enemy they were currently facing wasn't normal so to defeat him might need some price to pay.

With that said, and with a cold glint of her eyes, Kristina let out an incredibly strong aura as her World Energy gathered forth on her right hand. It was elegantly raised forward as her palm was facing the ground. Her hair swayed with the wind as an invisible force pushed away the surroundings. She gazed at the ball of fire they were facing only to see the other party seemed to be unfazed at all.

Kristina didn't like the reaction of the other party so she really wondered how the other party would react if she finally unleashed her move.

So as she finally gathered all the needed World Energy to complete her skill, she finally said in coldness, "Return To The Oblivion!"

Just after saying those words, a shockwave gushed forth from her and swept all the fire around. It was as if a death wind had passed through the fire, silencing all of it in one go!

That went without saying, all the fire around the area had been all turned to nothing, leaving only the ball of fire in the midair! Ashes covered the land and smoke continuously rose from all around. Kristina was now gasping for air frenziedly as if she just lost all of her energy from that skill she used. After which, she gazed up above with a smile, as if saying, "Now, what do you say?"

But despite the occurrence, Jino, the ball of fire, still seemed to be unfazed and didn't do any movements at all. As if it didn't concern him what did the other party had done to the surroundings that he enveloped with fire.

Seeing this also made Kristina to be taken aback slightly. Was their guess wrong? Did the other party really was relying on the fire around to reconstruct himself or not? If they really were wrong she really was doomed this time.

She just used so much energy to extinguish all the fire around, if things didn't go to what they were expecting, then death had the highest chance that could happen.

"Marco!" Kristina shouted. But it seemed that the other party already knew what to do.

So without bothering himself in useless chatter, Marco had then vanished again from where he was standing as he jumped towards their enemy at an incredible speed. In no time at all, he was already just above the other party with his sword ready to slice him into half at any moment.

With that said, Marco brandished his sword and ruthlessly cut Jino into a half! Marco was surprised to see that the other party didn't even bother moving as he received his sword with as if open arms!

Narrowing his eyes cautiously, Marco made multiple slashes once again, turning the other party into several particles of fire. But Marco knew full well that this was not yet the end as he still felt the life force of the other party just nearby.

So within the next few moments, as he was landing on the ground, something that made him feel goosebumps standing all over his skin had happened. Because when he looked up above him once again, what he saw was that the other party was then again gradually forming himself into a ball of fire! Until he finally became a ball of fire once again as if nothing really happened in the first place.

"Just how the hell is this human invincible?" Marco thought as he gripped the hilt of his unsheathed sword even more tightly. He really was completely clueless how could the other party managed to reconstruct himself again and again.

The same went for Kristina, she really was wondering as well how did the other party manage to do it. So after moments of thinking, one thing came into her mind as she didn't want to believe what she just thought.

But what she feared really came to her sight as she saw a silhouette of a huge firebird spreading its wings just behind the ball of fire. Its blazing eyes gazed at her that as if she would melt at any moment with just a glance from it.

Kristina found it hard to breathe as she made a step backward and her body started to tremble. Her lips quivered as she muttered with great difficulty, "W-why... how can you have the power of the Phoenix Tribe?!"

Who was the Phoenix Tribe? They were the beings living in the Celestial Realm ruling over the laws of fire. To be specific, the fire that breathed life was the one they were ruling!

In contrast to the Dragon Tribe of Nether Realm who only knew how to destroy things with their fire, the Phoenix Tribe was giving life using their fire. As long as there were the slightest bits of fire, they would never be extinguished!

Now that Kristina saw with her eyes the power of the Phoenix Tribe from the enemy they were currently facing, it made her think why do they even bothering on fighting him. No matter what they do against the other party who had the power of a celestial being, they wouldn't be able to deliver even a tiny scratch on him.

Run!

That was the only thing she really wanted to do right now. Only then she realized as well why did her companions, Lelith and Karen try to run away from this enemy of them even though they were already prepared for death the moment they went to this mission. It appeared that they were both intimidated by the power of a celestial being coming from their enemy without realizing it!

On the other hand, seeing the reaction of Kristina of which she was as if fearing some sort of supreme being and wanted to run away already made Marco became cautious even more. He didn't know what Kristina had seen that made her become like that but he knew full well that this was an utterly serious matter!

But what made him trembled as well is when Marco finally heard the mutterings of the other party. Realization dawned upon him as he asked in disbelief, "H-he is from the Phoenix Tribe?"