The ogre who was camouflaged and headed straight for Damien with a violent slash felt his alarms go off when he saw Damien smile. His body was telling him to stop but it made no sense to his brain. Now was the perfect opportunity to strike him down as he had finally let his Dao Domain down. He could not wait for that to happen again because from what he saw, Damien had an insane amount of Mana. Not once did he see him release it, so it was now or never. His impatience overwhelmed his instincts and fully committed to his route.
As the invisible ogre was reaching striking distance with his sword, Damien expanded out his Dao Domain in an instant. The ogre was immediately hit with a wave of intense dry heat that sucked away all of his moisture. Along with it came a disruption of his camouflage, leaving him exposed. Damien held nothing back this time as he met his sword with no technique. It was just brute force and weight that shattered the ogre’s sword and entire arm. He was sent flying away as he did nothing to stop his trajectory. He wanted to get as far away from Damien, so he made use of the momentum to gain more distance.
The slimes watched with unreadable expressions, but they knew they met their match. Especially when Damien was a Dao user of Fire which was their mortal enemy. They thought with their unique fighting style and unpredictable nature, they would be able to finish the job. They were close to doing just that, but anything can happen in a battle. They brought themselves to a goo state to submerge into the floor. Before they could completely vanish to the deep underground, Damien made his final move. Damien recalled his Dao Domain so he could bring all of its energy into his hand. He condensed to a single point with the help of more of his golden pure Mana Fluid. He brought it up on the tip of his fingertip and shot it out as if it errr a finger gun. The dense point of fire did not make it all the way to their bodies, but instead expanded out in a rapid explosion. It erupted into a burst of white flames that burnt everything into ash. The attack was meant to scare everyone else away while also teaching those slime a lesson. The attack did just that as it fried away a quarter of their body before it was able to escape underground.
All of Damien’s opponents fled to lick their wounds in terror. None of them were prepared to confront him again even if they ganged up on him. The two parties watching over Damien had opposite emotions. Aya had a confused smile on her face but felt overall satisfied with his performance and how he was able to turn things around smoothly.
“Not bad, but not enough bloodlust or killing than what I would expect. However, I did sense a tinge of maniacal battle rush. He has some good things in him at least.”
On the other end Tenzin had knocked Frey on the floor as he stood in rage. All of his men had failed to take Damien out or even assess his full strength. Even worse, he had no information on his partner, which made his predicament worse. Tenzin took out an impressive armor set created specifically for his body type. Once clad his aura grew even stronger, causing a slight quake in his surroundings. He looked in the direction Damien was currently at and was ready to head there himself. Frey whistled in sarcastic amazement toward Tenzin.
“Whew, that’s a fine Rune Artifact Tenzin. You plan on going all out from the beginning aren’t you?”
Tenzin didn’t reply to her question since it was obvious that was the case. His Rune Armor Set was an artifact that enhanced all of his abilities and pushed him to the edge of Heaven Realm fighting power. It was no small feat what he was able to accomplish but when he spoke to Frey, it was as if he was not so confident.
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“Frey, are you coming along this time or will you just watch me from here?”
Tenzin has always been wary of Frey from the moment she came here. She was the newest addition to his force as she just plopped herself into his ranks. She shut up anyone that doubted her with ease, which helped others accept her position. However, deep down Tenzin felt she was hiding something so great and mighty that he was too afraid to even ask about. He could only accept her whimsical nature and play it off to others that she was his favorite. Frey tilted her head to think about it in a cutesy way. Her face lit up when she got her answer and made sure to show with her usual antics. It didn’t help that she was dressed as a colorful lolita.
“Sure why not! It appears that there is an interesting person. Although they are rather shy about confrontation for some reason. Let’s go boss!”
She slapped Tenzin’s back in good spirit. He wasn’t too appreciative of the image it gave, but none of his subordinates were there to see it. Their silhouettes vanished from the base as they made their way to Damien. Aya was getting prepared to head back down, but she sensed their energies the moment they exited the base. There was one signature that caught her attention and made her feel worried for Damien. It was someone or something beyond his league. Aya made the decision to help Damien this time around or he would be annihilated. She met up with Damien who was coming down from his fighting ‘high’. His adrenaline wore off, leaving him with the truth of what happened. He exhaled a cold breath of worry only to be reassured by Aya’s presence.
“You would’ve helped me if it was too much right? You wouldn’t let me just die?”
Aya ignored his question as she was focusing on something more important. Damien felt stifled by what he thought was her response and so he felt the true fear of death from the fight. Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, Aya pushed Damien to her back, in a protective way.
“Stay back for now. Someone is coming that is far beyond you. Well at least one of them.”
Damien’s emotions immediately did a 180, now that he felt she did care about him. He foolishly hugged her from behind with his excitement exuding over. Aya just felt a bump hit her from behind and turned around like a wooden puppet. Damien instantly let go and pretended like nothing happened. If expressions could talk and if her face was visible, then Aya would be saying that she would deal with him after this. Frey and Tenzin were already visible in the horizon and they made no effort to hide their entrance. Damien could feel his energy beating down on his body almost making him want to kneel.
“Is that who you were talking about? You want me to help you with the little one?”
Aya chuckled to herself and pointed at Tenzin.
“No, you are taking on the six armed freak and I will have a chat with that little girl. You should get yourself ready.”
“Wait, you aren’t kidding? He’s the Demon boss of these bandits and you are going to have a chat? How is that fair?”
Instead of squabbling in front of the enemy, Aya reversed her actions and brought him side by side with her. In the next moment, Tenzin and Frey landed within an earshot distance. Frey waved at them like they were her friends. Damien waved back but only because he was confused by her. They were both stopped by their respective comrade, which cleared the air for Tenzin to speak.
“I am Tenzin, and I run this organization that oversees this road. If you had simply paid the fare it would not have come to this, but I do not believe you two are simple folks. So tell me why you have come to cause trouble. Is it a vendetta? Or some call for justice? You will find either does not come so easily.”
Tenzin puffed his aura out more intensely, showcasing the strength of his Mana and body. He was hoping he could just scare them off as he did not have a good feeling about them, the same way he felt about Frey. It was not that he was scared, but he was smart and relied on his gut for such situations. That is why he became who he was for such a long time. He was a bit disheartened that they weren’t scared off, but he was the boss for a reason. When it came down to it, he delivered. Aya was not bothered a bit by his intimidation unlike Damien who knew he was supposed to face him.
“We are not here for any of those stupid reasons. We come on a more serious matter. You see this short fellow right here? Well I am his Guardian and we are here for his training. No need to go easy on him, I am sure he will give you more surprises than you can handle. Alright, while he trains I'm going to have a chat with your cute little friend there. Don’t mind us.”