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709. Strategizing
Jofis was heavily outnumbered.
I watched as the swarm of Fairies came flying down at the Winged Horror. He leapt up at them, crashing into them. His burning body shone brightly, making him stand out, even amongst the swarm of glowing figures surrounding him.
He tore through them with ease, of course. With a single swing of his enlarged claw, he took out a hundred Fairies all at once. And the burning corpses of the dying Fairies would spread his flames across the swarm, killing hundreds more.
It was like the army of Fairies barely posed a threat to him. Which was as expected.
He had been responsible for the death of tens of thousands of Demons just before we fought. So I didn’t think that overwhelming him with sheer numbers was possible. No— it was only a single Fairy amongst these masses of Fairies that I thought could even the odds against him.
Lotus.
A Level 200 Supreme Spirit.
She swung down with her lance, and a blast of lightning came crashing down at Jofis. He was too distracted by the swarm of Fairies that he didn’t see the attack coming. It struck true, sending him tumbling back to the ground with a shout.
The ground exploded and opened up into a massive crater as he came crashing down. The forest landscape was ripped apart as Jofis tried to pick himself back up. He let out a terrible roar, before a flurry of spells came raining down onto him.
However, he brushed all these attacks off as he let out a roar.
His gaze snapped up towards Lotus once more as she aimed at him again. He beat his wings, before shooting up into the air, dodging her follow-up lightning strike. He tore through the swarm of Fairies in his path, reaching the Supreme Spirit in an instant. He swung at her, but she parried his attack with her lance.
A shockwave rippled across the sky of this fake world as his claw struck her lance.
And I flew up to Hartia as Jofis clashed with Lotus.
“Alright, here’s the plan—”
“Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Hartia snapped back at me. He had a finger pointed in the direction of the Winged Horror as a bead of sweat slid down the side of his head.
I didn’t even know Fairies could sweat.
“I’m doing everything in my power to limit his movements. But he is too strong.”
Hartia explained, and I rolled my eyes back at him.
“That’s why I’m here to talk to you. We need a plan to defeat him.”
I shot a glance towards Jofis. He was unleashing a relentless onslaught of flaming strikes at Lotus. But she managed to block all his attacks, before electricity crackled on the tip of her lance.
Jofis’s body flickered as a pool of black liquid suddenly overcame him. The blast of lightning shot down at him, but he suddenly darted back. He moved instinctively as he dodged the flurry of spells that came from the Fairies behind him.
“Shit… he must’ve swapped back to [Abominable Instincts]...”
I muttered under my breath. Hartia turned to me with a frown.
“Isn’t this our plan?”
He gestured vaguely around us. I threw my hands in the air.
“No— I mean, yes! But we need to strategize right now. Otherwise…”
I watched as Jofis easily navigated through the hail of spells falling his way, before avoiding another blast of lightning. He reached Lotus and actually landed a clawed strike against her chest.
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I pursed my lips as I created a hundred flaming weapons, sending them flying his way. Jofis’s figure blurred as he weaved through the onslaught of attacks, and Hartia cursed as he lowered his hands.
“You’re distracting me too much. I cannot focus. Just tell me what your plan is already.”
“Alright, alright. Relax.”
I continued to conjure up flaming weapons as I talked.
“I think the best way of winning is if I hit him with [Worldbreak] again. This time, he won’t be able to recover from it. And it would impede his movements.”
My flaming weapons shot out to distract Jofis. But they were barely a nuisance to him. He flew around them, before dodging another lightning strike from Lotus.
“I don’t know what that Skill does.”
Harita said flatly, and I sighed.
“All that you need to know is that it is our best chance of winning. But there’s two problems.”
I continued attacking Jofis as he reached Lotus and clashed with her again. She was having trouble keeping up with his speed, thanks to his [Abominable Instincts], and I couldn’t even distract him at all.
I shook my head.
“The first is that [Worldbreak] is not ready yet, and the second is that I have to get really close to him to use it. Like— he has to be right in front of my face.”
“How exactly is that a problem?”
Hartia raised a brow at me.
“Can’t you just wait for the cooldown to end?”
“That’s the problem.”
I sighed as I explained, looking down at myself.
“By the time [Worldbreak] is ready, [My Flames Will Burn Until Eternity Ends] will reach its end. So I will have nothing to protect me from his attacks.”
I chewed on my lower lip, seeing Jofis open his mouth and engulf Lotus with a blast of golden flames. Even the thought of being hit by something like that made me sweat.
“Can you possibly lend me your [Fractal Barrier] when the time comes?”
I asked, shaking my head. Hartia blinked back at me when he heard that.
“...you can’t be serious, right?”
“I am.”
I held Hartia’s gaze as I responded.
In the background, the golden flames dissipated. And Lotus emerged, her right arm partially burnt, but otherwise, she was still alive. Jofis swung down at her, but she parried his attack. She sent lightning his way, and he flew back.
Hartia sighed, closing his eyes. He took a moment to consider it. His apprehension was evident. However, he finally looked back up, before nodding slowly.
“Very well. But I will only lend it to you for a moment. And if I ever feel like I am threatened, I will take it away from you. Do you understand?”
And I grinned back at me as I heard his response.
“Got it.”
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Jofis flew back, avoiding the lightning blasts of the Supreme Spirit. As he did, his eyes darted to the side. He saw Salvos and Hartia there, talking to each other. And he knew they were conspiring something.
That they were scheming to find a way to defeat him.
And the Winged Horror wasn’t going to allow that. No— he couldn’t allow whatever plan they had in mind to succeed.
He slowed to a halt as he stared back up at the Supreme Spirit and the swarm of Fairies descending upon him. He knew that his [Abominable Instinct] would soon come to an end. When that happened, he would not be able to swap back to it for a long time.
So there was no point relying on it any longer.
Jofis took in a deep breath, feeling the black liquid suddenly splashing over his body. There were over a dozen Grand Skills for him to choose from. So many Primeval Demons he had slain— so many he could steal at this very moment.
But he knew that none of the Grand Skills of a Primeval Demon would be enough to bring down a Supreme Spirit. And that was the greatest threat he faced right now.
Regardless of whatever Salvos and Hartia were scheming, Jofis couldn’t deal with them as long as the Supreme Spirit was around. That was not to mention how much damage he would take with each blast of lightning that hit him.
Even with his regeneration, it was difficult to recover from such attacks.
Jofis bared his teeth as he saw the Supreme Spirit conjuring another bolt of lightning. He was no fool. He knew that to defeat a Supreme Spirit, it would take a Primordial Demon
And while he was no longer a Primordial Demon, he had slain Primordial Demons before. So if it was what was necessary, he was going to use the Grand Skill of a Primordial Demon to put an end to this battle.
Even if it would strain his body, since he was no longer a Primordial Demon. It didn’t matter. The Winged Horror was going to put an end to this fight right now.
He spread his arms wide as he whispered.
“[Behold the Sacrifice of Knowledge].”
And both Salvos and Hartia froze, gaping at Jofis when they heard what he had to say. The Supreme Spirit just continued unleashing the blast of lightning down at the Winged Horror, but he didn’t move.
He welcomed the attack as he laughed.
“The Grand Skill of [Paimon the Slave].”
And his eyes turned white.